Mary Elizabeth (Ferguson) Willis (abt. 1826 - 1846)

Born about 1826 in Franklin County, Virginia

Ancestors

Wife of Fleming Willis — married about 21 Dec 1843 (to 1846) in Franklin, Virginia, United States

Died 1846 at about age 20 in Franklin County, Virginia

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Biography

Mary Elizabeth Ferguson, whose preferred name was Elizabeth, was probably the eldest^[1] of the three daughters of Charles Ferguson and Elizabeth (Ferguson) Ferguson. Her parents were married on August 8, 1825. The year 1826 is a reasonable estimate of Elizabeth's year of birth.

Charles died in December 1839.^[2] His wife, Elizabeth, and their three young daughters Elizabeth, Susan, and Sophia Ann, were left a significant portion of his substantial estate. His assets included 45 slaves, extensive landholdings, household property, farming equipment, blacksmith tools, crops, animals, and financial accounts.^[3] Moses G. Carper, one of Charles's executors, became the guardian of the financial interests of the three daughters. On December 4, 1843, the daughters' share of Charles's land was partitioned among them.^[4]

Elizabeth married Fleming Willis, a son of Mark Willis, probably in Franklin County, Virginia, on December 21, 1843. Fleming obtained two bonds for the marriage, one on December 19 in Rockingham County, North Carolina,^[5] and the other in Franklin County, which may have been the one he presented to the minister in Franklin County on December 21.^[6] It is unknown why Fleming obtained a marriage bond in Rockingham County, North Carolina. Fleming's uncle Hugh Willis was living in Rockingham County at the time.

Elizabeth died in Franklin County in 1846. On September 14, 1846, the court repartitioned the lands inherited by the three sisters.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Elizabeth's name was the first in the list of Charles's daughters mentioned in the will of her paternal grandfather, George Ferguson.
2. ↑ Carol Bowman, http://thistleandbee.com, from records in the Roanoke library, Raney Collection, Vol. 24. Charles's last year on the Franklin County personal property tax list was 1838. On the 1840 list, and in no other year, "Charles Ferguson's widow" (sic) was listed.
3. ↑ Franklin County, Virginia. Inventory. Will Book 4, Page 413. June 18, 1843.
4. ↑ Franklin County, Virginia. Will Book 5. Page 552. The land partitioned to Elizabeth, valued at $2,700, included 128 acres on Little Creek ($1,228), 182 acres on Blackwater River ($582), 200 acres on Chestnut Creek, Doughton's place, bounded by lines of Miram Hill, Peter Saunders and company, and George Beheler ($680), 50 acres on Chestnut Creek ($150), and 19 1/2 acres on Blackwater River, on the wagon road ($58).
5. ↑ "North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP9L-W7WW : 16 January 2021), Fleming Willis and Elizabeth Fergusen, 19 Dec 1843; citing Rockingham, North Carolina, United States, p. , North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History; FHL microfilm. December 19, 1843. Rockingham County, State of North Carolina. Fleming Willis and J. T. Price posted a $1,000 bond.
6. ↑ Wingfield, Marshall. Marriage Bonds of Franklin County, Virginia 1786-1858: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1939. Page 242. Surety Henry Taliaferro. Minister Robert P. Bibb. Henry Taliaferro was a resident of Franklin County. Robert P. Bibb was a Methodist Episcopal minister. He is known to have worked in the Danville District, Rockingham County, North Carolina, in 1848 (Early, John. Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for the Years 1848-1849).
7. ↑ Franklin County, Virginia. Will Book 10. Page 249. September 14, 1846. Elizabeth had allotted a tract of land to her mother, Elizabeth, and her mother's second husband, William O. Waid, on Little Creek and Black Water River (in the Gogginsville area), necessitating a payment of $100 to Elizabeth's sister Sophia Ann Ferguson.