Sarah Martha (Ledford) Webb (1826 - aft. 1870)

Born 1826 in Burke County, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Biography

Sarah was born in 1826. She was the daughter of Frederick Ledford and Prudence Curtis. She passed away after 1870.

SALLIE LEDFORD WEBB

Another child was born to Fredrick and Prudence Ledford. It was another girl. The year was 1825. This made their eighth child. They named her Sarah Martha and she became known to everyone as Sallie.

Sallie was my great-grandmother. She was the wife of Obediah B. Webb. My Aunt Reba tells me that an old, old Buchanan woman remembered Sallie Ledford, and told her years ago that Sallie Ledford Webb was a beautiful woman. She guessed that she was as pretty a woman as there was anywhere in these mountains.

When Sallie was born, her family lived on what is known now as Wilson's Branch Road. It is near Bakersville, N.C.

George Ledford, a cousin of mine and a descendant of Fredrick and Prudence Ledford, took me over to the old Ledford home place. He told me that Wilson's Branch was where Great Grandmother Sallie was born. He pointed out to me where the spring was and where the old house once stood. A driveway had been built beside and above the spring. As he pointed to the old house place, I could visualize just about how it must have looked when Great-Grandmother Sallie was living there. As I looked out over the fields, I could almost see her as a young girl coming over from the old home place going toward the spring. Her water bucket was swing against her long dress as she walked over the rocky path, passing the weeds and tall grass wet with the morning dew. She bent over, dipping her bucket down into the clear sparkling pool of spring water. She then raised up, and under her heavy load, started back up the path toward the house to her many chores that awaited her. I was brought back to the present as Mr. Ledford pointed out where the barn and other outbuildings had once stood at Sallie's old home place.

I do not know when Sallie and Obediah were married. They were living at Cane Creek when James, their first son, was born. My grandfather, James W. Webb, always said that he was born on the waters of Cane Creek. James was five years old when Obediah left.

I can imagine what a struggle it must have been for Sallie, a lone woman, trying to make a living for herself and her children in these mountains on land that was difficult for an able bodied man to force a living from. Sometime later, Sallie married David Slagle. Grandfather James, went to live with his mother's sister (Aunt Matilda Troutman) when Sallie and David married. Matilda and Washington Troutman lived on Big Rock Creek in Mitchell County (then Yancey). They tell me that Aunt Tilda raised James.

My great-grandmother, Sallie, lived to be an old woman. My grandfather was never very close to her after she married David Slagle. The word that has been passed down through the generations is that Grandfather James felt resentment toward his mother because he was raised without a father. My father tells me that when he was just a "little ole boy," his Grandmother Sallie lived way down on the other end of the county. He was never around her enough to get to know anything about her. He said he only saw her a few times.

Sallie is buried at the Loafer's Glory Cemetery in an unmarked grave. Today the cemetery is overgrown with brush and graveyard vines. To me it is a sad thing to think that not even one of Sallie's descendants is able to find the spot where she was laid to rest.

Taken from THE WEBB FAMILY by Hazel Webb Hollifield

Sources

• United States Census 1830 and data from family records

• 1830 Census - Frederick Ledford Jr - Residence: Burke County, North Carolina

Sarah Ledford - [1 - Female - Ages (0 to 5)] - Age 4

1. Sallie Ledford in entry for James Webb, "North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994" https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FPDQ-9H1

Name Sallie Ledford Birthplace Mictchell Co., N. C. Sex Female Husband Obey Webb Son James Webb Other information in the record of James Webb from North Carolina Deaths Name James Webb Event Type Death Event Date 27 Mar 1935 Event Place Bakersville, Mitchell, North Carolina Birth Year 1845 Burial Date 28 Mar 1935 Cemetery Burleson Cem. Residence Place Toe Cane, N. C. Gender Male Age 90 Marital Status Married Race (Original) white Occupation Farmer Birth Date 11 Feb 1845 Birthplace Mitchell Co., N. C. Father's Name Obey Webb Father's Birthplace Mitchell Co., N. C. Mother's Name Sallie Ledford Mother's Birthplace Mictchell Co., N. C. Spouse's Name Mary Webb Additional Relatives X Citation database, FamilySearch 17 July 2017), Sallie Ledford in entry for James Webb, 27 Mar 1935; citing Bakersville, Mitchell, North Carolina, cn120, State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 1,943,100.

2. Martha Ledford in entry for Sylvester C. Webb "North Carolina Deaths, 1906-1930 https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F38R-G4G Name: Martha Ledford Birthplace: N.C. Sex: Female Husband: Obie Webb Son: Sylvester C. Webb Event Date: 15 Mar 1923 Event Place: Red Hill, Mitchell, North Carolina Gender: Male Race (Original): White Race: White Age (Original): 72y Birth Year (Estimated): 1851 Marital Status: Married Spouse's Name: Millie Webb Father's Name: Obie Webb Father's Birthplace: N.C. Mother's Name: Martha Ledford Mother's Birthplace: N.C. Occupation: Farming Cemetery: Phillips Cemetary Burial Place: Red Hill Burial Date: 17 Mar 1923

database with images, FamilySearch 17 July 2017), Martha Ledford in entry for Sylvester C. Webb, 15 Mar 1923; citing Red Hill, Mitchell, North Carolina, reference fn 803 cn 27, State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 1,893,179.