Marriage Near Georgeville

The Concord Times
(Concord, North Carolina)07 Jun 1894, Thu  • Page 3




What a pleasant surprise, while trying to find information on the death of his father, Frederick Starnes 1805- after 1880, I found this article on the marriage of Frederick Fincher Starnes to his second wife Abigail D. Furr Starnes, widow of John C. Starnes, who was a relation of F.F. Starnes, but I've not determined exactly which. At this point, it seems like a first cousin relationship.

It was interesting to see the wedding took place at the home of Abbie Starnes, which was in Stanly County, and was a double-wedding, with their friends, Henry and Mattie.

While searching for a little more information on Henry Crayton, and Mattie Herrin, I found some surprising connections that deserve a closer look.

First, to look where they were in the 1900 census, the closest after the weddings, revealed a few surprises.

Name:	Henry D Crayton
Age:	30
Birth Date:	Aug 1869
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1900:	Smith, Cabarrus, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Marital Status:	Married
Spouse's Name:	Martha C Crayton
Marriage Year:	1894
Years Married:	6
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Occupation:	View on Image
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Henry D Crayton 30 Martha C Crayton 21 Giles C Crayton 3 Lula A Crayton 1 John Linker 24 William Slains 22

While looking at the actual document, it appears "William Slains" is actually William Starnes, living in the Crayton household. Who was he? Then, by looking at neighbors, I saw Levi Blackwelder, a name I recalled from the division of Property of  Nathan T. and Margaret Starnes. Then I recalled that one of Nathan T. Starnes daughters, Martha, had married a Crayton. Further research revealed that the young William Starnes, was the youngest son of Nathan T. Starnes. Henry D. Crayton was the son of William's older sister, Martha Jane Starnes Crayton, was Henry D. Crayton's mother, so William, abeit younger, was his Uncle and Abigail, who married F. F. Starnes was the widow of William and Martha Jane's brother John C. Starnes. Is that confusing enough?





If not, there is an added twist. Mattie Herrin, whom Henry David Crayton married, was the daughter of  Eli Ransom Herrin and Jemima Motley Herrin, whose brother Joseph Herrin, would marry Daisy Starnes, daughter of Frederick Fincher Starnes. He would later change his identity, and I have blogged on that. I've also featured a blog post on their mother, Jemima Motley, and her unfortunate incident with William Murray, another relative of mine.

The world of this area and this place was sometimes very small. That is why I feel that mysteries, at times, must be right in front of our eyes, because everyone was so interconnected. The best place to look is at times, right within the family itself.

Speaking of mysteries, I wonder greatly, what very laughable joke the newspaper referred to in the below paragraph. Perhaps we will never know.




Daily Concord Standard
(Concord, North Carolina)06 Jun 1894, Wed  • Page 1




The beautifully imagined image of this country double-wedding of relatives was over-shadowed by the sadness of two events that preceded them.

Both Fred and Abby had been widowed not that long before their marriage to each other. The papers spoke of the illness and death of their spouses.



The Concord Times
(Concord, North Carolina)13 Apr 1893, Thu  • Page 3

The family seemed to dwell very closely to the Cabarrus/Stanly line.

The below obituary is that of my Third Great Grandmother, Mary Louise Byram Starnes, Finche's first wife.



Daily Concord Standard
(Concord, North Carolina)21 Mar 1894, Wed  • Page 1


The look for anything on the death of F. F. Starnes father, Frederick Starnes, who lasts appears in the 1880 census, continues.

Name:	Fred. Starnes [Frederick Starnes]
Age:	75
Birth Year:	abt 1805
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1880:	Bethel Church, Cabarrus, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Self (Head)
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Neighbors:	View others on page
Cannot read/write: Blind: Deaf and dumb: Otherwise disabled: Idiotic or insane:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age Fred. Starnes 75

And a closer look at Nathan T. Starnes, of Stanly County, may reveal more of his exact connection to my line and open a few other doors. One never knows. 

Finch's trace South of the Border

Lancaster District, South Carolina was an odd shaped piece of land with the Catawba River as it's western boundary and North Carolina as it's northern boundary. It is situated just south of Union County, North Carolina, which in it's earlier days was part of Anson and Mecklenburg Counties. The Starnes family, from which my Great, Great Grandmother, Margaret Arleavis Starnes and her father Frederick Fincher Starnes sprang, was originated in the Waxaw area of Southern Union County, in what was part of Mecklenburg back in the day. Leavy, as she was called, and her older sister Sarah Alice, were born in South Carolina. Her father first shows up in the North Carolina census of 1860. I have been in search of his whereabouts in the 1850 census and prior, as he was born in 1828.

His records of service in the Civil War, note him as being from not only Union County, North Carolina, but also Lancaster District, South Carolina. As is visible on the above old map, Waxhaw was situated along the border and smack in Indian territory. A Catawba settlement reigned just north of the area, and the Waxhaw were without. President Andrew Jackson's birthplace was in this area, and it is easy to see on the map how ol Granpa Finch could have wandered across the border and married and settled. I was also looking for traces of the Byrum's or Bynum's, his wife's family, but that is another post.

I struck treasure with this find in the book, " Items of Interest from The Lancaster Ledger, Lancaster, SC - Vol IV The End of the War".

One tract lying on the Rocky River Road on the waters of  Big Lynches creek, bounded by the lands of F. F. Starnes, Estate of Martin Plyer, Anna Courtney, Elisha Plyler and others containing 277 acres, mol. Plats will be submitted for sale. The crops now growing on these lands will be excepted from the sale, and the purchaser will take possession on the first day of January next. 

Terms- Cash and a credit of one and two years with interest.   K. G. Billings, C.E.L. D.

Although I had not found a deed for him, I had not looked past the 1860's knowing at that time, he was in Brief, Union county, NC near his father and he eventually made his way up that old Rocky River Road to Cabarrus County.  Mentioned under this was:

The house and lot in the Village of Lancaster, containing 3 acres, mol, bounded on the north by Arch Street, on the East by Broad or Main Street, on the West by Catawba Street and on the South by lots of Rev.  J.N. Craig and containing four lots in the plan of the town of Lancaster. The dwelling has been recently constructed , is large and commodius, and forms one of the most desirable residences in the Village. 

Lancaster was being born.

What has confused researchers for decades is a couple of things.

In the 1860 census, F. F. Starnes, already father of three, including daughter Leavy, is said to have been born in North Carolina.

In the 1870 census, he is said to have been born in Georgia.

In the 1880 census, he is said to have been born in Georgia.

In the 1900 census, he is said to have been born in North Carolina.

In the 1910 census, he is said to have been born in South Carolina.

He died in 1913.

His two oldest daughters consistently were said to have been born in North Carolina. His first son, John, who died as a small child and is buried near Mt. Pleasant, Cabarrus County, N.C. was the first to be born in North Carolina. John is listed in the 1860 census as two years old,which means Finch was in NC by 1858.

Now...I've found another compelling piece of information:

From the South Carolina Dept. of Archives and History:

Series: S213190 Volume: 0031 Page: 00017 Item: 002 Date: 10/2/1792 Description: LINCE, JOHN, PLAT FOR 107.25 ACRES ON TWENTY SIX MILE CREEK, NINETY SIX DISTRICT, SURVEYED BY SAMUEL H. DICKSON. Names indexed: DICKSON, SAMUEL H.; LINCE, JOHN; MORRIS, JOHN; STARNES, FREDERICK Locations: NINETY SIX DISTRICT; SAVANNAH RIVER; SENECA RIVER Document type: PLAT Topics: SIX AND TWENTY CREEK

Frederick Fincher Starnes was not born until 1828. This plat was from 1792. This would have been his father.  In the 1830 census of Mecklenburg County, Frederick Starnes IV is listed as having one male in home under 5 and 2 between 5 and 10.

Frederick F. Starnes has a lifetime connection to Nathan T. Starnes, the Stanly County Starnes. They show up in each others documents and Finch married the widow of Nathan's son John. Both married late in life a second time, leaving marriage licenses that mentioned their parents. Both are said to be the sons of Fred and Sallie Starnes, but Frederick Starnes IV, whom F. F. lives near in 1860, was married to Elizabeth Thompson. Could both Nathan and F. F. have been brothers by a first wife? People have Nathan as being the son of Frederick Jr and Madeline or Magdalene Starnes. Could we be tripping over common names?



Ninety-six District was close to Georgia. More digging to do.