Monday Is for Mothers: Timney P. Watts (1805 - 1863) - Probate Records, Part 8, What Happened to Doctor, Harriet, Enoch and Martha Ann?

You may recall that the inventory of my Great Great Great Grandmother Timney P. (Watts) Phillips' property in 1863 included four enslaved persons, the first three of whom were inherited from her husband's estate:

[Description : Estate Papers, Phillips, Nancy (Minor) to Piques, Sarah. Ancestry.com. Alabama, Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999 [database on-line].Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data: Alabama County, District and Probate Courts.]

Among Timney's probate records are bills from two doctors* which include treatment and medicine for these individuals. Martha Ann received the greatest number of visits, many of them for treatment of a recurring eye ailment.

Even though the Ancestry.com database includes 111 images, it occurred to me that these weren't all the records that would have been created during probate. There were only the supporting documents, not the probate court's records. A very short search brought up the unindexed Alabama, Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999 and that's where I found the following petition:

[Description : Probate Records, Vol 10, 1863-1866; Probate Records, Vol 11, 1866-1868. 

Ancestry.com. Alabama, Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data: Alabama County, District and Probate Courts.]

Timney Phillips
The State of Alabama          }  To the Hon C A Stanton Judge of
     Macon County                }   Probate Court of said County,
                 The Petition of Jeremiah D Phillips as adm-
inistrator of Timney Phillips respectfully showeth un to your
Honor that the estate of the Said Timney Phillips owns four
Negroes, which cannot be divided between the heirs of the Said
Timney Phillips without a Sale and that it is to the interest of
Said Estate to sell said negroes, that Said estate owns perisha-
ble property, Consisting of Stock, house hold & furniture etc
which it is to the interest of Said Estate to sell, Your petitioner
therefore asks an order to sell Said negroes & perishable prop-
erty Sworn & Subscribed Oct 16, 1863
   C A Stanton Judge of Probate                   J.D. Phillips

Although I didn't see a separate order allowing J.D. Phillips to hold a sale, permission must have been given and a list of the good sold on December 15, 1863, takes up several pages. At the very end of the list are these lines:

Doctor Wife & Child     L.B. Phillips         4000.00    1 Table              Jno Webb             1.50
 Enoch                      "  "       "             1000.00    5. Bushel Wheat   A Lockwood   80.00


Who was L.B. PHillips? There are two possible candidates Timney's brother-in-law Littleberry Bostick Phillips (1801-1874) and her son, also named  Littleberry Bostick Phillips (1840-1886). While it could be either man, I'm inclined to believe it's the younger one, who remained in Macon County, Alabama, for the rest of his life. His uncle was residing in Monroe County, Alabama, by the 1860 U.S. Census and it may have been difficult for him to attend the sale. He later moved to Texas.

In any case, Doctor, Harriett and Martha Ann remained in Macon County after the end of the Civil War, appearing in the 1870 U.S. Census.

[Year: 1870; Census Place: Tuskegee, Macon, Alabama.

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.]

From this record we learn that Martha Ann had been only about 10 when Timney died. Since this isn't a censu that listed the relationship of the inhabitants to the head of the household, we don't know who Frances and Mary Ann are--I hope they were other children of Harriett and Doctor who were reunited with their parents after Emancipation.

Sadly I haven't been able to trace this family any farther but maybe one of my readers can help.

And next week I'll return to share what I've found out about the lawsuit is mentioned last time, but I was excited to share these records.





*Dr. W[esley] F[orbush] Hodnett was the main physician for Timney's household; while Dr. William D. Hall's first visits were to treat Martha Ann, later he seems to have only attended Timney in her final illness.



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