Her Birthday is Forget-Me-Not Day (for real!)

On an undated page in Berta Mary's autograph album are penned the following words :- 

Dear Berta :-
Think of me when you are happy
Keep for me one little spot
In the depths of thine affection
Plant a sweet forget me not. 
Your loving friend,
May.

The 10th day of November is often designated as Forget-Me-Not Day on various online calendars and websites . . . so here's wishing a Happy Forget-Me-Not Day to all of y'all! And . . .

  Happy Birthday to my maternal great-grandma,
Berta Mary Henry nee Sharp (1873-1955).


On this date in our family history . . . the 10th day of November . . . in the year 1873 . . . on the Hall Plantation in Houston County, Texas . . . a baby girl is born to Sam Houston Sharp (1839-1885) and his wife, Mary Alexandrien "Nellie" Sharp nee Lemaire (1843-1876). Given the name Berta Mary, this baby is the 6th of the seven children known to have been born to this couple.

• 1876 :: Death. Houston Co. TX. Little Berta's mother, Nellie, dies exactly one month before Berta's 3rd birthday. Age 33. Is Nellie's mother -- Elizabeth A. Lemaire Beale nee Waring (born ca. 1824 in Maryland) -- still living at this time? 

• 1878 :: Death. Houston Co. TX. Berta's paternal aunt and mother-figure -- Margaret Hall Stewart nee Sharp -- dies when Berta is 5. Age 38.

• 1880 :: Census. Houston Co. TX. Berta Sharp is enumerated as a 5-year-old [sic] living in the household of her paternal grandma, Mahaley Hall -- aka Mahala Lee Sharp Hall nee Roberts (1816-1885) -- along with her widowed father and all living siblings.

• 1882 :: Marriage. Houston Co. TX. Berta's paternal half-uncle, Horace Oscar Hall (1854-1934), marries Florine Annie Kirkpatrick (1861-1900). Is he now managing the Hall Plantation, or co-managing it with his half-brother (and Berta's father), Sam Sharp?

• 1885 :: Death. Houston Co. TX. It is around this time when Berta Mary loses her father, Sam, and her baby sister, Willie (1876-1885), as well as her paternal grandma, Mahala. Berta is only 12 at the time, and is the baby of the family. Is the Hall Plantation still intact and operating? If so, is H.O. Hall running it? Who does Berta Mary live with now?

• 1889 :: Marriage. Milam Co. TX. Berta's brother, Sam Sharp, Jr. (1867-1921) marries Emma Henry (1872-1944). Emma is the twin sister of Berta's future husband. Berta is 15.

• 1890 :: Marriage. Houston Co. TX. Berta's sister, Margaret Elizabeth "Maggie" Sharp (1869-1935), marries John Henry McCann (1870-1907).

• 1893 :: Autograph. Berta's sister, Ida Mae Sharp (1871-1964), signs Berta's autograph book on Christmas Day.

• 1893 :: Autographs. Daly's TX. Alice Chiles and John Chiles sign Berta's autograph book on the 28th of December.

• 1894 :: Autograph. Daly's TX. Frank Meriwether signs Berta's autograph book in January.

• 1894 :: Autographs. Elkhart TX. Berta's autograph book is signed on the 4th day of January by Annie Hughes, Ella Hughes, George W. Hughes, Robert A. Hughes, and Etta Weisinger.

• 1894 :: Autographs. Daly's TX. Gail Clinton and G.B. Kent write in Berta's autograph book on January 16th. Mention is made of Berta's pending move to Rockdale TX.

• 1894 :: Autograph. Daly's TX. Ella Kent writes in Berta's autograph book on January 17th.

• 1894 :: Autograph. Rockdale TX. Berta's brothers-in-law, Edgar Henry (1872-1950) and J.B. Henry (1870-1956) write in her autograph book on the 11th day of March. Edgar is Berta's future husband, and is the twin brother of the wife of Berta's brother, Sam Sharp, Jr.

• 1894 :: Photograph. Rockdale TX. In a numbered series of photos taken by John Scott of Rockdale, Berta's portrait is #3985. #3986 is Berta Mary and an unknown woman, perhaps her sister, Maggie. #3987 is Berta's future mother-in-law, Josephine. #3988 is Berta's sister-in-law, Ella, who marries in December of this year. The two photos of Berta mentioned here are featured in the collage shown above (click to enlarge).

• 1894 :: Autograph. Rockdale TX. Berta's sister-in-law, Ella Henry (1875-1967), writes a birthday message in Berta's autograph book on the 10th of November. Berta is 21 years old. This page from the autograph album is also visible in the collage.

• 1894 :: Autographs. Rockdale TX. Berta's brother, S.H. Sharp, and her cousin. L.O. Stewart, write in her autograph book on November 12th.

• 1894 :: Wedding. Bethlehem TX. Berta's sister-in-law, Ella Henry, marries James David Hamilton (1872-1922) on December 20th. The local newspaper features a lengthy write-up about the Christmas wedding and the guests who attend and the gifts they bring.

• 1895 :: Wedding. Houston Co. TX. Berta Mary Sharp becomes the bride of Edgar Henry on January 2nd. Why do they marry in Houston County? Did they marry at the Hall Plantation? Wonder if there might be a write-up in a Crockett newspaper?

• 1895 :: Birth. Milam Co. TX. Berta Mary's first child, Rubie May (1895-1978), is born on the 18th of October.

• 1896 :: Marriage. Berta's sister, Ida May Sharp, marries George W. Halyard on August 27th.

• 1897 :: Birth. Milam Co. TX. Berta's 2nd child, George Rettig (1897-1977), is born on the 21st of August.

• 1899 :: Group Photo. Milam Co. TX. Berta is present in a Henry family photo presumed to have been taken during the winter of 1898-1899.

• 1899 :: Birth. Milam Co. TX. Berta's 3rd child, Frank (1899-1952), is born on July 10th.

• 1899 :: Death. Milam Co. TX. Berta's mother-in-law, Josephine Wingfield Henry nee Davis (1842-1899), is dragged to her death by the hair of her head on the 28th day of October.

Berta's marriage will continue until her husband's death in 1950 . . . and her life, which began shortly before the start of the last quarter of the 19th century, will go on to span more than half of the 20th century . . . the next quarter century of this timeline . . . including the birth of my maternal grandpa, Robert E. Henry (1905-1976) . . . will pick up at a later date . . . 

For more information on Forget Me Not Day, go > HERE < and then click on the link to Shades of the Departed to read the article entitled simply forget me not.

1895 :: Marriage of Edgar and Berta Mary

On this date in our family history . . . the 2nd day of January . . . in the year 1895 . . . Berta Mary Sharp marries Edgar Henry in Crockett, Houston County, Texas . . . they are the parents of Rubie and George and Frank and Milton and Robert and Oscar and Nellie . . .



Edgar Henry
born 31 January 1872
Old Independence, Washington County, Texas
died 25 June 1950
Rockdale, Milam County, Texas


Berta Mary (Sharp) Henry
born 10 November 1873
Hall Plantation, Houston County, Texas
died 06 December 1955
Rockdale, Milam County, Texas




This Edgar and Berta are maternal great-grandparents to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

FYI . . . . . . original photo of Edgar and Berta from our family photo collection . . . blank journal page containing the details of their marriage is from a friendship album belonging to Berta Mary . . . linen hanky is from the private collection of benotforgot . . . postage stamp is from the birth announcement for Robert Henry, Jr. mailed to Edgar and Berta by Elizabeth Marilla Henry nee Smith  . . . heritage collage created at mycanvas.com . . . some free graphics from Far Far Hill . . .

A Tribute to Our Mahala for the CoG

On the 22nd day of March . . . in the year 1838 . . . in San Augustine County, Texas . . . 21-year-old Mahala Lee Roberts becomes the bride of John M. Sharp. John and Mahala will become the parents of a son and a daughter whose exact birth dates are still unknown . . . and then, before 1850, John's existence will simply slip away . . . into an oblivion still hidden from this branch of his descendants.

My connection to Mahala and John is as a great-granddaughter of their granddaughter, Berta Mary Henry nee Sharp (1873-1955) . . . who is a daughter of their son, Samuel Houston Sharp . . . which makes John and Mahala my 3rd great-grandparents. Click on the following link to view a . . . 

(click above)
Our family had rather vague tidbits of information about Sam for many years, but Mahala's very existence was completely unknown to us . . . other than being the anonymous (faceless and nameless) mother of our Sam . . . until a little over eleven years ago.


Being a person who has been sort of doing genealogy for most of her life (me), the relatively recent introduction to our Mahala came as a complete surprise. How, you may ask, did we finally connect after so many years of never meeting each other? Well, it went kinda like this. . . .





In January of 1895 in Crockett, Houston County, Texas, the above mentioned Berta Mary (my great-grandma) became the bride of Edgar Henry (1872-1950) of Milam County, Texas. This Edgar is a son of William Paschal Henry (1836-1912) and Josephine Wingfield Davis (1842-1899), my 2nd great-grandparents. . . .





A little over a century later . . . in September of 1998 . . . descendants of Josephine and William were receiving a newsletter containing final details for a Henry Family Reunion to be held in October. Among those descendants was one of their great-grandsons, Stuart Arlington Leaverton (1908-2001) of Oklahoma, who was kind enough to call me upon receipt of the newsletter, expressing his regret in not being able to attend.

FYI . . . Stuart's maternal grandparents were both siblings to my maternal great-grandparents, i.e. . . . his grandma, Emma Sharp nee Henry (1872-1944), was a twin sister to my great-grandpa, Edgar Henry . . . and his grandpa, Samuel Houston Sharp, Jr. (1867-1921), was an older brother of my great-grandma (and Edgar's wife), Berta Mary Henry nee Sharp.

Stuart's mother, Alice Alexandria Leaverton Reynolds Campbell nee Sharp (1889-1966), was a daughter of Emma and Sam, and was actually a double first cousin to my maternal grandpa, Robert E. Henry (1905-1976) . . . which made Stuart my double 2nd cousin once removed. Anyway . . .

In the course of our telephone conversation, Stuart asked me if I knew about a 1962 legal document that actually contained answers to some of the questions I had posed in the newsletter. I did not! We hung up with him agreeing to put a copy in the mail.


The anxiously awaited packet arrived on Thursday, October 8th, 1998 . . . containing, among other items, a copy of a 1962 Deposition of Ida Mae Halyard nee Sharp (1871-1964), an older sister of Berta Mary . . . and thus began my introduction to our Mahala and her extended family.


Not long after receiving that packet of information, I posted the entire deposition on a genealogy message board for Houston County, Texas. More than six months later, I received a response from a lady in Lake Jackson, Texas, letting me know that we were kinfolk. We struck up a correspondence, and in January of 2000 arrangements were made for me to visit her in her home. Besides meeting a perfectly delightful and generous and knowledgeable half 2nd cousin twice removed, I was also introduced to the photo you see here of our Mahala, as well as a mid-19th century journal which frequently mentions our kith 'n kin. And I now know that . . .





Mahala Lee Roberts was born on the 3rd of November 1816 in Washington Parish, Louisiana. Her father was Elisha Roberts, born ca. 1774 at Watauga Settlement in Hawkins County, Tennessee. Her mother, Martha Gill aka Patsy, was born ca. 1781 in Bedford County, Virginia. Elisha and Patsy married in Green County, Kentucky in 1800, and were in Washington Parish, Louisiana before the birth of their son, Noel, in 1813. This family was living in the Redlands of East Texas by 1826 . . .





We now have an amazing amount of detail on the lives of this family unknown to us before the autumn of 1998. A detailed timeline of the decades of Mahala's life is posted > HERE <. Directly below, you will find links to previous blogposts about Mahala, arranged in chronological order.





FYI . . . all links will open in a new window . . .

• 1816 -- November 3rd -- Happy Birthday, Mahala
• 1836 -- July 4th -- Sam Houston in the Republic of Texas
• 1838 -- March 22nd -- Mahala marries John M. Sharp
• 1842 -- August 2nd -- Mahala most likely did not attend the Kentucky wedding of her brother, Felix Grundy Roberts, when he married Elizabeth K. Layton
• 1846 -- February 19th -- Mahala is living in San Augustine when the flag of the Republic of Texas is lowered, and the flag of the United States is raised in Austin.
• 1850 -- Mahala is enumerated in San Augustine . . . click the link to see the house next door to where she is living.
• 1850 -- July 30th -- wonder what our Mahala thought about her older sister, Matilda, giving away 120 acres of prime Texas real estate?
• 1861 -- January 29th -- Mahala is living in Houston County when Texas votes to secede from the Union
• 1861 -- July 11th -- Mahala's son, Samuel Houston Sharp, marries Mary Alexandrien "Nellie" Lemaire
• 1862 -- December 24th -- Mahala enjoys Christmas Eve
• 1863 & 1864 - January 1st -- Mahala enjoys New Year's Day
• 1863 - January 25th -- Mahala is present at the birth of her grandson, James Hall "Major" Sharp
• 1863 -- December 15th -- Mahala is present at the birth of her granddaughter, Josephine Martha Hall
• 1863 & 1864 -- December 25th -- Mahala enjoys Christmas Day
• 1863 -- December 31st -- Mahala enjoys New Year's Eve
• 1866 -- July 16th -- Mahala is not mentioned as being present at the death of her two-year-old granddaughter, Josephine Martha Hall
• 1873 -- November 10th -- Mahala is most likely present at the birth of her granddaughter, Berta Mary Sharp [my great-grandma]
  
• 1876 -- October 10th -- Mahala is most likely present at the death of her daughter-in-law, Nellie Sharp [my 2nd great-grandma]
  
• 1885 -- June 27th -- Mahala dies at the Hall Plantation and is buried in the Hall Cemetery

The topic for this edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: A Tribute to Women! March is women's history month and a great time to honor the women on our family trees. This is the 4th annual edition on this topic so we're going to change it up just a bit to keep it fresh. Write a biography about a woman on your family tree starting with a timeline of their life. The timeline can be a separate post that you link to from your biography (which can itself be a series of articles) but please just submit one post to the COG. If you haven't written from a timeline before you may find it a great learning / research experience! Since this topic will likely require more research and writing time you'll have a full month till the deadline. There will be no March 1st edition of the COG. The deadline for submissions will be March 15th. Thirty submissions will be accepted. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and / or write a brief description / introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. Thanks for the posters, fM!

The collage at the top of this post ... created in Picasa ... features a photo of our Mahala ... with a backdrop of a page from a 19th century issue of Godey's Lady's Book ... accented by vintage calendars for the years ... 1816 (when Mahala was born) ... 1838 (when Mahala married John) ... 1851 (when Mahala married Joshua) ... 1885 (when Mahala died).

(click above)

1895 :: Marriage of Edgar and Berta Mary

 

On this date in our family history . . . the 2nd day of January . . . in the year 1895 . . . Berta Mary Sharp marries Edgar Henry in Crockett, Houston County, Texas . . . they are the parents of Rubie and George and Frank and Milton and Robert and Oscar and Nellie . . .



Oak Lawn Cemetery
Rockdale, Milam County, Texas Edgar Henry
born 31 January 1872
Old Independence, Washington County, Texas
died 25 June 1950
Rockdale, Milam County, Texas

married 02 January 1895
Crockett, Houston County, Texas

Berta Mary (Sharp) Henry
born 10 November 1873
Hall Plantation, Houston County, Texas
died 06 December 1955
Rockdale, Milam County, Texas




FYI . . . Edgar and Berta are maternal great-grandparents of the Keeper of this family history blog . . . and this collage was created in the same manner as > this < collage . . .

Double 1st Cousins :: Henry & Sharp

 

On this date in our extended family history . . . the 8th day of November . . . in the year 1867 . . . Samuel Houston Sharp, Jr. is born in Texas [probably Houston County or Liberty County] . . . this Sam is an older brother of Berta Mary Henry nee Sharp (1873-1955) . . . who is a maternal great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .


Sam had just turned 7 when his 3rd little sister, Berta Mary, was born in 1873 on the Hall Plantation in Houston County, Texas . . . less than three years later their mother died . . . and then ca. 1885, their father as well as their paternal grandma followed their mother in death . . .


In January of 1889, Sam married Emma Henry in Milam County, Texas . . . six years later, in January of 1895, Sam's little sister, Berta Mary, married Emma's twin brother, Edgar, in Houston County, Texas . . . 

Each couple had multiple children before William Harden Sharp was born to Sam & Emma in September of 1904 . . . and then Robert E. Henry (my maternal grandpa) was born to Edgar & Berta Mary in February of 1905 . . .


This means that the two little boys in the above collage were double 1st cousins . . . but were the same, genetically speaking, as being half-brothers . . . double first cousins share both sets of grandparents, but have different parents . . .

1955 :: Death of Berta Mary Henry

On this date in our family history . . . it was a winter's Tuesday in the year 1955 . . . the 6th day of December . . . when Berta Mary Henry nee Sharp died at her home on Scarbrough Street in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas . . . her funeral was held on the 7th . . . and her obituary was published in the local newspaper on the 8th . . . this Berta Mary is a maternal great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . 

The Rockdale Reporter
December 8, 1955 

Mrs. Edgar Henry dies Tuesday at home here

Mrs. Edgar Henry, 82, died at her home here Tuesday morning after an extended illness.

In September she had an accident that left her with a broken hip for which she underwent surgery. Later due to shock and other complications of her system she became bedridden and the long illness followed.

Mrs. Henry, as Berta Mary Sharp, was born in Houston county, Texas on November 10, 1873, the daughter of Sam and Nellie Lamar [sic] Sharp. She married Edgar Henry and had lived in and near Rockdale for approximately sixty-one years [sic], having in that time formed many close friendships. Her husband preceded her in death June 26, 1950.

Mrs. Henry was a member of the Baptist church.

Funeral services were conducted Wednesday at 2 p.m. from the Chapel of Phillips and Luckey Funeral Home. The officiating ministers were the Rev. M.M. Fulmer of First Baptist church and Rev. Graham Pugh of First Christian church.

Burial was made at Oak Lawn cemetery with six of the grandsons serving as pallbearers.

The survivors are the following six children: George Henry, Mrs. Ruby Christian, Oscar Henry of Rockdale, Milton and Robert Henry of Sinton, Mrs. Nellie Peebles of Lexington; 18 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and a sister, Mrs. Ida Halyard of Crockett, Texas. A son, Frank Henry, died here on July 8, 1952.

1843 :: Mary Alexandrien Lemaire

On this date in our family history . . . the 24th day of May . . . in the year 1843 . . . Mary Alexandrien Lemaire is born in Liberty County, the Republic of Texas . . . aka Nellie . . . aka Alex . . . this baby girl grew up to marry Samuel Houston Sharp . . . and they had several children . . . one of whom was the great-grandma of the Keeper of this family history blog . . . 

A Texas Historical Marker at the Hall Cemetery in Houston County, Texas indicates that the earliest marked grave is that of this Mary A. Sharp (1843-1876) . . . the historical marker is located on FM 229, 10.9 miles NW of Crockett . . . although the fact that our Nellie had a tombstone is documented on this historical marker, as well as in a 1962 deposition given by one of Nellie's daughters, no evidence has been found of the location of her grave . . .

Hall Cemetery. Joshua James Hall (1790-1871) gave a portion of his land on this site about a mile from his homestead to be used as a burial ground. Hall Cemetery was already in use when freedmen French Taylor (1842-1937), Bob Denby, & Alf Warfield petitioned Hall for permission to bury their dead in the graveyard. Hall agreed, & the cemetery was used by both Anglo & African American Settlers. The earliest marked grave is that of MARY A. SHARP (1843-1876). Hall Cemetery had several owners during the 20th century. A 1997 count revealed 29 marked & more than 105 unmarked graves. Descendants of early settlers continue to care for & maintain the land. (1998).

Sketchy family lore says that Nellie's father was a French gentleman by the name of Mr. Lemaire . . . sometimes written as Lamar (see further discussion below) . . . 

Nellie's mother, Elizabeth A. Lemaire Beale nee Waring, was born ca.1824-1827 in Maryland . . . she is the daughter of Edward Gantt Waring and his wife (and 2nd cousin), Catherine Ann (Kitty) Waring nee Waring . . .

• On the 1850 census, Nellie's mother is enumerated as E.A. Lemarre with the head of household being Kitty Waring (mother of E.A. Lemarre)
  
• In 1860 Nellie's mother is indexed as Elizabeth Beale
  
• Throughout 1865 and 1866, Nellie's mother is mentioned frequently in the Civil War-era journal of James Madison Hall (1819-1866) . . . always referred to as Mrs. Beale
  
• In 1870 Nellie's mother is enumerated as Elizabeth A. Beale
  
• 10 June 1871 :: Deed from C. L. Cleveland to Elizabeth A. Beale . . . this is the last known mention found of her name . . . her date and place of death is unknown

The story passed down through the generations indicated that it was believed that Nellie's father died under suspicious circumstances on a voyage to or from France . . . is he the Alexander Lemaire mentioned below? . . . the few details I have found on the following Alexander tend to "fit" with the few details we have on Nellie's father . . .


France is the first European power to recognize the independence of the Texas Republic. A treaty is proclaimed between France and the Republic of Texas in 1840, and continues until 1846. A French chargé or minister is sent to the Republic, and plans are made for sending French colonists to Texas.

• Google Books. The Living Age (1845). Shipwreck of the Delphine. Regarding the captain of the ship that A. LEMAIRE last sailed on . . . translated from the French. . . . We sailed from Havre for Valparaiso on the 30th March, 1840, in the ship Delphine, CAPTAIN COISY, with a crew of sixteen sailors and four passengers. . . . Those on board of her were not strangers; they were CAPTAIN COISY, Lieutenant Lepine, our sailors and companions, who came to deliver us and bring us provisions. . . .

• Google Books. Annual Report of the American Historical Association (1911) . . . 26 April 1842. A. de Saligny, Legation de France au Texas, to Hon. Anson Jones, Secretary of State. [Announcing the appointment of ALEXANDER LEMAIRE consular agent of France at Liberty, and asking orders for his recognition by the Texan authorities.] . . . 2 June 1842. Hon. Anson Jones, Secretary of State to Saligny. [Transmitting exequatur of ALEXANDER LAMAR, consular agent of France for "Liberty County," and of F. Guilbeau, consular agent of France for San Antonio.]

• Google Books. The French Legation in Texas (1971). Vol. 1* contains chiefly the diplomatic and private correspondence, between 1839 and 1842, of A. Dubois de Saligny, Chargé d'affaires of the French Legation in Texas. . . . MR. ALEXANDER LEMAIRE, former student at the Agricultural Institute at . . . with necessary information on events taking place in various parts of Texas . . . and ALEXANDER LEMAIRE for the new agencies at San Antonio, Matagorda . . . Ten or eleven months ago MR. LEMAIRE, who had been named for the post at Liberty on the Trinity, embarked at Galveston on the brig Amanda (under CAPTAIN COISY from Havre) for France to look after his affairs. It was learned that the Amanda was forced to put into port at Bermuda for repairs. However, since she put to sea again she has not . . . [*If you have access to this book, I would love to know what the entire text says about Lemaire. I am only able to view a few brief clips at Google Books.]

• Found online . . . regarding the ship that A. LEMAIRE last sailed on . . . Google Books. History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine . . . Gather up the fragments, that nothing be lost. John 6,12. (1865) . . . Nathan Robinson, lost at sea in BRIG AMANDA, 1843.

• Found online . . . regarding the ship that A. LEMAIRE last sailed on . . . Google Books. Annals of the Town of Warren; With the Early History of St. George's, Broad Bay, and the Neighboring Settlements on the Waldo Patent. (1851). The town of Warren, in the county of Lincoln, State of Maine, . . . Capt. William James Lermond, b. July 18, 1813; sailed in THE BRIG AMANDA from N.O., in March, 1843, and with his vessel was never heard from. . . .

• Google Books. The French in Texas: History, Migration and Culture . . . Upon the death of LEMAIRE, the French consul of the town of Liberty, Cramayel chose not to replace him, declaring: "Liberty is only a hamlet in the interior of a region that has no direct commerce with foreign countries. In the surrounding area there are only about thirty French residents, widely scattered, & living in a situation close to destitution." . . .

• 1840 :: there is a Samuel F. Lunier on the Liberty County tax list . . . is he some kin to Alexander?
  
• 24 May 1843 :: Mary Alexandrien Lemaire is born in Liberty County, Texas
  
• 1846 :: there is a Lamiel (Samuel?) Lanier on the Liberty County tax list
  
• 27 March 1848 :: there is a Samuel Laimer (b. 1826) who arrives in New York from Le Havre, France
  
• 1850 :: Mr. (Alexander?) Lemaire is NOT listed on the Liberty County, Census with his wife and daughter
  
• ca. 1852 :: The "widow" Lemaire marries John S. Beale . . . according to family lore, there was speculation that this Mr. Beale might have had some involvement in Mr. Lemaire's disappearance . . . but ongoing research is indicating that he actually disappeared at sea along with an entire shipload of people
  
• 1850 Liberty County Census :: looks like Mary A. Lemarre (indexed as Lamane)
  
• 1860 Liberty County Census :: enumerated as Mary A. Lamire
  
• 11 July 1861 :: listed as Mary Alexandrien Lamier in the Journal of James Madison Hall when he writes about her marriage to his step-brother / brother-in-law, Samuel H. Sharp
  
• 13 March 1862 :: JMH refers to her as Alexandrien
  
• 20 & 22 March 1862 :: JMH refers to her as Alex
  
• 17 & 30 April 1862 & thereafter :: JMH refers to her as Nellie
  
• 7 October 1862 :: Nellie Sharp is a witness for the will of J. M. Hall
  
• 15 January 1863 :: JMH refers to her as Mary A. Sharp familiarally called Nellie . . . thereafter he calls her simply Nellie
  
• 1870 Houston County Census :: enumerated as Mary A. Sharp
  
• 10 October 1876 :: Mary A. Sharp dies, and is buried in the Hall Cemetery in Houston County, Texas . . . she is survived by her mother, her husband and six children, and her mother-in-law, Mahala Lee Sharp Hall nee Roberts

Lamarre :: French: habitational name from any of the places in Normandy called La Mare, from Old Northern French mare ‘pool’, ‘pond’ (Old Norse marr).

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4



F
Mary Alexandrien Lemaire
Lamane (on census /index)/
Mary A. /Lamaire/
LaMire /LaMar/, Lemarre, LeMire
Mary A. /Lamar/
Mary Alexandrien /Lamar/
Nellie /Lamar/
Mary Alexandrien /Lamier/
Nellie /Lamier/
Mary A. /Lamire/
Alex /LeMire/
Mary Alexandrien /LeMire/
Mary A. /Sharp/

• Born on 24 May 1843 - Liberty County, Texas
• Died on 10 October 1876 - Houston County, Texas
• Buried after 10 October 1876 - Hall Family Cemetery, Houston County, Texas
• Age at death: 33 years old

Parents

• Alexander ? Lemaire +ca 1843
• Elizabeth A. Waring ca 1824-1871/

Marriage and children

• Married on 11 July 1861, Liberty, Liberty County, Texas, to Samuel Houston Sharp ca 1839-ca 1885, with

  • James Hall 1863-1936
  • Infant 1864-1864
  • Samuel Houston 1867-1921
  • Margaret Elizabeth 1869-1935
  • Ida Mae 1871-1964
  • Berta Mary 1873-1955
  • Willie /1876-ca 1885

Notes -- as per Aunt Ida (Sharp) Halyard . . . My mother, Mary Alexandren Lamar Sharp, was born in France [sic] & was of French extraction, but I know nothing about her family history, except that she owned land on the Robeson Survey, Liberty County, Texas, & I still own my inherited interest in this land. My mother died when I was four years old, & is buried in the Hall Cemetery on the old Hall Plantation on Elkhart Creek, where I was born. There is a marker at her grave.

CoG :: Honoring Our Family Historians

With much love and appreciation to Aunt Ida and cousin Stuart . . . and to cousin Esther in Lake Jackson . . .


The woman I knew as Aunt Ida was an older sister of my great-grandma, Berta Mary Henry nee Sharp (1873-1955) . . . so she is actually a great-grand-aunt. (Both Ida and Berta Mary are pictured in the collage on the left.) I do seem to remember going to East Texas to visit Aunt Ida when we were kids, but unfortunately I do not have any concrete memories of her.


It is said that it was someone in the Hall family who took the time and made the effort to arrange to record a 90-year-old Aunt Ida's memories of growing up on the Hall Plantation in Houston County, Texas. I am not sure why, but as far as I have been able to determine, not one of Berta Mary's descendants knew anything about this document, or about the stories of the Hall Plantation. I know my first knowledge of most of this information was through this 1962 deposition, which I first laid eyes on twelve years ago [1998]. Whoever did it, and for whatever reason, I am eternally grateful to my 2nd cousin once removed . . . Stuart Arlington Leaverton (1908-2001) . . . for sharing that document with me back in October of 1998 . . . exactly one month after his own 90th birthday.


Earlier this year [2010] I posted a tribute to our Mahala in which I talked extensively about that small packet of information shared by cousin Stuart. That small envelope contained the four pieces of paper referred to above, and shown in the collage. Each of the four is available for viewing as an individual page by clicking on the links below. Shortly after that post about our Mahala, I wrote of my very first hands-on encounter with the 150-year-old original of the 1860-1866 Journal of James Madison Hall (1819-1866). My very awareness of the existence of this Journal was also the result of receiving these four pages of typewritten paper. The notes in italics and [brackets] were added by me . . . the Keeper of this blog . . .




Page 1 of 4 pages :: most of the information on the following page was familiar to me . . . no big surprises here . . .





BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, on this day personally appeared, Mrs. Ida Mae Sharp Halyard, known to me to be a credible person, who being by me duly sworn, deposes and says as follows:

My name is Ida Mae Halyard and I am 90 years of age. I was born November 3rd., 1871, on the old J. J. Hall Plantation, which is situated about twelve miles Northwest from the town of Crockett in Houston County, Texas, on Elkhart creek.


My father was Samuel H. Sharp and my mother was Mary Alexandrien Lamar [Lemaire] Sharp [my 2nd great-grandparents]. They were married but the one time and then on July 11th., 1861, and there were only six (6) children born to this union, namely:

1. James Hall 'Major' Sharp, a boy, born in the year 1863, and died in the year 1936, and he is buried with his wife, Emma Brightman Sharp, in Glenwood Cemetery in Crockett, Texas.
2. Sam H. Sharp, Jr., born in the year 1867, and died in the year 1921 and he is buried with his wife, Emma Henry Sharp in Lovelady Cemetery at Lovelady, Texas.
3. Maggie Sharp, born November 3rd., 1869, and died in the year 1935. She was married twice; first to John McCann, who was killed by being thrown from his buggy when his horse bolted and ran away, and secondly, to Frank Ward. She is buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Crockett, Texas. There is no marker on her grave, but she is buried next to, and to the left of her son, Earl McCann, whose grave is marked.

Page 2 of 4 pages :: I was not aware of the little girl named Willie before I saw the following page . . . and this is the very first time I heard of our Mahala [my 3rd great-grandma] . . . investigating who Mahala was led me to her father, Elisha Roberts [my 4th great-grandpa] . . . who is mentioned in the pages of Texas history . . . according to the history records on her father, Mahala grew up with the likes of Sam Houston, James Bowie, David Crockett, William B. Travis, and Stephen F. Austin sitting around the dinner table . . . and further investigation into Mahala led me to the lady / cousin in Lake Jackson, Texas who introduced me to a photo of our Mahala as well as to James Madison Hall and his 1860-1866 Journal which makes frequent mention of an assortment of my kith 'n kin in its pages . . .

4. Ida Mae Sharp Halyard, this affiant, born November 3rd., 1871 as stated above. I married George W. Halyard, and he is buried in Glenwood [sic] Cemetery, Crockett, Texas.
5. Berta Sharp, a girl, was born November 10th., 1873, and died in Rockdale, Texas. She was married to Edgar Henry who is also deceased. [my great-grandparents . . . I was born on her 78th birthday]
6. Willie Sharp, a girl, was born in the year 1875, and died about the year 1885. She is buried in the Hall Cemetery on the Ramon de la Garza grant in Houston County, Texas, near Elkhart creek.

My father, Samuel H. Sharp (Sr.), was the son of Mahala Lee Roberts Sharp Hall. I do not know my Grandfather Sharp's given name. My paternal grandparents had one other child, Margaret 'Sis' Sharp, and if there were any more children born of this union, I never heard of them.


My mother, Mary Alexandren [sic] Lamar [Lemaire] Sharp, was born in France [sic] and was of French extraction, but I know nothing about her family history, except that she owned land on the Robeson Survey, Liberty County, Texas, and I still own my inherited interest in this land.


My mother died when I was four years old, and is buried in the Hall Cemetery on the old Hall Plantation on Elkhart Creek, where I was born. There is a marker at her grave. My father never married again again after my mother's death, and died when I was above fourteen years old. He is buried next to and on the right side of my mother, but there is no marker at his grave. My sister, Willie is also buried beside my mother.




Page 3 of 4 pages :: all of the information on the following page 3 was new to me . . . this was the first mention of James Madison Hall . . . I am now in the first year of what will be a seven-year journey with this man and his kith 'n kin . . . transcribing on a daily basis the entries from his now 150-year-old Journal . . .





My Grandmother [Mahala] and my step Grandfather [J.J. Hall] are also buried in the Hall Cemetery, but I do not know where their graves are located.


My Grandmother [Mahala] came from San Augustine to Houston County, and I believe that my father [Sam] and aunt were born there before she came to this County. I do not know anything about her family, except that she had a sister named Margaret, who married a McDonald and lived in Houston County, Texas.


My Grandmother, Mahala Lee Roberts Sharp, married Col. J. J. Hall about the year 1850, and there were only two children born to this union; Roberta Hall, a girl and Horace O. Hall, a boy. J. J. Hall had been married before and had a son named James Madison Hall. If he had any children except these three, I never heard of them.


Horace O. Hall married Florene Kirkpatrick when I was about eight years old, and brought her to the Hall Plantation to live. They are both now dead and are buried in Glenwood Cemetery.


Berta Hall, who was one and the same person as Roberta Hall, married John Downes about the same time her brother married, but she and Downes did not live together very long. She then married Marcus M. Halyard, my husband's uncle, and moved away from Houston County in about the year 1902.


James Madison Hall married my Aunt Margaret Sharp about the year 1860, but he died before I can remember [1866] and left Aunt Margaret with one child, named Florence.




Page 4 of 4 pages :: I had heard of Lou Stewart but did not know how he connected . . . the following page explained who he was . . . the rest of the information on this page was new to me as well . . .





Margaret Sharp Hall, the widow of James Madison Hall, married Frank Stewart and they had two children named Ed Stewart and Lou Stewart. She died about the year 1878, but I do not know where she was buried.


Florence Hall married James Christian who was killed by a man whose name I do not recall. She later married again and moved to a place near Dallas and I never heard of her again.


I have been personally acquainted with the facts set forth in this affidavit both from personal knowledge and from family history. At one time I lived in the old Col. J. J Hall home on Elkhart Creek. This was a story and half house and had two large fire-places."


(Signed by Ida Mae Halyard)


Sworn to and subscribed before me, this the 13 day of September, A.D. 1962.


(Signed by Dennis C. Frazier) Notary Public, in and for Houston County, Texas.


THE STATE OF TEXAS
COUNTY OF HOUSTON


BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, on this day personally appeared, Ida Mae Halyard, known to me to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged to me that she executed the same for the purposes and consideration therein expressed. GIVEN under my hand and seal of office, this the 13 day of September, A.D. 1962.


(Signed by Dennis C. Frazier) Notary Public, in and for Houston County, Texas."






This blogpost was prepared for the 98th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy . . . hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene . . . who asked us to discuss a document that helped us break down a brick wall on your family tree . . . and to discuss the information that appears on the document and how it contributes to your family history . . . poster courtesy of footnoteMaven . . .