Monday Is for Mothers: Timney P. Watts (1805 - 1863) - Probate Records, Part 15, Final Settlement

I don't know about you, but I'm certainly happy to come to the end of this examination of the probate records for my 3X great grandmother Timeny P. Watts Warren Phillips. 

Timney died on September 5, 1863, by which time  Lee's invasion of the North had been turned back at Gettysburg (July 1-3), Vicksburg had fallen (July 4), the Mississippi River was in Federal control and the South was on the defensive.  Perhaps events during the months leading up to the Confederacy's final defeat in 1865 are part of the reason why it took 3-1/2 years for the final distribution  which took place in 1867.

Estate of
Timney P. Phillips

J.D. Phillips
     Admr

Final Settlement

Recorded Book 11 Page 353
     C.A. Stanton
          Judge of Probate

Filed in Office   Sinclair[?]
Feb 18th 1867

Set for 2nd Monday
April 1867--

C A Stanton
     Judge
R F Ligon

J D Phillips Admr of Timney
P. Phillips dec'd. in account
current for final Settlement

Admr charges himself as
follows----                       Dr[?]

To Amt of Sale of personal property
on the 15th day of December 1863
and which was in Confederate
Money-------------------     $12175.71

To amt of sale of Real estate
in the                                     $120.00
                                            12295.71

Admr ask to be Credited as following
                                                   Cr
By amt paid  R A Johnston {?]nd  1   394.68
 "     "       "    W D Hall                  2     47.60 
 "     "       "     T H Phillips             3     25.00
 "     "       "    W C Martin              4       6.75
 "     "       "    Henderson & Baith  5       5.00
 "     "       "    J W Webb & Co       6      23.20
 "     "       "    Taxes 1863               7      25.25
 "     "       "    R A Johnston           8     185.60
 "     "       "    R A Johnston           9       80.00                
 "     "       "    R A Johnston          10    200.00
 "     "       "    W H Hodnett          11    183.00
 "     "       "    Court Costs            12      54.00
 "     "       "    Attorneys fees        13      30.00

By amt of Confederate Money on hand 4015.63

[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.]

                             Amt brt forward
By amt paid A Lockwood Guard
=ian for Elizabeth A Lockwood as per recpt $1500.

By amt paid James O A Adams as
     per receipt on file            --------------     $1950

By amt paid Isabella Varner 
     as per receipt on file       --------------     $1950

By amt paid L B Phillips
     as per receipt on file       --------------     $1500


The State of Alabama          }
   Macon County                  } Personally appeared before C.A. Stanton
Judge of he probate Court J D Phillips Admr of Timney Phillips dec'd who being
duly sworn says that the foregoing account for final Settlement is just
true and Correct and that the heirs at law are, Thos H Phillips and 
your petitioner who reside in Macon Co Ala, W.R Phillips and L.B. Phillips who
reside in Geo, Josiah Phillips in Texas, Mary E Lane wife of 
Alexander Land in Barbour Co Ala, Martha Adams wife of  James O.
Adams in Pike Co Ala all of whom are of full age Elizabeth
Lockwood who resides               County Ala, also the children
of Thadeus Phillips dec'd, to wit, Elizabeth, Eugenie, Columbiana
and John H Philips who are minors and live in Georgia--
Sworn to & subscribed before me   }
22 January 1867  ------                      }       J.D. Phillips
   C A Stanton Judge of Probate


If I'm reading this correctly everyone received Confederate money which was worthless.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Timney P. Watts (1805 - 1863) - Probate Records, Part 14, The Second Commission

We've already looked at the November 1863 documents arising from the first Commission appointed by the Probate Court to determine whether some of the estate's property needed to be sold. Although it seemed clear that it did apparently nothing was settled because in 1866 another Commission was created. This time the Commissioners were R.T. Davis and John L. Carmichael and the witnesses to be examined were former Commissioner Wesley F. Hodnett and Henry Stanton who lived next to the property in question.

The interrogatories look pretty much the same (although the order is different and only eight acres are involved this time) which isn't surprising because they were written by one of the original lawyers, R.F. Ligon.

J.D. Phillips                        }         Probate Court
  Administrator of               }         Macon County
     Timney P. Phillips Est.  }
               v.                          }     Interrogatories to
 Heirs at Law.                     }     be propounded to
Wesley F. Hodnett and Henry Stanton
material witnesses for the Plaintiff in this
cause.

1st Intr.   Do you know the parties?

2nd Intr.  Do you know the following described
               land situated in Macon County to wit:
               Eight (8) acres off the East end of the South
               half (1/2) of section eighteen (18) Township
               fifteen (15) Range Twenty four (24) adjoining
               Dr. Hodnett and Henry Stanton?

3rd Intr. Do you know of the indebtedness of said
              Estate?

4th Intr. State if it is necessary to sell lands of
              said Estate to pay the debts.

                                                        R.F. Ligon
                                                        Atty. for Administrator

In my transcription of the pages below I've decided to only give the answers of the witnesses because I've hit the wall on this matter (and the handwriting is particularly hard to read).

Deposition of WH Stanton:

1st Int.    Do you know the parties. Ans. I do

2nd Int Do you know the following described land [...] Ans. 2nd I do

3rd Int  Do you know of the indebtedness of 

said Estate

     Ans. 3rd I do not 

4th Intr. State if it is necessary to sell lands
of said Estate to pay the debts
                                  Ans 4th Not knowing if any
debts I can't say.
                                     WH Stanton
25th day of Oct 1866 at WH Stanton store in the County of  Macon

[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.]

Deposition of W F Hodnett:

1st Int.    Do you know the parties.

Ans. I do

2nd Int Do you know the following

described land [...]?

Ans. I know the land referred to

3rd Int  Do you know of the indebtedness of 

said Estate [...]?

     Ans. I know of some indebtedness

          of said Estate which cannot be

          paid without selling the lands 

          above described.

4th State if it is necessary to sell lands

of said Estate to pay the debts?
 Ans. I consider it necessary as stated 
     in the last answer.
                                     WF Hodnett
25th day of Oct 1866 at WH Stanton store in the County of  Macon

The sale of these eight acres appears to have been the final obstacle to settling my great great great grandmother Timney P. Watts Warren Phillips' estate. Next week we'll see who got what.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: William R. Phillips (1818-1890), Merchant - After the Pardon 1865 - 1890

Although the Civil War ruined many Southern fortunes (especially those based on land, slaves and cotton), because his business interests were commercial William R. Phillips proved more resilient than most former Confederates. In fact, according to his entry in the 1870 U.S. Census, five years after his pardon application he was back in Atlanta and richer than before the war.*

[Year: 1870; Census Place: Atlanta Ward 1, Fulton, Georgia. 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.]

Ten years later the only Phillips child still living at home in Atlanta is their 16-year-old daughter N.B. William R. is still calling himself a Merchant and there's are three "Roomers" in the household: Mr W. Baker, a 35-year-old merchant*** and two clerks who work in the store. There are still three servants living in the household.

[Year: 1880; Census Place: Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia; Roll: 148; Family History Film: 1254148; Page: 477B; Enumeration District: 103; Image: 0596. 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. 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.]

The above information doesn't tell us much about William R.'s financial status in 1880 but we can learn more about him from the local newspapers. For instance in 1883 he was a candidate for Bibb County Commissioner.

[Date: Wednesday, May 23, 1883   Paper: Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia)   Issue: 10375  Page: 4  

This entire product and/or portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004.

ource: GenealogyBank.com]

And he was duly elected as a Democrat and continued to be returned to the office of County Commissioner throughout the 1880s.

[Date: Friday, June 15, 1883   Paper: Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia)   Issue: 10395   Page: 4  

This entire product and/or portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004.

Source: GenealogyBank.com]

His name appears several time in connection with business affairs but there's this 1890 court calendar listing William R. as the plaintiff in a lawsuit, although I don't know what the issue was nor have I been able to  discover what the result was.

[Date: Thursday, February 27, 1890   Paper: Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia)   Page: 5  

This entire product and/or portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004.

Source: GenealogyBank.com]

William R. Phillips died on December 22, 1890. His will was filed in Fulton County on February 2, 1891 and recorded on March 5th. I'm going to include only the first two paragraphs here, but in the first item I think we can get a sense of what he was like.

[Wills, Book B, 1882-1894. Ancestry.com. Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Georgia County, District and Probate Courts.]

Will of William R. Phillips

Georgia - Fulton County
          In the name of God, Amen.
I, Wm. R. Phillips of the County and State
aforesaid do make and declare the follow-
ing as my last will and testament,
hereby revoking all others.

Item 1st. My wife know what debts I consider Just.
There I wish her to pay out of my estate
not paying any other claims against me
if she can help it.



*The worth of his "personal property" was unchanged, but his real estate had more than doubled in value. 1870 was the last census to ask about property.
**In the previous census her name was written as Ninnie B. (not to be confused with older sister Nanny T. (Nancy Timney).
***Perhaps a business partners? This is the first census that asked the relationship of all household members to the head.






© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Timney P. Watts (1805 - 1863) - Probate Records, Part 13, Where Was I?

Sidetracked by the discovery of more Phillips heirs (male and female) in a deposition, it's been over a month since I've continued the story told in the probate records for Timney P. Watts Warren Phillips, a paternal third great grandmother who died in Alabama in 1863.

Since the file for Timney's estate contains a jumble of papers that are not in chronological order I decided to see what other records are available. The probate minutes seemed like a good place to start. Fortunately there's an index which should make it easier.

[Minutes Vol 9 1861-1864. 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.]

Looking through the pages referenced in the above extract, some of the entries listed above deal with matters I've already covered like the naming of her stepson Thomas H. Phillips as administrator, the inventory taken of her estate and the sale of her slaves and perishable property. The entry regarding Commission's report and the depositions we looked at earlier is to be found on pages 500-501.

John Phillips                                          Regular Term
   Sell Land                                            November 9th 1863

This day having been appointed more than Forty
days Since by the Judge of this Court for the hearing
of the petition or application, now comes the said
J D Phillips & T H Phillips and moves the Court for an
order of Sale in accordance with Said petition of the 
following described lands situated in Macon County
to wit the South half of the North West quarter of Sect
-ion Eighteen (18) Township Fifteen (15) Range twen
-ty four (24) and Eighty acres of the West half of the
South half of the Said Section Eighteen (18) being
the Dower Interest of Timney Phillips, upon the
ground that the Same Cannot be equitably divi
-ded without a sale of the Same and Sampson Lanier
who was heretofore appointed Guardian ad litem
to protect the Interest of The minor heirs of Said Estate,
comes into Court and Cxxxtying said application

[Minutes Vol 9 1861-1864. 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.]

and it appearing that notice of the time and place
Set for the hearing of the Said petition has been given
to all parties in interest in pursuance of Law, and
as directed by the order of this Court made & entered
in the premises on the 12th day of October 1863, and
it now being proved to the Satisfaction of the Court by
the testimony of A Lockwood & William H Stanton
witness in this behalf & whose testimony has been
taken upon direct & Cross interrogatories by deposi
-tions as in chancery cases & filed of record in this pro
-ceeding, that the Said Land Cannot be equitably
divided among all the parties in Interest, & that
it would be to the Interest of all Said parties to Sell
the Same for the purpose of division & partition,
It is therefore ordered, adjudged & decreed that
the Said application be granted, and that
Said Real Estate in the petition be described,
be Sold for the purpose of partition & division am
-ong the parties interested therein & to effect Such
Sale and division, It is ordered that John L
Carmichael, W H Stanton, W G Crawford, A
M Bryde and M Peters who are deemed by
the Court Suitable persons, be appointed Comm
-issioners to Sell Said real estate, and partition
to the parties interest their respective amounts
arising from Said Sale, after after having ad
-vertised Said real Estate for at least thirty days
notice of the time place & terms of Sale, toge
-ther with a description of Said land in the South
South Western Baptist a newspaper published in
Said County, in front of the Court House door
for Cash, It is further ordered that Said Com
-missioners be directed to make a return to this Court
in writing and under Oath of their proceedings in
this behalf within Sixty days after Said Sale,
It is further ordered that Said Commissioners
do retain the proceeds of Said Sale until Said Sale
Shall be confirmed, & until further order of 
Court,

Although it may look as if there should be more of the order above, that's all they wrote. The next entry signals the beginning of a later court date and a different probate case.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Timney P. Watts (1805 - 1863) - Probate Records, Part 12, Two More Phillips Daughters

Last week I dealt with the Phillips men whose names were discovered through my research into the probate records of my great great great grandmother Timney P. Watts Warren Phillips. Now I'm turning to what the various records can tell us about the two women whose existence was uncovered at the same time:

[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.]

Mary Emily Phillips (1826-1907)*, whose mother Nancy Ann Pennington Phillips died the year she was born, married Dr. Alexander Lane (1818-1887) in Macon County on October 12, 1843. By the 1850 U.S. Census the Lane household comprised Mary E., her husband, their three children and a Georgia farmer no doubt hired to run the farm while Dr. Lane practiced medicine.

[Year: 1850; Census Place: District 21, Macon, Alabama; Roll: M432_9; Page: 284B; Image: 191. 

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.]

The ink on this page is badly faded and even inverting the colors didn't help me decipher the value of the real estate he owned--perhaps you can do better.

Although I wasn't able to locate Dr. Lane's name in the 1850 Federal Census - Slave Schedules I did find him listed in the 1855 Alabama State Census as the owner of 26 enslaved persons.

[County : Macon. Ancestry.com. Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 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.]

The 1860 federal enumeration shows that the Lane family has added their fourth and last child and according to the Slave Schedules the number of enslaved persons doubled in the past five years.

[Year: 1860; Census Place: Southern Division, Macon, Alabama; Roll: M653_14; Page: 724; Image: 243; Family History Library Film: 803014. 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.]

[Township : Southern Division. Ancestry.com. 1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 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.]

Ten years later Mary Emily, her husband and their youngest child Richard Q. were living in Tanyard in Pike County, Alabama, with a freedwoman Violet Malone keeping house for them. Despite the effects of the Civil War, the Dr. Lane is still a rich man-- worth $40,000.

[Year: 1870; Census Place: Tanyard, Pike, 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.]

By the 1880 U.S. Census the Lanes had moved east to Dawson, Terrell County, Georgia. Their son Richard and his young family are living with them. Dr. Lane's profession is listed as "Grocer" in this census.

[Year: 1880; Census Place: Dawson, Terrell, Georgia; Roll: 166; Family History Film: 1254166; Page: 156B; Enumeration District: 077; Image: 0937. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  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.]

Seven years later Mary Emily was widowed when Dr. Lane died on March 28, 1887; with the loss of the 1890 census, the next record we have for her is in the 1900 U.S. Census when she was living in the household of her son Richard and his family, this time back in Alabama in Hartselle, Morgan County.

[Year: 1900; Census Place: Hartselle, Morgan, Alabama; Roll: 35; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 0136; FHL microfilm: 1240035. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.:

National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.]

The 1907 Birmingham Alabama City Directory listed her as a resident** and that's where Mary Elizabeth Phillips Lane died on May 18th of that year. She and Alexander are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Birmingham. All of their known children survived them and left descendants.

[Birmingham, Alabama, City Directory, 1907. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

Original data: Original sources vary according to directory. ]

The other previously unknown Phillips daughter Martha Norman Phillips (1833-1916) was Timney's third child with John P. Phillips***; she married South Carolina native James O.A. Adams (1826-1900) on November 15, 1849, in Macon County.

A year later the 1850 U.S. Census enumeration listed only Martha and her husband who was described as a farmer with no real estate assets although the Slave Schedule lists him as the owner of a 22-year old enslaved woman and her 4-year old son.

The 1855 Alabama State Census also lists only the couple but without slaves.

[County : Macon. Ancestry.com. Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 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 1860 U.S. Census the Macon County enumeration of the Adams household included 10-year old Willis (born in Florida) and I have no idea who she could be (nor is there any other mention of this person). As we can see James O.A. has become a person of substance--perhaps due to his wife's inheritance after her father's death in 1852.

[Year: 1860; Census Place: Southern Division, Macon, Alabama; Roll: M653_14; Page: 767; Image: 286; Family History Library Film: 803014. 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.]

According to the 1870 U.S. Census Martha's husband had become a successful businessman in Bughall in Bullock County and her widowed sister Lucinda Isabelle P Phillips Varner (1837-1904) and her two daughters Viola and Martha Mary were living with them.

[Year: 1870; Census Place: Bughall, Bullock, 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.]

A decade later Martha**** and J.O.A. had returned to Macon County where he was described in the 1900 U.S. Census as a "Merchant." He died on November 20, 1900, and was buried in the Tuskegee City Cemetery.

[Year: 1880; Census Place: Tuskegee, Macon, Alabama; Roll: 21; Family History Film: 1254021; Page: 406D; Enumeration District: 118; Image: 0315. 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  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.]

Martha survived her husband by 16 years and by 1910 she was living in Macon with Lucinda's oldest daughter Viola Varner (1857-1941) who had married Francis Joseph DeBardeleben in 1875. Viola was listed as the head of the household because her husband was no longer living with her.*****

[Year: 1910; Census Place: Precinct 1, Macon, Alabama; Roll: T624_23; Page: 19B; Enumeration District: 0122; FHL microfilm: 1374036. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

When Martha made her will on November 25, 1916, she was a resident of Alabama's Chilton County. Her heirs included her niece Viola Varner DeBardeleben and the children of Viola's eldest daughter Phala Belle****** and her husband Evan M. Pinckard.

[Description : Estate Case Files, Abbott, Fannie - Armstrong, Laura, 1868-1919. 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.]

Martha Norman Phillips Adams died on Christmas Day, 1916 and was buried near James O.A. Adams in the Tuskegee City Cemetery.

The probate court estimated her estate to be worth about $5,000.



*So according to Ancestry she's my step third great aunt.
**Another of her sons, Alexander Oscar Lane (1848-1916) is the attorney at the top of the list.
***Which makes her my third great aunt.
****This record shows that she never had any children.
*****I wasn't able to locate Francis Joseph DeBardeleben until 1920 when he was living in Seattle, Washington, where he remained for the rest of his life, outliving Viola by six years. In various census records he called himself either married or widowed. Viola's tombstone names her as his wife.
******Phala had unexpectedly died only four days before Martha signed her will.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: William R. Phillips (1818-1890), Merchant - Through 1865

William R. Phillips was the second oldest of John P. Phillips' children by his first wife, which makes him my "step 3rd great uncle" according to Ancestry.* He married Mary Smith Johnson (1829-1905) in 1843 and they (and their eventual 11 children) remained in Georgia when most of his relatives moved to Alabama three years later.

[Marriages (White), 1837-1851. 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.]

In the 1850 U.S. Census William R. and his family were living in Pike County, Georgia, among other merchants, several of whom were more established than he was. At this point he does not appear to have owned any enslaved persons according to the Slave Schedules.

[Year: 1850; Census Place: District 68, Pike, Georgia; Roll: M432_80; Page: 212A; Image: 435.

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.]

Ten years later this branch of the Phillips' clan was living in Griffin in Spalding County and it's clear his business was thriving. He's listed as the owner of 11 slaves on that year's Slave Schedules.

[Year: 1860; Census Place: District 1001, Spalding, Georgia; Roll: M653_136; Page: 194; Image: 196; Family History Library Film: 803136. 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.]

From Georgia newspapers we can see that he continued to look for ways to make money as this Second Annual Report of the President of the Macon and Brunswick Rail Road Co quoted in the Macon Telegraph on Friday, February 15, 1861.

[Source: GenealogyBank.com]

And undoubtedly that contract explains why William R., now a resident of East Macon in Bibb County, inserted this ad in several editions of the same newspaper around this time. 

[Source: GenealogyBank.com]

This quote from a series of articles published by the Macon Telegraph in 1907 gives us a further insight in at least part of the "merchandise" William R. offered for sale.

[Source: GenealogyBank.com]

On July 24, 1861, three days after the First Battle of Bull Run (known as Manassas in the South), William R. was one of the leading citizens who formed a Committee to gather money to send to aid the Confederate wounded.

[Source: GenealogyBank.com]

In 1864 William R had returned to Spalding County where his name is found on 1864 Census for Re-organizing the Georgia Militia as a free white male who wasn't currently serving in the Confederate military or state government.

[1864 Census for Re-Organizing the Georgia Militia. Ancestry.com. 1864 Census for Re-Organizing the Georgia Militia [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors. Original data: Cornell, Nancy J. 1864 Census for Re-Organizing the Georgia Militia. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2000.]

After the fall of Atlanta in July of 1864, William R. was engaged in conveying salt from the coast according to this ad in the Augusta Daily Constitutionalist on October 27th.

[Source: GenealogyBank.com]

In August of 1865 this comment appeared in the Macon Telegraph.

[Source: GenealogyBank.com]

Given his stated assets of over $20,000 in the 1860 U.S. Census, William R. was required to apply for a Presidential Pardon in order to retain his property (except for his former slaves).

After Lincoln's death, President Johnson proceeded to reconstruct the former Confederate States while Congress was not in session in 1865. He pardoned all who would take an oath of allegiance, but required leaders and men of wealth to obtain special Presidential pardons.

The papers relating to one of these pardon applications make interesting reading, so I think I'll take up William R. Phillips' case next week.

*He's one of my great great great grandmother Timney P. Watts Warren Phillips' heirs whose existence was unknown to me until recently. Because he was a successful antebellum businessman we can find out more about his life than the average Southerner so I decided to do some more research.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Timney P. Watts (1805 - 1863) - Probate Records, Part 11, Sorting Out the Male Heirs

You may recall in my last post that dealt with her probate records there was a list of heirs of Timney P. Watts Warren Phillips named in the depositions which included the names of eight individuals I didn't recognize: William R. (W.R.) Phillips, Josiah Phillips, Martha Adams, Mary Lane, and Elizabeth, Eugenia, Columbiana and John T. Phillips.

In my efforts to discover who these people were, I returned to the probate records for Timney's second husband, John P. Phillips (1792-1852) and found a list of his heirs filed by her attorneys* on July 15, 1852 in connection with her dower claims.

[Description : Probate Court Record, Vol 4, 1850-1853. 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.]

where your petitioner Sheweth the following persons are the heirs and
legatees of said Estate Thomas H Phillips William A Phillips Frederick Phillips
Josiah Phillips Thadeus Phillips Mary E Lane wife of Alexander Lane &
Martha A Adams wife of James Adams all of whom are over the age of
twenty years -- also Jeremiah D Phillips Lucinda I Phillips Littleberry B Phillips
John C Phillips and Elizabeth Lockwood who are under the age of twenty
one. Your petitioner prays that your Honor upon the hearing of this petition
order and decree that her dower in Said lands be advanced and 
allotted to her in accordance with the statute in such cases [?] and
provided.                                  Timney Phillips
                                                  per Clopton & Ligon her attys

From this record we can confirm that William R and Josiah Phillips have to be added to the family tree along with Martha Adams** and Mary Lane. And two more sons have been revealed who weren't included in the later list--Frederick and Thad[d]eus.

From a later probate record (February, 1856) we can learn more about Frederick (1820-1855).

[Description : Estate Papers, Petteway, Ignatius W to Phillips, Nancy. 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.]

The State of Alabama     {Personally appeared before me
   Macon County             {Linus Alexander Judge of Probate
when being duly  Thomas H Phillips admin of John Phillips dec'd
when being duly sworn says this [?] account for final
settlement is just & true and that the following persons are the heirs
at law & distributees[?] Timney P. Phillips widow of intestate
Thos. H Phillips admin, William R. Phillips, Mary P Josiah
Phillips, Thaddeus, Jeremiah D. Lucinda I Littleberry
B. & John C the last four of whom are minors and 
reside in Macon except Littleberry B. who lives in Geo.
and Mrs Mary Phillips & her child Nancy the widow
& only child of Frederick Phillips, and Elizabeth
Lockwood the only child of A. Lockwood & Elizabeth
Lockwood & that Affiant Swears that he had
not used for his own purposes any of the money ofor
said estate that he knows of-----

From the 1850 U.S. Census we can learn a bit more about Timney's stepson Frederick and his wife Mary.

[Year: 1850; Census Place: District 21, Macon, Alabama; Roll: M432_9; Page: 201A; Image: 25.

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.]

As you can see in 1850 the couple had two children, Matilda and Simeon. Simeon died at 13 months old and is buried in the Fort Family Cemetery in Macon County; we don't know any more of his older sister than this census record but she must have died sometime before the 1856 list of heirs. Although I've found no supporting documentation, some believe that Mrs Mary Phillips was Mary A. Peteet (1832-1857) who was married to Menafee Tatum*** at the time of her death and is also buried in Fort Cemetery. Since little Nancy Phillips isn't mentioned in any of the lists of heir for Timney in 1863 she had probably joined the rest of her family in the local cemetery.


The other hitherto undiscovered stepson Thaddeus (1823-1857) and his wife Mary H. Slaughter (1828-1884) had three children by the time of the 1850 U.S. Census.

[Year: 1850; Census Place: District 21, Macon, Alabama; Roll: M432_9; Page: 233A; Image: 85. 

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.]

Since Thaddeus pre-deceased his stepmother, Mary Elizabeth (1844-1915), Francis G. Eugene (1847-1916), his only son John T. (1848-1884) and his youngest surviving child Columbia Ann (1856-1920) inherited their father's share of Timney's estate.

Stepson Josiah Phillips (c1822-aft1880) married Martha Ann Chappell (1826-1894)**** and they were living in Cass County, Texas, by 1854.

William R. Phillips (1818-1890) remained in Georgia where he and his wife Mary Smith Johnson (1859-1905) had 11 children. One of their younger daughter was named Nancy Timney Phillips, honoring both his birth mother Nancy Ann Pennington (1798-1826) and stepmother Timney.

Next week I'll present what I've learned about Mary and Martha.


*Her attorneys,Clopton & Ligon, were the same ones who set out the interrogatories for the Commission referred to in my previous post.
**Martha Norman Phillips was one of Timney's daughters.
***

Ancestry.com. Alabama, Marriages, Deaths, Wills, Court, and Other Records, 1784-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.

Original data: Alabama Department of Archives and History, comp. Public information subject files—Card index of personal and corporate names and of subjects, ca. 1920–1960. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama.

****She is the granddaughter of John Chappell (c1763-1828) my fourth great grandfather, and therefore my first cousin, four times removed.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.