Caleb Ansell.
September 19, 2011.
ANSELLS FROM CURRITUCK COUNTY AND BEYOND by Burness Ansell Jr and Rebecca Ansell Rose.
CALEB ANSELL (1826- 1898) and ELIZABETH DUDLEY SMITH
Caleb was born 26 November 1826 on Knotts Island, North Carolina, to “Caleb ANSELL and his wife, Bethany.” He was raised on Knotts Island and worked with his father on their farm. In the mid 1850’s he married Elizabeth Dudley SMITH (Betty), the daughter of Dudley SMITH and Sarah (?). Betty was born on Knotts Island 7 April 1837. Caleb and Betty had eight children: Sarah B.(19 January 1857-27 August 1875), Mary Eliza (4 November 1859-27 March 1882), Augustus W.(13 October 1861), Caleb(31 August 1863-26 March 1933), Martha E.(22 May 1867–29 July 1875), Emily M (22 May 1875), Leonard Jennings (22 June 1872-5 May 1942) and the author’s grandfather, Walter Fentress (18 March 1878-24 August 1943).
Caleb and Betty raised their family on Knotts Island before, during and after the War Between the States. It must have been very difficult for the family during this time, but 1875 had to have been the worse. Within the five months from March to August 1875, Caleb and Betty lost three of their daughters, Sarah (age eighteen), Martha (age eight) and Emily (age six), to scarlet fever, possibly due to rheumatic fever. Seven years later they lost their last daughter, Mary Eliza ANSELL CAPPS (age twenty-three), possibly due to rheumatic heart disease. Mary is buried in the Old ANSELL Burying Ground, which is adjacent to the “Ansell Fields” on the Knotts Island property now owned by Colin DOXEY. The girls died so young that according to my father’s youngest sister, Agnes, “Her father, Walter, had three brothers but no sisters. Walter, born 1878, never really knew any of his sisters.
Except for his family, little is known of this Caleb (1826-1898) either. Like his father he was a farmer, a devout member of the church, and a fervent prayer leader. The only known portrait of Caleb portrays him as the austere, Victorian head of the household.
Caleb and Betty lived all their lives on Knotts Island. Betty died 20 June 1888 and Caleb died 17 June 1898. They were both buried in the Old ANSELL Burying Ground close to their daughter, Mary. Caleb’s will was written in October 1888, shortly after the death of his wife. He left all his property, real and personal, to be equally divided between his four sons, with the provison that the three older boys take care of Walter until he reached the age of fifteen. Walter was ten years old when the will was written. He was twenty years old when his father died and was already “on his own".
Caleb and Betty’s oldest son, Augustus W. ANSELL (Gus), was born at home on Knotts Island, 13 October 1861. He was schooled on the Island and worked on the family farm at least until 1880. Between 1880 and 1883 he left Knotts Island and moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where he met and married Maggie ANSELL on 27 May 1883. Maggie E. ANSELL (circa 1865-17 April 1915) was the daughter of Malachi ANSELL and Elizabeth RUSSELL. According to Burness ANSELL, Sr, his Uncle Gus and Maggie had six children: two boys, Hugh and Thomas and four girls, Mattie, Bertha, Elsie and Mary. Thomas and the four girls have been located and documented, but so far, no record of Hugh has been found. Perhaps Hugh died during childhood. Thomas Luther was born before 1906, Bertha and Elsie before 1915, Mattie circa 1890, and Mary Elizabeth was born on 9 March 1907.
Caleb ANSELL (1863-1933) was born on Knotts Island on 31 August 1863. He, like his father and grandfather, was a farmer and lived his whole life on Knotts Island. Emily Elizabeth WHITE (1872-1903) was born on Knotts Island on 19 May 1872. She and Caleb were married on 8 January 1890. They had five children: Hawley B.(1894-1964), Carlton Wright (1892-1976), Willie Jordan (1894-1976), Lacy J. (1896-1897) (who lived less than six months), and Lacy Carrol (1900-1980). Emily died 7 October l903, at the age of thirty-one.
On 27 June 1906 Caleb married another Knotts Island girl (also named Emily Elizabeth), Emily Elizabeth WILLIAMS (1878-1927), who was born 23 October 1878. She was the daughter or Robert Williams and Rhoda Dudley. They had two children, Rhoda (1907-1936) and Esther (1921-1996), The second Emily died on 27 August 1927. Caleb died 26 March 1933 and was buried in the family cemetery on Knotts Island (now on Donald AUSTIN ’s property) next to his wives and to his son, Lacy J. ANSELL.
Caleb’s oldest son, Hawley (1891-1964), was born 23 April 1891. He left the Island to work for the railroad and moved to Colorado where he was employed by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad.
Caleb’s second son, Carlton Wright (1892-1976), was born 24 September1892. He helped his father on the farm until he bought a farm of his own. He married Bertha MORRIS on 21 January 1917, and they had five children: Emily Louise, William Ryland and his twin, Linwood Wright, Edna Mae and Marguerite Virginia. Carlton and the family moved to Norfolk after 1930. He died 25 December 1976 and Bertha died 29 August 1991. Both are buried in Riverside Cemetery, Norfolk, Virginia.
Caleb’s third child, Willie Jordan (1894-1976), was born 29 November 1894. He was raised on Knotts Island and farmed there all his life. He married Harriet Emily DOUGH (1899-1980) on 2 June 1917, and they had seven children: William Jennings (Jenks), Phillip, Aubrey Vance, Addie Elizabeth, George Clark, Shirley Arlene and Keith. Willie Jordan died 24 December 1976 and Emily died on 26 September 1980. Willie Jordan and Harriet are buried in Knotts Island Cemetery, Knotts Island, North Carolina.
Caleb’s youngest son, Lacy Carrol (1900-1980), was born 16 May 1900 and lived with the family until after 1920. He married Nettie HARDY before 1927, and they had two children, Lacy Carrol, Jr. and Herbert. In 1933 he was working for the Norfolk and Westem Railroad. Lacy died in November 1980 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Norfolk, Virginia.
Caleb’s older daughter, Rhoda (1907-1936) was born on 9 April 1907 and raised on the Island. Her sister, Esther Irene (1921-1996), was bom on 6 January 1921. Their mother died in 1927, when the younger daughter, Esther, was only six years old, and raising little Esther fell to twenty year old Rhoda. Rhoda and Esther left Knotts Island for Norfolk to live with Lacy Carrol and his family before 1930. Esther was married on 25 February 1940 to Petty Officer Morgan C. MARTIN (1917-1995), United States Navy. They had three sons, Wayne E., Glen C. and Gary R. MARTIN. They lived in Norfolk, and after World War II, Morgan was employed at the Naval Air Station. Morgan died on 12 January 1995 and was followed by Esther on 27 October 1996. Esther and Morgan were buried in Knotts Island Cemetery.
Leonard Jennings (1872-1942), third son of Caleb(1826-1898), was born 22 June 1872. He married Laura Virginia BRUMLEY (1879-1955) before 1895. In 1900 Leonard was farming on the farm next to his brother, Caleb (1863-1933). By this time Leonard and Laura had had three children, Bessie Jennings (1896-1957), John Jessie (1897-1897) and Linwood Guy (1899-1917). During the next twenty years they had four more children, Bransford Hope (1900-1903), Melrose Estelle (1905-1931), Leonard Hope (1914-1996) and Laura Virginia (1920-2002). Sometime before 1906 the family moved to Norfolk. Leonard Jennings died 5 May 1942 and Laura died 23 December 1955.