William Porter, Sr. and Gracy Lawson Porter of Hinds County, Mississippi

In recent weeks, I have written posts about descendants of John W. Ragland and Elizabeth Smith Ragland who lived in Hinds County, Mississippi during the mid 1800s.  Included among those posts were several about the family of Robert W. Ragland, one of the couple's sons, who married Sarah Jane Porter.  A review of the U. S. Census of 1850 recorded in Hinds County, Mississippi, showed that Sarah Jane (Porter) "Raglin" was the 21 year old wife of "R.W. Raglin," an "overseer," and the mother of a one year old daughter named "Laura." 


But just who were Sarah Jane Porter's parents?  Various bits of information available indicated that William Porter, Sr., a large landowner in Hinds County, and Louisa Anastacia Porter were her parents, but it was not until I reviewed a copy of William Porter's will and the will of his wife, Gracy Porter, that I could validate this relationship as fact. 


Gracy's will, probated in Hinds County court in November 1855, indicates that Gracy and William had at least two children together, Edward Turner Porter, and Sarah Jane (Porter) Ragland.  Also, both wills provided evidence that Gracy had been married before her marriage to William Porter.  Probated during the October 1834 term of Hinds County Court, William Porter's will includes bequests to his step-sons, William H. Lawson, Isaac Lawson, and John S. Lawson, and to a step-daughter, Mary Ann D. Lawson.  Since William's son, William Porter, Jr., was named administrator of his father's estate, and a daughter, Julia Ann Chrisler, received a bequest in his will but not in that of his wife, it seems likely the two were children from a previous marriage. Although Sarah Ann Porter, about four years old at the time of her father's death, was not identified by name in her father's will, William's reference to his "minor children," must have included Sarah and her brother, Edward Turner Porter.


Witnessed by Richard C. Drone, C. H. Gibbs, and George W. Gibbs, Gracy's will was probated during the November 1855 term of Hinds County Court. In her will, Gracy provided for a son, Edward Turner Porter and a daughter, Sarah Jane Ragland.  The fact that Sarah Jane Ragland is named in her mother's will, probated in 1855, indicates that Sarah's own death must have occurred between that year and 1860, when Robert W. Ragland was shown as a widower on the U. S. Census recorded that same year.  Gracy's will also included a provision for ".....children by (her) first husband," identified in the document as John Smith Lawson, William H. Lawson, Isaac Lawson, and Marian D. Stovall.  


An examination of the Mississippi State and Territorial Census Collection, 1792-1866, reveals that Gracy Porter, a 56 year old female born in Virginia, was living in Hinds County, Mississippi in 1850.  The head of the household was Gracy's son, E. (Edward) Turner Porter, a twenty-two year old farmer, and his 18-year old wife, Ann. 

According to notes included on a listing of those buried in the Fortner/Porter Cemetery on the Hinds County MSGenWeb site, William Porter, the son of Landlot Porter and Winnie Porter, was born in 1779 and died on September 9, 1834. He and Gracy were married on January 29, 1826 in Franklin County, Mississippi. Also included in the notes is information that Gracy Porter, whose death occurred on September 30, 1855, was born about 1792/94 in Virginia and was first married to James L. Lawson.  


Next:  Porter Family's Beginnings in Mississippi


Sources:
MSGenWeb Site (Hinds County, MS), Wills, Estates, and Probate, and Cemeteries, accessed online on November 23, 2010
Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.  Accessed online on November 23, 2010.
Ancestry.com.  Mississippi State and Territorial Census Collection, 1792-1866 [database on-line].  Provo, UT, USA; Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2007.  Original data:  Mississippi State and Territorial Censuses, 1792-1866.  Microfilm V229. 3 rolls.  Heritage Quest. Accessed online on November 23, 2010.

Ragland - Porter Marriage

In an earlier post, I wrote about Robert W. Ragland, one of Winiford Ragland Branch's brothers, who was married to Sarah Jane Porter on March 24, 1848.  As I mentioned in the post, some Ragland family research has shown that Sarah Jane Porter was the daughter of William Porter, Sr. and Louisa Anastacia Porter, William's second wife whom he married on January 29, 1826. My own research, at least so far, has not validated this information.  In fact, my review of the transcription of the will of William Porter, Sr. found no provision for a daughter named Sarah Jane. More about this relationship later.....

The Ragland Sons

John W. Ragland and Elizabeth Smith Ragland were the parents of four sons: John W., Jr. (1808), Arthur S. (1811), William J. (1825), and Robert W. (1826).  Arthur Ragland, for whom my paternal great-great-grandfather, Joseph Arthur Branch, was named, died in 1845 and is buried in Palestine Cemetery near Raymond, Mississippi. Although Arthur may have had a wife and children, I have not yet found that information.


According to the U. S. Census recorded in 1850 for Hinds County, Mississippi, William J. Ragland, a planter by occupation, was the head of a household that included Mary M., 27 years old, and four children named Josaphine (age 8), Benjamin F. (age 6), Rebecca A. (age 4), and Winferd Ragland, age 2.  Likely, "Winferd" was named for William's sister, Winiford Ragland Branch, my paternal great-great-great-grandmother. Although Mary was shown to have been born in South Carolina, William and each of their four children were born in Mississippi. To date, I have been unable to locate William J. or his wife and children on an 1860 census record. Look for more about William and his family in a later post.


Also, I have had difficulty in locating John W. Ragland, Jr., born approximately 1808.  Although I did find a John W. Ragland, born in Virginia in 1808, living near Nashville, Tennessee in 1850, further research is needed to determine his relationship, if any, to John W. Ragland, my fourth great-grandfather.


Two issues that most family researchers must deal with when reviewing old census records is the inaccurate spelling of surnames, often recorded phonetically by the census taker, and the  mispelling of names contained in transcribed records.  Searching for Robert W. Ragland on U.S. Census records for 1850 and 1860 found both situations existed. In 1850, R. W. "Raglin" was enumerated on the U. S. Census in Hinds County, Mississippi.  A twenty-four year old "overseer," his birthplace was shown as Louisiana.  R. W., based on his age, birthplace, and the place of his residence, was Robert W. Ragland, son of John W. and Elizabeth Smith Ragland.  According to the 1850 census record, R. W. was the head of a household that included his twenty-one year old wife, Sarah Jane, and a one-year old daughter named Laura. Later research revealed Sarah Jane was the daughter of William and Louisa Anastacia Porter of Hinds County, Mississippi.


In 1860, the U.S. Census record showed Robert "Rogland" living in Attalaville, now an extinct town in Attala County, Mississippi, in a household that included five young children.  The oldest child was Laura, 13, almost certainly the same small child who was listed on the 1850 census recorded in Hinds County.  A second daughter, an 11-year old named Elizabeth, lived in Robert's household in 1860 and most likely named for Robert's mother, Elizabeth Smith Ragland. Robert's other children included  Mary, 9 years old, Turner, age 7, and Sarah, age 5. Since Robert Ragland's household did not include a wife, I believe that Sarah Jane, with whom he lived in 1850, may have died during or shortly after the birth of 5-year old Sarah, probably named for her deceased mother. Since Robert's sister, Winiford Ragland Branch and her husband, Edward Tillman Branch and their children, already lived in Attala County in 1860, Robert may have moved his family from Hinds County to Attala County to be near relatives who could help him care for his children.


A review of the U.S. Census of 1860, Slave Schedules, found that Robert Ragland of Attala County, Mississippi, was the owner of three slaves, a 30 year old black female and two black males, aged 25 and 15.


In 1860, Robert's neighbors in Attalaville included the Burell and Jenkins families, of whom I have written on this blog, along with the family of James M. and Eliza (Walker) Porter, my paternal great-great-great-grandparents in my paternal grandmother's line.




Sources:
Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Census Place: Township 13 Range 4, Attala, Mississippi; Roll: M653_577; Page: 464; Image: 464; Family History Library Film: 803577. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. 
Ancestry.com. 1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.