It’s Family Time~ The Dempsey Rivers Family

Dempsey Rivers was born in 1830 in Chesterfield County, SC, a son of William Rivers and Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Rivers.^{1 2}
 
Dempsey married Eliza Ann Dozier about 1854 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. Eliza Ann Dozier, daughter of James Dozier and Britten, was born on 8 Apr 1836 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. ^{3 4} 
 
Dempsey Rivers and Eliza Ann Dozier had the following child:
i. Georgia A. Rivers was born about Dec 1855 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. She died on 13 Dec 1856 at the age of 1and was buried at Kite Cemetery in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina. Her tombstone reads: Georgia A. RIVERS, age 1 year daughter of D. R. and E. A. Rivers; died Dec. 13, 1856.
 
Eliza Ann Dozier Rivers died on 11 December 1856. After her unexpected death Dempsey married Sarah Ann Massey.
 
Dempsey Rivers and Sarah Ann Massey were married about 1858 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. Sarah Ann Massey, daughter of William Lawrence Massey and Huldah Meadows, was born in 1845 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.^{5 6 7}  
 
Dempsey Rivers and Sarah Ann Massey had the following children:
i. James William Thomas "Catfish" Rivers, born 19 Nov 1859, Chesterfield County, South Carolina; married Mary Eliza Davis, 23 Mar 1879, Chesterfield County, South Carolina; died 7 Dec 1931, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina.
ii. Sarah Elizabeth Rivers, born 4 Sep 1861, Chesterfield County, South Carolina; married James Hampton Tucker, 1878, Chesterfield County, South Carolina; died 28 Jun 1926, Union Parish, Louisiana.
 
Dempsey enlisted to serve in the Civil War on 13 April 1861. He died from typhoid fever on 13 Nov 1861 at the age of 31.^{8 9 10 11}
 
He was buried at Massey Cemetery in Mt. Croghan, Chesterfield, South Carolina. He had his estate probated at Chesterfield County Estate Records, Folder #11, in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. ¹²
 
Sarah Ann died on 4 Feb 1871 at the age of 26 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. <sup>13
 

Dempsey Rivers is my 3rd Great Grand Uncle.  He is also the brother of my 3rd Great Grandmother, Hulda Rivers.
 
 
 
 




 
 
 
_____________________________________</sup>
1. 1850 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield District, South Carolina, Page 179B, Line 16, family 1242, dwelling 1242, Household of William Rivers; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2010); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 851.
2. 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield, South Carolina, Page: 115 (stamped); Line 27, Dwelling 299, Family 299, Household of Duncan RIVERS; digital images, Ancestry.com http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 31 July 2013); citing National Archives Microfilm M653_1217.
3. 1850 U. S. Census, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 175B; Line 11, Dwelling 1182, Family 1182, Household of John HUNTLY; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 14 February 2015); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 851.
4. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 5 June 2012); Memorial page for Eliza A. Rivers; (8 April 1836–11 December 1856); Find a Grave memorial # 40202633, Citing Kite Cemetery; Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA.
5. 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Population Schedule, Chesterfield, South Carolina, Page: 115 (stamped); Line 27, Dwelling 299, Family 299, Household of Duncan RIVERS.
6. Pigg, Cheraw/Chesterfield District Wills, 1750-1865, page 133.
7. 1870 U. S. Census, Court House, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina, Page 30/302B(stamped); Line 5, Dwelling 294, Family 294, Household of S. SWEET; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 31 July 2013); citing National Archive Microfilm M593, Roll 1491.
8. Randolph W. Kirkland Jr., Broken Fortunes: South Carolina Soldiers, Sailors and Citizens Who Died in the Service of Their Country and State in the War for Southern Independence, 1861-1865 (Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina, 1997), page 298.
9. Ancestry, "Civil War Service Records" database, Military Service Records (http://www.fold3.com/ : accessed 31 July 2013), entry for Dempsey RIVERS, Private; Co. B, 8th Infantry, South Carolina Volunteers; Confederate.
10. Kirkland, Broken Fortunes, page 298.
11. 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 133.
12. "South Carolina Probate Records, Files and Loose Papers, 1732-1964," Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, Family Search (https://www.familysearch.org/ : viewed 3 August 2011), images, "Dempsey RIVERS, Probate Folder #11," Images 159-172.
13. Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Estate Folder #535, Sarah [Massey Rivers] Sweat; SC Archives & History, Columbia, South Carolina.