Mami T-- Part 5

I am certain that the land they purchased would have had to be cleared before they could even think about farming it, because in those days it was primarily a wilderness.

Civil War

Most likely the garden spot was the first to be cleared. Mami T worked alongside William to build a home and farm the land.  They had been married ten years and had three children before he enlisted in the CSA and left to fight in the Civil War.

Their first child was a daughter named Rhoda Ann, born in 1853, but she was always called Rody. Their second child was William Henry born in 1857 and he was called by several names; aliases that he called himself, that he became known to others by.  The third child was another daughter, and she was named Emily Margaret, born in 1860; she was named after Mami T’s sister Emily.

I learned during my search that William had also been involved in a long term and on-going relationship with another woman; her name was Candace French, and she was the daughter of Robert Emanuel and Elizabeth Leavins French, who were married in Thomas County, Georgia. Candace was born March 20, 1820 in Georgia.

I was thinking that since both women in William’s life had been born in Thomas County, Georgia, that maybe I could find him in Thomas County, as well. But sadly as of this date I have not found him on any census records except the 1860 Holmes County, record. I only have a three year window of his life to show that he had ever lived.

In the French family record shared with me by a descendant of their family it states that Candace had an on-going relationship with William H. McDuffie, and that they never married, and their children were, Samuel French born March 4, 1848, and Richard French born February 22, 1855. Their relationship is also recorded in the McDuffie Family records.

It had been common knowledge by all who knew them, and it was recorded in the histories of the families, so I assume it was an acceptable relationship for all concerned.

A Confederate Soldier

William enlisted in the CSA January 17, 1861 at Pensacola, Florida. He left behind two women who loved him, and between the two of them he left behind three sons and two daughters.

Mami T received information from a source that is yet unidentified that he was killed in December of 1861 in Port Hudson, Louisiana. Many years later I discovered that most of the information she had been given by others was wrong.

She filed an application for a Widow’s Pension in 1904. I ordered a copy of her application from Tallahassee, Florida, and at the same time I asked for a copy of William’s service record.