Monday Is for Mothers: Martha Heath Hardy (1834 - 1886)

This list of the heirs of my paternal fourth great-grandfather John H. Hardy who died in 1854 provides us with information about the next two generations of my ancestors.

["Alabama, Estate Files, 1830-1976," index and images, FamilySearch ( https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-23178-3328-9?cc=1978117 : accessed 01 Jul 2014), Russell - Hardy, John H (1854) - image 42 of 51.]

At his death at the age of 81, John H. had outlived at least seven of his children (including my great great great grandfather Alfred Ward Hardy) and it was his intent to divide his property equally among his children with the surviving children of his deceased sons and daughters sharing their parent's portion.

As you can see in #5 in the 1867 list above, Alfred Ward had five children of whom the third was "Martha Warren wife of Jesse Warren."

Martha, known to her family as Mattie, was born in Monroe County, Georgia, on November 6, 1834, and the family moved to Cotton Valley in Macon County, Alabama, when she was about four years old, drawn by descriptions of the fertile soil in accounts like this one on page 299 of "View of the valley of the Mississippi, or, The emigrant's and traveller's guide to the West" by Robert Baird.*

[An Accurate Map of the State of Alabama and West Florida: Carefully compiled from the original surveys of the General Government; designed to exhibit at one view each Section and Fractional Section; so that each person can point to the tract on which he lives; By John La Tourette, Mobile, Ala. Engraved by S. Stiles & Co. New York. Anno Domini 1838. Printed by Colton & Co.

David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

In the 1840 U.S. Census, Alfred Hardy is listed as the owner of 13 slaves, seven of whom are engaged in agriculture (almost certainly growing cotton). Since this census only gives the name of the head of household, Mattie and her older sister Ann Elizabeth are the enumerated in the column for white females ages 5 - 9.

[Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 

Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. (NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

On December 6, 1849, 15-year old Mattie married Jesse T.S. Warren. Records tell us the couple were married by E.W. Story, a local Methodist-Episcopal minister.

Although there's a household headed by Jesse in the 1850 U.S. Census but we don't find a listing for Mattie.**

[Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

From a Texas 1867 voter registration record we know that Jesse (or J.T.S. as he's often referred to) and his family left Alabama to move to Cass County in 1852, probably with a group of relatives, and that's where we find them in the 1860 U.S. Census.

[Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

The effects on the family wealth from the emancipation of their slaves are evident in the 1870 U.S. Census as the value of their real estate fell by nearly one-third and Jesse's personal property, most of which came from his slave-holdings, almost completely vanished.

[Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

The last public record we have for Mattie is in the 1870 U.S. Census.

[Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

She died, almost certainly in Cass County, on May 9, 1886 at the age of 51.

We don't have any pictures of Mattie but her bible is still in the possession of one of her descendants whose grandson kindly shared several photos of it with us.

[Private collection; photo courtesy of T. Warren]

You can read about her son James Chappell Warren, my great grandfather, here.

*Available as a free Google ebook here.
**Unless the 18-year old Eliza and 1-year old John listed as residents there are actually 16-year old Mattie and her baby James which seems unlikely.

© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.