Permelia Tate (Statham) Dudley (1837 - 1916)

Born 23 Aug 1837 in Wilkes, Georgia, United States

Ancestors

Died 27 May 1916 at age 78 in Grenada, Mississippi, United States

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Biography

Permelia's birth and death dates come from her grave marker. Her middle name has not been corroborated but is based on the likelihood she was named for her maternal grandmother, Permelia Tate. She was born in WIlkes County where her parents were living around that time, probably in Danburg where her father had a medical practice and owned a plantation he sold preparatory to moving his family to Mississippi.

Permelia T. Statham married Byron J. Dudley in Yalobusha County, Mississippi on 16 Jun 1857 according to the marriage record, but this may have been the license date as it's reported as 18 Jun 1857 in Runnels' Memorial Sketches, which likely came from Permelia herself.

Permelia and Byron met through her brother Lafayette who, during his extended visit with Walter at Dartmouth, became close friends with Byron and brought him back to Mississippi. Walter Statham and the newlyweds visited Dartmouth the summer Byron and Permelia married.

Permelia and Byron and their infant son were living with her father, Augustin D. Statham, in 1860. This son, shown as V.S. Dudley in the census, is identified as Virgil S. Dudley, born on 18 Jun 1859 and died on 4 Dec 1860, parents Byron J. Dudley and Pamelia Statham ("History of the Dudley Family" in North America, Family Histories),

Byron was the son of Jonathan and Minerva Dudley, shown in their 1850 Hanover, New Hampshire household as B.J., age 18, who worked as a clerk. During the war, Byron was a Captain and a Quartermaster with 15th Mississippi Infantry. He was shown on a return of Field and Staff officers at Vicksburg, Mississippi on 20 Jul 1862 so he may have been present at Walter Statham's death bed.

Byron died on 15 Feb 1867, leaving a son Byron Statham Dudley, who was four weeks old at his father's death (the younger Byron's grave marker gives his year of birth as 1865, but the 1867 date of birth probably came from his mother Permelia).

Later life: In 1870, the widowed Permelia (as Amalia Statum) and her 3-year-old son Byron S. were living with her younger brother William in Grenada County, which was created that year, in part from Yalobusha County. Permelia visited Dartmouth again in 1871, when her son was about 4.

There was a suit concerning a life insurance policy purchased by her father Augustin which was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of the insurance company in 1877. Although Augustin had regularly paid the annual premium, he was unable to do so in Dec. 1861 due to the war (the insurance company was in New York), which was considered to have invalidated the policy. Augustin died about six months after the due date of what would have been his final premium.

Permelia maintained a long-standing correspondence with Moses Runnels, the 1853 Dartmouth College class secretary who compiled the Memorial Sketches, giving him family updates for Walter's bio, including the news that her youngest brother William Crawford Statham died in 1883, leaving her and her son "to struggle on alone through many disappointments and vicissitudes." According to Runnels, Permelia was a teacher in Grenada, Mississippi for many years and "spoke of her son as a noble and good young man, an elder in the Presbyterian Church, much loved and respected, taking first honors in the Dental Department of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., in Feb. last, and hoping to graduate from the same in Feb. 1895."

Permelia's obituary can be found on her Findagrave page.

Sources

Findagrave #32893153

The Grenada (Miss.) Sentinel, Friday, June 2, 1916, p. 4, col. 3 (obituary)

Moses T. Runnels, Memorial Sketches and History of Class of 1853 Dartmouth College; Walter Scott Statham bio, 189-192; in addition to information Runnels acquired from Walter's time at Dartmouth, he maintained a years-long correspondence with Walter's sister Permelia, the probable source for later events in the lives of this family.

"North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000," Ancestry.com, p. 865.

New York Times, 8 Aug 1877 (Supreme Court case)