30 Mothers in 30 Days: Susie

This post on Susan Webster Faulkner is a fishing expedition. Let's get this out there from the start.




She's a brickwall for me, and one of my second Great Grandmothers. It's quite frustrating, because I at least know the parents of most of my Great Great Grandparents, if not their Great Great Grandparents. Am I asking too much? But for Susie and her husband, John Faulkner, it stops with them.

I know Susie, as she was called, was John's second wife. He had at least 3 older children, who are too old to be Susie's children, who named their mother as "Patty". Perhaps her name was Martha, or perhaps Patricia.

 So I am hoping, somewhere out there is someone who knows from whence and from who, John and Susan Faulkner came.

Name:	Susan Falkner
Gender:	Female
Age:	25
Birth Year:	abt 1825
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Lanesboro, Anson, North Carolina, USA
Attended School:	Y
Line Number:	5
Dwelling Number:	1075
Family Number:	1076
Household Members:	Name Age John Falkner 27 Susan Falkner 25 Osburn Falkner 17 Martina Falkner 14 Martha Falkner 10 Golden Falkner 13 Eseniah Falkner 8 (not transcribed) 0

The first census the family shows up in is the 1850 census of Lanesboro, in Anson County. The first thing you notice is that the older children are waayyy to old to be thier children. Golden names his mother as this mysterious Patty on his marriage license. Asariah (Eseniah) is named as the son of Susan Webster Faulkner. Perhaps. But the unnamed newborn was most likely hers. John was labeled a cropper, I take that to mean sharecropper. No one in the neighborhood shared their surnames of Faulkner or Webster.


You would think with names like Golden and Asariah, their line could be easily traced, at least back one more generation, but NO.

Lanesboro is in Mid-West Anson

Name:	Susan Folkner [Susan Falkner]
Age:	29
Birth Year:	abt 1831
Gender:	Female
Birth Place:	North Carolina
Home in 1860:	Lanesboro, Anson, North Carolina
Post Office:	Wadesboro
Dwelling Number:	416
Family Number:	376
Cannot Read, Write:	Y
Household Members:	Name Age John Folkner 48 Susan Folkner 29 Martha Manus 25 Golding Folkner 19 Azariah Folkner 15 James Coleman 15 Luanna Coleman 10 Constantine Coleman 8 John D Coleman 5 Ellen Coleman 3 Barbara Coleman 2 Marshall Coleman 2/12

Now here they are in 1860. Notice how Susan should have aged 10 years, but she has only aged 4, and John has jumped 20 years, to a more accurate age. Martha Manus, listed her as a servant, was Martha Faulkner Manus, his married (widowed?) daughter by Patty. And because one son, James Coleman, was listed with his middle name, the transcribers ran with it and made all the younger children Colemans, but they were not. John is labeled a farmer, but they owned nothing. This was a poor family. And it would get larger.

Name:	Susan Falkner
Age in 1870:	43
Birth Year:	abt 1827
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Dwelling Number:	167
Home in 1870:	Lanesboro, Anson, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Post Office:	Wadesboro
Occupation:	Keeping House
Inferred Father:	John Falkner
Household Members:	Name Age John Falkner 63 Susan Falkner 43 Constantin Falkner 16 Ellen Falkner 13 Barbra Falkner 12 Joseph Falkner 7 George Falkner 6 Silvia Falkner 4 Sarah Falkner

By 1870, my Great Grandmother Sarah Frances Faulkner has made her appearance. She's the infant. Many of the older children have gone out on their own. John is working as Farm Labor for a Caulde family.

The Caudles- Pathway to Ascension

By 1880, they are gone, but the children aren't. However their records are spotty. I don't know where John and Susie are buried, or from whence they came. They had an enormous family of  14 children, and John had at least 4 more by his first wife, Patty. All of Susan's children who lived to have death certificates, and there were many,  named her as a Webster. Webster was not an Anson County name.


My line, Sarah Frances, aka Fanny, would marry William A. Turner in Anson County in January of 1887. He would die young and she would remarry to Brantley M. Thompson. Some of her sisters also married into the Turner Family, who lived near Red Hill Church, close to Ansonville.

Luther Contantine "Tine" Faulkner, son of John and Susan

So here's the deal - if anyone else descends from this family, or knows anything about John Faulkner and his first or second families, from whence he came, or about Susan, and any Websters in Anson County, especially Lanesboro, please contact me via this blog.

RIP Grandma Susie. Hope I find you.

30 Mothers in 30 Days: Caroline

I believe we all have many different kinds of female ancestors climbing our family trees. Some were straight-laced and extremely pious, purest vessles of godliness and matronly sainthood. Others were lackadaisacally whorish, and devil-may-care. Some were highborn, educated,uppercrust and priveledged. Others were common, illiterate and of the earth.

In my minds eye, I see Nancy Caroline Hudson, a second Great Grandmother of mine as perpetual discheveled.

Caroline was born November 21, 1852, near Cottonville in the Southern part of Stanly County. Her father was Burwell Hudson, one of the older sons of Ol' Joshua Hudson of Ugly Creek who had 22 children by 3 wives and lived nearly 100 years. Her mother was Sarah Lee, daughter of Calvin Lee and Elizabeth Duke of close to Center, or now, Norwood, NC. She was their firstborn child.

Cottonville, NC by artist Nancy B. Brewer

Cottonville is not more than a sign, two churches, a Volunteer Fire Department, an abandoned store and a gathering of houses, now. With lots of acres of cotton, still. In its heyday, the 1830's, it was larger than Charlotte and proclaimed by the New York Stock Exchange, to have the finest cotton in the land. This is where Caroline would grow up.

She would gain a brother, Marion Patterson Hudson, when she was 3, and two little sisters, Emma Frances, called Fanny, and Sarah Anne, in 1858 and 1860, respectively. 

Caroline's young life would be paved with tragedy, as her mother would die shortly after the birth of Sarah. Caroline was 8. I'm sure she had to act as a surrogate mother until her father remarried two months later, to another Sarah, Sarah Arrena McSwain.

A fourth daughter, Lucy Ella, would join the family in 1862. Then the Civil War happened. Burwell enlisted. He didn't make it.

Pvt Burwell Hudson

BIRTH	9 Jul 1832 Albemarle, Stanly County, North Carolina, USA
DEATH	7 Dec 1862 (aged 30) Richmond City, Virginia, USA
BURIAL	Oakwood Cemetery Richmond, Richmond City, Virginia, USA Add to Map
PLOT	Sec. A, Row ?, Grave ?
MEMORIAL ID	98484084 · View Source

Caroline had attended the common school in the area, no doubt a little one room schoolhouse. There are attendance books in the NC State Archives online that show her and her brother present. During the War years, attendance became scant. Off to left of the childrens names, the teacher would notate who their parents were, usually the father. It's heartbreaking to see the name go from naming  their father, to months, or even a few years of nonattendance, to being named the child of  'Widow so and so".

In 1870, Burwell's widow, Sarah McSwain  Hudson, would marry old storekeeper, John Norwood. She was 39 and he was 73, yet the marriage would bring two children into the fold, Laura in 1872 and John Henry in 1874.

Name:	Sallie Hudson
Age in 1870:	8
Birth Year:	abt 1862
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Dwelling Number:	28
Home in 1870:	Tyson, Stanly, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Post Office:	Albemarle
Occupation:	At Home
Inferred Mother:	Sarah Hudson
Household Members:	Name Age Sarah Hudson 38 Camelia Hudson 17 Sallie Hudson 8 Ella Hudson 6

In the 1870 census, Sarah McSwain Hudson hasn't married yet. She is a widow living with Caroline, shown incorrectly as Camelia, instead of Caroline, and Caroline's little sisters, Sarah and Lucy Ella, the child of Burwell and Sarah McSwain.

As for the other 2 children of Burwell Hudson, they appear to have went to live with their maternal grandfather, Calvin Lee. In the 1870 census, Marion 16, and Fannie 12, are living there.

Caroline, now an orphan, would fall fate to a situation that haunted many a young fatherless child after the war, she became an unwed mother.

Name:	James R Thompson
Age:	5
Birth Year:	abt 1855
Gender:	Male
Home in 1860:	Stanly, North Carolina
Post Office:	Albemarle
Dwelling Number:	593
Family Number:	597
Household Members:	Name Age Wm C Thompson 40 Ann Thompson 40 Martha Thompson 17 Wm R Thompson 15 David F Thompson 13 Daniel G Thompson 11 Elis S Thompson 9 Mary J Thompson 7 James R Thompson 5 George H Thompson 3 Zebedee Thompson 2

She had a son, James Robert Hudson, by a teenaged boy, James Robert Thompson, son of  William Craven Thompson and wife, Anna Blalock. This is the family in 1860. I blogged on Caroline before I knew this. A distant cousin descended from Caroline's legitimate children contacted me after the blog, to let me know they knew the identity of Caroline's oldest child, J. R., my grandmother's Daddy. Unfortunately, J.R.'s direct descendants, like my grandmother, died not knowing who his father was.

It is said they the young couple considered marriage when they got in trouble, but she was only 15, and he 14, and it was decided he would not yet be able to support a family at that age. The 1870 census found Caroline and her son living with her little sister, Sarah, who married J. Wesley Whitaker.

As for J. R. Thompson, he would move first to Chesterfield County, South Carolina and then to Marlboro. He married Effie Elizabeth Graham and had 10 children.

CLIPPED FROM

The Stanly Observer
Albemarle, North Carolina18 Sep 1884, Thu  •  Page 3

Name:	James Robert Thompson
Birth Date:	23 Jan 1853
Death Date:	23 Jan 1898
Cemetery:	First Mineral Springs Baptist Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place:	Blenheim, Marlboro County, South Carolina, United States of America
Has Bio?:	N
Father:	William Craven Thompson
Mother:	Anna Thompson
URL:	https://www.findagrave.com/mem...

If you would like to read more about Caroline, just click the following link to my original blog post. Remember, at this point in time, I did not know who the father of her son was.

Sweet Caroline


Despite becoming a teenaged mother, Caroline would marry at age 26 to Robert Dock "Dodie" Singleton. She lived a long life, dying in 1930 at age 78, and had 7 children with Dodie.



She is buried in the old Norwood town cemetery, in the Singleton section. Rest in Peace, Caroline.

This is Robert Lee Thompson, son of J. R. Thompson by wife Effie.

This is William Lane Thompson, son of J.R. Thompson by wife Effie

The above photo is James Robert Hudson on the far right, son of James Robert Thompson and Caroline Hudson Singleton. To his left is his second wife, Nealie and his children, Reece Craven Hudson aka  "Ted" and Hattie Helen Hudson McSwain Thompson. The "Craven" in Uncle Ted's name tells me that J. R. may have known who his father was. By the time I came into the picture, grandma didn't know. But she told me all about Caroline and J. R., me being the only grandchild she had that she could talk to about her old photos, which I now treasure.

30 Mothers in 30 Days: Joyce

Today is Mother's Day. In the Honor of the many Mothers in my Family Tree, I'm posting on one each day.

Today I honor my closest Mother, my own.

Nancy Joyce Davis was born on March 3, 1939 in Albemarle, Stanly County, North Carolina. She was the youngest and last child of Lewis Theodore Davis and Annie Maude Mauldin Davis.

Name:	Nancy Joyce Davis
Event Type:	Birth
Birth Date:	1939
Birth County:	Stanly
Parent1 Name:	Lewis T
Roll Number:	NCVR_B_C089_66001
Volume:	26
Page:	135

She would be known by her middle name Joyce, a fact she often lamented. She had been preceded in birth by Lewis Douglas Davis, Walter Kenneth Davis and Sylvia Joanne Davis. All are deceased as of now with the exception of the firstborn, Uncle Doug.






Momma grew up in Albemarle. She attended Central Elementary and graduated from Albemarle High School.

Name:	Nancy Davis
Age:	1
Estimated birth year:	abt 1939
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Marital status:	Single
Relation to Head of House:	Daughter
Home in 1940:	Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina
Map of Home in 1940:	View Map
Street:	North Depot Street
House Number:	410
Sheet Number:	8B
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Attended School or College:	No
Highest Grade Completed:	None
Native Language:	English
Neighbors:
Household Members:	Name Age Lewis T Davis 28 Maude Davis 30 Lewis D Davis 7 Walter Davis 5 Sylva Davis 2 Nancy Davis 1

Momma was a catbird. As a child, she enjoyed playing with her little dog peanut. As a teen, she enjoyed biking and skating and hanging out at the YMCA.


Joyce was a child of the 50's. She was a Bobby-sockers who loved Rock-n-Roll and above all, she loved Elvis. Fats Domino and Little Richard were also among her favorites. I've tried to pass down all of the Lullabyes that my Mom used to sing to me to my children and now, my grandchildren, like "I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill" and "Tootie Fruitie on the Rootie".

Joyce Davis graduated Albemarle Senior High School in 1858 and married a boy from South Stanly she met at the YMCA, Melvin Eugene Lambert, in 1959. Thirteen months later, I made my appearance, in 1960.

Gene was a soldier, and served as an MP in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. That is why I was born on an Army Base, at Valley Forge, PA.

The separation was too great and my parent were too young and the marriage didn't work out. My mother and I lived with her parents in Albemarle for a number of years and my parents were divorced in 1965.

Name:	Joyce Lambert
Spouse:	Melvin Lambert
Marriage Place:	USA
Divorce Date:	12 Jul 1965
Divorce Place:	Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Residence Place:	Stanly, USA

Momma was a working single mother for awhile. We lived with my grandparents and I attended daycare while she worked. A young mother, she was full of the Davis spit and vinegar and she liked her hot cars. She had the most beautiful aqua (her favorite color) and white 57 Chevy and when that one got a little age on it, she went for a hot little Chevy II, black with red trim. In a way, it may have been alot of fun if Momma had stayed single. Fun, but empty.

Momma would fall in love again for the last and forever time with the boy down the street. You could literally walk out in front of one house, look down the road and see the other.

Momma got married for the second time, and this time took off to South Carolina,as they both had been previously married. This time, instead of an 18 year old teen, she was 26 - and weighed a mere 86 lbs, she liked to remind me. Which was good, because as you could tell, Daddy was a little man. 

Daddy, was Robert William Thompson, born in 1935, five years her elder. He'd noticed the girl down the street before she had married the first time, but she was too young back then. He too, was a Korean War Vet, but he had not made a career of it and he, too, was divorced, but no children. He once told me, that knocked-kneed little blonde child with the big-brown eyes above, that he had fell in love with me before Momma. That had a big impact and I never forgot it. 

The marriage produced two children, Eric in 1967 and Nancy in 1971. Sadly, both children were autistic, becoming so after experiencing seisures as toddlers. Therefore, it was not known that the first was austistic until Momma was very pregnant with the second. There were some hard years. Autism is a wide spectrum and these two were on the lower end of functionality. It was almost more than she could bear. Momma had to quit work, and she ended up having a nervous breakdown and had to take nerve pills. Still, I know I could never be as strong as she was. My teenaged years were traumatic and painful. I had parents who loved me, but I felt I lived in an insane asylum and the kids forced me into isolation. I could not have friends over, I could not leave the house because the kids would get upset and every possesion I had that meant anything to me would be torn up by the kids. I labeled them 'destroyers' and began running away from home. I ended up a troubled teen because of this. Thank the Lord my parents and grandparents had laid a solid foundation for me before this, because I made it out alive. 

I married young to a much older man just to get out of the house. We had 13 good years and 3 beautiful, healthy children before he died far too soon. I had followed my mother's footsteps in being a teenaged Mom. 

But Momma and Daddy had not let their fortunes destroy them. They fought to get help for their children and were instrumental and founding membes of the Group Homes for the Austistic, or GHA, in Stanly County.  Their work was a model for other counties and other countries, with people coming from as far away as Japan to tour and learn about what they had done. And it continues to grow without them. I am honored to be their child. 

With the children (and they will always be children despite their ages) in Group Homes and getting the care and instruction they needed, Momma and Daddy were free to travel a little bit, and Momma came into her own, again. She liked the bus tours and hanging out with friends and doing puzzles and riding around to look at the deer.

She collected a number of things and changed her whole decor by the month and holidays and changed the outfits on her collectible bears. She also collected dolls and unicorns and anything Elvis. She loved her soaps, becoming addicted to them while the kids were small, but really, Momma had no addictions. She didn't smoke, drink or do drugs. She only took medicines the doctors prescribed.

Momma was a beloved Grandmother to my 4 children. I remarried after my spouse died and added one more. As my Grandparents Davis had an even 4 of  two boys and 2 girls, so did I. I now have 6 Grandchildren. She got to meet the first 4.



Daddy always thought Momma would outlive him. He was older and smoked like a freight train. Unfortunately, Momma contracted NASH (Non-Alchoholic Schlerosis) and left before him. It was an inherited disease, as her sister, Sylvia, died of the same thing just a year later.

I lost my Momma on June 12, 2016. I was not ready to become the family matriarch. I never would have been. Daddy was devastated. He begged God to take him,too. Theirs was true love. They would even dress alike quite often. Daddy would go to the cemetery everyday. Every Single Day ,and sing to Momma's grave, his little love songs about his blue-eyed baby. We lost Daddy this past December. He outlived her by 3 and a half years. They are together now.

The older I get, the more I notice that I am so like my mother. I've also inherited the NASH. Because she passed first, I can now take preventive measures to postpone the last stages of the disease, or even possibly to reverse it with the proper diet.

 Momma  has a clone in my oldest daughter as far as drive and her spitfire attitude.

I miss you so much Momma. I forever love you. Hope to see you in heaven one day.