A real mystery lies within my family lineage and in the many genealogical records in filing cabinets and hard drives throughout my house. That mystery!
Who are the Parents of Mary Jane and Ella Frances Purvis?
The first time I ran across these two women were in the late 1970’s and I was a new and budding family Historian. I was stationed with the Air Force in Utah and the LDS Family History Library (at that time in the Joseph Smith Building) was my playground. I of course was researching my Purvis lineage and the man I was dwelling on was William A. Purvis (1823?-1899) my 2nd Great Grandfather; now I’m no closer to discovering who his parents are than I was in 1976.
The day that I looked at the 1880 Census for Anson County, NC searching for my great grandfather and 2nd Great Grandfather was the day that the first part of this mystery revealed itself. Here take a look for yourself:
1st Household:- 2nd Great Grandparents, William A. Purvis and wife Sarah Jane Graves Purvis
2nd Household:- Betsy Purvis, Single, and daughter Mary J. Purvis
3rd Household: – Great Grandparents, William James Purvis and wife Mary Hulda Previtte
Who is Betsy Purvis and what is her relationship to William A. Purvis and Sarah Jane Graves Purvis?
- Who is the father of Mary J. Purvis?
- If previously married (she states that she is single) who was Betsy’s husband?
For many years I thought that William A. Purvis and Sarah Jane Graves had married about 1859. They first show up as a married couple in the 1860 Anson County, NC Census. Then in December 2014 a young lady found a marriage notice for them in a Fayetteville, NC Newspaper.
ABSTRACTS FROM FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER 1851 - 1854 Transcribed and shared by Carolyn Gibbons, Posted July 05, 2007 by Myrtle Bridges
22 Jun 1852
M[arried] - On the 10th inst., by the Rev. Mr.DuPREE, Mr. Wm. A. PERVIS, of Cheraw, and Miss Sarah Jane GRAVES of Chesterfield District.
[http://www.ncgenweb.us/cumberland/1851-4abstracts.html]
Found while searching on-line 17 December 2014.
William A. Purvis and Sarah Jane Graves were married 10 June 1852 but their first and only child was not born until 25 September 1863.
- With the Purvs surname, could Betsy Purvis be related to William A. Purvis?
My next surprise came when I attempted to find William A. Purvis and Sarah Jane in the 1900 Census. I didn’t find William A. Purvis and I didn’t find Sarah Jane Purvis but I did find Betsy Purvis.
Line 20--337/337 Elizabeth Purvis, Female, age 39, born Oct 1860, Widow, 2 children, 1 living. (remember 20 years ago in 1880 she was 30 years old)
Line 21 – 337/337 Ella Purvis, Daughter, age 13, born Dec 1886
Betsy/Elizabeth was single in 1880 and had daughter Mary J. now she is Widowed with daughter Ella Frances Purvis, born Dec. 1886.
Mary Jane absence from the 1900 Census was disturbing. Research showed that Mary Jane Purvis and Charles Franklin Lang were married about 1888. Mary Jane Purvis died about Mar 1895 with the birth of her 4th child, France Elizabeth “Effie” Lang. She was just 22 years old at her death. No tombstone or grave has been found for Mary Jane Purvis Lang.
In 1900, Betsy said she was a widow whereas in 1880 she reported that she was a single lady; so, who did Betsy/Elizabeth married between 1880 and 1900?
The answer was found in a Land Deed. I just love Land Deed research. That land deed can be found in Book 33, page 370, Register of Deeds, Anson County, North Carolina.
W. A. PURVIS AND WIFE ELIZABETH PURVIS
TO
J. D. RHYNE DEED
NORTH CAROLINA} This deed made this 23rd day of September, Anson County, 1899 by W. A. Purvis and wife Elizabeth Purvis of Anson County and State of North Carolina of the first part and J. D. Rhyne of said county and state of the second part witnesseth that said W. A. Purvis and wife inconsideration of fifty four dollars to them paid by J. D. Rhyne.
Now the question becomes - When did Elizabeth/Betsy and William A. Purvis get married? The last record we had of William A. Purvis he was married and living with his wife, Sarah Jane Graves.
This small death notice appeared in the Messenger-Intelligencer, a local Anson County newspaper on 4 January 1894.
DEATH: Messenger-Intelligencer issue of January 4, 1894, page 3, McFarlan News - The funeral of the wife of Mr. Wm. PERVIS was preached by this writer in the M. E. Church of this place last Sunday [31 Dec. 1893]. She was a good old woman. She had suffered intensely for fifteen months from cancer. She was a member of the M. E. church about 20 years. [SOURCE: Steve Bailey]
Sarah Jane Graves Purvis died of cancer on 31 December 1893.
If William A. Purvis married Elizabeth/Betsy Purvis he did so between 1 Jan 1894 and 23 September 1899. and Since William A. Purvis and Betsy were present when the above land deed (33:370) dated 23 Sep 1899 was executed William A. Purvis died between this date (23 Sept. 1899) and the date of the 1900 census (28 June 1900).
Ella Frances Purvis Tarleton died 27 November 1971. Her death certificate show her parents to be Billie Purvis and Elizabeth Previtte.
While living in Utah and before the fees were raised to an exorbitant levels I requested the the SS-5 for Ella Frances Lang. It also shows her parents to be Billie Pervis and Betsy Prevett.
Mrs. Betsy Purvis
Mrs. Betsy Purvis, aged 90, died Oct. 18th in Great Falls village. The interment was at Mizpah the same day.
[The Rockingham Post-Dispatch, Richmond County, NC, Thursday, October 21, 1926, Page 6, Column 2 - Deaths]
If she was in fact 90 years old; her birth year would have been in 1836. She showed up in two censuses, 1880 age 30, born 1850 and 1900 census, age 39, born Oct 1860. The Mizpah cemetery is an old cemetery but no gravestone has been found for Betsy Purvis.
________________________
1. 1880 U. S. Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, Anson County, North Carolina, enumeration district (ED) # 2, Page 350B, Line 36, Dwelling 233, Family 251, Household of William A. Purvis; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 1976); citing National Archives Microfilm T9, Roll 951.
2. 1900 U. S. Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, Morven, Anson County, North Carolina, ED #7, page 145, line 20, dwelling 337, family 338, Household of Elizabeth Purvis.
3. Anson County, North Carolina, Deed Book 34: pages 491-492, Betsy Purvis to J. D. Rhyne; 30 September 1900, Register of Deeds, Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina.
4. 1910 U. S. Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, Gulledge, Anson County, North Carolina, enumeration district (ED) #6, Page 81A, Line 21, dwelling 170, family 172, Household of Tom TARLTON; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 July 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm T624, Roll 1096.
5. 1920 U. S. Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, Gulledge, Anson, North Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 6, Page: 1A/73 (stamped); Line 4, Dwelling 2, Family 2, Household of Tom TARLTON; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 10 June 2010); citing National Archives Microfilm Series: T625, Roll: 1283.
6. State of North Carolina, death certificate no. 351, (18 October 1926), Mrs. Betsy Purvis; https://www.ancestry.com, Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina.
7. Betsy Purvis, death certificate #351 (1926), Register of Deeds, Gastonia, Gaston County, North Carolina.
8. Ella P. Tarlton, SS No. xxx-xx-xxxx, Form SS-5, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland.
9. Mrs. Betsy Purvis obituary, The Rockingham Post-Dispatch, Rockingham, Richmond County, NC, 21 October 1926, Page 6, Column 2. Deaths.
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