Thomas Bassell Danforth son of Samuel Danforth and Lucy Augur

Thomas Bassell Danforth 1796-1877 and his wives Matilda Burdine, Sophia Burdine, and Lucretia Morgan

My Grandmother Williams once showed me a raggedy old Bible that was falling to pieces due to its age and brittleness. She told me that it was the “Peacock Family Bible” but it could have been just as well called the Danforth Family Bible.  It came into her possession after the death of her mother Minnie Gertrude Peacock Danforth. She said she wanted me to have it as I was the only grandchild who ever asked who were in all the old framed picture up on her wall.

In the Danforth-Peacock family Bible, there were recorded the names of my Grandmother’s great grandparents on both the Peacock and Danforth sides of her family. There it was written that Thomas Bassell Danforth was born 1795 in Vermont and wife was Lucretia Morgan born 1818 in Tennessee. This was the first time I had ever seen that name and to me it was intriguing. Who was this man who if never existed I would not be here. I wanted to know more. No I needed to know more and so I spent over forty years as in an archeology trying to bring Thomas Bassell Danforth back from simply being a name in a fading family Bible.

Anne Williams’ great-grandfather, Thomas Bassell Danforth had died only 25 years before she was born. To me that was amazing that she in her lifetime knew people who knew this man born in 1796 who he himself was born only 20 years after the birth of our nation.  My Grandma Williams passed away in 1979 but not before she and I spent many many days and evenings with me mining her memories. Grandma was the first grandchild of both her Danforths and Peacock families and she like me had a curious mind about her antecedents.

Much of what is known about this interesting man comes from the family oral tradition of her grandfather, Theophilus Bassell Danforth who passed these tales down to Anne. The few details of what he looked like were passed to Grandma Williams in a cigar box given to her from her father’s things. Before Grandma passed, we went through the cigar box which contained letters and old pictures. There we found an old picture taken in the 1860's and while it was not identified as Thomas B Danforth it was with a tintype photograph of a woman in costume of the 1850’s and a partial letter from Lucretia Danforth.  Grandma Williams could not identify who these pictures were with certainty but it is  logical to deduce that these items belonging to Theophilus Danforth were those of his parents.  This portrait which must be of Thomas B Danforth show a man of piercing eyes, a long beard, and short combed back hair the style of the 1860’s. Even though this picture was taken when he was in his sixties, one can still see that he was a handsome man.

I was in college for much of these years visiting with Grandma.  I had taken classes on a new research technique called “Oral Histories”, so I took many notes from Grandma during our visits. This training helped me ask the right questions without seeming to pry. Today Oral Histories are common and respectable but in the 1970’s they were fairly uncommon and considered questionable. I eventually graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Social Studies majoring in history. 

Much of what Grandma told me about family lore I verified using primary sources like censuses, land deeds, marriage records and the like but some as was the story of the family coming over on the Mayflower was a myth however based on a kernel of truth as are most legends. The Danforths did come to America at an early date, 1634, as part of the Great Exodus from England by the Puritans.  

Anne Ruth Danforth Williams as mentioned before was the oldest grandchild on both sides of the Danforth and Peacock families and was very fond of her grandfather Theophilus B Danforth who she lived around. Theophilus Danforth was the son of Thomas B. Danforth and was about 28 years old when his father died. Anne herself was a grown woman of about 28 years when her grandfather Danforth died in 1930 and I was 27 years old when she passed. Thomas B. Danforth was born in 1796 but his life story only had to pass through two people, Theophilus Danforth and Grandma Williams to come down to me.

Anne also knew her great uncle Charles Bryant Danforth who gave her $100 for a wedding present in 1921. However if she knew he had a long time relationship with an African America woman by whom he had a son, she never mentioned it. As that Anne Williams loved hearing family stories from her grandfather, she heard many of them as that she grew up in the same vicinity where Theophilus Danforth lived in New Mexico.  Most of the family traditions and legends in this biography of Thomas B. Danforth were Anne Williams recollections as told to me in oral histories I had taken down in her old age. 

Anne Williams, however was not much of a writer of family history, but from 1973 until her death in 1979 she and I collaborated trying to reconstruct the family history from what she could remember and from that which  I could find through genealogical research.  Some of which she readily admitted she never heard of, but still she would verify as much as she could.  I am grateful that she always took an active interest in this project and even wrote her aunt Ruth Danforth Bilberry for information she might have heard.  My maternal grandmother on the Johnson side was the complete opposite. She more than once told me to “leave those old bones alone.”

However I cannot just leave “them bones” alone. They are a part of me, and for me to understand my place in the universe I need to know where I come from. Who were my people. They were once all alive with the joys and sadness that came from being alive. They had dreams and hopes, fell in love, suffered losses unimaginable, felt pleasure and felt pain and looked to a God for the reason for all the suffering they had to endure to give it all meaning.

From just seeing the name Thomas Bassell Danforth for the first time, I wanted to bring him back to life. I hoped to redeem him and his family for a future someone, who like me, need to know the questions I have.  I won’t have posterity from my loins but still I feel as connected as all of my other relatives, those with posterity and those without, in this great expanding circle.  No one is truly dead until they are forgotten.  Here is the life story of Thomas Bassell Danforth lest we forget.

The family bible was not to far wrong regarding the birth date of Thomas Bassell Danforth.  According to the town records kept in the small town of Rupert, Bennington County, Vermont, he was born 7 April 1796, the son of Samuel Danforth and his wife Lucy Auger. The maiden name for Thomas B. Danforth was a mystery for a very long time. Without locating a marriage record for the couple it was an assumption that she was a Bassell as that she named her first born Thomas Bassell.

In the 1790 Census of Vermont there was a man named Thomas Basil living in Dorset eight miles east of Rupert.  Vermont did not become a state until March 4, 1791, so the state's 1790 census was actually taken on April 4, 1791. It seemed logical to deduce that this was the grandfather of Thomas Bassell Danforth. However information found in a biography of Rev. Charles Danforth, a younger brother of Thomas B. Danforth, showed that their mother was Lucy Auger formerly on New Haven, Connecticut and that Thomas Bassell was Lucy Augur's brother in law.

While it was exciting to finally find the actual maternal side of Thomas Bassell Danforth’s family it raised the question of why her first born was named Thomas Bassell and not after her father Abraham Auger of New Haven. Connecticut. A more detailed search discovered the link and possible motive for the naming of Thomas Bassell Danforth. It appears that Abraham Auger, a Deacon of the “new light” Fairhaven Congregational Church in the town of New Haven. He was married twice and his second wife Sarah Ingraham was the widow of Thomas Alcock. From their previous marriage and with the four children from their marriage, Abraham and Sarah Auger were parents of sixteen children. Lucy Auger was the youngest of these 16 children and born in July 1771. She was baptized 14 July 1771 in the Fairhaven Church.

Lucy Auger Danforth’s mother Sarah Ingraham was married first to Thomas Alcock and secondly to Abraham Auger. A daughter born to Sarah Ingraham in her first marriage was Lydia Alcock who was born 8 May 1756. Lydia Alcock was Lucy’s older half sister. This sister married on 28 Sep 1781 Thomas Bassell in New Haven after the ending of the Revolutionary War. Lucy Auger was only 10 years old at the time but this marriage made Thomas Bassell her brother in law of Lucy.

Thomas Bassell was a native of Middletown, Connecticut and born 5 February 1752. He became a member of the new light Fairhaven Congregational Church in New Haven. This was the same church of which Lucy’s father was the Deacon. In the 1790 census of Dorset, Bennington County, Vermont, Thomas Bassell was enumerated as “Thomas Basil” with only he and Lydia in the household. They apparently never had children.

Lucy Auger was the youngest of sixteen children born to Abraham Auger and Sarah Ingraham from their marriage and their previous marriages to Elizabeth Bradley and Thomas Alcock. Abraham Augur’s first wife died 6 November 1764 leaving him a widow with 8 children to raise. The eldest was 17 years old but the youngest was only four years old. Four of his youngest children, all daughters were under 10 years old at the time of their mother’s death. Just a little more than three months later he was married to Mrs. Sarah Ingraham Alcock herself a widow of four years on 19 February 1765.  

Her first husband was Thomas Alcock who was born on 6 September 1720, in New Haven, Connecticut, the child of Thomas and Abigail. He married Sarah Ingraham on January 14, 1748 and they had four children during their marriage. When the French and Indian War brought out in 1760 Alcock joined the Connecticut Regiment 3^rd Company under command of Colonel Wooster.

Alcock died on September 15 1760, from wounds received at the Battle of Montreal, which surrendered to the British on 8 September 1760. The fall of Montreal finished the surrender of French Canada to the British ending the war at the cost of the deaths of  1,445 Connecticut troops who died in battle, or from disease, or of other causes during the seven  war years. His death left Sarah a widow with four children under the age of 9 years.

Abraham Auger and Sarah Ingraham Alcock were then married in White Haven Congregational Church on 17 February 1765. This congregational church was formed 7 May 1742, as the "Church of Christ in White Haven Society." When Lucy Augur was born in July 1771, Abraham Auger and his family had just separated from the White Haven Congregational Church to form a new congregation called Fairhaven in June 1771. Lucy Augur was baptized in this church the 14 July 1771.

As that Lucy Augur parents did not migrate to Vermont but stayed and died in New Haven there must have been a reason for her being in Bennington County in 1795 when Samuel Danforth and she were probably married. Neither one of them had any known family that would have drawn them to the region.  One possible motive for Lucy to be in Bennington County was that her brother in law Thomas Bassell was living in Dorset.

Several reasons may have brought her to Vermont but the mostly one was that Yellow Fever had broken out in New Haven, Connecticut in June of 1795. Abraham and Sarah only had four children three sons and a daughter from their union. The two oldest sons died in infancy leaving Lucy and her brother Abraham Augur Junior as the surviving children.

The 1790 census of New Haven Connecticut shows that Lucy and her brother Abraham were living with their parents. The census recorded Lucy’s brother as 16 or under however other researchers place him as being born in 1770 which made Lucy the youngest child not her brother. Information in the Augur family bible said that this brother Abraham died in Philadelphia of smallpox 19 June 1795. A few weeks earlier Yellow Fever broke out in the city of New Haven. It would not be unreasonable to assume that Abraham and his wife Sarah sent Lucy who would have been almost 24 years old far away from New Haven.

Dorset in Bennington County Vermont was 174 miles north of New Haven and Mrs Sarah Augur probably sent letters with Lucy to her Son in law Thomas Bassell to let her lodge with him.  Lucy could have certainly been in the home of Thomas and Lydia Alcock Bassell prior to 1795 but she was certainly there and married to Samuel Danforth by July 1795.  Their first born was named Thomas Bassell Danforth and was born 9 April 1796 which placed the date of his conception around July 1795.

Both Samuel Danforth and Lucy Augur would have been 24 years old at the time of their marriage and Lucy would have been still 24 years old when her eldest son was born. Lucy Auger Danforth must have been especially fond of her brother in law to have named her first born after him and not after either of his grandfathers which which was customary.

Thomas Bassell Danforth came into this world on a spring day, 9 April 1796 born in the community of Rupert, Bennington County, Vermont where his father was a merchant. When Thomas was born, George Washington was president of the United States and America was still a young nation with the constitution only 7 years old. During his childhood until he was 21 years old, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison were all presidents of the United States.

Vermont history is truly one of migration. Its history shows it swelling with people from Massachusetts and Connecticut at the beginning on the 19^th Century eager to start a new life unfettered by the customs and beliefs of New England theocracies and the regimented ways in old New England. And yet they were among their own kind, hardy relatives and neighbors who knew how to survive and thrive in the harsh land and weather of New England. However by 1820 the villages of Vermont were on the decline as its people pushing further into the new frontier. “They came to Vermont for many reasons, and they left her for the very same ones!”

Thomas B. Danforth’s maternal Grandfather Abraham Auger was a prominent man in his community in New Haven where he was a tavern keeper and Deacon in his church. However, it is doubtful that he  ever met his grandfather and grandmother Auger as they died before he was three years old. All he would have known of his mother’s people was his aunt Lydia Bassell, wife of his name sake Thomas Bassell and they moved away from Vermont permanently when he was a lad.  Thomas Bassell may have been chosen as a godfather as that Samuel and Lucy Danforth had no close kinfolk in Vermont or upper state New York.

Thomas Bassell was born in 1752 and was a veteran of the Revolutionary War [1775-1781] having served in the Continental Regiment led by Col. Henry Sherburne. His regiment was composed of a mixture of Rhode Islanders and Connecticut residents and was active in the war for independence from 1777 to 1781. After the war he returned to New Haven, Connecticut and married Lydia Alcock the step daughter of Abraham Auger. Thomas Bassell became a merchant doing business in Lansingburgh as early as 1787 and was enumerated in the 1790 Census of Vermont that was actually taken in 1791. Lansingburgh must have been a memory that was passed down to Thomas B Danforth's children as that in 1920 his son Charles Bryant Danforth stated on a passport application that his father was born in Lansingburgh, New York.

The distance between Dorset in Bennington County, Vermont and Lansingburgh in neighboring Renaessler County, New York is about 50 miles. Between Lansingburgh and Albany, the capital of New York is about six miles. Albany was a major commerce town for western Vermont and Massachusets from Colonial times. Lansingburgh was a village founded at the convergence of the Mohawk River into the Hudson River. In the 1790 census, New York ranked fifth among the American states with a population of 340,120 inhabitants. Albany was by far the most populous New York County. In 1791 Rensselaer County was split from Albany located on the west side of the Hudson River and the Bennington, County and state line.   

When Thomas Bassell died in Lansingburg, Renaessler County, New York, an announcement in the paper of his death referred to him as Captain Thomas Bassell, which may have been his military rank or, as was often the case, an honorary title of respect. He died 25 May 1825. “In Memory of Thomas Bassel who died May, 25 1825 in the 74^th year of his age. Till He shall bid it rise.” Lydia Bassell passed away in 1836, more than 20 years after her sister Lucy Danforth. They  are both buried in the Lansingburgh Village Cemetery outside the city of Troy. Evidently they never had children and she left the remainder of her estate to Elias Parmellee and another man who have no known connection to her although the Parmalee family was well represented in New Haven Connecticut.

Thomas Bassell Danforth’s grandfather, Jonathan Danforth, was of old Massachusetts Bay Puritan stock. Jonathan’s 2^nd Great Grandfather, Nicholas Danforth. was first to arrive in 1634 and virtually became the ancestor of all Danforths in America. His great grandfather Jonathan Danforth founded the New England village of Billerica while his 2^nd great-uncle Thomas Danforth was one of the judges who put an end to the Salem Witch Trials.

Jonathan Danforth’s grandfather and father, both named Samuel, raised large families and farmed at Billerica where Jonathan was born in 1742. As a young man he struck out on his own and moved west to the village of Hardwick where he was a merchant. Prior to the Revolutionary War, Jonathan Danforth was a well respected member of his community even marrying Susannah White the daughter of Rev. David White the town’s minister. As a merchant in the village of Hardwick, Massachusetts, his travels took him often to Albany, New York. specifically to buy tea to sell back home.

During the Revolutionary War Jonathan Danforth’s conservative nature got him into a series of disputes with his more patriotic neighbors who favored independence from English authority. He was neither a Tory nor a Loyalist but had, by his second marriage, married into a loyalist family who when forced to leave town, Jonathan had concealed their property. As a tax collector he also refused to turn money over to anyone but the officials appointed by the King in Boston.

As that his loyalty to the Revolution was a concern to the Patriots of the village, he once was almost lynched, but cooler heads simply placed him under house arrest during the entire period of the war. It appeared that his chief crime however was simply being obnoxious and not whole heartedly supporting the cause of American Independence. Although he somewhat regained his reputation back after the war, none of his children chose to remain in Hardwick and bear the stigma of coming from a family on non patriots.

During the heady time following the Revolutionary War, where patriotism was at a fevered pitch, Samuel Danforth’s father was still an unpopular man, and it made Jonathan Danforth’s children uncomfortable. As soon as they were of age most left Hardwick behind them.  Samuel Danforth went to Vermont.

The 1790 Census showed however that 19 year old Samuel still resided in his father’s household in Hardwick. In 1791, Vermont was admitted into the Union to balance the admission of the slave state Kentucky. Vermont was the first part of what was to become the United States to ban slavery which it did in 1777.

Vermont had once been a disputed part of the Colony of New York but after the Revolutionary War, the borders between Bennington County and Albany County which were rather murky for a several years until they were settled.  Samuel Danforth moved to Vermont probably after statehood and perhaps was clerking for Thomas Bassell who had businesses in Dorset Vermont as well as Lansingburgh, New York.

Samuel, as the eldest son of Jonathan Danforth, certainly learned the occupation of being a merchant from his father. Probably at the age of 21 years and his majority, Samuel Danforth struck out on his own moved north to Bennington County for the opportunities afforded him there and far away from an unsavory family reputation in Hardwick.

It was here in Bennington County that he met the sister in law of Thomas Bassell, Lucy Auger. Perhaps they met in church or more likely Samuel as a young man was a clerk for Thomas Bassell who had a store in Dorset and Lansingburgh, New York. However they met they were married in the summer of 1795.

No record of this marriage of Samuel Danforth and Lucy Augur can be located and therefore they may have been married in New York State. The newlyweds did settle in the village of Rupert and operated a country store there as well as kept a subsistence farm.

Their first child was born 6 April 1796. An old saying stated that a couple’s first child can be born anytime after a couple’s marriage but the 2^nd child  almost always took nine months. Pre-marital sex happened in the 18^th century just as it does today so the actual marriage date could be after July. But not to impugn Samuel and Lucy’s morality, the end of June or first of July would be a likely time of their marriage.

At the time of the birth of their first child in April 1796, Vermont had only been a state for five years.  Even then Vermont only had about 90,000 people living in the state at the time of Thomas Bassell Danforth’s birth, compared to nearly 350,000 people who lived in New York State, generally up and down the Hudson and Mohawk River valleys. 

A birth record for Thomas Bassell Danforth, recorded in the village of Rupert, states that his Thomas’ father was Samuel and he born 6 April 1796. Two and a half years later, a younger brother of Thomas was born 15 April 1798 also in Rupert. He was named Samuel Jr. after his father. 

The 1800 federal census for Vermont show that Samuel Danforth Sr. is listed in Dorset Township rather than Rupert which seems odd as that a town record of Rupert shows that a third child was born in that community in August 1800. This child was the third son named Charles Danforth who was born 26 August 1800 in Rupert. His birth record said Rupert was his mother’s residence.

The 1800 census showed that 1,648 people lived within the township of Rupert in about 200 family units. This was the largest population the township would ever have as after the population began to decline as people moved westward.  The same census showed that neighboring Dorset had a population of 1,286 in about 160 families which made it considerably smaller that Rupert. Dorset was 8 miles east of Rupert over a small mountain range. It was said that Rupert and Dorset had light snow fall compared to the eastern parts of Vermont which may have been one of the enticements to have moved to that area of the state.

The 1800 census for Samuel Danforth showed that included in his household was three males under 10 years old [1790-1800] who would have been his sons Thomas, Samuel, and Charles. Lucy would have been raising three infants under the age of four in this census. It also contains a male and female, ages 26 through 44 years old [1756-1774]. These were the parents Samuel and Lucy Danforth. However there are three other individuals that cannot be placed. A woman age 45 or over [before 1755], a male 16 to 25 years [1775-1786] and a female age between 10 and 15 [1785-1790]. Whether these individuals were relatives or lodgers cannot be determined. As that Lucy Bassell Danforth had just had a baby, the older woman may have been Lydia Bassell who would have fit that age range and maybe the teenage girl and boy are a mystery but perhaps hired house keeper and farm laborers.

In 1802 Samuel Danforth’s younger single sister Pamelia Danforth came to Rupert to visit from Massachusetts, perhaps to assist her sister in law Lucy who was pregnant with Samuel’s fourth child. Pamelia died however on the 16 December 1802 a month before Lucy gave birth. Samuel Danforth buried his sister in the church cemetery on Rupert Street. The daughter who was born 11 January 1803 was named Lydia Permelia Danforth for a sister of Samuel and Lucy.  

Two more siblings of Thomas Bassell Danforth were born to Samuel and Lucy Danforth before the first decade of the 19^th Century was over. A son named for his grandfather, Jonathan Danforth, was born 15 February 1805 in Rupert, and Susanna Danforth born 5 May 1807 and named for her grandmother Susanna White Danforth.

Thomas B. Danforth thus spent his childhood playing, going to school and working among the farms of the Pawlet River Valley on western edge of the Green Mountains. Although his father operated a mercantile store in the village of West Rupert, he also maintained a small subsistence farm. The land around the village of Rupert contained good farm lands and the farmers certainly patronized his father’s country store as the township of Rupert grew. Samuel Danforth’s home was on a small farm lot near the community of West Rupert one of three small villages connected to Rupert. 

Thomas B. Danforth’s childhood duties a very early age, would have required him to work milking cows and herding and tending other livestock as well as running errands out of his father’s store. Play time would have been with his younger brothers and boyhood friends with activities like swimming, fishing, and perhaps even playing marbles.

His family were educated people and he was taught to read and write as well as “ciphering” or learning his math facts. Whether he received his education at home, by his mother, or at a public school is unknown but probably a bit of both.

The Sabbath Day was still strictly observed in these New England villages. His family, if they attended church at all, would have attended the Rupert Street Congregational Church. The church was founded in 1786 and is the oldest continual used church in Vermont. The Congregationalists of course were the descendants of the New England Puritans but in the late 18^th Century their theology was changing and less Calvinistic.

Predestination was giving away to the theology of universal salvation. Samuel and Lucy would have attended church here as there were no other churches in the village until 1803 when a Baptist Church was established in West Rupert. This congregation was made up of 40 members and certainly the Danforths could have attended that church as well. Church attendance was as much a social event and community obligation as it was a worship service.

As his father was a merchant, Thomas probably even traveled with his father into New York State and Massachusetts to buy commodities to sell. This would have shown him there was a world beyond the small confines of the Pawlet River Valley. It may have spurred his sense of wonder lust and adventure that he most certainly had.

By 1810 the population of Vermont had grown to 217,895 people but the population of Rupert itself was decreasing as people left for other states. Thomas Danforth and his brother Samuel spent their adolescent youth continuing to work on the family farm as well as learning the Mercantile trade until the middle of the as they were becoming young men an events occurred that drastically altered their future as residents of Vermont. 

Thomas B. Danforth was 16 years old when on 19 June 1812 President James Madison asked Congress to declare war with Great Britain. Disputes over Britain not recognizing America’s sovereignty and the English interference with American shipping and pressing American Sailors into the British Royal navy was enough reason to declare war on Great Britain. Different states took vote in favor of the war or in favor of peace. There were 123 votes in Rupert, all in favor of war. This vote gives a good estimate of how many heads of households were eligible to vote.

The town of Bennington became the recruitment center for forming state militias to fight in what became known as the War of 1812 or the "Second War of Independence". The town became the place where the Vermont 30^th Regiment was organized. His father, Samuel Danforth was 41 years old in 1812 but there is no official military record on whether he served in the war but he is thought to have served.

Thomas B. Danforth was 18 years old in 1814 and also could have served in the war also but if he did there is also no record of it. However land records in Georgia suggest that he may have had some military action in the war as he received some bounty land there that was given to veterans..Much of the war involved fighting in Canada as Americans hoped to annex most of Canada to the United States. The War of 1812 was just a part a larger conflict in Europe during the Napoleonic Wars. The war in America was on three fronts, the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, and Louisiana.

The expeditions to annex Canada to the United States failed, and in Washington City, the capitol building and White House were burned; but military success by Andrew Jackson in New Orleans kept the British from separating the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. 

The Treaty of Ghent to end the War of 1812 was signed on 24 December 1814 but was not ratified by the US Government until 17 February 1815. The war essentially was a draw with the British keeping Canada and the United States keeping the Louisiana Territory. The Northeast wanted to capture Canada to expand the number of free states which they failed to do. On the other hand the Louisiana Territory brought in three slave states, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. The celebrated the Battle of New Orleans with 386 British troops killed and 1,400 wounded compared to the American losses of 55 killed and 185 wounded was fought in mid January before the combatants knew about the December Treaty.

Tragedy came to the Danforth’s family in the Summer of 1815 when Thomas Danforth’s mother died on 9 August 1815. She had just given birth at the end of July to a baby girl named Lucy Augur Danforth. The death record said she was about 45 years when actually she was 44 the previous July. She was interred in the Rupert Street Cemetery near her sister in-law Pamelia Danforth who had died in 1802.  The baby’s birth was not recorded in the town records.  Lucy A. Danforth was born 25 July 1815 and died 21 July 1885 in Wilkes County, Georgia. Lucy A. Danforth was only two weeks old when her mother died. Her mother may have been weakened by childbirth at the age of 44 and had no resistance to the disease that killed her.

Samuel Danforth Sr’s three eldest sons left behind were teenagers while his three youngest off springs were still children under the age of 13. At the time of his mother’s death, Thomas Danforth was 19 years old, Samuel Danforth was 16 years old, Charles Danforth was 14 years old, Lydia Danforth was 12 years old, Jonathan Danforth was 10 years old, Susanna White Danforth was 8 years old and Lucy Augur was an infant.  

Not long after the death of his wife, the grieving Samuel Danforth moved from Rupert to the village of Pawlet in neighboring Rutland County. Here he had opened another store in that community certainly with the help of his sons Thomas and Samuel who both became merchants themselves.

As that Samuel Danforth had perhaps an infant and three children under 13 years and three of these children were daughters it is understandable that he would marry again. Most likely in late 1815 or early 1816 he remarried to a woman who’s last name is unknown. Her first name was Mary and probably a widow herself with children. She not only was a companion to Samuel Danforth but also kept house and raise Samuel Danforth’s youngest children. A second marriage often is a reason for older children to leave home and certainly this was the case with 19 year old Thomas B. and his 17 year old brother Samuel Danforth. A step-mother, especially one with children of her own can often disrupt the family unit of the previous wife.

The few days after Thomas B. Danforth’s 19^th birthday a volcano known as Mt. Tambora in Indonesia exploded on 10 April 1815 with such force that the 38 cubic miles of debris thrown up in the atmosphere caused a severe climate abnormalities around the world. The explosion was the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. By the time the debris had settled in the upper atmosphere it caused average global temperatures to drop around the globe and caused an agricultural disaster in New England, Atlantic Canada, and parts of Western Europe.

The year 1816 is known in United States history as “The Year Without a Summer” also the “Poverty Year”, “the Summer that Never Was”, and “Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death.” This natural disaster became the catalyst for a westward and southern exodus out of thousands of New Englander including the family of Samuel Danforth.  

In May 1816, frost killed off most crops in the higher elevations of New England and New York. Temperatures went below freezing almost every day in that month. On June 6, snow fell even in the area around Albany, New York, where Thomas Bassell may have been living. In Vermont the ground froze solid on June 9. By the middle of summer on July 7, it was so cold in Vermont that everything had stopped growing which caused economic ruin for farmers and dairymen.

In the summer of 1816 corn was reported to have ripened so badly in New England that no more than a quarter of it was usable for food. By late September what corn survived was so thoroughly frozen that it never ripened. The crop failures in New England, Canada, and parts of Europe caused the price of wheat, grains, meat, vegetables, butter, milk, and flour to rise sharply. Breadstuffs were scarce and prices of food became exorbitant. The poorer class of people went hungry if not starving.

After the crop failures of 1816 many thousands of people, particularly farm families were wiped out by the event. They left New England in droves for what is now western and central New York and in search of a more hospitable climate, richer soil, and better growing conditions. Vermont alone experienced an exodus of between 10,000 and 15,000 people. Among those who left Vermont were Samuel Danforth and his children. While Samuel Danforth was not a farmer, as a merchant his livelihood was tied to the economics of the farmers. An area of the United States less affected by the climate abnormalities was the lower South in particular Georgia and South Carolina.

Between the years 1816 to 1819 Thomas Danforth was 20 to 23 years old. He came to the age of majority at 21 years in 1817 and would have struck out on his own regardless of whether his father had remarried or suffered economic ruin. After leaving Vermont, in 1816, Thomas along with his younger brother may have gone to New York state for better opportunities there. His aunt and uncle Lydia and Thomas Bassell lived in Lansingburgh, New York but something or someone else drew them away from their ancestral home in New England.

Jonathan Danforth of Hardwick, Thomas Danforth’s grandfather had a nephew named Joshua Danforth born 1776 in Billerica, Massachusetts who was a merchant who in 1800 moved to Augusta, Georgia. He would have been Samuel Danforth’s first cousin. Joshua Danforth did not marry until he was 40 years old in 1816 and as that he was a successful merchant, mentioned in the records of Richmond County on numerous occasions as having been appointed executor, administrator, or appraiser of estates of deceased citizens, it would not have been unlikely to have been a mentor to the eldest son of his cousin Samuel Danforth who had lost their mother, especially since they were trained in the mercantile trade. His home was on Green Street in Augusta, Georgia between Center (5th) and Elbert (4th) streets.

Another cousin of Samuel Danforth and brother of Joshua Danforth of Georgia  was Captain Joseph Danforth who owned and commanded his own ship out of Portland, Maine who could have easily made the voyage to Georgia where his brother was making a new life in the strange and exotic world of  slaves and cotton farms  on the Savannah river in Georgia.

The South mostly avoided the economic disaster of New England and boom times had arrived there as the demand for cotton for English Textile mills accelerated. The Danforths may have met the need for merchants and commodity traders in Georgia.

By 1820 Thomas Danforth’s father Samuel had moved south of Bennington County, Vermont to neighboring Berkshire County, in Massachusetts. Samuel Danforth probably moved to Berkshire so that his son Charles Danforth could attend Williams College in Williamston from which Charles would graduate in 1826 and become a clergyman who labored chiefly as a missionary in the Midwest West.  However Thomas B. Danforth and his brother Samuel Danforth Jr are not enumerated as heads of any household.

Samuel Danforth Sr. was enumerated August 7, 1820 as living in the township of Windsor. In this household was Samuel Danforth, male age 45 and over, [age 49, and his 2nd wife Mary female age 26-44 [1794-1776].  The children in this household included a male and female ages between 16-25 [1804-1795]. These individuals were Charles Danforth age 20 and his sister Lydia Danforth age 17 years. There are three children listed between the age of 10 and 15 two sons and 1 daughter. One of these sons was Jonathan Danforth age 15 but as to whom the other male is is not as clear.  The girl would have been Susannah White Danforth.

Samuel Danforth must have married a widow woman as later censuses suggest she was born between 1770 and 1780 and would have had children of her own. This census show two children under the age of ten born between 1810 and 1820.  One would have been Lucy Augur Danforth. As that Lucy Augur died in 1815 these two unaccounted for boys may have been stepchildren.

It is clear from the 1820 Census that Thomas Bassell Danforth and his brother Samuel were not living in their father’s household. In fact these brothers are not enumerated at all and may have been in Tompkins County, New York or on route to Georgia. They were not heads of their own households and were probably enumerated with whomever they were boarding with.

It is thought that shortly after his father’s remarriage 20 year old Thomas Danforth and his younger brother, 18 year Samuel Danforth Junior, left their father's home and moved west to the Fingers Lake District of New York State. This was the general migration pattern of New Englanders out of Vermont.  The brothers probably settled in the town of Ithaca on the southern tip of Lake Cayuga in Thompkins County where they went into business on their own as merchants.  Perhaps as they were deciding to leave New York state for opportunities, their father had visited Ithaca because here is where he removed to shortly after the 1820 census was taken.

The brothers most likely sailed from New York City to the port of Savannah, Georgia in 1824 or 1825. Thomas B. Danforth’s had relatives living in Georgia specifically Joshua Danforth, his father's cousin who was a successful merchant and farmer near Augusta, Georgia. The brothers may have gone to Georgia on a business trip to purchase commodities for their store in Ithaca or even for some other reason. However perhaps experiencing the first time away from the New England winters was a novelty to him and the warm Southern climate helped influenced him to stay on in Georgia.

The Antebellum South must have indeed seemed remarkably different from New England where the beginning of the Industrial Revolution was changing the rural villages into factory towns.  The plantation life built on slavery and cotton afforded a type of society that was not the norm for the majority of Southerners who were farmers and merchants. 

Back in New York state, in 1823 his father, Samuel Danforth had also moved from Berkshire with his wife Mary, his children Charles, Lydia, Jonathan and perhaps Lucy and his step children to Tompkins County. His son Charles Danforth was attending college in Auburn about 35 miles north of Ithaca.  That area of the Finger Lake District of New York was a bustling frontier and Ithaca was experiencing a short lived economic boom due to the construction of the Erie Canal.  Samuel Danforth Sr. would die intestate there in Tompkins County, New York and his wife Mary applied to be administrator of his estate. At the time of his death many of his children were all living away from home or soon would be. His oldest sons may have been living in Georgia and his youngest sons would relocate to Ohio. During the Civil War Samuel Danforth’s grandsons would be fighting on opposite sides.

Thomas Danforth and Samuel Danforth settled in the mid 1820’s in Wilkes County, Georgia. Samuel Danforth would live the remainder of his life in the village of Danburgh, while Thomas Danforth would move from Georgia to Kentucky in the 1830’s, on to Tennessee in the early 1840’s and finally settling in Mississippi were he would live out the remainder of his life. Their baby sister would also come live in Wilkes County, Georgia where he married a Southerner named Gideon Bunch.

Georgia in the 1820’s was still a relative frontier state. The western portion of the state was still Indian land but there was still plenty of land to be had in the middle of the state which was being given out by means of either head right bounties or by a lottery. The prospects of free land would have been a prime motivator for the Danforths as well as that of being being merchants.

But it must have been a strange land for these New Englanders who may have never seen a person of color before. Georgia’s wealth was being built from the cultivation of cotton by the enslaved people of African descent. This feudal agricultural society became the wealthiest part of the United States and eventually rivaled the wealth of Western Europe. The eldest two sons of Samuel Danforth severed links to almost 200 years of New England heritage to seek their fortunes in the  Old South where cotton was king.

Slavery was already a divisive issue in the United States in 1820 when the Missouri Compromise maintained the political balance between Free States and Slave States in Congress. Whether Thomas B. Danforth was ambivalent towards the institution of slavery or not is unknown. He did marry women who inherited human chattel or was raised in families who owned slaves but it is unknown whether he actual owned slaves outside of those his wives inherited.  His brother Samuel Danforth however acquired a number of African Americans who he would not have gained through inheritance as he was married to a New Englander woman who he married in Vermont

Samuel Danforth married Harriet Tabitha Brown on 17 September 1823. He was 23 years old and she about 21 years old. Nothing is known of Harriett Brown other than she had a sister Almira Sarah who married George Reab, a veteran of the War of 1812. Reab had been a prisoner of war of the British during the war and that may have contributed to his death at the age of 32 years. George Reab died 15 September 1823 just days before his sister in law Harriet was married to Samuel Danforth.  Evidently Samuel Danforth brought his widow sister with him back to Georgia.

Thomas B Danforth on the other had married into the family of John Burdine a Revolutionary War soldier from Virginia who served in the Continental Army under General George Washington as a private. He is listed as “sick at Morris” on a roll taken 13 July 1777 when he was probably 16 or 17 years old.

After the Revolutionary War Georgia opened a large tract of land for veterans and this was probably one of the reasons John Burdine moved from Virginia, where free land was about all gone, to Georgia which was mostly unsettled.

In Georgia John Burdine was made a slaveholders and planter living in Wilkes County, Georgia. He had as many as 24 enslaved African Americans. He was the father-in-law of Thomas B. Danforth and the grandfather of the children of Thomas B. Danforth who had married two of John Burdines daughters.  However Thomas Danforth however never met John Burdine for he had died several years before he arrived in Georgia.

John Burdine died sometime probably in 1816 as that his will was recorded 27 February and probated 4 March 1816. Wills were generally recorded in the court house within days days if not weeks and months after the Last Will and Testament was made out.

“Be it known that I John Burdine being of sound mind and memory as all my friends present can testify do make and ordain this my last will and testament in form of the following Viz. First I lend unto my loving wife Margaret the following Negroes Viz. Pompy [Pompey] a man, Tom a man, Sandy a man, Milley and Souckey [Sukie probably] together with the tract of land whereon I now live with all the plantation tools, stock, household furniture there not hereafter bequeathed except the blacksmith tools, a wagon and hand gear and such part of the stock as will not be necessary for her partition she to have and to hold the same during her widowhood or life time to use in any manner she may think proper and after her death or intermarry to be equally divided between all my children and it is further my will and desire that the items above excepted be sold for the benefit of my heirs and executors or left in the possession of my wife as shall in the sound judgment of my executors appear most to the interest of my estate. 2^nd I give and bequeath unto my son Reuben to him and his heirs forever the following Negroes viz. Bob a man, Jeff a boy, Rose and her child, and Eppy, one bed and furniture, one cow and calf, and one sow and pigs. 3^rd I give and bequeath unto my son Clark to him and his heirs forever when he comes of age the following Negroes viz. Joe a boy, Abram a boy, Easter, Betsy and Pheoby girls, one horse and saddle worth one hundred and forty five dollars, one bed and furniture, one cow and calf, and one sow and pigs and I give to my son Clark in addition to the property above named, the sum of five hundred dollars to be paid out as may appear necessary and applied towars defraying the expense of completing his education which I hope my executors hereafter will intend to agreeable to their judgment and true intent of my son but it is understood that conveyance of this gift of five hundred dollars to my son Clark, he shall not be entitled to any part of my land and the final division of the same. 4^th I give and bequeathed my four younger children viz. Sofia, Julia, Matilda, and George as they marry or come of age the following Negroes viz. Charlie a man, Hannah a woman, Mary a girl, Nancy a girl, Clary a girl, Celia a girl, Winney a girl, Queen a girl, and Micajah a boy which shall be divided between them by lot and valuation and to each of my aforesaid four children, one bed and furniture, and one cow and calf and one sow and pigs and one horse and saddle worth one hundred and ten dollars.  5^th It is then my will that should my wife again marry that then she shall take her dower one and third [1/3] part of the land whereon I live together with the same proportion of the household furniture and stock which she shall have and enjoy during her life time and it shall be returned at her death and divided between all my children. 6^th And whereas I purchased at sheriff sale the land whereone Mrs. Elizabeth Whitman now lives with the intention of enabling her to live in peace and quiet thereon it is my will and desire that my executors as soon as she shall complete the payment to them of the principle andinterest of the sum of money paid for the land then they shall cause the title of said land to be returned to her. 7^th It is further my will and desire that my executors cause to be made out of the present crop the sum of one hundred dollars and have the sum paid over to Ruben Burdine on order without loss of time it being money borrowed of him.  8^th And finally I hereby appoint my wife my executor and my son Ruben Burdine, Shalen Hilleyer, Boling Anthony, and Thomas Anderson my executors to my Last Will and Testament or any two of tehm shall have power to act when duly qualified and should my son Ruben so cause to return and take charge of the business he shall be at liberty to dismiss any of my executors except my wife, done this day of December [no day given] in the year of our Lord 1815. Signed John Burdine in the presence of William Williams, Benjamin Russell, and Anthony Shitting [Shilting?]

The three sons John Burdine had with his first wife were Reuben Burdine, Richard Burdine, and Clark Burdine. Reuben Burdine was born circa 1790 Madison County, Virginia and died circa 1864 in Texas County, Missouri.  It is believed he was buried in the Old Hamilton Cemetery in Cabool. He married in South Carolina Mary Elizabeth Horton circa 1816. His father’s will indicate that he was away from Georgia when John Burdine made out his will in December 1815. Reuben married in South Carolina and his first daughter was born there in 1818. It is doubtful that he ever returned as that his second daughter born in 1822 in Missouri.  The 1830 census shows that the family was in Washington County Missouri. In the late 1830's Reuben and Elizabeth moved to Pulaski County,  Missouri where they joined their son-in-law in settling the upper Piney River Valley. He had two daughters.

John Burdine’s son Clark Burdine was born around 1799 or 1800. His father left him a legacy to especially continue his education. A Shaler Hillyer one of the executor of the estate became a guardian. Clark Burdine married Sarah W. Clark, a cousin, in Madison County, Virginia in 1825. Clark died 1836 and Sarah died by 1845. Their only child, Mary Laura Elizabeth Burdine was left in the care of her grandmother Martha E. Clark. She married married James G. Noel in Madison County, Virginia, bond dated 18 April 1849.  James G Noel was a relative of her uncle Simco A. G. Noel.

Clark Burdine was born about 1800 also in Wilkes County, Georgia and was 16 years old when his father died. Shortly after his father died at the age of 17 he became Cadet at the West Point Military Academy, Sep. 7, 1817, to July 1, 1821, when he was graduated. He was promoted in the Army to Bvt. Second Lieut., 4th Artillery, on July 1, 1821 and served at a garrison at Ft. Monroe, Virginia on Ordnance duty. He served from 1 October 1821 to 15 November 1823. He resigned from the army 1 June 1825. He married and became a Counselor at Law at Canton, Twiggs County, Kentucky from 1827 until he died 10 August 1836 about 36 years old. BURDINE, CLARK, orph of John Burdine, dec'd. Wm. R. Smith's receipt signed at Augusta, Apr. 22, 1819 to Shaler Hillyer gdn for a draft for $130.00 on Lawrence Ripley & Co., New York in favor of Clark Burdine, cadet at West Point. Division of stock of John Burdine, dec'd to John D. Stroud in right of his wife Margaret Burdine, one third assigned her, Jan. 10, 1818. Returns of John Stroud, gdn for 1819 shows paid Clark Burdine part of his legacy. Receipt Jun. 6, 1821 of Bolling Anthony, gdn of Clark Burdine the legacy willed him by his father. Receipt of Shaler Hillyer for $100.00 for Reuben Burdine Jul. 4, 1819 under his fathers will.

John Burdine’s widow Margaret married twice after his death. Her step sons Reuben Burdine and Clark Burdine were living out of state. Reuben had moved to South Carolina and Clark Burdine was in New York State in school. The widow Burdine married an older man named John D. Stroud on 11 September 1817 in Wilkes County. Stroud was another wealthy planter in Wilkes County, Georgia and Margaret had another son by Stroud named Gaines J Stroud.  John Stroud was an older man as that he was given a land grant in Washington County, Georgia in 1784 next  to John Lindsey and James Warr  on “waters Oconee River.”

Thomas B Danforth’s young brother in law, Gaine Stroud was born circa 1818 in Wilkes County, Georgia and was a half brother to the Burdine children.  John D Stroud did not live long after his marriage and birth of this son. He died about 1819 or 1820. Gaine Stroud  would marry Peachy Ann Thomas, daughter of Luke Thomas. Thomas B Danforth’s son William R Danforth also married a daughter of Luke Thomas named Alabama Tennessee Thomas. These marriages made Stroud a brother-in-law to his half-nephew William Reuben [Billy] Danforth.  

On 1 November 1819 Thomas B Danforth’s step father in law John D. Stroud paid Shaler Hillyer $100.00 certainly for Clark Burdine as part of his $500 inheritance. Hillyar was Clark Burdine’s guardian. “Estate of John Burdine deceased. John D Stroud executor in right of his wife Margarett, late Margarett Burdine, executrix. Paid Shaler Hillyer $100.00. Nov. 1, 1819.” This record shows that Margaret and John Stroud were still married in late 1819.  Another record from 1819 through 1820 showed that John D Stroud was the guardian of Sophia Burdine, Julia, Burdine, George Burdine and Matilda. He received money from the estate for “board”, feeding and clothing, these step children.

Margaret Burdine Stroud married for her third husband Reuben Scott. Scott had been a Justice of the Peace in Wilkes County as had her first husband John Burdine. They were married in 1820 between November 1819 and August 1820.   The 1820 Census of Wilkes County enumerated the household of Reuben Scott on 7 August 1820. The household contained 10 “Free White Persons” and 6 “slaves”.

Reuben Scott was enumerated as a Free White Male between the ages of 44 and 26 years. [1776-1794]     A Free White Female listed as between the ages of 44 and 26  had to have been his wife Margaret. There are four other males on the household with only 2 accounted for. In 1820 George M Burdine would have been about 10 years old and Gaines J Stroud would have been about 2 years old. There are three males listed as 15 years or younger. These would have been George and Gaines but who the third is unknown. Reuben Scott may have been a widower with children of his own when he married Margaret.

There is a male listed as 25 to 16 years of age [1795-1804] This could not have been Clark Burdine who was at West Point Military Academy between 1817 and 1821 but may be his mother included him.  There are four females listed in the household of 15 years and younger. Three can be accounted for but not four. The two females age 10 to 15 were certainly Sophia Burdine and Julia Burdine. There are also 2 females listed as 10 and under. Matilda Burdine who was actually closer to 12 years old was one of these girls but who the other one was is unknown. Also within this household was three male slaves and three female slaves. Two of them a boy and a girl were under 14 years old. The census stated the number of people engaged in agriculture was only three people certainly they were the slaves.

Also for the same time frame 1822 through 1823 Reuben Scott took money from the estate of John D Stroud to pay bills and received rent from the plantation and slaves. “John D Stroud deceased. Estate administrator Reuben Scott in right of his wife  Margaret T. Scott, formerly Margaret T. Stroud. Rent of plantation and slaves 1823. Bills paid 1822-23.”

For the year 1822 through 1823 there is a record in the administration of  John Burdine’s estate show that Reuben Scott was the guardian of Sophia, Julia, and George M. Burdine but not Matilda. This is a strong indication that Matilda may have been married to Thomas B. Danforth.

“Returns of Margaret T. Scott, formerly Margaret Burdine and Reuben Scott,  administrator in right of his wife of John D. Stroud. As guardian of Sophia, Julia and Geo. M. Burdine, orphans of John Burdine, deceased.” Reuben Scott took money from the estate for the “board” of these children. As that Sophia was under 21 years old she would have still been considered a minor. To board 1822-23.

The third daughter Of John and Margarett Burdine was Matilda Burdine born about 1808. She married Thomas B. Danforth in circa 1824 about 16 years old. Probate records of Wilkes County dated March 1824 showed that Thomas B Danforth and Matilda Burdine were married by this time. “Return of Reuben Scott and Margaret his wife, executors of John Burdine, deceased. Paid Thos. B. Danforth in right of his wife Matilda certain slaves etc according to the will, and as guardian of Geo. M. Burdine, certain slaves etc.”

This was Thomas Danforths first marriage and he was about 27 years old. Matilda brought into her marriage some livestock, bedroom furniture, and her interest in nine slaves who were bequeathed to her by her father. Evidently Matilda’s younger brother George M Burdine must have been fond of his older brother-in-law as that he asked the courts for Thomas Danforth to be his guardian rather than his mother and step father, Reuben Scott. Another probate recorded dated March 1825 signed by her mother, showed that Matilda Danforth was dead by that time.  Thomas and Matilda had been married for about a year.  They had a baby son.

      Thomas Bassell Danforth then asked for the hand of Matilda Burdine whom he married in 1824 probably in Augusta, Georgia. He was 28 years old and she was about 16 years old. Thomas must have been welcomed to the family because by January 1824 Matilda’s younger brother George M Burdine petitioned the court to appoint Thomas as his guardian rather then Reuben.

March 1824 Page 424--Return of Reuben Scott and Margaret his wife, excrs of John Burdine, dec'd. Paid Thos. B. Danforth in right of his wife Matilda certain slaves etc according to the will, and as gdn of Geo. M. Burdine, certain slaves etc. Paid Simco A. G. Nowell certain slaves in right of his wife (not named), cash including his claim in full of his part of the est of Matilda Burdine, dec'd. Paid Garnett Andrews, agt. for Clark Burdine, horse etc. Paid Richard Burdine No. 7 (lot or receipt) Signed Margarett T. Scott. Mar. 15, 1825.

Matilda Burdine Danforth had a child Oscar Danforth born in 1824 and she may have died of complications as she was dead by March 1825.

By 1825, Thomas Danforth, along with his brother Samuel Danforth, was living in Augusta Georgia where they opened a Mercantile Store and rented out Thomas Danforth's farm in neighboring Wilkes County. On 15 March 1825 Reuben Scott and Margaret his wife, executors of the estate of John Burdine, paid Thomas B. Danforth in right of his wife Matilda certain slaves and other property according to Burdine’s will, and as guardian of George M. Burdine, certain slaves etc. 

On 5  December 1825 Thomas B. Danforth received 180 acres in Wilkes County, Georgia as part of Georgia’s Head Right and Bounty Land program. It is not certain why he would have received a bounty or a head right as these were generally given for military service. He was certainly old enough to have fought in the War of 1812 but there seems to be no record of it if he did. 

With the death of his young wife and with an infant to care for, Thomas B Danforth quickly remarried in 1825 to Sophia Burdine, Matilda’s older sister. She raised her nephew as her own child. 

Sophia Burdine Danforth born circa 1805 in Wilkes County Georgia. She was about 11 years old when her father died and was the step daughter of John D. Stroud and after his death she was the step daughter of Reuben Scott. After the death of her younger sister Matilda Burdine Danforth, Sophia married her brother-in-law Thomas Danforth in 1825 and she raised her nephew Oscar Danforth as her own child. She received a legacy from her father and when she married Thomas Danforth.

Sophia Burdine Danforth bore Thomas B. Danforth at least three children before she died in 18 September 1845 in Desota County, Mississippi. The great influenza epidemic of 1844 that carried so many settlers of DeSota to their graves, may have been the cause of her death at the age of about 40 years old. She is most likely buried near Independence, Mississippi. Thomas Danforth named his eldest child by his third wife, Lucretia Morgan, Sophia.

Thomas B. Danforth received more land from Georgia’s Land Lottery of 1827. He had two draws and on March 29 he was a winner and land in Carroll County, Georgia. His brother Samuel Danforth also was able to participate in the lottery and on March 30 he won a parcel of land also but in another county. Samuel  Danforth of Wilkes County Capt. Land in Ragsdales  District   Lee County, Georgia

Thomas B Danforth, of Wilkes County Capt. Ragsdales  District lands in  Carroll County, Georgia. The lottery showed that Thomas B Danforth was a married man with wife and child under 18 years and had been a 3-year residence in Georgia [1824], He received 2 draws because of his status as a married man. He received 202 ½ acres in Carroll County and paid a Grant Fee of  $18.00 per Land Lot.

Thomas Danforth’s step father-in-law Reuben Scott had died circa 1827 when his mother in law is listed as a widow again. Georgia Land Lottery. “Land Lottery 7 May 1827 2 “Scott, Margaret wid – of Wilkes County, Reeves”.

The 1830 U.S. Census shows that Thomas Bassell Danforth was living in the Third Ward of the City of Augusta, Georgia.  Enumerated in Thomas Danforth's household was Sophia Danforth, son Oscar Danforth, another son name unknown and a woman between 40 and 50 years of age (1780-1790). This woman was probably Sophia Danforth's widowed mother, Margarett.  There are also two men included in his house ages 30 years to 39 years old. They could have been employees or even lodgers.

The other son who is not Oscar must have been the first born of Sophia Danforth. His name is an enigma unless a family Bible shows up somewhere, but as that it is customary for a mother to name a son after her father, I am just speculating that his name may have been John Burdine Danforth.  There’s no evidence of this and he died before 1840 as a child.

Thomas B Danforth Home in 1830 Augusta, Richmond, Georgia

Free White Persons - Males - Under 5     1 unnamed son perhaps John
Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9     1 Oscar born 1824
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39   3 Thomas born 1796
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29 1 Sophia born 1805
Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49 1 Mother-in-law Margaret
Slaves - Males - Under 10    1
Slaves - Males - 36 thru 54   1
Slaves - Females - Under 10  2
Slaves - Females - 10 thru 23 1
Slaves - Females - 36 thru 54 1
Slaves - Females - 55 thru 99 1

This census also showed that there are seven slaves within his household that were his Burdine wives legacy from their father. They may have been a family unit. An old African American woman woman, between the ages of 55 and 99 years ( 1731-1775) years, was included in this number as well as a black man was age 36-55 years (1775-1794), his wife was in the same age category with their four children, three of whom where under 10 years of age.

While Thomas Danforth inherited his slaves, his brother Samuel Danforth acquired fourteen slaves between 1825 and 1830 which made him a very wealthy man. Samuel Danforth settled his family in Wilkes County were he obtained a plantation as well as continued to operate the Mercantile Store in Augusta with his brother.  The 1830 U.S. Census showed that Samuel Danforth also had two sons as well as a daughter all under the age of 5 years. 

On 2 November 1830 Thomas B. Danforth’s property in Carroll County was seized by the Sheriff probably for back taxes. At the Sheriff Sale Thomas B Danforth’s property was sold to his brother Samuel Danforth.

In 1832 the economy soured and Thomas B. Danforth's prosperity faded as creditors and crop failures caused him to become insolvent.  He and his brother Samuel Danforth had a falling out when Samuel was reluctant to help Thomas Danforth with his financial straits. 

Thomas Danforth sold off his slaves, his lands, and his interest in the Mercantile Store and left Georgia for Trigg County Kentucky following his brother-in-law Simco A. G. Noel. He and his brother never reconciled but Thomas  Danforth must have still had some regard for his sister-in-law Harriett Brown for Thomas later named his youngest daughter after her.

Thomas B. Danforth’s sister in law Julia Burdine born circa 1806 in Wilkes County, Georgia. She was married to Simco A.G. Noel about 1823 at the age of 17 years. Noel was well connected to families in Virginia and Kentucky and was a horse breeder and a slave trader. He left Wilkes County Georgia and moved to Trigg County, Kentucky  by 1830 where Julia had several children.  Thomas B. Danforth’s brother in law  George M. Burdine who had chose him as a guardian  later chose Simpco A.G. Noel, as his guardian until he came to age in 1830.  The prosperity of Trigg County, Kentucky and family connections may have influenced Thomas B. Danforth to relocate there in the 1830’s.

“Simco A. G. Noel, became quite a conspicuous man, having once represented Trigg county in the Legislature of Kentucky. He resided in the town of Canton. “He was a genius, with one or two screws loose in his makeup. He had so many peculiarities that I can scarcely describe him-- suffice it to say that he was a showy, dashing, dressy and sprightly man. He had been fairly educated, had a good figure, was agile, dressed tastefully, was a good talker, was consequential, was plausible, and was impatient, impulsive and impetuous. In evidence of his quick and ungovernable temper, it was said of him, and it was doubtless true, that upon one occasion, when returning to Canton from Cadiz, his splendid steed (and he never rode any other than a fine horse) provoked him, and in his anger, he drew his pistol and gave him a deadly shot, and for which, because of his social standing, he was not prosecuted. Whilst he was a farmer, as I remember, by profession, he was a trader by practice, and traded in both horses and negroes, for which he formed a market in Georgia, and to which State I think he removed in my boyhood days, when I lost sight of him.” . Later by the time of the Civil War the family had relocated to Memphis Tennessee.   

About 1831 Thomas Bassell Danforth left Georgia for good and reestablished himself in Twigg County Kentucky where Sophia’s half brother Clark Burdine had established a law practice and her sister Julia Noel was living with her husband Simco Noel. The Noel family was very prominent in the area.  Thomas Danforth's 3^rd son William Reuben Danforth was born in 1833 at Twigg County, Kentucky.  Times were prosperous from mid 1836 until mid 1836. The prices of land, cotton, and slaves rose sharply in these years. However when the  economic panic of 1837 happened, the price of cotton fell by 25% in February and March 1837. The United States economy, especially in the southern states, was heavily dependent on stable cotton prices. Conditions in the South were much worse than the conditions in the East from 1837 through 1844. Several planters in Mississippi had spent much of their money in advance, leading to the complete bankruptcy of many planters.  By 1839, many of the plantations were thrown out of cultivation.

The youngest brother in law of Thomas B. Danforth was Matilda and Sophia’s half brother Gaines Jackson Stroud. He was born 14 May 1818 in Augusta, Georgia. After his mother remarried Reuben Scott was appointed guardian of Gaines Stroud “orphan of John D. Stroud, dec'd” on 5 January . At the age of about 11, Peter Lamar was appointed Gaines J Stroud’s guardian on 18 February 1829 and Lamar filed several suits against the estate of Reuben Scott claiming his step father had been “wasting the estate”.  Lamar hired Zachary Williams to file suit in Richmond County, Georgia against Griffin Edmonson for the recovery of certain slaves on 7 April 1831. “Receipt of Zach. Williams to excr for prosecuting an action in Richmond Co., in the name of Peter Lamar, gdn of Gains J. Stroud vs Griffin Edmondson to recover slaves for which the said est is security for Reuben Scott, gdn Gains J. Stroud.” Evidently Reuben Scott had sold the slaves belong to Stroud for security of his estate. Peter Lamar asked to be paid for board and tuition for Gaines Stroud through the year 1834. Gaines Stroud was 16 at this time and evidently living away from the family and in school.  When he came to the age of majority he moved to Twiggs County, Kentucky and married Peach Ann Thomas on 9 April 1839 in Twigg County.

Thomas B. Danforth left Twigg County Kentucky for Fayette County Tennessee, where his brother-in-law and former ward, George M Burdine, had bought a farm near the community of Somerville.  Here in Fayette County, Tennessee, Thomas Danforth rented a small farm and opened a store in the village of Moscow. 

The 1840 U.S. Census shows that Thomas Danforth was living in Fayette County, Tennessee listed as a 40 to 50 (1790-1800) year old head of a household there.  Included in his household were Sophia Danforth age 30-40 (1800-1810) years, two sons; Oscar Danforth age 15-20 (1820-1825) years and William Danforth age 5-10 (1830-1835) years. A daughter between the ages of 5-10 (1830-1835) was also included un this family as well as a woman age between 50 and 59. Certainly this is the same woman found in the 1830 census. Missing from the family is the son listed in the 1830 census born in between 1825 and 1830. The fact that no slaves were listed in the family household clearly showing that Thomas Danforth was in a reduced circumstance and what wealth was inherited from John Burdine was gone.

Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9     1 William 1835-1831

Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19   1 Oscar   1825-1821
Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49   1 Thomas 1800-1791
Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9   1 Susan 1835-1831
Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39 1 Sophia 1810-1801
Free White Persons - Females - 50 thru 59 1 1781-1790 mother-in-law
Persons Employed in Agriculture     1
Free White Persons - Under 20      3
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49     2

In 1842 the family prepared to move once more from Fayette County, Tennessee to the rich farm land in neighboring Mississippi. A deed recorded 17 October 1842 in the Fayette County Court House shows that Thomas Danforth sold off his live stock and farm crops to Robert Knox for $247.00 which money he was probably going to invest in a new store in DeSota County, Mississippi.  An inventory of the items in the deed reveals that he sold 7,000 pounds of cotton seed, 40 barrels of corn, 3 stacks of fodder, 1 yoke of oxen, 2 cows, 2 calves, 2 two year old heifers, nine head of sheep and 23 head of hogs.  No land transactions have been located for Thomas Danforth in Fayette County, Tennessee which confirmed the belief that he only rented a farm there.

In the early part of 1843 Thomas Bassell Danforth relocated to DeSota County, Mississippi and opened a country store in the community of Fluellen's Crossroads which later was renamed Independence. Independence had several names over the years and was known as Bucksnort, Lickskillet and Flewellen's [ Fluellen's & Fluellyn's ] Crossroads.

The community of Fluellen’s Crossroads was about 20 miles in land from the Mississippi River and had only been settled six years before. DeSoto County had been located in the Chickasaw Nation until they were forced to leave their farms in 1836 along with other Southern Indian Nations in what is known as the Trail of Tears.  The once proud Chickasaw nation had ceded 6,422,400 acres to the Federal government, with the signing of the Pontotoc Treaty at Pontotoc, Mississippi. With the signing of the treaties in the 1830s white settlers began moving and claim this cheap fertile land and the red man started his trail of tears westward.

On April 27, 1836, when the county was first formed its “white population was 140 souls." A year later the 1837 tax list showed an explosion in the population in the county. The list contained the names 204 early settler households of about 2,000 people. By 1840, the first federal census for DeSoto counted 757 heads of households of nearly 7,000 people. The majority of these people were coming by way of Tennessee.  These families built homes, schools and churches and prospered which brought additional relatives to the area.

When Thomas B Danforth and his family came in 1843 they settled about miles south of Memphis Tennessee and inland to avoid the swamps of the Mississippi River because of the dread of malaria and yellow fever that plagued the river front towns. Perhaps another draw to the community of Flewellens Crossroads was the Christian Church established at Wolf Creek in 1836. It is not known if Thomas B Danforth was ever a member of the Church of Christ as it seems that he may have been a Methodist but certainly his third wife Lucretia Morgan was.  

In later part of 1844 an influenza epidemic spread along the inland communities of the Mississippi River and had reached its peak in Desoto County in March of 1845. The influenza killed hundreds of people in Memphis, Tennessee and many more in the rural counties of Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. 

This influenza may have weakened Sophia Burdine Danforth and her daughter Susan Danforth for after an extremely hot summer, mother and daughter died within weeks of each other in September of 1845.  The Southwestern Christian Advocate dated 9 January 1846 recorded this announcement “Sophiah Danforth wife of T. B. Danforth, DeSoto Co., Miss; died Sept. 18, 1845 in the 40th year of her age.”

The Christian Advocate was a Methodist Episcopal Church newspaper out of Nashville, Tennessee which suggests that Thomas Danforth was a Methodist whether his wife was or not. However publishing her death announcement in the Christian Advocate would have been the best way to inform relatives who were spread out from Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi of his wife’s passing.

Sophia Burdine Danforth died at the age of 40 years leaving behind a nephew Oscar Danforth age 21 years whom she raised and a son William Danforth age 14 years.  Her death left Thomas Danforth a widower again at the age of 49 years.  Her death also closed a chapter on the first half of Thomas Danforth’s life,  one that his family by his third wife nearly little about. None of Sophia Danforth’s own children would leave posterity however the son of her sister Matilda, Oscar F. Danforth whom she raised, left progeny.

After a half a year of mourning, 50 year old Thomas Danforth remarried for the third time on 2 June 1846 in DeSoto County, Mississippi. His bride was a widow woman who was the mother of children from a previous marriage. Her name was Lucretia Morgan Luce. Lucretia Luce lost her first husband, Elihu Luce and her father, Theophilus Morgan, in the flu epidemic of 1844.

Thomas B. Danforth and Lucretia Morgan Luce had both lost spouses by 1845. They lived in the same community of Flewellen’s Crossroads and as Elihu Luce was a merchant also they may have been associated with each other. They may have known each other also by attending the Jim Wolf Creek Church of Christ.  Thomas Danforth and Lucretia Morgan Luce were married 2 June 1846, by Sam'l P. McCorkle J.P.  The marriage of Thomas Danforth and Lucretia Morgan Luce created a blended family for their five stepchildren, Oscar Danforth age 18 years, Billy Danforth age 11 years, Willie Luce age 5 years, Victoria Luce age 4 years and “El” Luce age 2 years.

Lucretia Morgan brought into the marriage property that she owned herself as the widow of Elihu Luce and also a small inheritance from her father.  Thomas B. Danforth at the age of 49 years was a modestly successful merchant in Fluellen Cross Roads supplying the needs of the planters and farmers of DeSota County.   

Lucretia Morgan was born 26 November 1813 in Robertson County, Tennessee. According to the Danforth-Peacock family Bible record, Lucretia Morgan was born in 1818 in Tennessee although her tombstone gives the year as 1813. The 1850 U.S. Census records her age as 37 years having been born in 1813 which is correct but all other censuses given different years.  Since its most likely that Lucretia Morgan gave the census taker this information herself, it is probably the most correct since in all other census records she seemed to be getting older.  In the 1860 U.S. Census Lucretia stated that she was 46 years old or born in 1814 but during the next ten years, in 1870 U.S. Census, she only aged five years listing herself as 51 years old therefore born in 1819!  The last U.S. Census which contains information on Lucretia states that she was 68 years old which would indicate that she was born in 1812 which is closer again to the 1850 Census. in that 1880 census she claimed to be 68 years old when she was 66 years old when the census was taken in June.

Lucretia Morgan was the oldest child of Theophilus Morgan Jr. and his second wife Nancy Mason.  She was born in Robertson County, Tennessee at Barren Plains where her mother's people were prominent planters.  Lucretia's father Theophilus Morgan Junior was born in 1755 in Iredell County, North Carolina and her grandfather Theophilus Morgan Senior was said to have been first cousins to Daniel Boone the famous frontiersman who opened Kentucky to settlement in the 1770's.  Lucretia Morgan's great-grandfather William Morgan and Daniel Boone's mother, Sarah Morgan were thought to be brother and sister, children of a Quaker named Edward Morgan who emigrated to Pennsylvania from Wales. 

Theophilus Morgan “Junior”  was also a Revolutionary War soldier having fought at Kings Mountain in North Carolina against the British, and was present at Yorktown, Virginia. He was a witness to British General Cornwallis surrendering to General Washington in 1781. 

Theophilus Morgan Junior was first married the 6^th of August 1784 in Rowan County North Carolina at the age of 29 years to a woman named Ruth Owens.  Theophilus Morgan and Ruth Owens had eight children before she died in 1812.  Theophilus then married Nancy Mason on 20 January 181. Theophilus Morgan Jr. was 57 years old when he married 22 year old Nancy Mason. Theophilus Morgan Jr. had an additional eight more children by his second wife. His first child was born in 1785 and his last child was born in 1826 when he was 71 years old.  His sixteen children were born over a 41 year period.

Lucretia Morgan was the first child by his second wife Nancy. While Lucretia Morgan was born in Robertson County, Tennessee she was raised in Carroll County, Tennessee. Her father and brothers were horse breeders and owned several large horse farm. While the Morgans were slave owners and farmed in west Tennessee but their real love was raising pure bred horses.  As the family was fairly affluent Lucretia Morgan received an education and valued learning.

Many in the Morgan family were converted to the Church of Christ and they held open air meetings that converted many of their neighbors especially the family of Shadrack Flewellen who moved to DeSoto County Missisippi and founded the community of Flewellen’s Crossroads.

Lucretia Morgan was 24 years old when she married a man named Elihu Luce circa 1837.  Elihu Luce was a transplant from Vermont who converted to the Church of Christ.  He was thought to have been a merchant peddler and an itinerant preacher before settling down in Tennessee. Lucretia Morgan Luce and her new husband operated a country store in Henderson County, Tennessee. They were helped by Lucretia’s older wealthy half-brother William Morgan who had a horse breeding farm in Henderson County.  William Morgan was the eldest child of Theophilus’ wife Ruth Owen and Lucretia was the eldest child of Theophilus and Nancy Mason.

Lucretia Luce and her first husband prospered in Henderson County because Lucretia kept the books and had a head for business. Their marriage produced three children, Victoria Luce, William Albert Luce, and Elihu Luce Junior.  Lucretia Morgan Luce being an educated woman must have been fascinated with the coronation of the young Queen Victoria in 1838 to the British throne because she named one son Albert after the Queen's spouse, Prince Albert, and her daughter after Queen Victoria. Victoria Luce was born 9 June 1838 although her tombstone says 1845.  William Albert Luce was born April 1840 in Henderson County, Tennessee and Elihu Luce Junior was born 20 January 1843 in Henderson, Tennessee.

Sometime after their youngest son was born, Elihu and Lucretia Luce moved from Henderson to Flewellen’s Crossroads in Mississippi to be near her people who had relocated there and to be near her father who was ill. Theophilus Morgan Junior died age 89 years old on 18 August 1844 of "congestion of the lungs" which was the term for pneumonia in that time. He probably also had the influenza. His wife Nancy Mason Morgan was about 54 years old when she became a widow.

According to DeSoto County probate records Theophilus Morgan died intestate without a will which seems unusual considering how old he was. His son Theophilus B Morgan was appointed administrator of his father’s estate. Records showed that an account of his “cash, bonds, letters, warrants and orders of sale” was delivered to the court January 1845 and an inventory and accounts of was returned in March 1845. 

 In March of 1846 some of the African Americans who were listed as his property were ordered to be sold but not until December 1847 was the sale of the remaining “Negroes” and the land. It was reported in February 1848 that the sale of “Negroes” brought $1,832 to the estate. The final settlement of Theophilus Morgans estate did not occur until February 1850.  Between the time of his death and the settlement of his estate

 Thomas Bassell Danforth began to have a third family by Lucretia Morgan with the birth of their first daughter Sophia Danforth on 27 July 1847 in Fluellen Cross Roads, born when Thomas was 51 years. After Sophia Danforth came Theophilus Bassell Danforth born 12 March 1849 in Fluellen Cross Roads. He was named after his father and maternal grandfather.

 By 1850, the U.S. economy was booming again especially in the Southern States. The 1850 U.S. Census of Desoto County lists the family of Thomas Danforth as living in the southern division of DeSota County. The Southern Division was the part of the county that was south of the Coldwater River. The census was take 12 September 1850 and the Danforths were the 150 family enumerated. Lucretia Morgan’s 25 year old brother, Thomas J Morgan’s family is listed as 13 September 1850 as household 174, farming. The family of Shadrach Flewellen that contained his widow daughter’s family of nephews and nieces of Lucretia Danforth is enumerated 14 September as the 182nd family. This household contained 18 individuals including seven Morgan grandchildren of Theophilus Morgan Jr and Shadrach Flewellen.

In this 1850 census, Thomas Danforth's age was given correctly as 54 years (1796) but his birthplace was given as New York.  Lucretia Danforth probably supplied the census taker with the family information and may have only heard Thomas Danforth talk of Ithaca, New York. Lucretia Danforth gave her age correctly as 37 years (1813) and born in Tennessee which also was correct for her.   Six children were enumerated in their household, William R. Danforth age 17 years (1833) born in Kentucky, Victoria Luce age 13 (1837), William A Luce age 11 (1839) and “Elisha” Luce age 7 (1843) all born in Tennessee.  The youngest children listed in the household were Sophia Danforth age 3 (1847) and Theophilus age 1 (1849) both born in Mississippi. 

Missing from the family group was Oscar Danforth who was living in Trigg County Kentucky and the daughter of Thomas and Sophia Danforth listed in the 1840 census and the older woman born between 1781 and 1790 presumably Thomas Danforth’s mother in law.  

Agriculture records dated June 1, 1850 showed that Thomas B. Danforth had 100 acres of improved land and 60 acres of unimproved acreage that were worth $1000. He also owned a horse, 3 milk cows, a beef cow, and two swine pigs worth $75. Thomas Danforth gives his occupation in the 1850 as a “Merchant” which the agricultural census seems to confirm that he was not farming but rather his livestock was for family consumption and the 100 acres was probably being worked by his son Billy Danforth who gives his occupation as a farmer while being listed in the family household.

During the decade prior to the Civil War, between 1850 and 1860 Thomas Danforth was probably the most prosperous he ever was since his early years in Wilkes County Georgia. While he did not own slaves, he was a prosperous dry goods merchant with an intelligent wife who kept books for the store and bought land and property of her own.

Three more children were born to Thomas and Lucretia Morgan Danfoth in the 1850’s.  Another daughter, Alice Ann Danforth, was born 24 February 1852, another son named Charles Bryant Danforth was born 31 August 1854, and Lucy Lucretia Danforth was born 12 October 1857. All these children were most likely born in the community of Flewellen’s Cross Roads, although by 1860 the family had moved across the county line into Marshall County. These three children joined their older siblings, half sister Victoria Luce, half brothers Billy Danforth, Willy Luce, and El Luce, and full siblings Sophia Danforth and Thee Danforth.

Thomas Danforth’s eldest son Oscar Danforth had left home probably at the time of his father’s marriage in 1846. He would have been 22 years at that time. He returned to Trigg County, Kentucky, his boyhood home,  where he still had relatives. He is found there in the 1850 Census as a single man listed as being a store clerk.  He is living in a hotel owed by 26 year old Walter Thomas. This Walter Thomas is probably related to the family of Luke Thomas whose son in law was Gaines J Stroud, Oscar Danforth’s half uncle.

Oscar Danforth never lost touch of his Mississippi relatives even at least once visiting his father in 1860. Certainly Thomas B. Danforth would have known he was a grandfather when his first grandson William Thomas Danforth was born 2 May 1852 just about 2 months after own daughter Alice was born. This grandson was named for Oscar’s father in law William Jessups and his own father Thomas B. Danforth. Tragically this first grandchild died about 2 and a half months later on 13 July.

A year and half later another grandchild was born 3 September 1853, named Sophia Elizabeth Danforth named for his aunt- Sophia Burdine Danforth who raised him after his own mother Matilda had died. Sophia Danforth died two days shy of her 4^th birthday on 1 September 1857 about a month before Oscar’s half sister was Lucy Danforth was born.

Thomas Danforth’s third grandchild was Delilah Idella Danforth died just a month old. Delilah Danforth was born 22 January 1856 and died 23 February 1856.

This must have been a great tragedy for Thomas B. Danforth however a granddaughter named Bertha Jessup Danforth was born 6 October 1858 as well as a grandson John Friend Danforth, born 1 October 1860. They both lived to maturity and lived long after the death of their grandfather Thomas B. Danforth.  However the youngest son of Oscar F Danforth named Sidney Danforth died in infancy also. Sidney was born 28 June 1862 in the midst of the Civil War but died less than a month later on 20 July 1862 in Fairview, Todd, Kentucky.  It is doubtful if Thomas Danforth ever saw any of these grandchildren or even met his daughter in law Virginia Jessups Danforth.

Thomas B Danforth’s eldest son Oscar when he returned to Trigg County became a Presbyterian. Often men attended the churches of their wives unless deeply devoted.

William R Danforth must have gone to live with his brother Oscar in the 1850’s as that he married in Twigg County Kentucky on 14 October 1858. He married the youngest daughter of Luke Thomas, Alabama Tennessee Thomas.

Thomas B. Danforth  was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was a  master mason in the   Solomon  Masonic Lodge at   Flewellyn's Crossroads [Independence ] The lodge was chartered 5 February 1851 and after the war the location of the lodge moved in 1867 to Chulahoma  Marshall County. The lodge became defunct in 1894.    

Thomas B. Danforth’s value to the community was so well regarded that he was elected a justice of the peace by the people, an office he held from at least from 1851 to 1853. A Justice of the Peace, usually before the Civil War, had no formal legal training and had limited jurisdiction over certain types of duties such as performing marriage ceremonies, trying small-claims cases and signing contracts.  Marriage records from DeSoto County show that he officiated at the marriages of nearly 20 couples during his time in office.  The Justice of the Peace received his compensation from those coming before him to preside over a legal matter.

As that Justices of the Peace were not trained in the law their judgments were based on their experiences, maturity, and common sense.  People elected men from their community who were “intelligent, conscientious and possessed of courage and strong moral character.” 

In 1855 Lucretia Danforth bought 48 acres from her own money from W.B. Battle in DeSota County for $320 and a few years later she sold all but two acres of this parcel to the Buford Plantation for $690, more than doubling her money.

Thomas B Danforth’s brother in law Elder Perry M. Morgan had two of his slaves, Hannah and Dinah baptized members of the Jim Wolf Creek Church of Christ in 1852. In 1855 another Church of Christ was organized at Thyatira in DeSota County near Marshall County with Perry M Morgan as the Church's first Elder and Starke Dupuy was the Church's first preacher. The Thyatira church is the oldest Church of Christ meeting in Mississippi.

The Church of Christ was first established in DeSota County, Mississippi in 1836 at Jim Wolf's Creek where camp revival meetings converted enough locals to form a church. The Church of Christ also known as the Disciples of Christ or the Christian Churches first originated in Kentucky by a series of evangelists, Alexander Campbell being the most prominent.  These preachers taught about the need for the restoration of Christianity based solely on teachings found in the New Testament.

A group of settlers mostly associated with the Cathey family from Maury County, Tennessee moved to Mississippi in 1836 to a location someplace on the Jim Wolf Creek about 5 miles southeast of the present meetinghouse of the Thyatira Church of Christ. The Catheys began meeting when they first arrived in 1836 and by the year 1843 when Thomas Danforth arrived, several families began meeting and formed a congregation on the Jim Wolf Creek.  An old record book stated the date of organizing the church.  “The congregation of Jesus Christ on Jim Wolf Creek on the County line between Marshall and DeSoto counties Mississippi, was organized on the 31st day of December, 1843.”

The tenants of conduct may have been too stringent for Thomas B Danforth to have become a member in full standing. Thyratira, church records show that drunkenness and intemperance was the most common place sin in the church followed by "immoral conduct". Church of Christ members were also "rebuked" for "unbecoming language, falsifying, dancing" and “non-attendance”.  All of which were grounds for reproof by the church and "withdrawal" of offenders' membership if “a desire to reform one’s conduct was not given.”

The formation of this Wolfe Creek congregation seemed to draw other families to the area in 1843. The Theophilus Morgan Sr and his sons including his son  in law Elihu Luce moved from Carroll County, Tennessee that year.  Theophilus Morgan Sr. was a neighbor of Shadrach Flewellen and Daniel Perry who moved their families to DeSota County Mississippi in about 1837. Perry M. Morgan, the son of Theophilus Morgan was a preacher for the Church of Christ at the Jim Wolf Creek Church and his brothers, Theophilus B. Morgan and Henry H. Morgan had married daughters of Shadrach Flewellen.  

It was probably not due to religious affiliation that Thomas Danforth moved to Fluellen Crossroads in 1843 to operate a country store in that community. Some in the Danforth family may have later accepted the “Gospel” through the teachings of Starke Dupuy, a neighbor living in Fayette County, Tennessee in 1838. Stark was a physician as well as a Minister of the Gospel. He had moved his family to DeSoto County and served the Thyatira Church of Christ from 1848 to his death in 1857.

The Tennessee and Mississippi Railroad was chartered in 1853. On February 12, 1856, the railroad opened 12 and one-half miles from Memphis to the Horn Lake Depot in DeSoto County.  A couple of months later the first train arrived in Hernando to great celebration on April 22, 1856. Six months later on October 8, 1856, the trains ran 37 miles from Memphis to the Senatobia Depot from where travelers could make connections with a four-horse stagecoach to other parts of the state.

 One of the most exciting events in the community in which the Danforth’s lived was the visit of Alexander Campbell, one of the founders of the Christian Churches, to the Thyatira Church in 1857.  There he held a weeklong camp revival meeting for “the edification of the saints" in northern Mississippi.  Alexander Campbell was quite old at the time and would die nine few years later in 1866. Alexander Campbell lived long enough to see the split in the church he helped promote throughout his life.  Campbell said pride and self-interest kept slavery from being abolished and he tried to change the minds of Christian slave owners but failed. At the outbreak of the Civil War the northern and southern Christian churches would split over the issues of slavery and music in the church.  The southern churches became known as the Churches of Christ and the northern churches became known as the Disciples of Christ Church [Christian Church].  

By 1850, there were several schools in DeSoto but mostly one teacher, one-room log houses with split logs for seats. In 1858 Lucretia Danforth deeded two acres of her own property to the church of Christ preacher, Starke Dupuy for the establishment of a Christian school for the educating of her children and other Church of Christ member's Children. On 7 December 1859 a bill in the Mississippi State Legislature was introduced for the incorporation of The Willard Male and Female Academies at the village of Flewellen’s Crossroads. was created with Starke Dupuy becoming its first President of the Board of Trustees.   Both Thomas B Danforth’s sons Theophilus B. Danforth and Charles B. Danforth attended this school through the 8th grade.

Iin the fall of 1859 Thomas B. Danforth relocated his family and store to neighboring Marshall County in the town of Chulahoma which was still only six miles from Thyratira in Desoto County.  It is here in Marshall County on 2 August 1860 that the family was enumerated in the 1860 U.S. census with their post office being Chulahoma.

As Thomas B. Danforth aged, Lucretia Danforth more and more took on the responsibility of running her husband’s financial affairs having more of a business head than he. She supplemented her husband’s income with rents from her own considerable lands she bought from selling slaves inherited from her first husband and father.  Her son Charles Bryant Danforth inherited his mother's shrewd business acumen while Theophilus Bassell Danforth was more easy going about financial matters like his father.

 In this census Lucretia Danforth correctly gives her husband's birthplace as Vermont and age 64 years (1796).  His occupation was given as "clerk" probably meaning store clerk.   Thomas Danforth was financially comfortable in 1860 but by no means wealthy. He was never able to achieve the financial status he gained in his early days in Georgia. He held $600 worth of real estate and $250 in personal estate. Lucretia Danforth again was listed as Mrs. L. Danforth age 46 born in Tennessee.  If indeed her birthday was in November then she would have only been 46 instead of 47 at the time of the census.  Thomas Danforth's oldest sons were again included in Thomas B. Danforth's household as a 35 (1825) year old man born in Georgia. William R. Danforth's age was given as 25 years (1835) when actually he was closer to 27 years. His birthplace was still given as Kentucky. Since both of these sons were married men and their wives are not included its appears that they were visiting their father and happened to be there when the census taker came by.

The Luce children were enumerated after the Danforth children perhaps by the census taker who wanted to ditto mark surnames as much as possible. Sophia Danforth was age 13 (1847), Theophilus Danforth age 11 (1849), Alice Danforth age 9 (1851), Charles Danforth age 6 (1854) and Lucy Danforth age 3 (1857) all born in Mississippi.  The Luce children were Victoria Luce age 20 (1840), William Luce age 18 (1842) and Elihu Luce age 16 (1844) all born in Tennessee.  None of these children's ages are correct in this census.

Thomas B. Danforth is not listed in the 1860 agriculture census and must not have been depended on farming for his income. He probably was working as a bookkeeper.   

At the beginning of the Civil War Thomas Danforth had moved  back to DeSoto County and settled between the community Coldwater.  The original community of Coldewater began as the village of Elm Grove in 1856. With the coming of the Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad in 1858, rows of stores and other businesses developed on both sides of the tracks, with the railroad depot at the center.  

Coldwater wasn’t officially incorporated until 1872 five years prior to Thomas Danforth’s death and was always a small community. The community was often plagued by periodic river flooding, spilling onto area farmland. The federal Government began the Arkabutla Lake and Dam project in 1942 and old town of Coldwater moved about a mile and a half south of its original location. The area used to be a valley, part of which was occupied by the community of Coldwater, but it was turned into a lake as part of a project to help control flooding problems.  Today the majority old town of Coldwater remains underwater year round. The current town square of Coldwater is about two miles south of the Coldwater River, hence the name.

 In November 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States because the South had split its vote between the Whigs and Democrats.  Both Thomas and Lucretia Danforth were members of the Whig Party which was the more conservative of political parties of that era.  Fearful that Abraham Lincoln would allow the abolitionists of the Republican Party to restrict or even abolish slavery, delegates to a Mississippi state convention in December 1860 to vote to succeed from the United States and become a sovereign state.  DeSoto County sent James Chalmers, Stephen Johnston and Thomas Lewers as delegates to the State convention.  The convention in Jackson, Mississippi voted on January 9, 1861 to adopt an Ordinance of Secession, andwas  the second state, after South Carolina, to secede from the Union. Eventually ten other southern states voted for succession from the United States and formed a Confederation which became known as the Confederate States of America. A former Secretary of War and Mississippian, Jefferson Davis, was elected President of the new nation.

Hostilities between the Union and the Confederacy started on April 12, 1861, when Southern artillery shelled Fort Sumter in the Charleston, South Carolina, harbor. DeSoto County men and boys flocked to join one of the many companies being formed, often thinking only of the adventure and glory of the battlefield.

Thomas B Danforth was 65 years old at the beginning of the war and while he was supportive of the Southern effort of independence, one must wonder what must have been going on in his mind knowing that he was a transplanted northerner who had nephews in the north who would surely be fighting in the conflict.

His brother in law Perry M Morgan was commissioned an office as 1^st Lieutenant and Commissary of Subsistence in Company G of the 3^rd Regiment Mississippi Cavalry. The 1860 census showed that he owned 11 African Americans in bondage. William Albert Luce enlisted as a private in Company G of the 9^th Mississippi Regiment. Elihu Luce enlisted in Company A, Mississippi 10th Infantry Regiment.

Thomas B Danforth’s son Oscar Danforth was living in Todd County, Kentucky and was registered for the draft in the Union army in February 1864. He listed his occupation as a farmer. He was listed as 39 years old as of July 1863.  It is not known the where abouts of William R Danforth in Todd County, Kentucky.  There’s no military record for him.

During the Civil War, Thomas Bassell Danforth’s youngest child, Hattie Brown Danforth was born. She was named for his sister in law Harriett Brown  and born 10 April 1862 in Coldwater, Mississippi. She died in circa1871 age 9 years at Coldwater, Mississippi.

Around the time his last child was born Thomas Danforth moved back to Desota County and opened a store in the village of Coldwater five miles north of the town of Senatobia.  From there Lucretia Danforth's sons from her first marriage joined Company A of the 10th Mississippi Regiment.  Their enlistment left at home in Coldwater just 21 year old Victoria Luce, 15 year old Sophia Danforth, 13 year old Theophilus Danforth, 10 year old Alice Danforth, 8 year old Charles Danforth and 5 year old Lucy Danforth in Thomas Danforth's household.

During the conflict many engagements were fought in and around DeSota County it being a strategic point on the Holly Springs-Hernando overland route. About when Thomas B. Danforth’s youngest child was born in April 1862 a Federal Cavalry troop invaded Desoto County and swept through the country side into the town of Coldwater. Benjamin Grierson was of the 6^th Illinois Cavalry was made a colonel 13 April 1862 and his regiment was engaged in a number of small skirmishes and raids on railroads and facilities in Tennessee and Mississippi. 

In 1862 the Union Army began marching south from Memphis through the Mississippi River delta counties and entered the town of Coldwater in the month of May. Scattered resistance caused the army to burn part of the community including the store of Thomas Danforth which was also looted according to Thomas Danforth's son. 

Herein Coldwater the soldiers broke out windows, shot off their guns, and stole livestock before riding off almost as quickly as they had come but not before burning the Coldwater Bridge.  The war had come into the Danforth's back yard.

Confederate Lt. Col. Frank A. Montgomery, of the First Mississippi Cavalry, stated that he was ordered to the town of Senatobia, five miles south of Coldwaterin May, 1862 from Tupelo, Mississippi when  he came in contact with a federal regiment commanded by the famous Col. Grierson in the Coldwater bottoms just south of the Coldwater River and almost due south of Hernando. He states that after a brisk fight with Col. Grierson's regiment that he managed to drive Grierson's regiment back north of the Coldwater River, but that he was unable to follow up as Col. Grierson destroyed the bridge.

The destruction of the bridge in effect isolated the communities of Senatobia, Coldwater, Greenleaf, and Fluellen's Crossroads from the rest of the county.  The only way to get to the county seat at Hernando was to cross the river on horseback or by a rope line thrown on both sides.   Theophilus Danforth as a young teenager remembered watching his aged father ford the Coldwater River on horseback to go to Hernando to pay his taxes.

The Union had as a military objective the complete control of the Mississippi River to separate the Confederacy into two sections. Early in 1863, Memphis fell to the Union and was occupied by Federal troops. DeSoto County, between the lines of Confederate Troops at Tupelo Mississippi and Union Troops at Memphis, suffered raids by both sides and received no protection from acts of destruction.

Col Grierson was most noted for an 1863 expedition through Confederate-held territory that severed enemy communication lines between Vicksburg, Mississippi and Confederate commanders in the East. They tore up railroads and burned crossties, freed African Americans, burned Confederate storehouses, destroyed locomotives and commissary stores, ripped up bridges and trestles, burned buildings, and inflicted ten times the casualties they received, all while detachments of his troops confused the Confederates as to his actual whereabouts and intent.  and direction.

In June 1863, the Federal troops under the command of Colonel George Bryant, destroyed the DeSota courthouse and the main businesses in the town of Hernando. These troops sacked and burned buildings for five days.

Thomas B Danforth was gravely ill with fever during this invasion and was taken by cart and hid in the woods along with his favorite horse, Sampson, until Lucretia Danforth could reach her brother's plantation at Fluellen Crossroads with her younger children. His 23 year old step daughter Victoria Luce and 16 year old daughter Sophia Danforth stayed with Thomas B. Danforth until he could be moved. At the Perry Morgan’s plantation, when Union troups swept through all of the African American slaves soon joined the liberating Union Army. The destitute Danforth family lived on this Perry Morgan place for several years.

By July 1863 the United States controlled Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana but was kept from controlling the entire river by Confederate artillery at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  It soon fell.

Elihu Luce stopped writing and was feared dead but later learned he had been captured by the Union Army in 1864. Elihu Luce was sent to a prison camp near Chicago, Illinois where he stayed until the end of the war.

By Spring of 1864, all resistance had ended in Desoto County and the county was ruled by military marshal law. The Union army made its headquarters in Coldwater which helped that town recover faster economically.  However in August 1864 Confederate General Nathan Forrest attempted to break the Union's hold on the Mississippi River by a daring attack on Memphis. The town Senatobia is very prominently mentioned by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest's biographers in connection with his famous raid on the City of Memphis on August 21, 1864. A bridge was built across the Coldwater River that was double the length of the one at Hickahala River which was done in 3 hours. After the raid on Memphis General Forrest returned by way of Senatobia to Tupelo. With the failure of the Battle of Memphis, DeSota County was securely in the hands of the United States again and effectively taken out of the war.  However the hastily built bridge helped with the economic recovery. The DeSoto’s Board of Police, a governing board similar to supervisors, spent much time during the war years extending aid to the families of soldiers to prevent starvation on the home front. 

The Civil War, for all intents and purposes, ended when General Robert E Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant on 9 April 1865.  Thomas B. Danforth had just turned 69 years old. A few days later Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by a Southern actor hoping to revive the war effort.  

Post war Desoto County was a place of ruined farms, economic instability, and low moral, due to the collapse of the Southern hope for independence.  Much of the county’s live stock was killed or stolen by the invading Union Army although Thomas Danforth managed to save his favorite Sampson.  With the end of the war and the freedom of African Americans, Coldwater began to disintegrate as a trading center and became poverty-stricken. With the labor force scattered and the political influence of white men, the prosperous economy  that existed before the war was basically non-existence. 

Only two trains a day ran in and out of Memphis bringing goods, material, and people to De Soto County and county roads were in bad repair for overland travel. Major bridges had been destroyed during the war and smaller ones had fallen in making travel in the county hazardous. 

Politically, following the surrender, DeSoto County, like all of Mississippi, was under military rule. At this time, the county’s Board of Police was abolished and replaced by a Board of Supervisors.  Only African American males andwhite males who had not taken up arms against the United States or held public office under the Confederacy were allowed to vote. Officials of the county were appointed by Adelbert Ames, the military governor. 

The DeSoto courthouse in Hernando was a burned out shell and a make shift bridge across the Coldwater River was the only connection between southern and northern DeSota County. Court sessions were held in any space available and witnesses had to wait outside in all weather for their turns in court. Concern about the lack of a courthouse led to bids from other communities in DeSoto to build a courthouse in that community if it could become the county seat. 

Although Mississippi was under military rule since Thomas B. Danforth hadn't served in the Confederate Army or government, he still held his United States citizenship and was eligible to vote.  His step-sons, Willie Luce and Elihu Luce however being ex-Confederate soldiers were disenfranchised and were not able to vote until in 1876 when President Rutherford B. Hayes gave all former Confederates amnesty. 

In 1866 Thomas Danforth was 70 years old and destitute. All of his children by his wife, Sophia Burdine had died without issue and only his son Oscar F Danforth a son of Matilda Burdine  was alive but he lived 250 northeast of Coldwater in Fairview, Todd County, Kentucky. With the end of the war Thomas D. Danforth’s step sons 22 year old  Elihu Luce and 25 year old Willie A Luce returned home after they were paroled adding to the family still at home .  In Thomas B Danforth household were step daughter 27 year old Victoria Luce, his 18 year old daughter Sophia Danforth, 16 year old son Theophilus Bassell Danforth, his 13 year old daughter Alice Danforth, his 11 year old son, Charles Bryant Danforth, his 8 year old daughter Lucy Danforth and his 3 year old daughter Hattie Brown Danforth. 

Thomas Danforth however managed rebuild his dry good store in Coldwater, Mississippi but on a much smaller scale. Operation of the store however became more and more dependent on his wife Lucretia and his step-daughter Victoria Luce.  Others helped out on the farm that Lucretia Danforth still owned in her name. 

Thomas B. Danforth’s step-son Elihu Luce, at the age of  23 years, married Georgia Victoria Dodds on 16 May 1866 at Coldwater, Mississippi. Lucretia Danforth's first grandchild named John N. Luce was born a year later in May 1867 at Coldwater, Mississippi.  The following year Willie Albert Luce married, at the age of 27 years, to Martha T. White on 19 August 1867 at Coldwater, Mississippi.  

The end of the war found DeSoto County bankrupt, its fields desolate of crops and its economic life destroyed. There was a real threat of famine for several years. On December 12, 1867, a county meeting was called to discuss the prevention of famine during the months ahead. 

Lucretia Morgan Danforth’s granddaughter Mary “Mollie” Lucretia Luce, daughter of Elihu was born  28 January 1868 in Coldwater during these hard times. Times however were slowly getting better and The People’s Press, the first DeSoto County paper after the hostilities ended wrote in the fall of 1868  "Notwithstanding the burning by Yankee soldiers and their stealing combined-notwithstanding the many failures of heretofore rich farmers who have been declared bankrupts- we can boast of more stores and a larger stock of goods than ever." 

Lucretia Danforth's grandchild, Harris Elihu Luce, was born in June 1869 at Coldwater, Mississippi, the son of Willie Albert Luce.  

Thomas Danforth's step-daughter Victoria Luce at the age of 28 years married John R. Garrard sometime in 1869 at Coldwater, Mississippi.  Victoria Luce Garrard inherited her mother's keen mind for business and she eventually took over the running of Thomas Danforth's store on a daily basis and inherited the store upon Thomas Danforth's death. 

In 1870 DeSoto’s county's population stood just over 32,000 people. After the Civil War Thomas Danforth was never able to completely recover his financial losses as shown in the census and relied on Lucretia Danforth's income from her property to support the family. Thomas Danforth was enumerated in a US census for the last time as “T.B. Danforth.  He was listed as living in the second district of DeSota County with a Post Office address of Arkabutla in Township Five which was the community of Coldwater.  Coldwater was not officially incorporated until 1872.

Strangely Thomas B. Danforth age was listed as 42 years and born in Delaware. Why his age and birthplace were given as such is unknown. In 1870 Thomas Danforth was 74 years old and Lucretia Danforth was 57 years old.  This census recorded Lucretia Danforth as “Low” but probably meant “Lou” age as 51 years, born in Tennessee and she was called "Lou" Danforth.  Perhaps the family still angry at or suspicious of the Federal Government intentional gave misinformation to the census taker. Other family members listed in the household were Theophilus Danforth age 21 year born in Mississippi, Alice Danforth age 18 years born in Mississippi, Charles Danforth age 16 years born in Mississippi, Lucy Danforth age 13 years born in Mississippi, and “Brown” Danforth age 8 years born in Mississippi.  Missing from the household was 23 year old Sophia Danforth who may have been living in other relative’s households. 

Victoria Luce had married John Gerrard by 1869 and had twin sons born in 1870 in Tennessee. The Gerrard family has not been located in the 1870 census and Sophia Danforth could have been staying with them to help out.

The census listed Thomas Danforth as a farmer worth $300 in personal property. It showed that he owned no real estate which was true because all their property was in Lucretia Danforth's name. Both Theophilus Danforth and his younger brother were listed as farm laborers.

In September 1871 Thomas B. Danforth is listed as the Post Master of Coldwater where his annual salary was $320.  This must have helped out considerably.

In about 1871 Harriett Brown Danforth died from Tuberculosis that was spreading in the county from so much farm land being abandoned to swamp and woods again.  About this time Willie Albert Luce moved his young  family from Mississippi to Faulkner County, Arkansas where he bought a farm and raised the rest of his family. Victoria Garrard moved to Memphis, Tennessee during this time to not expose her children to the disease.

Alice Anne Danforth at the age of 20 years married Robert Percy Nicholson on 24 December 1872 at Coldwater, Tate, Mississippi. Bob Nicholson was an ex-Confederate soldier whose Klu Klux Klan activities after the war got him in trouble with the law. He killed a man and had been convicted as a felon but the family never held that against him. DeSoto County was the local point of concentration of the Ku Klux Klan after it was organized in 1868. The Ku Klux Klan was used effectively during Reconstruction days for helping to maintain white supremacy.

In 1873 a move to split DeSota County that lay south of the Coldwater River to sent petitions to the probate court asked that the county be divided. In 1873, the state legislature divided the county and formed Tate County south of the Coldwater River.  At this point Thomas B. Danforth was residing in Tate County.

His son Theophilus Bassell Danforth at the age of 24 years married Minerva Ann Holt the daughter of Joel Holt and Lucinda Perry on 8 January 1874 at Coldwater, Mississippi. Two year later Sophia Danforth age 28 years married J.D. Richard Taylor on 1 July 1876 at Coldwater, Mississippi.  She died at the age of 33 years in 1880 of tuberculosis. She had no children.  Her husband Richard Taylor died the following year and both are buried in the Brook Chapel Cemetery.

Thomas B. Danforth’s mother in law Nancy Mason Morgan filed for a pension as a widow of a Revolutionary War veteran in 1875.  The pension stated “Declaration of Original Pension of A Widow -- Child or Children under Sixteen Years of Age Surviving State of Tennessee, County of Madison  On this 28 day of December, A.D. 1875 personally appeared before me S. D. Barnett Clerk of the County Court of said County the same being a court of record within and for the County and State aforesaid, Nancy Morgan aged 85 years, [1790] who, being duly sworn according to law, makes the following declaration in order to obtain the pension provided by Acts of Congress granting pensions to widows: That she is the widow of Theophilus Morgan who enlisted under the name of Theophilus Morgan at Rowan County North Carolina on the __ day of about the year, A.D. 1780, in Carlton's Command Davidson's division in the war of the Revolution, who died in the year 1844 of congestion of the lungs in DeSoto County Mississippi on the 18th day of August, A.D. 1844, who bore at the time of his death the rank of private, in Cavalry service aforesaid; that she was married under the name of Nancy Mason to the said Theophilus Morgan on the 20th day of January, A.D. 1813 by Esquire Duncan at Robertson County Tennessee, there being no legal barrier to such marriage; that she has not been previously married but her husband had been previously married to Ruth Owens by whom he had 8 children, ages of children not known, that she has to the present date remained his widow; that the following all the names and dates of birth of all his legitimate children yet surviving who are under 16 years of age at my father's death, to wit: none under 16. His by a Former Marriage None: His by herself: Lucretia born 1813;  Henry H. born 1815; Theophilus be born 1816; Bryant C. born 1818;, Sallie born 1821: Thomas born 1823; Perry M born 1824 Nancy E. born 1826                                                 

That she has not abandoned the support of any one of his children, but that they are still under her care or maintenance: they are now all providing for themselves that are living

That she has not in any manner been engaged in, or aided or abetted, the rebellion in the United States; that no prior application has been filed deceased or your petitioner, for the reason that both the deceased & petitioner had a plenty up to the late war that she hereby appoints Thomas C. Moore her attorney to prosecute her claims; that her residence is No. Cumberland Street, Jackson Tennessee and that her post office address is Jackson Madison County Tennessee  Nancy Morgan, X her mark

According to family members Thomas Danforth never fully recovered his health from the effects of being hidden out in the woods when his store was burned.  Thomas Danforth died at the age of 81 years in September or October 1877 at his home in Coldwater, Mississippi and is buried there in the Brooks Methodist Cemetery between the communities of Arkabutla and Coldwater.  An article about Charles B Bryant Danforth said that `Thomas B. Danforth was 85 years old at the time of his death and a "bookkeeper" by occupation and held several offices of trust. 

A year after Thomas B. Danforth died yellow fever broke out in the Mississippi Delta counties. In Memphis Tennessee the death rate reached approx 200 people a day in September 1878 This dread illness, which had no known cause, nor cure, and few treatments, was also a scourge in DeSoto County. The Hernando epidemic in six weeks killed almost half its inhabitants. There were also cases all over the county. The epidemic did not abate until frost came to the area on October 29. The people knew that cold weather would stop the illness, but did not know that destroying mosquitoes was the key.

Of Thomas Danforth's children by his three wives, Matilda Burdine, Sophia Burdine, and Lucretia Morgan only three children left him grandchildren, Oscar Danforth, Theophilus Danforth and Alice Nicholson none of whom stated in Mississippi. Oscar Danforth relocated to Todd County, Kentucky, and Theophilus and Alice left Mississippi for the better climate of Texas not long after Thomas Danforth's death. 

Thomas and Lucretia Danforth had been married 32 years at the time of his death and she never remarried but lived instead with her unm arried son Charles B. Danforth and unmarried daughter Lucy Danforth. Lucretia Danforth spent her remaining years living with her children in DeSoto County until moving to Lula, in Coahoma Mississippi where Charles Danforth was working as a manager for the Stewart Brothers. Lula was a small rural community village in the north eastern section of Coahoma County about 45 miles southwest of Coldwater. Here in Lula, Lucretia Danforth was financially taken care of by her son Charles B. Danforth with African American servants under the supervision of her daughter Lucy Danforth to keep her comfortable for the rest of her life.    

The 1880 U.S. census is the last census from which information on Lucretia Danforth can be found. In 18 June 1880 Lucretia Danforth is enumerated in household 243 of Beat 1 of Coahoma County. She was listed as just “L. Danforth” age 68 years [1812] born in Tennessee which would have been correct as she would not be 69 years old until November. She was listed as a widow. Her daughter Lucy Danforth is also enumerated in this household as a single woman age 22 years with no given occupation just the notation "stays at home".  Two African American males were also enumerated in household 243. They were John Lee age 22 year old black man, listed as a servant who cooked for the family and Harry Lanolin age 23 years also a black man who listed his occupation as a farmer. What is peculiar is that in the census it listed Harry Lanolin first followed by Lucretia, Lucy, and then John Lee. It seems odd that Lucretia would not have been listed first as head of the household.  

The same happens in household 241 where Charles B. Danforth was residing. He is listed in the African American family of Lewis Price. Lewis was a 58 year old blacksmith with a 22 year old wife named Eliza and three sons, “C.B.” Danforth who gives his age as a 25 year old single farmer. He correctly gives his father and mother’s birth places as Vermont and Tennessee.  Another mystery is why he is living with this family rather than with his mother and sister.  

The Danforths lived in a rural area that was predominately African American. In the District of Beat 1 in Coahoma of the households listed between 200 and 300 there are only 6 white households. The other 94 households are entirely African American. The whites who were not listed as heads of their households were enumerated within households where Blacks were enumerated as heads of household as in the case of Lucretia Danforth and her son Charles B Danforth. 

The household 242 between Charles and his mother was that of Robert Keating. The Keatings are an African American family and certainly related to Alice Keating who was Charles Danforth’s long time companion and “housekeeper”. Robert was the same age as Charles Danforth and had 22 years old wife named Angelina and a 5 year old son named John. At household 227, some 14 households away from Charles B. Danforth lived 15 year old Alice Keating [Keaton] his future housekeeper and common law wife.   

In December 1886 Lucretia Danforth wrote a letter to her son, Theophilus Danforth,  in Texas in response to a previous lost birthday letter. On the back of it she wrote a brief note to her grandson, Mabry Danforth thanking him for his letter to her.  Lucretia Danforth was 73 years and Mabry Danforth was 11 years.  He may have been the first grandchild to ever write to her so the letter touch her heart and Mabry Danforth saved the letter through the years where it descended to Anne Danforth Williams. Unfortunately the paper separated into pieces along the folds and two sections of the main body of the letter had been lost.  Still it is easy to see Lucretia Danforth's beautiful script which at 73 years was still steady and firm.  The letter as it remains reads:

Lula, Miss. December 29, 1886

Mr. Theophilus Danforth & wife. Dear Son and Daughter.       I received your very kind letter a few days ago. Was glad all well & you had...(missing)...the next letter...(missing)...quite feeble yet never...(missing)...of my being there...(missing)...to see you all...(missing)...will write as often...(missing)...has a very bad cold & in the house with it. I fear he will get down with it. We have had a very bad winter so far cold & raining today. We have not killed hogs yet but will soon.  You say you are going to make some money this year & next. Well I would for just think of it if you was to die leaving your...(the rest of the letter is missing).

On the other side of the letter was this note to her grandson. To Master Mabry Danforth. Dear Grandson.       I received your very kind letter. Was gratified to see you thought so much of me to write me. You are the first grandchild ...(missing)...Texas I appreciate...(missing)...very nice for you...(missing)...learn fast. I make...(missing)...& saving take care...(missing)...to church & remember...(missing)...what he says when...(missing)...we would be so proud to see you. Give sister & Wright much love & baby too. Always be polite to every person. Speak kindly to everybody. Write soon to your Grandmother. Lucretia Danforth

 Even with parts of the letter missing, one can get a feel for Lucretia Danforth's personality. She was a refine lady concerned about "life full of distresses" she advises her grandson to attend church and remember its lessons.  She told her grandson to learn fast for she prized education and warned her son to be careful about saving money. Lucretia Danforth being the main financial support of her family after the Civil War knew the worry of financial stresses.  She was concerned that her son Theophilus Danforth was not making enough money to insure his family's future, "Just think of it! If you were to die" leaving your family with no security.    

However Lucretia Danforth's true gracious upbringing is clearly shown in her statements to her grandson, "Always be polite to every person. Speak kindly to everybody." What a great legacy to leave her posterity-Always be polite and speak kindly.       

According to Mabry Danforth's family Bible, Lucretia Danforth died in 1889 at Lula in Coahoma County, Mississippi but she was taken back to Tate County to be buried next to her husband. She was survived by her children Victoria Gerrard, Willy Luce, and Elihu Luce by her first husband and Theophilus B Danforth, Alice Nicholson, Charles B Danforth and Lucy Danforth by her second husband Thomas B Danforth.   Her tombstone stated  her death as on  8 March 1889. She is also buried in the Brook Chapel Cemetery near her husband Thomas B Danforth.

When Lucretia Danforth passed away daughter Victoria Garrard had returned from Tennessee and was running a country store in Coldwater, Mississippi.  Willie A. Luce was farming and raising a family in Faulkner County, Arkansas. Elihu Luce had moved off to Texas and at the time of his mother’s death, he was pioneering dry land cotton farming in Dickens County, Texas.  Theophilus Danforth was farming in Gordon, Palo Pinto County, Texas and working in the ore mines around Thurber Texas.  Alice Danforth Nicholson was also in Palo Pinto County, Texas where she was raising a family.  Charles B. Danforth had bought a large farm for $25,000 the year his mother died and his sister lived with him.

OSCAR F DANFORTH son of Matilda Burdine

When Oscar F Danforth was born in 1824 in Augusta, Georgia, his father, Thomas, was 28 and his mother, Matilda, was 16. His mother Matilda passed away in March 1825 in Augusta, Georgia, when he was an infant. His father married then Oscar F. Danforth's Aunt Sophia. The family relocated to Twigg County, Kentucky by 1833. Oscar F Danforth lived in Trigg, Kentucky in 1850. He was listed as a clerk lodging in a hotel owned by Walter M Thomas. Shortly afterwards he relocated to Todd County where he married Virginia Elizabeth Jessup ion June 5, 1851, when he was 27 years old.

His son William Thomas  Danforth was born on May 2, 1852, in Todd, Kentucky. He died on 13 July 1852 2 months old. His daughter Sophia Elizabeth Danforth was born on September 4, 1853 and died 1 September 1857 nearly 4 years old. His daughter Delilah Idella Danforth was born on January 22, 1856, in Todd, Kentucky and died a month later on 23 February 1856. His daughter Bertha Jesup Danforth was born on October 6, 1858.

Oscar F Danforth lived in Todd, Kentucky, in 1860 and was enumerated twice. On 22 June 1860 he is listed as a farmer near the community of Elkton with real estate worth $5000 and personal estate $1000. He is listed with his wife and only surviving daughter Bertha Danforth. Virginia Danforth must have been 5 months pregnant as a son John Friend Danforth was born on October 1, 1860. Oscar is enumerated next to his brother in law John Friend Jessup. The slave schedule for 1860 showed that Oscar F Danforth had an 8 year old African American male in bondage and his wife's Jessup families owned 34 enslaved African Americans.

Later on 2nd August 1860 he is listed in the household of his father Thomas B Danforth along with his brother William R Danforth in Mississippi. They must have come for a visit at the time the census taker had come. Back in Kentucky a son Sidney Danforth was born on June 28, 1862 who died less than a month later on 20 July 1862.

Oscar F Danforth on July 1, 1863 was registered for the Union Army draft as a 39 year old farmer and native of Georgia.

The 1870 census listed Oscar Danforth as a "clerk in store" living in Fairview, Todd, Kentucky. He was worth $4000 in real estate and $800 in personal property. Included in his household was his wife Virginia Danforth, his two children, a 40 year old "domestic servant" and her three children, his mother in law Sarah Jessup, and a 27 year old Irishman man named John Pye who was a Dry Goods Merchant. 

Oscar F Danforth died on June 2, 1879, when he was 55 years old. The U S Mortality census recorded him as a 54 year old native of Georgia, a merchant and had resided in Todd County for 27 years. His father was listed as from New York and his mother from Georgia. The cause of death was "dropsy of the heart." This was an old term for the swelling of soft tissues due to the accumulation of excess water. 

His widow Virginia Danforth died 15 June 1904  Her death was mention 17 June 1904 in the local paper "Death At Fairview Aged Woman Passes Away after a Long Illness; Mrs. Virginia Danforth died Sunday afternoon at Fairview age about 80 years.  She was the mother of John F. Danforth of this city [Hopkinsville] and member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Services were held at her residence and the internment  took place in the Hopewell Cemetery. 

1. William Thomas  Danforth was born on May 2, 1852 in Todd, Kentucky. He died on 13 July 1852 2 months old.
2. Sophia Elizabeth Danforth was born on September 4, 1853 and died 1 September 1857 nearly 4 years old.
3. Delilah Idella Danforth was born on January 22, 1856, in Todd, Kentucky and died a month later on 23 February 1856.
4. Bertha Jesup Danforth was born on October 6, 1858. She married Benjamin William Humphrey in 1885 in Kentucky. They had three children in 10 years. She died after 1930 in Detroit, Michigan. Their children were Oscar Danforth Humphrey husband of Martha A Primm, Walter Friend Humphrey husband of Mary E Baker, and Virginia E Humphrey.5. John Friend Danforth was born on October 1, 1860. He married Abiline (Abby) Lucille Petrie in 1891 in Kentucky. They had two children during their marriage. He died on April 11, 1941, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, at the age of 80, and was buried there. Their children were Edward Friend Danforth husband of Elizabeth Ripple and Mary E Danforth wife of L.E. Coe. Neither child had offspring.
6. Sidney Danforth was born on June 28, 1862 who died less than a month later on 20 July 1862.

JOHN BURDINE DANFORTH son of Sophia Burdine

The 1830 census show that a male between the age of 1825 and 1830 who lived within the household of Thomas and Sophia Danforth. He would have been born in Augusta, Georgia and about 1827. He is not listed in Thomas B Danforth’s household in 1840 so he died a child probably in Kentucky. As that no known child was named for John Burdine, the father of Matilda and Sophia Danforth, it is more than possible that his name may have been John Burdine Danforth.

MATILDA DANFORTH daughter of Sophia Burdine

The 1840 census for Fayette County, Tennessee lists a female child with in the household of Thomas Danforth age 5 through 9 years old. [1831-1835] This daughter would have been born circa 1831 most likely still in Augusta, Georgia. As that she was not included in the household of Thomas B. Danforth in 1850 she would have died before that time. She could have died anytime between 1840 and 1849. As that a daughter Sophia was born in 1847 it is doubtful this girl would have been named Sophia also. More likely she could have been named Matilda Danforth for Matilda Burdine.

WILLIAM REUBEN DANFORTH son of Sophia Burdine

William “Bill” Reuben Danforth was born 1833 probably in Canton, Trigg County, Kentucky. He died between 1865 and 1867 most likely in  Fairview, Todd, Kentucky.  He married Alabama Tennessee Thomas 14 Oct 1858 in Carroll County, Tennessee. She was born 22 December 1837 in Carroll County, Tennessee and died 7 June 1904 in Carroll County.  She was the youngest daughter of Luke Thomas and sister of Peachie Thomas who had married Billy Danforth’s half uncle, Gaines J Stroud.

Bill R Danforth was the 5 to 9 year old boy living in the household of his father Thomas Danforth in the 1840 census of Fayette County. The 1850 census showed that he  was a 17 year old youth living in his father’s household in DeSoto County, Mississippi. This census stated he was born in Kentucky and his occupation was a farmer, more likely a farm laborer.

His step mother Lucretia Morgan Danforth had relatives still in Carroll County as well as family friends of the Danforths who had moved from Twigg County, Kentucky which bordered Henry County, Tennessee such as the Thomas family. In 1850 his grandmother Margarett Scott was living with his aunt’s family in neighboring Henry County.  He must have been living back in Tennessee for him to courted and married Alabama Thomas.

In the 1860 census dated 22 September there is a 27 year old W.R Danforth born in Kentucky and a 22 year of A.T. Danforth born in Tennessee living in Chalk County, Arkansas. The statistics seem to indicate that this is Bill and Alabama Danforth however he lists his occupation as physician. The census taker of course put down whatever occupation those being enumerated said they were. The decade between the 1850 and 1860 census, Bill Danforth could have had some medical training. In Memphis there were two medical colleges that offered 16 weeks curriculum focused on “diseases of Southern origin” such as malaria, yellow fever. There was a medical school in Memphis, Tennessee that was founded in 1846 that he may have attended. His aunt Julia Noel lived in Memphis during this time.

Until 1889 there were no licensing procedures in Tennessee and anyone could declare himself a physician. Professional training could range from one course of medical lectures to no formal training whatsoever. Many physicians were self-proclaimed. Although the Medical Society of Tennessee had the power to confer licenses, rarely did anyone apply.

On 14 October 1858 William Danforth obtained a marriage license in Carroll County to married Alabama Tennessee Thomas. She was born 22 December 1837 the daughter of Luke Thomas. Luke Thomas was a plantation owner in the community of Hico and the father of 14 children. William Danforth’s uncle Gaines J Stroud the half brother of Sophia Burdine Danforth was also a son-in-law of Luke Thomas and lived in Hico, Tennessee in the 1860 Census. Gaines Stroud had married Peachie Ann Thomas who was 20 years older than her sister Alabama Thomas. The 1860 census of Carroll County showed that Gaines Stroud was next door to his father-in-law.

After marrying the couple moved to Chalk Bluff in Greene County, Arkansas where they are listed in the 1860 census on the 22nd of September. The census has them as household 914 and listed as “W.R.” Danforth age 27 born in Kentucky and “A.T.” Danforth age 23 born in Tennessee. His occupation was listed as Physician and she was keeping house. They land no real estate listed and their person estate was $300. No known relatives lived around them. Chalk Bluff was in the far northeast section of Arkansas bordering on Missouri. It was 150 miles north from Coldwater Mississippi 125 miles west from Hico, Tennessee.

When the Civil War began in 1861 Arkansas voted to join the Confederacy although northern Arkansas had a lot of Union sentiment. Greene County was the site of many skirmishes and a battle in May 1863. Guerilla warfare became coming and bushwhacking killed a lot of noncombats. There is no record of William Danforth being a soldier on either side of the conflict but as a physician he may have been pressed into service. A Home Guard unit, one cavalry, and four infantry companies were formed, mostly from Greene County and all saw considerable action fighting with the Army of Tennessee. Casualties were high.  After the civil war the community of Chalk Bluff was abandoned and only a historic Battle field site marks where the town once was.

A tax record recorded in Fairview, Todd County, Kentucky is the last hint of when William R Danforth was alive and lived.  In October 1865 an Internal Revenue Service tax list for Fairview showed that W.R. Danforth paid a tax of $6.67 on 24 September 1865. The column for article or occupation is some what puzzling. The word “Phantasmagoria” is listed which the dictionary stated means  a "magic lantern"

After the death of William Danforth his widow returned to Carroll County, Tennessee. A marriage record from 1868 showed that an Alabama Thomas married James Coleman 5 January. There is no known record on James Coleman and she lived with the family of her brother Haywood Thomas in the 1870 Census of Carroll County, Post Office McKenzie. She is listed as “Am T Danforth” age 33 [1837] and not as Coleman. She is not listed as having any children.

By 1880 Alabama Thomas Danforth had remarried to a merchant named Joseph Hissong. They were They were married 12 May 1880 in Carroll County, Tennessee.  He was about 20 years older than her born 1817 in Pennsylvania.  They must have separated as he moved off to Indiana and Alabama Tennessee married for the third time a widower John Warren Stribling on 20 February 1889 in Carroll County. He was a widower also with grown children. Stribling was born 19 June 1828 in South Carolina and died 16 February 1904 in Carroll County.  

In the 1900 census Alabama stated she had no children. Alabama Tennessee Thomas died the following June on the 7th1904 Both she and her last husband are buried in the Shiloh Cemetery in Whitthorne, Carroll County, Tennessee. This daughter-in-law of Thomas Danforth never had any known children by any of her husbands.

VICTORIA LUCE daughter of Lucretia Morgan

Victoria Luce was born 9 June 1838 1841 in Lexington, Henderson, Tennessee. She died 30 August 1895 age 54 years Coldwater, Tate, Mississippi and is buried in the Brook Chapel Cemetery. She married John. R. Garrard married circa 1869 either in Coldwater or Montgomery County Tennessee. John Garrard was born 5 February 1845 in Clarksville, Montgomery County Tennessee the son of Stanford Lee Garrard.

The family is not located in the 1870 census but they are the first household enumerated in the town of Coldwater, They are listed as living in Coldwater Beat 3 in Tate County, Mississippi. She and her half sister Sophia Taylor are the only members of Thomas B Danforth’s family to remain in Tate County.  The census was taken June 1880 with 34 year “J.H. Gerrard” born in Tennesssee and a “clerk in store”. Victoria Garrard was listed as a 33 year old keeping house. They were the parents of four children. Either they had two sets of twins or the enumerated was mistaken. Two sons Aden and Edgar were listed as 10 years old and born in Tennessee while a son and daughter “S.L.” and “M.L.” were listed as 5 years old and born in Mississippi.  John Garrard died 18 June 1887.  He does not have a marker in the Brook Chapel Cemetery.  He may be buried in Montgomery County, Tennessee.

Victoria Garrard’s children received a legacy from Charles Bryant Danforth, her half brother in 1935. Her daughter Mrs. Lettie Garrard Moore who was at the time of Memphis, Tennessee received $1,666.66. Her two sons, John Edgar Garrard and Stanford Lee Garrard were deceased by 1934 and their heirs received their fathers’ share plus an additional $1000.00 bequeathment. These heirs were Pauline Peterson, Ralph Aden Garrard, Ruth Ray, and Mildread Head.

 1. Aden Gerrard born 1870 in Tennessee and died after 1880. No futher information is available. Probably died young.
2. John Edgar Garrard born in May 1870 in Tennessee. Shortly after the death of his mother he moved to Missouri where he married Sadie Stamper 11 October 1898 in Vernon County. They had two children before his wife died 25 July 1904 in Fort Scott, Bourbon County, Kansas. After the Civil War, Fort Scott was a premier city of the frontier, one of the largest cities in eastern Kansas. On three different occasions, between 1870 and 1900, Fort Scott was in competition with Kansas City to become the largest railroad center west of the Mississippi. The 1900 census gave his occupation as a fireman with the Illinois Central railroad.  A fireman was a train crewman who shoveled coal into the furnace and tended the boiler on an old-fashioned steam locomotive. His mother in law Margaret Stamper owned a house in Fort Scott and the 1910 census showed that his two children were living with her. The 1915 state census of Kansas showed that John Edgar Gerrard was enumerated with his two children living with his mother in law in Fort Scott. He is listed as a 44 year old man. The 1920 census John E. Garrard was living with his sister Lettie’s family back in DeSoto where he is listed as single and no occupation. He must have been either visiting or ill. His daughter Pauline Eva Garrard had married Lloyd Alexander Peterson by early 1918 and had three sons. Ralph Aden Garrard joined the military 12 Jan 1918 when he was not quite 16 years old. He was a private first class in Company A of the 19^th BN US Guard. He was married to Ethel M Lesher but later divorced. He had at least one daughter.
3. Stanford Lee Garrard was born 15 November 1873 in Coldwater, Tate, Mississippi. He moved off to Memphis, Tennessee where he worked as an engineer on IC Railroad. He married at the age of 44 to 18 year old Alice Elizabeth Choate the daughter of Jasper Choate of Hernando, Mississippi. After retiring as an engineer he worked as an automobile mechanic in Memphis where he died 1 April 1932. He and Alice Garrard had two daughters Charlie “Ruth” Garrard the wife of Chodie Ray and  Mildred Alice Garrard wife of Willis L Head.
4.. M. Leticia “Lettie” Garrard was born 1876 in Coldwater, Tate, Mississippi. She married circa 1904 Sidney Warren Moore Jr. He was 40 years old at the time and born 32 August 1863. In 1910 Sidney Warren is listed as a salesman in a store in Memphis however by 1910 the family loved back to DeSoto County Mississippi where Lettie’s husband was a general farmer.  By 1930 the family returned to Memphis where Sidney Moore was a furniture salesman.  Sidney W. Moore died 23 February 1948 in Memphis, and his wife Lettie was the informant on his death certificate. He was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery. However the death date for Lettie is unknown but she is probably also buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery.  Lettie said she had four children by 1910 but one had died. Her known children were  Sammy Garrard Moore husband of Mary Ellen Edmondson, William S. Moore, Sidney Warren Moore Jr., Pearl M. Moore wife of John E Leach and Richard F Moore husband of Wilma Faye Kelly later divorced.

WILLIAM ALBERT LUCE son of Lucretia Morgan

William “Willie” Albert Luce was born in April 1840 Lexington, Henderson, Tennessee and died before 1934 probably in Faulkner County, in central Arkansas.  He married  Martha T. White on 19 August 1867 in Coldwater, DeSoto, Mississippi.  She was the daughter of a neighboring farmer named Burgess White. By 1871 Willie Luce had moved from Tate County, Mississippi to Faulkner County, Arkansas  where he was a farmer. The 1900 census stated he was 60 years old and farming on rented land. His wife said she was the mother of five children but only four were alive in 1900.  Martha T Luce died in 1905 probably at Palarm, in Faulkner County, Arkansas.  These are no death records for Willie Albert Luce but he is believed to have died in 1910 at the age of 70 years. He was deceased by 1934 when his half brother Charles B Danforth left a legacy which was divided among his three daughters and three grandchildren; Mrs. Leslie Hughes of Lonoke, Arkansas, Mrs. Ora Smith of North Little Rock, Arkansas, and Mrs. Willie Giger also of North Little Rock Arkansas equally received $1,250. Their brother Harris Elihu Luce had died and his children received his share. They were Mrs. Lorna Luce Adamson, Hubert M. Luce and Elmer Luce all of Little Rock, Arkansas. They all received $416.68 from the estate.  

1. Harris Elihu Luce was born in June 1869 at Coldwater, DeSota, Mississippi. On the 20^th of June 1900 he was listed as 30 years old and single living with his parents as a farmer in Palarm Township. He married later that year on December 12^th  Mary Ida Wilkinson daughter of Purcivelle Wilkinson a local farmer. She was the widow of David B. Hilliard who died in 1898. She had four children under the age of ten when she married  Harris Luce. Harris and Mary had three more children before he died in about 1915 at the age of about 45 year in Faulkner County. She is listed as a widow in the 1920 census of Faulkner County. She remained a widow until her death on 2 February 1954 in Los Angeles, California at the age of 80. Harris Elihu Luce’s children were Lorena Luce the wife of Homer L. Adamson, Hubert Munn Luce husband of Viola Irene Johns, and Larena “Elmer” Luce husband of Martha A Barger
2. Ora Roberta Luce was born on December 17, 1871, in Holland, Faulkner County Arkansas.  She married William Harrison Smith on September 15, 1887, in Faulkner, Arkansas. They had eight children in 16 years. She died on February 16, 1938, in Faulkner, Arkansas, at the age of 66, and was buried in Quitman, Arkansas. Her children were Bernice Hay Smith wife of John H. Payne and William Monroe Mobley, LaVada Temple Smith wife of Sampson Garrett Grimmett, Stanley Livingston Smith husband of Ida Alice Smith and Ruth Mae, Wrighty Waston Smith husband of Lucille Josephine Bridges and Mamie Bennett, Durmott Smith husband of Myrtle Smith, Vollie V Smith husband of Beulah Lipscomb and Marie, Euell C. Smith husband of Idel Harriett Biggers, and Marshall Houston Smith husband of Autie Lee Owen.
3. Leslie Lucretia Luce born December 1874 Faulkner County, Arkansas  She married  Edward Floyd M Hughes. He had married a twice widowed Elizabeth Jennie Glenn in 1900 who was the mother of 9 children. The 1910 Census stated that Edward Floyd Hughes and his wife Elizabeth J had both been married before. His occupation was a mechanic in a cotton gin. By 1918 he had divorced Jennie Glenn and married Leslie who was about 44 years old. The 1930 census stated his occupation was a working as a mechanic millwright.  Leslie Hughes died 21 February 1927 at the age of 62. Her widower died 1 April 1939 at the age of 66 years. She had no children.
4. Willie Pauline Luce born January 1878 Faulkner County, Arkansas.  She was married to a man named Brown by whom she had a son named Albert Brown born in 1904. In 1930 she said she was 25 years old at the time of her 1^st married which would have been in 1903.  By 1917 she had married a man named George Giger whom she later divorced. The directory for Little Rock showed that in 1917 she worked as a laundress under the name Mrs. Willie P Giger for Frank’s Laundry. She roomed at 111 West Vine Street. There is no other Giger in the directory. Willie P Giger is not located again until the 1930 census where she is listed as divorced and living with her son who is a truck driver. The death records of Arkansas stated she died 27 January 1938 at the age of 60

ELIHU LUCE son of Lucretia Morgan

Elihu Luce was born 20 January 1843 in Lexington, Henderson, Tennessee. He was an infant when his father moved to DeSoto County, Mississippi with the Morgan relations. He is listed as 7 years old in the 1850 census for his stepfather’s household in DeSoto County.

At the age of 19 he enlisted as a private in Company A of the 10^th Mississippi Regiment. In 1864 he was taken prisoner by federal troops and was imprisoned at Rock Island Prisoner of War Camp in Illinois. Rock Island was one of the largest and most notorious Union prison camps during the Civil War. The prison was opened in November 1863. The deplorable conditions at the camp led some to call it the “Andersonville of the North,” a reference to the infamous prison in Georgia.  Disease, including smallpox and pneumonia, ran rampant through the prison claiming many lives, while others died from exposure to the elements and the unsanitary conditions of the camp.  Elihu Luce was paroled in the spring of 1865 and made his way back to DeSota County, Mississippi.

The following year Elihu Luce married Georgia Virginia Dodds on May 16, 1866, when he was 23 years old. He and Georgia Dodds had two sons and three daughters.

The 1870 Census showed that Elihu was a 25 year old married farmer with two children. Also included in his household was a 21 year old farm laborer named John Holt and a married couple Madison and Lucy Taylor  and their two young daughters. Madison Taylor was also a farmer worth about $200 in personal property.  John Holt may have been related to Minerva Ann Holt whom his half brother Theophilus Bassell Danforth married.

About 1878 Elihu Luce with his family left Mississippi and moved to northern Texas maybe to get away from the Yellow Fever epidemic that was sweeping the Mississippi Delta Counties.  He moved to Palo Pinto County where his half brother Theophilus B Danforth and half sister Alice Nicholson had relocated.

The 1880 Census of Palo Pinto County, Texas showed that he was a farmer in Precinct 3 with a wife and  four children. His eldest son John Luce was listed a working on the farm.  About 1885 Elihu Luce left Palo Pinto and moved further west to cattle country  to an area that would become Dickens County.  The family came by covered wagon and he purchased land about eight miles below the escarpment of the Llano Estacado (the Caprock) in a community called Red Mud

The area was a ranch supply point where the first settlements were dugouts used as cowboy line camps for the Spur, Pitchfork, and Matador Ranches.

In 1886 there was a camp near the present townsite of Dickens about miles north of where Elihu Luce settled at Red Mud where he tried to grown cotton but failed to mature. This was before the County of Dickens was organized. He claimed to have raised the first cotton in Dickens County in 1889 on his land patent at Red Mud. It was from seeds from Palo Pinto County and he hauled his cotton 85 miles south to Sweetwater to be ginned.  By 1889 the town of Dickens was settled and became the county seat shortly after the county was organized. By 1893 the town had a post office, wagon yard, hotel, courthouse, saloon, blacksmith shop and a barber shop. The school was in a dugout on the courthouse square. Preaching was also held in the dugout.

In 1890 the county had a population of  295 people with 195 of the people lived in and around Dickens. The county was organized February 9, 1891 from Crosby County.  The first couple married in the new county was Elihu Luce’s son John Napoleon Luce and Zona Thomas on 4 August 1891 near  the settlement of Espuela.  They lived on a farm about 3 miles south of Spur. Elihu Luce also served on the Grand Jury of Dickens County in 1891.

In 1900, Dickens County  had a population of 1,151 people with 600 living in Dickens. Elihu Luce had moved from Red Mud to Emma in Crosby, Texas on a farm he owned. He was living with his wife Georgia Luce and daughter 11 year old Georgia “Emma” Luce. The community of Emma was twenty-five miles east of Lubbock and once was the thriving county seat of Crosby County. All of his other children had married and were living away from home. His son John N Luce lived the closest to Elihu in the community of Carmack Box where he was a farmer and stock raiser.  His daughter Mollie Ringo never went west but remained 230 miles east in Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas where her husband Ross was a farmer.  His daughter Laura Glenn lived about 230 miles south east in Brownwood, Brown County, Texas where her husband James Glenn farmed. His youngest son Morgan Luce lived about 50 miles northwest of his father in Hale County.

Elihu Luce moved back to Dickens County after the turn of the century and bought a general store in Tap. He moved his son and daughter in law closer to him so they could help run the store. The community of Tap besides having Elihu Luce’s general store, had a blacksmith shop ran by Bud Turner, a one room school house and 2 small churches, a Baptist Church and a Chruch of Christ.  Tap had its own post office from 1900 to 1918 when it was removed to Spur. Elihu Luce was a post master for the community for several years.

Elihu Luce was the first man in Dickens County to charge the “fabulous” price of 10 percent interest on money he loaned. He loaned money to everyone especially young men so they could buy a horse and saddle to work in the cattle industry.

Elihu Luce also sold to the men in the community cows and calves. He had them buy them herds of five cows with heifer calves and five cows with steer calves for $30 for the old cows and $35 for the young ones. In the fall he’d buy back the steer calves for $12.50 each as payment on notes.  However in 1902 and 1903 a bad drought killed off much of the cattle in the county from lack of water and grass.

In 1903 Elihu Luce purchased a gin in Peacock, Texas for $400, had it dismantled and hauled by freight wagons back to Tap. He operated the gin for 2 years and could bale six to seven bales a day during the fall.

The 1910 Census of Dickens County, listed Elihu Luce as a merchant with a store that sold general merchandize. Georgia Luce stated she only had four living children as that their youngest son Morgan Luce had died in 1902. Within their household was their divorced daughter Emma Benson and their grandson Carl E. Benson.  Their son John N. Luce was enumerated just a few families away and he was listed as a “stock farmer” so probably farmed and raised cattle. Within his household was a 27 year old boarder named Will A Smith who was listed as a general farmer.

In 1912 Elihu Luce helped finance the Church of Christ meeting house in Spur where his son John Luce was an Elder. He was the chaplain and commander of the local camp of the United Confederate Veterans.

There was a decline of population before World War II in Dickens County but when the men returned a new growth with the building of new homes and businesses. This lasted for a few years with another downward surge following.

The 1920 Census is the last to enumerate Elihu Luce who was listed as farmer landlord. Living within his household was wife and grandson 14 year old Carl Benson. 

Elihu Luce died 21 August 1920 age 77 years in Spur, Dickens, Texas and was buried there. His widow lived another 12 years and died on 21 January 1933. Her obituary stated “Sister Georgia V. Luce better known as Grandma, died at her home in Spur, Texas at 10:45 p.m. January 21.  Sister Luce had been in poor health for a number of years, although she was able to be up and about until the last three weeks of her life at which the suffering became so intense that she was unconscious for several days before her death.  Grandma Luce was born in DeSoto County, Mississippi February 24, 1848 and grew to womanhood in that country. Her maiden name was Dodds.  She married Elihu Luce, May 16, 1866 and spent some eleven years of her married life east of the Mississippi River.  Five children were born to this union, three of whom still survives; John Luce of Spur,  Mrs. A.E. Davies of Lubbock, and Mrs. J.E. Glenn of Witchita Falls. Grandma and family moved to Texas in 1877, settled in Tarrant County, from there to Palo Pinto County, they moved to Dickens County in 1886, one of the first families to settle this county. Sister Luce was a devoted member of the One Body for more than half a century. To know her was to love and appreciate her as a Christian.  Time alone will reveal the good that she has accomplished in her sincere Christian life. Funeral services were conducted by the writer. Sunday afternoon at the Church where more than four hundred friends and loved ones assembled for the last rites.-

As that Elihu Luce died in 1920 and his share of his half brother Charles B Danforth’s estate was divided among Elihu’s three children and five grandchildren. They were John N. Luce of Spur, Texas, Mrs. Laura Luce Glenn of Witchita Falls, Texas, and Mrs. Georgia E. Davies of Lubbock Texas. They all received $500.00. The children of Mrs. Mollie Luce Ringo who was deceased received $100.00 each.  Her children were Mrs. Ola Mitchell , Albert Ringo, Mrs. Laura James, William L. Ringo all of Gordon, Texas and Mrs. Robbie Ringo Alexander of Jayton, Texas. No money was given to the heirs of Morgan Luce.

1. John Napoleon Luce was born on May 16, 1867, in Coldwater, DeSoto County. When he was 10 years old he moved to Texas with his family. He married Amazona "Zona" Thomas on August 4, 1891, in Dickens, Texas. They were the first couple married in the newly formed county. He was a stockraiser, helped his father out in his store in Tap, and was a Church of Christ Elder. He and his wife adopted the son of Zona Luce’s youngest sister who died in 1915. He died on January 8, 1952, in Spur, Texas, at the age of 84, and was buried there.  A dormitory at the Abilene Christian College is named Zona Luce Hall. Durward Edward Woodward was born on March 16, 1910, in Roscoe, Texas. He was the husband of Mary Louis Tucker.
2. Mary "Mollie" Lucretia Luce was born on January 28, 1868, in DeSoto County, Mississippi. She came to Texas with her family in 1877 and she married William Ross Ringo in 1886 in Palo Pinto County, Texas where she lived out her life near the community of Gordon. She died from tuberculosis and influenza on May 8, 1919, in Gordon, Texas, at the age of 51. Her husband Ross Ringo was a farmer and stockraiser who died in 1940 at the age of 80. He children were Ola Ringo wife of Fredrick E Mitchell, Albert Elihu Ringo husband of Ada Ruth James and Imogene Wood, Laura Ross Ringo wife of Arthur Ansell James, William Leslie  Ringo husband of Margaret Murl Maddox, and Mary Robbie Ringo wife of William L Alexander.
3. Laura Alma Luce was born on January 20, 1871, in Coldwater, DeSoto, Mississippi. She married James E Glenn in 1895. They had three children during their marriage. She died on October 23, 1961, in Wichita Falls, Texas, at the age of 90. Her husband was a real estate agent and in 1921 a detective and in  a 1927 directory of Wichita Falls he was a police captain.  1930 directory of  Wichita Falls, Texas  he was a “poultryman” He died 4 November 1935 at the age of 65.  Laura Glenn never remarried and died 23 October 1961in  Wichita Falls, Texas at the age of 90. Her children were Lorena Glenn wife of Reginald Whitney Rogers, Edwin Elwood Glenn husband of Nancy Jones, and Lucille Glenn wife of O Harry Maricle
4. Morgan Edgar Luce was born on February 3, 1873, in Coldwater, DeSoto Mississippi, He married Mary Estella "Stella" Thompson in 1895. They had two children during their marriage. He died as a young father on April 30, 1902, at the age of 29, and was buried in Gordon, Texas. His widow remarried James F Baird who raised his children. He was the father of Clarence E Luce husband of Inez Webb and Irma Crawford, and Ivan Varne Luce wife of Leonard K VanLandingham.
5. Georgia “Emma” Luce was born on March 8, 1889, in Emma, Crosby County, Texas She had one son with Sidney Johnston Albert Benson. They were divorced and she then married Albert Ernest Davies and they had six children together. She died on April 5, 1969, in Lubbock, Texas, at the age of 80, and was buried there.  Her ex husband Sid Benson was a police officer who was murdered in 1917 in El Paso, Texas. Her son Carl Benson was raised by Elihu and Georgia after Emma remarried. He got in trouble with the law for selling liquor during prohibition and was sent to Huntville state prison for two years. The month after he was released he was murdered with  shotgun and died at the age of 25 years in Spur Texas. Her second husband died 5 September 1984 at the age of 94. Emma by her second husband had Nina Opal Davies wife of Norvell “Billy” Key, Lillie Leora Davies wife of Edward Ragan Little, Anna Kathryn Davies wife of George N McDaniels, John “Bernice” Davies wife of Frank Aycock Guess, Ivan “Estelle” Davies wife of Earl Ince Jr and Albert Ernest Davies Jr, husband of Jessie Vivian Robbins,

SOPHIA DANFORTH daughter of Lucretia Morgan

When Sophia Danforth was born on July 27, 1847, in Mississippi, her father, Thomas, was 51, and her mother, Lucretia, was 33. She married J D Richard Taylor on July 1, 1876, in Coldwater, Mississippi at the age of 28 years. They had no known children.  Little is known about the life of Sophia Danforth as she is not found on any census after 1860. She died after her father did in 1880 in Coldwater, Mississippi, at the age of 33. There is a monument in the Brook Chapel Cemetery that has an inscription dedicated to her. The 1880 Census of Tate County has an “R.” Taylor boarding with a family as a single man. He was born in 1842 and was a farmer. Sophia Danforth Taylor s buried in the Bethesda Cemetery in the town of Senatobia where she might have made her home. Her husband J. D. Richard Taylor died a year after she did in 1881. He is also buried in Bethesda Cemetery “Husband of Sophia Danforth Taylor”. David Matthew Taylor born in 1845 is also buried in the Bethesda Cemetery and probably is his younger brother the son of William C Taylor who was a grocer and farmer. 

THEOPHILUS BASSELL DANFORTH son of Lucretia Morgan

Theophilus Danforth was born 12 March 1849 Flewellen Cross Roads, DeSota, Mississippi. He married Minvera Ann Holt on 8 January 1874 in the newly formed Tate County.  She was a daughter of Joel Holt and Lucinda Perry. They left Mississippi after the death of Thomas B. Danforth and moved to Texas with his half brother Elihu Luce and sister Alice Nicholson. He settled in the community of Gordon in Palo Pinto where he farmed. His wife Minerva died in childbirth complicated by consumption in 1892. He remained a widower until 1899 when he married another widow named Nettie  Jones however the marriage did not work out and they separated. He went west to Dickens County where he farmed before moving to New Mexico with the families of his grown children.  He died 26 March 1930 at the age of 81 years in Causey, Roosevelt County, New Mexico
1. Oscar Mabry Danforth born 13 April 1875 Coldwater, Tate, Mississippi died 17 June 1946 Hemit, California husband  of Minnie Gertrude Peacock
2. Ora Lee Danforth born 11 November 1876 Coldwater, Tate, Mississippi died 11 August 1879 Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas
3. Alice Rose Danforth born 4 February 1879 Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas died 6 October 1922 in Spur Dickens, Texas wife if Claud O. Mayo
4. Wright Evan Danforth born 20 November  1883 Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas died 27 September 1965 in Yuma, Arizona husband of Ione Eudora Lane
5. Thomas Frederick Danforth born 14 March 1886 Thurber, Erath, Texas died 24 February 1970 Portales, Roosevelt, New Mexico husband of Edna Mae Turner
6. Lucy Lucretia Danforth born 24 April 1888 Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas died 5 October 1949 Portales, Roosevelt, New Mexico wife of Sylvester LeRoy Baugh
7. Myrtle Ruth Danforth born 6 August 1891 Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas died 19 September 1975 Portales, Roosevelt, New Mexico wife of David Olin Bilberry
8. Minerva Ann Danforth born 10 June 1892 and died 14 June 1892 in Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas.

ALICE ANNE DANFORTH daughter of Lucretia Morgan

When Alice Anne Danforth was born on February 24, 1852, in DeSoto County Mississippi, her father, Thomas B Danforth, was 55, and her mother, Lucretia Morgan, was 38. She married Percy Robert "Bob" Nicholson on December 23, 1872. They had eight children in 19 years. She died on February 14, 1934, in Crosbyton, Texas, at the age of 81, and was buried in Lorenzo, Texas.

When Percy Robert "Bob" Nicholson was born in July 1850 in Columbia Maury, Tennessee. His father, Calvin Hunter Nicholson was 45 and his mother, Caroline Staples, was 23. His mother died when he was about 8 years old and he was raised by his stepmother. Alfred Osborn Pope Nicholson, a Tennessee Democratic politician and lawyer, was twice a United States Senator from that state.

His uncle was Alfred Osborne Pope Nicholson who attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 1827. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1831, opening a law practice in Columbia, Tennessee. He edited the Western Mercury, a paper then published in Columbia, from 1832 to 1835. He also served in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1833 to 1839. In 1840 the Tennessee General Assembly elected him, on an interim basis, to succeed to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the death of Senator Felix Grundy. He served in that office from December 25, 1840 to February 7, 1842. From 1843 to 1845 he served in the Tennessee State Senate, moving to Nashville during this period, and edited the Nashville Union from 1844 to 1846. From 1846 to 1847 he served as a director, and then as president, of the Bank of Tennessee. In 1853 President Franklin Pierce wished to appoint him to the Cabinet, but he declined to serve. He edited the Washington Union from 1853 to 1856 and subsequently served as public printer to the United States House of Representatives.

In 1858 Nicholson was again elected to the United States Senate from Tennessee by the Tennessee General Assembly. He served from March 4, 1859 to March 4, 1861, when he withdrew from participation in the Senate in anticipation of Tennessee secession from the Union, which occurred the next month. Later in 1861, he was formally expelled from the Senate, as were all Senators from the states joining the Confederacy with the sole exception of his fellow Tennessean Andrew Johnson, a loyal Unionist. After the war, Nicholson served as Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1870 until his death.

Calvin Hunter Nicholson  had been a postmaster in Bolivia, the county seat of Bolivia, Mississippi from 1842 until 1844 when the county seat was moved. Bob Nicholson father first wife died in Memphis, Tennessee in 1846. He then returned to Lawrence County just south of Maury County and north of Lauderdale County, Alabama.

At the start of the Civil War his family lived in Lawrence County, Tennessee and had 7 African Americans as slaves. The 1860 census had Bob Nicholson’s father quite wealthy with $25,000 in real estate however the 1870 showed that his circumstances were considerably reduced as that his real estate was only $1000 and personal property $300.

Bob Nicholson was 11 years old at the start of the Civil War and 16 years old when the war ended.  He would have been about 20 years old when the 1870 census was taken but he’s not included in his father’s household.  His whereabouts is unknown. He was in DeSoto County by 1872 when he married Thomas Bassell Danforth’s daughter Alice Anne Danforth on December 23, 1872. He was almost 23 years old and she was 20 years old.  Bob Nicholason may have had a falling out with his family as he never told his children about his Tennessee roots.

After they were married on December 23, 1872B, Bob Nicholson and Alice Danforth began to have a family immediately. There’s no record of him owning property in Tate County, Mississippi and so he must have rent or lease his farms there.

After the death of Thomas Bassell Danforth, Bob Nicholson and his brother in laws moved to Texas about 1878. The Yellow Fever epidemic and the poor health of Bob Nicholson and Minerva Holt Danforth may have contributed to the decision to leave. They came to Fort Worth, Texas by train and then 80 miles to Palo Pinto County by wagon. When they arrived Palo Pinto was mainly cattle country.  In 1876 Palo Pinto County ranchers held a meeting regarding cattle rustling which became the beginnings of what is now known as the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.  As more and more farmers moved into the area the farmers and ranchers began to compete for precious land and water. Cattlemen found it more difficult to feed their herds, prompting cowboys to cut through fences. Fence Cutting Wars in Texas lasted for approximately five years, 1883-1888

Alice Danforth’s sister in law Minerva Ann Holt Danforth had consumption and the dryer air of central Texas was felt to be more beneficial. Also  well water in Palo Pinto seemed to be beneficial to people’s health.

The 1880 Census of Palo Pinto is the first enumeration of Bob Nicholson since 1860 when he was ten. The census was taken on 8 June 1880 and Bob Nicholson is listed as “Pursey” a 29 year old farmer born in Tennessee. Interestingly he is mentioned as being a “felon” which would indicate he had been in prison. That may account for why he was not found in the 1870 census and  lost contact with his family in Tennessee. A family legend was that he had gotten in a fight with a man who died. No record of his crime has been located.  The same census listed Alice Nicholson as his wife and keeping house.  The census enumerated four children within the household William T Nicholson, Edna G Nicholson,  Charlie A Nicholson, and “Daniel” Nicholson. Charlie A was a daughter and Daniel Nicholson who was said to have been born in April was the same as George Arthur Nicholson.  They were enumerated next to the Baptist Minister.  The agricultural census for 1880 showed that Bob Nicholason was not much more than a subsistence farmer. He was only farming 30 acres worth about $300.  He paid out $50 for labor for 12 weeks in 1879. That probably was harvesting 5 bales of cotton on 20 acres of land. The rest of the farm grew 125 bushels on 8 acres of corn, 60 bushels of oats on 2 acres, and 75 bushels of potatoes on 1 acre of land. The census indicated that he owned no horses, cows, cattle or any other livestock.  

Bob Nicholson’s youngest child was born in 1892 and by 1900 Alice Nicholson stated that she was a widow. However in the 1900 census Alice Danforth stated she had been married 20 years which would have been December 1892. He may have died in 1893.  It is not known when he died but certainly between those dates. Bob Nicholson and Alice Danforth had eight children in 19 years. He died in in Palo Pinto, Texas around 43 years old.

Alice Nicholson was enumerated as the head of her family in the 1900 Census of Palo Pinto County,  taken on 11 June.  She stated she was born in February 1851 in Mississippi and that she was a widow, In the column for how many years married 20 is crossed out. She stated she was the mother of only six children with only 5 living.   This is strange as that the 1880 census stated she had four children and the 1900 census lists and additional four born between 1880 and 1900.  No occupation is given for her but the census stated she was renting a farm. Her son Clyde Nicholson was 15 and is not listed as being in school so may have been working the farm. The other children in the household were 22 year old Alma Nicholson, 13 Year old Katie Nicholson, 11 year old Robert Nicholson and 8 year old Ethel Nicholson. Living next to the family was her son William Thomas Nicholson and his wife and father in law. He is listed as a farmer.

Alice Danforth Nicholson in the 1910 census is living  with her three children  in Gordon, Palo Pinto County, Texas. Her son " Robert P Nickleson" was listed as the 21 year old head of household and was a farmer supporting his widowed mother and two sisters 22 year old Katie and 18 year old Ethel. Alice stated she was born in Mississippi and her father was from New York and mother from Tennessee. Her five older children had married by 1910 and started their own families.  William Thomas Nicholason was farming near Mineral Wells in Palo Pinto, Alma Mayo, and Clyde Nicholson were also in Palo Pinto County . Alma Dillard had moved with her husband to Lorenzo in Crosby County, and George Nicholson had a farm near Plainview in Hale County.  On Christmas Day 1910 Katie Nicholson married Charles M Boggus. 

By 1920 Alice Danforth Nicholson was living in near Lorenzo in Crosby County, Texas living with her unmarried son who was working as a "ginner" at a cotton gin.  The 1930 census had her living with a son in law Murray F Bell who operated a grocery store in Crosbyton. In that census her father was listed as being born in New Hampshire.  She probably died in the home of her daughter Katie Bell in Crosbyton on 14 February 1934. 

1. William “Willie” Thomas Nicholson was born on October 26, 1873, in Coldwater, Tate, Mississippi. He married Effie Scott in 1898 in Palo Pinto County, Texas. They had six children in 17 years. He died on July 19, 1951, in Lubbock, Texas, at the age of 77.
Their children were Ernest Lester Nicholson husband of Bonnie Grace Harris, Lillian Nicholson died unmarried age 21, Estie D Nicholson died age 21 was married, Vera Christine Nicholson wife of Jefferson D Callaway, Lorene Katie Nicholson wife of John Wesley Beck, and Nadine Marie Nicholson wife of Charles H Vanlandingham

2. Edna G Nicholson was born on December 4, 1874, in Coldwater, Tate, Mississippi. She married John Anderson Dillard in 1896 in Palo Pinto, Texas. They had six children in 17 years. She died on October 15, 1936, in Denison, Texas, at the age of 61. Their children were William Berkeley Dillard husband of Lorene Lawler, Odis Earl Dillard husband of Gertrude Edwards, George Britton Dillard husband of Anna Sparks and Corrine Stephens, John Norval Dillard husband of Lydia M Ashley, Monroe J Dillard, and Edna Mae Dillard Carter.
3. Charlie Alma Nicholson was born on December 27, 1877, in Coldwater, Tate, Mississippi. She had four sons and two daughters with Robert "Bob Mayo" between 1902 and 1920. She died on June 10, 1967, in Plainview, Texas, at the age of 89, and was buried in Petersburg, Texas. Their children were a son Jewell H Mayo, Hazel Maureen Mayo wife of Ernest David Hughes, Eugene O Mayo husband of Lois Elizabeth Snelling, Robert Loren Mayo husband of Jerry Jean Pennington, Alma Faye Mayo wife of True Hurst Rosser, and Joe Bob Mayo husband of Eugenia Ann Wilson

4. George Arthur Nicholson was born on May 13, 1880, in Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas.

He married Annie Myrtle Askew on December 29, 1905, in his hometown. They had nine children in 17 years. He died on April 19, 1953, in Hamlin, Texas, at the age of 72, and was buried there. Their children were Georgia Faye Nicholson wife of Wellington Webb Dean, Mary Lucille Nicholson wife of Claud W Owen, Preston Raymond Nicholson husband of Coline Smith, Fletcher Robert Nicholson, Milton Allen Nicholson husband of Helen Newman, Sara Ella Nicholson wife of Clarence W Gold, Henry Morrison Nicholson, and James Arthur Nicholson.

5. Wertie Clyde Nicholson was born on October 1, 1884, in Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas. 

He married Ella "El" Tobey Penix on October 27, 1907, in his hometown. They had four children during their marriage. He died on December 26, 1943, in Bronx, New York, at the age of 59. Their children were Clyde Lanelle Nicholson wife of Harold R Williams & George C Conners, Harold Percy Nicholson, Doyle Dillard Nicholson, and Josephine Marie Nicholson wife of Robert Ellsworth Billings

6. Katie Nicholson was born in June 1887 in Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas

She married Charles Milton Boggus on December 25, 1910. They had two children during their marriage. She died on February 1, 1946, in Lubbock, Texas, at the age of 58, and was buried there. Their children were Nelma Charlene Boggus wife of Douglas Franklin Anderson, and Katie Imogene Boggus wife of Homer Paul Williams

7. Robert Persey Nicholson was born on April 6, 1889, in Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas.

He married Clarissa M Duren on December 21, 1920, in Lubbock, Texas. They had one child during their marriage, R.P Nicholson Jr.. He died on May 31, 1951, in Ralls, Texas, at the age of 62.

8. Ethel Nicholson was born in November 1892 in Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas.

She married Murray Franklin Ball on December 24, 1911, in Palo Pinto, Texas. They had seven children in 24 years. She died on October 12, 1963, in Odessa, Texas, at the age of 71, and was buried in Hobbs, New Mexico. Their children were Alice Earline Ball wife of Milton L Kirksey, Murray Glenn Ball husband of Ruby Mae Gibson, Marion Finis Ball, Wanda Merle Ball, Alma Fern Ball wife of William Dwain Barnett, Stanley Wayne Ball husband of Joyce Sides, and Robbye S Ball div James Walker.

CHARLES BRYANT DANFORTH son of Lucretia Morgan

When Charles Bryant Danforth was born on August 31, 1854, in Mississippi, his father, Thomas, was 58 and his mother, Lucretia, was 40.

In Goodspeed's Memoirs of Mississippi on page 613 more is written about Charles B. Danforth. "Charles B. Danforth is a typical Mississippi planter, substantial, enterprising, and propense, and such a man as weilds no small influence in the community where he makes his home. He was born in Desota County, Mississippi 31 August 1851, the fourth of seven children born to Thomas B. and Lucretia (Morgan) Danforth, the former whom was born in the Green Mountain State and the latter in Tennessee. Thomas B. Danforth came to this state when about thirty-five years of age and he was a resident of DeSota County where he labored as a bookkeeper and held several offices of trust until his death which occurred in 1877 at the age of eighty-five years. His widow survived him until 1889 at which time she passed from life being in her seventy-third year. She and her husband were members of the Baptist Church. The maternal grandparents were Theophilus and Nancy Morgan, natives of Virginia. They were all planters and prominent citizens of the state in which they lived and were honored and respected.

Charles B. Danforth was reared in DeSota County in the public schools of which he received his education, also studying at home to some extent. The most practical part of his education however had been acquired in the school of experience for since the age of eighteen he fought the battle of life for himself and has just cause to be proud of his record. He is wholly a self made man. He came to Coahoma County, Mississippi in 1879 and became manager for Stewart Brothers in which capacity he remained until 1889 when he purchased a plantation for $25,000 and is the owner of 1,750 acres of fine land, every hundred of which are under cultivation. In addition to the usual plantation products, Danforth is raising cattle to some extent and the enterprise promises to be a successful one. Mr. Danforth has met with good fortune in his venture for besides being industrious and economical, he is enterprising and the soul of honor in his transactions. Although he is public spirited, he does not care for public honors, preferring to pursue the tenor of his way as a planter. He possesses pleasant and agreeable manners and stands well in the estimation of those who know him."

The 1880 census showed that Charles Bryant Danforth and his mother and sister had indeed left Tate County for Coahoma County.  They settled on a farm northwest of the community of Lula. It was near Moon Lake and about 22 miles north of Clarksdale the county seat.  The community that grew up on the land that Charles Bryant Danforth owned was called Danforth not far from HWY 49 in Coahoma County.

In an article found in the History of Clarksdale and Coahoma County, Mississippi it stated there was a community named Danforth after C.B. Danforth. "DANFORTH- known at one time as Dowd's Landing, Danforth Community was named for Charles Danforth who owned the land two miles west of Lula in 1891, when the M & N Railroad established a station there. Danforth settled in Coahoma County in 1879 as a manager for the Stuart Brothers Farm. In 1889 he bought the property for $25,000."

In the 1880 census of Coahoma County, Charles Bryant Danforth is listed as CB Danforth a 25 year old farmer born in Mississippi with his father from Vermont and mother from Tennessee. He is listed a a single man enumerated with a 58 year old African American blacksmith named Lewis Price’s family.  He was in the 241 dwelling listed.  Next to him was a 25 year old mulatto farmer named Robert Keating and in the 243 household was his mother Lucretia Danforth and sister Lucy Danforth. Within their household was a 22 year old John Lee who was listed a servant who cooked for the family. Robert Keating’s mother Synthia and sister Alice were listed as household 229.

Alice Keaton was born on March 15, 1861 [or 1865], in West Point, Clay County Mississippi. Her family was African American slaves, who were emancipated during thr Civil War  County Mississippi.  In a 1920 passport application she stated “I never knew my father. I understand he was born in the United States and died when I was a young child.” She was generally listed as a “mulatto” meaning she was of mixed race. 

The 1870 Census listed Alice in the household of an African American named Jack Merriweather who was a 35 [1835] Year old blacksmith born in Alabama. His wife, Synthia Keaton, was also about 35 [1835] and born in Alabama. There were nine children  enumerated in John and Synthia’s household three males and six females, ranging from 18 years old to 6 months. However some of these may not have been offspring of both Jack Meriwether and Synthia Keaton.  A marriage record found in Lowndes County stated that Sitha Ann Keaton married John Jackson on 8 February 1869. Alice’s age was given as 9 years old and yet in other documants she stated she was born in 1865. As that she was a listed as mulatto Jack Meriweather may not have been her father although he was listed as a mulatto also.

Jack Meriwether may have been the 7 year old “mulatto” male [1843] in the 1850 household of Samuel White Meriwether of neighboring Lowndes County, Alabama.  In the 1880 census he stated he was 40 years old [1840] and his race was listed as mulatto.  Synthia Keaton was probably was in bondage to William H Keeton who had a 20 year old female slave [1840]  in 1860. He had $35,000 worth of slaves and personal property before the Civil War and only about $450 afterwards.

Alice’s mother and father separated and her father married a mulatto woman named Agnes Fernice on 11 January 1878. In the 1880 census of Lowndes County he was still a blacksmith and his wife worked as a cook. In their household was a 7 year old son.  He may be the reason Synthia Keaton left him and moved across the state to Coahoma County where in 1880 she is living on Charles B Danforth’s farm.

In the 1880 census Alice’s mother went back to using the name Keating a variant spelling of her former master’s name Keeton. In Beat 1 of Coahoma County, Mississippi she was listed as 37 years old black woman born about 1843 but surely all theses ages are estimations. She gave Mississippi as her birthplace. Although her son Davis C Keaton said his mother was born in Tuscaloosa Alabama. She is listed as the head of her household and her marital status was “Widowed” even though the father of her children was still living. Her father’s birthplace was Alabama and mother’s was Georgia. Her occupation was “Works On Farm” and she could neither  read nor write. Within her household was a 13 year old son David Keating, 15 year old daughter Alice Keating, 12 year old daughter Mary Keating, 11 year old daughter Eva Keating, 10 year old daughter Mandy E Keating, 7 year old son  Jackson A. Keating , 5 year old daughter Hysey Keating, 6 year old grandson Eugene Colyer, 25 year old son Robert Colyer, and 5 year old son John Keating.  Everyone over ten years old was said to have worked on the farm. Alice Keating, Robert Colyer and Eugene Colyer were listed as Mulattoes while the rest were listed as black.  Robert Colyer was listed as widowed and probably was a son in law instead of son.

On 14 January 1884 a son was born to Alice Keaton in Coahoma County, Mississippi that she named Malcolm Keaton.  More than likely he was the son of Charles B Danforth.  In the 1910 census his race was listed as “mulatto”. He was educated and census records stated he could read and write.

The 1900 U.S. Census of Mississippi show that Charles B. Danforth and his sister Lucy L. Danforth were living still within Beat One of Coahoma County near the town of Lula probably at the Danforth Community where he had a large plantation.  The Danforth plantation was enumerated on 13 June 1900 showing that 64 Black people lived on his land. They were the Bevley brothers, Will Steverson's family, Lisa Meriweather's family, Richard Boon's family, Richard Dicker's family, Anthony Carmel's family, Allen Jone's family, Joel Williams' family, Edward Lee's family, Reuben Holly's family, John Simm's family, Jim Hill and his wife, William Simpson and his wife, Willie Wardlo and his granddaughter, Alice Keaton and her son Malcomb Keaton and Richard Brandon.  Only Riley Bevley and Will Bevley, Alice Keaton, and Will Steverson actually worked for Charles B. Danforth. The rest were sharecroppers.         This census stated that Charles B. Danforth was born August 1854 in Mississippi with his father from Vermont and mother from Tennessee. His occupation was farming and he was a single man.  Lucy L Danforth was born in October 1857 in Mississippi.

Charles B. Danforth was listed in the 1900 census as a single 45 year old farmer born in August 1854 in Mississippi. He was still living in Beat 1 in Coahoma County, Mississippi on his farm north of Lula.  He was the 143 household visited and he owned his own home and farm. In his household was his single  42 year sister Lucy L. Danforth. They both stated their father was born in Vermont and mother in Tennessee. 

The next household visited after Charles B. Danforth was that of Alice Keaton who stated she was a single 35 years old and born in March 1865. She was listed as a black woman whose father was from Mississippi and mother from Tennessee.  She was listed as the mother of one child and he was enumerated with her as Malcomb Keaton born January 1884 and age 16. His father’s birthplace was given as Mississippi. Alice Keaton’s occupation was as a cook and Malcomb [Malcolm] was farming. 

Enumerated after Alice Keaton was her mother who was using the surname Meriwether again. She was a 60 year old black woman born in March 1840 in Alabama. She stated she was the mother of 11 children of which 8 were still living. She is listed as “Sisa Meriwether” and within her household was a daughter Ella Meriwether born December 1885, and three grandaughters  Sisa Meriweather born March 1892, Alice Meriwether born July 1893, and Willie Meriweather born June 1897.

In 1907 the Memphis directory listed Charles B Danforth occupation  “planter” staying at 823 Bulington while his sister Lucy Danforth lived at 848 East McLeMore Avenue where she “furnished rooms.”

Charles B Danforth continued to live in the community of Danforth where in the 1910 Census he was still enumerated in Beat 1 in Coahoma County, Mississippi on his plantation.  He was listed as single and gave as his father’s birthplace as Vermont  and mother’s as Tennessee. His occupation was given as a farmer and he owned his house and farm free of a mortgage.

Alice Keaton however was listed as a single 44 year old mulatto living in Memphis, Tennessee at 625 LaClade Street. The area is in Washington Heights today. She was listed as head of her household and was working as a “nurse”.  She owned the house she was living in free and clear. She was also listed as being able to read and write.  She may have been in Memphis to care for Lucy Danforth who lived ¾ of a mile within walking distance from Alice at 1054 Patton street across from the Gaston City Park.

  Her son “Malcolm Keeton” was still living in Beat One of Coahoma County as a 26 year old married man. His race was given as “mulatto” with both parents having been born in Mississippi.  His 27 year old wife was named Daisy McClain.  He was a farmer owned his own home and farm and was able to read and write. He had married Daisy McClain on 6 March 1910 in Memphis.

Charles B Danforth only came out to New Mexico once to see his brother Theophilus Danforth and that was in 1912 at the age of 58 years.  He traveled as far as Clovis, New Mexico by train and then hired a buggy to take him to Lingo in Roosevelt County, New Mexico. He stayed but one night declaring it was the coldest night he ever spent in his life and returned to San Diego, California the next day. 

While that was the only time Charles Danforth visited his western relatives he was quite generous to them.  He sent money from time to time to help out both Theophilus Danforth and his sister Alice Nicholson and when his grandniece Anne Danforth married in 1921, Charles Danforth sent her a wedding present of $100 with which she bought a bed and other furnishings to set up a household.

By 1913 Charles Bassell Danforth was in San Diego, California when he was involved in the construction business.  He brought with his sister Lucy L Danforth, Alice Keaton and her son  Malcolm Keatonwho had separated from his wife Daisy McCain. They all lived at 3175 30^th Street. Charles B Danforth was listed as a “cement worker” and Malcolm Keaton was a waiter.

In 1914 Malcolm was listed in voter registers as being a farmer and Republican while Charles B Danforth  was listed as a “builder” and a Democrat.  In that year Charles B Danforth has a 2,621 square foot house built on a 7,501 square foot lot at 3065 Union Street in San Diego. It had 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. This property in 2014 sold for $1,050,000.

In 1914 Charles B Danforth and Alice Keaton journey to Everett in Snohomish County, Washington were they applied for a marriage license on 25 August. It was marriage license 7122. “C.B. Danforth” stated he was from Memphis, Tennessee and that there was no legal impediment to his being married. However Alice Keaton used a false name “Alice Miller” of San Diego, California. They brought a witness along with them named John Mackey who swore he was “well acquainted” with both Charles B Danforth and “Alice Miller”.  For what ever reason, probably because miscegenation laws in the states of California and Tennesse, Charles B Danforth and Alice Keaton married in Washington State because the state had repealed its miscegenation laws in 1868, before achieving statehood. However their marriage would not be recognized in other states. They were married on 25 August 1920 by a minister of the gospel in Everett with witnesses John Mackey and Mary R Randall.  Whether by mistake or designed Charles listed his last name as “Dunforth”  and that he was from Memphis Tennessee. He gave his parents as T.B. Dunforth and Lucretia Morgan.  Alice was married under the name Miller. Her father was listed as “John Doe Miller” and her mother as “Ann Keaton”.

Charles B Danforth’s sister Lucy L Danforth died 6 December 1914 in Memphis, Tennessee.  Her death certificate stated she had been living at 1054 Patton Street and had been living in Memphis since 1904.  She died of heart problems complicated by pneumonia.  Charles B Danforth paid for his sister’s internment in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis.

About 1915 Malcolm Keaton returned to Memphis, Tennessee from San Diego. Two years later Alice’s Keaton’s son Malcolm Keaton died 9 October 1916 at the age of 32 and was buried in the Zion Christian Cemetery in Memphis. It was founded in 1876 by the United Sons of Zion Association which was a group of former slaves who wanted a respectable burial site for African Americans.  He has a nice headstone which has his birthdate and death date on it.

 The 1920 Census showed that Charles Bryant Danforth as of 13^th or March lived in San Diego, California. He was listed as “C B Danforth and 65 years old and born in Mississippi.  He lived at a house numbered 3065 on Union Street. The census indicated that Charles B Danforth owned the house free and clear.  He was listed as a single man with no occupation so he must have been retired and living on income from property he owned. He gave his father’s birthplace as New York and his mother’s as Tennessee.  The only other person in his household was 59 year old Alice Keaton who he listed as his servant. Her race was given as mulatto and her parents were both born in Mississippi.

In July 1920 Charles B Danforth and Alice Keaton applied for passports to go on a tour of Cuba and South America. The passport applications were very detailed and included photographs of the two. Charles B Danforth stated he was born in Independence [Flewellen’s Crossroads] “(TateCo.)” in Mississippi on 31 August 1854. He stated his father was Thomas Danforth born in Lansingburg, New York and was deceased. He gave as his permanent residence San Diego and his occupation was a farmer.  He said he was going to be gone six months visiting Cuba, “Chili”, Bolivia, and Brazil for recreational purposes.  He was leaving from  the port of New Orleans. Included in the passport were physical descriptions of him that included him being 65 years old, 5 feet 6 ½ inches tall, had a mustache, gray hair, gray blue eyes, fair complexion and a roman nose.  HR Ramsey of Memphis  who said he knew Charles for 32  years testified to the accuracy of Danforth’s statements as did Mrs. W.E. Garrott also of Memphis.

By 1930 Charles B. Danforth left San Diego and had moved back to the Mississippi Delta counties  where he lived in Mississippi Township in Crittenden County, Arkansas.  Mississippi Township is on the west side of the Mississippi River across from Memphis, Tennessee.  DeSoto County, Mississippi is directly southeast of the county.  He is listed as Charles B Danforth a single 75 year old man born in Mississippi. He owned his own home that was on a farm on the Riceville Road that was 240 dwelling.  He didn’t own a radio set which was a census question.  He gave his father’s birthplace as Vermont and mother Tennessee.  He stated his occupation was a cotton farmer.

No one else was listed in his household not even Alice Keaton.  Four households from his is listed the African American family of 66 year old cotton farmer “Dave” Keaton.  He was Alice Keaton’s older brother Davis Keaton. Why Alice was left off the census is unknown as she stated in the 1940 that in 1935 she was living in Rural Crittenden County on a farm.

Charles B. Danforth lived out the remainder of his life at Hulbert living on the rents and interests of his estates and being looked after by Alice Keaton. He wrote a letter to his nephew Mabry Danforth in January 1933 and while the letter is missing the envelope shows a shaky but still legible penmanship. The return address was CB Danforth Hulbert, Arkansas. 

Alice Keaton was Charles Danforth cook, housekeeper and companion until he died. When he left her all his personal effects no one contested the will with the understanding that Alice Keaton was to be taken care of.

Anne Danforth Williams recalled that her great-uncle also owned lands in San Diego and Redlands, California and at Taos, New Mexico. She had heard that the government took his land in New Mexico from him to build a dam and paid him only a dollar an acre for 160 acres there. 

Charles b Danforth made his will out on 13 December 1933 and added a codicil or additions to it just six days before he died in which he named Edgar. J. White and W. Morgan Garrott as his executors. W. Morgan Garrott was the brother of Minnie Garrott one of the legatees in the will.  The codicil was witnessed by Danforth's housekeepers and Alice’s sisters Hycil Keaton and Eva Hill who also  lived at the house.

Charles B. Danforth died 12 January 1934 at Hulbert, Arkansas and his probate records were filed in both Crittenden County, Arkansas and Shelby County, Tennessee.  In part C.B. Danforths will stated:

LAST WILL AND TESTEMENT

            I, C.B. Danforth, a resident of Crittenden County, in the State of Arkansas, being of sound mind and disposing memory, but realizing the uncertainties of life and the certainty of death, do hereby make, publish and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament, hereby  revoking any and all others at any time made or published.

            Item One- I direct my executors hereinafter named to pay all of my just debts, including the expenses of my last illness and burial, and including the cost of a proper monument over my grave, as soon as may be practical after my death.

            Item Two- I hereby give, bequeath and will to my “faithful nurse”, Alice Keaton, all my furniture and other household effects of every character and description, including my wearing apparel and trunks, also one pair of mules with necessary harness therefore, and two horse wagons, the mules harness and wagon to be selected by her from among those owned by me at the time of my death.

            Item Three- I hereby authorized my Executor as hereinafter named to convert into money any of my property, real, personal and mixed, wheresoever situate of which I may die seized and possessed of any such sale may be public or private, and upon such terms as to such executors seem proper, and the instrument of conveyance of such executor shall convey all the interest which I had at the time of my death, and shall be as effectual as though executed by me prior to my death, and no purchaser or purchasers at any such sale shall be required to see to the application of the proceeds of such sale or sales.

            Item Four- I give, bequeath and will the following legacies in the amounts and to the persons or their representatives, hereafter set out to wit:

            (a) To the heirs per stirpes of William Luce, the sum and amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) [his half brother]

            (b) To the heirs per stirpes of Elihu Luce, the sum and amount of two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) [his half brother]

            (c) To the heirs per stirpes of Victoria L. Garrard, the sum and amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) [his half sister]

            (d) To Mrs. Alice Danforth Nicholson and her children, share and share alike the sum of  five thousand dollars ($5,000.00); provided that if any of her present children shall predecease me, leaving surviving issue such issue shall take per stirpes the share the parent would have taken if living. [his sister]

            (e) To the heirs per stirpes of T. B. Danforth, the sum and amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) [Theophilus Bassell Danforth his brother]

            (f) To Mrs. Eva B. Shields of Cleveland, Mississippi the sum and amount of Two Hundred dollars ($200.00) [In 1920 she is listed as a white woman married to a mulatto named Victor Shields]

            (g) To Mrs. Mollie Garrott of Memphis, Tennessee,  the sum and amount of Five Hundred dollars ($500.00) [she was his 1^st cousin daughter of Perry M Morgan and Alemedia Cathey and widow of John W Garrott]

            (h) To Minnie Garrott, the daughter of Mrs. Mollie Garrott of Memphis the sum and amount of Three Hundred dollars ($300.00)

            (i) To my little nieces, Ruth and Mildred Garrard of Memphis, Tennessee the sum and amount of One Thousand dollars ($1000.00)

            (j) To Miss Pearl Moore of Memphis, Tennessee the sum and amount of One Thousand dollars ($1000.00) [She was the granddaughter of his half sister Victoria Luce Garrard]

            (k) To Pauline Garrard and Ralph Garrard, the daughter and son of Edgar Garrard who live near Fort Scott, Kansas when I last heard of them he sum and amount of One Thousand dollars ($1000.00) each.

            The above legacies, including bequests to Alice Keaton, set out in item two hereof, are to be paid without deduction for inheritance or estate taxes, which are hereby charged against the residue of my estate, and shall be paid to the right heirs of any legatee predeceasing me; and it is further my will that said legacies not bear interest until two years after my death; and it is further my will that the rights and identity of all legatees be governed by the laws of the state of Arkansas relating to the distribution of personal property.

            Item Five- I hereby bequeath and will and devise all the rest and residue of my estate of every kind, character and description wheresoever situate to my right heirs, living at the time of my death, as determined by the Statutes. 

            Charles Danforth's will was probated on 15 January 1934  and he was shown to have $16,000 in property in Shelby County, Tennessee and $28,000 all together.              

William Luce was deceased by 1934 and his legacy was divided among his three daughters and three grandchildren; Mrs. Leslie Hughes of Lonoke, Arkansas, Mrs. Ora Smith of North Little Rock, Arkansas, and Mrs. Willie Giger also of North Little Rock Arkansas equally received $1,250. Their brother Harris Elihu Luce had died and his children received his share. They were Mrs. Lorna Luce Adamson, Hubert M. Luce and Elmer Luce all of Little Rock, Arkansas.  They all received $416.68 from the estate.

Elihu Luce died in 1920 and his share was divided among three children and five grandchildren.  They were John N. Luce of Spur, Texas, Mrs. Laura Luce Glenn of Witchita Falls, Texas, and Mrs. Georgia E. Davies of Lubbock Texas.  They all received $500.00. The children of Mrs. Mollie Luce Ringo who was deceased received $100.00 each. Her children were Mrs. Ola Mitchell , Albert Ringo, Mrs. Laura James, William L. Ringo all of Gordon, Texas and Mrs. Robbie Ringo Alexander of Jayton, Texas.         

Victoria Garrard had died in 1895 and her daughter Mrs. Lettie Garrard Moore of Memphis, Tennessee received $1,666.66. Her two sons were deceased in 1934 and their heirs received their father's share Lettie’s daughter Pearl received an additional $1000.00 bequeathment.  Stanford Lee Garrard's children were Charley Ruth Garrard and Mildred Alice Garrard both of Memphis. Tennessee. John Edgar Garrard's children were Pauline Garrard wife of L.A. Peterson of Kansas City, Missouri and Ralph Aden Garrard of Boulder City, Nevada. All four of these grandchildren received $1,833.33.

Theophilus Bassell Danforth had died in 1930 and his share went to Evan Wright Danforth of Yuma, Arizona, Mabry Oscar Danforth of Earth, Texas, Fred Danforth of Lingo, New Mexico, Mrs. Lucy Danforth Baugh of Portales, New Mexico, Mrs. Ruth Danforth Bilberry of Lingo, New Mexico all who received $833.33. Alice Danforth Mayo had died and her share went to her children; Mrs. Ona Mayo Sweazea of Bellvue, Texas, Claud Estil Mayo of Bellvue, Texas, Mrs. Opal Mayo Gillespie of Seymour, Texas,  Mildred Marie Mayo age 18 year of Bellvue, Texas, Kenneth Wendel Mayo age 20 of Bellvue, Texas. All of these children received $119.05. Two of Alice Danforth Mayo's grandchildren also received an inheritance. Billie Floyd Mayo the 4 and 1/2 year old son of Floyd Evans Mayo and Uarda Mae Lane the 12 year old daughter of Elva Mayo Lane of Sweetwater, Texas also received $119.05.

Alice Danforth Nicholson died in 1925 and her children each received $625.00 as part of their mother's share. Her children were Mrs. Edna Glenn Dillard of Crosbyton, Texas, Willie Thomas Nicholson of  Enoch, Texas, George A. Nicholson of Hamlin, Texas, Mrs. Charlie Alma Mayo of Petersburg, Texas, Mrs. Katie Alice Boggus of Lorenzo, Texas, Wertie Clyde Nicholson of Mineral Wells, Texas, Robert Percy Nicholson of Lorenzo, Texas and Mrs. Annie Ethel Ball of Hobbs, New Mexico.     

Charles Bryant Danforth also had the distinction of being the last surviving member of the family of Thomas Bassell Danforth and his wife Lucretia Morgan. He died almost 140 years after the birth of his father in 1796.

Alice Keaton moved from Crittenden County after the death of Charles B Danforth and bought a house at 25 West Virginia Street in Memphis where she lived with her sisiter Ella Keaton. She died 19 Feb 1946 at her home in Memphis of a cerebral Hemorrhage. She was  between 81 and 85 years old although her death certificate said she was 71. Her father’s name was given as Jim Keaton although she had earlier said she didn;’t know who her father was. Her mother is listed as “Synthia”. The informant was Willie Carr of LePanto, Arkansas. She was buried in Zion Christian Cemetery near her son Malcolm. An obituary for her stated “Miss Alice Keaton, 71, died at the residence, 25 West Virginia Street, Tuesday morning, February 19, 1946 at 1:30 o'clock.  She was survived by her sister, Mrs. Hycie Keaton; her brothers, Andrew Merriweather and Mr. Dave Keaton; her grandchildren, Mrs. Aline Fields and Mr. Malcolm Keaton. She also leaves 5 great-grandchildren.  Interment in Zion Cemetery.”

“LUCY” LUCRETIA DANFORTH daughter of Lucretia Morgan

When "Lucy " Lucretia Danforth was born on October 12, 1857, in Mississippi, her father, Thomas, was 61, and her mother, Lucretia, was 43. She had seven brothers and five sisters. She died on December 6, 1914, in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 57, and was buried there. She never married and lived with her brother Charles B Danforth until he set her up with homes in Memphis, Tennessee where she offered furnished rooms to boarders for an income.  In 1910 she is listed as a proprietor of a boarding home. She had a young married couple and three young single men living in her house. Two of the men were railroad engineers, 1 was a railroad fireman, and the married man was a railroad conductor. She was always of delicate health with heart issues.  She was buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis in Section 17 and her brother was buried next to her.

HARRIET BROWN DANFORTH daughter of Lucretia Morgan

When Harriett Brown Danforth was born on April 10, 1861, in Marshall County, Mississippi, her father, Thomas, was 65, and her mother, Lucretia, was 47. She had seven brothers and five sisters. She died as a child in 1870 of consumption .