Last Child of William Lee, Chesterfield, South Carolina

Joseph Daniel Lee Biography

Joseph “Joe” Daniel Lee was born on August 26, 1869 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.  He was the only child of William Lee and Hannah Thomas.  He grew up in the Westfield Creek Community of Chesterfield County  on Old Sneedsboro Road (Wright’s Folly) which is now know as Hinson Hill.  William Lee’s first wife Elizabeth Martha Thomas died sometime between 1860 and 1869.  The second wife, Hannah Thomas was Elizabeth Martha’s sister.  Hannah was  around 40 when she and William were married.  In 1860, she was living in Marlboro County with two of her brothers and her mother and other extended family.[1]

[1] Year: 1860; Census Place: Marlboro, South Carolina; Roll: M653_1223; Page: 150; Family History Library Film: 805223

Joe Lee’s brothers and sisters were grown when he was born and did not live with him in his childhood.

• James Crawford Lee was 32 years old, married and living on his own.
• John Thomas Lee was 31 years old, married and living on his own.
• Samuel William Lee was 29 and living on his own.
• Hannah Elizabeth Lee Parker was 26 years old, married and living with her husband.
• Henry Alexander Lee was 24 years old, married and living on his own. 
• Mary Lee Parker was 23 years old and was a Civil War Widow with two children.  Mary died in 1869.
• Ann Lee Wilkerson was 22 years old.  Ann married in 1869.
• Sarah Jane Brock was 21 years old.  Sara married in 1870.  
• Eliza Lee was 20 years old.  She left home and had two out of wedlock sons.  The first was born in 1874.
• Lottie Charlotte Lee White was 18 years.  Lottie married in 1871.

There is no evidence that Joseph’s mother Hannah had any other children except him. 

William Lee, Joseph Daniel’s father died on April 25, 1892.  By the time he died, he had sold all his land.  All that was left in his estate was two mules, two wagons, blacksmith tools and some other items.[1]   

[1] Chesterfield County, South Carolina Estate Records, Ca. 1865-1927; Author: South Carolina. Probate Court (Chesterfield County); Probate Place: Chesterfield, South Carolina.

• On April 22, 1890, he sold 93 7/8 acres to John Wallace Odom for $234[2]
• On April 15, 1891, he sold 11 ½ acres to John Wallace Odom for $28.75[3]
• On October 28, 1891, he sold 136 acres to Joseph Daniel Lee for $420 (proven by Levander Atkinson and recorded December 31, 1892)[4]
• On April 1, 1892, he sold 125 acres to Joseph Daniel Lee for $625.00 (proven by W.T. Brock on May 14, 1892 and recorded May 17, 1892)[5]

[1] Chesterfield County, South Carolina Estate Records, Ca. 1865-1927; Author: South Carolina. Probate Court (Chesterfield County); Probate Place: Chesterfield, South Carolina.

[2] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 10, page 382.

[3] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 46, page 396.

[4] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 11, Page 689.

[5] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 11, page 441. 

Joseph Daniel Lee had the following land transactions

• On May 16, 1892, assigned 125 acres of land to Bank of Cheraw, mortgage defaulted on and land sold to WL Stricklin for $270 at public auction on January 10^th, 1894 by H W Finlayson, Power of Attorney for Joseph Daniel Lee.[1]
• On November 1, 1892, Joseph Daniel Lee sold 136 acres to B C Lee (wife) for $800 (Proven by W J Hannah and Recorded on November 7, 1892.[2]
• On December 22, 1892, Joseph Daniel Lee and wife BC Lee sold 136 acres to John Wallace Odom (Proven by John H Long and TC Gaddy recorded on Janiary 1, 1918).[3]

[1] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 12, page 426.

[2] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 11, Page 549.

[3] Chesterfield County Register of Deeds, Book 46, Page 394.

When William Lee died, he did not leave a will (intestate). He was survived by the following children:

• James Crawford Lee who lived in the Diggs area of Rockingham, North Carolina. He died
  there in 1907.
• John Thomas Lee who lived in the Hinson Hill area. He died there in 1916.
• Samuel William Lee who lived in Blount, Alabama. He died there in 1915.
• Hannah Elizabeth Lee Parker who lived in the Hinson Hill area. She died there in 1901.
• Henry Alexander Lee who lived in the Hinson Hill area. He died there in 1917.
• Joseph Daniel Lee who lived in the Hinson Hill area. He moved to Arkansas and died in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1944.

He was predeceased by:

• Mary Lee Parker, widow of Badgerwood Boggan Parker who died during the Civil War.  She died in 1869 in Chesterfield. 
• Ann “Annie” Lee Wilkerson who lived in Marlboro/Dillon County.  She died before 1900. (after 1889)
• Eliza Lee Butler who lived in the Laurinburg, North Carolina area.  She died there in 1898.
• Lottie Charlotte Lee White who lived in Cheraw.  She died in 1891. 

William Lee was also survived by his second wife, Hannah Thomas Lee and the mother of Joseph Daniel Lee.   She died in 1893.

After the death of William Lee, Son John Thomas Lee filed for and was appointed to be the administrator of the estate in both Anson County, North Carolina and Chesterfield County, South Carolina  As such he filed suit against John Wallace Odom on May 23, 1893 who held the chattell mortgage of William Lee’s prized mules: Sam and Mollie. William Lee’s youngest son, Joseph Daniel Lee had mortgaged the mules and left town.  It was John Thomas Lee’s contention that John Wallace Odom (who had come into possession of the mules)  should have known that the mules did not belong to Joseph Daniel Lee but were to be part of William Lee’s estate. 

North Carolina

Anson County

In Superior Court

May Term 1893

John T Lee administrator of William Lee decsd Ptff

Vs John W Odom deft[1]

[1] North Carolina Estate Files, 1663-1979; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9PR4-WF2?cc=1911121&wc=Q6WR-ND5%3A183204401%2C183334401%2C187831501 at Family Search accessed August 25, 2024. This link was provided by Charles Purvis to Martha Rogers. 

The plaintiff complaining alleges:

1. That on Jany 1893, he was dully appointed said qualified administrator of William Lee by the Superior Court of Anson County, which was before the commencement of this action.
2. That at the time of the death of his ______ ______ William Lee Senior _____  _____ was the owner of the following personal property:  One dark bay horse mule and one bright bay mare mule, one set of black smith tools used one corn thresher, and was in possession of these items.
3. That the plaintiff at the commencement of this action was the owner and entitled to the receipt and possession of appraised personal property.
4. That before the commencement of this action the defendant unlawfully and wrongfully took and converted said personal property to his own use.
5. That plaintiff by said  taking and conversion was damaged to the sum one hundred and fifteen dollars as he is____ and _____.
6. That plaintiff before the commencement of this action demanded of the defendant the possession of said personal property, and defendant refused to give up and surrender the items.

Wherefore Plaintiff demands Judgement.

1. For the recovery of the possession of said property.
2. That is the owner of items.
3. For one hundred and fifteen of occurring damages
4. For costs of this action.
5. For ____ itself.

John D Thorn Atty

For Plaintiff

North Carolina

Anson County

Personally appeared before me the undersigned Justice of the Peace. John T Lee, the plaintiff in the foregoing complaint, who being duly sworn making oath that the facts thereof in the foregoing complaint are his own knowledge on him, used on him, and those stated on confirmation and belief he deciding for the heirs.

Sworn to and subscribed  before me on 18^th May 1893

            W E Pennington

            Justice of the Please

            John T Lee

Transcription:

Superior Court

North Carolina Anson County
John T Lee Admin of William Lee dec’d

Vs John W Odom, Deft

Answer

The Deft for answer to the complaint says

1. That it is true as alleged in Article 2nd that the pltff qualifies as Administrator of William Lee, but Deft has no knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief that Plff duly qualifies as such or that he had any right to said administration.
2. That Article Second of said complaint is untrue.
3. That Article Three of said complaint is untrue.
4. That Article Four thereof is untrue.
5. That Article Five thereof is untrue.

Further answering Deft alleges that he bought said property from Joseph D Lee a son of intestate of pltff and as said is entitled to a distributive share in Wm Lee’s estate and is entitled to same qual in value to the property herein sued for, and said property is not necessary to the purposes of administration of said estate.

The estate folder in Anson County provides various depositions which provide a lot of information on the relationship between the brothers and the life of William Lee before he died.  There are multiple depositions from the same person each a little different in the information they contain. 

Deposition of HD Tiller, Judge of Chesterfield Probate Court

First Affidavit:  HD Tiller sworn says John T Lee is the qualified administrator of William Lee Deceased

Interrogatory

1 do you whole any office in Chesterfield County if so what

(Ans) 1 Judge of Probate

(Inter 2) did you have any conversation with JD Lee

(ans 2) yes

(Inter 3) when

(ans) 3 in the month of December AD 1892

(Inter) 4 what was the conversation

Ans 4 JD Lee came in my office and asked me if John T Lee had applied for Letters of administration of the Estate of William Lee.  I told him that he had I asked him if there were going to be any objections to it or if he was going to object – don’t remember which he JD Lee said he did not think there was.  I then asked if there was any personal property belonging to the Estate of William Lee.  He JD Lee told me there was two mules and a wagon

I advised JD Lee to turn over everything in his possession to the administrator that belonged to the estate of William Lee

(ques 5) so that all you know about the estate of William Lee that is the personal property

(ans) yes HD Tiller

Second Affidavit:  HD Tiller – being duly sworn says – I am Judge of Probate for Chesterfield County.  I knew the late William Lee now deceased.  I knew Joseph D Lee but not intimately.  He was the son of William Lee now deceased.  I had a conversation in my office with Joseph D Lee about the estate of William Lee deceased it was in November or December last.  Among other things he told me on that occasion that there was a pair of mules on his father’s place belonging to the estate of William Lee.

H D Tiller

Third Affidavit:  H.D. Tlller-being sworn says:  I am Judge of Probate for Chesterfield.  I knew the late William Lee.  I knew his son Joseph D. Lee In November or December 1892  I had a conversation with him in my office relative to the personal property of Wm Lee deceased.  He told me that there were two mules belonging to the Estate.

H D Tiller

Deposition of W A Pegue, Notary Public

WA Pegue (sworn)

(ques 1) Did you prove a contract between JD Lee and William Lee deceased

(ans) yes I wrote the contract and approved it

(ques 2) are you a notary public

(ans) yes

(ques 3) on or about that date did you write the contract

(ans) in April or March 1891

(ques 4) What did the contract specify

Ans It gave to JD Lee the use of all the personal property of William Lee deceased and the use of his home place timber and mineral as long as he William Lee and JD Lees mother should live and then to the heirs.

(ques 5) what obligation was JD Lee to perform for the use of the property real and personal

Ans he was to take care of William Lee and his mother as long as they lived

Signed W A Pegues

Deposition of James Samuel Parker, son of Hannah Lee Parker and Samuel James Parker and grandson of William Lee and Elizabeth Martha Thomas

First Affidavit:  J S Parker sworn says

(Quest 1^st ) You went to J.D. Lee about what time to get the mules & wagon

(ans) first of August 1891

(quest 2) what conversation taken place between JD Lee and Wm Lee in your presence

(ans) I asked JD Lee if he would haul the Tress he said yes then turn to Wm Lee now deceased and said father can I have the mules and wagon his father said yes but said boys be careful and don’t strain my mules I don’t want them over loaded

Ques 3 did you have any conversation with JD Lee in December 1892 about buying a mule

Ans yes

Ques 4 what was that conversation

Ans I asked JD Lee if he would sell me a mule he advised me not to buy it – he said it belongs to his father estate he said if I bought him and kept the mule in this state John T Lee administrator would take him away from me I asked why would he take it away from me he said because it was his father’s mule he JD said if I would buy him and take him over into North Carolina I could keep him

Quest 5 is that all you know about the personal property of William Lee

Ans yes

Ques 6 do you know what went with the mules and wagon

Ans No don’t know what went with them

Signed JS Parker

Second Affidavit:  James S Parker, being duly sworn says – I know Joseph D Lee.  He is a half-brother of the Plaintiff John T Lee.  I knew William Lee now deceased.  William Lee is the father of Joseph D Lee.  I had a conversation with Joseph D Lee in December last about buying a mule.  One that my grandfather William Lee use to own.  He advised me not to buy the mule because the mule was part of his father’s estate and if I bought the mule and kept it in this State (SC) John T Lee, Administrator would take it away from me.  I went to buy the mule from Joe Lee.  It was in his possession.  I had seen the mule and knew it to be one of the mules on my Grandfather’s place when he died.  Grandfather at that time only had two mules on the place.  The mule was a horse mule, sorter of a blue color, named “Sam:.

J S Parker

Third Affidavit: James S Parker being duly sworn says:  William Lee deceased was my grandfather and Joseph D Lee my uncle.  About December 1892 I went to Joseph D Lee to buy one of the mules that were on Grandfather’s place when he died.  Joe advised me not to buy because it was part of his father’s estate and John T Lee Administrator would take it away from me if I kept it in this state.  He said that if I bought them I would have to take them out of this state.  There were two mules on grandfather’s place at the time of his death.  I knew them.  One of them was a sorrel mare mule named “Mollie”.  The other was a dark colored horse mule named “Sam”.  These were the only mules that grandfather owned when he died.  I went to buy the mule named “Sam.”

J S Parker

Deposition of William Tilman Brock, son of Hezekiah Brock and Sally Morris, Husband of Martha Parker, granddaughter of William Lee and Elizabeth Martha Thomas though daughter, Mary Lee Parker

First Affidavit:  W T Brock sworn says

(Ques) 1 did you often visit William Lee during his life time

Ans yes

Ques did you know him to have any personal property

Ans yes

Ques 3 what was it

Ans he had a pair of mules and 2 waggons and shop tools and sundry articles

Ques 4 how did you know that they were William Lee property

Ans he frequently asked how his mules were faring and talked of his property

Ques 5 where were the mules

Ans J D Lee had charge of them

Question 6 did not JD Lee try to hire you on or about the 1^st of December 1892 to swear that you saw him pay the money for the shop tools of William Lee deceased

(answer) yes he did he says I will give you enough Tobacco to last you 12 months if I would swear it

Ques 6 what time were the mules sold under a chattel mortgage in favor Tinsley & Co

Ans on the 15^th day of Nov 1892

Quest 7 who gave that mortgage to Tinsley & Co

Ans J D Lee

Ques 8 was the mortgage legal or illegal

Ans it was illegal

Ques 9 how do you know

Ans I know that the mules belonged to the Estate of William Lee for he often time told me so in his lifetime

Ques 10 do you know who bought the mules at the sale

Ans I bid them off for JD Lee at his request

Ques 11 do you know how JW Odom got in possession of the mules

Ans I do not

Signed W T Brock

Second Affidavit:

W T Brock. Being duly sworn says:  I knew Joe Lee and William Lee.  Joe Lee is William Lee’s son.  There were two mules on William Lee’s place when he died.  The mules had been on the place ten or twelve years.  I knew them well.  I know that William Lee swapped with a wagoner for the horse mule.  He bought the other mule from Mr Waddill of Cheraw.  One of them was a dark mouse colored horse mule called “Sam” – the other was a light bay mare mule called “Mollie” – There were no other mules on Mr William Lee’s place at the time of his death – There were some blacksmith tools on Mr William Lee’s place when he died.  Joe Lee asked me during the fall of 1892 how much Tobacco I (W T Brock) would take to swear that I saw him pay his father, William Lee, ten dollars for the blacksmith tools.  I told him that I could not do that.  I did not swear to that I didn’t see.

W T Brock

Third Affidavit:  W T Brock  being duly sworn says; I knew William Lee deceased and his son Joseph D Lee.  Mr. William Lee got the mule called “Sam” from a wagoner swapped for him.  He bought the mule from Mr. Wadill of Cheraw.  He owned one of the mules about fifteen years and the other one about twelve years prior to his death.  Joe asked me if  I would swear that I saw him give his father ten dollars for the blacksmith tools that he would give me enough tobacco to last me a year.  I told him that I would not swear to that I did not see.

W T Brock

Deposition of Easter Atkinson, daughter of William Burrell Atkinson and Martha Lee Atkinson, niece of William Lee through sister, Martha

First Affidavit:  Easter Atkinson sworn says

(1^st question) you often visited Wm Lee Deceased did you

Ans yes

Ques 2 did you ever hear him say anything about his stock and where were they were at – that is mules

Ans yes he frequently told me he was afraid they were suffering and they were at JD Lee Son rather in his charge because JD Lee was never there to attend to them for he is always gone Oftentimes helped Wm Lee carry water to the mules when J D Lee would be gone

(ques 3) how old are you

Ans I am 56 years old

Ques 4 is that all you know about the property of William Lee

Ans yes            Easter Atkinson x his mark

Second Affidavit:  Easter Atkinson being fully sworn says:  I knew William Lee and Joseph D Lee.  William Lee was Joe Lee’s father.  I knew said mules were on William Lee’s place.  There were two.  One of them was a dark mouse colored horse mule called “Sam” the other was a light Sorrell mare mule called “Mollie.”  Joe called them “fathers mules”. 

Witness:  Easter Atkinson her mark

Witness: GJ Redfearn.

Third Affidavit: Easter Atkinson being fully sworn says:  I knew the late William Lee in his lifetime.  He lived in Chesterfield County South Carolina.  I remember when he died.  There were two mules on his place at the time of his death.  One of them was a mouse-colored horse mule called “Sam” and the other was a bay mare mule called “Mollie:.

I knew Joseph D. Lee.  He was a son of William Lee deceased.  Joe worked the mules and called them his father’s mules. 

William Lee had owned the mules as much as ten years at least.

Easter Atkinson her mark.

Deposition of E J Kennedy, Attorney At Law

First Affidavit:  E J Kennedy sworn says

(question first) do you whole any office in Chesterfield County if so what

Answer I can’t say that I whole any office but suppose you desire to know my profession if so I am attorney at law in actual practice

Ques2 did you have any conversation with J D Lee

Ans yes I had a conversation with JD Lee in the month of December I think AD 1892 in regard to the personal property of Wm Lee Deceased

Ques what was the conversation

Ans I can’t remember all the conversation now I remember very distinctly that Joseph D Lee told me that there was two mules that belonged to his father estate at that time at the hold family homestead where his father had lived and died according to my best recollection he also told me there was a wagon but I am not to positive about the wagon but I am very positive about the 2 mules.

E J Kennedy

Sworn to before me the 22^nd day of April AD 1893

John T Hurst Trial Justice

Second Affidavit:  E J Kennedy, being duly sworn says – sometime in the latter part of 1892 near the Court House door in Chesterfield I had a conversation with Joseph D Lee in reference to what personal property there was belonging to his father, the estate of William Lee.  He told me that there were two mules on the place which belonged to the estate.  According to my best recollection he said also a wagon.  But at this last I couldn’t be perfectly positive.

EJ Kennedy

Third Affidavit:  EJ Kennedy being duly sworn says:  I knew William Lee in his lifetime.  I also know Joseph D Lee – about November or December 1892, near the Court House door at Chesterfield, I had a conversation with Joseph D Lee in regards to what personal property there was belonging to the estate of his father.  He told me that there were two mules on his father’s old place belonging to his estate. And according to any recollection he said also there were a wagon but of this I could not be perfectly positive.

E J Kennedy

Deposition of Albert Benton Parker son of Hannah Lee Parker and Samuel James Parker and grandson of William Lee and Elizabeth Martha Thomas

First Affidavit:  AB Parker, being sworn says – I know Joseph D Lee

He is my half Uncle.

William Lee was my Grandfather.  I knew the mules on Grandfather’s place at the time of his death.  One of them was a red mare mule called “Moll” she was club-footed in one of her fore feet.  The other mule was a dark horse mule named “Sam”.  I don’t know who the mules belonged to.  They were on Joe Lee’s place.  I suppose.

Joe, his father and my step grandmother lived on the place.  Grandfather died in May 1892, as well as I remember.  There were no other mules on the place at the time of his death.  I had a conversation with Joe Lee about these mules – on our way home from Mcfarlan, N.C. in November 1892.

Objection:

Defendants Attorney object to their conversations being brought out. 

Joe first said there was nothing there belonging to his father, then he walked on a few steps and said there was two old mules and some other trumpery.  Joe said he was going to sell out his property and leave.  He said the only property on the Place belonging to his father was them old mules and some other trumpery.  This was in answer to a question from me.

Cross Examined:

My mother is half sister to Joe Lee and a full sister to Mr John T Lee.  I don’t remember when my step grandmother died.  She was living with Joe Lee at Mcfarlan the last time I heard from her.  Joe was living on his own plantation where we had this conversation.  He moved to Mcfarlan about three weeks after that time.  Joe was reading a notice in Chesterfield Advertiser at the time.  He said that Jno T. Lee had applied for Letters of Administration on his father’s estate.  That if John Lee got those mules he would have to get them by law.

Sworn to before me  A B Parker

This 20^th November 1894

GJ Redfearn Commissioner

Deposition of William H Talley, Business Associate of Joseph Daniel Lee

First Affidavit:  William H Tally. Sworn says:

I knew Joseph D Lee and William Lee his father. I don’t know exactly when Mr William Lee died – it was sometime in the first of Spring of 1892 – I think.  I was acquainted with the place when he died.  I knew the mules that were in the place at the time of his death.  There were two.  One red mare mule called “Moll”. The other one was a dark horse mule named “Sam”.  It was a dark mouse colored mule.  I was tending to Joe Lee’s business about a year before the old man died.  I went there in February 1891 and worked with him until about the 1^st of July of that same year.  I had a conversation with Joe Lee.  About those mules during the time I worked there.

Objection:  Defendant’s Attorney objects to the bringing out of this conversation.

After I had been there awhile he left and gave me charge of all the business.

He told me if any mail came to him for me to get it and often it and if it was of any Importance to send it to him.  That he would write to me and tell me where he was at.  I got a letter from Mr Weiters of Charleston.  I got a letter from Joe.  I wrote him a Postal Card in answer.  I kept the letter from Weiters until he came home.  Joe came home in about two weeks after I got this letter.  I gave him the letter.  When I gave him the letter and he looked at it. He said “By God I aint going to pay it.”  Before Joe came home I went to see Mr. John T. Lee.  I wrote a letter back to Charleston to ____ Norwood Lee, I intended this letter for Weiters, Joe sat down on wagon and commenced to talk about these mules. He said that he would pay it and trade the old mules, But the “old man would raise Hell about it if he did.”  Joe told me that he owed Mr. O.F. Weiters a debt.  He said that he “lowed to mortgage the old mules, get all he could out of them and let them go.  Because he was not going to stay in this country. That he was going to sell out and leave.   He said the mules belonged to his father and that was the reason he would not trade them off and get young ones.

This conversation was had with Joe early in February 1891 near his Commissary.

Cross Examined:

I am a colored man.  I live with Mr  Jno T Lee. I went there in February 1892.  I was living on Henry Lee’s place, an adjoining plantation, when I had this talk with Joe.  I had just walked over there.  I think it was on Saturday.  There was no one present but Joe and myself.  I went to see Joe about getting him to furnish me with Guano. 

He told me that he was going to mortgage the plantation.  He said that it was the old man’s place

G W Simmons

‘Sworn to before me

This 20^th November 1894

GJ Redfearn Commissioner. 

Joseph Daniel Lee left from South Carolina and went to Arkansas after the death of his mother.  One of the reasons he left may have been the debt he owed Otto Weiter, wholesale Grocer in Charleston, South Carolina.[1]  According to a newspaper article,  J D Lee was pardoned by the Arkansas governor in 1897 for trouble he got in Arkansas.[2]

[1]  Newspapers.Com. The Watchman and Southron, Sumter, South Carolina, Wednesday, Jan 17, 1894, page 1.

[2] Newspapers.com – Daily Arkansas Gazette – 1 Sep 1897 – Page 8.

In 1900, Joe and Curley Lee are found in the census in Ouachita, Arkansas.  He is a day laborer.  The couple reports to have been married in 1887 and to have had five children, four of whom are living.  Joe reports (or the census taker writes down erroneously) the birth dates of his parents as being Alabama and Mississippi.[1]

[1] Year: 1900; Census Place: Sayre, Ouachita, Arkansas; Roll: 70; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 0132; FHL microfilm: 1240070

Beede Curley Wallace most likely died in 1921 in Union County[1] which is next to Oauchita County where they were in 1900.[2] 

[1] Ancestry.Com. Arkansas Death Index, 1914-1950.

[2] arkansas map of counties – Search Images accessed January 5, 2024.

Joseph Daniel Lee died in Little Rock Arkansas in 1944, probably without ever returning to Chesterfield, South Carolina.[1]

[1] “United States, GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2011”, , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q534-Q5VF : Fri Mar 15 05:04:26 UTC 2024), Entry for Joseph Daniel Lee and William A Lee, 08 Nov 1944.

Joseph Daniel Lee was born on 26 August 1869 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina, United States and died on 6 Nov 1944 in Pulaski, Arkansas. He was the child of William Allen Lee and Hannah Thomas.

Joseph Daniel Lee married Beede Curley Wallace in 1887. Beede Curley Wallace was born in Jun 1870 in North Carolina and died on 19 Jun 1921 in Union, Arkansas.

Children of Joseph Daniel Lee and Beede Curley Wallace are:

1. Annie Belle Lee was born in May 1888 in Cheraw South, Chesterfield, South Carolina, USA and died on 5 March 1964 in Arkansas, United States of America.
2. William Allen Lee was born in May 1889 in Cheraw, South Carolina and died aft. 1944.
3. Minnie Ellen Lee was born on 14 August 1893 in Arkansas and died on 21 September 1979 in Homer, Claiborne, Louisiané
4. Benjamin Franklin (Frank) Lee Sr was born on 21 Sep 1898 in Camden, Arkansas and died on 15 May 1956 in Jefferson, Texas.

Conclusion

Joseph Daniel Lee is the youngest son of William Lee and the only child of William and Hannah Thomas Lee.   This study seeks to find more about Joseph through the following tools.

• Descendancy Research
• Ancestry ThruLine Research with Pro Tools
•  Chromosome Triangulation with DNA Painter
• Family Search Full Text research which disclosed Estate Court Case
• Newspapers.Com Research
• Genealogy Bank Obituary Research
• WikiTree research for possible ancestors

Joseph Lee grew up in the Westfield Creek area of Chesterfield, South Carolina near the North Carolina state line.  He married Beede Wallace from North Carolina.  He helped his father farm as a young adult.    William eventually sold Joseph all his land and had a contract with Joseph for care for William and Hannah.  From the Anson County William Lee estate case and from Hannah Thomas Lee’s coroner inquest, it is clear that Joseph and his brother John Thomas Lee had a contentious relationship.  The estate case also shows that William Lee was the uncle of Easter Atkinson through her testimony and the testimony of her son, Thomas “Smiley” Atkinson.  Her mother Martha Lee Atkinson is the sister of William Lee.  Joseph left South Carolina and moved to Arkansas around 1893 after the death of his father who died in 1892 and his mother who died in 1893.  In 1896, Joseph Daniel Lee was indicted for burglary and taking goods worth a few dollars from a store in Ouachita County, Arkansas.    The governor pardoned him in 1900 and he appears to be a law abiding citizen who worked as a contractor until he died in 1944 in  Little Rock, Arkansas.

DNA shared matches research shows relationships between the descendants of Joseph Daniel Lee and the other children of  William Lee.  It also shows a relationship with Reece and Rebecca Thomas providing evidence that Hannah Thomas, Lee, the second wife of William Lee was a sister to his first wife Martha Elizabeth Thomas Lee. There are also DNA shared matches for the Martha Lee Atkinson family and the descendants of Joseph Daniel Lee.  This provides evidence that Martha Lee Atkinson was the sister of William Lee.  DNA shared matches also shows a relationship between the descendants of James “Rich” Jimmy Lee of Darlington and the descendants of Jospeh Daniel Lee.    There is also a shared matches relationship to the Johnson/Purvis line.  Triangulation analysis with DNA Painter provides more evidence for the Johnson/Purvis line.

The Joseph Lee children and descendants settled in Harper Springs Arkansas, Little Rock Arkansas, Shreveport, Louisiana,  Haynesville, Louisiana, Montgomery Texas, California, and Thomson, Georgia.

They worked as blacksmiths, welders and cooks.  They worked in the oil industry serving as a pumper for Magnolia Petroleum Company and an office manager for Marathan Oil.   Several of the family became involved with the emerging mobile home industry, both selling and manufacturing.  Three great-grandsons lost their life in a plane crash after a business trip in which they were pursuing a business merger of two large mobile home manufacturers.  Their company was Brigadier, Industries of Thomson Georgia. 

Mention was made in obituaries of the Joseph Lee descendant’s love for singing and playing musical instruments and their musical talent. 

Joseph Lee’s descendants were not overly religious.  However, for the most part they were Baptist and Methodists including Missionary Baptist.

Many served in the public safety arena including military careers:

• Son William Allen Lee served in World War I.
• Son Benjamin Franklin Lee served in World War I
• Grandson Joseph Daniel Lee served in World War II.
• Grandson William Allen Lee Jr, served in the Korean War.
• Grandson Dalton Wade Fain served in World War II and the Korean War
• Grandson Robert Daniel Fain served from 1941 to 1952 in the US Airforce.
• Grandson Harry Joy Fain served in the US Airforce from 1941-to his death in 1962
• Grandson Benjamin Frank Lee, Jr served during World War II from 1942-1946
• Great Grandson Harry Michael Fain was a career Police Officer when he died in 2007.

DNA shared matches for Margie Lee Kinney also shows a relationship between the descendants of James “Rich” Jimmy Lee and the descendants of William Lee.  Triangulation with DNA painter, the gold standard, shows that these matches are not coming from the Lee line but instead from the Wiley Jones line of Lavinia Jones who married Samuel Franklin Lee, the son of James “Rich” Jimmy Lee.  Margie Lee Kinney shows shared matches relationship to the Johnson/Purvis line.  Triangulation with DNA Painter confirms this relationship showing common chromosome with other descendants of the William Lee line and with Margie with the Johnson/Purvis line.

The Big Y Test does not provide any matches for the William Lee descendant’s test taker.  It does provide a Haplogroup R-S7978 which goes back to 300 CE.

A Tender Mother and A Faithful Friend

Lottie Charlotte Lee’s Early Life

Lottie Charlotte Lee was born on November 7, 1849 according to her tomb stone[1].  She does not appear in the 1850 census with her family.  In the 1860 census she appears with her family.  Her family living in the home includes her father William Lee (51), her mother Martha Elizabeth (51), Brothers John Thomas (21), Samuel William (19), and sisters Ann (14), Sarah Jane (12), and Eliza (11).  Lottie would have been a young girl when her mother died and when the Civil War broke out.[2] 

[1] Find A Grave at  Lottie Charlotte Lee White (1849-1891) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed May 23, 2024.

[2] Year: 1860; Census Place: Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: M653_1217; Page: 101; Image: 205; Family History Library Film: 805217.

Lottie Charlotte Lee White and Samuel Wesley White

In February of 1863, William Lee purchased 991 ½ acres  on Westfield Creek for consideration of $2,500 from Gideon W Duvall who was a neighbor in 1850.  This land joined the land of John G White.  John G White was the father of Lottie’s future husband, Samuel Wesley White.[1] 

[1] Year: 1860; Census Place: Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: M653_1217; Page: 101; Image: 205; Family History Library Film: 805217.

Transcription:

G W Duvall to William Lee Deed[1]

The State of South Carolina

                To all persons to whom these presents shall concern

Now know ye that in consideration of the sum of Twenty five hundred dollars the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged the said Gideon W Duvall have granted bargained sold and released and by these presents to grant bargain and release unto to William Lee all that tract or parcel of land conveyed to George W McIver executor of last will and testament of Daniel Odom of the district and state aforesaid by Deed bearing date the sixteenth day of ___ in the year of our Lord One Thousand eight Hundred and Fifty six  and described in said deed as “all that tract or parcel of land lying on the west side of the Creek Beginning at a stake 3 x 11 near or opposite the old Hickory corner of Big Westfield’s Creek and running SW 75 degrees – 22 ch 50 degrees to a pine 3 x 11 through 31 chain 25 r to a pine 3 x 11 in John G Whites line, thence SW 63 degree with said 73 chain 50r to a stake 3 x 11 thence SE 13 degree 31 ch 50 4 to a stake near Sawney’s Branch South 29 ch 10r to a sassafras stake in Parker’s old field, thence SE 88 to a stump 3 x 11 in Benj Brock’s field thence NE 3 degree 12 chain 50 r to a pine by an Oak dead, thence SE 89 degree 9 ch 50 r to a Post Oak 3 x 0 dead and down thence SE “ to a corner stake at Brock’s fence, thence SE 30 degree 19 ch 50r to a piece on the bank of Westfields Creek there as SE 75 degree 37 ch 50r to a stake 3 x 0.  Squire Brock’s corner Odom’s line. Thence NE 24 degree forty ch 50 r to the head of the Mill Pond, thence and “high water marks to the run of the Creek.  Big Westfield’s Creek thence __”with its various courses to the beginning corner stake containing ___ ____”ninety one and one half acres more or left” together with all and singular rights members hereditaments and appurtenances to the said premises ___or in any wide incident or appertaining:  To have and to hold all the being the promises before mentioned unto the said William Lee his heirs and assignees and I the said Gideon W Duvall do hereby and myself my heirs  Executors administrator to warrant and forever defend all and singular the ___ unto the William Lee His heirs and assigns forever against the lawful and demand of all persons claiming by from or under the said Gideon W Duvall.  Witness my hand and seal this Eleventh day of February in the year of our Lord one Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty three and in the Eighty ____ year of the Independence of the State of South Carolina.

Liquid, sealed and delivered

In the presence of

WLJ Reid

EF Bryan

[1] Register of Deeds Burnt Book page 73 and 74.

The star is approximately where William Lee’s Westfield Creek land was located.

Current Map from Google[1]

Historical Map from Library of Congress[2]

[1] Westfield Creek – Google Maps accessed October 16, 2023.

[2][Chesterfield District, South Carolina | Library of Congress (loc.gov) accessed October 16, 2023.

Lottie’s husband Samuel Wesley White lived next door to the William Lee family. In the home in 1860 was father John J White (44), mother Catherine White White (44), David Frank White (18), Mary Jane White (16), Samuel Wesley White (12), Rachel White (10), Elizabeth White (4), and Henry White (1).

This land where the John G White family lived is currently owned by Phillips which borders land owned by Thalia Sings Sellers appears to be the land owned by John G White, father of Samuel Wesley White.[1][2]  John G White was also the father of Sidney David White. Sidney David White’s wife was Elizabeth Adams Crawford Herndon.  His son was David Franklin White who deeded the land to T J Johnson in 1913.

[1]Chesterfield Co, SC Map (wthgis.com)

[2] 2022 07 31 The White Family Reunion Buds Presentation.pdf, Online lookup 226840, Series 213192, Volume 0056, Page 00006, Item 1.

Samuel Wesley White’s parents were both White’s.  It is unknown if they are related.  They were married on May 23^rd, 1841.[1]  John G White’s occupation was Blacksmith in 1860. 

[1] Newspapers.com – Cheraw Gazette – 9 Jun 1841 – Page 3

Samuel Wesley White’s oldest brother was David Frank White. He enlisted in Company D , 21st Regiment South Carolina Infantry under Milford G Tarrh. On April 14, 1862.10 He died on June 26th 1862 at home. His mother Catherine filed for a settlement in 1863 from the Confederate Army.1

In 1841, John G White was involved in a lawsuit along with his brother Thrashly White.[1] 

[1] Newspapers.com – Cheraw Gazette – 15 Dec 1841 – Page 3

In 1855 John G White owed $18.62 to the South Carolina Secretary of State.  His brother Thrashly White owed $7.00.[1]

[1] South Carolina. Land Records 1853–1856, Public Records 1853–1856, Enslavement Records 1853–1856 • FamilySearch

Samuel Wesley White was 18 when he joined the Confederate forces in 1864.[1]  His second wife Mary Aremanta Lowry applied for a pension based on this service in March of 1921.

[1] Page 2 – US, Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Confederate – South Carolina, 1861-1865 – Fold3

Mary Jane White was Samuel Wesley White’s older sister.  She married Eli Brock around 1862 and in 1880 the family lived in the Westfield Creek community.[1]  

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1880; Census Place: Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: 1225; Family History Film: 1255225; Page: 287B; Enumeration District: 002.

Sister Rachel Brock white had two children.[1]  According to her daughter’s Hattie Belle White Teal’s death certificate their father was Jim White.[2]  It is not known what happened to sister Elizabeth after 1880.  Brother Henry is not found after the 1860 census.  Brother Sidney married Elizabeth Adams Crawford and he died in 1894 at the age of thirty-one.  He had three children.  His wife Elizabeth married several times and her son David was one who forced the sale of the “Sidney White Lands” which was the homeplace of Samuel Wesley White’s father John G White.  It was the result of a complaint against his mother.

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1880; Census Place: Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina.

[2] South Carolina Death Records, 1821-1955

Lottie Charlotte Lee White’s Married Life

In 1879, Wesley White was called as a witness in the Sam Lee Trial murder trial of Frank Presley.  There is no evidence that he testified though.[1] 

[1] From the South Carolina Archives Chesterfield County Court of General Session Indictments 1880 #651 Box 5

In the 1880 census Lottie Charlotte Lee White was twenty-eight years of age.  Her husband Samuel was thirty-four.  They had three children living in the house:  John (8 years of age), William (4 years of age) and Theodocia who was 10 months old.[1] 

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1880; Census Place: Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: 1225; Family History Film: 1255225; Page: 287A; Enumeration District: 002.

The couple had three more children before Lottie Charlotte Lee White passed away at the age of 41 in 1891.  Those children were:  Samuel Burton White born in 1882, Mary Jane White born in 1885, and Carrie Mae White born in 1888. 

When Lottie Charlotte Lee White died in 1891, she was buried at the Brock Cemetery.  This is the direction to the cemetery.   Directions: From Chesterfield take Highway 9 East to Zoar Road on the left. Turn left onto Zoar Road and travel approximately 4 miles to insection with Brocks Mill Road. Turn right onto Brocks Mill Road and travel approximately three miles to Brocks Mill Church. Go another .1 of a mile beyond Brocks Mill Baptist Church and turn right onto a dirt road. This cemetery is straight across where the dirt road intersects with S13-586.[1]

[1] Find a Grave at Lottie Charlotte Lee White (1849-1891) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed May 28, 2024.

When Lottie died in 1891, family members who were gone on before were:

• Mother Martha Elizabeth Thomas Lee who died around 1868
• Sister Mary Lee Parker who died around 1869’
• Sister Ann Lee Wilkerson who died in 1889

Those who survived Lottie included:

• Father William Lee and stepmother Hannah Thomas Lee.  William died in 1892 and Hannah died in 1893.
• Brother James Crawford Lee who died in 1907
• Brother John Thomas Lee who died in 1916
• Brother Samuel William Lee who died in 1915
• Sister Hannah Elizabeth Lee Parker who died in 1901
• Brother Henry Alexander Lee who died in 1912
• Sister Eliza Lee Butler who died in 1900

Lottie was also survived by her husband Samuel Wesley White  and her children. 

1. John Wesley White was nineteen and single when his mother died
2. William F White was fourteen when his mother died
3. Theodocia White was twelve when her mother died
4. Samuel Burton White was eleven when his mother died
5. Mary Jane White was six when her mother died
6. Carrie Mae White was three when her mother died

After Lottie’s death, Samuel Wesley White remarried a younger woman.  He married Mary Aremanta Lowry.  They had six children together:

• Pearce E White (single)
• Rosa A “Bessie” White (single)
• Eddie Coyt White married Katie Johnson
• Hardy White (single died at age 24 of auto accident)
• Nannie White (died in infancy)
• Clarence Albert White married Lola Jacobs

Samuel Wesley White died in 1920.  He was 74 years of age.  He died of broncho pneumonia and was suffering from senility.[1]  He was buried with Lottie Charlotte Lee White, his first wife at Brock Cemetery.[2] 

[1]Ancestry.Com.  North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976..

[2]Find A Grave at Samuel Wesley White (1846-1920) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed May 28, 2024.

Samuel Wesley White’s second wife Mary Aremanta Lowry lived until 1930.  She is buried at Old Saint Davids Episcopal Church Cemetery.[1] 

[1] Find A Grave at Mary Lowery White (1868-1930) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed May 28, 2024.

Descendants of Lottie Charlotte Lee and Samuel Wesley White

Conclusion:

Lottie Charlotte Lee was born soon after the 1850 census.  She was probably born in the Cash community of South Carolina.  However, her first memories were probably of the Westfield Creek Community where the family moved after her father William purchased 991 ½ acres in 1863.  She was well acquainted with her husband, Samuel Wesley White who was five years older and her next door neighbor on Sneedsboro Road (Wright’s Folly) and presently Hinson Hill Road.   Samuel Wesley White was a Confederate Veteran when the couple married.  They lived in Cheraw where they reared their family.  Lottie Charlotte Lee White died at the age of 41.  She had six surviving children.  Her widower Samuel lived twenty-eight years afterwards, remarried and had six more children with his second wife. Mary Arementa Lowry.

Two of Lottie and Samuel’s sons (Will and Johnny) lived near Chesterfield, South Carolina.  They were farmers. Will White later became a Works Progress Administration  foreman.  The third son, Samuel Burton White’s was a jeweler.  He was not settled in his residences or his companions.  He lived in Bladen County, North Carolina, Morven, North Carolina and had at least three different female relationships.  He was living in Cook Georgia when he died at McBee, South Carolina when he returned to Chesterfield County for a family reunion. 

Lottie’s three daughters followed their husbands away from the Chesterfield area.  Theodocia White Tuttle moved to Society Hill where her husband worked on the Railroad.  Mary Jane White Crowley also lived Society Hill.  Carrie Mae White Teal followed her husband and children to High Point, North Carolina where they worked in the furniture city.  Those who moved to the High Point, North Carolina area sometimes ventured to other nearby places such as Mount Airy, Winston Salem, Thomasville, Trinity, and Archdale.

Lottie Charlotte White’s descendants who lived in Chesterfield County mostly lived in Cheraw, Chesterfield, and Patrick. 

Other nearby North and South Carolina towns also attracted the White descendants were  McFarlan. Morven, Hamlet, Laurinburg, Rockingham, Wadesboro, Lumberton,  Charlotte, Pinehurst, Rock Hill and Bennettsville.  Some of the Whites made Beaufort, South Carolina, their home.  A few others called Charleston home.

Darlington County, South Carolina was home for many of the White descendants. Many worked in the lumber industry and lived in Hartsville, Mont Clare, Dovesville and Society HIll.  Other South Carolina places included Anderson, Fountain Inn, Pickens, Marion, Evergreen and Galivant’s Ferry.  Quite a few lived in Florence, South Carolina

Places where White descendants were influenced by the military and many lived in Cumberland and Lee Counties, near Fayetteville.

A few Whites moved to faraway places or more culturally diverse places such as New York City, Bradford, Pennsylvania, Champaign, Illinois, San Antonio, Texas, Myrtle Beach, Asheville, North Carolina, Jacksonville, Orange County and West Palm Beach, Florida, Maryland, Roanoke Virginia, Mohave, Arizona. Henderson, Nevada and San Diego, California.  Saint James and Ouachita Parish in Louisiana became the home for some of Lottie White’s descendants. The Langston tribe of the Lottie White clan moved to Georgia and called Fayette, Savannah and Fulton, Georgia their home. 

Samuel Wesley White was a farmer’s helper.  Many of his descendants who lived in Chesterfield were sharecropper farmers or farmer’s helpers. At least one owned their owned farm.  Others were cattlemen/ranchers.  Trucking was also a prevalent occupation with at least one owning a trucking company.  During the Depression, many of the descendants worked for the Works Progress Administration.  After the depression, many of the descendants went into military careers, or were plumbers, carpenters, painters, welder’s helpers.  Some worked in military businesses such as Gulfstream Aerospace or federal jobs such as the Post Office.  One individual was a dentist for the military.  Descendants worked in textiles such as Steele’s Mill, Cotton Mill, Entwistle’s Mill, and JP Stevens.   Other descendants worked in retail such as for Belk’s, Sears, Wannamaker Oil Company, and Allen Grocery Company.  Others worked in bookkeeping and finance management.  Construction type jobs included working for Becker Sand and Gravel, Fripp Development Company, golf course operations, landscaping, and being a water superintendent for a local government.  Two of the descendants were Baptist ministers.  One was a professional baseball player.   Many of the descendants who lived in the Darlington/Mont Clare area worked in the lumber industry.  Those who worked in High Point area worked mainly at Carolina Container or in the furniture industry. 

Samuel Wesley White was a Confederate Veteran.  He served in Company C of Brown’s Battalion.  His son (Pearce E White 1897-1964) by his second wife, Mary Lowry White served as a warrant officer in World War II.  All of Charlotte Lottie Lee White’s brothers (who were old enough) and father (who was really too old) served in the Confederate military.

Samuel and Lottie’s oldest grandson William Franklin White 1894-1968 served in Company I of the Cheraw Guards in World War I.

Descendants of Lottie Charlotte Lee White who served in World War II included Cecil Ernest White who was killed in action in the Pacific Theater. 

• Samuel Wesley “Sam” White (great grandson) 1920-1991 served in World War II as a warrant officer
• William H Guinn (great grandson) 1927-1980  served in World War II as a Corporal in England
• John Lee White (grandson) 1912-1953 – served in World War II in Coast Artillery Corp
• Cecil Ernest White  (great-grandson) 1924-1945 – US Army killed in action on Negros Island, Philippines on April 22, 1945
• David Franklin White (great-grandson) 1926-1984 – US Navy
• William Franklin White (great grandson) 1929-1955 US Navy
• Sidney Eugene White (grandson) 1916-1977 US Army
• James Ernest White (grandson) 1921-1993 US Navy
• Walter David Byrd (great grandson) 1919-1986) National Guard Career Soldier
• Harry Galdwin Byrd (great grandson) 1925-1985 US Army
• Jaynes Irvin Gandy (great-grandson) 1920-1976 National Guard
• Charles Gladwin White (grandson) 1922-1977 US Navy
• James Arthur Langston (great-grandson) 1922-1974 US Army
• Thomas Jefferson Langston (great grandson) 1927-2006 US Navy Career Soldier
• James Lonnie Driggers US  (great grandson)  1925-1987 US Army
• Clarence Wesley Teal  (grandson) 1924-2012 US Army
• Leroy Furman Teal (grandson) 1926-1992 US Army

Descendants of Lottie Charlotte Lee White who served in the Korean Conflict included:

• James White Sr. (great-great grandson) 1935-2008 US Airforce
• Charles Wellington Curry (great-great grandson) 1931-2005 US Navy – also a Vietnam Veteran
• James Perry Curry (great-great grandson)  1936-2005 Marine
• Eugene Curry (great-great grandson) 1937-2013, US Navy – Career Soldier
• Robert Curry (great-great grandson) 1932-2015 US Navy
• Marian Edward “Ed” Curry (great-great grandson) 1935-1986 US Airforce
• Henry Clyde Langston (great grandson) 1931-1987 US Navy
• Edward Wilson McGhee (great grandson) 1933-1991 US Army
• Thomas Teal, Jr. 1930-1987 (grandson) 1930-1987 US Army

Descendants of Lottie Charlotte Lee who served in the Vietnam era included:

• Michael Wayne White, Sr. (great-great grandson) 1951-2009 US Army
• Donald Rogers  (great-great grandson) 1950-2017 US Airforce
• Ronald Rogers (great-great grandson) 1950-2001 US Airforce
• James Franchant Wilson (great great  grandson) 1941-2010 US Navy
• Gerald Wesley “Jerry Wilson (great great grandson) 1947-2022 US Army
• Kenneth Wayne “Kenny” Pierce  (great great grandson) 1949-2005 US Army Career Soldier
• Wiley Glen Curry 1943-2015 (great grandson} SC Army National Guard
• George Maxton “Mack” Maloch (great great grandson) 1939-2008 US Army
• Arthur Allen Flowers (great great grandson) 1946-2010 US Army
• James Randolph “Randy” Segars (great great grandson) 1947-2012 US Marine Corp
• James Allen Langston (great great grandson) 1947-2007 US Airforce
• Steven Clyde Langston  (great great grandson) 1952-2011 US Army Veteran
• Timothy Craig Walton (great great grandson) 1951-2016 Corporal US Marine Corp
• Lloyd Cleveland Gainey (great grandson) 1947-2019 US Army TET Offensive

Other descendants of Lottie Charlotte Lee White who served in the military were:

• William David Bryant (great great grandson) 1942-2021 US Navy
• Raymond Cecil Graham (great great grandson) 1955-2022 US Navy
• Michael Darwin White 1948-2023 (great great grandson) 1948-2023 served as dentist in US Navy
• Jerry Eugene White (great grandson) 1954-2012 National Guard
• William Hugh Wood (great grandson) 1941-2016 Coast guard
• Curtis James Byrd (great grandson) 1916-1971 US Airforce
• Raymond Dee Langston (great great grandson) 1961-1985
• Herman Osma “Ozzie” Teal  (great grandson) 1935-2004 National Guard
• William Wallace  Gainey (great grandson) 1944-2015 US Airforce, Duke University ROTC

There is no record of what Lottie Charlotte Lee White died from.  She was only 41 when she passed away.  There are several records of family infant deaths.  Reasons documented include acute colitis, prematurity and broncho pneumonia, diphtheria, and sudden infant death.  At least one descendant, Alice White, passed away of chronic nephritis due to pregnancy.  There were several childhood deaths.  There was a four year old who was burned to death in an abandoned car and another who died of pesticide (parathion) poisoning.  One teenager died from drowning in a state hospital pool where she was institutionalized.  Several descendants died from car accidents.  The Hector Wellington Curry family lost their father and mother in separate incidents involving vehicles and the surviving orphaned children were raised in the Connie Maxwell orphanage.  There was a work accident involving a logging accident caused by a falling chainsaw.  There was also a domestic violence incident of murder-suicide.  Other causes of death include cancer, heart attacks, strokes and gangrene of the leg caused by chronic Brights disease.  Several descendant’s died during the COVID pandemic, most likely from having contracting the virus.

Shared Matches DNA analysis[1] shows a relationship between Margie Lee Kinney (granddaughter of John Thomas Lee),  the sibling of Lottie Charlotte Lee shows a relationship between Margie and five of the six children of Lottie Charlotte Lee and Samuel Wesley White.

Triangulation of Margie Lee Kinney’s DNA using DNA Painter shows a relationship between the five descendants of the couple (Samuel Wesley Lee and Lottie Charlotte Lee White) who have taken DNA tests at sites where the chromosome can be examined.  These children include:  John Wesley White, William F White, Theodocia White Tuttle , Samuel Burton White and Carrie Mae White Teal.

Other Lee siblings who have descendants who triangulate with Margie and  Lottie Charlotte Lee White. These children of William Lee and Martha Thomas are:  Hannah Elizabeth Lee Parker, Eliza Lee Butler, Sarah Jane Lee Brock, Ann Lee Wilkerson, Henry Alexander Lee,  and James Crawford Lee.  

Triangulation[2] of Margie Lee Kinney’s DNA shows a relationship to the descendants of Samuel Wesley White on both the maternal and paternal side.  This is most likely through Samuel’s father John G White who is hypothesized to be the brother of Thrashley White. This would be on Margie’s paternal side.  On the maternal side, Margie’s relationship would be between John G White’s mother Elizabeth Parsons.  Margie’s fourth great grandmother was Cynthia Parsons who appears to be related to Elizabeth Parsons.

Triangulation of Margie Lee Kinney’s DNA also shows a relationship on her maternal side to Wiley Morris and Charity Short’s descendants to the descendants of John G White and Catherine White.  My hypothesis at this time is that Wiley and Charity Short are related to Catherine White.  Catherine may be related to the Hosea White family.

[1] Shared Matches is a tool offered from Ancestry.

[2] Triangulation is a tool offered from DNA Painter using chromosome information from GEDMatch, FTDNA, 23 and Me and My Heritage.

Lottie Charlotte Lee White’s descendants lived mainly in South Carolina and North Carolina.  They were mainly Baptist and Methodist.  There were a few Catholics who settled in Louisiana and Georgia.  The church home of the descendants in the Chesterfield area included Brock’s Mill Baptist, Mount Olivet Baptist Church, and Lower Macedonia Baptist Church.  In the Hartsville area, many attended and were buried at Black Creek Baptist Church.  Some are buried at Darlington Memory Gardens and Florence Memory Gardens.  A lot of the military participants are buried in military cemeteries.  Many are buried at Chatham Memorial Park in Cheraw.  Many of the descendants from High Point are buried at Floral Memorial  Gardens in High Point, North Carolina.  In Rockingham, North Carolina many descendants are buried at Northam, Hillside and Richmond Memorial Parks.  Many are buried at Beaufort Memorial Park in South Carolina.  Others are buried at family cemeteries including Curry Cemetery, White Cemetery, Seago Cemetery, Carpenter Cemetery, and Hurst Cemetery.   

Lottie Charlotte Lee White and her husband rest in peace at the Old Brock’s Mill Cemetery.  The inscription on her tombstone reads “A tender mother and a faithful friend.”  Samuel Wesley White’s inscription reads “Gone But Not Forgotten.”

Abram Fox Coble and Maria Sophia Hagey Coble were survived by the following children: Dillie Coble was the seventh child of the couple.

• Abner Coble and wife Nancy Ingold
• William M Coble and wife Lucetta Gullette
• Joel George Coble and wife Polly Bishop
• Alfred Coble and wife Charlotte Lottie Allred
• Elias Coble and wife Adeline Long
• John Coble and wife Martha Jane Breedlove
• Delilah Ganeitta Coble‘s first husband was Daniel Breedlove who died in 1863.  She married Peter Kinney in 1864.  She was later married to John Henry and then to Matthew Woodell
• Letitia Coble’s husband Robert Hanner died in 1872.

Dillie Coble was eight years old in the 1850 census. Her father was already dead.

Delilah “Dillie” Coble first married Daniel William Breedlove on May 31 1860 in Randolph County, North Carolina.[1]   In the 1860 census she was living with Daniel’s family in Southern Guilford.

Daniel William was the son of William Breedlove and Margaret Chappell.  He resided in Guilford County, North Carolina and enlisted in Company C (Guilford Light Infantry), 45th North Carolina Infantry at Drewry’s Bluff, Virginia at the age of 21 on September 20, 1862, for the duration of the war.[2] Daniel was reported under arrest through December 1862. The reason he was arrested was not reported. He died in Eastern District Hospital in Richmond, Virginia on January 29, 1863 of pneumonia. He is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.[3]  

[1]Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868

[2] Find A Grave at Pvt Daniel W. Breedlove (1840-1863) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 19, 2024.

[3] Oakwood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia – Find a Grave Cemetery accessed February 19, 2024.

Peter Kinney married Dillie Coble on February 26, 1864,  It was his third and final marriage.  He was 59 years old.  Dillie was a 24 year-old widow.[1]  Her husband Daniel William Breedlove died on March 31, 1863 at Richmond, Virginia in the service of the Confederate army.  Dillie and Daniel William Breedlove had one daughter before he died.  Her name was Mary Elizabeth Breedlove Causey Deviney. She had no children. In the 1870 census, Dilly, Peter, Mary, William Henry, and Robert Florentine were living at Patterson’s Store in Alamance County.

[1] Ancestry.Com. North Carolina Marriage Collection, 1741-2004.

Peter Kinney and Dillie Coble had five children together. 

Those children were:

William Henry Kinney 1864-1930 married Eliza Ann McPherson 1863-1952

Robert Florentine Kinney 1867-1925 married Martha Emma Shue 1870-1925

Annie Jane Kinney 1871-1951 married Lindsey Evans 1860-1944

Jennie Selina Kinney (Twin) 1875-1951 married Wilson M Liner 1876-1920

Esther Delina Kinney 1875-1941 married James W Burke 1873-1942

In the 1880 census, Peter is reported to have been disabled by rheumatism.[1]  They lived in Liberty in Randolph County.  Peter Kinney died in 1884.  There is no documentation found about where he is buried.  Dilley Coble married John Henry in 1886 in Alamance County, North Carolina.[2]  In the 1900 census, the couple is living with her daughter Esther Kinney Burke in Graham in Alamance County. John Henry was a peddler of dry goods.[3]  John Henry died in 1903.[4] In 1910, Dillie Coble was living near her son Robert Kinney in Grant Township.[5]  The census appears to be Dillie Kinney but it is indexed Dillie Young.  Dillie Coble married her final husband Matthew Alvis Woodell on June 4, 1910.[6]  Sometime before she married Mr Woodell, Dillie made a memorial to her husbands, Daniel Breedlove, Peter Kinney, and John Henry.  This memorial was at Ursula Kinney York’s bedroom until her death.  It then was in Odelia Kinney Luck’s living room.  Presently it is at Martha Kinney Rogers den.  Dillie and Alvis lived on the old Burrow place which is where Martha and Darrell’s house is now.  His wife was Hannah Moore who had been married to William Milton Burrow.  Hannah Moore Burrow Woodell died on May 12, 1910.[7]   

[1] Ancestry.Com.1880 United States Federal Census.

[2]Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, Marriage Records, 1741-2011.

[3] Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, Marriage Records, 1741-2011

[4] Find A Grave at John Henry (1834-1903) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 19, 2024.

[5] Ancestry.Com. 1910 United States Federal Census.

[6] Ancestry.Com. North Carolina Marriage Collection, 1741-2004.

[7] Newspapers.com – The Courier – 12 May 1910 – Page 6.

This is the site of the Old Burrow Place.  Ursula York, the grand daughter who would have been around seven or eight in 1910 said she remembered when her grandmother Dillie lived here.  She said she remembered her walking to church.  She said that Dillie was always well dressed and a neat lady.  At one point, Hannah Moore Burrows owned this land.  On March 23, 1886, Joseph Spoon and wife Sarah Feree Spoon deeded Hannah Burrow 85 acres more or less.[1]  Joseph Spoon was the owner of Spoon Gold Mine.  On May 9, 1905, Alvis and Hannah Woodell sold Charley Parsons and wife Rachel Jane Stout Parsons 85 acres.[2]  On November 15, 1912, Richard Orlando Burrow and his wife Emma Leah Stout Burrow mortgaged 20 ¾ acres belonging to Charley Parsons and wife Rachel Jane Stout Parsons.  Emma and Rachel Jane were sisters.  The amount of the mortgage was $250.  On February 2, 1925, Charley Parsons and wife Rachel Jane Stout sold three tracts of land to Roy Smith.[3]  One of these joined the Kinney line.  On July 26, 1946, Roy Smith and his wife Lucille sold Vernon Burrow and wife Mabel Smith Burrow, four tracts of land two of them joining the Kinney line.[4]  On July 5, 1961, Vernon Burrow and his wife Mable sold two tracts of land to June and Margie Kinney.[5]  On September 14, 1963 sold two J U Kennedy and Agnes Kennedy two tracts totally five acres.[6] On June 10, 1964, J U Kennedy and wife Agnes sold two tracts totaling five acres to Johnny W and Pearline Hicks.[7] On December 10^th 1965, Johnny and Pearline Hicks sold to Roy Odell Allred two tracts totaling five acres.[8]  On October 22, 1970 Roy Odell Allred and Wife Linda Faye Allred sold two tracts totaling five acres to Joe Farlowe and his wife Margie.[9] On October 30^th 1975, Joe and Margie Farlowe sold two tracts totaling five acres to Maxton Darrell and Martha Rogers.[10] On  March 7, 1977, Pauline Parsons Berry and Warren Harden Parsons and wife Ruth Isabel Whitley Parsons signed a quit claim deed because of the will of Charley Benjamin Parsons of land to his son Charley Benjamin Parsons.[11]  He was willed land but it was not clear what land it was.[12]

[1] Randolph County Register of Deeds Book 62, page 190.

[2] Randolph County Register of Deeds Book 247, page 64. 

[3] Randolph County Register of Deeds Book 361, page 218.

[4] Randolph County Register of Deeds Book 361, page 220. 

[5] Randolph County Register of Deeds Book 759, page 497. 

[6] Randolph County Register of Deeds Book 850 page 556. 

[7] Randolph County Register of Deeds Book 871, page 550.

[8] Randolph County Register of Deeds Book 917, page 444.

[9] Randolph County Register of Deeds Book 1014, page 551.

[10] Randolph County Register of Deeds Book 1077, page 452.

[11] Randolph County Register of Deeds Book 1088, page 371. 

[12]  Record of Wills, 1773-1964, With Index; Author: North Carolina. County Court (Randolph County); Probate Place: Randolph, North Carolina.

Matthew Alvis Woodell passed away in August, 1913.  He is buried at Oaklawn Cemetery in Asheboro, North Carolina.[1] 

[1] Find A Grave at Matthew A Woodell (1849-1913) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 18, 2024.

Delilah Ganietta “Dillie” Coble Breedlove Kinney Henry Woodell passed away in October 1913 at the home of her daughter, Esther Burke, outliving four husbands.  She had six children and all six were alive when she died.[1]    

[1] Newspapers.com – The Alamance Gleaner – 30 Oct 1913 – Page 2.

Dillie Coble is buried at Oaklawn Cemetery beside her last husband Matthew Alvis Woodell.

Time is But A Shadow

Dedicated to the faith, love and sacrifices of the sturdy pioneers who have gone before

A lot of researchers have confused Abram Coble with Abram Fox Coble
BOTH born abt 1790-1798 Guilford Co., NC…
BOTH with wives named Mary born the same year
BOTH with a son named Alfred and a daughter named Letita
.
BOTH DIED IN GUILFORD CO., NC in 1847–about10 months apart-
ABRAM “FOX” COBLE DIED DEC 18 1847…
ABRAM COBLE DIED ABT FEB 4 1847….

Both are buried at Coble’s Lutheran Church[1]

[1] Find A Grave at Abram “Abraham” Coble (1798-1847) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 2, 2024.

Abram Fox Coble’s mother and father were Jacob Coble and Jane Jennie Welker.  He was born around 1798.[1] 

[1] Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, U.S., Historical Records Survey, Cemetery Inscription Card Index, 1700-2018.

Abram Fox Coble and his family were living in Guilford County in the 1830 census.  The two male children were most likely Abner and William.    His neighbors were Arnold, Garrett, Shatterly, Layton, Forbis, Lowe, Coble, Clapp, Staley and Phillippie.[1]

[1]Ancestry.Com. 1830; Census Place: Guilford, North Carolina; Series: M19; Roll: 121; Page: 125; Family History Library Film: 0018087.

Abram Fox Coble and his family were living in Guilford County in the 1840 census.  The six male children could have been his six sons who lived to adult hood:  Abner, William, Joel, Alfred, Elias, and John.  His neighbors were Staley, Coble, Smith, Shoe, Amick, Allred, Hagey and May.[1]

One of the sons could have been Jonathan Calvin Coble.  In the list of funerals Dr. George Welker preached in the Guilford Genealogist[2], one of them was for this child.  The funeral was April 18, 1845.  The child was ten years old so he would have been born in 1835.

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1840; Census Place: , Guilford, North Carolina; Roll: ; Page: .

[2] The Guilford Genealogist, Journal 19, page 4. 

Abram Fox Coble[1] was ordered by the Courts to work on the roads.  This was the way that roads were maintained in the early 19^th century.  He worked along side his neighbors from 1824 to 1836, working on the roads near the Alamance county line.

[1] It is difficult to tell which Abram (Abraham Coble) would have been ordered to work the roads or if both of them were.

Abram Fox Coble passed away on December 18, 1847.  He was buried at Coble’s Lutheran Church in Clay Township in Guilford County, not far from Randolph County and Alamance County lines.[1]

[1] Find A Grave at Abram Coble (1790-1847) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 3, 2023.

Coble’s Lutheran Church was organized in 1812 under the name of Zion by Reverend Jacob Sherer.  Pastor Sherer was the pastor of Low’s Lutheran Church in Guilford County and Richland Lutheran Church in Randolph County.[1] 

[1] The Guilford Genealogist, Published by The Guilford County Genealogical Society of NC, Volume 14, No 3, Spring 1987, Number 37, page 109.

The settlers in the area around Coble’s Lutheran Church in Guilford County came down from Pennsylvania on the Great Wagon Road.  They were Lutherans and Reformed Lutherans.  The land was donated by Valentine Clapp in 1816.  The Church was used by both the Lutherans and Reformed Lutherans.  It is not known which group Abram and his family belonged to.  The Reformed Lutherans were strict in their beliefs.  They did not believe in driving their wagons except to church on Sunday.  They did not believe in whisky or in dancing.  They also did not believe in slavery.  The Reverend George Welker who was the pastor at the nearby Brick Church was nearly hanged for his anti-slavery posture.[1] 

[1] Find A Grave at Rev George William Welker (1817-1894) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 3, 2024.

 One way to tell Abram Fox Coble from the other Abram Coble is the other Abram Coble produced brandy.  Our Abram may have been a Reform Lutheran as there is no evidence of him being involved in the whisky trade.[1] 

[1] Newspapers.com – The Greensboro Patriot – 1847-02-27 – Page 4 Abram Coble estate sale two horses and 600 gallons of brandy.

Both the Lutherans and the Reformed Lutherans used the Coble’s Lutheran Church building.  They had their church services on different Sundays. 

Coble’s Lutheran Church is a beautiful church.  “It stands today as an enduring witness of the gospel and to the faith, love and sacrifices of the sturdy pioneers who have gone before and who have given expression to their devotion….”[1]

[1] (1) Facebook.

Abram died without a will.  In the July Term of 1848, his wife Sophia petitioned  the Court for a  full year’s support and maintenance for herself and family out of the personal estate of her husband, Abram Fox Coble.[1]

[1]Abram Coble, “North Carolina Estate Files, 1663-1979” • FamilySearch.

The court appointed William Coble, Esquire along with David Greeson, Thomas Jones, and William Mebain to allot and lay off a sufficient quantity for the support and maintenance of herself and her family for one year. 

Transcription:  In obedience to an ordered issued at February Term 1848 of Guilford County we proceeded to lay off and set apart one years maintenance to Sophia Coble and family out of the crop and stock of Abram of Jacob (Sen), 1 spinning wheel & 1 Pair of cards one loom & harness one bed and furniture her choice all of the bacon and lard on hand one wash pot & cook do? & 1 oven & ? 1 wash tub all the knives & forks on hand and 1 set of plates 1 cow & 1 heiffer on hand head hog hen chickens & 2 small shoats all hay & straw unsold at or near the barn where dec(eased) resided all the corn on hand all the flax & cotton on hand all the? Or yarn on hand and twenty five dollars in money all the fruit & cabbage and beets & potatos all the ? and ? on hand & ? given under our hands & seals this 18^th March 1848.

WM Coble (Esq)                                                                               William M Mebane

                                                                                                                David Greeson

                                                                                                                Thomas Jones

                                                                                                                Samuel Coble, Administrator.

Transcription: State of North Carolina Guilford County Court of Pleas and ___ Sessions July Term 1848

Sophia Coble exparte

Petition for Year’s allowance.  This case coming on to be heard on this reading of the petition and the agreement of the Counsel it is declared by the Court.  That the Petitioner Sophia Coble is entitled to have a full year’s support and maintenance for herself & family out of the personal estate of her deceased husband.

It is therefore ordered by the Court that Will.Coble Esq with David Greeson Thomas Jones D William Mebane, three freeholders be appointed to go on the premises of the deceased, view the same & out of the stock, crop, provisions on hand to allot & lay off to the petitioner a full & sufficient quantity for the comfortable support and maintenance of herself and family for one year, & in case there be a deficiency of stock, crop on hand then to assess a sum of money sufficient to make up said deficiency to complete a whole year’s allowance and addition then to appropriate and lay off to the petitioner one bed and its necessary furniture and one wheel  one pair of cards to be the absolute property of the petitioner and petitioner and put her in possession of the same, and that they report to the next Term of this Court agreeably to an Act of assembly.

Maria Sophia Hagey 1804-1880

Maria Sophia Hagey was the daughter of Conrad Hagey and Magdalena Molly Clapp.   This 1824 deed divides her father’s land.[1]

[1] Guilford County Register of Deeds Book 19, Page 400.

This Indenture made this 29^th Day of July in the year of 1824.  Petitioner John Hagea Jacob Hagea Jacob Clapp & Barbary his wife Abram Coble Soffia Coble Jacob Neese Jenny Neese Joseph Clapp & Elizabeth Clapp of the county of Guilford State of North Carolina of the one part & Adam Hagea of the County & state of the other part witnesseth that the John Hagea Jacob Hagea George Lowe Sally Lowe Sarah Clapp Barbary Clapp Abram Coble Soffia Coble Jacob Neese Jinny Nees Joseph Clapp & Betsy Clapp legatee of the Estate of Conrad Hagea Deced for consideration of one hundred sixty three dollars and ____of said sum to us in hand paid by the sd Adam Hagea the receipt whereof the R John Hagea Jacob Hagea (George Lowe) Sally Lowe Jacob Clapp Barbary Clapp Abram Coble Soffia Coble Jacob Neese Jinny Neese Joseph Clapp Betsy Clapp doth hereby acknowledge hath given granted bargained sold __ and confirm to the sd Adam Hagea his heirs & assignees forever all & every part & parcel the undivided rights, titles & claims to two tracts of land belongin to the Estate of Conrad Hayes Deced situate in the County and State upon the waters of Alamance @ Burnee Creek the first beginning at a post oak in or near Mathias’s Swing line runs north one hundred and ten poles to a Spanish Oak Soslin and Jacob Suits line the west along his line & by his corner two hundred & nineteen poles to a grub then along Mathias Swing line to the beginning containing one hundred and fifty acres, the other in these premises conveyed & intended to be conveyed adjoining the above tract to  post oak Matthias Swing’s corner running West on said line one hundred and ten to a red oak to a line formerly known by the name of Soonson’s Prowels line then South on sd line eighty poles to a Hickory then Hence East one hundred ten poles to a stake in the Swing line thence on So line to the Beginning containing sixty acres of land both Tracts containing by estimation two hundred & ten acres of Land be the same more or less to the SP Adam Hagea his line and assignees forever Together free and clear from all encumbrances whatever except the Widow Hagea right of living on the Lands the portion of the said land coming to the Legatees of Lewis Hagea decsd amounting to one nineth piece of the land of the John Hagea Jacob Hagea (George Lowe) Sally Lowe Sarah Clapp Barbary Clapp Abram Coble Soffia Coble Jacob Neese Jinny Neese Joseph Clapp & Elizabeth Clapp do by these presents for them sellers their heirs executors, administrators & every of them forever warrants & defend this title of the above described land and premises except as above Excepted to the SD Adam Hagea.

His Heirs  assignees forever in testimony  whereof they have hereinto set their hands and officers their seals the state and date above.  Written, signed, delivered and sealed in the presents of Robert Mayhen and James Stafford.

Underlined the name of George Lowe & his wife Sally from Hagea to Lowe & acknowledge before us since the date above.

State of North Carolina

Guilford County August Term 1831

Robert Mayhen prove the execution of the within Deed in open Court ordered to be registered.

Teal Ina Hanner CCC

John Hagea his mark Seal

Jacob Hagea his mark Seal

Sally Hagea her mark Seal

Jacob Clapp his mark seal

Barbary Clapp her mark seal

Abram Coble his mark seal

Sophia her mark seal

Jacob Nees his mark seal

Joseph Clapp his mark seal

Elizabeth Clapp her mark seal

George Lowe his mark seal

In the 1850 census, the widow Mary Sophia Clapp is living with her children in the Southern Division of Guilford County.  The children are Abner (22), Joel (20), Elias (15), John (13), Delilah (8), and Letitia (6).[1]

[1] Ancestry.Com, Year: 1850; Census Place: Southern Division, Guilford, North Carolina; Roll: M432_632; Page: 364B; Image: .

In 1860, Mary Sophia is living with her youngest daughter Letitia in the southern division of Guilford County.[1]

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1860; Census Place: South Division, Guilford, North Carolina; Roll: ; Page: 45; Image: 94.

In 1870, a Sophia Coble is living with Alfred Dobson and Webster Dobson in southern Guilford County.  The relationship between the three is unknown.[1]   Most researchers assume that Sophia is buried with her husband Abram at Coble’s Lutheran Church Cemetery.

[1]Ancestry.Com. Year: 1870; Census Place: Clay, Guilford, North Carolina; Roll: M593_; Page: ; Image: .

Abram Fox Coble and Maria Sophia Hagey Coble were survived by the following children:

• Abner Coble and wife Nancy Ingold
• William M Coble and wife Lucetta Gullette
• Joel George Coble and wife Polly Bishop
• Alfred Coble and wife Charlotte Lottie Allred
• Elias Coble and wife Adeline Long
• John Coble and wife Martha Jane Breedlove
• Delilah Ganeitta Coble‘s first husband was Daniel Breedlove who died in 1863.  She married Peter Kinney in 1864.  She was later married to John Henry and then to Matthew Woodell
• Letitia Coble’s husband Robert Hanner died in 1872.

Some researchers say Gideon Ambrose Coble 1818-1879 was the son of Abram Fox Coble and Maria Sophia Hagey Coble.[1]  I do not believe this is true.  I believe his mother and father were Frederick and Sophia Coble because of the age of Gideon and the fact that in the 1860 census, there is a Sophia Coble living in his household who was born in 1795 and would be more of the age to be his mother.

[1] A Genealogy of the Descendants of the Coble’s who settled in North Carolina in the 1700’s by Margorie, Gore, 2021.

Abram Fox Coble Pedigree

Maria Sophia Hagee Pedigree

Abram Fox Coble’s Parents – Jacob Coble 1768-1857 & Jane Jennie (Christine) Welker 1770-1818

Abram Fox Coble’s mother and father were Jacob Coble  and Jane Jennie Welker.  Jennie Welker died in 1818 and Jacob married Barbara Shatterly in 1818.[1]  Jacob Coble died in 1847 and is buried at Coble Lutheran’s  Church.[2]  He left a will in which he named his children by Jane as Abram Coble, Abner Coble,  Margaret Coble Forbis, Sarah Coble Marshall,  Barbara Coble Suits, Hettie Coble Elliott.  The three youngest boys were his children with Barbara Shatterly.  They were: George, Elias, and Michael Coble.[3]  The will has been transcribed by Larry W. Cates  and appeared in The Guilford Genealogist, Volume 32, No 1, Spring 2005, Issue 108.

[1] Ancestry.Com. North Carolina Marriage Collection, 1741-2004.

[2] Find A Grave at Jacob Coble (1768-1847) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 20, 2024.

[3] Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998.

Jane Jennie Welker’s parents were George Welker and perhaps Eva Amick of Guilford County. 

Descendants of Abram Fox Coble share Ancestry DNA matches with the descendants of Abner Coble, Margaret Coble Forbis, Sarah Coble Marshall, Barbara Coble Soots (Suits).  Hettie Coble and Henry Elliott were married in 1838.  They had no known children.  There are no matches to the ½ brothers of Abram Coble (George, Elias, and Michael.  According to the publication Coble Family Records by the Alamance Historical Society, Elias and Michael never married. 

Abram Fox Coble’s Paternal Grand Parents – John George Coble 1733-1816 & Barbara Glass 1735-1816

According to the Coble Record’s Book, Abram Fox Coble’s  grandfather was John George Coble who married Barbara Glass. [1]  He was born May 10, 1733 in Germany.[2]  His parents were John Nicholas Kobel and Dorethea Ernestine Crafts.  Jacob’s first entry of land purchase in North Carolina in 1762.[3]  George Coble’s wife Barbara was also most likely born in Germany.  They were married around 1757.  Barbara’s parents were:  John Phillip Gleiss Glass & Anna Maria Coble?

[1] Coble family records (familysearch.org)  accessed February 20, 2024.

[2] Geneanet Community Trees Index/i. Paris, France: Geneanet.

[3] Coble family records (familysearch.org)  accessed February 20, 2024.

George Coble is a Revolutionary War Patriot.  He appears in the Revolutionary Army Accounts and was paid for services rendered.[1] 

[1] DAR Genealogical Research Databases accessed February 20, 2024.

George died in June 1816[1] and was buried at Cobles Lutheran Church in Julian, North Carolina.  The DAR has also placed a monument there. [2]  Records state that Barbara died in March 1816[3] as well and was buried with her husband at Cobles Lutheran.[4] 

[1] Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, U.S., Historical Records Survey, Cemetery Inscription Card Index, 1700-2018.

[2] Find A Grave at Johann “George” Coble (1733-1816) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 20, 2024.

[3]North Carolina, Historical Records Survey, Cemetery Inscription Card Index, 1700-2018

[4] Find A Grave at Maria Barbara Glass Coble (1735-1816) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 20, 2024.

Children mentioned in George Coble’s will in 1816 were:  sons:  Phillip, Paul, Jacob, Peter, Frederick, Nicholas, and daughter Mary Coble.[1] 

[1] North Carolina Probate Records, 1735-1970; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-V1SN-CC?cc=1867501&wc=32L2-829%3A169767301%2C170821601 accessed February 20, 2024.

Son Phillip had a will when he died in 1842.  Children mentioned in the will include George Coble, Barbara Wilson (Peter Wilson), Frederick Coble, John Coble, Conrad Coble, and Mary McClintock (John M).  Descendants of Phillip share Ancestry DNA with Descendants of Abram Fox Coble.[1]

[1] Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998.

 Paul (Powell) Coble left a will when he died in 1846.[1] Children mentioned in the will include William, George, Jacob, Peter, Miriam, Paul, David and Daniel.  Martha Rogers and Queen K share Ancestry DNA matches with descendants of Paul and his brothers Peter and Frederick:

[1] Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998.

Abram Fox Coble’s Maternal Grand Parents – George Welker 1750-1810 and Eva Barbara Amick 1767-1810

George Welker purchased property on Stinking Creek in February 1783.  He purchased land 150 acres of land from Benjamin Jones for 30 pounds.[1]  George Welker also got a land grant in Guilford County in 1779 for 150 acres on the waters of Stinking Creek.[2]  George Welker was married to the daughter of Nicholas Amick and Eva Margaretha Rausch.  Some researchers say her name was Eva but offer no proof. 

[1] The Guilford Genealogists, Vol 32, No. 2 Summer, 2005, Issue 109, “The “Other” Welkers of Brick Church (Reformed) Community” by Larry W  Cates

[2] North Carolina Land Grants. Microfilm publication, 770 rolls. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.

This is a list of George Welker’s Children from the Guilford Genealogist[1]  Descendants of Christina Welker (Jennie) share Ancestry DNA with descendants of Maria Peggy Welker Greeson.

[1] The Guilford Genealogist, Volume 109, page 49.

• George Welker 1770-1847 married Anna Maria ? and Molly Staley
• Christina Welker (Jennie) 1770-1775-unknown married Jacob Coble
• Anna Margaret Welker married David Coble died 1827
• Catherine Welker 1760-1830-1840 married Henry Coble (unknown-1826)
• Magdalena Welker 1775-80 – 1820-1830 married Adam Low
• Maria Peggy Welker 1770-80 – unknown married David Greeson 1770-80 – 1821
• Elizabeth Welker 1772-1845 married Henry Kimmery
• female Welker married John Randolph
• Barbara Welker 1785-1790 – unknown married Lewis Ludwig Clapp 1785-1850-1860
• Jacob Welker 1790/1800-1844 married Elizabeth

Coble Family

Abram Fox Coble’s grandparents were Johann Nicolas Kobel (Gobel) and Dorothea Emstine Krafts.  According to Wikitree,[1] Johann Nicolas died on February 22, 1765 at the age 0f 63 in Hoffenheim, Sinsheim, Baden, Germany.[2]  According to Wikitree, Dorothea died on January 31, 1781 at age 73 in Hoffenheim as well.[3] 

[1] Johann Nicholas (Kobel) Coble (1701-1765) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree.

[2]Johann Nicholas Kobel (1701-1765) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed December 20. 2023.   

[3] Anna Dorothea (Krafft) Coble (bef.1707-1781) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree.

The Coble family is a large family in Southern Guilford County and the surrounding counties of Randolph and Alamance.  This newspaper article details their history.[1]

[1] Newspapers.com – Everything – 1917-08-25 – Coble Reunion.

The Cobles are also well known for Coble Dairy Products.[1] 

[1]Newspapers.com – The Greensboro Record – 3 Apr 1948 – Page 2.

There is a YDNA project for Cobles (Kobel, Cobel).  One group goes back to Johann George Kobel who was born in 1655 in Nordingen Germany and died in Hoffenheim, Sinsheim, Germany.  This man had three sons who emigrated to America.  YDNA testing of male Cobles could prove whether the Cobles who came to North Carolina and Guilford County descended from John George Kobel or not.[1]

[1] Kobel-Coble – Overview | FamilyTreeDNA accessed February 20, 2024.

Marjorie Gore in her book A Genealogy of the Descendants of the Coble’s who settled in North Carolina in the 1700’s list the following Coble pioneers.

• Albecht Kobel
• Antonius “Anthony Coble” Kobel
• Hans George “George” Kobel
• John Jacob Coble
• John George Coble
• Johannes “John” Coble
• George Adam Coble
• Adam Coble
• Peter Coble
• Frank Coble
• Cornelius Coble
• Adam Coble
• William Jackson “Jack” Coble

This table shows how our family descends from the early North Carolina Coble pioneers.

According to family history, George Adam Coble came straight from Germany to North Carolina with his four children.  He settled in Guilford County where he owned considerable land.  Three of our family’s Coble lines go back to George Adam Coble while one goes back to John George Coble.   

Glass Family

John Phillip Gleiss Glass was born in Germany around 1712.  He arrived in Pennsylvania around 1730 and was in North Carolina around 1760.  He passed away in Guilford County in 1773 according to Wikitree.[1]  There was a will which was probated in 1774[2].  In it he mentions seven children.  Four of the seven intermarried with Cobles.  Researchers say that John Phillip Glass was married to Anna Kobel or Anna Lentz.  DNA matches were observed from descendants of George, Jacob, Paul, Catherine, Christian and Phillip.

[1]John Philip Gleiss (abt.1712-1773) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree accessed February 20, 2024. 

[2] Abstract of Philip’s will (ancestry.com) accessed February 20, 2024. 

Some researchers believe that George Welker of Guilford County is the son of Michael Welker and Anna Read of Goshenhoppen, Pennsylvania.

Michael Welker is  DAR ancestor A122003.[1] 

[1] DAR Genealogical Research Databases accessed February 20, 2024.

The Reverend George William Welker 1817-1894 who was the pastor of the Old Brick Church for more than 50 years came to Guilford County later than George Welker.   He is said to be the grandson of Michael Welker and Elizabeth Wagoner.  His father was Daniel Welker.[1]

[1]Find A Grave at Rev George William Welker (1817-1894) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 20, 2024.

The History and Genealogy of the Reed family gives a good biography of Michael but does not provide evidence that George Welker of Guilford is the son of Michael Welker of Pennsyvania. However, it does not disprove that it is a possibility.[1]

[1] History and genealogy of the Reed family : Johann Philib Ried, Rieth, Reidt, Ritt, Rit, Rudt, etc., in Europe and America, an early settler of Salford Township (New Goshenhoppen region) Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania (familysearch.org).

Amick Family

The 1793 will of Nicholas Amick provides evidence that George Welker married an Amick daughter. 

In the distribution, Wilker (George Welker) is paid 28.1.9 pounds as an heir on the right of his wife. 

Nicholas Amick born May 24 1719 in Uttenhoffen, France. He was the son of Johannes Emig and Eva Dorothea Rotter. The Emig family arrived in Pennsylvania around 1732 and spent time in Pennsylvania, then moved to North Carolina between 1750 and 1760. Nicholas married Eva Margareta Rausch in 1736. They were members of the Lutheran church. Nicholas died in 1798.[1]

[1] Nicholas Amick (1719-abt.1798) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree accessed February 20, 2024.

Children of Nicholas and Eva:
Peter (1737 – 1815)
Philip (1745 – 1819)
Joseph (1750 – 1802)
John (1754 – 1832)
Fredrick (1759 – )
Barbara (1763 – 1847)
Jacob (1765 – 1846)
Magdalena “Molly” (1767 – 1832)

Will of Nicholas Amick
In the Name of God Amen I Nicholas Amock of Randolph County being of Sound and perfect Mind & memory blessed be God Do this first day of June in the Year of our Lord one thousand Seven Hundred and ninety three do make and publish this my Last Will and testament as in Manner as following that is to Say first I give full power and athority to my Administrator Executors and Asigns, after taking the Direct rule of the Law for to advertise a public Vandue in order to Sall the Goods and Chattles Left by me the Subscriber and then to Apply the money to the Support of my Dear and well Beloved Wife her Life time and after her Death to be Equally Divided Btween all my and her Children, __________ (here ?) In I appoint my Son John Amock and Christon Brower Executors of this my Last Will and testament in Witness whereof I the Said Nicholas Amock have to this my Last will and testament have Set my hand and Seal the day and Year Above Written Signed Sealed published and Declared by the Said Nicholas Amock the testator as his Last will and testament in the presents of us

Test. Alexr Campbell Nicholas Amack Seal

John Overley

Soloman Miller

Randolph February Term 1798. The Execution of the above Last Will & Testament was duly proved in Open Court by John Miller & ordered to be Recorded the Executor in Said Will named qualified as Such. Test. J Harper

*Place of burial is uncertain*
If anyone else has anymore information on his place of burial, please feel free to let me know.

Maria Sophia Hagee’s Parents – Conrad Hagey 1765-1831 and Mary Magdalena Clapp 1768-1845

Mary Sophia Hagee’s parents were Conrad Hagey and Mary Magdalena Clapp.[1]  Conrad came to Guilford County from Pennsylvania.  His father and mother were Hans George Hage and Anna Eva Frey.  His father was from Elsenz, Landkreis Heilbronn, Baden-Wurtemberg, Germany.  Anna Frey was from Alsace, France.  The Clapps were from Germany and had come to North Carolina from Pennsylvania. 

[1] Geneanet Community Trees Index – Ancestry.com.

Conrad Lived on the waters of the Alamance, southeast of Greensboro, where Conrad owned a tract of 210 acres. He died intestate. By deed of 29 July 1824 the heirs of his estate conveyed this land to Adam, son and legatee, who was therefore the recipient of one-ninth of the estate. John Philip CLAPP was a very substantial planter, and his will, proved Nov 1798 was one of the earliest recorded in
the county. [1]

[1] Bio (ancestry.com)

The other heirs of the estate which was transferred to Adam include[1]:

John Hagea his mark Seal

Jacob Hagea his mark Seal

Sally Hagea her mark Seal

Jacob Clapp his mark seal

Barbary Clapp her mark seal

Abram Coble his mark seal

Sophia her mark seal

Jacob Nees his mark seal

Joseph Clapp his mark seal

[1] Guilford County Register of Deeds Book 19, Page 400.

Descendants of Christina Hagey share Ancestry DNA with Adam Hagey and Catherine Ingold, Jacob Hagey and Elizabeth Morrell, Sally Hagey and John George Lowe, Barbara Hagey and Jacob Clapp, and  Christine Hagey and Jacob Nees.

Conrad and Magdalena Clapp Hagey are buried at Low’s Lutheran Church in Whitsett.[1]   His estate was administered by his son in law, Jacob Neese.[2]

[1]Find A Grave at Conrad Hagy (1765-1831) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 20, 2024.

[2] Conrad Hagee, “North Carolina Estate Files, 1663-1979” • FamilySearch accessed February 20, 2024.

Maria Sophia Hagee’s Paternal Grandparents – Hans George Hage 1695-1770 and Anna Eva Frey 1718-1798

Immigration: “Hans George Hage came to America, PA, ship ‘Dragon’, captained by Charles Hargrave on 30 Sept., 1732…One hundred and eighty-five people were aboard the ship. The captain’s list of passengers gives all three names in succession as Hayea.   In the oath of allegiance and oath of abjuration lists, Hans Georg’s name appears as Hans Jergi Hegi (from Strassburger’s Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Vol. I, pages 96, 98). In Rupp’s Collection of Thirty Thousand Names .., page 83, the surname is spelled Hagea…He settled in Lancaster County, PA, where he took up a tract of 200 acres which lay in a branch of Muddy Creek in the Ease Cocalico township, south of the present town of Swartzville. He was granted this land by a warrant dated 22 May, 1734, and on 27 May, 1738, a survey was made. On 2 Apr., 1745, he sold his rights to Michael Harper, of Chester County, PA.[1]

Hans Hege married Anna Eva Frey January 20, 1736 in Muddy Creek, Lancaster, PA. George received a 200 acre land grant May 27, 1738. He moved to NC about 1757. Anna was Moravian.

[1] Hans George (Hägi) Hege (abt.1699-abt.1781) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree accessed February 20, 2024.

There is shared Ancestry DNA with descendants of children Johannes George Hage and Rosannah Long, Anna Catherine Hege & Thomas Long, and Maria Barbara Hege & Johann Adam Hedrick.

Marie Sophia Hagee’s Maternal Grandparents John Phillip Clapp 1731-1798 and Barbara Marie Clapp 1737-1821

Marie Sophie Hagee’s grandparents were John Phillip Clapp and Barbara Marie Clapp.  John Phillip Clapp was born in 1731 in Oley, Berks County, Pennsylvania.  His parents were George Jorg Valentine Klapp and Anna Barara Stiess.[1]  His wife was Barbara Marie Clapp.  Some researchers say her parents were John Ludwig Clapp and Anna Margaret Strader.  Ludwig Clapp was a first cousin of John Phillip Clapp.  Other researchers say this has been disproved because Ludwig’s estate papers do not show Barbara Clapp, wife of John Phillip Clapp as an heir.

[1] Ancestry.Com. Geneanet Community Trees Index.

According to the biography of John Echols, a Virginia Quaker, John Phillip Clapp was involved in an incident where friendly Cherokee Indians were killed.[1] 

 It appears reasonably certain that John Philip Clapp is the “Philip Clapp” who, along with his brothers Tobias (George Tobias) and Joseph, in August 1758 participated in the murder and scalping of five friendly Cherokee Indians during an expedition to hunt down a party of Shawnees who had been ravaging white settlements along the Virginia and Carolina frontiers. The story, while it includes the three Clapp brothers, is told from the biography of John Echols (1721-1795), a Virginia Quaker who revealed the story, which was published in Lewis Preston Summers, “History of Southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1780” (Richmond, VA: J.L. Hill Printing Company, 1903), pp. 62-66.

The background to this event was that, in the spring of 1758, Indians had stolen a stallion from John Echols. Hoping to trade the Indians a less valuable horse for the one they had taken, Echols bought one from George Thomas, but a party of about 40 Indians took that one, too—and shot at John. About the same time, a party of militia under a Colonel Talbot encountered a man named Wollocks who had been robbed, stripped, and beaten by Indians; and, upon further investigation, the troops discovered that a number of homesteads in the area had been raided by Indians, the houses plundered and the inhabitants carried away. Consequently, beginning on Saturday, 12 August 1758, Captain Robert Wade led a contingent of about 35 Virginia and Carolina men from Mayo Fort to the New River in search of “our Enemy Indians.” A week later the party had reached Meadow Creek and was suffering “a great deal of Uneasyness,” particularly since one man had got lost, but by the time he found his way back to the company, a search party had gone out and was separated from those who stayed put under John Echols. While the rangers were encamped at Meadow Creek, five Indians approached and were nearly shot until they identified themselves as friendly Cherokees, not the dangerous Shawnees (who were allies of the French until the Treaty of Easton inaugurated a few months later on 26 October 1758) the militia was out to get. The Indians, however, had with them horses that the militiamen assumed were stolen and scalps that they assumed were white; and some of the rangers insisted that these Indians had to be Shawnee spies. The Indians were detained until Captain Wade returned and he passed upon them a sentence of death. Abraham Dunkleberry, a hunter who was temporarily with the company, objected, and the Indians were allowed to have their guns and leave. But after Dunkleberry had detached from the company, Captain Wade acceded to the grumblings of the Carolina men, for whom all Indians were alike and who chafed at “going ranging” if they were not going to kill any Indians. Thirteen of the company set off in pursuit of the Indians who were headed toward the New River and, after a couple of unsuccessful attempts, finally overtook the Indians at a peach orchard where they fired upon them, killing four outright and badly wounding the fifth, who made his escape in a trail of blood. The rangers “Skelpt them that we killed,” divided up the Indians’ goods, and then, on the morning of Monday, 21 August, the day after their little massacre, swore an oath not to reveal that they knew full well the Indians they had murdered were Cherokees. About eight months later, on 21 April 1759, the South River Quakers condemned their Friend, John Echols (or Eckhols) for “going with soldiers in pursuit of some Indians.” In August 1763, the Quarterly Meeting ordered a “paper of denial” to be read against him, which the Monthly Meeting carried out in October 1764. Nonetheless, on 18 March 1786, he was reinstated in membership. Note: According to Echols, the North Carolina men included Tobias Clapp, Philip Clapp, and Joseph Clapp. It would appear virtually certain that these were three brothers—all sons of George Valentine Clapp (1702-1773).

[1] Ancestry.Com. John Philip Clapp (1731-abt.1798) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree.

John Phillip Clapp came to Guilford County with his family around 1745.   He was in the 1790 census with one male child and one female child and five slaves.[1] 

[1]Ancestry.Com. Year: 1790; Census Place: , Guilford, North Carolina; Roll: ; Image:.

John Phillip Clapp also provided supplies to the Revolutionary War Cause thereby making his descendants eligible for DAR membership.[1] 

[1] DAR Genealogical Research Databases accessed February 20, 2024.

When John Phillip Clapp died in 1798 in Whitsett, Guilford County, he had considerable property.  His heirs including his wife Barbara were listed.[1]  He was buried at the Brick Reformed United Church of Christ Cemetery which was known as Der Clapp Church or the Old Brick Church.[2]  His wife Barbara Marie seems to have died prior to 1799 according to distribution documents.   She is also buried at the Old Brick Church.[3]

[1] John Phillip Clapp’s Will (ancestry.com) accessed February 20, 2024.

[2] Find A Grave at John Phillip Clapp (1731-1798) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 20, 2024.

[3] Find A Grave at Maria Barbara Clapp Clapp (1737-1821) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed Ferbruary 20, 2024.

Will of John Philip Clapp

In the name of God amen, I John Philip Clapp of the County of Guilford and State of North Carolina, being of abundant health, sense and memory but considering the uncertainty of things which (undeph) future & knowing that it is appointed for all men once to dye do make, ordain and publish this my last will and Testament in manner and form as followeth:

Imprimus – I commit my body to the dust to be buried in a decent and Christian manner — my Soul unto the hands of the living God hoping for salvation through the mutilation of Christ Jesus. — And as to the worldly goods with which kind providence has blest me I will them to be distributed in the manner as followeth.

1st I will all my just debts to be well and truly paid after the discharge of which together with my funeral expenses

2dly give and bequeath to my eldest son Valentine Clapp the tract of land on which he now lives situated on the Alamance containing as is supposed 200 acres. I also bequeath him ten shillings to be paid in cash.

3dly I give and bequeath to my son Adam Clapp 412 acres on the water of Rock Creek on which he formerly lived with the above mentioned sum of ten shillings to be paid as aforesaid.

4th I give and bequeath to my son John Clapp the tract on land on which he now lives containing as is supposed 200 acres and the above mentioned sum of ten shillings

5th I give and bequeath to my son Luddowick Clapp the tract on land on which he now lives containing as is supposed 300 acres with the above mentioned sum of ten shillings

6th I give and bequeath to the children of my daughter Barbary Swing deceased, formerly wife of Mathias Swing one negro wench named Jenny and in the possession of Mathias Swing and her increase. to each of those children I likewise bequeath the sum of five shillings to be pd in cash.

7th I give and bequeath to my daughter Christina Albright wife to Phillip one negro boy named Franck and the sum of ten shillings to be pd in cash.

8th I give and bequeath to my daughter Molly Haguey, wife of Conrad Haguey that tract of land of which they now live containing as is supposed 210 acres, and the above mentioned sum of ten shillings.

9thly I give and bequeath to my daughter Catherine Brown, wife of Adam Brown that tract of land of which the said Adam Brown now lives, and the above sum of ten shillings.

10thly I give and bequeath to my daughter Mary Shaver, wife of Jacob Shaver one negro girl names Lydia, and the above sum of ten shillings.

11thly To my daughter Eve Burrow, wife of Ephraim Burrow I give and bequeath one negro girl named Nancy, and also the above sum of ten shillings.

12thly I give and bequeath to my wife Barbary all the remaining part of the real and moveable estate consisting of lands, negros, stock of all kinds, household furniture & instruments of agriculture all of which subject to her disposal at or before her decease.

13thly & Lastly I do appoint my wife Barbary and Daniel Cortner just to execute this my last will and testament agreeable to directions herein. Now in testimony to the aforesaid and (?) are perfectly agreeable to my desire and that it is my sincere wish that the execution of my will should be particularly attended to by my aforesaid executors.

I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this 8th day of September 1797 John Philip Clapp (his mark)

Acknowledged, signed and sealed in presense of us Samuel Lindsay John (undeph) (jurat) John Cooper (jurat)

– Codicil –

Whereas I, John Philip Clapp now find myself in a low state of health and am apprehensive that I shall shortly leave this life these will certify that I still continue to approve the above mentioned will in all its parts and do constitute it my last will and testament with this alteration or addition that my above mentioned executors do make or cause to be made unto Ephraim Burrow my son in law a good and lawful deed of conveyance for the tract of land on which I now live containing as is supposed 494 acres agreeable to a memorandum of agreement entered into between me and sd Burrows which memorandum is now in possession of Samuel Lindsay on sd Burrow’s performing the conditions on his part therein mentioned, or on his giving bond and approved security to the satisfaction of my Executors for his well and truly performing all sd conditions on his part in sd memorandum mentioned.

In testimony of which I hereunto set my hand and seal this 29th day of September, 1798. Signed, sealed and acknowledged in presense of Samuel Lindsay Jacob Coble (jurat) Tobias Clapp (his mark)

NC Guilford County, November Court 1798 John Job and John Cooper proved the within Deed in Open Court and Jacob Coble proved the Codicil thereto — let it be recorded — then came in the Executors who qualified accordingly.

March 21 1799, we as heirs to the estate of John Phillip Clapp deceased and natural representatives of Barbara Clapp deceased do hereby declare to have recd of Daniel Cotner twenty nine a half coin dollars.  By each of us whose names are hereunto affixed in whole amounting to 236 dollars.  It being in full of our proportional share of the cashe found on hand belonging to the above estates at the time of _____Testators deceased Recd of Daniel Cortner as surviving Executor of John Philip Clapp and agent (by our special Consent to settle the Estate of Barbary Clapp or list from ____/

Catherine Brown her mark

______ Clapp his mark

William Burrow his Mark

Felty Clapp his mark

Hosannah Black Clapp?

Christina Albright

Jacob Shaver

There are shared Ancestry DNA matches with Valentine Clapp and Sarah Maria Rogers, Adam Clapp, John Clapp, Lewis Luddwick Clapp and Margaret Ann Loy, Anna Christina Clapp and Phillip Albright, Mary Barbara Clapp and Matthias Swing, Catherine Clapp and John Adam Brown, Jacob Shaver (Shepherd) and Anna Maria Clapp, and Eva Clapp and Ephraim Burrow.

Hagey Family

Hans George Hage was born around 1695 in Elsenz, Baden, Germany.  His parents were Johan Jacob Hage and Anna Margaretha Steinmann.  He came to America in 1732 on the ship Dragon.  They were 185 Palantine Germans on board the ship.  According to the Hagey Family Book, he immigrated with his father Johan, and his brother Johann Jacob.[1] 

[1] Hans George (Hägi) Hege (abt.1699-abt.1781) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree.

Immigration: “He came to America, PA, ship ‘Dragon’, captained by Charles Hargrave on 30 Sept., 1732…One hundred and eighty-five people were aboard the ship. The captain’s list of passengers gives all three names in succession as Hayea. In the oath of allegiance and oath of abjuration lists, Hans Georg’s name appears as Hans Jergi Hegi (from Strassburger’s Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Vol. I, pages 96, 98). In Rupp’s Collection of Thirty Thousand Names .., page 83, the surname is spelled Hagea…He settled in Lancaster County, PA, where he took up a tract of 200 acres which lay in a branch of Muddy Creek in the Ease Cocalico township, south of the present town of Swartzville. He was granted this land by a warrant dated 22 May, 1734, and on 27 May, 1738, a survey was made. On 2 Apr., 1745, he sold his rights to Michael Harper, of Chester County, PA.

Hans Hege married Anna Eva Frey January 20, 1736 in Muddy Creek, Lancaster, PA. George received a 200 acre land grant May 27, 1738. He moved to NC about 1757. Anna was Moravian.

Hans Hage died in Rowan County, North Carolina  around 1781.[1] 

[1] Biographical and historical memoirs of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana (familysearch.org) accessed February 20, 2024.

Frey Family

Anna Eva Frey’s parents were Johann Peter Frey and Anna Barbara Schmidt.[1]  This article posted by Kent Creamer tells of the family’s emigration.[2]   

[1] Ancestry.Com. Geneanet Community Trees Index.

[2] Frey-240.pdf (wikitree.com) accessed February 20, 2024.

The Early Emigrants The Zurich area of Switzerland was the home of our earliest known ancestors, Marti Frey and Ursula Wysy. Marti Frey was born about 1521, and Ursula in 1524. The Freys were Anabaptists, radical Christians who were persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th and 17th Centuries. The name Frey meant “free” and was a common name taken by freemen, those who owed no indenture or loyalty to the aristocratic class. The Freys continued to live near Zurich, in the village of Knonau for several generations, until the end of the Thirty Years War, when the Edict of Nantes promised peace to the protestants. About 1650 Gregorius Frey migrated with his wife Varena (Oberdorfer) and several small children, north down the Rhine to the town of Wingen, Alsace. Alsace, now a part of France, came at that time under protestant control, and was a more hospitable environment for the anabaptist heretics. Beside the Anabaptists, among the settlers in Alsace were French Heugenots, Calvinists (the Reformed Churches) and Lutherans. In 1688, in an effort to expand his territory, King Louis XIV of France declared war on the Palatinate, and most of the German speaking villages of the Alsace were sacked by his troops. In 1689 the war was expanded and became The War of the Grand Alliance. Between 1689 and 1697, the French ravaged the Palatinate, precipitating the first migration of Palatine refugees to America and England. The Alsace territories on the west bank of the Rhine became incorporated into France. The winter of 1709 was another disaster for the war-decimated Palatines. Their homes burned by the French, thousands suffered a season so cold the Rhine froze over for months. The bitterness of that winter caused the second wave of emigration to America. There was a third wave of emigration in the 1730s. This time, it was the promise of land, employment and religious freedom that caused the people of Alsace and the Palatinate to leave their homes for a new land. In 1733, Johan Peter Frey, and his wife, Anna Barbara (Schmidt), set sail from Rotterdam for Philadelphia on the Samuel. With them were children Anna Eva, age 15; Valentin, age 12; Anna Barbara, age 10; Anna Maria, age 8; Hans Peter, age 4; and Christian, age 2. In Pennsylvania, Peter Frey joined the Moravian Church, and in the 1750s he was among a group of a fifteen men who traveled to North Carolina to purchase land from Lord Granville for a Moravian settlement. The men were welcomed and given lodging by a farmer named Johan Jacob Wagner, another ancestor of ours. Anna Eve Frey married Hans George Hage in 1736 at Muddy Creek Moravian Church (Berks County, PA). The Freys themselves did not migrate to North Carolina until 1765. Their daughter, Anna Maria Hege married Adam Hedrick, Sr.

Peter Frey died in 1768.  This is the story of his life from the Church Register of Friedberg Moravian Graveyard. 

There is no memoir of Peter Frey, Sr. on file, but the following extended notice is taken from the Church Register of Friedberg Moravian Graveyard[1]:

“Peter Frey. He was born 27 September 1689 [his actual birth date is 7 September 1689] in Wingen in Alsace [now Bas-Rhin, France]; married in 1716, the widow whom he leaves behind; and during his married life, which lasted more than 50 years, he had 12 children, by whom he had 69 grandchildren and 20 great grand children.

“In 1733 he and his wife and seven children emigrated to Pennsylvania.

“In 1745 he was awakened by the testimony of the Brethren concerning the Atonement of Jesus, and was received into the little congregation at Muddy Creek [actually, Moden Creek in East Cocalico Twp., Lancaster Co., PA] and was admitted to the Holy Communion. When this congregation disbanded he and his family moved to Heidelberg [North Heidelberg Twp., Berks Co., PA] and there enjoyed the care of the Brethren.

“In May 1765, he moved to North Carolina, and built a little house near his son Peter. As long as he was able, he and his wife went to Bethania, and partook of the Lord’s Supper with the congregation there.

“Since last Christmas, 1765, he has been confined to his bed, had serious trouble in his chest, and longed greatly for release. Three weeks before that came he and his wife shared a blessed Communion for the Sick; and on the 4th of May 1766, the Savior took him to Himself. His age was 77 years, 7 months, and some days.

“On the 6th of May, after a sermon by Bro. Graff on the text: ‘Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die’, his body was interred, and thereby the burial place, already laid out on the Wachovia Line near the South Fork, was consecrated.” hip, Lancaster Co. PA, later moving with most of their children to Heidelberg township, Berks Co. PA. Their sons Peter and Christian moved to NC in the 1750s, and in May 1765 Johan Peter Sr. and the rest of his family joined them. He died the following year in NC, and was the first person interred in the new graveyard at Friedberg Moravian church. Anna Barbara died in January 1768, and is buried at Bethania Moravian church.

There is no separate memoir filed for Anna Barbara Frey, widow of Peter Frey Sr. in the Moravian archives, but there is a notice in the Death Record of congregation of Bethania, N.C.:

“Anna Barbara Frey was born on 5 April 1696, in Wingen in Lower Alsace [now Bas-Rhin, France]. In her 20th year she married Peter Frey, their union lasting something over 50 years. They had 12 children, and more than 100 grandchildren and great grandchildren.

“In 1734 she and her husband and 7 children moved to Pennsylvania, and settle on Muddy Creek. There she was awakened by the witness of the Brethren concerning the death of Jesus, and when a small congregation was organized there she was received and was admitted to the Holy Communion. When this little congregation disbanded she and her husband moved to Heidelberg; and from there, for the love of their children, they moved to North Carolina in the Spring of 1765.

“In May 1766, she was left a widow.

“Before Christmas, 1767, she came here [Bethania] on her last visit, and received much good through the festal and regular services of the congregation. The Savior granted her desire that she might be spared a long and painful illness, and might be taken quickly, which happened on January 9th of this year (1768) in the forenoon. Only a couple of hours previously she had been spinning, when she was taken with a severe chill and great pain in her chest. The last verse which she had been singing was:

“‘I am melted into tears when I sing of Jesus’ death.’

“Her age was 71 years, 9 month, 4 days.”

Peter Frey was the first one buried at Friedman Moravian God’s Acre in Davidson, North Carolina.[2]

[1] Hans Peter Frey (1689-1766) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree accessed February 20, 2024.

[2] Find A Grave at Johann Peter Frey Sr. (1689-1766) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 20, 2024.

The ten children of Johan Peter Frey and Anna Barbara Schmidt were:

1. Maria Margaretha Frey (1715-1785) m. Johann Michael Kapp (1705-1764), remained in Pennsylvania.

2. Anna Eva Frey (1718- ?) m. Hans Georg Hage, settled Rowan Co. NC.

3. Johann Valentine Frey (1721-1798) m. Anna Barbara Binckele (1722-1791).

4. Anna Barbara Frey (1723-?) m. Michael Lauer (ca. 1715-1789), remained in Pennsylvania.

5. Anna Maria Frey (1726-?).

6. Johann Peter Frey (1729-1810) m. Catharina Walk (1739-1815).

7. Maria Franzina Frey (ca. 1737-?) m. Adam Hartmann (1729-?).

8. Christian Frey (1731-1800) m. Sarah Schneider (ca. 1746-1826), had no children.

9. Maria Juliana Frey (1735-1814) m. Johann Balthazar Hege (1714-1785).

10. Johann Georg Frey (1740-1812) m. Anna Catharina Lerch (1747-1822).

Three of Johann Peter Frey’s sons seemingly failed to choose the side of liberty during the War of Independence. The Rowan County, North Carolina, Court Minutes of the year 1778 listed 577 persons who “refused or neglected” to take the Oath of Allegiance to the State. Most of these, we may safely assume, were Loyalists and/or Tories–that is, they were loyal, either passively or actively, to England, rather than to North Carolina or the United States. Roughly, out of around 3,000 families in the Rowan County area in 1778, one out of five were Loyalists/Tories. In 1778 Rowan County included the present-day counties of Rowan, Davidson, and Davie. In Captain Eakles District of Nonjurors we find listed the following names: “George Fry, Christian Fry and Peter Fry, Ser.” (North Carolina Genealogy. Winter Issue 1968, Vol. XIV, No. 4.)[1]

[1] freepages.rootsweb.com/~mitchvv/genealogy/narratives/peterf.html accessed February 20, 2024.

There are shared Ancestry DNA matches with the descendants of Maria Margaretha Frey and Johann Michael Kapp, Anna Eva Frey and Hans George Hage, Johann Valentine Frey and Anna Barbara Binkele, Anna  Barbara Frey and Michael Lauer, Johann Peter Frey and Catherina Walk, Mary Juliana Frey and Johann Balthas Hage, Mary Franzina Frey and Adam Hartman, and Johann George Frey. 

Clapp Family

John Phillip Clapp’s parents were George Jorg Valentine Clapp & Anna Barbara Steiss.  George Valentine Clapp was born on May 24, 1702 in Weisenheim, Am Berg, Germany.  He married Anna Barbara Steiss on August 24, 1723 there.[1]  They had two children there before coming to America in 1727.[2]

[1] Ancestry.Com. Geneanet Community Trees Index.

[2] George Valentine (Klapp) Clapp (1702-1773) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree accessed February 20, 2024.

In 1745 Jorg Valentine and Johann Ludwig (brothers) migrated south into Alamance County, NC near the present location of Brick Church (originally called Clapp Church). The church was formed in 1770, but many of the members had worshipped together since 1745.

Family History Overview of the History of George Valentine Clapp
by Claudia Cameron[1]

George Valentine Clapp was also known as Valentine. He was the first child of Jost and Anna Margaretha and he was born on May 24, 1702 in Weisenheim, Pfalz, Germany. He married Anna Barbara Stiess, daughter of Philip Stiess, on Aug 24, 1723 in Weisenheim. Anna Barbara was born in 1706 in Weisenheim. Their first born child was stillborn and the birth was recorded in the Weisenheim church book. Their second child, Maria Elizabeth, was also born in Weisenheim and lived to emigrate to America.

The last entry for Clapp in the Churchbook Weisenheim was in April of 1727. The family made their way to Rotterdam where they boarded the ship James Goodwill, with David Crockett as ship’s master. The ship made a stop in England and then continued to the Colonies. On Sept 27, 1727 in Philadelphia, Valentine was one of six in his family group who was a male aged 16 and up who took the oath of fidelity and he signed his name Jorg Valentin Clap. The signature looks as though Valentine almost wrote his last name as “K”lap, and then changed the first letter to “C” as he wrote to do it the “English” way as his father had done. The source for this record was the Minutes of the Provincial Council, printed in Colonial Records Vol. III, p.284.

The family settled in the Oley Valley, north of Philadelphia, in what is now Berks County, Pennsylvania. The rest of their children were born there.

In 1745, Valentine and others moved to North Carolina where land was available for purchase from either the current Lord Granville, or Henry McCulloch. What they found was favorable and they sent word for Valentine’s brother Ludwig and others to join them. Tradition says they first settled in the Beaver Creek section of Guilford County. This area is in the southern one third of the current Guilford, southwest of Burlington and south of Interstate 40. Between 1745 and 1771, numerous counties were formed and the boundaries changed with each formation. Valentine became a naturalized citizen Sep 22, 1763 in the Salisbury District, Rowan Co., NC.

Valentine and his family were members of the German Reformed religion. They worshipped at Low’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, where beliefs were similar, until 1770, when political differences reportedly prompted the Lutherans to lock out the Reformed members. At this point George and Ludwig were instrumental in establishing a church for their own faith at Beaver Creek.

Valentine purchased land a few miles further north near the Great Alamance Creek with a deed dated 1763. This land was located about two miles north of where the Brick church is now located. On May 19 1773, about five months before his death, for 250 pounds “George Valentine” deeded 320 acres of land to his son “George Tobias”. Valentine may have owned more land and transferred those lands to his other sons who remained in Guilford. He could also have just simply sold to Tobias. More research is needed.

Valentine died on Oct 12, 1773 in Guilford, NC, at age 71. He was buried at the Brick Church. The following is from the Brick Church record on page 97: “Valentine Clapp died Oct. 12, 1773 aged 71 years, 4 months, 2 weeks and 4 days. He was born May 24, 1702. He was married 51 years and had 12 children, 7 sons and 5 daughters. His body probably lies not far from the South East corner of the Church.” . In those times, burial was taken care of quickly, and the funeral service was arranged later. Rev. Samuel Suther (Suther and not Luther) delivered an address at Valentine’s funeral.

Anna Barbara died between 1774 and 1775 in Guilford Co., NC. She was also buried at the Brick Church. The record of buryings on page 99 states, “Valentine Clapp, born May 24, 1702, died Oct. 12, 1773, age 71 years, 4 months 18 days. [Anna Barbara Steiss – Wife of Valentine Clapp – born in Germany].”⁷⁶Source Document Excerpt from Brick United Church of Christ History

by Reverend James R. Cress[2]

…”The beginning of Brick United Church of Christ dates back to the autumn of 1748 when George Valentine Clapp (Klapp) and his brother, Ludwig Clapp, from Berks County, Pennsylvania, entered Piedmont North Carolina and decided to settle on Beaver creek, near what was later to be known as the Guilford-Alamance County line.

According to tradition, a dream by the wife of George Valentine Clapp determined the site of the church, and because of its location, it was known in its earliest days as the Beaver Creek Church.

The Clapp brothers purchased their land from Henry McCulloh, who was an agent of the Colonial proprietor of North Carolina and these two German Families were the original founders of the German Reformed Church in Guilford County.

No doubt these people met for worship either in their tents or out in the open until the first cabins could be erected. In a short time, however, they were joined by other families who gave support to the young church.

Among these early settlers were the Albrights, Courtners, Mays, Swings (Schwenks), Greesons, Ingolds, Hoffmans, Fousts (Fausts), Ingles, Linebergers, Reitzells, Sharps (Scherbs), and Shepherds (Schaeffers). Soon a schoolhouse was erected near the site of the present church buildings and the small congregation gathered together here each Lord’s Day. The name commonly given to this congregation by this time was Der Klapp Kirche (The Clapp Church) because of the extended efforts of the Clapp family to erect for the community a house of worship…

…There is, however, no official written record that the congregation was organized until about 1770 when Rev. Samuel Suther (1770-1781) provided the first permanent ministrations of the Gospel to these people. At this time, the congregation was worshipping in a small log house built jointly by the Reformed and Lutheran people, located where Low’s Lutheran Church presently stands. During the Revolutionary War, however, Rev. Suther and the Reformed people returned to their schoolhouse to worship, presumably because of differences in interpretation of the Sacraments and the question of war itself, for almost every Reformed member was a patriot, while the Lutherans were almost all loyalists. “Comments Notes for Anna Barbara “Barbary” (Spouse 1)For many years the descendants of the Jorg Valentine Klap had thought that his wife was Mary “Elizabeth” Albright. It has since been discovered that she was actual Barbara Steiss. It is she, presumably, who had the vision of the Brick Church.

“The story is told that Jorg Valentine Klapp’s wife envisioned in a dream a rolling hillside, verdant and fertile, a new home in North Carolina. To her amazement, it was the same site she observed in 1745 when she arrived in the Piedmont with her husband, Jorg Valentine Clapp.”

George Valentine Clapp died in 1773 and was buried at the Brick Church Cemetery in Guilford County[3], North Carolina.[4]  His wife Anna Steiss Clapp was buried there when she died in 1775.[5] 

[1] George Valentine Clapp (1702 – 1773) – Genealogy (geni.com) accessed February 20, 2024.

[2]Full text of “Histories of United Church of Christ in Burlington and Alamance County, North Carolina” (archive.org) accessed February 20, 2024.  

[3]Brick Reformed United Church of Christ Cemetery in North Carolina – Find a Grave Cemetery.

[4] George Valentine “Valentin Klapp” Clapp (1702-1773) – Find a Grave Memorial.

[5] Anna Barbara “Barbary” Stiess Clapp (1706-1775) – Find a Grave Memorial.

 George Valentine Clapp and his wife Anna Steiss Clapp are reported to have had 12 children.  Children listed at Steve Clapp’s web site[1] include: 

• Infant Clapp 1725-1725
• Maria Elizabeth Clapp 1726
• John Phillip Clapp 1731-1798
• Maria Veronica Clapp 1733
• Jacob Clapp 1734
• George Tobias Clapp 1735-1800
• Joseph Clapp 1741
• Maria Barbara Clapp 1742-1807 married George Cortner

[1] steveclapp.com/Gen/Thomas Clapp/index.htm.

John Ludwig Clapp was the brother of George Valentine Clapp.  He married was married to Anna Margaret Strader in Germany.  They both came to America aboard the same ship as brother Valentine, the James Goodwill.  Both settled in Guilford County, close to the Guilford Alamance County line.[1]  Many researchers list Barbara Clapp, the wife of John Phillip Clapp as a child of John Ludwig Clapp and Anna Margaret Strader.  However, other researchers believe that this is not true.  Her name does not appear in his estate papers as receiving a “part” of the estate.[2] 

[1] Find A Grave at Johann Ludwig “John” Klop Sr. (1704-1778) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed February 20, 2024.

[2]Johann Ludwig (Klapp) Clapp Sr. (abt.1704-1778) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree accessed February 20, 2024. 

There is shared Ancestry DNA with descendants of George Tobias Clapp and Anna Mary Glass, Maria Barbara Clapp and George Cortner, Jacob Clapp and Mary Christina,  and Joseph Clapp and Mary Julian.

Many of the Guilford County Clapps were involved in the Revolutionary  War.  This is a list of the Clapp Patriots with Guilford ties listed at the DAR site.[1]

[1] DAR Genealogical Research Databases accessed February 20, 2024.

• Adam Clapp 1754-1841

• Barney Clapp 1764-1844

• George Clapp 1739-1806

• Jacob Clapp 1747-1832

• John Phillip Clapp 1731-1798

• Leodwick Clapp 1742-1834

• Tobias Clapp 1743-1800

The Clapps were also involved in the Regulator movement and were very close to the Battle of Alamance[1] which took place in May of 1771 which was the final battle of the Regulator movement, a rebellion in North Carolina against taxation, local control, and corrupt land and deed practices.

[1] Map of Alamance County, North Carolina (William Luther Spoon) :: North Carolina Maps (unc.edu) accessed February 20, 2024.

The Clapp Mill was also the site of a Revolutionary War Battle in 1781.[1]

[1] Battle of Clapp’s Mill (steveclapp.com) accessed February 20, 2024.

Conclusion

Abram Fox Coble was born in 1798 in Orange County, North Carolina and what is now Southeast Guilford near the Alamance County line.  His grandparents were German immigrants coming to North Carolina from Philadelphia.  They were Palantine Germans who came to America to escape poverty and to find greater economic opportunities.  Once in Pennsylvania, Abram’s ancestors came south to North Carolina because of the promise of cheaper land.  They came down the Great Wagon Road.  Some settled in Rowan County and then came to Guilford.  Some came to Guilford and found they liked it so didn’t go any further.[1] 

[1] The Great Wagon Road (carolana.com) accessed February, 4, 2024.

Mary Sophia Coble was also born in Orange County, now Guilford County.  Her parents lived in what is now southeast Guilford County, close to the Alamance County line.  Her grandparents were also Palantine Germans coming to Pennsylvania and then to North Carolina.  The Hageys settled in Rowan County and her grandmother Frey was a Moravian who lived in Friedberg Moravian settlement.

The descendants of Abram Fox Coble and Maria Hagey Coble who stayed close to Guilford County generally descended from siblings Abner, William, Alfred, Dillie and Letitia.  This settlement location is described as Triad Settler location by Ancestry.  The descendants of Joel George Coble are generally found in Carroll and Wythe County, Virginia.  The descendants of Elias Coble are found in Richmond and Scotland County.  John Coble and wife Martha Jane Breedlove traveled to Morgan, Indiana.  Other descendants traveled further to places like Hagerstown, Maryland and Sagadahoc Maine.  A few descendants ended up in California where some worked in the Orange and Lemon industry.  There were at least two descendants who ended up in Canada. 

Abram Coble’s sons were small farmers as were many of the neighbors and kin.  One worked as a turpentine hand in his youth.  None appeared to have owned slaves.  Their kinsman Reverend George Welker preached against slavery.  As time progressed descendants they worked in factories, construction, coal mines, and corporations.  Some had exciting professions such as Chief of Police for the United States Supreme Court and one worked for the Apollo program which succeeded in landing the first humans on the Moon from 1969 to 1972. One common theme was family businesses such as Coble Dairy Products.  Quality Wholesale Florists, Seago Beer Distributors, and Lexington Chair Company were examples of family businesses which flourished. 

There are several ancestors of Abram and Sophia who worked on the side of liberty in the War for Independence.  George Coble 1733-1816, Johann Michael Welker 1733-1799, and John Phillip Clapp 1731-1798 were three of the Patriots.  Three of the Frey ancestors did not take the oath of allegiance and appear to have been loyal to England.     

Three of Abram Coble’s sons were Confederate soldiers:  Abner, Joel “George,” and Elias all served in the Confederate cause.  Dillie’s husband, Private Daniel Breedlove lost his life at Richmond where he died of pneumonia and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery there.

Many of Abram Coble’s descendants served in World War I, World War II, Korean War, and the Viet Nam War.  Several lost their lives:

• Mildred Coble Hemphill’s husband Harvey was killed in action in World War II in Italy in 1944.
• Herbert Harold Crowder died in Vietnam in 1967 in a helicopter crash on a resupply mission.
• Cletus Raymond Coble died at Fort Riley in 1945 after a short illness. 
• Roy Woodrow Dabbs was killed in action in 1945 in Germany.

Abram Fox Coble and Maria Sophia Hagey were German Reform Lutherans.  Their ancestors and kin were either Lutherans or Reformed Lutherans or Moravians.  Churches that were important to them include: 

• Coble’s  Lutheran Church in Guilford County Clay Township, North Carolina
• Old Brick Church in Whitsett, North Carolina
• Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Rockingham, North Carolina
• St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Diggs, North Carolina
• Friedburg Moravian Church in Davidson County
• Coulson Church of the Brethern in Carroll County, Virginia
• Shiloh United Methodist in Liberty, North Carolina
• Mount Tabor Community Church in Asheboro, North Carolina
• Spoons Chapel Christian Church in Asheboro, North Carolina
• Low’s Lutheran in Whitsett, North Carolina

There is no evidence of what Abram Fox Coble and Maria Sophia Hagey died from.  However, the descendants who lived to adulthood seemed to have died of things that people died from today:  Old age, heart attacks, strokes, cancer, and accidents.  There are probably those who died in 2020 or 2021 who died from Covid.  What is heartbreaking is the children’s deaths.  The children died from many things that are preventable today such as prematurity, gastritis, mumps, diphtheria, malnutrition, and polio.  Many died from accidental deaths such as drowning or farming accidents.  One little girl fell in the wash pot and was scalded to death. 

Another cause of death that seems to have been more prevalent in the Coble descendants is suicide.  One person committed suicide by drinking carbolic acid and another killed himself on a train.  Another shot their partner and then themselves.  There were several young men who committed suicide after being in World War II.

The DNA study of this family and the traditional genealogy documentation provide few surprises and there are few brick walls.    The one brick wall is the wife of John Phillip Clapp.  However, she probably is no stranger.  She was most likely another German Palatinate ancestor.

Except for the children John Coble and Martha Jane Breedlove Coble and Letitia Coble and Robert Hanner, the Abram Coble children had many descendants who led long joyful productive lives. They laughed, sang, fished, hunted, played bluegrass music and many went to church faithfully.

John Coble’s last two surviving children William H Coble and Letha Ann Coble Stickle were killed by fumes from a gas heater in 1931 in Marion, Indiana.  The Marion coroner who was also the funeral home director was sentenced for soliciting a bribe because he threatened to attribute their deaths to suicide rather than to accident unless a bribe was paid.  A suicide ruling would have violated accident insurance policies carried by the victims.

Letitia Coble Hanner only had one son, Jess Hanner.  When she died in 1911, he had no close family.  Jess Hanner was a convict guard who lived in Climax, North Carolina.  He purchased a train ticket there on Monday, May 21, 1917.  He got off the train at Liberty and waited for the Sanford train to arrive heading west toward home.  He boarded the train and sat in the smoker section and when the train got almost back to Climax, he shot himself in the temple with a 38 Colt revolver. 

Memorial Day Remembrance

William Claude Leonard was the son of Zenri Golda Oates and William Vance Leonard. His sister was Alice Flossie Leonard Allred, my husband’s grandmother.

Claude married Nancy Emeline Graves in September 26, 1911.[1] Nancy passed away in January of 1912.  She is buried Richard Graves Family Cemetery in Seagrove, North Carolina.[2]  The untimely death of his young wife led him to reenlist in the Army according to his sister, Alice Flossie Leonard Allred.  

[1] Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, Marriage Records, 1741-2011.

[2] Nancy Emma Graves Leonard (1892-1912) – Find a Grave Memorial

According to Army records, he was honorably discharged on April 25, 1915 for his first enlistment.[1]  William Claude Leonard’s service record shows that he was in Company F, Infantry 9 from January 1916 to June 1, 1917, then Company F, 47 Infantry to August 14, 1917, then back to Company F, Infantry 9 to October 3, 1918 when he was killed in action.  It shows that he served in the trenches and that he was wounded in June of 1918.[2]  Ship records show that he left Hoboken, New Jersey for France in 1917 on the ship Pocahontas and that his next of kin was his sister, Alice Allred. 

[1] Ancestry.Com. U.S., Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914.

[2] Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919.

 A letter to an unnamed young lady in Rockingham, Richmond County told of Sergeant William Claude Leonard’s military experience.[1]

[1] Newspapers.com – Rockingham Post-Dispatch – 18 Jul 1918 – Page 6.

This letter to a Friend in Randolph County tells of William Claude Leonard’s wounds.[1]

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[1] The courier. (Asheboro, N.C.) 1906-1937, August 29, 1918, Page 5, Image 5 · North Carolina Newspapers (digitalnc.org)

In August Alice Allred, got a telegram saying her brother, William C Leonard was wounded again?[1]

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[1] The courier. (Asheboro, N.C.) 1906-1937, August 15, 1918, Page 5, Image 5 · North Carolina Newspapers

Sergeant William Claude Leonard was killed on October 3, 1918.  His body was returned to Cedar Falls and a headstone was sent to his sister Alice in 1937.  It is located at the Cedar Falls Methodist Church in Cedar Falls close by his sister Alice.[1]

[1] Find A Grave at William Claude Leonard (1892-1918) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed May 26, 2023.

Sarah Jane Lee Early Life

Sarah Jane Lee is the fourth daughter of William Lee and Elizabeth Martha Thomas.  She was born in 1848 in Chesterfield, South Carolina.  

Around the time of her birth, the Moore’s Hotel in Cheraw was built.  It was touted as one of the best Hotels in the country.[1] 

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[1] Newspapers.com – North Carolina Argus – 28 Nov 1848 – Page 3

Sarah Jane Lee  first appears in the 1850 census  as a two year old with her mother Elizabeth Martha Lee (37), father William Lee (34), William Poston (Farm Laborer), Brothers James Crawford Lee (12), John Thomas Lee (11), Samuel William Lee (9), and Henry Alexander Lee (6).  Sisters Hannah Lee (7),  Mary (4), Ann (3), and Eliza (0). [1]

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[1] Year: 1850; Census Place: Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: M432_851; Page: 109B; Image: .

In the 1860 census Sarah Jane Lee is living with her family in Chesterfield.   She was twelve years old.   In the home are her mother and father William Lee and Elizabeth Martha Lee, both reported to be 51 years of age.  Siblings in the home are John Thomas (21), Samuel William (19), Ann Lee (14), Eliza (11), Charlotte (9).[1]   Sarah lost her mother, Elizabeth sometime after 1860 but before 1868.  There are no exact records of when she died.  After the death of her mother,  Sarah’s father William Lee remarried to Hannah Thomas.  Sarah has at least one half brother born of this union, Joseph Daniel Lee who was born in 1869.

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[1] Year: 1860; Census Place: Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: M653_1217; Page: 101; Image: 205; Family History Library Film: 805217.

The family also owned one male slave age 52.[1]  The family reported on the 1860 Agriculture Census.  They reported 20 acres of improved land, 280 acres of unimproved acres.  The farm value was reported to be $2,500.  The value of farming implements and machinery was $16.  The Lees owned one horse, three asses or mules, three milk cows, seven sheep, six swine.  The value of livestock was $375.  The farm produced 120 bushels of Indian corn, three bushels of beans and peas, ten bushels of sweet potatoes.  The value of animals slaughtered for the year was $90.[2]

[1] 1860 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules.

[2] Census Year: 1860; Census Place: Chesterfield, South Carolina; Archive Collection Number: AD261; Roll: 3; Page: 3; Line: 20; Schedule Type: Agriculture.

Sarah Jane Lee Brock Married Life

Sarah Jane  Lee married Samuel Walker[1] Brock around 1869.  Samuel Walker Brock was the son of  Squire H Brock and Rachel Parker of Chesterfield, South Carolina. 

[1]Samuel Brock’s middle name may have been Washington.  Usually on land transactions, the name given is SW.

Samuel served in Confederacy in the War Between the States Company C. Regiment of 1^st Battalion of Reserves.[1]  In February 1864 a new law passed that stated all males between ages 17-50 were liable to serve within their state. Those that were 18-45 years old and already serving were to stay in their current military unit. Those men not serving, or under 18 and over 45, were required to either join an existing local defense unit or to form a new unit. Eight battalions were created and designated as the 1st- 8th Battalions, South Carolina Reserves. Later these units were referred to as the Battalions of Senior Reserves in order to separate them from the Regiments of Junior Reserves. By the summer of 1864, these units were organized and many of them serving in different areas. They were mustered into Confederate service on October 31, 1864. Some of the units disbanded before the end of the war and others were combined with other military units on April 9, 1865.[2]  In his pension application, Samuel Walker Brock said he was at home at the time of surrender. 

[1] Samuel Washington Brock Confederate Pension Application pg 1 (ancestry.com)

[2] 1st Battalion, South Carolina Reserves • FamilySearch.

Transcription:  State of South Carolina County of Chesterfield Honor Roll

To the County Pension Board:  The undersigned applies for enrollment under the Act of 1919.  I enlisted in Company C. Regiment of 1^st Battalion of Reserves Captain S P Howell 3^rd day of September, 1864 and served in that command until the end of War, 1865.  I was discharged from the service was at home at surrender and at that time was a member of Company C Regiment of 1^st Battalion of Reserves.  My income and my wife’s from all sources is not in excess of $300.  The valuation of all my and my wife’s property does not exceed $1,000.  I was born the 15^th day of November 1844.  I reside at Cheraw #1 in Chesterfield County, S.C.  I did not desert the service of this State nor of the Confederate States.  Not able to work. 

I have not been on the pension roll of South Carolina, nor any other State, nor of the United States.  Sworn to and Subscribed before me this 13^th day of June 1919.

Seal M J Hough?                                                                       SW Brock

State of South Carolina

County of Chesterfield

Personally appeared before me, George A Malloy & F S Huntley who being duly sworn, each of them deposes and say that they know Samuel W Brock who is an applicant for a pension and they have read the said application:  that they know of their own knowledge that the applicant was a private in Company C of Bat Reserves and that he has rendered services as therein stated; that he has resided in this State for life.

Sworn to and Subscribed before me this 15^th day of June 1919

M J Hough

Probate Judge

Geo A Malloy

Company H Regiment 3^rd Regt Co L

T S Huntley Coits Battery

Coits Battery

Transcription:  County of Chesterfield

We the undersigned County Pension Board of Chesterfield County do certify that we have made a careful examination of the Application of Samuel W Brock.  We are of the opinion  that the said applicant is entitled to a pension thereunder for the following reasons:

1. That he was a bonafide soldier in the late war between the States as alleged in his petition. 
2. That Neither he nor his wife have a income jointly estimated  in excess of $1,000 either of both

County Pension Board LL Shener

W D Craig

Samuel Brock was the son of  Squire H Brock and Rachel Parker Brock.  Squire died in 1888 in Chesterfield, South Carolina.  Rachel died in 1887 in Chesterfield, South Carolina.  His siblings were:

• James Alhannon Brock 1829-1899 married Mary Jane White 1832-1861 and Georgianna Ann Boyt 1838-1918.  James had moved to Alachua County Florida by 1860. 
• Mary Molcey Brock 1831-1852 married William Alfred Rivers 1828-1863.  Their son Squire James took the name Brock and was raised by his maternal grandparents Squire and Rachel.
• Elizabeth Brock 1833-unknown Strickland?
• Catherine Brock 1837-1917 married William Davis 1834-1892.  Catherine and William also moved to Jacksonville Florida.  He was a turpentine farmer.
• Sarah Jane Brock 1842-1910 married Henry Alexander Lee 1844-1912.  Henry was the son of William Lee and the brother of Sarah Jane Lee Brock. 
• John W Brock 1847- after 1855 married Mary Abigal Sellers? 1848-1907
• William Manning Brock 1853-1917 married Inez Brock 1882-1970  He moved to Birmingham, Alabama but died in Charlotte, North Carolina

There are several Samuel Brocks in Chesterfield County.  His Uncle’s name is Samuel Brock.  He had a son Samuel Brock who died in the Civil War.[1]  These are sometimes confused.  That Samuel  was married to Anna Preslar who was a widow after the war.  Anna Preslar also had a son named Samuel Brock.[2]  One way to tell Samuel Brock in land records was that he always signed his name SW Brock.

[1] Carolina Family Roots: When the Puzzle Piece Doesn’t Fit…

[2] Carolina Family Roots: Chesterfield County SC Estates~Estate Folder #191 – Samuel W. Brock, Jr.

In  1871, Samuel Brock was gored by a bull but he recovered.  There is no way to know if it is Samuel Washington Brock.[1] 

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[1] Newspapers.com – The Charleston Daily News – 21 Aug 1871 – Page 1.

On May 21, 1876, Squire H Brock, father of Samuel W Brock deeded him 77 1/5 acres on both sides of Wolf Branch for consideration of $50. [1]

[1] Chesterfield County, South Carolina  Register of Deeds Book 4 page 706.

In 1880, Sarah Jane Lee Brock was living with her husband in Cheraw, Chesterfield County.  She was 31 and he was 35.  They had the following children:   Mary Jane (10), James Edgar (8), Rose Ann (6), Samuel Arnold (4), William Washington (2).  Sarah’s oldest daughter is named Mary, possibly named for her sister Mary Lee Parker who probably died in 1869.[1]

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[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: Year: 1880; Census Place: Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: 1225; Family History Film: 1255225; Page: 287A; Enumeration District: 002; Image.

Squire H Brock died in 1888.  After his death. Samuel W Brock filed a complaint against his brother James Alhannon Brock who had moved to Florida.  The judge ordered the land to be sold at public auction.  Samuel Walker ended up buying the land at for $51.50.[1]

[1] Chesterfield County, South Carolina Register of Deeds. Book 15 page 174.

In 1880 Samuel and Sarah Jane’s neighbors were Leonard Davis and his wife Sarah Ann Brock Davis (cousin of Samuel).   Samuel’s neighbor on the other side was a 23 year old black sharecropper named Wash Jackson who was reported to have been born in North Carolina.  The 1880 agriculture schedule shows the production of the three farms.[1]

[1] Ancestry.Com. Census Year: 1880; Census Place: Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Archive Collection Number: AD270; Roll: 9; Page: 14; Line: 8; Schedule Type: Agriculture.

In 1892, Sarah Jane Lee Brock father William Lee died.  Sarah’s brother John Thomas Lee was the executor. William Lee had a small personal estate.[1]

[1] Chesterfield County, South Carolina Estate Records, Ca. 1865-1927; Author: South Carolina. Probate Court (Chesterfield County); Probate Place: Chesterfield, South Carolina.

In 1893  Samuel and Sarah’s  last known child, John Larence Brock was born.

On October 16, 1899 Samuel’s brother, Willie Manning Brock who lived in Alabama, deeded him the land he inherited when his father died.  He deeded him 155 acres on Meadow Branch for $300.[1]

[1]Chesterfield County, South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 16 Page 134.

Sarah Jane Lee Brock Later Years

In the 1900 census there are six children still at home with Samuel (age 55) and Sarah Jane Brock (age 57).  There are Samuel Arnold (24), Squire Kirby (19), Rachael Elizabeth (16), Minnie Catherine (14), Lucretia (11), and John L (7).  Sarah Jane Brock reported she had 12 children with ten living.[1]

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1900; Census Place: Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Page: 7; Enumeration District: 0017; FHL microfilm: 1241523.

The Brock’s nearest neighbor was widow Mary Deese McCrae (66) and her daughter Allice McCrae (38).   On the other side was his cousin Eli Brock who was married to Mary Jane White (daughter of John G White). 

Daughter Mary Jane Brock had married her cousin Joel Brock and had five children and five were living.  They were nearby neighbors of Sarah Jane and Samuel.[1] 

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[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1900; Census Place: Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T623_1523; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 17.

Son James Edgar Brock had married his cousin Rebecca Lee and he had one child.  They lived closer to the Lees than the Brocks.   Rebecca reported that she had two children and only one was living.[1] 

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[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1900; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T623_1523; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 21.

Daughter Rose Ann had married her cousin Albert Parker (Hannah Lee Parker’s son) and was living close to the Parkers.  She had three children but only two children were living.[1] 

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[1] Year: 1900; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: 1523; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0021; FHL microfilm: 1241523,

Son William Washington Brock had married his  cousin Sarah Brock (daughter of Eli).  They were newly married and were renting a farm near Henry Lee and his wife Sarah Brock Lee. [1]  

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[1] Year: 1900; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: 1523; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0021; FHL microfilm: 1241523.

On March 22, 1901, Samuel Brock sold Irwin Brock 40 acres on Old Pegues Road which was the old Squire H Brock homeplace for $160.[1]

[1]Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 17 Page 518.

On August 31, 1901, James B Colie and his wife returned a deed in consideration of $5 for land that was conveyed but returned to Samuel Brock.[1]

On April 14, 1903, Samuel Brock sold Henry Lee one acre of land on Meadow Branch for $5.[2]

On April 15, 1905, Samuel Brock sold his son John Larence Brock 40 acres on Wolf Branch for $100.[3] On January 7,  1908, Samuel Brock sold his son Samuel Arnold Brock 30 acres for $100 on Little Westfield Creek.[4]

[1] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 18 page 82.

[2] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 19 Page 643.

[3] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 44, Page 153.

[4] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 25 page 308.

In the 1910 census, there are three children in the home with 65 year old Samuel W Brock and Sarah and 62 year old Sarah Jane Brock.  They are Squire Kirby Brock (29), Lucretia Brock (21), and John L Brock (17).  Sarah reported she had 13 children, ten of whom were living.[1] 

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[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: ; Page: ; Enumeration District: ; Image:.

Their next door neighbor is a black farmer, Samuel Johnson and his wife Della and family.  Samuel Arnold Brock, their single son is also a next door neighbor.  Other close neighbors include son William Walker Brock, Mary Jane Brock and husband Joel, Rachel Brock and husband James (Jim) Copeland and Johnny Lee (son of brother John Thomas Lee) and Henry Alexander Lee, Sarah Jane’s  Lee’s brother who married Samuel Brock sister Sarah Jane Brock.

Mary Jane and Joel Brock had three more children in this decade   Two of their children have left home.[1]  Lora has married Charlie Benjamin Brock and is living with in-laws with her new husband.[2]  Tilman has married Mary Jane Brock, granddaughter of Mary Lee Parker and is living with his in-laws.[3] 

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[1] Ancestry.Com.  Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: ; Page: ; Enumeration District: ; Image: .

[2] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1455; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1375468.

[3] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: ; Page: ; Enumeration District: ; Image.

James Edgar Brock and his wife Rebecca Lee brock have had five children in this decade.[1]

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[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1455; Page: 12b; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1375468.

Rose Ann Brock and Albert Parker had added three more children during the last ten years.[1] 

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[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1455; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1375468.

William Washington Walker and his wife Sarah Ann Brock added four children during the past ten years.[1]  The 1910 census was taken in April. Sadly, William Washington Walker Brock died in 1910 at the age of 32.  

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[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1455; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1375468.

Rachel Copeland has been married seven years to James “Jim” Copeland in 1910 and has three children.[1]

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[1] Ancestry.Com. 1910 United States Federal Census.

Minnie Brock has married Charles Rivers and has lost one child but has no children living in 1910.[1]

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[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1455; Page: 22b; Enumeration District: 0032; FHL microfilm: 1375468.

On September 12, 1915, Sarah Jane Brock lost her daughter Rose Ann Brock Parker.  She was 40 and she died from Bright’s disease and hemorrhage from child birth.[1] 

On July 31^st 1916, Samuel Brock sold Squire Kirby Brock 2 ½ acres for $20 on Meadow Branch for $20.[2] 

There are two children who passed away in 1918 in Emanuel County, Georgia.  They are the children of Minnie Brock Rivers and her husband Charlie Melton Rivers.  These two girls are Squire Youmans[3] and Missy Mae Rivers.[4]  Sarah Jane Brock Lee’s grandchildren were buried at Keas Methodist Church.  Squire died on January 4, 1918 and Missie Mae died on January 12, 1918.  They most likely died of flue.

On March 28 1913, Samuel Brock sold Squire Kirby Brock 36 acres of land for $600.[5]  There was some sort of mix up on land.  It was corrected in 1954 deed.

On August 4, 1916, Samuel Brock sold Parker school district one acre of land for $20.[6]

[1] Ancestry.Com. South Carolina Death Records, 1821-1955.

[2] Chesterfield County Register of Deeds Book 63 page 71.

[3] Find A Grave at Squire Youmans Rivers (1911-1918) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed July 2, 2024.

[4] Find A grave at Missie Mae Rivers (1917-1918) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed July 2, 2024.

[5] Chesterfield County Register of Deeds Book 37 Page 177.

[6] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 44 Page 151.

On April 27, 1918, Samuel Brock sold Joel Washington Brock two acres for $40.[1]

[1] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 47 page 210.

In July 1918, the folks of Brocks Mill were looking forward to celebrating the 4^th of July with a good ripe water melon.  Joel Washington and Mary Jane Brock had heard from their son in France and things were seemingly going well.[1]

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[1] Newspapers.com – The Chesterfield Advertiser – 3 Jul 1918 – Page 1.

In November 1918, Sarah Jane Brock lost her grandson William Samuel Brock, the son of her oldest daughter Mary Jane Brock, wife of Joel Brock.  William Samuel was still in France when died of pneumonia.  His body was returned to Brocks Mill in 1921.[1]

On Nov 3, 1919, Samuel Brock sold Joel Washington Brock 10 ½ acres for $210.[2]

On November 3, 1919, Samuel Brock sold his sold Squire Kirby Brock 7 ½ acres.[3]

On February 3, 1920, Sarah Jane Brock lost her youngest child. John Larence Brock.  He died from epileptic seizures which he had all his life.  John L Brock death certificate says he died February 3, 1920.[4]  Curiously the 1920 census which was taken supposedly on March 1^st, lists him as being in the household of his mother and father.

On March 3, 1920, John Larence’s  sibling sold the land they had inherited from his death back to their father, Samuel for $100.[5] 

On April 17, 1920, Samuel Brock sold 40 acres for consideration of $800 to James Barney Copeland, his son-in-law.[6] 

[1] Newspapers.com – The Chesterfield Advertiser – 31 Mar 1921 – Page 1.

[2]Chesterfield County, South Caroling Register of Deeds Book 53 Page 153.

[3] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 53 Page 155

[4]  Ancestry.Com. South Carolina Death Records, 1821-1955.

[5] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds book 56 page 19. 

[6] Chesterfield County South Carolina Register of Deeds Book 55 page 224

In the 1920 census Sarah Jane Brock Lee is 70 years old.  Her husband Samuel reports he is 75.  There are only three members of the household listed.[1]  Her neighbors are her son Samuel Arnold Brock and his family and other the other side James Oscar Parker, the grandson of her sister Hannah Lee Parker.

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[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1920; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1690; Page: 23A; Enumeration District: 40.

Mary Jane and Joel Brock three oldest children have left home and are raising their own children by 1920.[1]  William Samuel Brock has died in World War I.  Daughter Nanny has one son and is living with her husband Gene Lee and with his sister Cora who was married to William Samuel Brock.  His surviving son who is six month old is in the home along with his grandmother, Cora’s mother, Sarah Jane White Lee, the widow of John Thomas Lee.  John Thomas Lee is the brother of Sarah Jane Lee Brock. 

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[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1920; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1690; Page: 23A; Enumeration District: 40.

Lora  Brock Brock and her family.  She and Charley now have five children.[1]

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[1] Ancestry.Com.  Year: 1920; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1690; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 40.

Archie Tilman Brock and his family.  Archie Tilman and his wife Mary Jane now have four children.[1]

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[1] Year: 1920; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1690; Page: 22B; Enumeration District: 40; Image: .

Clem Brock and his family.  Clem and Emma Hayes Brock now have two boys.[1]

---

[1] Year: 1920; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1690; Page: 22B; Enumeration District: 40.

Nannie Brock Lee and sister-in-law Cora Lee Brock, widow of William Samuel Lee are living together.[1]

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[1] Year: 1920; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1690; Page: 26A; Enumeration District: 40; Image,

James Edgar Brock children are all still in the home and he has added five more children since 1910.[1] 

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[1] Year: 1920; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1690; Page: 25B; Enumeration District: 40; Image:.

William Washington Brock wife Sarah Ann Brock has married Earl Teal and three of William’s children are still in the home.[1]  However, sixteen year old Pearl has married Charlie Walter Teal and set up housekeeping.[2]

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1455; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1375468.

[2] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1455; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1375468.

Albert Benton Parker has remarried since the death of Rosa Ann Parker.  He married Georgia Ada Rivers Saunders.[1]  All of Albert’s and Rosa’s children are still in the home except for the oldest Fannie.  Fannie Parker has married John Harman Sellers and now they have three children.[2] 

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1455; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1375468.

[2] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1455; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1375468.

Samuel Arnold Brock has four children added in this decade:[1]

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[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1455; Page: 13a; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1375468.

Squire Kirby Brock has four children added in this decade:[1]

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[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1455; Page: 13a; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1375468.

Racheal Elizabeth Brock Copeland and James “Jim” Copeland have added three more children.[1]

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[1]Ancestry.Com.  1910 United States Federal Census

Minnie Brock Rivers and Charlie Melton Rivers had four children in the decade of 1910-1920.[1]  Two of the children passed away in Emanuel County Georgia and are buried at Keas United Methodist Church at Emanuel County, Georgia.  No Census records for 1920 were found.

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1455; Page: 22b; Enumeration District: 0032; FHL microfilm: 1375468.

Lucretia Brock and James “Zannie” Brock have had three children who were born during the period. 

Sarah Jane Lee Brock died on May 8, 1923 of a perforated ulcer of the stomach.  She was 74 years old.[1] 

Her death certificate gives her mother and father as William Lee and Martha Lee.  William Lee died in 1892.  Elizabeth Martha Thomas died around 1868.  Sarah Jane Lee Brock is buried at the Brock Family Cemetery.[2]  According to Find A Grave, there are five people buried in this cemetery.  These are Squire H Brock and his wife Rachel Parker, Son, Samuel W Brock and his wife Sarah Jane Lee Brock.  Also buried there is John Larence Brock, son of Samuel and Sarah Jane.

[1] Ancestry.Com. South Carolina Death Records, 1821-1955.

[2] Find A Grave at Sarah Jane “Janie” Lee Brock (1849-1923) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed July 2, 2023. 

All of Sarah Jane Lee Brock siblings died before she died with the exception of half sibling Joseph Daniel Lee who died in 1944.

Those who passed before her were:

• James Crawford Lee died 1907
• John Thomas Lee died 1916
• Samuel William Lee died 1915
• Hannah Elizabeth Lee Parker died 1901
• Henry Alexander Lee died 1912
• Mary Lee Parker died 1869
• Ann Lee Wilkerson died 1889
• Eliza Lee Butler died 1900
• Charlotte Lee White died 1891

In 1910, Sarah reported she had 13 children, 10 of which were living.  This means that she suffered the loss of three undocumented children.  Other children who died before she did were:

• William Washington Brock who died in 1910 at the age of 32
• Rose Ann Brock Parker who died in 1915 at the age of 40
• John Larence Brock who died in 1920 at the age of 27

Grandchildren who died before Sarah were:

• Infant son of James Edgar Brock and Rebecca Jane Lee who died in 1897
• Infant son of James Edgar Brock and Rebecca Jane Lee who died in 1905
• Fader Brock, two year old son of James Edgar Brock and Rebecca Jane Lee who died in 1909
• Nellie Mae Parker, year old daughter of Rose Ann Brock and Albert Benton Parker who died in 1916
• John Copeland, son of Jim and Rachael Brock Copeland passed away between 1910 and 1920. 
• Squire Youmans Rivers, the seven year old daughter of Minnie Catherine Brock and Charlie Melton Rivers who died in January, 1918
• Missie Mae Rivers, the three month old daughter of Minnie Catherine Brock and Charlie Melton Rivers who died in January, 1918
• William Samuel Brock who died in November, 1918 at the age of 22 of pneumonia in France during World War I, son of Mary Jane Brock and Joel Brock

Great-grandchildren who died before Sarah were:

 Infant Daughter of Samuel James Parker and Beulah Mae Brock who died in December of 1922.

When Sarah Jane Lee Brock died on May 8, 1923, she was survived by her husband of fifty-three years, Samuel Walker Brock.   Her half  brother Joseph Daniel Lee who lived in Arkansas also was still living.

Her seven children who were still living were:

• Mary Jane Brock and husband Joel Brock
• James Edgar Brock and wife Rebecca Jane Lee Brock
• Samuel Arnold Brock and wife Henrietta Atkinson Brock
• Squire Kirby Brock and Ella Belle Liles Brock
• Rachael Elizabeth Brock and husband James “Jim” Barney Copeland
• Minnie Catherine Rivers and husband Charlie Melton Rivers
• Lucretia Brock and husband James Alexander “Zannie” Brock

Sarah Jane Lee Brock left behind the following 55 surviving grandchildren:

• Lora B Brock born 1890
• Archie Tillman Brock born 1891
• Thomas Clem Brock born 1893
• Nancy Jane “Nannie” Brock born 1898
• Beulah Mae Brock born 1901
• Rayfield Brock born 1905
• Jeanette Brock born 1909
• Ira Marine Brock born 1898
• Carrie Bell Brock born 1902
• Archie Clyde Brock born 1903
• Samuel William Brock born 1903
• Caster Eugene Brock born 1903
• Benjamin Edward Brock “Bennie” born 1909
• Annie Elizabeth Brock born 1911
• Bertha Inez Brock born 1912
• Dessie Allie Brock born 1915
• Minnie Lee Brock born 1917
• James Robert Brock born 1918
• Henry Allen Brock born 1920
• Fannie Jane Parker born 1893
• Samuel James Parker born 1900
• Edward Clarence Parker born 1905
• Walter Parker born 1908
• Kenny Parker born 1910
• Rose Ann Parker born 1910
• Curtis Parker born 1913
• Selcer Rene Brock born 1911
• Edna Jane Brock born 1913
• Ollie Brock born 1916
• Samuel Wilson Brock born 1918
• Alice Brock born 1921
• Eva Brock born 1901
• Pearl Vera Brock born 1903
• Beatrice “Attie” Catherine Brock born 1906
• Olin Clarence Brock born 1908
• Willie Melton Brock born 1911
• Ethel M Brock born 1913
• Nora Lee Brock born 1915
• Bytha Jane Brock born 1917
• Annie Ruth Brock born 1920
• Archie Copeland born 1904
• Hannah Copeland born 1908
• Gary Washington Copeland born 1909
• Roland Copeland born 1913
• Carrie Mae Copeland born 1916
• James Pierce Copeland born 1918
• Curtis Willie Copeland born 1922
• Woodrow Wilson Rivers born 1914
• Addie Bell Rivers born 1918
• Minnie Irene Rivers born 1922
• Gertrude Brock born 1913
• Elmer Manning Brock born 1915
• Edwin Bennett Brock born 1919
• Ruby Mae Brock born 1921

Sarah Jane Lee Brock left behind the following 22 great-grandchildren:

• George Elmore Brock born 1911
• Edward “Ed” Brock born 1913
• Annie Mae Brock born 1916
• Robert Brock born 1917
• Bessie Clara Brock born 1919
• Mike Hezekiah Brock born 1920
• Perry Funderburk Brock born 1910
• Alma Elizabeth Brock born 1913
• Mary Belle Brock born 1915
• Earle Brock born 1916
• Robert William Brock born 1918
• Therrell Gardner Brock born 1915
• Thomas Hildreth Brock born 1918
• Clarence William Brock born 1918
• Joseph Elbert Lee born 1919
• Sylvia Christine Lee born 1922
• Katherine Irene Brock born 1923
• Weldon Dewitt Sellers born 1915
• Edna Sellers born 1918
• Viola Mae Sellers born 1920
• Almeta “Bobbie” Sellers born 1922
• Bruce Teal born 1922

Samuel Walker Brock died February 5, 1924.[1]  He is buried at Brock Family Cemetery with his wife Sarah Jane Lee Brock and his mother and Father Squire H Brock and Rachel Parker.[2]  His son John Larence Brock is buried at this small family cemetery. 

[1] South Carolina Death Records, 1821-1955.

[2] Find A Grave at Samuel Washington Brock (1844-1924) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed June 3, 2023. 

The inventory of his estate was listed in his estate filing.  He had $921.24 in the bank and $1,126.00 at home in his house.  He also owned a twelve year old mare mule and a milk cow.  He owned a one horse wagon and about 25 chickens.  He had 50 bushels of corn on hand and 500 bushels of fodder.  Finally he had household and kitchen furniture worth about $50.  He owned 56 acres of land worth $35 dollars an acre for a total of $1,960. The seven surviving children got $228.47 each.  The six children of Rose Ann Brock Parker got $38.08 and the five children of William Washington Brock got $45.70.  The siblings decided Minnie Catherine Brock Rivers should get the milk cow.  Squire Kirby Brock got the 56 acres of land for which he paid $1,000 dollars for. [1]

$250 in 1924 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $4,446.30 today, an increase of $4,196.30 over 99 years.  Samuel Washington Brock left the world with more than he had when he came in.  However, Samuel and Sarah’s legacy is the large productive family that they left to future generations. 

[1] Ancestry.Com.  Chesterfield County, South Carolina Estate Records, Ca. 1865-1927; Author: South Carolina. Probate Court (Chesterfield County); Probate Place: Chesterfield, South Carolina.

Conclusion

Sarah Jane Lee Brock was born in Chesterfield County.  She lived with her husband Samuel Walker Brock in the Court House Township in the Brocks Mill Community there. She had 13 children in 23 years.  Ten of her children lived to adult hood.  Three of them passed away before she died.  Her husband, Samuel Walker lived a year after her, passing away in 1924.

The seven children of Samuel Walker and Sarah Jane Lee Brock who survived them all lived in the Chesterfield Brocks Mill community where they passed away.  Grandchildren ventured out to areas surrounding Chesterfield including Marlboro County, South Carolina, Richmond County, North Carolina, Hartsville, South Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina, Monroe, North Carolina, Wadesboro, North Carolina. High Point/Archdale, North Carolina and Aberdeen, North Carolina.  A few went beyond North Carolina and South Carolina to Chicopee, Massachusetts, Los Angeles, California, Pima, Arizona, South Bend, Indiana, and Kalamazoo, Michigan

Samuel Walker Brock was a farmer.  He owned his own land.  His sons followed in his footsteps and they too farmed and owned their land.  His daughters married farmers.  Some of them were sharecroppers.  As farming proved unprofitable, Brock descendants moved to other professions.  During the depression, many turned to the Works Progress Administration as evidenced by their World War II draft registrations.  Many operated their own businesses.  Some of those were:  Brock’s Produce, Bargain House, Brock’s Grocery, J W Morris and Son Grocery, Copeland’s Grocery, White Poultry Company, Busy Bee Home Improvements, Lee Construction, North Cheraw Grocery, Baker’s Food Center, Brock Repair, and Addison Moore Painting Contractor.  Some worked in construction.  Many were carpenters and others worked as heavy equipment operators.   Others worked in specialized trades such as HVAC technician, auto mechanics, beauty shop operators, telephone operators, environmental services, information technology, machinists, welders for race cars, millwrights for the sawmill industry, loggers, and printing.  Many Brocks worked in manufacturing.  This was primarily textiles and they worked for such large companies as Burlington Industries, JP Stevens, Sacony, Chesterfield Manufacturing, Hoechst Fibers, and Cannon Mills.  Other manufacturers they worked for were Crown Cork and Seal, furniture manufacturers such as Rose Furniture in High Point, container and box manufacturers, garment manufacturers, and automated molded plastics.  Many Brock descendants were in the transportation industry.  They drove trucks for Stanley tools,  Estes Express,  Roadway Trucking, and CC & M Trucking.  One delivered bread and was known as “Bread Man.”  Another delivered for Carolina Ice and Fuel in Marlboro County.  Some worked for the railroads including CSX Railroad, and Seaborn Airline Railroad.  A few of the Brocks worked in public safety with jobs as security officers, emergency communications operators, correctional officers, fire engineers, deputies, and magistrates.  A few had white collar jobs such as comptroller for Marlboro Electric Company, Vice President for Human Resources at Spartanburg Community College, Post Office Clerks and Managers, teachers,  basketball coach, Internal Revenue Agent, and newspaper publisher for The Garner Times in North Carolina.   There were a few retail workers who worked at such jobs as a  Walmart greeter and Kimbrell Furniture store manager.  The Brocks also had a talent for music and a calling for the ministry.  They played the piano and taught music, sung at church as the Brock’s Quartet.  Many were called to be ministers.  One Minister of Music recorded music at Nashville and another produced Church musicals.  His church (Berea First Baptist church in Greenville, South Carolina) had the largest musical program in South Carolina and was the fourth largest in the nation.

Samuel Walker Brock was in the First Battalion of South Carolina Reserves.  None of his sons participated in the military.  However, one of  Sarah Jane Lee and Samuel Walker Brock’s grandson died of disease in France during World War I.  William Samuel Brock passed away of influenza, followed by pneumonia.  His son Clarence William Brock, Sr. served in World War II along with fourteen other Brock descendants.  Annie Ruth Brock was a member of SPARS during World War II.  This was the women reserves of the Coast Guard who helped guard the coast during the war.  Clarence William Brock, Jr. served two tours of Vietnam.  At least seven other Brock descendants served in the Viet Nam War.  Ronnie Brock, a National guardsman lost his life in 1971 undergoing training exercises.  At least one Brock descendant served during the Persian Gulf conflict. 

Most of the descendants of Sarah Jane Brock and Samuel Walker Brock were Baptist.  A goodly amount of them attended Brocks Mill Baptist Church.  Sarah Jane and Samuel were buried in a small family cemetery on Brock owned land.  Others are buried at the old Brock Cemetery on Mulberry Road or at the Brocks Mill Baptist Church Cemetery on Brocks Mill Road.

Sarah Jane Lee Brock died of perforated ulcer of the stomach. Most of her descendants died of heart disease,  stroke, lung disease, and cancer.  Her great great grandson, James Calvin Brock had the distinction of being the longest living heart transplant when he died in 2023.  Sarah’s son John Larence Brock died as the result of epilepsy which he had all his life.  Five of Sarah Jane Lee Brock’s female descendants died of childbirth or pregnancy complications.  There are records of at least thirty infant or childhood deaths in the Brock family.  Two of those were in 1918 and were attributed to the flue.  Others give colitis, improper feeding, pneumonia, prematurity, and birth defects as the cause  There are at least three adult deaths that are related to COVID, probably more.  Vehicular deaths are the most common accidental death in the Brock family.  There were at least eleven of these.  One accident killed three members of the Ollie Sellers family including Ollie, her brother, and her daughter.  Other accidental deaths include accidental drowning in the Pee Dee River, getting trapped in a grain car, accidental carbon monoxide poisoning from trying to keep warm while working on a car, and one incident of domestic violence (gunshot) . 

Sarah Jane Lee Brock had a large family who mainly stayed in Chesterfield County.  Many of her family married Brock and Lee cousins.  This makes analysis of the DNA of her descendants very difficult because of the endogamy.  The Chesterfield roots are very deep and the branches of the family tree are extremely twisted. 

William Samuel Brock was a World War I soldier who passed away in the war.  Son of Joel Washington Brock and Mary Jane Brock. He married Cora Lee, my grand aunt. Cora had one child with William Brock, Clarence William Brock.

Obituary – Private William Brock, The Chesterfield Advertiser, March 31, 1921, page 1, col. 3. SOURCE: James C. Pigg, “Obituaries from the Chesterfield Advertiser 1892-1926, Chesterfield County, SC” (Tega Cay, SC, Self-published, 2001). March 31, 1921, page 1, col. 3:

Private William Brock, who died in France in November, 1918, was buried at Brock’s Mill last Sunday morning at 11 o’clock, the funeral services being conducted by the Rev. F.M. Cannon. Mr. Brock was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Joel W. Brock, and was little more than a boy when called to the colors. Mr. Brock saw service on the battlefields and served with distinction as a brave young soldier, but the very day that the armistice was signed he developed influenza, which was followed by pneumonia, and the noble young life soon passed to its heavenly reward. Mr. Brock, before he died, realizing that he could not live, requested that his body be brought back to the old home church yard for burial, and his parents and relatives feel more comforted in the fact that he now sleeps beneath the sod of his own home among his own people. The body, escorted by a young soldier, reached McFarland Saturday afternoon. The casket was draped with the American colors and the large crowd attending the funeral attested the popularity of the young man among his own people. Mr. Brock was not only a brave soldier of his own country,
but he had also enlisted under the banner of the Cross and was a soldier of the Master. Indeed, it was said of this noble young man, “He has fought a good fight, he has kept the faith.

William Samuel Brock is buried at Brock’s Cemetery at Brock’s Mill South Carolina. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32256092/broc

Robert A Brock was the son of Martha Parker and William Tillman Brock. Robert Brock was my second cousin once removed. Robert Brock was drafted and called to serve his country in World War I.[1]  He reported to mobilization on September 14, 1917.[2]  He died in battle on October 16, 1918.[3][4]  His memorial is at Zoar United Methodist Church in Brock’s Mill, Chesterfield South Carolina.[5]

[1] Ancestry.Com. U.S., Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940

[2] Ancestry.Com. U.S., Lists of Men Ordered to Report to Local Board for Military Duty, 1917–1918

[3] Ancestry.Com. American Soldiers of World War I

[4] Newspapers.com – The Lancaster News – 3 Dec 1918 – Page 7

[5] Find A Grave at Robert Brock (1895-1918) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed November 5, 2022. 

William Claude Leonard was the son of Zenri Golda Oates and William Vance Leonard. His sister was Alice Flossie Leonard Allred, my husband’s grandmother.

Claude married Nancy Emeline Graves in September 26, 1911.[1] Nancy passed away in January of 1912.  She is buried Richard Graves Family Cemetery in Seagrove, North Carolina.[2]  The untimely death of his young wife led him to reenlist in the Army according to his sister, Alice Flossie Leonard Allred.  

[1] Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, Marriage Records, 1741-2011.

[2] Nancy Emma Graves Leonard (1892-1912) – Find a Grave Memorial

According to Army records, he was honorably discharged on April 25, 1915 for his first enlistment.[1]  William Claude Leonard’s service record shows that he was in Company F, Infantry 9 from January 1916 to June 1, 1917, then Company F, 47 Infantry to August 14, 1917, then back to Company F, Infantry 9 to October 3, 1918 when he was killed in action.  It shows that he served in the trenches and that he was wounded in June of 1918.[2]  Ship records show that he left Hoboken, New Jersey for France in 1917 on the ship Pocahontas and that his next of kin was his sister, Alice Allred. 

[1] Ancestry.Com. U.S., Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914.

[2] Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919.

 A letter to an unnamed young lady in Rockingham, Richmond County told of Sergeant William Claude Leonard’s military experience.[1]

[1] Newspapers.com – Rockingham Post-Dispatch – 18 Jul 1918 – Page 6.

Sergeant William Claude Leonard was killed on October 3, 1918.  His body was returned to Cedar Falls and a headstone was sent to his sister Alice in 1937.  It is  located at the Cedar Falls Methodist Church in Cedar Falls close by his sister Alice.[1]

[1] Find A Grave at William Claude Leonard (1892-1918) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed May 26, 2023.

Ann or “Annie’ Lee’s Childhood

Ann Lee was the seventh child of William Lee and Elizabeth ‘Martha’ Thomas.  She was three years old in 1850, indicating she was born in Chesterfield County South Carolina in 1847.[1] 

[1]Ancestry.Com.  Year: 1850; Census Place: Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: M432_851; Page: 109B; Image: 223.

When Ann Lee was born in 1847, the Lee family consisted of mother Elizabeth Martha Lee age around 33 and father William Lee age around 31.  Brothers and sisters in the home already consisted of James Crawford Lee aged nine, John Thomas Lee aged eight, Samuel William Lee, aged six, Hannah Elizabeth Lee, aged four, Henry Alexander Lee, aged six and Mary Lee age one.

According to newspaper stories, 1847 was a very wet year with freshets on the Pee Dee reported in March and August.[1] 

[1] Newspapers.com – The Evening Post – 20 Mar 1847 – Page 2.

In the 1860 census, Ann is listed as fourteen.  Her father, William Lee  is 51 and her mother, Elizabeth Martha, is 51.  Her brother James Crawford Lee and her sisters Hannah Elizabeth and Mary have married and left the home.  Henry Alexander Lee is also not listed in the census.  Siblings in the home include John Thomas Lee (21), Samuel William Lee (19),  Sarah Jane Lee (12), Eliza (11), and Charlotte Lee (9).  Ann Lee’s mother died sometime after the 1860 census.  She may have passed away before Ann married Richard Wilkerson in 1867.[1]

[1]Year: 1860; Census Place: Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: M653_1217; Page: 101; Image: 205; Family History Library Film: 805217.

Ann or ‘Annie’ Lee’s Married Life

Ann Lee married Richard J Wilkerson sometime before 1867 when her oldest son was born.    Richard J Wilkerson’s family is not documented.  Census records document that he was born in South Carolina.  No documentation was found that Richard participated in the Civil War.  He was found in the 1869 list of registered voters in Red Hill Election District in Marlboro County, South Carolina.[1]  Red Hill is on the right side of the Pee Dee River, close to Cash’s Depot, going toward Society Hill.[2] 

[1] Secretary of State, Abstract of Voter Registrations Reported to the Military Government, 1868, Marlboro County – Abstract of Voter Registrations Reported to the Military Government, 1868 – UofSC Digital Collections.

[2] Tunison’s new Railroad, Distance and Township map of North Carolina and South Carolina :: North Carolina Maps (unc.edu) accessed February 5, 2023.

In 1879, Richard Wilkerson served on the grand jury that bound Sam Lee, his nephew over the homicide of James Frank Pressley.[1]  Sam Lee was Ann Lee’s oldest brother’s James Crawford Lee’s son. 

[1] Jurors of The State vs The Dead Body of Frank Presley July 13, 1879 obtained from State Archives.

In 1880, Richard Wilkerson and Ann Lee Wilkerson were living in the Red Hill township of Marlboro County.  They were both thirty years old.  He was a farm laborer.  They had six children:  Charlie (10), John (9), George (8), Benjamin (6), and James (5), Ella Jane (2).[1] 

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1880; Census Place: Red Hill, Marlboro, South Carolina; Roll: 1235; Family History Film: 1255235; Page: 526C; Enumeration District: 110.

Death of Ann “Annie” Lee Ann Lee died sometime after the birth of her youngest son Jack who was born in 1889.  In 1900, her husband Richard was living in Harleesville, Marion, South Carolina.  Children in the home were;  Thomas Lester (19), John Edgar (17), Rosa (16) and Jack (11).[1]

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1900; Census Place: Harleesville, Marion, South Carolina; Page: 9; Enumeration District: 0072.

In 1900 Harleesville was in the upper part of Marion County.[1]  In 1910, the upper part of Marion County formed Dillon County.[2] 

[1] https://sciway3.net/proctor/marion/census/marion_dillon_townshipsmap.jpg  accessed March 11, 2023. 

[2] https://sciway3.net/proctor/dillon/maps/dillontownshipmap.gif   accessed March 11, 2023.

In 1900, Ann Lee’s oldest son, Charles, is living in Darlington with his wife Johanna Parker Wilkerson.[1]  Johanna and Charles married in 1892.  She was the daughter of Ann Lee’s sister Hannah Lee Parker and Samuel Parker.  This makes her Charles’ first cousin.   The second oldest son John may have been living with Charles per the census. 

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1900; Census Place: Darlington, Darlington, South Carolina; Roll: 1525; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 0018; FHL microfilm: 1241525.

According to a newspaper article, John was living in Cheraw South Carolina in 1914.[1] When he died in 1925, John was living in Harleesville Township, Dillon County.[2]

[1] Newspapers.com – Cheraw Chronicle – 12 Mar 1914 – Page 5.

[2]  Ancestry.Com. South Carolina Death Records, 1821-1955.

In 1900, son George may have been a laborer on a farm in Bennettsville.[1]

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1900; Census Place: Bennettsville, Marlboro, South Carolina; Roll: 1535; Page: 17; Enumeration District: 0087; FHL microfilm: 1241535.

.

James Crawford Wilkerson is not found in the 1900 census, but in the 1910 census, he was living in Harleesville Township, Dillon County.[1]

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Harleesville, Dillon, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1458; Page: 23B; Enumeration District: 0062; FHL microfilm: 1375471.

In 1900, Benjamin Franklin Wilkerson is living in Red Bluff Township with his wife Hattie.[1]

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1900; Census Place: Red Bluff, Marlboro, South Carolina; Roll: 1536; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 0094; FHL microfilm: 1241536.

In 1900, Ella Jane Wilkerson Freeman is living with her husband, Wesley Freeman and their three children in Bennettsville, Marlboro, County.[1]

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1900; Census Place: Bennettsville, Marlboro, South Carolina; Roll: 1535; Page: 26B; Enumeration District: 0087; FHL microfilm: 1241535.

In 1910 Richard Wilkerson is still living in Harleesville Township.  However, Harleesville Township changed counties from Marion County to Dillon County, South Carolina.  He has not moved but as noted previously in 1910 Dillon County was formed from six townships in upper Marion County.  He has remarried to Mary Martin Bethea and had two more children.[1]

[1] Ancestry.Com. Year: 1910; Census Place: Harleesville, Dillon, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1458; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 0061; FHL microfilm: 1375471.

We know Ann “Annie” Lee lived until age 42 when her youngest son Jack was born.  She passed away before the 1900 census when her husband appears as a widower.

She left behind at least five siblings:

• James Crawford Lee
• John Thomas Lee
• Samuel William Lee
• Sarah Jane Lee Brock
• Henry Alexander Lee
• Joseph Daniel Lee (1/2 brother)

She also left behind ten children and her husband Richard

• Charles Edward Wilkerson
• John Wilkerson
• George Wilkerson
• James Crawford Wilkerson
• Benjamin Franklin Wilkerson
• Ella Jane Wilkerson Freeman
• Thomas Lester Freeman
• Rosa Lee Wilkerson Martin
• John Edgar Wilkerson
• Jack Wilkerson

Conclusion

Ann “Annie” Lee Wilkerson was born in Chesterfield County.  She lived with her husband Richard in Red Hill Township in Marlboro County where she most likely passed away at the age of 42.  She bore ten children there.  After her death Richard and children still in the home moved to Harleesville which was in Marion County, South Carolina.  Harleesville became located in Dillon County in 1910 when that county was formed from the top portion of Marion County.  Several of Ann’s children stayed in Dillon, South Carolina.  Others lived in Darlington County, Chesterfield County, and Marlboro County, South Carolina.  Other children moved to North Carolina living in Fayetteville,  High Point and Laurinburg, North Carolina. 

Ann Lee’s descendants remained primarily in South Carolina and North Carolina.  In South Carolina, they continued to be located in Dillon and Marlboro along with Chesterfield, Williamsburg, Charleston, Latta, Manning, Lexington, and Columbia.  In North Carolina, the locations were primarily urban with descendants living in the Wilmington area, Charlotte area, and Raleigh area.  A fair amount of them lived in the High Point area including Statesville, Thomasville, Kernersville, and Lexington, North Carolina.  Sanford, Lee County was also a place of residence for Wilkerson descendants.

The Wilkerson descendants further scattered to Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island, and Texas.

Richard Wilkerson was a sharecropping farmer.  Several of his children  followed in his footsteps.  Others did not.  One was a railroad worker, another a carpenter, and one worked as a shipping clerk at Fort Bragg.  Ella Jane Wilkerson’s family moved to High Point, North Carolina where they worked in furniture manufacturing.  Other descendants followed suit and worked in manufacturing:  cotton mills, other textiles.  Delta Mills, Spartan Manufacturing, Corning Manufacturing,  Fram Corporation, Skyline Manufacturing, etc.  were places of employment for the Wilkerson clan.  Carolina Power and Light and Southern Bell Telephone also provided jobs.  A fair amount of descendants were involved in service work:  local government work such as city clerk, operations management, risk management, law enforcement, teaching, and court reporter, fire fighter, etc.  One descendant was a newspaper reporter and freelance writer. 

The family seems to have a real strength in business.  There were business executives in corporations and small business owners:  railroad, furniture company owners, electrical contractors, container manufacturing, produce salesmen, a radiator specialty company, wholesale tire sales, tree service business, etc.  In the medical field, there were medical assistants, a dentist and US Army hospital workers.  Many of the Wilkerson’s served in the military or had military careers.

There is no evidence that Richard Wilkerson served in the military in the Civil War.  There is no indication that any of his sons (or daughters) served in the military.  Richard and Ann Lee had three grandsons who served in the military in World War I.  At least twelve of their descendants served in World War II.  Two of them lost their lives.

• Eugene Bright Crawford, great grandson, served in the Army and was killed in action in November 1944 in Holland
• Willie Boyd Freeman, great grandson, served in the Marines and was killed in action in the Pacific (Guam) in July 1944.

There is no information available about where Ann Lee and Richard Wilkerson are buried or what church they are affiliated with.  Their descendants are equally divided between Baptist and Methodist.  Many are buried in public cemeteries not associated with churches.  Several of Ann Lee and Richard Wilkerson’s children are buried at Beulah Baptist Church in Little Rock, Dillon County, South Carolina. 

There is no evidence as to what the cause of death was for Ann Wilkerson Lee.  She died at a fairly young age but she had had ten children in about twenty years so she may have been worn out.  Most of her descendants died of causes related to ageing:  kidney disease, cancer, heart trouble,  lung disease and Alzheimer’s.  There was one death due to child birth and a few premature deaths.  There were two homicides due to random violence.

Ann “Annie” Lee Wilkerson was the Matriarch of a large productive Wilkerson family.  Her children and her children’s children rise up and call her blessed.