Where Were My Ancestors About 1796? Abraham Bradley's Map of the United States: Part 2

This is a continuation of my post earlier this week using Abraham Bradley's postal map of 1796.  This is just an exercise to get a handle on where all of my American ancestors were during the Federalist Era.  I can already see the fatal flaw of adding ancestors by going up and down my tree as opposed to grouping by location--for instance, I actually have a lot of people who were in the western Pennsylvania area, but there will be separate maps for the family groups in this iteration because they are on different branches of my tree.  I will put together a more concise version at a later date.

In Bertie County, North Carolina, possibly in the Salmon Creek area, John H Hardy, 23, was married to his first wife, Jamima Wilson, and they had a toddler Etheldred.  Jamima would die in the next year.  John's mother Sarah Sowell, 63, had been widowed 3 years before when her husband William Hardy died, and she would be listed in the 1800 Federal Census as head of household in Bertie County, North Carolina.   John's future second wife, Elizabeth Ward, 21, daughter of Thomas Ward (who had died the year before at about age 60) and Pheraby Sowell, about 47.  John Hardy and Elizabeth Ward were distant cousins--their mothers were both descendants of Richard Sowell (born c. 1659).

John Chappell, 33, had moved to Georgia probably in the mid to late 1780's from Sussex County, Virginia, likely with his parents, Revolutionary veteran John C Chappell, 58, and Nancy "Nannie" Harrison, 55.  Like Jesse Warren Sr he was in the area that would become Hancock County, Georgia. John and his wife, Sarah "Sallie" P Heath, 25, had several small children by the time the map was made.  Sallie was the daughter of Valley Forge veteran Abraham Heath, 56, and Winnifred "Winny" (??), 50, who had moved from Surry County, Virginia to Burke/Warren County, Georgia 10 years earlier.
Josiah Freeman, 33, was likely in Oglethorpe County, Georgia with his first wife, Susannah Hawkins, and at least 5 small children.  He had likely moved to Georgia sometime between 1786 and 1790.  He was originally from Virginia, possibly Sussex or Surry counties.  His parents William Freeman, 58, and Sarah Williams(??), about 56, were in Surry County, North Carolina, and may have originally been from Surry County, Virginia.  All these Surry counties!!  It gets confusing.  Elizabeth Jordan, Josiah's second wife, was only about 9 in 1796.  I have not yet figured out who Elizabeth's parents were.  Elizabeth was born in either Georgia or possibly South Carolina.
Richard Turner, 17, had been born in Cascade, Pittsylvania, Virginia, and had moved with his family to Wilkes County, Georgia (part of which became Lincoln County) when he was about 5.  His parents, Shadrack Turner and Margaret Hill, were both about 45.  Mary Henderson, 15, would marry Richard about 3 years later in Wilkes or Lincoln County.  She had Virginia as place of birth on the 1850 and 1860 Censuses, but I have not yet been able to determine who her parents were, although there were numerous Henderson families in Elbert County (neighbor county to both Wilkes and Lincoln) at the time she would have married Richard.

William Porter was born in May 1796 in Sheffield, Caledonia, Vermont, to Benjamin Porter, 24, and Lydia Wilcox, 21.  It is not clear why they were there, as they had married in Surry, Cheshire, New Hampshire the year before, and were back there by the 1800 federal census.  Benjamin's widowed mother Esther Carpenter, 57, allegedly didn't die until 1827 in Lyme, Grafton, NH, but apparently didn't head a household in the censuses and probably lived with one of her adult children.  Lydia's parents, physician Obediah Willcox, 72, and Sarah Talcott, 61, were likely living in Surry, Cheshire, New Hampshire.
Joshua Shepard, 43, and Lucia "Lucy" Farnsworth, 34, were living in Alstead, Cheshire, New Hampshire.  Joshua's parents, Jonathan Shepard, 87, and Love Palmer, 79, had divorced 32 years earlier (about 1764), and had both subsequently remarried.  Love had married a Mr. Heard or Herrick (date unknown), and she died 23 July 1796 in Alstead, Cheshire, New Hampshire.  Jonathan had married Mary Underwood in 1765 and lived in Windsor, Windsor, Vermont, where he died 2 years after this map was made (26 March 1798).  Lucy's parents, Thomas Farnsworth, 65, and Elizabeth Davis, 68, also lived in Alstead (they had moved there sometime between 1776 and 1790).








© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Hat Tip: The Legal Genealogist Says "Read the Directions"

The Legal Genealogist's Judy G. Russell recently encouraged her readers to read the directions (.PDF) that the Federal census enumerators had to read, so I did.  Actually, I've looked at them before, but I always see something new that I hadn't noticed before whenever I review them.

This time I realized the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules included a column to indicate slaves who had escaped within the year!  How could I have missed that? It's not like these are complicated forms.

But it is very satisfying to see the evidence that some were escaping.  I'm over here cheering them on.

And this lead me to discover that this affected some of my own ancestors. A close look at this 1860 US slave schedule in Georgia shows that my ancestress Mary (Henderson) Turner had lost her one slave (a 48 year old mulatto woman) and son Shadrack Turner had lost a total of 18.  Other neighbors were having the same problem.  That is something I didn't realize I was seeing before.

This is exciting, because I do know that Mary got 3 slaves from her husband in his will in 1851 in Newton County, Georgia:

""I give unto my beloved wife Mary Turner, during her natural life or widowhood Charles a negro man, Viney a negro woman and Mourning a negro woman."**"

So I'm not certain, but the runaway woman may have possibly been named Viney or Mourning.  I tried looking through the Georgia Historic Newspapers: Milledgeville database to see if the Turners advertised for these lost slaves, but that site is running really slowly and I will have to follow up on this lead later.


So it really does pay to read the instructions.  Even, maybe especially, if you have been working with these records for a while.  It is easy to get lazy and complacent.




**"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.


© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Slavery and Hendersons in Jasper County, Georgia

FamilySearch Blog's interesting post, "Slave Stories" by Thomas Jay Kemp, reminded me of a likely cousin, Benjamin Henderson (b. 1858 in Jasper County, Georgia), who I found in the slave narratives on Ancestry.com a while back (you can look at the interview for free at the Library of Congress starting here if you don't have an Ancestry account) .

Where is Jasper County, Georgia?

Jasper County, Location, from Jasper County, Georgia Map. Source: Wikimedia Commons (12 Feb 2006), Author: David Benbennick

From FamilySearch.org Jasper County wiki entry page.

Benjamin was a known son of Samuel Henderson (found in the 1840 census further down the article) with one of Samuel's slave, Mandy (or Amanda) Henderson (b. abt 1835). I am pretty sure Samuel Henderson is some sort of relation to my 4th great grandmother Mary Henderson, who married Richard Turner. ***

How I relate to Mary Henderson.

As you can see, I don't have much of a handle on who my 4th great grandmother Mary Henderson's parents were yet.  I do feel strongly that she IS related to the Hendersons in Jasper County, Georgia, where she lived from at least 1815 to 1830 (she is living near by an older Samuel Henderson):

Detail from 1830 U.S. census, Jasper County, Georgia, Regiment 38 and 30, p. 286 (penned), line 8 & line 11, Sam'l Henderson and Richard Turner; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 Aug 2015); citing National Archives microfilm publication M19, roll 18. 

and then in neighboring Newton County, Georgia by the 1840 Census (where she lives next to a younger Samuel Henderson):

Detail from 1840 U.S. census, Newton County, Georgia, District 477, p. 15 (penned), line 4 & line 17, Samuel Henderson and Richard Turner; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 Aug 2015); citing National Archives microfilm publication M704, roll 48.

***At least one other source seems to think it likely that Mary Henderson was related to the Hendersons in Jasper County:  "A brother of greatgrandmother Nancy Turner Crawford was named Richard Turner, and his wife was Mary Henderson, without a doubt a member of the Henderson family in Jasper County".  from ELISHA GILLIAM CRAWFORD FAMILY BIBLE (Revised to add Crawford History  June 2001)

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: Speedy, the 150+ Year Old Galapagos Tortoise, and Some Perspective on Time

Speedy, the San Diego Zoo's oldest animal (about 150 years old in 2011)

A few years ago, while visiting the San Diego Zoo's galapagos tortoise exhibit, I read on the placard that Speedy was over 150 years old.  I had heard about tortoises living a very long time before, but for the first time I realized that Speedy was alive when the American Civil War was raging.  People who were born in the late 18th and 19th centuries could have seen him.

All of those ancestors of mine who were alive in that time period, a small sample including Eli Matthews, Susan Hanon, Mary Henderson, and Jesse Webb (see below), a time that might as well have been 1,000 years ago in my perspective, their lives overlapped this creature's lifespan.

Speedy's contemporary, my 2rd great grandfather Jesse David Webb (1860-1935), courtesy of Olive Kennedy.

Speedy has outlived every single person who was born before and during the Civil War.  The oldest Civil War veteran, Albert Woolson, died in 1956, at a mere 109 years.

Albert Woolson, from Wikipedia

As of now only about 3 people are verified to have even been born in the 1899.  Everyone else was born in the 1900s and after.



© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Mary Henderson (About 1781 - After 1860)

The records we have tell us very little directly about this paternal great great great grandmother; most of what we do know is from inference, since only the head of each household was named in federal census records before 1850.

Although we aren't sure who her parents were, we know that Mary was born in Virginia and her family was living in Georgia when she married Richard Turner in Wilkes County*, probably about 1799 because their first child was born the following year.

Unfortunately Richard Turner is an extremely common name and we haven't identified the right one in U.S. Census records until 1820 by which time the family was living in Jasper County, Georgia, now numbering thirteen free white persons and three slaves. Five members of the household were engaged in agriculture.

[Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fourth Census of the United States, 1820. (NARA microfilm publication M33, 142 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

In the next two U.S. Census enumerations, the Turner family expanded its holdings in human property from seven in 1830 to twelve in 1840** by which time they were in Newton County, which had been created in 1821 out of parts of Henry, Jasper and Walton Counties.

At last in the 1850 U.S. Census, Mary had her own listing which names her birthplace as Virginia.

[Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. 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.]

Beginning with this census, "Slave Inhabitants" were enumerated but not named on a separate schedule. Richard Turner was listed as the owner of fifteen persons--four adult males, four adult females and seven children no older than ten.

[Ancestry.com. 1850 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. Washington, D.C.:

National Archives and Records Administration, 1850. M432, 1,009 rolls.]

In his will signed on January 3, 1851, and presented in court for probate on April 5, 1852, Richard Turner's first bequest was to ensure that his "beloved Wife Mary Turner" had a comfortable home "during her natural life or widowhood." To that end he not only gave her household and kitchen furniture but also three slaves: "Charles a negro man, Viney a negro woman and Mourning a negro woman" along with "horses, cows and hogs."

["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 28 April 2015), Newton > Wills 1823-1871 vol 1-2 > image 167 of 350; county probate courthouses, Georgia.]

Richard's estate was valued at $10,479.49 in the appraisal filed with the court on April 14, 1852. Charles was judged to be worth $500; Viney, $450; and Mourning $100.

The final record we have referring to Mary Turner is on the 1860 U.S. Census - Slave Schedule for Pike County, Georgia, where S. Turner (almost certainly her son Shadrack) is named as her agent in regard to two enslaved persons. Charles is undoubtedly the 53 year old mulatto man but we don't know if the 48 year old mulatto woman is Viney or Mourning.

[Ancestry.com. 1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860. Washington, D.C.:

National Archives and Records Administration, 1860. M653, 1,438 rolls.]

Mary is not part of Shadrack's household in Pike County in the U.S. Census for that year and I haven't been able to find any record for her anywhere else.

We don't know when or where Mary Turner died, nor do we know where either she or Richard are buried.

*Possibly in the part of Wilkes that is now Lincoln County.
**You can see these census records in my post about their daughter Lizzie Turner Freeman.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

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.