“Very often I’ll find out at the end of a book what I put in at the beginning. A sort of process of elimination and discovery in one.” — Jonathan Carroll
Nancy A. Hudson was born around 1810- 1812 in Anson County, North Carolina. There exists no documentation on who her parents were. Some have her as a child or grandchild of Joachim Hudson, my 5th Great Grandfather. Anything is possible, I suppose, but it seems he, and most of his family, seem to have relocated to Darlington County, South Carolina by then. Others have her as the daughter of Josiah, or Joshua Hudson, Sr. and her mother as a Miss Culpepper. The Culpepper may have derived from the fact that one of her sons was named Culpepper, or it could have been true. There's really no way to know.
Descendants of Evan Hudson have her as his sister, due to the closeness of associates, and the fact that they may both would migrate to Tennessee. There is more information on her husband, of course, as women remained primarily in the background in the 19th century. This is what I know about the recondite Nancy.
Previously, in my previous post on Evan Hudson, I briefly examined a man named Archibald Helms, who had lived in what is now Union County, prior to traveling west with Evan Hudson and his group, that included his in-laws, the Hargett's and Helms. Archibald Helms and Evan would purchase neighboring properties in Lawrence County, Alabama, but had lived in neighboring counties while in Tennessee. When he was a young man still in North Carolina, Archibald Helms lived near a man named Shem Yarbrough, as shown above.
The name Yarbrough is one of multifarious configurations. Yarboro, Yarborough, Yarbrough and on and on. The name originated from the old Norse term of "Jardborg" and evolved into an English place name of Yarborough in Lincolnshire, meaning earthworks or fortifications. Locally, and this will become important momentarily, Carolina Piedmont southern twang has turned the name to a sound more like "Yar-burr", much like we pronounce the name of the local town of Oakboro, as "Oakburr". Transplants do not, but locals do.
Shem Yarborough
Shem was born around 1774 or 1775. He was the son of a very prolific Joshua Yarbourough and wife, Susanna Thompson. They lived in what was Mecklenburg County but would become Union County in 1842. Shem had five brothers, and between them, they would send Yabouroughs southward into Alabama and Georgia and westward into Tennessee and beyond. The Yarboroughs preferred biblical names for their children. Shem's brothers were Benjamin, Jeptha, William Cornelius, Reuben and Gideon. Shem would marry a girl from the most numerous family name in Union County, Nelly Helms. They would have eight children: Jeptha, Thompson Shem, William Dawson, Henry Clay, Deborah, Nelly, Susanna and Melissa.
Richardson's Creek
Richardson's Creek is a tributary of the Rocky River. It begins in Union County near Monroe and journeys northeast through Anson County, becoming wider along the way. So, while the widest and deepest part of the creek is in Anson County, as it empties into the Rocky River, the longest part of it remains in what is now Union County.
It passes between New Salem and Olive Branch, only three miles apart, around the foot of Polk Mountain, the only Mountain in Union County, runs north of Fairfield, and then splits into two small branches, one that ends in Lake Twitty, while the other cuts east through Monroe, becomes Little Richardson Creek, feeds into Lake Lee, and ends, or begins, just west of East Sandy Ridge Road. This is the Creek along which our Hudson family was founded after leaving Amelia County, Virginia.
Shem Yarbrough to Westford Garris for 120 acres of Land Bearing date the 7th day of September 1826 by John M. Ingram.
Some would leave the area during the 1820's, a few of these being veterans of the War of 1812 pursuing bounty lands. Others would follow a decade later, perhaps persuaded through letters, or even visits, of the joys of greener pastures and cheap, or even free, land, for the taking.
And then I found the above document. Mecklenburg County, November 24th, 1824, Benjamin Hutson (Hudson), "a tract of land in the said County, containing 110 acres of the waters of Beaverdam fork joining the lines of Shem Yarborrow, Sampson Doster, and the Wido (sic) Bennett."
Another option was Benjamin Hudson, the uncle of Joshua Hudson Jr., Benjamin and Evan Hudson, brother of Joachim and Joshua Sr.
The family had originated in Amelia County, Virginia and had migrated into North Carolina just before the death of their father, Hall Hudson. Joachim was here, in Anson County, by 1777. Brothers Joshua and Obediah didn't show up until a bit later. That doesn't mean they hadn't arrived with him, just that they hadn't purchased land. Or, they could have remained with their father, Hall Hudson, until he passed away.
 |
| Amelia County, Virginia |
He executed his will on March 3, 1778, and it was probated on September 28, 1780, in Nottoway Parish, Amelia County. Peter Hudson was the executor. Heirs named were:
Obedience Hudson, granddaughter, a cow and heifer, a sow with four shoats.
Noe Hudson, grandson, a feather bed and furniture, a cow and calf.
Richard Hudson, the "Great Family Bible". - Glad it existed!
His other named children, Isaac Hudson, Hall Jr., Joshua, Benjamin, Joakim, Obediah, Elizabeth and Susannah, received only one shilling each, "and no more of my estate". It appears these children had angered him, going against their father's wished is some manner.
Peter Hudson, the executor, received a man name "Guy" and "all the rest of my living".
Witnesses were John Grey, Elizabeth Grey, Richard Ward, Robert Hudson, and George Snelling.
......................................................................................................................................................................
My take is that Benjamin, son of Hall, would have been too old, if he was yet alive at all, to have been purchasing this land next to Shem Yarbourough. It was more likely to have been the 21-year-old Benjamin, son of Joshua. Jr.
Above is the front page of Benjamin Hudson's grant in Mecklenburg (now Union), on Richardson's Creek. How long did he stay there?
The above attachment to the same document gives us an interesting clue. Benjamin Hutson's plans 110 acres on the waters of Richardson Creek Shem Yarborough son in law...... Mecklenburg .. Jan 20th 1824. Does this mean that Benjamin Hudson was the son-in-law of Shem Yarborough? I know it was not the other way around as Shem was married to Nelly Helms, daughter of George Helms and Margaret Falkenburg.
Son-in-law at this time could have a variety of meanings. It could have been the husband of a daughter, as we use it now. It could also have meant a stepson, or child of your spouse by a previous marriage. It could have also meant a child appointed to the individual under a guardianship role, but that was not typical. Most likely, Benjamin Hudson had married one of Shem Yarborough's daughters, or either Shem Yarborough had married the widow of Joshua Hudson Sr.'s wife. Joshua Hudson Jr. maintained that his mother had passed away when he was 10 days old, so he may have been a half-sibling to his father's youngest children. We do know that Nancy Hudson married a son of Shem Yarborough, so it would be of the greatest degree of probability that Benjamin Hudson had married a daughter of Shem Yarborough. It was a common occurrence for sets of siblings to marry other sets of siblings in the 19th century.
If this was Benjamin Hudson of Anson County, his first known wife was Esther Broome, daughter of William Jackson Broome and Elizabeth Helms, daughter of Tilman Helms and Rachel Craig. Esther was born in 1810, which would put her extremely young upon the birth of Benjamin's oldest daughter, Lucinda, on April 22, 1823. But the possibility that Ben Hudson was married previously, but briefly, lines up exactly to memoirs I've found in the Hudson Family file at the Stanly County History office at the County museum. In written accounts from the family of Ben's oldest son, Joshua, who was born in 1828, Joshua had two half-sisters, Lucinda and Patsy (b 1824), by Ben's earlier unknown wife. I will examine this closer in a post on Benjamin himself.
Benjamin Hudson shows up as a debtor in the estate records of the John Connor Estate in February of 1833, held by Thomas P Dillon, an Irish immigrant who is recorded in Anson County in the 1840 census and the Union County census in 1850, passing away there in 1851. John Connor was also an Irish immigrant. Where they settled was quite predictably, in what is now Union County.
 |
| The list of all listed in the Estate of John Conner |
The names of all the persons listed in the estate file of John Conner reveals many familiar Union, and Anson, County names
A closer look at Benjamin Hudson (Hutson) grant in Union (Mecklenburg) County.
Surveyed for Benjamin Hutson one hundred and ten acres lying on the waters of Richardson's Creek..
Elijah Hudson
There is one other Hudson in this area around this time, and that is Elijah Hudson. Other Hudsons will appear, but not in this area, the part that becomes Union. They may have been distantly related, but I am not ready to go down that rabbit hole right now. In the 1820 census of Mecklenburg County, Elijah Hudson is living next to Frederick Starnes, James Starnes, Nathaniel Starnes, David Starnes. Having Starnes heritage, I know this places him squarely in Union County. Above him is Ganders (or Sanders) Burnett, whose land Benjamin Hutson's grant adjoined, Shadrack Yarborough, a relative of Shem, and several of the Rape family, Peter, Samuel, and Charles.
| Name | Elijah Hutson |
|---|---|
| Home in 1830 (City, County, State) | Anson, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - Under 5 | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19 | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39 | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - Under 5 | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9 | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14 | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39 | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Under 20 | 8 |
| Free White Persons - 20 thru 49 | 2 |
| Total Free White Persons | 10 |
| Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored) | 10 |
On June 4, 1821, Elijah Hudson purchased 100 acres from Solomon Harris on Beaverdam Creek.
Beaverdam Creek is in Union County, near Marshville, and to be connected to the others I've been looking at, in exactly the place we'd be expecting him to be.
Crooked Creek is an offshoot of the Rocky River in Upper Union County, near the Stanly/Union County line and the Cabarrus/Union County line.
Benjamin Hudson has two land grants, the one in Mecklenburg (Union) dated 1824, on Richardson's Creek and one in Anson, dated 1835, joining his own land and the Rocky River. There's no explanation, that I've yet tumbled across, of how he disposed of his land in Union, or how he obtained the "his own land" in Anson, prior to his grant adjoining it.
Likewise, it is not known how or to whom Elijah Hudson disposed of the land purchased of Solomon Harris in 1821 on Crooked Creek, or how he had acquired the land sold to Alexander Phillips in 1827.
Yet, Elijah appears in two census records, 1820 in Mecklenburg (Union) and 1830 in Anson. Then disappears, the entire family to a child. This informs me he did not die, but more likely, migrated away with one of the many wagon trains out of the area, south or west.
Benjamin and Joshua are the only ones who appear in 1840 in Anson, and many afterwards.
But what about Nancy? This post was supposed to be about her. To know more about her, it was important to begin with the people she was connected to.
I would, instead, guess their marriage happened in Mecklenburg, along Richardson's Creek.
| Name | William Yarborough |
|---|---|
| Residence Date | 1840 |
| Home in 1840 (City, County, State) | Mecklenburg, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - Under 5 | 1 John Culpepper b 1839 infant |
| Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9 | 1 William D. b 1834 age 6 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14 | 1 Reuben b 1829 age 11 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39 | 1 William Dawson Sr. |
| Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9 | 1 Abigail age 7 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39 | 1 Nancy |
| Free White Persons - Females - 80 thru 89 | 1 Unknown |
| Persons Employed in Agriculture | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Under 20 | 4 |
| Free White Persons - 20 thru 49 | 2 |
| Total Free White Persons | 7 |
| Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves | 7 |
| Name | Shem Yarborough |
|---|---|
| Residence Date | 1840 |
| Home in 1840 (City, County, State) | Mecklenburg, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - Under 5 | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29 | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 50 thru 59 | 1 Shem |
| Free White Persons - Females - Under 5 | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9 | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29 | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39 | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 50 thru 59 | 1 Nellie |
In Mecklenburg County Court in the fall of 1844, William Yarborough was brought to Court in a case against a woman named Sarah Griffin. The Griffins were another family populous in the northeastern part of Union County and northwestern part of Anson County, and remain so to this day.
Washington County became a first stop, a way station, just across the Tennessee, North Carolina line. They would stay there a decade or more, and some of the family would remain. A few of the older children would marry there.
The Yarbrough Family Quarterly would mention William Dawson Yarber, with the dates of the father's birth years, as having wed there.
However, Nancy outlived William, and there is no indication he ever had another wife. They had wed well before arriving in Tennessee. It was their son, William Dawson Yarber, Jr. who married in Washington County.
Shem and Nelly are shown in their 70's, with four young children, presumably grandchildren, perhaps orphaned by a deceased child of theirs. Clinton, the only boy, is the only one I've succeeded in tracing and he ended up in Kentucky. Shem's house is enumerated at the top of the page in Temper, Washington County, Tennessee.
On the preceding page, at the bottom, which would be the house just before his on the list, is found Jeptha Yarborough, now 52, with his wife Elizabeth, 36, and six children: Alonzo, Frances, Talbot, Lucinda, Middleton and Burt. This generation will spread far and wide. Lucinda ends up in Oregon, having braved, and survived, the Oregon Trail.
The next household is that of William D and Nancy Hudson Yarber (Yarborough). They're up to ten living children, including two sets of twins. Twins did not run in the Yarborough family, but they certainly did in the Hudson line. Rueben is 18, William D. Jr. is 16, Abigail, 13, John 10, twins Thompson and Rebecca are 9, Caroline is 7, identical twins, Jaspar and Newton are 4 and James Finley Yarber is two. There will be at least one more. All are shown as being born in North Carolina. They will not linger her long.
Caroline, Jaspar, Newton and James, now 12, were followed by Angeline, aged one. With Nancy enumerated at age 48, she would have been 46 or 47 when this child was born. I can't say if Angeline was a grandchild or a menopause baby, but James, the youngest son, was 11 years older.
Lucinda, his first wife, did not pass away, in fact, she outlived him. In 1860, she is living nearby in a spot called Coxes' Store, with their, or her, daughter Sarah, age two.
William Dawson Yarber is listed in the agriculture schedule for Roane County, Tennessee in 1860, taxed or counted with the following crops and livestock, , two 'milch' cows, one other cow, 15 bovine, 300 lbs. wheat and 200lbs of tobacco.
The couple is now in their 60's, with no children left at home. They have a five-year-old in the home, however, Grant Maroney. This turns out to be the future Reverand Ulysses Samuel Grant Maroney (1865-1962), son of their daughter, Martha Caroline, by her first husband, William O. Maroney, who was killed in the Civil War. They had married December 2, 1862, in Roane County, Tennessee. Caroline would go on to remarry William Keth, or Keith, by whom she would have five more children, the oldest whom she would interestingly name General Spencer Sherman Keith. Next to William and Nancy, in household 37, is the family of their oldest daughter, Abigail, who was also remarried Civil War widow, having married James W. Craig on July 30, 1857, in Knox County, Tennessee, and is found with their son, William Craig, age 6, and her second husband, Henry James Wilkerson, whom she married April 19, 1869.
 |
| Rueben Yarber |
He married Lucretia Hampton on August 7, 1861, in Monroe County. They settled in Bell Town. They raised 12 children born between 1863 and 1887. John Culpepper Yarber was a citizen of the Civil War. He became the Postmaster of the village of Joe, Monroe County, in 1881. After the birth of the last child, Albert, in 1887, they would relocate, first to Pope County, Arkansas, where he tried farming next to his sons, Wiley and Marvin. His last move was to Charlton County, Georgia, with his youngest children. He's shown there in 1910 and died there in 1916, being buried at the Homeland Cemetery.
 |
| Newton Yarber and family |
 |
| Jaspar |
No comments:
Post a Comment