WILLIAM
GREEN WILLIAMS AND HARRIETT KEARSE
Reverend William “Green” Williams, farmer and
Baptist minister, was born 7 March 1804 according to Bible records.
Further investigation has determined that he was the eldest son of Wilson and
Elizabeth Kirkland Williams of Swallow Savannah, South Carolina. The community
of Swallow Savannah no longer exists however a small cemetery, which was once
part of the Swallow Savannah Methodist Church, still remains in Allendale in
present day Allendale County.
Allendale County separated from Barnwell
County in 1919 so at the time of William Green Williams' birth, his father's
lands laid within the boundary of Barnwell District a few miles from the
Savannah River.
According to the family traditions of
grandchildren of Rev. Green Williams, he was quite bitter towards his South
Carolina relations and would tell his children very little of the history of
his family or allowed his wife, Hattie, to do so. He said, in effect,
"What those families are does not matter. The only thing that counts is
what we are!"
Few of Rev. Green Williams descendants even
knew that he was from a prominent Barnwell District family or even that
his father's name was even Wilson Williams. In fact a history of the Williams
family written in 1959 by a great grandson of Rev. Green Williams stated
erroneously that Rev. Green Williams was named after his father whom he called
William Green Williams Sr.
Although he was named William Green Williams,
he went by both “Green” Williams and “Wylie Green” Williams as an adult. Green
Williams' mother, Elizabeth Kirkland Williams, named him William Green probably
for a prominent land surveyor and neighbor in the region. He may have
been a Baptist also. This William Green’s name appears on many of the plats of
the late 1700s. He made the survey for Elizabeth [Calthorpe] Williams's
state grant of 100A in 1785.
Green Williams was born into the plantation
class of Barnwell District's society and was virtually related to all the
governing families of the region; through either blood or marriage. His father,
Wilson Williams, was a prosperous farmer and livestock raiser, and as far as
it is known, the only son of Britton Williams, an American Revolutionary War
Soldier. Green's mother was the daughter of George Kirkland another
Revolutionary War Soldier and a slave owning planter. On his mother's side,
Green Williams became related to the numerous Kirkland relations of Barnwell
District.
Green's mother died while he was about
thirteen years old. Later his father Wilson Williams filed a petition on the
behalf of Green’s brother and sisters as well as himself for their share of the
estate of his grandfather, George Kirkland. In this partition request, Wilson
Williams stated that he was the legal guardian of the children of Elizabeth
Williams, his wife being deceased.
Green Williams’ father remarried Esther
Roberts, who was only eight years older then Green. The children of Elizabeth
Kirkland who were raised Baptist did not get along well with their stepmother,
the young Esther Williams and as soon as she was having children of her own,
she doted over them and did not feel motherly to her stepchildren by Wilson's
two previous wives.
Religion also played a role in the growing
family tension between the children of Mary Mallard and Elizabeth Kirkland and
their step mother Esther Williams. Esther was a devout Methodist while most of
her stepchildren were Baptists who resented that their father began
attending Methodist Services with his young bride.
Green Williams grew to young manhood among
the enslaved African Americans that belonged and worked for his father and
other relatives. This was the world in which he spent his adolescence. As a
young man he and his younger brother began to court the daughters of a
neighboring plantation owner who lived within the community of Buford Bridge.
Harriett “Hattie” Kearse and Sarah "Sally" Kearse were the daughter
of William and Flora Brabham Kearse. Hattie was born October 4, 1810 on
her father’s farm on Alligator Pond, near Buford’s Bridge.
According to the History of Buford's Bridge
and Its People by Rev. M.M. Brabham written in 1923, "William
Kearse-originally spelled Kersh-was a German, but came to America from Holland.
He was born 1746 and died 1837. He settled first just below Barnwell Village
near where Hagood’s Mill later was built. He was probably a soldier in the
Revolutionary War. His first wife was Flora Brabham, daughter of Joseph Brabham
and Flora McPhail. By this marriage, so far as I know, were only one daughter
and one son. The son's name was George, he married either before or after going
to Mississippi, which was his first place of residence after leaving South
Carolina. Later he moved to Texas where he probably died. He was fond of good
stock and liked farming though he seemed somewhat given to speculating also. It
is said of him that on one occasion, having sold a load of cotton, and
returning home with the proceeds of the sale, which was in silver money,
suspended from his neck and shoulders in a small sack which worked against the
saddle till a hole was worn, through which a considerable part of the money
gradually wasted, on reaching home after dark, he discovered his loss and early
next morning, retracing his journey, recovered most of his lost treasure. The
daughter of William Kearse, by his first wife Flora Brabham, is said to have
married a Baptist preacher named Rev. Green Williams. They went to Alabama and
we know nothing more of their history."
THE KEARSE FAMILY CONNECTION
William Kearse was certainly the son of George and Barsheba [Barbara] Kersh a pioneer German settler. George and Barsehba Kersh had at least four sons, William Kearse husband of Flora Brabham and Elizabeth Rebecca McMillan, Evans Kerce, George Kerce Jr, and John Kerce husband of Rebecca McLain, Jacon Kearse husband if Nancy Brbham Mrs. Elijah Gillette.,
George Kearse Sr.may have been the son of Hans George Kersh. He was born circa 1746 and died after 1813. He was a Revolutionary War Soldier in 1775, in Capt. James Jones Company of Volunteers at "Saltketcher".
On 3 April 1775 George Kersh "of Granville County sold lands at Boggy Gut a branch of Lower Three Runs waters of the Savannahto Aaron Gillette and John Weekley lands .
On 1 January 1789 George Kersh of "Winton county" bought 4 slaves with Solomon Owens
He was granted on 27 Aug
1791 426 acres at the head branch of Coosawhatchie River with all sides vacant. In 1793, he-bought land from James Waldrup first granted to Thomas
Cox. The Witnesses were John Allen and John "Kearsh".
On 25 July 1801 George Kersh had lands at Boggy Gut adjoining Aaron Gillett,
Henry Connerly, Joseph Allen, Thomas Allen, and Abraham Markley. On 27 July 1801 he had lands at Log Branch and Jackson Branch
adjoining Joseph Allen, Thomas Allen, Henry Connerly, David Edenfield, John
Weekley, and Williams Sturgis. George Kersh with Eve Atkins on 8 Aug 1801 had 217 acres lands on Coosawhatchie
and Log Branch adjoining Joseph Allen and Thomas Allen, William Sturgis,
Thomas Arrington, and James Lipsey
On 8 Dec 1804 George Kersh sold to Stephen Sylvester Middleton
217 acres on Coosawhatchie and Log branch adjoining Thomas Herrington, and Joseph Allen. At the same date George and his wife “Barshaba” sold to Stephen Sylvester Middleton 209
acres on waters of Coosawhatchie River. The Witnesses were George Stokes and Samuel
Middleton
Hattie Kearse’s mother also died when she was
a child and her father remarried Elizabeth “Betsy” McMillan who was said to be
a granddaughter of Britton Williams and first cousin to Rev. Green
Williams. William Kearse actually had five children by his first wife and
seven by his second wife. Although her father was quite wealthy, Hattie Kearse
was never schooled nor learned to read nor write.
Green Williams and Hattie Kearse were married
3 November 1825 probably at Swallow Savannah, at the ages of 21 and 15 in
Barnwell District South Carolina. The couple must have appeared odd because
Green was said to be a fair-haired, blue-eyed, lanky six-footer while Hattie
was not even five feet tall, and very petite with dark hair and dark eyes.
Their first known child was a daughter they named Mary Elizabeth Williams born
in 1827 at Swallow Savannah.
In 1829 land records of Barnwell District
show that Green Williams had lands at Three Hole Savannah near Bud Land, where
his father’s plantation was located. He was neighbors with his brother Martin
Williams, cousin James McMillan and the Dunbar family.
The 1830 Federal Census of Barnwell District,
South Carolina, listed Rev. Green Williams on page 140 showing that he lived
between his father Wilson Williams and his brother Martin Williams. He would
have been 26 years old. According to this census he had three African American
slaves within his household. His father, Wilson Williams, owned 11 slaves and
his brother Martin owned 1 slave. In this census Rev. Green was listed as the
head of a household consisting of his wife Hattie, and his two children William
Rice and Mary Elizabeth Williams although they are not named.
Reportedly when Rev. Green and Hattie were
married, Wilson Williams set them up with some land and slaves. According to
one version Rev. Green lost this farm and his slaves by signing a note with
some one whom then defaulted. Another is that he was simply a poor manager and
became so involved financially that he lost his property. It seems that
neither he nor his brother Martin Williams had a head for business and may have
been too interested in theological matters as that they both became ministers
although in different denominations. When Green's father died in late
1835 he left his estate intestate without a will. Probate records seem to
indicate that Green Williams had the use of an old African American named Ben
until he was sold back to the estate.
Green's father-in-law, William Kearse then
offered to provide another farm and slaves for Green however with the
provision, that the property would be deeded to his wife Hattie, in such a way
that Green could not encumber it. Green’s pride made him refused to allow
Hattie to accept the offer on these terms. However when William Kearse died he
willed to his daughter Hattie Williams two slaves.
Land records of Barnwell District show
that Green Williams had lands adjoining James R. McMillan, Hattie Grimes,
Kellis Halford, and Mrs. Nestor in 1833. Hattie Grimes was a maternal aunt of
Hattie Kearse Williams. Lands records of 1834 stated that Green resided in
neighborhood of Three Hole Savannah on lands adjacent to his brother Martin and
James McMillan.
Green's father, Wilson Williams died in late
December 1835 and the riff between him and his stepmother deepened after she
was appointed Administratrix of Wilson's Estate. No will could be produced for
Wilson Williams so the courts declared his estate intestate. Wilson’s
probate records show that Rev. Green Williams bought several household items
from his father’s estate in January 1836. “1 old saddle $1.00, Leather and 4
halter chains $4.62, cutting knives $1.75, 1 shot gun $8.00, 1 trunk and 2 kegs
$.'50, 1 lot of crockery $1.25, Castors and lots of bottle $1.25, 1 lot of
ovens, pots, and pans $5.75, a half bushel of salt at 57 cents per bushel 28
cents, and 60 bushels of cotton seed $5.40.”
A year after his father died, deed records of
Barnwell District show that in December 1836 Green Williams bought a tract of
land containing 100 acres on Well Branch in Barnwell District from Hattie
Grimes, his wife's aunt. This document proves that he was still living in South
Carolina as of this date even though several of his children who were born in
the early part the 1830's declared that they were born in Georgia. Additionally
Barnwell District Equity Records show that Green Williams was appointed
guardian of Piety Jane Grimes March 6, 1837. Piety Jane Grimes was the
illegitimate daughter of Harriett Grimes, and was a young cousin to his wife.
“Piety Jane, under 12, no father or guardian…her kinsman and friend William G.
Williams appointed guardian of said child.” On October 2, 1837 Green and his
brother-in-law Absalom B. Best posted a bond of $400 as surieties for the
child.
The earliest that Green Williams could
have moved to Georgia is in 1838 after a last transaction was made between him
and his father’s estate. On 1 January 1838 Green Williams was paid $300 for an
African American slave named Ben. "Cash paid W. G. Williams for Ben."
It seems logical to presume that the estate took Ben back from Green Williams
or as some have suggested that he was selling his slaves in preparation to
enter the ministry. Later in the year Ben was sold to James Madison Loper
for $225. Ben must have been old for that price.
Hattie Williams inherited two African
American slaves named Molley and Dorcus from her father's estate in September
1838. They were probably sold to finance the family’s move from the state as
that the 1840 Census for Green Williams showed no slaves within his household.
Green's son, Rev. George Kearse Williams, in a short statement dictated to a
granddaughter shortly before his death in 1941, stated that his father sold his
slaves when he was ordained into the ministry. However a mortgage deed record
found in Randolph County, Georgia records show that Green Williams had in his
possession an African American male slave named Harrison in 1842. Whether
this means that Rev. Green Williams went into the ministry after this time or
whether his son was mistaken is unclear.
In the 1830's Green and Hattie Williams had
four more children, Rice, Hanson, Georgiana and Wilson. The military
records of Green’s son, James "Wilson" Williams, who died in the
Civil War, state that this son was born in Crawford County, Georgia, in the
latter part of 1838. However all these other children had to have been born in
Barnwell District. Hattie may have been pregnant with Wilson when they left
South Carolina. Other military records for Green's younger sons state that they
were all born in Randolph County, Georgia in 1842 and 1845 respectively.
Green’s youngest son, G.K. “Babe” always maintained that he was born near the
village of Cuthbert in Randolph County, Georgia.
Eventually Green and Hattie Williams were the
parents of ten known children. It appears probable in view of the available
facts that their first four children were born in Barnwell District, South
Carolina and sometime before 1838, near present day Allendale and Ulmers.
Mary Elizabeth Williams was born circa 1828, William “Rice” Williams born circa
1830, Sarah “Hanson” Williams born August 4, 1832, Georgiana Williams circa
1834, and James “Wilson” Williams in 1838, perhaps in Crawford County, Georgia
as the family was moving to Randolph County.
It seems that Green and Hattie left South
Carolina on bad terms with their extended families. With their relocation
from South Carolina, they severed their family association with the inflexible
slave holding class system of the old South. If Green and Hattie had left on
more amicable terms, then family members who remained behind would have known
more about them. But as Rev. M.M. Brabham commented wrote in 1923 "They
went to Alabama and we know nothing more of their history."
Green Williams at the age of 34 moved his
family nearly three hundred miles away to Randolph County, a county in the
southwestern part of Georgia. Randolph was established by act of Congress on
December 20, 1828 from Lee County and named for John Randolph of Virginia. At
the time Randolph County included all of Stewart and Quitman Counties and parts
of Terrell and Clay Counties. Cuthbert was established and made the county seat
in 1831 and was incorporated into a town in 1834. American Indians were in this
area until as recent as 1836 when they were driven out after the Creek
Rebellion and relocated to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi.
A near neighbor and family friend of Green
Williams, Matthew “Allen” Moye, son of Matthew Moye and Susannah Ward, had
moved to Randolph County, Georgia in 1834. It is highly likely that Rev. Green
Williams moved to Randolph County because of this association with the Moyes.
Allen Moye and Rev. Green Williams were about the same age grew up as Baptists
in the same community and may have been childhood friends.
Allen Moyes father had received 160
acres of land in Lee County from the 1827 Georgia Land Lottery. Later this part
of Lee County became part of Randolph County in 1828. Allen Moye's mother
Susannah Ward married a William Rice as her 3rd husband and Green's eldest son
was named William Rice Williams. Additionally Hattie's uncle John Brabham had
married Martha Moye an aunt to Allen Moye.
Allen Moye married Sarah Jane Rice and became
a deacon in the Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Cuthbert in 1834, and became
partners with David Rumph proprietors of the first store built in Cuthbert.
Allen Moye was also a Georgia state representative from the county in 1837, and
county sheriff. In 1838 he became a state Senator. He died June 10, 1843 at the
age of 43 in Randolph County, Georgia
The Rumphs, Holmans, Rices, and Odums
families came to Randolph County from Barnwell District South Carolina in 1834
and certainly glowing letters were sent back to Barnwell about the new area and
especially about Cuthbert becoming an important cotton-trading center.
When Allen Moye moved to western
Georgia in 1834 it was still the frontier. The Creek Indians burned down the
community of Roanoke in July 1836 and Randolph County pioneers huddled at the
Mount Zion Baptist Church, which was a large log structure just outside of
Cuthbert. The Creeks were subdued and in 1838 the United States began the
removal of the Cherokee Nation to Oklahoma, fulfilling a promise the government
made to Georgia in 1802. General Winfield Scott, arrived on May 17, 1838 with
7000 men and early that summer the United States Army began the invasion of the
Cherokee Nation to remove them forcefully from their homes and lands. About
4000 Cherokee died as a result of the removal. The route they traversed and the
journey itself became known as "The Trail of Tears".
When the American Indians were removed from
Georgia a flood of settlers moved west including Green Williams’ family. In
1837 a Baptist Missionary Society was organized in Randolph County, which would
have attracted Green Williams to the region. Cuthbert, Georgia began to
develop economically in 1838 when the first frame homes were built in town.
Previously all homes had been log cabins.
In 1839 The Rehobeth Primitive Baptist Church
was organized which also shows the new growth in the area. As Green Williams
was a Baptist, certainly his family would have attended. One of the early
Baptist pastors at both Mount Zion and Rehobeth was a William Lewis Crawford.
It seems plausible that Green Williams named his fourth son Lewis Crawford for
this preacher.
In 1840 Rev. Green and Hattie Williams are found farming in the vicinity of Cuthbert in Randolph County where Cotton was king. Randolph County had a population of about 5400 whites and 2600 blacks according to census records. The 1840 census also reveals that Rev. Green Williams family had grown to include besides his wife Hattie, his eldest daughter Mary Elizabeth, his eldest son, William Rice, a daughter Sara Hanson, a daughter Georgiana, a son James Wilson, and a baby daughter named Winifred Elliott. Also living within Green's household was an unidentified white male age 20 to 29. This may have been Hattie’s brother George Kearse or perhaps simply a hired hand.
Deed records of Randolph County, Georgia have scant information on the family of Green Williams while they were living in there. In 1842 records indicate that he owned a 160-acre farm described as lot 253 of District 9 originally recorded in Lee County. Dr. August C. Hawkins of Monroe County, Georgia was the originally Lottery winner of that parcel of land in 1827. Records do not show how or when Rev. Green Williams acquired the property.
On May 31, 1842 “William G. Williams” of Randolph
County sold to Andrew J. Pace of the same county a “parcel of land” described
as lot 253 in the 9th district of originally Lee County. He sold the land for
$1500 and fifty cents. The deed was recorded June 7, 1842 Deed Book F page 61.
A following deed was recorded at the same time with Andrew J. Pace recording
promissory notes for the mortgage. The notes were to be paid in two
installments one for $775 and the other $750. Also this deed either gave or
used as collateral the use of an African American Slave named Harrison to Rev.
Green Williams. This sounds like he did not own Harrison but rather was using
his labor.
The following year A.J. Pace paid Rev. Green Williams on New Years Day all his crop of “corn, cotton, peas, and potatoes now growing on the plantation of said Andrew J. Pace” for the first installment of payment on the note held by Rev. Green Williams. The remainder of $775 was paid on 23 August 1843. No other land deed records have been found in Randolph County concerning his family
It is here in Randolph County that Green was
probably ordained a minister in the Missionary Baptist Church. Perhaps around
the time Lewis Crawford Williams was born. Missionary Baptists are a group of
Baptists that grew out of the missionary / anti-missionary controversy that
divided Baptists in the early part of the 19th century, with Missionary
Baptists following the pro-missions movement position. Those who opposed the
innovations became known as anti-missions or Primitive Baptists. Since arising in
the 19th century, the influence of Primitive Baptists waned as "Missionary
Baptists became the mainstream".
According to family members, "Rev.
Green" began to press his family very hard in the fall to get a bale of
cotton ready for market, so that he could pocket the money to go off on trips
visiting his churches and to attend meetings, until the money gave out. This
may have been why records show that he owned no property of his own after this
1842-1843 transaction. However the 1840 through 1850 land records of Randolph
County, Georgia have not been fully researched and thus it’s not clear whether
Rev. Green Williams owned other property during his ten years of residency in
that County. Most likely he rented land on which his family subsisted.
Rev. Green and Hattie’s family continued to
increase in the 1840’s. Additional children were born into the family during
these years, including Elliott Winifred “Winnie”, born 1840, Miles Perry
born 1842, Lewis Crawford born 1845, and George Kearse born 1847. Rev. Green
and Hattie’s eldest son Rice Williams died the 7th of December 1845 while
living in Cuthbert, Randolph County, Georgia. He was only about 15 years
old.
A year later Rev. Green and Hattie’s oldest
daughter Mary Elizabeth Williams married John Allen West on December 27, 1846.
John A West was born circa 1825 in Jasper County, Georgia the son of Rufus M
West and Nancy Merrill. In the 1840 census Rufus West was shown as living
in Talbot County, 75 miles northwest of Randolph County where he was a farmer
with ten slaves. Their first daughter was named Harriet Kearse West.
By 1850 Rev. Green Williams had moved his
family nearly one hundred miles west from Georgia to Pike County, Alabama where
they settled in the community of Missouri Village just west of the town of
Troy. The move was based on the fact that he was hired as a preacher for the
Missouri Missionary Baptist Church where he preached for the next 10 years.
Missouri Village, Alabama was located in the
northwesterly portion of Pike County and does not appear to exist anymore. When
the family moved from Cuthbert is unclear exactly. The youngest daughter of
Rev. Green, Mattie R. Smith, stated in the 1900 US Census of Cass County, Texas
that she was born in August of 1849 in Alabama. However the census of 1850 does
not include her in the family indicating that she was probably born after
December of 1850.
The information of the 1850 census is hard to
read but it stated that the family was living in Pike County, Alabama some 350
miles from Swallow Savanna, South Carolina. They are enumerated as the 1883
household visited on 20 December 1850. Green Williams is listed as a 50
year old farmer, and Harriet as being 45; both born in South Carolina. The ages
for both of them was wrong as Green was 46 years old and Harriet 40 years old.
Children still listed in their household were Hanson age 19, Georgian age 16,
Wilson age 14, Winiford age 10, Miles age 8, Lewis age 8 and George age 4. All
of these children are listed as having been born in Georgia. When the census
was taken Hattie must have been pregnant
with her last child, a daughter born that was born in August the following year.
Their eldest daughter Mary Elizabeth Williams was married to John Allen West.
Green’s first known grandchild was Hattie West born 1848 in Cuthbert, Georgia.
The 1850 U.S. Census shows that the Williams
were living near relatives from Barnwell District, South Carolina. The next
successive family living in the neighboring household was Hattie's maternal
Uncle Archibald Brabham and his wife Rebecca Grimes. Archibald Brabham was the
younger brother of Flora Brabham Kearse, Hattie's mother. Archie Brabham
moved from South Carolina to Georgia in 1838 as did Rev. Green Williams and
they may have been traveling together. Rebecca Grimes Brabham’s brother Nathan
Grimes was married to Green’s maternal aunt Esther Kirkland.
Another neighbor of Rev. Green and
Hattie Williams in Pike County was the family of George Ward Moye Jr. from
Barnwell District; SC. G. W. Moye Jr. as he was known was the son of George
Ward Moye Sr and Rebecca Spears who were residents of the Buford’s Bridge area.
George W. Moye Jr married Susannah Barwick November 2, 1845 in Washington
County, Georgia where he had two children before moving to Alabama. George W Moye
deserted his wife and children later in life, when the children where about
grown. He then went to Texas and stayed a few years. It has been said that he
had another family out there. He came back to Alabama later and remained here
until his death.
The following was in the May 14 1903 issue of
the "Crenshaw County Critic" newspaper: "Mr. William Welch of
Patsburg has discovered his father-in-law has been absent for 18 years. He was
supposed to have been dead for eleven years. His name is G.W. Moye and is 94
years of age." (According to his birth he would have been 73 years old.) A
granddaughter of Rev. Green Williams later would marry into this Moye Family.
The family of Rev. Green Williams was not
wealthy but neither were they poor farmers.. A few years after this census was
taken Rev. Green Williams was listed in the tax roll of 1852 as paying a tax of
25 cents on a very expensive clock. His address was given as Missouri Beat
Two.
The Williams like most early settlers raised
corn, oats, rice, and sweet potatoes on their farm along with some livestock
but not much cotton. These were principal crops of the Pike County region. Cotton was grown mainly on large farms as it
was a labor intensified crop and after 1850 Rev. Green Williams no had cheap labor
beyond his own family.
The Agriculture Census for 1850 showed that Rev. Green Williams was working a 40
acre farm worth $350. Only 25 acres were improved. The census showed that for
livestock he owned only a horse and 20 hogs [swine] but no milk cows for all
those children. His livestock was worth $110. On this farm Rev. Green raised
150 bushels of Indian corn, 25 pounds of oats, 25 pounds of rice, 20 bushels of
sweet potatoes, and 4 bales [400 pounds] of cotton. The family manufactured $50 worth of goods to
sell and had $75 worth of slaughtered livestock.
Hattie and her daughters carded, spun, and
wove the family clothes. There wasn't much cotton raised at that time just a
little as most families had to pick the seed from the lint and spin and weave
the cloth for clothes.
The nearest market for Pike County was Troy northeast
of the Williams’ home. They only went to
market about once or twice a year and bought a years supply of sundry goods
then. The family raised nearly everything they had at home so it wasn't
necessary to go to market so often.
In the 1850’s Rev. Green and Hattie’s
daughter Mary Elizabeth and son-in-law John Allen West moved from Pike County
Alabama, while daughters Hanson, Georgiana, and Winnie married sons of local
farmers. Three of Rev. Green and Hattie’s eldest daughters were married by
1860. Hanson Williams married Andrew Jackson Mills on the 3rd of October
1854. Jack as he was called was the son of William and Eleanor Graham
Mills having been born 1833 in Columbus, North Carolina.
Georgiana Williams married a medical student Dr.
William L. Simmons on the 3rd of January 1856. He was the son of Daniel and
Elizabeth Simmons and a graduate of Graefenberg Medical Institute in Dadeville, Alabama 1858. Dr. William and
Georgiana Simmons were the parents of two children, George Joyce Simmons born
December 8,1856 in Goshen, Pike County, Alabama and Elizabeth P. Simmons born
the August 17 1861 also in Goshen. Georgiana Simmons was the wealthiest of any
of Green’s children due to her marriage to Dr. Simmons. The 1860 census
reported that he owned a plantation worth $11,600 and had a personal estate worth
$1,815. While war records described Wilson Williams as dark complexioned,
Georgiana Simmons was reported to have been a beautiful, vivacious redhead.
Georgiana had married Dr. William Simmons
over the strong opposition of her parents because of religious differences
between the two families. Close familial ties were broken because of Green’s
opposition to the marriage.
Winifred Williams married James “Jim” A.
Hawkins on the 29th of December 1859. He was the son of William Hawkins
and Anna Shanks.
By 1860 Rev. Green Williams had moved his
family from the village of Missouri to the community of New Providence where
there was another Missionary Baptist congregation. In 1860 James J. Thurston,
N.C. Kirkland, James Brabham and Hugh Cameron from Barnwell District South had
come into Chapel Hills neighborhood to preach a revival meeting. James J.
Thurston was the brother-in-law to Jones M. Williams, Rev. Green Williams
nephew. James Brabham may have been Hattie’s uncle. Her uncle Archibald Brabham
was located in the county and was near neighbors to the Williams.
There in New Providence, Rev. Green continued
to farm and Pastor in several Missionary Baptist churches in the county
including the Good Hope Baptist Church., which was a simple log cabin
structure. Times were sometimes
difficult during these moves. It was remembered by some of Green’s children
that he would sometimes move his family into very dilapidated and undesirable
houses with all his frequent moves. One of his daughters remembered one of
these particularly bad moves and recalled her mother Hattie going in and out of
the house carrying out ashes, dirt, and trash with tears streaming down her
face. Hattie was the daughter of a prosperous plantation owner and she was not
accustomed to such a life.
Rev. Green Williams was quite active in the
Missionary Baptist ministry during the antebellum years. Marriage licenses on
file in Pike County show numerous weddings performed by Rev. Green Williams from
the mid-1850’s to the start of the Civil War.
Rev. Green Williams was a strict; no nonsense
Missionary Baptist Pastor while Hattie was a enjoyable, lively person with a
fun loving disposition who enjoyed dancing and parties, however strict
Missionary Baptist doctrine excluded members for dancing or even allowing
dancing in their homes. Rev. Green Williams, as a minister, sternly disapproved
of such festivities so when Rev. Green was away on weekends serving his
churches, Hattie would invite neighboring young people over for dancing and
partying. This was kept from Rev. Green Williams for many, many years.
This census of 1860 was taken a year before
the Southern Rebellion began revealing that Green Williams was a middle class Southern
farmer, a respected Baptist minister with a large, nearly grown family. Rev.
Green and Hattie’s daughter and son in-law Mary Elizabeth and John West had
moved out of the county but not out of state, but the rest of the family were
either at home or living within the county. Only the following children Wilson
Williams, Miles Williams, Lewis Williams, G.K. Williams, and Mattie Williams
were all living at home in 1860. Within
five years, he would be ruined financially, and had a son and two sons in law
lost to the war of secession.
In the census taken 12 June 1860 Rev. Green
Williams was listed as “Wyley G. Williams” living in the Western Division of
Pike County with the Post Office address of New Providence. He is listed as a
56 year old farmer which is correct and worth $1000 in real estate and $800 in
personal estate. Harriet is listed as 50
years old which she would have been in October. Both said they were born in
South Carolina. Harriett is listed as not being able to read nor write. The
children living at home were listed in this order; “Myles P” age 17 a farm
laborer in school, “James W” age 22 a farm laborer, “Louis C” age 15 in school,
“George K” age 15 in school and “Martha R” age 10 in school. All of the
children except Martha were said to have been born in Georgia with Martha born
in Alabama. The age if George Kearse Williams is wrong as he was circa 13 years
old.
The 1860 U.S. Census reveals that Rev. Green
Williams was fairly comfortable and well off owning $1000 worth of real estate
and $800 worth of personal property. While not as wealthy as his father,
neither was he a poor preacher. Agricultural census records show that he cultivated
75 acres and had 73 acres of uncultivated land valued at $1000. His livestock
had increased during the decade of the 1850’s as now he had 3 horses, 5 milk
cows, 2 working oxen, 4 head of cattle, 10 sheep and 30 hogs [swine]. The value
of his livestock was $700. On his farm he raised 300 bushels of corn, 1 bale of
cotton, 27 pounds of wool, 100 bushels of peas and beans, 200 bushels of sweet
potatoes and 75 pounds of butter. The family manufactured $150 worth of goods
and sold $100 worth of butchered livestock.
The family certainly had fowl on their farm however the census did not
bother to record that asset.
After the election of Abraham Lincoln in
November 1860, America was thrown into its worse crisis ever. On January 11,
1861 Alabama votes to secede from the United States. On the 12th of April
1861 Alabama, as part of the Confederate States of America, was at war with the
Federal Union.
Green’s son Wilson Williams immediately
enlisted in Company H of the 18th Alabama Volunteers on 29 July 1861 at Troy
Alabama. By 1861, the population was of Troy was 600 making it the largest town
in Pike County. Hotels, taverns and mercantile stores made the town a social
center and when the Civil War began a recruiting station.
Confederate service records described Wilson
as being five feet eight inches tall, dark complexion, with black eyes and
black hair. He must have gotten his coloring from his mother who were said to
have been dark complexioned.
The 18th Alabama Regiment was fully
organized at Auburn, Alabama September 4, 1861, with its field officers
appointed by President Jefferson Davis. A few weeks later, it went to Mobile,
by way of Huntsville, and was there brigaded under Gen. Gladden of Louisiana,
with the Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-second, and Twenty-fifth Alabama
regiments, Withers' division. Ordered to Corinth, Mississippi in March 1862,
the regiment was there brigaded under Gen. J.K. Jackson of Georgia, with the
Seventeenth and Nineteenth Alabama regiments.
Wilson Williams as a member of the 18th
Alabama Volunteers fought at the Battle of Shiloh April 6-8, 1862, which was
one of the great battles of the War Between the States. The battle erupted near
the banks of the Tennessee River at Shiloh, Tennessee. Following the
battles of Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson, Union General Ulysses S. Grant moved his troops
south along the river to Pittsburg landing for training and field
exercises. Many of his men were raw recruits. Grant did not fortify his
position.
Following the losses of Ft. Henry and
Ft. Donelson Confederate forces under the command of General Sidney Johnston
established a new line that covered the Memphis to Charleston Railroad.
General Johnston concentrated his forces near Corinth, Mississippi in hopes of
engaging Grant's army before it could be reinforced. Johnston began marching
from Corinth on April 2, 1862 towards the suspected location of the Union
forces. By the evening of the 5th, Johnston was prepared to attack.
Grant wired his superior, General H.W. Halleck, with slight suspicion of
attack. Halleck ordered Grant to stay at Shiloh and await reinforcements
from General Beull. It was believed that the nearest Confederate forces
were at Corinth, Mississippi. The following morning, April 6, 1862, Johnston
launched his attack. The Union forces were quickly driven back to the
north and east. They found themselves rapidly approaching the Tennessee
River to the east and Owl Creek to the north. However, the Union troops
finally established a line at a area known as "the sunken
road". Confederate forces launched eleven attacks against the position,
but the line would not break. The area became known as the "Hornets
Nest" because of the intensity of gunfire and grazing of bullets.
Finally the southern troops brought sixty-two artillery pieces to bear on the
Hornets Nest, many at point blank range. After holding the position for
six hours, the Union forces surrendered.
Fighting also occurred near the Hornets Nest
in a peach orchard. General Johnston personally led the final Confederate
assault. He emerged with clothes torn from grazing bullets. He was
moved to a nearby tree where it was discovered that he had been shot in the
back of the leg. He refused medical attention and bled to death even
though a tourniquet would have saved his life.
General Buell arrived with Union
reinforcements the evening of the 6th. They arrived by river under the
cover of fire from the Union gunboats Lexington and Tyler. The Federals
had established a line near Pittsburg Landing. The arrival of fresh
troops and gunboats only strengthened this line. By morning the southern
army was outnumbered. The combined Union Army of the Tennessee and the
Ohio numbered 65,000. The Confederate Army of the Mississippi numbered 45,000.
General Beauregard, who took command after
the death of Johnston, was aware of the gunboats, but unaware of Buell's
reinforcements. Beauregard attempted attacks on Pittsburg Landing with no
success. The Confederate Army was forced to retreat to Corinth,
Mississippi. The final number of dead or missing was 23,746: 13,047
on the Union side and 10,699 on the Confederate side.
The Eighteenth fought the first day at
Shiloh, and lost 125 killed and wounded out of 420 men engaged. It was detailed
to escort the brigade of Gen. Prentiss, which it had largely aided to capture,
to the rear, and did not take part the second day. After the battle, the
regiment being without field officers was for a short time under officers
detailed for the purpose.
Military records show that in June 1862 Rev.
Green’s son James Wilson was reported sick at the university hospital in
Oxford, Mississippi where he died on 16 June 1862. News of tragedy reached the
family of Rev. Green and Hattie. When they learned of the death of their son
Wilson Williams, their son Miles Williams filed a death benefit claim, and carried
it with him to Mobile, Alabama. His father had given Miles Williams power of
attorney. The claim was filed with
company authorities on the 16th of October 1862 and it stated that James Wilson
Williams had served under Captain Ruff who was then in command of Company H.
This claim showed that pay was due Wilson Williams from 31 December 1861 to 16
June 1862. An official certificate of discharge for Wilson was issued on the
10th of October 1862.
The discharge papers were apparently
forwarded through regular army channels to the War Department in the Capital at
Richmond, Virginia and a record for a request for confirmation by the Second
Auditor's Office of the Treasury Department was made on 25 February 1863.
However on 22 May 1863 the Adjutant and Inspector General's office reported
that the muster rolls of Company H did not report to them the death of Wilson therefore
it wasn't until 1864 that his death was finally verified.
Only then was the claim was forwarded to the
Confederate Comptroller on the 11th of August 1864. Payment was finally
authorized on the 15th of August 1864 and Rev. Green Williams then received
$60.86 for his son's back pay, $25.00 for his clothing allotment, and a bounty
of $50.00. In all Rev. Green received $135.86 for the death of his son. However
he was paid in Confederate currency, which at this point of the war was
virtually worthless.
Inflation was eating up any real value of
Confederate money. For an example in 1860, 10 pounds of bacon had cost $1.25
but by 1863 the price had skyrocketed to $10. Sugar had zoomed from 40 cents
for five pounds to $5.75 and coffee from fifty cents for 4 pounds to over $20!
By 1864 the cost of a pair of boots was $50 so the bounty money that Rev. Green
received from the death of his son was comparable to the worth of a pair of
boots.
Rev. Green and Hattie's son-in-law, Jim
Hawkins had enlisted in the service even before hostilities broke out between
the North and the South. He was a private in Company I of Alabama's 1st
Artillery Battalion. He enlisted on the 12th of March 1861. The 1st Alabama
Infantry regiment was the first to be organized under an act of the Alabama
State legislature authorizing the enlistment of troops for 12 months. The
companies rendezvoused at Pensacola in February and March 1861, and about the
1st of April organized and elected regimental officers. The men were recruited from Barbour, Lowndes,
Macon, Pike, Talladega, Tallapoosa, and Wilcox counties.
The Jim Hawkins’ Regiment was transferred to
the army of the Confederate States soon after organized and it remained on duty
at Pensacola for a year. It occupied and manned the batteries, taking part in
bombardments on 23 Nov 1861 and 1 Jan 1862. A detachment of the Regiment was in
the night fight on Santa Rosa Island. As the oldest regiment in Confederate
service, it was the first called on to reenlist for the war, at the end of the
first year, and seven of the companies did so. Ordered to Tennessee, the
regiment, 1000 strong, reached Island No. 10 on 12 March 1862, and it joined General
J.E. Johnston at Alatoona, Georgia.
Jim Hawkins died of what was called “Camp
sickness” on 25 May 1862 probably at Alatoona, Georgia. He died a month before
his brother-in-law Wilson Williams did but news failed to reach the family
until after news of Wilson's death.
Rev. Green’s daughter Winnie Hawkins became
was a young widow at the age of 22 years with a two year old daughter and a six
month old infant son. She returned to her father's household after the death of
her husband and lived with them throughout the remainder of the war. The death
of her husband was not the only tragedy to strike Winnie Hawkins. Before the
war was over, Winnie’s daughter Mary Etta Hawkins died on the 14th of November
1864- at the age of 4. The little girl was buried at the New Providence Baptist
Church Cemetery in Pike County, Alabama.
Both Wilson Williams and Jim Hawkins deaths
within a month of each other were contributed by the precarious medical
services of the Confederate Army. Measles, malaria, smallpox, pneumonia and
other diseases took a heavier toll of life on Southern soldiers than did Yankee
bullets. Of the estimated 258,000 deaths on the Confederate side, 164,000 were
said to have resulted from disease and other causes not associated with combat!
Rev. Green Williams’ son in law Jack Mills
was the only member of his family who actually died from wounds associated with
fighting. Mills joined the Confederate Army in May 1862 around the time his
brother in law died, and was a private in Company A 39th Alabama Regiment of
Pike County. The 39th Alabama Infantry Regiment was organized at Opelika, Lee
County, Alabama in May 1862 with men from Barbour, Henry, Pike, Russell, and
Walker counties. It was sent at once to Mississippi where it participated in
the march into Kentucky with little fighting, and came back with the army to
Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The regiment took part in that battle, and took heavy
losses. Ninety-five soldiers including Jack Mills were casualties in the
fighting.
The family evidently had to learn from other
returning soldiers that Jack Mills had been wounded in battle at Murfreesboro, but
he had sufficiently recovered from his wounds to attempt to travel. However he
could not have gotten far, for the Battle of Murfreesboro lasted for some time
after he died January 2, 1863. Family tradition is that somewhere on his
journey home, he is presumed to have died and is buried in an unknown grave.
probably from his wounds and his name is inscribed on a monument in the town
square of Troy, Alabama as a Confederate Soldier from Pike County. His widow,
Hanson Mills remained on her husband's farm and raised her three surviving
children alone.
The husband of Rev. Green's daughter
Georgiana Williams, Dr. William L. Simmons did not join the military but rather
was in charge of the military hospital at Troy Alabama. n 1864,
while in Key West, Florida, on an expedition to recover salt to bring back to
Alabama, Dr. Simmons was captured by Federal Troops and taken as a Prisoner of
War. It was said he and a group of Confederate Soldiers had been captured while
bathing the Gulf of Mexico.
At the Federal Prison at Key West, Dr.
Simmons was offered his freedom if he would take the oath of allegiance to the
United States and serve in Union Hospitals for the duration of the War. Since
he had not actually been a Confederate soldier nor taken up arms against the
Federal Government, he was given this opportunity to be paroled from the Prison
Camp. Dr. Simmons, believing that as a
physician it was his duty to relieve the suffering of the sick, accepted these
terms. He was carried away to the Mower Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
where he served as a contract surgeon for the duration of the War.
Dr. Simmons was assigned to Wards 33 and 35
by the hospital's executive officer on the 4th of October 1864 about the same
time his brother-in-law G.K. Williams enlisted in the Confederate Army at Troy
Alabama. After the War, Dr. Simmons was awarded a citation for his services,
which was unusual with him being a Southerner, and the patients of the hospital
in appreciation of his kindness and efficient service presented him a silver
watch, which he treasured highly and wore for many years.
When the war ended Dr. Simmons was allowed to
return to Alabama and to his wile Georgiana who had grown fragile and frail
from the hardships of managing his farm during the brutal war years.
All of Wylie Rev. Green and Hattie
Williams' sons would eventually serve in the Confederate armed forces. Miles
Williams enlisted on the 25th of July 1862 in his older brother’s Company H
18th Alabama Infantry, at the age of 19, Lewis Williams on the 1st of May 1863
at the age 18 in the 47th Alabama Infantry, Company H, and George Kearse
Williams in 1864 joined the 47th Alabama Company H on October 1, 1864 at the
age of 16.
After Miles Perry joined the 18th Alabama Infantry
he was sent to Mobile, Alabama. There the Eighteenth remained till April 1863,
when it rejoined the Army of Tennessee, in a brigade with the Thirty-sixth and
Thirty-eight Alabama regiments, and the Ninth Alabama battalion.
In the woods surrounding a small creek in
northwest Georgia, Union and Confederate armies clashed September 19-20 1963 in
some of the hardest fighting of the Civil War. The prize was Chattanooga, the key
rail center and gateway to the heart of the Confederacy. The 18th Alabama
fought in this battle as it had done so in other western battles since Shiloh.
As in most Confederate regiments, the members
of the 18th were not plantation owners, rather they were farmers, shopkeepers
and common everyday folk. At Chickamauga the 18th was terribly mutilated,
losing 22 out of 36 officers, and 300 out of 500 men, killed and wounded. At
Mission Ridge where the Eighteenth was engaged, they and lost about 90 men,
principally captured.
Early in September 1863, the Federals crossed
the Tennessee River to the southeast of Chattanooga and again forced General Bragg
to withdraw without a fight. Eluding his Federal pursuers, Bragg concentrated
his forces at LaFayette, Georgia, 26 miles south of Chattanooga. Here
reinforcements from East Tennessee, Virginia, and Mississippi swelled his ranks
to more than 66,000 men. Thinking that Bragg was in full retreat, General Rosecrans
of the Union Army split his army into smaller commands and swung the various
parts south over Lookout Mountain trying to catch Bragg. However, Bragg was not
in retreat, rather Bragg was moving to catch and destroy these isolated
commands.
Twice he tried unsuccessfully to destroy
segments of Rosecrans' army as they crossed the Lookout Mountain range. Alerted
to the fact that Bragg was not in retreat, Rosecrans began concentrating his
troops along the LaFayette Road near the Lee and Gordon Mill. Then, on
September 18, hoping to wedge his troops between the Federals and Chattanooga,
Bragg posted his army on the west bank of Chickamauga Creek along a line from
Reed's Bridge to just opposite Lee and Gordon's Mill.
Fighting began shortly after dawn on
September 19 when Union infantry encountered Confederate cavalry at Jay's Mill.
This brought on a general battle that spread south for nearly four miles.
The armies fought all day on the 19th and gradually the Confederates pushed the
Federals back to LaFayette Road. On the 20th Bragg again tried to drive between
the Federal force and Chattanooga, but failed to dislodge Rosecrans' line.
Then the fortunes of war changed in favor of
the Confederates when, due to a staff error, Rosecrans ordered a division to
close in on the division to his north. This movement created a gap where by
chance Confederate General James Longstreet's right wing was attacking. As the
Confederates poured through the Federal line much of the Federal right,
including General Rosecrans, were routed from the field. At Chickamauga the Alabama
18th had a part in an uncommon sight for the Army of Tennessee, the routing of
a Federal army from the field.
However Miles Williams was seriously
wounded, in the thigh in the Battle of Chickamauga on September 20, 1863. Miles
Williams was just one of thousands wounded on the battlefield. He was
unconscious when he reached the army hospital but regained consciousness in
time to hear the Surgeon giving instructions for the removal of his injured
leg. Miles protested and absolutely refused to have the leg amputated, saying
that he might never get well and go home, but that if he did he would have two
legs. Eventually the leg did heal and it gave him very little trouble in later
years.
Miles as a wounded soldier was allowed to go back
home to Goshen, Alabama were he recuperated from his injuries. Originally
called Goshen Hill, Goshen was one of
the oldest communities in Pike County, which organized in the 1820s. The Elam
Primitive Baptist Church, established in 1830, was one of the earliest
institutions serving the town and county. Land around Goshen Hill was fertile
enabling farmers to grow cotton, corn, peanuts, and hay for cattle. During the
Civil War, the fields around Goshen Hill were used as training grounds for
Confederate soldiers.
On June 1, 1864 Miles re-enlisted at Florence
Alabama back in the 18th Alabama Infantry Company H where he was given the rank
of 2nd Sergeant and later promoted to corporal. He fought with the regiment in
Northern Georgia trying to stop Sherman’s Atlanta to the Sea campaign; fighting all the way down to Jonesboro,
Georgia where by late August his regiment lost nearly half its number during
the campaign. Miles was in Macon, Georgia when the unit he was with surrendered
in April, 1865 and was paroled at Macon Georgia April 28, 1865.
Rev. Green son Lewis C. Williams is shown in Confederate
records as enlisting in the Alabama 47th Regiment Company H. The 47th Alabama
regiment was organized at Troy, in Pike, March 1863 as part of the brigade of
General Clanton of Montgomery. Lewis Williams was in some of the fiercest
fighting of the war after the 47th joined the main Army of Northern Virginia,
and marched into Pennsylvania. He was at the Battle of Gettysburg which was fought over 1-3 July 1863 where his regiment suffered 40
casualties.
Two months later, Lewis Williams was
transferred to north Georgia where the 47th was at the Battle of Chickamauga on
20 September 1863. His brother was in the same battle and was wounded. Lewis C.
Williams told his family when he came home that he escaped capture by Federal
Troops at Chickamauga by some very hard running.
Lewis C Williams then took part in the Battle
of Knoxville, Tennessee on 17 November through 4 December 1863 and in other operations
in East Tennessee before the 47th rejoined the main Army of Northern Virginia
again, in the spring of 1864. The 47th fought in Battle of the Wilderness on 5-6
May, 1864 and lost 111 men. They participated in the charge on Union Troops at
Spotsylvania where the Alabama Brigade opened the battle.
Lewis Williams was finally wounded at the
Battle of Cedar Creek on19 October 1864, in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. At
dawn, October 19, 1864, the Confederate Army of the Valley under Lt. Gen. Jubal
A. Early surprised the Federal army at Cedar Creek and routed the 8th and 19th
Army Corps. Union Commander Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan arrived from
Winchester to rally his troops, and, in the afternoon, launched a crushing
counterattack, which recovered the battlefield. Sheridan's victory at Cedar
Creek broke the back of the Confederate army in the Shenandoah Valley. During
the battle a bullet “blistered” his big toe, making it painful for him to walk.
In the fall of 1864, Lewis C. Williams was furloughed
to go home and there he convinced his folks to allow his youngest brother,
George Kearse Williams, who was a large 16-year-old boy to join the Confederate
Army. Green and Hattie Williams agreed as long as Lewis promised to look after
him. Babe Williams, the youngest son of Rev. Green and Hattie Williams joined
the army October 1, 1864 at Troy, Alabama enlisting in his brother’s company.
Later the 47th was consolidated into the 57th Alabama Infantry Regiment. He later
was made a corporal in the 57th Alabama Infantry Unit.
The 57th was originally organized at
Troy, in Pike County, in March 1863, as part of the brigade of General James H.
Clanton of Montgomery. The 57th joined the Army of the Tennessee in time to
share fully the hardships of the Dalton-Atlanta campaign in early 1864. The
casualties of the regiment, however, were not severe until the Battle of Peach
Tree Creek, when it was cut to pieces. Afterwards the regiment was consolidated
with other decimated regiments including the 47th. In the 57th the Williams
brothers participated in the movement into Tennessee, and at Franklin and
Nashville, where losses were again large. Transferred to North Carolina, the
regiment fought at Bentonville, North Carolina with severe losses.
On 19 March 1864, Confederate General Joseph
E. Johnston, with 21,000 men, surprised
General Sherman's left wing just south of Bentonville, North Carolina. The
Confederates were initially successful, but the Federals had taken-up positions
on the battlefield. On 21 March, That night the vastly out-numbered Confederate
force withdrew across Mill Creek with the Confederates suffering 2,606
casualties.
George Kearse Williams was granted a furlough
April 1, 1865 at Greensboro, South Carolina and he was on his way home when the
war ended. He surrender and was granted parole at Augusta, Georgia not far from
Barnwell County, the home of his grandfather, many of his relatives. He
arrived home the later part of April walking all the way.
The dream of Southern Independence was doomed
from the start when at the beginning of the conflict the Northern States had a
population of 22,000,000 while the South had only 9,000,000 and three million
of these were African American Slaves. The North's superior
resources and Europe's neutrality were principally responsible for the Confederate
defeat. The South was incapable of fighting a Modern War, which required
massive armies, skilled workers, and trained managers.
The Civil War did not end when General Robert
S. Lee surrendered to General Grant on the 9th of April 1865, however that
signaled the end to formal hostilities. John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham
Lincoln within weeks of the surrender of the armies of Virginia, and President
Jefferson Davis was captured with what was left of the Confederate Government
on the 10th of May 1865.
During much of the war years, Rev. Green
Williams was supporting a household consisting of himself, his wife Hattie, his
daughter Winnie Hawkins, and her two children, Mary Etta Hawkins and Willie
Green Hawkins, a son George Kearse Williams, and daughter Mattie Williams.
During the war years, they lost a son, two sons-in-law, Andy Mills, and a granddaughter.
Rev. Green Williams was also entering his senior years. In 1864 he was 60 years
old.
The personal cost of the Civil War to the
family of Rev. Green and Hattie Williams can never be fully measured. On the
home front as the war continued the cost of living escalated almost daily and
the Confederate dollar dwindled until in early 1864 it was worth a Yankee
nickel. A barrel of flour sold for $150 in 1864 and by March 1865 it was nearly
$300! The ever-tightening naval blockade made it a daily struggle for families
such as Rev. Green Williams just to keep clothed and fed. This may have been a
consideration in allowing George Kearse Williams to enlist at the young age of
16 years
The eminent collapse of the Confederacy was
evident when it began to recruit 16-year-old boys like George Kearse Williams
and talked about granting slaves their freedom in exchange for military
service. The fall of Atlanta and General Hood's defeat in Tennessee showed that
the South's iron determination was not enough to overcome the Yankee's vigor.
In late spring 1865, the war was behind them
and Rev. Green Williams and his remaining three sons who had returned from the
war, planted crops and tried to repair the damages years of neglect had done to
their father's farm. They raised corn, cotton, cattle and tended a vegetable
garden and peach trees.
It was shortly after the war that Rev. Green
Williams quit the Missionary Baptist Church ministry when he had considerable
differences with them. He joined the Primitive Baptist Church and after
being received into the church he asked to be licensed to preach. When Wylie
Rev. Green preached his trial sermon it proved unsatisfactory to the Primitive
Baptist Elders and he was forbidden to preach. Green’s pride was hurt and he
said some harsh words to the Primitive Baptist Elders who excluded him from the
church. Rev. Green Williams returned to the Missionary Baptist Church but he
refused to preach anymore and retired as an active minister.
After the war when Dr. William Simmons
returned from Philadelphia, his wife Georgiana and he moved to Lowndes County,
Alabama where he set up practice for about two years. The family may have moved
from Pike County due to an incident that involved a freed person of color shortly after the
Civil War according to one family legend. Supposedly Dr. Simmons rode away one night
on a medical call when a man jumped at his horse's head but missed the bridle
reins. Dr. Simmons managed to get away and it was assumed that the man then
went to the house and broke in. According to the family legend Georgiana
was setting at her vanity brushing out her long red hair when she spied a man
in her mirror hiding under the bed. Coolly she got up and made a fuss like she
had forgotten an item in another room and went to another part or the house
where she could run out side and alert her neighbors. The unfortunate fellow,
hiding in Georgiana’s bedroom, was lynched without benefit of trial. This appalling
episode may have hastened Georgiana’s demise, who was said to have been very
delicate and in frail health.
Not long after moving to Lowndes County, the
lovely Georgiana Simmons died on the August 13, 1868 at the young age of
thirty-three years. She left behind an eleven year old son George Joyce Simmons
and a six-year-old daughter Bettie P Simmons. Now Rev. Green and Hattie
Williams had out lived three of their ten children, Rice Williams, Wilson
Williams and Georgiana Simmons.
Dr. Simmons remarried a year later on 20
December 1868 in Pike County, Alabama, Mary E Kirbo (1849–1893) who raised
Georgiana’s two children. Dr. Simmons
left Alabama afterwards and took Rev. Green and Hattie Williams' grandchildren by
Georgiana off to Texas where they settled at Weatherford. George Joyce Simmons
and Bettie Simmons grew up on the Texas frontier near Weatherford where their
father had a successful medical practice.
Rev. Green William’s granddaughter Bette
Simmons later married Winfield Scott who became a Texas Millionaire dealing in
cattle, cottonseed oil, and real estate. She built a magnificent mansion at
1509 Pennsylvania Avenue in Fort Worth Texas, which has been acquired by the
city and is open to the public for tours. She became a pillar of Fort Worth
High Society and donated thousands of dollars to civic projects. She died in
1938 at the age of 77 years and is buried at the family mausoleum in East
Oakwood Cemetery.
Grandson George J. Simmons married Lennie Coleman in
Weatherford Texas in 1896 at the age of 41. He had ranches at Colorado City,
and Big Spring Texas. George Simmons lived at Big Springs, Texas until 1911
when Winfield Scott, his brother-in-law died. George Simmons then moved
to Fort Worth to help her sister manage her fortune. George Simmons ran the
large Scott ranch some thirty miles southwest of Fort Worth while retaining his
own ranch near Big Springs. George Simmons died of cancer of the stomach on the
16th of May 1919 age 63 years.
In January 1866 Rev. Green and Hattie’s sons
Miles and Lewis married daughters of local farmers. Miles Perry married on
January 11, 1866 Nancy McLeod, the daughter of Malcolm and Christian
McLeod. Nancy grew up on a farm only a few miles from Rev. Green. A week later Lewis Crawford married on January
18, 1866 Louisa J. Owens that daughter of Evan Owens and Sophia Caffey.
Miles P. Williams bought out father’s farm in
Goshen, and Rev. Green then retired from farming. Miles built a home for him and Nancy only a
few hundred yards from the site of his parent's home. Miles and Nancy lived one
mile east of Darien for the remainder of their lives. Here they reared their family
of five children; two son and three daughters. Lewis C and Louisa Williams moved
to the Darien Community where the Darien Primitive Baptist Church was located about
two miles from Goshen.
In the fall of 1866 the widow Winnie Hawkins met and
married James Jordan Calhoun Prim an ex-Confederate Soldier whose family had
removed from Dale County, Alabama to Pike County. Jim Prim was the son of Abraham
Prim and Elizabeth Davis and he courted Winnie Hawkins at her father's
residence while her four-year-old son Willie Green Hawkins sat on his lap or
straddled his neck.
Jim and Winnie were married 4 October 1866 on
Hattie Williams's 56th birthday. Jim Prim hired out as a farm laborer in
the New Providence Community where Winnie and their first child Eliza Ann
Elizabeth Prim was born August 8 1868. The following year the Prims moved to
Clarke County Alabama in 1869 where Jim purchased a farm from his brother
Thomas Jefferson Prim of Salltpa. Here a second child was born to Jim and
Winnie Prim, another daughter Mattie Moyler Prim who was born December 27,1869
at Salitpa in Clarke County.
Crenshaw County was established on November
30, 1866, about two months after Winnie Prim’s 2nd marriage. It was
created by the Reconstruction era legislature from parts of Butler, Coffee,
Covington, Pike and Lowndes counties. Rev. Green and Hattie's farm was
incorporated into the new county. Crenshaw County is located in south central
Alabama in that section of the state known as the timber belt.
Rev. Green Williams’ eldest daughter Hanson
Mills is shown in the 1870 census as forming a household of her own and owning
real estate valued at $200.00 and personal property worth $150.00. Her post
office address was given as Rutledge as was true of all residents in Crenshaw
County at the time. Rev. Green Williams three grandchildren were listed as
Augustus age 14; Graves age 11, and Elizabeth age 9. Gus Mills as he was
called was shown as being hired out and Graves was also listed in his uncle
Lewis Williams household, where he may have been working or being taken care
of.
Hanson Mills raised her several children
alone after the death of her husband. She had four known children. Her eldest
was John Allen Mills was born October 7, 1855 near Rural Home. John Allen was
named for Hanson’s brother in law John Allen West and died September 9, 1856 in
Pike County at the age of' 2 years. George Augustus Mills was born September
29, 1857 and married Edith Wise. He lived in Crenshaw County, Alabama all of
his life and died May 20, 1893 just before his 36th birthday. James K. Graves
Mills or Graves Mills as he was commonly known was a prosperous and
well-respected farmer in the Stokes Cross Roads Community in western Pike
County. Elizabeth A. Mills was born December 9, 1861 and married George
Moye the son of George W. Moye and Susannah Barwick, and lived many years in
Crenshaw County until they moved to Conecuh County, Alabama where they are both
buried in the Belleville Baptist Church cemetery.
Hanson Mills never remarried and lived out
the remainder of her life in the Chapel hill community of Crenshaw County,
Alabama. Hanson was said to have resembled her father Rev. Green Williams and
was a tall, thin, somewhat large-framed woman with a rather sparsely build.
Hanson Mills died on May 29 1900 and is buried in the Chapel Hill Cemetery in
Western Pike County, Alabama.
Winnie and her husband Jim Prim were living in Clarke
County, Alabama according to the 1870 census. In this census they were listed
as living in the Good Spring's community on a farm worth $300 and a personal
property valued at $1OO. Here they farmed until all their children were grown
and married with children of their own. In 1911 Jim and Winnie Prim moved to
Jackson near the Tombigbee River. However Winnie Prim died on the June 12, 1911
shortly after moving to Jackson. Jim Prim died on the May 22, 1933, almost
completely blind, deaf, and bedridden at the ripe old age of 95.
Winnie's son by her first marriage, Green Hawkins married Josephine Browning and lived on a small farm his step-lather gave him at the Cross Roads community, about three miles from Salitpa. Later he bought another farm about four miles from Jackson until he sold it and bought a house in Jackson. Here he engaged in the trucking business while his wife kept a boarding house. Eventually Green Hawkins health became impaired and he sold his trucking;, business. A few weeks before he died, his son Jim Hawkins brought him to Mississippi and where he died. Green Hawkins was brought back to Jackson and buried in the family plot at Jackson. .
Eliza Ann Elizabeth Prim or “Annie” as she
was known grew up in the Salitpa community in Clarke County. She was a good
student and eventually became a teacher and taught for a number of years. Annie
married late in life at the age of 45 to John L. LaCoste a widower about 16
years older than she. They removed to Tuscaloosa, Alabama where Annie LaCoste
also kept a boarding house. In 1922 John and Annie LaCoste left Tuscaloosa and
returned to Jackson to care for her father who was now some 89 years of age. As
they were packing their things for the move John L. LaCoste had a heart attack
and died. He was buried at Jackson and Annie assumed care of her father. After
the death of Jim Hawkins, Annie LaCoste sold the old home and purchased a small
house on Rose Street near her half brother Green Hawkins where she lived until
her death in 1958. She is buried in the family plot beside her parents.
Rev. Green and Hattie’s granddaughter Mattie
Moyler Prim was born December 27, 1869 and married Gerald Walthall “Watt”
Creagh on the December 29, 1897 at Salitpa, Clarke County, Alabama. Watt Creagh
was the son of Gerard Walthall and Emma May Creagh. They lived in Salitpa until
moving about forty miles to Suggsville Community in 1899. Here Watt Creagh
worked the family farm. In 1918 they bought a home in Suggsville where they lived
until they died. Mattie Creagh died on Christmas Day 1962. Watt Creagh was born
July 28, 1868 and died September 11, 1963. Their joint headstone reads; “True
and dependable servants of God.” They are buried in the Creagh Family Cemetery
located on County Road 35, at the site of the Old Suggsville Methodist Church
at Suggsville.
On the 1st of August 1867 Green's youngest
son George Kearse Williams who was also called by his nickname “Babe” and by
the initials “G.K.” married Shelomith Rushton in Crenshaw County. Shelomith was
the daughter of William and Rebecca Fanning Rushton who had moved to the county
from Ramar in Montgomery County. The Rushtons were near neighbors of the
Williams according to the 1870 census. After his marriage Babe Williams farmed a small portion of his
father's land and lived with his parents.
Miles P. Williams had purchased Rev. Green
Williams’ 160-acre farm on Christmas Day 1868. This family farm was located in
the Northeast quarter of Section 13, township 9, Range 18. The farm had been
homesteaded by Thomas Axon in the 1850’s then sold to an Oliver Fleming before
Rev. Green acquired it.
Mattie Williams was the last to leave Wylie
Rev. Green and Hattie' household when she married John Arnold Smith, a former
confederate soldier. The pair was married the December 3, 1868 in Crenshaw
County, Alabama over the objections of Rev. Green and Hattie Williams who felt
Smith was a poor match for their youngest daughter. John was ten years older than
Mattie, and had been previously been married and had a son named Marion.
The 1870 U.S. Census showed a different South
then did the 1860 census. Gone were the slave rolls and the large plantations
and in their place were small farms and tenant farms worked by both white and black
sharecroppers. Rev. Green and Hattie Williams’
family are enumerated on 16 June 1870 in the census of Crenshaw County.
Rutledge is their post office address. Rev. Green’s occupation was given as both as farming and a
minister. He formed a household which included himself “W.G.” age 60, Harriett
age 54 and their daughter Mattie Smith age 20, her husband John Smith age 30 and
their eight month old son, John Smith who was born in October the previous
year. Rev. Green owned $200 worth of property and his personal estate was worth
$250.00. No real estate or personal property is shown for John and Mattie
Smith. The Rev. Green Williams family was listed as the 249 household. His widow daughter Hanson’s household was
number 247. George Kearse Williams’
widowed mother in law Rebecca Rushton’s place was number 252. Miles Williams place was number 266 and
George K Williams lived at household 267.
Eventually Miles Williams and his sons became
large landowners in the Vidette-Darien Community and operated a cotton gin and
gristmill. Miles Williams was an active member of the Dorman-Vidette Community
in Beat 7 for much of his adult life. He served as a Petit Juror for
Crenshaw County in spring 1891.
Miles was a member of the New Harmony
Missionary Baptist Church of which his father had been pastor. Miles’
wife Nancy McLeod Williams was a member of the Elam Primitive Baptist Church
near Goshen, in Pike County to which her family had belonged. They
lived the remainder of their lives in Beat 7 approximately one mile east of the
Darian Church, his home only being a few hundred yards from the site of the
house in which Rev. Green and Hattie Williams lived just before leaving for
Texas in late 1871.
On May 11, 1893, after a popular election the
county seat of Crenshaw was moved from Rutledge to the new and enterprising
town of Luverne. Luverne, later to become the leading town of the county,
and is located in the central part of the county on the Patsaliga River near
the site of an old Indian village. The land where the town was built was at one
time part of the Cody Plantation. Luverne was named after the wife of M.P.
LeGrand of Montgomery who had purchased land in the county for a railroad.
Sometime after the Crenshaw county seat was
moved to Luverne, Miles Williams who was a great friend of Judge John Frank
Walker, was said to always stop by the Courthouse to visit with the Judge. One
thing they enjoyed very much was bragging about which one had the poorest set
of sons-in-law. One day Miles went to town with a son-in-law, Henry Patterson
and after attending to his business Henry went by the Judge’s office to see
whether Miles was ready to go home. He walked in just in time to hear Miles
assure the Judge that no one could possibly have a sorrier set of sons-in-law
than Miles had. Miles had a lot of explaining to do on the way home and kept
saying over and over again, "Dang it all, Henry, you know I wasn't talking
about you!"
Nancy McLeod Williams was on the other hand very quiet,
reserved by nature, and she dressed somewhat soberly but neatly and well.
However it was reported that when she went with Miles to his Missionary Baptist
Church she would wear some of her older clothes but when she attended her own
church at Elam or any other Primitive Baptist Church, she would wear her newest
and best.
On one Sunday morning when it was meeting
time at Nancy’s church, it was also meeting time at Miles Church, a few miles
away in the opposite direction. Miles plowed until it was time to go,
hitched up his horse and buggy to pick up Nancy to go to her church.
Nancy got in the buggy, reached over and took the reins from Miles and turned the buggy around and
started up the road the wrong way to the Primitive Baptist Church. When
Miles asked what in the world she meant, she said quietly, “We are going to
your church today!”, and they did. He
was too dirty to attend her church she thought.
In 1871 George Kearse Williams and his brother-in-law
John A. Smith decided to immigrate to Texas where their eldest sister Mary
Elizabeth West had written glowing accounts of fresh opportunities and new
beginnings. John and Mary Elizabeth West had moved to Kaufman County, Texas in
1869. As George Kearse Williams saw no
future for himself nor his family any longer in the seemingly poverty stricken
rural countryside of Alabama, he decided to leave for new opportunities. By
1871 George Kearse had a small family three daughters and John Smith had a family
of two sons John and Willie Smith and he had a difficult time providing, for
them.
Rev. Green Williams still smarting from the
rebuke the Primitive Baptist community gave him and having differences with the
members of Missionary Baptist Church decided to go with his youngest son and
daughter to Texas. Hattie Williams was heart broken over leaving her home of
the past twenty years and her older children and grandchildren; but she held it
was her duty to remain at her husband's side. Hattie resigned herself to moving
to Texas because Green’s health was failing and she hoped the western climate
would do him some good. She was however encouraged by the prospects of seeing
her daughter Mary Elizabeth West and her older grandchildren in Texas.
The departure of Rev. Green and Hattie
Williams along with his youngest children from Alabama was a momentous
decision. They never were to see their Alabama children, nor grandchildren
again. For the third time in their lives, Rev. Green and Hattie were making a
break from all former associations. In 1838 Rev. Green left South Carolina in a
huff depriving Hattie of the association of her kinfolk there. In 1850 he
uprooted his family from Georgia to move to Alabama. Now in 1871 it was Rev.
Green who was being taken from his children and grandchildren, who had
established a life for them selves in post-bellum Alabama. However one only can
imagine the teary farewell as Rev. Green, Hattie and their youngest children
prepared for departure and said their goodbyes. They spent their last Christmas
in Alabama and after the New Years 1872 were ready to leave.
The families set off from Darien-Vidette and
traveled to Mobile Alabama where they sailed to New Orleans. Here they traveled
by paddleboat up the Red River to the Cypress River where they landed at
Jefferson, Texas on January 12, 1872. Jefferson, Texas resembled Louisiana,
Arkansas and Missouri more than it did Texas to the West. Instead of
ranchers and cowboys there were lumbermen, riverboat captains, and
dockhands. In fact, the earliest settlers probably didn’t consider
themselves Texans at all.
Situated on Big Cypress Bayou, Jefferson
early became a river port town, and, in fact, has been described as the
"River port to the Southwest." The boats came up the Mississippi
River into the Red River, through Caddo Lake, and up Big Cypress to what was
known as, and still is termed, the "Turning Basin" where the
stern-wheelers loaded and unloaded cargo.
The years after the Civil War became
Jefferson's heyday with people coming from the devastated southern states
seeking a new life. In 1872, there were exports in the thousands of dry hides,
green hides, tons of wool, pelts, bushels of seed, several thousand cattle and
sheep, and over a hundred thousand feet of lumber. For the same period, there
were 226 arrivals of steamboats with a carrying capacity averaging 425 tons
each.
George K. Williams, after landing at Jefferson,
took his father, mother, sister and brother in law to what was then Titus
County near the Lake of the Pine where his sister Mary West lived. The community they settled in was known as
South Union and here George K Williams bought a farm known as the Kendrick's
Place.
South Union was about four miles south of
Daingerfield in the southern portion of the County and just a couple miles west
of Hughes Springs in neighboring Cass County. The region had a strong Primitive
Baptist and Missionary Baptist Churches at an early date, which would have been
a prime reason for settling in the area. In 1875 Morris County was created from
Titus County and Daingerfield was selected as the County Seat. The East Line
and Red River Railroad came to Daingerfield in 1877 which brought more goods to
the area. The family of John and Mattie
Smith's also settled at the South Union Community where Rev. Green and Hattie
made their home with them.
By 1871, half of Rev. Green and Hattie
Williams's posterity became Texans; the
Wests, the Simmons, the Smiths, and George K. Williams' descendants while the
other half of the family remained in Alabama; the Mills, the Hawkins-Prims,
Miles Williams, and Lewis Williams.
Earlier in 1872, Rev. Green and Hattie lost a third grown child. Shortly after Rev. Green and Hattie had moved to
Texas, Mary E. lWest died in Titus County. She was the mother of 12 children
born between 1850 and 1872.
In November 1875 Rev. Green and Hattie had been
married fifty years. However Rev. Rev. Green Williams was quite feeble and while living
with his daughter Mattie Smith, he fell from a porch and broke his hip in early
summer 1878. Mattie Smith was unable to care for her father properly and Hattie
and Rev. Green went to live with their son George K. Williams. There Green’s
health failed and he died at the home of his son on or about July 12, 1879 near
Jenkins, in Morris County, Texas. Rev. Rev. Green Williams was 75 years
old at the time of his death.
The death date is only calculated from the second
hand source of Rosa Lee Perser Williams who was married to Rev. Green Williams
grandson, Edgar L. Williams. Edd Williams said he remembered not having a birthday
celebration when he was 6 years old because his grandpa had died. He never
remembered the old gentleman but remember not having a party. Morbidity Schedules for the 1880 census of Morris
County also stated that “W.G. Williams” age
76 died July 1879 of Catarrhal Fever, an obsolete term once applied to various
respiratory and upper respiratory infections, including the common cold,
influenza, pneumonia and bronchopneumonia.
Rev. Green Williams was buried at the Old
South Union Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery. None of his children from
Alabama could make the long journey to Texas for his funeral. His grave was marked originally with a native
sandstone tombstone, which has since worn away. In 1959, 80 years after his
burial, some of his descendants tried to
find his grave but all trace of his marker had disappeared.
The church that once was there is also long
gone but the small cemetery is still there. The cemetery has only twelve rows
of graves, all facing the east. Most of the graves are only denoted by a pile
of rocks or by native sandstone markers that inscriptions have eroded with
time. The cemetery can be located by taking US 259 from the community of
Jenkins south to 3421then head east to Jerusalem Road head north on county road
2113 for a half-mile then turn left another 8/10 of a mile. The property is on
private land and you must ask for permission to enter. Most of the identified
graves are from the Glover and Collins families. The oldest date found in the
cemetery is for Mary Ida Collins who died February 4, 1887.
Granddaughters of Rev. Green Williams married into both the Collins and Glover
families.
The 1880 Agricultural Census of Morris County listed "Green Williams" although he died in July 1879. Since the census included farm produce from
1879 to 1 June 1880, Green's farm was listed. The
census placed a value on crops and livestock raised on the farm but excluded cabbage and
potato patches as well as family vegetable gardens. This census showed that Green's farm consisted
of 39 acres which was being rented for a share of the product. The farm had $10 worth
of farming implements and $130 worth of livestock. All in all the farm produce
was worth $600. The farm according to the census had 30 acres in corn which produce 300
bushels, 2 acres planted in oats which produced 20 bushels. He had 10 acres in cotton which he produced 9 bales. Livestock listed on the farm were 2 horses, 2
milk cows and 3 head of cattle. During the year 2 calves had dropped and 40 pounds of
butter churned. The place also had 19
hogs and 25 barnyard fowl that produced a 100 dozen eggs. As that Rev. Green Williams was nearly 76 year old at this time and his son George had his own farm, surely he had hired help working this place. This is the last known record for Rev. Green Williams.
Relatives remember Rev. Green Williams as
being tall over six feet with a large frame. He was a man with thick
shoulders and a rather large head. He probably inherited his looks from his
Kirkland side of the family many who were described as tall people over six
feet tall. He had a heavy growth of hair on his head and wore a long heavy
beard for much of his life. His son G.K. Williams was said to have favored his
father in looks.
As a widow, Hattie Williams went to live with
her son George K. Williams because she did not care for her son in law John Smith. She moved with her son’s family from Morris
County to Cass County where her son, George K was now a Baptist minister in Hughes Springs. Hattie Williams also had extended visits with George .K.
Williams grown children after they married, including Rosa Williams who doted
over her. Rosa even named a daughter after her.
Mattie Smith's husband John Smith also became
a Missionary Baptist Minister and was ordained by the Turkey Creek Church
located between Avinger and Hughes Springs. He was ordained into the ministry
around 1890 and the first marriage license for a wedding, he performed, was
recorded the 7th of February 1892.
Relatives who knew John and Mattie Smith
remember John as being nervous, impulsive, high strung, subject to violent
rages of temper, and given to violent and extreme statements, and expressions
of opinion. He was also described in records as being “fleshy” which today we
would say obese. Mattie Smith is remembered as being very quiet, very even
tempered, but positive and strong-willed. She could very quickly quiet her
husband down when he was in one of his rages by facing him, and stating that
she heard enough of that, and that there was not going to be any more of it.
While visiting her daughter Mattie Smith, who
had moved to the Watson Creek Community in Cass County, Hattie Kearse Williams died
in her sleep on or about the 22nd of May 1900. The Watson Community was half
way between Hughes Springs and Linden. The 1900 census record of John and
Mattie Smith was taken on June 1, 1900 and Hattie is not listed in their
household nor is she in any other family member’s household so she must have had
recently passed away.
Her grandson’s wife Rosa Lee “Granny Rose”
Williams remembered Hattie Williams’ funeral because Rev. Green Williams had
died when her husband was about six years and Hattie died when Rosa’s oldest
boy was five years old. In her old age Granny Rose could not remember what she
had for breakfast but could tell stories from her youth and young married life.
The family of Edgar L. Williams would have certainly attended the funeral of
his grandmother, having lived within miles of the Watson (Bear Creek)
Community.
Hattie Williams was buried in the Watson
Cemetery over the protest of George K. Williams who wanted his mother buried at
the South Union Cemetery next to Rev. Green Williams. However by then, nearly twenty
years after Rev. Green died, the location of his grave had been nearly
forgotten. The Watson Cemetery in which Hattie is now completely abandoned, and grown up in underbrush. Hattie’s grave was
unmarked but was located on a hill above the house where Mattie Smith lived in
1900.
Hattie Williams was remembered as being
bright and lively right up until her death at the age of ninety. She was a
small dark complexioned woman who was brisk and quick in her actions. She had a
lively disposition. She was less than five feet tall while her husband
had been over six feet! Hattie’s son Wilson, who died in the Civil War, was
said to have favored her.
Strangely Hattie Williams could neither read
nor write although her husband and all her children were literate and wrote a
good hand. It seems out of the ordinary that she being the daughter of a
wealthy plantation owner that she was never taught to read and write.
Hanson Williams Mills died within days after
her mother on May 29, 1900 in Alabama after receiving news of the death of her
mother.
Rev. Green’s daughter in law Nancy McLeod
Williams died on March 17, 1922 and his son Miles Williams died on the
September 10, 1924 at the age of 82. Miles’ Will was filed May 16, 1925,
in Crenshaw County Probate Records Book A page 276. It stated that he was
at the time of death an inhabitant of Crenshaw County, Alabama. “Being in
failing health but of sound mind do make and publish this my last will and
testament, hereby revoking all former wills by me at any time heretofore
made….I give to my two sons H. (Hugh) Williams and J.W. (James Wilson) Williams
all my land ....I give and bequeath to my daughter Sarah Christi Rhodes $200 in
cash. My last request at my decease I want to be buried at Emmaus Cemetery
[Location City of Luverne] as near my daughter Docie Patterson’s grave as can
conveniently be put also fixed with the same kind of material as her grave is
fixed with….I do nominate my two sons H. and J.W. and my legal counsel and
friend M.W.Rushton to be Executors. Signed April 01,1925.
The dates on this document are extremely
strange. Perhaps the transcriber got the dates wrong because Miles died nearly
six months before this document was signed. The request that he be buried
near his daughter Docie Patterson was not honored evidently because both Miles
and Nancy Williams and their youngest child are buried in the Elam Primitive
Baptist Church Cemetery near Goshen in Pike County, Alabama. Goshen is about
ten miles from Vidette. Miles and Nancy had three sons Hugh Williams, James
Wilson Williams, and Willie Make Williams and three daughters, Mary Ola
Patterson, Sarah Rhodes, and Effie Donie Patterson.
Lewis Williams and his wile Louisa Owens
reared their family on a farm near Darien and were members of the Darien
Primitive Baptist Church. Louisa Owens Williams died the May 24, 1904 and Lewis
Williams died May 6, 1906. They are both buried in the family plot at
Darien Baptist Cemetery. They were the parents of five sons and five
daughters. George Lee Williams died age 24, Lewis Crawford Williams Jr. died
age 72 Evan Green Williams died age 72, Bailey Griffin Williams died age 60,
Calvin Kearse Williams died age 57 years, Lella Golden, died age 27, Lula Jane
Thompson died age 32, Marietta king died age 22, Georgia Ann Texas Davis died
1961, and Sarah Winifred Williams died six months.
Lewis Williams Will was filed May 4 1908; in
Probate Book A page 145. He was at the time of death an inhabitant of Beat 7
Crenshaw County, Alabama.(Darian). “I give to my son L.C. Williams Jr.,one
dollar…and to my daughter Marieter King, one dollar…and to my daughter Lula
Thompson one dollar….and my son E.G.Williams one dollar…and Lella Golden one
dollar. I will to my 2 sons B.G.Williams & Calvin Williams the following
land ....I will to my daughter Georgia Williams the following land ....I leave
my personal property with my 2 sons Bailey and Calvin Williams to be divided
and do as they see proper. I hereby appoint my sons B.G.Williams and Calvin
Williams to be Executors of my will without bond . Signed April 19,1906.
The youngest children of Rev. Green and Hattie Kearse Williams died in Cass County, Texas. Mattie Smith died 4 May 1936 and her brother Rev. George Kearse Williams died 6 December 1941 in Hughes Springs. He died the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor and America's entrance in to World War II.
WILLIAM “REV. GREEN“ Wylie Green” WILLIAMS
son of Wilson Williams and Elizabeth Kirkland
Born March 4, 1804 Swallow Savannah,
Barnwell, South CarolinaDied July 12, 1879 South Union Community, Morris, Texas age 74 years.
Buried South Union Baptist Church Cemetery, Morris, Texas
Married November 3, 1825 Buford’s Bridge, Barnwell, South Carolina
HARRIETT “Hattie” KEARSE daughter of William
Kearse and Flora Brabham
Born October 4, 1810 Buford’s Bridge,
Barnwell, South CarolinaDied May 22, 1900 Watson Community, Cass, Texas age 89 years
Buried Watson Cemetery, Cass, Texas
CHILDREN AND KNOWN POSTERITY
“MARY”
ELIZABETH WILLIAMS was born 1827Swallow Savannah, Barnwell, South
Carolina and died 1872 Titus County, Texas age 45 years
complications from childbirth. She married John Allen West on December 27, 1846 in Cuthbert, Randolph, Georgia. He was born circa 1825 Jasper County, Georgia and died after 1880 in Kaufman County, Texas. The 1880 Census of
Kaufman County shows that John West was living in Precinct 6 as a widower with
a large family.A. Harriett Kearse West born June 1850 Cuthbert, Georgia died 1855 Pike County, Alabama
B. John Allen West Jr. born February 28, 1851 Missouri Village, Alabama and died 6 August 1916 McCurtain, Oklahoma. He married Martha Daisy Smith and had George Washington West, James J West, Mary Rebecca West, and Daisy Jullieth West.
C. Miles Green West born March 20, 1853, married Nancy A. Crocker December 18, 1879 in Kaufman County, Texas and 2nd Barbara Ella Price by whom he had three children Ernest L West, William Doyle West, and Mrs. Verna Bell White
D. James Hartsfield West born August 26, 1855 died after June 1929. He married December 24, 1879 Mary E. Crocker born 1858 Mississippi to Thomas and Louisa Crocker. She was the sister of Nancy A Crocker. He helped secure a Confederate Pension for his uncle George Kearse Williams in 1929 saying, “I was well acquainted with G.K. Williams in 1864 and know of my own knowledge that he enlisted in the Confederate Army about October 1st, 1864 and served 7 months in Company H 47th Alabama Regiment.” Jim West and Mary were the parents of William Claude West husband of Bessie J Anderson, James Frank West husband of IdaBelle Cagle, Charles West husband of Minnie Della Green, and Walter W West husband of Lena J Reed.
E. Mary Amerine West born March 1858 in Alabama married Mr. Hines, 2nd November 26 1882 W.C. Black, 3rd A.W. Cunningham on August 18, 1885. Daughter Bettie Hines born 1877 Texas
F. David Franklin West was born 7 April 1860 in Pike County, Alabama and died 10 April 1940 in Fort Worth, Texas. He married Mary E Kemp a native of Indiana 13 November 1887 in Kaufman County, Texas. No known offspring.
G. Frances “Fannie” West born 1862 in Pike County Alabama married Samuel W Cole 14 March 1880 in Kaufman County, Texas. Nothing further is known.
H. Minnie West born 1864 Alabama. She is mentioned in the 1880 census of Kaufman County, Texas but nothing more is known.
I. Georgia Ann West born 1866 Alabama. Nothing more is known of her after 1880.
J. Mary “Mollie” C. West born 6 February 1869 in Alabama. She died 3 October 1944 in Victoria, Texas. She married Joseph Peter Jecker of French descent but they were divorced by 1900 and she never remarried. Her children were Frank P Jecker 1886-1934 husband of Derena Schroeder, Clarence Victor Jecker 1888-1966 died unmarried. Leila U Jecker 1893-1990 married William C McRae later divorced and was married to a Mr. Karm, and Frederick Joseph Jecker 1895-1976 husband of Ruth Madden.
K. Nancy West born 1870 Titus County, Texas Nothing more is known of her after 1880.
L. Evie West born 1872 Titus County, Texas Nothing more is known of her after 1880.
WILLIAM
RICE “Rice” WILLIAMS was born 1830 in Swallow Savannah, Barnwell, South Carolina and died September 7, 1845 in Cuthbert, Randolph, Georgia age 15
SARA
HANSON WILLIAMS was born August 4, 1832 Swallow Savannah,
Barnwell, South Carolina and died May 29, 1900 in the Rural Home Community, Pike,
Alabama age 68 years. She is buried Chapel Hill Baptist Cemetery, Pike,
Alabama. Hanson married October 30, 1854 in Missouri Village, Pike,
Alabama, Andrew Jackson “Jack” Mills the son of William
and Eleanor Graham Mills. He was born 1833 in Columbus, North Carolina and died Jan 2, 1863 Murfreesboro, Rutherford,
Tennessee during the Civil War as a soldier.
A. John
Allen Mills was born October 7, 1855 Missouri, Pike, Alabama and died
September 9, 1858 Pike Co, AL age 2 yearsB. Green Augustus “Gus” Mills was September 29, 1857 Missouri, Pike, Alabama and Died April 17, 1893 Mitchell, Pike, Alabama age 35 years. He married Edith F. A. Wise by 1880 in Mitchell, Pike, Alabama. Edith Mills never remarried after the death of her husband and reared her children on her farm near Camp Ground Church. Their children were Hubert Mills, Carrie Mills, Parker Mills, Augustus Mills,
C. James Robert Graves Mills was born November 4, 1859 New Providence, Pike, Alabama and died May 24, 1934 at Rural Home, Pike, Alabama. He married Mary Emma Rhodes. Graves as he was known was a prosperous, respected and well-known farmer in the Stokes Cross Roads Community in Pike County. He married and had at least one daughter Ola Mills Finley.
D. Elizabeth “Lizabeth” A. Mills was born December 9, 1861 New Providence, Pike, Alabama and died February 1, 1920 Belleville, Conecuh, Alabama. She married George W. Moye by 1880 Fullers Crossroads, Crenshaw, AL. He was born March 1860. They lived for many years in the Camp Ground Community where they reared a large family. In later years they moved to Conecuh County, AL near Belleville. Both are buried in the Belleville Baptist Cemetery. Their children were George Moye 1881-1973, Mrs. Sally Jones, Sam Moye 1884-1975, Henry Moye 1886 -died Apr 1970 Mattie Moye wife of Will Jones
GEORGIANA
WILLIAMS was
born 1834 Swallow Savannah, Barnwell, South Carolina and died August 23, 1867
Lowndes County, Alabama at the age of 33
years. She married Dr. William L. Simmons January 3, 1856 Troy, Pike, AL. After
her death, he married 2nd Mollie E. Kirbo December 28, 1868 Pike County, AL.
She was only 18 years old. After the death of Georgiana, Dr. Simmons lived in
Butler County in 1869 before moving to Texas in 1870, settling in Weatherford
where his brother Dr. Austin S. Simmons was practicing medicine. Dr.
William L. Simmons and his family sailed to Galveston and went by stage to
Waco, on to Cleburne, and then Weatherford. Family history stated that Dr.
Simmons stopped practicing medicine and went into the cattle and livery stable
business in Texas. However the 1880 US Census of Parker County shows that in
that year was still practicing medicine and wealthy enough to employed a cook.
Dr. Simmons secured a patent for a “liver Invigorator” which was sold quite
widely in the South for many years. The commonly known name of the product was
“Dr. Simmons Liver Regulator” The Simmons brothers both died in 1913 and are
buried at Weatherford.
A. George
Joyce Simmons was born 8 December 1856, Troy, Pike, Alabama and died May 16, 1919 at Fort Worth, Tarrent, Texas of Cancer of the Stomach. He
married Lennie Coleman April 22, 1896 at Weatherford. As a widow she married
second Robert E. Lee Culp who died seven years later. George J Simmons children
were Elizabeth “Bess” Simmons wife of Carl Francis (Pete) Clark, James Coleman Simmons 1903-1976 husband of Berenice
Johnson B. Elizabeth “Bettie” Perry Simmons was born August 17, 1861 Troy, Pike, Alabama and died September 20, 1938 Fort Worth, Arrant, Texas. She is buried at the family Mausoleum at East Oakwood Cemetery, Fort Worth, TX. She married Winfield Scott December 9, 1884 and like her mother she was red headed, attractive, and vivacious. The family left Alabama and were living in Weatherford, Texas by July 1870. Weatherford was regarded as frontier until 1877 because of Indian raids, but Weatherford was never attacked. Bettie attended Ursuline Academy in Dallas and Weatherford College. It is told that she taught school in Mineral Wells before she met Winfield Scott. They met in the home of a friend somtime after 1882. Winfield was a wealty man when he courted Bettie. She married Winfield Scott who was born 1849 in Missouri and who had walked to Texas as a young boy. He became quite wealthy dealing in cattle, cottonseed oil, and real estate. He had been married previously and had a daughter, Georgia. A marriage license was issued in Parker Co for Bettie Simmons and Winfield Scott on Dec 6 1884. They were married Dec 9 in Weatherford. The wedding was reported as most brilliant social event Weatherford had ever seen. The newlyweds traveled to Europe for their honeymoon, and in Paris, Winfield purchased a diamond dog-collar for Bettie. In 1885 Bettie and Winfield moved too Colorado City, Texas. It was more frontier-like then Weatherford but prosperous. 34 cattlemen who were worth $100,000 lived in the city, with Winfiled Scotts name heading the list. The Scotts sold their home in Dec 1889. By 1892, they had a residence at Lamar & West 5th(Valcour) and rooms at the Pickwick Hotel. Bettie returned to Weatherford to be at the bedside of her stepmother. Mrs Simmons had suffered from pneumonia several years earlier and had contracted "consumption". She was present when Mollie Simmons died at the age of 44. Both Elizabeth and Winfield attended the funeral at the Simmons home on South Main and the burial in Weatherford. They returned to their home in Fort Worth and after 17 years of marriage, when she was 44 and he was 52, they had a child. Winfield Scott Jr. was born on 2 Nove 1901, in Fort Worth. Seven months later , in June 1902, Elizabeth traveled to Deatur to atten the wedding of Electra Waggoner and AB Wharton. One of Electra's cousins (Annie) married a Simmons. Fort Worth papers indicate that the Scotts led a busy social life in the early 1900's. In both 1908 and 1909 the Scotts and Winfield Jr. toured Europe. They moved to St Louis and lived on Washington Ave in 1910. At this home they had 3 servants including a cook and a nursemaid for Winfield Jr. The Scotts moved back the Forth Worth and
purchased Thistle Hill a palatial estate in 1911. Thistle Hill was designated in 1978 as the first City of Fort Worth Historic and Cultural Landmark. A rare Georgian Revival mansion in a neighborhood once known as Quality Hill, Thistle Hill epitomizes the architectural grandeur of the cattle barons. Albert Buckman Wharton, Jr. and Electra Waggoner Wharton, the daughter of wealthy pioneer cattleman W.T. Waggoner, moved into to this 11,000 square foot, 18-room mansion in 1904. Originally designed by Sanguinet and Staats, the house was redesigned by the same firm in 1911 when the mansion was purchased for $90,000 by Elizabeth and Winfield Scott. While the Scotts were remodeling Thistle Hill, Winfield Sr. died at the St Joseph's infirmary on Oct 16. Elizabeth and Winfield Jr. were the only family present(his death was unexpected). One of the most impressive surviving mansions of the “cattle baron” era, is Betty Schott's home Thistle Hill which is situated on a 6.5-acre plot in the Near Southside. It and was purchased in 1903-04 and the Georgian Revival-style mansion was remodeled in 1911. Today it is listed on the National Register. The nearly
11,000-square-foot, red brick structure was once the scene of lavish dinners and parties as its owners entertained Fort Worth's powerful and elite. Some said Elizabeth became a social recluse after Winfiel's death. During the next 8 years following her husband's death, Elizabeth lost her uncle, father, and brother George. Bettie inherited her husband’s huge fortune and invested it to make even a greater fortune. The following is a list of some of her activities: served on the Children's Hospital Board, was a life time member of the Fort Worth Womans' Club, was an original member when the Fort Worth Garden Club was formed in 1926, member of Rivercrest Country Club, served as a director of Fort Worth State Bank, direcor of the Fort Worth Stock Show, belonged to the West Side Bridge Club and the West Side Luncheon Club, was on the Fort Worth Centennial Livstock/Pioneer Day Commission and was on the hospitality committee for the Fort Worth Garden Club in 1933. Elizabeth and Winfield, Jr. donated the site of the downtown YMCA. After several months of health problems, Elizabeth Bettie P Simmons Scott died in Fort Worth on Sep 20, 1938 at the age of 77. Their children were step daughter Georgia Scott 1870-1957 wife of Mr. Carter and Mr. Townsend. She was disinherited and contested her father’s will and received $250,000 from father’s estate in 1915. Winfield Scott Jr. 1901- 1956 and was married 8 times. He died of alcoholism. Only child was by third wife Charlotte Morgan. After her death the Thistle Hill Mansion was acquired by the Girls Service League of Fort Worth in 1940. The house was then empty from 1968 to 1975. A year later, in 1976, a preservation non-profit organization called Save-the-Scott purchased the house and restored it. On January 1, 2006, Historic Fort Worth, Inc. took possession of the house and has devoted time and resources toward further restoration.The home continues to be rented for weddings and receptions.[4]
JAMES
WILSON “Wilson” WILLIAMS was born 1837 at Swallow Savannah, Barnwell,
South Carolina and died June 16, 1862 at Oxford, Lafayette, Mississppi at the
age of 25 years while serving in Alabama 18th Infantry Company H as a Private. He fought in the
Battle of Shiloh.
ELLIOTT
WINIFRED “Winnie” WILLIAMS was born February 15, 1840 in Cuthbert, Randolph, Georgia
and died June 12, 1911 in Jackson, Clarke, Alabama. She married James “Jim” A.
Hawkins December 29, 1859 at Goshen, Pike, Alabama. He died in the Civil War.
She married 2nd James Jordan Prim October 4, 1866 Goshen, Pike, Alabama.
A. Mary
Etta Hawkins was born November 3, 1860 New Providence, Pike, Alabama and died
February 14, 1864 New Providence, Pike, ALB. William Green Hawkins was born February 11, 1862 Goshen, Pike, AL and died after 1927 Jackson, Clarke, AL. He married Josephine Browning
C. Eliza Ann “Annie” Elizabeth Prim was born August 8, 1868 Goshen, Pike, AL and died 1958 Jackson, Clarke, AL. She married John Le Costa
D. Mattie Moyler Prim was born December 27, 1869 Salitpa, Clarke, AL and died December 25, 1962 Suggsville, Clarke, AL. She is Buried in the Creagh Family Cemetery 100-200 yards behind her home in Suggsville. She married Gerald “Watt” Walthall Creagh 29 December 1897 Clarke County, AL. Watt Creagh was the son of Gerard Walthall and Emma May Creagh. Watt Creagh was born July 28, 1868 Greenboro, AL and died September 11, 1963. Their children were Mattie Moyler Creagh 1898- 1991 wife of Allen Lorenzo Glidden and Oscar Dresse, Gerard “Elliott” Creagh 1900-1970 married Flora Johnson, James “Clyde” Creagh 1901- 1983 married Olive Nolan, “Joe” Massey Creagh 1903-1976 married Sadie Denny, Daisey Lee Creagh 1905-2002 wife of Herbert Spencer Grayson, Joseph Otto Screws, and Mr. Carpenter, “Edgar” Wall Creagh 1907- 1997 married Georgia Frazier, and Clarence “Aubrey” Creagh 1908- 1979 married Myrtle Sachman
MILES
“Miles” PERRY WILLIAMS was born Sept 26 1842 in Cuthbert, Randolph, Georgia and
died September 10, 1924 Vidette, Crenshaw, Alabama age 82 years. He is buried in Elam Cemetery, Goshen, Pike,
Alabama. He Married January 11, 1866 Nancy McLeod daughter Malcolm and
Christian McLeod. She died March 17, 1922 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL Buried Elam
Cemetery, Goshen, Pike, Alabama
A. Hugh
Williams was born 23 July 1867, Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died 12 June 1936
Vidette, Crenshaw AL. He is buried Darian Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery. He
married 1894 Mannie “Perry” Lee Moore [4 July 1871-6 July 1925]. Their children
were Dora L. Williams 1894- 1977 Goshen,
Pike, AL married Ivey Sikes, B. James Wilson “Jim” Williams was Born July 23, 1870 Vidette, Crenshaw, Alabama and Died October 14, 1954 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL. He Married Loura Emily Jones 18 Dec 1901. He bought land and built his house at Vidette, south of where he grew up. Here he ran a store, sawmill, gristmill, cotton gin, and farmed. Loura was raised in the Camp Ground Community a very staunch and devoted Methodist. After they were married Jim and Loura joined the Luverne Methodist Church where their seven children became members. “Mr. Jim” enjoyed a long life and instilled the appreciation for hard work in his seven children. Loura was very pleasant and positive lady and always welcomed her children’s friends and others into their home. After her death in 1944, Jim lived at home with four sons until they married. Both Jim and Loura are buried in Emmaus Cemetery in Luverne. Their children were Bernice Williams 1903-2002 wife of John Milton Hightowe, James Ralph “Tony” Williams 1905-1991married Eugenia Smith. Col. Eugene Wilson “Gene” Williams married Virginia Chandler, Leo Harold Williams 1910-1971 married Helen Fomby, Lucille Williams 1910-1992 wife of Edward Kenny and Ed Mac Farrior, Ella “Kate” Williams 1912-1978 wife of James McGrath, and Dr. Joseph Warren Williams married Martha Brush,
C. Mary “Ola” Williams was born January 11, 1873 Vidette, Crenshaw, Al and died November 12, 1954 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL. She married David Lee “Henry” Patterson born June 1858. Their children were Oliver Patterson, Willard Patterson, Cumi Patterson 1896-1974 wife of Mr. Norman, E.J. Patterson 1898-1985,
D. Sarah Christi “Sac” Williams was born 1875 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died July 6, 1923 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL. She married Joseph “Joe” Lee Rhodes
E. Fredonia “Effie Docie” Williams was born April 18, 1877 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died December 22, 1913 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL. She married Robert “Bob” Patterson
F. Willie Make Williams was born September 14, 1880 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died June 5, 1885 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL in childhood. He is buried in Elam Cemetery, Goshen, Pike, Alabama
LEWIS
CRAWFORD
WILLIAMS was born April 28, 1845 Cuthbert, Randolph, GA and died May 6, 1906
Vidette, Crenshaw, AL. He was buried in Darian Baptist Church Cemetery. He
Married January 18, 1866 Louisa J. Owens daughter of Evan Owens and Sophia
Caffey. She born 27 July 1844 died May 24, 1904 mother of 10
children
A. George
Lee Williams was born October 5, 1866 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died Oct
17, 1890 at Vidette age 24 years. He is buried in the Darian Primitive Baptist
Church CemeteryB. Lewis Crawford “Dock” Williams Jr. was born January 29, 1868 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died March 6, 1940 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL ..He is buried in the Darian Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery. He married Leona Frances Carter (1871-1952) on January 29, 1890 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL. Their children were Clinton Williams, Leila Williams, Carl Williams 1895 died 4 months old, Bettie Williams, Victor Williams, James Douglas Williams 1902-1903
C.. Ella E. Williams was born April 6, 1870 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died October 1897, age 27 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL. She married Francis M. Golden
D. Evan “Green” Williams was born February 9, 1874 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died February 24,1947 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL. He married Emma Jackson
E. Lula Jane Williams was born born October 31, 1876 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died April 9, 1909 age 32 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL. She married James Zimri Thompson
F. Mary Etta Williams was born born October 1879 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died 1949 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL. She married W. Pink King
G. Bailey Griffin Williams was born 4 May 1882 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died May 20, 1942 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL. He never married.
H. Georgia Ann Texas Williams was born 24 May 1884 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died after 1958. She married Columbus Davis (Oct 26, 1879-May 1966Autauga, AL)
I. Sarah Winifred Williams was born July 14, 1888 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died Dec 13, 1888. She is buried in the Darian Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery
J. Calvin Kearse Williams was born October 12, 1889Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died March 4, 1946 Vidette, Crenshaw, Alabama. He married Oma R. Fowler born 01 Oct 1895 and died 15 Aug 1997 in Chancellor, Geneva, AL. He served from Luverne, Alabama in WWI July 1917
Rev. GEORGE
KEARSE “BABE” WILLIAMS was born December 6, 1847 Cuthbert, Randolph, Texas and
died December 6, 1941 Hughes Springs, Cass, Texas. Rev. G.K. Williams is buried
in Block 3 Lot 9 with wife and son Leonard Fermon Williams and his daughter in
law Vera. Babe Williams married Rebecca “Shelomith” Rushton August 1, 1867, Vidette,
Crenshaw, AL daughter of William and Rebecca Rushton. She was born September
13, 1845 Ramar, Montgomery, AL and died July 24, 1924 Hughes Springs, Cass,
Texas
A. Margaret
“Maggie” Jane Williams was born June 1, 1868 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died
May 19, 1909 Avinger, Cass, Texas. She married Thomas J. “Tommie” Williams
(1867-1921 of Douglasville, Texas) 25 May 1909-We are grieved to record the
death of Mrs. Margaret J. Williams which occurred on last Wednesday May 19.
Remains interred Hughes Springs Cemetery daughter of G.K. WilliamsB. Elizabeth “Bettie” Victoria Williams was born March 2, 1870 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died June 24, 1954 in Hughes Springs, Cass, Texas. She married Thomas Cobb Glover 1890 son of William Franklin Glover and Sarah A. Smith. He was Born July 2, 1864 and died May 25, 1939)
C. Sarah “Fannie” Williams was born July 24, 1871 Vidette, Crenshaw, AL and died May 9, 1897 in Hughes Springs, Cass, Texas. She is Buried in Block 1 Lot 16 of Hughes Springs Cemetery. She married Charlie Collins son of R.B. Collins. He was born November 1868 and died March 14, 1907. His second wife was named Emma. Next to her grave is a small grave containing a small iron marker with lamb on it. Presumable this is a baby’s grave. In the 1910 Census these two daughters are show as grandchildren of G.K. Williams and were being raised by him.
D. Edgar Lewis Williams was born July 12, 1873, Jenkins, Titus, Texas and died July 16, 1935 Afton, Dickens, Texas. He married Rosa Lee Perser January 14, 1894 Carterville, Cass Texas. She was the daughter of William John Percer and Martha Ann Carter. He was the father of 12 children. .
E. George Myles Williams was born January 28, 1875 South Union Community, Titus, Texas and died October 1, 1935. He married August 21, 1894 Nora Estelle Nelson daughter of George Washington Nelson and Martha Goodson. She was born March 3, 1978 Livelys Chapels crossroads, Cass, Texas
F. Hattie Kearse Williams was born November 5, 1876 South Union, Morris, Texas and Died September 27, 1955 Hughes Springs, Cass, Texas. She is buried in Block 3 Lot 7 of the Hughes Springs Cemetery. She married Riley Frederick Smith born July 1869 and died Nov 14, 1928.
G. Mattie Eva Rushton “Rus” Williams was born April 25, 1878 South Union Community, Morris, Texas and died January 25, 1941 Hughes Springs, Cass, Texas. She is buried in block 5 Lot 9 in the Hughes Springs Cemetery. She married November 3, 1895 Rufus “Ruf” Lafayette Fite on her parents 70th anniversary. Rufe Fite the son of Joseph Fite and Sarah Permelia Goodson was born March 29, 1871 and died August 2, 1944. She was the mother of twelve children.
H. Mary Ellen Williams was born May 4, 1881 Jenkins, Morris, Texas and died June 30, 1916 Hughes Springs, Cass, Texas. She married after 1910 William Bedford “Cap” Harris. Cap Harris was born November 28, 1883 and Died November 3, 1950. His 2nd wife was Vivian Hulan Surratt. The 1910 Census shows that Mary Williams was living with her parents unmarried and working as a seamstress.
I. Katy Belle Williams was born March 24, 1883 Jenkins, Morris, Texas and died March 16, 1976 Hughes Springs, Cass, Texas. She married William L. Parker February 2, 1898
J. Lula May Williams was born September 11, 1886 South Union Community, Morris, Texas and died July 22, 1930 Hughes Springs, Cass, Texas. She is buried in Block 3 Lot 8 on the other side of her father G.K. Williams. She married Leonard Weldon “Bud” Neville November 3, 1902 the 77th anniversary of Rev. Green and Hattie Williams marriage. Leonard Wesley “Bud” Neville was born in1882 and died 1954.
K. Leonard Ferman Williams was born January 10, 1889 Jenkins, Morris, Texas and died October 25, 1915 Hughes Springs, Cass, Texas. On 5 January 1908 he married Vera Reeder daughter of Berry Reeder and Elizabeth Ann Bearden. She was Born November 24, 1889 Lasseter, Cass, Texas and Died September 27, 1964 Hughes Springs, Cass, Texas. They are buried in Block 3 Lot 9 with G.K. Williams and Shelomith. In 1910 Leonard was working in a lumber camp and Vera was running a boarding house.
MARTHA
RILEY WILLIAMS
was Born August 4, 1851 Pike County, Ala and Died May 4, 1938 Bryan Mills,
Cass, Texas. She married December 3, 1868 Vidette, Crenshaw, Alabama Rev.
John Smith, a Missionary Baptist Minister. He was the son of Henry George
Smith and Susan Ledlow. He was born August 1838 in Georgia and died 5 February
1916 in Cass County, Texas. He is buried in Queen City, Cass, Texas
A. John
Thomas Smith Jr. or A. James Smith was Born October 9, 1869 Vidette, Crenshaw, and Died unknown. The 1880 census list this
son as A. James Smith age 12 [1868].B. William Lee Smith was born March 4, 1870 Bear Creek, Cass, Texas and died April 14, 1904 Bear Creek, Cass, Texas at the age of 34. He married Fanny Lee Humphrey the daughter of William Jesse Humphrey and Mary Eliza Elmira Alsobrook. Fanny was born 30 July 1879 in Cass County and died 29 April 1949. They had children Mattie Belle Smith 1897-1985 wife of George Homer Falkner, Annie Maddie Smith 1900-1984 wife of Willie Tidwell and Ottie Murphy, and Fred Lewis Smith 1902-1973 who married Dura Downs.
C. George Kearse Smith was born January 21, 1873 Bear Creek, Cass, Texas and died June 22, 1906 Avinger, Cass, Texas age 33 of Tuberculosis. He married Cora L Watson the daughter of Thomas J Watson and Lucinda Sarilda "Rilla" Alsobrook, granddaughter to George M. Alsobrook and Mary Ann Mitchell. Cora L Watson was born 19 Dec. 1878 in Cass County, Texas and died 25 Oct. 1902 in Cass County. He was the father of three daughters, Lillie Mae Smith 1896-1900, Ollie M Smith 1899-1920 wife of Cletis Floy Ray, and Eunie Belle Smith 1901-1979 wife of Mr. Echols
D. Lou “Ella” Smith was born 26 March 1875 Bear Creek, Cass, Texas and died after 4 March 1958 in Hunt County, Texas. She was married twice. Her first husband was Robert E Lee Humphrey the son of William Johnson Humphrey and Sarah English Wheeler. He was born 26 July 1871 but it is uncertain when he died. Lou Ella was married to William Haskell Kelley by the 1910 Census of Cass County. He named five children living within his household with the surname Humphreys but some of these children he listed as stepchildren and some as children. William H. Kelley was born 29 October 1866 and died 25 November 1965 at the age of 99 years. He was the son of William P Kelley and Elizabeth Ann Rebecca Thompson. Lou Ella’s children by her two husbands are as follows; John W Humphrey 1893-1910, Dora Humphrey 1895-1962 wife of Samuel Nathaniel Jackson, Guy H. Humphrey 1897-1980 married Lula G Emerson, Harry P Humphrey 1901-1918, Mancel Pinckney Humphrey-Kelley 1903-1996 married Thelma V Randle, Millard Singleton Humphrey-Kelley 1905-1982 married Ila Mae Sartain, Annie Carrie Humphrey-Kelley 1907-2004 wife of Ira Bryan Joyce, Charlie Lloyd Kelley 1911-1986 married Helen Payne, Jesse Peeples Kelley 1913-2012 married Lilly Leona Gibson, and Emma Kate Kelley wife of Willie Cast
E. Pinkney “Pink” Bandy Smith was born 14 July 1875 and died June 19, 1933 of Tuberculosis age 58. He was buried Union Hill Cemetery. He married 14 February 1904 Lee Julia Gibson the daughter of George Buchanan Gibson and Amanda Susan Smith. Lee was born 8 January 1889 and died 2 August 1968. Their children were Rosa Lee Smith 1905-2000 wife of John Burns, Liddie Mae Smith 1908-1911, Ola Belle Smith 1910-1990 wife of Hardy A. Dooley, William Pink Smith 1914-1963 married Hazel Corine Lee, Herman Vigil Smith 1916-1986 married Norma Juanita Maxwell, Loy Vallis Smith 1918-1982 married Agnes Irene Dooley, Mattie Sue Smith 1923-2009 wife of Theodore Roosevelt Pritchett, and Lois Fay Smith wife of James Wilborn Dooley.
F. Charley Homer Smith was born 4 May 1877 at Bear Creek, Cass, Texas and died and died 2 February 1951 in Morris County, Texas. He married Mary Francis Byrd the daughter of John Wesley Byrd and Ruth Jane Paulette. She was born 13 July 1882 and died 7 February 1941. They were the parents of Hardy Lee Smith 1904-1958 married Ellie Opal Gilmore, Minnie Ola Smith 1907-1986 wife of Hubert Daniel Buchanan, Osa Morris Smith 1910-1980 married Leona Marie Buchanan, Mary Francis Smith 1913-2003 wife of F.M. Elliott and Frederick Whitmeyer, and Lena Ruth Smith 1918-2001 wife of Robert Jake Lee
G. Sally Smith was born 4 May 1878 at Bear Creek, Cass, Texas died July 1879 at Jefferson, Texas of Tuberculosis
H. Alice Smith was born August 1881 Bear Creek, Cass, Texas and died 25 October 1914 in Cass County. She married circa 1902 Colonel Levi Spivey Biddy son of Calvin Biddy and Elizabeth Hawker. He was born 4 July 1875 in Dangerfield, Morris, Texas, and died 28 April 1955 at Avinger, Cass, Texas, United States. Their children were Aubra Cal Biddy 1903-1927, Artie Mattie Ola Biddy 1905–1994 wife of Lonnie Shepherd Rankin, Willa Merle Biddy 1907–1997 wife of Esco Glen Bolton and John Harold Breon, and Osie May Biddy 1910–1993 wife of Lanceford Spain Davis.
I. Hardy Lee Smith was born 1883 and died before June 1900 at the age 16 Bear Creek, Cass, Texas
J. John Arnold “Johnie” Smith was born January 1886 Bear Creek, Cass, Texas and died 13 June 1930. He married Dessa Green in 1925.
K. Josephine “Josie” Smith was born April 9, 1888 Bear Creek, Cass, Texas and Died July 2, 1895 Avinger, Cass, Texas at the age of 7
L. Matthew Smith was born 12 December 1894 in Avinger, Cass Co, Texas, and died unknown probably in Dallas, Texas. He married on 5 July 1920 Johnie Foster the daughter of Samuel Buckner Foster and Laura Elizabeth Cates. She was born 12 June 1900 in Hughes Springs, Cass, Texas and died September 1984 in Dallas, Texas. They were the parents of two daughters Carrie Mathine 1927-1992 wife of Mr. Nicholson and Freida Morhea Smith 1935.
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ReplyDeleteI am a descendant of Wilson and Elizabeth Kirkland Williams. I am gathering records of them to add to my DAR application for Britton Williams and George Kirland. A Bible record was mentioned for William Green Williams, brother of my gg grandmother Winefred Riley Williams Best (m. Absalom Blanchard Best). Any documents that you possess will be greatly appreciated and I will share what I have.
ReplyDeleteVirginia Ann Reeves
Greenville, S.C.
William Haskell Kelley was the son of Mancel Pinkney Kelley.
ReplyDelete