My ancestors, they hail from . . .
the redlands of Texas . . . and the marshes of Maine . . .
the plantations of Georgia . . . and the courts of Spain . . .
and from a hodgepodge of places . . . betwixt and between . . .
P.S. Please do contact me if you happen across a passenger list for this ship. benotforgot at gmail dot com
Missing Vessel. -- Letters have recently been received, stating that the French brig Amanda, which put into Bermuda in distress, last February, on a voyage from Texas to Havre, and sailed thence the same month, for her destined port, has not since been heard of. The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 25, 1844.
P.S. Please do contact me if you happen across a passenger list for this ship. benotforgot at gmail dot com
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 . . . 
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).
- 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
- 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
Parents
- 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
Marriage and children
- Alexander ? Lemaire +ca 1843
- Elizabeth A. Waring ca 1824-1871/
- 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
"
In our family history . . . in the spring of the year 1152 . . . the 15-year marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to King Louis of France is annulled at Beaugency . . . famous for her beauty and wit, this Eleanor is believed to be a multiple great-grandma to our Josephine . . .
And in the spring of the year 1152, it is said that the 30-year-old Eleanor gave to a 20-year-old Henry Plantagenet (King Henry II) of England, a special "portable" sundial . . . known as an Aquitaine Sundial or Aquitaine Ring . . . supposedly because when he was out hunting (which he frequently did) he tended to forget about scheduled appointments, and was frequently late for their "dates." Apparently the "pocket watch" helped, because negotiations continued between Eleanor and Henry of Anjou . . . and soon Eleanor marries Henry II at Poitiers . . . the story told in "A Lion in Winter" is a part of the tale of this Eleanor and Henry . . .
ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE, queen of France and afterward of England: b. 1122; d. Fontevrault, France, 1 April 1204 . . . married to Louis VII. She was gay, frivolous, a lover of poetry and art . . . accompanied him on the second crusade to the Holy Land in 1147 . . . they were divorced 18 March 1152. A short time afterward she bestowed her hand upon Henry Plantagenet, the future Henry II of England. . . . She bore him many children, but his infidelities and neglect changed her love into hatred. She incited her sons Geoffrey and Richard Cœur de Lion to rebel against their father, was imprisoned in 1174, and remained in confinement until after Henry's death in 1189, when she was released by his successor, Richard I, who placed her at the head of the government on his departure for the Holy Land. She negotiated his marriage with the daughter of the king of Navarre, and went to Germany with his ransom from captivity. She afterward retired to the abbey of Fontevrault and surviving Richard, lived to see him succeeded by one of her other sons, John Lackland, the signer of Magna Charta. She was a favorite personage with the troubadour poets of the day and appears in a very different light in their works from that in which she is represented by French and Norman chroniclers. Consult Adams, "History of England, 1066-1216" (London 1905). Google Books. The Encyclopedia Americana: a library of universal knowledge, Published by Encyclopedia Americana Corp., 1918
