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).

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.