The gift that keeps on giving

Even though I know so little about her, Elizabeth Nixon’s very presence in the lives of the families I research shows a connection between them, even if I do not immediately know what that connection might be. Elizabeth’s presence generates questions, and those questions generate ideas, and ideas begin to form theories that I can research. She really is the gift that keeps on giving.

Elizabeth’s discovery in 2018 allowed me to break down a brick wall with my Morgan family. Her presence led me to research the Stewart, Morgan, Russell, and Henderson families in Chatham County, North Carolina and helped me document their journey to Montgomery County, North Carolina beginning as early as the end of the Revolutionary War to the early 1800s. Simply because I asked the question, “Who is Elizabeth?”

In 2022 after YDNA testing a male descendant of Joel Henderson (1788-1868) of Montgomery County, North Carolina and discovering that Joel closely related to the Henderson family in Onslow/Orange/Chatham, North Carolina it led me to theorize that Elizabeth could have had a hand in match making between Joel Henderson and Susannah Smart after the death of Susannah’s first husband Joseph Morgan, who was also from Chatham County, North Carolina.
 
Elizabeth claimed in an 1833 deposition for the Revolutionary War pension file of John Stewart to be about 75 years old, making her birth year about 1758. She also claimed to have known and lived close to John during the Revolutionary War and saw him there as a soldier of the Revolution. I later found a land survey for Argulus Henderson showing he lived next door to John Stewart in Chatham County. In that same pension claim for John Stewart is found depositions of Barbara and Elizabeth Russell, sisters who had married brothers, John and William Russell of Chatham County. William Russell was a chain carrier for that Henderson survey showing his neighbor as John Stewart.

Hardy Morgan, who was born in 1785 in Chatham County according to his wife’s War of 1812 widow pension file, took the deposition of Elizabeth Nixon for John Stewart’s pension and claimed he had known Elizabeth Nixon from his infancy, meaning he had known her his whole life. If Hardy had known Elizabeth since his infancy, Joseph Morgan, who is most likely the brother or first cousin of Hardy Morgan, and Joel Henderson who might have been born in Chatham County had most certainly known Elizabeth too.
 
What a complicated weave of family connections!

I know we are told to research in a straight line. Document straight up the family tree, but I have never been able to do that, mainly because most people do not live in a straight line. Life is complicated no matter what century lived in, with twists and curves off the beaten path, and down rabbit holes, and for me, I find out the most about families when I step off the path and tumble down the rabbit hole learning about multiple families at one time. So, hang on, it's going to get complicated from here.

YDNA testing a male descendant of Joseph Morgan, my 4th great grandfather (he married Susannah Smart), of Montgomery County, North Carolina has genetically linked his line to descendants of Anderson Morgan born about 1783 in Chatham County, North Carolina and died 1825 Wilson County, Tennessee and to male descendants of Willis Morgan who married Bethany Bailey, the widow of Henry Delamoth of Montgomery County, North Carolina.
 
While down the Morgan rabbit hole I discovered the 1843 court case Crump v. Morgan and uncovered that Willis Morgan was the son of Charles Morgan from Chatham County, North Carolina. Anderson Morgan and Joseph Morgan (my 4th great grandfather) are most likely the uncles of Willis Morgan.

Argulus Henderson of Onslow/Orange/Chatham counties left Elizabeth Nixon $20 in his will but did not name a relationship. I do not think Elizabeth is the daughter of Argulus, but perhaps a niece. It is worthy to note that his sister Bethany Henderson married a man with the surname Nixon in Onslow County, North Carolina. So, there may be some connection there, but I have yet to figure it out.
 
Elizabeth Nixon has provided yet another gift by being named in the 1839 and 1840 poor house records of Montgomery County alongside James Merritt who was allowed $10 on one occasion and another $18 on another occasion for caring for her. In the 1840 Census of Montgomery County in the household of James Merritt, is a woman old enough to be Elizabeth Nixon.

I want to know who she is to James Merritt.
 
I have been down the rabbit hole with the Merritt family of Montgomery County for the past month trying to find a connection to the Morgan, Henderson, Stewart, family of Orange/Chatham counties. 

That search led me to the Merritt-Marriott YDNA Project at FTDNA where I found that a male descendant of Joshua C. Merritt born 1826 Carroll County, Tennessee was a match to a male descendant of James Merritt who died 1797 Moore County, North Carolina (a neighboring county of Montgomery). Doing the genealogy for Joshua C. Merritt, I found that most researchers agree he is the son of Sherrod Merritt and Tabitha Edwards who is believed to be the daughter of Nathaniel Edwards and Nancy Howard, names I am very familiar with as I wrote about them while researching the Morgan family of Chatham/Montgomery counties, North Carolina.
 
Tabitha Edwards descends from the same Edwards family from Chatham County, North Carolina who Anderson Morgan migrated with to Wilson County, Tennessee. It just so happens that Joshua C. Merritt’s grandfather, Mark Merritt, died in Wilson County, Tennessee. Mark Merritt is the son of James Merritt who died 1797 Moore County, North Carolina.
 
James Merritt (d. 1797 Moore County) may have had a brother (or close relative) named John Merritt. Both men lived near one another in Moore County on Governor’s Creek.

I am very curious to compare YDNA results of the Merritt family of Moore/Montgomery/Orange/Chatham counties, North Carolina to the Marriott (Merritt) families from Brunswick County, Virginia and Granville/Orange counties, North Carolina to see if there is a familial connection. I could not find anyone at the FTDNA project who might be a descendant of these lines.

If you are a male descendant of these lines, please consider YDNA testing.

I found two James Merritt’s in Montgomery County, North Carolina. The elder James Merritt, over the age of 45 years (born before 1765) in 1810 was living next door to John Merritt in Brown’s district. James had been there since at least 1799 because he is mentioned on a 1799 land grant for John Melton and the 1808 survey for the grant as living on the east side of Pee Dee River on the waters of Clarks Creek. 

James Merritt, the younger, was born about 1780 according to the 1830 Montgomery County Census. I believe it was this James Merritt who was allowed $10 and again $18 for the care of Elizabeth Nixon.  Elizabeth in 1840 was "put out" to work for Willis Morgan for $24 which is not surprising to me at all since Willis Morgan’s father, Charles Morgan, was part of that Morgan family who came from Chatham County to Montgomery County in 1805. 

In 1830, James Merritt the younger is living next door to Zachariah Morgan who also came to Montgomery County from Chatham County. Zachariah Morgan is most likely the uncle of Anderson Morgan from Orange/Chatham counties who went west to Wilson County, Tennessee and the great uncle of Willis Morgan. Zachariah’s sister, Rachel Morgan married John Stewart, whom Elizabeth Nixon provided a deposition for his Revolutionary War pension.

Living nearby is William Blalock, also from Chatham County and Sally Merritt who, through her 1862 will indicates she may be the mother of James Nelson Merritt who married Josephine Russell (a dozen doughnuts says she is somehow related to William Russell and John Russell who married sisters, Barbara and Elizabeth who alongside Elizabeth Nixon provided depositions for John Stewart’s Revolutionary War pension).

James Merritt, the younger, may be the father of John Merritt (1818-1904) who married Deborah Sanders (sometimes seen as Saunders). This couple are my maternal 3rd great grandparents. My Morris family intermarried with this Merritt/Sanders family five times over indicating there may be some familial connection between the Merritt/Sanders and Morris family.
 
Ward Harris “Hack” Morris, the son of Berry Morris and Sarah Williams, married Mary Ann Merritt, daughter of John Merritt and Deborah Sanders.

Jesse Morris, the son of Berry Morris and Sarah Williams, married Caroline Merritt, daughter of John Merritt and Deborah Sanders.

James Morris, the son of Thomas Morris and Mary Williams, married Clarinda Merritt, daughter of John Merritt and Deborah Sanders. James and Clarinda are my maternal 2nd great grandparents through son, Travis Morris (married Lilly Marks).

Joseph Morris, the son of Thomas Morris and Mary Williams, married Margaret Rosina Merritt, daughter of John Merritt and Deborah Sanders.

Mary Morris, the daughter of Thomas Morris and Mary Williams, married Harrison Young Merritt, son of John Merritt and Deborah Sanders.

It is curious that Mary Williams and Sarah Williams, sisters who married brothers, Thomas Morris and Berry Morris, are from Moore County, North Carolina so I cannot help but wonder if there is a link between the Merritt’s of Montgomery County and the Merritt’s of Moore County and is the Williams family that link?

Looking back on Mark Merritt, son of James Merritt of Moore County who migrated to Wilson County, Tennessee and died there in 1864. His son, Sherrod Merritt married Tabitha Edwards the daughter of Nathaniel Edwards and Nancy Howard. Nathaniel Edwards is the son of John Edwards as proven in a surviving 1792 deed in Montgomery County where Nathaniel Edwards sells to Charles Ledbetter land on the waters of Island Creek granted to John Edwards deceased in 1783 and conveyed from John Edwards to his son Nathaniel Edwards. 

Silas Merritt, son of James Merritt of Moore County migrated to Wilson County, Tennessee and died in Williamson County, Tennessee in 1875. He married Sarah Edwards, daughter of Nathaniel Edwards and Nancy Howard.
 
Nathaniel Edwards and Nancy Howard did not live in Moore County, but rather in Montgomery County in the area of Island and Clarks Creeks. The same question I have with my Morris and Williams family is the same as the Merritt family – how did these Williams and Merritt families in Moore County know the Merritt and Morris families in Montgomery County? They intermarried heavily with one another, so what is the connection between them?

Obadiah Merritt, son of James Merritt of Moore County migrated to Wilson County, Tennessee and died there in 1863. He married Priscilla Clemmons, daughter of Thompson Clemmons (sometimes seen as Clements) who lived in Montgomery County at least from 1790 – 1810.

A Williams family from Montgomery County migrated to Wilson County, Tennessee at the same time with Thompson Clemmons. Thompson Clemmons Revolutionary War pension file contains the affidavits of Priscilla Tucker, Thomas C. Williams, and Nancy Williams who lived in Montgomery County, North Carolina but had migrated to Wilson County, Tennessee. Interestingly, this same Williams family, according to their Revolutionary War pension files, shows that they came from Granville/Bute/Warren/Franklin counties, North Carolina to Montgomery County, North Carolina.

In 1780, Thomas Crees Williams and Nancy his wife of the county of Montgomery state of North Carolina sold to John Faulean of Warren County, North Carolina 279 acres on both sides of Fishing Creek adjoining Jordan Harris, Robert Harris it being the half and lower part of a tract of land containing 550 acres which Thomas Williams deceased in his last will and testament left to be divided between Thomas Crees Williams and his brother William Williams…

In 1782, William Williams, the brother of Thomas Crees Williams, of Montgomery County, North Carolina sold his half of the land.

Of even more interest, YDNA testing on male descendants of George Williams (d. 1797 Moore County) show a close genetic connection between descendants of William Williams (1745-1813) and John Williams (b. 1770) both of Granville County, North Carolina.

YDNA testing is needed to sort out the Williams family of Granville County, North Carolina, Wilson County, Tennessee, Montgomery County, North Carolina, and Moore County, North Carolina.

Read more about the Williams family here

While researching James Merritt d. 1797 in Moore County, North Carolina I came across William Merritt of Orange/Chatham County, North Carolina. He lived next door to a man named Hugh Edwards in Orange County, North Carolina in the vicinity of New Hope Creek, Morgan Creek, Price Creek, and Collins Creek and John Merritt who lived on Second Creek, the waters of New Hope Creek.

Hugh Edwards’s daughter, Elizabeth married John Durham of Orange County, North Carolina. John had a half-sister named Mary Durham who married Alexander “Elleck” Morgan. I have been working with a descendant of Alexander Morgan who I have an atDNA match with. It is a very distant, but real, connection.

I have isolated the DNA to chromosome 2 and found 4 others who match on the same chromosome and start/end location. Three of those four matches are from Montgomery County, North Carolina. Three of those four share a common ancestor with me, James Dennis and his wife Mary Morgan who I believe is most likely the daughter of Zachariah Morgan who came to Montgomery County from Chatham County and is somehow related to Elizbeth Nixon. Zachariah Morgan’s sister, Rachel married John Stewart.

YDNA testing on male descendants of Alexander “Elleck” Morgan is needed to see which Morgan family they connect with.

In 1792, William Merritt of Orange/Chatham County sold to William O’Kelly for love and affection to him and his wife, 200 acres on Crooked Creek in Chatham County, on the county line with Orange.

In 1790, Adam Ekman appointed his trusty friends William Merritt and Robert Edwards (the brother of Hugh Edwards) of Chatham County his executors of his last will and testament.

In 1783, Samuel Park of Randolph County, North Carolina sold to William Merritt of Chatham County 1,283 acres of land in Chatham and Orange on the waters of New Hope Creek.

There is some circumstantial evidence that William Merritt of Orange/Chatham counties might be the man who married Martha Cocke, daughter of Brazure Cocke of Brunswick County, Virginia.

In the biography of the Cocke family at GENI I found the following.

Martha Cocke, probably b. 1740's; m. William MERRITT, aft. 1766.
He may be the William MERRITT of Bute Co., NC, who purchased 100 acres on Lizard Creek in Bute Co., NC, from John LINCH, Jr., Dec. 25, 1772. (Bute Co., NC, DB 4, p.149.) Ordered to view a road in the Fishing Creek area of Bute Co., Feb. 16, 1775. (Bute Co., NC, Court Minutes.) A deed from William MERRITT & Martha his wife to Frederick COOKE was proved by oath of William MYRICK on Feb. 13, 1776. (Bute Co., NC, Court Minutes.) They reportedly moved to Chatham Co., NC, and settled on New Hope Creek. William MERRITT appears in the Chatham Co. census, in 1790, 1800, and 1810, and the tax list of 1815. May be related to Rev. William H. MERRITT who filed a declaration in support of James CHEEK's application for a Revolutionary War pension, May 28, 1833.

Ann Cocke, (daughter of Brazure Cocke) b. around 1741-1745, probably in Williamsburg, James City Co., VA; d. aft. 1817 in Orange Co., NC; m. Robert CHEEK, son of John CHEEK, Jr., of Essex and King & Queen Co., VA, abt. 1761 (b. bef. 1733; d. 1817-1820).

On The Cheek Family of Alleghany County, NC website I learned that

Robert Cheek, possibly the son of John Cheek, Jr., was born around 1730 probably in Essex Co., VA, and died bet. 1817-1820 in Orange Co., NC. He married Ann COCKE, daughter of Brazure & Frances COCKE, around 1761 in Brunswick Co., VA. She was born around 1741-1745, probably in Williamsburg, James City Co., VA, and d. aft. 1817 in Orange Co., NC.

Robert Cheek and Ann Cocke had a son named Masting Cheek. It is thought he may have married Martha Andrews, but I have not dug into that line yet to see if proof can be found. Masting Cheek did have daughters Nancy, born about 1793, who married Isaac Morris, and Sarah, born about 1804, who married Baxter Morris. While I am not sure who Baxter Morris belongs to, Isaac Morris is the son of Richard Morris and grandson of Henry Morris Jr. who is the son of Henry Morris Sr. of Smoky Ordinary, Virginia.

I have attempted for weeks to find a Merritt connection in Brunswick County, Virginia that might lead to finding a connection between the Merritt’s of Orange/Chatham/Moore/Montgomery, North Carolina and Wilson County, Tennessee. There is only circumstantial evidence on William Merritt who married Martha Cocke.

I did find what some researchers believe to be a connection between a man named William Merritt of Brunswick County, Virginia and the Sedberry family of Montgomery County, North Carolina. This William Merritt died about 1788 in Brunswick County, Virginia and his will names his three daughters as Martha Celey, Frances Birdsong, and Mary House. From research found at various places (Wiki Tree, GENI, and family history forums) it seems that most researchers think that Mary Birdsong, the daughter of Frances Merritt Birdsong, and granddaughter of William Merritt who died in 1788, married George Sedberry and migrated to Montgomery County, North Carolina, albeit there seems to be much debate on how George and Mary could have possibly met. Some articles I read indicate that there may be a connection to Onslow County, North Carolina which I find fascinating because Argulus Henderson who is probably the uncle of Elizabeth Nixon is from Onslow County, North Carolina.

George Sedberry’s daughter, Elizabeth married Thomas Fraser of whom I know very little about. However, their son, William Fraser married Harriett Williams, the daughter of Merritt Williams of Montgomery County, North Carolina. Harriet’s sister, Eliza Williams, married Grandison Fields Morris, the son of John Jacky and Amelia Morris.

George Sedberry lived just one page away from James Merritt of Montgomery County who has some relation to Elizabeth Nixon, in 1830.  

I found the William Merritt family of Brunswick County, Virginia quite interesting because they lived very near Henry Morris Sr. of Smoky Ordinary, Brunswick County, Virginia. In 1833, William Duggar of Henry County, Virginia, was appointed commissioner to sell a track of land in Brunswick County, Virginia belonging to the heirs of Henry Morris deceased on the waters of Sturgeon Creek above Sparrow's bridge it being the land that (Henry) Morris bought of (Miles) House in 1794.

Miles House is the son of Mary Merritt House, the daughter of William Merritt (d. 1788 Brunswick, Virginia).

A man by the name of Marvel Short, who no doubt has some connection to Mary Short who married Miles House, the son of Mary Merritt House and grandson of William Merritt (d. 1788 Brunswick, VA) bought the land that William Duggar sold for $246.75.  

The Henry Morris mentioned in the deed is not Henry Morris Sr. of Smoky Ordinary but probably a grandson named after him, perhaps the son of Richard Morris or his brother William Morris who married Frances Rainey. This link is fascinating because Henry’s maternal uncle, his mother’s brother, Nathaniel Rainey, married Phebe Wynn. Nathaniel and Phebe had a son named Nathaniel Rainey Jr. who married Catherine House who may be the granddaughter of William Merritt through his daughter, Mary House.

Phebe Wynn Rainey’s first cousin once removed, Mourning Wynn, in 1795 was appointed guardian of a boy in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, named John Morris.

 In 1807, John Morris of Mecklenburg County, Virginia had a run in with the law and found himself in court for a debt owed to Speed Wilson & Co. John Morris and Daniel Sizemore, who happened to be a close neighbor of Mourning Wynn living on Buffalo Creek in Mecklenburg, Virginia, were charged with indebtedness. John Morris acknowledged the debt of 9 pounds 10 shillings. However, I can find nothing more on John Morris. I do not know what happened to him. Daniel Sizemore continued living in Mecklenburg County, Virginia on Buffalo Creek and Mourning Wynn migrated to Sumner County, Tennessee about 1806.

 

Elizabeth Nixon is not mentioned after 1840, or at least anywhere that I can find. To be so much of a mystery she has helped me generate ideas on so many families and those ideas have allowed me to break down one brick wall (my Morgan line) and document many connections of families who came from Chatham County to Montgomery County. Someday, I hope to return the favor to Elizabeth and document her life story. Until then, I will continue to work on the new clues she has provided me on the Merritt family in Montgomery/Moore/Chatham/Orange counties, North Carolina, Wilson County, Tennessee, and Brunswick County, Virginia.

Ninety and nine

For Uncle Don...it was so much fun! Can't wait for our next adventure!

I recently had the privilege of showing my paternal uncle the graves of his great grandparents, Willis Dennis and Susan Hearne. He was so surprised to find out that they were buried in an area he knew so well. Wait until I tell him his 2^nd great grandmother, Priscilla Morgan Hearne, the mother of Susan, is also buried in the same cemetery! 

Both Willis Dennis and his wife, Susan Hearne, daughter of Stephen Hearne and Priscilla Morgan, are buried at the Henderson Family Cemetery in Eldorado, North Carolina. The pictures shown below are from Find-A-Grave.

Willis Dennis (1841-1913) is the youngest child of James Dennis (1798-1869) and Mary Morgan (1798-1870).

Susannah ‘Susan’ Hearne (1840-1895) is the fifth child of Stephen Hearne (1807-1885) and Priscilla Morgan (1812-1874).

Willis Dennis and Susan Hearne are related through their mother’s, Mary Morgan Dennis and Priscilla Morgan Hearne. These ladies are first cousins once removed and both descend from Charles Morgan (1733-1787) of Chatham County, North Carolina. This Morgan family came to Montgomery County, North Carolina about 1805 and settled in what is today the Eldorado, Uwharrie, and Ophir communities.

Prior to her marriage with Willis, Susannah, called Susan, at the age of 17, had a child out of wedlock in 1857. Refusing to name the father, Susan and her father, Stephen Hearne, took responsibility for the child. That child was Gaston Haywood Dennis born in 1857, died 1942 in Stanly County.

Gaston was married twice, first to Julia Ann Morris, daughter of George and Elizabeth Dennis Morris, in 1879, whom he had 6 children with and second to Sarah Caroline Parnell, daughter of Henry and Ann Eliza Hurley Parnell, in 1907, whom he had 5 children with.

Y-DNA testing a direct male descendant of Gaston might uncover who Gaston’s biological father was.

In 1861, Susan Hearne married Willis Dennis, promptly changing 4-year-old Gaston’s surname from Hearne to Dennis. The family made their home in the Uwharrie and Eldorado areas of Montgomery County, North Carolina.

Willis and Susan’s first biological child together, Mary Ann Dennis, probably named for Willis’s mother, Mary, and born, according to her gravestone, 20 Jun 1862, about 8 months after the marriage of her parents. Mary Ann Dennis married Willis Griffin Morgan, a distant double cousin who descends from the same Morgan line as Willis’s mother, Mary Morgan Dennis and Susan’s mother Priscilla Morgan Hearne. Willis Griffin Morgan is the son of Alexander and Eliza Cranford Morgan. Mary Ann and Willis had 15 children before she died in 1919 in Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Willis Dennis was drafted as a Private in the Civil War on 20 Aug 1862 in Montgomery County, North Carolina for the duration of the war and less than a year after he and Susan married. He was 25 years old. Another card in his military file shows his enlistment date was 5 Sep 1862.

Willis’ 1901pension file shows that he was wounded in the right hand in the battle at Chancellorsville, a major battle in the American Civil War that took place from 30 Apr to 6 May 1863 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia and considered Gen. Robert E. Lee’s greatest military victory.

Willis was captured in Strasburg, Virginia on 19 Oct 1864 and arrived at Harpers Ferry on 25 Oct 1864. He remained a prisoner of war until his exchange on 28 Mar 1865.

The second child of Willis and Susan was James Mendenhall Dennis, born 6 May 1864, at the same time Willis, his father, was fighting in the battle at Chancellorsville. James Mendenhall Dennis was most likely named for Willis’s father, James Dennis.

Never fear, Willis’s military file shows he was furloughed from hospital from Petersburg, Virginia for 30 days from 4 Jul 1863. James Mendenhall Dennis was conceived in Jul or Aug 1863 and born some 9 ½ months later in May 1864.

James Mendenhall Dennis married Nancy Ann Tucker, daughter of Nathaniel and Margaret Ward Tucker in 1886. They were the parents of 7 children. James died in 1932 in Alamance County, North Carolina. He had spent his life working in the Cotton Mills. 

Willis returned home to Montgomery County after 28 Mar 1865, the date he was exchanged as a prisoner of war. His and Susan’s third child, George Thomas Dennis, was born 3 Jun 1866, conceived about Aug 1865, 5 months after Willis came home from the Civil War. George married Lydia Lowder, daughter of David and Ellen Austin Lowder, in 1885. The couple settled in Stanly County where they had 17 children and George worked as a farmer. George died in 1936.

That makes 50 grandchildren so far for Willis and Susan Dennis, if you are keeping count.

William Harrison Dennis, the fourth child of Willis and Susan, was born 5 Sep 1868. He married Josephine Lowder, the daughter of David and Ellen Austin Lowder, in 1886, a year after his brother had married his wife’s sister. William and Josephine became the parents of 5 children. Both William and Josephine died between 1896 and 1900, and their children raised by Josephine’s father, David Lowder.

Feb court term of 1869, Willis Dennis was ordered by the court to help Alex Dennis, his brother, oversee the road from the Scott Old Field to the Mouth of Uwharrie River until Feb 1870. Another brother, George, worked alongside them.

Addie Louise Dennis, the 5^th child of Willis and Susan Dennis, was born in 1872. She married John Eller in 1896. They moved to Rowan County and became the parents of 8 children. Addie died in 1955 in Rowan County.

The 6^th child born to Willis and Susan Dennis was Eben Dennis, in 1872. He married Frances Layton in 1890, my first cousin 3 times removed (1C3R), Grandison Fields (G. F.) Morris Jr. a witness to the wedding. Eben and Frances are the parents of 7 children. Eben Dennis died in 1942 in Stanly County after spending his life working as a farmer as well as at Wiscassett Mills, a textile mill in Albemarle, North Carolina that produced yarn for clothing and home furnishings. The mill was founded in 1898 by James W. Cannon and was part of the Cannon textile empire.

The seventh child of Willis and Susan Dennis was Daniel Dennis, born 1873. He married first Mattie Freeman, daughter of William and Annie Barfield Freeman, in 1899, and they had one child together. Mattie died in 1900 about 10 days after her son, Mattie Dewey Dennis was born. Daniel married again to Sarah Williams, daughter of Jones and Martha Matheson Williams, in 1901, and they had 6 children together. Daniel Dennis died in 1936 in Stanly County.  

Child number eight, born to Willis and Susan Dennis was named Francis Dennis, born in 1877. He married Nealie Mauldin, daughter of Franklin and Ella Huckabee Mauldin, in 1902 and they had 11 children together. Francis Dennis died in 1951 in Stanly County.

Martha 'Lizzie' Dennis was the ninth child born to Willis and Susan Dennis in 1879. She married William Jones, son of Martin and Caroline Repult Jones, in 1899. Martha and William made their home in Rowan County and had no children. Martha died in 1967 in Rowan County.

Dellie Dennis was the tenth child born to Willis and Susan Dennis in 1882. She never married nor had children that I am aware of. Dellie died in 1921 at the age of 39 years and is buried in the Henderson Cemetery in Montgomery County near her parents. 

The eleventh and last child of Willis and Susan Dennis is Flora Dennis, my great grandmother. Flora was born 1886 and was only 9 years old when her mother, Susan, died. Flora married John Coon Morris, son of Thomas and Mary Williams Morris in 1901. Flora and John had 11 children together. Flora died in 1965 in Montgomery County.

Susan Hearne Dennis, the wife of Willis Dennis, died in 1895 and was buried at the Henderson Cemetery in Montgomery County. Willis Dennis lived until 1913 and was buried beside his wife, Susan. They had 11 children and 99 grandchildren!

That means my Grandpa, who was one of the Ninety and nine grandchildren, had 88 maternal first cousins!