CHARLES LAVENDER JR. AND LUCINDA BALLEW OF VA AND SC
Charles Lavender (called Jr. on his pension file W.8025), was the son of William Charles Lavender and Milly Mills, and was born about 1763 in Amherst Co., Va. He was a private in Col. Merriwether�s and Samuel Cabell�s Virginia Regiments. He guarded prisoners at Albemarle barracks, was in the Battle of Brandywine, and at the Siege of Yorktown.
He married in Amherst Co., VA to Lucinda Ballew on 21 Dec. 1785. Lucy was born about 1766 in Amherst Co., VA and was the daughter of Thomas Ballew and Chloe Battersby. Charles and Lucy moved to North Carolina after their marriage and later to Edgefield Dist. SC. He died there on 5 May 1802 from a �strike of electricity (lightning).�
His grandson , Charles Etchison Lavender, in 1832, wrote in his autobiographical sketch, that his grandfather (the Charles Lavender above) was the son of William Lavender and grandson of Allen Lavender who �came from England to Virginia about the first settling of the colony.� He continues writing about his grandfather:
�On the breaking out of the war between England and America, which eventuated in the acknowledgement of our independence, my grandfather, then a youth, entered the army as a volunteer under the command of the great Washington, under whom he continued faithfully to serve his country till the disbanding of the army in 1682. He was a brave and valiant soldier, ardently attached to the cause of his country; of a manly form and iron constitution.
�I have been respectably informed by many who knew him well, that for manly appearance and bodily strength he was not surpassed by any in the country where he lived. He was rather addicted to personal combat although naturally of a friendly and affable disposition. He would bear an insult himself which he would not suffer offered to his friend. He would never suffer a stranger imposed upon with impunity. He was fond of sport and amusement often to his disadvantage. I have heard numerous anecdotes of him which all go to prove that he was an honest, brave, and magnanimous man.
�He could stand erect and place his hand on a beam or fence as high as his head (about 6 ft.) and leap over it.�
The translation of this autobiography and also of Charles Etchison's diary can be found at USGENWEB ALABAMA ARCHIVES.
After Charles Jr.'s death, his wife, Lucy, moved to McDowell Co., NC for two years, then to Spartanburg Dist. SC, and in 1822 to Jackson Co., GA. In 1845, she stated she was 79 years of age. She died 14 June 1846, at her son, Charles� home in Jackson Co., GA
Charles and Lucy (Ballew) Lavender had three known sons, Simeon Lyfus, Willis (1794-aft. 1853), and Charles Lavender (6 May 1802 � unk)
3rd Generation
SIMEON LYFUS LAVENDER and MARY McCRAVY of Lowndes Co., AL
Simeon was the oldest child of Charles and Lucy Lavender. He was born 1 July 1787 in Amherst Co., VA. He married about 1806 to Mary McCravy, probably in SC. She was the daughter of Archibald Everett McCravy and Frances Marie Hembree of Spartanburg Dist., SC. Mary was born 1787-1788 in VA or SC.
Archibald Everett McCravy and Frances Marie Hembree of Spartanburg, SC
Archibald McCravy was born in 1741 in VA. Charles Etchison Lavender wrote in his autobiography of this grandfather: "He was one of the Virginia blues, under the command of George Washington in the old French and Indian war. He was one of the few survivors at the defeat of general Braddock; on the 9th June 1756, then in the 17th year of age." He was of Irish descent and he lived past age 94. According to one account, he came to America in the 1740's to York Co., PA. Another account says he changed his name from McCrary to McCravy due to an error when he was in the service. He had 11 children by each of 2 wives.
Simeon and Mary moved to Lowndes Co., Al before 1830. He died in 1855 in Lowndes Co., AL. Mary died after him, but it is unknown exactly when she died.
They had 8 children, Henryetta M. (1808-unk), Charles Etchison (1810-1851), William (1815-1848), Archibald McCravy (below), Eliza Caroline (1817-unk), Lyfus Simeon (1820-unk), Eber D. (1822-unk), Willis Tolbert (1824-unk)
4th Generation
ARCHIBALD McCRAVY LAVENDER AND SARAH L. BUFFINGTON of LANCASTER, TX
The son of Simeon and Mary (McCravy) Lavender, Arch �Squire� Lavender was born 18 May 1813 in Spartanburg Dist., SC. He married about 1831 in Lowndes Co., AL to Sarah L. Buffington. Sarah was the daughter of Peter Buffington III and Susanna Scurry. Sarah was born 6 Feb. 1812 in AL.
In 1845, Arch and Sarah moved to Dallas County, TX, and homesteaded 640 acres of land in the Peters� Colony, at Red Oak, near Lancaster, TX. It is said that he went to California for the Gold Rush for two years and returned with a lot of gold with which he bought more land. He served as Justice of the Peace in Lancaster. They attended the Christian Church.
Archibald Lavender died 18 Sept. 1864 in Lancaster (Ellis) TX. Sarah died 22 Mar. 1867, also in Lancaster, both intestate. There is a large packet of documents in Dallas Co., pertaining to the partition of the estate. Their son, Virgil, was appointed administrator--this petition shows the death date of Sarah and partial date of Arch. Arch and Sarah are both buried in Edgewood Cemetery in Lancaster, TX.
They had 10 children, 6 sons and 4 daughters. The oldest 5 sons all served in the Civil War. The youngest two children, both girls, married men who took them to Petersburg, Hale Co., TX. They were Sarah Anna Lavender who married James Densley Hall and Almeda Ellafair Lavender who married Edwin Miller White (see below). This picture shows siblings left to right, Sarah Anna, William Albert, and Almeda Ellafair Lavender.
5th Generation
ALMEDA ELLAFAIR LAVENDER AND EDWIN MILLER WHITE of Hale Co., TX
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