First, I have one caveat for this article – some of the information contained within this article is hearsay and folklore.
The 1850 Census for Chesterfield County shows the William M. Burkley household as Dwelling 500 and Family 500. Within the household are:1
- William M. Burkley, age 42
- Mary Burkley, age 60
- Elizabeth Rivers, age 75
- Jesse Coker, age 18
William M. Burkley is enumerated in the 1840-1850-1860 and 1870 Census for Chesterfield County, South Carolina. He wrote his Will on 29 December 1869 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. Even though he was married to Mary, he left her nothing giving his entire estate to his niece – Sarah Frances Hancock. 2 3 4
“It is my will that all my just debts remaining unpaid at my death to be paid out of any personal property or moneys that I may leave and that the funeral expense of myself and wife Mary be paid in like manner.
I will and bequeath all my property both real and personal that I may seized and possess of unto my niece Sarah Frances Hancock to be hers her heirs and assigns forever at my death- the real property or estate above mentioned consisting of three tracts of land in said County adjoining each other, the first being the home track of One hundred (100) acres as will show by deed from Charles William Guardian to me made bearing date the 13th day of December A.D. 1843 the second containing thirty-three (33) acres more or less, reference being had to be made to me by Eliza Sellers, the one dated 27th June 1868 and the other dated the 21st day of August 1869 will fully show the third containing two (2) acres more or less will show by deed from Isaac F. Sweeney to me dated the twenty-third day of the December 1861 the personal property above mentioned consisting of stock of all kinds, farming implements household and kitchen furniture and other property to tedious to mention the above to belong to my said niece at my death provided she remains unmarried and reside with me and my said wife as long as either of us shall live and if my said wife shall survive me she my said niece shall take care of her and support her during her life.”
So Mary in this Census is his wife, as noted in his Will. But who is Mary? because Elizabeth Rivers is in the household many have suggested that she is Mary Rivers. Others say that William M. Burkley married Mary R. Sellers, daughter or grand daughter of Hardy Sellers and Mary Cook.
This note is from a dear departed friend and fellow genealogist, Marie G. Wiggins
Other information (some from the Rivers family) state that the wife of William Berkley wasn't Mary Sellers, but was Mary Rivers, daughter of Isaac Rivers and Nancy Parker. However, Marie Wiggins records show her as Mary Sellers. After the death of her first husband, Thomas Gaddy, in Georgia, she remarried to William Berkley (also spelled in the census records as Brinkley) and returned to Chesterfield County, SC where the couple were enumerated in the 1850, 1860 and 1870 census. They are buried on their farm, near the Old Sellers Graveyard. Marie Wiggins.
There is a Chesterfield County equity record that shows Mary Sellers married to Thomas Gaddy.5
SOURCE: #25 Index and Genealogical Abstracts of the Chesterfield District Court of Common Pleas, Equity Side, 1823-1869, page 118 as recorded in "Cheraw/Chesterfield District Wills, 1750-1865 & Abstracts from the Court of Common Pleas 1823-1869, Published by James C. Pigg, Copyright 1995.
[#25] Evans, John Exer. vs. H.H. Sellers & others - Bill for partition & c 1851
See Will of Hardy Sellers. Hardy Sellers died testate on or about 17th January 1835, leaving widow, Levinia Sellers and children: Hardy Huntley Sellers and Zylpha Ann Sellers and the children & grandchildren from a former marriage, John Sellers; Abraham Sellers; Philip Sellers; Richard Sellers; Mary who intermarried with Thomas Gaddy; Elijah Gulledge, James Gulledge, & Pheobe Gulledge the children of Pheobe, a deceased daughter of Hardy Sellers who predeceased her father; and, Iverson L. Briley, the son of Jane, a deceased daughter of Hardy Sellers who predeceased her father.
There is also the 1850 census for DeKalb County showing Mary Gaddy, age 61, with her daughter Martha and son-in-law, John Steen.6
Thomas Gaddy did die in Georgia in October 1849.7
Circumstantial evidence suggest that the story of Mary Sellers marrying William M. Burkley may be true. Still the facts are that there is no proof of Mary’s surname found as of this date. It’s ALL speculation.
Elizabeth Rivers, age 75 in the Burkley household, if her age is correct, she was born in 1775. Nothing more is known about this Elizabeth Rivers; this is the only census in which she appeared.
Jesse Coker, at age 27, enlisted into the 53rd NC Infantry on 20 March 1862 in Union County, North Carolina. He died January 2, 1863 in Raleigh, North Carolina from Typhoid fever.8
To confuse the situation even more, in the 1870 Census, two teenage females appears in the household. 9I have no idea who these teenage girls are or who they belong too. They certainly are not the children of William and Mary but they are most likely are their granddaughters.
_______________________
[1] 1850 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, page 131, Line 5, Dwelling 500, Family 500, Household of William M. BURKLEY; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 18 September 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 851.
[2] 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, page 144B, Line 26, Dwelling 115, Family 113, Household of Wm. M BAKLEY; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 18 September 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm M653_1217.
[3] 1870 U. S. Census, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Court House, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page 292A; Line 8, Dwelling 89, Family 89, Household of W. M. BURKLEY; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 18 September 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm M593_1491.
[4] "South Carolina Probate Records, Files and Loose Papers, 1732-1964," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-19420-61532-89?cc=1911928&wc=MPP1-PTL:190567401,190561002,190567402,190970801 : accessed 06 Jul 2014), Chesterfield > Probate Court, Estate records > 1865-1927 > Cases 0384-0469 > image 7 of 1665.
[5] James C. Pigg, Cheraw/Chesterfield District Wills, 1750-1865: Abstracts from the Court of Common Pleas 1823-1869 (Tega Cay, South Carolina: Self-published, 1995), page 118.
[6] 1850 U. S. Census, DeKalb County, Georgia, population schedule, Shallowford, DeKalb County, Georgia, Page: 117A(stamped); Line ??, Dwelling 26, Family 26, Household of John STEEN; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 9 February 2014); citing NARA publication Roll: M432_67.
[7] 1850 U. S. Census, Dekalb County, Georgia, mortality schedule, DeKalb County, Georgia, Page: 165, THOMAS GADDY; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 2 November 2014); citing National Archives Microfilm T655-07.
[8] http://www.fold3.com/image/271/52194560/
[9] 1870 U. S. Census, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Court House, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page 292A; Line 8, Dwelling 89, Family 89, Household of W. M. BURKLEY; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 18 September 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm M593_1491.
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