Stumbling across Arwelder Morton in my search of descendants of Ezekial Morton and wife, Elizabeth Brumbalow Morton, was a discovery plagued with munificent questions concerning her name. Morton was her married name and there seemed to be no consensus concerning what her maiden name was, even among the various legal records that documented her life. Added to that conundrum, there's the situation of her first name "Arwelder". What even is that? Was it a phonetic spelling of an actual name that was fangled and fractured by a countrified southern accent? Who was this mysterious lady?
First things first, the name Arwelder. I discovered that this was a surname associated with a small, but existing group of people found in Union and Mecklenburg Counties, North Carolina, near and neighboring counties to Arwelder's home county of Stanly. In other forms, this same surname was seen and spelled as Arwilder and Arwalter, possibly a deviation of Attwater. Had she descended from this family?
Arwelder remained dutifully hidden until adulthood. Born June 20, 1864, she should have appeared somewhere in the 1870 census yet has managed to evade me. The first record of her existence was her marriage license, which occurred at a mortifyingly young age.
On April 24, 1880, Adam A. Morton, 21, applied for the marriage license between himself and "Welder" Chrisco, 14. He was the son of A. G. and Elizabeth Morton, both parents living. She was daughter of father unknown and a living Nancy Hinson. It was also noted as unknown as to whether her father was living or not. As I would discover later, her father was not unknown, just unnamed. This could have been because her mother was now married, herself. The consent to the marriage, as Arwelder was underage, was given by Henry Hinson and Nancy Hinson, with it being noted beside Nancy's name that she was "the mother". Henry Hinson was Nancy's husband and Arwelder's stepfather.
The wedding was performed the next day by Justice of the Peace, F. G. Turner, at his place in Big Lick, home or office, and witnesses were E. W. Morton, A. G. Morton and A. M. Hinson. I presume these were probably Adam's brother, Enoch Willis Morton, and either his father, Allen Green Morton, or his younger brother, A. G. Morton, Jr, and A. M. Hinson were perhaps a neighbor, or relative of Henry's.
Name
Welder Morton
Age
15
Birth Date
Abt 1865
Birthplace
North Carolina
Home in 1880
Big Lick, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Dwelling Number
85
Race
White
Gender
Female
Relation to Head of House
Daughter-in-law
Marital Status
Married
Spouse's Name
Adam Morton
Father's Birthplace
North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace
North Carolina
Occupation
Homeworker
Neighbors
View others on page
Household members
Name
Age
A. G. Morton
52
Elisabeth Morton
52
John Morton
22
Lizzie Morton
22
Adam Morton
20
Welder Morton
15
A. G. Morton
15
James F. Morton
12
Levey Morton
10
Lucy Morton
7
The 1880 census came so quickly after the wedding, that the young couple had not yet time to establish themselves on their own. They were found living with Adam's parents and siblings in Big Lick and 'Welder', as she was called, was noted as a daughter-in-law. Adam's brother, John Calvin Morton, had also recently became a bridegroom in March of the same year, and had his wife, Eliza "Lizzie" Cable Morton, in their parents' home, too. Adding to the family were younger siblings, A. G Jr., James F., Levi and Lucy Morton.
Arwelder Magdalena and Adam A. Morton
Adam and Arwelder seemed to have had a long, happy marriage of a turn-of -the century farm family and begin building a large collective of children.
1) Their firstborn son, Ellam, born around 1881, came around a year after the marriage and is only shown as a 19-year-old young man in the 1900 census. He didn't live to make the 1910 and was buried at the Little-Morton Family Cemetery near Oakboro, NC, with his name mis transcribed as "Ellan". The cause of his early demise remains unknown. It was not noted in the newspapers to my knowledge.
2) Dahlia Eugenia, the second born, would step in as leader of the pack. Born August 15, 1884, she would marry Everette A. Anderson and would remain in Big Lick for life, passing on January 26, 1954, at the age of 69. They had a son and daughter who lived until adulthood and a son and a daughter that passed as infants. Everette was the grandson of the infamous "Big Lick Witch", Melinda "Lynn" Pless Coble Byrd via her daughter, Hester, despite their marriage license naming his father as William B. Anderson (correct) and his mother as Melinda Byrd (incorrect). Dahlia's marriage license gave her mother's surname as her married name, Morton, while her death certificate gave her mother's maiden name as 'Hinson'.
3) Cornelia Nancy, aka "Nellie Ann" was born on August 22, 1886. She married Philas Jerome "PJ" Smith on January 22, 1905, and they became the parents of 10 children: Ethel, Taft, Jolie Bell, Vaughn, Mary, Willard, Newton, Fannie, Harding and Glenn. She died on November 26, 1958, having spent the first part of her marriage in Big Lick, Stanly County and the latter years in Cabarrus County, where they farmed. She was returned to her home in Stanly County for burial. Her mother was named as "Felder Morton" on her marriage document.
4) Cannon Fetzer Morton was born on July 27, 1888. He married Bertha Williams on December 7, 1917. His death certificate named his mother as "Arwelder Hinson Morton". They raised 7 children, 6 daughters and one son, moving from Big Lick to New London to Albemarle.
5) Maude Minnie Morton was born on October 10, 1890, and died on April 3, 1976. She married Adam Brigham Helms on April 21, 1907, and had 8 children, they raised in Big Lick. Her mother is referred to as "Wilder Morton" on her marriage license.
6) Willie Adam Morton was born on March 13, 1893, and died on August 26, 1963. He married Nellie Hatley on December 21, 1915, and they lived in Big Lick, and later Albemarle, and raised 9 children. His mother was referred to as "Arwelder Crisco" on his death certificate.
7) Walter Haywood Morton was born on May 30, 1895, and died on March 19, 1951. He married Mary Lucy Huneycutt on September 8, 1919. Together, they raised a family of 10 children in Big Lick: Virginia, Naomi, Seneca Bernice, Mary Inez, Ezra, Alfred Hoover, Stella, Patricia Arwelda, Shirley J., and Delmar "Dale" Morton. His mother was named as "Arwelda Morton" in his marriage certificate.
8) Oliver Morton was born in July of 1896. He passed away as a child between June 8, 1900, when he was shown as a 3-year-old in the 1900 census, and the 9th of May 1910, when his family was shown living on the Monroe Road in Big Lick, without him. He was buried in the Little-Morton cemetery south of Oakboro.
9) Watson Lowe Morton aka "Watt Lowe" Morton was born October 18, 1901, and passed away on August 1, 1976, in Mecklenburg County, NC. He married Nannie Poplin June 24, 1930, in Chesterfield County, NC and raised their daughters in Oakboro and Big Lick, NC. His mother was named as "Arwelder Huneycutt" on his documents.
Five Generations, Colorized, beginning with Nancy Crisco Hinson, sitting, right, with daughter, Arwelder
, on the left. Standing behind Nancy is Arwelders' daughter "Dallie" Dahia Morton Anderson and behind Arwelder is Dallie's daughter, Annie Bell Anderson Griffin. Nancy Hinson is holding Annie's baby.
It's not unusual for a woman to have had a number of different surnames. Life happens. She's usually born with one surname, gained from her parents, then acquires another as she marries. She may marry numerous times, and add on another, due to death or divorce, or even annulment.
Arwelder had one married name, Morton, with that there is no argument, but what was her maiden name? She's shown as Crisco, Hinson, and Huneycutt. The answer cannot be gleaned from looking at just Arwelder. We must back up another generation and look at the life of another lady.
Nancy
Nancy, the oldest mother in this five-generation shot was born as Nancy Crisco, or Chrisco,
Below is Arwelder's Death Certificate.
Her name is given as Arwelder Magdalene Morton. Her age as 66 years, 2 months and 9 days. She was a housewife and her husband; A. A. Morton has outlived her. The informant was A. F. Hinson, who reported that she was born in Stanly County, NC, and that her father's name was J. S. Huneycutt, and her mother's name was Nancy Crisco. So that is where the Crisco and the Huneycutt came from! She died of paralysis on August 28, 1930, and no reason was given for the paralysis. I believe A. F. Hinson was Finley Adam Hinson, Nancy's youngest son, who would have been Arwelder's half-brother.
Adam and Arwelder's children seemed at odds with what her maiden name was. Youngest son, Walter "Watt" Lowe Morton's death certificate named her as Arwelder Huneycutt.
Maude Morton Helms's death certificate named her mother as Arwelder Hinson.
Now was the time to look at the life of Nancy Crisco and answer a new question, who was J. S. Huneycutt?
Nancy Crisco first shows up as an 11-year-old in the home of her father, Jacob Crisco.
She was the youngest child in the family. Also in the home were brothers Conrad, 20 and Jacob Jr., 14. Above them lived Henry and Margaret Carver. Margaret was Nancy's older sister, and daughter of Jacob. His daughter Lydia had married a Carver as well, Margeret marrying Henry and Lydia marrying his brother, John Butler Carver.
Jacob Crisco, Sr. had been born in the Browers Community of Randolph County, the son of George William Crisco (1765-1830) and Susannah Maness Kennedy, (1762-1860). There would be a long-standing relationship with the Kennedy family, who originated in neighboring Davidson County, and also had settled in Stanly County about the same time, in the same area. The probability of a familial relation between the two groups was high.
ame
Jacob Criscow
Residence Date
1840
Home in 1840 (City, County, State)
North Catawba River, Burke, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5
1 Jacob
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14
2 Conrad & Gooden
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29
1 John Thomas
Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49
1 Jacob Sr.
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5
1 Nancy
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14
1 Lydia
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19
2 Margaret
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29
1 Unknown
Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49
1 Polly
Persons Employed in Agriculture
4
Free White Persons - Under 20
7
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49
4
Total Free White Persons
11
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves
11
Jacob would be found in Burke County, North Carolina in the 1840 census, living on the North Catawba River.
It was likely this is where Nancy was born. Her mother was a Mary "Polly" Yow, and it is unknown exactly when they were married or when Polly died, however, Jacob would marry in Randolph County on February 27, 1846, to an Eliza Burrow, daughter of a John Burrow. Eliza would pass away before Jacob was shown as a widower again in the 1850 census of Stanly County. He had settled around Stillwater Creek.
1850
Several of Nancy's siblings would find themselves among those who migrated south and west in search of greener pastures, as that area opened up for settlement. Her brother, Gooden or Goodwin, would settle first in Alabama, marrying there in 1849 to Nancy Ann Watson, in St. Clair County. Later, they would push further west into Lawrence County, Arkansas, where Gooden died in 1867, probably from wounds or debilitation he incurred during his service in the Civil War. He left one son, Jacob L. Crisco.
Another brother, John, chose to raise his large family in Shannon County, Missouri.
1860
Nancy Crisco was not to be found in the 1860 census. She would have been around 16, and still single and completely orphaned. The youngest child, both parents had passed on and Jacob Crisco left no Will.
It is my belief that Nancy was most likely mistakenly omitted but would have been living somewhere in the above listed neighborhood. As in the prior 1850 listing, the Henry Carver family, which was headed by her brother-in-law, Henry and her sister, Margaret, is residing near her brother, Conrad Crisco, who has started his own family. They are surrounded by Honeycutt's, and Nancy would end up in a relationship with a "J. S. Honeycutt" within the next few years. A James W. Honeycutt family is listed right under the Carvers, headed by 24-year-old James and his 34-year-old wife, Rebecca. Further up the page are the Lewis and George H. Honeycutt families. Were they closely related to each other? Did they have an age-appropriate J. S. among their ranks?
Nancy would marry Henry Hinson on June 23, 1865, in Union County, NC, at the close of the War. As J. S. Huneycutt is so elusive, many have ruminated and declared that he must have met his maker during the War years. But was J S really a J. S. ? Could he have been a J W?
James W. Huneycutt married Rebecca A. Austin on January 3, 1858, in Stanly County by H. Carver, JP. Henry Carver, husband of Nancy's sister Margaret, was living next to the couple two years later in 1860. An 8-year-old boy named Riley is living with them and was enumerated as a Huneycutt, but he may not have been a Honeycutt. By 1868, it appears that Rachel may have died, as James W. remarried to Martha Jane Griffin. Unknown when Rachel, who was a decade older than James, passed on, there is certainly available a window of time in there, where Arwelder could have appeared in the world within.
Henry Hinson was a widower. The son of Charles Sampson Hinson and Milea Clark Hinson, he had married Mary Ann Speights, one of the "Dying Speights", on November 27, 1861. Most of her family had died off from various diseases within a brief time of each other, strangely. This tale deserves a post of its own. Henry and Mary Ann had five children together between 1851 and 1860, Anne Henrietta, John Calvin, Eli H., James Samuel, and Marion Hinson. In the 1870 census, shown above, three of Henry's sons by his previous marriage are living with Nancy and himself, and their first child together, William Henry, is shown as a 4-year-old. He and Nancy will also have five children together, as William Henry was followed by Martha Margaret, Nancy Jane, Robert Lafayette and Finley Adam, bringing up the rear in 1882. Arwelder also escaped this census. It is unknown where she could have been, but one bit of evidence suggests she may have lived with her mother and stepfather at one point, the fact that she was seen as a "Hinson" at times.
In 1870 the Crisco's, her youngest two brothers, are living near each other, protensively in the place their father had lived and left them. Arwelder was not among them, either.
So, her first appearance in records remains as a newlywed in her inlaws home in 1880, and simultaneously on her April 25th, 1880 marriage license at a cringeworthy 14 year old, that declares her only as "Welder Crisco", the fatherless daughter of Nancy Hinson.
She was called Crisco, because that was her mother's maiden name and there is no indication that her parents were married.
She was called Hinson, because her mother married a Hinson, and it appears she had been raised, for the most part at any rate, in the Hinson family.
She was called Morton, because she married a Morton.
She was called Honeycutt, because her father was a known Honeycutt, the mysterious J. S. Huneycutt, who may have been the J. S. Honeycutt who served in the Civil War, and died shortly after her birth, or possibly even before.
Rest in peace, Arwelder Magdalene, the girl with many names.
There was Sodom, Gommorah and Big Lick. about his life, affairs and how he may have contributed to the immoral reputation of the little town of Big Lick in Western Stanly County.
Also, in The Heirs of George Cagle, I attempted to track down who the legal heirs, children and grandchildren, of George Cagle were.
A Rose by Any Other Name, traced the life, and variations of name, of one of his unmarried daughters, whose name was different in every record or account of her.
Finally, The Secrets of Adeline told the story of George's oldest daughter, Menece Adeline, who started me on the entire Cagle journey to start with. It will not end here either, oh no, George's legacy was quit widespread.
This is the story and recount of his passionate ending, his killer, and how karma existed in the end.
As a quick rehash, George Washington Cagle was a larger-than-life character. He was grandiose, lusty, opportunistic and a maverick. Born in 1813, the was the oldest son of Charles Robert Cagle, Sr and Maranda Springer Cagle, both the Cagle and Springers being steadfast and populous families in the Big Lick and Rocky River area. He was considered wealthy for the area and the times, possession hundreds of acres and invested in several businesses, including a sawmill, a grist mill and a tanning yard. He was not a slave holder and made his money the honest way, with hard work and investments. He owned homes on the farm and in the town. He also carried lots of debt, still, after all were paid, there was still some to divide among his large family from two wives, and his legacy spread even larger as he claimed at least two mistresses. It was because of one of these mistresses, and his attempts to protect her from an abusive husband, who came along in the years after their active relationship, that ended his life.
There are three main characters in this story, George W. Cagle, who I mentioned above, the ex-lover; Daniel Alexander Crisco, the abusive, jealous husband, and Mariah Myers Meggs, the wife/former mistress.
We'll begin in 1870.
In the above 1870 census record, we see the household of George Cagle, 58, his wife Nancy Hinson Speight Cagle, a second wife, Fannie, 13, a daughter by his first wife, Eli, 11, a son by another mistress, Maniza Huneycutt, who by the way was living in household number 118, the listing just above George, Mariah Myers, 26, the woman in this story who was at the center of the dispute, her fatherless daughter, Lisy, aged 7, and William Huneycutt, who was the son on George's deceased daughter, Elizabeth.
Two facts must be clarified before I step further into this lurid event. One, Mariah's name. Some have her as Marian, and in this document, it appears it could be, but having looked ahead into other versions of it, and also having made contact with a direct descendant some years ago, her name was Mariah. Her daughter's name, which looks somewhat like "Lucy" here, was Melissa, born about 1866. "Lisy" or "Lisy Ann" for short. George Cagle was not the father of this child. I will go into that more when I post of the story of Mariah herself. Mariah's father was Wilson Shepherd Myers, known by Shepherd. Her mother was Sarah Elizabeth Thomas. They were not married. Her mother would marry a man by the name of James Ransom Meggs, and Mariah, also known as 'Kizzy' as her middle name was Keziah, would later take on her stepfather's surname. She grew up in the northern part of Union County, south of the Rocky River and just across the river from George Cagle's place in Big Lick Township, Stanly County.
Enter Daniel Alexander Crisco, a paradigm of the depravity and immoral society that plagued the 19th century area of Big Lick. It began when a group of German immigrants landed in Randolph County, North Carolina. William Lewis Crisco was a first generation American, whose German name had been Anglicized and whose father, George William, had been born in Germany and died in North Carolina. William Lewis Crisco was born in Randolph County about 1788. He married Nancy Throgmorton, from a Virginian family of British stock, who had migrated to Montgomery County, North Carolina. Nancy was agonizingly young upon her marriage and would bear 14 children, the oldest, Mary, at age 15 and the youngest, David, at age 41. Among these was their 11th child, Rebecca Elizabeth Crisco, born about 1830.
Willilam Crisco is shown living on the West Side of the Pee Dee River in Montgomery County in the 1830 census, so Rebecca Elizabeth was likely born in Big Lick, where the family would settle.
Name
William Criscoe
Gender
Male
Race
White
Residence Age
62
Birth Date
abt 1788
Birthplace
North Carolina
Residence Date
1850
Home in 1850
Smiths, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Occupation
Farmer
Industry
Agriculture
Real Estate
187
Cannot Read, Write
Yes
Line Number
40
Dwelling Number
689
Family Number
694
Inferred Spouse
Nancy Criscoe
Inferred Child
Sarah Criscoe
Household members
Name
Age
William Criscoe
62
Nancy Criscoe
52
Sarah Criscoe
25
John Criscoe
21
Elizabeth Criscoe
20
Alfred Criscoe
16
Lucinda Criscoe
14
David Criscoe
11
In 1850, the family is shown in Smith's District, which would become Big Lick Township, with six of the youngest children. Rebecca Elizabeth was twenty years old.
Around the same time, another family had moved from Davidson County to the Rocky River in what would become Stanly County, the Scotch-Irish Kennedys. John C Kennedy (1794-1870) and wife, Mercy Winifred Daniel Kennedy (1974-1860) led a family of skilled-craftsmen, and innovative daughters that would settle near the Crisco family. The Kennedy's were a lusty, braggadocios family and there are many tales to tell concerning this family.
Name
John Kennedy
Gender
Male
Race
White
Residence Age
55
Birth Date
abt 1795
Birthplace
North Carolina
Residence Date
1850
Home in 1850
Smiths, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Occupation
Carriage Maker
Industry
Railroad and Miscellaneous Transportation Equipment
In 1850, Carriagemaker, John Kennedy is listed just a few houses up from the Crisco's, and Crisco son, Shelby, is living with them, working as a laborer. Missing from the household is Kennedy son, William G.
Name
Wm G Kennedy
Gender
Male
Race
White
Residence Age
25
Birth Date
abt 1825
Birthplace
North Carolina
Residence Date
1850
Home in 1850
Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Occupation
Carriage Maker
Industry
Railroad and Miscellaneous Transportation Equipment
Line Number
8
Dwelling Number
845
Family Number
850
Household members
Name
Age
Daniel Freeman
55
Martha Freeman
55
Martha Freeman
16
Lewis M Gilliam
25
John O Ross
25
Wm G Kennedy
25
William G. Kennedy, also a Carriage Maker and Blacksmith in the emulation of his father and brothers, was living in the small upstart village of Albemarle, the new counties, county seat. He was boarding with merchant and businessman, Daniel Freeman. William wasn't always in Albemarle. At some point he made the interdicted acquaintance of Rebecca Elizabeth Crisco. Around the fall of 1855, with cognizant admonition of antebellum mores, William G. Kennedy and Rebecca Elizabeth Crisco would commit the reprehensible act of conceiving the child that would become Daniel Alexander Crisco.
Always mindful that he was the boys father, William then did what Big Lick men in these situations seemed to do. When the object of his affections became pregnant without the benefit of marriage, they would turn around and marry a virgin, worthy of legality of relations, which is what William did by marrying his second wife, Eleanor Elizabeth Hooks, on December 10, 1856. His first wife was Hannah M. Hill of Rowan County, who he married on March 3, 1846 in Salisbury, and who passed away November 9th of that same year. The Kennedy's would have eight children, first settling in Albemarle, then relocating to Norwood, where William G. would be appointed Postmaster, before lastly, heading south to Fulton County, Georgia, where he would pass away in 1904.
In the meantime, his bastard son, Daniel Crisco would remain in Big Lick with his mother.
Name
Elizabeth Crisco
Age in 1870
38
Birth Date
abt 1832
Birthplace
North Carolina
Dwelling Number
211
Home in 1870
Big Lick, Stanly, North Carolina
Race
White
Gender
Female
Post Office
Albemarle
Occupation
Keeping House
Household members
Name
Age
Elizabeth Crisco
38
Lucinda Crisco
33
Daniel Crisco
15
Miranda Crisco
2
In 1870, Rebecca Elizabeth Crisco heads a household at age 38, her sister, Lucinda is living with her. As their father died in 1858, and their mother, Nancy, in 1867, just six years earlier, they may have been living in the old homestead, part of their mother's dower in Big Lick. Daniel Alexander Crisco is 15 years old here, and he was not an only child. Elizabeth would have a daughter, seen here as "Miranda", but whose name was or became, Amanda Francis Crisco (1867-1939). While Daniel would name William Kennedy on his two marriage licenses, as his father, there was no documentation as to the father of Amanda. Her marriage certificate to J. A. Taylor gives her mother as Elizabeth Crisco, and permission for her to marry underage was given by Daniel A. Crisco, named as her brother. In the blank space for father was written "unknown" and the same goes for her death certificate. Some attribute her existence to W. G. Kennedy, but that's unlikely, and not documented. There are no court records or bastardy bonds naming Elizabeth Crisco in them either, around the time Amanda was born, so her father remains a mystery.
So in 1870, in the Big Lick community, Mariah Myers-Meggs is a 26 year old woman with a young daughter, living in the home of George Cagle. Daniel Alexander Crisco is a 15 year old boy, living in the same community, with his mother, his aunt and his baby sister.
Just a few years later, on November 24, 1872, Daniel Alexander Crisco, now about 17 years old, married Mariah or Marion Keziah Megga, aged 28. The preceding article from the April 4, 1876 edition of The Concord Register, out of neighboring Cabarrus County, gives a little backstory to the sordid events to follow.
Daniel Crisco apparently rented a home from George Crisco and was a tenant farmer, helping the old man run his farm. At this point in 1876, Daniel was 22 years, Mariah was 32 and George Crisco was an aging man of 63. Prior to the confrontation, Daniel and his wife, who had been married about 4 years by this time, and had no children together, had gotten in a fight. Mariah was noted as having been a mistress of George Cagle before her marriage. It was common knowledge in the community. She was not well-respected. Neither was Daniel, as he had been born out-of-wedlock. During the fight, Daniel, who may have been an individual who held alot of anger inside, from his position as a pariah, ostracized only because of the status of his birth, beat his wife 'unmercifully' and made her leave the family home. Mariah was an abused woman.
The bruised and battered woman must have lingered around the Crisco farm during the night, taking refuge in a barn or other outbuilding. The next day, Daniel Crisco showed up for work as usual and he and George were in the field, a short distance from each other, working, when Mariah showed up nearby, and lingered on the edge of the field. Daniel screamed at her profanely, and instructed her to leave them alone and go back to the house. George, still having a fondness or protectiveness of the woman, or perhaps just a sense of propriety and civility, spoke up and told Daniel Crisco that he shouldn't treat his wife in such a cruel and violent manner. The intervention angered Daniel even more. He threatened George, taking the Lord's name in vain and challenged him to "take it up".
George must have said no more, and Mariah must have departed from the field, as the two men managed to complete their days work. Daniel Crisco retreated to his own abode, and not finding his wife at home, as he had ordered her to do, armed himself with a 'shoe-knife', a cobbler's tool designed for cutting leather. He set out to find her, angry, and with violence in mind. Returning to the Cagle house, where George lived with his wife, Nancy and unmarried daughter, Fanny, and his son Eli Cagle Huneycutt, and grandson, William Huneycutt, both about 16 or 17. There, he found Mariah, taking refuge among the Cagle's.
Daniel again ordered Mariah to return home. Fearing for her life, she refused. Angered, Daniel began berating her and beating her again, kicking her and hitting her, as she refused to obey him. George Cagle intervened and told Daniel to leave his house. He picked up a chair in defense at some point, and Daniel pulled out the shoe-knife, but retreated from the house, yelling and cursing as he went. George followed him step by step, ensuring he left.
In the yard, George reportedly picked up the hoop of a wagon cover, the part use to hold the cover on a covered wagon, and advanced toward Daniel with it. Daniel, in his own words, kept retreating and warned George to not come any closer to him. George did not listen, intent on chasing the young man from his property, armed with a sense of gallantry, continued to advance. Daniel picked up a rock and threw it at the old man, who in turn, swung the wooden wagon hoop at Daniel. With that provocation, Daniel charged at his employer, stabbing him with the shoe knife in the neck and chest. George backed up, grabbing his neck, and stating, "He has killed me". He took 23 steps and fell over dead. With that, Daniel Crisco took off and hid.
The newspapers reported the next stages of the event.
In Rockingham, Richmond County, it was reported that a $50 reward for the apprehension of the murderer, D. A. Crisco, not just for information that would lead to his arrest, but in 1876, barely a decade past the end of the Civil War, one was expected to catch him themselves and bring him to town and deliver to the Sherriff to get the award. Originally reported in the North Carolina Argus, out of Wadesboro, Anson County, a brief description of Daniel Crisco is given. He stood 5 feet, nine inches tall, pale in complexion with blue eyes. The event was said to have taken place on the 28th 'inst.', meaning March, as it was first reported on March 30th.
Crisco apparently stayed in jail in Stanly County throughout the summer months. He had eventually turned himself in, after getting in his mind a defense and an accounting of the events, that he was certain would sway jurors in his direction. He also had his trial switched to another county, where friends or relatives of George Cagle would less likely be called to serve on the jury. In October of 1876, the Stanly County newspapers reported that he had been taken to Monroe, in Union County, by Sheriff Eben Hearne to face trial.
The Pee Dee Herald
Wadesboro, North Carolina • Page 3
Daniel Crisco, it seems, eventually turned himself in to the Sherriff. In April, it had been reported that the trial would start in April, but it had actually been delayed until October. The reason for the murder, given by the Pee Dee Herald, was that George Cagle had 'interfered' with Daniel Crisco's wife. Interfered by trying to protect her from Crisco's cruel abuse.
Stanly County was involved in two murder trials at the same time, in seems. Although both trials were held in adjoining counties in order for the defendants to get an unbiased jury, both had occurred in Stanly. In 1865, Allen Carter had killed Bushrod Lilly, his neighbor, in a disagreement, and fled to Arkansas. In 1876, he was being returned to North Carolina for trial. Unusual that two murders, having happened 11 years apart, were being tried at the same tiem.
The Trial
The youth and good looks of Daniel Crisco seemed to sway the jury. The above report by the Concord papers gave an account of his attitude and his planned defense. He was described as a young man, only 22 years old with a "pleasant face". For some reason, Sheriff Hearne had taken him to Concord before heading to Monroe, which was out of the way for starting from the jail in Albemarle, not in a straight line. The paper gave a bit of Daniel's backstory, stating he married at 17 to 'Mary Meigs', which wasn't' her actual name, but close, and that his job was to work and care for the stock of George Cagle.
The date was now April 17, 1877, over a year since the horrific event had occurred. Daniel, and his attorneys, had been given a year to percolate their precise version of the circumstances, in which George Cagle was no longer alive to give his. They had decided to play upon the brusque and sottish reputation of George Cagle and bring up his habitude of lewd and adulterous behavior.
The loquacious and ebullient Daniel had much time to turn the ear of many a reporter, eager for a story to headline and catch the attention of readers. Newspapermen from counties all around had found an audience with him. His story was now that he had his wife quarreled. Gone was the fact that he had beaten her almost to death. He stated that she had left home and went to the Cagle house, not that she had been thrown out and went there for refuge. The article was without doubt influenced by Crisco's input, as it stated so politely, that he had "found her there and tried to persuade her to go home", without reporting that his form of persuasion involved brutality and threats. They extrapolated on the fact that he did attempt to force her to return when his gentle 'persuasion' had not worked, negating the abuse the woman had suffered at his hands.
This version of the events implied that that Cagle was still in a romantic relationship with Mariah, or 'too intimate', which may have been true, but was embellished with probable falsehoods, as in stating that the old man had interfered by trying to shoot young Daniel, a very pertinent fact that had been overlooked in the report of events immediately afterwards a year prior. This leads me to believe this fact was completely convoluted in order to make Daniel Crisco's case more palatable and sympathetic toward the killer. Another event that was told quite differently in 1877 than it had in 1876, was that Daniel claim he left the house pursued by not only George Cagle, but three other men in his employ. This would have been a big factor that had been completely omitted from the 1876 account, leading me to believe this too was fabricated by Daniel Crisco. He claimed that he had been attacked and beaten with sticks and stones, when in fact, it was he who had thrown a rock at George Cagle, and George had picked up a wooden hoop in self-defense, that is when young Daniel charged at George with the shoe knife that took his life.
Daniel Crisco portrayed himself as the victim in the confrontation, that he was beaten with sticks and stones and in self-defense, stabbed the much older, and slower, man. George's reputation of being a womanizer and an alcoholic, despite his wealth and many business connections in the community and having taken in the ill-begotten Crisco and giving him employment as a teen.
Sympathies were also with Daniel due to the illicit relationship known to be had between George Cagle and Mariah. In this continuance of the story, George Cagle became the bad guy in his own murder, instead of the valiant protector of a defenseless and abused woman, that it appears he attempted to be.
From the CONCORD SUN, Tuesday, April 10, 1877:
"THE FOLLOWING IS THE COURT DOCKET OF DANIEL A. CRISCO, CHARGED WITH MURDER 1876"
STANLY COURT
Monday morning brought a large crowd in attendance upon the Spring Term, 1876, of Stanly Superior Court, about 12 o'clock, a.m., his Honor R.P. Buxton arrived, having been detained at the river, which was very full. Court was called at 2 o'clock, p.m., and his honor delivered one of his brief, but grand charges to the grand jury, after which the court proceeded to the call of the docket. There was no cases of importance tried--some bastardy, assault and battery, larceny, and a number of misdemeanor cases were disposed of.
On Tuesday the case of State vs. Allen Carter for the murder of B.W. Lilly was taken up, the prisoner was arraigned and pleaded not guilty, and after considerable arguing the case on affidavit for continuance and removal, the case was at last removed to Montgomery County for trial at Fall Term, 1876. The prisoner is ably defended by Sol. W.J. Montgomery and Hon. W.S. Robins.
On Wednesday the civil side of the docket was taken up and disposed of. There was but little business transacted on the civil docket, it being very small, most of the cases were continued.
On Wednesday evening a parcel of men came into town with a young man by the name of DANIEL CRISCO, who had been arrested on a charge of murdering George Cagle in the western portion of this county, The prisoner was committed to jail and on Thursday morning the grand jury returned a true bill for murder, and the prisoner was brought to the bar and arraigned, and he also pleaded not guilty. The case was then, by consent, returned to Union County for trial two weeks hence. The prisoner, DANIEL CRISCO, is also defended by Sol. J.W. Montgomery.
We noticed in attendance upon the court, the following
attorneys, viz:W.J. Montgomery, Esq. from Concord, George B. Everette, Esq. from Concord, W.M. Smith, Esq. from Concord, M.S. Robins, Esq. from Asheboro, Gen. A.J. Dargen from Wadesboro, James T. Lockhart from Wadesboro,
Hon. Neill McKay from Harnett County, Allen Jordon from Troy, Stokes Andrews from Troy, J.W, Mauney from Salisbury, Samuel J. Pemberton, Solicitor from Albemarle ,J.T. Redwine from Albemarle,
Julian A. Turner from Albemarle
The trial drew a Who's Who of central North Carolina Jurists and Solicitors. The minutes of the Stanly County Superior Court would lay out step by step of Daniel Crisco's legal journey.
Stanly County NC Minute Docket, Superior Court, 1860-1876 (CR 089.301.2)
(Transcribed by Betsy Pittman, 23 April 1996
State v. Daniel Crisco Indictment: Murder
Page 522 - The said Daniel Crisco is brought to the bar of the court in his own proper person by W. H. Hearne high Sheriff of Stanly County, in whose custody he is, the indictment is read over to him, and forthwith it being demanded of him how he will acquit himself of the premises specified and charged upon him, he says he is not guilty thereof and therefore for good and for evil he puts himself upon the country. And Mr. Solicitor Pemberton does the like. Therefore, let a jury come of good and lawful men by whom the truth of the matter may be better known.
Attorney Samuel J. Pemberton was arguably known as the best prosecutor of the times in Stanly and surrounding counties.
"By consent of Solicitor and of the prisoner at the bar, it is ordered by the Court that this cause be removed to Union County for trial and is assigned for Wednesday of first week of Union Superior Court at Spring Term 1876."
Eli F. Cagle,Wm. A. Huneycutt,James Huneycutt and Calvin Huneycutt acknowledge themselves indebted to the State of North Carolina in the sum of $100 each to be void on Condition that they appear at Union Superior Court Spring Term 1876 and give evidence in the case of State vs. Dan'l Crisco and not depart the same without leave.
The men who gave bond as witnesses in the case against Daniel Crisco were Eli Franklin Cagle, son of George Cagle by Maniza Honeycutt; William Alfred Honeycutt, son of Elizabeth Cagle Honeycutt, George Cagle's daughter, who died young, as did her husband, John, leaving William A. Honeycutt to be raised by his grandfather, George Cagle; James Alfred Huneycutt, another son of Maniza Honeycutt, known to be George Cagles mistress, and mother of Eli F. Cagle. James is accepted as a son of George Cagle, but unlike Eli, there is no documentation of such; and lastly, Calvin Honeycutt, their cousin, a son of Frances Mary Honeycutt, Maniza's sister, and Joshua Christian Burris.
Page 523 -Eli F. Cagle, Wm. A. Huneycutt, James Huneycutt, Calvin Huneycutt and E. M. Brooks acknowledge themselves indebted to the State of North Carolina in the sum of $100 to be void on Condition that each of them appear at Union Superior Court Spring Term 1876 to give evidence in behalf of the Defendant, in case of the State vs. Daniel Crisco.
It is ordered by the court that the Sheriff of Stanly County deliver the prisoner to the Sheriff of Union County at Monroe on or before Tuesday of 1st week of Spring Term 1876 of Union Superior Court.
The parties and the interest in it were now moved south, to the town of Monroe, in Union County, NC. This was an advantage for Daniel Crisco, as he was able to use his youthful charm and persuasion on ears that did not know of the actual details in the case, and would hear Daniel and his attorney on their own merit, the jury not tainted by anyone who had been blessed by George Cagle's generosity, despite his love of liquor and women.
Union County, NC Minute Docket, Superior Court, 1866-1877
(Abstracted by Betsy Pittman, 23 April 1996)
Page 409 - #122 State vs. Daniel Crisco
Prisoner brought into Court and is committed to the custody of the Sheriff of Union County.
Page 433 (copied) - continued to Fall Term 1876; prisoner returned to Stanly County jail.
Pages 458-459 (copied) - Fall Term - Union County jail is insecure; therefore prisoner sent back to Stanly County.
Page 512 - 75 men summoned for jury
Pages 519-520 (copied) -Found NOT Guilty.
The Sun, out of Concord, reported the news and the jubilee of how a handsome young man, who went to the house of an old man protecting a woman they had both had a relationship with, and killed the man, had gotten by with the deed and was now a free man.
This reminds me of the Luigi Mangioni case of modern times, in a small way. Luigi was a young man, strong and healthy, who had women swooning over him, and some men, when holiday photos of the healthy and muscular youth were released to the press. Many who were of the opinion that insurance companies have hurt people purposely by denying lifesaving treatments, putting costs before health of the individual, and were angry at the entity, cheered the demise of the poor CEO who was just minding his own business on the way to work one day, and was shot mercilessly in the back. This was a savage act of premeditated murder, no matter what bone the perpetrator had to pick with the company or any of its representatives. This man was an employee of a company and had no personal assault against the person who murdered him. In Daniel Crisco's case, he used the reputation of George Cagle in his own favor, and his youth and good looks won him favoritism that led to him being found innocent and freed to fight again. "All were glad to hear of the young man's aquital", the paper proclaimed.
Life seemed to return to normal for Daniel Crisco after his release and acquittal. I assume he had to find a new job, or employer. He returned to court and divorced Mariah Meggs, which was a relief, I am sure, for the both of them.
Two years after the trial, he remarried, this time to Matilda Kimrey, or Kimmer. Matilda was a girl of good report, and close to Dan in age, just two years his junior. She had grown up in the Tyson Community of Stanly County, and unlike Daniel and Mariah, was from an intact home with married parents and a bounty of siblings. The daughter of Paul Nicholas Kimrey and Rebecca Minerva Mauldin Kimrey, Matilda gave birth to their first child before the wedding. Married on September 24, 1879, the couples first son, William Paul Crisco, had been born on March 14th of the same year.
The 1880 census of Big Lick Township, shows Mariah Meggs, 33 and divorced, living on what appears to have been what was left of the Cagle farm, probably in the tenant house she had shared with Daniel Crisco. Her 16 year old daughter, Melissa, is living with her. There was no mention of Melissa in the court case, and what the nature of her relationship with her stepfather, Daniel Crisco, may have been.
Next to Mariah is Adeline Cagle Hartsell, George Cagle's oldest child, and next to her, his only legitimate son, David S. Cagle. George's widow, Nancy, followed others of the family to Iredell County, NC.
While Daniel Crisco has settled in Tyson Township, where his recent bride is from. His occupation is given as Farmer, and other occupants of the household are his wife, Matilda, their infant son, William, his mother, Elizabeth and his little sister Amanda, 9.
Over the next few years, Daniel and Matilda added three more children that would grow to adulthood. That's a small family for the era. They were:
Shepherd Alexander Crisco (1883-1953)
Malinda N. Crisco Harness (1884-1917)
John Stanford Crisco (1891-1976)
Daniel's little sister, Amanda Frances Crisco, married at the age of 15, to Joseph Allen Taylor, aka 'Jesse', on February 1, 1883. Taylor was from Surry County, originally, and was 23 at the time of the wedding. Daniel Crisco 'Brother' of the bride, gave his permission for the marriage. I stress the relationship of brother, because some have him as her father, despite his only being 13 years her senior.
Things seemed otherwise quiet during the first thirty years after the trial for Crisco and his family.
1900
Daniel Crisco is now 51, and still farming in Tyson Township, with his wife, Matilda, and four children, aged 8 to 20. His Uncle, Shelby Crisco, in living with him now. It is revealed that Matilda had given birth to 6 children, with the four living.
His mother, Elizabeth, age 70, is still in Tyson Township, but living with a widowed lady, and working as her servant, or caretaker.
His sister, Amanda, is living in Big Lick and raising a very large family of Taylors. She has a very healthy pack of seven children, and had not lost a one.
Their mother, Rebecca Elizabeth Crisco, would last two more years, passing away at the age of 72, on October 1, 1902. She was buried at Rehoboth Church, near Aquadale.
Sometime after, Daniel Crisco would leave Tyson and move to Falls Road in what would become Badin. in 1910, he is found living with his wife, Matilda, and youngest son, John, now 18, as a farmer, renting, living next to his second son, Alex, who is a driller for a well machine company. Alex has been married 5 years to Rosie, and they have three sons themselves, Eddie, Louie and Freddy.
Oldest son, William P. Crisco had married Maebell Foreman, one of their Tyson neighbors in 1904, and remained in Tyson. Only daughter, Malinda N. Crisco, who went by Linda, married Arthur Kepping Hearne in 1909, and lived in Norwood, Center Township, before moving to Albemarle. His sister, Amanda, the Taylor family, remained in Big Lick.
In 1904, in the case of State vs Daniel Crisco, Daniel was sentenced to 18 months in prison for counterfeiting.
It is said a tiger doesn't change its stripes, and that was true in the case of Daniel Crisco. Having gotten by , literally, with murder, he seemed, on the outside, to have led a farily normal life afterwards, farming and raising a family. But everything inside of Daniel had not changed, emboldened by his escape from justice once, the grimy oil of violence seeped back up, on at least one noted occasion.
Daniel Crisco 's sordid life came to a violent end on February 8, 1914. Daniel Crisco was at the home of James Miller Sides, called 'Jim'.
Again, a woman was in it. Daniel Crisco has married Matilda Kimrey. Jim Sides was at the time married to Julia Ann Kimrey, the sister of Matilda Kimrey Crisco. There seems to have been disturbance between Julia Kimrey Sides and a daughter of Jim Sides.
The Players: Daniel Crisco was no longer young at this time. Only youngest son, John, may have still been at home, as he wouldn't marry for another four years. Matilda had died in 1912, at the age of 63. She had been buried at Saint Martin's Lutheran Church, despite the fact that they lived on the Badin Road. Natural causes are expected.
Julia Ann Kimrey was the youngest sister of Matilda and 17 years her junior. Their parents, Paul and Rebecca Minerva Mauldin Kimrey, or Kimmer, had passed away in 1870 and 1871, respectively, when Julia was but a small child of five and six.
Daniel Alexander Crisco had applied for the marriage license of his sister-in-law, Julia Kimmer (rey), aged 47, to James Sides, 47, both of Albemarle, all parents deceased, on October 16, 1913. They were married at the Congregational Church in Albemarle. James Sides was the son of George Sides and Ithama Cagle Sides. Cagle! Jim was a Cagle descendant, his mother, Ithama, who George W. Cagle, the man Daniel Crisco had previously killed, may have named his daughter of the same name after, or either they were both named for a common ancestor with this same, unusual name. James was a cousin of George W. Cagle, his mother, Ithama, the daughter of Benjamin F. Cagle, brother of George's father. This may have been personal.
We do not know the name of the daughter of James Sides who had gotten in the skirmish with his wife, but it was likely his youngest daughter, Arvy, born in 1897, who would have been about 17 years old at the time. James was the father of five daughters, total.
Ester Mozella (1882-1959) had married in 1879 to John Zebulon Little.
Zellie Victoria (1884-1957) had married in 1900 to Jesse Thomas Mills.
Ida Bellazorra (1886-1929) had married in 1901 to James Watson "Watt" Porter.
Annie Catherine (1887-1963) had married in 1905 to William Davidson "Will" Hinson.
Arvie, 1897-1952), the youngest, would marry in 1916 to Barney McKinley Morris, but in 1914, she was single and at home.
Daniel Crisco, with a small revolver, shot at the girl, but the bullet apparently missed its mark and hit Jim Sides, the father, instead. Jim must have been infuriated by the danger to his young daughter, and this old man (now 58) interfering in a disturbance among women. James had married as a young man to Cornelia Ann "Nealie" Efird, the mother of these girls, and had been widowed. After Nealie died in 1901, he had several brief marriages. He married Minnie Moore of Anson County in 1902, and she bore him the first son that would survive childhood, Cecil Leroy Sides, (1904-1944). Minnie would leave him again, a widower, in 1908.
On July 15, 1909, Jim would marry a third time to Mary Eliza Farrington Myers, of Yadkin County, a widow of John L. Myers, with three children. This union was brief, as she is seen only one year later, in the 1910 census, living without Jim, and going by Myers, with her three children, ages 12 to 17, on Poplar Street in Concord. All of them, even 12 year old Hattie, worked in the Cotton Mills. Eliza would divorce Jim, and as she was only 36 years old, remarry, to Ephraim Levi "Lee" Herrin, of Stanly County, on January 4, 1916, and this one would stick.
As for Jim Sides, he would marry Fannie A. Cannon Banks on April 27, 1912 in Cabarrus County. This one didn't work out either, and I don't have a clue what happened there, but on October 16, 1913, he was marrying Daniel Crisco's sister-in-law, Julia.
Daniel Crisco's pistol shot had missed Jim's daughter, and hit Jim in the side. He then grabbed a large, heavy stick and with full force, hit Daniel Aleander Crisco, killer of his cousin, George Cagle, and almost killer of his own child, over the head, crushing his scull. Jim Sides was a strong man. When the police arrived, they found Daniel Crisco in a pool of blood, near death. Jim Sides was in criticial condition and was not expected to live.
Jim Sides, did, however, live. Julia filed for divorce immediately and Jim's third divorce went through in 1915.
Daniel Crisco was buried beside Matilda at St. Martin's Lutheran Church. His estate was divided among his four children.
Jim Sides did not marry a sixth time. He first returned to Tyson Township and farmed until he could no longer work. He then ended up in Albemarle, in the County home for the aged by 1935., and appears there in 1940. His obitruary seems to suggest he went to live with one of his older daughters afterwards and died there at the age of 83 on November 18, 1941.
Sometime prior to 1737, a German immigrant family, led by patriarch Leonhardt Kegel, arrived in America, and first, like many other families that would trickel south, settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania. This family would trickle down into North Carolina within a few decades, eventually making their way into Moore, Montgomery, Cumberland, Rowan and Cabarrus Counties. I have one, and possibly two, lines of descent from the the Cagle family, as the name would be angelized to, both from female ancestors. A Rebecca Cagle married Caleb Aldridge, Jr. and they are one set of my 4th Great Grandparents. Rebecca Cagle Aldridge is constantly being merged with a Rebecca Cagle Whitley, who was probably a cousin of some degree, but exactly how, I've not determined, or even tried to. What I do know is that a consanguineous clutch of Cagles settled around the southwestern part of Stanly County, North Carolina. Among them was a man named George Washington Cagle.
I touched on George W. Cagle, briefly, in my last post titled: The Secrets of Adeline, concerning a daughter of his.
While I was imbibing and digesting the old 19th century court records of Stanly County, I was astounded and amused at the pervicacity in which I encountered the citizens of the community of Big Lick. It was presented as an amoral and ruthless place, its citizens holding a general insouciance and lack of propriety. If ever a single individual was the embodiment or the scion of the general population of Big Lick, it was George Washington Cagle.
George W. Cagle was born about 1813, in what was then Montgomery County, North Carolina, probably along the Rocky River close to where he would dwell for the remainder of his life. He was the son of Charles Robert Cagle, Sr. (1786-1864) and wife, Elizabeth Maranda Springer (1789-1867). He was the grandson of George Cagle and wife, Rebecca, who was no doubt the forebear of a string of granddaughters and great-granddaughters named Rebecca, including my own Rebecca Cagle Aldride and also Rebecca Cagle Whitley, wife and ex-wife of George Whitley III, with whom she is often merged.
George Cagle, our notorious G. W.'s grandfather, was himself the grandson of the previously mentioned German ancestor, Leonhardt Kegel, via his son Johann Theobald Kegel. Therefore, George Washington Cagle was the Great Great-Grandson of the original immigrant ancestor. He was also the grandson, on his maternal side, of George Springer and wife, Sally Bloom Springer, the ancestors of another proliferant Big Lick family, meaning George had a lot of kin in and around the Oakboro/Red Cross/Stanfield area.
He was one of nine children and the oldest son of Charles and Maranda. His siblings were, according to accepted Cagle research were:
A) 1810-1890 Sylvia Cagle, who married John Honeycutt. This one is debatable. Some have Syvia as a Burris. Others, a Robbins, due to John's close relationship with the elderly Fanny Whitley Robbins, daughter of George Whitley Sr. and widow of Isham Robbins. I've examined the one death certificate of one of their children that names Sylvia's maiden name and it appears more as Cagle, so I believe this to be correct.
John Honneycutt and wife Sylvia Cagle buried on property of Cromer and Polly Burrus, Across the road from Liberty Hill Chruch Cem. ---graves will be moved to Liberty Hill because of hwy. expansion
GRAVES HAVE BEEN MOVED.
1880 Stanley Co,. NC census-- Smith,James A. 22 Maria ,32 wife, Silvey Cagle- Honeycutt age 72.
-from her ancestry.com profile.
B) 1811-1858 Mary Rebecca Cagle - married Needham Whitley, Jr.
C) Insert George Washington Whitley, (1813-1876).
D) 1816-1880 Susan A. Cagle, never married, died of dropsy in 1880 per mortality schedule.
E) 1821-1823 Charles Robert Cagle, Jr. died at age 2.
E) 1824-aft 1880 Charles Robert Cagle, III, married Sarah Yow, fought in Civil War. Found last in Cabarrus County in 1880.
F) 1827-1867 Sina Cagle, married Needham Whitley II.
G) 1828-1915 David M. Cagle , married 'Mikel' Michelle Hinson. Also found in Civil War.
H) 1829-1922 Millie Elizabeth Cagle, married Lewis Brown.
I) 1830-1889 Eva Lee Cagle, unmarried.
I am not sure I agree with these on all accounts as I have not personally researched this level of this family, and some of it seems a bit conflicting/confusing or contrived.
There is a George W. Cagle who received a few land grants on Bear Creek, but this was not the same George W. Cagle or the same Bear Creek. This individual, and this Bear Creek, were in Moore and Chatham Counties, and I believe was a distant cousin, as he sprang from the same lineage of Kegel/Cagle's who had migrated down from Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Book 1 Page 92 Andrew Honeycutt sells to George Cagle and Thomas Long, 200 acres on both sides of Island Creek for $200. This deed was dated 1844, and an older George, G. W. Cagle's uncle, was still alive. His daughter Mary Long, is mentioned in his Will, so I believe this one is the older George. He died in 1851, so after that, George W. was the only George Cagle in the area.
In November of 1855. Isaiah Coley, sold to in a group, George Cagle and several of his close neighbors, found in Book 4, page189, a number of personal items to cover his debts. The others, besides George Cagle, were Solomon Burris, Green D. Whitley, McCamey Willis and Jesse Hathcock. The debt were owed to Nelson Smith, Albemarle Merchant, Daniel Freeman and to the estate of Robert Motley. The goods included oxen, cattle, hogs, crops and the tract of land on which Isaiah Coley lived.
Later on, not long before his decease, George Cagle would purchase a tract of land from Susan Coley, located on Cucumber Creek, found in Book 7, Page 352. This would have been Susan Green Coley, later Howell, widow of William Coley and daughter of Jacob Green, and just before she would marry Edward H. Howell. The Green family sometime crossed Big Lick and seem to have first landed along the river, but they were of a different cut than most of the later citizens of Big Lick. The Greens were in a class equal to that of the Brooks, and the Austins and even most of the Morgans. Slightly wealthier, steadily devout and for the most part, strongly moral.
George Cagle would sell more property than he would purchase. On July 2, 1844, he sold 100 acres on Cedar Branch to Daniel Reap, located on the north side of the Charlotte Road, witnessed by J. A. Pless. This is found in Book 2 Page 176.
On the 29th day of December, 1856, George sold to Charles and John W. Hinson, for $800, several tracts on both sides of Stony Run Creek, that met that of John Honeycutt, Solomon Burris, a Deberry, to the "Big Road", to D. W. Burris's corner, and back to George Cagle's own property and John Honeycutts again.
In Book 4, Page 415, George sold 150 acres and a crop of wheat and oats to George Treece to cover a $1000 debt George Cagle owed to Edmund D. Ingram. This was dated February 13, 1860.
In March of 1868, George sold to W. A. Morton, a tract of land that bordered John Hartsell's property, of 59 acres, found in Book 6 Page 512.
On April 18, 1873, George sold to Solomon Hathcock, some property located on the Rocky River and Stillwater Creek, that adjoined the lands of William and James Parker, his business partners, Mary Hinson, David Cagle, John Austin, that contained 310 acres. This was in trust to Solomon Hathcock, with the intentions of repayment of the $800. Found in Book 7 589.
On March 27, 1875, near the end of his life, although he wasn't aware of this factor, George sold to Joseph Marshall, trustee, 160 acres of land on both sides of the Rocky River, placing part of it in Union County, adjoining the lands that George still held, and that of William Parker, in which was located a grist mill, a saw mill and a cotton gin, as part of the partnership of Cagle and Parker Mills, of which George owned half. This was to cover a $250 note. By this time, by 1873, actually, George Cagle's life had started spinning out of control, which we would see later.
Book 10, Page 96 is a transaction between George Cagle, and his Company, Cagle and Parker, and A. H. Griffin, dated September 11, 1875. Almost completely faded into illegibility, there's a mention of 'articles of said real estate viz a tract of land known as Griffin's Mill and land adjoining E. R. Griffin, ? M. Griffin and J. W. Huneycutt". It mentioned a debt and 20 days, and was signed by George Cagle, with the J. W. Huneycutt as a witness.
The rest of the deeds involving George Cagle were after his demise. In Book 15, Page 382, a transaction between A. G. Morton and John Brooks involving "the public sale at the Parker Mills and Rocky River", held on the first day of August, 1878. John Brooks became the purchaser for $955. He purchased the Grist Mill and the land around it, known as the Parker Mill tract in the counties of Union and Stanly. It mentioned the north bank of the Rocky River, Joseph Hartsells corner, the Whitley Meeting House, Mineral Springs, then Hartsell's other line to a stake in the road. From the middle of the river to a ford, perhaps old Coble ford, or Ledbetters, across the river to the south bank of the Rocky River, the east edge of the road, to James M. Meggs house, to a stake on the road near the mouth of a branch, then with the bank of the river opposite the Stillwater Branch, then back to Hartsell's line containing 115 acres. Signed A. G. Morton, administrator of the estate of George W. Cagle.
Book 16 Page 1 contains another transaction of A. G. Morton acting as the Administrator of George Cagle's property. It took place on the 11th day of January, 1878 and involved a man named J. H. Walters. For $250, was the sale of Lot Number 17 on the Plat of the Town of Big Lick, on the north corner of the Crossroads of Big Lick, Iza Hathcock's corner, R. J. Morton's line, to the side of the road leading to Daniel Reaps, an area of 67 square rods. Witnesses were Iza Hathcock and A. M. Cox.
The sum of all these can give one an idea of George Cagle's situation in life, he bought and traded in large lots of land. Some of what he sold he had purchased, other parts he had inherited through inheritance from his father, other parts from his first wife's father and his second wife's father. He was a businessman, a sucessful one, but still one to find himself in debt. He owned land in two counties, and in a variety of locations in western Stanly County, including a place in the small town of Big Lick. Put this was only one piece of the puzzle of what made George Cagle.
Other records would tell a different story of the character of the man who colored the Village of Big Lick.
The Court of Pleas and Quarters of the new County of Stanly, North Carolina held several mentions of a George Cagle
August Session 1842 - State vs George Cagle - Peace Warrant, defendant surrendered and discharged. Edmund Almond to pay costs. Not issued.
November 1842 - Andrew Honeycutt to George Cagle and Thomas Long, acknowledged.
The above two, I believe were referring to the old George Cagle, George W's uncle, as his daughter, Mary, had married a Long, and in 1830, old George is listed next to Ed Almond.
Any of the below could have been either George.
August Session 1848 -Jury duty, later chosen for Grand Jury in the same session of court.
February 1849 - Jury again in the case of Simeon Smith, and several more times he served as a juror before 1850. Not a troublesome time for George Cagle.
George In the Census Records: There is one George in the 1830 census of Montgomery County, of which Stanly was a part, but this was not George W. as he would have been only 17, and the oldest male was in his 50's. This was 'Uncle George'. George was probably in the home of his father Charles, which is seen as:
Name
Charles Cagle
Home in 1830 (City, County, State)
Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5
1 David
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14
1 Charles Jr.
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19
1 George W. 17
Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49
1 Charles
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14
1 Susan
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19
2 Rebecca & Sina
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29
1 Sylvia
Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49
1 Miranda
Free White Persons - Under 20
6
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49
3
Total Free White Persons
9
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored)
9
1840 - There were three George Cagles in the 1840 census, one was a man in his 60's. This would have been Charles's brother, George II. A second George was in his 30's, and had a family of 5. This George was a cousin and had migrated away before 1850. The third George was in his 20's and had a family of 7. Seen below, this fits George W. Cagle best.
Name
Geo Cagle
Residence Date
1840
Home in 1840 (City, County, State)
West Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5
1 David S.
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29
1 George
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5
2 Sarah & Polly
Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9
2 Adeline, Ithama
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29
1 Elizabeth
Persons Employed in Agriculture
1
Free White Persons - Under 20
5
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49
2
Total Free White Persons
7
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves
7
1850 - There were two George Cagles in the 1850 census. One was George W. Cagle. He is shown here with his first wife, Elizabeth Rosa Whitley. Only one Child is missing, oldest daughter, Menece Adaline Cagle, who married Tillman Coley. She would have been 18.
Name
George Cagle
Gender
Male
Race
White
Residence Age
37
Birth Date
abt 1813
Birthplace
North Carolina
Residence Date
1850
Home in 1850
Smiths, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Occupation
Farmer
Industry
Agriculture
Real Estate
200
Line Number
5
Dwelling Number
714
Family Number
719
Inferred Spouse
Elizabeth Cagle
Inferred Child
Barthena Cagle
Household members
Name
Age
George Cagle
37
Elizabeth Cagle
38
Barthena Cagle
10
David S Cagle
15
Sarah Cagle
13
Mary Cagle
12
Martha Cagle
10
Elizabeth Cagle
8
Methena Cagle
7
Catharine Cagle
3
Melinda Cagle
9
Joshua Honeycutt
15
The other was old Uncle George, with his daughter, Sarah. In 1840, the household was a 60 year old man and a woman in her 20's, same family.
Name
Sarah Cagle
Gender
Female
Race
White
Residence Age
35
Birth Date
abt 1815
Birthplace
North Carolina
Residence Date
1850
Home in 1850
Furrs, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Cannot Read, Write
Yes
Line Number
25
Dwelling Number
541
Family Number
543
Household members
Name
Age
George Cagle
73
Sarah Cagle
35
It is after this date that things begin to change is the life of George W. Cagle, and George along with it. I believe it began the day that his wife died, sometime within months after the 1850 census. Her exact date of death and place of burial is unknown. She would have been around 48 years old. George, at 47, became a hot commodity.
He began a relationship with not just one, but multiple women. He couldn't pick just one, but he married just one. He became infatuated with another, and a third after that. His older children began to marry and build their own nests. Other children were just being born. In the decade between 1850 and 1860:
1850 Ithama Barrthena Cagle marries William B. Hinson
Jan. 4, 1852 George marries a second time to Nancy Jane Hinson, widow of Joseph Speight by whom she had two or three children.
June 5, 1853, Sarah P. Cagle marries Wiley Allen Jones, who was also the father of Ellen Safely who I featured in my post, The Bad Mother.
Jan. 10, 1854 David S. Cagle marries Sarah Michell Thomas
Sept. 21, 1854 Anna Jane Cagle is born to George W. and Nancy Hinson Cagle.
Jun 3, 1856 Ellison "Eli" Franklin Cagle/Huneycutt is born to Maniza Huneycutt.
June, 1856 Mary Caroline Huneycutt is born to Maniza Huneycutt. She appears to be a twin to Eli. At this point, Maniza's children seem to be attributed to George W. Cagle. He names Eli in his Will.
September 6, 1857, James Alfred Huneycutt is born to Maniza Huneycutt.
1857 Frances Laura Cagle is born to George and Nancy Hinson Cagle, their last.
1857 Mary Polly Cagle marries Alfred Smith, son of Richard and Susan Smith.
April 1, 1858 Elizabeth Cagle marries John W. Huneycutt, son of George W. and Tabitha Tomlinson Huneycutt.
July 20, 1858, Malinda Cagle marries Jacob A. Crisco II.
By the 1860 census, George only has only two daughters by his first marriage left in the home, "Mathena", who I covered in "A Rose By Any Other Name", whose name is inconclusive as she is called, Mathena, Luphrenia, Luthena, Lou, Beatie, Beedie, Phenia, Phrenia, among various other combinations and variations. I believe her name was probably Bethania Luphrenia Cagle or Beadie, for Obedience Louvenia Cagle. The other was his youngest with Elizabeth Whitley, Lucy Catherine, very simply. Lucy is sometimes confused with the daughter of Mariah Meggs, Melissa, aka "Lissy", but they were actually about 16 years apart in age, Lucy Catherine Cagle, being born in 1848 and Melissa Ann Meggs in 1865/66.
In the decade between 1860 and 1870:
George's mother, Malinda Springer Cagle passes away September 11, 1861.
His father, Charles R. Cagle Sr. passes away April 9, 1864.
Menece Adeline Cagle married second husband, Holden Hartsell on October 13, 1865, and was soon widowed.
Lucy Catherine Cagle married James T. Baker on June 9, 1868.
Elizabeth Cagle Huneycutt would pass away before the end of the decade and her husband, John W. Huneycutt would become a Civil War casualty. Her father, George would get custody of their son, William Huneycutt.
Another unusual event of note took place on October 20, 1860. Maniza Huneycutt, George's paramour, married Gabriel Barbee. Gabriel Barbee would also become a Civil War casualty in 1864, leaving Maniza widowed, however, I believe the marriage may have ended before that happened, as she is never seen with the surname Barbee again. He may have discovered things about her he had not previously known and set her aside, divorced her or had the marriage annulled. They supposedly had a daughter named Martha, born in 1861.
In 1866, Maniza Huneycutt had to press charges against George W. Cagle due to his lewd and lascivious behavior. The court pages are shown below.
February Session, 1866 in the Stanly County Court of Pleas and Quarters, the jurors for the State of NC declared George Cagle. " a person of most wicked, lewd, lascivious, depraved and abandoned mind and disposition and wholly lost to all sense of decency, morality and religion." He was accused of, on September 5, 1865, displaying himself naked and with an indecent posture in front of the home of Maniza Huneycutt, in full view of a number of people, and they were appalled and shocked by his behavior.
It appears that George had gotten drunk, was missing his mistress and started flashing the entire neighborhood. He was dealt with accordingly with fines and minimal punishment. It may have been due to the fact that Maniza was not considered a moral woman, having had children out of wedlock by this man.
They were apparently neighbors around this time. Maniza's parents had relocated to Catawba County with their youngest son, and left several of their single, but not childless daughters, huddled together at the old homeplace with their collective children.
In the 1870 census, George Cagle is 58. His household consists of his second wife, Nancy, their youngest daughter, Fannie, his son by Maniza Huneycutt, Eli, a border, Mariah Myers Meggs and her young daughter, and his 11-year-old grandson, William Huneycutt, son of his daughter Elizabeth, who predeceased him, and her husband, John W. Huneycutt, who died in the Civil War. His only legitimate son, David S. Cagle is listed after him.
In the list above him are the three Huneycutt sisters, Frances, or Franky, and her children, Clara, and her one son, James H. Huneycutt, and Maniza and her children. All of the children by these three sisters were "fatherless", so to speak, although they all had fathers, of course. I believe Maniza was incorrectly transcribed as "Mariah".
In 1868, George penned a Will. It is unknown what spurred him to do so. A sudden illness he recovered from? His recent run in with the law? Threats by irate and offended neighbors? The deaths of his parents, son-in-laws and neighbors in the War or just after returning from the War in weak and wounded conditions? Perhaps it was a combination of these things, but he felt the desire to ensure his widowed and unmarried daughters were cared for, as well as his orphaned grandson.
George's Will, dated November 30, 1868, is found below. It can be found in the Stanly County Will Book No. 2, Page 176 and 177.
"George Cagle's Will
Be it remembered that I George Cagle of the County of Stanly and the State of North Carolina Concidering myself to be of perfect sound mind and memory and not knowing the length of my earthly existence do make and declare this my last will and testament hereby revoking all former wills made by me (viz).
First I give and devise unto my daughter Menece A. Hartsell fifty acres of land off the Western end of my three hundred acre tract commencing on Dunn's line and running to southwest so as to include the above amount of lands. Also I give and devise unto Ely Huneycutt, my illegitimate son, one hundred and fifty acres of land the whereon I now live, by his maintaining my daughter Beedy M. Cagle during her natural life, in case she does not marry and if she marries, he shall be released from that obligation by his paying her one humdred dollars.
Also I give and devise unto my grandson William Huneycutt, seventy five acres of land adjoining the fifty acres given Menece A. to include The long House place, now in case the abobe Ely Huneycutt and William Huneycutt shall be disobedient to me and not serve as dutiful children till they attain the age of twenty-one years, in that case they shall have none of my property and in such case I direct that my daughter Beedy M have one hundred acres of the lands designated for Ely Huneycutt including the dwelling house and outbuildings and I direct that the remainder of the lands designated for Ely and all the land designated for William, and also all the balance of my lands not herein disposed of after running off my son David S. Cagle's fifty acres, to be divided equally between my daughters Sarah Jones, Mary Smith, Martha Cagle, Any Jane and Fany L. Cagle and Malinda Crisco.
Allso, I direct that my personal estate goods and chattels in every respect to be sold and equally divided between my daughters Sarah Jones, Mary Smith, Martha Cagle, Ann J Cagle, Fany L. Cagle, Malinda Crisco, Menece A. Hartsell and Beedy M. Cagle and my son David S. Cagle and my son Ely Huneycutt and my grandson William Huneycutt and also my saw mill with the two acres of land for the cite and priveledges of the same adjoining J. A. Criscos line be sold and equally divided between my daughters above named.
I hereby make ordain and appoint S.C. Little my Lawful Executor of this my last Will and Testament in testament whereof I hereunto set my hands and subscribe my name this 30th day of September 1868
George Cagle (seal)
Attest
A J Austin
S C Little
The Will is reiterated above in the estate papers, but what struck me as unusual was that George didn't mention two of his daughters, Ithamia Barthena Cagle Hinson and Lucy Catherine Cagle Baker, or his wife, Nancy Hinson Speight Cagle. I can't say why.
George Cagle passed away six years after the 1870 census, wherein his son Eli or Ely and grandson William Huneycutt was living with him, along with his youngest daughter, Fanny and a border, Mariah Meggs and her daughter. On February 27, 1876, the man who would flavor the Town of Big Lick with his big personality and indecent behaviour, would be no more.His demise bears a story of its own. His death was not natural and was a result of his wayward and moraless exploits. He was 63 years old and the place of his burial is unknown, but thought to be somewhere in Big Lick, or around Liberty Hill.
On April 6, 1876, six months after his death, we see that A. G. Morton, not S. C. Little, had been appointed administrator of his estate. His heirs at this time, in 1876, were listed as Nancy Cagle, the widow, Adaline Hartsell, named Menece A.Hartsell in the Will, ,Lithany Hinson, (Ithamia Barthena Cagle Hinson, not mentioned in the will, D.S. Cagle, his son David S.Cagle, mentioned in will, Sarah Jones, Mary Smith, mentioned in Will, Elizabeth Baker, his daughter Elizabeth who married John W. Huneycutt and was the mother of William Huneycutt, who is mentioned in the Will. She would later marry a Baker in Cabarrus County as Elizabeth Huneycutt, Malinda Crisco, named in the Will, married Jacob Crisco, B. D. Cagle, can only be Beedie Methena Luphrenia Cagle, unmarried daughter mentioned in the Will. Where did the "D" come from? Catherine Baker, Lucy Catherine, youngest daughter by first wife, Elizabeth Rosa Whitley, Amy J Hartsell, actually Annie Jane Cagle, first daughter by second wife, Nancy Hinson Speight, who married Joseph Hartsell, a son of Holden Hartsell who had married George's oldest daughter, Adaline, so two sisters, one who married the father and another who married the son. Fanny Larceny Cagle, youngest daughter by second wife, unmarried.
Georg'es estate took many years to completely settle. There were lawsuits concerning the mishandling of monies and heirs that were left out of the will and heirs that were mentioned in the Will. A Green Morton would be appointed Administrator instead of S C Little, who George had chosen. The estate file is it's own story, as is the complete story of George's demise. Who were actually the heirs of George Cagle?
