Henson Family Name in Early Union County History

When the special census of 1834 was taken, only one Henson family appeared, that of Joseph Henson, Senior, with Joseph himself and his wife in the household.

Proceeding to the next census in 1840, three households of Hensons were in Union. In the Charles Henson household were two male children, three female children, and Charles and his wife. In the Joseph Henson household were eight male children, four female children and Joseph and his wife. In the Joseph Henson, Sr. household, the same as noted from 1834, the residents had increased to five male children, eight female children, and the mother and father. With such an increase in Joseph, Sr.’s household, we wonder how this accounting could have come about in just six years. Maybe the 1850 census will reveal some answers, or perhaps we can find other clues from family history stories that will add light to these early Henson settlers to the county.

By 1850, the first census with children in households listed by names rather than just an age bracket, we discover Hensons in eight enumerated households, with the number of persons by that name totaling thirty-three, but Daniel Henson, age 19, seems to have been counted twice, first with his own family, and again in the household of M. C. Wilson and his wife, Mary Wilson and their three small children, William, Martha and Eliza Wilson. (Could Daniel and Mary Wilson have been brother and sister and he was visiting them—or working on M. C. Wilson’s farm—when the census-taker called?). A listing, besides that of the Wilsons, in which Hensons were enumerated in 1850 was as follows:

(#65) Allen Henson, 56, and his wife, Elizabeth, 56, with children Edy, 18, Elizabeth, 14, Daniel, 19, and George, 21—all born in North Carolina. Allen Henson’s occupation was listed as cooper—or barrel-maker.

(#466) Archibald Henson, age 74, was born in Virginia. Evidently his wife was not living in 1850. Listed in his household are children Charity, 30 and Ages, 18, both born in North Carolina, and Edmund, age 10 (a young child for a 74-year old man; could he have been a grandchild?), born in Tennessee.

(#471) Charles Henson, age 65, his wife Sally, 64, and one child still at home, Charles. All three were born in South Carolina.

(#475) Eli Henson, age 39, and his wife, Elizabeth, age 29, both born in North Carolina, and their three small children, James 7, Archibald, 5, and Jacob, 1, all born in Georgia. In this household was Jacob Ledford, age 20. (Could he have been a brother to Elizabeth Henson?)

(#548) William Henson, age 26, born in Georgia, his wife, Mary Ann, age 26, born in South Carolina, and a young Joseph Henson, Jr., age 20, born in Georgia. (Could he have been a brother to William, and a son of Joseph Henson, Sr., who was in the 1834 Union census?)

(#549) Joseph Henson, Sr. age 44, born in South Carolina. No wife is listed, but an elderly Rebecca Henson, age 90, no doubt Joseph, Sr.’s mother, also born in SC was in the household, along with children Alsa (a female), 17, Rebecca, 15, John, 12, and Jonathan, 10, all born in Georgia.

(#1047) Henson, James, age 28, his wife, Catherine, age 24, both born in North Carolina, and one child, William, age 1.

For more information about early settlers with Henson surname, we turn to early marriage records and find these who were married in Union County from 1832 to 1850. Some of these relate back to the additional households of Hensons added between the 1840 and 1850 census:

Rebecca Henson married Preston Starrett on 16 February 1839 (by Jesse Reid, JP)

Lovina Henson married Henry Nichols on 24 December 1840 (by Daniel Mathis, JIF)

Henry Henson married Mariah Woods on 25 July 1841 (by David Kenny, JP)

Joseph Henson married Sarah N. Warlex on 12 May 1842 (by Rev. Elisha Hedden, MG)

Mary Henson married Thomas Henson on 22 July 1845 (by John Patterson, JP)

Martha Henson married William Daniel on 10 December 1845 (by Charles Crumley, JP)

James Henson married Catherine Battbey (? sp.) on 13 May 1847 (by W. A. Brown, JP)

T. P. Henson married S. Mahoney on 8 October 1847 (by Benjamin Casteel, JP)

W. C. Henson married Polly Ann Hood on 23 April 1848 (by Charles Crumley, JP)

Loyd Henson married Milly Harkins on 13 March 1850 (by M. L. Burch, JP)

If you are a Henson, or a descendant from a Henson of those listed as settlers in Union up to 1850, or related to those in the nine Henson couples married in Union by 1850, then you can claim your heritage back to these hardy pioneers. A Henson cemetery was established in the Owltown District of Union County. At the time the Union County Cemetery Book was compiled in 1990, eight graves were marked just by field stones with no discernible identification, while twenty-two of the graves had inscribed headstones. The earliest marked grave was that of an infant of J. I. Henson who was born and died October 15, 1875. Probably some of the field stones marked earlier graves prior to that one of 1875. The name gravestone identifying the one born earliest to be buried in the Henson Cemetery is that of James M. Henson (1822-1906). Joseph Henson, Sr., first Henson settler in Union County, must have been buried with only an unmarked field stone at his grave. In my search of all Henson burials listed in the cemetery book, I did not find his name or a date that would identify him.

An early Henson School once operated in Choestoe District. My Uncle Herschel Dyer, and later his son, Otis Dyer, taught at that school.

c 2010 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Sept. 16, 2010 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Reece's Poem "Autumn Mood" Sets Tone for Fall

Union County can be justifiably proud of her native son, Byron Herbert Reece, poet and novelist, born September 14, 1917 to Juan Wellborn Reece and Emma Lance Reece.

On both paternal and maternal sides of his family, his ancestors were early settlers in Union County. His roots went back to his paternal great grandfather, John Reece, who had settled in the Ivy Log section of the county. A sad event happened to his maternal great grandfather, John Lance, a Methodist minister, who was murdered in 1888 and his body left half-beheaded, lying in Wolf Creek as he returned from preaching. The “moon shiners,” mountain whiskey-makers, were after John Lance because they thought he spoke out against their trade which was an underlying cause of much conflict in mountain areas of the nineteenth century.

Byron Herbert Reece was born in the Lance family ancestral home, where his mother herself had been born into the family of LaFayette Lance. The cabin was located about the middle of the present Lake Trahlyta at Vogel State Park. Juan Reece bought acreage about a mile north of the location of Lake Trahlyta and built a house there. He and Emma reared five of their six children in this house. Alwayne, the eldest, died of meningitis at thirteen months. Growing to adulthood were Eva Mae, Nina Kate, T.R J., Byron Herbert (known as Hub) and Jean.

Early on, Hub Reece showed a propensity for literature, especially poetry and ballads. As he heard them read at his mother’s knees, and learned to read at an early age himself, he avidly pursued all that the Reece’s meager store of books and the country schools of his day could provide for him.

From the cadences of well-beloved ballads and the rhythms of seasons and farm life, Reece fell into a pattern of writing about what he heard, saw and experienced. A keen observer of nature and an astute student of the masters of traditional forms, he early began to compose poetry of high quality. His ease with words and forms blended into exquisite lyrics. He was the recipient of numerous literary awards for his four books of poetry and two novels published between 1945 and 1955. He had contracted to write another novel and his fifth book of poetry but his untimely death occurred June 3, 1958 before these were finished.

From time to time I enjoy selecting one of his poems and writing comments about it, much as I would teach it if I were still in the classroom introducing students to the intricacies of Reece’s poetry, its style, depth and meaning. Here, so near what would have been his ninety-third birthday (September 14), and with the fall season so soon upon us, I have chosen his brief “Autumn Mood” for consideration.

Autumn Mood

The leaf flies from the stricken bough,
The aster blows alone;
And in the curve of heaven now
The wild geese tread the dawn.

I would I had no ears to hear
And had no eyes to see
What is so beautiful and dear
Escaping me!

-Byron Herbert Reece
in Ballad of the Bones and Other Poems (NY: Dutton, 1945, p. 73)

From the title “Autumn Mood” to the final exclamation point at the end of line eight, Byron Herbert Reece captured a season and a day in time with inimitable ease, economy of words and astute observation.

The lines paint a picture and capably capture the mood of a day in fall in the beloved mountains where Reece looked out to see the falling leaves, the aster in bloom, observed “the curve of heaven” (not the arch of sky, a less-expressive reference), and saw, too, “The wild geese tread the dawn.” Less-poetic people would have seen geese fly. In his poetic manner, he saw them “tread” as they moved in formation. The first four lines do double duty. They paint a picture and they “show and tell.” The result? We see clearly what he writes about. He tells in telescopic form what we see as we read his word picture.

The first four lines paint an autumn scene. The last four lines build the mood of autumn. Oh! But if the observer had no ears to hear, no eyes to see, he would not be affected by what is so soon passing, so beautiful, so dear—escaping. The falling leaves, the fading aster, the migrating geese—all signs of fall, the waning season of the year. A sadness and finality permeate this season. Reece captures this mood aptly in this poem.

What he does not say in “what is so beautiful and dear” we can fill in with our own nostalgic thoughts at this decline of the year. Here are a few:

The falling leaves take gold, magenta and red from the beloved hills, and deciduous tress stand bare, “stricken.” Fall asters, purple in the sun, will soon be dried-up stalks blowing in the wind. The migration of birds, most specifically the wild geese as they “tread the dawn,” represent fast-passing time. With their going comes the soon-return of winter and the birds’ necessity to seek a warmer climate. Left behind, what ears have heard and eyes have seen will soon be only in figments of memory.

What is the beauty in this poem? Its sadness? Yes. Who does not think of fall as the waning time and the time of non-growth, of closure? Fall’s beauty is so soon replaced by stark limbs and a brown carpet of leaves. Color will soon fade from purple asters and the gray remains of stalks will match the ashen oncoming winter and my mood. No longer will eyes behold a V of flying geese at autumn dawn, going further south for winter.

What Reece does not say in the poem is left to the reader’s imagination, associations and memories. How aptly did he title the poem “Autumn Mood.” He painted a powerful vignette of fall in eight cryptic, well-crafted lines. No hidden symbols, no mysterious metaphors adorn this poem. It is to the point, a monument to a moment in time. He emptied his thoughts about fall in eight amazing lines. He gave opportunity to readers to recall their own experiences of fall (and life), which, like “the treading geese,” move on.

If the reader does not come away from this poem with a memorable experience, he does not appreciate the extraordinary of the ordinary. What you read, hear, see and feel in this poem can be expanded by your own experiences. Indeed, there is identification with the scene he paints and the “Autumn Mood” he feels. If you’re poetically inclined, the poem might even inspire you to write your own poem about fall.

c 2010 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Sept. 9, 2010 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Mulkey Gap: A Memorial to early settler William R. Mulkey

Place names sometimes derive from the look of the place, like Blue Ridges for our beloved mountain area. Or a legend exists about a place, like Blood Mountain, where it is held that in battles between the Cherokee and Creek Indians centuries ago the streams flowed blood-red because of so much bloodshed. Or places retain the names given by Indians, like my beloved community, Choestoe, “The place where rabbits dance.” Arkaquah and Walasiyi and even Nottley River are Indian derivative names. A plethora of owl calls were heard in the vicinity, and the name Owltown resulted.

Then there are places named for people, early settlers to an area that bear the name of prominent families that owned acreage and made their homes in the vicinity. These are numerous: Youngstown, Cooper’s Creek, Gaddistown, Helton Creek, Woody Gap, Mulkey Gap, to name a few.

I began thinking about Mulkey Gap, Mulkey Gap Road, and Mulkey Creek, and did a little digging to find the first Mulkey settlers who came to Union County. I found these place names to be a tribute to the William R. Mulkey family who in the 1834 census was the family here by that name. His household consisted of one male and two females in that first enumeration. By 1840, only the William Mulkey family (whose middle name, I found, was Ritch) was listed. By then he and his wife had four children I was disappointed that I could find not a single Mulkey family in the 1850 census. Since that census was the first to list names of spouse and children, I did not have a name for his wife. The non-listing in 1850 could have been for two reasons. First, the Mulkey residence could have been completely overlooked by the census taker and thus no 1850 listing was made. Or the family could have moved from the vicinity by then. A bit more probing was needed, so I proceeded to pursue several resources available to seek out why a mountain gap, a road, and a creek would have been named for a family that might have moved out of the area by 1850.

What I found was that many of the descendants of William Ritch Mulkey, who was born March 30, 1807 in Franklin County, Georgia, and his first wife, Anna Prater Mulkey, born in Georgia April 10, 1809 did remain in Georgia until after Anna’s death which occurred January 1, 1854. William and Anna married October 14, 1831 and had a large family of sixteen children. Her parents were John Prater and Susannah Rice Prater (1777-1845). His parents were Isaac Mulkey (b. March 4, 1777) and Mary Elizabeth Taylor Mulkey (b. April 10, 1776). Mulkey is an Irish (character) name derived from O’Maolcatha, meaning “stubborn,” or “like a bull.” Its spelling is sometimes Malcahy and Mulky, or, as we know it, Mulkey. William Ritch and Anna Prater Mulkey migrated from Franklin County to Habersham, and then to the area that became Union in 1832.

The list of their sixteen children was found in a family Bible, and recorded from that to ancestry.com Mulkey family listings. The Bible was in the possession of a grandson, John Preston Mulkey, a son of William’s son John Posey Mulkey. Dates had not been given for the earlier children’s births. Here are William Ritch and Anna Prater Mulkey’s sixteen children, not necessarily in order of birth:

(1) A daughter Mulkey (Could this child whose name was not listed be the Morgan T. Mulkey who married George Lewis in Union County on December 6, 1857, and whose ceremony was performed by the Rev. Elisha Hedden, noted preacher of that time?)
(2) Isaac Van Buren Mulkey
(3) William Lafayette Mulkey
(4) Rebecca Catherine Mulkey
(5) Sarah Caroline Mulkey
(6) Irwin P. Mulkey
(7) Martha May Mulkey, b. May 29, 1833, married A. Burton Cook on April 12, 1854, with the Rev. Alfred Corn, noted minister of the mountains at the time, officiating.
(8) Mary Ann Mulkey, b. September 24, 1834
(9) John Posey Mulkey, b. March 4, 1836, married Nancy C. Lewis on August 26, 1858, with the Rev. David Meadows officiating.
(10) Leander Hansel Mulkey, b. July 3, 1839, was a private in Company B, 23rd Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, enlisted August 31, 1861, Confederate Army; discharged in Yorktown, VA due to deafness.
(11) Jacob Belgalee Mulkey, b. 1841
(12) Vetland Elizabeth Mulkey, b. July 26, 1844, d. April 8, 1919, married Pinkney Marion Bell (1845-Oct. 10, 1928) in Cherokee County, NC in 1845, son of David and Alzira Williams Bell. Pinkney worked at the copper mines in Isabella, Polk County, Tennessee and died in Polk County October 10, 1928.
(13) Susan Mulkey, b. January 1, 1846, married William H. Jory (b. 1855 in England). He worked at the copper mines in Polk County, Tennessee.
(14) David Franklin Mulkey, b. 1847.
(15) Caleb Caradine Mulkey, b. June 27, 1848, married Martha Sims on July 22, 1866 in Cherokee County, NC. They moved to Colorado and then on to Mehoma, Marion County, Oregon.
(16) Infant Daughter Mulkey, died January 14, 1854. This was Anna’s last-born child. Could it be that the baby was born January 1, 1854 and Anna died in childbirth, with the baby living only fourteen days? This seems possible.

In other information gleaned about William Ritch Mulkey, we learn that he was a farmer and a Baptist preacher. William and Anna Mulkey were listed as members of Choestoe Baptist Church where he was elected church clerk on September 12, 1835. As a minister of the gospel, William R. Mulkey was present at the organizational meeting of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church established May 25, 1844 as an arm of Choestoe Baptist Church.

Mulkey family members were buried at the Harkins Cemetery in Coopers Creek District, several in unmarked graves and with three Mulkey stones marked. These are of Audrey P., 1910-1964, Ella Jane, ? – 1944, and Frank W., 1912-1987. Records show that Mulkey children attended the Corinth School in Coopers Creek District.

William Ritch Mulkey married, second, to Lucy Clements in Union County on October 15, 1854 with Rev. J. W. Thurman performing their ceremony. She was born September 28, 1825. Her husband was sixteen years her senior. Genealogy records state that William and Lucy had eight children. Only seven are listed. The other, counted, may have been her daughter Lucy brought to live in the household when she and William married. Her name was Martha Clements. Since names of only seven were found for Lucy and William, I will list her daughter as number one—her child brought to the marriage:

(1) Martha Clements, b. July 25, 1845, d. August 4, 1918, married E. W. Shelton of Fannin County, Georgia. Known children of William and Lucy:
(2) Hannah Jane Mulkey (b. about 1855)
(3) George Washington Mulkey (b. about 1856)
(4) Louisa Burnette Mulkey, b. November 22, 1857
(5) Zelpha Adaline Mulkey, b. September 11, 1859
(6) Lucy Adelaide Mulkey, b. September 20, 1863.
(7) Margaret J. Mulkey, b. August 10, 1865, Cherokee Co. NC
(8) Joseph A. Mulkey, b. July 13, 1867, Cherokee Co., NC

William Ritch Mulkey and his wife Lucy migrated to Denver, Colorado, probably because some of his older children went west. William died in Denver, Colorado on November 24, 1886. He was buried in the historic Riverside Cemetery in Denver where even today his marked grave can be found in Lot 113, block 21. After William’s death, his widow Lucy returned to Georgia and lived with her daughter, Martha Clements Shelton in Fannin County where Lucy died December 21, 1914. She was interred in the Shelton Family Cemetery in that county.

The next time you traverse Mulkey Gap Road, cross Mulkey Gap or see the clear waters of Mulkey Creek, think of William Ritch Mulkey, his first wife Anna and his second wife Lucy and the large family of 23 children William reared. These places were named in their honor.

c 2010 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Sept. 2, 2010 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Continuing the Saga of the Davis Siblings, Early Union Settlers

At the outset I want to correct and clarify an error from last week’s column entitled “Old Letters from Davis Kin Give Insights to Life in Early Union County.” In it I wrote: “The Marida Davis who wrote this letter, I think, was the Mary Davis listed in the household of Meredith Davis in the 1850 census.” Well, I admit that I “thought wrong.” I have since learned, thanks to a kinsman of these early Union County Davis families, that Merida was a way Meredith Davis sometimes signed his name. His signature was also sometimes rendered “Meriday”, so the “Merida” of the letter was not his sister Mary at all, but the head-of-household, Meredith Davis, writing to his sister back in North Carolina, Jane Davis England. Thanks, David Davis, for setting me straight on who Merida Davis really was back in the 1860’s and 1870’s correspondence to family.

And now we go to an old deed, the source of our learning the kinship and connection of the Union County Davis settlers from the 1850 census and that of Sarah Davis Souther, also a sibling, wife of miller and farmer, Joseph Souther.

Also from David Davis, Vale, NC, I received a copy of an old document from Burke County, NC dated 18 December, 1797 and numbered “Grant No. 2222.” It was for “100 Acres” of land located “on a branch of England’s Mill Creek.” Five days before the record was entered in “Book 94, page No. 206” of the Burke County land transactions, William Davis had “paid into this office the sum of fifty shillings” on Dec. 13th 1797, “it being in full of the purchase money for 100 acres of Land by him entered in the county of Burke.” The document was duly signed by Wm. Davis and John Haywood, Treasurer. The second page of the 1797 document gives the marks that denote the land boundary, “lying on a branch of England’s Mill Creek, joining said England’s land on the east beginning from a post oak England’s Corner and runs west nineteen (?) poles to two Chesnuts in the head of a hollow. Then South one hundred and seven by eight (nots [knots?]) to a Maple and Chestnut, then exactly East ninety nots (?) to a stake. Then No. (north) to the beginning. Surveyed October 10, 1797. Signed and attested to by William England, Thomas Davis and Robert Logan.”

What happened to this hundred acres bought for fifty shillings in a land grant transaction in December, 1797? William Davis and his wife, Sarah Oxford Davis, lived on it and farmed the land and reared a large family there. Their youngest son, David Davis, was born in 1809. In early 1810, William Davis was named on a road crew working in Old Burke County, NC. But sometime later in 1810, this William Davis, holder of the 100 acres of land on England’s Mill Creek, died. His wife, Sarah Oxford Davis, survived him and was in some documents referred to as “Widow Davis.” She died in 1844.

Then in a deed drawn up in 1845 but not probated until 1855 in McDowell County (which was formed from Old Burke County) states: “This Indenture made the twenty fifth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty five between John Davis (Sr. ?) and Thos. Davis, Salatheal Davis, Jehial Davis, Merryda Davis, David Davis, Mary Davis, David Dalton and his wife Ruth Dalton, Joseph Souther and Sarah Souther his wife, John England and Jane England his wife of the State of North Carolina and County of McDowell of the one part and Patrick Davis of the State and County aforesaid, of the other part, witnesseth that for and in consideration of the sum of seventy dollars to them in hand paid by the said Patrick Davis the receipt whereof the said John Davis, Thos. Davis, Salatheal Davis, Johiel Davis, Merryda Davis, David Davis, Mary Davis, David Dalton and Ruth Dalton, Joseph Souther and Sarah Souther, John England and Jane doth fully acknowledged, have bargained, granted, sold, enforced, conveyed and confirmed unto (and here follows again a listing of all those children of William and Sarah Davis who would get their equal portion of the $70 for which the 100 acres was sold to Patrick Davis.

We know from the Union County, Georgia 1850 census that Meredith Davis, Salalthiel Davis, Johile Davis, Mary Davis and Sarah Davis Souther were already settled and living in Union. At the end of the old McDowell County indenture were affixed the signatures (and or marks with names) of the twelve children who were to receive their part of the $70 from the land transaction paid for by Patrick Davis. When we divide out this inheritance, we find that each of the twelve children listed received about $5.83 in cash for the land on which they had grown up at England’s Mill Creek in Old Burke turned McDowell County.

As for Joseph Souther and Sarah Davis Souther, they moved from Choestoe to Arkansas in late 1853 as their daughter Lydia Louise and her husband, Richard H. Wimpey moved there about then. Sarah evidently died there before 1859. Joseph Souther married twice more following Sarah’s death, to Malinda (maiden name unknown) Chumely, widow of John Chumely of Claiborne County, Tennessee. She, too, died before 1865, for on December 28, 1865 Joseph Souther married the third time to Matilda J. Houston in Polk County, Missouri.

Some of the other Davis siblings who settled in Union evidently did not remain here very long. Johiel Davis and his wife and family moved before 1860 to Pickens County, Georgia and later on to Cherokee County, Georgia. If others of the Davis siblings remained in Union until their deaths, they do not have monuments in any of the cemeteries of Union County corresponding to their names and dates of birth. The oldest graves of Davises buried in a Union County cemetery were found in the Mt. Pleasant No. 2 Cemetery in Gaddistown. These were Charles Davis (1811 – 1883) and Rebecca A. Davis (1811 – 1893).

We’ve examined letters to family members preserved in an old dove-tailed wooden box, thanks to contributor and descendant David Davis. We have read that Rita Elaine Davis, who has worked as a librarian for the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, DC, has collected “many Davis letters and information.” We are seeking to find this descendant of Joseph and Sarah Davis Souther to see if she can share with us other important family history tidbits of these early Davis settlers to Union County.

c 2010 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published August 26, 2010 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.