Elizabeth (Powers) Piper, Plot Twist

   ©  Kathy Duncan, 2025

Just when I think I've pinned things down, they go sideways.

The primary motivation for pursuing Elizabeth Piper's identity was the hope that some clue would lead me to the James S. Piper family on the 1850 census. Once I had identified Elizabeth's mother as Jerusha Ann (Smallwood) Powers aka Rusha Ann Powers aka Ann Powers, I searched for her on the 1850 census, hoping that the Pipers would be with her or near her.

This was the only Ann Powers in the District of Columbia in 1850:

This Ann Powers' household seems to be all wrong for what I know about Elizabeth Piper and her mother. Elizabeth Piper was the "only daughter" of Rusha Ann Powers. So, who was Mary Powers? A daughter? That would not fit, although it's possible that she is a daughter-in-law. That would mean that Rusha Ann Powers had a son or sons. Hm. Ann E. Powers is the daughter of whom? Probably not 60-year-old Ann Powers. She could be the daughter of Elizabeth Bray if Elizabeth was the remarried widow of another son of Ann's. Would she then be widowed again? This whole household just seems unlikely to be the correct one. At least at first blush, it seemed all wrong. 

Digging back into the Washington Congressional Cemetery records revealed more information about the plots where Elizabeth Piper and her mother, Ann Powers, were buried. I discovered that Elizabeth Bray owned both plots.

Elizabeth Bray had evidently owned Range 32 and 33, no. 177 and 178 since December of 1851. Elizabeth Piper was buried in October 1863, James A. Power in May 1877, and J.E. Anderson in March 1856.

Elizabeth Bray also owned Range 32, no. 177 and 178, where Ann Powers was buried in Dec 1857, Mary E. Powers in April 1905, J.T. Powers and child in December 1851, and John T. Power in December 1896.

Clearly, Elizabeth Bray was not a random boarder in Ann Powers' 1860 household, and clearly, the Ann Powers on the 1850 census was Elizabeth Piper's mother. This also suggests to me that Elizabeth Piper and her mother, Ann Powers, were connected to a large number of Powers in the District of Columbia. But how?

Focusing on Elizabeth Bray revealed that she was also a Powers: 

When Elizabeth Powers married Ebenezer Bray in 1843, she would have been 18 years old. It also dawned on me that she was the same age as Elizabeth Piper and was probably the same person. Yikes! So what happened to Ebenezer Bray?

Just two years later, Elizabeth Bray was asking the same question:

I don't know if Ebenezer Bray returned to her. I do know that on 15 April 1848, 34-year-old Ebenezer Bray enlisted. The native of Oxford, Maine, stood 6'1" tall with blue eyes and black hair. He was a schoolmaster who enlisted in Washington. He served in the 11th Infantry and was discharged a few months later in June of 1848 at Fort McHenry. 

In September 1848, a letter was waiting for Ebenezer Bray at the Washington, DC, post office. 

What happened to Ebenezer between 1848 and 1850? Did he die? Did he and Elizabeth divorce?

All of this, of course, throws an interesting monkey wrench into everything. If Elizabeth Bray and Elizabeth Powers are the same person, then she was not married to James S. Piper before 1850. In fact, she did not marry him until after December 1851. She also would not be the mother of William H. Piper. She likely had no surviving children. This opens the possibility that James S. Piper had another wife between Mary O'Hara and Elizabeth Powers. For several reasons that will be covered an upcoming post, I don't think Mary O'Hara was William's mother. 

This may be why Elizabeth Burch (Smallwood) Clubb was adamant that James S. Piper was not to have any of Elizabeth's inheritance. Too many marriages? Too many divorces? Or was it something else? 

When Elizabeth Burch (Smallwood) Clubb made her will and named only one nephew, John Smallwood, and one niece, Elizabeth Piper, as her heirs, she had other siblings and nieces and nephews who were living. I wonder if she selected Elizabeth Piper because Piper was her namesake? Could Elizabeth's name have been Elizabeth Burch Powers? 

Elizabeth Bray owned $400 of real estate in 1850 that needs to be located. 

Meanwhile, I am no closer to locating James S. Piper on the 1850 census. 

I don't know all the connections between the Powers family members who are buried in Elizabeth Bray's plots. I did figure out that Mary Powers, who is living with Ann Powers in 1850, was a widow and the mother of Ann E. Powers, who married H.C. McCauley. All the others are still a mystery.  

Are you working on your FANS? If not, you are missing all the fun. 

 

James S. Piper, 1845

Capt James S. Piper, 1846

Capt James S. Piper, 1847 - 1848

Capt James S. Piper, 1850 - 1855

Col James S. Piper, 1856

Lt. Col James S. Piper, 1858

James S. Piper, 1859 - 1860

Col. James S. Piper, 1861

Col. James S. Piper, 1862

Col. James S. Piper, 1863 Part One

Col. James S. Piper, 1863 Part Two

Col. James S. Piper, 1863 Part Three

Col. James S. Piper's Wife Elizabeth