Sarah Alabama (Carmichael) LeFils (abt. 1835)

Born about 1835 in Fairfield, Pickens, Alabama, United States

Wife of Armand LeFils Jr — married 3 Apr 1851 in Union, Arkansas, United States

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bethany Oesting [send private message]

Biography

Sarah Alabama Carmichael was born around 1835, the oldest daughter of of James Carmichael and E(lizabeth McAdams?). When she was sixteen, on 3 April 1851, she married Armand Lefils, a man only two years younger than her father. She had at least three children and was widowed in 1868 at the age of 33. She ran a boarding house after her husband's death. Siblings (documentation in progress) may include Martha Ellen Carmichael Christian; Mary Arkansas Carmichael; and Emmeline T Carmichael Lowe (Familysearch link).

It is also possible that Sarah Alabama Carmichael was related in some way to Eliza/Louisa J (Carmichael) Bacon (b. abt 1818, Pickens Co., Alabama - d. 23 Jun 1881, Magnolia Landing, Anderson, Texas). Besides being a Carmichael from Pickens County, Alabama, she named one of her sons Armond Lafiest Bacon in 1853.^[1]

The following biography of son H.G., mentioning Sarah,^[2] was published in 1887:

H. G. LeFils, proprietor of the Brackin House, Union City, Tenn., was born in southeast Arkansas, April 4, 1852, son of Armand and Sarah A. (Carmichael) LeFils, and is of French-Irish descent. The father was born in McIntosh County, Ga., in 1816, and died in Hamburg, Ark., in 1868. His father, Armand LeFils, was born in Savannah, Ga., in 1789, and died at Darien, Ga., in 1870. He was a prominent man of his day, being a member of the Georgia Legislature, and held many positions of trust. Our subject’s mother was born in Fairfield, Pickens Co., Ala., in 1835. Our subject is the eldest of three surviving members of a family of eight children. He was educated in Arkansas and at the Covington schools in Tipton County, Tenn. In 1870 he went to Paris, Tenn., and there began learning the printing business in the office of the Weekly Intelligencer. In 1875 he was elected city marshall of Paris and held the office for five years. He then began keeping hotel, continuing five years. During the years 1883-84 and a portion of 1885 he was mayor of Paris. In January, 1886, he came to Union City and took charge of the Brackin House. May 6, 1880, he married Lelia Sharp, of Paris, born in 1860, daughter of S. W. Sharp, who was a leading lawyer of Humboldt, Tenn., and died there in 1875. He was born in Rutherford County in 1823, and a son of Col. Edwin Sharp, a native of North Carolina. Mrs. LeFils’ mother, Frances (Cowan) Sharp, was born in 1835 and died in 1877. Our subject and wife have two children: Nellie Porter and Samuel Armand. Mr. LeFils and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and he is an ardent Democrat and takes much interest in the success of his party. He is a Mason, Paris Lodge, No. 108.

Marriage

On 03 Apr 1851 in Union County, Arkansas, Armand Lefils, age 30, married Sarah Alabama Carmichael, age 16. Both were residents of Union County, Arkansas.^[3][4]

Census And Other Records

The 1860 United States Census^[5] found Armand Lefils, a 44 year old white male born in Georgia, working as a merchant with $4,000 in real estate and $16,000 in personal holdings, living in Carter Township, Ashley, Arkansas. With him were L A (probably S A) Lefils, a woman age 26 born in Alabama; H G Lefils, a boy age 8 born in Arkansas; and J A Lefils, a boy age 6 born in Arkansas. Next on that same census page were an E. Carmichael, a woman age 55, and an E.T. Carmichael, a girl age 16, determined to be Sarah Carmichael LeFils' mother and sister, respectively. Sarah's father is reputed (currently unsourced) to have been dead by 1851.

Armand Lefils and Sarah A Lefils appear in the records of the Freedmen's Bureau Labor Contracts, Indenture and Apprenticeship Records, 1865-1872. The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (often called the Freedmen’s Bureau) was created in 1865 at the end of the American Civil War to supervise relief efforts including education, health care, food and clothing, refugee camps, legalization of marriages, employment, labor contracts, and securing back pay, bounty payments and pensions. A contract dated January 11, 1866 reads:^[6]

CONTRACT BETWEEN
Armand Lefils
Sarah A. Lefils
Jan. 11 1866
And The Freedmen on (her)
Plantation, County of Ashley
State of Ark.
Approved and copy filed
January 1866
E. (L?) Barker, Capt.

Sarah's husband died 14 March 1868.^[7] She would have been approximately 33 years old, with children about 16, 14, and 2 years old. Oldest son Herbert George (H.G.) stayed in the household through at least 1880. Second son James appears in Nebraska in 1885 and eventually died in California. Youngest daughter Lutie only lived to be 21.

The 1870 United States Census^[8] found Sarah Lefils, a widowed white woman age 35, working as a hotel keeper with $6,000 in real estate and $350 in personal assets, born in Alabama, living in Arkansas. With her were George Lefils, an 18 year old boy born in Arkansas, working as a domestic servant; Lucie Lefils, a 3 year old girl born in Arkansas; John Van Gilder, a 44 year old man born in Ohio, working as a lawyer; Louisa Van Gilder, a 41 year old woman born in Alabama; Mary Lee, a 14 year old girl born in Arkansas; William Weiss, a 47 year old man born in Massachusetts, working as a clerk in a drygoods store; Martha Weiss, a 27 year old woman born in Alabama; Eliza Weiss, a 8 year old girl born in Arkansas, attending school; and Ella Weiss, a 6 year old girl born in Arkansas.

The 1880 United States Census^[9] found S A Lefils (Sarah Alabama Carmichael), a 45 year old widowed white female, living in Paris, Henry County, Tennessee. Sarah's father was born in Virginia and her mother in Kentucky. With her were daughter Lucy, age 13, going to school; son H G Lefils, age 28, born in Arkansas, working as a printer; daughter-in-law Leila Lefils, age 20, born in Tennessee, working as a milliner; and five people listed as boarders. They were as follows: Dora Howard, a white female age 23, working as a milliner: J D Boden, a white male age 27, working as a clerk in store; Jno T Biles, a white male age 34, working as a clerk in store; James W Porter, a white male age 29, working as a grocer; Nellie Porter, a white female age 21; James Porter, Jr, a baby boy age 1. And finally in the household were two servants: Fanny Johnson, a white female age 32, the cook, and Paralee Atkins, a white female age 18, the chambermaid.

Whether they had a working, business, or other relationship with these boarders, it is likely that there was good feeling and caring there; in 1882, Leila named her firstborn daughter Nellie Porter Lefils.

It is not known when or where Sarah Alabama Carmichael LeFils died. No 1900 census enumeration has been found for her. She does not appear to have been buried in the same cemetery as her husband.

Sources

1. ↑ FamilySearch profile for Eliza/Louisa J (Carmichael) Bacon. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L24H-W2Q
2. ↑ The History of Obion County, Tennessee. 1887. Goodspeed Publishing Company.
3. ↑ "Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NMP6-P6F : 22 December 2016), Armand Lefils and Sarah Alabama Carmichael, 03 Apr 1851; citing , Union, Arkansas, United States, county offices, Arkansas; FHL microfilm 988,518.
4. ↑ "Arkansas Marriages, 1837-1944", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQYB-KXJ : 11 January 2020), Sarah Alabama Carmichael in entry for Armond Lefils, 1851.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M87B-WQC : 30 December 2015), Armand Lefils, 1860.
6. ↑ "United States, Freedmen's Bureau Labor Contracts, Indenture and Apprenticeship Records, 1865-1872," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2W3-2H5F : accessed 10 February 2020), Sarah A Lefils, 11 Jan 1866; citing Employment, Arkansas, United States, NARA microfilm publication M979, Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Arkansas, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1869 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 40; FHL microfilm 1,498,737.
7. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVG9-5LBF : 13 December 2015), Armand Lefils, 1868; Burial, Hamburg, Ashley, Arkansas, United States of America, Hamburg Cemetery; citing record ID 110622341, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNHY-2ZS : 17 October 2014), Sarah Lefils, Arkansas, United States; citing p. 12, family 101, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 545,546.
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD7F-P4G : 13 July 2016), S A Lefils, Paris, Henry, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district ED 68, sheet 7A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1262; FHL microfilm 1,255,262.