Person Page 1,250

Betsey Conant was born about 1792 in Bridgewater, Plymouth County Massachusetts.

Allen Conant was born on 22 April 1798 in Bridgewater, Plymouth County Massachusetts.

Mary Ann Horn was born in 1810 in Perry County, South Carolina. Levi Allen Leonard and she were married on 15 June 1825 in Bibb County, Alabama.¹ She died after 7 September 1864 in Alabama.

Jesse Milton Leonard was born in 1826 in Bibb County, Alabama. He died on 27 December 1863 at age ~37.

In the 1850 Census, Jesse is listed as a farmhand, 22, working for another family. He was a private in the Confederate Army, 36th Alabama Regiment, Alabama Volunteers Company D.

There is a marriage record for Milton Leonard with Sarah Ann Parsons 16 Feb 1852 in Perry County, AL, but this marriage produced no children and Sarah Ann apparently died.

In the 1860 Census, Jesse and his family were living next door to Lucinda's parents, Hilliard Sellars and his wife Rachel in Favors, Tuscaloosa Co., AL. Jesse was a farmer. Jesse Milton Leonard had person sources.¹

Lucinda Sellars was born in 1833 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. She died on 12 March 1888 at age ~55.

She remarried after her second husband died and was alone again by the 1880 Census, when she was living with sons Killis and George in Favors, Tuscaloosa Co., AL. Name is listed as Lucinda Sullivan. Here's the story:

Lucinda raised one of her grandchildren as a child of her own when her daughter Fanny (who was 13 years old at the time), the mother of the child, ran off with the father of the child (none other than John Sullivan, her husband) in 1874, leaving the baby at home with Lucinda. The child's name was Zachariah Steven (Clip) Sullivan.

Lucinda died 12 March 1888 in an accident at the grist mill where she worked when she was about 54. In a note from Ann Englebert's research, her death is described as follows: "She worked a farm with the help of the children, and she also worked at the local grist mill. This is where she died. She worked in long dresses and her dress got caught in the wheel; it pulled her in and scalped her. Her grandson, Clip, found her, 12 March 1888, when he took her lunch." Clip would have been about 15 at the time.

Around 1900, when Clip was a grown man, Fanny came to see him, but he rejected her and she left. "You're not my mother," he is reported to have said. "My mother was Lucinda, who raised me and loved me."

We never knew much about what happened to Fanny, whether she had any other children, whether she and Jack stayed together. The story is that she and Jack wound up in Texas, but we have not been able to locate them. It is possible that her trip back to Tuscaloosa County was because Jack had died. Like it was a trip she had thought about for a long time.

This is just another way the Civil War tore families apart. Fanny was four years old when her father died as a result of his wounds and likely yearned for a father figure. Jack Sullivan was a true scoundrel, as his wife was pregnant with one of his children when he was seducing her daughter Fanny. It's not often that such stories are preserved, as these are the kinds of things families tend to hide, so I'm lucky to have this tale of ordinary life from the period.

Per e-mail from Ola Hutchinson, 3 April 2008.

Silas Melton Leonard was born in October 1856 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. He died in 1928 at age ~72.

In the 1900 Census, the family was living in Hassell Beat 6, Tuscaloosa. Silas was a farmer. The family name was spelled Lenord in that Census. The Swindles, Sellars, and Bighams lived nearby. Silas Melton Leonard had person sources.¹

Georgianne Green was born in August 1859 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. She died in 1940 at age ~81.

Mary Bellzora Leonard was born on 5 January 1878 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. She died on 27 August 1951 at age 73.

Mary Bellzora Leonard had person sources.¹

James Lewis Cunningham was born on 1 February 1874 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. He died on 24 March 1965 at age 91.

James Lewis Cunningham, Jr., was born in December 1896 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. He died about 1959 at age ~63.

James Lewis Cunningham, Jr., had person sources.¹

Myrtle Sexton was born about 1897 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. She died about 1955 at age ~58.

Lillie Mae Cunningham was born on 11 May 1898 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. She died on 11 December 1975 at age 77.

Lillie Mae Cunningham had person sources.¹

Robert Gaines Humphries was born on 6 October 1906 in Hale County, Alabama. He died on 13 December 1977 at age 71.

L. Dee Cunningham was born on 29 November 1900 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. He died on 26 December 1980 at age 80.

L. Dee Cunningham had person sources.¹

Carrie Nina Grammer was born on 15 August 1901 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. She died on 6 February 1996 at age 94.

Rosie June Cunningham was born on 28 February 1902 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. She died in March 1983 at age 81.

Rosie June Cunningham had person sources.¹

Tom Dockery was born about 1895 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.

Perry Robertson Cunningham was born on 15 June 1904 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. He died on 23 December 1971 at age 67.

Perry Robertson Cunningham had person sources.¹

Theo Frances Smalley was born about 1907 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.

Minnie Jane Leonard was born in February 1881 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. She died in 1963 at age ~82.

Minnie Jane Leonard had person sources.¹

Geroge Irwin Bigham was born on 18 October 1871 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. He died on 30 November 1924 at age 53.

Dixie Leonard was born in May 1882 in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. She died in 1958 at age ~76.

Dixie Leonard had person sources.¹