Nancy Hart (temp post for mom)

Updated! Here is the tree from Pappy back to Nancy Hart via Roberta Chapman ❤

Roberta’s Great Grandfather was Benjamin F Chapman, who married a Susannah Phebe Hart.

James Hart Chapman is the Grandfather of Roberta Chapman Lewis (called elsewhere on this site and in records as Roe).

Benjamin and Susannah had the following children:

I am reading up on Nancy Hart now. She sure was an interesting one! 😀

 

The mystery of Wiley Rowe, a saga in three parts.

Mom was telling me about work she and Jason were doing on the Lake Chapel Church centennial, trying to get some information on the charter members of the church. While most of the names were familiar and she could place them within the community both at the time and through their decendants, she was a little stumped on one name: Wiley Rowe.

Well, I just can’t leave a thing like that alone. So I took what information I had, and started digging.

It turned out to lead down a very interesting trail and is quite a story- I will tell it in three parts.

Part I, Lake Chapel Church

Part II, Tattnall County

Part III, Ripple Effect

This will be an ongoing effort over the next week, so do check back. ❤

Why does Roe claim to be a widow?

My latest puzzlement is over a 1940 census entry on Roe Lewis.

Roe was the wife of James Franklin Lewis, her birth name was Roberta Chapman. She was the mother of Robert Fulton Lewis, who was my paternal grandfather.

We have located and visited the graves of James Franklin and Roe and seen the dates inscribed on their tombstones first hand.

Here is the gravesite. It is located down Hutcheson Road about .2 miles, in the Old Pleasant Grove cemetery. It is easy to find: turn on the dirt road across from the middle school on 15 going into Baxley. We presume at some point the church itself was relocated nearer the highway, and the old graveyard left in place. It is remote and rustic but people are still being buried there as well as at the current site of Pleasant Grove church.

But back to the dates…

Here is a detail of the marker for James Franklin Lewis. I’m guessing he went by Frank. The inscription clearly says that he died in 1949.

Also, going by the symbol there, he may have been a Mason? That is interesting.

Remember 1949, it is about to become important.

Dad (Paul) has mentioned to me that James/Frank and Roe possibly went up to South Carolina to work in the early 40s. I am still looking for records that will confirm that- in the process, I ran across a question. A big question. In the 1940s census, Roe reports that she is a widow, the head of the household, and James/Frank is not present.

So what happened there? Was it a mistake? A transcription error? If so, where is James/Frank at this time?

I’m pretty sure he wasn’t hit by no train, so I’ll keep looking into it.

UPDATE:

I just noticed that at the very bottom of the census page, Roe is asked some additional information. She is asked if she has been married more than once, and the answer is …. yes? What??

She lists her age at the time of her first marriage as 22, which is consistent with this document:

I am so confused by this. If she was born in 1881 as documented, and married to James/Frank in 1904 as documented, then indeed her age at this marriage would have been 22. As stated in the 1940 census. So where does this answer that she has been married more than once come from?

If anyone can shed any light, boy am I ready to hear it.

Is this who Granny Deal is named after?

Florence Pollard Ray was Rosie Deal’s grandmother, through her father George W Ray.
George W’s parents were Albert Thornton Ray and Florence.

​

The earliest record I can find for Albert is in the 1860 census. He is 6 years old, living in Tefair county with his father Joseph, mother Nancy, and many siblings.

The earliest record I can find for Florence is in the 1880 census. She is 10 years old, the only child (so far) of John Thomas Pollard and Mary Anne Pittman. They are living in Wilkes county at this time.

The first record of them as a household is in the 1900 census. Albert and Florence are living in the township of Temperance in Tefair County.

The have a daughter, Ida, and a son, Joe H. Mary Ann Pittman, Florence’s mother, is living with them at this time as well. Presumably Florence is pregnant with George W, as he is born in 1900. They are living next door to the Joseph Ray family, which is Albert’s father.

By the 1910 census, they have expanded their family considerably. George W has been born, and is 9 years old. Mary Ann Pittman is still living with them, and is now 80. Interestingly, Alfred indicates in the far side of the census page that he is a veteran of the civil war. I have, so far, been unable to locate a record of his service, but continue to look for it. They are still residing in Telfair county, though the name of the township seems to have changed from Temperance to Jacksonville.

The last census record for their household is in 1920. They are now listed as living in Jeff Davis county, in the Blackburn district. Ida Smith is now living with them, this is the married name of their oldest daughter. She lists her marital status as a widow, and her two children live with them as well. Presumably she moved in with them upon the death of her husband. Albert, Florence, and Ida are all listed as working on the farm where they reside.

​

In 1923, both Albert and Florence pass.

Albert passes first, the primary cause of his death is listed as paralysis, and the contributing cause as Bright’s Disease.

He dies on March 2nd of 1923. He was 69 years old.

Florence Pollard Ray dies not long after, on May 4th 1923, at the age of 52.
The primary cause of death is listed as heart failure, with a contributing cause of exposure. Heat seems the likely cause of exposure, our May is quite warm.

It goes without saying how difficult it must have been for George W and siblings to lose both parents together in the same year.

On July 4th of 1923, two months after the death of Florence, George W Ray and Augusta Lee Hipps Ray welcome a baby girl into their family.

They name her Florence Rosaline Ray.