Math

The day had come, the funeral was over, the dishes were washed and labeled and ready to return to the kind neighbors, church family and kin who had brought food for the survivors. It had came time to sort through  the deceaseds belongings, what to keep, what to distribute, what to sell, what to discard. I came across an old picture box from my mother's side of the family. My mother had volumes upon volumes of albums with those sticky, peel away sheets, but this box was different. The box was fragile,and the contents much older than the those behind plastic barriers. I came across a familiar face.

The frail, elderly man in overalls,  looked out at me from the undated black and white snapshot. A faded house behind him, mostly no longer visible save the steps and porch rails. There was no name on the photograph, and  I had never met the man, but I knew who he was. I promptly labeled the back of the photo for future finders. 

The reason I knew the mans name was because I had came across this very same photo before, not the same print, but the same image. It had been in the photo box of my grandmother from the other side of the family. Why had a box of photos from my mother's side of the family held a photo of this older gentleman, who was not a member of the immediate family, that was a copy of a photo that my Grandma Thompson had, the mother of my daddy, my daddy who raised me, but with whom I don't share DNA? Grandma Thompson had labeled her copy of the photo. I had looked through her collection, this grandmother born just before the turn of the century, many times as a child.  She told me who each person, or event was. There was a picture of a school, with name, address and teacher's name on the back, that no one in the local history museum knew  existed, but that my grandmother had attended around 1906-1912. She had photos of not only her siblings, but also friends in the neighborhood of Cottonville. Then she also had this one.

The slim old farmer, with his tiny head nearly hidden by an oversized bowler was Math Aldridge. This is the story of how his photograph ended up in the family photos of both my Mom's family and my Daddy's family.

James Matthew Aldridge was born November 28, 1878, in Stanly County, North Carolina. According to his World War I Draft Registration Card, he was of medium height and build at the age of 39, and had blue eyes and light, or blonde hair. His wife was named, Berta, and they were farmers living along Route 2, Norwood. 

 My personal family tree declares that Math is my 2nd cousin 4 times removed. This is through my mother's side, as the other is not biological. Math was the son of Josiah W. Aldridge and his wife, Martha Susan Floyd, in the Tyson Community, near the town of Aquadale. His family was a large one, typical of the day, and his father, known as "Pink", had a storied past. Pink had fathered a child with a married woman, 18 years his elder, when he was but 14 years old, and that is a story all its own. The pedifiliac woman would wear a certain attire when she desired to meet the lusty young teen, and stand at a fence waiting, but that's for another time. Tyson was a land of its own. 

Pink was 22 when he married Martha Susan Floyd in November of 1867.

Name	J. P. Aldrage
Age	32
Birth Date	Abt 1848
Birthplace	North Carolina
Home in 1880	Tysons, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Dwelling Number	65
Race	White
Gender	Male
Relation to Head of House	Self (Head)
Marital Status	Married
Spouse's Name	Martha S. Aldrage
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace	North Carolina
Occupation	Farmer
Sick	Well
Cannot Read	Y
Cannot Write	Y
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
J. P. Aldrage	32
Martha S. Aldrage	29
Sarah E. Aldrage	9
Juda E. Aldrage	8
Wm. M. Aldrage	6
Jas. M Aldrage	1

Math would make his first appearance in a record in 1880, as a one year old and fourth born child of this union. He followed Sarah Elizabeth, Judith Edith, and William Martin.

His Mother's People:

Martha Susan Floyd was the daughte of Josiah (sometimes seen as Joseph) "Joe" Floyd IV, and wife Sarah Sophia "Sophie" Easley, two family names with deep Tyson Community roots. Joe's parents had migrated from the Mecklenburg and Brunswick County area of Virginia in the 1790's, with a 19 year old Job Davis in tow, the ancestor who I named my blog in honor of. Joe's mother, Mary Tillman Floyd was a Davis descendant, her mother, Rebecca Ann Davis, the oldest daughter of Henry Davis and Mary Marriott, who married Roger Tillman first, and James Taylor second. I believe Mary to be the first cousin of Job Davis. 

The Easleys, in kind, were a big Cotton raising family in the area known as Cottonville, but not as big as the Crumps, but fairly equal to that of the Davis family. 

Math's older sister, Judith Edith "Judie" Aldridge, would marry James Robert Hudson, and they would become my Grandma Thompson's parents. That made Math Grandma's Uncle, but it's not a biological connection to me. That comes a different way. So Math ended up in Grandma's picture box by virtue of being her Uncle.

Judy Aldridge Hudson

So, how did he end up in my mother's family pictures?

Let's go back to Pink, Math's father. Josiah Pinkney Aldridge was the younger of the two sons of Josiah W.  Aldridge and his first wife, Elizabeth Ledbetter. Josiah would remarry and have 8 more children, ten altogether. Josiah W. Aldridge was one of the two sons of Caleb S. Aldridge II and his wife, Rebecca Louise Cagle. The other son of Caleb Aldridge was David Henry Garner Aldridge, most often seen as "Garner". Garner had married Priscilla Murray and they had a family together of 12 children, before he died of disease during the Civil War. One of the youngest daughters was Frances Julina Aldridge, who would marry Horton Hampton Davis. Their son William Hampton Davis was my mother's grandfather. The picture of James Matthew Aldridge had ended up in my Mother's family via this connection to her Great Grandmother, Frances Julina Aldridge Davis. 

Josiah and Garner were brothers, therefore;

-Pink and Julina were first cousins.

-Judith and Will were second cousins.

-Hattie and Lewis were third cousins.

-Daddy and Momma were fourth cousins.

So unbeknownst to my mother her second husband was her fourth cousin and that had dire effects in the way of defective recessive genes. I was a child of the first husband, so was therefore a possible carrier, but not a victim of the bad genes. 

The above map, circa 1905, of the area in Tyson Township, near the Rocky River, south of Aquadale and southwest of Cottonville, is where James Matthew Aldridge lived. A big serpentine swirl of my DNA helix came from Tyson.  "Mat Aldridge' is listed right there on the left side of the map. The 'Col Ch' marked below him was on part of the Old Davis property that lie on that part of the river and north, towards Cottonville.The parts on the map labeled "J. T. Crump", was the property of John T. Crump, who had married beneficially to Rebecca Hathcock Davis, the widow of Edward Winfield Davis. Uncle Ned Davis had married in his 50's to an 18 year old girl, so unsurprisingly, she outlived him. Thus, the "JT Crump" lands were actually Davis lands. "J. T. Crump Jr." was actually John Teeter Davis, youngest son of Rebecca and E. W. Davis. I had doubted John T. Davis's paternity for awhile, because at times, he is seen as John T. Crump, Jr., which wasn't his real name, and in truth, he was raised primarily by his stepfather. In addition to that, he suspiciously carried the same first name, John, and middle initial  "T", though John was a very common name. John Teeter Davis would have a substantial number of chldren by three different wives. DNA has proven, to me, several times over now, that he was definately the biological son of Edward Winfield Davis, and not John T. Crump, as I have many of his descendants among my DNA matches. 

Above Crump is the name, J. P. Aldridge. That would be J. Pinkney Aldridge, Math's father. The road trailing up is the Old Davis Road, whose path changed somewhat over the century, but still led through what was the Old Job Davis plantation. The road that branches off to the right, in the middle of the Davis/Crump lands would be Aldridge Road, on up is the name 'C. H.Aldridge'. That would be Caleb Hampton Aldridge, the oldest surving brother of Julina Aldridge Davis, and cousin of Math. 

The 1900 census would find Math at 20, living at home on the family farm with his parents and older brother, Martin Aldridge, and older sister, Sarah, or Sally. The family had been joined by two younger sisters, Ella and Docia, after the birth of Math. Some family trees include an untraceable Jasper and Ephraim Aldridge. These could have been children who died young, that appear in a Family Bible or other record, that I've not had the priveledge to see, but I can't say. By 1900, next to the oldest child, daughter Judith Edith Aldridge, had married James Robert Hudson on December 6, 1890.

Next to youngest sister, Martha Ella Aldridge, was a bride, having just married two months before this census, on April 26, 1900, to William E. Boone. 

Martha Ella Aldridge Boone and her two children, Nannie Lou and James Roy Boone

Mathew, himself, would marry Arey Alberta Turner, known affectionately as "Berta", on August 10, 1904. Math and Berta were both 25. His bride was the daughter of Benton Ausborne Turner and Martha Jane High Turner, both of sturdy North Anson County families. I've posted a good deal on George Turner and wife, Obedience Broadway Turner who lived on Richardsons Creek, near its confluence with the Rocky River, just across the Rocky, aka, the county line, in Anson County. Their daughter Elizabeth, married Marriott Freeman Davis, at a young age, and died at about 20 years old, leaving M. F. Davis with a young son, Millard Filmore Davis, and a baby girl named Rebeth, who would pass away some five months after her mother at 18 months old. Benton Ausborne Turner was a grandson of George and Beadia, via their son Wilson Pinkney Turner who lived in Burnsville. 

Math's single siblings would marry near about this time, too.

Oldest child, Mary Sarah Elizabeth Aldridge, aka 'Betty', was at 38, already an "Old Maid" by the standards of that day, but on March 8, 1908, she became the second wife of William R. McSwain, 68, thirty years her elder, who had 9 children, the oldest the same age as Betty. She would have one son with William R., himself the son of Lewis Jones McSwain and Lucinda Randle, a boy born in 1910 named Thomas Pincus McSwain. Despite the enormous age difference, the marriage would last nearly 20 years, and she would only outlive him by three, passing at age 59 of uterine cancer.

Older brother, William Martin Aldridge would marry in 1907, to Effie Jenette Turner, the sister of Math's wife, Bertie. They would raise a family of six sons and a daughter: Thomas High, Wilson Burns, Cecil Turner, Jason, Ouisa Pines, Charles E. and James Sanford "Jim" Aldridge.

Benton A. Turner, Math's father-in-law.

Youngest sister, Docia, married in 1908, to William Henderson Eury, and had one son, James Lonnie Eury, the next year, in 1909. She would pass away three years later of tuberculosis at age 27.

This wasn't the only tragedy in the family in that early decade of the 20th century. Sister Ella became a young widow, losing her husband, W. E. Boone in 1905. She would move back home and raise her two children with her parents, Pink and Susan. 

Pink and Susan Aldridge (sitting) Martha Ella Aldridge Boone (standing in back) with son James Roy on the left and Nannie Lou on the right.

Math and wife Berta would spend a lifetime farming the fertile fields south of the Rocky River Springs and north of the Rocky River. Math lost his mother in 1924 and his father in 1926. In addition to Docie and Bettie, he would lose sisters Judy in 1922 to Influenza and Bronchitis at age 51 and sister Ella in 1926 to Pellagra at age 45.

Math and Martin remained, both for quite awhile.

Math and Berta would raise a fine family of 9 children in the rolling hills of Tyson Township.

1905 -1986 Jessy Mae Aldridge, married James Valentine Caudle.

1906-1979 Fred Harold Aldridge, married Mattie Lee Crump.

1908-1998 Myrtle Lee Aldridge, never married.

1910-1976 Arthur Benton Aldridge, never married.

1912-1943 James Blake Aldridge, never married, died in WWII in the Phillipines

1913-1968 Myron Clay Aldridge, never married.

1915- 1984 Herton Craig Aldridge, married Hannah Pines Carpenter.

1917-1973 Houston Campbell "Cam" Aldridge, never married.

1923-1967 Laura Christine Aldridge, married Edgar Asbury Hinson.

Math lost his only brother, Martin, in 1941 and tragically, lost his bride of 43 years, Berta Turner Aldridge, in 1947.

Name	James M Aldridge
Age	71
Birth Date	abt 1879
Gender	Male
Race	White
Birth Place	North Carolina
Marital Status	Widowed
Relation to Head of House	Head
Residence Date	1950
Home in 1950	Tyson, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Street Name	On Road Boding Cottonville to acquadale road to left toward rocky drive
Dwelling Number	101
Farm	Yes
Questionnaire Number	69
Occupation Category	Other
Worked Last Week	No
Seeking Work	No
Employment Status	No

Household members

Name	Age
James M Aldridge	71
Myrtle Aldridge	41
Auther B Aldridge	39
Myron C Aldridge	36
Herton C Aldridge	34
Christine Aldridge	25

Above is Math and family in the 1950 census. He's 71 years old at this point and aided in  running the farm by his five unmarried children, Myrtle, Arthur, Myron, Herton and Christine. The street name is given as "On road leading off Cottonville to Aquadale to left toward Rocky River". Others on the same road were Robert Kendall, J. J. Biles, Renus Floyd, Sara Eury, Tom Floyd, Jason Burris, Charlie Poplin, Carl Fred Hill, Effie Aldridge, his Sister-in-law, James Talbert, Jake Crump, Earnest Richardson, Craig Aldridge, his son; Lucy Allen, Mary Kepley, Willie Turner, James Caudle, Joseph Kendall, and Jarvis J. Burris.

James Matthew Aldridge was released from his earthly shell a few days before Christmas in 1951, December 23rd to be exact. He was 73 years old. His body was laid to rest at old Rehobeth Church, the Aldridge home church. Most of the familly, both children, parents and siblings, rest at Rehobeth. A few are interred at Cottonville Baptist, where most of the Rehobeth Congregation relocated after the congregation disbanded. Many family members would move to Albemarle, or Norwood. His unmarried children would remain on the old farm until the last son, Craig, passed in 1984 and daughter, Myrtle, stayed in the old house until 1998.

Math Aldridge, the tall, frail old fella in the boiler hat, would stand for a picture in his latter years in front of his old house, and copies would be made. One would end up in the collection of his niece, Hattie Helen Hudson and another in the collection of his cousin, Lewis Theodore Davis. 

Rehobeth

Daisy's Tragic Death.

 

Sometimes, the early death certificates of the 20th Century told the saddest of stories. One of those was that of the death of Daisy Simpson Aldridge, the wife of "Uncle Filmore", my Great Grandfathers oldest (and biologically half), brother.

Daisy Lee Simpson was born on January 23, 1882, presumably in the area of  Cottonville, in the southern part of Stanly County, North Carolina. She was the second child of a notorious woman named Laura Simpson. Her father, by vitue of a bastardy bond, had been named as George Washington Andrews, a married man who had also had an illicit relationship with Laura's mother, Nancy, and had fathered her youngest son. 

Name:	Daisy Simpson
Age:	21
Birth Date:	Jan 1879
Birthplace:	North Carolina, USA
Home in 1900:	Burnsville, Anson, North Carolina
Sheet Number:	6
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation:	291
Family Number:	292
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Servant
Marital Status:	Single
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina, USA
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina, USA
Occupation:	Farm Laborer
Months Not Employed:	4
Can Read:	Yes
Can Write:	Yes
Can Speak English:	Yes
Neighbors:
Household Members Age Relationship Charles J Blalock 48 Head Louisa Blalock 49 Wife Daisy Simpson 21 Servant John W Davis 55 Boarder

In 1900, Daisy is found as a young woman, working across the Rocky River in Burnsville Township, as Farm Labor for Charles Blalock and wife. Her age is given as 21, but she was actually 18 at this time. Mr. Blalock was the brother of Richmond Blalock, who was the father of Daisy's older sister, Mamie Simpson. Also living in the home as a boarder was John Wesley Davis.  J. W. Davis had a first cousin named, H. H. Davis, who had a stepson who fell in the same category, socially, as Daisy Simpson. He, too, was a 'child of the dust'. His mother, Julina Aldridge, was a Civil War orphan, who had fell pregnant as a young teen by the son of the family she had been bound to as a small child, after the death of her father. He oldest son, Jesse Filmore Aldridge, was a child of this relationship. It may have been J. W. Davis who introduced them.

Name:	Daisie Simpson
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Age:	20
Birth Year:	abt 1881
Marriage Date:	10 Apr 1901
Marriage Place:	Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Mother:	Laura Simpson
Spouse:	J Fillmore Aldridge
Spouse Gender:	Male
Spouse Race:	White
Spouse Age:	22
Spouse Father:	H H Davis
Spouse Mother:	Julina Davis
Event Type:	Marriage

Daisy and Filmore were married on April 10, 1901, he was 22 and she was 20. 

As farm families were prone to do in those days, the young couple wasted no time in starting a large family.

Their first daughter, Beulah Lee, was born the very next year, the oldest of ten. She would be followed by Horace Augustus, Marvin Lotto, Geroge Nissan, Lillian, Joe Claude, Edna Naomi, Jesse Filmore Jr, Thomas Victor and ending in 1922 with Mildred Louise, when Daisy was 40 years old. 

The community in which the family lived became to be known as Davis, it was close to the Rocky River, west of Aquadale and Cottonville and contained the roads now called Aldridge and Old Davis Roads. Daisy and Filmore's family would dominate the news sent to the county newspaper by the local correspondents.

CLIPPED FROM

The News

Albemarle, North Carolina

10 May 1919, Sat  •  Page 6

There have been rumours, passed down through the decades, of Filmore being a rough man, a fighting man, and even an abusive husband and father. These are at this point mere stories, I've found no actual facts to corroborate them, however, that doesn't mean they were not true.

In October of 1934, Daisy was 52 years old. Most of her children were grown and on their own, a few of the younger ones still lived at home, and some of the married ones still lived on the family farm and helped Filmore run it. The family story was that one of the young sons of  J. F. Jr. saw the flames first, as the family was out in the fields picking cotton and Filmore had rode into town for supplies.

Daisy's death certificate gave her age as 53 years, 8 months and 23 days. She was a married housewife and her birthplace was given as Albemarle, which probably  was not correct, post office wise, maybe, but not physical location. Her father was named as George Andrews and her mother as Laura Simpson. The informant was her husband, J. F. Aldridge. Her principal cause of death was 'Severe burns from hips up. Practically all skin off from hips up." The injury occurred at home as her house burned up. She was buried at Rehobeth Methodist Church.

But why did Daisy enter a burning house that had no one trapped inside? The family story was that she was attempting to save family legal paperwork, deeds and the like, because she knew Filmore would be infuriated if these were destroyed. In trying to save a few legal documents, she lost her life. I found a newspaper account of Daisy's tragic death only on microfilm, and only the first part of the article. This was from The Stanly News and Press. 

"Burns Proved Fatal to Mrs Aldridge Tuesday.

Aquadale Woman Enters Burning House on Monday.

Carried Out by Son Who Saw her Enter.

Received Terrible Burns and She Passed in Local Hospital - Funeral Wednesday.

Funeral services in charge of the Pastor Rev. J. A.Howell, assisted by Rev. J.S. Tyson, were held at Rehobeth Methodist Church Wednesday afternoon at 4 o'clock for Mrs. J. F. Aldridge, wife of a prominent farmer of the Aldridge settlement near Aquadale. Mrs Aldridge died in a local hospital Tuesday night from burns sustained the day before when the Aldridge home burned.

The fire that destroyed the dwelling occured Monday morning about 9 o'clock, presumably from a defective flue, while members of the Aldridge family were away from home. Mrs. Aldridge was in nearby field picking cotton when her attention was called to smoke coming from the house by a grandchild. She rushed to the home and entered the door in an effort to."

That is as much of the article as I was able to photograph. Still, her suffering can be imagined. Her husband would live another twelve years, and remarry 5 years after her death to Mary Jane Hudson Huneycutt, a widow. Jesse Filmore Aldridge joined Daisy in the Rehobeth Cemetery on September 18, 1946.

Thriller Thursday: The Murder of John Murray

The Newspaper articles tell the story. John R Murray (sometimes seen as John Coley) was murdered by two teenagers named Brown.

John Murray was a member of the Murray family I've written of before. He was the great nephew of my third great-grandmother.

John was one of the sons of Edmund Murray/Coley and Catherine Ledbetter Murray. Edmund was the son of Benjamin Murray, son of Stanly County Murray patriarch Jesse Murray and a daughter of George Coley. I believe her name to be Francis or Fannie, but that is not for certain. What is certain is that Edmund Murray was a good man, and his surname, and that of his children, swung back and forth as easily as a horse's tail swatting flies in the summer between the surnames of Murray and Coley. Edmund's estate papers reflect as much.  I've documented Edmund in my post "The Man With Two Names".

Edmund and "Katie" had 7 children together, with firstborn daughter Caroline, most likely dying as a child.

They were:

1847  Caroline
1850  Alexander (or "Ellick" or "AC")
1851  Francis
1853 Benjamin
1855 Sarah
1863 John R.
1865 Margaret

Benjamin died prior to his father, Edmund, leaving the two brothers, John and Alex, in the county to dislike each other. Edmund had also had children by a mistress, Beadie Carpenter, and Alex disliked them even more.

A mean streak ran in the Murray line, and sometimes it skipped a generation. As such, it also traveled down the lines of the families who intermarried with and were descended from the Murrays, like the Aldridges, and they were affected by it too.

It ran well through the blood of Old Ben Murray, son of Jesse I, and father of Edmund and it skipped Edmond and went straight to Alex.

Alex referred to his brother roughly and in insultory terms in a few lawsuits. John R. Murray remained just a simple farmer. Although he and his wife Maggie seemed to have some problems. (They married, split and remarried), John did not seem to be the angry sort. Not like A. C.

So it came as a shock to the community when the following newspapers hit the stand. The next article is from:The Concord Times  29 March 1917 • Page 6

The others are from Stanly County newspapers: "The Enterprise" and " The Albemarle Post".



Greensboro Daily News Account, April 4 1917 Edition

The story of John Murray's murder was reported in all of the local newspapers. The above is the link to the Greensboro paper.

This is the link to the Charlotte version.


E


So who were these "Brown" boys, teenagers, only 16 and 18, who were the murders, and what was their motive?

It begins, in a way, with this advertisement:



To explain the characters who played a role in the above drama, they are all descendants of Edmund Murray/Coley. A. C. Murray, was of course, Alexander, the oldest son. Maggie Hooks, was the youngest daughter, and sister of A. C. Murray. Millard, James, Adam Aldridge, Lula Aldridge and Cornelia Sinclair, were the children of deceased sister Francis Murray who had married William Edward "Will Ed" Aldridge. The name "John Aldridge" was an error on the part of the newspaper. In the actual court papers, it is referring to "John Sinclair", the husband of Cornelia Sinclair.

The problem appeared to lie in the fact that Edmund Murray/Coley, had not one, but two families. In his estate papers there was a division of property concerning a tract of land of 77 acres referred to as "the Patsy Murray lands." The division was set out as "A. C. Murray  1/4, Maggie Hooks 1/4, John Carpenter 1/4, Millard Aldridge, Adam Aldridge, James Aldridge, Lula Aldridge and Cornelia F Sinclair with John Sinclair 1/5 of 1/4 or 1/20th.

To explain the Patsy Murray lands, we have to go back another generation. In 1863, Benjamin Murray had conveyed this same 77 acres to James A. Ross. He then, according to the records of Green Wesley Simpson, went to Arkansas, along with his children Rebecca Ann Murray Hudson, her husband Henry, his son Jesse and wife Jane, his wife Martha, and at least a few of his nephews, Wesley Murray, son of Mariah, and James Washington Turner, son of Phoebe. There may have been others.



 In 1867, Martha Murray had returned, and claimed the same 77 acres as homestead. At her decease, the property was transferred to the hands of Edmund Murray. Now, she was not the mother of Edmund Murray/Coley. She was less than a decade older than he, and he would not outlive her long.

Edmund Coley/Murray seems to be the son of Benjamin Murray and a daughter of George and Mary Coley. Ben Murray would have been 21 at the birth of Edmund, far before his marriage to Martha, so there was no apparent animosity between the two families. Edmund, by all signs left, appears to have been a good man, taking care of Martha aka Patsy, like a son, and taking care of George and Martha Coley in their old age. For love and respect, they had signed their property over to him for a nominal fee, before they died, under condition they live on it and he take care of them, which a later deed proves he did.

So Edmund Murray was a good man. However, he had apparently strayed upon his wife Katie. A single neighbor, Beadie Carpenter, daughter of Thomas Carpenter, had two children, John A. Carpenter and Nellie  Ann Carpenter. John A. Carpenter is the son Edmund Murray Coley, who being illegitimate himself, saw no difference in his legitimate and illegitimate heirs.  Nellie Carpenter, like her mother, also had a child out of wedlock. That child was a daughter, Nezzie Elizabeth Carpenter who would marry Mitchell Calvin Brown and be known otherwise, as "Bettie Brown".

There would be more lawsuits to follow between the 'legitimate' heirs of  Edmund Murray/Coley and Bettie Brown. The above list of grandchildren would be joined by Sarah Coble Broadaway and Amos Coble, children of Edmond's deceased daughter Sarah, who had been the first wife of Israel S. Coble.

Several suits dragged through the courts for years. One of the last was "J. R. Murray and others vs. Bettie Brown and others" recorded on page 467 in the minutes of the July 1904 session.

The Case is a study of it's own, and I will go into it no further here, except to present this long, nearly 20 year arguement as perhaps the motive for the affray at Rocky River Springs.

Betty Brown was the daughter of Nelly Carpenter. Nelly Carpenter was the sister of John A. Carpenter. The suit provides evidence that Betty Brown and her children believed themselves heirs of Edmund Murray. They brought the point home when referring to Alex and John in the suit as "A. C. Murray alias Coley and John R. Murray alias Coley", as if trying to make the case that the right to the name of Murray was up in the air for John, Alex and their whole siblings,  as well, because Edmund, their father, had always had to swing back and forth between both.

Rocky River Springs, in the early part of the century was a popular resort.

Images Courtesy of the Stanly County Museum

A deed dated November 11, 1911 from John R. Murray to his wife and children, describes his property as "adjoining Rocky River Springs land, John A. Carpenter and others".  So John R Murray's farm was neighboring Rocky River Springs and his half-brother, John A. Carpenter, who was living on the property given him by Edmund Murray-Coley.

Rocky River Springs Resort, Courtesy of  Stanly County Museum

This family entanglement, arguement, lawsuits and feud, I believe, was at the core of the "quarrel, probably the outcropping of an old family grudge" that began the violence between 55 year old John R Murray and the two oldest sons, Paul and Sam, of Mitchell and Nezzie E. "Bettie" Brown. Biologically, John Murray was their great-uncle.

Nellie Ann Carpenter may have only had one child, but her daughter Bettie made up for it by having a very large family. Beadie Carpenter, grandmother of Bettie and mother of Nellie and John A., was listed in several papers as recieving county money for her old age and disability.





Mitchell and Bettie Brown had 16 children between them. Paul and Sam were the oldest. 

1901 Paul Lee

1902 James Samuel

1903 Lonnie Mathew

1904 Barney Baxley B & D in 1904

1905 Noah Benton

1907 Fannie JoAnn

1908 Carrie Alberta

1909 Jesse Thomas

1911 George Washington

1912 Mary Estelle

1913 John Henry

1914 Frank Wilson

1916 Fronie Ann

1918 William Grover

1920 Barney Baxley II

1923 Virgie Mae

Mitchell Calvin Brown and wife Nezzie Elizabeth Carpenter Brown in their old age.

To summarize the whole affair, from all available information, about noon, on Tuesday, March 27, 1917, 53 year old John R. Murray ran into his great-nephews, Paul and Sam Brown, at Rocky River Springs. A heated argument ensued, with colorful language flying back and forth. The quarrel stemmed from an old family grudge, which could have been the lawsuits that had went back and forth between John and others vs the Browns mother and others, the final judgement of which had been settled in 1903 and 1904, when the Brown brothers would have been toddlers.

Paul, admitted to shooting John Murray, whose small son stood witness and took off home. He told his mother, and then disappeared. Paul was eventually found and was sentenced to 10 years. His younger brother Sam,16,  who was just present, was sentenced to 4 months on a local chain gang.



The Brown family removed themselves from Stanly County, first settling in Columbus County, North Carolina, in the Southeastern part of the state, near Wilmington, where they were found in the 1920 census. The Columbus County census stated that the Browns owned their farm. In July of 1917, just months after his sons arrest, M. C. Brown sells Lots 6 and 7 known as cottage sites at Rocky River Springs, to one W L and Mabel D Mann and R L and Ora B Smith, located on block one, on the east side of Albemarle Street 50 feet wide and running 175 feet back to Lee Avenue.

History of the Rocky River Springs from Fish House website

Name:	Elizabeth Brown
Age:	41
Birth Year:	abt 1879
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1920:	Fair Bluff, Columbus, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Wife
Marital Status:	Married
Spouse's Name:	Mitchell Brown
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Mitchell Brown 41 Elizabeth Brown 41 Sam Brown 18 Lonnie Brown 16 Noah Brown 14 Fannie Brown 11 Albertie Brown 10 Tommie Brown 9 George Brown 8 Mary Brown 7 John Henry Brown 6 Frank Brown 5 Franie Brown 3 [3 5/12]  William Brown 1

The Brown family is shown buying property in Quewhiffle, Hoke County, North Carolina in 1925, 1926 and 1929. Here they are seen in the 1930 census, and where they remained.

Name:	Elizabeth Brown
Gender:	Female
Birth Year:	abt 1877
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Race:	White
Home in 1930:	Quewhiffle, Hoke, North Carolina
Map of Home:	View Map
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Wife
Spouse's Name:	Michell C Brown
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Occupation: Education: Military service: Rent/home value: Age at first marriage: Parents' birthplace:	View image
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Michell C Brown 53 Elizabeth Brown 53 Noah B Brown 24 Thomas Brown 20 George Brown 18 John Brown 16 Nilson Frank Brown 15

In 1940, they are seen with some of their children and a few of their grandchildren, Pauline Davis and Louis Silverblat, along with Hugh Reynolds Aldridge of Stanly County, son of George, so they still kept in touch with Stanly County people. Other Stanly Countians, like the family of John Teeter Davis, had also moved to Hoke to farm tobacco.

Name:	M C Brown
Respondent:	Yes
Age:	63
Estimated birth year:	abt 1877
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Home in 1940:	Quewhiffle, Hoke, North Carolina
Map of Home in 1940:	View Map
Farm:	Yes
Inferred Residence in 1935:	Quewhiffle, Hoke, North Carolina
Residence in 1935:	Same Place
Sheet Number:	17A
Number of Household in Order of Visitation:	258
Occupation:	Farmer
House Owned or Rented:	Owned
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented:	1000
Attended School or College:	No
Highest Grade Completed:	Elementary school, 5th grade
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census:	40
Class of Worker:	Working on own account
Weeks Worked in 1939:	52
Income:	0
Income Other Sources:	No
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age M C Brown 63 Elizabeth Brown 62 Barney Brown 19 Virgia Brown 16 Louis E Silverblat 12 Pauline Dais 8 Hue Aldrege 28

Nezzie Elizabeth Carpenter Brown would die in Hoke County in 1947. Her Husband Mitchell lived another 20 years, dying in 1967 at the grand old age of 90 in Aberdeen, Moore County.

Sam Brown would marry and have his own family and remain in Hoke County, passing away in 1959.

Paul Lee Brown did not stay in North Carolina, but seems to have hit the road as soon as he was free. He only served a fraction of the time he was given for taking the life of John Murray and by 1920 was found in Nashville, Tennesee. He left there and shows up in St. Louis, Missouri, where he obtained his social security number, and married Mary Alice Eldridge in September of 1924.

Name:	Alice M Brown
Gender:	Female
Birth Year:	abt 1899
Birthplace:	Colorado
Race:	White
Home in 1930:	St Louis, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri
Map of Home:	View Map
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Roomer
Father's Birthplace:	Missouri
Mother's Birthplace:	Kansas
Occupation: Education: Military service: Rent/home value: Age at first marriage: Parents' birthplace:	View image
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Allie Gibbs 39 Virginia Gibbs 15 Paul Gibbs 12 Elmore Gibbs 9 Fred Gibbs 39 Clyde Estes 26 Gladys Estes 26 Dan Nichol 27 Clarabelle Nichol 22 Walter Suit 19 Irene L Suit 18 Bertha Blackburn 39 Wade Blackburn 33 Howard Lombard 20 Paul L Brown 29 Alice M Brown 31 Louis Larsen 42 Minnie E Larsen 38 Ruth Suit 17 Russell Kinder 31 Mildred Kinder 24 Delores Kinder 0 [3/12]  Bert C Suit 39 Marie Suit 29 Elenaor Nichols 20 Mary Webling 52 Elijah Nichols 25 Maxine Nichols 3 H C Melton 61

By 1935, the couple had made their way to L. A., where they settled in for the duration.

Name:	Mary L Brown
Age:	32
Estimated birth year:	abt 1908
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Birthplace:	Oklahoma
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Wife
Home in 1940:	Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
Map of Home in 1940:	View Map
Street:	Elmwood
Inferred Residence in 1935:	Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
Residence in 1935:	Same House
Sheet Number:	10A
Attended School or College:	No
Highest Grade Completed:	H7
Weeks Worked in 1939:	0
Income:	0
Income Other Sources:	No
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Paul L Brown 34 Mary L Brown 32

Paul died in L. A. in 1966 and his wife Alice in 1990. They had one daughter named Pauline. 

John Murray left a widow, Maggie Lingerfelt Murray. Together, they had 6 children:

Jessie Lou Murray 1904-1918

Charles G. Murray 1907-1937

Alexander Erson Murray 1909-2004

Pinky Lee Murray 1911-1929

Minnie Louise Murray 1914-1999

John Lander Murray 1919-1996

Daughter Jessie, just one of many descendants of old Jesse Murray named for him and son Pinky Lee Murray are buried in the old Rehobeth Cemetery with many others of the Murray and Aldridge families. 

So that is how a multi-generational and decades long family feud ended in tragedy. The hills of the Tyson community in Southern Stanly County was full of stories, and the one of John R. Murray and the Brown brothers was just one of many.