I51774: John Lee ALVIS (ABT 1830

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a great-granddaughter of William Randolph II of "Chatesworth".

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Msg From: "Paula Martin Willett" [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Archibald D. Palmer
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2002
Dear Ms. Bass, I descend from Thomas Harrison who married Nancy Pack through Elijah Harrison who married Edney Watson. I corresponded with Velvo Chaney for years. She advised that when Elijah and Edney divorced Edney was awarded a slave family. The slave family had been purchased with money Edney received from her sister Charity Watson, Eads, Palmer in Louisiana. Charity had been married to Archibald Palmer.

I have the Bible records of Tom Ben Martin and Caroline Aby Harrison. Caroline was the daughter of Miles Harper Harrison. if you would like copies I will be happy to send them to you.

I have wrestled with Thomas and Richard Harrison for years and years with no success on who their parents might have been. If you wish to write me back with their parents names it would tickle me to death....grin......I hope to hear from you soon," Paula Sue Martin Willett

Notes

"Letters to Mary Anne Lenoir include many from James Gwyn, both before and after their marriage in 1839; from her cousin John Jones, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1836." ^[S2008]

Notes

"Rev. John Moncure, the progenitor of the worthy family of the name, was of Huguenot descent. One of his daughters, Jean, who possessed the poetic gift, was a highly intelligent lady, zealously pious, and abounding in philanthropy; was the wife of General James Wood, Governor of Virginia. Another honored descendant was the late learned and guileless Judge, Richard C. L. Moncure, of the Court of Appeals of Virginia."

Mr. Alexander Scott had as his assistant or curate, for a short time before his death, the Rev. Mr. Moncure, a Scotchman, but descendant of a Huguenot refugee who fled from France at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Mr. Moncure was the successor of Mr. Scott. In what year he entered on his duties I have been unable to ascertain, but his name is still to be seen painted on one of the panels of the gallery in Old Aquia Church, together with those of the vestry in 1757. The first church was burned in the year 1751. I here give the names of the minister and vestry as painted on the gallery in the year 1757, when it is supposed the second church was finished. John Moncure, minister. Peter Houseman, John Mercer, John Lee, Mott Donithan, Henry Tyler, William Mountjoy, Benjamin Strother, Thomas Fitzhugh, Peter Daniel, Traverse Cooke, John Fitzhugh, John Peyton, vestrymen. It is gratifying to know that the descendants of the above are, with probably but few exceptions, in some part of our State or land still attached to the Episcopal Church. Their names are a guarantee for their fidelity to the Church of their fathers. Of the minister, the Rev. J. Moncure, the following extract from a letter of one of his daughters, who married General--afterward Governor--Wood, of Virginia, will give a more interesting account than any which could possibly be collected from all other sources. It was written in the year 1820, to a female relative, the grand-daughter of the Rev. James Scott, who married a sister of the Rev. Mr. Moncure's wife, and daughter of Dr. Gustavus Brown, of Port Tobacco, Maryland:--

"I was only ten years old when I lost my dear father. He was a Scotchman descended from a French ancestor, who fled among the first Protestants who left France in consequence of the persecution that took place soon after the Reformation. He had an excellent education, and had made considerable progress in the study of medicine, when an invitation to seek an establishment in Virginia induced him to cross the Atlantic, and his first engagement was in Northumberland county, where he lived two years in a gentleman's family as private tutor. During that time, although teaching others, he was closely engaged in the study of divinity, and, at the commencement of the third year from his first arrival, returned to Great Britain and was ordained a minister of the then Established Church; came back to Virginia and engaged as curate to your great-uncle, Alexander Scott, who at that time was minister of Overwharton parish, in Stafford county, and resided at his seat of Dipple. Your uncle died a short time after, and my dear father succeeded him in his parish and resided at the glebe-house. Your grandfather, the Rev. James Scott, who inherited Dipple, continued there until he settled at Westwood, in Prince William. He was my father's dearest, kindest friend, and one of the best of men. Their intimacy brought my father and my mother acquainted, who was sister to your grandmother Scott. Old Dr. Gustavus Brown, of Maryland, my maternal grandfather, objected to the marriage of my father and mother. Although he thought highly of my father, he did not think him an eligible match for his daughter. He was poor, and very delicate in his health. Dr. Brown did not, however, forbid their union, and it accordingly took place. The old gentleman received them as visitors and visited them again, but would not pay down my mother's intended dowry until he saw how they could get along, and 'to let them see that they could not live on love without other sauce.' *[* The opposition of Dr. Brown to the marriage of his eldest daughter with a poor clergyman does not seem to have been attended with the evils which he doubtless apprehended, for Mr. Moncure prospered both in temporal and spiritual things. He has numerous descendants who have also prospered, and many of them are living on the very lands bequeathed to them by their ancestor, who purchased them at a cheap rate during his ministry. They are also zealous friends of the Church wherever we hear of them. Dr. Brown had many other daughters, four of whom followed the example of their eldest sister and married clergymen of the Episcopal Church. The Rev. James Scott, of Dettingen parish, Prince William, married one, who is the maternal ancestor of numerous families in Virginia of whom we shall soon speak. The Rev. Mr. Campbell and the Rev. Mr. Hopkins and the Rev Samuel Claggett, of Maryland, (doubtless a relative, perhaps a brother, of Bishop Claggett,) married the fifth, so that the family of Browns were thoroughly identified with the Episcopal Church and ministry. Epitaph of Mrs. Frances Brown, who was buried at Dipple, the seat of the Rev. Alexander Scott, on the Potomac:--"Here lyeth the body of Frances, the wife of Dr. Gustavus Brown, of Charles county, Maryland. By her he had twelve children, of whom one son and seven daughters survived her. She was a daughter of Mr. Gerard Fowke, late of Maryland, and descended from the Fowkes of Gunster Hall, in Staffordshire, England. She was born February the 2d, 1691, and died, much lamented, on the 8th of November, 1744, in the fifty-fourth year of her age."] I have often heard my dear mother relate the circumstances of her first housekeeping with tears of tender and delightful recollection. They went home from your grandpapa's, where they were married, with a slenderly-supplied purse and to an empty house,--except a few absolute necessaries from their kind friends. When thus arrived, they found some of my good father's parishioners there: one had brought some wood, another some fowls, a third some meal, and so on. One good neighbour would insist on washing for them, another would milk, and another would tend the garden; and they all delighted to serve their good minister and his wife. Notwithstanding these aids, my mother found much to initiate her into the habits of an industrious housewife, and my father into those of an active, practical farmer and gardener, which they never gave up. When the business of preparing their meal was over, a small writing-stand was their table, the stair-steps furnished one a seat, and a trunk the other. Often, when provisions were scarce, my father took his gun or his fishing-rod and with his dog sallied forth to provide their dinner, which, when he returned, his happy wife dressed; and often would she accompany him a-fishing or fowling, for she said that they were too poor to have full employment in domestic business. Though destitute of every luxury, they had a small, well-chosen library which my father had collected while a student and tutor. This was their evening's regale. While my mother worked with her needle he read to her. This mode of enjoyment pleasantly brought round the close of the first year. When the minister's salary was paid they were now comparatively rich. My dearest father exchanged his shabby black coat for a new one, and the next year was affluent. By this time the neighbouring gentry found out the value of their minister and his wife, and contended for their society by soliciting visits and making them presents of many comforts. Frequently these grandees would come in their splendid equipages to spend a day at the glebe, and bring every thing requisite to prevent trouble or expense to its owners,--merely for the enjoyment of the society of the humble inhabitants of this humble dwelling. In the lapse of a few years, by frugality and industry in the management of a good salary, these dear parents became quite easy in their circumstances. My father purchased a large tract of land on the river Potomac. He settled this principally by tenants; but on the most beautiful eminence that I ever beheld, he built a good house, and soon improved it into a very sweet establishment. Here I was born: my brother and two sisters, considerably my seniors, were born at the glebe. My brother, who was intended for the Church, had a private tutor in the house. This man attended also to my two sisters, who previously to his residence in the family were under the care of an Englishman, who lived in the house, but also kept a public school under my father's direction about a mile from his house. Unhappily for me, I was the youngest, and very sickly. My father and mother would not allow me to be compelled to attend to my books or my needle, and to both I had a decided aversion, unless voluntarily resorted to as an amusement. In this I was indulged. I would sometimes read a lesson to mysister or the housekeeper, or, if their authority was resisted, I was called to my mother's side. All this amounted to my being an ignorant child at my father's death, which was a death-stroke to my dearest mother. The incurable grief into which it plunged her could scarcely be a matter of surprise, when the uncommonly tender affection which united them is considered. They were rather more than middle-aged when I was first old enough to remember them; yet I well recollect their inseparable and undeviating association. They were rarely seen asunder. My mother was an active walker and a good rider. Whenever she could do so, she accompanied him in his pastoral visits,--a faithful white servant attending in her absence from home. They walked hand in hand, and often rode hand in hand,--were both uncommonly fond of the cultivation of flowers, fruits, and rare plants. They watched the opening buds together,--together admired the beauty of the full-blown blossoms, and gathered the ripening fruit or seed. While he wrote or read, she worked near his table,--which always occupied the pleasantest place in their chamber, where he chose to study, often laying down his pen to read and comment on an impressive passage. Frequently, when our evening repast was over, (if the family were together,) some book, amusing and instructive, was read aloud by my dear father, and those of the children or their young associates who could not be silent were sent to bed after evening worship,--which always took place immediately after supper. Under the void which this sad separation occasioned, my poor mother's spirits sunk and never rallied. The first six or eight months were spent in a dark, secluded chamber, distant from that formerly occupied. The management of the family devolved on my brother and second sister. My eldest married two or three years previous to this period. I was left pretty much to my own management. The education of my brother and sister was so far finished that they not only held what they had acquired, but continued to improve; but alas, poor me! I as usual refused every thing like study, but became, unfortunately, immoderately fond of books. The key of the library was now within my power, and the few romances it contained were devoured. Poetry and a botanical work with plates came next. This gave me a useless, superficial knowledge of what might have been useful, but what in this indigested way was far otherwise. The Tattler, Guardian, and Spectator were the only works I read which contained beneficial instruction; and of these I only read the amusing papers; and, taking the beautiful and sublime allegories which abound with moral instruction in a literal sense, I read them as amusing tales. This kind of reading made up a pernicious mass of chaotic matter that darkened while it seemed to enlighten my mind, and I soon became romantic and exceedingly ridiculous,--turned the branches of trees together and called them a bower, and fancied I could write poetry, and many other silly things. My dear mother suffered greatly toward the close of her life with a cancer: for this she visited the medicinal springs, and I was chosen to attend her. It was a crowded and gay scene for me, who had lived almost entirely in seclusion. I did not mix in its gayest circle; yet it was of service to me, as it gave me the first view of real life that ever I had. My beloved parent was not desirous of confining me; but I rejoice at the recollection that I very seldom could be prevailed on to leave her. There I first became the favourite and devoted friend of your most excellent mother. Forgive the vanity of this boast, my dear cousin, but I cannot help observing that she afterward told me that it was the manner in which I discharged this duty that won her esteem and love. At this place I first met with General Wood, who visited me soon after my return home, and became my husband four years after."

The time of Mr. Moncure's death is seen from the following letter from that true patriot and statesman, Mr. George Mason, of Gunston, Fairfax county, Virginia. As he signs himself the kinsman of Mrs. Moncure, the relationship must have come from connection between the Browns, of Maryland, and Masons. Dr. Brown came to this country from Scotland in 1708, and married in Maryland.

"Gunston, 12th March, 1764.

"Dear Madam:--I have your letter by Peter yesterday, and the day before I had one from Mr. Scott, who sent up Gustin Brown on purpose with it. I entirely agree with Mr. Scott in preferring a funeral sermon at Aquia Church, without any invitation to the house. Mr. Moncure's character and general acquaintance will draw together much company, besides a great part of his parishioners, and I am sure you are not in a condition to bear such a scene; and it would be very inconvenient for a number of people to come so far from church in the afternoon after the sermon. As Mr. Moncure did not desire to be buried in any particular place, and as it is usual to bury clergymen in their own churches, I think the corpse being deposited in the church where he had so long preached is both decent and proper, and it is probable, could he have chosen himself, he would have preferred it. Mr. Scott writes to me that it is intended Mr. Green shall preach the funeral sermon on the 20th of this month, if fair; if not, the next fair day; and I shall write to Mr. Green to morrow to that purpose, and inform him that you expect Mrs. Green and him at your house on the day before; and, if God grants me strength sufficient either to ride on horseback or in a chair, I will certainly attend to pay the last duty to the memory of my friend; but I am really so weak at present that I can't walk without crutches and very little with them, and have never been out of the house but once or twice, and then, though I stayed but two or three minutes at a time, it gave me such a cold as greatly to increase my disorder. Mr. Green has lately been very sick, and was not able to attend his church yesterday, (which I did not know when I wrote to Mr. Scott:) if he should not recover soon, so as to be able to come down, I will inform you or Mr. Scott in time, that some other clergyman may be applied to.

"I beseech you, dear madam, not to give way to melancholy reflections, or to think that you are without friends. I know nobody that has reason to expect more, and those that will not be friends to you and your children now Mr. Moncure is gone were not friends to him when he was living, let their professions be what they would. If, therefore, you should find any such, you have no cause to lament the loss, for such friendship is not worth anybody's concern.

"I am very glad to hear that Mr. Scott purposes to apply for Overwharton parish. It will be a great comfort to you and your sister to be so near one another, and I know the goodness of Mr. Scott's heart so well, that I am sure he will take a pleasure in doing you every good office in his power, and I had much rather he should succeed Mr. Moncure than any other person. I hope you will not impute my not visiting you to any coldness or disrespect. It gives me great concern that I am not able to see you. You may depend upon my coming down as soon as my disorder will permit, and I hope you know me too well to need any assurance that I shall gladly cmbrace all opportunities of testifying my regard to my deceased friend by doing every good office in my power to his family.

"I am, with my wife's kindest respects and my own, dear madam, your most affectionate kinsman, George Mason."

The Hon. Judge Daniel, of the Supreme Court, has been kind enough to supply me with the following letter, which, with the accompanying extracts from the county records, will be an important addition to my notices of this parish:--

"Washington, November 12, 1855.

"Dear Sir:--In reply to your inquiries concerning the Old Potomac Church and its neighbourhood, I give you the following statement, founded in part upon tradition and partly upon my own recollection. My maternal grandfather, John Moncure, a native of Scotland, was the regular minister both of Aquia and Potomac Churches. He was succeeded in the ministry in these churches by a clergyman named Brooke, who removed to the State of Maryland. The Rev. Mr. Buchan succeeded him: he was tutor in my father's family, and educated John Thompson Mason, General Mason, of Georgetown, Judge Nicholas Fitzhugh, and many others. Going back to a period somewhat remote in enumerating those who lived in the vicinity of Potomac Church, I will mention my great-grandfather, Rowleigh Travers, one of the most extensive landed proprietors in that section of the country, and who married Hannah Ball, half-sister of Mary Ball, the mother of General George Washington. From Rowleigh Travers and Hannah Ball descended two daughters, Elizabeth and Sarah Travers: the former married a man named Cooke, and the latter my grandfather, Peter Daniel. To Peter and Sarah Daniel was born an only son,--Travers Daniel, my father,--who married Frances Moncure, my mother, the daughter of the Rev. John Moncure and Frances Brown, daughter of Dr. Gustavus Brown, of Maryland. The nearest and the coterminous neighbour of my father was John Mercer, of Marlborough, a native of lreland, a distinguished lawyer; the compiler of 'Mercer's Abridgment of the Virginia Laws;' the father of Colonel George Mercer, an officer in the British service, and who died in England about the commencement of the Revolution; the father also of Judge James Mercer, father of Charles F. Mercer, of John Francis Mercer, who in my boyhood resided at Marlborough, in Stafford, and was afterward Governor of Maryland; of Robert Mercer, who lived and died in Fredericksburg; of Ann Mercer, who married Samuel Selden, of Selvington, Stafford; of Maria Mercer, who married Richard Brooke, of King William, father of General George M. Brooke; and of another daughter, whose name is not recollected,--the wife of Muscoe Garnett and mother of the late James M. Garnett.

Proceeding according to contiguity were Elijah Threlheld, John Hedgeman, who married a daughter of Parson Spencer Grayson, of Prince William; Thomas Mountjoy, William Mountjoy, and John Mountjoy, the last-mentioned of whom emigrated to Kentucky, having sold his farm to Mr. John T. Brooke, the brother of the late Judge Francis T. Brooke, and who married Ann Cary Selden, daughter of Ann Mercer and grand-daughter of John Mercer. Next in the progression was the residence of John Brown, who married Hannah Cooke, daughter of Elizabeth Travers and grand-daughter of Hannah Ball, wife of Rowleigh Travers. Next was the glebe, the residence of the Rev. Robert Buchan. Adjoining this was the residence, (in the immediate vicinity of the church,) called Berry Hill, of Colonel Thomas Ludwell Lee, who possessed another plantation, on the opposite side of Potomac Creek, called Bellcvue. The son of the gentleman last named, and bearing the same name, removed to London. Of his daughters, one married Daniel Carroll Brent, of Richland, Stafford, and the other Dr. John Dalrymple Orr, of Prince William. Next to Berry Hill was the plantation of John Withers, on the stream forming the head of Potomac Creek. Crossing this stream were those of John James, Thomas Fitzhugh, of Boscobel, Major Henry Fitzhugh, of Belle Air, Samuel Selden, of Selvington, the husband of Ann Mercer, and lastly, Belle Plaine, the estate of Gaury Waugh, and, after his death, of his sons, George Lee Waugh and Robert Waugh. I have thus, sir, without much attention to system or style, attempted a compliance with your request, and shall be gratified if the attempt should prove either serviceable or gratifying. I would remark that the enumeration given you, limited to a space of some eight or ten miles square, comprises none but substantial people, some of them decmed wealthy in their day, several of them persons of education, polish, and refinement.

"With great respect, yours, P. V. Daniel."

^[S1464] ^[S1424]

Notes

Children:
1. Ollie Veitch Turk b. 14 Apr 1882 Death: 25 Aug 1946 in Hillsboro, Hill Co., TX m.
John T. Guthrie (Husband) b. 12 Nov 1871. Ollie Veitch TURK b: 14 Apr 1882 d: 25 Aug 1946 Hillsboro, Hill Co., TX Burial: Ridge Park Cemetery, Hillsboro, Hill Co., TX + John T. GUTHRIE b: 12 Nov 1871 m: Jun 1903 d: 12 Jan 1920 Burial: Ridge Park Cemetery, Hillsboro, Hill Co., TX.
2. Clarissa Isabel Ector Turk b. 25 Sep 1884 in Austin, Travis Co., TX m.Ernie Pitts (Husband)
Marriage: OCT 1911
3. Bascom Andrew Turk b. 23 Jan 1887 d. Nov 1955 m. Lorena Boyd Graham (Wife) b. 20 Dec 1887 Marriage: 15 JUN 1911
4. Flora Turk b. 16 Feb 1891 m. Edgar Kendrick Browning (Husband) Marriage: 1 JUN 1911 in Austin, Travis Co., TX
5. Joe Douglas Turk b. 7 Jun 1895 m.Bertha Johns (Wife) m2 Alta Potts (Wife) b. Before. 1898 Marriage: BEF. 1911

Notes

1. William James WACTOR was born ABT. 1792 in Orangeburg District, South Carolina, and died ABT. 1845 in Leake Co., Mississippi. He was the son of 2. Abraham WACTOR and 3. Mary ? WACTOR. He married Anna D. WELLS 6 MAR 1825 in Amite Co., MS, daughter of Isaac WELLS and Nancy C. DALLAS. She was born ABT. 1812, and died ABT. 1868 in Neshoba Co., MS.

Children of William James WACTOR and Anna D. WELLS are:
i. Martha WACTOR was born ABT. 1840.
ii. Adeliza WACTOR was born ABT. 1842.

Notes

"Various documents list Carrie Wright as Carrie or Cassie. This is also true of the legal documents. I believe her true name is Cassandra and Carrie/Cassie are nicknames."

viii. CASSANDRA WRIGHT, b. Abt. 1858, LA; d. Bef. 1920.

My Grandmother Higginbotham formerly a Wright ( sister of Zay and Will Wright)

^[S2035] ^[S2052]

My Southern Family

John Lee ALVIS

ABT 1830 - ____

ID Number: I51774

Sources

William Herbert "Billy" COTTRELL Jr.

Sarah Elizabeth DABNEY of "Edgemont"

ABT 1820 - ____

ID Number: I62008

Notes

Sources

Polly GRAVES

15 Jan 1792 - Jan 1846

ID Number: I24200

Sources

Elijah HARRISON

____ - ____

ID Number: I99158

Notes

Sources

William HAYNES

8 Jul 1816 - 29 Dec 1899

ID Number: I47858

Sources

Mary Anne LENOIR

1819 - 1899

ID Number: I55095

Notes

Sources

Rev. John MONCURE I "the Immigrant"

ABT 1710 - 1764

ID Number: I90470

Notes

Sources

MORGAN

ABT 1850 - ____

ID Number: I40121

Sources

Anne SMOOT

ABT 1640 - ABT 1662

ID Number: I95837

Sources

Andrew Jackson TURK

19 Aug 1853 - 19 Dec 1938

ID Number: I26570

Notes

Sources

William James WACTOR

ABT 1792 - ____

ID Number: I80299

Notes

Sources

Cassandra "Carrie" Jane WRIGHT

ABT 1858 - BEF 1920

ID Number: I16399

Notes

Sources

Leonard YOUNG

ABT 1730 - ____

ID Number: I42491

Sources

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