There seems to have been a bit of controversy about a member of the Saunders family tree. Leave it to me to try to clear it up.
I discovered the conundrum while researching the Sanders family that married into the Honeycutt family of Big Lick, who relocated to Clear Creek in Mecklenburg County, NC. This one lady, Mary Esther Newell, her married name, seemed to have her descendants and other family members discombobulated. They even have a story on her page, breaking it down scientifically, but they have it wrong. When I looked at it, the story seemed rather simple and to the point.
Mary Esther was born on September 13, 1893, in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, where she spent her entire life. She married once and became the mother of ten children. She lived to be 91 years old. She appeared in every available census from 1900 to 1950. She left an obituary. Where's the mystery?
| Name | Mary E Taylor |
|---|---|
| Birth Date | Sep 1898 |
| Birthplace | North Carolina, USA |
| Home in 1900 | Crab Orchard, Mecklenburg, North Carolina |
| Sheet Number | 8 |
| Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation | 196 |
| Family Number | 148 |
| Race | White |
| Gender | Female |
| Relation to Head of House | Daughter |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Father's Name | Harvy S Taylor |
| Father's Birthplace | North Carolina, USA |
| Mother's Name | Mary A Taylor |
| Mother's Birthplace | North Carolina, USA |
| Can Write | Y |
| Can Speak English | Y |
| Neighbors | View others on page |
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| Harvy S Taylor | 80 |
| Mary A Taylor | 54 |
| Alice C Taylor | 11 |
| Mary Taylor | 23 |
| William H Taylor | 18 |
| George B Taylor | 12 |
| Mary E Taylor | |
| C Grant | 13 |
The imbroglio began with the first census record that Mary Esther appeared in. The 1900 census of Crab Orchard, Mecklenburg County, NC of citizens living along the Berryhill Road. In my expericence, the 1900 is one of the worse to attempt to read and the handwriting of the census takers, the most atrocius. Before the Civil War, there were academies and instituitions of highter learning, well, everywhere. After the Civil War, the census takers were still educated men who had survived the War, or for whatever reason, youth, old age, or even handicap, didn't go. Schools and eduction was not the first thing on the agenda. Survivial was. Common Schools attempted to maintain to some degree, here and there, but education was not a priority.By 1900, well-educated men were at a deficit. It was people, mostly fellas, who might have made it to the third grade, who were filling out the forms. The older, better educated generation were either dead or physically unable to make the drudging trek around the county. So there were holes, errors, difficult to interpret scribbles. That happened here.
This was the housedhold of Harvey Smith Taylor and his wife, Mary Ann Jordan Taylor. I've touched on members of the Taylor family in my previous posts, and among the families I have been researching that lived in this area, Taylors were seen living near them, interacting and intermarrying with them. It was the same neighborhood. The first raging error seen that would trip up anyone who did not take a gander at the actual document is that Henry S. Taylor was not 80. The actual record gives him birth year of 1840, which would put him at around 60. Second, Alice C. Taylor was the second born of his nine children. She was not 11. Her birth year was given as 1869, and the age, actually written on the document, was 31, not 11. Everything proceeds correctly up until Mary E Taylor, who was our Mary Esther. Her age isn't shown here, and on the actual document, it's very faint. Being born in the fall of 1893, she would have been six. C. Grant, that follows, was not 13. She was born in 1839, the mother of 6 children, and not a one of them living. This was Serena "Ceni" Taylor Grant, Harvey's sister, who was 61 years old.
The relationship given for Mary Esther to Harvey, the head of household, which is how this whole thing began, was daughter, which was incorrect, and that much they had figured out. Mary Ann Taylor Jordan was 54. She was 42 when her last child, George, was born. Having a child at 48 was not impossible, but highly improbable.
In addition, the 1900 and 1910 censuses had an additional question intended to measure the statistics on child mortality. They asked women, mothers, how many children they were the mother of, and how many of those were still living. Mary Ann Jordan Taylor had answered with 9, and 8 living.
This number was corroborated in the obituary of Harvey Smith Taylor, who would pass away on June 12, 1917. It was said he was the father of 9 children, with 7 living. Those two were Victor, who died as a child, and Alice, who died in 1909, before her parents. Alice had been alive in 1900, when Mary Jordan Taylor reported 8 living children. The actual children of Harvey and Mary Ann Taylor were:
1) Roxie Harris Taylor (22 Dec. 1866-18 Jan. 1928), married Elam Newton King.
2) Alice C Taylor (14 Feb. 1869-22 June 1909), married James Wilson Sanders.
3) Lillie Jane Taylor (5 Nov. 1871- 9 Mar. 1959), married Charlie Lee Mulwee.
4) John Houston Taylor (16 Dec 1874-30 Dec. 1943), married Mamie Elizabeth Gore.
5) Mary Bell "Mamie" Taylor (24 Dec. 1876- 30 Dec. 1925), married James Adams Wilson.
6) Laura Ann Taylor (13 Sept. 1879-24 Dec. 1955), married Theodore C. Cuthbertson.
7) William Harvery Taylor (22 Nov. 1881 -4 Jan. 1947) married MamieW. Buchanon.
8) Victor Taylor ( 26 September 1884-5 May 1887) age 2 and a half.
9) George Baxter Taylor ( 16 May 1888-27 Oct. 1950) married Bonnie Letitia Simpson.
Mary Esther was not in this list. She was not a daughter.She was a granddaughter.
The descendants had figured this out, but had attributed her to Mamie (Mary B.) Taylor, because she was 23 in the census and because her name was Mary. They missed one important detail in that census.
Alice C. Taylor, who was 31, not 11, admitted to being the mother of one child, with one living.
Two months after this census was taken, on Christmas Day, 1900, Alice C. Taylor, daugther of Henry and Mary Ann Taylor, both living, married J. W. (James Wilson) Sanders, son of Wiley and Emeline Sanders, both deceased. The wedding took place in Newell's, in Crab Orchard Township, and witnesses were two of Alice's brothers, John and William Harvey and Emma Teeter.
Three children arrived in quick, and normal, succession:
John Franklin on February 21, 1903.
Annie Mae on January 7, 1905.
Leila Belle on September 7,1906.
Then tragedy struck, first, young Alice C Taylor Sanders would pass away at the age of 40 on June 22, 1908. Then, just a year later, James Wilson Sanders would join her in the Hickory Grove Cemetery in Newell, passing in 1909, at the age of 59. The three young children were left orphans.
In 1910, we see this row of neighbors on Berryhill Road, that have played a part in my last three or four post, save one.There's the kindly old Irish Vet, Dennis O'Malley or just Malley, with an adopted child, Mamie Phillips. She must fit in the the Henry Phillips family that lived close by somewhere. Then there was the widow Ellen Waisner Adams and her sister, Roxanna Waisner, daughters of David and Mary Saunders Waisner, who featured heavily in my earlier post Where the Crabapples Bite.
Then we come upon the household of Harvery S. Taylor and wife, Mary Ann. Still in the home was their youngest son, George Baxter. Living with them was John Franklin Sanders and Leila Sanders, two of the children of Alice Taylor and James Wilson Sanders, their grandchildren. The next household was that of their son, John H. Taylor, with Harvey Smith Malwee, his nephew, son of sister Lillie J. Taylor Mulwee, living with them. Afterward was Ceni A. Grant, nee' Serena Taylor, Harvey's sister, mentioned earlier. Skip one house and beyond that was Lilly Taylor Malwee, with the remainder of her five children.
| Name | Mary Newel |
|---|---|
| Age in 1910 | 17 |
| Birth Date | 1893 |
| Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Home in 1910 | Mallard Creek, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, USA |
| Sheet Number | 3a |
| Street | Salisbury Road |
| Race | White |
| Gender | Female |
| Relation to Head of House | Wife |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Father's Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Mother's Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Native Tongue | English |
| Attended School | N |
| Able to read | Y |
| Able to Write | Y |
| Enumeration District Number | 0127 |
| Years Married | 2 |
| Number of Children Born | 1 |
| Number of Children Living | 1 |
| Enumerated Year | 1910 |
| Neighbors | View others on page |
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| Dave L Newel | 30 |
| Mary Newel | 17 |
| Mary Newel | 0 |
| Thos F Rogers | 48 |
| Annie Sanders | 6 |
In addition, over in Mallard Creek, Mary Agnes, just 17, has married David L. Newell, 30, a member of the family the town was named for. They had been married two years, making Mary Agnes only 15, probably pushed into a marriage for security after her mother, Alice, died. She was the mother of one, with one living, which was her newborn daughter, Mary. A Thomas Rogers was living with them, and also Annie Sanders, Alice's next to the youngest.
The relationhsip of Annie to Dave Newell was "sister-in-law", or sister of Mary.
1920
The Newells had been living on "Salisbury Road" in Mallard Creek in 1910, in 1920, they
| Name | Mary Newell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Year | abt 1896[abt 1896] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birthplace | North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home in 1920 | Charlette, Mecklenburg, North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Street | Poor House Road | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence Date | 1920 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race | White | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender | Female | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relation to Head of House | Wife | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marital Status | Married | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse's Name | Dave Lee Newell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father's Birthplace | North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother's Birthplace | North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to Speak English | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to read | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to Write | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Neighbors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mary's age was now given as 24, it would range between a birth year of 1893 and 1898. Dave's age would decrese by 12 years! He was 30 ten years prior and now he was only 28. They were up to five children now, all girls, one every two years. Mary Lila 10, Viola 8, Gladis 4, Elizabeth 2 and Gertrude, newborn. Annie is now 15, still living with them, and her brother, John has joined her. Brother-in-law and Sister-in-law, clear as day.
Harvey S. Taylor had died in 1917, and the widowed, Mary Ann Jordan Taylor was now elderly and living with her daughter Mamie Taylor Wilson. Ten years later, she wouldbe living with her daughter, Lilly Taylor Mulwee, and would passon later taht year at 84. So Alice's youngest daughter, Lila, had been sent to a children's home until she reached adulthood.
| Name | Lelia Saunders |
|---|---|
| Age | 13 |
| Birth Year | abt 1907 |
| Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Home in 1920 | Winston-Salem Ward 2, Forsyth, North Carolina |
| Residence Date | 1920 |
| Race | White |
| Gender | Female |
| Relation to Head of House | Inmate |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Father's Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Mother's Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Able to Speak English | Yes |
| Attended School | yes |
| Able to read | Yes |
| Able to Write | Yes |
At 13, she was found lving at the Children's Home in Winston-Salem.
John Frank Sanders John F. Sanders would marry a Miss Margaret Lingle and settle down in Charlotte, raising an family of five children.
The one who seemed the most melancholy, or lost when I try to connect to her spirit, was the youngest sister, Leila.
Lelia would return to Charlotte and find employment with F. L. Woolworth. She worked as a Clerk and had attended Davenport College after graduating Davenport College. Later in life, she woud marry a Miller and outlived him.
Annie Mae SandersAnnie Mae Sanders never married and remained in Charlotte. She lived with the Nowells until the children were older, and then she lived with friends and worked in the textile mills.
Mary Agnes Sanders Newell passed away in 1984 at the age of 91. She told us exactly who she was, the daughter for James and Alice Taylor Sanders, the sister of John F. Sanders, Leila Miller and Annie Sanders. Whether or not James Sanders was her biological father or not, (he probably was not), he was the father in her life and gave her his name. In the records of her nine children, Lila, Viola, Gladys, Alice, Gerturde, Bonnie, Jack Franklin, Annie Esther and Dorothy Jean, she is seen as Saunders or Sanders most of the time. Once or twice, she is seen as Taylor. Her Tombstone hails her forever as Mary Sanders Newell. She was no mystery at all.
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