After The War: The Wm. Thos. Graves Family

 
I have written about William Thomas Graves entry into the Civil War and the fact that he didn’t survive the war. This article is about William Thomas and his family.  
 
William Thomas Graves was born about 1836 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina.^{1 2} He appeared in two censuses (1850-1860) prior to his enlistment into the Civil War.³ He enlisted on 13 August 1862 and served with Co. C, 8th SC Infantry.⁴ William died on 15 Oct 1862 at the age of 26 at Charlestown Hospital, Virginia in Charlestown, Virginia.^{5 6 7}
 
William Thomas Graves and Mary Gilley Lassiter were married on 26 Jul 1857 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina.⁸
 
Mary Gilley Lassiter, the daughter of Eli Lassiter and Mary Gainey, was born in 1839 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina. ⁹ After the loss of her husband, she was found living in a POOR HOUSE on 3 Aug 1866. She died sometime after Aug 1866.¹⁰
 


William Thomas Graves and Mary Gilley Lassiter had the following children:
 
i. Clarinda G. Graves, born 23 Oct 1859, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina; married Christopher Wesley Teal, 25 Nov 1878, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina; died 1 Aug 1933, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina.
 
ii. Nancy Jane Graves was born in 1862. Nancy was baptized on 1 January 1874, age 12; after that date nothing more is known about Nancy Jane Graves.¹¹
 
Only one of the two children born to the union between William Thomas Graves and Mary Gilly Lassiter survived. 
 
Clarinda Graves married Christopher Wesley Teal in 1878 and they had eight children; six sons and two daughters. It is not known whether her Mother was still living on her marriage date. We do know it was struggle caring for two children with no spouse to help and provide support.  
 
Teal descendants, of this couple, are still living in Chesterfield County today. A friend and great grand daughter of William Thomas and Mary Gilly recently passed away in Brementon, Washington.  


 William Thomas Graves is the brother of my 2nd Great Grandmother Sarah Jane Graves Purvis. 










______________________
1. 1850 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page 106A, Line 8, Dwelling 110, Family 110, Household of Mary GRAVES; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 20 November 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 851.
2. Ibid.
3. 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 171; Line 3, Dwelling 1082, Family 1080, Household of [William] Thomas GRAVES; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 20 November 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm M653_1217.
4. Ancestry, "Civil War Service Records" database, Military Service Records (http://www.fold3.com/ : accessed 13 October 2013), entry for Thomas GRAVES, Private; Co. C, 8th SC Infantry; Confederate.
5. Ibid.
6. Brent H. Holcomb C.A.L.S., St. David's Parish, South Carolina Minutes of the Vestry 1768-1832,: Parish Register 1819-1924 (Greenville, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1991), pages 87-68.
7. The South Carolina Genealogical Society, "Freedmen's Bureau Ration Book: May - September 1866 Darlington, South Carolina," The Carolina Herald (Summer Issue 2003): Page 27.
8. Holcomb, St. David's Parish, South Carolina Minutes of the Vestry 1768-1832,, page 105.
9. 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Population Schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 171; Line 3, Dwelling 1082, Family 1080, Household of [William] Thomas GRAVES.
10. "South Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Records, 1865-1872," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-36671-7806-5?cc=2127881&wc=M9HH-D8P:1937351358 : accessed 22 Dec 2013), Cheraw (agent) > Roll 64, Registers of rations issued, vol 1-2, Apr-Sep, no year listed > image 121 of 199.
11. Holcomb, St. David's Parish, South Carolina Minutes of the Vestry 1768-1832,, page 68.

Tuesday’s Tip~Confirmation, Verification of Derivative Sources

Here a good case why derivative sources should be double checked. My 3rd Great Grandmother is Charity Dry wife of Martin ‘Mark’ I. Huneycutt. Many on-line trees have a man by the name of Martin Dry as her Father; so I’m off looking for Martin Dry in all available resources within my library and on-line. 

On of those major resources is a book compiled by Thornton W. Mitchell in 1987, revised and republished in 1992. His book is:

North Carolina Wills, A Testor Index, 1665-1900

I have a Corrected and Revised Edition and on Page 142 of that book Martin Dry is listed.










Thornton W. Mitchell’s book says that Martin Dry left a Will in 1837 and that it can be found in PQS 5/405 (Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Book 5, page 405). 

Now, I’m a genealogist and I found this information about a week ago. Due West of me about 40 miles, by Interstate 85, is the County seat of Cabarrus County, North Carolina. I’m ready to head west and get a copy yesterday. So early this morning the wife and I drove over to Concord, North Carolina to retrieve this WILL. 

It was not to be!! I left empty handed.  

I was informed by the very nice clerk at the front window that all those books had been transported to the State Archives for safe keeping. She did say I was welcome to examine the basement and see if what I was looking for was still on-hand and had not yet been shipped. So I took a stroll down the stairs into the basement of the Cabarrus County Courthouse. To me this small excursion was very fruitful. While I DID NOT find the Pleas and Quarters Session books; I did find several indexes and one of those index books that  I found was a Will Index Book. 

So I open up the WILL INDEX Book to the page for the DRY surnames and low and behold but there he was listed on the very first line. 






BUT, his WILL IS NOT in PQS-5, page 405 according to this WILL INDEX BOOK; it is listed being in PQS-2, page 405.

Mitchell’s Book is WRONG according to the Courthouse indexes. 

I will not go so far as to say that this typewritten Index is an Original Source but I will say that I would put more faith in the data within the Index over the Book. 

I still need a copy of this WILL and while Raleigh, NC is just a 1 1/2 hour trip eastward  I instead went to the NC State Archives and requested a copy of the Will by e-mail -- http://req.archives.ncdcr.gov/

Has requested information on A Court Minute.
For Person: Martin  Dry
In Year: 1837
County: Cabarrus County
Other  Info:
Seeking the Will of Martin Dry, 1837
Will Index at Cabarrus Courthouse show WILL is in
Pleas and Quarter Session 2/405
Thornton Mitchell Book give source as
Pleas and Quarter Session 5/405
Charles L. Purvis

This is a good lesson in the necessity to verify information from derivative sources.