Maize R. Foster - Connecting The Dots

While waiting for another 52 Ancestors prompt I've made a possible breakthrough on my Maize R. Foster line.


I believe his parents could be James Coulter Foster and Sarah "Sally" McCray.

James Coulter Foster was born around  13 FEB 1775 in Rockbridge, VA he married Sarah McCray who was born 10 MAY 1777 , on 2 Aug 1804 in Rockbridge, VA.



Children born to this union are:

Jane C. b. 1805
Maize R b. 1807 (possibly)
David C. b. 1808
James W. b 1811
Isaac Newton b. 1813
Sarah Melvina b. 1815 m. Charles Wysong
Joseph H. b. 1818
Nancy M. b. 1820
Rachel Belle b. 1826

Most all of these individuals can be found in MO then later passing away in Collin County, TX.

1) Jane C. Foster never marries as far as I can tell. In 1850 she is living in Collin County with her mother Sarah, and her siblings, Isaac, Joseph, Nancy and Rachel as well as with her widowed brother-in-law Charles Wysong and his two children Helen and James and a Josiah L. Kelly.

In 1860, Collin County, TX, she is living with siblings Joseph and Nancy, again Charles Wysong, Helen (first name is listed as Theresa) James, and Charles' father Jacob Wysong.

In 1870, still in Collin County, she is still with Joseph, Nancy and Helen Wysong.

And in 1880 these three siblings are still together. Joseph, Nancy and Jane, in Collin County, TX.

Jane passes away 6 Sep 1881 and is buried in Throckmorton Cemetery, Melissa, Collin County, Texas, along with her mother, and siblings Joseph, Nancy, Sarah Wysong, and an unknown NC Foster. I believe James Coulter is buried back in VA. He died Apr. 6, 1838.


2) Maize R. Foster as mentioned in my last post, was born around 1807 in NC (but that's not carved in stone as it came from the one and only census record he is listed on and we all know census records are sometimes inaccurate for exact birth dates and places.) Maize is in Benton County, MO around 1835 where he serves on the Grand Jury along side a James Foster. Was this his brother that I will mention in a bit, or a different James all-together.

By 1845 Maize is listed in the Fannin County Tax Rolls. Fannin later becomes Collin County in 1846.

In 1850 Maize is Collin County with his wife and children. and by 1856 he passes away. I have no idea where he is buried. I suspect it may be in the Throckmorton Cemetery. Maybe his marker is no longer there or worn so badly his name is illegible.

3). David C. Foster was born about 1808 in Virginia. In 1840 he can be found in Pettis County, MO In the family is a  (1) Male - 30 thru 39, (1) Male - Under 5, a son Joseph H b. 1838 (1) Female - 30 thru 39, his wife Susan LNU b. 1805 in KY, and (1) Female - Under 5, a daughter Sarah b. 1836.

In 1850 this family is found in Collin County, TX with the addition of another son James H. b. 1840 in MO and a daughter S A b. 1843 in MO

In 1860 David is not listed with his wife Susan and children Joseph, James and Susan as well as two young men John and George White. They are living in Grayson County, TX

 

I cannot find any record of his death other than an index to the Mortality Schedule that says he died Sept 1860 in Grayson County of Typhoid Fever.

4) James W. Foster was born about 1811 in VA. He married Sarah W. Shaw 3 Oct 1833 in Rockbridge County, VA. In 1840 James and Sarah with 4 little ones are found in Lexington, Rockbridge, VA, in 1850 they are in Salt Springs, Randolph, MO with son Theodore (15), daughter Sarah M (14), son James (13), daughter Susan (10) and sons John (4) and newborn Zachary. In 1860 they are in Collin County, TX. in 1870, Mantua, Collin County with son John and a new addition who is now 20, son, Robert. In 1880, Mom and Dad are living with son Robert Taylor and his young family in Granbury, Hood, Texas. No death record found.

5) Isaac Newton Foster b. about 1813 in VA. 1850 he is living in Collin County with his mother Sarah, and his siblings, Jane, Joseph, Nancy and Rachel as well as with his widowed brother-in-law Charles Wysong and his two children Helen and James and a Josiah L. Kelly. In 1854 he marries Mahala Perrin in Collin County, TX. In 1860 he is still in Collin County. He is listed as a wagon maker. He and Mahala have 3 boys Austier (actually Oscar) Arthur and James and have a young teacher, Mr. Cary(?) Gates living with them. Still in Collin County by 1870 with 4 more children; John, Price, William and Wilby. In 1880 with two more children, Gracie and Clyde they are still found in Collin County; Oscar has moved out. Jan. 16, 1895 Isaac passed away and is buried in Highland Cemetery, Melissa, Collin County.

6) Sarah Melvina Foster as born 1815 in VA and is first found by name in Cooper County MO where she marries Charles Hopkins Wyson 1 June 1847. She and Charles have 3 children together, a daughter Helen Teresa born March 23, 1849 in Missouri and twin boys born in Melissa, Collin County TX. One son James Hopkins survives the other twin dies at birth and Sarah dies two days later.

7) Joseph H. Foster was born about 1817 in VA and is first found by name in Collin County, TX in 1850 living with his mother Sarah, and his siblings, Jane, Isaac, Nancy and Rachel as well as with his widowed brother-in-law Charles Wysong and his two children Helen and James and a Josiah L. Kelly. I don't believe he ever marries as in 1860, 1870 and in 1880 is always found living with his sisters Jane and Nancy, who also never marry. I know Nancy is not his wife as it always lists her a single and as Joseph's sister in 1880.

8) Nancy has been covered in all the entries above.

9)Rachel Belle Foster was born about 1826 in VA and is first found by name living with her family in 1850 in Collin County, TX. In 1851 she marries a Benjamin Franklin McMahan. In 1860 she and Benjamin are living in Collin County with 5 children; Cornelious, Sarah, Ellen, Mary and James. In 1870 they have moved to Saline, MO by 1880 they are living in Cooper County with 3 more children born to their union where she is found in 1900 and 1910. by 1900 Benjamin had passed away. She died  30 MAR 1916 and is buried in the James McMahan Family Cemetery in Cooper County, MO.
I've made a map of Missouri to show the dates that each of these "siblings" were there and what county they were in. Note that Rachel is first found in Collin County but later settles in MO.





It seems very likely that if Maize is not a sibling to these people he must be closely related.

Until Next Week,
Becky

When So Much Loss Leaves You Restless

This week the prompt from No Story Too Small is 'Halfway'. This left me stumped. I reached out to my SIL, who writes over at Days of Our Lives and she gave me a ton of ideas. I took a couple of them and decided to write about my 3rd great grandfather, Jesse Josiah McClung, who at the midway point in his life between the ages of 31-44  would lose his mother, wife, a son and a daughter. Two of his children would be buried at the halfway point between Georgia, where he was born, and Oklahoma where he died.

But let's start at the beginning.

Jesse Josiah McClung was they youngest son born to Solomon Reece McClung and Winey Lawson Newman. (I believe this is who my grandmother, Winnie Sue Jones was named after.) He was born 21 March 1853, in Haralson County, Georgia.

When Jesse was only 5 years old he lost his father on May 11, 1858. His mother never remarried.  At the age of 10 Jesse lost one of his older his brothers, William Jasper McClung. William served in Co. K. 40th Regt. Georgia Volunteers Infantry and was killed in Action July 25, 1863, at Vicksburg, Miss. He would later name a son after him.

On the 14th of August 1873, Jesse Josiah McClung married Martha Jane Linville. She was the daughter of Worley Daniel Lineville and Margaret Catherine Newell. Jesse and Martha were joined in matrimony by his maternal uncle, and namesake, Jesse G. Newman.




On  May 18, 1875 Martha gave birth to their first child, a daughter, named after both their mothers, Winney Lawson Margaret McClung. And within the next year they would welcome their first son and name him after Jesse's brother. William J. McClung.

By the 1880 census this little family is living in DeKalb County, AL and have two more little children added to their number. Two little girls, Matilda Ann and my ancestor Ora Frances. (Ora doesn't appear in the census because Martha is pregnant with her at the time of the enumeration.) Two years later they welcomed another little girl, my great grandmother's namesake, Lurie Evelyn McClung born 12 Sept 1882.

Then on April 9, 1884 Jesse would suffer the first of many consecutive blows. His mother passes away. This blow is softened a bit by the birth of two more sons, Robert Reece and Jessie Josiah Jr. who went by Joseph or 'Joe'.

Then another blow. Jesse's wife of 14 years,  Martha Jane, died 26 Feb 1888.

There was another child born to this union. One who like my ancestor Ora Frances, never made it into a census record with her parents. The only proof I have that either of these women were the children of Jesse and Martha comes from the interview of their brother Joe by Belle Newman Allen, who wrote Family Gleanings (1965).  This little girl's name was Tilly Ann. I wonder if Martha died giving birth to her?

According to "Joe", his father became very restless after Martha died. By 1893 he loaded up all of his children, except his oldest who was now married to Vinson Ford Studdard, and headed west to Texas. The family lived in Navarro County for three years before his father felt the urge to move again. In the Fall of 1897 they headed to Arkansas where two of the hardest blows to Jesse would be dealt. In Dec of that year while searching for a place that felt like home Jesse's son William became ill and died. Then one month later in the cold of January he would bury his baby *Tilly Ann. After these two devastating loses, Jesse and the remainder of his children headed back to Texas where they rented a little place near Mt. Pleasant in Titus County, Texas. This is where my 2nd great grandmother Ora Frances would meet and marry James Walter Rutherford on Christmas Day 1898. They would file their license January 2 1999. Oct 2 of that year my great grandmother Lurie Myrtle Rutherford was born and just 5 days later, her namesake Lurie Evelyn McClung would marry M G Davis. With just his two youngest boys left at home, Jesse moves again to Indian Territory. In 1910 he is living in Carmel, Jackson County, OK with his youngest son "Joe" and poor Lurie who is listed as a widow with her 3 little ones, Orris, Norman, and Annie. In 1920 Jesse is living  in Wall, Stephens County, OK with Lurie, now remarried to a Benjamin Prater. I wonder if they had a special bond in knowing the pain of losing a spouse. Jesse lived with Lurie the remainder of his life, until he passed away 12 March 1935.


*When I was growing up and spending my weekends with my grandmother, Winnie Sue, she would tell the story of a little girl who was buried near Mena on the wagon trail
on the way to TX. Being about 8 or so I don't remember many details and I'm not sure I even asked many questions. I just remember thinking how sad for that little girl to be buried on the side of the road somewhere. I believe Tilly Ann is who my grandmother was talking about. I always thought she said it was my Grandmother Jones' sister but after researching this family, and finding the Belle Newman Allen resource, I'm certain she said it was her grandmother's sister.

Until next week,
Becky

Alabama Pioneer

School is finally out for the summer and I'm finding it difficult to get time for my blog on a consistent basis. I may get this one done just in the nick of time.

The prompt this week is "The Old Homestead" and I've chosen to write about my 4th great grandfather Henry Athey.

This week I ran across a new to me resource - The General Land Records Bureau of Land Management database where you can look up land records. If you're lucky you can download a copy of the actual record and you can even view that land on a map. After plugging several of my ancestors into their little search box I finally came across one who seemed to have purchased quite a bit of land in the early days of Alabama history - and according to some of these records he fought during the Indian Wars (Creek War of 1836 and the Second Seminole War also called Florida War) Henry Athey.

According to census records, Henry Athey was born in South Carolina in the year 1809. His parents are said to be Henry Athey Sr. and Carrie Hartman.

I think I will try to lay out the information I have on him in a timeline.

• Aug 20, 1834 at the age of 25, Henry purchased 79.81 acres in Montgomery County, AL
• Aug 02, 1837 Henry, now 28,  purchased 40.05 acres also in Montgomery County (there is a duplicate for this land record and the one following recorded for the date July 28, 1838)
• Aug 12, 1837 He purchased 40.11 acres in Montgomery County
• Aug 15, 1838 Henry married Sarah L. Brunson
  
• 1839 Sarah gave birth to a son, William Athey
• 1840 Sarah gave birth to a son, Barnett Athey
• 1842 Sarah gave birth to a son, Wilson Athey
• 1843 Sarah gave birth to a son, John Athey
• 1845 Sarah gave birth to a son, James Athey
• 1847 Sarah gave birth to my ancestor, Benjamin Franklin Athey
• 1849 Sarah gave birth to Thomas Athey
• 1850 the family is found in Pike County, AL those listed are Henry (41), Sarah (37), William (11), Barnett (10), Wilson (8), John (7), James (5), Benjamin (3), Thomas (1) and Joseph H. Robb (22)
• 1852 Sarah gave birth to their youngest, George Athey
• Nov 02, 1854 Henry was awarded 40 acres of Bounty Land for his service as a Private in Captain McDougall's Company, Alabama Militia during the Florida War in Walton & Washington County, FL

• Feb 14, 1857 Henry sold a slave, *Matilda, who was pregnant to a Mr. Littleton Olive. The events that followed this transaction would end up in the Supreme Court as Athey v Olive, 34 Alabama 711 (1859). You can download a free EBook with most all of the information about this case.
• May 03, 1860 Henry was awarded 119.85 acres Bounty Land in Crenshaw County, AL for his service in the Creek War under Captain McDougald, Alabama Militia. Crenshaw County at that time would've been Pike County, AL (Here's a link to an Alabama Formation Map)
  
  
  On that same day in the records lists this same parcel of land being sold to Henry by the Widow of  James F. Johnston, Sarah Johnston.
  
  Henry Athey's Bounty Land Record:

Sarah Johnston - War of 1812 Bounty Land Record Assigned to Henry Athey:

•  Jun 08, 1860 Henry's family is once again in the Pike County, AL census minus his wife, Sarah and son William. Those listed are Henry (51) Josiah B (19) Wilson W. (17), John W. (15) James B (14) Benjamin (12) Thomas (10) and baby George (7).  William is still living though I can't find him listed in the 1860 census. He is later named as the Administrator of his father's Estate in 1862. From papers found in Henry's Estate File I have deduced that Henry must've died between months of April and Dec 1862. Below is a note that includes his signature in bottom right corner..
   
  Below is an image from his Estate File that proves he is no longer alive by Dec 1862
   
  Below is an image I put together of the parcels of land recorded by the BLM for Henry Athey
   
  
  
  Where his homestead was exactly is a mystery. But according to one Brunson decendant I believe it would be somewhere close to where he registered land on Nov 01, 1858
  
  That square with the star in it looks like this upclose. Notice the Patsaliga Creek.
  
  A letter in the Crenshaw County News, written by one of David Brunson’s grandsons talks about several of the family members, and early residents of Pike/Crenshaw County. Source: “Obits and Abstracts 1910-1919, compiled by Joyce English 

   "My grandfather was first stuck on lands in Clark County on the Tom Bigbee River near Salt Springs, and after a while, he sold out to the Benbows & moved to Clark County. After my father was grown he came back to the Valley & married Elizabeth Jinkins and moved to Montgomery county four miles north of Pine Level. In 1852 he came back to the Valley and settled on the ridge that forms the Patsaliga Bluff that was, when I was five years old Precincts 8 and 9. This county was then an uninhabited territory . At that time Henry Athey and Walter Compton lived in between Mt. Ida and the Patsaliga, and a little lower down lived Daniel Plancy & his sons Job & Daniel then down at the Bluff, lived my uncles Ben and David Brunson, and out from the river were Umphrey Capps and Mr. Holiday, and down in the bend where H.W.Carnes now lives. Uncle V.A.T. Underwood lived."

  **The Benbow's and Compton's are mentioned in Henry's Estate File.
  
  Until next week,
  Becky Drake
  
  Please check out my SIL's blog over at Days of Our Lives

Heirlooms, Keepsakes and Memories

This week the prompt given by No Story Too

Small in the 52 Ancestors Challenge is 'Heirloom'....

I'm super excited about this post. I started by requesting on Facebook that any of my family that had any heirlooms please contact me. The response was wonderful! While some of the items may not have necessarily been passed down generation to generation, they definitely hold a great deal of sentiment for those who now own these treasures belonging to their ancestors.

I'll start with my mother's cousin (that's easier than saying my first cousin 1x removed) Tarona who sent me a picture of a very unusual item that belonged to her grandmother, my great grandmother, Zula Jane Acord Stepp. It is a four eyed bottle opener. A little research shows it was made in the 1940's by Wilton Co. Tarona shared that her mother, Jayne, remembered that Grandma Zula got it after she was married in 1946.

Tarona says:

"When I was really little it kinda scared me and then as I got older I couldn't wait to get a coke so I could use it! It was on the door jam in Grandma Zulie's kitchen......I wouldn't take a million dollars for it."

Another cousin of my mother, Debra,  has Grandma Zula's old Singer sewing machine from 1912

 

My grandmother, Reba, has and old cast iron tea kettle made by Bridgeford & Co, Louisville, KY, 1868.  It belonged to Grandma Zula's maternal grandmother Jane Conner Evans.



My Aunt Diane has the Bynum Family Bible printed in 1884. It was given to my 3rd great grandmother, Lou Emmer Reynolds, who married John Thomas Bynum, from her "Papa" 17 May 1885 when she was only 11 years old. She kept it and wrote in it her birthdate as well as the birthdate of her children. Diane also has my great grandmother Bondell Bynum Melson's thimble.

Another cousin of mine, Mike, has his grandmother, my great-grandmother, Myrtle Rutherford Jones' old WWII ration book:

I have a few treasures of my own and a few people to thank for them. I'll start with my Dad and Dawna who gifted me this past Christmas with my great grandmother Wille Belle Foster Nall's old canning funnel. Then my dad's cousin Angie who so graciously thought of me at the passing of my great grandmother and gathered up a box full of stuff that belonged to her and then made sure I got it. In it was this old standing mixer from Montgomery Ward dated 1963 complete with beaters and two mixing bowls, a serving bowl that still had Grandma's address label she used so that her dish would be returned to her when she brought food to the church potlucks and a decorative plate. The one with a solid round edge is hers. The plate that matches it belonged to my husband's grandmother - it has more pointy edges. I love that I have these two "matching" items from opposite sides of my daughter's family. I also have one of my most treasured items; one of the last Christmas gifts I ever received from Grandma Nall - a handwritten recipe for her chocolate gravy.









From my grandmother Winnie Sue Jones Nall (We called her Mammy), I have a cook book from our church - where she wrote me a sweet note on the worn out cover. It was a gift to me Christmas 2008.




And then there's my Uncle Mike and family who were kind enough to give me the family's old wood cook stove. I remember my Mammy and Grandma Nall cooking on it during a camp out we had in the field below Mammy's house one year. My grandpa, Charles Nall, brought in the big hay trucks for us to sleep on and in the morning we had biscuits, bacon, sausage, chocolate gravy, eggs and hot chocolate for breakfast. It was quite a treat! When I posted pictures of it on Facebook, my great Aunt Dena told me that the stove had originally belonged to her Dad, Rufus Nall, and that he bought it from Chicken Hollar in Farmington because he didn't like the way propane made his biscuits taste. He kept it on the back porch to cook his 'catheads'.

  

  

My Dad has his dad's old Bible. It has my grandfather's marriage date and the names of the witnesses and who married them. They were married by Charles' father Benjamin Rufus Nall and the witnesses were my grandmother Winnie Sue's brother, Edwin Jones and Charles' sister, Mildred (Dena). The handwriting belongs to my grandmother, Winnie Sue.  

  

  

My Great Aunt Peggy shared an heirloom she and my Uncle Dwight have. Dwight's dad, my great grandfather, Newell Stepp Sr. was a machinist in the Army in WW1. He made 5 ballpeen hammers while he was in the Army. He gave one to his commanding officers and brought the others home. A few years ago Dwight was visiting his cousin, Edna McDonald and she had one of the hammers that Newell made and gave to her Mother. She said she wanted Dwight to have the hammer, which he is very proud of. We don't know where the other 3 hammers are. They have Newell's serial number stamped on them, unfortunately its too faded to make out.

  

Another heirloom from my great grandmother, Willie Belle Foster Nall, now belongs to my dad's cousin Tracie. It is her old butter churn.

What family treasures do you and your family members have?

Until next week,
Becky