1804 :: Will of William Gill

On this date in our family history . . . the 13th day of February . . . in the year 1804 . . . the will of William Gill is signed in Green County, Kentucky . . . this William Gill is the father of Martha (Patsy) Roberts nee Gill . . . who is the mother of Anna & Elizabeth & Esther & Matilda & William & Noel & MAHALA & Felix & Margaret . . . and Mahala Lee Sharp Hall nee Roberts is the mother of Samuel Houston Sharp . . . who is the father of Berta Mary Henry nee Sharp (1873-1955) . . . who is a maternal great-grandma of the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

In the name of God Amen

I William Gill of the County of Green, being sick and weak of body but of perfect mind and Memory, thanks be given to Almighty God, calling to mind the Mortality of My body, knowing that it is appointed to all men once to die. make this my last will and Testament in manner and form following, that is to say principally I recommend my soul to god who gave it, and my Body I commit to the dust to be Buried in a Christian like and decent manner at the discretion of my Executors. Now wishing such worldly Estate wherewith it has pleased god to Bless me with, I give desire and Bequeath it as follows. IMPRIMIS.

First I leave and Bequeath unto my Daughter Sally Robinson Thirteen Hundred and Fifty Acres of Land on Sandy By paying Two Hundred Dollars in property at its Real Value to my Daughter Peggy Gill out of Said Land, likewise I give my Daughter Sally a Negro Girl named Jane to her and her Heirs Forever.

Likewise my Daughter Patsy Roberts I Leave Two Hundred Acres of Land on Bays Fork of Big Barren joining the land he now lives on. Also one Negro man named Red to her and her Heirs Forever.

Likewise I give to my Daughter Peggy and Esther Gill the land I now live on to be divided equally in quality betwixt them Including the purchase made from Mr. John Abney.

Also one Negro Woman Sarah to my Daughter Peggy to her and her Heirs Forever.

Also one negro Girl named Poe to my Daughter Esther to her and her Heirs forever.

Also one Young man two years old to my Daughter Esther.

And as for my Stock and movable property to be sold at public sale to discharge my Lawful debts at twelve months Credit Likewise all my bonds and notes when Collected to be equally Divided among my Legatees.

I Likewise constitute make and ordain Allen Wakefield and William Brownlee Executors to this my Last will and Testament and I do hereby utterly revoke and disanul all and every other and former will Legacies, Bequeaths, and executors by me in any wise before named willed and Bequeath Ratifying and Confirming this to be my Last will and testiment.

In witness whereof I have hereunto Set my Hand and Seal this Thirteenth day of February one thousand Eight hundred and Four. The word (and Fifty) and (Sally) interlined Before signing.

Will. Gill

Will. McMurty
Will Brownlee

Copy Teste John Barnett D.C.G.

1783 :: Inventory for Henry Hilleary

On this date in our family history . . . An Inventory of the Goods & Chattles of Mr. Henry Hilleary taken & appraised by us the Subscribers in Current Money at Six Shillings P Spanish Dollar this 28th day of Aug. 1783 . . . this Henry Hilleary is a 6th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . 

From Prince George's Inventories 1781-1787
pp. 122-126: 

• 1 Bay horse 21 years old 
• 1 Bay mare 17 Do. 
• 1 Sorrel Mare & Colt 15 yrs. old 
• 1 Black horse 13 yrs. old 
• 1 Bay mare 11 yrs. Do. 
• 1 Bay horse 11 yrs old 
• 1 Dark Bay Peter 11 yrs. Do 
• 1 Sorrel horse Blaze 11 yrs. Do 
• 1 Bay Do 10 yrs Do 
• 1 Sorrel Do. 8 yrs Do 
• 1 Sorrel Do. 8 yrs Do 
• 1 Dark Bay hip shot 2 yrs Do. 
• 1 Do Do Do 
• 4 Cows & Calves at £3 
• 2 Heffers & Calves @ £3 
• 2 Oxen £3.15 P 
• 1 Steer 
• 4 Steer Yearlings @ 30/ p 
• 2 Heffers 3 yrs old @ 30/ p 
• 2 Heffers 2 yrs old 25/ p 
• 1 Cow 
• 2 Heffers @ 50/ p 
• 1 Boar 
• 4 Sows @ 20/ p 
• 12 Shotes @ 6/ p 
• 4 Sows & 27 Small piggs 
• 16 Shotes @ 2/ p 
• 42 head of Sheep @ 6/p 
• Plantation Utensils 
• 1 Riding Chair & Harnice 
• Cyder Casks to Contain 2900 Galls. 

In the Kitchen

• 155 lbs of Pot Iron @ 2½d a p lb 
• 2 frying pans @ 3/p 
• 1 Grid Iron 
• 1 Iron Pott Rack 5/. 2 Spitts 2/ p 
• 1 pr. of Tongs & Shovel 5/. 1 iron Ladle 1/6 
• 1 Box Iron & heeters 5/ 
• 1 percl. of Old Tubs Pails & Bowls 

In the Milk house

• 8 old Pewter Dishes & 2¼ Dozn. plates 
• 13 Tin Patties 
• 2 Pottle Pewter Basons 
• 2 Bell Mettle Scillets 
• [1]. ½ Gall. Pewter Pott, 1 Qt. Do old 
• 1 old Small Coffee Pott 
• 1 old Tea Kittle 
• 4 Small Butter potts Stone one Do. Large 
• 3. 3 Gall. Stone Juggs @ 2/ 2. 1 Gall Do @ 9d 
• 1. 2 Gall Do. 1/3, 2. 1 Qt. Do 4d p 
• 2 Earthen Milk pans @ 4d p 
• 3 old Iron Candle Sticks 
• 1 old Square Poplar Table 
• 1 pr of hand Steelyards 4/. 1 pr of old Large 4/ 
• 4 Dozn Glass Qt. Bottles 

In the Hall

• 1 Cherry Tree Desk 
• 1 Mahogany Ovil Table 
• 1 Walnut Table 
• 1 old Corner Table 
• ½ Dozn. Walnut Chairs 
• 1 Arm Chair 
• 6 old Leather Chairs 
• 1 Looking Glass 
• 1 Glass Decanter 
• 1 Glass Cruet 1 Glass Salt 
• 8 Cheney Cups & Saucers 
• 1 Chaney Bowl 
• 1 Church Bible 1 Comon Prayer Book 
• 7 Vollumes of Nature Displayd. 
• Salmon's Gazetteer 
• A Percel of Books 
• 1 pr of and Irons 

In the Room Joyning the Hall

• 1 Bed & Furniture 
• 1 Black Leather Trunk 

In Mrs. Hillearies Room

• 1 Bed & furniture 
• 1 Desk 
• 1 Walnut Table 20/. 1 Do Maple 15/ 
• 1 Small Looking Glass 10/. 1 Do. 10/ 
• 5 old Leather Chairs @ 2/ p 
• 2 Ditto Flag Bottomed 
• 2 old Guns at 20/ P with horn & Shot bag 
• 1 Tin Candle Box 
• 1 pr. old and Irons 

In the Girls Room

• 1 Bed & Furniture 
• 1 Do. 
• 1 Do. Small 
• 2 Old Leather Chairs @ 2/ 
• 1 old Chest 
• 1 White Stone Dishes & 9 Plates 
• 8 old knives & forks 

In the Hall Closet

• 1 old Case with 12 Bottles 
• 2 pr of Sheep Shears 
• Some files & small Tools 
• 2 Razors hone & Strop 
• 4 old Tin Cannisters & 1 funell 
• 2 Parcil of Shomakers tols 
• 3 Small Boxes & 1 Tubb 
• 8 old Reap hooks 
• 1 pr of Small Scales & wts 

Up Stairs

• 3 Beds & furniture @ £3.1 p 
• 1 old Corner Cupboard 2/6 
• 2 Chests @ 2/ 
• 1 Warming pan 
• 1 Slay 11 [C] & 1 Do. 6 [C] 
• 1 large Earthen jar 
• 1 X Cut Saw 12/. 1 Whip Saw 12 
• 4 Carpenters Chezels 3/. 1 old Bd. Axx 3/ 
• 1 Negro man Named Sam 60 years Old 
• 1 Do Woman Marge 48 Do
• 1 Do man Nace 28 Do 
• 1 Do Woman Fider 22 Do 
• 1 Do Man Abraham 18 Do 
• 1 Do. Girl Milley 8 Do 
• 1 Do. Do Caster 4 Do 
• 1 Negro Woman Charaety 35 years old 
• 1 Do Man Adam 20 Do 
• 1 Do. Girl Hanah 14 Do 
• 1 Do. Boy Frank 12 Do 
• 1 Do. Do. Sam 5 Do 
• 1 Do. Do. Roger 3 Do 
• 1 Girl Clare 1 Do 
• 1 Do Margery 2 Do 
• 1 Do. Man David 37 Do 
• 1 Do. Do. Ben 37 Do 
• 1 Do. Woman Pegg 35 Do 
• 1 Do. Boy Charles 16 Do 
• 1 Do. Girl Rachel 14 Do 
• 1 Do. Do. Luce 13 Do 
• 1 Do. Boy Phil 10 Do 
• 1 Do Girl Jane 7 Do 
• 1 Do. Boy Daniel 4 Do 
• 1 Do. Girl Dille 2 Do 
• 1 Do Woman Nan 33 Do 
• 1 Do Girl Rose 16 Do 
• 1 Do Cate 14 Do 
• 1 Do Lett 10 Do 
• 1 Do Boy Jame 5 Do 
• 1 Do Girl Poll 3 Do 
• 1 Do Boy Middleton 8 Do 
• 2 Table Cloths 2/6 p 
• Wearing Apparel 
• 1 Hand Mill 

1846 :: Inventory of Roberts Slaves

List of property appraised 31st dec 1846 By David O. Warren James Perkins and Jackson Randol -- and belonging to the estate of Elisha and Patsey Roberts --


MALES Candy, Spencer, Daniel, John, Shedrack, Bedney?, Charles, George, Washington, Bedford, Jerdin, Nathan, Nelson, Philip, Columbus, George, Martin, Burrel, Ceasar, Massaline, Elick?, James, Alfred, Charles, Dick, Carrol, Allen, Leonard


FEMALES Betsey, Rose & child Lewis, Linda Cole, Linda Payne, Rachel, Jenny & child Philip, Clara & child Mary, Caroline & child Dick, Mary, Celia, Elon, Virginia, Vina, Clara, Agg, Louisa & child, Nancy, Gelina


These names are being listed here with the hope that there are researchers who will be assisted in their journey to find their ancestors by the sharing of the names of these individuals . . . this list is made available thanks to the research efforts of Elisha and Patsy's great-great-granddaughter, Esther . . . thanks a bunch cousin Esther!

1876 :: Shooting of our Olive Cousins

On this date in our extended family history . . . the 10th day of August . . . in the year 1876 . . . the pending death of Jay Olive is reported in the Weekly Democratic Statesman (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 5, No. 52, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 10, 1876 . . . this Jay Olive is a 3rd cousin four times removed to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

Austin, Texas. A letter received in this city Thursday from Post Oak Island says that on the night of August 1, a party of fifteen or twenty men attacked the Olive brothers on their ranch. Besides the three brothers there were three white men and two negroes. Jay Olive was shot in the body in twenty-two places, and it is thought he will die. Prince [sic] Olive was shot in the hip; and a man named Butler several times in the leg and hip. Bill Wells, one of the negroes, was shot twice in the head. The raiders got $750 from the house, and then forced one of the negroes to burn it. The trouble is said to have grown out of the Crow and Turner tragedy, which occurred in that neighborhood some six months since.

The Olives are engaged largely in the raising of stock, and have suffered severely for a long time at the hands of horse and cattle thieves. Several months ago they gave out that they would kill any one they found skinning their cattle or riding their horses, and not long after that old man Crow and a suspicious character named Turner were killed in the woods near McDade while skinning a beef with the Olive brand. Crow had a son who had served one or more terms in the penitentiary, and he accused the Olives of killing his father, and threatened to revenge his death. Since that time it is said he has been at the head of a band of roughs and desperadoes, and this crowd is suspected of committing the horrible tragedy perpetrated on the Olive brothers and their employees on the night of August 1. The Olive brothers are said to be upright men, and they have many warm friends in the vicinity of where they live, and that further trouble and bloodshed will follow is quite probable. What action the Governor and the authorities will take, we cannot say, but certainly the affair calls for hearty and rigid work. Life and property is not safe in Texas, and there is no use of any one asserting it is.

1849 :: Birth of Jeff Henry

On this date in our extended family history . . . the 26th day of February . . . in the year 1849 . . . James Jefferson Henry is born in Cedar County, Missouri . . . this "Jeff" Henry is a 1st cousin four times removed to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . and while Googling for information about my Henry kith 'n kin, I found the following information at Google Books . . . from History of Kentucky by Charles Kerr, William Elsey Connelley, Ellis Merton Coulter . . . 


Jefferson Henry may consistently be designated as the honored dean of the bar of Green County, and during the course of his long and successful professional career he has been identified with much of the important litigation in the various courts of this section of the state.


Though he is not a native of Kentucky, he is a scion of one of the old and honored families of Green County, this state, his paternal grandfather, Belfield Henry [my 4th great-grandpa], a native of Virginia, having been comparatively a young man when he came to Kentucky and numbered himself among the pioneer settlers of Green County, where his death occurred a number of years prior to the birth of the subject of this review. He became one of the extensive land-holders and farmers of the county, and prior to the Civil war owned a large number of slaves. He was of Scotch-Irish lineage, and the original representatives of the family in America came from Ireland to Virginia in the Colonial era of our national history. Belfield Henry married Miss Elizabeth Kirtley [my 4th great-grandma], likewise a native of Virginia, and both were well advanced in years at the time of their deaths.


Jefferson Henry, who is familiarly known by the abbreviated name of "Jeff," was born in Cedar County, Missouri, on the 26th of February, 1849, and is a son of James L. and Margaret (Brownlee) Henry, both natives of Green County, Kentucky, where the former was born in 1811 and the latter in 1810. The father died at Canehill, Arkansas, in 1871, and the mother subsequently passed to the life eternal at Burnet, Texas.


James L. Henry was reared and educated in Green County, and here became a successful agriculturist and stock-grower. In 1840 he removed to Cedar County, Missouri, where he became the owner of a large farm estate, including a stock ranch, and where he maintained a force of thirty or forty slaves in his extensive operations as an agriculturist and stock-grower.


He continued his residence in Missouri until 1862, when he removed with his family to Grayson County, Texas, where he became the owner of a large ranch near Kentuckytown, and where he took his slaves, who there remained with him until the close of the Civil War, which effected their emancipation.


In 1865, shortly after the close of the war, Mr. Henry removed to Canehill, Arkansas, with the primary object of giving his children the advantages of Canehill College, and there he remained until his death, in 1871. He was an uncompromising advocate of the principles of the democratic party, was more or less active and influential in political affairs in Kentucky, Missouri and Texas, and served as county judge of Cedar County, Missouri, from 1840 until 1860. Both he and his wife were zealous members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Of their children . . .

• the eldest was C. M., who was a prominent and extensive agriculturist in the vicinity of Canehill, Arkansas, for many years prior to his death, which there occurred when he was seventy-three years of age. He served as colonel of a Confederate regiment in the Civil war, near the close of which he received the brevet rank of brigadier general.
• Elizabeth became the wife of James T. Moore and both passed the remainder of their lives in Texas, where Mr. Moore was a prosperous farmer. He was captain of his company in a Confederate regiment in the Civil war, and was severely wounded in an engagement at Froggy Bayou, Louisiana.
• Martha died at Burnet, Texas, when forty years of age.
• Malvina became the wife of Dr. A. J. Culberson, a leading physician at Burnet, Texas, and there her death occurred.
• Jefferson, immediate subject of this review, was the next in order of birth.
• Malvina [sic] became the wife of William E. Culberson, and both died at Burnet, Texas, where he had been engaged in a mercantile business for a long period.
• William was drowned in a cloudburst in Wyoming when twenty-five years of age.
• T. A., who was for many years successfully identified with the banking business, died in 1919, at Red Fork, Oklahoma.

The above record shows that the subject of this sketch is now the only surviving member of this family of children.


The rural schools of Missouri and Texas afforded Jefferson Henry his preliminary education, and after the removal of the family to Canehill, Arkansas, he there attended the high school two years and the Canehill College for an equal period.


In the meanwhile he had applied himself also to the study of law, and on the 22d of January, 1872, he was admitted to the bar of Kentucky. In that year he established himself in practice at Greensburg, where he has since continued as one of the leading members of the Green County bar and where he has long controlled a large and representative law business, which has extended into both the civil and criminal departments of law and recorded the winning of many court victories of important order.


Mr. Henry is a man who has ever been a student, and his reading and study have covered a remarkably wide range, with the result that his cultural powers are of the finest type and his intellectual horizon very wide. At his pleasant home, known for its generous and unpretentious hospitality, he has one of the best private libraries in Kentucky.


His law offices are maintained in the Henry Building, of which he has been the owner since 1878, and which is situated on the west side of the courthouse square in Greensburg, his modern residence being at the corner of Main and Cross streets and being one of the finest in the city.


In addition to these urban properties Mr. Henry is the owner of a well-improved farm on the rich bottom lands at the mouth of Big Russell Creek, Green County.


He has always adhered to the ancestral political faith and is a leader in the ranks of the democratic party in this section of the state. He served eight years as county attorney of Green County, but in the main has had no desire for public office, as he has preferred to give his undivided attention to his large and representative law practice. Both he and his wife are active members of the Presbyterian Church in Greensburg.


The perennial youth of Mr. Henry has been largely due to his vital interest in men and affairs, and the questions and issues of the hour receive his appreciative attention. Thus it was to be naturally assumed that he would take a prominent part in the various local war activities when the nation became involved in the great World war. He was chairman of the advisory board of Green County, served on other war committees in the county, aided in the various campaigns in the sale of war bonds and savings stamps, and to the full limit of his means he subscribed to these issues and gave earnest support to Red Cross and Salvation Army service.


December 12, 1872, recorded the marriage of Mr. Henry to Miss Josephine L. Perry, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Tebbs) Perry, of Green County, where both continued to reside until their deaths, Mr. Perry having long been a substantial capitalist and leading banker of Greensburg. Mr. and Mrs. Henry have but one child, Claudia, who is the wife of Early Vaughan, a successful farmer near Greensburg.

1811 :: Birth of Judge James Lewis Henry

Two hundred years ago today . . . on the 22nd day of February . . . in the year 1811 . . . James Lewis Henry was born in Green County, Kentucky . . . this James is a 3rd-great-grand-uncle to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

Google Books. History of Kentucky (1922) by Charles Kerr, William Elsey Connelley, Ellis Merton Coulter . . . James L. Henry was reared and educated in Green County, [Kentucky] and here became a successful agriculturist and stock-grower. In 1840 he removed to Cedar County, Missouri, where he became the owner of a large farm estate, including a stock ranch, and where he maintained a force of thirty or forty slaves in his extensive operations as an agriculturist and stock-grower.

He continued his residence in Missouri until 1862, when he removed with his family to Grayson County, Texas, where he became the owner of a large ranch near Kentuckytown, and where he took his slaves, who there remained with him until the close of the Civil War, which effected their emancipation.

In 1865, shortly after the close of the war, Mr. Henry removed to Canehill, Arkansas, with the primary object of giving his children the advantages of Canehill College, and there he remained until his death, in 1871. He was an uncompromising advocate of the principles of the democratic party, was more or less active and influential in political affairs in Kentucky, Missouri and Texas, and served as county judge of Cedar County, Missouri, from 1840 until 1860. Both he and his wife were zealous members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Of their children . . .

• the eldest was C. M., who was a prominent and extensive agriculturist in the vicinity of Canehill, Arkansas, for many years prior to his death, which there occurred when he was seventy-three years of age. He served as colonel of a Confederate regiment in the Civil war, near the close of which he received the brevet rank of brigadier general.
• Elizabeth became the wife of James T. Moore and both passed the remainder of their lives in Texas, where Mr. Moore was a prosperous farmer. He was captain of his company in a Confederate regiment in the Civil war, and was severely wounded in an engagement at Froggy Bayou, Louisiana.
• Martha died at Burnet, Texas, when forty years of age.
• Malvina became the wife of Dr. A.J. Culberson, a leading physician at Burnet, Texas, and there her death occurred.
• Jefferson, immediate subject of this review, was the next in order of birth.
• Malvina [sic, i.e., Margret M.] became the wife of William Culberson, and both died at Burnet, Texas, where he had been engaged in a mercantile business for a long period.
• William was drowned in a cloudburst in Wyoming when twenty-five years of age.
• T.A., who was for many years successfully identified with the banking business, died in 1919, at Red Fork, Oklahoma.

Genealogy & Biography, Volume V, 3rd edition, 1886, Green Co. [Kentucky] . . . J. L. Henry was born February 22, 1811, four miles north of Greensburg, Ky., and was a farmer; in 1837 he with his family moved to Cedar County, Mo., where he became the owner of 4,400 acres, also owned a large slave property, and became the first county judge; and after Dade was stricken off became it first county judge, and held the position for twenty years, up to the breaking out of the war. In 1861, he went to Sherman, Tex., with his negroes. In 1863 his family joined him. After the war he located in Cane Hill, Ark., where he educated his family. (He had a son, C. M. Henry, who became a brigadier-general in the Confederate Army.) He died in 1871, but his family continued to remain in Arkansas. He was a son of Bellfield and Elizabeth (Kirtley) Henry, both of Virginia. They immigrated to Green County, Ky., about 1800, where Bellfield Henry became an extensive farmer, served as sheriff, and died in 1850. . . .

1860 :: Elizabeth Beale, Slave Owner

One hundred fifty years ago today . . . on the 7th day of June . . . in the year 1860 . . . Luke Bryan, Ass't. Marshal, was enumerating Slave Owners in Liberty County, Texas . . . including my 3rd great-grandma, Elizabeth Beale . . . aka Elizabeth Lemaire Beale nee Waring . . . who is shown as the Owner of one black female aged 23 and one black male 8 years of age . . . who were presumably living in the "Slave house" in Liberty which is indicated as belonging to Elizabeth . . .

1841 :: Our Kinfolk in the Sterne Diary

On this date in our extended family history . . . the 18th day of March . . . in the year 1841 . . . Felix Grundy Roberts (1818-1901) visits in the home of Nicholas Adolphus Sterne (ca. 1801 - 1852) in Nacogdoches, Texas . . . this Felix is the younger brother of our Mahala Lee Sharp Hall nee Roberts (1816-1885) . . . who is a 3rd great-grandma of the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

Thursday the 18th March [1841] very fine weather saw Mr J. S. Roberts, nothing new from Galvezton many goods no monay to pay for them ! confirms the report of the total wreck of the San Jacinto, saw Mr True, who went to Douglass on Business, returned in the Evening, heard from the Comrs who are dividing the Loco Land, intend to finish the Survey to day, (if it is so, ails right) Felix Grundy Roberts a Son of Elisha Roberts stopped with me this Evening, he is returning from the Trinity, knew him as a little Boy— Major George A. Nixon in Town to day with Mr Tom Garner, tried to get a negro, who Nixon claims as his own, but who has been for the last year in possession of J. S. Mayfield Esqr negro run away Garner after him but no go— no Catch em— 

From September 28, 1840, to November 18, 1851, Nicholas Adolphus Sterne kept a diary of his daily activities, which is a valuable source of information on the period of the republic . . . the names of some of our kith 'n kin are scattered through these pages . . . see Volume 031, Number 3, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online . . .

CoAAG - Restore My Name

19 March 2010 ... UPDATE ...The 1st CoAAG has been posted ... click here to read!  

The 19th-century hand-written page featured in this collage is from a Bible thought to have belonged to the family of Josephine Wingfield Henry nee Davis (1842-1899). The column on the left has a hand-written heading -- Negroes Births. 


On another website, I have posted what information I have accumulated that may pertain to this page of names and dates of birth. Included on that website is information from the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules that pertains to the 19th Century family members known to be connected in some way to the names mentioned in this Bible. 




While I have posted information about this list on various websites in the past, it never hurts to mention it one more time, just in case it might help somebody make a connection with their own past. This list was first made available online back in October of 1998 on the DAVIS-L Rootsweb List. Since that time, it has also become viewable at --

• afrigeneas.com
• Milam County (TX) Message Board
• Davis Bible with Slaves
• GAMORGAN Rootsweb

And just an FYI . . . I have not yet (after more than 11 years) received a single query generated by the availability of these records. 



The copies I have are photocopies of Bible pages that are said to come from a Davis family Bible. I have never seen that Bible, or the actual Bible pages, but the copies I have were given to me by a cousin, Georgia Faye Kaseberg nee Henry (1925-2001), probably 25 or 30 years ago. It is believed that Georgia probably acquired the photocopies from another cousin and family genealogist, Miss Laura Hamilton (1898-1987).





 This post was prepared for the very 1st edition of a Carnival of African-American Genealogy, enthusiastically hosted by Top 40 Geneablogger, Luckie Daniels, at OurGeorgiaRoots.com

Our Mahala's Extensive Timeline for the CoG

This timeline was prepared for the March 2010 Carnival of Genealogy, focusing on Women's History. Click > HERE < to view the accompanying article (with photo) for this timeline about our Mahala Lee Sharp Hall nee Roberts (1816-1885).

YEAR	WHERE	COMMENTS
1774	TN	Mahala’s father, Elisha Roberts, is born at Watauga Settlement in Hawkins County.
1781	VA	Mahala’s mother, Martha Gill, is born in Bedford County.
1800	KY	Mahala’s parents, Elisha Roberts & Martha “Patsy” Gill, marry in Green County on February 9th.
1811	LA	Mahala’s parents relocate their family to Louisiana from Kentucky sometime after February.
1812	LA	Mahala’s father is recorded as the seller of Nancy, a 20-year-old black female, to Joseph Baham for $500 in St. Tammany Parish on October 1st.
1813	LA	Mahala’s father is recorded as the buyer of Betsy, a 17-year-old black female, and her 8-month-old daughter, Maryanne, for $500 from Gideon Rester in St. Tammany Parish on January 2nd . On June 5th, Elisha is recorded as the seller of Ben, a 30-year-old black male, for $500 to Daniel Edwards in St. Tammany Parish. On September 13th, he is recorded as the buyer of a 23-year-old black male known as Jim alias Sim (from Mississippi), for $450 from Craven P. Moffett (from Green County, Mississippi).
1816	LA	Mahala Lee Roberts is born on November 3rd, the 7th of 9 children born to Elisha & Patsy.
1818	LA	Mahala is just one year old when her 17-year-old sister, Anna Roberts, marries Bryant Daughtrey in St. Tammany Parish on January 25th. This is also when her father is recorded as the seller of Matilda, a 15-year-old black female, to Isaac Roberts for $525, in St. Tammany Parish on June 16th. Mahala’s baby brother, Felix Grundy Roberts, is born on August 23rd in Washington Parish.
1820	LA	Mahala is 3 years old when her parents are enumerated in Washington Parish. They are shown as having 18 slaves at that time.
1821	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is 4 years of age when the flag of Spain is lowered for the last time in Coahuila y Tejas on July 21st in San Antonio, and when Mexico gains independence from Spain on August 24th.
1822	LA	Mahala is 5 years of age when her baby sister, Margaret S. Roberts, is born in Washington Parish on February 22nd.
1823	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is about 6 years old when it is said that her father trades a slave for land and improvements located east of Ayish Bayou. This is the same year Stephen F. Austin would receive a grant on January 3rd from the Mexican government and begin colonization in the region of the Brazos River.
1824	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is about 7 years old when her 20-year-old sister, Elizabeth Roberts, marries William David Smith in San Augustine County, and when the Mexican Congress passes the colonization law on August 18th. She has just turned 8 when the “Department of Texas” is established as a subdivision of the state of Coahuila & Texas. The Constitution of 1824 gives Mexico a republican form of government. It fails, however, to define the rights of the states within the republic, including Texas.
1825	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is about 8 years of age when, in 1825, the people of Ayish Bayou begin to make rapid improvement, opening large farms and building cotton gins. This year Elisha Roberts, John A. Williams, and John Sprowl each will erect cotton gins on the main road, for at that time there was no one living either north or south of the old king's highway.
1826	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is about 9 years old when her parents leave Louisiana & move their family to the red lands of East Texas.
1827	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is 10 years of age when the Fredonian Rebels flee when approached by Mexican troops on January 31st, and when the Constitution of Coahuila & Tejas is adopted on March 11th.
1828	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is 12 years old when her 20-year-old sister, Esther Jane Roberts, marries Phillip Allen Sublett in San Augustine County in March.
1830	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is 13 years of age when her parents & assorted siblings are enumerated in San Augustine County. Relations between the Texans and Mexico reached a new low when, on April 6th, Mexico forbids further emigration into Texas by settlers from the United States. It was also around this time period when Mahala’s sister, Matilda Fair Roberts, marries John H. Connell (1st of 3 husbands).
1831	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala’s father, Elisha, is elected as Alcalde of Ayish Bahou.
1832	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is 15 years of age when the Battle of Velasco occurs on June 26th. This battle results in the first casualties in Texas' relations with Mexico. After several days of fighting, the Mexicans under Domingo de Ugartechea are forced to surrender for lack of ammunition. The Convention of 1832 gathers on October 1st at San Felipe de Austin, with the Ayish Bayou district represented by Mahala’s brother-in-law, Philip Sublett, as well as Donald McDonald, the future father-in-law of her little sister, Margaret. Also attending was John Connell, another of Mahala’s brothers-in-law, representing Mill Creek.
1833	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is 16 years old when her father, Elisha Roberts, is a delegate to the Convention of 1833 held at San Felipe de Austin in April. This is a gathering of 56 men, including family friends, Samuel Houston and Adolphus Sterne, as well as present and future family members, Philip Sublett and Donald McDonald. Also present was Bartlett McClure, who is portrayed in the movie, True Women, which was made for TV from a historical novel written by Janice Woods Windle. 12th of November. The Night the Stars Fell.
1834	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is about 17 years of age when her brother-in-law, John H. Connell, dies at Viesca in Milam County.
1835	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is about 18 years of age when her widowed sister, Matilda Fair Connell nee Roberts, marries Samuel Tabor Allen, and when her brother, Noel Gill Roberts, marries Mariah Thomas. Mahala is 19 years old when the Consultation declares Texas a separate state in November. at San Felipe
1836	Republic of Texas	Mahala is 19 years of age when the Runaway Scrape occurs in February, and when the Texas Declaration of Independence is signed on March 2nd, and at the time of the Battle of the Alamo on March 6th, and, and when the Goliad Massacre occurs on March 27th, and at the time of the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21st, and when a wounded Sam Houston is recuperating in July at the home of her sister, Esther Sublett, and when her brother-in-law, Phillip Sublett, nominates Sam Houston for President of the Republic of Texas on August 15th.
1838	Republic of Texas	Mahala Lee Roberts is 21 years old when she marries John M. Sharp in San Augustine County on March 22nd, and when her brother-in-law, Samuel Tabor Allen, is killed in Navarro County on October 8th when a band of Kickapoo Indians attack the surveying team he is working with.
1839	Republic of Texas	Mahala is about 22 years old when her 1st child, Samuel Houston Sharp, is born, probably in San Augustine County.
1840	Republic of Texas	Mahala is about 23 years old when her 2nd child, Margaret Annot Sharp, is born, probably in San Augustine County.
1842	Republic of Texas	Mahala is 25 years old when General Sam Houston writes to his wife in Alabama that he will not be attending the wedding of Mahala’s sister, Margaret S. Roberts, who marries Alexander McDonald in Harris County on June 15th, and when her brother, Felix Grundy Roberts, marries Elizabeth Keyser Layton on August 2nd.
1844	Republic of Texas	Mahala is 27 years old when her father, Elisha Roberts, signs his Last Will & Testament on May 8th in San Augustine, and when her father dies on October 3rd in San Augustine County. His burial spot is later marked by a Texas Historical Marker (as of 1936, Texas Centennial).
1845	Republic of Texas	Mahala is 28 years old when her sister, Elizabeth Smith nee Roberts, dies in San Augustine County on May 2nd. It is possible this sister was buried beside their father. A few months later, Mahala had just turned 29 when her mother, Martha “Patsy” Roberts nee Gill, dies in San Augustine County on December 18th, and when Texas is annexed by the United States as the 28th state on December 29th. Patsy is buried beside her husband. Their home place is also marked by a Texas Historical Marker as of 1936 (Texas Centennial).
1846	TX	Mahala is 29 years old when she is listed on the Tax List for San Augustine County. There is no mention of her husband, John M. Sharp, and no record of him has been found since the date they married.
1847	TX	Mahala is 30 years of age when her sister, Anna Daughtrey nee Roberts, dies on March 12th in Austin County, and is buried at the Starr Hill Cemetery. It is about this time period when Mahala’s twice-widowed sister, Matilda Fair Connell Allen nee Roberts marries Thomas Johnson Allen, the brother of her deceased 2nd husband.
1850	TX	Mahala is 33 years old when she and her two children are enumerated in San Augustine County, and when her sister, Matilda Connell Allen Allen nee Roberts, donates 120 acres of land for the Town of Belton from the Connell Estate.
1851	TX	Mahala Lee Sharp nee Roberts is 34 years of age when she marries Col. Joshua James Hall on February 12th in San Augustine County, and when Nicholas Sterne stops by to visit them in their home on June 15th (as recorded in the Sterne diary).
1852	TX	Mahala is 35 years old when her 3rd child, Roberta Hall, is born on May 25th in Houston County.
1854	TX	Mahala is 37 years old when her 4th child, Horace Oscar Hall, is born on September 22nd in Houston County.
1859	TX	Mahala is 42 years of age when her oldest daughter, Margaret Annot Sharp, marries James Madison Hall on July 14th. Hall is Mahala’s stepson.
1860	TX	Mahala is 43 years old when she & her family are enumerated on August 3rd in Houston County -- head of household is J.J. Hall; post office is Elk Hart. Her 1st grandchild, Florence Mahala Hall, is born on October 19th
1861	TX	Mahala is 44 years old when her oldest son, Samuel Houston Sharp, marries Mary Alexandrien “Nellie” Lemaire in Liberty County on July 11th. This is also the year when Texas secedes from the Union, and joins the Confederacy.
1863	TX	Mahala is 45 years old when her 1st grandson, James Wrigley Hall, is born in Houston County on October 8th. He is a son of J.M. Hall & Mahala’s daughter, Margaret.
1863	TX	Mahala is 46 years of age when her grandson, James Hall “Major” Sharp, is born to Sam & Nellie on January 25th in Houston County. She is 47 when her granddaughter, Josephine Martha Hall, is born on December 15th in Houston County. Josephine’s parents are J.M. & Margaret Hall.
1864	TX	Mahala is 47 years old when Sam & Nellie lose a baby thru a miscarriage on January 16th while Sam is in jail on charge of being liable for conscription. It was also about this time when Mahala’s brother, Noel Roberts, dies in San Augustine.
1866	TX	Mahala is 49 years of age when her granddaughter, Josephine Martha Hall (daughter of J.M. & Margaret) dies on July 16th, and is buried in Liberty. Just a few months later, Mahala’s stepson / son-in-law, James Madison Hall, dies in Liberty County. She has just celebrated her 50th birthday when her grandson, Madison Hall, is born on November 11th.
1867	TX	Mahala is 50 when her grandson, James Wrigley Hall (son of J.M. & Margaret), dies on October 11th, and she has just turned 51 when her grandson, Samuel Houston Sharp, Jr., is born to Sam and Nellie in Liberty County on November 8th.
1869	TX	Mahala is celebrating her own 53rd birthday when her granddaughter, Margaret Elizabeth Sharp, is born on November 3rd in Liberty County to Sam & Nellie.
1870	TX	Mahala is 54 years of age when she is enumerated with her family on December 2nd in Houston County. Head of household is her 2nd husband, J.J. Hall, and their post office is listed as Crockett. Within the next year or so after this census, Col. J.J. Hall dies, and is buried in the Hall family cemetery in Houston County. Also enumerated in Houston County on December 2nd are Mahala’s daughter, Margaret, and her 2nd husband, Frank Stewart. Margaret’s youngest son with J.M. Hall, Madison Hall, dies (or disappears from the records) sometime after this census is taken.
1871	TX	Mahala is celebrating her own 55th birthday on November 3rd when her granddaughter, Ida Mae Sharp, is born in Houston County to Sam & Nellie.
1872	TX	Mahala is about 55 years of age when her grandson, Edward F. Stewart, is born in Texas, to Margaret & Frank Stewart.
1873	TX	Mahala is about 56 years old when her grandson, Louis O. Stewart, is born to Margaret & Frank Stewart. Mahala had just celebrated her 57th birthday when her granddaughter, Berta Mary Sharp, is born on November 10th in Houston County to Sam & Nellie.
1876	TX	Mahala is 59 years of age when her grandson, Sam S. Stewart, is born on September 24th in Texas, to her daughter, Margaret. Less than a month later, Mahala’s daughter-in-law, Mary Alexandrien “Nellie” Sharp nee Lemaire, dies in Houston County on October 10th, shortly after giving birth to a baby girl known as Willie Sharp. Nellie is buried in the Hall family cemetery. A Texas Historical Marker at that cemetery identifies Nellie’s grave as the earliest marked grave. In November of that year, possibly after Mahala’s 60th birthday, Margaret’s new baby boy, Sam, dies, and Margaret dies sometime after that (before 1880).
1879	TX	Mahala is 62 when her sister, Matilda Connell Allen Allen nee Roberts, dies in Georgetown in April.
1880	TX	Mahala is 63 when she is enumerated in Houston County as a widowed head of household. Those enumerated with her include her widowed son, Sam, and his surviving children, also a servant named Fannie Bass [who would give birth to a son named Andy Sharp in 1881]. Mahala’s daughter, Florence, is enumerated in the household of Mahala’s widowed son-in-law, Frank Stewart.
1882	TX	Mahala is 65 when her father Elisha Roberts’ will is recorded in San Augustine County
1885	TX	Mahala is 67 years old when she dies on June 27th in Houston County, with burial in the Hall Cemetery. It is supposedly about this same time when Mahala’s son, Sam, and his youngest daughter, Willie, die and are buried in the same cemetery.