Ephraim D. Moore and the Wardlows

    ©  Kathy Duncan, 2022

Lots of researchers warn against wasting time going down rabbit holes. Rabbit holes are intriguing tidbits of information that can eat up time and yield nothing other than interesting trivia that contributes nothing to the actual search. In other words, they are just interesting distractions. 

However, I find I can never resist a rabbit hole because there have been too many times when I have found really good information that I would not found any other way. Those few successful experiences have kept me leaping into rabbit holes.

Researching Ephraim D. Moore's exploits in Texas was one of those rabbit holes. He was the minister who solemnized the marriage of Wiley Lewis and Charlotte Bricker in Madison County, Alabama in 1821. In researching him, I learned that among other things his wife was Mary Ann Wardlow. That was interesting because Wiley Lewis's sister Jane married Milton Wardlow. In looking at trees for Milton Wardlow and Mary Ann Wardlow, I found that there is not much information about either one of them, so I don't know if they connect to each other.

In researching Ephraim D. Moore after he migrated to Texas, I found him administering the estate of David S. Wardlow in 1846 in Red River County, Texas. This notice of a suit to sell the property of David S. Wardlow appeared in the Northern Standard of Clarksville, Texas on 6 March 1847:

The heirs of David S. Wardlow were Mary Moore [Ephraim's wife], James Wardlow, John Wardlow, Ann Sharp - wife of John Sharp, and Elizabeth Tankersly. Ann Sharp's name got my attention. Reading further into the notice is the information that John Wardlow, Ann Sharp, and Elizabeth Tankersly were residents of McNairy County, Tennessee.

Based on what I know about suits like this, these heirs are probably siblings. As a group, they are either the children of David S. Wardlow or the siblings of David S. Wardlow. This information would be helpful to a Wardlow researcher. 

And Ann Sharp? She is very likely the same Ann M. Sharp of McNairy County, Tennessee, who provided critical information in a deposition that was presented in a lawsuit among the children of Green B. Babb in the early 1870s. The children of Elizabeth (Lewis) Babb sued their stepmother Mary (Broom) Babb and their Lewis half-siblings. Elizabeth Lewis was the daughter of John D. Lewis, who died in McNairy County, Tennessee in 1843. That lawsuit provided important documentation that identified John D. Lewis's children and last wife - the purpose of the suit was to sort out the inheritance of Elizabeth (Lewis) Babb, which required an inquiry into the settlement of John D. Lewis's estate. 

In an earlier post, I noted that in 1840 John Lewis lived near John A. Sharp and David Wardlow. I even provided a snippet of the census that shows them to be near neighbors. At the time, I was wondering if Ann Sharp was John A. Sharp's wife, and I noted David Wardlow because of Jane Lewis's marriage to Milton Wardlow. 

Lewis Siblings' Marital FANs

   ©  Kathy Duncan, 2022

Conventional research techniques direct us to research all the witnesses and bondsmen on our ancestors' marriage records in hopes of learning new family connections.

My Lewis siblings' were the children of John D. Lewis who died in McNairy County, Tennessee in 1843. Their connections to him are proven through a lawsuit that was brought by a set of his grandchildren against their stepmother. Family tradition says that John Lewis's wife was Susan Daniel; however, there is no documentation to prove that. All of the marriage records that exist for these siblings were filed in Madison County, Alabama. These marriage records do not contain any witnesses or bondsmen; however, there are records of who solemnized their marriages. I thought I would delve into each officiant in hopes of discovering religious affiliations and possibly more records. The information that I gained was eye-opening and indicates that there is even more research that needs to be done.

The marriage records will be examined here in the order in which they were performed and not in the birth order of the siblings.

1. William Henry Lewis married Tabitha Cotton before 1820, but their marriage record has not been found. 

2. Wiley Lewis married Charlotte Bricker on 24 October 1821.

E.D. Moore E.C.C. solemnized their marriage. He was actually Ephriam D. Moore a minister of the Disciples of Christ aka the Church of Christ. He was born in Transylvania County, North Carolina in 1782. His father, James Moses Moore, died shortly before his birth. Ephriam moved as a youth to Tennessee. He began preaching in 1807 and moved to northeast Alabama. Most sources state that he lived and preached in Lauderdale County. Clearly, though, he had some connection to Madison County in the early 1820s. He is noted for preaching on Sundays and farming the rest of the week. His wife was Mary Ann Wardlow. I have not determined yet if she was related to Milton Wardlow, who was Jane Lewis's husband. In 1835, Ephriam D. Moore set out for Texas and settled just north of Clarksville in Red River County, where he spent the remainder of his life. At the same time, Dr. Mansel W. Matthews and Benjamin Lynne DeSpain, both ministers of the Church of Christ, led a large group of settlers from Lauderdale County, Alabama to Red River County, Texas. They are said to have traveled part of the way with David Crockett. They were traveling too slowly for his tastes, so he eventually went on without them. He had a date with destiny at the Alamo and was in hurry to get there. My guess is that Ephriam D. Moore was probably in this group. It's worth noting that Benjamin Lynn DeSpain was a brother to John DeSpain who married as his second wife, Margeret (Lewis) Daugherty, who was a sister of Wiley Lewis. They married in Hopkins County, Texas in 1845. John DeSpain married his first wife Margaret Reader in Lauderdale County, Alabama. I am anxious to see those records when they become available on Family Search and find out who solemnized their marriage

3. Matilda Lewis married William Mason on 17 November 1823.

Their marriage was solemnized by Justice of the Peace, Thomas Simmons. The Masons moved to Hopkins County, Texas in the late 1840s. In 1848, William Mason, along with John DeSpain, Milton Wardlow, and Mansel W. Matthews, was appointed an appraiser for the estate of William O. Matthews.

4. Joel Daniel Lewis married Rebecca Ingle in Lincoln County, Tennessee on 16 December 1823. I have not found further information on their marriage.

5. Celia Lewis married William Babb on 10 October 1824. 

Their marriage was also solemnized by Justice of the Peace, Thomas Simmons.

6. Rebecca Lewis married Aaron Rice on 28 October 1826. 

Their marriage was solemnized by Mansel Walter Matthews. Matthews was born in Kentucky in 1806. He taught school in Alabama and was converted by Rev. Benjamin Lynn DeSpain. Matthews had a varied career. As a minister of the Disciples of Christ, he preached sermons in Madison County, Alabama, and in McNairy County, Tennessee. Then he returned to Kentucky, studied medicine, and became a physician. Evidently, he also continued to preach. Then in 1835, he was one of the men who was instrumental in leading a large group of settlers to Red River County, Texas. Like Crockett, Matthews joined the Texas army. He was at the battle of San Jacinto and attended to the wounds of Sam Houston. After the war, Matthews became a lawyer. He resided in Hopkins County from about 1844 to 1855. While there, he became the postmaster at White Oak from 1847 to 1850. This was during the time period that several Lewis siblings and their spouses migrated to Hopkins County: Matilda (Lewis) and William Mason, Margaret (Lewis) Daugherty who married John DeSpain in Hopkins County, Wiley Lewis, Jane (Lewis) and Milton Wardlow, and Daniel A. Lewis. More research is required, but it appears that they may have lived close to Mansel W. Matthews. 

7. Daniel A. Lewis married his first wife, Betsey Hughes, on 1 May 1828.

Their marriage was solemnized by Justice of the Peace, Joseph Rice. Betsey Hughes was the widow of Thomas Hughes and the daughter of William Young. She had no children with her first husband. Daniel and Betsey (Young) Lewis had a son who they named Mansel W. Lewis. My guess is that he was named after Mansel Walter Matthews.

8. Margaret Lewis married her first husband, Walter Daugherty, on 19 January 1829.

Their marriage was solemnized by Rev. Michael Mason Sr., who was William Mason's grandfather. Michael Mason was a Methodist Episcopal minister. I had forgotten until I started this sibling study that Rev. Michael Mason also solemnized the marriage of Daniel A. Lewis's first wife, Betsy Young's marriage to her first husband Thomas Hughes on 26 November 1826. I had forgotten until I started going back through my notes that a William Young relinquished all claims to Rev. Michael Mason's estate. It is thought that he married Michael Mason's daughter Catherine. Could it possibly be that the William Young who raised his Lewis grandchildren is also the son-in-law of Michael Mason?! I tiptoed back into the FamilySearch tree for a peek. Betsy (Young) Hughes Lewis's father William Young did have a wife named Catherine but she is attributed as being a Colquhoun rather than a Mason. This is going to require more research on another day. 

9. Elizabeth Lewis married Green B. Babb before 1831, location unknown. Her obituary appeared in a Disciples of Christ publication in 1852. In 1853, Green B. Babb was a member of the Clear Creek Church, which was a Church of Christ, in McNairy County, Tennessee. In addition, their nephews - Bryant T. Babb and Kibble Babb, the sons of Celia Lewis and William Babb were also members. Also found on the membership list is one Jane Lewis, who had joined from a Methodist church. I believe that she was John Lewis's second wife Jane (Dameron) Hambrick Lewis. There were also several Wardlows on the membership list. 

10. Jane Lewis married Milton Wardlow before 1837, location unknown. 

My tentative conclusion is that the Lewis siblings' association with Mansel W. Matthew and Benjamin Lynn DeSpain along with other members of the Church of Christ probably factored heavily in their decision to migrate to Hopkins County, Texas.