A Woman was in it: The Cagle - Crisco Murder

The Concord Register
(Concord, North Carolina)4 Apr 1876, Tue • Page 4

My past several posts involved the family and life of on George Washington Cagle. 

There was Sodom, Gommorah and Big Lick. about his life, affairs and how he may have contributed to the immoral reputation of the little town of Big Lick in Western Stanly County. 

Also, in The Heirs of George Cagle, I attempted to track down who the legal heirs, children and grandchildren, of George Cagle were. 

A Rose by Any Other Name, traced the life, and variations of name, of one of his unmarried daughters, whose name was different in every record or account of her. 

Finally, The Secrets of Adeline told the story of George's oldest daughter, Menece Adeline, who started me on the entire Cagle journey to start with. It will not end here either, oh no, George's legacy was quit widespread. 

This is the story and recount of his passionate ending, his killer, and how karma existed in the end. 

As a quick rehash, George Washington Cagle was a larger-than-life character. He was grandiose, lusty, opportunistic and a maverick. Born in 1813, the was the oldest son of Charles Robert Cagle, Sr and Maranda Springer Cagle, both the Cagle and Springers being steadfast and populous families in the Big Lick and Rocky River area. He was considered wealthy for the area and the times, possession hundreds of acres and invested in several businesses, including a sawmill, a grist mill and a tanning yard. He was not a slave holder and made his money the honest way, with hard work and investments. He owned homes on the farm and in the town. He also carried lots of debt, still, after all were paid, there was still some to divide among his large family from two wives, and his legacy spread even larger as he claimed at least two mistresses. It was because of one of these mistresses, and his attempts to protect her from an abusive husband, who came along in the years after their active relationship, that ended his life. 

There are three main characters in this story, George W. Cagle, who I mentioned above, the ex-lover; Daniel Alexander Crisco, the abusive, jealous husband, and Mariah Myers Meggs, the wife/former mistress. 

We'll begin in 1870.

In the above 1870 census record, we see the household of George Cagle, 58, his wife Nancy Hinson Speight Cagle, a second wife, Fannie, 13, a daughter by his first wife, Eli, 11, a son by another mistress, Maniza Huneycutt, who by the way was living in household number 118, the listing just above George, Mariah Myers, 26, the woman in this story who was at the center of the dispute, her fatherless daughter, Lisy, aged 7, and William Huneycutt, who was the son on George's deceased daughter, Elizabeth. 

Two facts must be clarified before I step further into this lurid event. One, Mariah's name. Some have her as Marian, and in this document, it appears it could be, but having looked ahead into other versions of it, and also having made contact with a direct descendant some years ago, her name was Mariah. Her daughter's name, which looks somewhat like "Lucy" here, was Melissa, born about 1866. "Lisy" or "Lisy Ann" for short. George Cagle was not the father of this child. I will go into that more when I post of the story of Mariah herself. Mariah's father was Wilson Shepherd Myers, known by Shepherd. Her mother was Sarah Elizabeth Thomas. They were not married. Her mother would marry a man by the name of James Ransom Meggs, and Mariah, also known as 'Kizzy' as her middle name was Keziah, would later take on her stepfather's surname. She grew up in the northern part of Union County, south of the Rocky River and just across the river from George Cagle's place in Big Lick Township, Stanly County. 

Enter Daniel Alexander Crisco, a paradigm of the depravity and immoral society that plagued the 19th century area of Big Lick. It began when a group of German immigrants landed in Randolph County, North Carolina. William Lewis Crisco was a first generation American, whose German name had been Anglicized and whose father, George William, had been born in Germany and died in North Carolina. William Lewis Crisco was born in Randolph County about 1788. He married Nancy Throgmorton, from a Virginian family of British stock, who had migrated to Montgomery County, North Carolina. Nancy was agonizingly young upon her marriage and would bear 14 children, the oldest, Mary, at age 15 and the youngest, David, at age 41. Among these was their 11th child, Rebecca Elizabeth Crisco, born about 1830. 

Willilam Crisco is shown living on the West Side of the Pee Dee River in Montgomery County in the 1830 census, so Rebecca Elizabeth was likely born in Big Lick, where the family would settle. 

Name	William Criscoe
Gender	Male
Race	White
Residence Age	62
Birth Date	abt 1788
Birthplace	North Carolina
Residence Date	1850
Home in 1850	Smiths, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Occupation	Farmer
Industry	Agriculture
Real Estate	187
Cannot Read, Write	Yes
Line Number	40
Dwelling Number	689
Family Number	694
Inferred Spouse	Nancy Criscoe
Inferred Child	Sarah Criscoe

Household members

Name	Age
William Criscoe	62
Nancy Criscoe	52
Sarah Criscoe	25
John Criscoe	21
Elizabeth Criscoe	20
Alfred Criscoe	16
Lucinda Criscoe	14
David Criscoe	11

In 1850, the family is shown in Smith's District, which would become Big Lick Township, with six of the youngest children. Rebecca Elizabeth was twenty years old. 

Around the same time, another family had moved from Davidson County to the Rocky River in what would become Stanly County, the Scotch-Irish Kennedys. John C Kennedy (1794-1870) and wife, Mercy Winifred Daniel Kennedy (1974-1860) led a family of skilled-craftsmen, and innovative daughters that would settle near the Crisco family. The Kennedy's were a lusty, braggadocios family and there are many tales to tell concerning this family.

Name	John Kennedy
Gender	Male
Race	White
Residence Age	55
Birth Date	abt 1795
Birthplace	North Carolina
Residence Date	1850
Home in 1850	Smiths, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Occupation	Carriage Maker
Industry	Railroad and Miscellaneous Transportation Equipment
Real Estate	250
Line Number	22
Dwelling Number	687
Family Number	690
Inferred Spouse	Mercy Kennedy
Inferred Child	Sarah KennedyEliza Kennedy
Household Members (Name) Age John Kennedy 55 Mercy Kennedy 56 Sarah Kennedy 27 Eliza Kennedy 19 Jordan Kennedy 33 Elizabeth Kennedy 25 Shelby Criscoe 23

In 1850,  Carriagemaker, John Kennedy is listed just a few houses up from the Crisco's, and Crisco son, Shelby, is living with them, working as a laborer. Missing from the household is Kennedy son, William G. 

Name	Wm G Kennedy
Gender	Male
Race	White
Residence Age	25
Birth Date	abt 1825
Birthplace	North Carolina
Residence Date	1850
Home in 1850	Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Occupation	Carriage Maker
Industry	Railroad and Miscellaneous Transportation Equipment
Line Number	8
Dwelling Number	845
Family Number	850

Household members

Name	Age
Daniel Freeman	55
Martha Freeman	55
Martha Freeman	16
Lewis M Gilliam	25
John O Ross	25
Wm G Kennedy	25

William G. Kennedy, also a Carriage Maker and Blacksmith in the emulation of his father and brothers, was living in the small upstart village of Albemarle, the new counties, county seat. He was boarding with merchant and businessman, Daniel Freeman. William wasn't always in Albemarle. At some point he made the interdicted acquaintance of Rebecca Elizabeth Crisco. Around the fall of 1855, with cognizant admonition of antebellum mores, William G. Kennedy and Rebecca Elizabeth Crisco would commit the reprehensible act of conceiving the child that would become Daniel Alexander Crisco. 

Always mindful that he was the boys father, William then did what Big Lick men in these situations seemed to do. When the object of his affections became pregnant without the benefit of marriage, they would turn around and marry a virgin, worthy of legality of relations, which is what William did by marrying his second wife, Eleanor Elizabeth Hooks, on December 10, 1856. His first wife was Hannah M. Hill of Rowan County, who he married on March 3, 1846 in Salisbury, and who passed away November 9th of that same year. The Kennedy's would have eight children, first settling in Albemarle, then relocating to Norwood, where William G. would be appointed Postmaster, before lastly, heading south to Fulton County, Georgia, where he would pass away in 1904.

In the meantime, his bastard son, Daniel Crisco would remain in Big Lick with his mother.

Name	Elizabeth Crisco
Age in 1870	38
Birth Date	abt 1832
Birthplace	North Carolina
Dwelling Number	211
Home in 1870	Big Lick, Stanly, North Carolina
Race	White
Gender	Female
Post Office	Albemarle
Occupation	Keeping House

Household members

Name	Age
Elizabeth Crisco	38
Lucinda Crisco	33
Daniel Crisco	15
Miranda Crisco	2

In 1870, Rebecca Elizabeth Crisco heads a household at age 38, her sister, Lucinda is living with her. As their father died in 1858, and their mother, Nancy, in 1867, just six years earlier, they may have been living in the old homestead, part of their mother's dower in Big Lick. Daniel Alexander Crisco is 15 years old here, and he was not an only child. Elizabeth would have a daughter, seen here as "Miranda", but whose name was or became, Amanda Francis Crisco (1867-1939). While Daniel would name William Kennedy on his two marriage licenses, as his father, there was no documentation as to the father of Amanda. Her marriage certificate to J. A. Taylor gives her mother as Elizabeth Crisco, and permission for her to marry underage was given by Daniel A. Crisco, named as her brother. In the blank space for father was written "unknown" and the same goes for her death certificate. Some attribute her existence to W. G. Kennedy, but that's unlikely, and not documented. There are no court records or bastardy bonds naming Elizabeth Crisco in them either, around the time Amanda was born, so her father remains a mystery.

So in 1870, in the Big Lick community, Mariah Myers-Meggs is a 26 year old woman with a young daughter, living in the home of George Cagle. Daniel Alexander Crisco is a 15 year old boy, living in the same community, with his mother, his aunt and his baby sister. 

Just a few years later, on November 24, 1872, Daniel Alexander Crisco, now about 17 years old, married Mariah or Marion Keziah Megga, aged 28. The preceding article from the April 4, 1876 edition of The Concord Register, out of neighboring Cabarrus County, gives a little backstory to the sordid events to follow. 

Daniel Crisco apparently rented a home from George Crisco and was a tenant farmer, helping the old man run his farm. At this point in 1876, Daniel was 22 years, Mariah was 32 and George Crisco was an aging man of 63. Prior to the confrontation, Daniel and his wife, who had been married about 4 years by this time, and had no children together, had gotten in a fight. Mariah was noted as having been a mistress of George Cagle before her marriage. It was common knowledge in the community. She was not well-respected. Neither was Daniel, as he had been born out-of-wedlock. During the fight, Daniel, who may have been an individual who held alot of anger inside, from his position as a pariah, ostracized only because of the status of his birth, beat his wife 'unmercifully' and made her leave the family home. Mariah was an abused woman. 

The bruised and battered woman must have lingered around the Crisco farm during the night, taking refuge in a barn or other outbuilding. The next day, Daniel Crisco showed up for work as usual and he and George were in the field, a short distance from each other, working, when Mariah showed up nearby, and lingered on the edge of the field. Daniel screamed at her profanely, and instructed her to leave them alone and go back to the house. George, still having a fondness or protectiveness of the woman, or perhaps just a sense of propriety and civility, spoke up and told Daniel Crisco that he shouldn't treat his wife in such a cruel and violent manner. The intervention angered Daniel even more. He threatened George, taking the Lord's name in vain and challenged him to "take it up". 

George must have said no more, and Mariah must have departed from the field, as the two men managed to complete their days work. Daniel Crisco retreated to his own abode, and not finding his wife at home, as he had ordered her to do, armed himself with a 'shoe-knife', a cobbler's tool designed for cutting leather. He set out to find her, angry, and with violence in mind. Returning to the Cagle house, where George lived with his wife, Nancy and unmarried daughter, Fanny, and his son Eli Cagle Huneycutt, and grandson, William Huneycutt, both about 16 or 17. There, he found Mariah, taking refuge among the Cagle's. 

Daniel again ordered Mariah to return home. Fearing for her life, she refused. Angered, Daniel began berating her and beating her again, kicking her and hitting her, as she refused to obey him. George Cagle intervened and told Daniel to leave his house. He picked up a chair in defense at some point, and Daniel pulled out the shoe-knife, but retreated from the house, yelling and cursing as he went. George followed him step by step, ensuring he left. 

In the yard, George reportedly picked up the hoop of a wagon cover, the part use to hold the cover on a covered wagon, and advanced toward Daniel with it. Daniel, in his own words, kept retreating and warned George to not come any closer to him. George did not listen, intent on chasing the young man from his property, armed with a sense of gallantry, continued to advance. Daniel picked up a rock and threw it at the old man, who in turn, swung the wooden wagon hoop at Daniel. With that provocation, Daniel charged at his employer, stabbing him with the shoe knife in the neck and chest. George backed up, grabbing his neck, and stating, "He has killed me". He took 23 steps and fell over dead. With that, Daniel Crisco took off and hid. 

The newspapers reported the next stages of the event. 

Spirit of the South Rockingham, North Carolina • Sat, Apr 8, 1876Page 2

In Rockingham, Richmond County, it was reported that a $50 reward for the apprehension of the murderer, D. A. Crisco, not just for information that would lead to his arrest, but in 1876, barely a decade past the end of the Civil War, one was expected to catch him themselves and bring him to town and deliver to the Sherriff to get the award. Originally reported in the North Carolina Argus, out of Wadesboro, Anson County, a brief description of Daniel Crisco is given. He stood 5 feet, nine inches tall, pale in complexion with blue eyes. The event was said to have taken place on the 28th 'inst.', meaning March, as it was first reported on March 30th. 

The Stanly Banner Albemarle, North Carolina • Thu, Oct 12, 1876Page 1

Crisco apparently stayed in jail in Stanly County throughout the summer months. He had eventually turned himself in, after getting in his mind a defense and an accounting of the events, that he was certain would sway jurors in his direction. He also had his trial switched to another county, where friends or relatives of George Cagle would less likely be called to serve on the jury. In October of 1876, the Stanly County newspapers reported that he had been taken to Monroe, in Union County, by Sheriff Eben Hearne to face trial. 

The Pee Dee Herald Wadesboro, North Carolina • Wed, Apr 5, 1876Page 3

Daniel Crisco, it seems, eventually turned himself in to the Sherriff. In April, it had been reported that the trial would start in April, but it had actually been delayed until October. The reason for the murder, given by the Pee Dee Herald, was that George Cagle had 'interfered' with Daniel Crisco's wife. Interfered by trying to protect her from Crisco's cruel abuse. 

The Courier Asheboro, North Carolina • Wed, Apr 5, 1876Page 2

Stanly County was involved in two murder trials at the same time, in seems. Although both trials were held in adjoining counties in order for the defendants to get an unbiased jury, both had occurred in Stanly. In 1865, Allen Carter had killed Bushrod Lilly, his neighbor, in a disagreement, and fled to Arkansas. In 1876, he was being returned to North Carolina for trial. Unusual that two murders, having happened 11 years apart, were being tried at the same tiem.

The Trial

The youth and good looks of Daniel Crisco seemed to sway the jury. The above report by the Concord papers gave an account of his attitude and his planned defense. He was described as a young man, only 22 years old with a "pleasant face". For some reason, Sheriff Hearne had taken him to Concord before heading to Monroe, which was out of the way for starting from the jail in Albemarle, not in a straight line. The paper gave a bit of Daniel's backstory, stating he married at 17 to 'Mary Meigs', which wasn't' her actual name, but close, and that his job was to work and care for the stock of George Cagle.

The Sun Concord, North Carolina • Tue, Apr 17, 1877Page 2

The date was now April 17, 1877, over a year since the horrific event had occurred. Daniel, and his attorneys, had been given a year to percolate their precise version of the circumstances, in which George Cagle was no longer alive to give his. They had decided to play upon the brusque and sottish reputation of George Cagle and bring up his habitude of lewd and adulterous behavior.

The loquacious and ebullient Daniel had much time to turn the ear of many a reporter, eager for a story to headline and catch the attention of readers. Newspapermen from counties all around had found an audience with him. His story was now that he had his wife quarreled. Gone was the fact that he had beaten her almost to death. He stated that she had left home and went to the Cagle house, not that she had been thrown out and went there for refuge. The article was without doubt influenced by Crisco's input, as it stated so politely, that he had "found her there and tried to persuade her to go home", without reporting that his form of persuasion involved brutality and threats. They extrapolated on the fact that he did attempt to force her to return when his gentle 'persuasion' had not worked, negating the abuse the woman had suffered at his hands. 

This version of the events implied that that Cagle was still in a romantic relationship with Mariah, or 'too intimate', which may have been true, but was embellished with probable falsehoods, as in stating that the old man had interfered by trying to shoot young Daniel, a very pertinent fact that had been overlooked in the report of events immediately afterwards a year prior. This leads me to believe this fact was completely convoluted in order to make Daniel Crisco's case more palatable and sympathetic toward the killer. Another event that was told quite differently in 1877 than it had in 1876, was that Daniel claim he left the house pursued by not only George Cagle, but three other men in his employ. This would have been a big factor that had been completely omitted from the 1876 account, leading me to believe this too was fabricated by Daniel Crisco. He claimed that he had been attacked and beaten with sticks and stones, when in fact, it was he who had thrown a rock at George Cagle, and George had picked up a wooden hoop in self-defense, that is when young Daniel charged at George with the shoe knife that took his life. 

Daniel Crisco portrayed himself as the victim in the confrontation, that he was beaten with sticks and stones and in self-defense, stabbed the much older, and slower, man. George's reputation of being a womanizer and an alcoholic, despite his wealth and many business connections in the community and having taken in the ill-begotten Crisco and giving him employment as a teen. 

Sympathies were also with Daniel due to the illicit relationship known to be had between George Cagle and Mariah. In this continuance of the story, George Cagle became the bad guy in his own murder, instead of the valiant protector of a defenseless and abused woman, that it appears he attempted to be. 

From the CONCORD SUN, Tuesday, April 10, 1877:

"THE FOLLOWING IS THE COURT DOCKET OF DANIEL A. CRISCO, CHARGED WITH MURDER 1876"

STANLY COURT

Monday morning brought a large crowd in attendance upon the Spring Term, 1876, of Stanly Superior Court, about 12 o'clock, a.m., his Honor R.P. Buxton arrived, having been detained at the river, which was very full. Court was called at 2 o'clock, p.m., and his honor delivered one of his brief, but grand charges to the grand jury, after which the court proceeded to the call of the docket. There was no cases of importance tried--some bastardy, assault and battery, larceny, and a number of misdemeanor cases were disposed of.

On Tuesday the case of State vs. Allen Carter for the murder of B.W. Lilly was taken up, the prisoner was arraigned and pleaded not guilty, and after considerable arguing the case on affidavit for continuance and removal, the case was at last removed to Montgomery County for trial at Fall Term, 1876. The prisoner is ably defended by Sol. W.J. Montgomery and Hon. W.S. Robins.

On Wednesday the civil side of the docket was taken up and disposed of. There was but little business transacted on the civil docket, it being very small, most of the cases were continued.

On Wednesday evening a parcel of men came into town with a young man by the name of DANIEL CRISCO, who had been arrested on a charge of murdering George Cagle in the western portion of this county, The prisoner was committed to jail and on Thursday morning the grand jury returned a true bill for murder, and the prisoner was brought to the bar and arraigned, and he also pleaded not guilty. The case was then, by consent, returned to Union County for trial two weeks hence. The prisoner, DANIEL CRISCO, is also defended by Sol. J.W. Montgomery.
We noticed in attendance upon the court, the following
attorneys, viz:W.J. Montgomery, Esq. from Concord, George B. Everette, Esq. from Concord, W.M. Smith, Esq. from Concord, M.S. Robins, Esq. from Asheboro, Gen. A.J. Dargen from Wadesboro, James T. Lockhart from Wadesboro, 

Hon. Neill McKay from Harnett County, Allen Jordon from Troy, Stokes Andrews from Troy, J.W, Mauney from Salisbury, Samuel J. Pemberton, Solicitor from Albemarle ,J.T. Redwine from Albemarle,

Julian A. Turner from Albemarle


The trial drew a Who's Who of central North Carolina Jurists and Solicitors. The minutes of the Stanly County Superior Court would lay out step by step of Daniel Crisco's legal journey. 


Stanly County NC Minute Docket, Superior Court, 1860-1876 (CR 089.301.2)
(Transcribed by Betsy Pittman, 23 April 1996

State v. Daniel Crisco Indictment:  Murder 


Page 522 -  The said Daniel Crisco is brought to the bar of the court in his own proper person by W. H. Hearne high Sheriff of Stanly County, in whose custody he is, the indictment is read over to him, and forthwith it being demanded of him how he will acquit himself of the premises specified and charged upon him, he says he is not guilty thereof and therefore for good and for evil he puts himself upon the country. And Mr. Solicitor Pemberton does the like. Therefore, let a jury come of good and lawful men by whom the truth of the matter may be better known.

Attorney Samuel J. Pemberton was arguably known as the best prosecutor of the times in Stanly and surrounding counties. 

"By consent of Solicitor and of the prisoner at the bar, it is ordered by the Court that this cause be removed to Union County for trial and is assigned for Wednesday of first week of Union Superior Court at Spring Term 1876."

Eli F. Cagle, Wm. A. Huneycutt, James Huneycutt and Calvin Huneycutt acknowledge themselves indebted to the State of North Carolina in the sum of $100 each to be void on Condition that they appear at Union Superior Court Spring Term 1876 and give evidence in the case of State vs. Dan'l Crisco and not depart the same without leave.

The men who gave bond as witnesses in the case against Daniel Crisco were Eli Franklin Cagle, son of George Cagle by Maniza Honeycutt; William Alfred Honeycutt, son of Elizabeth Cagle Honeycutt, George Cagle's daughter, who died young, as did her husband, John, leaving William A. Honeycutt to be raised by his grandfather, George Cagle; James Alfred Huneycutt, another son of Maniza Honeycutt, known to be George Cagles mistress, and mother of Eli F. Cagle. James is accepted as a son of George Cagle, but unlike Eli, there is no documentation of such; and lastly, Calvin Honeycutt, their cousin, a son of Frances Mary Honeycutt, Maniza's sister, and Joshua Christian Burris. 

Page 523 - Eli F. Cagle, Wm. A. Huneycutt, James Huneycutt, Calvin Huneycutt and E. M. Brooks acknowledge themselves indebted to the State of North Carolina in the sum of $100 to be void on Condition that each of them appear at Union Superior Court Spring Term 1876 to give evidence in behalf of the Defendant, in case of the State vs. Daniel Crisco.

It is ordered by the court that the Sheriff of Stanly County deliver the prisoner to the Sheriff of Union County at Monroe on or before Tuesday of 1st week of Spring Term 1876 of Union Superior Court.

The parties and the interest in it were now moved south, to the town of Monroe, in Union County, NC. This was an advantage for Daniel Crisco, as he was able to use his youthful charm and persuasion on ears that did not know of the actual details in the case, and would hear Daniel and his attorney on their own merit, the jury not tainted by anyone who had been blessed by George Cagle's generosity, despite his love of liquor and women. 

Union County, NC Minute Docket, Superior Court, 1866-1877

(Abstracted by Betsy Pittman, 23 April 1996)


Page 409 - #122 State vs. Daniel Crisco
Prisoner brought into Court and is committed to the custody of the Sheriff of Union County.

Page 433 (copied) - continued to Fall Term 1876; prisoner returned to Stanly County jail.

Pages 458-459 (copied) - Fall Term - Union County jail is insecure; therefore prisoner sent back to Stanly County.

Page 512 - 75 men summoned for jury

Pages 519-520 (copied) -Found NOT Guilty.

The Sun, out of Concord, reported the news and the jubilee of how a handsome young man, who went to the house of an old man protecting a woman they had both had a relationship with, and killed the man, had gotten by with the deed and was now a free man. 

 This reminds me of the Luigi Mangioni case of modern times, in a small way. Luigi was a young man, strong and healthy, who had women swooning over him, and some men, when holiday photos of the healthy and muscular youth were released to the press. Many who were of the opinion that insurance companies have hurt people purposely by denying lifesaving treatments, putting costs before health of the individual, and were angry at the entity, cheered the demise of the poor CEO who was just minding his own business on the way to work one day, and was shot mercilessly in the back. This was a savage act of premeditated murder, no matter what bone the perpetrator had to pick with the company or any of its representatives. This man was an employee of a company and had no personal assault against the person who murdered him. In Daniel Crisco's case, he used the reputation of George Cagle in his own favor, and his youth and good looks won him favoritism that led to him being found innocent and freed to fight again. "All were glad to hear of the young man's aquital", the paper proclaimed.

Life seemed to return to normal for Daniel Crisco after his release and acquittal. I assume he had to find a new job, or employer. He returned to court and divorced Mariah Meggs, which was a relief, I am sure, for the both of them.

 Two years after the trial, he remarried, this time to Matilda Kimrey, or Kimmer. Matilda was a girl of good report, and close to Dan in age, just two years his junior. She had grown up in the Tyson Community of Stanly County, and unlike Daniel and Mariah, was from an intact home with married parents and a bounty of siblings. The daughter of Paul Nicholas Kimrey and Rebecca Minerva Mauldin Kimrey, Matilda gave birth to their first child before the wedding. Married on September 24, 1879, the couples first son, William Paul Crisco, had been born on March 14th of the same year. 

The 1880 census of Big Lick Township, shows Mariah Meggs, 33 and divorced, living on what appears to have been what was left of the Cagle farm, probably in the tenant house she had shared with Daniel Crisco. Her 16 year old daughter, Melissa, is living with her. There was no mention of Melissa in the court case, and what the nature of her relationship with her stepfather, Daniel Crisco, may have been. 

Next to Mariah is Adeline Cagle Hartsell, George Cagle's oldest child, and next to her, his only legitimate son, David S. Cagle. George's widow, Nancy, followed others of the family to Iredell County, NC.

While Daniel Crisco has settled in Tyson Township, where his recent bride is from. His occupation is given as Farmer, and other occupants of the household are his wife, Matilda, their infant son, William, his mother, Elizabeth and his little sister Amanda, 9. 

Over the next few years, Daniel and Matilda added three more children that would grow to adulthood. That's a small family for the era. They were:

Shepherd Alexander Crisco (1883-1953)

Malinda N. Crisco Harness (1884-1917)

John Stanford Crisco (1891-1976)

Daniel's little sister, Amanda Frances Crisco, married at the age of 15, to Joseph Allen Taylor, aka 'Jesse', on February 1, 1883. Taylor was from Surry County, originally, and was 23 at the time of the wedding. Daniel Crisco 'Brother' of the bride, gave his permission for the marriage. I stress the relationship of brother, because some have him as her father, despite his only being 13 years her senior. 

Things seemed otherwise quiet during the first thirty years after the trial for Crisco and his family.

1900

Daniel Crisco is now 51, and still farming in Tyson Township, with his wife, Matilda, and four children, aged 8 to 20. His Uncle, Shelby Crisco, in living with him now. It is revealed that Matilda had given birth to 6 children, with the four living.

His mother, Elizabeth, age 70, is still in Tyson Township, but living with a widowed lady, and working as her servant, or caretaker.

His sister, Amanda, is living in Big Lick and raising a very large family of Taylors. She has a very healthy pack of seven children, and had not lost a one. 

Their mother, Rebecca Elizabeth Crisco, would last two more years, passing away at the age of 72, on October 1, 1902. She was buried at Rehoboth Church, near Aquadale. 

Sometime after, Daniel Crisco would leave Tyson and move to Falls Road in what would become Badin.  in 1910, he is found living with his wife, Matilda, and youngest son, John, now 18, as a farmer, renting, living next to his second son, Alex, who is a driller for a well machine company. Alex has been married 5 years to Rosie, and they have three sons themselves, Eddie, Louie and Freddy.

Oldest son, William P. Crisco had married Maebell Foreman, one of their Tyson neighbors in 1904, and remained in Tyson. Only daughter, Malinda N. Crisco, who went by Linda, married Arthur Kepping Hearne in 1909, and lived in Norwood, Center Township, before moving to Albemarle. His sister, Amanda, the Taylor family, remained in Big Lick.

In 1904, in the case of State vs Daniel Crisco, Daniel was sentenced to 18 months in prison for counterfeiting.

It is said a tiger doesn't change its stripes, and that was true in the case of Daniel Crisco. Having gotten by , literally, with murder, he seemed, on the outside, to have led a farily normal life afterwards, farming and raising a family. But everything inside of Daniel had not changed, emboldened by his escape from justice once, the grimy oil of violence seeped back up, on at least one noted occasion. 

Stanly News and Press Albemarle, North Carolina • Thu, Feb 12, 1914Page 1

Live by the Sword, Die by the Sword.

Daniel Crisco 's sordid life came to a violent end on February 8, 1914. Daniel Crisco was at the home of James Miller Sides, called 'Jim'. 

Again, a woman was in it. Daniel Crisco has married  Matilda Kimrey. Jim Sides was at the time married to Julia Ann Kimrey, the sister of Matilda Kimrey Crisco. There seems to have been disturbance between Julia Kimrey Sides and a daughter of Jim Sides. 

The Players: Daniel Crisco was no longer young at this time. Only youngest son, John, may have still been at home, as he wouldn't marry for another four years. Matilda had died in 1912, at the age of 63.  She had been buried at Saint Martin's Lutheran Church, despite the fact that they lived on the Badin Road. Natural causes are expected.

Julia Ann Kimrey was the youngest sister of Matilda and 17 years her junior. Their parents, Paul and Rebecca Minerva Mauldin Kimrey, or Kimmer, had passed away in 1870 and 1871, respectively, when Julia was but a small child of five and six. 

Daniel Alexander Crisco had applied for the marriage license of his sister-in-law, Julia Kimmer (rey), aged 47, to James Sides, 47, both of Albemarle, all parents deceased, on October 16, 1913. They were married at the Congregational Church in Albemarle. James Sides was the son of George Sides and Ithama Cagle Sides. Cagle! Jim was a Cagle descendant, his mother, Ithama, who George W. Cagle, the man Daniel Crisco had previously killed, may have named his daughter of the same name after, or either they were both named for a common ancestor with this same, unusual name. James was a cousin of George W. Cagle, his mother, Ithama, the daughter of Benjamin F. Cagle, brother of George's father. This may have been personal.

We do not know the name of the daughter of James Sides who had gotten in the skirmish with his wife, but it was likely his youngest daughter, Arvy, born in 1897, who would have been about 17 years old at the time. James was the father of five daughters, total. 

Ester Mozella (1882-1959) had married in 1879 to John Zebulon Little. 

Zellie Victoria (1884-1957) had married in 1900 to Jesse Thomas Mills. 

Ida Bellazorra (1886-1929) had married in 1901 to James Watson "Watt" Porter.

Annie Catherine (1887-1963) had married in 1905 to William Davidson "Will" Hinson.

Arvie, 1897-1952), the youngest, would marry in 1916 to Barney McKinley Morris, but in 1914, she was single and at home. 

Daniel Crisco, with a small revolver, shot at the girl, but the bullet apparently missed its mark and hit Jim Sides, the father, instead. Jim must have been infuriated by the danger to his young daughter, and this old man (now 58) interfering in a disturbance among women. James had married as a young man to Cornelia Ann "Nealie" Efird, the mother of these girls, and had been widowed. After Nealie died in 1901, he had several brief marriages. He married Minnie Moore of Anson County in 1902, and she bore him the first son that would survive childhood, Cecil Leroy Sides, (1904-1944). Minnie would leave him again, a widower, in 1908.

On July 15, 1909, Jim would marry a third time to Mary Eliza Farrington Myers, of Yadkin County,  a widow of John L. Myers, with three children. This union was brief, as she is seen only one year later, in the 1910 census, living without Jim, and going by Myers, with her three children, ages 12 to 17, on Poplar Street in Concord. All of them, even 12 year old Hattie, worked in the Cotton Mills. Eliza would divorce Jim, and as she was only 36 years old, remarry, to Ephraim Levi "Lee" Herrin, of Stanly County, on January 4, 1916, and this one would stick.

As for Jim Sides, he would marry Fannie A. Cannon Banks on April 27, 1912 in Cabarrus County. This one didn't work out either, and I don't have a clue what happened there, but on October 16, 1913, he was marrying Daniel Crisco's sister-in-law, Julia.

Daniel Crisco's pistol shot had missed Jim's daughter, and hit Jim in the side. He then grabbed a large, heavy stick and with full force, hit Daniel Aleander Crisco, killer of his cousin, George Cagle, and almost killer of his own child, over the head, crushing his scull. Jim Sides was a strong man. When the police arrived, they found Daniel Crisco in a pool of blood, near death. Jim Sides was in criticial condition and was not expected to live. 

Stanly News and Press

Albemarle, North Carolina • Thu, Sep 30, 1915Page 7

Jim Sides, did, however, live. Julia filed for divorce immediately and Jim's third divorce went through in 1915.

Daniel Crisco was buried beside Matilda at  St. Martin's Lutheran Church. His  estate was divided among his four children.

Jim Sides did not marry a sixth time. He first returned to Tyson Township and farmed until he could no longer work. He then ended up in Albemarle, in the County home for the aged by 1935., and appears there in 1940. His obitruary seems to suggest he went to live with one of his older daughters afterwards and died there at the age of 83 on November 18, 1941.

The News and Observer

Raleigh, North Carolina • Thu, Nov 20, 1941Page 14

There was no obituary for Daniel Crisco.

His descendants were:

William Paul Crisco (1879-1940) Married MaeBell Foreman - 6 children: Lawson, Letha Mae, Dora Lee, George Marshall, Myrtle and Carrie.

Shepherd Alexander Crisco (1883-1953) Married Rosa Perry McAuley. Three sons: Eddie Alexander, Lonnie Lee and Fred Harold.

Malina N. Crisco (1883-1934) Married Arthur Keppling Hearne. 7 children: James Alfred, Effie M., Ethel Mae, Daniel, Bessie, Rayvon, Redwine.

John Stanford Crisco (1891-1976) Married Flossie Mills: 6 children: John Henry, Mayzelle, Lillie Irene, Janie Mae, Reba Jewell, Gwendolyn.

Stanly News and Press

Albemarle, North Carolina • Thu, May 14, 1914Page 3

The End

The Heirs of George Cagle

 

David S. Cagle, Son of George W. Cagle

The heirs of George Washington Cagle are a story of their own. The question presented is who exactly were they? Some daughters had protean names, never seen as the same incarnation twice. Others, assumed dead before 1870, are listed in estate papers dated 1887, as alive. Some children were born out of wedlock, and which of these offspring by a promiscuous paramour were his and which were not? Who were some of the mysterious heirs listed twenty years past his death. I will attempt to answer that question in this post.

What is known is that George Washington Cagle had been born along the Rocky River in what is now Stanly County to Charles R. Cage, Senior and wife, Maranda Elizabeth Springer. He was the oldest son and came into the world around 1813, or thereabouts. He married around 1830 to Elizabeth Rose Whitley, daughter of Needham Whitley and Sarah Sides, she being about a year older than he. His family was sufficiently entangled with the Whitelys, and not only the Whitelys, but the Hinsons, Huneycutt's, Thomas's and Smiths.

George W. Cagle was murdered on February 27, 1876, as a result of his nefarious and wanton ways. That shocking end does not encapsulate the life of George W. Cagle at all. He was a farmer, a businessman, a husband and father and a humanitarian as well. Things seemed an easy and steady road for him, as long as he had Elizabeth. She passed away between late 1850 and early 1852. She was fully alive when counted in the 1850 census on October 3, 1850 and passed away before George remarried on January 4, 1852. Elizabeth was still a young woman when she passed, around 39 years old. She may have passed from complications of pregnancy or childbirth. Her youngest, daughter Lucy Catherine, was born in 1848.

Elizabeth seems to have been George's imperturbable, serene influence, his Eupraxia, his muse. George lived large, he gambled high on business deals, he bought and sold real estate and tried his hand at several industries, some successful, others, not so much. He ended up fairly wealthy in terms of comparison with many of his neighbors and seems to have kept a level head, until he lost Elizabeth.

Name	George Cagle
Gender	Male
Marriage Date	4 Jan 1852
Marriage Place	Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Spouse	Nancy Speight
Spouse Gender	Female
Event Type	Marriage

George married Nancy Hinson Speight on January 4. 1852. Nancy was a widow and the daughter of Charles Sampson Hinson and wife, Milly, or Amelia, Clark Hinson. In the estate papers, there are mentions of "the Estate of Charles Hinson". George was an heir of Charles Hinson via his marriage to Nancy, and that inheritance comes into play in the probate. 

Name	Nancy Hinson
Gender	Female
Spouse	Joseph Spate
Spouse Gender	Male
Marriage Date	7 Dec 1847
Marriage County	Union
Marriage State	North Carolina

Nancy did not have the same effect on George as Elizabeth had. Just the opposite, of course, she was a Hinson. If the Cagle's were fire, the Hinson's were gasoline, just a sense of things I've felt going through the old records and lives of these Big Lick citizens.  Nancy had married a Joseph Speights, or 'Spates'. on December 7, 1847, in Union County. 

Name	Nancy Speight
Gender	Female
Race	White
Residence Age	30
Birth Date	abt 1820
Birthplace	North Carolina
Residence Date	1850
Home in 1850	Smiths, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Cannot Read, Write	Yes
Line Number	37
Dwelling Number	688
Family Number	693
Inferred Spouse	Joseph Speight
Inferred Child	Martha Speight; William A Speight

Household members

Name	Age
Joseph Speight	24
Nancy Speight	30
Martha Speight	2
William A Speight	0

Joseph and Nancy were living in Smith's District, in Stanly County, in 1850, the same as George Cagle. Joseph Speight, the son of John Speight and Martha Jane Austin Speight, would die on September 28, 1850. The couple had two children: 

Daniel Cicero Huneycutt and Martha Jane Speight Huneycutt

A) Martha Jane Speight, born April 10, 1848 and married Daniel Cicero Huneycutt. 

William Alexander Speight

B) William Alexander Speight, born October 15, 1849, married Sarah Rebecca Harkey.

George Cagle does not appear to have taken the Speight children in after the marriage to their mother. The why's and ways to this fact may not have anything to do with the character of George or Nancy. Women didn't have the rights they do at present. Children without a father were considered orphans and were normally appointed a guardian by the court. The guardian could be family or not. 

Name	William A Spight
Age	11
Birth Year	1849
Gender	Male
Race	White
Home in 1860	Stanly, North Carolina
Post Office	Albemarle
Dwelling Number	1002
Family Number	1017
Household Members	Household Members Name Age Alexr M McLester 55 Lydia McLester 35 Daniel McLester 22 William A Spight 11 Edmond McLester 71

In 1860, William is found in the home of  Alexander McLester.

Name	Elizabeth Spight
Age	43
Birth Year	1817
Gender	Female
Race	White
Birth Place	North Carolina
Home in 1860	Stanly, North Carolina
Post Office	Albemarle
Dwelling Number	969
Family Number	984
Real Estate Value	75
Cannot Read, Write	Y
Inferred Child	Martha Spight

Martha is found in the home of her Aunt, Joseph's unmarried sister, Elizabeth. This may have been due to Joseph dying insolvent, and Elizabeth in possession of property. 

Nancy Hinson Speight Cagle would have two daughters with George Cagle, Anna Jane in 1854 and Frances Laura in 1857. All three of them would be among those who moved to Iredell County after George's death, with Anna Janes husband, Joseph "Joe" Hartsell in the lead.

Name	Nancy Cagle
Age	60
Birth Date	Abt 1820
Birthplace	North Carolina
Home in 1880	Coddle Creek, Iredell, North Carolina, USA
Dwelling Number	170
Race	White
Gender	Female
Relation to Head of House	Mother-in-law
Marital Status	Widowed
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace	North Carolina
Occupation	Housekeeper
Maimed, Crippled, or Bedridden	Y
Cannot Write	Y
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
Joe Hartsell	33
A. J. Hartsell	23
Geo. B. Hartsell	9
W. H. Hartsell	7
Etta Hartsell	5
E. F. Hartsell	3
May Hartsell	9/12
Laura Cagle	22
Nancy Cagle	60

Nancy Hinson Cagle died March 5, 1892 in Coddle Creek, Iredell County, NC, at the age of 74.

She was buried at Pleasant Hill Primitive Baptist Church. Several members of this family are buried there, along with others from Stanly County, primarily the Big Lick area who moved there. Some of them would move on to Mecklenburg County, NC.

Name	Nancy Caroline Cagle
Maiden Name	Hinson
Gender	Female
Birth Date	15 Mar 1817
Birth Place	Montgomery County, North Carolina, United States of America
Death Date	5 Mar 1892
Death Place	Iredell County, North Carolina, United States of America
Cemetery	Pleasant Hill Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place	Statesville, Iredell County, North Carolina, United States of America
Has Bio?	Y
Father	Charles Sampson Hinson
Mother	Milly Hinson
Children	Annie Jane Hartsell; Sion Speight; Martha Jane Honeycutt; William Alexander Speight

In the Find-A-Grave profile for Nancy Hinson Cagle, I discovered an error. Sion Speight is included as a child of Nancy and Joseph. He was not. Sion "Bud" Speight (1851-1922), was the son of Alexander Speight (1824-1851) and Winny Hinson. They also married in 1847 in Union County. Winny was the daughter of Sampson Hinson and Sarah Cagle. Sarah was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Cagle and Susannah Rebecca Lowder Cagle. Alexander Speight was he son of John Speight and Martha Austin and a brother of Joseph Speight who married Nancy Hinson. So, they were all related in a multitude of ways but were different people.

The similarities do not end there. Alexander and Wincy or Winnie also had a daughter named Martha, also born in 1848, except theirs was Martha Elizabeth and Nancy and Joseph's was Marth Jane. I can see where confusion could ensue. To make matters even worse, both Speight brothers died young.

Alexander died July 9, 1851 at the Rocky River. Joseph would die January 28, 1850. It gets even spookier. Their brother John Speight, would marry Mary Jane Hinson on Christmas Day, 1848. He would die November 6, 1850 at 29 years old. Alexander was only 27 and Joseph only 24.

It gets worse. They had two other brothers named Manasseh and Sion who died in 1850, as young men. The three sisters lived a bit longer, but none grew old, a mysterious family kismet.

The above page is from the estate file of George Cagle titled 'D S Cagle and others against A.G. Morton admin of Geo Cagle decd.'. Dated the Fall Term, 1893, this page tells us the percentage of each heir and also, which children were still living in 1893. The names who received one eleventh were:

Menece A. Hartsell  (Adeline)

Lithana Hinson (aka Ithama Barthena)

D. S. Cagle (David)

Sara Jones

Elizabeth (marked through)

Catherine Baker (Lucy Catherine)

Luthina Hartsell (Beadie Luthina Mathene etc.)

Anna J Hartsell

Laura Cagle (Frances Laura)

Malinda Crisco

The above were all legitimate children of George Cagle. The name of Elizabeth was struck through because she was deceased. This also shows that Adeline was living in 1893. I've not been able to locate her in 1900, or find out when or where she died. Signs point to Mecklenburg County. 

The next two names received one- twenty-second share, or one-half of a child's share each.

Wlm Honeycutt (William)

Bell Baker (Isabelle)

These were the two children of Elizabeth Cagle, by two different husbands. William was mentioned in George's Will, as his Grandfather raised him.

The next names following were under a heading of one seventh-seventh. They were descendants of a lesser degree, grandchildren or great-grandchildren of other deceased children, perhaps.

Susan Thomas

Anna Honeycutt

M. J. Whitley

Ellen Caldwell

James Smith

George Smith

Ila Smith

The next page is similar, but is dated Fall Term of 1887, or about 6 years earlier. Things could have changed in those six years.

It names: D.S Cagle, Sarah Jones, Malinda Crisco, Catherine Baker, Luthina Cagle, Laura Cagle, Ann J. Hartsell, William Honeycutt, 

not of age - Isabell Baker, minor child of Elizabeth, who appears by their next friend William Honeycutt. This statement clarifies two things, Isabell, who was under 21, was the daughter of Elizabeth Cagle, not Catherine, whom she always seems attached to, as Catherine did raise her, and that she was represented in court by her half-brother, William. It continues: Susan Thomas, E.A. Huneycutt, M.J. Whitley, Ellen Caldwell, not of age - James Smith, George Smith and Ila Smith, the last three being minors and appear by their next friend J. A. Crisco, Adeline Hartsell and I. M. Hinson.

vs A.G. Morton admin of George Cagle, deasd., William Parker, J. C. Burris and Evan Morgan.

These were the business partners and executor of George Cagle and the heirs claimed he left a valuable estate, to which they were entitled a part. My next puzzle to solve was, who were the Seventy-sevenths?

There were two known legitimate children who were not named in the papers above, Martha and Mary. Martha was last seen in the 1870 census. at age 29, living in the home of her sister, Malinda Cagle Crisco. Unmarried, she appears to have died as a young woman, leaving no heirs. Her sister, Mary, also seen as Polly, did marry, to Alfred Smith, son of Richard and Susan. They were among those Big Lick citizens who had removed to Iredell County, where Mary died on Marh 11, 1885.

Her tombstone survives. Alfred and Polly had seven children: Susan Adeline, Elizabeth Ann, Mary Jane, Eliza Ellen, James Richard, George W. and Ila. At the time of the probate, Susan had married Jacob Thomas, the brother of David S. Cagle's wife, Sarah. Elizabeth Ann aka "Betsy" had married Calvin Arenas Honeycutt. Mary Jane had married Titus Hillman Whitley and Ellen had married James F. Caldwell, the only one, despite living in Iredell County, had married outside of the western Stanly County gene pool. The younger three were still underage and had not married. But they were not "seventy-sevenths", as the paper stated. They were seven grandchildren, heirs of one child, one of the eleven legitimate children of George W. Cagle. I stress legitimate because George had other children, born from affairs outside of marriage. By law, they had no claim, unless named in the Will, as one had been. However, the shares of Polly Cagle Smith's children should have read as seven-elevenths, as the two children of Elizabeth Cagle shared two-elevenths.

The above page, included in the George Cagle estate papers is titled "D.S. Cagle admin. of Martha Cagle dec. against George Cagle".  It was stated s served against George Cagle on the 26th day of January 1876. David was the administrator of the estate of Martha Cagle, who was named in her father's will, but had predeceased him by months, it appears, and he sued their fathers' estate to cover her expenses, medical and burial.

 George Cagle had his fingers in many endeavors, and when he died, folks from all around wanted a little piece of the pie, so his estate file is massive, consisting mostly of of ragged receipts and affidavits. One interesting one was dated 1876 and was for $7.52 to M. A. Honeycutt on March 27th for the work of her son. The particular son was not named. This was Maniza Honeycutt and she was a mistress of George Cagle. Her children are said to have been his, or at least some of them. Maniza went before a Justice in June of that year and made oath to it, that she was due the money. The receipt that followed was dated November of 1876 and was received by C. A. Honeycutt for Maniza.

Then there was the Baker mystery. The probate papers show Isabella Baker as heir of George Cagle through her mother, Elizabeth. Most have Elizabeth dying as a Honeycutt, after the birth of her son, William. Obviously, that did not happen. Above, I located the marriage certificate of Elizabeth, under her married name of Honeycutt, marrying James T Baker on August 31,1865, in Cabarrus County, after her first husband, John W. Honeycutt, was killed in the Civil War. What cinches it is her brother, D. S. Cagle, signing as a witness. This is the correct Elizabeth. 

Elizabeth was not the first wife of James Tanner Baker, as he had married Mary Sims in July of 1840, in Cabarrus County, again, as he was from Rowan. He had entered the marriage with Elizabeth with his own children. This may be the reason that George took custody of his grandson, William Honeycutt.

What happens after that is a bit tricky. 

On June 9, 1868, James T. Baker comes to Stanly County to marry Elizabeth's younger sister, Lucy Catherine Cagle. 

The next census, 1870, shows 53 year old James, 22 year old Catherine, his youngest daughters by his first marriage, Florence and Dixie, his daughter with Elizabeth, Isabella, age 4 and Vanhoy, his first child with Catherine. Did he divorce Elizabeth, or did she pass away? 

Isabella Baker was born about 1867, the year before James married Catherine. Elizabeth and Catherine are both named as Bakers in one list. I believe this was in error. Elizabeth appears to have passed away after the birth of Isabella. Catherine stepped on and raised her niece. I've not found Elizabeth in 1870, or any documentation suggesting there was a divorce, or that she remarried a third time. One man appears to have married one sister after the death of another.

In addition to the nine children by his first wife, Elizabeth Rose Whitley, and two by his second wife, Nancy Caroline Hinson Speight, George W Cagle had children outside of marriage, possibly five by Maniza A. Honeycutt and maybe one by his other mistress, Mariah Myers Meggs. Only one is mentioned in his Will, shown above, and that was his son, Eli or Ely. 

In the Spring Term of Superior Court, 1889, an addendum to the case of D. J. Cagle and others vs A. G. Morton admin. of George Cagle was included as the Affidavit of Eli Huneycutt.

My transcription of the above page: 

Eli Huneycutt, complaining says, That George Cagle died in the year 1876 and that the Defendants above named administration upon said estate and that the said George Cagle made and published his last Will and testament before his death which has been duly probated and recorded in the Office of the clerk of the Superior Court of Stanly County. That under said will this affiant is entitled as one of the legacies of said will and is not a party to said action. 

II That if the proceeds of said estate which is left for distribution Viz the sum of eight hundred and seventy-three & 29/100 dollars arise from the sale of real estate? by said administration to pay debts which real estate "Vis" the home plantation was devised to this affiant Eli Huneycutt which alleges that he is entitled to .. cont. 

cont. "same. 

III That affiant is entitled to be made a party plaintiff to this one him to the end that an around sixty to taken of his interest in said estate and to have .....paid....order....the provision of the will. (This part is extremely dim and difficult to read). 

He therefore prays the court that he may be made a party Plaintiff and he ..judgement... signed by Eli Huneycutt and S. H. Milton. 

Above, the names of George's surviving,  married daughter were included into a suite, where previously, only their husbands were named, along with the widowed and single sisters, and surviving children of the deceased sisters.

Some of George Cagle's daughters bore unusual names, like Ithama Luthena Barthena, that evolved with time.

Ithama may have been a family name passed down the Cagle line from far back ancestors. Above is the Salisbury announcement of the marriage of Ithamey Cagle, (1826-1902), daughter of James Cagle, a son of Benjamin Franklin Cagle and semi-distant relative of George W. Cagle, who married George Sides. 

In conclusinon, I've compiled a list of the definitive heirs of George Washington Cagle. His two mistresses have their own, very unique stories, and I want to give a closer look at their lives, and if there is any proof to the parentage of their children.

George Washington Cagle was born about 1813 to Charles Robert Cagle, Sr. and wife, Miranda Elizabeth Springer. He died on Februay 27, 1876. His death is a story of its own. He first married Elizabeth Rose Whitley (1812-1860), daughter of Needham Whitley and wife, Sarah Sides.

Ten children:

1) Menece Adelin Cagle, (1832 - unknown) Her father's estate records suggest she was alive until at least 1897. She is not to be found in 1900, and the locattion of her daughter suggests she may have relocated to Mecklenburg County and could possibly be found in a City Directory there in 1898.

Married: Tillman Coley (1827-1856)

Married second: Holden Hartsell (1816-1865) One son: Adam Hartsell born 1864, last seen at age 18.

Daughter, Nelie "Nealie" A. Hartsell, born in 1872, could not have been the daughter of Holden Hartsell. She married Elhannon Mack Ferrell and became the mother of six children: Alberta Lee Ferrell Beam, Addie L. Ferrell Baxter, Tillman Allen Ferrell, Lura M. Ferrell, Inez Iva Ferrell Brown, Delola Neely Ferrell Holshouser. Nealie Hartsell was born in Big Lick, where she is found in 1880 and is in Huntersville, Mecklenburg County, NC in 1900, they then move to Coddle Creek in Iredell, where many of her relatives had relocated to, then to Cleveland County, then to Lincolnton in Lincoln County, then to Hickory in Catawba County, then finally to North Kannapolis in Rowan County, where she died in 1951, and was buried in Mooresville, Iredell County.

2) Ithama Lithana Barthena Cagle (24 Oct 1833-25 March 1812) 

Married William B. Hinson (1830- between 1878-1880). Eight children:

     George LaFayette Hinson (1851-1897) , Nathaniel L. Hinson (1851-1908), Doctor Hinson (1857-1870), Harriett Hinson (1864-1960), John I Hinson, (1874-1923), James Alfred Hinson (1874-1950), Millie Arnette Hinson Crayton (1876-1943). 

The Hinsons moved from Stanly County to Olive Branch in Union County, which was just across the river, then became one of the Big Lick area families who moved to Iredell County, living in Coddle Creek and Davidson, where Ithama was buried. Referred to as Lithana in her father's estate papers, she is seen as Barthena in 1850, Isama in 1860, Lythama in 1870, Lithania in 1880, but Ithamia, or Ithama on most of her childrens documents. As Ithama was a family name, I believe that is actually what her first name must have been.

3) David S. "Dave" Cagle (31 March, 1835 - 11 April 1915) As the only son of George Washington Cagle born within the bonds of Holy Matrimony, Dave was the de facto head of the Cagle family after the death of his father. He seemed stable and steadfast, perhaps only due to the responsibilities thrust upon him, but he was nothing like his father. The settlement of his estate was even more arguementive and expansive than that of his father. William Alfred Cagle was the Administrator of his father's estate and Dave had outlived a few of his adult children, which made involving grandchildren and their spouses neccesary.     

    

The above and below lists are the names of the surviving children and grandchildren whose Cagle parent predeceased their grandfather. 

David S. Cagle married Sarah Thomas on January 10, 1854. Sarah was the daughter of  Jacob Thomas and Betsy Baucom of the Rocky River area. She was born on September 23, 1835 and passed away on April 7, 1908. The 1900 census had reported that she had been the mother of 7 children with 5 living. All seven are known. 

Sarah Thomas Cagle

Sarah's younger brother, Jacob Thomas Jr. married David's neice, Susan Smith, daughter of his sister, Mary, who married Alfred Smith. Their 7 children were James David Cagle (1854-1897), William Alfred Cagle (1856-1933), Alexander A. Cagle (1858-1943), Eliza J. Cagle Nance (1861-1918), Mary Jane Cagle Teeter Turner (married twice) , (1865-1941), Margaret E. Cagle Honeycutt (1870-1901), Rosanna Cagle Edwards (1877-1951). Rosanna would be the child who took care of her aging father after her mother passed. 

Above is part of the distribution to heirs in the estate of David S. Cagle. Dave died on April 11, 1915. He had survived several of his own children. The first four names above are the children who survived him; William Alfred Cagle (W A), Mary Jane Cagle Teeter, Alexander A. Cagle, and Rosanna Cagle Edwards (Rose Ann Edwards). These recieved a full one seventh share of his seven children. The next group recieved one eight of one seventh, meaning they were one of eight children of one of David's chidren. 

James David Cagle

Those eight were the children of James David Cagle, who passed away on December 30, 1897. Sam would have been Samuel Prince Cagle, next is Emma Cagle who married Victor Widenhouse, Travis James Cagle, Ida B Cagle Cagle, who married George Franklin Cagle, a son of Robert Lindsay Cagle and wife Francis Caroline Robbins, and a great-nephew of George W. Cagle. Next is Connie Lee Cagle who married James Seabron Joyner, Daniel Webster Cagle (Dan) , William David Cagle (W.D). The one child of James David Cagle not listed was Walter L K Cagle. He traveled a bit, but would settle back in North Carolina. His obituary states when he passed, he was only survived by two brothers, Sam and Travis. This may have been in error that his name was excluded from being one of the eight.

Above, the continuation of the list shows first, three of sevens, or one third share of a child's seventh. These were the children of Margaret "Maggie" Cagle Honeycutt; Thomas Dewitt "Dee" Honeycutt, Arabella Honeycutt Thomas and Lillie Mae Huneycutt (will be Burris). The final group is one seventh of one seventh and those were the children of  Elizabeth "Eliza" J. Cagle. She had married William Jacob Nance and although she had outlived her father by three years, passing away on March 1, 1918 in New Salem, Union County, by the time of this action, she was deceased. The heirs to her one seventh share were John David Nance, William Alfred Nance, Loretta Emaline "Lou Rettie" Nance Austin, Sarah Elizabeth "Bettie" Nance Austin, Callie E. Nance Mask, Lillie Maggie Nance and James Benjamin Nance.

The Turners came into play in the estate when Mary Jane Cagle Teeter was widowed and chose a second husband in the form of  James Thomas Turner and have one more child, Minnie. 

The above shows distributions.

Actions like these could drag on for years until nothing was left, or any proceeds were held in escrow. Sometimes the government and attorneys just ate it all. 

This shows the case taking until at least 1919. Compare this to the distributions from the estate of George W. Cagle, below.

The fouth child of  George Washington Cagle and first wife, Elizabeth Rose Whitley was:

4) Sarah P Cagle (13 Dec 1836 - 6 August 1905) Note: the middle initials of Sarah and her brother, David are only known by letter. It has been proposed that David's was either Stanly or Sampson and that Sarah's "P" stood for Priscilla. This could be true, but I've found no documentation for that, so I leave them as a simple initial that is documented. As I've mentioned before in other posts, Sarah married Wiley Allen Jones in Stanly County, on June 5, 1853. Three years after his marriage to Sarah, he fathered a daughter, Ellen M. Safely by Sarah Frances Safely. Sarah apparently endured that indiscretion with grace and forgiveness, and gave wily Wiley six legitimate children : James Franklin Jones (1855-1914), Tillman Allen Jones (1858-1942), Margaret Ann Jones Cashion, (1850-1960), Wiley Alexander Jones (1862-1943), Elizabeth Ellen Jones Mills (1867-1947) and Sarah L. Jones (1868-1879). 

Little Sarah and her father both died of Typhoid Fever about the same time. They were buried together at Centre Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Mooresville, Iredell County, North Carolina.

Sarah P. Cagle Jones spent the remainder of her years, 26 of them, living with her children, first with son James F. Jones in Coddle Creek and later with daughter Eliza Mills in Davidson. She died on August 6, 1905, and was buried at Davidson College Cemetery in Mecklenburg County.

5) Mary "Polly" Cagle (16 Jun 1838-11 Mar 1885) Married Alfred Smith, son of Richard and Susan Smith. They lived in the New Salem Community of Union County, just across the river from Big Lick in Stanly County, at first, before moving to Coddle Creek in Iredell County, along with many others of the family and the community. Polly died a young woman in March of 1885, at 46. She and Alfred Smith had seven children, as was seen in the above Probate papers. They were Susan "Sis" Smith Thomas (1858-1898) Sis was married to Jacob C. Thomas, the brother of Sarah Thomas who was married to Polly's brother, David S. Cagle. The others were Elizabeth Ann "Betsy" Smith Honeycutt (1859-1931), Mary Jane Smith Whitley (1863-1930), Eliza Ellen Smith Caldwell (1865-1921), James Richard Smith (1867-1950), George Washington Smith (1868-1937), Ila Smith Honeycutt (1873-1942). Polly Cagle Smith was buried at Willow Valley Cemetery in Mooresville, Iredell County, NC. Her husband, Alfred Smith, outlived her by about 20 years. He lived until January 31, 1905, and was buried at the Fairview United Methodist Church Cemetery in Mooresville. 

Alfred Smith

 6) Martha Cagle (1838- bet 1880 and 1887) Unmarried, burial location unknown. 

7) Elizabeth Cagle (26 June 1842 - bet 1868 and 1870) David S. Cagle recorded his siblings' births in his Family Bible, which may have started with his parents, but not their dates of death. Elizabeth married first, John W. Honeycutt, who perished in the Civil War. One child, William Alfred Honeycutt (1859-1889). She married second to James Tanner Baker. One child, Isabella Baker Huffman. 

8) Malinda Ellen Cagle (2 Aug. 1844- 6 Feb 1917) Married Jacob A. Crisco on July 20, 1858 in Stanly County. They would move to Coddle Creek / Mooresville in Iredell County before 1880, where they raised a family of 8 children: William Crisco (1856-1860), Adam Dawson Crisco (1860-1927),

Araminta "Minty" Evelyn Crisco Russ (1866-1925), Dolly Lupine Crisco Cook (1869-1942), John C. Crisco, (1879-1945), King David Crisco (1872-1945), Mary Magdalen Crisco Christenbury (1878 -1955) and Bingham Caldwell Crisco (1880 -1938) Melinda was buried at the Coddle Creek ARP Church Cemetery in Mooresville. Jacob outlived her by two years and is buried beside her. 

9) Beadie Luthenia Mathene Cagle (26 Sept 1846 - 25 Mar 1912). Never married. One child: Effie Cumi Cagle Wilson (1883-1970). Beadie Luthenia's daughter was supposedly fathered by her brother-in-law, Jacob A. Chrisco. Beadie was living with her sister Malinda's family at the time, and after leaving Big Lick for Iredell County. She was buried at McKendree Chapel UMC in Iredell County. 

Beadie Luthenia Mathene Cagle

10) Lucy Catherine Cagle (3 July 1848- 4 Sept 1899) Lucy became the third wife of James Tanner Baker on June 9, 1868, three years after her sister Elizabeth had married him. It can be assumed that Elizabeth passed away. Catherine raised Isabella Baker, born in 1867, but Elizabeth was her mother. Lucy Catherine and J. T. Baker had four known children: Osbourne Vaughn Baker (1869-1937), David Council Baker (1872-1943). These first two moved to Texas and raised their faimly there. Dominic Baker (1877 -?) Dominic may have died as a child. Nothing else is known about him and I've not been able to locate his burial location. Deborah D. Baker ( 1881-1920) Married William Holden Hartsell, son of Lucy Catherine's half-sister, Anna Jane Cagle Hartsell and grandson of Holden Hartsell, son of her sister Menece Adaline Hartsell's second husband, Holden Hartsell. They remained in Fallstown, Iredell County. 

Lucy Catherine Cagle Baker married second to Jacob Monroe Eudy on December 22, 1887 in Iredell County, both with Stanly County roots. She would pass away two years later on September 4, 1889 and was buried at Willow Valley Cemetery in Mooresville. Jacob M. Eudy would join her on September 4, 1896, seven years later. Lucy was the youngest child of George Washington Cagle with his first wife, Elizabeth Rose Whitley.

George had married his second wife, Nancy Hinson Speight in 1854. Their children were:

11) Anna Jane Cagle ( 7 September 1854- 24 November 1931). Annie married on March 20, 1870, to Joseph Monroe Hartsell, son of her sister Adaline's husband, Holden Hartsell. Joe and Annie raised their family of ten children in Iredell County, moving from Fallstown to Coddle Creek to Davidson. Later in life, they moved to Concord, Cabarrus County. Anna Jane, sometimes called Annie, died on November 24, 1931 and was buried at Pleasant Hill Primitive Baptist Church in Trountman, Iredell County, where her mother was buried. This must have been the families home church when they lived n that area.

The ten children of Anna Jane Cagle and Joseph Monroe Hartsell, who died in 1923, were: George Benton Hartsell (1871-1907), William Holden Hartsell (1872-1943), Etta Roxie Hartsell Smith (1875-1954), Lottie Mae Hartsell Overcash (1878-1957),  Eli Franklin Hartsell (1879-1933), Anna Hartsell Gilbert (1881 - ?), Virginia Alice Hartsell Byers (1883-1956), Olaa Ann Hartsell Thompson (1884-1957), Rufus Reid Hartsell (1886 -1944), Doke Monroe Hartsell (1889-1934).

12) Frances "Fanny" Laura Cagle (1857-1897) Never married, died in Troutman, NC.

Some people attribute an Eli Cagle to Nancy Hinson Cagle, but he was not her child. Eli Cagle and Eli Honeycutt was one person. 

George's children by Maniza Honeycutt. George had a relationship with Maniza Honeycutt outside of marriage. I will explore this relationship closer in a future post as we look at the question of who the fathers of Maniza Huneycutt were. I so believe several of them were the children of George Cagle, but the one we can definately attribute to George Washington Cagle was Eli, as he was named in George's Will.

13) Ellison "Eli" F. Honeycutt/Cagle (3 June 1856-Jan 7 1940). Eli, who is seen by both surnames at varioud times of his life, married Frona  Alice Thomas, daughter of William Green Thomas and Lydia Dry. We will look more closely at Eli's family in a future post, but they had a family of about five children. Eli remarried later in life to Jennie Yow Huneycutt and died in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, NC. 

The boisterous, industrious and lusty life of Geoge W. Cagle tinted the color of the 19th century town and community of Big Lick. He left a large family, perhaps larger than the 13 children mentioned. We will later explore the lives of his mistresses and perhaps add some children to the list above. My next post will take a closer look at the death of George W. Cagle. Was it murder or self-defense?