Notes and Sources are presented as end notes. To read them as you proceed, click on note numbers within the text.
The name has been spelled Ewer, Euer, Uers, and Eure. The first fellow on record in Nash County was Dempsey Eure on the 1830 census.Note 1 In 1820 in Gates County there was a Demsey Eure enumerated on the census;Note 2 but, assuming the eldest male is head of household, the ages are not compatible. Gates County Dempsey is in his early twenties; and Nash County Dempsey would be in his fifties in 1820. Also, there is a Dempsey Eure household in 1830 Gates CountyNote 3 whose ages are comparable to the 1820 Demsey. Gates County seems to be the North Carolina “landing place” of the Eures. In 1790 there were no Eure households in the state; and in 1800 there were twelve: one in Bertie County and eleven in Gates.Note 4 It would be logical to conclude that my Nash County line is connected to the others; but the mechanism remains to be discovered. Dempsey was not to be found on the 1840 census.
Alfred Eure, in his thirties, was on the 1840 census;Note 5 and he was the only Eure that I found in 1840 Nash County. There was a male in his twenties in Dempsey's 1830 household so I made an unverified assumption that Dempsey was Alfred's father. Early on in my search I had found user-posted information on the internet that Alfred had married Jincy Winstead, to whom I credited the children that appeared with them on the 1850 census.Note 6 The children listed were son Gilliam aged 15, daughter Martha aged 12, daughter Eliza aged 9, son Elisha aged 9, and son Alfred P. aged 8. I was satisfied with Jane “Jincy” as the children's mother until I found the marriage bondNote 7 dated 26 January 1848. Unless the marriage was a dozen years delayed, it is unlikely that Jincy was the children's mother. Later on I found the 12 January 1835 marriage bond of Alfred to Polly Parker,Note 8 daughter of Solomon D. Parker. Finding Solomon D. Parker enumerated on the line following Dempsey Eure in 1830,Note 9 and reversely applying the Law of Spousal Proximity, Dempsey is the father of Alfred.
Based upon marriage bond dates and census records, Alfred and Polly Parker married sometime after 12 January 1835. Their children were Gillham (my great-great-grandfather,) Martha, twins Eliza and Elisha, and Alfred P. The elder Alfred married Jincy WinsteadNote 10 on or after 26 January 1848; and it is possible that Alfred and Jincy had one child, Joseph. Joseph did not appear on the 1860 census; but he was in Alfred's household in 1870 at age nineteen.Note 11 Alfred married Delila Finch on 26 May 1856.Note 12 Their children were Stephen E., Hilliard M., Francis, James B., Pollie A., and Nathaniel E. That adds up to twelve, three daughters and nine sons. Elisha, whose headstone in Woodlawn National Cemetery, Elmira, New York is pictured, died while a prisoner-of-war in service to the Confederacy;Note 13 and the younger Alfred succumbed to disease in Raleigh not long after enlisting;Note 14 and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery of that city.Note 15
On 21 January 1873 commissioners divided the lands of A. B. Eure, deceased.Note 16 Of the twelve children identified from my evaluation of the census images, nine received the divided lands. We know that Elisha and the younger Alfred did not return from the war. What happened to Joseph is unknown, or if he was actually one of Alfred's sons. Martha married Barzilla Finch on 5 December 1858.Note 17 Martha was apparently a widow, since her husband was not named. Eliza was married to Hackney Eatmon. As with so many of my Nash County ancestors, I have no idea where Alfred is buried.
Alfred's oldest son, Gillham, was my great-great-grandfather. The spelling of his given name varied: Gillham, Gilliam, Gillum, etc. He married Martha A. E. Glover in the late 1850s; because Gillham and Martha show up on the 1860 censusNote 18 with daughters Marla Ann aged two and Pollie E. aged 10 months. Gillham was listed as a carpenter. Gillham served in the Confederate Army,Note 19 enlisting at Raleigh and assigned to Company C, 1st North Carolina Infantry Regiment on 15 July 1862. His age is listed as thirty-three on enlistment, but that does not agree with other data which would place his age at 26 or 27 years. Gillham was wounded in the left foot at Chancellorsville, and began a new military career. He was transferred from a Richmond hospital to the Confederate hospital in Wilson, North Carolina, less than a day's ride from home. After recuperation he was assigned, on 29 October 1863, to hospital staff as a cook and later was listed as a nurse. He remained on hospital service until 29 April 1865 when he was paroled at a hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina. Undoubtedly he was able to visit home occasionally, particularly from Wilson.
For some reason the 1870 enumerator used mostly initials for the Eure household.Note 20 Gillham is G. P., wife Martha is M. A. E., and Marla is M. M. aged 12. Next is Punni A. aged 11 who must be Pollie. These can be identified from the prior decade family listing; but the next two were too young to have been on earlier listings and, apparently, were not present for later ones: E. S. female aged ten and Benjamin male aged eight. Next were P. E. female aged four, whom I think was my great-grandmother Pattie, and Bettie female aged three. The family in 1880Note 21 was Gillum aged 44, wife Martha A. aged 45, daughter Martha E. aged 14 (great-grandmother,) daughter Frances N. aged 8, and daughter Blendy aged 3. I have found no evidence of what may have happened to Marla, E. S., Benjamin, or Frances. Gillham died sometime after 5 July 1880, the date of census enumeration; but where he was buried is unknown. Great-grandmother Pattie married Great-grandfather William Liles. Betty married Henderson Woodruff (pictured) and they farmed in northern Johnston County. My mother recalled visits to their farm. She remembered Uncle Hense as fun, but Aunt Betty not so much. Belinda married James Finch, and they lived in the town of Bailey when we lived there.
Pollie, who was in the William Liles household in 1910, Note 22 married Westly Boykin probably about 1877 or 1878, based on children's ages in 1880.Note 23 In 1900Note 24 Pollie Boykin was enumerated in the household of Josiah Bissett as daughter. Josiah's wife was named Martha. Both Josiah's and Martha's ages were listed as 65, and they had been married for ten years. Pollie was aged 40. The ages of Martha and Pollie match for the wife and daughter of Gillham Eure. The 1900 census asked adult women how many children that they had borne and how many were still living. Martha is listed as having eight children, with five still living. The 1860, 1870, and 1880 censuses previously cited reveal a total of eight children for Martha and Gillham. Of the five children still living; I knew of Great-grandmother Pattie, Aunt Pollie, Aunt Betty, and Aunt Belinda. The fifth was probably the youngest daughter, Frances. This 1900 Martha is most likely Martha A. E. Glover and widow of Gillham Eure. Another verification comes from the listing in 1880Note 25 that shows Josiah Bissett's wife was Harriet.
| Nash County Menu | Nash County Thoughts | The Law of Spousal Proximity |
The Liles Family | The Glover Family | The Parker Family | Home |