The Dandelions of Aaron Sanders

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Household members

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

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

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

Household members

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Sanders family was left with reassembling themselves.

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

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

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

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

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

1860                                1870

Nancy A  6                    Nancy  21

Franky  5                      Not listed ,but alive, probably skipped.

Martha 1                       Martha 11

                                      Mary 7
                                      Tiny 5

                                      Robert 2

                                      Josephine 2 months old.

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

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

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

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

1869

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

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

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

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

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

Eliza

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

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

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

Does anyone else see a pattern? 

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

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

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

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

Child                        Year                    Mother

Nancy Ann              1851                   Laura           

Frances Louise        1855                   Laura     

Martha                    1859                   Nancy Elizabeth and Joseph Morton  

Mary                       1863                   Eliza (will see later)

Tiny                        1865                    Unknown

Robert                    1867                    Unknown

Josephine                1869                    Nancy Ann and Benjamin Mauldin

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

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

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

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

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

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

Household members

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daughter Effie's future is unknown.

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

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

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

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

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

Priest Elmore Wrenn (1886-1967)

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

Maude Lee Wrenn Grissom (1890-1987)

George Hughes Wrenn (1891-1951)

Margaret Elizabeth Wrenn Evans Croom (1900-1951)

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

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

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

Looking for Liberty Hartsell

 

Tabitha Liberty Hartsell Barbee

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. 

The Children of Ghosts: The Story of Lee and Judy.

From Passion for the Past

Have you ever wondered what life would have been like if the Civil War had never happened? Not the ending of the inhuman and brutish policies that it held in place, but if slavery and the other policies in dissent, had been resolved, disolved and changed for the best, without a War and the massive death and destruction that had come with it. Yes, there would have been changes and readjustments, and possibly changes in governance and probably a great deal of oversight, but if the South had not lost most of her men, if a generation of children had not grown up fatherless and an entire region had not been left devastated, with starvation, crops rotting in the fields and desparate widows taking desparate measures to feed their children, or being attacked and taken advantage of. 

One of the phenomena rising from what really happened, I find far too often while researching families who lived, and died, in the middle and later 19th century, is that of people claiming deceased fathers on their marriage certificates and marriage licenses, who died, years, not months, before the person ever breathed life. Widows impregnated by the literal  ghosts of their husbands who had died of the atrocious diseases that abound among the troops, or had bled out on a distant battlefield.

Of course, we knew this was not possible. There had to have been other events in play. Yet, there's that 1934 death certificate with the name of the mother's husband, who died in 1862, on the certificate of the child born in 1869. The worst of it, is that it appears the same way in all these family trees, repetitively, one copying another, no one hesitating to do the math or ask themselves, how did this happen? And if you try to notify them of the error, oh how dare you! How could you possibly demean Great Great Grandma by suggesting something so crass and common? "That did not happen back then".

Except that - it did.

Lee Hathcock was my 3rd Great Granduncle. He was the son of Benjamin Franklin Hathcock and Nancy Ann Burris and the brother of Obedience "Beadie" Hathcock Burris, my 3rd Great Grandmother. Lee was born on August 25, 1835, which put him in the prime target age of a soldier.

Name	Lee Haithcock
Gender	Male
Race	White
Residence Age	15
Birth Date	abt 1835
Birthplace	North Carolina
Residence Date	1850
Home in 1850	Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Attended School	Yes
Line Number	40
Dwelling Number	902
Family Number	907

Household members

Name	Age
Benjamin Haithcock	48
Mosby Haithcock	20
Gracey Haithcock	17
Lee Haithcock	15
Benjamin Haithcock	11
Mary A Haithcock	9
Sarah M Haithcock	2

Lee was born into a typically large farm family of the day with lots of daughters and a repectible spattering of sons. His mother, Nancy, died when he was still a young boy.  In 1840, his father is shown as a widower with his youngest children, his mother having passed in 1849.

Beside of the Blalocks lived McCamie Willis and his wife, Obedience Burris Willis. The Willis's never had children of their own, but they had taken in Obedience's mtoher, Judith Burris, my 5th Great Grandmother, Beada L. Hathcock, Obedience's namesake neice and my 3rd Great Grandmother, and had raised a boy named Solomon, then 18, after the court had removed him from car of Solomon Burris, the 1st, Obedience's father and Judith's husband, after the couple had grown too aged. Solomon was the illegitimate son of Jane Murray, the sister of another one of my third great grandmothers and Obedience's brother, Joshua Christian Burris, not only one of my fourth Great Grandfathers, but also my 4th Great Granduncle several times over. I know, creepy isn't it, but this was my family.

Keep this family group in mind for future reference.

Lee was probably named for his uncle, Lee Hathcock, who was 37 years his senior and who had settled in Cabarrus County, NC. The surname, Hathcock, is seen in various other spellings, mostly Heathcock, but I will used Hathcock, which is how our particular line is most often seen in these parts. 

On September 15, 1853,  at the age of 18, Lee Hathcock married Martha Judith Coley, age 19, daughter of Nathan Coley and Nancy Vickers Coley.  They had three little boys in rapid succession, as was common for the day. 

1855 Adam Franklin Hathcock

1858 Daniel M. Hathcock

1859 William Whitson Hathcock

In 1860, the young family is listed right above his father's in the census.

Name	Lee Heathtock
Age	25
Birth Year	abt 1835
Gender	Male
Race	White
Home in 1860	Stanly, North Carolina
Post Office	Albemarle
Dwelling Number	1087
Family Number	1102
Occupation	Farmer
Personal Estate Value	60
Inferred Spouse	Judieth Heathtock
Inferred Child	Adam Heathtock; Danil Heathtock; William Heathtock

Household members

Name	Age
Lee Heathtock	25
Judieth Heathtock	24
Adam Heathtock	5
Danil Heathtock
William Heathtock	1

The Hathcocks would have one more son, Levi, born in 1862, and then it would happen, The War.

Lee Hathcock enlisted on March 25, 1862 as a Private in Company H, 42nd Infantry with a number of other Stanly County men. He was 26 years old. His service didn't last long. He died on October 1, 1862, of disease in Petersburg, Virginia. Disease took as many, if not more, men than battle. North Carolina was particulary hit hard. If I'm not mistaken, North Carolina lost more men than any other state.

Name	Lee Hathcock
Enlistment Age	26
Birth Date	abt 1836
Enlistment Date	25 Mar 1862
Enlistment Place	Stanly County, North Carolina
Enlistment Rank	Private
Muster Date	10 May 1862
Muster Place	North Carolina
Muster Company	H
Muster Regiment	42nd Infantry
Muster Regiment Type	Infantry
Muster Information	Enlisted
Muster Out Date	1 Oct 1862
Muster Out Place	Petersburg, Virginia
Muster Out Information	died disease
Side of War	Confederacy
Survived War?	No
Residence Place	Stanly County, North Carolina
Notes	1862-08-09 Deserted
Title	North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster

We don't know if Judy was pregnant with Levi, or if she was left with a newborn and three other little men.

Name	Lee Hathcock
Gender	Male
Birth Date	25 Aug 1835
Birth Place	Stanly County, North Carolina, United States of America
Death Date	1 Oct 1862
Death Place	Petersburg, Fauquier County, Virginia, United States of America
Cemetery	Commie Willis Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place	Oakboro, Stanly County, North Carolina, United States of America

Lee's body was returned home for burial. He was buried in the McCamie Willis cemetery in Red Cross, near Oakboro. 

Judy was left with 4 small boys, one of them an infant. She lived near her in-laws, who probably helped as best they could in those trying days. She also applied for a widow's pension, to help ensure the survival of her young family.

What happened next? Why the Ghost of husbands past, of course. 

Judy Hathcock, in 1870, is shown with all of her sons, and an extra, 1 year old Mack, as joined the group. Her older sons, even down to 8 year old Levi, were probably helping run the farm, for survival.

Mack Luther Hathcock was born on April 10, 1869, the son of Lee Hathcock and Judy Coley Hathcock, some claim. Really? I mean 1862 to 1869? A seven year pregnancy. Umm, you might not be a Hathcock.

Others  descendants, more skilled in math, have attached the above explanation to their family tree. Mack may have been a little olive -skinned, and I believe I may have an answer for that, but he was no "Full-blooded Catawba Indian", and he wasn't left on his mother's doorstep by a warring Catawba, or a stork, or any other imaginary friend. 

There does exist a legal, plausible, logical and collaborative record of how Mack Hathcock came to be seven years beyond his "fathers" decease.

Recall the family living next to McCamie Willis and his family of borders, which included a young man named Solomon?

"State of North Carolina, Stanly County 

Know all men by these Presents , That we, Solomon Burris or Murray and Mycamma Willis are held and firmly bound and by these presents bind our homesteads into the said State of North Carolina in the sum of two hundred dollars current money, to be paid to said State; and....dated this 20th day of September, 1869. The condition of the above Obligation is such, That if the above bounden Solomon Burris or Murray, the reputed father of a base-born child, begot on the body of Judy Hathcock, a single woman of said County, shall keep the said County of Stanly indemnified from all costs and charges in and about the maintenance of said child; and perform every order of the Court of said County, relative to the said child; then this Obligation to be void; otherwise to remain in full force and virtue. 

Signed, Sealed and Acknowledged 

In the Presence of 

Solomon Burroughs (Seal)

           his

M. C.  (X) Willis (Seal)

          Mark

The above transcription is of a document called a Bastardy Bond. As horrible as it sounds, it was actually an archaic form of child support used in the 17th to 19th centuries, and at least into the earliest years of the 20th. 

One must step back and look at the climate and mores of the day, to understand it a little better. Women had little power, no vote, few options in those days. She had to be connected to a man, a father, a husband, a brother, some man, or her chances of survival were slim. A woman was not looked at as being able to support a child on her own, even though Judy seemed capable of doing so with her first four. She had her widows pension. She had her small farm. The County, however, wanted to ensure, this child, born to a widow years after her husband's death, and the baby, would not be a financial burden on the county.

The bond held the father, Solomon "Burris or Murray", financially responsible for the child, at least until the child was old enough to be "bound out", or appreciated to learn a trade, to an intact family, typically at about 7 to 10 years old. Some of these situations were pretty good for the child, especially if they were bound out to family, a Grandparent, an Uncle, or even, an older sibling. Sometimes, as in foster homes today, the situation was cruel and abusive. Tales were told of children being "worked to death". 

Solomon knew of those tales and knew he was one of the lucky ones. Why was his name shown as "Murray or Burris"? It's because his mother was Jane Murray and his father was Joshua Christian Burris, who was married to Sarah Springer, not Jane Murray. So Solomon had inherited some character traits from his own father. McCamie Willis, his uncle by marriage, who had raised him like a father, stood as bondsman for Solomon in this legal proceeding. 

Solomon must have first been placed with his namesake grandfather, Revolutionary War Veteran, Solomon Burris, Sr. , while Stanly was still part of Montgomery. Those records were destroyed. But in the earliest court records of Stanly County, founded in 1841, his elderly grandfather was ordered to bring him to court to be bound out. Afterwards, he had grown up with McCamie Willis, who was married to his Aunt Obedience Burris Willis. 

The next time we see Judith Coley Hathcock is in the 1880 census. From the neighbors, it appears they are living in the same place as in 1870. She is living with her son William Whittson Hathcock and his young bride, Johannah. Mack is now 11 years old..

Tombstone of Judy Hathcock from Find-a-Grave

Judith Coley Hathcock spent her last 20 years, living among her surviving sons. Her last years were with her youngest son, Mack Luther. She passed away on March 8, 1900 in Sanford, Lee County, North Carolina and was buried at the Center United Methodist Church Cemetery.  Mack and his family were found in Moore County four months later on the 1900 census.

Mack Hathcock and family as a young man.

The Five Sons of Martha Judith Coley Hathcock were:

1) Adam Franklin Hathcock born about 1855. Married: 23 March 1876 in Stanly County to Judith Elizabeth Whitley, daughter of  Alexander Davidson Whitley and wife, Mary Ann Burris. One child: Samantha Macedious Hathcock Linker. Died around 1877, def. before 1880. Cause of death unknown. Widow remarried to James Martin Barbee in 1881 and had two more children.

2) Daniel Monroe Hathcock born February 14, 1853, according to death certificate, however, in the two census records, where he appeared as a child and a teen, he was two years behind Adam. Adam's two census records and his marriage liscense give him a birth year of 1855. Dan was 3 in 1860 and 12 in 1870, 21 in 1880 and 21 when he got married in 1878. Very fluid, but I believe a birth year of 1878 is more accurate. He married on March 7, 1878 to Elizabeth Rosenclontz Thompson, daughter of John and Ellen Rosencrantz,  a young widow. Four children were born to this marriage, William, Octie, Etta and Perry. Daniel was a farmer during the early part of his marriage, had moved to Concord, Cabarrus County in 1898, and afterwards worked in Government Service. He moved his family to Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee by 1900. There he worked for the Government until at least 1920. He lost his wife sometime between 1920 and 1930. She was likely related to the German Rosecranz family who had land grants in Stanly County in 1845 on Meadow Creek, and applied for naturalization in Stanly around 1848. A few of them married local ladies in Stanly and Cabarrus Counties, but they left few records. It's unknown when Betty died, or where she was buried. There's no record of which Thompson she married, too. 

In old age, Daniel moved in with his daughter, Etta Hathcock Norris. They lived in Hillsboro, Florida. He worked as a night watchman then, and was there in 1930 & 1940. By 1942, Daniel had returned to Tennessee with his son, Perry, in the town of Daisy, Hamilton County. He died there on October 27, 1942, buried at the Johnson Cemetery in Daisy.

3) William Whittson Hathcock was born on January 19, 1859. He married Johanna Francis Yow, daughter of Moses and Winny Yow, about 1880. They lived in Furrs Township, Stanly County, until the turn of the century, and then moved to the Bethel Church area of Cabarrus County. 

Will and Johanna were a farming family and as such, had a large number of children. The 9 known children were Mary E., Martha A , Joseph P., Adaline, William S., Fillmore, Emma, Rettie Bell and Julia E.  

Johanna died in 1932, at the age of 71.

William died January 28, 1948 , at the age of 89. They are buried at Loves Grove Methodist Church in Stanfield, Stanly County, NC.

4) M. Levi Hathcock was born in 1862, the year his father died. He moved to Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, NC, where he married Mary Elizabeth "Molly" McCall, daughter of William and Mary, on November 12, 1884. There were two daughters, Odie, Bertha Mae. Levi died before 1900. Mollie lived until 1926 and supported her family as a Seamstress in Charlotte. She's buried at  Providence Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC.

5) Mack Luther Hathcock was born April 10, 1869. He married Mary Louise Smith on September 19, 1889. He moved to Lee County, and Moore County, before settling down in Franklinville, Randolph County, a unique and picturesque little Uwharrie town. There, they farmed and raised a large family of nine children; Hurley Edmond, Cora Ann, Frankie E., Bessie Mae, Riley Anderson, Rose Ella, Mattie Wadsworth, Hugh G. and Minnie Bell.

Mary Louise died in 1937 and Mack died in on March 25, 1958 at 88 years old. They are buried at Cedar Falls Baptist Church in Randolph County, NC.