More info about Marion J. Phillips, great uncle of my grandmother

Marion J. Phillips

1823–1907

Birth APRIL 23, 1823 • Georgia

Death MAY 5, 1907 • Woodville, Tex

Uncle Marion never married.  But he was an educated man, as shown through some remaining letters to his niece, Ada Phillips Sweet.  He was my grandmother's grandfather's brother.

Selections follow with new edits, from a post on my "When I was 69" blog from Sunday, August 4, 2013

Finding Uncle Marion:

The data on my (Ancestry) site (in 2013) didn't have his death date or place.
I had his birth date and the state of Georgia, but no details.

Uncle Marion had lots of background material.  He was the elder brother of my grandmother's grandfather, William Phillips, who died as a Confederate soldier.  (I don't know why Marion Phillips didn't fight in that conflict).  Uncle Marion was old enough that when his mother remarried to Samuel Gainer, he might not have continued to be part of the household, however he did live with them in 1850 in Georgia, when he was 27.  The whole family gradually moved out to Texas.

Grave in Magnolia Cemetery in Woodville, Texas

Uncle Marion wrote letters between himself and his parents and brothers and sisters and their children from around the Civil War till afterward.  (Some of these letters are on my hard drive waiting for me to transcribe them.)

The Phillips/Gainer family moved to Texas, sometime around the beginning of the Civil War, at least by 1862.   Uncle Marion lived in Galveston as well as Tyler Texas, and I finally found his grave in Woodville, Texas.

Now I actually have a picture of the grave marker, so now I know when he died, and where.

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About Early County, Georgia (where Marion and his brother (GG grandfather) William were born...

This is the birth county of Marion Phillips.  (His mother Mary Phillips later married Samuel Gainer, who raised his siblings.)    Here's info about Early County.  

From Wikepedia:

Early County is a county located in the southwest of the U.S. state of Georgia and bordered on the west by the Chattahoochee River. Created by European Americans on December 15, 1818, it was named for Peter Early.

Prehistoric and nineteenth-century history has been preserved in some of Early County's attractions. It is the site of the Kolomoki Mounds, a park preserving major earthworks built by indigenous peoples of the Woodland culture more than 1700 years ago, from 350 CE to 600 CE. This is one of the largest mound complexes in the United States and the largest in Georgia; it includes burial and ceremonial mounds. The siting of the mounds expresses the ancient people's cosmology, as mounds are aligned with the sun at the spring equinox and summer solstice.

The county area was territory of the historic Creek Indian peoples of the Southeast, particularly along the Chattahoochee River, before European-American settlers encroached and pushed them out during Indian Removal of the first half of the nineteenth century.

The Cohelee Creek Bridge in the county is the southernmost covered bridge still standing.

The only photo I've found of Cohelee Creek Bridge

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Uncle Marion lived in Tyler Texas at least by the 1870 census, where he lists himself as a farmer.

In 1880 he continued to live in Tyler, with a mulatto woman who was cooking for him and he was age 57.

By 1900 he was 77, still living in Tyler County, TX, with help from a widow housekeeper and a boy.  His occupation at that time..."Capitalist."  What a sense of humor he must have had!

At age 84 he died of old age (1907).

I've never seen the Cohelee Creek Bridge, but I have visited the Kolomoki Indian Mounds when living in Tallahassee, FL.

I better read those letters and start transcribing them now...while I can still see those little difficult letters.

Groups of people - the Rogers in the 30s

I just found an interesting old photo of my family.

This photo is a bit different than our usual full length ones (why did they think we had to see the shoes someone was wearing, I wonder!)

Pictured front, grandmother Ada Swasey Rogers, then two women behind her on left is Donah V. Pelphry Rogers, and on right, my mother, Mataley Mozelle Munhall Rogers...and the three men in the back are on l. Alex Rogers, then my dad George Rogers Jr, then on r, George Rogers Sr., my grandfather  But they really enjoyed this set-up, where my dad must be standing on something, and Ada (Gummy) is leaning down to get short enough for the camera.  And who do you think took it?

Another shot with same scenery, and this one includes information which we could have guessed, a Christmas gathering.  That snowman kind of helps.  Here my mother, Mataley, Ada (Gummy) and Aunt Sissy (Donah V.)

Same outfits, but now the happy family is standing out by the road.  My dad George Jr, Mataley my mom, Gummy Ada, and George Sr, Poppy.

My parents Mataley and George Rogers,  had been married about 1 month for this photo, with Gummy (Ada Rogers) approving.

And in 1938 there is another Christmas gathering.  Small tree, but these were all adults.  Men are from l. to r, George Jr, Alex, Chauncey, James, and George Sr (Poppy).  Women are l to r, Mataley, Donah V (Sissy) and Ada Rogers (Gummy.)

And assuming it's the same house it is now identified, 400 E. Myrtle.  Of course I'm guessing it's San Antonio, because that's where my parents met.  Aunt Sissy and Uncle Alex must have driven from Houston, where they were living (according to the census reports.) They had married in Oklahamo in 1933, then lived Houston by 1935.

 And thanks to Google, here is 400 E. Myrtle St. in San Antonio in 2016.

The lot to the right had a house demolished between 2011 (there's a photo of the neighborhood then) and 2016.  And wait till you see what is next door on the left!

I wonder if that building was built with 6 apartments in mind...I kind of think so.  Glad my grandparents didn't see it, the way it dwarfed their sweet little cottage.  I think it's nice that a ramp has been built for someone with a wheelchair.  But unfortunately, that shadowy thing outside the fence on the far right, is a pile of furniture including a mattress and a wood chair.  Google is fun to go up and down the street.  And how the trees have changed since 1937!



Another group of people, this time men concentrating on a chess game, for Sepia Saturday this week!

Spinster (almost) Elizabeth Sylvester Brown

If half the dates on Ancestry trees are to be believed, then this oldest daughter (perhaps) of my great times 8 grandparents, Nathaniel and Grissell Sylvester, namely Elizabeth Sylvester, may not have married until she was 41, and to a widower even then, Jonathan Brown (1654-1710).

I don't know when it happened that women who spun thread, and made cloth on looms, became known as spinsters, from spinner obviously.  All cloth was made this way before the industrial revolution I'm pretty sure...whether with flax /linen, wool, cotton, or silk (not available in most households in New England of course.)

And at some point a spinster became synonymous with a woman who didn't marry and stayed at home with her parents.  The marrying age in early America was probably around 20, give or take 5 years.  So to last until her 4th decade unmarried says something about Elizabeth.

Spinster, one who spins

Let's suppose she was truly born in 1653, and then watched her parents have 11 more children in the next 22 years, she might have established her rights as eldest child and wanted to not have a family right away, if any women did that at that time.  Perhaps she was busy with her father's business sailing ships and moving merchandise around by the time she was twenty.  Perhaps she was dedicated religiously and didn't want marriage.  By the time her last sibling was born, she was 22, and perhaps she was more interested in learning.  These were people who had many servants (sad to say they were slaves).  She had a multitude of choices before her.

Oh I forgot the favorite romantic possibility for young women, that which is used in many novels...perhaps she fell in love with a man who wasn't available or "suitable for her class."  Or perhaps the more modern version of her own gender identity and partners of the same sex.  That will certainly never be known.

She was born in a home which was the foundation for the house which later became known as Sylvester Manor, on Shelter Island, which her father owned.  The house and the Island are still in the family today.

Sylvester Manor built 1737 by Brinley Sylvester (still standing)

So a woman of privilege is pretty obvious.  And yet her younger sisters married and started having families many years before she did.  Her one year younger sister, Grissell, married at age 21, in 1676, but didn't have a child until 1685.  Grissell had just 4 children and died in 1691, probably a childbirth death as she and her last son died the same year. Her husband, James Lloyd remarried in the same year and then had one more child with his second wife.

Perhaps the death of their father, Nathaniel Sylvester in 1680 might have had some bearing on Elizabeth's postponed marriage.  I see him as the driving force of the family, a seafaring man, who made partnerships and deals in this new land which provided him with riches.  The fact that this early in the 1600s he was using slave labor to acquire his wealth was surprising to me, especially on Long Island, NY.

Actually, now that I look at the list of Sylvester children, several of her brothers didn't marry either, at least as far as I know. Her younger sister, Patience was born in 1664, who grew up and married (age 30) in 1694, (see yesterday's post about her romantic marriage.)

There was also King Phillips war in New England that started in 1675, but I don't know that the Native Americans came over to Long Island as well.  Something to investigate further.

The other interesting fact about Elizabeth Sylvester Brown is that she lived until 1734, age 81.

I'm pretty sure many of the dates for birth and deaths of her children and even her step-children are approximates.  There were too many with the same birth and death dates to be coincidental.  And somehow there aren't any civic or church records about them at this time.

We only know that they were children of these parents in this community apparently.  For instance, her step children (who's mother was also named Elizabeth) include Hannah and Elizabeth, both born 1688 both died 1750. And her own children Jonathan and Rachel, apparently they were both born 1698 and died 1704. Both of them. This could be twins, except for the part about dying the same year.

 Not to mention a common Ancestry problem that the first wife Elizabeth had a child named Rachel Brown in 1692, (lived until 1738 apparently) before our Sylvester Elizabeth had her Rachel Brown in 1698.  No father would have a living daughter Rachel and then name another daughter the same name with his second wife. Just because he had two Elizabeth Browns for his wives..really!

Patience Sylvester L'Hommedieu

My great times 6 grandmother,  Ann Sylvester Bowers' sister, Patience, was about 4-5 years older than Ann, and according to this story, was considered good looking.  Their older sister, Grissell married James Lloyd (the Mrs. Lloyd referred to in the story below.)

I'm quoting from an entry called a "story" over on Ancestry, which can be anything you want to say about that ancestor...but this is fun in all the people being quoted.  First Mrs. Cornelia L'Hommedius. Then Mrs. Martha Lamb.  But it's reproduced by Rev. Mallman, in 1899!  Southold is on Long Island, NY.

From Mrs. Cornelia L'Hommedieu, Nantucket, Mass. 

The meeting of Benjamin and Patience is thus told by Mrs. Martha Lamb in her article entitled "The Manor of Shelter Island" and reproduced on page 53 of Rev. Jacob E. Mallman's "Historical Papers on Shelter Island and its 
Presbyterian Church," published by the author, the pastor of the church, in 
1899. 

"The Marriage of Patience Sylvester, the sister of Mrs. Lloyd was an exceptionally romantic affair. Among the exiled Huguenots of the period was Benjamin L'Hommedieu, who settled at Southold. 

One pleasant Sunday morning soon after his arrival, L'Hommedieu was attracted by an extremely novel object moving over the sparkling waters of the bay. As it came nearer he observed two remarkably handsome young women in a barge with a canopy over it, and six Negro slaves rowing it. The vision haunted him. He went to church that morning, and, despite Puritanical customs, permitted his eyes to remain open during prayer. 

The story is like every other story that it is hardly necessary to say that the French heart was hopelessly lost before the preacher had reached "Amen" in his benediction. The sequel was a beautiful wedding; Miss Patience Sylvester was 
henceforth Mrs. L'Hommedieu. 

Reference: 
Southold and Its People in the Revolutionary Days by Wayland Jefferson

Patience and Benjamin Constant L'Hommedieu married in 1694, when she was about 30, according to the dates currently available on Ancestry.  They then had 8 children.

Ann Sylvester Bowers 1669-1745

Ann Sylvester Bowers, Birth 4 APR 1669 • Shelter Island, Suffolk, New York

Death BEF 2 AUG 1745 • Somerset, Swansea, Bristol, Ma

She was the wife of Jonathan Bowers, Capt 1673-1750 and mother of Mary Bowers Swasey, and I posted a little about them back in "When I was 69" in 2015 HERE.

Her parents were Nathaniel Sylvester and Grissell Brinley Sylvester of Shelter Island, NY. I wrote about them HERE, and about Grissell Here.

There is one other post which I find very enjoyable, about Bowers families and including their home in Somerset, MA.  So if you are up for another jaunt to another link, try this one.

What can I add today?

Ann Sylvester and Jonathan Bowers had 11 children, by the way records stand at this time.  I say "this time" because frequent changes come through other members public family trees.  There are about 25-50 other family trees that link into these people, and some of them are very helpful.  I've now closed my family trees and made them private.  My own interested family members are the only ones that can see them at this time.

I am looking into all of Ann Sylvester's siblings, and there sure were a lot of them! At the last count there were 12 in all.  And two or three of the sons who lived to adulthood didn't marry or have children. But all of the daughters did, and what interesting men they married.  I'll not go into all the stories today, because I've already sent you chasing all over for Ann's family.

That gives me something to post tomorrow!

The Antibellum house in Marshall, NC

The Lawrence Allen house has been completely refurbished since I first saw it several years ago. I admit to not having any ancestors who lived here...but I like sharing beautiful architecture anyway!

Sign in front of house describes the Civil War as it hit the citizens of Marshall NC. My blogging friend, Vicki Lane, has written a historical novel based on the region and the Shelton Laurel Massacre, but it has yet to be published.

A sweet little orange guy welcomed us.

Who was his wife? Martha who married John Marston.

I've been sharing about the Marston family from early settlement in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

We had Martha Marston who married Samuel Granger, my 6th great grandparents (posted about HERE)

Martha's father Jacob Marston was also mentioned, as having moved from New Hampshire to Massachusetts.

His father was John Marston (1630-1708) who had been born in Ormsby, Norfolk, England on June 20.  His wife was named Martha, but different records give her different maiden names, so at this date I'm not sure who her family of origin were.

He arrived from England in Massachusetts in 1641. At this point the birth date from various marriage records might not be accurate either, especially since one marriage record says he was born in 1625. That would make his sailing date a bit more realistic, than being just 11 years old. (Record of Arrival: U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, Source Pub. code 6435.60, page 18, Source bibliography, Paige, Lucius R, List of Freemen of Massachusetts, 1630-1691. Baltimore: Clearfield Co, 202.)

There are 3 records of John Marston's marriage on Jan. 15, 1652 to Martha (?Fulton/Moulton/Fuller).

According to US and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, published in 2004, (source number 1069.000, Submitter Code: SAK) John Marston (b. 1630) married Martha Moulton (b. 1652). Since he and Martha, his wife, started having children in 1653, it's unlikely that her being 1 year old would have made that possible!

But there are more than one John Marston who married in that same source...about 11 of them.  Another one has a John Marston, born in 1625, who married Martha Fuller in 1652, in New Hampshire.  It sounds pretty likely to me to be the couple who are my ancestors. (Source number 3367.000, submitter Code:GRG)

But back to that first source (New England Marriages Prior to 1700) and that list (very similar, many John Marstons) has him born in 1630, married 15 Jan. 1652 to Martha Marston, on the index, but the actual citation says "?Moulton/Fulton" and also says her death date was 1723, ae 87.

Yep, there's no knowing at this point for sure, who her parents were, Moulton, Fulton or Fuller.  So she's an end of the line for now.  I could put one set of parents into my tree and see what comes up, but I won't leave them there to muddy the waters which are already sluggish.

I just checked on John Marston on Ancestry, and found parents for him, which hadn't appeared on my tree until tonight when I was playing with "hints" (which all kinds of people have attached to their place on my trees.)  So now I've got William and Sarah Goody Marston as his parents, and he has siblings who also were born in England and died in Rockingham County NH, which is a good link for me.  He probably arrived in America with family members.  Now I can start looking at the sources given for his brothers (and maybe sisters.)

So I think this deserves another post, don't you?