July 27, 2011.
ANSELLS FROM CURRITUCK COUNTY AND BEYOND by Burness Ansell Jr and Rebecca Ansell Rose.
CALEB ANSELL (1801-1866), BETHANY and MARY
As noted in the previous chapter, James (1780-1826) made a deed of gift to his two sons, Caleb (1801-1866) and Samuel (1803-1859), on 8 March 1825. The deed was proved and registered 10 June 1826. In the 1830 United States census Caleb (1801-1866) appears as head of household next to his Uncle Henry (1785-1850) and Brother Samuel (1803-1859) in Currituk County, North Carolina. Henry sold his land to Samuel in 1826 and in 1840 the two brothers, Caleb and Samuel, were living on adjacent farms. By 1850, Malachi ANSELL (1797-1856) had moved onto the farm next to Caleb and Samuel.” The relationship of Malachi to Caleb and Samuel was a mystery until the real estate transactions were studied more closely. On 13 December 1852 Malachi J. ANSELL, son of Henry ANSELL, sold land to Nathaniel DUDLEY. Caleb and Samuel were Malachi’s first cousins. Members of all three families are buried in the Old Ansell Burying Ground,” located on the property which now belongs to Colin DOXEY.
Caleb was born on Knotts Island in 1801. He was a carpenter and a farmer, and circa 1818 he married Bethany (?), who was born around 1800. At age twenty-nine Caleb is living on the farm with his wife, Bethany (age early thirties), and their four children: unknown son (age ten-fifteen), Lydia (age five-ten), Caleb (age four) and Meriam (age one). The older son is not listed in the 1840 census. By 1850, Bethany has died, Caleb has remarried and Lydia has married Enoch WATERFIELD. Caleb (age forty-nine) is living with his second wife Mary (?) (age thirty-five) and four children: Caleb (age twenty-three), Meriam (age twenty-one), Eliza Ann (age three) and James (age one). In the1860 census James is no longer listed and a new daughter Mary has arrived on the scene. Meriam had already left to marry Wilson COOPER.
We know nothing of Caleb and Bethany’s older son, except he was bom before 1830 and was not listed with the family in the census record in 1840. Lydia married Enoch WATERFIELD before 1850, and they had four children: John Calvin (1847-1907), Enoch C. (1855-1935), Mary Bethany (1853-?) and Edward (?-?). Caleb (1826-1898) will be the subject of our next chapter. Meriam (1830-1886) married Wilson COOPER around 1851, and they had two children, Polly (1854-1903) and Bethany (1857- ?).
Very little is known about the children of Caleb and Mary: Mary Eliza (1847-?), James (1849-before 1860) and Mary (1855-?). The two daughters are mentioned in their father’s will.
Caleb was a pillar of the church, and according to Henry Beasley ANSELL, his Uncle Caleb was gifted in public prayer. He described him as an old-time exhorter and prayer leader who could put forth “one of the best prayers, one that best covered the situation, I have ever heard. A prayer with the proper amount of pathos that moved the congregation to sympathy and emotion.
Caleb died in 1866 and left his land to his son, Caleb (1826-1898), and his two younger daughters, Eliza (Ann) and Mary. Although there is no proof, Caleb (1801-1866) is most likely buried in the Old Ansell Burying Ground.
Caleb’s brother, Samuel J., was born 20 September 1803. He is listed in the 1830 census as head of household (age twenty-five to thirty years), with his wife, same age, and a daughter (age five to ten). The twenty-five to thirty year old female listed in 1830 may be the Rhody (?) mentioned as Samue1’s wife by researcher Edgar BROWN. In the 1840 census Sam has one son (age five to ten) (Henry), and one daughter (less than age five) (Letitia), and his wife (age twenty to thirty) (probably second wife, Lydia BEASLEY). The older daughter is not listed in 1840. In 1850 Sam (age forty-six) is listed with his wife, Lydia (thirty-five), and four children: Henry (age seventeen), Letitia (age thirteen), Samuel Jasper (age eight), and Susan (age two). According to church records Samuel J. died 15 October 1859. In the 1860 census records for Knotts Island, Nancy (?) is now head of the household. She is listed with Sam’s children, Lattia (Letitia), Samuel, Susan, and two new children, Jerome (age eight) and George W. (age five). This recording is probably the basis for the opinion of some researchers that Nancy was another of Sam’s wives; however, this is the only mention found of a Nancy ANSELL until Nancy Lydia born in 1919, daughter of Samuel T. ANSELL and Elmeda TRACY. Could she have been named after her great-grandmother?
In the 1870 census we find Lydia (age fifty-two), head of household, with Lettice (Letitia) and George (G.W.). She is enumerated next to her sister-in-law, Mary (Caleb’s wife). In 1880, Lyda (Lydia) is listed in Jerome’s household as his mother. Also in 1880 George (G.W.) lists Lydia ANSELL as his mother when he registered his marriage to Sarah ANSELL SCOTT. If Nancy (?) did marry Sam (no record was found of a divorce for Sam and Lydia or of Sam’s marriage to Nancy), she doesn’t appear to be the mother of any of his children.
What happened to Nancy after 1860 and where was Lydia in 1860? There are several possibilities: 1) Lydia was indisposed and Nancy was the housekeeper. 2) Nancy remarried and retumed the children to their mother, Lydia. 3) Nancy and Lydia were one in the same, ie. Nancy Lydia. Though there is no proof this author favors the latter.
Sam’s oldest son, Henry Beasley ANSELL, was one of Currituck County’s distinguished citizens. Henry was born on Knotts Island on 3 October 1832 and was raised on his father’s farm with his brothers and sisters. After 1850 he moved north and was living in Norfolk, Virginia, in l854. He moved back to Currituck County, and on 19 October 1859 married Lydia SIMMONS who was born 28 May 1843. They had eight children, Charlie (1863-??), Osceola (1866-1886), Florence (1869-1959), Martha Etta (Mattie) (1872-1962), Samuel Tilden (1875-1954), Mary (1878-??), Lucy (1880-1976) and Lydia (1882-??). They were raised in the Crawford District of Currituck County.
Henry was a farmer, the Currituck County Surveyor, the Clerk of the Currituck County Superior Court and Currituck County’s first dedicated historian. The handwritten manuscript of his Recollections: The History of Currituck County and Tales of Knotts Island 1900-1913 is held by the Manuscript Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Southern Historical Collection. A copy and a two-volume transcription are held in the Currituck County Library.
Henry died on 19 March 1920, and was followed by Lydia on 8 November 1923. Both are buried in the cemetery on the Old ANSELL home Place in Barco