Martha Jane (Manson) Neal (1818 - 1853)

Born 9 Jul 1818 in Brunswick County, Virginia

Ancestors

Wife of John Henry Neal — married 30 Aug 1837 in Williamson County, Tennessee

Descendants

Died 10 Jan 1853 at age 34 in Williamson County, Tennessee

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Liz Shifflett [send private message]

Biography

MARTHA JANE NEAL born Brunswick Co., Va., July 9, 1818; d/o Capt. Edward and Nancy W. Manson; md John Henry Neal, August 30, 1837; died Williamson Co., Tenn., Jan. l0, 1853.^[1]

(See husband John's profile for more information about the family.)

Martha's mom (date of death is 1857, not 1856):

NANCY W. MANSON died Williamson Co., Tenn., Jan. 13, 1856; born Brunswick Co., Va., July 11, 1797; md Capt. Edward Manson Dec. 13, 1815; he died in 1833; moved in 1836 to Williamson Co., Tenn.^[2]

Record of Nancy W. Manson's will:

April Term of Court, 1857. Nancy W. Manson died in January 1857, leaving a will, and owned 13 slaves.

Williamson County, Tennessee, Miscellaneous Records, V, 85. See,also, Williamson County,Tennessee, Miscellaneous Records, VIII, p. 22. [file 822]

An online search shows that a record for Edward Manson and Nancy W. Manson exists in "Tennessee Divorce and Other Records, 1800-1965" and shows a line: "Divorce: year - Williamson" (with "Year" being a link to subscribe to Ancestry).^[3] However, if her husband died in 1833 and she moved to Williamson County in 1836, it doesn't make sense that they were divorced in Williamson County.

Publication 19, Rutherford County Historical Society (Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Summer 1982), includes information on the Mansons from Rosalind Manson James, which shows that Martha married twice, first Henry N. Mason, on November 24, 1834 in Brunswick County, Virginia^[4] and then John H. Neal on Aug. 30, 1837 in Williamson County, Tennessee. The first marriage explains why my family records had her as Mason. Information matches between this source and others, except for her mother's death (which is shown as March 7, 1880 in Rutherford, Tennessee; birth of July 1, 1797 cites "Bible" but no citation for death).

Sources

1. ↑ abstract of her obituary
2. ↑ abstract of obituary in The Nashville Christian Advocate, February 5, 1857
3. ↑ The URL was listed as DBE - "12007 Name not resolved" as of 19 June 2023 and so was disabled: search.ancestry.myfamily.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&sbo=t&gsbco=Sweden&gsln=Manson&gss=angs-c&gl=37&gst=&uidh=000&MSV=
4. ↑ "Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRQN-79Y : 6 August 2020), Martha J. Manson in entry for Henry N. Mason, 1834.

• Obituary Abstracts, January 27, 1853, Louisville and Nashville Christian Advocate, transcribed by Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith
• 1850 U.S. Census for 7th Civil District, Williamson, Tennessee, enumerated November 7, 1850.
• Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 (Nashville, TN, USA: Tennessee State Library and Archives. Microfilm.)

note that DAR Patriot Ancestor #A074793, Private Edward Mason, is probably not her father (not married to Nancy and neither mentioned in his Pension application; also a bit old per the application - 90 in 1832).

Attribution

• Liz Shifflett created the profile for Martha (Manson) Neal on May 31, 2012. Last update: December 23, 2013

Click the Changes tab for the details of edits by Liz and others.