AYRES/AYERS FAMILY CONNECTIONS

The Ayres family name is connected to the Childress name by virtue of Selah Celia Ayres (1794 to 1867, daughter of Moses Ayres and wife Rachel McFadden) marrying Obediah Childress, Sr. (1792 to 1852), my third great grandfather.  I believe Obediah and Selah Ayres were married in Alabama in 1814.  They lived in the Birmingham area until around 1836, when they moved to the Ackerman, Mississippi area.  See the Childress Ancestor page on this website for a photo of the tombstone of Selah Celia Ayres, the very earliest known connection between the Ayres and the Childress name.

Ancestral Lineage:  Thomas Eyre (b. 1549) > John Ayer (b. 1582) > Obadiah Ayers (b. 1636)  John Ayers (b. 1662) > Aaron Ayers (b. 1708) > Moses Ayers, Sr. (b. 1750) > Moses Ayers, Jr. (b. 1774) > Selah Celia Ayres (b. 1794) m. Obediah Childress, Sr. (b. 1792) > Obediah Childress, Jr. (b. 1825) > Caleb Childress (b. 1856) > William Thomas Childress (b. 1874) > John F. Childress, Sr. (b. 1918) > JPC (b. 1945)

The table below reflects the relationships of those individuals whose photographs are on this page (* indicates photo below).  Siblings shown with similar background colors.

Following are a few ancestral photographs of Ayres descendants forwarded to me by family members.

The first photograph above features Thomas Eli Ayres (1803 - 1890) and his second wife Cornelia Hampton Walker (1823 - 1894).  Thomas Eli's first wife was Caroline Wilson (1811 - 1859).  The lady in the second photograph above is Thomas Eli's sister-in-law Cynthia Snow (1805 - 1888) wife of Thomas Eli's brother, John Ayres (1801 - 1874).  Thomas Eli and John were the sons of Moses and Rachel McFadden Ayres.   I believe Cynthia to be the half-niece of my  Obediah Childress, Sr.; she would also be the wife of the brother-in-law of Obediah, due to duel family relationships.

Following are photographs of two of the fourteen children of John and Cynthia Snow Ayres.  There certainly is a distinct family resemblance between these two siblings.  The first is Virginia Clementine Ayres (1844 - 1900), wife of Wright R. White (1836 - 1917).  The second photo is of Virginia's brother, Benjamin Bedford Ayres (b. 1825).  Shirley French Baldwin, Benjamin's great granddaughter, states that Benjamin lost his left arm at the Battle of Vicksburg, where he was serving in Company D, 42nd Georgia Infantry.  For additional information on Clementine's husband Wright, including photographs of Wright White and his father, Samuel Isaiah White (1810 - 1893), click here.

The last two photographs below are associated with Eli James P. Ayres (1830 - 1863) who is the brother of Virginia Clementine and Benjamin Bedford Ayres.  There is, at this date, a bit of confusion over the complete names of all fourteen children of John and Cynthia Snow Ayres, but this tombstone should serve to remove any doubt concerning the full name of Eli.  There appears to be another "James P. Ayres" in this roster of children for this couple; the name of child number nine is "James Polk Ayres" and he lived from 1838 to 1884.  I suppose with this many children, one begins to run out of original names and recycling commences.  The last photograph is of the Ayres cemetery plot in the old Troup Cemetery located in Troup, Smith County, Texas where Eli James P. Ayres and his kinfolk are interred.

(Above photographs of tombstones  furnished by Karen Ayers Weir)

Amelia Evaline Ayres (1832 - 1922) (below) was the daughter of Thomas Eli Ayres and the granddaughter of Moses and Rachel McFadden Ayres.  She died in Smith County, Texas and was married to a Johnson.

(Above photograph furnished by Charmian Giles, great, great grandchild of Amelia Ayres)

Claudia Ayres (1882-1968), second great granddaughter of Moses and Rachel McFadden Ayres and a co-founder of Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas, is shown below.  Claudia, whose chosen religious name was Mother Angelique, became the first American-born woman to serve as superior general of the Sisters of Divine Providence, a position in which she held two consecutive six-year terms.  Claudia's parents, Eli Snow and Nan Ayres, were not of the Catholic faith so she must be one of very few Catholic members of this family tree.

(Photo above of Claudia Ayres is  from website of Sisters of Divine Providence, San Antonio, Texas.
Photos of Clementine Ayres White and Cynthia Snow Ayres are from collection of Marguerite
 White Garrison, a direct descendent of John Ayres and Cynthia Snow Ayres.
Photo of Benjamin Bedford Ayres contributed by Shirley French Baldwin,
 great granddaughter of Benjamin.)

Sarah Sally Ayres (1783-1854), was married to Eli Snow (1780 to 1851) who was the stepson of William Childress (ca. 1750 to 1834) and was born in South Carolina.  She died in the Ackerman, Mississippi area and is buried alongside her husband in the Enon Cemetery.  The following photograph was downloaded from the Ancestry.com family tree belonging to Harold Childress and was incorrectly identified as the wife to the above William Childress.  I cannot be certain that this is a photo of Sarah Ayres Snow, but I can say with certainty that it is not a photo of the wife of William Childress.

Click here to go to the Childress/Mathis Family Tree data on Roots Web for notes on the above individuals.