Williams Family

Home . Williams Family Tree . .Reference Info. .Early Halifax NC. . John Williams . . Richard Williams . . Joshua Williams . . Maps . . Historical North Carolina Maps . . Two Elishas (1) . Two Elishas (2) . . Elisha Williams . .Scotland Neck Trinity Church. . Betsy Williams . .William Williams. .John Wharton Williams. . Elisha Williams, Jr. . . Josiah Frederick Williams . .Henry P. Williams. . Money Williams . . James H. Williams . . Edward H. Williams . .Sallie Williams Cartwright. .Edward James Williams. . Frank D. Williams . . Mama Nelle and Pop . . Joseph D. Philips . . Sylvan Hall Cemetery . . Contacts .

.Elizabeth "Betsy" Norfleet Hunter Williams.

When Elisha and Sarah Williams decided to move from Franklin County NC to Nashville TN about 1804,  their married daughter Betsy stayed behind in NC while the rest of the family made the move to Tennessee.  She first married Joseph John Williams on 11 Feb 1797 and when he died she married the man who was married to her husband's sister (before she died), Lemuel James Alston, on 3 Feb 1818 at Halifax, North Carolina and returned with him to his plantation in Clarke County Alabama where she lived until he died in 1836.  Afterwards she returned to North Carolina where she lived until she died 31 Jan 1864.

1. ELISABETH "BETSY" NORFLEET HUNTER5 WILLIAMS (ELISHA4, JOSHUA3, RICHARD2, JOHN1) was born 06 Mar 1778 in Halifax County NC, and died 31 January 1864.  She married (1) JOSEPH JOHN WILLAMS in NC. He was born Abt. 1790 in Prob. Halifax, NC, and died Aft. Jan 1808 in Halifax, NC. She married (2) LEMUEL JAMES ALSTON.

More About ELISABETH "BETSY" NORFLEET HUNTER WILLIAMS:

Notes for JOSEPH JOHN WILLAMS:

Nov, Ct. 1808  Will posted in records compiled by Margaret Hoffmann for Halifax Co., NC.

Will #768 2 Aug 1807, Nov. Ct. 1808. wife BETSY NORFLEET HUNTER WILLIAMS every negro and increase that came to me by her also my household goods etc.,and my extras. to move her to her father's (name not given) if she wishes to move plantations to be kept and negroes hired out until children (names not given ) are of age my father (name not given) to make my children a right to my land.

Wit.: Not given  Extrs. and Guardians to my children: My brother WILILAMS WILLIAMS and JAMES HARRISS

Codicil: this 22 Jan 1808 my wife to have an equal share of my crop with the children  Wit." not given

Probate indicates will proved by JAMES HARRISS, JOSEPH GEE, MARK HARWELL and ISHAM MATHEWS

Children of ELISABETH WILLIAMS and JOSEPH WILLAMS are:

i. JAMES CONNOR WILLIAMS, b. 1 Jan 1798; d. 1813

ii. JOSEPH JOHN WILLAMS, b. 19 Aug 1800; d. 13 Apr 1833

iii. ELIZABETH ALSTON WILLAMS, b. 6 Sep 1803; d. 2 Dec 1830

 

The following reference is to Betsy's daughter, Elizabeth.  The General William "Pretty Boy" Williams was the brother of Betsy's first husband, Joseph John Williams.  He built the mansion in Shocco Springs NC, Montmorenci, which passed to the widow of Betsy's son, Joseph John Williams.  We find Betsy living there in the 1860 federal census with her daughter-in-law Mary Kearney Davis Williams. 

 

Charles Willson Peale with Patron and Populace. A Supplement to "Portraits and Miniatures by Charles Willson     Peale". With a Survey of His Work in Other Genres.  By Charles Coleman Sellers; Charles Willson Peale, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Ser., Vol. 59, No. 3. (1969), pp. 1-146. 

 

WILLIAMS, ELIZABETH ALSTON

Correction, PGM, 871.

 

SP 146, 83. The staff of the Frick Art Reference Library, to whom the author of this work and its predecessor is so largely indebted, has identified Peale's portrait of "Miss Eliza Williams," niece of "Gen. Williams," not as Elizabeth Cook Williams (1813-1890) who married Richard Cooke Tilghman, but as Elizabeth Alston Williams (1803-1830), a girl of nineteen at the time of the painting. She was a daughter of Joseph John Williams, I1 (1775-1808), and Elizabeth Norfleet Hunter (1778-1864)) who by a second marriage became the wife of Lemuel James Alston. Elizabeth herself, in her short life, was twice married, first to Harry Thorne, and second to Nicholas Drake.

 

Her uncle, the General Williams with whom she was traveling through Philadelphia in the summer of 1822, was not Otho Holland Williams (q.v., P&M 985-987), but General William Williams of "Montmorenci," Warren Co., N.C., remembered by the engaging soubriquet of "Pretty Billy." Peale's letters confirm this identification by a reference to the family "in Carolina." The painting had been "nearly finished" on June 9, and "just finished" on the fourteenth. 1822. Canvas, 283 X 234. Half length. Brown hair with a tortoise shell comb. Brown eyes. Light blue dress, ruffled lace collar and gold necklace. Basket of cherries under her hand. Brown chair, on which is draped a rose-red scarf with a border of roses and green leaves. Brown background with a column at the left. Mrs. Frank H. Gibbs, Warrenton, N. C. (Desc.)"

 

 

Winterthur was home and hobby to Henry Francis du Pont, a superb landscaper and the world's most prodigious collector of American decorative arts made or used in this country from 1640 to 1860. As museums go Winterthur is still in its infancy and is not as widely known as might be expected given the premier quality of its contents and its gardens. www.winterthur.org

Du Pont inherited the original 18th-century country house in 1927, transformed it into a 175-room home and moved out in 1951 when it became a museum. He bought facades and entire rooms of gracious American residences and restored and installed them here. Du Pont then filled the quarters with appropriate furniture, art and accessories. He purchased entire portions of the house of a Philadelphia mayor, a Pennsylvania Dutch farm, a 19th-century Delaware inn named the Red Lion and the family room of a 17th-century Essex, Massachusetts dwelling. A free-standing staircase and several rooms at Winterthur had originally been part of an estate called Montmorenci in North Carolina.

This is the restored staircase that was in Montmorenci, Shocco Springs, NC.  It is located in the DuPont home ,Winterthur, in Wilmington, DE which is now a museum.

 

Whitsome (the Coleman-White House) is a rare surviving example of the unique “montmorenci" school" of Federal style architecture renowned in Warren and Halifax counties. It stands on a spacious and attractive lot in the historic small town of  Warrenton.

 

Built between 1821 and 1824, the elegant, livable, and beautifully preserved house displays the hallmarks of the regional style named after the famous lost plantation house,  Montmorenci—the premier example whose stair and other woodwork are in the Winterthur Museum in Delaware.

 

Whitsome's front façade features the only surviving Montmorenci-style windows—a distinctive Palladian-inspired design with decorative blind arches and pilasters separating the central and flanking window elements. The Palladian theme also defines the central doorways at both levels, which are enriched with fanlights and intricate carved moldings typical of the Montmorenci school.

Inside, the central hall and flanking rooms continue the Federal style elegance. Complementing the simply treated stair, the woodwork of mantels, wainscoting, chair rails, and door frames features reeding and gougework rosettes, garlands, and cable moldings. Most striking is the ornate plaster work in the hall and main parlor, with central medallions and cornices featuring rich acanthus, modillions, and floral designs.  In excellent condition, Whitsome has been meticulously maintained for comfortable living and offers a broad rear porch and full basement.

 

 

Mrs. Mary K. Williams is the owner of the Montmorenci in 1858 according to Wharton Jackson Green's book, and it seems likely she is the same one living with Betsy N.H. Williams Alston in the 1860 census.  Mary Kearney Williams was the wife of Betsy's son John Joseph Williams, Jr.and  General "Pretty Billy" Williams was the brother of Betsy's first husband, John Joseph Williams.
 
William "Pretty Billy" Williams married 4 times.  Not sure when he died, but he was born in 1771 and married the last time in 1826 at the age of 55. He was probably dead by 1860.  He was willed the following as a young man:

WILL-EXECUTOR: NCHAL-WL1 p. 139; brother, Joseph John Williams, Jr. dated 2 Aug. 1807, ALSO: brother-in-law, James Harris.

WILL LEGATEE: NCHAL-WL1 pp. 165-166; father, Joseph John Williams dated 15 Feb 1816, given 800-900 acres of land joining Sharrod Bobbet, Moseley and Butterwood Swamp, father's plantation, other lands in Halifax and Warren Counties, furniture, slaves and other items.
 
RNQb3jtfaV&sig=GNtY-7TAfbcp1yPxLv0QveDw_CU#PPA108,M1 "Pretty Billy" Williams built Montmorenci in 1825 and it was located half way between Shocco Springs and Jones Red and White Sulfur Springs.
 
The Manly Wade Wellman book shows:
 
"#38 is labeled as the site of the old Shocco Springs Hotel (1815-1875).
#36 is labeled as the site of the Jones' White Sulphur Springs Hotel (1810-1875)."
 
"these locations are not far from what is known today as the "Vicksboro" Community which is found right on the Vance/Warren line - southeastern Vance/southwestern Warren. You'll see Shocco Creek near" Notice on the map below that the Shocco Creek runs just above Vicksboro to the right.
 
"Shocco Springs: former health resort in s(outh) Warren County on Shocco Creek. Located approx. 9 mi. s(outh) of the city of Warrenton, it was famous in the nineteenth century as a social, recreational, and health resort built around mineral springs. Shocco Male Academy was located here. Neither is in existence any longer. Shocco Springs had a post office from 1832 until 1866"
 
In the Wharton Jackson Green's book  http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/green/green.html he says "I found a letter, however, directing me to join them at the North Carolina "White Sulphur," or famous old "Shocco."", obviously speaking of the two hotels above.  From the map below you can see that Vicksboro is near Shocco Creek which crosses highway 410 about 9 miles south of Warrenton as indicated above.  I have always thought that Elisha Williams lived in the area of the yellow line in the map below where Shocco Creek forms the border between Franklin and Warrenton counties, primarily because he owned land in both counties and lived on Shocco Creek.  His family is recorded in Franklin County in the 1800 federal census and that is the only part of the Shocco Creek that borders Franklin County.
 

Wharton Jackson Green goes on to say "After the summer season was over, my father engaged the famous old Montmorenci, belonging to a particular friend, Mrs. Mary K. Williams, where the intervening cold seasons were passed until my wedding day rolled around on the 4th of May, 1858."  The Treasure House of Early American Rooms book http://books.google.com/books?  id=di8xsNefMpQC&pg=PA86&lpg=PA86&dq=williams+montmorenci&source=web&ots=

xVZm52gcUR&sig=kqVjVHlVWe06Eh8DoifKwbu-DhA says "Montmorenci, a famous house built at Shocco Springs, near Warrenton, North Carolina, about 1822 by General William Williams"  and puts the location of Montmorenci in Shocco Springs.  Other references indicate it is located SW of Warrenton.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Norfleet Hunter Williams Alston

Daughter of Elisha Williams and Sarah Josey

8 February 2008

In the 1860 Federal Census B. N. H. Alston, age 81, is living with M. K. Williams in Warren county, NC.  We know that two years earlier Betsy N. H. Williams Alston was living with her daughter-in-law Mary Kearney Davis Williams at Montmorenci near Shocco Springs in Warren County.

Betsy’s daughter, Elizabeth Alston Williams Drake had died in 1830 and her son, Joseph John Alston had died in 1833.  Her only other child, James Conner Williams appears to have died young.  All this is based on the bible records below.  She did have grandchildren living in 1860.

Did Betsy marry Lemuel James Alston on 3 Feb 1818 after his first wife died there and move with him to southern Alabama? 

If so, it appears from the census records below that she moved back to North Carolina after he died in 1836 and lived with her widowed daughter-in-law, Mary Kearney Davis Williams, in 1840, disappears in 1850, and back with Mary K. Davis Williams in 1860.

The following is from U. S. Census records on Ancestry.com

Warren County NC 1860

M. K. Williams, age 57, Female
B. N. H. Alston, age 81, Female
F. Bennett, age 65, Female

 

Warren County NC 1850

M. K. Williams, age 47, Female
Lucy E. Williams, age 20, Female

Halifax NC 1840

Mary Williams,                              1 male 10 to under 15                  Thomas Calvin age 12 ?

                                                      1 male 15 to under 20                   Joseph John age 16 ?

                                                      1 female 10 to under 15                 Lucy age 14 ?

                                                      1 female 15 to under 20                 Mary Elizabeth age 18 ?

                                                      1 female 30 to under 40                 Mary K. Williams age 38 ?          

                                                      1 female 60 to under 70                 Betsy N. H. Williams age 62

 

 

The following web site says that Elizabeth Williams, daughter of Col. Joseph John Williams and wife Rosanna Conner, married Judge Lemuel Alston, born 1760, and she died before 15 Feb 1816.

 

It also says Judge Lemuel James Alston married Elizabeth Norfleet Hunter Williams, daughter of Elisha Williams and Sarah Josey, on 3 Feb 1818 at Halifax NC and he died in 1836 in Alabama.

Descendancy Chart of John Alston of North Carolina

 

Questions, comments email at fkroots@aol.com

http://hometown.aol.com/vafdking/alston.htm

 

  4.   JOSEPH JOHN WILLIAMS COL married ROSANNA CONNER at of, Edgecombe, North  Carolina. He was born at Edgecombe, North Carolina. He  married ELIZABETH  MATILDA ALSTON, daughter of PHILIP ALSTON SR  and  WINIFRED WHITMELL, in 1770 at Bute, North Carolina. He died after 15  Feb  1816 at Halifax, North Carolina.

 

i)   ELIZABETH  WILLIAMS married LEMUEL JAMES ALSTON JUDGE,  son  of SOLOMON  ALSTON JR and SARAH HINTON, at of, Halifax, North Carolina.  She  was  born  at Halifax, North Carolina. She died before  15  Feb 1816.

 

a)   LEMUEL JAMES ALSTON JUDGE married ELIZABETH WILLIAMS,  daughter of  JOSEPH  JOHN WILLIAMS COL and ELIZABETH MATILDA ALSTON,  at  of,  Halifax,  North Carolina. He was born in 1760 at North Carolina.  He  married  ELIZABETH  NORFLEET  HUNTER WILLIAMS,  daughter  of  ELISHA  WILLIAMS  and SARAH JOSEY, on 3 Feb 1818 at Halifax, North Carolina.  He died in 1836 at Alabama.

 

 

From the below paragraphs we learn that Lemuel James Alston moved to southern Alabama in 1816 where he died in 1836.  He had eight children and was survived by one son, Col W. W. Alston, who was born in 1799 in South Carolina.  From his age at death we can infer that Lemuel James Alston was born in 1760.

 

ALSTON

Lemuel J. ALSTON removed from Greenville, South Carolina, and settled on the Tombigbee river, opposite St. Stephens, in 1816. He owned two river planta­tions, one on the east, and one on the west side of the river. About the year 1827 he removed to a location one mile and three-quarters north-east of where Grove Hill was afterwards founded. This became known as the Alston place, and here, in 1836, he died, at the age of seventy-six; leaving of six sons and two daughters, one only surviving child, Colonel W. W. Alston.

 

Colonel Alston was born in 1799 before the famiIy left South Carolina. Re resided on the plantation near Grove Hill at the time of his father’s death, and continued there for several years.. He was probably mar­ried before the removal from, the river plantation.  He had six sons and six daughters, of whom one son only died in early infancy.

 

Mrs. Alston, the mother of these children, was very careful in regard to the diet as well as the general training of her children. She was a woman of refinement, intelligence, and Christian princi­ple.  Her daughters were noted for their fine personal appearance.  They were quite distinguished for beauty among the girls of Clarke. 

 

Their father, Colonel Als­ton, was a man of wealth and of good position, and was noted among even Southern gentleman for his ex­treme politeness.  His home was quite a stopping pIace for the two brethern, Talbert and Creighton, when out from their homes on preaching tours.  Mrs. Alston died at the age of thirty-eight, Septem­ber 21st 1841.

 

The oldest daughter, Sarah, was married to Samuel A. Fitts, of Union Town, in Perry county.   She is still residing there, having a large family of sons and daughters.

 

Mary, the second daughter, married James A. Howze of Clarke, whose home was at ‘the Rocks”.  They are now both dead, but have children Living and grown up.

 

Laura married W. J. Howze of  enterprise, MIssissippi. They are still living near that town.

 

Cornelia married J. J. Pegues, of Dallas county.  She died in 1852.

 

Colonel Alston, who a1so made his home for some years with his daughter, Mrs. Howze, died in 1859, being sixty years of age.  Four of his sons are yet living.

 

William Alston is a resident in Lamar county,

 

Thomas Alston died a few years ago in that county.

 

Joseph J. Alston is residing in Paris in the same county.

 

Ann and Emma, young ladies residing at the home of their sister, Mrs. Mary Howze, in 1852, will be men­tioned in another connection.

 

Dr. Alfred A. Alston, the youngest of the famly, was about one year of age at the time of his mother’s death.  He was for some years a student at the Grove Hill Academy.  He was a very pleasant and winsome boy, although occasionally wayword.  He had a quick memory, was an excellent declaimer, and a bright, attractive scholar, generous and kind, and intelligent.  He studied medicine, married Miss Ulmer, one of the beautiful girls of C1arksville, and at length removed to Texas.  He is now living in the town of Paris, in the county of Lamar.

 

Dr. Lemuel L. Alston, the only brother remaining in the state of Alabama, settIed at Grove Hill as a physician about 1852.  He had but lately completed his course of study, was very affable and courteous, endowed by nature with a very fine personal appear­ance, and was by culture very polite and refined.  It was soon rnanifest that in his chosen profession he was humane, kind, gentle, and careful.  A more consider­ate and tender family physician none needed to desire. 

 

In the fall of 1854 he was married to Miss Jackson of Gainestown, a daughter of Jamea M. Jackson, and con­tinued to reside at Grove Hill.  Mrs. Alston was found to be a valuable accession to the social life of the town.  In the course of years, one daughter, Mary, and two sons, Lemuel and William gladdened their home, and became attendants of the Grove Hill Sunday school. 

 

At length Dr. Alston removed from Grove Hill and is now with his wife residing at Orrville.  The children grew up, as the years came rapidly upon them.  Miss Mary was married to Dr. B. P. Heryer, a physician at Tuskaloosa, where they now reside.  The elder son Lemuel Alston, is there also, engaged  in business and William W. Aiston is at this date, (1877) a member of the State University, as a student.

 

Dr. Alston and his estimable wife are left therefore alone in their home in Dallas county, and years are weighing upon them. The meridian of life will soon be passed.

 

Thus it appears that of the large and wealthy Aiston family no one now remains in the county of Clarke.  The river plantation and the old homestead are in the hands of other and where eleven children sported amid the shades of mulberries and china trees, and gathered the flowers and summer fruits, probably not one of them will ever tread again. But on the records of social life and business and professional life in “old Clarke,” from 1816 lip to about 1866, or for fifty years, the name of Alston is indelibly impressed.

 

Alas for parental hopes! February 22nd 1878, W. W. Alston was shot by a fellow student and almost instantly killed.  President Smith testified: “I believed him to be one of the most fearlest young men in college.  In all my transactions with him, I found him to be extremely honest reliable and trustworthy.”  An­other witness testified; “Alston was sober and gentlemanly — was a member of the church and a Good Templar.

 

 

From the below paragraphs we learn that Lemuel James Alston was indeed a very wealthy man, owning more than 10,000 acres, and that he was living in the Greenville NC area earlier than 1788.  We also see that he sold all of his land there in 1815.

 

Excerpts from

History of Greenville County, South Carolina

 

PLEASANTBURG — EARLY TOWN OF GREENVILLE

Several years before the village of Pleasantburg came into existence, and no doubt before there was a single house upon its future location, there existed somewhat of a community about the present Tanglewood school section.  There, near the present intersection of the White Horse road and state highway No.2 (newly paved road to Easley), was the general store of A. McBeth & Company, which is known to have been doing a flourishing business as early as 1794.  Near the McBeth establishment lived a number of planters and summer residents who had early selected that vicinity because it commanded such an excellent view of the mountains to the north, and was at the same time considered more healthful than other nearby locations on account of its elevation.

 

In 1788 Thomas Brandon conveyed the 400 acres granted to him in 1784 unto Lemuel J. Aiston, who already resided in the county, and was the owner of much land adjoining and near that purchased from Brandon.  It will be recalled that this property included the “Richard Pearis mill site” which was later to become the village of Pleasantburg, now Greenville.  Aiston was a man of wealth and great political influence, and no doubt for this reason the commissioners who had been appointed to select a site for the location of a court house in Greenville County chose the eastern side of Reedy river near the Pearis mill site. 

 

And here started the first “real estate development project” in the county, when in 1797 was laid out the town of Pleasantburg by Aiston, upon the lands which he had purchased from Colonel Brandon…………………But near the present High School Building, which was then outside the village, stood the beautiful home of Lemuel J. Aiston, which was said to be the most elaborate residence in the entire up-country, and leading from it to the village was a wide avenue (now West McBee) lined on either side by trees.

 

Alston was the owner of more than 1O,000 acres of land which he very successfully cultivated with slaves. About him and his magnificent home, where well-stocked cellars could always be found, revolved the social life of early Greenville and its surrounding plantations.

 

A very good picture of the impression made upon a stranger by the village during its babyhood may be had by reading an extract from the diary of Edward Hooker, a native of Connecticut, who paid Greenville a visit in 1806. He says:             “Approaching the village of Greenville, we pass in view of Chancellor Thomson’s (Thompson) seat—quite retired in the woods, about two miles from the Court House. Arrived at Col. Alston’s about 12. His seat is without exception the most beautiful that I have seen in South Carolina.

 

The mansion is on a commanding eminence which he calls Prospect Hill. Fronts the village of Greenville from which it is distant just six hundred yards; and to which there is a spacious and beautiful avenue leading, formed by two rows of handsome sycamore trees planted twenty four feet apart—the avenue being 15 rods wide.

 

In like manner another handsome avenue formed by cutting a passage through the woods leads from the north front of the house to the mountain road, about a quarter of a mile in length. The cultivated grounds lie partly on the borders of the great avenue leading to the village and partly on the borders of Reedy river, south and west of the house.”

 

All who know anything at all of the early history of Greenville have heard the name of Vardry McBee, ancestor of so many, who with himself, have contributed greatly to the upbuilding of Greenville, both city and county. In 1815 he purchased the entire holdings of Lemuel J. Alston, consisting of 11,028 acres in and around the village of Greenville.  Mr. McBee then resided at Lincolnton, North Carolina, and did not move to Greenville till 1835, but almost immediately after his Greenville purchase he set on foot many enterprises which were soon to give a zest of life to the languishing community.  In fact, the advent of Vardry McBee into Greenville marked its real beginning.

 

HISTORIC GREENVILLE TOUR

http://www.greenville.k12.sc.us/league/tour1.html

 

6. PROSPECT HILL, Westfield Street (present day Greenville Water Works office)  

 

Look for the marker and photograph the site of Lemuel Alston's home, "Prospect  Hill". Built around 1788, Alston lived in the house which he later turned into Greenville's first hotel (1815).  He sold the property to Vardry McBee and moved to Alabama.  This house was tom down in 1920 and Greenville High School was built on this site. 

 

 

Greenville

By Piper Peters Aheron

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZrL3WQPHTkoC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=alston

+mansion+greenville+sc&source=web&ots=D7QaEtzm8W&sig=JJc8sbPwEfY7lNl64OF-MptQVY0#PPP1,M1

When it was constructed in the late 1700s, Prospect Hill sat 600 feet from the main road or Pearis’s Wagon Road, which continued to present-day White Hone Road and into the hillsides of the district.  By the 1900’s, Prospect Hill was located Westfield Street and McBee Avenue. 

 

Prospect hill also became one of Greenville’s first hotels after Alston sold it to Vardry McBee.  In 1815, Alston relocated to Clarke County. Alabama, where be died in 1836.  In 1835 Vardy McBee finally moved from Lincolnton, North Carolina, to Greenville.  McBee lived in this house until his death in 1864.  In 1920 Prospect Hill was demolished. (Special Collections. South Carolina Library, USC. Columbia.)

 

Great Plains became part of (Greenville County through the Count Court Act of 1 785.  Alston, a visionary, donated some land for the construction of a county courthouse.  He also created a plat and labeled the mapped area Pleasantburg, a village that would divide the county in an effort to honor the General, Nathaneal Greene. 

 

North of the hamlet’s log courthouse were the foothills called the Dirk Corner.   Southward lay the Possum Kingdom, flatlands best utilized for farming.  Greenville, both county and city, had been organized, with Greenville the beneficiaryof low country merchant’s dealings.  Coastal plantation owners began to vacation at local mineral springs while drovers pushed herds of cattle, sheep, hogs. and turkeys from Kentucky and Tennessee through Greenville to Charleston. This profitable activity caught the eye of a Lincolnton, North Carolina saddle maker, Vardry McBee.  In 1815 McBee gave Alston $27,554 for the Alston estate, or Prospect Hill.

 

 

 

 

From the below paragraphs we learn that Lemuel James Alston first married Elisabeth, daughter of Col. Joseph John and Elizabeth (Alston) Williams, and a second time Elisabeth, widow of Joseph John Williams, Jr., the half brother of his first wife.  Note the spelling of Elisabeth with an “s” for both the wives with the older Elizabeth spelled with a “z”.  We know Elizabeth N. H. Williams Alston’s name was spelled with a “z” and likely his first wife as well since her grandmother’s name was Elizabeth.

 

The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans: Volume IA
Alston, Willis


ALSTON, Lemuel James, representative, was born in Granville county, N.C., in 1760; son of Solomon Alston, grandson of Solomon and Nancy (Hinton) Alston, and great-grandson of John and Mary (Clark) Alston. John Alston was a native of Bedfordshire, England, and settled in North Carolina about 1711.

 

Lemuel removed to what is now Greenville, S.C., represented that district in the 10th and 11th congresses, serving 1807-11, and removed thence to Clarke county, Ala., in 1816, where he became chief justice, presiding over the Orphans and county courts from 1816 to May 1821.

 

He married Elisabeth, daughter of Col. Joseph John and Elizabeth (Alston) Williams, and a second time Elisabeth, widow of Joseph John Williams. Jr., the half brother of his first wife.  He died in Clarke County, Ala., in 1836.

 

 

In this article we confirm that Lemuel was born in 1760 and moved to Greenville, South Carolina after the Revolutionary War with ended in 1777 and moved to South Alabama in 1816.

 

ALSTON, Lemuel James

(1760—1836)

ALSTON, Lemuel James, a Representative from South Carolina; born in the eastern part of Granville (now Warren) County, N.C., in 1760; moved to South Carolina after the Revolutionary War and settled near Greens Mill, which soon became the town of Greenville; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Greenville; member of the State house of representatives, 1789-1790; elected as a Republican to the Tenth and Eleventh Congresses (March 4, 1807-March 3, 1811); moved in 1816 to Clarke County, Ala., and settled near Grove Hill, where he presided over the orphans’ court and the county court from November 1816 until May 1821; died at “Alston Place,” Clarke County, Ala., in 1836.

 

 

From the census record below we can see that Lemuel was living in what is now sourthern Alabama in 1816 with no females in the house.  However, in the following census record we can see that in 1830 he is living with a female between the ages of 50 and 60 at a time when Betsy Norfleet Hunter would have been 52 years of age.   The above record states they married on 3 Feb 1818 in Halifax NC.

 

http://www.trackingyourroots.com/data/1816clrk.htm

 

Clarke County Mississippi Territory 1916 Census

 

The original image is available (if you are a member) at Ancestry.com

http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=1125&iid=v229_1- 0377&fn=Lemuel+J&ln=Alstan&st=d&ssrc=&pid=15321

 

Lemuel J. Alston was the head of household which contained:

 

2 White Males over 21

1 White Male under 21

O White Females

3 Free Persons of Color

83 Slaves

 

1830 U. S. Census

The original image is available (if you are a member) at Ancestry.com

http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=8058&iid=ALM19_2- 0469&fn=Samuel+J&ln=Alston&st=d&ssrc=&pid=1824462

 

One White Male between the ages of 60 and 70

One White Female between the ages of 50 and 60

 

 

This bible was most likely written by Lucy Eugenia Williams who married Maj. William H. Polk, the brother of President Polk.  I base this on the fact that the writer says she is the granddaughter of Elizabeth Norfleet Hunter Williams. 

 

Notice the nickname Betsy for Elizabeth N. H. Williams and the spelling of Elizabeth Williams, the sister of Betsy’s first husband spelled with a “z”. 

 

Betsy’s husband, Joseph John Williams, was born in August 1775 and died 18 September 1808.  So it’s likely that his sister Elizabeth was born sometime around 1775.  If she is the one who married Lemuel James Alston first, then it would have been around 1800.  They had eight children which would have taken about fifteen years. 

 

The timing would be right for her to die before 15 Feb 1816 in South Carolina, Lemuel to move to south Alabama in 1816 and then come back to North Calolina to marry Betsy N. H. Williams, who in 1797 had married Joseph John Willliams who died in 1808.  After all, his first wife was the sister of Betsy’s first husband, so they were family.  When Lemuel died in southern Alabama in 1836 he only had one child living.

 

Lemuel had been living in Greenville, SC since sometime after the Revolutionary War ended in 1777 and before 1788.  He would have been 17 in 1777 and 28 in 1788.  His first wife Elizabeth’s parents were married in 1770 so she likely was born around 1775.

 

Did he return to North Carolina about 1795 when he was 35 and Elizabeth was about 20 and marry her and take her to South Carolina?  After she died about 1815, did he return again and marry his first wife’s sister-in-law, Betsy Williams and move with her to southern Alabama? 

 

When he died, did she come back to North Carolina where she grew up?  Stranger things have happened and the records seem to support this theory.

Excerpts from

Williams & Polk Family Bible
Brought in by Mrs. John Mitchell in 1975, Warrenton, N. C.
No pub. Date

 

Births


Jos John Williams Senior Aug. 1775

 

Betsy N. H. Williams Mar. 6, 1778

 

James Conner Williams, son of J. J. Williams & Betsy Jan. 1, 1798

 

Jos John Williams Jr. son of Jos John Williams Senior & Betsey N. H. Williams was born the 19th day of August 1800

 

Elizabeth Alston Williams Sept. 5, 1803

 

Mary Kearney Davis daughter of Archibald & Elizabeth Davis born the 13th of Dec. 1802

 

Deaths

 

Mrs. B. N. H. Alston Jan. 31, 1864

 

Mrs. B. N. H. Alston departed this life on Sunday morning the 31st of January on her 87 year of age 1864

 

Elizabeth Alston Williams Daeke [Drake] Dec. 2, 1830

 

Jos Jon Williams Senior departed this life in his 34th year Sunday Eve 11 oclock 18th Sept. 1808

 

Jos Jon Williams Senior Sept. 18, 1808

 

Jos. John Williams Sen. departed this life on Saturday the 13th of April in his 33rd year 1833

 

Joseph John Williams, son of Jos John Williams & Betsy N. H. Williams Apr. 1833

 

Jos. John Williams Jun. son of Jos. J. Williams Sr. departed this life at Randolph Macon College Wednesday the 15th of March 1843

 

Mary K. Williams departed this life on Sunday Evening about 9 o’ck February 27 in the 85th year of her age 1887

 

Marriages

 

Elisha Williams & Sarah Josey Mar. 24, 1775
(their children were William, Elisha, Josiah, and Elizabeth Norfleet Hunter Williams)

 

Elisha Williams & Sarah Josy were married March 24th 1775 – children were William, Elisha, Josiah, Elizabeth Norfleet Hunter Williams my grandmother

 

Jos. Jon. Williams and Betsey N. H. Williams was married the 11th of February 1797

 

Jos John Williams and Mary K. Davis were married the 9th of February 1820

 

Col Joseph John Williams 1st youngest son of Samuel Williams and Elizabeth Alston (daughter of Judge John Alston of England) was a member of the Provincial Congress that met at Halifax April 4th 1776 and May 11th 1776. Appointed one of the commuter of safety for the State and was a member of the Legislature from Halifax County in 1777. He died in 1818. His will dated Feb. 15, 1816 was 1st married to Rosannah Conner who bore him;


1. Martha Williams= 1st Henry Hill 2d Dr. Samuel T. Thorne
2. Joseph John Williams Jr= Elizabeth Norfleet Hunter Williams
3. Henry Williams (no other record)
4. Elizabeth Williams (no other record)
5. Rosanna Conner Williams= md Dr. Jessie N. Faulcon


Col Joseph John Williams 2nd wife was Elizabeth Alston (daughter of Phillip Alston and Elizabeth Whitmel) who bore him:


1. Wineford Whitmel Williams= 1st James Harris no child 2nd James Harris (cousin of the above)
2. Catherine Williams= Heath (no further record)
3. William Williams (Pretty Billy)= 4 times

 

Elizabeth Williams = Hon Lemuel James Alston (1st wife) son of Solomon Alston Jr. & wife Sarah

 

Elisha Williams of Roanoke= Sarah Josie

children –

 

William,

Josiah,

Elisha and

Elizabeth who married Joseph John Williams Jr. who born him three children.

 

1.        James Conner Williams died.

 

2.        Elizabeth Alston Williams

1st    Harry Thorne

2nd   Dr. Nicholas Drake

one child died in infancy

 

3.        Joseph John Williams= Mary Kearney Davis (daughter of Archibald Davis & Elizabeth Crafford Hilliard)

Issue

1.        Mary Elizabeth Williams= Dr. Peter Hawkins,

2.        Joseph John Williams= died unmarried,

3.        Lucy Eugenia Williams= Maj. William H. Polk Tenn. * See bio of Maj. Polk below

4.        Thomas Caboin Williams= Virginia Poyer Boyd

After the death of Joseph John Williams 2nd his widow married Hon Lemuel James Alston as his 2nd wife (no issue)


Samuel Williams & Elizabeth Alston he died in 1753

children:


1. William Williams= Mrs. Thomas Blount
2. Solomon Williams= Tempie Boddie
3. Samuel Williams
4. Joseph John Williams= Rosannah Conner

 

§             Col Joseph John Williams died in 1818

 

o           Joseph John Williams 2d. married Elizabeth Norfleet Hunter Williams (daughter of Cleoha (Elisha) Williams & Sarah Josie

 

§             Joseph John Williams 3rd married Mary Kearney Davis


POLK, William Hawkins, (1815 - 1862)


POLK, William Hawkins, (brother of President James Knox Polk), a Representative from Tennessee; born in Maury County, Tenn., May 24, 1815; attended the city schools, Columbia, Tenn., and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1832 and 1833; was graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1839 and commenced practice in Columbia, Tenn.; member of the State house of representatives 1842-1845; Minister to the Kingdom of Naples and served from March 13, 1845, to August 31, 1847; served as major of the Third Dragoons in the Mexican War in 1847 and 1848; elected as an Independent Democrat to the Thirty-second Congress (March 4, 1851-March 3, 1853); resumed the practice of law; died in Nashville, Tenn., December 16, 1862; interment in Greenwood Cemetery, Columbia, Tenn.


Bibliography

Bergeron, Paul H. “My Brother’s Keeper: William H. Polk Goes to School.” North Carolina Historical Review 44 (Spring 1967): 188-204.