What Secrets are in her Death?

The wind is blowing as I sit and watch the beautiful day unfold before me.  As the branches on the trees sway, the leaves fall.  In addition to the leaves, the nuts are also falling.  Now, these nuts are big and can cause one to slip if they get underfoot.

Just like genealogy.  Shake the trees and see what falls that can trip you up in your research. 

I have a handwritten note by my grandmother which gives a little information about my grandfather's family.  The note tells us that my grandfather's grandparents, Robert Coleman POSTON and Hester Leggette COX, were rice planters and lived in Georgetown.  Grandmother also names six children of the couple with names of the females who did not marry.

Like every good genealogist, I now have to confirm all these leaves falling into my lap. It's rather easy to trace the location of the farm and document some of the children through the census records.  The first moment of a stray nut is the 1910 census which says the couple had ten children but only six were living.  I've been able to document nine of them who also have some mysteries of their own.

What is more interesting is how some marriage stats change with the census records.  While my grandmother said two of the girls did not marry, there is evidence that makes me scratch my head.  One example is Aunt Wash.  Grandmother said she did not marry, and I would tend to think that Grandmother knew if she was or not.   Aunt Wash's death certificate suggests otherwise.

The 1910 census also shows Aunt Wash as being single at the ripe old age of 39 with no children of her own, and living with her widowed mother.

I have found a JW POSTON with wife, Martha, in the 1930 census in Chesterfield Co, SC.  However, this census indicates they married around 1890, and they have several children.

According to the death certificate, Martha Washington POSTON was born November 1, 1870, in Florence Co, SC.  She dies five days after her 71st birthday in 1941.  The parents listed are what I suspected, but the surprise is that she is listed as a widow of James POSTON.  Who?  How?  When?  The informant is listed as Mrs. R C WHITE of Charleston.  Who?

I have seen a photo of her grave at Riverview Memorial Park in Charleston which says she was a loving mother.  Hmmm. When did that happen?  Did she marry late in life?  Did she raise children for a widower?

I'll be interested in seeing the 1940 census when it becomes available.  Perhaps, I will be able to trace who this Mrs WHITE is.  Perhaps, that will lead me in another direction.

Maybe I can get to Charleston and find her obituary.  Perhaps, that would help to clear the path.  In the meantime, watching the trees sway on this cool day seems just the perfect way to reflect on the past.

Ahh, genealogy.  Those unexpected secrets in the family tree are just so, well, gone with the wind. Eh?

©2011 AS Eldredge

Southern American Revolution Patriots Pension Online Transcriptions

While reading the daily EOGN which is delivered to my inbox every day, I stumbled across a post on Revolutionary War Southern Campaign Pension Application Transcriptions Online.  How cool is this?


After reading the posted American Revolution pension application for one Dan Alexander, I thought I'd wander over to the site, http://southerncampaign.org/pen/ , and see if I could locate a pension file from my maternal side.

Bingo!  There it was!  And, I'm excited to report this one pension contains the death date and the marriage date!  So here 'tis just in case you share my maternal blood.

Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters
Pension application of John Poston W26923    Rebecca    fn30NC
Transcribed by Will Graves    9/17/09

[Methodology: Spelling, punctuation and/or grammar have been corrected in some instances for ease of reading and to facilitate searches of the database. Also, the handwriting of the original scribes often lends itself to varying interpretations. Users of this database are urged to view the original and to make their own decision as to how to decipher what the original scribe actually wrote. Blanks appearing in the transcripts reflect blanks in the original. Folks are free to make non-commercial use this transcript in any manner they may see fit, but please extend the courtesy of acknowledging the transcriber—besides, if it turns out the transcript contains mistakes, the resulting embarrassment will fall on the transcriber.]

[fn p. 3 family record]
Peggy was Born the 9th day of February in the year 1782
Rebekah was born the 31st day May in the year 1783
Jenny was born the 17th day of October in the year 1785
Elizabeth was born the 30th day of January in the year 1786
Salley was born the 15 day of January in the year 1888 [sic]
Robert Postion [sic] was born the 28th of December in the year 1889 [sic]
Polley was born the 30th day of August in the year 1890 [sic]
Jno A. B. Poston was born the 7th day of November in the year 1894 [sic]
Nancy Poston was born the 9th day of April in the year 1897 [sic]
Send the Poston was born the 6th day of March in the year 1801
John Poston Senior departed this life August 22nd Day 1819
William Poston was born in the year of our Lord August 14th Day 1809

[fn p. 8] State of North Carolina Buncombe County
On this 4th day of July 1845 Personally appeared before the Court of Pleas and quarter Sessions in and for the County aforesaid Rebecca Poston a Resident of North Carolina in the County of Buncombe aged seventy-nine years, Who being first duly sworn according to law doth on her oath make the following Declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the acts of Congress passed July 7th 1838, entitled an act granting half pay and pensions to certain Widows -- That she is the widow of John Poston who was a Private in the Army of the Revolution And who entered the service of the United States as a Drafted Soldier sometime in the year 1779 or 80 in the County of Roan [sic, Rowan], North Carolina and served out 13 months tour: soon after which he again volunteered or was drafted & entered the service of the United States in which he remained as she has often heard him say, until after the surrender of Cornwallis at which time he was present and saw Cornwallis surrender his sword to (she thinks) General Lincoln, the names of the Captains under which he mustered she does not Recollect: She however recollects to have heard him say that he was commanded by Generals McDowell and Davidson. She further Recollects that he was in the Battle at the Cowpens. She further declares that she was married to the said John Poston on the 25th day of April in the year 1782. That her said Husband the aforesaid John Poston Died on the 22nd day of August 1819, that she was not married to him prior to his leaving the service but the marriage took place previous to the first day of January 1794 (viz.) at the time above stated.
She further states that she has no Record proof of her said marriage, but that she has a Record of the ages of her children and of the Death of her Husband the aforesaid John Poston. That she was married to him the said John Poston at the time aforesaid in the County of Lincoln in the State of North Carolina. That she never has since been Death of her said husband again married. But that she still remains the widow of the said John Poston -- the Record of the ages of her children & of the death of her said Husband are here with remitted.
S/ Rebecca Poston, X her mark Sworn to and subscribed in Open Court on the day and date above written.
S/ N. Harrison, Clerk of the Buncombe County Court
[fn p. 11: On December 30, 1851 in Buncombe County North Carolina, Charles McFee, the administrator of the estate of Rebecca Poston filed a claim for pension due her as the widow of John Poston; in this application the affiant states that John Poston served in a company commanded by Captain John Work; that John Poston married Rebecca Balldridge in Iredell County, date unknown but prior to January one, 1794; that John Poston died August 22nd, 1819 survived by Rebecca Poston, his widow and the following children now living: Mary Davis, Jane Bryson, Rebeco [Rebecca] Bryson, Nancy Nicholas, Lusindia [Lucinda] Stines, Ruthy Smith & Robert Poston.]
[fn p.15: bond taken out by John Poston, Junior and John Poston, Senior, of Rowan County North Carolina dated April 24, 1782 to secure the marriage of John Poston to Rebecca Baldridge of Lincoln County.]
[fn p. 20: certificate dated September 30th 1851 issued by the North Carolina Comptroller's Office showing payments made to John Poston for services in the revolution including service under Captain John Work in January 1776 for 32 days in an expedition to Moore's Creek.]

My mom used to tell me that her kin had fought under General Francis Marion, and I've been itching to document that tidbit.  

I looked around at some of the other surnames from my maternal side and checked them out as well. While it is possible a couple of them could be related somehow, there are others I could immediately rule out.  Guess I'll keep searching for the name Marion used in conjunction with my blood kin who had migrated to that little area of South Carolina.


Ahh, genealogy.  Another day, another unexpected find.


©2011 AS Eldredge

Her Laugh Lives On

In my last post, we were chatting about how some researchers take census info and people with same initials and just kind of "make it work." Well, I contacted the gent to ask him some questions about what I knew to be true. To my delight, my mom's first cousin is still alive and well at the ripe old age of 87.

I got her phone number and just called. I spent time listening to her tell me stories of my great grandmother Poston nee Coward, my Poston grandparents and other family members. These beloved family members are all gone- or so I thought.

You see, Henrietta laughed and I started to tear up. Her laugh is the laugh of my mother and my aunt. What joy for me to hear that familiar laugh again.

Henrietta told me of her mother who died of tuberculosis at the age of 34. She only has one memory of her mother standing. So, today, Henrietta has not only given me more of a sense of family, she has given me back my mom - if only in her laugh.

Family. Ain't it just grand!