Harriet Quintilla Sanford

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Hattie Sanford Hall - Circa 1920

Hattie Sanford Hall – Circa 1920

Harriet Quintilla Sanford was the eighth child of Ambrose Sanford and Naomi Liner, and the next person on my schedule to research after my failure at finding information on Fred Jack Sanford.  My research on Harriet was easier than that of her closest older brother and I was able to find a bit more on her than I had hoped.

My first research goal for Harriet was to track down her census records.  I quickly found her 1900 and 1910 Haywood County Census records from the time she spent living at home with her parents.  These records confirmed she was the daughter of Ambrose Sanford and Naomi Liner, and told me she had been born in Mar 1891.  Since Harriet disappeared in the 1920 Haywood County Census, I assumed she married sometime between 1910 and 1920.

I next went to the Haywood County Register of Deeds to look for any other records that might help me.  There I found Harriet’s delayed birth certificate which supplied her date of birth as 17 Mar 1891 in Haywood County, North Carolina.  I was unable to find a death certificate for Harriet, so I went home feeling a bit deflated.

I next added Harriet’s information into my Ancestry family tree, which showed me the public family trees who also had Harriet listed.  Some of these trees had photos posted of Hattie, but I believe the originals can be found on Nola Mae Rhew’s tree (who is one of Hattie’s nieces).  These trees also supplied me with the information of Harriet’s marriage to Samuel Turner Hall on 29 Jul 1912 in Haywood County, North Carolina.  By plugging in the information into my tree that I found on Samuel, I was able to find Harriet’s 1920 and 1930 Haywood County Census records.  These records confirmed Hattie and Samuel’s marriage circa 1912.

Harriet and Samuel had four children of their own:  Genevieve N., Branson Broadway, Samuel Burrell, and Marie.  Samuel also had a child with his first wife:  Mae.  Mae would have been less than three years old when Hattie became her step-mother, and I have no proof suggesting Hattie was anything less than a supportive stand-in mother to her.

Ancestry also provided me with Hattie’s death certificate.  I was surprised to learn Hattie had passed away on 27 Aug 1968 in Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina in the Broughton State Mental Hospital.  Her death certificate says she died from bronchopneumonia due to inanition caused by a manic-depressive reaction.  The death certificate did not supply Hattie’s place of burial, but I already knew it to be in Crawford-Ray Memorial Gardens in Haywood County, North Carolina from having seen it before.

By this point in my research I no longer had access to the cemetery, so I created a memorial for Hattie on Find-A-Grave and requested a photo of her tombstone.  Jim and Cheri quickly responded and posted the following photo.  I have more information on Hattie then I had ever hoped to find, but I’m always interested in learning more!  If anyone has anything further to add – please let me know.

Crawford-Ray Memorial Gardens

Hattie Sanford Hall Tombstone by Jim and Cheri

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday: Yopp-Costello Building

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While driving through downtown Wilmington recently, I spotted the Yopp-Costello Building at 211 Princess Street.  Since I had my camera with me I thought I would pull over and take a few pics of it.  The building was built in 1892 and purchased by Walter E. Yopp in 1906 to house the Yopp Funeral Home.  The Yopp Funeral Home operated out of this building until 1933 when they moved to a new site on Market Street.  The building was purchased again in 1943 by Nicholas and Tassie Costello who operated Barrel Dry Cleaners out of it from 1938 until 1979.

Yopp-Costello Building, 2013 by Cassie Sanford Clark

Yopp-Costello Building, 2013 by Cassie Sanford Clark

Yopp-Costello Building, 2013 by Cassie Sanford Clark

Yopp-Costello Building, 2013 by Cassie Sanford Clark

Yopp-Costello Building, 2013 by Cassie Sanford Clark

Yopp-Costello Building, 2013 by Cassie Sanford Clark

Today the building houses a piano bar called Costello’s.  I haven’t been yet, but I plan to go very soon.  There’s no way I can turn down drinks in a building that once housed a funeral home.  Who knows…  maybe I’ll run into a ghost or two.

Madness Monday: Fred Jack Sanford

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Sometimes in our research we run into people who drive us up the wall.  This has been the case with my research of Fred Jack Sanford, the seventh child of Ambrose Sanford and Naomi Jane Liner.  For years I operated in complete ignorance of his existence.  They say ignorance is bliss and in this case – I’d have to agree.

Through email contact with another Sanford researcher I learned of Little Fred Jack.  I learned he was born on the 12 Jun 1889 in Haywood County, North Carolina and died 18 Oct 1893 in Haywood County, North Carolina.  Little Fred Jack was only four years old when he died.  The same email informed me of his burial in Crabtree Baptist Church Cemetery in Haywood County, North Carolina.

The years in which Fred Jack lived out his short existence prevent me from finding any formal records on him.  There is no 1890 census for the state of North Carolina and since his death occurred before 1913 there are no death records for me to find.  I desperately clung to the hope that I would be able to find Fred Jack’s tombstone, so I searched Crabtree Baptist Church Cemetery as if my life depended on it…  but I found nothing.  I next looked through Cemeteries and Family Graveyards in Haywood County, NC – June 1, 1979 by George A. Miller in hopes that Little Fred Jack was buried elsewhere, but once again I came up empty-handed.  It made no sense to me that Fred Jack would be buried in Crabtree Baptist when his parents and grandparents were just up the road in the Upper Crabtree Cemetery and I still remain a little skeptical over his burial site.

With all the endless issues I was having while researching Fred Jack – I began to believe perhaps the information I received about him was incorrect, but then I ran across one of Fred Jack’s nieces who confirmed the information I had received.  I remain unaware of a family bible for Ambrose Sanford and Naomi Liner that would provide the evidence I am looking for, so I am running out of options.  I plan to comb through newspaper articles the next time I am home, try to dig up burial plot deeds, and contact the Crabtree Baptist Church to see if they have a legend or any information on those buried in their cemetery.  Knowing it is very likely that Little Fred Jack actually existed and not being able to prove it has driven me completely mad over the last several years…  I’m a little worried that if I don’t prove his existence that the lack of information will be the proverbial straw on the camel’s back.

Crabtree Baptist Church and Cemetery - Mar 2011

Crabtree Baptist Church and Cemetery, Mar 2011 by Cassie Sanford Clark

Military Salute Photo Contest

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Claude Sanford

Claude Sanford, Circa 1945

It’s the last day to send off photos of your hero for The Mountaineer’s “Military Salute Photo Contest” on Facebook.  The winning photo will be featured in Monday’s newspaper in celebration of Memorial Day.

I entered a photo of my papaw, Claude Johnson Sanford (you can read about him here and here).  You can help him win by going to The Mountaineer’s Facebook page and liking his photo in the Military Salute photo contest album.  While you’re there, make sure you honor the other Haywood County men and women who have served in the US Military.  :)

Photo of Samuel F. Sanford Family

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Samuel and Emma Sanford Family, Circa 1896

Samuel and Emma Sanford Family, Circa 1903

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to speak with one of Samuel Sanford’s granddaughters over the phone.  It was so wonderful to get to hear stories about her father, William Crawford Sanford, and her Uncle Grover Sanford.  She was such a sweetheart and gave me a great deal to consider about my ongoing struggle to research her particular Sanford line.

The biggest thing she left me to think about is the above photo of the Samuel and Emma Sanford family.  I dated the photo and named the family members based off of census records and guesstimates of the ages of the photographed children.  The 1900 Spartanburg County census lists Samuel, Emma, Thomas, Grover, Ceneth, Charles, and William Crawford Sanford.  Since Crawford Sanford was born in 1896, I naturally assumed the baby in the photo was him and placed the date of the photo at 1896/1897.  However, after talking with my Sanford cousin I learned that the baby in the photo is not Crawford at all.  Crawford is the cute little boy who appears cross-eyed and picking his nose – I’m guessing his age to be about 6 years old.  If Crawford were in fact 6 or 7 years old when this photo was snapped, that would mean the picture was actually taken around 1902/1903.

Since I know the photo was taken at least six years after what I originally thought – I’m now left with a great big confusion on my hands.  Where is Charles and who is that precious baby?  I had always assumed little Charles was adopted or passed away around the same time as his parents.  However, his absence in this photo would lead one to speculate that he died sometime between the 1900 census and around 1903 when this photo was taken.  Unfortunately, my Sanford cousin didn’t know the precious baby’s name and all she did say was that she believed her daddy had said it died as an infant.

The phone conversation with my Sanford cousin certainly left me with more mysteries than it cleared up, but I can’t complain!  She gave me some wonderful insight into what happened to the surviving children of Samuel and Emma Sanford after the untimely death of their parents.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to take the things she passed on to me and find some more clues that will lead me to discovering the truth about what really happened to her grandpa’s family.

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