Old family Bibles that include genealogy information feel a little like time machines to me. They give me a written connection to ancestors I never knew but still somehow feel close to.
A September blog entry included pages from an Outlaw family Bible. Since then, I have received photos from a couple of other family Bibles and wanted to include those here as well.
I keep thinking about the men and women who took the time to write in these Bibles. They recorded births, marriages and deaths because they assumed, or maybe hoped, that someone would want to know someday.
By writing these things down, they were communicating with family members who would come along many years later. I have the same feeling about the things I try to preserve for my own descendants.
The Bible of Leonard Decatur Cobb
The first Bible I am sharing originally belonged to Leonard Decatur Cobb (1825-1906). Two of his siblings are in my direct line: William Thomas Cobb (1833-1898), who married Elizabeth Temperance “Bet” Outlaw Cobb (1836-1925), my maternal third great-grandparents, and Mourning Adeline Cobb Watridge (1838-1876), who married Daniel Washington Watridge (1835-after 1880), my paternal second great-grandparents.
Leonard Cobb, William Thomas Cobb and Mourning Adeline Cobb were three of the 11 children of John Hardy Cobb (1798-1880) and Harriet Warren Castellaw Cobb (1804-1869). Hardy and Harriet were both born in Bertie County, North Carolina. According to family records, they left Bertie County on March 6, 1834, and arrived in Haywood County, Tennessee, on April 22, 1834.
According to Joe H. Cobb in “Nicholas Cobb Descendants,” one of Leonard’s sons, John Monroe Cobb (1852-1920), was “quite a scholar but could never adjust himself to the practical things in life.” John died at Western State Mental Hospital on Jan. 24, 1920, and was buried in Zion Baptist Church Cemetery.
His death certificate reportedly listed the cause as psychosis brought on by pellagra, a disease caused by niacin deficiency and sometimes associated with poor diet. It is hard not to wonder whether better nutrition, earlier diagnosis or different treatment might have changed how others understood him. Of course, it is also possible that the malnutrition developed after he entered Western State.
Either way, it does sound as though a little eccentricity ran in the family.
One of John Monroe Cobb’s daughters, Bonnie Lura “Miss Lura” Cobb (1887-1982), also appears in the Bible and seems to have marched to the beat of a different drummer. Haywood County neighbors called her Miss Lura. She never married and is said to have worn long dresses and, even in the summer, a long overcoat, galoshes, a scarf around her face and a bonnet.
She was a member of Holly Grove Baptist Church and lived very close to my father, Bob Williams (1940-present). He remembers being afraid of her as a boy. If he saw her coming down the road, he would hide until she passed.
My mother, Shirley Lovelace Williams (1939-present), has fonder memories. She remembers Miss Lura frequently asking about family members and wanting to know how everyone was doing.
Back to the Bible.
You will notice Leonard and Mary Amanda Rooks Cobb’s daughter, Mary Catherine “Molly” Cobb Williams (1857-1938), married John Nowell Williams (1851-1928). John was a son of George Solomon “Sol” Williams (1820-1864) and Catherion Arthur Nowell Williams (1828-1895), my third great-grandparents.
Photo of Roy and Zelma Simpson that was used in her funeral program. She died November 26, 1991. Roy had died 13 years earlier. She was survived by 2 sons, 4 daughters, 10 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and 7 great-great-grandchildren. Their son J. B. Simpson died at age 68 in 1985. J. B. was the father of Danny Simpson, one of my parents’ childhood friends, so Roy and Zelma were Danny’s grandparents.
John and Molly’s daughter, Zelma Aurene Williams Simpson (1895-1991), married Roy Earl Simpson (1894-1978). Roy was one of the sons of William B. Simpson (1854-1915) and Mary Ann Cobb Watridge (1862-1913). Mary Ann was a daughter of Daniel Washington Watridge and Mourning Adeline Cobb.
Most of those I have mentioned were buried in the cemeteries of either Zion Baptist Church or Holly Grove Baptist Church in Haywood County.
Note: As closely as possible, I typed the Bible entries as they were written, including original spelling, capitalization and punctuation.
Leonard D. Cobb was borned A.D. November 2nd 1825
Mary A. Cobb was borned November 24 A.D. 1830
Elizabeth A. Cobb daughter of L.D. and Mary A. Cobb was borned December the 5th 1850
John M. Cobb son of L.D. Cobb and Mary his wife was borned December 31 of 1852
Mary C Cobb daughter of L.D. Cobb and Mary his wife was borned April 8th 1857
Bonnie Lura Cobb daughter of J.M. and N.R. Cobb was born Feb 10th 1887
Zelma Aurene Williams Daughter of John A. Williams and Mary C. Williams his wife was born January the 20th 1895
Mattie Evelyn Cobb daughter of John M. Cobb and Mary R. Cobb his wife was born September the 30th 1895 {Died Jan 13, 1929 Hay-Wood County Tennessee
Johnnie Bee Simpson son of Roy Earl Simpson and Zelma (A.) Simpson his wife was born Februray 14th, 1917 In Hay-Wood County Tennessee
Emma Lee Simpson daughter of Roy Earl Simpson and Zelma Arlene Simpson his wife was born April 4th 1919
Lelane Earl Simpson born March 9 son of Roy and Zelma Simpson in Hay-Wood County Tennessee
L.D. Cobb son of J.H. Cobb and Harriet A. Cobb his wife was borned November 2nd 1825 Departed this life April the 9th 1906
John Monroe Cobb departed this life January 24th 1920
Elizabeth A Cobb departed this life on the XXth day of November 1854
Mary A. Cobb Daughter of John Rooks & C.C. Rooks his wife was borned Nov 24th 1830 Departed this life Oct. the 10th 1907
Herman Cobb was born Aug the 14th and died Aug the 15 1885 A.D.
Mary Katherine Cobb was married to John N. Williams the 14th day of December A.D. 1881 Rev J.J. Turner officiating
John M. Cobb and Mary R. Sweeney was married Nov the 30th 1884 in madison co Tenn by Rev James Blackmun
Zelma A. Williams was married to Roy Earl Simpson the 14th day of Feb 1916. Esq. E.B. Bowen officiating near Jones Tennessee in Hay-Wood County
The obituaries of John Nowell Williams and Mary Katherine “Molly” Cobb Williams were also tucked into this Bible. It is interesting to note that John’s obituary listed his middle initial as “A” rather than “N.” John died in 1928 and Molly died in 1938.
The Bible also held pressed flowers and a piece of paper that read, “Cousin Hardy Cobb died Oct 18 1942 and was buried 20.”
That note referred to one of my third great-grandfathers John Hardy Cobb (1859-1942), son of John Charles Warren Cobb (1830-1914) and Penelope Trottman White Cobb (1831-1879).
Hardy Cobb was a farmer, sawmill operator, store owner and schoolteacher. He lost one arm in a corn shredder and several fingers on his other hand at his sawmill. He donated the land for Centerville Elementary School and taught there.
In “Nicholas Cobb Descendants,” Joe Cobb included an incident that says a lot about Hardy Cobb’s character.
Hardy Cobb and Carlos Cobb, the son of one of Hardy’s brothers, purchased land in Louisiana. During the Depression, Hardy fell deeply into debt because of the money he owed on that land. He spent the rest of his life paying it off. According to Joe Cobb, Hardy repaid the debt in full a year before he died in 1942.
The Bible of Will Lafayette Williams
The second Bible belonged to my great-grandfather, Will Lafayette “Willie” Williams (1888-1962). I had suspected from U.S. census records that he was called Willie as a young man. The earliest entries in this Bible confirm it.
There are several connections between Leonard Cobb’s Bible and this one, but one of the most interesting to me relates to Will’s childhood.
Will’s mother, Martha Jane Watridge Williams (1851-1888), died in 1888 at the age of 37, leaving her husband a widower with five children.
Will, the youngest, was less than a year old. Whether he began living with them right after his mother’s death, or at some later point during his childhood, the 1900 U.S. census recorded 12-year-old Will in the home of his maternal aunt and uncle, George W. Castellaw (1845-1918) and Mary Emily Watridge Castellaw (1844-1899). His mother, Martha Jane Watridge Williams, and Mary Emily Watridge Castellaw were sisters.
But Will’s father was not far away.
Right next door was Will’s father, George D. Williams (1847-1919), along with his third wife, Virginia Estelle “Essie” Cobb Williams (1861-1919), and their 15-year-old daughter, Elberta Williams. Essie was a daughter of John Charles Warren Cobb and Penelope Trottman White Cobb.
Living next door to George and Essie Williams were George’s brother and sister-in-law, John Nowell Williams and Mary Katherine “Molly” Cobb Williams, whose obituaries were in Leonard Cobb’s Bible.
All the families included in these Bibles, including Williams, Watridge, Castellaw, White and Cobb, migrated from Bertie County, North Carolina, to Haywood County, Tennessee, in the early 1830s.
This is to certify that Willie Lafayette Williams and Janie Elizabeth Williamson were united by me in the bonds of Holy Matrimony at my residence on the 6 day of Feb in the year of our Lord 1910 in the presence of ? (W.L.) Russell and ? B. Castellaw
Sadly, Will Williams’ marriage to Janie Elizabeth Williamson Williams (about 1887-1914) did not last long. She died just four years later, on Aug. 19, 1914. Their second child, a daughter they named Ruth Williams (1914-1914), also died that year.
I have not found anything that shows whether Ruth died at birth or lived for a short time. Janie died 17 days after Ruth was born.
Jessie Lloyd Williams Born Nov 27 1910
Ruth Williams Born Aug 2 1914
Martha Ladonia Williams Born June 1 1916
Mary Elizabeth Williams Born Sep 4 1918
W.L. Williams Jr. Born Oct 28 1821
Douglass Maxwell Williams Born May 6 1920
Hardy Dempsey Williams Born Sep 15, 1929
Betty Iris Williams Born May 26, 1932
Billie Dean Williams Born June 13, 1935
Bobby Jean Williams Born June 13, 1935
Eva Iris Williams, born July 29 1896
William L. Williams born 2-13-88
Willie Lafayette Williams and Eva Iris Overton were united by the bonds of matrimony at my residence on the 28 day of Feb in the year of our Lord 1915 in the presence of Aulsey Byrum and Pearl Overton.
Signed Esq. T. J. Castellaw
(It’s interesting to note that the father of my paternal grandfather Bo Williams was married to his second wife by the grandfather of my paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Castellaw Williams. His name was Thomas Jefferson Castellaw).
Will’s first wife Janie Elizabeth Williams Died Aug 19, 1914
Ruth Williams Died ____________, 1914
W.L. Williams Sr. Died Apr 1, 1962
W.L. Williams Jr. Died June 5, 1966
Will’s second wife Eva Iris Williams Died Sept 5, 1970
Martha Ledonia Williams Chandler Died Nov 1979
Mary Elizabeth Williams Hudgens 9-4-18 — 6-25-99
Billy Dean Williams 6-13-35 — 11-18-95
Jessie Lloyd Williams 11-25-10 — 5-27-2008
Inserted in this Bible was the Tennessee Public Schools elementary diploma of my grandmother, Henrietta Elizabeth Castellaw Williams (1915-1998). It was given to her at Holly Grove in Haywood County on April 12, 1929.
For more of my genealogy research, visit rscottwilliams.info.
Leave a Reply