More of Phillips to Granger correspondence

(No notation of date or place; probably before June 1860, MaryPhillips. photos of copied correspondence.)

There is plenty of Game in the woods but William has had little time for hunting now.  Does are rather scarse. (sic) The Black tong(?? Two letters added above word, unclear) killed a great many off last year they say.

        I have not got my Piano yet – waiting for a draft on P.O. as I think I can be better suited by sending there for it.

        I must remind you will wirte me as I am anxious to hear how you are this cold Winter.  I almost feel as if I had got back to the North.  Do you remember of ever experiencing such cold weather any Winter before?

        Lizzie writes me Mother has suffered a great deal with the Asthma, It is impossible for her to endure the cold.

(on back page)

I receive the Harpers and regret I did not take the Ladys also (perhaps publications?)  I find many people even away up here (Monde?) who know you and ask with no little interst after you.

        The river is rising very fast today and we are listening for a Seamboat every moment.  There are some seven or eight flat-boats on their way down with Cotton.  Hoping to hear from you soon, I close,

                Yours affectionately,

                        Mary H. Phillips

(note by author: Lizzie is Elizabeth Granger, and Mother is probably Mary Granger. The piano arrived, according to a letter posted on June 10th, 1860)

(no heading, written to her Mother-in-law, Mary Gainer, see MaryPhillips.002)

The children are quite well.  Zulie often talks of you all.  She is growing very fast and talks us nearly crazy.  Is very curious must know and understand every thing she hears and sees.  She is pretty, bad and smart and I am I regret to say entirely unable to control her never having seen ever such a temper.  I often wonder how Lizzie would manage her, although Zulie has been much spoiled (--?--) everyone, she is very affectionate, child loves me dearly  but does not want to mind.  Ada is different more mild the sweetest and caring little thing will let you kiss her all day and not get mad.  Pa Gainer says Zulie is the worst child he ever saw and Ada the best now if they do not spoil her.  She began to walk a little past nine months it is so cunning to see her walking her hair curls and she goes round

(on back page)

jabbering to herself you all would eat her up.  I have not had a pair of shoes to fit her since those you sent and they are all worn out.  I have let her go barefooted this Summer on account of not being able to get any for her.  I do hope some goods will come to Town Bluff.  Zulie too wears anything for shoes.  I am very much troubled about getting everything.  There are no goods any near us.  I expect we shall see sights to get things to wear this Winter.  I think you will find a letter of winds if nothing else.  I will try to write often as I can.  I have on hand a monstrous pile of sewing though, but will answer all who write.  All desire Love keep a cheerful heart dear Mother. I think of you much and often.

        Your affectionate Daughter,

                        Mary

(Author’s notes: Pa Gainer (William Phillips step-father) is in Texas, or has been to have seen both granddaughters.  His words are being relayed either to his wife, Mother Gainer, or Mary's mother, Mary Granger, by Mary Phillips.  The time may be after Confederate blockade near Galveston and New Orleans, has made goods hard to obtain.  Ada had been born Sept 15, 1860, so would be 9 mos old by June of 1861)  But the blockade wasn’t really holding manufactured goods back entirely. Perhaps goods just weren’t being shipped at this time, except for war needs.)

Letters between sisters June 10, 1860

(letter with envelope copied on one sheet: 
photo of correspondence below the transcription

Mary Phillips wrote her sister, Lucy Granger

--------------

transcribed:

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Town Bluff June 10th, 1860 

Dear Lizzie:

        It is some time since your last letter but I waited to write about the Piano knowing you would be deeply interested to hear about it.  It was obliged to stay at Weisse’s Store a few weeks as the river was so low the Boats could not come up this far and William was so busy with all the mules he could not spare them to go for it.  William fixed up last Tuesday a team and himself and a black boy started to bring. It arrived Wed. night and all hands White and Black sat up till midnight so great was the excitement.  It is a splendid Piano and no mistake most-beautiful tone & action.  

(envelope depicted here, see photo below, addressed to other sister, Lucy, but letter is to Elizabeth ie. Lizzie)

(Upper left corner:) Town Bluf, TX M (…? obscured by stamp of Three Cents)

(Middle of envelope:) Mrs. Lucy E. Granger.

                                Galveston,

                                        Texas.

(letter continued page 2)

It is one of Gales made  Rose Wood with a beautiful inlade (sic) front carved music rack Iron (?) frame and carving all around the moulding (sic) but not quite seven octaves two pedals the shape of the Pedal is the hansomist (sic) I ever saw very large and shiney.  The tone is brilliant and clear not at all muffled.  It is splendid and you will say so far superior to Margrit Sweets I think I am almost beside myself I am so satisfied with the choice Mr. Hinsbly (?) has been very kind seems to have exerted himself to the ultermost (sic) and I could not have done as well myself.  The Stool cost twelve dollars and it is Rose W. too has a screw top and plane and plush very much larger and prettier every way than yours. It was packed with in the most manner closely sealed over all the seams on the

(back of envelope pictured here, nothing written on it)

(letter contined page 3)

outside and right pretty (written above in margin) picture 

in the bottom of the box all framed with a view of house in which it was manufactured in N. J.  I have hung it up it is so pretty.  Oh! I do so want to have you see it and try it.  I would enclose the money if I had it for you to come.  You can imagine me just as happy as a being ever gets to be. I believe I feel just as I did when Father first bought one for me. Just think our Piano was the first ever in Sabine Pass  The first ever in Beaumont  and now the first ever in Town Bluff and is causing equally as much excitement about the county up here as it had elsewhere.  I find I am in need of much practice but every day gain what I have lost.  I play a heap having nothing else to do  and who would not with so elegant 

(letter continued page 4)

an instrument to play upon in such perfect tune and order.  It is this I regret – the detention I soon shall have and I have only three months more  I get very tired sitting at the Piano but William is so good  rubs my back until I am rested at night which keeps me up.  Zulie is very much pleased  calls it the big baby and says here is the little baby pointing to herself – she talks very cunning you would laugh to hear her  sleeps by herself now in a nice trundle bed all ready now you see for the next.  I must close  I wrote to Lucy sometime since.  Write me soon.  Love to Mother and all.

        Yours with love,

                Mary

(another hand writing now)

The Baby beats her mother talking.

                W. P.

(this letter was not written to Lucy, but mentions that she had written her, so perhaps that is why the envelope was copied on the same sheet)

Old letters from 1860

Correspondence of Beaumont TX and Galveston TX, 1860
I posted some of this before on my old blog, but want to share it again...to re-consider, myself, the lives of early immigrants to Texas.

The following letter was written in 1860 from Mary Granger Phillips to her mother Lucy Pulsifer Granger. Transcription is below the photos of the copied documents.

So the text is this:

Town Bluff, June 24^th, 1860

My Dear Mother

        It is a week today since I wrote Lizzie’s (her sister Elizabeth) letter and I have had no chance during the week to send it to the office.  I will have two now to send, as I note in my letter to Lizzie I would write you if I did not get down too soon.

        The weather is very warm up here I miss those beautiful sea breezes I used to enjoy last year at this time.  I feel as if it would be quite a long time before I enjoy them again.  I do so long to be over my confinement   I am dreading it more than before and I fear Zulie (her 2 year old daughter) will be so much trouble I can in a measure control her and she fears me a little and so jealous of me I must not caress 

(page 2 of letter)

anybody or anything but her – William to my surprise has the utmost patience with her has not even yet spoken sharp to her. She is smart I can tell you and it is impossible to cheat her, no indeed, she will catch you in a minute.

        I was glad to hear your health was so good this summer  I trust it will continue your cares must be diminished enough now since you are by yourselves to give you quite a quiet time.  I know you must all be happy to hear no slams and insults I think I could never borne it as well as you did.

        I suppose Father & George get along well in the business line as no one spoke to the contrary in letters.  I often think how much it took only for W. & myself while living in Galveston that everlasting rent due it seemed to me always was our greatest chain.  I like Galveston 

(page 3 of letter)

above all places to live in but it does cost a heap to live any way at all respectable there.

        Do you ever hear from Uncle Joseph (Joseph Pulsifer) I have written him and so has William two or three times but no replies.  I wish I could hear what he is about.  I think he must almost a Hermit by this time that is if he is by himself.  I hear from the Pass once in a while.  I suppose you heard of the dreadful murder of Bill Shaw by Pike (?) Smith.  I never was so horrified at anything how much trouble they must be in and dear Mrs. Gill has at least got Ella Edwards married to Charley (?) Colmell(?) too I suppose Laura is her next victim for business.

        We think what does Mr. Bradbury do with his house. I never heard whether he rents it or not or if he considers he has left Galveston.

(page 4 of letter)

I hardly can find anything to write which is worthy of interest so if I write a fussy letter you must excuse it.  I wish you would urge up the girls to write me oftener they surely are not very busy now. I know they have had to be in the kitchen lately but if they have been adopting Mrs. Bingit (?) hul (?) two meals a day they have some little time.  I often look for a letter from you two but often am disappointed about you think so.  I excuse you though of course.  

        Love to all I think of each one when I am writing home Father George. Lizzie & Lucy.  Zulie pulls me to the Piano and says Mama play.  I must close of course. William sends (?) love also Mother Gainer.  I hope next letter will be written by William with news of another member born in the family.

                Yours with much love,

                        Mary

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Author's note: Mary's next and final child was not born until Sept. 15, 1860.  My own grandmother (Ada Phillips Swasey Rogers) often said her aunt Ada had been an 11 month baby, because it was so long that Mary was pregnant.  I've since learned from mid-wives and nurses that a mother can miscarry and become pregnant again without knowing it sometimes, early in the pregnancy, so it would seem like she's pregnant longer than the standard 9 months. But I am not sure...

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.