 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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.
