Tag Archives: Purvis

Some Associated Families of Wilcox County, Alabama – part I

This blog entry continues with the Purvis and Campbell families of Wilcox County, Alabama.  While researching my Campbells, I was also able to sort out other non-related Campbells.  I plan to publish what I have on these other Campbells in a future post.

The last entry ended with two Purvis sisters: Henrietta (Purvis) Eaton (1833-1925) and Mary Ann (Purvis) Strahan (1836-1919?).  Their parents were George Purvis, Jr., and Caroline (Campbell) Purvis.   The parentage of the sisters was established through Henrietta’s death certificate and the Leonard Strahan letter of 1947 (grandson of Mary Ann).  The family favored the spelling Pervis but many documents used the spelling Purvis.

What we’ll discuss in this post is how the Purvis and Campbell families arrived in Wilcox County, Alabama by 1835 and left by 1846.

A good starting point is George Purvis’s probate record as transcribed and summarized by Laurel Francis.  Records are from the Family History Library Films:

Alabama, Probate Court (Wilcox Co), PROBATE Probate Indexes 1821-1859, films 1673597 and 1673598.
Probate Drawer Index, item 4, #61, Purvis, George
Orphan Court Probate, Film 1673597, Index to Probate Minutes  Book 3 pages 24, Jun 20, 1836 “Estate of G Pervis died- Caroline Purvis administratrix (gave $1000 security) also ordered by court Duncan H. Campbell, Malcom McRaney & Moses McClure appraisers of the estate.”
Oct 17, 1836 Film# 1673597 Book 3 p 59 Returned with an appraisal
Feb 16 1846 Film# 1673598 Book 5 p 336 heirs to appear April 1846
Apr 20, 1846 Film# 1673598 Book 5 p 415 “Land to be sold, NE quarter of SE quarter of section 10 township 12 of range 7; also the E half of the NE quarter of section 15 in township 12 of range 7 in the district of land sold at Cahaba, Dallas, Alabama
Jun 3 1846 Film# 1673598 Book 5 p. 437 “processed 1 June 1846, land sold to John M. Burke

You’ll notice the names of Duncan H. Campbell and Malcom McRaney.  Later we’ll show that Duncan was Caroline’s father.  The McRaney family intermarried with the Campbells.

Next, let’s start working through the land records.  As an overview, here is a plat map of a portion of Wilcox County, Alabama showing where the Purvis, Campbell, and McRaney lots were.  There is one piece of land in section 15 labeled LEWIS George 1837 that should be PERVIS instead.Wilcox County Land Platte

George bought land two times from the federal government, in January and December 1835.  The first entry we’ll look is the one improperly indexed as George Lewis instead of Pervis.  From the US Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, Alabama, Volume 16, page 107:
George Pervis Jr., for E1/2NE1/4, Sect. No. 15 of Township No. 12 of Range No. 7 cont’g 79 acres and 79 1/2 hundreds of an acre at $1.25 per acre,
1835 Jan’y 22, Certf No. 21520, purchase money $99.74, -, Cash 21520, Pat dated, $99.74

The certificate lists him as “George Pervis Junior of Wlicox County Alabama.”  This was purchased as part of the sale of public lands act of April 24, 1820.  George purchased the land from the Cahaba land office in Alabama. It was signed in Washington on 10 April 1837.

Purvis, George tract book 2 Purvis, George 2

From the US Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, Alabama, Volume 16, page 97:
George Pervis Jr., for NE1/4 SE1/4, Sect. No. 10 of Township No. 12 of Range No. 7 cont’g 39 acres and 98 1/2 hundreds of an acre at $1.25 per acre,
1835 Dec 18, Certf No. 26046, purchase money $49.98, 1835 Dec’r 18, Cash Patented, $49.98

Again, the certificate yields some additional information.   It was from the same land office and the same act.  He was listed as “George Pervis Jr. (lined out) Junior of Wilcox County Alabama.”  It was signed in Washington on 20 April (lined out) May 1837.

Purvis, George tract book 1

Purvis, George 1

These two land holdings match up with George’s estate of 1836.  The certificates arrived after his estate was settled.  Ten years later, Caroline (Campbell) Purvis, administratix of George Purvis’s estate,  consigned Joseph Van De Voort as attorney in law on October 2, 1846 in order to sell the land.  This was recorded in the Wilcox County, Alabama, Deed book, Volume I, page 261.  Witnesses were Alexander Campbell and Daniel McRanie.   Purvis, Caroline

In summary: George Purvis, Jr., bought land in Wilcox County, Alabama, in 1835.  He died before June 1836.  His wife, Caroline, sells the land in 1846.

The Purvis family did not come to Wilcox County alone.  Duncan N. Campbell – father to Caroline – also bought land there.  He purchased his first piece of land on the same day that George Purvis did, and received the next sequential certificate number.  From the US Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, Alabama, Volume 16, page 99:
Duncan N. Campbell, for W1/2 SW, Sect. No. 11 of Township No. 12 of Range No. 7 cont’g 79 acres and 83 hundreds of an acre at $1.25 per acre,
1835 Jan’y 22, Certf No. 21521, purchase money $99.79, -, Cash 21521, Pat dated, $99.79

His second land purchase is recorded on the same page:
Duncan N. Campbell, for NE1/4 SW1/4, Sect. No. 11 of Township No. 12 of Range No. 7 cont’g 39 acres and 91 1/2 hundreds of an acre at $1.25 per acre,
1835 Nov 5, Certf No. 25007, purchase money $49.89, 1835 Nov 5, Cash 21521, Pat dated, $49.89

Once again, the certificates indicate that Duncan was of Wilcox County.  They were signed on 10 April 1837 and 20 April (lined out) May 1837.

Campbell, Duncan tract book 1 + 2

Campbell, Duncan land purchase 2 Campbell, Duncan land purchase 1

Duncan was listed as an appraiser for his son-in-law George Purvis’s estate in 1836.  That is the last record we have showing him alive.  It appears he died before 1840.

Censuses were recorded by a sheriff or other official who toured the county, house to house, and recorded the census entries. These were then copied and sent to the federal government.  Sometimes those copies were made alphabetically, others simple copies.  The 1840 census, enumerated on June 1st, for Wilcox County, Alabama, has two women as heads of household listed sequentially.

1840 Alabama, Wilcox, page 313, images 15-16, lines 12-13
Mrs. C. Purvis, 1f<5, 2f5-10, 1f30-40, 4 total
Mrs. Mary Campbell, 2m20-29, 1f30-39, 1f50-59, 1 male slave 24-35, 5 total, 2 Agriculture

Screen Shot 2014-06-28 at 10.05.41 PM

The m stands for male, f stands for female.  The numbers indicate the age brackets.  So 2m20-29 is shorthand for 2 males aged between 20 and 29 years old.  The women being listed sequentially indicates that they lived near each other.  C. Purvis with three young girls corresponds to Caroline (Campbell) Purvis.  The younger girl in her household would be Mary Ann (b. 1836), and her sister Henrietta (b. 1833) would be one of the two older girls.  It is unknown if the other older girl was a Campbell daughter or not.  Mary Campbell, as we will later see, is the widow of Duncan Campbell and likely mother of Caroline.  It is possible that Duncan was away at the time of the census, but the more likely case is that he was deceased before 1840.

In 1845, Mary Campbell and the Campbell children sell the lands of Duncan Campbell in Wilcox County, transcribed as follows:

Alabama, Wilcox County, Deed Records, Volume I, page 207
Mary Campbell, et al, to John M. Burke//
Wilcox County State of Alabama December 31st 1845
Know all men by these presents, that we Mary Campbell
widow of the late Duncan N. Campbell deceased and William
Campbell, Caroline Purvis formerly Caroline Campbell, Alexander
Campbell, Harriet McRainie formerly Harriet Campbell
Daniel Campbell and Daniel McRainie husband of the
said Harriet Campbell heirs at Law of the said Duncan
N. Campbell of the first part for and in Consideration of
the sum of Three Hundred Dollars to us in hand paid
the receipt of which is hereof acknowledged have this day bargained
sold Conveyed & delivered unto John M. Burke of the second
part all parties living & being in the County and State above written
The following ascribed lot or parcel of Land being and lying
in the said County of Wilcox & State above written lying in the
Land District Subject for sale at Cahawba To wit, The west half
of the South west quarter of Section Eleven in Township twelve
of Range Seven, Containing seventy nine acres & Eight three hundredths
of an acre also the North East quarter of the South west quarter
of Section Eleven in township twelve of Range Seven Containing
thirty nine acres and ninety one and a half hundredths of
an acre Making in all One hundred & Nineteen acres and
Seventy four and a half hundredths of an acre more or less
to have and to hold the same to himself the said John M. Burke
his heirs Executors Administrators and assigns together with
all the improvements appertaining to the premises forever
And we do warrant and defend to him the said Burke
his heirs and assigns forever the title to the said land herein
Conveyed In Testimony whereof we the parties of the first
part have signed it with our own hands and seal this
the day and year before written
In presence
Martin Green J.P.
John C. Wear/
Mary Campbell (her X mark) seal
William Campbell seal
Caroline Purvis seal
Alexander Campbell seal
Harriet McRanie seal
Daniel Campbell seal
Daniel McRanie

Campbell family

This document lays out the family for us by identifying Duncan’s wife and children.  The family is as follows:
Duncan H. Campbell, wife Mary, children:
William Campbell
Caroline Campbell m. George Purvis, Jr.
Alexander Campbell
Harriet Campbell m. Daniel McRaney
Daniel Campbell m. Nancy McRaney

My next post will continue to flesh out the records associated with Wilcox County, Alabama.  I welcome comments and corrections.

My line to the Campbells

This first post is about my connection to the Campbell family.  Later posts will explore who they were and where they lived, in particular their connection to Chesterfield County, South Carolina.  My name is Chris Amaden.  I’ve been researching my family since the mid 1980s.  Most of my work was on my father’s paternal line and only in the last 10 years have I expanded my research to his maternal line and my mother’s lines.  Over the last few years I’ve incorporated DNA testing to confirm (or deny) my paper research and to break through brick walls.  More on the DNA angle later…

My paternal grandmother, Karonela (who went by Kay), was an adoptee.  At some point in her adult years (~1940s or 1950s), she made contact with her biological mother, Robbye Henrietta (Strahan) [Johnson] Greenblatt.   I suspect the contact was made as Kay was getting her Social Security set up and was trying to track down her birth certificate.  I was told that the father was in the navy in World War I and never came back after serving, leading to Kay being put up for adoption.  Fortunately Kay was able to update her birth certificate (she was originally listed as unnamed) in 1979.  She was born in 1916 in Birmingham, Alabama.  The original record identified her father as Oscar W. Johnson.  The couple was married, their first marriage; he was age 30, born in Louisiana, and was a postal clerk.  Note that the mother’s maiden name is spelled wrong – Stroud vs. Strahan.

Johnson, Karolena addendum

One quick sidebar from the Campbell discovery.  I was able to figure out who Kay’s father was

For years I had no traction on the Johnson line because the surname was too common – even with the relatively rare first name of Oscar.  My breakthrough came with the release of the World War I draft registration cards.   It was slow going because they were published state-by-state and so my Oscar didn’t show up for a while.  Finally, his record became available.   Here’s my transcription:

WWI Registration Card #1397
Oscar Watson Johnson, age 29
resident – Redus (st.), Hattiesburg, Miss.
b. November 7, 1887, natural born, b. Bastrop, La,
City Letter Carrier, US Post Office Dept, Hattiesburg
Mother & Father dependent on for support
single, caucassian, no military service,
exempt from draft – Postal service
signed – O. W. Johnson
Tall, Stout, blue eyes, dark hair, not bald, no damage
signed – M. Galbrath?, west side precinct, city, Ha Miss, 6/5/1917

Johnson, Oscar Watson

It was pretty clear to me that I had the right guy since he was in the Postal Service.  It didn’t line with the WWI navy story but I didn’t consider that a deal breaker.

I wasn’t convinced that Robbye and Oscar had married but familysearch.org posted transcriptions for Alabama marriage records a few years back.  I haven’t ordered the original, but here is the transcribed version:

familysearch.org
Groom’s Name:     O. W. Johnson
Groom’s Birth Date:     1912 [sic]
Groom’s Age:     4 [sic]
Bride’s Name:     Robbie Strahan
Bride’s Birth Date:     1896
Bride’s Age:     20
Marriage Date:     14 Aug 1916
Marriage Place:     Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama
Groom’s Marital Status:     Unknown
Indexing Project (Batch) Number:     M74689-2
System Origin:     Alabama-EASy
Source Film Number:     1064437
Reference Number:     p181

To get back on the Campbell trail, we have to look at Robbye’s past.  I was able to locate her using census records and her death certificate but the tidiest way to present her vital stats is through her Social Security application (SS-5), transcribed:

SS-5 Application for Social Security Account Number
262-30-1039
Robbye Greenblatt
11 N. K St., Pensacola, FL, Robbye Strahan
age 48, b. 1-26-96, Miss.
father Walter Strahan, mother Ella McGrew
female, white, not applied before
unemployed
July 25, 1942, signed Robbye H. Greenblatt

Greenblatt, Robbye (Strahan)

I’m not certain on Robbye’s birth city or county because Mississippi didn’t require birth records until 1912 and I’ve found nothing else to narrow it down.  The 1900 census has the family living in Beat 2, Perry County, Mississippi.  Her father, Walter Allen Strahan, was a farmer.  One future project is to track down his land records from the 1890s to confirm they were living in Perry County at the time of Robbye’s birth.

Moving up to the next generation with Robbye’s father, Walter Strahan was a Mississippi native and apparently lived there his whole life, dying in Hattiesburg, Forrest County, Mississippi.  Here’s my transcription of his death certificate:

Death Certificate Mississippi, state file # 19082
Forrest, Hattiesburg, inside, Methodist hospital, Edwards Street, 6days in hospital, life long in community
res Mississippi, Forrest, Hattiesburg
Walter Allen Strahan, not veteran, no ss#, male, white, married
wife Ella McGrew, b. dec. 14, 1869, 73 yrs, 6 mo, 16 dys
b. Mississippi, trade – Carpenter,
father William Strahan, b. don’t know
mother Don’t know, b. don’t know
informant sign – can’t read it
105 Redus St., H-Burg, Miss.
burial, 7/1/43, New City, H-Burg, Miss.
H-Burg Und’t Co., Hattisburg, Miss.
Registrar7-10-43, Ezra McInnis,
Medical – d. June 30, 1943, 1 am
attended on 6/30/43,
Cerebral Hemorrhage, 6 days
Hypertension, Arterio-Sclerosis – several years
signed S E Buter, Hattiesburg, Miss, 7-7-43

Strahan, Walter Allen

Interesting to see that Walter was living on the same street in Hattiesburg that Oscar Johnson was living on in 1917!

Let’s go back through a few census records (obtained through ancestry.com):

1900, Mississippi, Perry, Beat 2, June 4, SD 6, ED  88, SH 3B, 40, 40
Walter Strahan, head, w, m, Dec, 1869, 30, m, 7, Miss, Miss, Georgia, farmer, 0, yes, yes, yes, O, F, F, 38
Ella, wife, w, f, Sept, 1871, 28, m, 7, 3, 3, Miss, Miss, Miss, yes, yes, yes,
Web, son, w, m, June, 1894, 5, s, Miss, Miss, Miss, no, no, yes
Robbi, daug, w, f, Jan, 1896, 4, s, Miss, Miss, Miss, no, no, yes
Ebb, son, w, m, Feb, 1898, s, s, Miss, Miss, Miss, no, no, yes

Here we can clearly see Walter and his daughter Robbi (Robbye) in the same record.  The 1890 census is missing, so going back to 1880 we find Walter with his parents:

1880, Mississippi, Covington, Holleday Creek, SD 2, ED 124, page 1A/321, 2, 2
W. L. Strahan, w, m, 50, m, sheriff, Miss, Ga., Ala
Mary Ann, w, f, 48, wife, m, keeping house, Ala, Ga, Ga
Henretta, w, f, 16, daughter, s, attended school within the year, Miss, Miss, Ala
William, w, m, 14, son, s, attended school within the year, Miss, Miss, Ala
Walter, w, m, 11, son, s, attended school within the year, Miss, Miss, Ala
Albert, w, m, 8, son, s, attended school within the year, Miss, Miss, Ala
Victor, w, m, 5, son, s, Miss, Miss, Ala
Dora, w, f, 1, daughter, s, Miss, Miss, Ala
W C Bowick Jr., w, m, 26, s, laborer, typhoid fever, Miss, Miss, Miss
J. W. Strahan, w, m, 21, s, at school, Miss, Miss, Ala

Then 1870:

1870, Mississippi, Covington, Holliday Creek Beat, page 359/10, image 10, June 29, 66, 74
W L Strahan, 40, m, w, farming, 200, 300, Mississippi, cannot read, cannot write, male citizen>21 years old
Mary Ann, 34, f, w, keeping house, Alabama, cannot read, cannot write
Lija?, 16, f, w, attending school, Mississippi, attended school within the year, cannot read, cannot write
Lawrence, 13, m, w, farm hand, Mississippi, cannot read, cannot write
James, 11, m, w, farm hand, Mississippi, cannot read, cannot write
Henrietta, 6, f, w, Mississippi, cannot read, cannot write
William, 4, m, w, Mississippi, cannot read, cannot write
Walter, 6/12, m, w, Mississippi, Dec, cannot read, cannot write

I don’t have many primary records on this generation.  One to-do item is to order the death certificates for Walter Strahan’s siblings to confirm their parents’ names and find any clues.  So for now I’m relying on what others have reported.  There was a self-published book written by John H. “Buster” Strahan entitled The Strahan Family History.  Regrettably I don’t have a copy but apparently it includes this generation.

From Walter’s death certificate, the census records above and one from 1860, we can piece together than his full name was William Lawrence Strahan.  His wife was Mary Ann Purvis/Pervis.   From others’ work, I have that they married in 1852, further supporting that she was the mother of Walter born in 1869.

One other source I have is a copy of a letter written by a Strahan descendant discussing his ancestry.  These were provided by my cousin Laurel Francis, who has been working with me on the Campbell and Purvis families.   The letter is between Leonard S. Strahan and Charles E. Strahan, Sr. in 1947.   This letter demonstrates that Leonard’s paternal grandmother was “Mary Ann Pervis Strahan.”  Page 1 of the letter is below:

L Strahan Letter

Mary Ann (Purvis) Strahan’s death has been reported as being in either 1919 (findagrave.com) or 1929 (online posted tree).  In either case no death record has been found.  Also mentioned in the above letter is Mary Ann’s sister, Henrietta Pervis Eaton.  Henrietta died in 1925.  Her death certificate is transcribed as:

Death Cert
Mississippi, #1890
Walthall Co., Tylertown, Tylertown, Reg dist 746, file #9, Pri Reg Dist # 9340,
Henrietta Pervis Eaton
female, white, widowed, b. Dec. 26, 1835, 91 yrs, 1mo, 4d, housework
b. S.C.
father Geo. Pervis, b. SC
mother Caroline Campbell, b. SC
informant: W.E. Collins, Tylertown, Miss.
filed 3-15-1925, B. Lampton Crawford
d. Jan 30, 1925
attended Jan 30, 1925 to Jan 30, 1925, death at 9pm, Cerebral Hemorrhage
A. B. Harvey, 2-16-1925, Tylertown, Mis

Eaton (Purvis) Henrietta

And finally here we find our first Campbell in my tree as the mother of Henrietta (Purvis) Eaton and her sister Mary Ann (Purvis) Strahan.    In review:

my grandmother Kay was the daughter of Robbye Henrietta (Strahan) [Johnson] Greenblatt (1896-1979)

Robbye was the daughter of Walter Allen Strahan (1869-1943)

Walter was the son of Mary Ann (Purvis) Strahan (1836-1919?)

Mary Ann was the daughter of Caroline Campbell (1810-1873).

In my subsequent posts I will dive into the Campbell family of Wilcox County, Alabama and trace them back to Chesterfield County, South Carolina.  I welcome any comments or corrections to this blog post.