Mary C. Phillips Gainer

Late wishes for Mary C. Phillips Gainer's birthday on Feb. 27, born in 1803.

I know very little about her first husband, William Phillips Sr., born in South Carolina.

And just as I typed this, a William C. Phillips was listed on my ancestry tree for my grandmother's family.  In 1820 this William C. lived in Montgomery County, GA with:

Free White Persons -Males - Under 10	2
- Males - 10 thru 15	1
Males - 26 thru 44	1 (Head)
Females - Under 10	2
- Females - 26 thru 44	1 (wife?)
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over	1 (mother of head or wife?)
Slaves - Males - 26 thru 44	1
Slaves - Females - Under 14	2
Slaves - Females - 26 thru 44	1
Number of Persons - Engaged in Agriculture	4
Free White Persons - Under 16	5
Free White Persons - Over 25	3
Total Free White Persons	8
Total Slaves	4
Total All Persons - White, Slaves, Colored, Other	12

If William C. Phillips is Mary C.'s husband, he would have been born between 1776-1794.  Mary was not born until 1803, so it's unlikely she was the wife in the 26-44 age bracket. And there's an elder female over 45 as well, another unknown.

The children in the household wouldn't have been Marion born in 1823 and William Phillips Jr. born 1832.  So these 3 boys and 2 girls in the 1820 report don't seem to have existed in later census reports of the family. Conclusion: Not my William Phillips Sr. family (at least not one with Mary C.)

There's a family with William Phillips in Early County, GA in the 1830 census:

Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9	1 (Uncle Marion b. 1823?)
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29	1 (Head or?)
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39	1 (Head ?)
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5	1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14	1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29	1 (Wife)

And yes, they also had slaves.
Much more likely that this William Phillips is the father of William Jr. who married Mary Hull Granger from Massachusetts when they met in Galveston Texas in 1855...on my Ada Phillips Swasey Rogers family tree.  I blogged about Uncle Marion a few years ago Here,

And I told some of the story of Mary Granger and William Phillips Jr. here.  and here and HERE.  
and Here about some pre-Civil War and post-Civil War correspondence.
And this is my post about William Phillips Jr. during the Civil War.

But back to Mary C. Phillips Gainer.  The C. might stand for her maiden name which is still unknown.

The 1860 census would have her birth year as 1804...which is still possible.

Mary C. Phillips Gainer died Oct 2, 1866, and Samuel Gainer, died June 11, 1867, buried in Spurger Hill Cemetery, Tyler County, Texas. Their daughter-in-law, Mary Granger Phillips who died in 1860, is also buried there. Uncle Marion lived until 1907 and is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Woodville, Tyler TX.

I just have searched a bit more for info on Ancestry about William Phillips Sr. and found that indeed he died around 1836, and Mary C. Phillips was administrator for his estate probated from 1837-38.  She was very adept at counting the value of everything her husband had left. And since the probate records are in Early County, GA, it is clear that the census of the family in 1830 must be the same one.

In 1841, Jan 5, she is listed on a marriage license to Samuel Gainer.  Their wedding is Jan. 7.  He had been married previously also, in 1838, but doesn't have a female living in his household in the 1840 census.  At that time he lived with 2 young men (20-29) and was probably the elder of the household (40-49).  It also states "Persons Employed in Learned Professional - Engineers 2."

It is listed that Samuel Gainer had been born in North Carolina, in 1896.  I have no further information on his family of origin.  But I do know he was considered a Judge.

In 1850 the Early County Georgia census says (though it transcribed his name as Griner)

Samuel Gainer	54 occupation Lawyer, born NC
May C Gainer	47 born Ga
William Phillips	18
Marion Phillips	27

There is no mention of a daughter...though one appeared to the family and claimed to be William and Marion's sister, Ghidora Phillips, born around 1841, following the Civil War. I have a copy of a letter she wrote asking for aid. That was after Grandpa William Phillips had died about 1836, and before Grandma Mary Phillips married Samuel Gainer in 1841.  Maybe a bit suspicious, eh?

That 1850 census is also the one that led me to understand that the Gainer/Phillips family lived in the town of Fort Gaines, Early County, GA...and I wrote about it HERE. 

By 1860, everyone lived in Woodville, Tyler County, Texas.

W Phillips	27 Farmer (William JR) worth:640 real estate
M H Phillips	27 wife (Mary Hull)
M G Phillips	2 female (daughter named Zulieka Granger Phillips)
Sam Gainer	65 Farmer worth: 5000 real estate
M C Gainer	56 (Mary C)
C A Mills 14 male (?)

So I don't have any further information on Mary C.'s family of origin, nor of William Phillips Sr.  It's one of those branches that doesn't go any further back.  But every time I look, I learn more about the families on my trees.