Some of My Favorite South Carolina Resources

As I went through all of my bookmarked links for South Carolina so that I can update and supplement the links on my blog, I copied them into a Word document. It occurred to me when I looked at all the links that I might as well post some of these.

Since a lot of my current research is focused on Anderson and Greenville Counties, those account for a lot of the links I’m going to post, as does a predecessor entity, Pendleton.

And, of course, it should be mentioned, the best resources of all are found by actually visiting the areas in person. However, you can still get a lot of preparatory research done through these websites.


The South Carolina Department of Archives and History

This is the place to start for SC research online. There are a number of documents held at SCDAH that appear on searchable (by name and location) indices or even have scanned images you can bring up on the website.


My South Carolina Genealogy

One of the most extensive listing of South Carolina links.


SC Historical County Lines

This website contains links to various historical maps, including county formation maps (such as SC’s map at FamilyHistory101) and maps of battles.


David Rumsay Map Collection – Pendleton District, South Carolina


South Carolina GenWeb

Lists of useful links in four major categories: SC County Sites, Statewide Records, Reference and Research Helps, and Essays and Special Research Topics.


Ancestors: Resource Guide – South Carolina

Part of BYU’s state-by-state listing of resources.


Rootsweb’s list of South Carolina-related mailing lists 


Upstate Ancestry

Provides some research links for the Upstate area.


South Carolina Genealogy: The Andrea Files

Leonardo Andrea was a professional genealogist who researched a number of SC families. This site does not contain links to the actual research files, but instead describes and classifies how his research was carried out. There are useful indices to family files and folders so that you can find out whether your family might have been among the families he researched.


ABP Abstracts

Dr. Bruce Pruitt has written up abstracts of land documents from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. I find these very useful in my research. This site has links to lists of these abstract books by state that contain purchasing information.


South Carolina in the Civil War

An excellent list of links.


War Between the States in South Carolina

Anderson County

Anderson County SC GenWeb

Like the Greenville GenWeb site, this is an active GenWeb site and is very helpful.


Anderson County Chapter of the South Carolina Genealogical Society

Includes a clickable index to archived newsletters.


Anderson County, SC Book-of-the-Dead Tombstone Inscriptions

A digital version of Ross M. Smith’s project for transcribing all the known tombstones in Anderson County. Tombstones are cross-indexed by name and cemetery – extremely useful!


Anderson County Library’s South Carolina Room


Greenville County

Greenville County Library System

A fabulous resource, both online and onsite. One page that I find particularly useful:

Obituary index


Greenville County Historical Records

Posted on the Greenville County government website courtesy of the Greenville County Library, this is a definite “must” site for all Greenville researchers. Many of the microfilmed records of the county – estate records, indices of land records, etc. – are posted here. Not every microfilmed record is here, but there are enough to seriously cut down the amount of onsite research time you will need to spend (not that I consider research time in Greenville a hardship) and the indices, in combination with the Greenville Library’s online finding aids, are indispensable in planning out a research trip.


Greenville County South Carolina GenWeb

This is one of my favorite GenWeb sites. It is definitely worthwhile to check out each one of the links in the green column on the left. For instance, you might think “I have Ancestry (or Heritage Quest), so I don’t need to check out the census links.” But the links here have a number of heads of household who have been crossed-indexed from one census to the next on the early censuses, and also have neighboring families listed. An invaluable resource!


Greenville County Chapter of the SC Genealogical Society


Pendleton District

Pendleton District, SC – Part of the American Local History Network


Old Pendleton District Chapter of the SC Genealogical Society


Other Links in the Region


The Piedmont Historical Society, South Carolina


Going through bookmark files and pages is usually a rude awakening and this is no exception. Many of the URLs for pages I had bookmarked under Genealogy > South Carolina are no longer valid. A number of Pendleton District links and all of my Williamston links are gone. I can see that I’ll have to do some googling to rebuild these links.

From the Will to the Estate Packet - Part 4: "Should He Be Living"

In the next document that appeared on the screen, Preston Moore granted power of attorney to Commodore W. Moore.

Preston had been found. He was living in Izard County, Arkansas.

I kept cranking, through settlement papers and Commodore Moore’s Petition for Final Settlement, Discharge, Etc. (that's the actual name of the document).  The amounts ultimately paid out to the heirs were not large. Legal fees, of course, ate up much of the proceeds. The date was March 7, 1878, more than six years after the death of William Spencer Moore. Bleak Farm.

There was one last, small section. The section heading paper simply said: “Margaret A. Moore.” Who was she? The document, dated 17 October 1878, was Margaret A. Moore's application for guardianship over the estate of minors William B. Moore, Charles K. Moore, “in the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars, with W. H. Lewis, H. P. Moore, J. S. Lewis, J. B. McCurdy and R. S. Guy as sureties.”

She was the widow of Preston E. Moore, and these were his children. Apparently in the course of the years it took to settle the estate, Preston E. Moore had died.

One last page – Taxation of Cost – and words I never thought I would be glad to see at the end of the microfilm strip: “End of This Estate Packet.” There were 90 pages of documents in all, not counting all the extra printouts that had to be made in order to capture some of the larger pages.

I spent another full day on Wednesday doing research, and on Wednesday night read through the estate packet; we were to leave Greenville the next morning. The document on delivery of the mortgage indicated that it was “recorded in office of Register Mesne Conveyance of Anderson County, December 10th 1874 in Book No. 4 Page 634:635.” There should be a record of this in the land documents! To my husband: “Um, dear, one last short trip to the library.”

At 9:00 sharp the next morning I ran up to the Hughes Library's South Carolina Room, pulled the microfilm with the land document index, and began to scroll. It wasn’t indexed. Then I pulled the roll that covered the date. The paging was different, so I went by date; just when I thought it would take all day, there it was: the last document, ceding the property. I printed it out and added it to the fat folder containing the William Spencer Moore estate packet.

Parties in this case:

Commodore Worth Moore – Born 17 February 1848. He graduated from Lutheran College, Walhalla (later Newberry), South Carolina (I believe he was the only one of the siblings to attend college) and was a teacher, merchant and farmer. According to his obituary, he was also connected with Alabama Polytechnic Institute, which later became Auburn University. He died on 22 December 1923. His death certificate contains an interesting error: the name of his father is given as “Perry Moore.” A book of abstracts of newspaper articles contained this item from the June 28, 1877 issue of The Anderson Intelligencer: “Married: On Thursday the 21st inst., at the residence of Col. T. J. Roberts, the bride’s father, by Rev. W. H. Strickland, Mr. C. W. Moore and Miss Nora Roberts, all of Anderson County.”

Harlston Perrin Moore – Born 4 December 1845. During the Civil War he served in the Second Battalion, South Carolina Senior Reserves. He married Martha E. Lewis, whose brothers W. H. Lewis and J. S. Lewis signed together with H. P. Moore “as sureties” for Margaret A. Moore. He was a farmer. He moved to Texas in 1877 with his wife, children, and his wife’s siblings. He never again owned land – in Texas he was a tenant farmer, and based on testimony in his Confederate Soldier’s Application for a Pension and family memories, the family was quite poor. He died 12 December 1921.

William Brewster Moore – He was born 9 May 1851. During his life he was a farmer and also worked in a cotton mill. The book of newspaper abstracts contained this Anderson Intelligencer article from around the time of the final settlement of the estate: “Obituary, Thursday, August 22, 1878: We regret to announce the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Moore, wife of Mr. Bruce Moore of Hopewell Township, which occurred on last Sunday after an illness of several weeks from fever. Her remains were interred at Hopewell on Monday in the presence of many friends and relatives who mourn the departed one.” This confirmed something I had suspected, that Bruce Moore had been married before his marriage to Mary Elizabeth Shirley. William Brewster “Bruce” Moore died on 27 July 1924.

Anna Jerusha Moore – Born on 12 January 1854. She married William Riley Cartee and they had seven children. She died on 17 September 1889.

Preston E. Moore – He was born in 1843. He served in the Second South Carolina Rifles and later the 37th Virginia Cavalry in the Civil War and suffered from illness during both terms of service. At the time of William Spencer Moore’s first will (25 July 1865) he had not returned home. He must have returned at some point; the family must have learned that he was alive and have had some way of knowing that he had been in Texas.

And here is the continuation of the Preston Moore story:

I found Preston and Margaret A. Moore in the 1870 census for Izard County, Arkansas, with children William B. Moore and Ulysses Moore. (A strange name for the child of a Confederate veteran? There is another story here – the story of the Moore family’s Unionist sympathies, which were pointed out to me by another researcher who is not related to the family.) So Preston Moore was not even a “reverse orphan.”

The census indicates that Margaret and her parents were from South Carolina. It also shows that Preston was a schoolteacher; it seems the Moore boys were evenly divided into farmers and teachers. By 1880, Margaret was a widow living with her three sons (William, Charles, and Edgar) in Dallas, Texas. By 1900, she is living with Edgar, and the census indicates that she had given birth to five children, of whom two were living – in addition to Ulysses, one of the other three known sons must have died by this time.

During my research in Greenville, one of the “brick walls” I had resolved was the fate of Martha E. Lewis Moore’s youngest sister, Cora, for whom I found a death notice indicating that she had died at the age of 18. That left only two of Martha’s sisters – Margaret and Lenora/Nora – with “fate unknown.” But the fate of one of them, Margaret A. Lewis, may soon be found – I believe she married Preston Moore. Not only did two Lewis brothers sign as sureties for her, but on the 1880 census she is shown living very near J. S. Lewis. I am in the process of searching for proof of this relationship.

The estate packet contains many small details about the estate and the legal proceedings; the facts that it revealed about the family were huge. Did the estate packet help me resolve any brick walls?

It has brought me closer to learning the ultimate fates of Preston Moore and Margaret A. Lewis. You might also say that my entire view of this family was a brick wall, one that I didn’t even know existed, created by my own overactive imagination and lack of facts.

And the estate packet definitely crushed that brick wall.



Sources:

Death Certificates

Commodore Worth Moore, Certificate of Death No. 19836 (1923), State of South Carolina, Bureau of Vital Statistics, State Board of Health.

Harlston Perrin Moore, Standard Certificate of Death No. 33259 (1921), Texas State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.

William Bruce Moore, Certificate of Death No. 12082 (1924), State of South Carolina, Bureau of Vital Statistics, State Board of Health.

Pension Application

H. P. Moore, Soldier’s Application for a Pension, File No. 24304, filed January 25, 1913. Reproduced from the holdings of the Texas State Archives.

Extracted marriage and death information:

Early Anderson County, S.C. Newspapers, Marriages and Obituaries 1841-1882. Abstracted by Tom C. Wilkinson, Index prepared by Mrs. Colleen Morse Eliott. (Death of Elizabeth Moore – p. 238; marriage of C. W. Moore – p. 212; death of Cora Moore – p. 209)

Will and Estate Packet

Will and Estate Packet of William Spencer Moore, No. 2838, microfilm. 90 pages. Accessed at Hughes Main Library, Greenville, South Carolina.

Obituary

Obituary of C. W. Moore, The Greenville News, 24 Dec 1923, p. 3, “C. W. Moore Dies at Vaughnville.”

Census

P. E. More household, 1870 U.S. census, Izard County, Arkansas, population schedule, Rocky Bayou Township, dwelling 62, family 63; National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll 55. Accessed via Ancestry.com.

Maggie A. Moore household, 1880 U.S. census, Dallas County, Texas, population schedule, Enumeration District 66, dwelling 16, family 17; National Archives microfilm publication T9, roll 1299, p. 291B. Accessed via Ancestry.com.

Maggie A. Moore household, 1900 U.S. census, Dallas County, Texas, population schedule, Justice Precinct 5, dwelling 137, family 139; National Archives microfilm publication T263, roll 1626.

e-mail message

Kim Wilson, “Re: Will of William Spencer Moore of Anderson County,” to author, 5 June 2006.

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Part 2
Part 3

Submitted for the 98th Carnival of Genealogy, "Document Analysis," hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene.

From the Will to the Estate Packet - Part 3: "176 Acres More or Less"

I remembered the words with which I had ended my series of posts on “Searching for Preston Moore”:

“That is the last I know of Preston E. Moore.

I doubt if I will ever learn his ultimate fate: when and where he actually died and is buried. Some day I hope to visit the area of the Nashville battlefield, which has not been preserved but does have a few roadside historical markers. Preston may have been buried in an unmarked grave somewhere nearby, or he may have made it partway home to South Carolina, desperately ill and fighting the bitter cold, before he died.

I think of Preston every Memorial Day and remember him often at other times.

His name will not be forgotten.”

Well, I can still say that his name will not be forgotten.

In the Affidavit of Absence of Defendant, Commodore Moore said on oath that Preston E. Moore “when last heard from resided in the state of Texas and was not settled down, and his address and his whereabouts is not known.” Texas! I remembered all the fruitless efforts my cousin Jo Ann and I had made to locate Preston in Texas.

I continued to scroll through the microfilm images: 

• The Order of Publication against Preston E. Moore, Harlston P. Moore et al (publication of the names of the parties of interest in the Anderson Intelligencer for six weeks to give the absent Preston Moore advance notice that he was a party of interest).
• The Petition of Anna J. (Moore) Cartee, who was a minor at this time, for appointment of her husband William R. Cartee as guardian ad litam and her separate answer agreeing to the need for partition. 
• The Summons in Partition for the defendants to appear at Anderson Court House on 1 November 1873 to show cause that the real estate of William S. Moore should not be partitioned.

At this point, after scrolling through and printing out more than 50 pages, I ran over to Paula and Carolyn with news of “the bombshell.” They were also amazed, both at the story and at what a windfall we were coming into.

More scrolling – as each image came up on the reader, it was as though another layer was being peeled off of my old image of the family and a new image was emerging.

The next pages to appear were the Order to Sell the Real Estate of W. S. Moore Deceased. I had always wondered why my great-grandfather Harlston Moore had left the farm in South Carolina and moved to Texas. What was the incentive? Was it that life was so hardscrabble in South Carolina? A map of Hopewell and Garvin Townships in Anderson County from 1877, the year that my great-grandparents moved to Texas, indicated that H. P. Moore owned the land:




(The name “H. P. Moore” appears just south of Twenty-Six Mile Creek, right above the “O” in Hopewell.)


Next came the Report of Sale:

“One tract of Land Containing (176) one hundred and seventy-six acres more or less which was bid off by P. H. Moore for the sum of (1480) Fourteen hundred and eighty Dollars he being at the time the highest and last bidder for the same. And upon his compliance with the terms of said sale I executed and delivered to him a deed of conveyance for the said tract of land, All of which is respectfully submitted Dec 5th 1873, Wm. McGukin, Sheriff.”

So my great-grandfather had placed the winning bid. But the next Report of Sale showed a less rosy picture:

“… and up to this time the purchaser has failed to comply with the terms of said sale, he having only paid me the sum of one hundred and fifteen Dollars, that amount not being the Cash payment on the purchase money of said tract of land according to the terms of Sale therefore the terms of Sale not having been wholly complied with, I have not executed to him any deed of Conveyance for said tract of land….”

The Order for Resale of the Real Estate of William S. Moore followed. Then the Mortgage of Real Estate, turned over by H. P. Moore to Wm. McGukin, and the document of delivery of the mortgage to the sheriff until payment of the penal sum of $2730. The date was 10 December 1874. More than three years had passed since the death of William Spencer Moore.

It was a story that had already been played out, yet it seemed to be taking place before my eyes. By this time, after squinting at and cranking and adjusting the many pages, it seemed as though the tale must be coming to its sorrowful end.

But there was more.

Part 1
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Part 4

From the Will to the Estate Packet - Part 2: "Share and Share Alike"

As described in recent posts, the trip to Greenville was my first real research trip. I was excited by the opportunity to do research together with two newly discovered Moore cousins, Paula and Carolyn.

We did a good bit of planning beforehand, printing out library finding aids, indices to land deeds and probate packets, and information on other local resources. Our plan was to start by finding and copying all the documents (for known members of our Moore family and a few closely associated families) listed on the indices that were not online (Greenville has put images of many of the documents – but not nearly all – online). We also went through a number of books with Greenville and South Carolina information – church minutes, plat books, extracts of marriage and death information from newspapers, and others.

With three of us working from morning until nearly closing time (9:00 p.m.), we were able to get most of the heavy Greenville microfilm work done on the first day (of two days for Paula and Carolyn and three days for me). This was a rich haul of quite a few land documents with some surprising new Moore names and the full estate packet for William Spencer Moore’s brother Bud Mathis Moore.

By mid-morning of the second day, I realized that while Paula and Carolyn were perusing plat books and transcribing some key land documents, I could start working on Anderson County microfilms pertaining to my William Spencer Moore branch of the family.

The William Spencer Moore Estate Packet was at the end of the microfilm roll. I didn’t expect to have many pages to print out.

Wrong again.

I scrolled through the now familiar will.

Then the next page came up:

“By A. O. Norris Esquire, Probate Judge.

Whereas, Commodore Moore made suit to me, to grant him Letters of Administration with will Annexed of the Estate and effects of William Spencer Moore.

These are therefore to cite and admonish all and singular the kindred and creditors of the said William Spencer Moore deceased, that they be and appear, before me in the Court of Probate, to be held at Anderson Court House, on Monday the 21st day of October instant, after publication hereof, at 11 o’clock in the forenoon, to shew cause, if any they have, why the said Administration should not be granted.

Given under my Hand, this fifth day of October Anno Domini, 1872.

Published on the tenth day of October 1872 in the Anderson Intelligencer.

A. O. Norris, Judge of Probate.”

Commodore Worth Moore, the third son and middle child of William Spencer Moore and Emily Tarrant, was suing to be made administrator of the estate. Why wasn’t the oldest surviving child, my great-grandfather Harlston Perrin Moore, serving as administrator? Was he too busy running the farm?

This was followed by Commodore Moore’s Bond of Administration, Letter of Administration, Warrant of Appraisement, the appraisal bill of the estate by John S. Harper, Aaron Y. Shirley, and Peter R. Brown, Commodore Moore’s Oath of Administration, Petition to Sell Personalty, the Order for Sale on 8 November 1872, the Sale Bill of the Personal Property of William Spencer Moore (listing items bought, by whom bought, and selling price), and the First Return of Administrator dated 28 November 1872. All well and good; things were moving along in the matter of administering the estate.

The next page that came up on the microfilm machine took my breath away: It was an Affidavit of Plaintiff of Absence of Defendant to support a Petition to Partition. The significance of these documents caused me to stare in disbelief: Commodore Worth Moore was bringing suit against his siblings to be able to sell the real estate – the farm of William Spencer Moore – and split the proceeds from the sale. This was not the family I thought I knew, and the name heading the defendants was the biggest shock of all:

Commodore W. Moore against Preston E. Moore et al.

The phrases from the will – “Share and Share alike” and “Preston E. Moore (should he be living)” – echoed ironically in my mind.

Preston E. Moore, my special “reverse orphan,” did not die in the Civil War.

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From the Will to the Estate Packet - Part 1

Wills are often the documents that help us break down brick walls. At the very least, they usually contain a lot of key information, such as lists of children, or at least confirm information we already have or suspect. The will can, in a certain snapshot form, tell a story.

But the will does not tell the entire story. I learned this the hard way.

The will of my great-great grandfather, William Spencer Moore, was signed on 25 July 1865. William Spencer Moore died on 31 October 1871. It appeared to be your basic will, with the simplest possible instructions for taking care of his wife and surviving children:

Will of William Spencer Moore

In the name of God Amen. I William Spencer Moore of the State of South Carolina and Anderson District being of feeble body but sound mind and disposing memory calling to mind the certainty of death and the uncertainty of life and feeling disposed to will deed bequeath all that it hath pleased Almighty to place in my hands, in manner following Viz

Item first. I will and bequeath unto my beloved wife Emily Moore all my Estate, both personal and real to remain as it now is during the natural life or widowhood of my said Wife, but should my said wife ever marry then I will and bequeath that said Estate both personal and real be sold and the one third of the proceeds thereof be given by my hereinafter Administrator to my said Wife and the remainder thereof be equally divided among my beloved Children Share and Share alike Viz Preston E. Moore (should he be living) Harlston Perin Moore Commodore Worth Moore William Brewster Moore & Anna Jerusha Moore.

Item Second. I will that my said Estate be Administered upon with this my last Will annexed so soon after the death or marriage of my said wife as practicable and that distribution thereof be made according to this my last Will and Testament.

Item Third. I will that my said Administrator pay all my just debts out of means that there may be on hand, should there be any means on hand, but if there should be no means on hand, then I will and bequeath that so much of my personal Estate as may be necessary be sold as will pay my just debts out of what can be best spared from the family.

Item Fourth. I will and bequeath my body to be decently buried as my family may wish and my Soul I commend unto God in the Hope of blessed immortality beyond the Grave.

Item fifth. I publish this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking all former Wills by me at any time made, and declare this to be my last and Testament written on Three pages of paper and signed, sealed and published in the presence of the subscribing Witnesses this 25th day of July 1865.

W. S. Moore (LS)

Testes
W.B. Long
J. N. Shirley
L.D. Harris

The State of South Carolina ) Probate Court
Anderson County ) Probate Will

Present Honorable A. O. Sims Probate Judge for the County of Anderson.

Personally appeared L. D. Harris subscribing witness to the annexed instrument of writing purporting to be the last Will and Testament of William S. Moore, late of Anderson County, deceased, who being duly sworn, deposeth and saith that he was present and did see the said instrument of writing duly executed by the said William S. Moore. And deponent further saith that said William S. Moore at the time of executing the said instrument of writing was to the best of deponent’s knowledge and belief of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding and that L. D. Harris (the deponent) and W. B. Long and J. N. Shirley in the presence of each other and of the said William S. Moore and at his request signed their names as witnesses to the due execution of the same.

Sworn and subscribed to before me this Ninth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and Seventy two.
L.D. Harris

These were the notes I made right after I obtained a copy of the will, based on my own observations and additional information provided by a couple of people with whom I shared the will:

“Items of information:

Witnesses are:

W.B. Long – Wiliam Berry Long (1828-1901, m. Jane Smith) was a school teacher, then Baptist preacher. Witnesses to the will of Samuel Moore, the father of William Spencer Moore, were George Long, Alfred Long, and Brasher Henderson, who was probably married to a Long. This points to a probable family connection to the Longs.

J. N. Shirley – William Brewster Moore, the son of William Spencer Moore, married into the Shirley family and they lived nearby. J. N. Shirley was John Newton Shirley (b. 1834, m. Elizabeth Jane Masters); Masters was the daughter of Baptist Rev. George Washington Masters, who lived at Five Forks/Lebanon (info from Kim Wilson).

L.D. Harris – Lorenzo Dow Harris (1837-1913) m. Rachel Elizabeth Shirley, sister of J. N. Shirley. They lived in Hopewell Twp.

William Spencer Moore was in poor health at the time of the will but did not die until 31 October 1871 and apparently ran for office between the date of the will and the date of his death. He may have taken ill with one of the diseases epidemic in the country during and after the Civil War.

Preston E. Moore, the oldest son of William Spencer Moore, most likely was Missing in Action in the Civil War. This may have been an additional blow to W. S. Moore’s health.”

Beyond these items, the will helped me to form an impression of the William Spencer Moore/Emily Tarrant family. The key phrase was:

“… the remainder thereof be equally divided among my beloved Children Share and Share alike Viz Preston E. Moore (should he be living) Harlston Perin Moore Commodore Worth Moore William Brewster Moore & Anna Jerusha Moore.”

I saw a loving father counseling his children to “share and share alike” who was probably also in a state of grief that two months after the end of the Civil War, his oldest son, Preston Moore, had not returned and most likely had perished. The tragic perception of the loss of Preston Moore inspired me to start a long quest to learn his experiences and fate in the war. This was recounted in “Orphans and Orphans: Searching for Preston Moore” and “The Two Preston Moores.”

This tender view of William Spencer Moore grew into an image of a close-knit family, some of whom eventually – perhaps in response to the hardships of life in the South of the Reconstruction – left the home place and struck out to find better fortunes elsewhere.

So much of this image was wrong. And it was the estate packet that told the full story.

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

1880 Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Schedules and a Few Mysteries

A recent Ancestry Weekly Discovery newsletter highlighted these seven schedules:

“While finding any record on our ancestors is a thrill for us, sometimes the contents in those records give us pause. Such is the case with the “1880 Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes.” Seven supplemental schedules were taken with the 1880 U.S. Census that tallied and gave intimate details on the insane, idiots, deaf-mutes, blind persons, homeless children, inhabitants in prison, and paupers and the indigent.”

In the case of my Lewis family, there was an ancestor – a great-great aunt named Sarah Lewis – whom I expected to find there. I already knew that she was deaf from the regular census schedules. And sure enough, a search on the Lewis name in South Carolina turned up Sarah Ann Lewis in Centerville, Anderson County.

Surprisingly, it turned up two other Lewises in Anderson County: Mary Lewis (also listed as Margaret Lewis) in Belton and Martha Lewis in Centerville. The Lewis family was a large one with many branches still living in Anderson at this time, so I cannot be sure whether or not Mary and Martha were the sisters of my great-great grandfather Elisha Berry Lewis (I do know that he had two sisters by these names) or were from other branches of the family.

There are enough “mystery” siblings of Elisha Berry Lewis (son of Elisha Lewis and Rosannah Dalrymple) to make this family one of my main research subjects. To narrow down the identities of Mary and Martha I may have to go back a generation as well to look into the families of at least a couple of Elisha Sr.’s brothers (Major, Jesse, and possibly John; I believe the rest moved to Tennessee around 1810).

Speaking of “mystery siblings,” one is missing here whom I expected to find: J. Newton Lewis. But then again, the only census I have ever seen him on is the regular 1880 census. Here are the Lewis siblings, minus Elisha Berry, listed as living together on that census:

1880 US Federal Census, Centerville Township, Anderson County, South Carolina, Enumeration District 19, page 36, 19 June 1880, dwelling number 326, family number 335

Lewis, Martha W F 60 Single At home SC SC SC
Lewis, Sarah Ann W F 57 Sister Single At home Listed in columns for “Deaf and dumb” and “Maimed, crippled, bedridden, or otherwise disabled” SC SC SC
Lewis, J. Newton W M 53 Brother Single Farmer “Maimed, etc.” SC SC SC
Smith, Mary E. W F 51 Sister Single Divorced SC SC SC
Dalrymple, Rebecca W F 91 Aunt Single “Maimed, etc.” SC SC SC

J. Newton must have suffered from some sort of disability, but perhaps it was from an accident or illness and did not merit his inclusion on the Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Schedule. The big mystery remains: Why is this the only mention of him I am able to find? I almost wonder whether he was a “phantom”! To deepen the mystery a little further, one genealogy (on the Dalrymple side) mentions two other brothers whom I have not been able to find: Samuel and Pinkney; a Dalrymple researcher with whom I have corresponded says that this information is included in the diary of a clergyman who was a friend of the family.

Sarah Ann Lewis is listed under “deaf mutes,” a condition which appeared at birth (indicated by a “B” in the age of onset column). It is further indicated that she spent 6 years at an institution for deaf mutes in Cedar Springs, Spartanburg, SC. This would have been the South Carolina Institution for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind, which was founded in 1849 by N. P. Walker and is still in existence today. The schedule also indicates that Sarah was at least partially able to support herself.

The information for Mary on the “insane” schedule may indicate that she was not Elisha Berry’s sister: it indicates that the symptoms appeared at age 19 and have continued for 8 years, so she would have been too young. This Mary Lewis is said to suffer from “melancholia.” On the regular census, Elisha Berry’s sister Mary is listed as Mary Smith, divorced. (There is an intriguing possibility that her ex-husband may have been a member of the Smith family to which the Lewis family had a number of ties.)

Martha Lewis is listed on the “pauper and indigent” schedule; no age is given. She is said to be blind. I do not believe this Martha Lewis is Elisha Berry’s sister, either; on the 1860 census, his sister Martha’s occupation is given as “School teacher.”

So there are a number of mysteries that I can look forward to investigating:

Did J. Newton Lewis exist, and if he did, why doesn’t he show up anywhere else?

Who were the Mary and Martha Lewis who appear on the Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Schedule and were they related to my Lewises?

Who was Mary Lewis Smith’s ex-husband?

Did Elisha Lewis and Rosannah Dalrymple have sons named Samuel and Pinkney?

One final point of interest is that none of Elisha Berry Lewis’ siblings seems to have had children. The only sibling who appears to have gotten married was Mary, and since she was shown as single on the 1870 census (when she would have been around 40-41 years old), she probably had no children and none are shown living with her in 1870.

Elisha Berry Lewis is buried in Midway Presbyterian Cemetery, Anderson, SC, as are his sisters Sarah Ann (1828-1897) and Mary Rosanna (1835-1898).

Transcription Tuesday: The Death of Samuel D. Lewis

Preston Moore is not my only “reverse orphan” great-great uncle who died in the Civil War. There are at least two others: Samuel D. Lewis and Manning P. Lewis, the brothers of my great-grandmother Martha E. Lewis Moore (Preston was the older brother of her husband, Harlston Perrin Moore).

Samuel D. Lewis, the third of ten children of Elisha Berry Lewis and Martha Poole, was born in around 1840 in Anderson County, South Carolina. He served in Company C of the Palmetto Sharpshooters, as did his older brother, James West Lewis. He died on August 14, 1864, in the Second Battle of Deep Bottom, with the location reported as Fussell’s Mill in the unit history and New Market Hill/New Market Heights, Virginia in his compiled service record.

The following is a transcription of the pages from his compiled service record reporting his death. Handwritten entries are in italics.

“(Confederate)
L/Palmetto Sharpshooters/S.C.

S. D. Lewis
Pvt., Co. C, Palmetto Regiment Sharpshooters, South Carolina Vols.

Appears on Company Muster Roll
of the organization named above,
for July & August, 1864

Enlisted:

When: Jan. 15, 1864
Where: Morristown
By whom: Capt. Benson
Period: War

Last paid:

By whom: Capt. McLure
To what time: Apr. 30, 186_.

Present or absent:
Remarks: Killed in Action
August 14th 1864 (New Market Hill)”

Such a terse, matter-of-fact report.

The bottom of the page gives the following information on the Palmetto Sharpshooters:

“Most of the members of this company formerly served in Company B, 4th Regiment South Carolina Infantry.
The Palmetto Regiment of Sharp Shooters (also called Jenkins’ Regiment and the 1st Regiment Palmetto Sharp Shooters) was organized April 16, 1862, with twelve companies, which were composed principally of men who had formerly served in the 4th, 5th and 9th Regiments South Carolina Infantry.”

The second page:

“(Confederate)
L/Palmetto S. S./S.C.
Samuel D. Lewis
Pvt. Co. C, Palmetto S. Shooters

Name appears on a
Register
of Officers and Soldiers of the Army of the Confederate States who were killed in battle, or who had died of wounds or disease.

Where born: Anderson Dist.
When deceased: Aug. 14, 1864
Where and from what cause: Killed, New Market Heights
Amount of money left: _____
Effects: _____
In whose charge: _____
When received: March 29, 1865
Number of certificate: 4885
Remarks: Last paid to 30 April 1864

*This register appears to have been compiled in the Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office from returns furnished by Hospitals and by Regimental and Company Officers.

Confed. Arch., Chap. 10, File No. 10, page 152.”

Sources:

Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of South Carolina, NARA Publication Number M267, for Samuel D. Lewis of the First Palmetto Sharp Shooters (Jenkins’ Regiment).

“Palmetto Sharpshooters, Company C, Palmetto Riflemen, Anderson County, South Carolina Volunteers,” webpage hosted by Rootsweb at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~york/PSS/C.htm.

Madness Wednesday: Another Brick Wall

In keeping with our turned-upside-down-schedule-due-to-the-Olympics, my posting schedule during these GeneaBloggers Games weeks will also be turned upside down. So I am posting Wednesday (which is actually tomorrow, but I am going to prepost today, that is, Tuesday) about one of my tearing-my-hair-out brick walls, Emily Tarrant Moore.

Emily was one of the first “new” ancestors that I found after I got into genealogy, and I hardly know any more about her today than I did when I first saw her name listed as the mother of my great-grandfather Harlston Perrin Moore on his death certificate.

Emily shows up by name on three Federal censuses: 1850, 1860, and 1870. She does not show up on the 1880 census, so we believe she had died by then. Her husband, William Spencer Moore, died in 1871. I believe that Emily died some time during or before the year 1877, because that is when my great-grandfather sold the farm and moved to Texas. Emily’s age is given as 35 on the 1850 census, 31 on the 1860 census (! – her age, her husband’s age, and the ages of her sisters-in-law were all basically the same as their ages were on the 1850 census), and 57 on the 1870 census, so I have taken 1813 as the guesstimate year of her birth. I believe she was also counted with Spencer Moore in Anderson County, South Carolina on the 1840 census, but I cannot be sure it was her; there were two females 20-30 years old (Spencer’s sisters) and one female 10 to 15 years old – too young to be Emily, but it might have been a mistake.

I do not know when Spencer and Emily married. Their children were born in the following years: Preston in about 1843, Harlston Perrin in 1845, Commodore Worth in 1848, William Brewster in 1851, and Anna Jerusha in 1854. I believe that Spencer moved from Greenville County to Anderson County in 1836 (based on land transaction records), and it may be that Spencer and Emily were married by then, because at that time most if not all of the South Carolina Tarrants lived in Greenville County. If Spencer and Emily were married by 1836, why are there no children with earlier dates of birth than 1843? This is one of many mysteries about Emily that I would like to solve.

The “big” mystery would be: Who were Emily’s parents? The solution probably lies in a thorough study of the Greenville Tarrants. Emily is not listed anywhere as belonging to any of the Tarrant families, but I have seen a few gaps in lists of children that have pointed me toward a couple of good prospects.

Some time during the Games I will attempt to make a timeline for the events in Emily Tarrant Moore’s life for which the dates are known – wish me luck!

Locations of Residence of William Spencer Moore on Google Maps

View William Spencer Moore in a larger map

You can also access the map by clicking on this link.

The Google Maps task combines two series of events, the GeneaBloggers Games and Week 7 of the 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy.

This was a difficult task for me, with a great deal of trial and error. I did finally end up with a map of the two known residences of William Spencer Moore in South Carolina in the My Maps application of Google Maps. It has map pins on the approximate locations and a brief description for each location, as well as title and description of the map. It's fairly basic, but I hope to be able to do more later.

One problem I had was making the locations as precise as I wanted them to be. I have some paper maps showing the location of each of these two farms within particular townships (Hopewell for the Anderson County one and Fairview for the Greenville County one), and even though I knew some of the local landmarks/orientation points (Twenty-Six Mile Creek for Anderson and Stony Creek for Greenville), I was not able to get good results for Google Maps searches for these locations. Instead, I used the nearest towns: Simpsonville for Greenville and Williamston for Anderson. I'm definitely going to have to do some more tinkering and playing around with this application.

Orphans and Orphans: Searching for Preston Moore

I just wanted to find my great-grandfather’s oldest brother, Preston E. Moore.

It seemed that this should not be too difficult. I was flush with success at finding my great-grandfather Harlston Perrin Moore on a Texas Death Certificate and then, not long afterwards, finding his family in South Carolina – just where my mother had always said we “had family.”

There were two main possibilities: Preston had stayed back in South Carolina with the rest of the Moore family, or he had come out to Texas with his brother Perrin Moore. The first did not seem likely: my third cousin Jo Ann S., a skilled and tenacious researcher, had not been able to turn him up after the 1860 census as she had the other three children in the William Spencer Moore and Emily Tarrant family – Anna Jeusha Moore, Commodore Worth Moore, and William Brewster Moore.

However, Jo Ann had also lost track of Perrin Moore after the 1860 census because he had gone out to Texas in 1877 and nothing she had found before this indicated that any members of this family had gone to Texas. Ergo, Preston Moore must be in Texas. So the first thing I did was to look in Texas, specifically the Dallas area, for Preston E. Moore.

A glance at the date of birth of Preston Moore – circa 1843 – suggests a strong third possibility: lost in the Civil War.

But I was optimistic. Didn’t families tend to travel in groups when they migrated? As it turned out, Harlston Perrin Moore and Martha Lewis Moore did travel in a family group – with Martha’s Lewis siblings. I could not find Preston E. Moore in Texas.

After I obtained a copy of H. P. Moore’s Confederate Pension Application from the Texas State Archives, I realized that I would have to start searching for records of Preston E. Moore’s Civil War service. H. P. Moore was just old enough to have served, and his service was in one of the “old men and little boys’” units, the 2nd South Carolina Reserves. His older brother Preston, however, would have been old enough to have served in a regular unit.

Preston became my first “reverse orphan,” and I became a little obsessed with learning his fate. I spent much of my first Memorial Day after getting hooked on genealogy searching for Preston Moore in the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. There were no Preston Moores from South Carolina. There were, however, P. Moores and P.E. Moores. However, I could not really match up any of the P. or P.E. Moores listed with South Carolina units with our Preston; I could eliminate some who were identified in unit histories as being other people, but believed that I would have to wait to find more detailed histories of the other units until I could know where to start tracing what happened to Preston. Preston would have to remain “in limbo” for a while.

A few months after this I obtained a copy of the will of William Spencer Moore, the father of Preston and H.P. Moore. I tore open the envelope and read: “…should my said wife ever marry then I will and bequeath that said Estate both personal and real be sold and the one third of the proceeds thereof be given by my hereinafter Administrator to my said Wife and the remainder thereof be equally divided among my beloved Children Share and Share alike Viz Preston E. Moore (should he be living), Harlston Perin Moore Commodore Worth Moore William Brewster Moore & Anna Jerusha Moore.” That brief parenthetical phrase – “should he be living” – made my heart sink.

The will was dated 25 July 1865, more than two months after the end of the war. I had to face the fact that the most likely scenario was that Preston E. Moore had died in the Civil War. But how could I find him among all the P. Moores and P.E. Moores from South Carolina?

Once again, I let Preston languish in limbo for a while; and to be honest, I had just about given up hope of finding him. But I could not forget him. I always dutifully entered his name in the search box of any new database I came across that had any remote chance of turning him up.

This was the first thing I did when I learned that there was a Civil War Prisoners of War database on Ancestry, and two hits came up: the first brought up an image from a list of prisoners of war at Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania, with Preston Moore’s unit given as the 37th Virginia. The second had a Preston E. Moore from Anderson District, SC (this piece of information was what made me dance with joy in the certainty that this was “my” Preston Moore), with his unit listed as the 37th Virginia, followed by two words which were difficult to distinguish. A check on Footnote turned up a number of pages in the Compiled Military Service File pointing to quite a checkered history: illness, AWOL, desertion and capture, taking the Oath of Allegiance to the United States, and enlistment with the U. S. Marine Corps as a condition for release. Preston was even incorrectly identified as killed in battle at the Rappahannock River, only to turn up again on a Receipt Roll for clothing at Guiney’s Station right around the time Stonewall Jackson died there.

There was so much information on Preston Moore!

There was too much information on Preston Moore.

The Two Preston Moores

Orphans and Orphans: The Two Preston Moores

[Part 2. Part 1 Searching for Preston Moore]

Something just did not fit. There seemed to be too much information on this Zelig-like Preston; he was in too many places and they did not always fit together. He appeared to have been both in Fort Mifflin (following the Battle of Gettysburg) and among Confederate deserters picked up and incarcerated by Union forces in Nashville, Tennessee. Moreover, his enlistment with a Virginia unit (apparently the 37th Virginia Infantry Battalion) was puzzling, as I had no indication of the family having any recent connections to Virginia.

Judging by his father’s will and the 1870 census for South Carolina, Preston Moore did not return to South Carolina after the war. I checked the 1870 census for Preston Moore in Virginia, and it was unnerving to find him there, in Washington County: born around 1844 (close to the 1843 date indicated by the 1850 and 1860 censuses), with wife Mary. The census indicated that he could not read or write, but the 1860 census for Anderson County, South Carolina had indicated that he attended school, and I knew that his brother, my great-grandfather, could read and write. Too many puzzle pieces did not fit, and I began to suspect that there were actually two Preston Moores.

A search of the 1860 census in Virginia turned up a Preston Moore of the right age in Kanawha County. So could there have been two men named Preston Moore in the same unit? The “U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865” and “American Civil War Soldiers” databases contained the information that solved the puzzle: both men served in units with similar names - the “other” Preston Moore in the 37th Virginia Infantry, and “my” Preston E. Moore in the 37th Virginia Cavalry.

At about this time my generous “history husband” returned from a business trip in Pennsylvania with a gift: J. L. Scott’s 36th and 37th Battalions Virginia Cavalry (1986, H.E. Howard, Inc.). The 37th Virginia Cavalry was originally organized as Dunn’s Battalion, Partisan Rangers, with many recruits taken from the South Carolina counties of Greenville, Anderson, and Pickens, and was later mustered into service as regular cavalry – the 37th Virginia Cavalry – on 3 November 1862. Hence the appearance of a South Carolina man in a Virginia unit.

Preston was listed on the roster of the 37th Battalion Virginia Cavalry in Scott’s book:

“MOORE, PRESTON: enl. in Co. E. Deserted and took oath, Dec. 29, 1863, in Knoxville, Tenn.”

To complete Preston’s record of service, I returned to Footnote, which by this time had added more Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers for South Carolina. This time I found Preston E. Moore in the 2nd South Carolina Rifles, which was actually his first term of service:


- He was enlisted for service on 29 October 1861 by 1st Lt. Jo. Berry Sloan.





- He was recommended for discharge due to disability by O. M. Doyle, Asst. Surgeon, Moore’s Battalion.


[Transcription:

Army of the Confederate States
Certificate of Disability for Discharge

Corpl. Preston E. Moore of Capt. D. L. Donnald’s Company F 1st Batt. Rifles Provisional Army was Enlisted by Lieut. Jo. Berry Slone of the 1st Regmt. of Rifles at Anderson Co. SC on the twenty ninth Day of October 1861 to serve for three years or during the war. He was born in Anderson Dist. State of South Carolina, is Eighteen Years of Age five feet five [inches] his fair Complected Blue Eyes Sandy hair and by Occupation when Enlisted a farmer. During the last two months said Soldier has been unfit for duty Thirty Days.

Camp Johnson…………………D. L. Donnald Capt.
May 1 1862……………………Commander Company]


- He was approved for a Certificate of Disability for Discharge by Company Commander Capt. D. L. Donnald and was discharged on 3 May 1862.


[Transcription:

Camp [illegible]
May 1st, 1862

I certify that I have carefully examined the said Preston E. Moore of Captain Donnald’s Company, and find him incapable of performing the duties of a soldier because of general weakness – not having, in my opinion, sufficient vigor of constitution to enable him to discharge the duties incumbent on him as a soldier.

I think the welfare of the service requires that he be discharged.

O. M. Doyle
Asst. Surg.
Moore’s Battn.

Discharged from the service of the Confederate States May 3rd 1862
John V. Moore
SC 2nd Battn.]

At some point after his discharge, he re-enlisted for a second term of service in the 37th Virginia Cavalry:


- He was on a List of Rebel Deserters who took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States Government “between Dec. 16 and 29, 1863, and, after confinement for a period of 10 days, were then released” – in his case, from Nashville on 11 January 1864.


[Transcription:

(Confederate.)
M/37 Battalion/Va.
Preston E. Moore
Pvt. 37 Bt. Va. Cav.
Name appears as signature to an
Oath of Allegiance
to the United States, subscribed and sworn to before R. M. Goodwin, Capt. & Asst. Pro. Mar. Genl., Dept. Cumb., January 11, 1864.
Please of residence: Anderson Co., SC
Complexion: Fair; hair: Light
Eyes: Gray; height 5 ft. 6 in.
Indorsement shows: “Roll of Prisoners of war released on taking the oath of Allegiance at Nashville, Tenn., January 11, 1864.”
Hd. Qrs. Prov. Mar. Gen’l, Dept. of the Cumb’d, Nashville, Tenn.; Roll No. 521]

Scott’s description of the conditions in Tennessee during the winter of 1863-64 (J.L. Scott , p. 57) make it easy to understand why so many Confederate soldiers deserted: “The 37th Cavalry and Jones’ Brigade were in poor condition. The winter had posed great hardship on the men and equipment. Many were without blankets, some were without shoes. Returning from Tennessee one man froze to death in the saddle and frostbite was common.”

- Illness was also common: Preston was admitted to the General Hospital of the U.S.A. on 11 January 1864 for acute diarrhea, transferred to the Provost Marshall on 13 January 1864, and released on that same day.




That is the last I know of Preston E. Moore.

I doubt if I will ever learn his ultimate fate: when and where he actually died and is buried. Some day I hope to visit the area of the Nashville battlefield, which has not been preserved but does have a few roadside historical markers. Preston may have been buried in an unmarked grave somewhere nearby, or he may have made it partway home to South Carolina, desperately ill and fighting the bitter cold, before he died.

I think of Preston every Memorial Day and remember him often at other times.

His name will not be forgotten.

Sources:

Census

Spencer Moore household, 1850 U.S. census, Anderson County, South Carolina, population schedule, Eastern subdivision, dwelling 637, family 633; National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, roll 848. Accessed via Ancestry.com.

Spencer Moore household, 1860 U.S. census, Anderson County, South Carolina, population schedule, 42nd Regiment, dwelling 951, family 961; National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, roll 1212. Accessed via Ancestry.com.

John D. Young household, 1860 U.S. census, Kanawha County, Virginia, population schedule, Clendennen Post Office, dwelling [not visible], family 387; National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, roll 1356. Accessed via Ancestry.com.

Henry Myers household, Preston Moore family, 1870 U.S. census, Washington County, Virginia, population schedule, North Fork township, dwelling 290, family 295; National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, roll 1681. Accessed via Ancestry.com.

Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, National Archives and Records Administration

Preston E. Moore, compiled military record (corporal, Company F, 2nd South Carolina Rifles): Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of South Carolina, Microfilm Publication M267. Accessed via Footnote.com.

Preston E. Moore, compiled military record (corporal, Company E, 37th Virginia Cavalry, variously listed as battalion and regiment): Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Virginia, Microfilm Publication M324. Accessed via Footnote.com. (Note: I have not listed the records for the “other” Preston Moore separately because the two sets of records are listed together.)

Online Civil War Databases

Ancestry.com. Civil War Prisoner of War Records, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Selected Records of the War Department Relating to Confederate Prisoners of War, 1861-1865; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M598, 145 rolls); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Ancestry.com. Historical Data Systems, comp. American Civil War Soldiers [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA.

National Park Service: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. Online database (http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/).

Other

J. L. Scott: 36th and 37th Battalions Virginia Cavalry. 1986, H.E. Howard, Inc.

Typescript of Will of William Spencer Moore, dated 25 July 1865. Copy provided by South Carolina Department of Archives and History,


Final note: This experience has taught me that reconstituting a Civil War service record is no small feat. Units changed – as attrition or recruitment dictated, they became smaller or larger units, disappeared, changed status from irregular to regular, or were swallowed up by other units, often with a different state affiliation; units also had many different nicknames and may have been most often referred to by their commanders’ names. A soldier’s name may have appeared in many different forms, and the records of different soldiers with the same name may have been combined. I have used and am continuing to use this experience in tracing some of my other “orphans” who perished in the Civil War.

Featured Family Friday: John Sloan Lewis and Carrie Lanora Orr

John Sloan Lewis
b. 12 May 1856, Anderson Co., South Carolina
d. 7 Jul 1940, Dallas County, TX
& Carrie Lanora Orr
b. 21 Nov 1858, South Carolina
d. 7 Jul 1934, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
m. 1875
|--William B. Lewis
|----b. 31 Aug 1875, South Carolina
|----d. 27 Feb 1928, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
|--Eddie Brennon Lewis Sr.
|----b. 13 Oct 1877, South Carolina
|----d. 2 Apr 1970, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
|---& Blanche Hansford
|----b. 28 Aug 1884, Ohio
|----d. 29 Aug 1967, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
|----m. 1902
|--Roy Henry Lewis
|----b. 21 Dec 1880, Texas
|----d. 10 Jan 1959, Pauls Valley, Garvin Co., OK
|---& Bessie Lee Scrivner
|----b. 1 Oct 1884, Indian Territory, Oklahoma
|----d. 5 Jan 1963, Pauls Valley, Garvin Co., OK
|----m. 8 Jun 1904, Chickasaw Nation, Ardmore, Oklahoma
|--Kemp Lewis
|----b. 21 Feb 1883, Lancaster, Texas
|----d. 11 Sep 1957, Houston, Harris County, Texas
|---& Shirley May Whilden
|----b. 11 Dec 1892, Indianapolis, Indiana
|----d. 9 Feb 1949, Galveston, Galveston, Texas
|----m. 30 Oct 1912, Dallas County, TX
|--Oscar Lee Lewis
|----b. 8 Aug 1885, Texas
|----d. 21 Sep 1972, Grand Prairie, Tarrant, Texas
|---& Sarah Alston
|----b. 13 Jun 1885, Texas
|----d. 31 Jan 1975, Arlington, Tarrant, Texas
|----m. 2 May 1905, Cliff Temple Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas
|--Howard Guy Lewis
|----b. 23 Mar 1888, Lancaster, Texas
|----d. 3 Aug 1969, Temple, Bell, TX

This is the family of the youngest brother of my great-grandmother Martha E. Lewis (Moore). John Sloan Lewis’ parents were Elisha Berry Lewis and Martha Poole. Carrie was the daughter of Captain William and Jane Orr. Below is John Sloan Lewis’ obituary, taken from the Dallas Morning News, 9 July 1940, Section II, p. 9:

Early County Peace Officer, Mule Driver Passes; Funeral Tuesday for J. Sloan Lewis

“A mule driver from the days when freight wagons rumbled between Dallas and Lancaster, deputy sheriff who went after outlaws with saddle and sixgun, will be laid away with the body of J. Sloan Lewis, 84, Tuesday.

Hit by a sudden stroke at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, the man who owned the third telephone ever installed in Oak Cliff managed to drag himself from his apartment at 816 East Ninth Street to the door of a son and ask that a doctor be called. He made his way back to his room before he lost consciousness forever.

Mr. Lewis died Sunday night. He will be buried in Laurel Land Memorial Park following funeral services at the Sparkman-Brand Chapel at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

In County Sixty-Three Years

Dallas County had known the 6-foot 2-inch 235-pound frame of Irishman John Sloan Lewis for sixty-three years. When he first to Oak Cliff, he sometimes shot squirrels with a six-shooter on Ewing, and no more than 3,000 people lived on the bluffs across the river. When he first installed his telephone, it was such a curiosity that the neighbors came for miles to use it.

He first settled in Lancaster in 1877, coming there from his native city, Anderson, S.C. He hired out as a cotton buyer to R. P. Henry, Lancaster private banker. Part of his job was to run the mule train that hauled Lancaster cotton into Dallas and took groceries back to the Lancaster stores. On some trips he carried thousands of dollars of the Henry bank’s money hidden away under his load.

A short time afterward, his brother, W. Henry Lewis, became sheriff of Dallas County, and Mr. Lewis went to work as deputy at Lancaster.

Mr. Lewis moved to Oak Cliff in 1893 and settled down on the lot where he died. Until he retired some ten years ago, he was joint special claims agent for half a dozen railroads under the direction of the Texas & Pacific. Since his retirement, he had devoted his time to managing his rent properties and real estate.

Familiar Oak Cliff Figure

He remained one of the Cliff community’s familiar figures. Still weighing more than 200 pounds, he had lost little of his vigor. At 84, his teeth were still sound. He never used spectacles except when he was reading. Until three years ago, he drove his own automobile.

The Rev. Leo Johnston and the Rev. Bertram Smith will conduct the funeral service. W. R. Carnihan, J. C. Simmons, Charles H. Tosch, Sam J. Smith, I. G. Etheridge and L. A. Stacey will be pallbearers.

The survivors include five sons, E. B. Lewis, Roy H. Lewis, Oscar L. Lewis and Guy Lewis of Dallas and Kemp Lewis of Houston; two sisters, Miss Julia Lewis of Los Angeles, and Mrs. C. C. Hindman of Greenville, S.C., and his brother, W. Henry Lewis of Dallas.”

I would love to share information with anyone related to/researching this family; you can use the “Contact” button on the left side of this blog to get in touch with me.

Featured Family Friday: William Henry Lewis and Julia Mister

William Henry Lewis
--b. 11 Mar 1851, Franklin Co., Georgia
--d. 21 Feb 1946, Baylor Hospital, Dallas, Dallas Co., Texas
& Julia Mister
--b. 12 Oct 1871, Grenada, Mississippi
--d. 22 Sep 1945, Dallas County, TX
--m. 1893

Julia Mister and William Henry Lewis – aka “Dearest” and “Duse” – are one of my favorite families. They had no children of their own, but they helped to raise the children of Julia’s best friend Bettie Curtice Rosser, who died when the children were still young, and Bettie’s husband Virgil Rosser, who had to travel a great deal on business (you can read more about them in Uncle, Uncle – William Henry Lewis: A Little Man Who Stood Tall.

W. H. Lewis was the son of Elisha Berry Lewis and Martha Poole of Anderson County, South Carolina; his sister, Martha E. “Mattie” Lewis (Moore) was my great-grandmother. Henry and Martha were born in Franklin County, Georgia, where the E. B. Lewis family lived in the late 1840s and early 1850s. Julia Mister was the daughter of Wilbur Fiske Mister and his first wife, Corinne Campbell.

The picture at the top shows Dearest and Duse at their home in Dallas and was probably taken in the early 1940s. The second picture shows a young Julia on the right and one of her friends (or possibly her half-sister or cousin) on the left sitting on mules; it may have been taken near the Grand Canyon.

Below are the obituaries of William Henry and Julia Mister Lewis; they are transcribed from the materials of the William Henry and Julia Mister Lewis Collection of John R. Hornady, III, privately held by Greta K.

Obituary of William Henry Lewis, handwritten date 2-22-46, negative photocopy from the Dallas Morning News, 22 Feb 1946, entitled “Early-Day Officer Dies in Dallas”

William Henry Lewis, 95, colorful early-day peace officer and the first Dallas County sheriff to hold office for three terms, died Thursday afternoon at Baylor Hospital. He lived at 1520 South Boulevard.

One of fourteen children, Lewis was born in Franklin Co., Ga., and spent his early boyhood on a farm in Anderson County, South Carolina. He had a constant ambition to come to Texas and at the close of the Civil War spent his savings of $45 on a railroad ticket.

He split rails at 1 c each to replenish the funds and later did survey work for the railroad along the route. He got to Dallas in 1873 and located on a farm near Lisbon,.

Long Time Deputy Sheriff.

His first public office was as Deputy Tax Assessor of Dallas County under Dod Rollins. Under Sheriff Ben Jones, he became a deputy. He continued in this job under Sheriff W. H. W. Smith.

He then held the office of Constable of Precinct 1, Dallas County, and in the fall of 1886 was elected Sheriff. He was re-elected in 1888 and 1890.

Many stories of Lewis’ remarkable character and quiet courage are told of his days as Sheriff.

One relates how Lewis, while unarmed, induced one of the infamous Starr brothers to follow him meekly to jail after he had shot up a downtown saloon.

Retiring from office he entered the real estate business with the late Col. O. P. Bowser. They formed the firm of Bowser & Lewis and Lewis continued in this business until his death.

Active in Masonry.

He was a member of the Presbyterian Church York Rite and Scottish Rite degrees of Masonry, the Shriners, the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Honor and the Elks.

At one time he served as a member of the city’s equalization board and was frequently called in to help on various real estate condemnation and valuation committees.

He was interested in navigation of the Trinity River. He was one of the founders of the Oakland Cemetery and helped keep the Texas State Fair operating in the days before the city assumed the debt.

Surviving are two half-sisters, Miss Julia Lewis, San Diego, Calif., and Mrs. C. C. Hindman, Greenville, SC, and two nephews, Roy Lewis and Ed Lewis, both of Dallas.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p. m. Saturday at Sparkman-Brand Funeral Chapel, 2113 Ross.

Obituary of Mrs. William Henry Lewis [nee Julia Mister], clipping from unidentified newspaper, entitled “Lewis Rites Set Monday.”

Lewis Rites Set Monday

Funeral services for Mrs. William Henry Lewis, who died Saturday at her home, 1520 South Boulevard, were to be held at 4 p. m. Monday at the Sparkman-Brand Funeral Chapel,2115 Ross Ave. Rev. Philip Sarles, pastor of the Central Congregational Church, was to officiate.

Mrs. Lewis was born in Granada, Miss., but moved to Plano, Tex. with her parents as a child, in 1883. Her father was the late Prof. Wilbur H. Mister, founder of Plano Institute and later connected with Polytechnical College at Fort Worth. Her mother, the late Corinne Campbell Mister, was born in Charleston, S.C.

In 1893 she became the bride of William H. Lewis of Dallas, where Mr. Lewis was active in real estate and business circles.

Mrs. Lewis had been prominent in Dallas literary and civic activities. She was a member of the Southern Memorial Association, Pierian Club, Browning Club, and in early years she was one of the leading Dallas musicians.

Among friends from out-of-town who attended the services were Mrs. Jack R. Hornady of Tarrytown, N.Y.; Mrs. Rosser Zoll of New York, N.Y.; Dr. and Mrs. Virgil O. Rosser Jr. of Graham, Tex.; Mrs. V.O. Rosser, Sr., of Graham, Tex., and Mrs. Francis M. Black of Kincaid, Kan. Mrs. Wilbur Hawkins was soloist and Mrs. A. A. Cocke paid a tribute at the service.

Pallbearers were Dr. Curtice Rosser, Roscoe P. DeWitt, J.E. Gamble, Gwynne S. Curtis, J.W. Shepard, Jr., and Roy H. Lewis.

[Mrs. Francis M. Black is Edna, Julia’s half-sister.]

Featured Family Friday: Elisha Berry Lewis Family

Elisha Berry Lewis
b. 1813, South Carolina
d. 23 Feb 1889, Anderson Co., South Carolina
& Martha M. Poole
b. 1815, South Carolina
d. bef 1865
m. 3 Feb 1835
|--James West Lewis
|----b. Nov 1835, South Carolina
|----d. 20 Mar 1904
|---& Sophia Adeline Milwee
|----b. 5 Mar 1839, Anderson District, South Carolina
|----d. 30 Dec 1926, Vernon, Willbarger, Texas
|----m. 28 Feb 1867
|--Margaret A. Lewis
|----b. 1839, South Carolina
|--Samuel D. Lewis
|----b. 1840
|----d. 14 Aug 1864, Fussell’s Mill, Virginia
|--Manning P. Lewis
|----b. 1843, Georgia
|----d. 25 Mar 1865
|--Mary R. Lewis
|----b. 1846, Georgia
|----d. 1850, Georgia
|--Martha E. “Mattie” Lewis
|----b. 8 Nov 1848, Franklin Co., Georgia
|----d. 22 Sep 1930, Plano, Collin Co., Texas
|---& Harlston Perrin Moore
|----b. 4 Dec 1845, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|----d. 12 Dec 1921, Lancaster, Dallas Co., TX
|----m. 3 Dec 1865, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|---William Henry Lewis
|-----b. 11 Mar 1851, Franklin Co., Georgia
|----d. 21 Feb 1946, Baylor Hospital, Dallas, Dallas Co., Texas
|---& Julia Mister
|----b. 12 Oct 1871, Grenada, Mississippi
|----d. 22 Sep 1945, Dallas County, TX
|----m. 1893
|--Leonora J. “Nora” Lewis
|----b. ca 1854
|--John Sloan Lewis
|----b. 12 May 1856, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|----d. 7 Jul 1940, Dallas County, TX
|---& Carrie Lanora Orr
|----b. 21 Nov 1858, South Carolina
|----d. 7 Jul 1934, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
|----m. 1875
|--Cora Lewis
|----b. 1859, South Carolina
|-----d. aft 1870

Elisha Berry Lewis
b. 1813, South Carolina
d. 23 Feb 1889, Anderson Co., South Carolina
& Frances Eleanor Campbell
b. May 1835, South Carolina
d. 29 Jul 1918, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|--Julia M. Lewis
|----b. Sep 1866, South Carolina
|----d. 26 May 1947, San Diego, California
|--Lucy Lewis
|----b. 7 Feb 1868
|----d. 24 Nov 1967, Greenville, Greenville Co., South Carolina
|---& Christopher C. Hindman
|----b. 20 May 1877, South Carolina
|----d. 18 Nov 1947, Greenville, Greenville Co., South Carolina
|--Lillie May Lewis
|----b. 1871, South Carolina
|----d. 1896, South Carolina
|--Alfred P. Lewis
|----b. 1879, South Carolina

This is the family of my great-great grandfather Elisha Berry Lewis, son of Elisha Lewis and Rosannah Dalrymple, who was married first to Martha Poole (my great-great grandmother), daughter of Manning Poole and Mary Milwee, and second to Frances Eleanor Campbell, daughter of Daniel Campbell and Eleanor Sherrill (a family with several connections to the Lewises) who was first married to John Marion Bailey, Sr. (that family is shown at the bottom of this post).

This family and the Moore family are my top research priorities, mainly because they are the families for which I have been able to do the most original research. When a cousin told me that our great-grandfather Harlston Perrin Moore’s wife Martha was reputed to be a Lewis, I started looking for a Lewis family in Anderson County, South Carolina that was in Georgia around the time of the 1850 census, but was in Anderson County before and after that time period; Martha was born in Georgia in 1848 but her parents were born in South Carolina and she had to be back in Anderson County by the 1860s to meet and marry my great-grandfather . And, sure enough, I found the E. B. Lewis family in Anderson in 1840, in Franklin County, Georgia in 1850, and back in Anderson in 1860.

This large family has been a lot of fun to research, but there are obviously still some gaps. The big ones are several of the daughters: Margaret, Leanora “Nora,” and Cora. Nora shows up with brothers John Sloan and William Henry on the 1880 census in Dallas (John Sloan and Carrie Lewis, Harlston Perrin and Martha Lewis Moore, and Nora apparently moved to Dallas County, Texas in 1877, following brother William Henry, who made his way out there in 1873). William Henry served three terms (1886-1892) as sheriff of Dallas County and John Sloan served as a deputy sheriff. Brother James West Lewis also moved out to Texas in the late 1870s but settled in Wilbarger County. Brothers Manning and Samuel died in the Civil War, and two of James’ sons are named for them. I do not have a date of death for Alfred Lewis, but I do know from the obituary of one of his siblings that he lived in Kansas City, Missouri in later years.

If you are researching any of these people or any families related to them in any way, please, please, please contact me (using the button at the left of this blog). I have a lot of information to share.

Family of Frances Eleanor Campbell and John Marion Bailey, Sr.:

John Marion Bailey Sr.
b. ca 1822, Pendleton District, South Carolina
d. 1863
& Frances Eleanor Campbell
b. May 1835, South Carolina
d. 29 Jul 1918, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|--Eliza Eleanor Bailey
|----b. 31 Dec 1856, South Carolina
|----d. 17 Nov 1942, San Diego, California
|---& Walter Quincy “Quince” Hammond
|----b. 8 Dec 1854, Florida
|----d. 7 Mar 1906, South Carolina
|--William Daniel Bailey
|----b. 20 Jan 1860, South Carolina
|----d. 31 Aug 1935, Greenville Co., South Carolina
|--John Marion Bailey Jr.
|----b. 13 Dec 1862, South Carolina
|----d. 24 Sep 1959
|---& Catherine Elizabeth “Lizzie” Maddox
|----b. 15 Mar 1867
|----d. 24 Dec 1959
|----m. 1889

An interesting note: John Marion Bailey, Senior, James West Lewis, and Samuel D. Lewis all served in the same unit in the Civil War, the 4th South Carolina (Palmetto Sharpshooters). I have a poster with tiny thumbnail pictures of all three of them.

Featured Family Friday: Family of William Riley Cartee and Anna Jerusha Moore

William Riley Cartee
b. 18 Sep 1850, Anderson Co., South Carolina
d. 28 Sep 1918, Anderson Co., South Carolina
& Anna Jerusha Moore
b. 12 Jan 1854, Anderson Co., South Carolina
d. 17 Sep 1889
|--Telula E. Cartee
|----b. 16 Dec 1871, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|----d. 28 Mar 1944, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|--& Stratton Carlisle Fowler
|----b. 14 Feb 1868
|----d. 19 Sep 1956
|--Fannie Ada Cartee
|----b. 11 Dec 1873, South Carolina
|----d. 20 Nov 1888, South Carolina
|--Ella Elizabeth “Lizzie” Cartee
|----b. 11 Apr 1878, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|----d. 1954, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|--& William Walter “Doc” Harris
|----b. 14 Nov 1869, South Carolina
|----d. 17 Apr 1934, Garvin, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|----m. 1895
|--Charles Hubbard “Charlie” Cartee*
|----b. 8 Feb 1880, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|--& Sarah Lavinia Driver
|--Charles Hubbard “Charlie” Cartee*
|----b. 8 Feb 1880, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|--& Lillian
|--Mae Edith Cartee
|----b. 7 Mar 1883, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|----d. 25 Jan 1967, Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., NC
|--& Levi Newton Jolly
|----b. 20 Aug 1877, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|----d. 15 Apr 1967, Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., NC
|--Nora Kate Cartee*
|----b. 4 Feb 1887, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|----d. 4 Jan 1968, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|--& John Andrew Jolly
|----b. 26 Jun 1880, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|----d. 30 Jul 1910, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|----m. 30 Mar 1904, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|--Nora Kate Cartee*
|----b. 4 Feb 1887, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|----d. 4 Jan 1968, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|--& Arthur Walton Dalrymple
|----b. 10 Jan 1882
|----d. 14 May 1968
|----m. 3 Aug 1938, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|--Samuel Walton “Sam” Cartee
|----b. 4 Dec 1888, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|----d. 8 Feb 1941, Anderson Co., South Carolina
|--& Ruby Mae McAllister
|----b. 7 Jan 1896
|----d. Jun 1983
|----m. 13 Mar 1916, Anderson Co., South Carolina

This is the family of the sister of my great-grandfather Harlston Perrin Moore. Anna Jerusha Moore’s parents were William Spencer Moore and Emily Tarrant. William Riley Cartee’s parents were William F. Cartee and Sarah Fleming. You can see a picture of one of the children of this family, Nora Kate Cartee, in Smile for the Camera: Wedding Belles.

The expert on this family is my third cousin, Jo Ann S. As a matter of fact, she has done such thorough and careful work on this family, the only additional “basic information” I would like to find on this family would be more information on Charles Hubbard Cartee’s two wives. Jo Ann was the first “genealogy cousin” I met after getting started on genealogy and provided a wonderful research model to emulate. I have used her research as a guide for this family, although I have also pulled and transcribed census, cemetery, and obituary information on them since they are included in my “Descendants of Samuel Moore” project.

And I will make my usual plea for this family in my effort to contact fellow researchers: If you are reading this and believe that you are related to this family I would really like to hear from you (you can find my e-mail if you click on View my complete profile under the section at the left entitled “About Me”).

Featured Family Friday: Commodore Worth Moore and Nora Roberts

Commodore Worth “Commie” Moore was the next younger brother of my great-grandfather Harlston Perrin Moore. They were the sons of William Spencer Moore and Emily Tarrant. When I started work on this family I greatly benefited from research done by my third cousin Jo Ann and recently I have had some additional luck in getting some much needed leads from C. W. Moore’s obituary. Through a local researcher in Greenville County I have ordered about 180 obituaries (following about 40 more some months previously) dealing with descendants of Samuel Moore of Greenville and their spouses. Some of the obituaries have not added much to what I know, but a number of them have provided invaluable information leading to even more discoveries (and more obituaries to be ordered!). Plowing through them in starts and stops occasionally causes me to forget to do the follow-up research, and I just realized when I pulled this family up for this article tonight that this was exactly the case with C.W. Moore – more research is needed. Here is a transcription of the two obituaries for him:

Obituaries of Commodore Worth Moore, Sr.

The Greenville News, 24 Dec 1923, p. 3:

“C. W. Moore Dies At Vaughnville

GREENWOOD, Dec. 23 – Special – C. W. Moore, for many years a teacher in various parts of the South, died at his home at Vaughnville, Newberry county, last night following a long illness. The funeral will be conducted at Soul’s Cemetery at 2 o’clock tomorrow afternoon.

Mr. Moore was 75 years of age, having been born in Anderson county in 1848. He was a graduate of the Lutheran College before that institution was moved from Walhalla to Newberry and was at one time connected with Auburn University.

For the past 18 or 20 years he had lived at Vaughnville, where he was engaged in farming and in the mercantile business.”


The Greenville News, 27 Dec 1923, p. 5

“Former Auburn Man Goes to His Reward

GREENWOOD, Dec. 26 – (Special.) – Funeral services for C. W. Moore, formerly connected with the Alabama Polytechnic Institute at Auburn, Ala., and a teacher in a number of Southern states for many years who died at his home at Vaughnville, Newberry county, Saturday night, were conducted from the home Monday afternoon and interment was made in Souls cemetery.

Mr. Moore is survived by his second wife, two sons, by a former marriage, and one daughter as follows: T. J. Moore, Longview, Tex.; C. W. Moore, Atlanta, Ga., and Mrs. F. M. Stephens, Charlotte, N. C.

His first wife, who died many years ago, was a daughter of Col. James T. Roberts, of Anderson.”

New items of information for me:

1. The fact that C. W. Moore had had such an illustrious career as a teacher and had graduated from Lutheran College.

2. The fact that his first wife’s maiden name was Roberts (I already knew her first name was Nora) and her father was Col. James T. Roberts of Anderson. Previously I had found the maiden name of his second wife, Martha Black, and the fact that she had had two husbands prior to her marriage to C. W. Moore (Henry Luther Crout and P. H. Koon).

2. The fact that one of his daughters (he had two daughters and two sons that I know of) had probably predeceased her father, the name of the husband of the surviving daughter, and the fact that the daughter and her husband were living in Charlotte, NC, at the time of C.W. Moore’s death. This last piece of information was the clue I need to find out which of the two daughters was married to Mr. Stephens (Dana) and which had probably died (Wynona); I was able to find a North Carolina death certificate for Dana Stephens, and it listed her parents as C. W. Moore and Nora Roberts.

3. The location of son T. J. Moore at the time of C. W. Moore’s death.

So what remains to be done to follow up on this information? Well, I forgot to do the census work for F. M. and Dana Stephens in North Carolina and for T. J. Stephens in Texas, as well as search for any other information that may pop on them in Ancestry, the Family Search pilot page, and other search pages. That should be this weekend’s chore.

Here is the family of C. W. and Nora Moore:

Commodore Worth “Commie” Moore
b. 17 Feb 1848, South Carolina
d. 22 Dec 1923, Vaughanville, Newberry Co., SC
& Nora Roberts
b. 1855
d. bef 1900
|--Dana Moore
|----b. 6 Jun 1879, Seneca, Oconee Co., South Carolina
|----d. 20 Sep 1952, Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Carolina
|---& F. M. Stephens
|--T. J. Moore
|----b. 1881, South Carolina
|--Wynona Moore
|----b. Aug 1884, South Carolina
|----d. bef 1923
|--Commodore Worth Moore Jr.
|----b. Jun 1892, South Carolina
|----d. 23 Mar 1940, Atlanta, Georgia
|---& Marjorie Appleton
|----b. 1896, New York
|----m. 1926

Obviously many gaps remain in my information on this family: dates of death for Nora and Wynona Moore and information on Dana’s husband F. M. Stephens and on T. J. Moore, to start with. I also want to find out more about Nora Roberts’ family.

If you are reading this and believe that you are related to this family I would really like to hear from you (you can find my e-mail if you click on View my complete profile under the section at the left entitled “About Me”).