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.


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