Finding Aunt Rhody

 

Something about Rhoda Porter piqued my interest the moment I saw that she lived right next to Isham Ingram in the 1840 census of Cedar Hill, Anson County, North Carolina. I had already been into the Porters a bit while researching my Turner roots from the same area. One of the sons of James Turner and Susannah Axom Turner, my 5th Great Grandparents, had married a Porter. But Rhoda was one I had not seen. 

Isham Ingram died in 1846, and his widow, Lucy Martin Ingram, had remarried  two years later, to my 4th Great Grandfather, Rev. Samuel P. Morton,  whose daughter had married the grandson of the aforementioned James and Susannah Turner. Rev. S. P. Morton had acted as the administrator of the estate in 1858, some 12 years later. In that estate was a list of 9 distributees, or heirs of Isham Ingram. As he and Lucy had no children to speak of, or at least none living at the time of his decease, nor grandchildren, the estate, after Lucy's remarriage. his estate was distributed equally to his 9 siblings, for $ 370.28 each. These were Joseph Ingram, Hezekiah Ingram, Trecy Ingram Turner, Rhoda Ingram Porter, Sally Ingram Ingram, Parthenia Ingram Thomas, John Ingram, Matthew Ingram and Wiley Ingram. 

I've spent the last two days trying to determine which Ingram was which, as they were a multiplus crew, and a traveling bunch on top of that. So, I've not had complete success in that area. I know from his will that his sister Sallie lived in Alabama. I knew who Trecy Turner was, but not whom she married. I had remembered seeing Rhoda, so the Ingram search is rather intense.

As for Rhoda, I know who she married. 

1253. Porter, Barnabas          Gresham, Lavincy            1822         
1254. Porter, Daniel            Ingram, Rhody               1800         
1255. Porter, Henry J.          McLendon, Mary Ann          1865         
1256. Porter, Henry J.          Pope, Mary Ann              1867         
1257. Porter, James T.          Cowick, Ella                1868         
1258. Porter, Jno. D.           Threadgill, Elizabeth     11 Dec 1860    
1259. Portor, William C.        Gulledge, Harriett          1853 

http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/anson/vitals/marriages/anson.txt

I also know the fate of that marriage.

North Carolina Divorce and Alimony Petitions: Anson County

-DANIEL PORTER – Married Rhody INGRIM [Rhoda INGRAM] in 1800. Shortly afterwards she “was Guilty of acts of lewdness, and Adultery” and has since had a bastard child. He has offered to be reconciled to her, but she is unwilling. She now live apart from him and has not live, or cohabited, with him for upwards of four years past. Prays for a divorce. Signed: Daniel PORTER. Neighbors who certify the facts: James COLEMAN, _. R. PICKETT, Ingor D. CASH, John SMITH, Thos. THREADGILL. (undated, but referred to committee by the House on 16 Dec 1813.) (Recommended in committee report of 24 Dec. 1813 to be postponed indefinitely.)

Source: North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal, Vol. I, #2, April 1975

Created April 5, 2003
By Julie Hampton Ganis

So, Rhoda Ingram married Daniel Porter in 1800 and he filed for divorce in 1813. He stated she had had a bastard child, but if they were married, how would the child be illegitimate? He offered to reconcile, she turned him down. She began living apart from him in about 1809 and had not lived with him in 4 years. She was mother to at leat one child.

I found Daniel Porter in the 1800 census, next to John Ingram and James and Hezekiah Hough. The other two Porters in the county were Barnabas and Charles, side by side and in a different part of the county.

Name:	Daniel Porter
Home in 1800 (City, County, State):	Fayetteville, Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44:	1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15:	1
Number of Slaves:	5
Number of Household Members Under 16:	2
Number of Household Members Over 25:	1
Number of Household Members:	8

He's between 26 and 44 years old, with a little girl under 10 and another 10 to 15, and I don't think she was Rhoda. There were also 5 slaves in the household. He married Rhoda Ingram this exact year, probably after the census. So, it looks like Daniel was a widower with two young daughters. He may have been quite a bit older than Rhoda. 

I don't find Daniel in the 1810 census of Anson County, but Barnabas was back, living in the same general area as James Turner and Isham Ingram, who lived next door to his sister, Trecey Turner. There's no Charles or Daniel, but a Drury Porter shows up, next to Anglica Seigler, whom I've blogged on before. Could Drury and Daniel be one and the same?

Name:	Daniel Porter
Gender:	Male
Military Date:	May-Jul 1780
Military Place:	Virginia, USA
State or Army Served:	Virginia
Regiment:	Gibson's Regiment
Rank:	Sergeant

There was a Daniel Porter who served in the Revolutionary War in Virginia. Was he the same Daniel?

Another odd coincidence was that although Daniel Porter does not show up in the 1810 census, in 1817, he acquires a land grant that adjoins the property of Robert Frayland (?) and Isham Ingram, Sr., Rhoda's father. 

In 1820, everything is in alphabetical order, so there is no proximity to others enumerated in the same area, but there are 3 Porters, Charles has returned, Barnabas is still there, and now there is Rhoda. And she is not alone. 

Name:	Rhody Porter
Home in 1820 (City, County, State):	Coppedge, Anson, North Carolina
Enumeration Date:	August 7, 1820
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:	2
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over:	1
Free White Persons - Under 16:	4
Free White Persons - Over 25:	1
Total Free White Persons:	6
Total All Persons - White, Slaves, Colored, Other:	6

The 1820 census places Rhoda over 45, so she would have been born before 1775. She has a housefull of young ones, despite no husband. There's a girl between 16 and 25, or born between 1804 and 1795, another 10 to 15, or between 1805 and 1820 and a third under 10, or between 1810 and 1820. There is also 2 little boys under 10. These girls would not be the same ones with Daniel Porter in 1800, as that were not born yet. 

No sign of Daniel and Drury has moved south of the Carolina border to Chesterfield County. It is my belief that Daniel was probably dead. 

Name:	Rheba Pender[Rhoda Porter]
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):	Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:	2
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14:	2
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:	2
Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49:	1
Free White Persons - Under 20:	4
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	4
Total Free White Persons:	8
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):	8

In 1830, Rhoda is found living right next door to her brother, Isham Ingram. This time she is heading a household of 8 people. Rhoda is said to be in her 40's, or born between 1781 and 1790. There are two females in their 20's, or born between 1801 and 1810. These could have been the two in the 1820 census. We'll call them Daughter One and Daughter Two, for lack of any real knowledge of who they were. There's also a male in his twenties, who was not in the last census. We'll call him son-in-law One, or perhaps wannabe, or maybe a fieldhand. Or maybe he was a son returned, one who had been bound out as a child due to illegitimacy that Rhoda had been accused of in 1813. There were two boys born between 1816 and 1820 who could very well have been the two under 10 in 1820. I'll call them Grandson One and Grandson Two. The little girl in their age group has disappeared, perhaps dead, or perhaps, if she were closer to 10 in 1820, married as a teen within the last few years there. Two additional little boys have joined the homestead, both under 5, so born between 1825 and 1830. I'll call them Grandson Three and Four. A Jesse Porter has turned up in Anson County, and we find Charles Porter next to James and Axom Turner, my 5th Great Grandfather, and his oldest son, and Barnabas Porter is living next to Stark Ramsey, another ancestor of mine, who I know lived in Burnsville, but on the same page with Charles Porter. 

Rhoda's last census was that of 1840. She's again listed next to her brother, Isham Ingram, and close by are Joseph Ingram, another brother, and Joshua Ingram. Also closeby in Milly Turner, her niece, who appears to be taking care of Treasy Turner, Milly's mother and Rhoda's sister, as the 3 dashes fit the ages and genders of Milly, Treasy and Milly's son, Alexander. 

Name:	Rhoda Porter
Home in 1840 (City, County, State):	Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 60 thru 69:	1
Persons Employed in Agriculture:	1
No. White Persons over 20 Who Cannot Read and Write:	1
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	1
Total Free White Persons:	2
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves:	2

This time, the girls are gone and only one family member is left with Rhoda. Rhoda's age is given as in her 60's, or between 1770 and 1780, and a young man in his 20's is with her, employed in agriculture. 

Barnabas or Barnaby Porter is sitll with us, and appears to be in the same place, near Thomas Drew, Allen Carpenter and Samuel Exum. There's a few new faces, a William Porter, in his 30's and a woman in her 20's, with children, probably his young family, but there is also a woman in her 50's, maybe his widowed mother or mother-in-law. He's near Robertson Pistole, so sitll in the same general area of Burnsville. Lastly, there is Alex Porter, a young man in his 20's with a teenaged bride, 15 to 19, just the two of them. 

The last report I have, so far, of Rhoda Ingram Porter is in the estate file for her brother, Isham Ingram.

The exact paragraph, as written in form for all of the 9 heirs was;

Samuel P. Morton admr of Isham Ingram on a/c with Rhoda Porter

   To her share of the estate                       370.28

    by Thos. S. Ashe report April 1853   44.33

              Int to 15 Oct 1858                  14.03

Wm G. Smith al for E. Nelms m Dec 1853   46.74

             Int to 15 Oct  1858                    1.50

Wm Littles report  16 Dec 1853         13.66

            Int due to 15 Oct 1858          43.00

Balance due Rhoda Porter ----------  312.17    Interest 58.17

I believe Rhoda Porter had died before 1858, but maybe not. People were missed in the census records quite often. My question was, who were the other people in her household? Were they her children and grandchildren, and if so, who were they and what happened to them? Who were Daniel Porter's daughters by his first marriage? And who was Daniel Porter to start with?

In Treacy Turner's portion of the estate papers, the last name listed was that of Burwell Braswell, her son-in-law and Executor. In Parthenia Thomas's case, it was Isham Thomas, her son. Thomas Ashe and William G. Smith are listed in most every case and I believe they were just accountants or clerks. But was William Little related to Rhoda?

The 1850 census of Anson County is filled with various young Porters. Most have been tied to either James Barnabas Porter, who died about 1846, and his wife Levicy Gresham Porter, others to Charles, but most of his line migrated southward and west. 

I know of two daughters to Barnabas Porter, Patience Porter who married Axom Turner and migrated to Alabama, and Elizabeth Braswell, born about 1810, who named a son Barnabas Porter Braswell. 

I put this forth into the stratosphere, in hopes to connect with some Porter family expert who knows more about Daniel and Drury and Barnabas and Charles, and perhaps even Rhoda. I've met wonderful distant cousins, and other passionate researchers since I started blogging, who have had information I would never have known any other way. I hope the case of the Anson County Porters may be the same. 

    

So, Who was Lucy Ingram

 From the Fayetteville Observer, November 28, 1848

Tuesday, November 28, 1848, Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.)-Married: In Stanly county on the 7th, Benjamin MAULDEN to Miss Elizabeth COLEY, daughter of John COLEY.-Married: In Anson county on the 19th, Rev. S. P. MORTON of Stanly to Miss Lucy INGRAM, of Anson.  Also, on the same evening, John C. CAUDLE to Miss Judith PARKER, all of Anson. -Died: In Stanly county on the 6th, Jonathan WILKERSON aged 61….

-Died: On the 12th, at Rocky River Springs, Stanly county, Wade GREEN, returned volunteer

Lucy Ingram Morton was my 4th Step-Great Grandmother. Now that is a relationship. As they both were well into middle age, and she was long past childbearing years when they married, no one has really put much energy into trying to determine exactly who Lucy was, as their are no descendants of that union. The above tombstone is that of Vashti Calloway Morton, the first wife of Rev. S. P. Morton.

Now, several family trees have too young boys as products of the marriage, Lewis and James Wesley, my theory is that they were not Mortons, as they can't be located as Mortons past the 1850 census when they were babies, but the sons of an Anson County family of Griggs, as I have explained in my previous post, Who Were The Griggs Boys, which you can find at the link below. 

Who Were the Griggs Boys?

But who really was Lucy? Let's look at a few clues. 

The newspaper article has her named Miss Lucy Ingram. A quick search revealed a Lucy Martin, daughter of Kinchen Martin and Chloe Hough Martin, who some had down as having married an Ingram, but "Miss" implies this Lucy had never married. 

Name:	Lucy Morton
Gender:	Female
Age:	52
Birth Year:	abt 1798
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Diamond Hill, Anson, North Carolina, USA
Line Number:	5
Dwelling Number:	805
Family Number:	805
Household Members Age Samuel Morton 44 Lucy Morton 52 Elizabeth W Morton 12 George A Morton 10 Sarah Morton 6 Lewis Morton 3 James W Morton 1

The first census after Sammy and Lucys wedding shows them living in Diamond Hill, which is not far from the Red Hill Church area where they are buried. In the Red Hill area, Martins are a dominant family, especially that of John Martin. Red Hill is where Sammy and Lucy are buried, where his daughter Wincy Elizabeth and her husband, George Washington Turner are buried, my third, Great Grandparents, and their son, William A. Turner and his wife, Sarah Frances Faulkner Turner, my second Great Grandparents are buried. Three Generations of the same family in one cemetery. My Great Grandmother, Penny Wayne Turner Davis, who lived into my lifetime and memory, had moved to Stanly County and settled in Albemarle, where we remain.

The census shows she was some years older than Rev. S. P. Morton, her husband, and that she was born in North Carolina. The chances were good that she was from Anson County, where they were married and where they made a home, even if his evangelism took him far and wide. If she was in Anson in 1848, when they married, there was a good chance she had been there in 1840. The 1840 census did not list people by name, except for the head of household, usually a man, unless the woman was a widow. So I began to look for an Ingram family in Anson County in 1840 who had a woman in the home in the age group Lucy would have been in 1840. 

Red Hill Baptist Church, my own photo

There were no shortage of Ingrams in Anson County in 1840. They were a large, prolific, and primarily wealthy family. I found 18 households led by Ingrams: Isham, Joseph B., Eben, George W., John W., Jeremiah, Jer (which I believe may have been just the plantation of the previous Jeremiah, who may have kep a separate house in a town, as there were a huge number of people in this household, primarily slaves.), another Joseph, Malachai, Thomas, Dixon, Armstead L., John M., John, yet another Joseph, Joshua, Benjamin, and W. P. Ingram, whom I discovered was William Pines Ingram. One of the Josephs would marry into my Davis family and move to Mississippi. The Ingrams wove in and out of my family tree in multiple ways. 

An Overshot of Ingram Mountain in Anson

Looking for a woman the age of Lucy in the household narrowed the 18 down to 7:  Isham, George W., Thomas, John M., John, Joshua, and William Pines. I checked both Thomas and W. P. as the most likely places to look, as they had multiple women of multiple ages in the home, just a perfect spot for an aging maiden aunt to be living with the family. Unfortunately, neither of those panned out. So I just started at the top of the list, with Isham.

Name:	Isam Ingram
Home in 1840 (City, County, State):	Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49:	1
Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23:	1
Slaves - Females - 10 thru 23:	1
Persons Employed in Agriculture:	3
No. White Persons over 20 Who Cannot Read and Write:	2
Free White Persons - Under 20:	2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	2
Total Free White Persons:	4
Total Slaves:	2
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves:	6

 Isham Ingram was probably born in Anson County, North Carolina. There is an older Isham Ingram in the records who served in the Revolutionary War, who married a Martha Turner. Now, I have to research them to see if Martha Turner may have been connected to James Turner, my ancestor who was the Grandfather of George W. Turner who married the daughter of Rev. S. P. Morton. They lived in the same part of the county. 

Isham Ingram, the younger, was most likely the Isham who fought in the War of 1812. He shows up in the census in 1810, 1820, 1830 and 1840. In 1840, he heads a household of 6 people, a man and women in their 40's, 2 young girls, one between 5 and 9, and another between 15 and 19, and two slaves, a boy and girl in their teens or early twenties. 

Isham died in 1846, allow his probate records are dated 1858, it just took that long to settle the estate.

And there it was...the smoking gun. 

His "beloved wife, Lucy Ingram". I found a Lucy.

The Will was dated August 22, 1846. He may have become ill and known death was at his door. 

Several people besides his wife Lucy are mentioned in the Will. He states; "I give all my seat and personal estate to my beloved wife Lucy Ingram during her natural life and to dispose of Hannah, (I presume he is speaking of the female slave), as she pleases. After my wife's death for Martha Newton to have one fourth of what is left, 1/4 to Lucy Martin, and one fourth to my sister Sarah in Alabama and all of her children. And the other fourth to my sister Pathenia Thomas. I appoint Christopher Watkins my lawful executor. I give my brother Joseph Ingram my fine overcoat and $4 to buy him a Bible."

The document was witnessed by Chris Watkins and William Carpenter. (Perhaps the William Carpenter whose daughter married George D. Morton? This is all taking place in the same general area). 

So all seems well and good, Isham Ingram had a wife named Lucy and she was widowed about the same time as Rev. S. P. Morton. That doesn't prove that this was the Lucy Ingram that married Sammy. There was the matter of that "Miss" Lucy Ingram in the newspaper. But attached to the will was a lawsuit. Now, you know with Isham leaving his brother Joseph nothing but a coat and $4 with the suggestion he buy a Bible, that there was going to be a lawsuit. 

So, what do we know about Isham now? He married a Lucy. He had a brother named Joseph Ingram, a sister named Parthenia Ingram Thomas and another sister named Sarah who lived in Alabama and was a mother. We know Martha Newton and a Lucy Martin are connected to him somehow, but not how. And another Lucy, and she's a Martin.

It's in the lawsuit that we find gold. This is several years after the death of Isham Ingram, and if you notice above, it states "Samuel P. Morton + wife Lucy + others vs Joseph Ingram + others." I found her. Lucy Ingram, widow of Isham Ingram had remarried to Rev. Samuel P. Morton. The newspaper had it wrong, she was Mrs. Lucy Ingram.

Samuel P. Morton had become the administrator of the Estate of Isham Ingram, as he had become the executor of the estate of Job Calloway. In fact, Sammy was the executor of several estates and actually acted as an attorney in several instances. The truth was, Rev. Samuel P. Morton was not the impovershed, wandering emphatic evangelist that the sketch of him written by a Rev. Wilhoit in the early part of the 1900's painted him to be. Humble and an emotional orator, I'm sure he was, but the more I get a closer and more personal look at him, the more I discover that he was not poor, and he was not uneducated, and he was most definately not simple. 

Samuel P. Morton was the first Clerk of Court of Stanly County. His name is everywhere. He performed many legal functions in several different counties,  as well as a great number of marriages. Sam was smart, Sam was educated, and while not exceptionally wealthy, he did ok. He bought land, he provided for his family, and other people, as well. I can tell he had went to school and achieved a higher degree of education than most. Sam was multi-faceted. 

The adendum read, "Ordered by the court that this suit stand in the name of Samuel P. Morton and wife Lucy and others against Joseph Ingram and others. ....that S. P. Morton, Thomas Newton, Lucy Martin, Parthenia Thomas, William Ingram, Calvin Ingram, Benjamin Ingram and Sarah Ingram pay all of the costs of the suit. 

Now to find out who all those people were. First of all, Thomas Newton was the husband of Martha Newton, mentioned in the will. Martha was Martha Martin Newton and Lucy was her unmarried sister. Lucy would eventually marry a Miller and migrate to Mississippi. They were nieces of Lucy Ingram (Morton). They were daughters of William Hough Martin and his wife, Temperance Parker Martin. Two Martin brothers had married two Parker sisters, and they were the sons of Kinchen Martin and Chloe Hough. Lucy Ingram Morton was Lucy Martin. 

Another interesting tidbit I found was the name of Peter May mentioned in a list of Revolutionary War soldiers that listed Kinchen Martin. This list was full of other of my ancestors, like James Marshall and Solomon Burris.

Rev. Samuel P. Morton is listed in the Will of Peter May as being his 'good friend'. 

The jury assembled to hear the lawsuit was a who's who of Uppper Anson, including one of my kith and kin, John Winfield.  Others were Jesse Seagoe, Joseph Jowers, Alexander A. McRae, Luther Teal, William P. Kendall, Thomas Swink, Langford Hair, John W. Jarman, Robert  Redfern, Richmond Lee and Dennis Grady. Well, some of them were not so well known. 

The Probate papers were just as interesting and informational for me. They are dated 1858, which has a few people giving that as his death date, although it doesn't seem too many people were very interested in him, as he had no descendants upon his death. Those two little girls living with them in 1840? That was neices Martha and Lucy Martin, why, I don't know, but there was a deed of trust that gave the suggestion that they had been wards of Isham and Lucy. As for the date, not one, but two newpapers reported the death of Isham Ingram, ESQ. The one above was from Wilmington and dated September 25, 1846,which gives his date of death as "the 23rd Ult", meaning he died on August 23, 1846, the day after he wrote the Will! Dude knew his days were measured. 

18 Sep 1846

Charlotte, North Carolina

Written in a beautifully legible and orderly script, I was proud of the penmanship of GGGGreat Grandpa.

"Samule P. Morton admr of Isham Ingram decd.

To amount reported by N D Boggan former clerk and confirmed by the Oct 1853 term of court...

N D Boggons report Dec 1853...

A J Dargons report 14 July 1857....

Amount to be divided among 9 Distributees:

Keep in mind Isham Ingram had no living children at his decease. No children were named in his will, only his wife, Lucy, Martha Newton and Lucy Martin, her nieces, his sister Sarah and her children in Alabama, his sister Parthenia Thomas and his brother, Joseph Ingram, whom he chided by leaving him a fine coat and $4.00 to buy a Bible, suggesting he needed to get in church by my guess. Isham may not have approved of Joseph's lifestyle, because Joseph was in no way needy. 

Each of the 9 heirs of Isham recieved an equal amount of $370.28. Some of them I know were siblings. Others may have been nieces or nephews, I will have to look closer into this branch of the Ingram tree to detect. Isham having no descendants, this can not be googled. The only thing that comes up on google is he as a son of Isham Ingram Sr. and Martha Turner Ingram, the Isham who served in the Revolution. The 9 distributees were:

1) Joseph Ingram ( Thomas Ashe report April 1853, Wm G Smith att for E. Nelms, Joseph Ingram Dec 7 1855)

2) Hezekiah Ingram

3) Trecy Turner ( Wlm Hite report, Burwell Braswell exec for Trecy Turnner) Trecy Turner I know off the top of my head was his sister. I looked into Trecy and her family when I was researchng my Turner line, which Samuel P. Mortons daughter Wincy married into. Trecy and her family lived in very close proximity to G. W. Turner, Wincy's future husband, and his mother, Mary, in 1850. I've not found the connection yet, but G. W's Grandfather, James Turner, could very well have been related to Trecy's husband. 

In her will, she mentions four children, her sons William and Jesse Turner and daughters Sarah Ballard and Milly Braswell, the wife of Burwell Braswell, her Executor, and her grandson, Alexander Turner, Milly's son by Jackson Trull, who claimed the boy as his son in a deed. She mentions her share of the estate of her brother, Isham Ingram, and wills it to Milly after her own decease. 

4) Rhoda Porter (who is living very near Isham Ingram in the 1840 census.

5) Sally Ingram (his sister in Alabama who married an Ingram. Cousin marriage) William E. Tyson reports.

6) Parthenia Thomas, sister mentioned in will, Isham Thomas reports

7) John Ingram, A. S. Ingram reports.

8) Mathew Ingram, Alec Moore reports.

9) Wiley Ingram, John Tyson reports. 

So I've now determined that Samuel P. Morton married Lucy Martin Ingram, daughter of Kinchen and Chloe Hough Martin and widow of Isham Ingram.  Her father was also a Revolutionary War Patriot. Below is an excerpt from her mother, Chloe's pension application that mentions Lucy. 

Sunday Snapshot: Carrie Ina Whitaker Ingram

In the mode of researching entirely different branches of my family tree, I've decided to occasionally step away and spotlight an individual here and there, who may or may not be a direct ancestor, but who ended up in this massive family tree of mine that continues to grow daily.

Carrie Ina Whitaker Ingram is one of those individuals. She lived a brief life, but left descendants, and those descendants seem totally confused and have no idea who she was or even that she existed at all. This is the main reason I have decided to feature her.

Carrie I Whitaker was born September 5, 1897 in Stanly County, NC and passed away on January 6, 1919 in Steele's, Richmond County, North Carolina. Her parents were John Wesley Whitaker and his wife, Sarah Ann Hudson Whitaker. She fits in my family tree, not once, but twice, from each parent.

John Wesley Whitaker, her father, was born in March of 1856 in Stanly County, the son of Samuel Nelson Whitaker and wife, Sophia Murray Whitaker. Sophia was the sister of my third Great Grandmother, Priscilla Murray Aldridge, making John Wesley a cousin, some times removed.

His wife, Sarah Anne Hudson, was the daughter of Burwell Hudson and Sarah Ann Lee Hudson, and sister of my second Great Grandmother, Nancy Caroline Hudson, or my Great Great Great Aunt.

So Carrie, as their child, sits firmly on a twisted branch of my tree.

Name:	Johon W Whitiker [John Wesley Whitiker]  [John W Whitiker]
Age:	44
Birth Date:	Mar 1856
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1900:	Kings Creek, Cabarrus, North Carolina
Ward of City:	#2
Sheet Number:	11
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation:	180
Family Number:	180
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Marital status:	Married
Spouse's name:	Sallie A Whitiker
Marriage Year:	1878
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Years in US:	44
Occupation:	Dryer in Cotton Mill
Months Not Employed:	0
Can Read:	No
Can Write:	No
Can Speak English:	Yes
House Owned or Rented:	R
Farm or House:	H
Neighbors:
Household Members:	Name Age Johon W Whitiker 44 Sallie A Whitiker 39 Ada A Whitiker 16 Lou D Whitiker 15 John S Whitiker 11 Berta M Whitiker 5 Carry I Whitiker 2

The family originated in Stanly County, North Carolina, but by 1900, had moved into Cabarrus County to work in the many Cotton Mills being established there. Carrie was one of the younger children and first shows up in the 1900 census as a 2 year old.

Name:	John W Whitaker
Age in 1910:	55
Birth Year:	abt 1855
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1910:	Uwharrie, Montgomery, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Marital status:	Married
Spouse's name:	Sarah A Whitaker
Father's Birthplace:	Georgia
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Native Tongue:	English
Occupation:	Farmer
Industry:	General Farm
Employer, Employee or Other:	Employer
Home Owned or Rented:	Own
Home Free or Mortgaged:	Mortgaged
Farm or House:	Farm
Able to Read:	No
Able to Write:	No
Years Married:	32
Out of Work:	N
Number of weeks out of work:	0
Neighbors:
Household Members:	Name Age John W Whitaker 55 Sarah A Whitaker 49 Carrie I Whitaker 12 Ottis Lee Whitaker 7 John B Whitaker 6

Ten years later, all of the children but Carrie and her younger brother, Otis had flown the nest.
John B, although just a year younger than Otis, was not a child of the couple, but a grandchild.
Sarah claimed to have been the mother of 10 children, with only 7 living.




The family was now living in Montgomery County, North Carolina, on the east side of Stanly County, and not Cabarrus, on the west side. John Wesley had bought a farm on mortgage, in the Uwharrie community, in the midst of the Uwharrie Mountains.




Two days after Christmas, on December 27, 1913, just 3 years later, Carrie I Whitaker would marry Milton Lacy Ingram, in Montgomery County, North Carolina. The document claims that she was 18, however, she had actually just turned 16 that September.

Name:	Cary I Whitaker
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Age:	18
Birth Year:	abt 1895
Marriage Date:	27 Dec 1913
Marriage Place:	Montgomery, North Carolina, USA
Father:	S W Whitaker
Mother:	Anna Whitaker
Spouse:	M Lacy Ingram
Spouse Gender:	Male
Spouse Race:	White
Spouse Age:	26
Spouse Father:	H M Ingram
Spouse Mother:	Susan Ingram
Event Type:	Marriage

Lacy was the son of a Preacher. He was born in Anson County, but raised in Montgomery. His parents were Rev. Hugh Montgomery Ingram and Susan Elizabeth Teal Ingram. Rev. Ingram grew up in neighboring Richmond County, but had moved to Anson, where Lacy, one of his younger children, was born, before moving to the Star and Biscoe area.

Carrie was not Lacy's first wife. Nearly a decade older than Carrie, Lacy had been born on March 1, 1889 and had married a young girl named Veola Emmalou Bean on March 18, 1906, when he had just turned 17, and she was 18.

They had one child, a son named Frank L. Ingram (thought to be Franklin Lacy Ingram) on February 25, 1909.

Name:	Milton L Ingram
Age in 1910:	21
Birth Year:	abt 1889
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1910:	Biscoe, Montgomery, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Marital status:	Married
Spouse's name:	Veola Ingram
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Native Tongue:	English
Occupation:	Day Laborer
Industry:	Planing Mill
Employer, Employee or Other:	Wage Earner
Home Owned or Rented:	Rent
Farm or House:	House
Able to Read:	No
Able to Write:	No
Years Married:	4
Out of Work:	N
Neighbors:
Household Members:	Name Age Milton L Ingram 21 Veola Ingram 21 Frank Ingram 1

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In 1910, the fledging family is found living in Biscoe, where Lacy is working as a day laborer at a Planing Mill. Veola has had one child with one living, Frank.

I do not know what happened to Veola Bean Ingram. She may be buried in the Old Archibald Freeman Cemetery with her mother who died in 1914, in an unmarked grave (or collapsed marker grave). What we do know is that 2 days past Christmas, in 1913, Milton Lacy Ingram married Carrie I Whitaker.

Ten months later, on October 20, 1914, the couple had their first child, a daughter they named Ina Mae Ingram. Her delayed birth certificate suggests she may have been born in Randolph County.

I'm not sure if there were any more pregancies in between the birth of Ina Mae and the birth of a son on January 6, 1919, when Ina Mae would have been 4 years old, but the unforntunate little fellow was born into a horribly fatal flu epidemic.

Name:	Lacy Ingram
Sex:	Male
Wife:	Carrie Whitaker
Son:	Infant Ingram
Other information in the record of Infant Ingram from North Carolina Births and Christenings, 1866-1964
Name:	Infant Ingram
Gender:	Male
Birth Date:	06 Jan 1919
Birthplace:	North Carolina, United States
Father's Name:	Lacy Ingram
Mother's Name:	Carrie Whitaker

Chances are, Frank and Ina, just vunerable children, were probably staying in a healthier environment, and away from Carrie and Lacy, perhaps with grandparents.

Both Lacy and Carrie lost their lives in this horrible epidemic, and presumably the newborn son, as well. I can not find a name or a death certificate for him. The papers reported a total of 94 deaths at the time, including them.



Rockingham Post-Dispatch
Rockingham, North Carolina09 Jan 1919, Thu  •  Page 5

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Add caption

Name: Louis Josh HudsonEvent Type: Marriage
Event Date: 07 May 1932
Event Place: Richmond, North Carolina, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Birth Year (Estimated): 1909
Father's Name: J F Hudson
Mother's Name: Mirl Hudson
Spouse's Name: Ira May Ingram
Spouse's Gender: Female
Spouse's Age: 18
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated): 1914
Spouse's Father's Name: Lacy Melvin Ingram
Spouse's Mother's Name: Carrie Ingram

Other information in the record of Louis Josh Hudson and Ira May Ingram
Name: Louis Josh Hudson
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 07 May 1932
Event Place: Richmond, North Carolina, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Birth Year (Estimated): 1909
Father's Name: J F Hudson
Mother's Name: Mirl Hudson
Spouse's Name: Ira May Ingram
Spouse's Gender: Female
Spouse's Age: 18
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated): 1914
Spouse's Father's Name: Lacy Melvin Ingram
Spouse's Mother's Name: Carrie Ingram

GS Film Number: 000471462
Digital Folder Number: 004004199
Image Number: 01433

"North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ," database with images, FamilySearch 

Carrie I Whitaker Ingram was only 21 years old when she died. Her death certificate gives the cause of death as Influenza and Miscarriage. She died January 6, 1919, the same day her son was born. It is presumed that he also died that day. Her husband had died just 2 days earlier on January the 4th. 
This episode of what would be known as "The Spanish Flu" was like nothing the citizens of North Carolina had ever encountered. With TB and Thyphoid Fever still running rampant, this Pandemic caused courts to be cancelled, businesses to close and churches to shut their doors for a season. The "Richmond Dispatch" reported just 10 days after Carrie's death, that the toll of victims in just Richmond County alone had reached 114. It had began in Wilmington , NC and had worked its fatal way westward and the citizenry were taken unaware. It killed young and old alike. Mercifully, the children, Jack and Ina Mae, were spared. 
Unfortunately, it seems, none of Jack's mother or father's people were able to take him in. With a large number of other children, orphaned for multiple reasons, he was sent to the Thomasville Baptist Orphanage in Davidson County, North Carolina. 

Name:	Frank L Inga?M [Frank L Inasem]  [Frank L Ingram]
Age:	10
Birth Year:	abt 1910
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1920:	Thomasville, Davidson, North Carolina
Residence Date:	1920
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Marital status:	Single
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Able to Speak English:	Yes
Attended School:	yes

Mary Misenheimer 16 Jake King 12 Garland Grace 12 Roberta M Allen 17 John Thomas Allen 15 Austin Newland Allen 12 Alexander Dorons 15 Jennie Dorons 12 Dora Maude Nunn 14 Romulus J Stine 16 William Glenn Stine 14 Mamie Irene Stine 12 Frank L Inga?M 10 Grace Mortimer Rhyne 11

ACreator:dcrmaster\EHorton  One of the buildings at the Baptist Orphanage in Thomasville

There are pages and pages of these poor children. Epidemics of many kinds abounded those days, along with a war that took many young fathers and left mothers destitute and unable to care for her chidlren. If you are researching an ancestor, who was a child during the early part of the century, who may have lost one or both parents, and they disappear from record, just to reappear as an adult, try looking in the census records for the childrens homes and orphanages, where they are usually listed as "inmates", with no negative connotations. These were children's homes, not juvenile correction centers. 
Frank would marry just a few years later, in 1924, to a girl several years older than he, Nellie Pankey, who had also lost her father in the 1919 pneumonia/influenza epidemic. He was 15.  They would first more to Chatham County, where he would find work in a sawmill. They would later move to Asheboro, in Randolph County, NC where Frank would find work through the WPA and had worked his way up to Foreman. He fathered a sizeable family and lived to be 63, passing away in Charlotte, NC. 
Ina Mae was a little more fortunate, in that her mother's parents were still in good health, and lived fairly long lives. She went to live with them, as they were already raising one grandchild, John Boyd Whitaker. 

Name:	Ina Mae Whitker

Age:	5
Birth Year:	abt 1915
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1920:	Steeles, Richmond, North Carolina
Residence Date:	1920
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Granddaughter
Marital status:	Single
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Neighbors:
Household Members:	Name Age G W Whitker 65 Sallie A Whitker 61 Ottis Lee Whitker 18 John Whitker 16 Ina Mae Whitker 5

Ina is shown in her grandparents home in both the 1920 and 1930 censuses. 

Name:	Ina M Whitaker
Birth Year:	abt 1915
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Marital status:	Single
Relation to Head of House:	Granddaughter
Home in 1930:	Steeles, Richmond, North Carolina, USA
Map of Home:	View Map
Dwelling Number:	339
Family Number:	343
Attended School:	Yes
Able to Read and Write:	Yes
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Able to Speak English:	Yes
Occupation:	Laborer
Industry:	General Farm
Class of Worker:	Unpaid worker, member of the family
Employment:	Yes
Household Members:	Name Age John W Whitaker 76 Sarah Whitaker 70 John B Whitaker 25 Ina M Whitaker 15

She grew up in the Steeles Township area of Richmond County, the northwestern arm of the county, just south of Mt. Gilead in Montgomery County and not far from the Anson County border on the west. 


Ina Mae would also marry young, at 18, on May 7, 1932, to Lewis Joshua Hudson. The marriage would loop her back into the Hudson family tree yet again. If you will recall, Ina Mae was the granddaughter of Sarah Anna Hudson, daughter of Burwell Hudson, who would die of pneumonia in the Civil War. Sarah had one brother, Marion Morrison Hudson, who was quite the charactor. While married, Marion would a number of relationships with other women, of which two, that I know of, resulted in children being born. One of these relationships was with Mary Hudson, known as Polly. This couple was covered in my post a few years back, "Sunday Black Sheep: The Abashing Story of Marion Hudson." Polly was younger than Marion by about 7 years, but she was the half-sister of his father Burwell, sharing a father, William Joshua Hudson, by different wives of his, making her, genetically, his half-aunt.  There son was named James Franklin Hudson, and he settled his family in Montgomery County, NC.  Lewis Joshua Hudson, Ina's husband, was the son of James Franklin Hudson.  This relationship would make Carrie, Ina's mother and Frank, Lewis Joshua's father, first cousins.  Down this route, Lewis and Ina would be second cousins, but a little bit more, considering the incestous nature of Franks origins. But as if this endogamy was not enough, Lewis Joshua Hudson's mother was Araminta Laura "Minty" Whitaker. Minty was the daughter of William M. Whitaker and a woman named Lizzie Hendley. William M Whitaker was the brother of John Wesley Whitaker, Carrie's father. So Carrie and Minty were also first cousins, making Ina Mae and Lewis Joshua second cousins down an entirely separate alley. The ties get a little more tangled, though not genetically, as William M. Whitaker had married Elizabeth Norwood, the daughter of John Norwood. John Norwood had married the widow of Burwell Hudson, Sarah, after his death. 
What a tangled web. 

Ina Mae and Lewis would raise their family in Montgomery County. I noticed that the family trees of her descendants seemed to not know who she was, and had her mixed up with an entirely different Ina Mae Ingram who was born in Georgia. Her documents all name Carrie and Milton Lacy Ingram as her parents, and she was raised by her grandparents, Carrie's parents, so the path is very clear. It's unknown how many families in our area were torn apart by this terrible epidemic and how it changed the course for the individuals who survived. Another generation left in tatters. 

INA MAE INGRAM HUDSON

INA MAE INGRAM HUDSON

Montgomery Herald (NC) - Thursday, October 9, 2003

Ina Mae Ingram Hudson, 88, of Mt. Gilead, died Saturday, October 6, 2003, at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital.

Funeral services were held Monday, October 6 at Blackwood Chapel Baptist Church, with burial in the church cemetery. Rev. Gary McNeill and Rev. Dwight Mabry officiated the ceremonies.

She was a native of Montgomery County. She was a member of Blackwood Chapel Baptist Church and a former employee of United Mills and McRae Shoe.

Surviving are sons, Melvin Hudson, of Mt. Gilead, David Hudson, of Pueblo, Colo., Dwight Hudson and Michael Hudson, both of Mt. Gilead; daughter, Shirley Blake, of the home; ten grandchildren, twenty great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren.

Montgomery Herald (NC) - Thursday, October 9, 2003