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
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.
I have just finished writing a story on a lady named Zilphia Cochran, whom I was able to trace from her birth into slavery on the homeplace of Mr Abraham B. Cochran and his wife Mary Marshall Lilly Cochran, in what was at the time, Allenton, Stanly County, NC around 1834, to Montgomery County, NC and the Zion area, where her young mistress, the Widow Cochran, had married attorney James Lowe Gaines. After freedom, Zilphia would return to Stanly County and marry a man nearly 20 years her senior, Ben Davis, a man who had been the slave of my own Davis ancestors.
Doves of Stained Glass Window of Cottonville AME Zion Church
Ben and Zilphia had no children together, as he was 62 and she 46 upon their marriage. However, Ben had several children during his long marriage with his first wife, Fanny. Not so fortunate, Zilphia had had at least 6 children, 3 sons and 3 daughters, with several different men, which is in no way a reflection of morality, or lack of it, on her part. Her youngest daughter, Martha, was born in 1865, so all of Zilphia's pregnancies had occurred during her status as a slave. Two of her children are by Unknown fathers. They could have been one of the other fathers of the known ones, or someone else completely. Neither Zilphia, or any of her children, are ever referred to in the census records, or any other records as 'mulatto', or of mixed race. Zilphia and her children seem to have been of purely African decent. The fathers of her children that are known, were all mostly older men in the same communities where Zilphia had lived.
Two years after the death of Abraham (or Abram) Bruton Cochran, a son of David Cochran and Catherine Butler Cochran, in 1844, a probate of his property was made in Montgomery County, where he had spent his younger years. His widow, Mary, had married Attorney Gaines and went to live at his estate in the Zion Community of Pee Dee Township, taking her two surviving daughters, Mary Catherine, called Katie, and Martha Louisa, called Louisa. She left two children, Eliza and Calvin, who had been buried at the Allenton estate, behind in Stanly County, having lost them as children.
In the probate papers was a paper called the "Division of Negroes", and this paper named the individuals A. B. Cochran had held in slavery and most fortunately, named them as families.
"Jesse. Beck and her four children, viz, Martin, Mason, Jones and Ralph. Aggy and her four children viz Wallace, Zilphia, Toney and Sarah. Mariah and her two children, Jimmy and Sam."
Now, Aggy appeared in 3 census records before her death, 1870, 1880 and 1900. In those 3 documents, her year of birth indicated by her given age ranged between 1809 and 1823. A good middle ground guess would put her probable year of birth in the middle document of 1815. We know Ziphia was born in 1834 or 1835, so in 1846, she would have been around 12. Also in the Cochran probate papers, they placed values on each of the people listed, based on health and work equity, supposedly, which is the closest tool we have for guessing age. Aggy was valued at $335, at about 31. Zilphia was $360 at 12. Not knowing when her siblings were born, we have to guess using common sense and comparing a few others whoses birth years are known. Two of the sons of Jesse and Becca, Martin, born in 1844, and Mason, born in 1841 were valued at $150 and $290 respectively. Aggy's son Wallace was valued at $450, so he must have been somewhat older than Zilphia, and in prime working age. He couldn't be too much older, however, or he falls out of range to have been born in Aggy's childbearing years. If Aggy was 16 when Wallace was born, which is very feasible, that gives him a year of birth of around 1831 and age 16, himself in 1846. Toney, listed after Zilphia, was valued at $350, a little less than Zilphia, but he was a boy child, so he was probably around 10, or born in 1836. Sarah, the last listed, was no doubt the baby of the family thus far, was valued at $190, more than Martin (age 1) and less than Mason (age 5), and she was a girl, so maybe 3 years old with an estimated year of birth of 1843.
Yellow Rocking Chairwoman by Wallspice
Aggy had 2 more daughters, that I have found, after 1846, Susan and Lucinda. In the 1900 census, she reports that she had been the mother of 8 children, with 4 living. Three of those were Zilphia, Susan and Lucinda. I've been trying to locate the 4th living child of Aggie in 1900. This could possibly have been Sarah, married to an unknown individual, or one of two unknown and unnamed children, as I've found only 6. After exploring the lives of Zilphia's six children, I will examine the other descendants of Aggie that I know about.
According to the records of the children of William M. Cochran, he was born in Montgomery County, North Carolina. It is believed the "M" in his middle named stood for 'Marshall'. Born about 1852, he was the first of Zilphia's known children, she being around 17 at his birth. His father, named in his two marriage certificates, was one Jacob Cochran. There was no Jacob Cochran mentioned in the 1844-1846 estate papers of Abraham Bruton Cochran, which lists his mother, Zilphia, his grandmother, Aggy, and other family members. I believe Jacob had been a slave in the congregate Cochran family of A. B. Cochran's father, David, and lived nearby, and with one of A. B. Cochran's siblings, perhaps one of his brothers who later migrated south and west.
The first document William appears in is his marriage, at age 28, to Harriett Howell, 24, on December 21, 1882. William is not to be found in the 1870 or 1880 census records. The wedding took place in Stanly County and both parties are noted as residents thereof. Harriett's parents were listed as Lot and Huldy Howell, and indeed, in 1870, Harriett is found as a child in her widowed mother's home.
The marriage was performed by Justice of the Peace, B. C. Blalock at the Tyson Township home of Washington Christian. William was probably living near his mother and stepfather, Ben Davis. Witnesses to the ceremony were Dan Crump, Ed Christian and Doctor Capron, all of Stanly County. These individuals, and several other Howells are found close to my Davis family in the 1880 census, leading me to believe the Howell family originated with the Howells related to my Davis family as Job Davis's wife, Sarah, was married first to a Richard Howell, and her oldest son, Peter, took over his fathers lands as he grew up. One of Peter's daughters married a Capron, and that explains the Capron name, which I had never seen among the African-American community in this area before. The wedding must have been near Cottonville and near the Davis area.
Harriett didn't live a long life, as William remarried about a decade later. William and Harriett had one known child, Charles, or Charlie Cochran. He was born just before his father's second marriage, so perhaps Harriett had passed shortly after the delivery of this child.
On July 2, 1892, William Cochran married Patsy Christian. He was now about 40 years old and his bride only 19. Patsy was the daughter of Benjamin J. and Delia George Christian of Cottonville. The marriage was performed by M. R. McSwain, J. P., in Cottonville, and witnesses were Louis Christian, Patsy's brother, A. Hyatt and Gibs Turner.
They would immediately set up housekeeping and begin bringing children into their large family that would eventually increase to 11 children for W. M. and Patsy. In 1900, they had moved back across the river to Mount Gilead, in Montgomery County and the first four children, Frazier, Henry, John and Zilphia, named for her grandmother, had been born.
By 1909, William would return to Stanly County and buy his own property. On February 12, 1909, in Deed Book 47, Page 247, William M. Cochran bought 5 and 3/4 acre of land from H. J. and Eliza Cotton, for $57.50. The location only is described as bordering David and William Colson.
One year later, William is shown as operating his own farm, free and not mortgaged, and growing grain and cotton. That's not all he had been growing, the children now numbered 9. His neighbors were Cottons and Coggins and they are living in Harris Township. One group of neighbors, the Bunches, are in my family tree, and I know exactly where they lived, at the very end of Mountain Creek Road, placing the Cochrans between Whitney and Palmerville, near present Yadkin Brickyard area, I believe.
The next part of Williams story involves just his family, and reveals a decade of tragedy.
Two more child would join the fold after the 1910 census, Zorra May in 1913, and Ella on July 7, 1916. Ella didn't make the 1920 census, but I can not find a death certificate, so may have died as a child. But there were others, the 1910 census reveals Patsy as the mother of 12 children with 9 living. Existing death certificates reveal that most of the family was buried in the New Hope cemetery, in the old Isenhour area of Stanly County, just north of Badin.
Industry drew population, and the building of the dams, the electrical company, and the town of Badin, the railroads, the canal at Palmerville and Palmer Mountain, had created jobs, and the area between Old Whitney, Palmerville and Badin was abuzz with activity, constructions, work and tragedy.
Power plant and damning of the Yadin.
It appears that William M. Cochran had died sometime between the birth (or conception) of youngest child, Ella, in 1916 and 1917, the year that brought deaths of some of his children and the settlement of the estates of two of his sons. A Death Certificate for him can not be found, nor any account of his death, or the cause of it, but Patsy was listed as alone in her sons estate papers, and as a widow in the 1920 census.
The year 1917 brought more than it's share of tragedy for the family of William M. Cochran. On June 11, 1917, Docia Cochran, seen as a 7 year old in the 1910 census, dies at 14 of pulminary tuberculosis, one of the many rampant and deadly diseases of that era.
Stock photo of a Coal Shoot
Just one month later, on July 20, 1917, two of William and Patsy's middle sons were working for the Tallahassee Electric Company when a tragedy struck that took the lives of several young men, including that of Henry Hampton Cochran, 23, and John Jacob "Jake" Cochran, 17. A lawsuit, involving the Tallahassee Power Company and Patsy Cochran, mother and administrator of the estates of both Henry and Jake, take up most of the estate files of both.
The company and Patsy's attorneys, obviously, had two differing accounts of what happened that fateful day, but the truth of what happened blends in the middle. Both Henry and Jacob were employed as laborers for the company, located in Badin. They had been shoveling coal and with a group of other men, took refuge in the shade of the coal shute to break and eat their lunch. The shute collapsed, killing the brothers, among others who died that day. I found the Death Certificates of Aaron Stiles, 49, of Montgomery County, NC, who had also died on July 17, 1917, in Stanly County and was "Crushed beneath a carload of coal falling from trestle while working", and had suffered a broken spine and fracture. Also, that of Henry McLendon, originally of Anson County, son of James McLendon and Harriett Surrett, 36, who also suffered a skull fracture from being 'crushed beneath carload of coal falling from trestle."
The heirs of Henry Cochran were listed as his mother, Patsy, and his siblings Zilphia (Zethia in document), Frazier, John, Addie B., Viola (actually Theolia), Haywood, Zora May and Charley. Noticiably absent were the names of his father, William and baby sister, Ella, born in 1916.
After combing through both Henry and Jakes nearly identical probate papers (Jake's is included in the same pack as Henrys, and not filed in its own sheath), I've been able to determine certain facts that fall in the gray area between Patsy's story and the defense plea of her sons Tallahassee Electric Company supervisors.
Both 23 year old Henry and 17 year old Jacob (named for his grandfather), were employed by the company and had been shoveling coal. It had been a rainy season and began raining again that day. It was 20 minutes before the lunch whistle sounded, but due to the rain, the men took refuge under the shute, and began eating their packed lunches. There were at least 4 worker, Henry and Jake Cochran, Mr. McLendon and Mr. Stiles. The braces and bannisters of the shute were shoddy, rotting and ill-fitting. Due to the rain, and rain-soaked ground, the braces gave way and fell, crushing the men under a load of coal.
Patsy filed the suit alone, no mention of her husband, William. It can be assumed he was alread dead, perhaps he and Ella had died near the same time as Docia, but why did she have a death certificate, and they not?
First, she filed in Stanly County, where it happened, then seeing the tremendous pull the company had with the good ol' boys and powers that be in Stanly County, someone carted her off to Marshville, in Union County, where 2 days later, she had filled the same complaint. The action eventually ended up, also, in Anson County,
Patsy Cochran vs The Tallahassee Power Company, excerpts:
Page 56262 Patsy Cochran named as Admtrx of Jake and Henry Cochran.
Page 56274- Jake was named as 17 years old and Henry 23.
Page 56278- Patsy is allowed to sue as a Pauper.
Page 56280- The company claims that Patsy 'is now in Union County having been carried there simply for the purpose of bringing this action".
Much of the arguement concerning Patsy's suit was over where exactly she lived at the time of the suit, the deaths of her sons clearly happening in Stanly County. Enter the mystery of Jonah Huntley.
Jonah Huntley has clear, concise, and no missing records, of his life, his death, and his marriages. He was born on July 4, 1888, in Stanly County, was married twice, first to Lula Redfern and second, to Emma Myers and was the father of many chilrdren. All of his documentation names him as the son of Wilson and Rachel Brooks Huntley, and he shows up in the 1900 census with them. He lives most of his life in Marshville, NC, however, and dies there in November of 1953, at 65, but is buried in Anosn county at the Meltonville Baptist Church at White Store Township. What is mystifying is how he comes to be named as the stepson of Patsy Cochran.
There are two ways he could have legitimately been the stepson of Patsy Cochran. One: if he had been the son William B. Cochran, which he was not, and two, if Patsy had rapidly became the wife, or in the least, the common-law wife of Wilson Huntley before the date of the lawsuit. The death of William M. Cochran remains up in the air. He seems to have been alive at the birth of Ella Cochran in July of 1916, but was not mentioned in the estate papers of Henry and Jake, one year later.Wilson and Rebecca Huntley are together in the 1910 census of Marshville, but neither was to be found in 1920. Rebecca, however, has death records, and was a widow at her death in 1928. Wilson, however, has no such death records, so it if unknown if he had left his living wife, Rachel, for Patsy, sometime before July of 1917.
When Patsy Cochran filed as administratrix of the estates of her sons, she had two bondsmen, Charlie Cochran and Jonah Huntley. Charlie Cochran was her stepson, being the son of William by Harriett Howell, his first wife. But how did Jonah Huntley fit in? There was obviously a relationship.
Jonah Huntley gave a depostion in the estate files: Jonah Huntley, Patsy Cochran being his stepmother states that Patsy Cochran is now living at his home in Marshville Townhip on the lands of Mr. Ellison Moore and that said Patsy Cochran intends to reside in Union County permanently, or for an indefinate period and that Union County is the home of (both).
Several others gave statements that Patsy was a resisdent of Union County and Jonah was her stepson,. including J. F. Bivens, J. H. Marsh, S. W. Marsh, Lee Phillips and George White.
Mr. J.E.S.Thorpe, noted as being the General Superintendant of the Tallahassee Power Company at Badin, a large hydro-electric plant, (as if his importance was being emphasized for the court) stated that Jake and Patsy lived in Stanly County and "this affiant prays that this cause be moved to Stanly County for trial", where the company had significant connections and could pull important strings.
Thorpe also had a number of witnessess:
I. L. Sheets, a resident of Stanly County for 35 years testified that Patsy and her sons lived there.
As did C. J. Coggin, Postmaster of Palmerville, and a 25 year resident of the county. T. J. Cotton, and 18 year resident stated he knew the family and knew them to have lived in Stanly County, no mention at all of William M. Cochran.
Charlie Atkins, a Stanly resident, claimed Patsy and 'her small children', had been living on his property for 3 months as tenants, at the 'Charlie Atkins place'.
Shube Harris claimed he had known the family for 12 years and that they had lived for the last 3 months on the Charlie Atkins place.
D. G. Pickler, mail carrier for Rt. 2, New London, who claims he had delivered mail to the family for the past 8 years, stated she resided at "Charles Atkins place'.
A gentleman named Robert Crump testified as an associate and friend of Patsy and her family for 15 years, elaborated a bit more. He said that Patsy and her small children (as opposed to her older ones I suppose), had been living and working at Charlie Atkins farm, however, he said, at various times, Patsy Cochran does visit her stepson in "Munroe (sic), Union County', for weeks at a time.
The testimony ended at the consent of both parties to the case being heard at the May 1918 Term of Court in Wadesboro, Anson County, NC.
Who had been telling the truth? In the 1920 census, Patsy and her children are found living in Harris Township next to her married daughter, Zilphia Cochran Hudson and her husband. Two year old Geneva was not Patsy's daughter, she was actually Geneva Hudson, Zilphia and T. C. Hudson's daughter, and Patsy's granddaughter.
And who won the lawsuit? I've not ordered the entire court file from Archives because they are understaffed (or unstaffed) since the Covid 19 outbreak, but after the trial, Patsy Cochran was buying land.
On December 2, 1917, Patsy Cochran bought 25 1/2 acres of property in Harris Township from E. L. and Etta Kirk for $625.00. The property bordered E. V. Moss, Sibley Manufacturing Company and J. W. Davis.
On March 21, 1918, She sold a little more than 11 acres of that same property to John W. Davis.
She must have kept the remaining property, because she was taxed for it in 1925.
Below are the list of heirs of Henry Cochran living at the time of the lawsuit, his mother and siblings, including his half-brother, Charley. No father, no little Ella, no Jonah Huntley, either.
I can only assume that little Ella, born in the summer of 1916, did not live very long, and that William M. Cochran, who seems to have been living at Ella's birth, was deceased before the terrible accident that claimed the lives of his two sons.
Above is the draft registration for Henry Hampton Cochran dated June 5th, 1917, one month and 7 days before his death. He lived in Palmerville, was born in Norwood, was a laborer for the Tallahassee Power Company and his dependents were Father and Mother, brother(s) and sister(s). So William M Cochran was alive on June 5th, 1917, but not at the time of the lawsuit.
Did he die of TB, like his young teenagd daughter, Docia? Or did he work for this company, too, and die in an accident? Why can the death certificates of his children be found, but not his? The mystery remains.
The above birth certificate of Ella Cochran states that William was a farmer.
Patsy Christian Cochran remarried on February 22, 1924 to Tom Crump, son of Joshua and Alice Watkins Crump. Tom had been married before Patsy and would marry again, soon after. Patsy may have had a dalliance with Wilson Huntley, and there's a possibility she married, at some point, a Lee, as some of her children's records refer to her as Patsy Lee. But she married Tom Crump, and she was a Crump when she died.
Patsy had a death certificate, a Find-A-Grave and an estate, but what of poor William? It's my best guess that he is buried at New Hope, the same as Dosia and Patsy, Henry and Jake, but just where is unknown.
Patsy's estate file lists Frazier Cochran, John Cochran, Zilphia Hudson, Haywood Cochran, Addie Cochran, Leola (Theola?) Cochran and Zora Cochran. The only excetpion between hers and Henry's was the omission of Charley.
On the 4th day of January, 1949, by Frazier Cochran and wife Arion, of Rowan County, Zilphia Hudson and husband T. C. Hudson, Addie Bee Scott and husband, James Scott, Theola Harris and husband, Ottis Harris, of Stanly County, North Carolina, Haywood Cochran and wife, Ann Cochran of Philadelphia, Pennsylvaniea and Zora Mae Cochran (single) of Charlottesville, Virginia, parties of the first part, to R. H. Abernathy of Sanly County, party of the second part, the same lot that Patsy owned near Palmerville, next to J. W. Davis.
There is an adendum, in a last ditch effort to find the death records or possible fate of William M. Cochran, I found, instead, another son of his.
Just before his marriage to Patsy, and presumably after the death of his first wife, harriett, William had a son, Calvin Wooley, with a Montgomery County woman, Laura Wooley. Calvin married Sallie Ann Tomlinson Davis, daughter of Walter T. and Ada Davis Tomlinson and widow of Samuel Davis, thus diving back into the Davis family tree, which William's mother, Zilphia, had married into.
In Summary, the children of William M. Cochran were:
Calvin Wooley 1883-1927
Calvin Wooley was born in Montgomery County to Laura Wooley, a single woman, and William Cochran, who was married to Harriett Howell Cochran, at the time.
Calvin and his mother would move to Stanly County from the little town of Uwharrie , where he would marry Sallie Ann Tomlinson Davis, the widow of Samuel Davis, on New Year's Eve, 1909.
By 1910, the young couple are living in Albemarle and Calvin working on the railroad. Living with them is their first son, John B Wooley. In 1920, the family is living on the Norwood Road in Albemarle and Calvin is working as a laborer in the cotton industry. With them is a couple of boarders,including John Parker, who married is little sisiter, Mary Wooley. He is listed as a cousin and that may be through the Davis connection as John Parkers' mother was Tessie Davis.
Calvins' World War I draft card describes him as a medium-sized man with his right eye out, employed as a fireman by the Wiscassett Mill Company in Albemarle, NC. He and Sallie Ann were the parents of 6 children: John B. , Tine, Ardella, Callie Mae, Velaria and J. C.
Calvin Wooley died in 1927, in Albemarle, and was buried at the Sides Cemetery, near Anderson Grove Road. He was listed as divorced and his mother living. Laura would pass away 3 years later in 1930. Calvin died of pertoniitis due to a ruptured appendix.
Charles R. "Charley" Cochran
Charlie was the second son and only child of William M. Cochran and his first wife, Harriett Howell Cochran. Born about 1893, Charley managed to escape every census in his life, but he is listed in all other reocrds, that of his wife and children. Charels was a landowner and a farmer. He gave bond, along with Jonah Huntley, in the probate files of hsi borthers, Henry and Jacob. He is listed in the land records of buying and selling land in Tyson Tosnship, Stanly County, and he was heir to the property of Dan Crump.
Charley married Lilly May Crump in 1918. The next census, 1920, was the only one that Lilly Mae hadn't been in since her birth .In 1930, Lilly Mae is living with her parents, as a widow. 6 known children:
Henry 1918-2011
Frazier 1920-1920
Craven 1921-1922
Horace 1922-1946
Callie Mae 1923-1988
Lucille 1925- before 1940
Charley Cochran must have died between 1925 and 1930, a young man in his 30's. His widow, Lilly Mae Crump Cochran lived a long life, into 1989.
John Adam Cochran
John Adam was the eldest of the children of William M.Cochran and his wife Patsy Christian. Born on December 1, 1895 in Stanly County, NC, he died June 26, 1947 in Durham, NC. His World War I Draft Registration stated he worked on the street force of a construction company and lived in New London, NC, having been born in Cottonville. Like his half-brother Calvin, he too, was of medium height and build.
He had married Lottie Pennington in 1919, and th e couple moved to Durham, a larger city, where John worked in the Army, and as a laborer wihle Lottie worked as a maid. There were no children. John died in 1947, of Cerebral Apoplexy, due to hypertension and heart disease, at the age of 53. Lottie lived until 1979.
Henry Hampton Cochran 1896-1917 Killed in the collapse of a coal shute.
Zilphia Ann Cochran
Zilphia, named for her grandmother, was the first daughter of William M. Cochran and Patsy Christian Cochran Crump.
Zilphia married T. C. Hudson in 1917, at the age of 19. T. C. was the son of John Bunn Hudson and his wife, Laura Cole Hudson. Zilphia and T C. had one daughter, Geneva, whose records state she was born in Old Whitney. In 1930, Zilphia and her little family are living on Mayo Street in West Badin and TC is working at the Aluminum Plant. In 1940, they are in roughly the same place and T. C. is working for the WPA. Daughter Genevea married Charlie Anderson, in Virginia, and they made their home in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Zilphia died on April 216, 1952 a the age of 52, of blood clots. Her records state she was born in Palmerville and she was buried near T. C.'s parents farm at East Macedonia Church in Porter, between Albemarle and Norwood. T. C. retired to hisdaughters home in Virginia and died there in 1966.
Frazier Cochran 1918 - 1965
Frazier Cochran was born in 1918 or 1919 in Cottonville, Stanly County, NC. The transcriptionsts had a time with his name, as it is seen many different ways. Frazier would move to Salisbury, NC as a young man and work on the railroad. It appears he spent some time in Davidson County as well.
Frazier is seen in his brother's and mothers's estate reocrds. He met a girl named Grace Hairston from Davidson County and they had a daughter, Rachel, born in 1914, when Frazier was only 16.
He then had a long- term relationship with a woman named Mary Holmes from Rowan County. They never married, but had a large number of children together, though not all of them survived infancy. He's listed as a boarder in her home in this 1930 expert from the census, above, but is named as the father of her children in their records, including Ernest, Ollie, Moses, Mary, Thelma and Lucille.
Young Mary Excell Holmes, died of TB at the tender age of 12.
Frazier would marry later in life to Arie Crawford, daughter of Pink Crawford and Maggie Crane, from South Carolina. She is shown as 'Arian' in the 1949 land record where the surving siblings sold William M. and Patsy's lands.
Frazier Cochran died in 1965 at the age of 67. He was worknig as a laborer for Southern Railway and died of heart trouble. He is buried in Salisbury, N.C. Arie lived until 1971 and also died at 67.
Jacob Cochran 1902-1917 Died while working at Tallahassee Electric Company when the coal shute collapsed, killing young Jake and his brother, Henry.
Docia Cochran 1903-1917 Died of Typhod Fever as a young teen.
Addie Bee Cochran 1905-1974
Addie Bee married Cossie Hyatt in 1917 at the age of 21. In 1930, the young couple were in Albemarle, where Cossie worked as a plumber. but moved soon after to Charolotte, NC.
Addie worked as a maid in the hotels of Charlotte after Cossie died in 1944. She helped him raise his 6 children by his first wife, Nannie Kendall Hyatt.
Addie died in 1974 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina at the age of 69.
Fleeter Theola Cochran 1908 -1981
Theola was born in Palmerville and at the age of 18, in 1924, she had one son, whom she mnamed John Haywood. On Christmas eve, 1925, she married James Otis Harris. In the earlisest census reocrds, Johnny ,as he was called, is seen as Otiss's stepson, thereafter, he names Otis as his father, on military records and such, so he was adopted by Otis Harris. Johnny would be an only child.
The family would live on Lee Street in West Badin in 1930 and 1940, and Otis worked in the Aluminum plant. It paid above average wages and was a good living at the time. Theola stated in one census that her first marriage was at age 16, meaning she may have been briefly married to a Haywood, Johnny's father.
Theola was widowed in 1958, but lived herself until 1981, passing at age 73. She is buried at Parker Memorial Cemetery n New London. Her son Johnny Haywood Harris, married a lady named Willie and died in Salisbury, NC in 2006.
Daniel Haywood Cochran 1909-1989
Haywood Cochran was the youngest son of William and Patsy. He would serve in WWII and live for awhile in Charlottesville, Virginia. There, he would marry a lady named Annie Leola. Haywood worked as a Cook, and moved to Philladelphia, PA, where he would die in 1989. There were no children.
Zora May Cochran 1913-1979
Zora May was the youngest of the Cochran children to live to adulthood. She grew up in the Palmerville area and married Marvin Davis in 1927, at the age of 14. Her father died when she was very young. Her sister, Zilphia Cochran Hudson signed the consent form , as both paretnts were deceased by then. The document states that she was 18, but she was not.
They would, like many in the family, move to Charlottesville, Virginia. She would die in 1979, of a Myocardial Infarction due to diabetes and Hypertension. in Charlottesville. Her second husband was a Godwin. Zora was 66 years old. The informant on her death certificate was her neice, Geneva Hudson Anderson, Zilphia's daughter. Her body was sent from Virginia to Stanly County for burial and she was interred at the Hudson Cemetery in Porter, NC, which was her sister's husband , T.C. Hudson's family cemetery.
Ella Cochran Born July 7, 1916 - before July 17, 1917.
Ella's birth was recorrded in the earliest of birth reocrds of Stanly County, N.C. she was the last child of William and Patsy Cochran. Neither Ella, or her father, William, was mentioned in the lawsuit Patsy took out against the Tallahassee Elecetric Company, not were they mentioned in Henry or Jake's estate papers. This means that both William and the infant child, Ella, were probably deceased by Jul 17, 1917. I've not found Death Certificates for either one.
William Marshall Cochran was the oldest and most prolific child of Zelphia Cochran. Next up, the rest of her children.
