The Dandelions of Aaron Sanders

 

Aaron Sanders was a blacksmith who lived in Stanly County for awhile in the 19th century. He had emerged into the world at the commencement of it, being born about 1800, probably in Montgomery County, NC or some County nearby. He's not to be confused with Col. Aaron Harris Saunders, (1802-1885) who served for awhile as Sheriff of Montgomery County, and lived his life on that side of the PeeDee River.

He was supposedly the son of a Stephen Sanders and Mary Morris Sanders, but I've not delved into his past far enough to verify this. Aaron was a very popular name among the Sanders/Saunders family. There may be a connection to an original and honored progenitor of it. The name is seen spelled both ways. In this instance, I will stick to the Sanders spelling as that is how I found him.

I encountered Aaron Sanders in the Case Files of State vs Harris Melton and Ann Bird. They were a Stanly County couple who escaped to Gold Hill in Rowan County when their marriage was challenged. Ann Bird Melton was white, but Harris Melton had a white mother and a darker skinned father, who seemed to be of Native American or some combination of racial makeup akin to present day Lumbee or Melungeon's. Aaron was a witness for the defense and appears to have known the Melton family for a very long-time. Something about his family intrigued me, and deserved a closer look.

He appears in both the 1830 and 1840 census records, when he would have been 30 and 40 years old, having already crossed the river into West Pee Dee (Stanly County), from East Pee Dee, (Montgomery County). 

In Stanly County land records, which began in 1841, in Book 1 Page 211, Aaron bought property from James Boysworth on July 8, 1842, for $200 that had descended to James from his father, James Boysworth, Sr. consisting of 75 acres bounded by William Davis on the north, Green B. Ross on the west, Eli W. Christian on the south and the Pee Dee River made the eastern border. Witnesses were William Swaringen and George Shankle. So, we know he lived on the river. James Boysworth had also been called as witness in the same proceeding and his sister, Nancy had married John Melton Jr., an uncle of the defendant, Harris Melton. Aaron Sanders is shown as having lived near John Melton, Jr. in 1840, two years before this land purchase.

In Book 1 page 349, Aaron Sanders sells to George Shankle 35 acres of the above property, leaving 40, to settle a note Aaron owed Daniel Freeman, a merchant, due December 25, 1844, that was currently in the hands of George F. Smith, who was the Albemarle Postmaster before there was an Albemarle. His Post Office was called Smith's Store and served the fertile area where Town Creek, Melchor's Branch and Cloverfork Creek poured into Little Long Creek just before it merged with Long Creek after being fed by a few other small streams. The note was for $50 and the action was witnessed by Isaac Swearingen and Neelin Hathcock. Neelin or Newlin was also involved in the trial but was a witness for the State and had a strong objection to the marriage of Harris and Ann, who had been charged with fornication as their marriage was being declared illegal. 

Lastly, Aaron received a grant, number 5155, for 95 acres on Long Creek in February of 1850. This is found in Book 2 Page 285. The land met the property of Mathias Melchor and John Allen Mann, and had been applied for, or entered, all the way back on November 27th, 1838, when Stanly was still part of Montgomery and the grand was issued as "in Montgomery", although it was near Smith's Store.

Name	Aaron Sanders
Gender	Male
Race	White
Residence Age	50
Birth Date	abt 1800
Birthplace	North Carolina
Residence Date	1850
Home in 1850	Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Occupation	Blacksmith
Industry	Miscellaneous Repair Services
Cannot Read, Write	Yes
Line Number	1
Dwelling Number	887
Family Number	892
Inferred Spouse	Nancy Sanders
Inferred Child	Mary A Sanders; Martha Sanders; Laura J Sanders; Nancy E Sanders; Wm J Sanders; Eliza C Sanders

Household members

Name	Age
Aaron Sanders	50
Nancy Sanders	48
Mary A Sanders	26
Martha Sanders	22
Laura J Sanders	15
Nancy E Sanders	12
Wm J Sanders	10
Eliza C Sanders	2
Alexander Sides	22

1850 finds Aaron at 50, living in Albemarle District 9. He's blacksmithing and has an assistant, young Alexander Sides, who is also a blacksmith. Neighbors are Roland Mann, Isaac Calloway and Solomon Hathcock. Nancy Sanders, maiden name unknown, is 48. A list of younger Sanders follows, Mary A. 26, Martha 22, Laura J. 15, Nacy E. 12, William Johnson, 10, and Eliza C. a much younger age 2. I  don't know if it would make more sense that Eliza was a grandchild than a daughter, taking in the consideration the age of Nancy. There is one child missing, oldest son , Stephen J. Sanders. Stephen is living nearby, and at 20, has already married to Dicy Morton, 22.

Name	Aaron Saunders
Age	61
Birth Year	abt 1799
Gender	Male
Race	White
Home in 1860	Stanly, North Carolina
Post Office	Albemarle
Dwelling Number	459
Family Number	463
Occupation	Black Smith
Real Estate Value	100
Personal Estate Value	155
Inferred Spouse	Nancy Saunders

Household members

Name	Age
Aaron Saunders	61
Nancy Saunders	58
Polly A Saunders	37
Patsey Saunders	33
Laura Saunders	28
Betsey Saunders	22
Johnson Saunders	20
Eliza C Saunders	18
Catherine Heathtock	13
Nancy A Saunders	6
Franky Saunders	5
Martha Saunders	1

Ten years later, in 1860, the family has expanded. They are living in Albemarle and Aaron, at 61, is still a Blacksmith. Nany is 58, and the daughters are shown by nicknames. Mary is now Polly A; Martha is now Patsy. Laura is still Laura and Nancy E. is now Betsy, meaning the "E" probably stood for Elizabeth. William J., now 20, is Johnson, and Eliza C., instead of being 8 years younger than her brother, is shown as only two years younger, at 18. They've taken in a girl named Catherine Heathcock (Hathcock), 13. There were close connections between the Sanders and Hathcock's. Neelin Hathcock, mentioned earlier, was married to a Brazilla Sanders, who may have been of some relation to Aaron. She is followed by three little girls, Nancy A. Sanders, Franky Sanders and Martha Sanders, ages 6 to 1. These were not additional children of Aaron and Nancy; they had to have been grandchildren. There were other grandchildren, by their one married child, son Stephen. 

Stephen also lived near Albemarle, and followed in his fathers footsteps by taking up the trade of blacksmithing.

Stephen and his wife, Dicy Morton Sanders were the parents of three children;  Mary Miranda Sanders (1849-1911), Sarah "Sallie" Sanders, (1852-1925) and William Ezekial Sanders, (1852-1922).

A different look at the Aaron Sanders family in the 1860 census shows that he was a town dweller, and also reveals a humous opine of his 20 year old son, Johnson. While Aaron, at 61, is a blacksmith, the occupation of his son, William Johnson Sanders is given as "nothing". I can envision a disgruntled father of a lazy post-adolescent son telling that to a census taker. The Sanders family was followed by A.C. Freeman, farmer. Farmer, yes, but also the son of Daniel Freeman, merchant, and also a merchant himself and heavily involved in real estate and business partnerships. He was followed by Thomas B. Haskle, a Tailor, from England. Yes, indeed, in her early days, Albemarle had a British Tailor. Brothers WJ Ross and John O. Ross, Merchants, WJ Montgomery, Lawyer, Augustus W. Walker, Methodist Episcopal Minister, J. M. McCorkle, Lawyer all followed. As you can tell, a town, as merchants, businesspeople and especially lawyers, liked to situate themselves near the Courthouse.

Then came War, and Aaron and Nancy Sanders lost both of their sons to it, one to the rampant diseases that passed through the ranks, and most infectiously, through the war-made prisons. The other to the ravages of battle. 

Stephen, the oldest, was highly respected and was enlisted as a Sergeant in Rowan County. He later was reduced to private and spent most of the War as a POW, dying of diseases in Elmira, New York.

The younger son, William Johnson Saunders, 22, enlisted in Cabarrus County in April of 1861.

By then, he gave his occupation as a Blacksmith. He died in Battle on June 27, 1862, that same year, at Gaines' Mill, Virginia. As far as we know, he was unmarried.

The Sanders family was left with reassembling themselves.

The 1870 census finds Aaron and Nancy Sanders in their 70's. Aaron is still trying to support the family as a Blacksmith at 70, he's lost both sons and there is a whopping 13 mouths to feed in his house, maybe more, actually. He has his five unmarried daughters, Mary "Polly", 40, Martha "Patsy" 36, Nancy Elizabeth, 33, Laura, 35 and Eliza, 28.  After them are 6 others, probably grandchildren, Martha 11, Nancy 21 (unknown why the older would be second in the list?), then four who had been born within the last decade, Mary 7, Tiny 5, Robert, 2 and Josephine 2 months. None of these were Stephen's children. The family was no longer living in Albemarle, but now in Ridenhour District, or bordering Cabarrus County, somewhere between the Richfield/ Misenheimer area and Millingport. I don't think they stayed there long.

Stephen's oldest daughter, Mary Miranda Sanders married James R. Hatley, son of William Simeon Hatley and Elizabet Morton Hatley and they were living in Big Lick, next to his parents. Her mother, Dicy and two children were living with them.

Stephen and Dicy's youngest child and only son, William Ezekial (W. E. or E. W., initials were often reversed),.was boarding with a Kirk family, which places him around present-day Badin. Sarah's locations unknown, but she was alive and would marry John M. Whitley, son of George and Keziah "Kizzie" Whitley, on April 15, 1880, at age 27 to his 35. 

Their mother, Dicy Morton Sanders, would find love again at 50, and marry on Valentines Day, 1878, to 56 year old Moses Bowers.

So, where did all these loose children come from in the 1860 and 1870 Census records? 

1860                                1870

Nancy A  6                    Nancy  21

Franky  5                      Not listed ,but alive, probably skipped.

Martha 1                       Martha 11

                                      Mary 7
                                      Tiny 5

                                      Robert 2

                                      Josephine 2 months old.

Among the various Court records of Stanly County during the years the Sanders lived here, there were no traces of the older two daughters of Aaron Sanders, Polly and Patsy, having children, but the younger three were all mothers, Laura, Nancy Elizabeth aka "Betsy" and Eliza, who turned out to be older in 1850 than actually shown.

In August 1860 term of Court for Stanly County is found the case of Nancy Elizabeth Saunders, all three names used vs Joseph Morton, in a case of bastardy, or, a child born outside of marriage. He was to pay her $25 for the ensuing year, $15, the second year and $10 for the ensuing two years after that. On motion it was ordered that he pay Nancy E. Saunders for the year ensuing and $15 a years for the succeeding years.

 The timing of the birth of this child would suggest that this was Martha, born around 1859, as the child mentioned had already been born. 

Joseph Morton was the brother of Dicy Morton who married Stephen J. Sanders. To eclipse the disrespect to Nancy Elizabeth, he had married a Martha E. Mask from Montgomery County on February 18, 1860. I have seen this event recur in case after case, where a young man would pursue a girl and when her innocence was lost, turn and marry another, after probably promising marriage to the one he 'ruined'. He lived to be an old man of 85, had a large family, and lived his last years on the Efird Mill Hill in Albemarle.

1869

In September of 1869, Nancy Ann Sanders, was brought to court on a charge of Bastardy and named Benjamin Mauldin as the father of her child. Nancy Ann was not Nancy Elizabeth. Nancy Ann was the oldest of the assorted grandchildren who lived in the Sanders home. She was shown in 1860 as 6 and 1870 as 21. Whichever was closest, she was old enough to become a mother in 1869. The youth of the mother was not of consequence in the 19th century 

These two warrants were recorded on school registers, suggesting a shortage of paper during these years. The child the event pertained to must have been one of the younger two, probably two-month-old Josephine, making her Aaron's Great Grandchild.

Benjamin Mauldin was a name passed down for a few generations, fathers to sons and uncles to nephews. In 1870, the nearest census, there were two. The elder had been born in 1793 and was living in Tyson township in the southern part of the county. The younger was 35 and living in Albemarle Township. He was the most likely culprit. A married man, Benjamin R. Mauldin had a wife, Ann Rummage, and a family. He was my 4th Great Granduncle and not without controversy. A few years prior at the culmination of the War, he has been called as a witness to the murder of Hector Oxendine, a Lumbee man, (called 'colored').
There is no indication that either Joseph Morton or Ben Mauldin has anything to do with their Sanders children after paying their fines.

Eliza Sanders case was a little different. She was ordered to court and when appearing, refused to name the father of her child or children and was ordered to pay a $5.00 fine. 

Oftentimes when married men, or men of good standing, were caught with their pants down, figuratively, they would offer a quiet payment for the woman to bear the burden and not name names. 

Eliza

On January 8th, 1870, A J Shankle received the $5.00 payment from Eliza Sanders and delivered it to J.S Stone, Clerk of Court.

That same year both Eliza Sanders and Mary E. Coley were reimbursed for attending the trial of State vs Green Hathcock as witnesses for the State. Again, there were multiple Green Hathcock's, but looking at the time period, around 1870, you had two, one in Big Lick, aged 12, and one in Albemarle, aged 45, so I believe it was clear which one this case was concerning. It also makes a lot of sense when other factors are taken into account.

This is another Hathcock connection to the Sanders family. Green Lee Hathcock (1825-1892) was another son of James H. and Mary Esther Honeycutt Hathcock, and a younger brother of Neelin Hathcock, mentioned multiple times already. Green was a shingle maker and farmer. He married twice, but the first time was to Susannah Sanders ,(1825-1885). They named the second of their 4 sons Aaron. Neeland Hathcock, (1813-1882) was married to Brazilla Sanders (Abt 1825-bef 1860). One of Neeland and Brazilla's daughters, Mary A., married a William T. Cole before 1870. She may have been the Mary A Coley in the record.

Does anyone else see a pattern? 

Aaron and Nancy were certainly old enough to be the parents of someone born in 1828 as Polly was born about 1824.

Name	Aaron Sanders
Residence Date	1840
Home in 1840 (City, County, State)	West Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14	1 Stephen J.
Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49	1 Aaron
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5	1 Nancy Elizabeth
Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9	1 Laura
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14	2 Susannah and Patsy
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19	1 Brazilla
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29	1 Polly
Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39	1 Nancy
Persons Employed in Agriculture	1
Persons Employed in Manufacture and Trade	1
No. White Persons over 20 Who Cannot Read and Write	1
Free White Persons - Under 20	6
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49	3
Total Free White Persons	9
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves	9

Looking back at the family in 1840, there was one son, which would have been Stephen. William Johnson Sanders wasn't born yet. Nancy was probably pregnant with him. Eliza wasn't born yet. There appears to have been 6 daughters, before counting Eliza: Polly, Patsy, Laura, Nancy Elizabeth and two more. Were Neelin and Green Lee Hathcock the sons-in-laws of Aaron Sanders? It fits.

Continuing on, back in May Sessions of Stanly County Court, Laura Sanders had been charged with bastardy. Like Eliza, she refused to name the father and was fined $5.00. This could have only applied to the oldest grandchild, Nancy Ann Sanders. Laura was also the mother of Franky Saunders. So, in the list of grandchildren that lived in the home of Aaron Sanders, it appears the following incomplete list.

Child                        Year                    Mother

Nancy Ann              1851                   Laura           

Frances Louise        1855                   Laura     

Martha                    1859                   Nancy Elizabeth and Joseph Morton  

Mary                       1863                   Eliza (will see later)

Tiny                        1865                    Unknown

Robert                    1867                    Unknown

Josephine                1869                    Nancy Ann and Benjamin Mauldin

Henrietta                 1870/71               Eliza and Green Hathcock (possibly) -not yet born as of 1870.   

Sometime soon after the 1870 census, the Sanders family left Stanly County. Only Dicy Morton Sanders and her children remained. It appears they first stopped in Warren County, where Henrietta was born to Eliza Sanders. They would end up in Raleigh, Wake County. There appears to have been multiple deaths in this decade, including the parents, Aaron and Nancy. As to their daughters Martha "Patsy" Sanders and Laura Sanders, it is unknown, but it does appear that Laura, at least, made it to Wake County. 

These are the survivors of the move we find in Raleigh in 1880

The home is headed by oldest sister, Mary A "Polly" Sanders 56. With her lives sister Nancy E. Sanders, 43 and Eliza Sanders, 37, and nieces Mary E. 15 and H. R., aged 10. The sisters are dressmakers and niece Mary is a seamstress. Ten-year-old Henrietta is at school. I am not certain where the other two sisters are, except that they were no longer in Stanly County under their maiden names. They may have married, moved away, or passed away. It is also unknown what happened to the other grandchildren, except one.

In Raleigh, Wake County, NC on August 24, 1875, Francis L. "Frankie" Sanders of Wake County married Albert Lee of Catawba County. The bride was 20 years old, the daughter of father unknown and Mother Laura, deceased. The groom was 27 and son of Jesse and Nancy Lee, father deceased, mother living. The wedding took place at the Institution of the Deaf and Dumb. Frances was deaf.

Name	Francis L. Lee
Age	25
Birth Date	Abt 1855
Birthplace	North Carolina
Home in 1880	Mount Airy, Surry, North Carolina, USA
Street	Rockford Street
Dwelling Number	533
Race	White
Gender	Female
Relation to Head of House	Wife
Marital Status	Married
Spouse's Name	M. Albert Lee
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace	North Carolina
Occupation	Housekeeper
Deaf and Dumb	Y
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
M. Albert Lee	30
Francis L. Lee	25
James B. Lee	3
Mary E. Lee	1

Frankie and Albert would raise their family in Surry County, NC. He supported them as a simple farm laborer and the children pitched in as they grew older. Francis was the mother of 5, with four living until adulthood: James B, Charlie C., Mary Ella and Minnie Ray. She lived to be 48 and died Mary 17, 1903 and was buried in Toast, no pun intended, literally Toast, Surry County, NC.

Mary "Polly" Sanders, the head of the sister clan, began getting temporary benefits from the County due to age and debility. She died March 15, 1891, at the age of 67.

Nancy Elizabeth Sanders died on Mary 17, 1894. She was 58 years old and is buried at the City Cemetery in Raleigh, NC.

The final fate of Eliza C. Sanders is yet unknown. She was the mother of the two young girls in the household in 1880. She may have lived with one of her daughters after marriage.

On June 27, 1881, Mary E. Sanders, claiming to be 18, but actually still 15, daughter of father unknown and Eliza Sanders, living, married Alfred F. Gorman, 23, son of Henry Gorman, deceased and Rachel Gorman, living. The wedding took place at the residence of the bride's mother. Witnesses were Henrietta Sanders, her little sister, written large and proud, as she was only eleven, Eliza Sanders and Lizzie Sanders, mother and aunt of the bride, I believe.

Name	Mrs. Mary Gorman
Gender	Female
Residence Year	1886
Street Address	402 s McDowell
Residence Place	Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Occupation	Seamstress
Publication Title	Raleigh, North Carolina, City Directory, 1886

In 1886, Mary, now married, was still working as a Seamstress and living at 402 S. McDowell St. in Raleigh.

In the same record, we find Eliza, Seamstress, living at the same address, as well as Elizabeth, a nurse, and Polly Ann, no occupation given. It seems the surviving daughters made a life for themselves running a dress shop and sewing business in the City of Raleigh after the death of their parents. Elizabeth was even able to transition to nursing. 

402 South McDowell is still in existence and is now a Smoke and Vape Shop ran by the Ibrahim Brothers. 

Mary E Sanders and Albert F. Gorman had three children together; Effie in 1881, Sarah O. 'Sadie' in 1885 and Alpha Mae in 1890. Alfred Gorman passed away and Mary Sanders Gorman then married Joseph Walton Williams on April 10, 1898.

In 1900, the family is living on South Cabarrus Street in Raleigh. Joseph is a painter and Mary is still a seamstress. The older two of her three daughters were working in a Cotton factory as teenagers. Mary and Joseph both died in 1914, within months of each other of TB.

Daughter Effie's future is unknown.

Sadie married Henry H Hardie and had three children, dying at 29 in 1915.

Alpha Mae Gorman married three times having a daughter with the last husband, A Daniels. She died in 1943 at 53.

Eliza C Sanders youngest daughter, Henrietta, married on July 19, 1885, at the age of 15. Eliza seemed hell- bent on marrying her daughters off early, most likely to prevent them from befalling her own fate on single motherhood. 

She married Albert Sidney Renn, 23, of Wake County, but originally of Vance County. He would take his bride with him back to Vance. Albert was the son of Harmon and Nancy Strum Renn or Wrenn. 

They settled on Montgomery Street in the town of Henderson, where Albert worked as a Tinner. Above, the family is shown in 1900, with their 5 children. The children of Albert and Henrietta were:

Priest Elmore Wrenn (1886-1967)

Maria Louise "Mimi" Wrenn Wilson (1889-1945)

Maude Lee Wrenn Grissom (1890-1987)

George Hughes Wrenn (1891-1951)

Margaret Elizabeth Wrenn Evans Croom (1900-1951)

They seem to lead a very normal, happy life in Henderson and by 1920, Albert is the Chief of Police. 

Henrietta died in Richmond, Virginia on March 25, 1923, of Uterine Fibroids, or Cancer, at the age of 53. There is no case of any of the children or grandchildren of Aaron and Nancy Sanders living to a respectable old age. 

The descendants of Aaron Saunders were scattered like dandelion seed in the wind. The fate of many of his daughter's illicit offspring is yet unknown. Some, like Tiny and Robert must have died as children. Others, like Nancy Ann and her daughter, Josephine, and Martha, who made it to eleven, I still believe are unsettled. Something tells me they lived past 1870, probably marrying and under a different name. Only the children of his son, Stephen J. Sanders remained in Stanly and surrounding counties. There are still Sanders or Saunders descended from Willaim Ezekial living here today. 

The Reconstruction Epidemic: Preface

 

When a hobby becomes work, the passion disappears. I've had to lay the Mortons down, happy to have identified the siblings of Rev. Samuel Parsons Morton, because it became too overwhelming. I became ill, and I will pick that file back up in the near future. That's not the only project I have smouldering in the fire. The mystery of the Davis/ Pickler link is awaiting documents from the Archives and most specifically, my ability, if it exists, to make sense of the various, but few, peices of the puzzle that remain.

There's also the discovery I made while simply attempting to identify the origins of an unusual trait after a very surprising DNA match, that will blow the roof off the verbatim reputation of a long narrative concerning the Stanly County Hudson family, and one that overlaps into the Hills, which is the family of my paternal grandmother's Mother. And there's always my projects of the Mountains of Stanly County and the Women who didn't Exist, but Did. I have a whole stack of them to get to.

So, I went back to the old reliable court records, always fodder for sparking my curiosity and inspiration.

Once an aquantaince remarked that I had a talent for 'digging up dirt'. True, but brickwalls are nearly always built upon dirt. 

Since the invention of morality and proper social behavior, human beings have been straying outside the lines.

In the earliest of records of Stanly County, North Carolina, and before, single women had been being brought to court for having children outside the bounds of matrimony, some for falling prey to men who had promised to marry them, and didn't, or those who already were married.. Every year, there were a handfull of defendants.

These unions were the source of children, if who survived, would often become a perplexity for modern descendants trying to piece together a family tree. Some spend decades trying to figure out who Sarah was the widow of; or who the mysterious 'John' was that little Henry named in his marriage certificate, but that there is no record of. Being a bastard was an embarrassing thing to be in those days, and to some, still is. The good thing is, if an illicit relationship can be identified, that breaks down that brick wall and can open up an entire world of another family line, which, with dna research, can be proven. So, this is a project I often undertake when 2 and 2 in a family tree does not equal 4.

A Quick Look at Lindsey

For instance, take my recent post on Lindsey Frank Yow. All these family trees had him as the youngest child of Dennis and Mary Yow, a couple who were well past your normal child-bearing years when he was born. He was also 15 years younger than the child who preceded him. Something was askew. 

Looking at his records, he consistently named his mother as Mary, but never listed a father at all. So, why did he leave Dennis's name off when Dennis actually lived longer than his wife Mary, and raised the boy. That is because Mary, Dennis's wife, was not the only Mary in the family. They had a daughter named Mary, who went by "Polly', and I found a bastardy bond for her the year that Lindsey Frank was born. Dennis and his wife Mary had raised the boy, but they were his grandparents. Mary Jr. was his mother and his father was Henry A. Easley, the son of a wealthy planter who got Polly pregnant and then married a more 'respectible' girl. 

There was something unusual I noticed while searching through the bastardy bonds. While previous years had supplied a steady, but light, flow of these documents, the years following the Civil War, in the late 1860's and early 1870's, there was a heavy increase of them. A baby boom, so to speak. 

 The answer for that lie in the landscape of the Era of Reconstruction, the state that the county had been left in after the war. 

So many men had been killed in the Civil War, that it caused a great imbalance in the remaining population. Add to that, the many young men who went west and never returned, some who had families. It was a population of widows and orphans, with a scant few boys and tettering old men, and a scarce splattering of intact families and able-bodied men. 

Some widows and girls were lucky enough to marry, either to younger boys just coming of age who had been too young to fight, or to old men the age of their fathers, or grandfathers. However, a great number of others struggled for survival in a world not patterned on the life of unmarried women. 

During the absence of the soldiers, the world had turned upside down. There was devastation and despair. Farms had long gone untended and Mother Nature was taking back over. A social structure had collapsed with nothing in its place. 

Immediately after the war, you find no such records as Bastardy Bonds or Superior Court records. It was if the world had come to a standstill, but by 1867, and especially, 1868, the wheels of society again appeared to turn. Deeds were being recorded , suites were being filed, crimes were being tried, and couples who were coupling outside the boundaries of marriage were being brought in on charges of adultery, fornication, and bastardy. 

Each of these documents had it's on story. There were multiple situations and reasons behind the birth of each of these children, but most resulting from desperation.

There's the story of the tenant and landlord, a single woman who lived quite well upon the edge of her landlords property. He was a married man and prominent member of the community. She had borne several children by him. All was well, until a man came from outside the community, and fell in love with this woman. The landlord was inflamed and kicked her out of the house, legally, taking her to court, having her and this gentleman charged with Fornication. Yet, love prevailed, and the couple married and had a few more children of their own They now lie peacefully side by side on the hill of Canton Baptist Church Cemetery.

There's the young widow who paid the merchant for provisions for her children the only way she could.

There was the prominent farmer who basically had three wives at once, only one of them legal.

There were the fellows who would be called child sex predators today.

Then there were the out and out 'soiled doves', the girls who turned their misfortune into funds.

Every bond led to a story, even if it was simply in the face of destitution and hopelessness, all pretense of morality and propriety was thrown to the wind.

Joycie and Wiley

Most recently, I've been transcribing records from old CD's of Stanly County, North Carolina Superior Court from the 1870's. It's quite an interesting decade, an entirely different  setting than the ones prior. The world of the citizens of North Carolina had changed drastically, and the County of Stanly was deep in recovery, and a preponderance of certain types of case were a testimony of that.

Thefts, debts, fights among depressed and war-scarred men drowning their sorrows in alcohol, the desperate acts of widows and orphans, all in a day's audience with the circuit judges trying to bring law and order to a scarred and bleeding land.




While all of them bear historical importance, certain of them bear more genealogical significance, especially those concerning women. Those are the ones involving divorces, bastardy and F & A charges, or Fornication and Adultery. Those are case that can break down brick walls, solve mysteries, and open up entirely new avenues, a new branch in the genetic family tree.

Case Number 16, brought before the Honorable W. A. More, Jr. in the Spring Term of 1878, is one of those cases.

It involved one Wiley Barringer, who had been charged with Bastardy. He was fined $15 immediately, signed a $100 bond and agreed to pay $12 a year for six years, as long as the child was alive.

He admitted paternity, of a little girl, born to "Joicy E. Fisher", to whom the $15 was paid.

Bastardy was an archaic term used in the 19th and 20th centuries to nominate the act of creating a child outside of the holy bonds of matrimony. The charge was taken out on the couple to place financial responsibility on the offending parties and off of the county dole. As most women did not have paying professions, the support of the illegitimate child often fell on the county government, so the courts, when officials discovered the existence of the child or the pregnancy, would force the female parent to fess up and name the male parent, so they could hold him responsible. If she refused, the courts would charge the woman and hold her in jail, until a relative pitied her and got her out, most often her own father or brother.

There were even bastardy cases wherein the offending "baby daddy" was a wealthier, married man, who would pay the woman's bond, and even give her hush money not to name him, but would set her up with property, or money. It was rather obvious what the situation was, but it happened.

I've seen Stanly County cases wherein a married man would be having children with his legal wife and intermittently, also fathering children with his mistress, who often lived near by, whom he would have listed as a "tenant" in records. Some more illustrious and lusty Stanly County gents even had a wife and two or more "tenants", with whom they would bear children. Mr. Joshua C. Burris and Mr. Jordan Kennedy are included in this latter group. But we won't go there. Yet.

This was not the case with Wiley Barringer and Joicy Fisher. It involved one child only.

My first step was to find Joicy Fisher. And I did.

The most recent census following this court case was that of the 1880 census.

Name:	Joecey E. Fisher
Age:	25
Birth Year:	abt 1855
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1880:	Ridenhours, Stanly, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Daughter
Marital Status:	Single
Father's name:	D. Fisher
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's name:	Leah Fisher
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Neighbors:	View others on page
Cannot read/write: Blind: Deaf and dumb: Otherwise disabled: Idiotic or insane:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age D. Fisher 66 Leah Fisher 69 Martha C. Fisher 35 Joecey E. Fisher 25 Ada Bell Fisher 2

In this census we find Joicy Fisher living in the Ridenhour Township in Stanly County with her parents and her two year old daughter, Ada Bell Fisher.

The name Joyce or Joicy was not an overly common one like Mary, Elizabeth or Sarah, so therefore, Joicy Fisher was not hard to find. In fact, she left a very clear paper trail for her era. She lived a long life, moved around a little bit, but not too far, never married, and only had the one child.


Ada Bell was listed as the granddaughter of D. Fisher in this census, so no confusion as to who she was.



Joyce, or Joicy as a nickname, derives from the Quaker name "ReJoyce". Joyce Elizabeth Fisher was the daughter of  Daniel Fisher and Leah Dry Fisher and the granddaughter of Jacob Fisher and Barbary Lyerly Fisher and Daniel Monroe Dry and Rachel Lipe Dry.




Her parents are buried at Bear Creek Church and were among the families who lived on and around the Cabarrus/Stanly County line. It is safe to say her ancestry was mostly, if not completely German.

Daniel and Leah had a very large family and Joicy was in the batch of the youngest. She was not an orphan and her father, born in 1813, was not a Civil War veteran. It is uncertain what "led her astray". She was fortunate to be part of an intact family.

Name:	Jocy Fisher
Age:	0
Birth Year:	abt 1850
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Ridenhours, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Gender:	Female
Family Number:	352
Household Members:	Name Age Daniel Fisher 38 Leah Fisher 38 Julius A Fisher 14 Paul J Fisher 11 Martha C Fisher 8 Charles F Fisher 5 Sarah A Fisher 3 Jocy Fisher 0

She first appears in the 1850 census as an infant with 5 older siblings. Her parents were married about 1835.

Name:	Joicy Fisher
Age:	11
Birth Year:	abt 1849
Gender:	Female
Home in 1860:	Stanly, North Carolina
Post Office:	Albemarle
Family Number:	813
Value of real estate:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age Daniel Fisher 45 Leah Fisher 48 Martha Fisher 16 Charles Fisher 15 Sarah Fisher 13 Joicy Fisher 11 Daniel Fisher 9 Rachiel Fisher 4

By 1860, two younger siblings had joined the family.

Name:	Joyce Fisher
Age in 1870:	21
Birth Year:	abt 1849
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1870:	Ridenhour, Stanly, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Post Office:	Albemarle
Value of real estate:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age C Missenheimen 50 Mary A Missenheimen 35 Jones Missenheimen 14 Pearson Missenheimen 12 Martha Missenheimen 9 Carry Ann Missenheimen 4 Joyce Fisher 21

By 1870, something very different had happened to Joyce Fisher. She was 21 and living with the Clayborne and Mary Ann Barringer Misenheimer family.  The census does not list a profession for her. She may have been helping out with the children, or helping out on the farm, or she may have been rebelious and kicked out of the house by her parents, and was taken in by friends. A friendship with MaryAnn may have been how she made the acquaintance of Wiley Barringer.


The twenty year gap between the 1880 and 1900 censuses encapsulated a  twenty year span of great changes and growth in the American landscape. Some people lived and died entirely in this space and it is a time of much aggravation to genealogists. The loss of the 1890 census was a great one.

Name:	Joicy Fisher
Age:	50
Birth Date:	abt 1850
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1900:	Johns River, Cabarrus, North Carolina
Ward of City:	#1
Sheet Number:	27A
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation:	441
Family Number:	441
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Marital Status:	Single
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother: number of living children:	1
Mother: How many children:	1
Can Read:	No
Can Write:	Yes
Can Speak English:	Yes
House Owned or Rented:	R
Farm or House:	H
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Joicy Fisher 50 Ada Fisher 22 Bruner Lyerly 21 Thomas Fisher 27 Martha Fisher 25 Clarence Fisher 2

In 1900, we find Joycie as head of her own household, living in the John's River area of Cabarrus County, with her 22 year old daughter Ada, and taking in boarders, who work in the textile industry.

Bruner Lyerly, I believe, was a cousin, and Thomas Fisher, was her nephew, son of Julius Alexander Fisher, with his young family, wife Martha Parker Fisher and their oldest son, Clarence.




What else can this census record tell us? It tells us that all members, except for the toddler, could read and write. It tells us that Joycie was the mother of one child, with one living, that one being Ada. It tells us that Ada, Thomas, his wife Martha and Bruner Lyerly, were all weavers in the cotton mill industry. It lists no occupation for 50 year old Joicy, so besides being the Head of Household and taking in boarders, she was likely the babysitter as well.

It tells us that ALL of the neighbors, except for carpenter Isaac Freeze, worked in the cotton mill, which tells me she probably lived in or near a town, and definitely near a Cotton Mill, maybe in a traditional "Mill Village".



Ada Bell Fisher would marry on November 4, 1904 to John Mayhew Stillwell (1876-1962) from Lincoln County, son of a John Stillwell and Mary Jackson Stillwell. They were married in Cabarrus County.




1910 would find the family in  Locke Township of Rowan, which was the west part of Salisbury and beyond. James Mayhew Stillwell was a farmer, and he had a hired servant to help him, Frank Strickland.

Household Members:	Name Age John M Stillwell 30 Ada Stillwell 29 Esther Stillwell 4 Jacob Stillwell 1 Joicy Fisher 60 Frank Stricklend 22

The family included two small children, and mother-in-law, Joicy Fisher. She was now 60 years old. She is given no occupation, and listed as a widow, and mother of one child, with one living. She was not widowed, but I am sure the answer was given for her dignity.



By 1920, the family had moved to Mecklenburg County, and was living in the Lemley area, near Lake Norman and the Huntersville area.

Name:	Jayey E Fisher [Jaycy E Fisher]
Age:	70
Birth Year:	abt 1850
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1920:	Lemley, Mecklenburg, North Carolina
Street:	Cornelius and Bethel River Road
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Mother-in-law
Marital Status:	Single
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Able to Speak English:	Yes
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Mayhew Stillwell 40 Ada B Stillwell 41 Ether L Stillwell 14 Jacob H Stillwell 10 Mary A E Stillwell 7 Lillie P Stillwell 4 Jayey E Fisher 70

John Mayhew Stillwell was still a farmer and the family had expanded to 4 children. 70 year old Joicy E. Fisher was living with them. This would be her last census.



Joyce Elizabeth Fisher died on  July 20, 1923 at the age of  73 years, 7 months and 22 days,  Her death certificate gives her place of birth as Stanly County and her place of death as Huntersville, Lemley Township, Mecklenburg County. Her parents are listed as Daniel and Leah Fisher.

It is unknown where Joyce Elizabeth Fisher is buried. Most of her Fisher family are buried at Bethel Bear Creek Church in Stanly County, not far from the Cabarrus County line. Her daughter and son-in-law are buried at Hopewell Baptist Church in Davidson, Mecklenburg County. Most likely she is buried without a stone, or without a legible stone, at one of these two places.

Name:	Ada Stillwell
Birth Year:	abt 1879
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Wife
Homemaker?:	Yes
Home in 1930:	Lemley, Mecklenburg, North Carolina
Map of Home:	View Map
Dwelling Number:	284
Family Number:	285
Age at First Marriage:	26
Attended School:	No
Able to Read and Write:	Yes
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Able to Speak English:	Yes
Household Members:	Name Age John M Stillwell 51 Ada Stillwell 51 Annie Stillwell 17 Pauline Stillwell 14

Ada Bell Fisher Stillwell would outlive her mother by 33 years. She and her husband, John Mayhew Stillwell, would raise their family of 4 children, on a farm in Lemley township, rural Mecklenburg County, among a community that included many Stillwell relatives.

Name:	Ada Stillwell
Age:	62
Estimated birth year:	abt 1878
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Mother
Home in 1940:	Deweese, Mecklenburg, North Carolina
Map of Home in 1940:	View Map
Inferred Residence in 1935:	Rural, Mecklenburg, North Carolina
Residence in 1935:	Rural, Mecklenburg, North Carolina
Resident on farm in 1935:	Yes
Sheet Number:	8A
Attended School or College:	No
Highest Grade Completed:	Elementary school, 5th grade
Weeks Worked in 1939:	0
Income:	0
Income Other Sources:	No
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Holland Stillwell 31 Susie Stillwell 30 Ray Stillwell 9 Carl Stillwell 8 Thomas Stillwell 7 Christine Stillwell 5 Frank Stillwell 4 J M Stillwell 61 Ada Stillwell 62

 

1940 would find the couple living with their only son, Jacob Holland Stillwell and his family. He must have taken charge of daily operations of the family farm.


So, this court record of Joycie Fisher and Wiley Barringer did lead to one descendant, Ada Bell Fisher Stillwell, and she was the mother of 4 children, who themselves had descendants. Thus, it bears significant genealogical importance.

The four children of Ada and JM Stillwell were:


1) Esther Lee Stillwell  Born January 4, 1906 Iredell County
                                        Died  March 27, 1987 Mecklenburg County

    Married: Frank Alexander Reagan on Jan 10, 1924
       
       Children: 1924  James "Jim" Mayhew Reagan, 1927 Mary Bell "Dot" Reagan, 1932 Eva Mae Reagan, 1938 William "Bill" Clyde Reagan

Eva Mae Reagon Beard and husband William Marion Beard 

2) Jacob Hollard Stillwell   Born January 28, 1909 Rowan County, NC
                                               Died May 22, 1961 Burke County, NC
      Married: Susan Lee Barkley 

      Children: 1928 Holland Ray Stillwell, 1932 Carl William Stillwell, 1933 Thomas Lee Stillwell, 1934 Christine Stillwell, 1936 Benjamin Franklin Stillwell.


3) MaryAnn Elizabeth "Annie" Stillwell Born: October 5, 1912  Rowan County
                                                                      Died:  January 20, 2001                       
                                                                      Resided in Exmore, Northampton, Virginia
                                                                      Buried in Charlotte, North Carolina

       Married William Cy Barkley (brother of Susan Lee Barkley, brother's wife). 

       Children: Annie Laura Barkley Watson Peacock, Betty Jo Barkley Garrett Rice, Richard 
       Barkley, Sr.  Grandchildren's surnames include: Boseman, Barkley, Kirby, Watson, Beverly.

       Married Second a Mr. Rector. Tombstone name listed as Annie Stillwell Rector.


4)     Lillie Pauline Stillwell  Born July 15, 1915 Mecklenburg County, NC
                                                Died February 17, 2005 Mecklenburg County, NC

         Married: Francis Worth "Frank" Mundy or Munday (First husband)

         Children: 1933 Shirley Pauline Mundy Shaver,  1934 Mary Frances Mundy Long, 1937 Flake Lee Mundy, 1939 Alma Mae Mundy Hendrick, 1941 Linda Lue Mundy Potts, 1942 Barbara Kay Mundy Potts. 

        Married: Herbert Irvin Christenbury (stepchildren Alvin Lee Christenbury, Francis Christenbury Stamey)



So this court record involving the one child, Ada Bell Fisher Stillwell involves a large number of modern day descendants from her four children. Just her youngest daughter, Lillie Pauline, alone, was credited with 16 grandchildren, 17 Great Grandchildren and 5 Great, Great Grandchildren upon her death in 2005 and the family has grown extensibly sense.



So who was this mystery Barringer branch of their family tree?
       

Research finds two Wiley Barringers living in Stanly County during the middle 19th century.

The first was Wiley John Barringer, son of Mathias B Barringer and Margaret Dry Barringer. He was born in 1834 and married Anna Margaret Barringer, daughter of Nelson Barringer and Crecie Melchor Barringer in 1858. They had 4 children, John, William Brantley, Alice E., Adolphus Leantes,

Wiley J. Barringer fought in the Civil War. His fate is uncertain, but Anna Margaret, his wife, married Joseph Sides in 1869 and had four more children. It is easy to assume she must have been a widow, or believed herself to be a widow and that Wiley J. Barringer was deceased before 1869.

That means he was not the correct Wiley Barringer to have fathered Ada Bell Fisher, which leaves one candidate.


Wiley Monroe Barringer.

Wiley Monroe Barriner was the son of Mathias Barringer and Elizabeth Sides Barringer. He was born on the Cabarrus County side of the county line, but still very close to Joyce Fisher's family, as he dwelt in the Bear Creek area that was plentiful with Barringers and Sides.

He was born March 4, 1856 and died July 13, 1931, making him about 7 years younger than Joyce Fisher, who was born in 1849. In the year of the trial, 1878, he was 22 and she was 29.




He must have broken Joycie's heart, because a little over a year after Ada Bell's birth in January 1878, he married a different, and younger woman, Bellazorra or Isabell Zorra Page, daughter of William M. Page and Mary Ann Newsome Page.

During that era, an unwed birth was very much a shame and left a woman "tainted". Oftentimes, as in Joycie's case, she never married.

Wiley Monroe Barringer lost his father in the Civil War. Mathias died at the prison in Elmire, New York, where many a man lost his life.


His first census was in 1860, as a child, with his brother John Barringer and sister Julia Ann Barringer Honeycutt, in the home as well.

He fathered Ada Bell Fisher with Joyce Elizabeth Fisher in 1877, the child being born in January of 1878 and the relation ended there. Besides the payment of money owed and acknowledgement in court of paternity, it appears that Wiley Barringer had nothing else to do with Ada Bell. She may not have even known he was her father. Joycie appears to have kept that under her hat later in life. Ada Bell listed no father on her marriage license, and none was unknown on her death certificate.

But descendants of Ada Bell Stillwell Fisher might find that they have many Barringer related cousins in their dna chart, if they take the test. So this is why.

Wiley Monroe Barringer did head a large family. At age  23  he married 19 year old Isabell Zorra or "Bellzorra" Page on December 7, 1879.




They had the following children:


1) Cora Lula Barringer  Born: July 5, 1880 Cabarrus County, NC
                                          Died:  Sept 13, 1937 Gold Hill, North Carolina age 57
                                          Married : July 26, 1900 age 20
    
    To: Jonas Peter Isenhour   12 Isenhour children: 

1901-1980  Myrtie May Isenhour Barringer

1902-1912 Minnie Ethel Isenhour

1904-1945 Amanda Marybell "Mandy" Isenhour Cook 

1907-1982 Lewis Albert Isenhour

1909-1991 Hoy Edward Isenhour

 1911-1963 William Howard Isenhour

1912-1981 Luther Elmer Isenhour

1914-1965 Margie Lucille Isenhour Dease

1917-1978 Virginia Kathleen Isenhour Adams

1918-2002 Edna Lonla Isenhour Goodman

1920-1987 Burton Deberry Isenhour

1923-1992 Dona Elizabeth Isenhour Leonard

2) Paul Monroe Barringer Born: August 25, 1884 Cabarrus County, NC
                                              Died: October 20, 1959 Rowan County, NC
                                              Married: August 3, 1904 

                     To: Elizabeth Joanna "Lizzie" Rowland (1885-1942)
                     Married later in life to Annie Mae Hill Morgan as well.

           10 Barringer children: 

1905 - 2005 Hattie Margie Mae Barringer Harwood

1907-1985 James Thomas Barringer

1908-1982 John Wiley Barringer

1911-1972 Love Charles Lee Barringer

1913-1931 Paul Herman Barringer

1915-1988 Napolean Lawson Barringer

1918-1957 Lloyd Edmund Barringer

1921-2004 Vetra Coralee Barringer Klutzz

1924-2013 Madie Magdalene Barringer Hilton Deal

1926-2002 Vernon Lionel Barringer


3) John Alexander Barringer Born: May 3, 1886 Cabarrus County, NC
                                                 Died: January 30, 1944 Winston-Salem, NC 

      Married: May 30, 1909 
      To: Katie Beaver

       Two Barringer Children: 

1910-2001 Ruth G. Barringer Hudson
1911-1991 Dwight Rudolph Barringer


4) George Wesley Homer Barringer  Born: August 15, 1887 Cabarrus County, NC
                                                               Died: November 2, 1957 Hot Springs, Arkansas

           Married 1st: December 25, 1902  to Lucy Roxie Isenhour (1881-1957) North Carolina
          
           Three Barringer children to this marriage:

1903-1981 Elsie Irene Barringer Sides

1905-1980 Roy Glenn Barringer

1909-1986 Howard Franklin Monroe Barringer


           Married or unmarried to Nina Irma Wagner (no license found) (1893-1986) Arkansas

          Three Barringer children to this relationship:

1911-1974 Albert Wesley Barringer 

1921-2006 Perry Ralph Barringer

1925-1944 Eldred Eugene Barringer

  (This son of Wiley Monroe Barringer deserves his own story for his strange tale). 

5) William Adolphus B. Barringer  Born: November 5, 1888 Cabarrus County, NC
                                                             Died: February 18, 1979 Stanly County, NC

     Married: July 17, 1908  to Martha Dinah Troutman (1888-1981)

       Seven  Barringer children to this marriage:

1908-1993 Allen Monroe Barringer

1911-1913 Florence Brown Barringer

1913-1913 Clarence Barringer

1914-1993 Mabel Cleo Barringer Vanhoy

1916-2003 Helen Irene Barringer Hall

1919-1999 Lena Rebecca Barringer Morgan Slough

1923-1923 Infant Barringer


6) Charlie Lee Barringer  Born: November 5, 1890 Cabarrus County, NC
                                             Died:  December 26, 1975 Stanly County, NC

        Married: November 1, 1911 to Pearlie Lillie Helms (1896-1967)
       
         17  Barringer children born to this marriage.

1912-1977  Raymond Monroe Barringer

1913-1914 Nellie Barringer

1914-1915 Bertha Barringer

1916-1997 Mary Letha Barringer Bailey LaForce

1917-1989 Roy Daniel Barringer (Los Angeles, California)

1919-1943 Robert Lee Barringer (Buried in Nettuno, Roma, Lazio, Italy

1920-1921 Alma Daisy Barringer

1921-2008 Pauline L. Barringer Burris

1923-1994 Ralph Junior Barringer (Buried in Chula Vista, San Diego, California

1925-2013 May Bell Barringer Burleson

1927 - ? Margaret Eva Barringer

1928 - 1990) Cora Lou Barringer Almond Swaim

1928 - 1999 Martha Sue Barringer Shaver

1930-1992 Vernie Cleo Barringer Furr

1932- ? Wilma Marie Barringer Allen

1934- ? Louise Barringer

1934-1961 Ruby Carolyn Barringer Eudy

7) Wade R. Barringer Born: May 25, 1892 
                                      Died:  November 14, 1897 Gold Hill, North Carolina. Aged 5





8)  Clarence Richard Barringer  Born: May 26, 1894 Cabarrus County
                                                        Died:  February 27, 1971 Rowan County

                                Married July 26, 1913 to Martha Louise Hatley
                                Later Divorced.

                       Nine Barringer children born to this marriage. Only 4 grew to 
                       adulthood, and only one of those made it past the age of 21.

1914-1933  Annie Lee Barringer - died at age 18
1916-1994  Willie Esper Barringer-died at age 68
1918-1918  James Reece Barringer - died at 10 months old
1919-1940  Boyd Baxter Barringer - died at age 20 - Auto accident
1921-1923  Clarence Richard Barringer, Jr. - died at 18 months old
1924-1945  Clarence Eugene Barringer - died at age 21, WWII,Married - 1 son
1926-1926  Mary Madeline Barringer - died at age 5 weeks old
1928-1928  Twins, son and daughter- died in infancy. 1 day old.

Clarence Eugene "Eugene" Barringer

9) Lawson Riley Barringer  Born:  March 9, 1895 Cabarrus County, NC
                                                Died:  December 3, 1972 Palestine, Anderson, Texas
                                                Married:  May 12, 1917  Van Zandt, Texas 

                                                To: Eva Mae Rackley

                                                One Barringer child

1922-1971 Eva Jo Barringer Craft

10) Walter G. Y. Barringer  Born: October 7, 1896
                                                Died:  May 29, 1897



11)  Lilly Florence Barringer  Born:  August 9, 1902 
                                                   Died:  May 27, 1991 Cabarrus County, NC
                                                   Married: January 19, 1920 Age 17 
                                                   To: Will Franklin Blake, also age 17
                                                   Marriage late annulled.

Name:	Will Blake
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Age:	17
Birth Year:	abt 1903
Marriage Date:	19 Jan 1920
Marriage Place:	Cabarrus, North Carolina, USA
Father:	G B Blake
Mother:	Leddie Blake
Spouse:	Lillie Barringer
Spouse Gender:	Female
Spouse Race:	White
Spouse Age:	17
Spouse Father:	W M Barringer
Spouse Mother:	Belle Barringer
Event Type:	Marriage

                                                   One child: Franklin Aubrey Blake later known as
                        1920-1994   Franklin Aubrey Barringer, also seen as Franklin Aubrey McBride.

Below, first and middle names are transposed and surname is incorrectly transcribed as "Black". Parental names and date of birth is correct.  

                   

Name:	Aubrey Franklin Black
Event Type:	Birth
Birth Date:	2 Sep 1920
Birth County:	Cabarrus
Parent1 Name:	Will Black
Parent2 Name:	Lillie Barringer
Roll number:	NCVR_B_C016_66001
Volume:	6
Page:	670

                                                                     



                                                   Married:  August 27, 1925

                                                   To:  Guy Hampton McBride (1892-1944)


                                                    8 McBride Children:


1923-2001  Ruby Lee McBride Hinson  (Cabarrus County, NC)
1925-1952  Walter Hampton McBride (Cabarrus County, NC)
1928-1998  Mary Bell McBride Measimer (Stanly County, NC)
1929-2008  William Monroe McBride (Massachusetts)
1913-1931   Infant Daugther McBride
1933-1972   Charles Theodore McBride (New Jersey, buried Cabarrus, Navy)
1935-1989   Millie Marie McBride Hill (Cabarrus County, NC)
1936-2008   Albert Archie McBride (Cabarrus County, buried Rowan, NC)

William Monroe McBride and wife Ruby

With this large number of descendants, just up to the level of grandchildren, just imagine how many living descendants of Wiley Monroe Barringer there could be now as Great-Grandchildren, Great-Great-Grandchildren and even two possible generations under those? Many of them probably do not realize the extinct and breadth of their Barringer relations and I am sure few, if any, know of the existence of Ada and Joicy Ann Fisher. Hopefully, one day, one of them will find this blog, and it will explain those odd DNA matches on their family tree, or break down one more brick wall.