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| Dr. William Crawford Ellerbe |
A South Carolina tale has a Stanly County, North Carolina connection. Poking about it the dirty laundry of history is a fascinating thing. You never know what you may uncover.
Recently, I was digging a bit around the roots of the Farmer family tree. Several 19th century relatives of mine, including my Great Grandfather's brother, George Washington "Gus" Davis, and his cousin, John Teeter Davis, had married daughters of one George T. Farmer, the 'T' perhaps standing for Thompson, but I can't be certain. At first, it appeared that George had no apparent connections. The Farmer family seemed solitary to the Tyson Community, in southern Stanly County, where a good chuck of my mother's family roots sprang from. While I didn't work much past his parents and siblings, I've positively confirmed, for my own purposes, at least, that George T. Farmer was one of the sons of Joseph and Nancy Thompson Farmer. His parents had both passed away in the late 1840's, within about a year of each other. Not all of their children had reached adulthood by this time, in fact, most of them were quite young. A tragic beginning.
It appears some of them were taken in by their widowed Grandmother, Mary Thompson. Mary would then pass away in 1854, leaving these poor children without a guardian yet again. The court appointed one James F. Kendall as the guardian of the younger children. A few of the older girls had married by then, and this story involves one of them, Mary Ann.
In 1850, Mary Ann was 18, and living in the home of her grandmother, Mary Thompson. Her uncle, George W. Thompson was there, as well as her two youngest brothers, Leon and Wesley. The family was in Center Township, in the southeast corner of Stanly County, NC. They lived near a few Ivey and McSwain families.
This same year, 65-year-old Thomas C. Ellerbe was living in his hometown of Chesterfield, in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.
Chesterfield County sits along the North/South Carolina border. Anson is above it in North Carolina and Center in Stanly County was located on the northern border of Anson, so the two were a distance, but not an unimaginable one, away.
In its day, Chesterfield, like Anson, was a place of wealth and commerce, where several families of prominent, socially and politically active continence, lived. In 1850, Thomas lived next to a young man named Ellerbe Boggan Crawford Cash, 26, whose first name was that of Thomas, and whose last name was that of Thomas's wife, Mary Cash Ellerbe, who had passed away in 1824.
E. B. C. Cash, as he was known, was born on July 1, 1823, in Wadesboro, Anson County, NC. He was the son of Patrick Boggan Cash and his wife, Elizabeth E. Ellerbe Cash and the grandson of Col. James Ingo Dozier Cash and wife Margaret "Peggy" Bogan, tying together multiple large and important Anson County Plantation families. E. B. C. Cash married Allan Eunice Ellerbe, the daughter of William Crawford Ellerbe and Ephtha "Essey" Moore Sanders. She was the granddaughter of Captain William E. Ellerbe and Elizabeth Ann Crawford. This last-mentioned couple was also the parents of Thomas Crawford Ellerbe, the 65-year-old Chesterfield man I previously brought your attention to. This means that Thomas was Allen Eunice Ellerbe Cash's uncle.
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| Ellerbe Boggan Crawford Cash |
To add interest to incest, Thomas Crawford Ellerbe had married Mary Cash, daughter of Col James Ingo Dozier Cash and his wife, Margaret Boggan, making her the aunt of E. B. C. Cash.
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| South Carolina College Horseshoe circa 1850 |
These were the educated and elite sons and grandsons of Revolutionary Patriots who had made well in the world. This was the time and age of the old South with large stately homes and large farms, fledgling industry and mercantile investment, trade and triumph. An old saying states that;
As seen in the above Boggan family history, these families had Anson County origins, although they would later spread west and south with great intensity. The generations to follow were sometimes haughty and often times what we would call "spoiled". Echoes of Scarlett O'Hara. In order to keep the money in the family, marriages were arranged among neighbors and business partners, until over a few generations, unions between cousins and close relatives were common. Brides and Grooms would be connected to each other in multiple and onerous ways. The names of the children reflected these entanglements. This was no excuse for the behavior of Thomas Crawford Ellerbe, but perhaps had some blame to it.
On November 8. 1809, Thomas C. Ellerbe married Mary Cash, again, bringing two respected and prominent PeeDee River plantation families together. There were five children born to this union:
Ingoe Ellerbe, a son, born in 1810 and died in 1812
William Ellerbe, born about 1812, died in West Florida about 1836 or 1837.
Mary Ellerbe, born in 1813, married Hunter House 1st and John Lewis Stovall second, and was widowed twice. With her siblings, moved to Hancock County, Mississippi. She had a large family of children, but most of them died young.
Boggan Ellerbe born in 1818, moved to Mississippi and died in 1862 during the Civil War. Unmarried.
John Crawford Ellerbe, born Christmas Day, 1826, was the most successful of the five children, in sheer longevity, proclivity, and being philoprogenitive. He married Elizabeth Jane Trussell Head, a young, childless widow. John Crawford Ellerbe was a teacher, and he and his wife moved about Mississippi, after he started in Kemper after relocating from Chesterfield County, SC. They lived in Lauderdale, Newton and Scott Counties, where he died in 1882 at age 55. They had seven children, Theophilus Moody, Thomas John, William R., Crawford Cash, Peter Hunter, Mary Elizabeth and Laura Victoria Ellerbe.
Mary Cash Ellerbe died on July 31, 1824, and was buried at Eastview Cemetery in Wadesboro, NC.
She was 30 years old.
The movements after the death of his wife, or due to the death of his wife, of Thomas C. Ellerbe has been mostly lost to time. He was 39, he had children from early teens to infancy. We know he ended up in Florida? What made him go to Florida?
In 1824, Florida was still a new United States Territory, having been transferred from Spain in 1819 by the Adams- Onis Treaty. General Andrew Jackson, whom the Ellerbe's knew of, if not knew well, had been appointed as a Military Governor. The territory had been appointed two capitols previously, Saint Augustine in the east and Pensacola in the west. 1824 was the year that Tallahassee was chosen as the official capitol to unite the territory, which was still under much upheaval between the native population, the longtime Spanish based inhabitants, including a sizeable African population, and the constant new American arrivals from the north, who would primarily set up and live in straw cottages.
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| Florida settlers in the 1800's |
Had Thomas taken his entire family there, or just his oldest living son? What had Mary died of, and under what circumstances? Was it from childbirth of his youngest son? All we know is from a newspaper article, that had been shared far and wide, 13 years later.
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The Newbernian
New Bern, North Carolina • Page 2 |
According to the above article in the Raleigh Register, reprinted in The Newbernian, and Dated October of 1837, Thomas C. Ellerbe had arrived in the area around May of that year. He had taken up residence in an 'untenanted', or empty/ abandoned house on the outskirts of town. He must have looked a bit roughshod, and acted mysteriously or secretive, as he attracted the curiosity and attention of the townspeople, due to his lack of socialization and unkempt look. Although a loner, with no friends, no business or occupation, or relations in the community, he kept quietly and unobtrusively to himself. He was in another word, a recluse, and although the community watched him, they saw no signs of criminal behavior, just speculated on his manner of support and sustenance.
But then, Thomas had made a pivotal error. He had settled in the center of state business and trade and took a walk during an important session of Superior Court. There were in town a number of men from Anson County, who had arrived for Court, and they immediately recognized him, as he had lived for a while in Anson County, and had married into the prominent Cash family from there. He was thereafter arrested and brought before a couple of officials, and jailed, as the men knew him to be a fugitive from justice. In 1824, the same year his wife died, Thomas had been accused of the murder of a Wagoner, a person who drove a wagon and transported goods, similar to a truckdriver today. The event had taken place near Cheraw, SC, just south of Anson County, NC, and Thomas had quickly absconded and made himself vacant, and according to them, had remained in hiding until a recent report of the murder of William Ellerbe in West Florida. As rumor had been told that Thomas had ran south to Florida, and had a son named William, it was inferred that he was that Thomas, so he was taken to prison for safe keeping.
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Weekly Raleigh Register
Raleigh, North Carolina • Page 2 |
A few weeks after his arrest, another article appeared in the papers. In this brief report, the name of the wagon driver was told, a William Hamilton from Mecklenburg County, NC. A witness to the murder, Moses Swain, was still living in Charlotte, and he was bound over to attend court in Chesterfield County, where the crime had occurred, but Thomas C. Ellerbe had escaped.
There was a William Hamilton, over age 45, living in Mecklenburg County in the 1820 census.
He lived beside an Alexander Hamilton in the same age group.
He had a Will, and named his wife, Elizabeth. She was the Executor of his estate, which was settled in 1825. The shoe fit. There was also a Moses Swain, or Swan, in Mecklenburg County, several generations of them, apparently.
What had taken place in the life of Thomas Ellerbe before this? He is listed in the 1810 and 1820 census of Chesterfield County, although he married in Anson. He was a resident of Raleigh in 1837.
The same year, Isaac Lanier of Anson County, sold 700 acres to Ingoe and Thomas.
*************************************** I can't find a transcript or newspaper report on whether or not Thomas C Ellerbe faced trial for the murder of William Hamilton or William Ellerbe, his son. What we do know is that he returned home by 1840. Thomas was is the 1840 census of Anson County |
| Cheraw, South Carolina Wednesday, October 20, 1841 |
His sister, Elizabeth lent him two slaves, Cale and Jane, whom she reserved the right to recall at will and whim. Their brother, Dr. WC Ellerbe witnesses the legal papers. 1845
And as seen earlier in this post, Thomas was in the 1850 census of Chesterfield County, South Carolina. By this time he was an old man, yet still a rolling stone. Shortly after, he had made his way back up the Pee Dee River, passing by all of Anson, until he made it past the mouth of the Rocky River, to Stanly County. What business had he had in Center? Did he have friends and associates in Shankle or Norwood, or what was left of Allenton? Had he planned to plant roots in Stanly, hoping no one knew his reputaion and the rumours?
We know the 66 year old Thomas met the 19 year old Mary Ann Farmer, granddaughter of Mary Thompson, and married her on November 2, 1851.
And then he died.
Thomas C. Ellerbe's estate was settled in 1852. Had he been the victim of some vigilante justice, recognized by a Hamilton relative? Had he even been found guilty of the crime at all? Or had his social standing preempted him from facing the charges at all? Moses Swain had died in 1839, just a few years after the arrest. Was he the only witness, and therefore, the case was dismissed for lack of evidence, if it had ever made it to trial?
Dr. Abram J. Shankle, a several 'Great" uncle in law of mine, was the Administrator of the Estate. The court hearing on it was to take place on the second Monday in February 1852. Mary Ann and Thomas had just married in November, three months prior. It would have taken weeks, if not a month or more to have gotten to this stage of the game, legally. This had been a very, brief, marriage.
Martin Reap was paid for the delivery of a coffin in 1851 and hauling it to the grave. Some of the pages were repetitive. Others, like the one above, I found interesting.
Some of the proceedings to place at the Chesterfield Courthouse in South Carolina. Having lived there prior, Thomas had business, property, debt. There was one surviving partner in a business that Thomas owed a very old debt to, and he still had a bone to pick. The Partnership was that of A. Myers and Martin Pickett. Sound familiar? He owed a debt to them in 1820. One may escape a charge of murder, or two, but not a debt owed. It will follow you to the grave.
second day of January in the year of our Lord One thousand eight Hundred and twenty to wit at Chesterfield C. H. in the district and state aforesaid by his certain writing obligatory
Copy Note
It was an authentic debt and Absolom finally got his pound of flesh upon Thomas's death. Absolom Myers is a character I've came across many times in m perusing of old records.
Above is a list of notes owed to Thomas Ellerbe. These are Stanly County folks, many in my family tree. It makes me wonder how long a presence Thomas had in Stanly County. He couldn't have just arrived in 1851. He must have been making inquiries and visits to the north side of the Rocky River. He may have vacationed at Rocky River Springs. There was no Aquadale at that time, and development of a village, complete with street names and house lots divided, would not come along for a few decades, but the Springs were there and people had long discovered their value and were taking holiday there.
During the course of the probate of the estate of Thomas C. Ellerbe, his young widow remarried.
The young widow, Mary Ann Farmer Ellerbe, married John F. McIntyre, son of Malachi Stokes McIntyre and Elizabeth Murray McIntyre, my third Great Grand Aunt, on March 8, 1852. He was closer to her age. This one would stick.
Abram J. Shankle had boarded Thomas's Bay Mare for the one month he was married. She was also shoed and the fees were $8.50, which was pretty expensive, considering Mary Ann was only given $38.00 to live on for a year.
The above record blew my mind. Dr. Shankle received a dollar from the estate for his services of holding a 'crying sale', "of said deceased." What was a crying sale? I had to look into this, and discovered it had nothing to do with sadness or grieving. The word crying referred more to the process of announcement, like a Town Cryer, or an auctioneer, and was otherwise known as a vendue. The official explanation is below.
When someone died, their estate was first appraised by two respected community members. Then, on a publicly announced day and place, the vendue crier would “cry” the items — calling out prices and accepting bids — to sell off the deceased’s belongings, such as furniture, farm equipment, livestock, and other property
The vendue crier was responsible for:
Calling out prices and accepting bids.
Maintaining order at the sale.
Often being a respected local figure, as the auction was a public community event
Above is an invoice of what the estate owed to Cottonville resident, Celia Easley. Celia, who had some connection or relation to the Miller Easley extended family, was a free person of color, who was a wise businesswoman and owned her own property, and husband. She bought Harry Randall from his Randall owners down on the river above Allenton, after having had several children with him already. Her invoice tells us a bit more about Thomas. She was paid for having moved "good from the Springs", which leads me to believe he may have come north to Stanly County for the rumored healing properties. There was also mention of a payment to Jones Green, the use of her wagon for moving goods back to the Springs, and cutting wood, and making food for the sale, moving goods on the last day of the sale, bringing 51 pounds of pork for the widow, along with 18 lbs. of salt. Celia Easley was an industrious lady and had helped Dr. Shankle with the auction.
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