While researching the Faggart family of Faggart's Crossing in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, I developed a strong distaste for the individual, Albert Alexander Faggart, and too, his father, Daniel Miller Faggart. They were men of, and indeed products of, their time. They orchestrated a strategy to conceal the odious crimes that Albert had committed with conscious, and in the end, they won. Albert went on with his life, free and without consequence, while the family that suffered the consequences and ramifications of his actions were pushed to the side, and perhaps in some cases, out of the way completely, without even a thing to mark the fact that they had ever walked the earth.
This tragic story was covered in my previous post, The Ruin of Mary Lilly
Despite the disdain I felt for the guilty family, one member of the Faggart family drew my sympathy, and that was the person of Albert's closest sister, Pearl.
Pearl was a beautiful and tragic character. Born January 28, 1886, Pearl Maribell Faggart was the third of the six children of Daniel Miller and Mary Rebecca Cress Faggart. She was born in Faggart's Crossing, Cabarrus County, NC, just south of the City of Concord, a rural community hugged between Irish Buffalo Creek and Cold Water Creek, where the Miami Church Road met Flowe's Store Road and crosses Hwy 601, once known better as the Georgeville Road. Her brother, Albert Alexander Faggart was born in February of 1888, just 25 months younger than she. There were also the older siblings, Virgie Missouri Faggart, (1879-1972), Berry Barrier Faggart, (1882-1973) and the younger siblings, Hedrick Miller Faggart, (1890-1952) and Jenny Lee Faggart, (1892-1923).
Being born in 1886, and the 1890 census missing, the only census record Pearl would appear in was the first of the new century, the 1900. In this, we see Pearl at 14, listed with her parents, Daniel and Mary. Her older brother, Berry was 17, her younger brothers Albert, was 12 and Hedrick was 10, while baby sister, Jennie was 7. Also in the home was her mother's unmarried sister, Eva, 37. Oldest sister, Virgie, was married by this time, and is listed right above the Faggart household, having recently married John A. Carter, 24, Virgie is 20 years old.
Pearl grew up surrounded by family as at least half of the Faggart's Crossing citizenry were either Faggarts or Cresses or married into the Cress or Faggart family. The Mitchell family listed below them plays an important part in my former post on Mary Lilly, as they were part of her family. I first came across Pearl's name in the court testimony of Shelby Pless Lilly, the mother of Mary Lilly and the sister of Mozelle Pless Mitchell, seen in the above census record. Shelby, an angry mother, had gone to the Faggart home in search of Pearl's brother, Albert, and had found no one home except "Miss Pearlie". This was in December of 1908. Pearl seems to have been relegated to the house, while everyone else was free to roam out and about. Pearlie would only live a few more months, passing away the day before Valentines Day in 1909. She was only 23 years old.
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Concord, North Carolina Monday, February 15, 1909 |
The Concord Times
Various newspapers reported on the shocking demise of young Pearl Faggart. Each report added a slight bit of context to the tragic story. The Concord Times reported that she had taken the drug, Laudanum, an addictive agent that predated modern additives, and cut her own throat. "The young woman had been brooding for some time, we learn, over her unhappy life, and it is supposed that her troubles were greater than she could bear." Pearl had gone to her room and did not come down for supper. Two bottles of the toxic medicine were found in her room and a razor. Blood covered the bed and flooring. The article stated that she had been found barely alive but died shortly afterwards. After that revelation, we are given another surprise, "The two-and-a-half-year-old child of the dead woman was the first to find her body." Pearl was a mother!
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The Evening Chronicle
Charlotte, North Carolina • Page 4 |
It was copied to The Evening Chronicle in Charlotte, NC.
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The Courier
Asheboro, North Carolina • Page 1 |
The Asheboro Courier reported that Pearl had been "held under serious suspicion" some years back. Suspicion of what? What did the trials and tribulations of this young woman, that were too heavy to bear, consist of? What was she held in suspicion of? It also described her family as one of the counties best. That's debatable.
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Statesville Record and Landmark
Statesville, North Carolina • Page 6 |
The Statesville Record and Landmark made a clarification on what she had been "brooding" about. It was "over her ruin". Her two-and-a-half-year-old child had been the first to discover her body, evidentially, the cause of her "ruin".
At this point, we can only speculate. Pearl had obviously had a child out of wedlock. At this antiquated and obtuse stage in history, this fact caused her 'ruin' and she was obviously not a virgin. My hypothesis is that her brother had married and her 16-year-old baby sister was at this time betrothed. Perhaps Ervin had originally been interested in the beautiful Pearl, but upon discovery of her 'ruin', he defected instead to her innocent young sister, Jenny Lee, who may have been just as pretty, but maybe not quite.
At 23, in 2026, Pearl would have been at the pinnacle of her game. Fresh out of college, perhaps, or off to start a new career. She was not likely to have been married, and if not, she wouldn't have felt any pressure or desire to be so soon. If she had fallen in love, all options would have been on the table. But in 1909, we'd find a much different scenario. At a few years past twenty, she would have been considered an old maid, or dangerously close to it. Having a child would not have negated her chances of ever marrying, because I've seen it happen in the records of others in her position, but it may have precluded her from finding a good match, or a respectable one, as she was no longer a respectable girl.
I can't help but think that her siblings' weddings and engagements are what pushed her melancholy into despair and pushed a fragile Pearl over the edge.
The Child.
We learned from the newspapers that Pearl was a mother, to a two and a half year old child. Who was this child? Did it survive the loss of its mother? Did it grow up and live a normal life after it's pitious beginnings?
Following the moves forward of Pearls family, I discovered her child did survive, and grow up, with the aid and care of her parents. The baby was a boy and she named him Harold.
Harold, or Hal for short, didn't show up in the census soon after his mother's death, the 1910. He was not listed in with her parents, or siblings, anywhere in Cabarrus County or any known orphanages of the day. I believe he most likely lived with her parents and they just hid him from detection.
In 1920, however, he does show up. D. M. and Mary Faggarts, Pearls parents, are still living on their farm in Faggarts, both now 60 years young. There with them, at age 13, helping out on the farm, is Hal, listed as their grandson.
Scrutinizing the person of Hal, I discovered his full name was Harold Lee Faggart and he had been born on May 23, 1906. We know that Pearl was his mother, was is known who his father was? The answer to that question was "Yes". Not only was it a surprising discovery, it was a rather shocking one. On one of his later records, his father was listed as "John Carter".
Now, have a gander back at the clip above from the 1920 census. Whose name appears just below Hal's in the document, in the very next household? Well, none other than John Carter!
John Carter is not only their next door neighbor, take a gander who he is married to, 40-year-old Virgie, or in other words, Virgie Missouri Faggart Carter, D. M. and Mary's firstborn child and Pearl's older sister. John Carter was her brother-in-law! John had married Virgie on October 3, 1895. They had eight children between 1900 and 1920. In 1906, when Hal was born, John and Virgie were the parents of three already, Missouri, Jesse and Marva. Pearl would have been 19 years old when she became pregnant with her son. All I can say is at least she was an adult.
So this was the great sin, the act that had placed Pearl under "serious suspicion", the root cause of her depression and source of her ruin. She had gotten pregnant by her married brother-in-law.
But that's not all, John Carter was a player mentioned in one of my recent, earlier posts. I had come full circle. John is mentioned in my post, found at the post below:
In my story on Ella Honeycutt, a daughter of Maniza Honeycutt, in the Fall of 1890, the divorce of Ella and her first husband, Lindsey F. Yow, revealed that Ella had dalliances with multiple men during her marriage, one of them being, John Carter, this John Carter. This affair had taken place five years before John married Virgie. I was a bit startled to find out this fella was already in my research tree.
John Adam Carter had been born July 21, 1875, in Cabarrus County. He was the son of Jacob Alexander Cater and Mary Deal. He seems to have been a bit of a womanizer, but as was more custom, or common, than not, his wife, Virgie put up with it. They had four more children after the birth of Hal. Living next door, Virgie was probably reminded of her husband's infidelity every time she saw him.
Not only that, she may have been haunted by her sisters death, to whom all the blame seems to have been placed. In those days, it was a "boys will be boys" world. Men were seldom held responsible for their own libido and indiscretions. It was the females fault for tempting him, for just being there, for just being female, for being in the position that this could happen. Pearl was just too beautiful. Mary Lilly had just been too young and naive when she had been assaulted by Pearls brother.
Harold Faggart did live a normal early 20th century, North Carolina life. He grew up in his grandparents home, being found again there in 1930.
| Name | Harold L Faggert |
|---|---|
| Birth Year | abt 1907 |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | White |
| Age in 1930 | 23 |
| Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Relation to Head of House | Grandson |
| Home in 1930 | Township 6, Cabarrus, North Carolina, USA |
| Map of Home | Township 6,Cabarrus,North Carolina |
| Street Address | Concord and Salisbury Road |
| Dwelling Number | 57 |
| Family Number | 57 |
| Attended School | No |
| Able to Read and Write | Yes |
| Father's Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Mother's Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Able to Speak English | Yes |
| Occupation | Stretcher |
| Industry | Bleachery |
| Class of Worker | Wage or salary worker |
| Employment | Yes |
| Neighbors | View others on page |
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| Daniel M Faggert | 72 |
| Mary R Faggert | 72 |
| Harold L Faggert | 23 |
| J Leroy Faggert | 17 |
Harold, like many in his time and place, made a lifelong career of working in the textile mills. Here, at 23, he's working as a Streacher at a Bleachery, a place where the cotton was bleached. His 72-year-old grandparents are still running a General farm and the road is now called the Concord-Salisbury Road. Harold's cousin, Leroy, is also working at the Bleachery, as a Wetter. He's 17, and not actually a Faggert, they just neglected to include his real surname, so he was transcribed as Faggart.
The Faggarts had lost another daughter. Jennie Lee, their youngest child, who had married Ervin R. Moss at 16, in 1909, the year of Pearl's disturbing death, died herself at the age of 30, on April 17, 1923. Leroy was her oldest son, his full name James Leroy Moss. Jennie had died in childbirth after having twins. She left behind not only James Leroy, (1912-1990), but Raymond Geneta (1914-2001), Carl Herman, (1917-2005) and Mary Elizabeth, (1921-2019). Then on April 3, 1923, Jennie gave birth to her fourth and fifth children, twins sons, Hoy Lee, (1923-1988), and Coy Ervin (1923-1978). Fifteen days later, being in bad health, malnurished and suffering from chronic nephritis, Jenny passed away from complications after the birth. Her husband, Erivin Moss, would quickly marry again, to another Faggart, Lona Roseazealea Faggart, (1894-1962), in November of the same year. While having the same surname in the same small community, that bore that same surname, the chances that Jennie and Lona were related somewhere along the way was pretty good, they were not close cousins. Lona would help Ervin raise his six children, the youngest of whom would have little to no memory of their biological mother, and she would quickly add five more children to the brood, bringing the total to eleven, namely Ruth Madeline (1924-2005, Willie Bunn (1926-2014), John Ray (1928-1969), Ruby Nadine (1931-2006) and Bobby Eugene (1936-2007). Ervin, who died in 1969, was buried with both of his wives, one on each side, at that little church in Rimer, Cross of Christ Lutheran Church, were Pearl, herself, was laid to rest, as well as quite a number of the surrounding community.
Returning to the 1930 census, still next door lived their oldest daughter, Virgie, with her husband John Carter, who was working as a Woodworkman at a Repair Shop, while at the same time farming at a General Farm, with the help of he and Virgies now teenaged children, Reece 19, Daniel 16, Catherine, 14 and Johnnie 11, with eight-year-old Vonnie, a girl, bringing up the rear. While Hal grew up with his grandparents, he had also grown up with his father living right next door. I wonder what the dynamics of that relationship was? Did John acknowledge the relationship or ignore the boy as best as he could? Did John and Virgies children view Hal as a cousin, or were they also aware of the half-sibling relationhip? The answer to that question can be partially answered in the obituaries of the Carter children, and of Hal, himself.
There were eight Carter children altogether. One died as a toddler, three others died before Hal, and the youngest four died after. Not one mentioned Hal as a sibling. The same with Hal, when he passed away, only his wife and sons were named as survivors.
John Carter died in 1932. His own obituary was brief, and to the point.
Hal would marry on December 26, 1932, the day after Christmas, to Helen Cress, the daughter of Ross and Ora Bostian Cress. As Hal's grandmother was a Cress, and the two most populous names in the community were Faggart and Cress, Hal was marrying back into the family, which was not uncommon in those times. The couple would have three sons in a fairly close continuance, Donald in 1934, Frank in 1935 and Harold Eugene. in 1937. Harold was 26 and a citizen of Concord. He gave his parents as D M. Faggart, living and Pearl Faggart, deceased. Nothing to freak out about. I've seen this repeatedly. It was too embarrassing to not have a father, so the mother is listed correctly. For his father, he named instead the man who raised him, his grandfather. It was not an uncommon practice for illegitimate children. Another ruse they used was listing the mother and just naming their father by his first name and letting the clerk assume that the child's name was, of course, the same as the fathers. For instance, if Sam Smith knew his father was Tom Jones, and his mother's name was Mary Smith, he would give his mother's name correctly, but just name his father as Tom, and the name would be written Tom Smith. Or, in other instances, an anonymous, overly used name like John was given, just pulled out of a hat and in generations to come, descendants of Sam Smith would be banging their heads on the door trying to find this nonexistant John Smith. Until DNA came along, and started opening doors and solving mysteries.
1940 comes along and Harold is still working at the same job in the same Mill, except this time, he has a wife, three little boys and his 81-year-old grandparents to take care of. Virgie Faggart Carter, his aunt, was still living next door with three of her children, and some of theirs.
Hal, himself, passed away in 1988, at the age of 81 and joined his parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins and son, in the cemetery at Prosperity, their home church.
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The Charlotte Observer
Charlotte, North Carolina • Page 88 |
His obituary was brief and to the point. His family was small. Only one of his sons had children, two of them, and those two left that son with three grandchildren. I can only imagine how Pearls life would have been different had she stuck around. How different Hal's life may have been.
Pearl could have looked towards the sunshine. She could have escaped the hiding in shame in her parents house and found her way to Concord, or even Charlotte, where she could have found work. Her face would have opened doors, so she could support herself and perhaps her son. She may have caught the attention of someone with whom she could have lived in comfort. She could have reinvented herself, and invented whatever tail she wished to disguise her past. She could have made a place and a path for herself into the future, enjoyed her son and grandchildren, and possibly met her great-grandchildren.
Rest in Peace Pearl Marybell Faggart.
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| Picasso's 'Melancholy Woman' |
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