When my oldest daughter was expecting her only child, she was considering the name "Liberty" if the baby was a daughter. He was not, and was instead, named after my Great Grandfather on my Paternal side, Elias. I've alway liked the name, however, for its attributes of implications and uniqueness. We never welcomed a Liberty.
Recently, I've been researching a certain obscure Whitley family. While looking at the small family of Hardin "Hardy" Whitley (1835-1864) and his wife, Basheba "Bashie" Hatley, (1832-1873), that her brother, Hardin "Hardy" Hatley (1834-1918) , had custody of their children for at least a period of time after the deaths of both Whitley's. Yes, that's a lot of Hardys and I believe the mother of Hardy Whitley could have been a Hatley. The Whitleys had left two children, a son and a daughter, and only the daughter survived long enough to marry. I examined this family in my post, The Curse of Bitter Rain.
While examing Hardy Hatley's family, I saw that in 1880, there was a young woman named Liberty Hartsell in his home. The name intrigued me, and I wondered who exactly Liberty Hartsell was, this young woman with the interesting name.
Name
Hardy Hatly
Age
45
Birth Date
Abt 1835
Birthplace
North Carolina
Home in 1880
Big Lick, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Dwelling Number
71
Race
White
Gender
Male
Relation to Head of House
Self (Head)
Marital Status
Married
Spouse's Name
Malinda Hatly
Father's Name
Wily Hatly
Father's Birthplace
North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace
North Carolina
Occupation
Farmer
Neighbors
View others on page
Household members
Name
Age
Hardy Hatly
45
Malinda Hatly
28
Jonah Hatly
16
Ephram Hatly
14
Minnie Hatly
1
Wily Hatly
87
Liberty Hartsell
23
Luckily for me, 1880 was the first year that the relationships of the people in a household to the head of the household were given. Hardy Hatley was one of those older men that had married a much younger woman as his second wife. At 45, 28 year old Malinda was not his daughter, but his wife. Jonah and Ephraim were his sons, and one year old Minnie was his daughter. It's easy to understand that the sons were by his first wife, and he probably hadn't been married to Malinda for long. Wiley Hatley, 87, was Hardy's aged father, and Liberty Hartsell was his sister-in-law.
A little further research revealed that Hardy had married, as his second wife, Mary Melinda Hartsell, daughter of Holden Hartell and his wife, Mary Honeycutt. The couple had a family of 10 children and Mary passed away in 1862, before they were all grown up. Holden had remarried and had one more before passing away in 1865.
Mary Malinda Hartsell Hatley was one of the younger children of Holden and Mary. Above, in the 1860 census, Mary Malinda was 9, her younger brother, Holden Monroe, aged 6, was scratched out and added again at the bottom of the page, I'm not sure why, and the youngest child was Bitha L. Hartsell. It looks like Bettie, and was transcribed as such, but there was an older sister named Bettie and with a little more research, it was clear that the child's name was "Bitha L.", and she was only four years old.
This was a good list as it included the entire family which was :
Holden Hartsell 45 and wife, Mary 46 then: William Riley (1838-1899), Elizabeth P "Bettie" Byrd (1839- 1917), Emaline M Hartsell Smith ( 1841-1909), Julia Ann Hartsell Howell (1842-1879), John Adam Hartsell (1844 -1910), Joseph Monroe Hartsell (1846-1923), Eva Mahaley Hartsell Smith (1847-1928), Mary Malinda Hartsell Hatley (1851-1926), Holden Monroe Hartsell (1854-1910) and Tabitha Liberty Hartsell (1851 -1910).
After the death of their parents, the children seemed to scatter to the wind. Most of the older ones married as soon as they could, especially the daughters.
Name
Tobitha Hartsell
Age in 1870
14
Birth Date
abt 1856
Birthplace
North Carolina
Dwelling Number
217
Home in 1870
Big Lick, Stanly, North Carolina
Race
White
Gender
Female
Post Office
Albemarle
Occupation
Domestic Servt
Cannot Read
Yes
Cannot Write
Yes
Household members
Name
Age
John Byrd
30
Elizabeth Byrd
28
Mary Byrd
6
Sarah Byrd
4
Sophonia Byrd
Tobitha Hartsell
14
Tabitha Liberty Hartsell, being the youngest of the children of both parents, ended up as the Domestic Servant, Elizabeth "Bettie" Hartsell, who had married John Byrd. She was living in Big Lick at 14, in 1870, the wild west of Stanly County. And then, of course, in 1880, we find her living with another sibling, Mary Malinda Hartsell Hatley, in 1880. It seems Tabitha, as she was normally seen, earned her keep as Housekeeper and Nanny for her married siblings after she was evicted by her wicked stepmother, Adaline, after the death of her father, and that is a story of its own.
Just when it seemed as if Tabitha Liberty Hartsell was destined to be an old maid, she found herself a husband, and a younger one at that! She had not settled herself as the young bride of an old man for stability, like many of her time, when there were Civil War widows and orphans aplenty, although that was not what she was. No, Tabitha had been just an ordinary orphan with a young stepmother who married an old man with one foot in the grave so she could take over his estate from his older children.
Tabitha married on April 10, 1887, to 21 year old William Barbee, son of Jacob and Sarah Barbee. Her age was given as 26, when she was actually 31. Perhaps she felt like five years was all she could believably shave off. The marriage was performed at the office of John A.Furr, Justice of the Peace, in Furr Township. Witnessess were A.J. Huneyctt, E. D. Smith, which may have been her sister, Emaline, and A. J. Barbee, perhaps a relative of the groom.
William Martin Barbee
William Martin Barbee was the son of Josiah and Sarah Smith Barbee. At the time of the marriage, his father was deceased, but his mother was living, as both of the brides were deceased. While Tabitha had grown up in Big Lick, William had grown up in Furr Township. He was the oldest son and second child in the family. He was preceeded by Susan Catherine and followed by Cenia Marie, Nelson, James Hiram, Sarah Elizabeth, Lina and Lundy.
During the next thirteen years, the couple had settled among the rest of the Barbee Family in Furr Township, in the general area of Stanfield. Around 1900, give or take, the Barbee's had their photos made. William appears to have dressed in his best suit, and a colorized version of the photo paints his hundred yard stare with bright blue eyes. He appears nervous, like he could jump and run in an instant. He has a brunette combover and an unruly mustache that looks like a scrub brush resting under his nose. Tabitha Liberty Hartsell's photo is the lead in, off center and severe, she has an almost manly bearing. Her brunette hair pulled tightly back, Tabitha shows none of her husbands nervousness. Her eyes akilter, they also appear light, either blue or green. Broad-shouldered and square, she looks like a strong woman, but not a pretty one. Hers was a body built for work, and her large, oval face with a short, wide chin was directly opposite of William's oblong face with a recessive chin.
They would have five children, beginning immediatley and in rapid succession.
1888 Beechus S. Barbee
1890 William Harley Barbee
1891 Lou Etta Barbee
1896 Twin girls Bertie and Gertie Barbee
The 1900 census shows them surrounded by family names closely involved in their lives, lots of Barbees, with a few Hathcocks, a Stogner and an Eudy. The Barbees appeared to be very tribal, they stuck together, which is a strength. Sadly, the 1900 census revealed that Tabitha had actually give birth to seven children, only five survived. All of these five grew up.
1910 looks a little odd, but it appears the whole family pitched in together, still. They are no longer living in the grove of Barbee's, but still in Furr Township. William and Tabitha, now 44 and 50, respectively, are farmers, and thier oldest son, Beechum, is the only one living in their home. Second son, Harley, has married to Gatha Barbee, a distant cousin, and had two sons of his own, Melvin and Hubert, the era of those steampunk names. The three Barbee sisters, Etta, Bertie and Gertie, are now in their teens, and living with their brother, instead of their parents. The two households must have been close together.
Tabitha didn't live a very long life, but for her time, she was considered an old woman, when she was overcome with uterine cancer at 61, which led to her demise. An A.A.Hartsell was the informant, probably a relative, but not a sibling, who correctly gave her parents as Holden Hartsell and Mary Huneycutt. He knew she had been born in Big Lick. Her attending doctor had been Ira Yow, of Georgeville, in Cabarrus County and her death certificate was filed by Dock Love in Stanfield. She was buried in the Meadow Creek Cemetery in Locust and the undertaker was P.L.Hartsell of Oakboro. Her age gap had caught up with her. It was now known that she was ten years older than her husband, not five.
Widower, William Martin Barbee, would go on with his life for another twenty-three years. He remarried, to Martha Lou Hinson, who was also middle-aged, at 48, on July 27, 1919. She was the daughter of John Washington Hinson and Sarah Jane Rummage, and the widow of a Tarlton.
They shared over a decade together in the 'Village of Stanfield', as the 1920 census put it, before William passed away at 63. His children buried him next to their mother. His own widow, Martha, is shown living with her son and still with the name, Barbee, in 1930, the year that he died. She would return to her former name of Tarleton, to match her own children, by 1940, and would pass away 18 years after William in 1948. Martha was buried at Love's Grove.
Tabitha (or Tibitha) Liberty Hartsell lived the typical life of a Victorian era farmwife in rural North Carolina. There was nothing outrageous or extraordinarty about her, and therein lies her beauty, the girl with the beautiful name.
John L. Falkner of Anson County had 15 children , 7 of which were daughters. He was my 3rd Great Grandfather, and one of my brickwall ancestors. In order to find out more about him, and possibly his origins, I am, one by one, taking a closer look at his children, where sometimes clues can be found.
His oldest daughter was Martha, born about 1834, and the only daughter that we know of by his first wife, Patience. I blogged on Marta's unusual life in my post:
His younger two were daughters, Sarah Frances, aka Fanny and Ella Elizabeth. Fanny was my second great grandmother, and her life was not as interesting as that of Martha and Ella, but as she was mine, she was the subject of my recent post titled Fannie.
Two other daughters, Luanna (1850) and Silvia (1866), seem to have passed away as children, as often happened in those days. That leaves Barbara and Ellen, the two who led more ordinary lives, had lived to see adulthood,and pass on the family genes. They deserve a mention.
Ellen was the older of the two, being born in 1855, but they were subsequent sisters, Barbara coming next, being three years younger. In the 1860 and 1870 census records, Ellen is shown in her parents Lanesboro home, at 5 and 15, respectively..
Enter Michael Hoke Hartsell. Mike was a Union County boy, born to a Cabarrus County family. Born in 1853, he was the son of Aaron and Caroline Dunn Hartsell. At 17 in 1870, he was already independently working on his own as farm labor. On August 6, 1872, Mike had married Martha Falkner, the oldest daughter of John and Susan Webster Falkner.
Martha had a ten year old daughter at the time, but must have kept her hidden from Mike Hartsell, possibly by keeping her among her father's people. In 1873, a year, or less, after the wedding, Martha gave birth to another daughter, Margaret Alice.. Mike Hartsell could look at the child and tell she was not his. Mike and Martha were both white and the child was of mixed race. So was Martha's older daughter, Princess Ann and so was her son, Robert, born two years later.
Mike quietly 'put Martha away ', and on August 1, 1876, four years after he married Martha, he married her younger sister, Ellen. This one would stick.
The couple originally lived in Goose Creek, in Union County, where Mike was from, but they soon moved to Clear Creek in Mecklenburg County, NC, not far, where they would settle.
They were simple yeoman farmers, as most people to were in those days, surviving on what they grew, and growing a large family to help on the farm.
Mike and Ellen were obviously a healthy match. In a time with high infant mortality and ferocious childhood maladies, they lost not one of their nine children before adulthood. Ellen is seen in 1900 and 1910 as being the mother of 9 children, with all 9 living.
In 1918, Mike Hartsell would pass away from heart trouble at 65. Ellen would live for nearly another twenty years. She would take up residence with their son, Roy Lee Hartsell, in Dulins Grove, Mecklenburg County, and would die of heart trouble as well, but at the age of 81.
Ellen Faulkner Hartsell passed away on January 25, 1937. She and Michael Hoke Hartsell are buried at Dulins Grove Advent Christian Church Cemetery in the Clear Creek Community of Mecklenburg County, very near it's border with both Union and Cabarrus Counties. They had settled in, and raised their family, in the little community of Allen.
It was studying the records of Mike and Ellen's children that I discovered she also bore two Christian names, like that of most of her siblings. Her full name was Eve Ellen Falkner Hartsell.
The nine healthy children of Lucky Ellen and Mike Hartsell were:
1) Ada Elizabeth Hartsell (1877-1950) Married John Ellis Kiker. Lived in Clear Creek, Mecklenburg.
2) James Franklin Hartsell (1879-1938) Married Hattie Minerva Helms. Lived in various places at times, settled in Locust, in Stanly County. Was Postmaster there in 1905.
James and Ada were the two children shown with Mike and Ellen in 1880.
3) Bedie Lou Harstell (1881-1950) Married * John T. Burnette, son of Harvey A. and Elizabeth Burnette. Lived in the Bethel Church/ Midland area.
4) Susan Frances Hartsell ( 1884-1950) Married Wilson Thomas Eudy. Settled in the Clear Creek area. Not to be confused with a Sarah Elizabeth Hartsell who married an Eudy that some people keep getting her mixed up with. Sarah Elizabeth was not the daughter of Mike and Ellen.
5) Cora Adeline Hartsell (1887-1970). Married William Jackson Howell. Moved around a bit between Marshville, Monroe and Concord, North Carolina.
6) Cyrus Michael Hartsell (1889- 1920) Married Mary E. Coley. Had three children : Viola Estelle, Altha Mae and John W. Hartsell. Served in WWI, and died in 1920, of influenza.
Charlie was the Hartsell family's sacrifice to WWI. He died of Bronchio Pnuemonia while in service.
8) Roy Lee Hartsell ( 1894-1953) Married Ada Belle Whitley and settled in Clear Creek, Mecklenburg County. Took care of his mother until her death in 1937.
9) Marcenia Estelle Hartsell Burnette (1897-1957) Married * William Mack Burnette, Sr., son of William Henry and Molly Crump Burnette. Moved from Clear Creek to Charlotte.
* Although two sisters, Beadie and Marcenia, married Burnettes, the Burnettes were not brothers.
The one that was and the one that wasn't. There's a crack in several family trees that people fall through. That crack is the 20 year gap between the 1880 and 1900 census records. Seriously, there are more records than the census that connects a family together, and those can be misleading. Every child that lived with a family was not necessarily their own, and children who were born soon after the 1880 census, were sometimes out on their own, and even married before 1900. Such was the case in Mike and Ellen's family.
In seems nearly every family tree has given them an extra son, William Henry or Walter Henry Hartsell. This man existed. He was born in Cabarrus County in 1881 and died in Mecklenburg in 1930. It would make sense for this to have been their son, but he wasn't.
Above is the death certificate for Walter Henry Hartsell, naming a Mike Hartsell as his father, which apparently has many folks confused.
Walter married Ruby Auten and was the son of Michael G. and Serena Isabell Hartsell, not Michael H. and Ellen.
An excerpt from the 1900 census showing Walter living on Long Creek in Mecklenburg County, with his real parents, Mike and Serena.
On the flipside, their missing child who made up the actual total of 9 Ellen claimed in both 1900 and 1910, was Beady Hartsell Burnette. She was born in 1881 and died in 1935. Not a single family tree has her as one of Mike and Ellens children, except mine. And she was.
Beadie Hartsells' marriage license showing her parents as M H and Ellen Hartsell.
Beady was born after the 1880 census and married before the 1900 one, and had fallen through the cracks. In fact, she had been born, married and became a mother, all within those 20 years, as her daughter, Annie Bell, had been born in 1898, and her son David Alexander, had came along in 1900.
Each of John and Susan Webster Falkner's children informed something about them. Ella had told us John's middle initial was "L". Ellen let me know that John had died by her August 1st wedding in 1876.
A portion of Mike and Ellen's marriage certificate showing John as deceased and Susan as living.
Barbara let us know, probably, where her living mother, Susan, was living in 1880, although she was not listed in the census.
Barbara Allen Faulkner was born about 1858.
She claimed to be 17 when she married James W Covington on May 17, 1875. Again, John was reported as dead and Susan, alive. The couple married at the home of a Mr. Hasty.
In the 1880 census, their first, James and Barbara were still living in Lanesboro, where she grew up. Their first son, Tilden had arrived. Barbara was living very near her brother, Azariah Falkner, indicating that this was probably the area John Falkner had raised his children. An interesting neighbor was William Hildreth and his family. This William was the son of David Hildreth Jr. and this property is where the old Hildreth cemetery remains, and on land still in the Hildreth family not far from White's Store. This proximity to the Hildreth family may be a key to the Hildreth genetic connections I've been exploring.
Another thing about Barbara was her name, Barbara Allen, clearly repeated by her children at several junctures. Allen was not a common name for a woman, unless it was replayed in it's entirety, as "Barbara Allen", like "Jane Smith", or "Hannah Bushrod", suggesting the girl was named in full course, for one of her female predecessors. There is even a history of the Covington family who lists Barbara only as Barbara Allen, not 'Barbara Allen Faulkner', but just Barbara Allen. As there was a pretty exspansive Allen family who had settled in the area where the Rocky River met the Pee Dee and spread out over the effected counties thereabouts, I wondered if Barbara Falkners name could have been a 'cookie crumb' leading to an ancestor, or just another girl, like me, named for a song, like the old English folksong. "Barbara Allen", a tale of unrequitted love.
Unlike the ancient Ballad, however, this Aunt 'Barbary' found a love that lasted a lifetime, although her livetime wasnt' that long by today's standards.
In 1900, Jim and Barbara are still found in Lanesboro, with most of their large family intact. They were a farm family still, as was most in this era. Jim was also an agent for a company that sold 'guano', as a fertilization aide for farmers. Barbara claimed to be the mother of 10 children, with 9 living, however, there are only 7 listed here, and the only one missing that I know of was the oldest son, Dock Tillman or Tilden, who was already married and on his own.
Dock and his wife, Sallie, were living in Ansonville and were already parents of two little girls, Ollie Virginia and Onie Elizabeth Covingotn. Dock had married Sarah Chanise "Sallie" Turner, a sister of William Alexander Turner and James Stevenson Turner, whom Baraba's younger sisters, Fannie and Ella had married. As William Alexander Turner and Fannie Falkner Turner were my second Great Grandparents, I have a doubled relation to descendants of Dock and Sallie, sharing Faulkner dna through Dock and Turner dna through Sallie.
By 1910, James Washington Covington had moved his family to Wolf Pit, in neighboring Richmond County. I don't know the reasons behinde the move, but the 1910 census gives us the following information.
James owned his own home, free and clear without a mortgage. He was 58, and working as a Farm Laborer, but his oldest three children at home, Nona, Hollie and Annie, were working in a Cotton Mill. Barbara, now 50, was a housewife and Blanch, 12, was attending school. Barbara, again, reported to be the mother of 10 children, with 9 living, although she had added two, Henry Clay and Ila, since the last census. The couple had been married for 34 years. Everyone could read and write except the youngest two, which is a little puzzling since they were 9 and 6 already.
So there were 6 children in the home. Two had been added, but four were missing. That adds up to 10. The math wasn't working, as 10 years prior, she'd given the same numbers. The four missing were now adults, staring with oldest son, Dock Tilden Covington.
Dock and Sallie had grown their family to 8 children and the George Turner who was living with them was the son of Barbara's sister, Ella.
Oldest daughter, Hattie O. Covington was born in 1880 and on December 23, 1903, she had married William Hardy Kelly, from Rockingham, Richmond county, son of George and Flora Kelly. There's a sad story to follow.
Tombstone of Hattie Covington Kelly
Hattie died just two years later, on January 17, 1905, at the age of 24. She was buried at Northam Cemetery in Rockingham, Richmond County, NC. William would remarry a couple of years later to a girl named Minnie Lee Guin and have two daughter, Hattie Viringia and Wilma. I'm not sure if the oldest, Hattie Virginia, was Hattie's daughter, or just named for her. In 1910, William, Minnie and little Hattie are in Wolf Pit, Richmond County, but City Directories find him and Minnie in Charlotte, where he is working as a machinist. Then Minnie passes away at 34, in 1918, after the time death certificates have stareted being issued of 'Acute intestinal auto intoxication', which isn't even a practical prognosis anymore, and was based on an ancient fallacy. She probably had some type of toxemia.
Minnie had a nice obituary, which explain her illness had lasted a few weeks. What it didn't tell, and what the cemetery would reveal, was that W. H. Kelly and Minnie had also had two sons. Boyd had been born September 3, 1912, and had died on Feb. 3, 1914 at the age of 17 months old of bronchial pnuemonia. William P Kelly was born on January 21, 1915, about a year after his brother's death, and died on May 8th, 1917, just a month shy of his second birthday, of Lobar pnuemonia. Their mother, Minnie, would pass away just 9 months later. In the description of the anitquated cause of death, 'autointoxication', it was stated that drug addictions and intentional overdoses were sometimes also heaped under this diagnosis, so I wonder if the loss of her sons may have led Minnie to an addiction that had led to her toxic gut condtion.
The third missing Covington in 1910 was third born John Thomas, born in 1883 and married in 1909 to Lula Mae Smith of Union County. I like how he identified his maother as "Barbee".
The last missing Covington was fourth born, Minnie Elizabeth. She married Eugene Mason Smith, not a sibling of Lula, on February 23, 1908. in 1910, the young couple were living in Rockingham, working in the cotton mills, and had given birth to thier first daughter, Flora.
Taken by Junious, Find-a-Grave
1910 was a focal point for me because it was the last census for both Jim and Barbara. Barbara was the first to go, just a year later on November 4, 1911. Death Certificates were only beginning to be issued, and she did not have one, so the cause is unknown. So many plagues were going around in those days. She was only 52 and still had a number of young children at home.
Jim followed four years later on June 24, 1915. He didn't have a death certificate, either, but he did have an estate record. Oldest son, D. T. Covington (Dock Tilden), was named executor and the following heirs were named: D. T. Covington, John Covington, Minnie Covington Smith, Nona Covington Gay, Annie Covinton Manness, Hollie Mae Covington (minor) [inserted at that point], Blanche Covington, Clay Covington and Ila Covington.
The living nine, only Hattie, who died in 1905, was missing.
The Ten known children of Barabara Allen Falkner and Jim Covington were as follows:
1) Dock Tilden Covington (1877-1943) Married Sarah Chanise "Sallie" Turner. The lived equally in Anson, and then, Richomnd Counties. He died in Moore County. Because both Barbara and Sallie were Great Great Aunts of mine, this family appears in my family tree twice.
Due to the double relationship, I'm listing their children;
A) Ollie Virginia Covington Carter 1897-1961,
B) Onie Elizabeth Covington Myers 1899-1973
C) Dovie Allen Covington Kelly 1900-1941
D) Walter James Covington 1902-1990
E) Hattie Byrd Covington Watson 1904-1970
F) Lassiter Tilden Covington 1906-1966
G) Bennett Mallie Covington 1908-1996
H) Annie Mae Covington Cole 1910-1954
I) Sallie Pauline Covington Cole 1913-1985
J) Beulah Hazel Covington Long 1915-1987
K) Nelllie J. Covington Jurney 1917-1989
2) Hattie Odessa Covington Kelly (1880-1905) Married Walter Hardy Kelly. Died in Rockingham.
3) John Thomas Covington (1883-1945) Married Lula Smith. Lived in Hamlet, Richomnd County.
Labeled 'Luther , Clay and John Covington
4) Minnie Elizabeth Covingotn Smith (1887-1925) Married Eugen Mason Smith. Lived in Rockingham.
Minnie C. Smith
5) Nona Faye Covington Gay (1889-1992) Married James Starling Gay,Jr. Lived in Richmond and Moore Counties before settling in Alamance.
6) Hollie F. Covington (1892-1914) Married Betha J Smith. Hollie died in Richmond County at age 22 of Thyphoid Fever on December 12, 1914. His young bride was pregnant with their first child when he passed away. It was a little girl that Bertha named Hollie Mae Covington, who was born just 4 months later on April 19, 1915. As luck would have it, Bertha's very own mother, Maggie Gray Smith, was also pregnant, at age 39, and gave birth to a daughter, Maggie Ledonia Smith, on May 29, 1915, one month after Hollie's birth.
Tragedy would not end there. Bertha seems to have leaned on her parents after her husbands death, which only makes sense, especially given how very young she was. On March 24, 1919, Bertha Jean Smith Covington died of TB. Having been born on Christmas day, 1900, she was only 18 years old.
Little Hollie went to live with her Grandparents Smith. Her Aunt Maggie, only a month younger than she, must have been like a sister to her. Just a year after her mother's death, Hollie was listed as a daughter in her grandparents household. Henry and his brother, Nathan, supported the household by working in the Cotton Mills of Rockingham. It's amazing to see how many families had switched from the farm life to a mill in this era for a livlihood.
Only 5 years later, with the girls only about 9 yers old, their beautiful grandmother, Maggie Grey Smith, woud die of apoplexy on September 3, 1925, after about a week in the hospital. She was 48.
The girls would remain with William, Henry Smith, and were found with him in 1930, their relationships to him correct. Henry would live another 5 years, also dying young, at age 59. By then, both of the girls were married. Hollie married Hillard Bill Brigman and her sister/aunt Maggie married his brother, Conley Thomas Brigman. Hilliard and Conley were sons of John and Maggie Brigman. Hollie and Bill would experience another major tragedy when their firstborn daughter, Billie Jean, died of Scarlett Fever. they would go on to have two more daughters, one named for her grandmother, Barbara. Maggie and Conley also had two daughters, one named for her sister, Bertha.
7) Anna Eliza "Annie" Covington Manness (1895- 1983) Married Eli Carson Maness. Annie married a Methodist Minister, whose profession took the family on various moves around the state, including, Moore, Chatham, Wake,Person and Gaston Counties.
Anna Eliza Covington Manesss
8) Desda Blanche Covington Maness (1899-1965) Married Dewey Roscoe Maness. Settled in Robeson County. Lost both children tragically young. No descendants.
9) Henry Clay Covington (1900-1970). Married Bertie Lathan. Settled in Whiteville, Columbus County, N.C.
10) Ila Gertrude Covington O'Keefe (1905-1988) Married 1st Oscar Lemuel Tyson, Sr., married 2nd James B. Scattergood, married 3rd Thomas J. O'Keefe. Three children, Barbara, Doris and Jr. with Oscar.
Some trees have attributed Ila to her sister, Minnie, which is quite possible, as Minnie was 18 when she was born and Barbara was a little 'long-in-the-tooth', as far as child-bearing years go, (46). However, I've seen no documentation to suggest this. All of her reocrds lists Jim and Barbara as her parents and she is included as a child in Jim's estate records.
Barbara and Ellen lived subtle and more normal lives in the era that the Good Lord placed them in. Both have many descendants living today and all contribute to the family tree and my genetic research into where their father, my third Great Grandfather, John Falkner, came from.
