Major W Lord (1807 - abt. 1874)

Born 1807 in South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Theresa (Dunston) Lord — married 23 Jan 1827 in Jackson County, Georgia

Descendants

Died about 28 Oct 1874 at about age 67 in Georgia [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mags Gaulden [send private message]

Unfortunately our family has suffered confusion by the placement of the Confederate gravemarker for Major W Lord. Skepticism should be appropriate when we read that a 54 year old middle aged father with children to support who owned no land or slaves would have voluntarily enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861. Also, we must note that Major's widow Teresa did not apply for a pension after 1879 as surely she would have if eligible.

Instead we see that in 1863 when the draft was instituted, draftees who had money could pay for a substitute to serve in their place. In contrast to Major who owned no land and who owned about $150 of personal property according to the 1860 Census, the local merchant in Harmony Grove (later renamed Commerce) SM Shankle owned over $12,000. <https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/118277058/seaborn-mckendree-shankle> And that from March-August 1863, "M W Lord" served as a paid substitute for him. As a paid substitute, he served as a cook for the Company D 12 Battalion, Georgia Volunteers. He had enlisted for the duration of the War but does not appear after Aug 1863. In contrast to the claim that Major died in Virginia, his grandnephew JW Lord (who himself fought in the Civil War) stated Major Lord died in Jackson County, Ga (Page 6 of the Lord Family History states that Major Lord died in Commerce and is buried at Harris-Lord Family Cemetery).

He appears in the 1866 Jackson County, Georgia Tax Digest taxed on 165 acres of land. <https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1729/images/40141_1020705384_0247-01007?ssrc=&backlabel=Return>

On July 31, 1867, the Reconstruction oath & voter registration book was compiled in Jackson County, Georgia and in it Major W Lord stated he had lived in Georgia for 50 years and in the same county and precinct for 47 years.<https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1857/images/32305_1220705227_0329-00121?pId=847017>

In 1934, Mrs C E Pittman (relationship to Major unknown to me at this time), applied for a gravemarker for Major's grave at the Harris-Lord Cemetery. On the application, she wrote that Major was born in 1806 and died 28 Oct 1874. <https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2375/images/40050_520307095_0363-03239?pId=22217> She wrote he served in the 16th Georgia Regiment but it is not clear at this time where she would have obtained such information and whether she was collecting possible information about a grandfather or someone about whom she had first hand knowledge. It is possible a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy went through the enlistment register for the local 16th Regiment and requested markers. The M W Lord who died in Richmond, Va in 1861 is not familiar to me. There is likely more to learn, but Major W Lord who married Teresa Dunston did not die in Virginia in 1861.

There is currently no explanation for the absence of Major in the 1870 census if he died in 1874. [Jeffrey C Narvil, 5 December 2023]

There is no known documentation that could be supplied to a lineage society that would prove the parents or all the children of Major Lord. However, circumstantial arguments can be made for his children listed in the 1860 Census and his son General Taylor Lord and daughter Nancy left death certificates correctly naming their parents. Clarissa Lord Humphries' death certificate incorrectly named her father as T Lord

He is believed to be one of the two males age 10-15 enumerated in the 1820 Census of William Lord in Jackson County, Georgia.

He married Teresa Dunston on 23 Oct 1827 which is on record in Jackson County, Georgia.

He appears in the 1830 Census for Jackson County, Georgia in his 20s with a female in her late teens (Teresa) and a female under age 5 (Mattie).

He was living in Madison County, Georgia (as were his in-laws) when he drew successfully in the 1832 Land Lottery.

Although he would have been about 33 years old, he appears in the 1840 Census for Franklin County, Georgia reported as in his 20s with a female in her 20s (Teresa), 2 males under age 10 (Philip and unknown), 2 males age 10-15 (Tim and unknown), 1 female age 5-9 (Mindie) and 1 female age 10-15 (Mattie).

He has not been located in the 1850 Census.

In the 1860 Census of Jackson County, Georgia, Major is reported as age 53 and having been born in South Carolina. He owned no real property and $150 in personal property. Teresa was 48. Their children included John, Missy, Millie, Nancy, General Taylor, Clarissa, and Safanny. A 7 year-old Georgiann W Lord also lived with the family.

There is an unsourced reference to his middle name as William but this is extremely unlikely as he had an older brother named William.

• There may be inaccuracies in the source information for this line. M.Gaulden

Biography

Private in CSA Jarrett's Company. Company G, 16th Georgia Volunteer Infantry. Thompson's Company. M. W., war casualty.

Lord, M. W. ---- Private July 20, 1861. Died at Richmond, Va. Sept. 1861. Muster Roll.[1]

I have found his grave marker in the Harris-Lord Family Cemetery.

Research Notes

• There are two Margaret Peggy Leachmans. One from the Charleston Area married to John Taylor Lord in Charleston AND Margaret Peggy Leachman born in Anderson who married William. The latter being the parents of Major W. Lord

"Major W. Lord was the youngest son John Taylor Lord, Jr.(1767-1840) who married Margaret Peggy Leachman(1770-1806) in 1789. They had the following children: Thomas Lord,1789 – 1858, William Lord, 1795 – 1867, Permelia, Permolia Millie Lord 1798 – 1880, Mildred Milly Lord 1800 – 1880,James Benjamin Lord 1801 – 1850, Nancy Lord 1803, Simeon Lord 1805 – 1856,Mary Polly Lord 1806. Major W LORD 1807 – 1861"

• Waldrep Family History [2]

"Major W. Lord (son of John Taylor Lord, Jr. and Margaret Leachman) was born 1807 in South Carolina, and died September 1861 in Richmond, Virginia. He married Medy Teresa Dunson on October 23, 1827 in Jackson County, Georgia.

More About Major W. Lord and Medy Teresa Dunson: Marriage: October 23, 1827, Jackson County, Georgia."

• Gunnels & Henson [3]

Sources

• Wiliam Lord and Descendants, p.4, unpublished, 2014, James T. Lord.

• The early History of Jackson County Georgia, p.318, "The Writings of the Late G. J. N. Wilson, embracing some of the Early History of Jackson County." [4] J. W, Lord.

• Muster Roll of Company G, 16th Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia, C. S. A., Jackson County, Georgia, "Jackson County Volunteers". [5]

• Information as entered by William Weldon, Wednesday, July 16, 2014.