The maddening milieu of the Civil War era caused more loss than the loss of life, the loss of wealth and the loss of innocence, it was an agrivative time for the loss of records. Courts were postponed until there were so many estate settlements, land grabs and starving widows, that a Sheriff and a handful of living, and educated men in a community had to batten up their satchels and dismiss with the legal processes as fast as they could.
Most people, if they have looked at the Stanly County Springer family, would assume that the family of Israel Springer would be his parents and siblings, and they were, but there was not a single family tree in which there was any more than that for Israel.
Israel Springer was the youngest son of Lewis Springer and wife, Rachel Sides. Oldest son, John Uriah Springer had married, had children, and predeceased his father. Middle brother, George, also died young, but without marriage. Israel was Lewis Springers last, best hope of having a namesake Springer. There were lots of sisters, but only three brothers. Then came War and took Israel about a year after both Lewis and Rachel passed.
1862-1863 was a horrible era for the Springer family.
Israel Springer appears in one census, the 1850.
| Name | Israel Springer |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Race | White |
| Residence Age | 15 |
| Birth Date | abt 1835 |
| Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Residence Date | 1850 |
| Home in 1850 | Furrs, Stanly, North Carolina, USA |
| Attended School | Yes |
| Line Number | 1 |
| Dwelling Number | 557 |
| Family Number | 560 |
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| Lewis Spunger | 56 |
| Rachel Spunger | 49 |
| George Spunger | 21 |
| Linda Spunger | 19 |
| Leah Barber | 11 |
| Elizabeth M Barber | 10 |
| Israel Springer | 15 |
| Sarah Springer | 13 |
| Dovey Springer | 8 |
| Mary A Springer | 7 |
Here, he is a 15 year old boy, listed with his siblings in his father's house. He is not to appear in 1860, however, he was alive, and possibly even married, since he no longer lived at home. He was probably missed as he is not to be found anywhere, and was probaly not very far from where we found him in 1850.
Israel became a man in that generation of men, who would be caught up into that tornado of War in the early half of the 1860's.
His enlistment records inform us the joined up on March 13, 1862, as a 22 year old voluntarily, and died on August 4, 1862, of disease at Lynchburg, Virginia
His records also inform us that a settlement of what the army owed him was applied for by "M M Springer, wid" for widow. Israel had a widow! Meaning he was married, yet I'd found no marriage certificate,and this was a fact that seems to have slipped through the anuls of history.
The Declaration and Affidavit provides us with clarification and a broader base of information. Filed August 10, 1863, Margaret M. Springer declared that she was the widow of Israel Springer, and that he entered the service at Salisbury, in Rowan County on March 5, 1862 and that he died at Lynchberg, Virginia on August 4, 1863. Joshua C. Burroughs stood as a disinterested witness, and a person known to her. S. G. Ramsey was the Justice of the Peace and it was signed by "H Burroughs". The affidavits of Margaret Springer and J.C. Burroughs was accepted.
Margaret M.Springer appears on the above document of widows, and a few men, dated August 13th, 1863. Addressed to Colonel W. H. Taylor, and signed by J. M. McCorkley, the list, which I believe to be a settlement request of survivors of deceased soldiers, also includes Elvina E. Whitley, Milly E. Manuel, Susannah White, Jacob Herlocker, John H.Ledbetter, Elizabeth J. Kendall and Rachel Rogers. The names of Jane Smith and Elizabeth Hagler were struck out.
On the page above, we see the cause of death of Israel Springer, Thyphoid Fever. This disease claimed more soldiers than bullets, I believe.
So we now know Israel Springer left a wife whose first name and initial was "Margaret M.", her maiden name and the date of their marriage unknown. My questions were: 'Where did she come from", and, "Where did she go?" One of these, I believe I have answered, but the other, I frustratingly have not, and ask for help from any reader who may think they have the answer. There was one more thing, however.
I discovered another document. I found the Death Certificate of a 61 year old Textile Worker named "J. A. Springer who had been born in Stanly County, North Carolina on September 29, 1861, and died on the 4th of July, 1923, of Bronchial Pneumonia following a case of measles. The informant was a J. A. Whitley. He was a widower, and had been living in Cleveland Township, in Rowan County, NC and was buried at Kannapolis Cemetery, although his tombstone, or grave is no longer to be found. His father's name had been Israel Springer, but his mother's name was not known by J. A. Whitley. Very interesting document. Israel and his bride, Margaret M. Springer, apparently had a son. There were no other Israel Springers in Stanly County in 1861, and the timing was right. Twenty-two year old Israel had marched off to War, leaving a wife and infant son. He had a family.
I looked for his family in Stanly County in 1870, the next census, and could not find them. Knowing his son had lived until 1923, I decided to start at the end of his life, and travel backwards in time, to find out more about Israels' family.
The last census for J. A. Springer, before his death was the 1920, so I started there.
| Name | J A Springer |
|---|---|
| Age | 58 |
| Birth Year | abt 1862 |
| Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Home in 1920 | Mount Ulla, Rowan, North Carolina |
| House Number | Farm |
| Residence Date | 1920 |
| Race | White |
| Gender | Male |
| Relation to Head of House | Head |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Spouse's Name | Jane Springer |
| Father's Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Mother's Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Able to Speak English | Yes |
| Occupation | Farmer |
| Industry | General Ogge |
| Home Owned or Rented | Rented |
| Able to read | Yes |
| Able to Write | No |
| Neighbors | View others on page |
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| J A Springer | 58 |
| Jane Springer | 65 |
| Mary Whitley | 30 |
| Louisa Whitley | 14 |
I found him living in Mount Ulla, in Rowan County, at age 58, with a wife named Jane, 65, and a young woman, Mary Whitley, age 30, listed as a daughter, and a young girl, Louisa Whitley, listed as a niece. He was definately tied to a Whitley family in some form. Knowing his wife predeceased him, and therefore died between 1920 and July of 1923, I searched for her death certificate.
Jane Springer died of heart trouble, unattended, on the last day of February, 1920. She was named as "Mrs. Alex Springer and her death certificate was frustratingly empty. No birthdate, or birthplace, or parents. Not even an informant, only that she was married, lived in Mount Ulla, Rowan County, and we discover what the "A" in J. A. Springer stood for, "Alex".
Jumping backwards in time another decade, 1910, I again found them in Mount Ulla. J. A. is now 'Alex J.", age 49 and his wife Jane is 54, clearly five years his elder. The same girls are living with them, Mary, at 22 and Louisa at age 5, both designated as nieces. This is one of the two years that the census made record of how many children a woman had given birth to, and how many were still living, in an attempt to record childhood mortality. Jane had not had any children.
Attempting to travel back in time another decade, I find John Springer, with wife Jincy Springer, farming this time, in the town of Davidson, in Iredell County. Although a different county, it's not that far from Mount Ulla in Rowan. So now we know what the "J" in "J. A." Springer stood for John Alex, probably, John Alexander, formally. Also, Jincy was an often used nickname for Jane. Again, in the child mortality columns it is noted that Jane was not a mother. There are no nieces in the home this time, however, the house above them is a family of Whitley's, including Mary, who would come to live with them. Although Rebecka heads the page, one page over, we can see that the family is headed by one Alexander W. Whitley, at the bottom of the page, barely legible and transcribed totally incorrectly.
At this time I looked for the marriage record of J. A. Springer and Jane.
| Name | Alex Springer |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Marriage Date | 12 Dec 1882 |
| Marriage Place | Iredell, North Carolina, USA |
| Spouse | Jane Whitly |
| Spouse Gender | Female |
| Event Type | Marriage |
With this, I discovered that she was a Whitley, well of course. The couple was married on December 12, 1882, in Iredell County. Alex would have been about 21 and Jane, 26. No parents are listed, it's on a register, and not the document itself. L. A. Rook performed the ceremony, but no witnesses are listed. The county itself, only has the actual documents starting in 1893.
So they married in Iredell County in 1882. One would think I could find them in Iredell County, or Rowan, or even nearby Cabarrus in 1880, but no. Iredell brings to mind Barium Springs, the ancient orphanage to which many previous Stanly County children had been sent, not all of them orphans. Could that have been how John Alexander Springer ended up in Iredell County? Had his mother died?
Fatigued from a fruitless search, I turned to the Whitley family. What was there connection to the Springers? Was Jane Whitley a sister of the head of the Whitley family, William Alexander Whitley, since his daughters were called nieces in his home?
I first traced Mary, after the deaths of the Springers. Mary Melinda Whitley was born June 26, 1888 in Iredell County, and died May 28, 1965, in Concord, Cabarrus County.
| Name | Mary Whittey |
|---|---|
| Birth Year | abt 1888 |
| Gender | Female |
| Race | White |
| Age in 1930 | 42 |
| Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Relation to Head of House | Sister |
| Home in 1930 | Kannapolis, Cabarrus, North Carolina, USA |
| Map of Home | Kannapolis,Cabarrus,North Carolina |
| Street Address | North Poplar |
| House Number | 314 |
| Dwelling Number | 15 |
| Family Number | 15 |
| Attended School | No |
| Able to Read and Write | No |
| Father's Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Mother's Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Able to Speak English | Yes |
| Neighbors | View others on page |
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| Avery W Livengood | 36 |
| Jane Livengood | 40 |
| Carl W Livengood | 14 |
| Johnnie H Livengood | 11 |
| Myrtle S Livengood | 9 |
| Mary Whittey | 42 |
| Robert P Hartswell | 25 |
After the death of John and Jane Springer, her guardians, she went to live with her sister Jane Whitley Livengood in Kannapolis. Jane was the sister under her in birth order, as Mary was the firstborn. Jane's entire name was Delitha Jane Whitley Livengood.
Mary lived with the Livengoods for the entirety of her life, in China Grove, and never married. She died in the Concord hospital and was buried in Kannapolis.
The real surprise came when looking into the records of Louisa, the youngest daughter of the marriage of W A. and Rebecca Whitley.
J. A. and Jane Springer may not have had biological children, that doesn't mean they were not parents. Louise Rebecca Whitley, aka Louisa, was born on February 19, 1905. Rebecca Louise Helms Whitley died on February 22, 1905.
From appearances, it seems as if a distraught W.A. Whitley, with 8 other children to care for, gave his three day old daughter to his childless relatives to raise. I can't say why oldest daughter, Mary Melinda came to live with them also.
When J. A. Springer died in 1923, Louise was still a minor, she married Clarence Thomas Wensil, and his father, her father-in-law, Henry A. Wensil became her guardian.
Frustratingly, my attempts to find John Alexander Springer, or his wife, Jane Whitley Springer, before their 1882 wedding have thus far proved futile. So I turned my attention towards the Whitleys.
Why was I not surprised to discover that William Alexander Whitley had been born April 8, 1868, in none other than Stanly County, NC. These were hometown people. He passed away on February, 1920, at the age of 56, and his son Carl, the informant, didn't know the names of his parents, which I found very strange, or neglected to inform the clerk. W.A Whitley working on a farm in Mount Ulah, and was buried at the Knox Chapel Cemetery.
He had married Rebecca Louise Helms on April 7, 1887, at 19, in Iredell County. She was the daughter of Austin Helms and Malinda Williams. She had grown up in Mecklenburg County, but her family was from Union County, NC.
They had nine children together, some of whom I have mentioned, beginning with Mary Malinda in 1888, followed by Delitha Jane, Carl Quincy, John Adam, Julia, Aria, Leroy, Bertha Estelle, and lastly Louise Rebecca, her mother passing shortly after childbirth.
William would remarry three years later, on May 5th, 1908 to Rebecca's youngest sister, Caroline, and had two more sons, James and Victor. Then he died in 1920.
The Whitleys were found in Mount Ulah, Rowan County, NC in some form, during the 1900, 1910 and 1920 census, where they were right next door to the Springers. Could I find the Whitleys in 1880? I assumed I would then find Jane. She had been a Whitley when she married J. A. Springer in Iredell in 1882. Mary and Louise were named as nieces. Would that not make Jane his older sister?
I found William Alexander Whitley as a teenaged Alexander in 1880. His father was William, 45, and his mother, 36, was noted only as "M.''
| Name | William T Whitley | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age in 1910 | 75 | |||||||||
| Birth Date | 1835[1835] | |||||||||
| Birthplace | North Carolina | |||||||||
| Home in 1910 | Barringer, Iredell, North Carolina, USA | |||||||||
| Sheet Number | 14a | |||||||||
| Race | White | |||||||||
| Gender | Male | |||||||||
| Relation to Head of House | Head | |||||||||
| Marital Status | Married | |||||||||
| Father's Birthplace | North Carolina | |||||||||
| Mother's Birthplace | North Carolina | |||||||||
| Native Tongue | English | |||||||||
| Occupation | Farmer | |||||||||
| Industry | General Farm | |||||||||
| Employer, Employee or Other | Employer | |||||||||
| Home Owned or Rented | Own | |||||||||
| Home Free or Mortgaged | Free | |||||||||
| Farm or House | Farm | |||||||||
| Able to read | N | |||||||||
| Able to Write | N | |||||||||
| Enumeration District Number | 0068 | |||||||||
| Enumerated Year | 1910 | |||||||||
| Neighbors | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Following forward, we find William T Whitley farming on his own farm, paid for, no mortgage, but I haven't found a deed for it. The 'M' wife is discovered to be Margaret M. Whitley. Margaret M? Really? Could it be? Could Israel Springer's widow have married a Whitley and moved to Iredell County? It was a possibility I want to explore.
The Whitleys were up in age in 1910, he 75 and she 66. On a side note, she had been the mother of two children. I was surprised to find them still living in 1920, but saddened to find them living in a home for the aged and infirm. At least they had each other.
William died on January 2, 1923 at the home of Pneumonia and influenza. The informant from the home knew little to nothing about him, gave his age as 80, his occupation as farmer, and his marital status as widower. He also had his birthplace as Iredell, which was incorrect as there were no Whitley's at all in the first forty years of Williams life, but they would arrive later.
William even garnered a brief obituary. He was buried in the cemetery located at the home, having no near relatives. His wife predeceased him and his son died in 1920. He did have grandchildren and great grandchildren, however.
Margaret M Whitley died on November 26, 1921, of varicose ulcers of the leg. She was 75. That seems wild now, with our improved medical care, but she probably didn't receive much care at all.
Again, they knew little to nothing about her. She was called May on her death certificate.
But her tombstone reveals what the other M stood for. She was Margaret Malinda Whitley, wife of Will Whitley. Both had Find-a-Grave profiles. Margaret Melinda Whitley's revealed that she was too, buried at the Home, but that she was one of three relocated graves that had personalized tombstones. The County repurposed the Home for the Aged and Infirm and the graves were relocated to Saint Paul's cemetery in 1972. The inscription gives her date of birth as December 28, 1843 and her date of death as November 25, 1921, aged 77. She was called Malinda, wife of W L. Whitley. She is buried at Saint Paul's Lutheran Church.
Someone loved her.
I must comment here on William's middle initial. In the census, it was 'T'. On his death certificate, it was 'P'. On Malinda's tombstone, it was 'L'. I hope that with further research, I can discover what his middle name really was .
I end this post with more questions than when I began. Did the widow of Israel Springer, Margaret M, remarry William Whitley and move to Iredell? Her son was most definitely there. What was her maiden name? William Alexander Whitley was born in 1868 in Stanly County. Was Margaret Malinda his mother? How were the Springers related to the William A Whitley family? Was Jane a sister or was John A Springer a half-brother? Where was Jane before 1882? Her death certificate gives no answer.
Israel Springer was only one of the thousands of men who died during the Civil War era. He's always been portrayed as a single man. But Israel Springer had a small family.
This Journey is not over, but it is over for now. There may be one more clue to follow. There were other Whitley's in Iredell County at the same time as these I've presented in this post. Whitley's with Stanly County roots. One of them was the informant on John Alexander Springer's Death certificate.
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