Monday Is for Mothers: Elizabeth W. "Lizzie" Turner (1823 - 1890)

Unlike those of my other ancestors, this paternal great great grandmother's gravestone erected by her children in Cleburne Memorial Cemetery in Johnson County, Texas, tells us a lot about her, confirming what we find in the usual records.

[Created by: Weldon Collins, Find A Grave Memorial# 102531895]

Her parents, Richard Turner and Mary Henderson, were both Virginia natives whose families had moved to Georgia sometime after the end of the Revolution. Richard and Mary were married in Wilkes County* in about 1799 and that's where their oldest children were born. However by 1811 the Turners had moved to Jasper County where Elizabeth W. was born on January 27, 1823, and was counted in the 1830 U.S. Census as a free white female 5 - 10. There were 18 people in Richard Turners' household, seven of them slaves.

[Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 

Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. (NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record ]

Since Lizzie was still single at the time of the 1840 U.S. Census, she's one of the 2 free white females 15-20 enumerated in her father's Newton County household which now included 12 slaves.

[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 November 20, 1840, Elizabeth W. Turner and Henry H. Freeman were married by Elisha G. Crawford, Justice of the Peace for Newton County.

[Ancesrty.com. Georgia, Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: County Marriage Records, 1828–1978. The Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia.]

After their two oldest daughters, Mary James (1842-1900) and Narcissa A. (1844-1871) were born, the Freemans moved to Cotton Valley, Macon County, in the fertile Black Belt region of Alabama in about 1845. Their oldest son, Thomas D. Freeman was born there as were the rest of their nine children including my great grandmother Nancy Elizabeth (1857-1934)**.

The 1850 U.S. Census shows the Freeman family, H.H., Lizzie and their five children. A 23-year old Tennessee-born carpenter is staying with them at the time of the enumeration. The 1850 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules for the district and the Alabama State Census for the same year do not show the Freeman household owning any slaves.

[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.]

[Ancestry.com. Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA. Alabama State Census, 1820, 1850, 1855 and 1866. Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives & History.

Rolls M2004.0008-M2004.0012, M2004.0036-M2004.0050, and M2008.0124.]

Lizzie's father died in early 1852 in back in Newton County and in his will he left her $750 to be held in trust by her brother-in-law Benjamin Freeman***, something he did for all his daughters' bequests so that their inheritance would be preserved for them and their children and not become the property of their husbands. Her mother was still alive at this point but sadly we don't know when or where she died.

["Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-30463-13550-21?cc=1999178&wc=9SBS-YW5:267728901,267884801 : accessed 30 March 2015), Newton > Wills 1823-1871 vol 1-2 > image 167 of 350; county probate courthouses, Georgia.]

In January of 1853, H.H. bought two of his late father-in-law's 17 slaves, John for $1,160 and Ann for $922, who were sold by the estate "on a credit untill [sic] the 25th of Dec 1853." Presumably they are among the seven enslaved people listed in the 1855 Alabama State Census.

[Ancestry.com. Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Original data: Alabama State Census, 1820, 1850, 1855 and 1866. Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives & History. Rolls M2004.0008-M2004.0012, M2004.0036-M2004.0050, and M2008.0124.]

Lizzie must have been pregnant with her youngest child at the time of the 1860 U.S. Census as Julia was born in October of that year. Note that the enumerator got both parents' names wrong (Hugh H. and Mrs. Ellen) but their children's names are correct.

[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.]

During the Civil War, H.H. and Lizzie's oldest boy, 16-year old Tom, enlisted as a private in Company H, 45th Alabama Infantry in 1862 and was wounded on October 12th of the same year at the Battle of Perryville in Kentucky. He died shortly afterward.

The next record we have for the Freemans is the 1866 Alabama State Census which finds them still in Macon County.

[Ancestry.com. Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA. This collection was indexed by Ancestry.com World Archives Project contributors. Original data: Alabama State Census, 1820, 1850, 1855 and 1866. Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives & History. Rolls M2004.0008-M2004.0012, M2004.0036-M2004.0050, and M2008.0124.]

In the Fall of 1869, the Freeman family, together with a lot of their relatives, left Alabama forever and moved to Johnson County, Texas, where in December of that year H.H. bought 320 acres.

The 1870 U.S. Census shows Lizzie with five of her children still at home and daughter Narcissa and husband John A. McBride and their two children living next door. Josiah, her oldest surviving son, is farming with his father.

[Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA. 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.]

By the 1880 U.S. Census, it's William's turn to farm with H.H. New additions to the household include a 40-year old Mulatto servant Salina Prickard and her two children, Anna W. (7) and Charles Guy (5), William C. Carmichael, a 29-year old White farm laborer, Elizabeth Baker, a 35-year old Black servant with three children, Adaline (7), Ellen (5) and Thomas (3), and two more White farm laborers, 20-year old Stephen H. Hester and 27-year old James H. Brandon. From the number of employees that have been added, I think it's safe to assume that the Freemans have prospered in intervening decade.

[Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA.© 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.]

After serving as Johnson County Commissioner in 1880-1882, 1884-1886, 72-year old H.H. died of pneumonia on December 29, 1887, and was buried in the Cleburne Memorial Cemetery.

A little over 2 years later, Lizzie joined him.

Dallas Morning News Jan 24, 1890 

Cleburne, Tex., Jan 23.--- Mrs. E. W. Freeman, aged 67 years, died last night at her residence seven miles east of the city. She was in her usual health upon retiring last night. When her daughter went to call her to breakfast this morning she found her dead in her bed. She had been troubled with heart disease for several years, The remains will be interred in the Cleburne Cemetery.

Her will was probated on March 5, 1890, and her estate, valued at $4,000, was divided among her four surviving children: Josiah C., Watts William (W.W.), Mary (Glass) and Nanny (Warren). Although there were four heirs, the estate was divided into 5 shares with W.W. receiving two shares.

I would like to know what her middle initial W. stands for. Maybe someday I will.

*Possibly in what is now Lincoln County.
**Known as Nanny she married J.T.S. Warren.
***Also one of the named executors of Richard Turner's will.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.