Kitty's Admission Papers

In pursuing a lead, sometimes waiting on records are the hardest part. Will they continue the information you need to lay a mystery to rest. Will they lead to more questions than answers? I've had it happen both ways.

I could not find any records in Anson County on why Wincey Catherine Davis, who I have been researching for a while now, was admitted to Broughton State Hospital in Morganton. She was admitted at age 26 and remained there nearly 18 years before dying of TB.
I recently sent for copies of her records, as a relative. She does not have any direct descendents. This is all that was returned.

Her Card:  Cox, Wincy Catherine (26)
                 (Davis)     (Mrs. ?)
Anson Co.              Ad. 8-14-14           Archives
Died 5-22-22

Then the next page: Wincy Catherine Cox, Patient number 3425, Occupation: Housekeeper, Admitted : 8-12-1904, Female, 26 years old, married, Common education, NC, Anson County, 1 attack, Cause: Poor health,  Duration: 4 months, Removal: 5-22-1922 Died of Pulminary Tuberculion  9:30 am. Buried here.

And that is all we know of Kitty's 18 years as a patient. I read that in the early years of Broughton, a large number of female patients were admitted for what was referred to as 'female problems'.  Gynecological conditions, not mental or emotional ones, like miscarriages, troublesome periods, abdominal pain. Others were emotional, like the baby blues, or being overwhelmed from having a large family at a very young age.

As Wincy did not have any children, her problems may have been tied to gynecological issues, perhaps she had gotten pregnant many times and had not been able to carry them. Maybe this had put her in a depression. It's unknown. I believe the last possibilities may lie in the local newspapers of the time, to see if any articles mention anything to do with her or her family that might give me some clues. In the meantime, Kitty remains a mystery. She ran off to Chester County, South Carolina at age 15 with a music teacher, William R Stewart, who was her cousins' husband. She was the daugther of Benjamin Franklin Davis and Julia Sibley Davis. She met E. W. Cox from Marlboro County, South Carolina and married him at age 18. He is shown married to a Josephine Quick in 1897, just a year after he married Kitty in 1896, and living next to his parents in Wolf Pit, Richmond County in the 1900 census. His marriage license to Josephine Quick is not to be found, neither in Richmond or Anson counties and not in South Carolina. Perhaps he didn't marry her at all. The scorned cousin, Hortense Davis Stewart, died 2 weeks after Kitty's marriage to Ed Cox. Then Kitty admitted to Broughton at age 26 to died there at age 42. What short, tragic lives. I want to know why.

Putting Hortense to Rest

Sometimes old Newspapers can be our best allies in the search for information on our families. It takes patience and knowledge and a great deal of searching and reading to find the gemstone in the quarry.

I went back to Wadesboro today and then on to Rockingham in Richmond County in search of a number of things. I thought looking through the 1896 editons of the Anson Record, I found this gem in the April 4th Edition.

"Miss Hortense Davis, daughter of Mrs. J. T. Crump, of Cottonville, Stanly County, died last Monday, of pneumonia, aged about 25 years. Miss Davis was married to Mr. Will Stewart, of Monroe, several years ago, but obtained a divorce from him, after which she resumed her maiden name. "

Hortenses tombstone retains her married name. Possibly because of her surviving daughter, Ouissa.

So Hortense did not drown when she threw herself in the river. She caught pneumonia and died.

I still wonder at all of the circumstances that led to her death and to her cousin's insanity. Kitty Davis had returned to Anson County just a few weeks before Hortense had died and married an E. W. Cox from Marlboro County, South Carolina. In Hortenses divorce papers, she claims her husband William R Stewart ran off with her 15 year old second cousin Wincy Catherine "Kitty" Davis. They were found in Chester, Chester County, South Carolina.

Another item I was looking for in Anson or in Richmond Counties, was the marriage license of Edward Cox and Josephine Quick. According to the 1900 census and Edwards death certificate, they had gotten married in 1897, but it does not say where. There was no license in either Anson or Richmond counties. I have also not yet located a divorce decree or annulment of his marriage to Kitty on March 3, 1896. From what I have seen in early divorce proceedings that I have came across, one year is far too quick. Of course, there may have been a terrible discovery about Kitty that caused an annulment. I still need to go a peruse the court proceedings of Anson on microfilm in order to see if anythere there helps solve this mystery.

I recieved the forms to send in for Kitty's paperwork from Broughton State Mental Hospital. I found an "Inquistion of Lunacy" papers in Stanly County for James Clark Thompson, a great-grandfather of my Daddy's, but Anson County had no such item on microfilm and Kitty was not listed in Stanly.

I apparently turned the Richmond County Courthouse on its side and shook it. What did not come out was the marriage of Kitty's husband to his second wife. I wonder if he married her at all. I found land records of his forefathers and hers, but no marriage records between old E. W. Cox and Miss Josephine Quick.

The quest for the mystery of Kitty Davis's tragic life continues. But I find her innocent of killing her cousin. Directly anyways. 

The Mysterious Mr. Cox: Finding Kitty's License

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As the last residence recorded for Wincy Catherine 'Kitty' Davis on her death certificate, before her admitance to Broughton Hospital for the Insane, her residence had been Polkton, in Anson County, North Carolina; so I went to search for her marriage license in Wadesboro, at the R.O.D. office for Anson. I found it. Funny how the solving of one mystery opens the door to another, or several. The marriage license states that Kitty married an E.W. Cox, age 27, son of Silas and Angeline Cox of Marlboro County, SC on March 9, 1896. Just weeks before the mysterious death of her cousin Hortense, who had accused Kitty of running off with her husband Bill Stewart to Chester , SC in her divorce papers just one year prior, 1895. So, that should solve the mystery of who the mysterious Mr. Cox was that Kitty married prior to being commited to Broughton. However... I searched Ancestry.com for EW Cox born around 1869 in Marlboro County. Nothing. Plenty of Coxes. No EW's. Tried looking for Silas and Angeline. There they were in plenty of records, family trees, censuses, city directories, marriage bonds. Silas was born in 1807 and Charlotte Angeline Ivey Cox in 1810. The problem is, not only did they not have a son with the initials E.W, they were too old to have had a son in 1869. Angeline would've been 59 and Silas 62. I don't think that happened.

The one thing Silas did have was a son named W. E. , or William Edward Cox. And I know from experience that quite often, two first names could be come entirely interchangable. Take my ancestor Henry Garner Aldridge, for instance. I've seen his name just as often as Garner Henry Aldridge.

The problem with this theory is that first, the age is all wrong. W. E. Cox was born in April of 1843. In March of 1896, he would be a month shy of his 53rd birthday. I don't think a 53 year old man could pass for 27. Second, he had married Miss Lucy Ann Skipper in 1870. Lucy shows up with him in the Bennettsville Census in 1880, then again in the PeeDee Villiage in Rockingham County in 1900, and then again in the 1910 census with him in Darlington, South Carolina. They did move around a bit and in 1900, they were very close to where Kitty's last known residence, Polkton, Anson County, was before she was committed.

Now, W. E. Cox did have a son named Edward, born in around 1870. Age right, first intial right, and Edward was single in 1896. However, his middle initial was L for Lee, and Silas and Angeline were his grandparents, not his parents. Then, in 1897, the next year, Edward Lee Cox married Josephine Quick. In the 1900 census, Edward and Josephine are living right next to his parents in Richmond County. He died there at the age of 76 on July 22, 1947, in the community of Cordoba, where he was a Tax Lister and Payroll guard at a Cotton Mill.

Did Edward discover something horrific about Kitty and quickly divide himself of her presence, and marry Miss Quick quickly? Or did he file for an annulment or a quick divorce? I will have to check the divorce documents of Anson County for that time period to find out. In the meantime, Kitty's life has become more of a mystery than ever.

The Sad Affair of Kitty Davis

Today I just spent a few hours at our local library. Deciding to concentrate on the mystery of Hortense Davis Stewart's short life and mysterious death, shortly after her divorce went through, I went back through the Davis files to see if anything there would give me any hints on her cause of death, her daughters name, who Kitty Davis was exactly or what happened to William after her death. I know well the siblings of my ancestors, and even their children, but had never gone down a generation from that, unless I had cause to. Several individuals descended from our Patriarch Job Davis contributed their trees, down to living individuals. 


Hortense's father Edward Winfield Davis aka Neddy, married late in life, age 56 to be exact, so his children were much younger than their first cousins. Example, Benjamin Franklin Davis, the oldest son of Neddy's brother Henry was born in 1829, while Hortense was born in 1861, 32 years apart, but they were first cousins. 


In the file I discovered a record of Frank Davis' Family Bible. Frank is what Benjamin Franklin Davis was known as. This had been submitted by Luther McIntyre. Two of Frank's daughters, married brothers who were McIntyres's. The McIntyres's, coincidentally, were also members of the Murray family, mentioned in earlier posts. 


The Bible starts with a list of the 14 children born to Frank and his wife Julia Sibley Davis. How many descendants from this family do you think are out there now?


Lula Davis  March 27 1855
Sally Davis   August 1857
Mathew A Davis  December 11 1858
J F Davis  December 2 1860
Thomas Davis   July 3  1865
Mary Davis  December 27  1866
Hart A Davis   January 15  1868
John S Davis   December 8  1870
Mary A Davis  September 21 1872
H. E. Davis   August 18 1874
Nannie Davis  May  6  1876
Kitty Davis  September 15  1878
Susie Davis  March 7 1880
Lillie Mae Davis  May 31 1882


The Bible also has listed that Benjamin Franklin Davis died  December 21 1898 and Julia Sibley Davis died  Feb. 18 1914, and Hart A Davis died August 2 1902.


But there she was ...Kitty Davis. Of course, she was in my family tree already, but not as Kitty. Matching  up the birthdate, Kitty turns out to be Wincey Catherine Davis. 

Sarah Hortense Davis Stewart claims in her divorce papers that her husband, William R Stewart, was having an adulterous affair with Kitty Davis, who as it turns out, is her first cousin once removed. Hortense married in 1891 and by 1894 had been abandoned by W. R. Stewart, with a two year old daughter, who was then found to be teaching music in Chester, Chester County, South Carolina. 


Stepping back at looking at what I have found out so far, Billy Stewart appears to be a cad who has left a trail of broken women. Billy was born in 1868, Hortense in 1869. In 1894, when he is accused of having an affair with Kitty Davis, Kitty, who was born in 1878, was a mere child of 15 or 16. Bill 10 years her senior. In modern America, Bill would have been arrested for indecent liberties with a minor, but in Victorian North Carolina, Kitty would have been considered of marriageable age, many girls married then in their early teens. 


At some point Kitty married a Cox, and her death certificate stated she had lived in Polkton, NC, which is just over the Rocky River in Anson County. Her death certificate is telling and tragic in other ways as well. 


Kitty's Find a Grave Tribute

Kitty died at the age of 43 in Broughton State Mental Hospital. She had been there nearly 18 years, entering at age 25. What happened between her affair with Billy Stewart at 16 and being admitted to an insane assylum at age 25? Who was this Cox that she married? I will have to check the surrounding counties for marriage records for Kitty and Mr. Cox. Anson will be the most likely, as the death certificate said that was her last residence. It also states that she was married, which means Mr. Cox did not go to the trouble to divorce her. She died of pulminary tuberculosis. Probably a chain smoker. I see a vague image of her in my mind, thin, wan, yellowish tint in her skin, legs crossed tightly, smoking like a freight train and twitching nervously. Was this Kitty?


I attempted to gain more information on one family tragedy and came upon another. 


I am waiting on a copy of Hortense Stuart's estate papers and also the official copies of her divorce papers, instead of the ones I photographed from microfilm. I am also going to search for the mysterious Mr. Cox and perhaps a marriage license. Below are some old photos of Broughton State Mental Hospital and the cemetary where Kitty is buried. 

An old post card of Broughton State Mental Hospital in Morganton, North Carolina












The State Hospital cemetery where Kitty Davis lies. 

The Tragic Life of Sarah Hortense Davis Stewart

Sarah Hortense Davis was the only daughter of Edward Winfield Davis, the third son of Job and Sarah Davis. Neddy, as he was known to his family would marry late in life to a much younger woman, Rebecca Hathcock. They would have 5 children together. Two sons, Edward T and Jaspar died as children. When  Neddy died, his nephew, my great-great grandfather H. H. "Hawk" Davis was given guardianship of the 3 living children, Hortense, John Teeter and Thomas A.

Neddy was a merchant, lawman, lawyer and politician. His name, E W Davis, is on every page of early county court records as he held the office of the second sheriff of the county. Later, he brought several lawsuits against persons who owed him money, and also for others in the community who did not have the education and knowledge of how to do so.

Sarah Hortense, named for her grandmother Sarah Winfield Davis, would be known by her middle name, Hortense. She was the firstborn child and probably helped Rebecca with her four younger brothers. She was born into a family with money and to a well known and well respected father, so she likely had it much better off than many other girls in the community still bleeding and battered and suffering from the effects of war and  reconstruction.

This is the marriage license of Hortense and William R Stewart. He was the son of a J M Stewart from Union County, North Carolina, a county that borders Stanly to the Southwest. They had a June wedding, on the 16th in 1891. Her guardian, H H had married just two years prior to Julina Aldridge.  Her father had died in 1882, and her mother married John T Crump the following year.

The marriage was performed by a Rev. L M Brown. Witnesses were Hortenses' stepfather, JT Crump, her brother Thomas A Davis, and her cousin and guardian Horton Hampton Davis.

I had seen Hotenses' monument in the Davis Family cemetary, and made a mental note of her young age, 27. There were many reasons for people to die young in 1897. Epidemics would devastate entire communities. Many young women, especially miles out into the country away from a physican, still died in childbirth at the brink of the twentieth century. Accidents would happen and no ambulance could be called to rush the victim to the hospital. So I thought no more about it.

Last week, I went to the local Mormon Church to view some microfilm I had ordered from Utah. FamilySearch.org is a wonderful site and I was fortunate enough to have a Center in my community where I can order the records and view them. While searching old divorce records for something else, I came across the divorce proceedings for Hortense and William R Stewart. Her divorce was granted in 1895 and she passed away shortly after in 1896. In the documents she mentioned a two year old daughter that I, nor apparently anyone else in the family, knew about. I have a mystery to solve.

What did Hortense die of? What was her daughters name? Did she die as an infant or did she make it to adulthood? Was Hortense the victim of foul play? Did she commit suicide in sorrow? Who was this William R Stewart and what happened to him after her death?

I have made surprising, amazing, delightful and tragic discoveries in my genealogical quests, and could  began  by tracking through them all. Instead, I am beginning with my current quest and will back track to the others in time. For the moment, young cousin Hortense clouds my mind. Is she speaking to me? Does need for her story to be heard?