George Benton Alford was first the husband of Charlotte Olive and had two children with her - then married Texanna

i am Texanna's granddaughter - i wrote the following for findagrave.com:

Birth: Jul. 24, 1845
Wake County
North Carolina, USA
Death: Apr. 5, 1924
Wake County
North Carolina, USA

George Benton "Bent" Alford, an honorary colonel (related to his service in the Confederate Army), was the first of the seven children of Green Haywood Alford (1820-1877) and Rebecca Jones Alford (1822-1890). In 1875 he married Charlotte Olive (1856-1899), with whom he had two children, and, second, in 1899, as a widower, Texana Ora Alice Branch Collins, the widow of (Joseph) Walter Collins (she had four children to whom he was a benevolent stepfather). Bent was in the mercantile business and in timber/lumber and turpentine during much of his life and was a railroad president; he was a major force behind incorporation of the town of Holly Springs; was Holly Springs Postmaster, 9 Mar. 1880-19 Oct 1881, and Wake County commissioner for two years. His home was the house now called "The Leslie-Alford-Mims House" (100 Avent Ferry Rd.) in Holly Springs, N.C., and he is buried with his first wife, Charlotte Ann Olive Alford, and some other family (including at least his sister, Elizabeth "Laylon Elizabeth") on the grounds of the home in a family cemetery. His second wife is buried with her first husband in the Holly Springs Cemetery.

son: Green Haywood Alford (called Haywood), 1882-1960, m. Elizabeth Pollard
dau: Mattie Viola Alford, 1886-1959, m. Raeford J. Utley (buried Holly Springs Cemetery)

his siblings: Andrew Jackson (1847-1929), Elizabeth Leland ('Laylon Elizabeth') (Jones) (1848-1928), Columbus Augustine (1850-1908)(Hillcrest Cemetery, Sylvester, Worth, Georgia), Frances Adner (1853 or 1854-1891)(bur. Parkerville, Worth, GA), Salina Branch (Godwin)(1857-1945)(Hillcrest Cemetery, Sylvester, Worth, GA), William Leorus Haywood (1863-1931)(d Shingler, Worth, GA)

see
http://www.alfordassociation.org/OBITS/NCOBIT.htm
accessed 11/06/08

NEWS AND OBSERVER
Raleigh, NC-9 April 1924
Published in AAFA ACTION, Fall 1999

FUNERAL SERVICES FOR COL. G. BENT ALFORD
Laid to Rest at Holly Springs
Great Grandson of Revolutionary Hero

HOLLY SPRINGS, April 8-The funeral of the late Col. G. Bent Alford was held in the Methodist church here Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock.... The Junior Order Lodge of Holly Springs of which Col. Alford was a member, assisted at the grave. . . .
Col. Alford was a member of Company I 41st Regiment, Third North Carolina Cavalry. He joined this command at Dinwiddie Court House, Va., in October, 1864, and was in action afterwards at Stony Creek, Bellfield and other engagements.
Col. Alford's first wife was Charlotte A. Olive to whom he was married April 28, 1875. Two children, Green Haywood Alford and Mrs. Mattie V. Alford, of Holly Springs, were born of this union. In 1899 he was married to Mrs. Texana [or Texanna - bcs] Collins, widow of Walter Collins of Holly Springs township. There were no children by this union although his second wife was the mother of four children by her first husband, these being, M.H. Collins, R.F. Collins, and Mrs. M.E. Mims, of Holly Springs, and Lieut. H.W. Collins, of the Engineer Corps, U.S.A., with headquarters at Hopkinsville, Miss.
Col. Alford was a great-grandson of Jam. Tanner Alford, a Revolutionary hero, who fought at the battles of Cowpens and Guilford Court House. His grandfather was Green Alford; born three miles from Wakefield in 1787; and his father was Green Haywood Alford, born June 7, 1820, near Wakefield.
Col. Alford had been in a precarious . . . condition since February 14, when he fell and sustained the fracture of a hip.
The article in the News and Observer on the day after his death was in error in saying that he joined the Populist party. He voted for Palmer and Buckner on the gold standard platform against W.J. Bryan as he believed that Mr. Bryan was wrong in his theories as to the currency.
----

(see Historical Raleigh: With sketches of Wake County [from 1771] and its ... -- By Moses Neal Amis)(on Google Books)

(see
http://www.hollyspringsnc.us/about/history.htm
accessed 12/24/09

"He ran a general mercantile, sawmill, cotton gin, turpentine works and brick kiln. He even drained a local lake to plant rice paddies. Alford, along with 20 other Holly Springs men, helped bring a railroad (to become the Durham and Southern) to the community. He also established the Holly Springs Land and Improvement Company, which encouraged economic development in Town, and the Cape Fear News and Advertising Company, which published the Cape Fear Enterprise newspaper." )

(see
http://durhamsouthern.com/history.html (accessed 6/09) ; Durham and Southern RR History: "The Cape Fear & Northern Railroad was chartered in 1892 by Holly Springs resident Mr. George Benton Alford [note that he was given the title "Colonel" as an honorary title for his service in the Confederate Army] from the State Legislature." )

(see
http://www.alfordassociation.org/BIOS/gre820nc.htm
acc 12/23/09

Being a war veteran, George decided not to let the legend of his heroic mother die. He had her tombstone engraved as follows:
A devoted Christian Mother
Who whipped Sherman's bummers
With scalding water
While trying to take her dinner pot
Which contained a ham bone
Being cooked for her
Soldier boys)

Parents:
Green H Alford (1820 - 1872)
Rebecca Jones Alford (1822 -1890)

Spouses:
Charlotte Ann Olive Alford (1856 - 1897)
Texanna Ora Branch Collins (1865 - 1938)

It looks like you've done great work on your grandmother's information! You might want to consider collaborating with Douglas Markham who manages the profiles for Benton "Bent" Alford and Texana Collins so you can add to and improve their profiles. Doug also has a note on your grandmother's profile saying he has some records on her, so he could be a great person with whom to connect.

You can click on "Contact Profile Manager" at the upper right of their profiles to send Doug a message, and/or you can click on "Request to Edit Profile" in order to request collaboration so you can help to edit those profiles. Good luck!

Thanks for the reminder to update this chart. I am happy to collaborate as desired.

really interested in 'Aunt' Mary Marcom - mentioned in my father's diary - she seems to have been in his family's home at the time of her death . . . [your name is spelled differently - but are these people kin of yours, about whom you know more than i do?] - bcs

Marcom, Mary

HW Collins wrote in 1943-1945 diary

"Alice Marshall’s [his niece's - bcs] letter dated Sept. 26 and recd. at Camp Djebel, Bizerte, Tunisia, on
10/10/43 informed me that Aunt Mary Marcom died on Sept. 24, 1943. No details given – Mary E. Marcom Born: Oct. 29, 1853 Died: Sept. 24, 1943
Mrs. Cassie Ellis: Born Aug. 20, 1846 Died: Sept. 22, 1943
[below are results of search for Mary E. Marcom 3/14/11 (was she an Edwards? Not likely as HWC’s stepgrandma was named Mary (Mary Ann) Thompson Edwards)
Census: She (white) was in Alford home (the home of HWC’s stepfather) when HWC was 18 yrs (so was a 4-yr-old [white] girl Clia Wright)(so was Roger, HWC’s bro, age 25)
Census: She and husb James A., md 33 yrs, appear in 1900 census (census shows she was b 1841 and he was born . . I think 1842 – she had no kids, no pregnancies - bcs)(they and all parents b NC)]
Census (1880) – they lived in Wake Forest – and census shows she was b in 1839 – she is older than husb by 3 yrs

See (not sure this is the desired James A. – I expect our Marcoms stayed in NC their entire lives - bcs )
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/l/o/w/Terrie-Lowe/GENE3-...
Basley Graves Marcom, born June 20, 1817 in Wake Co North Carolina; d September 01, 1856 Cumberland County, Kentucky; was son of Samuel Marcom and Ave Young. He married Hannah Sewell November 22, 1838, in Cumberland County, KY.

Hannah Sewell, born May 14, 1817; d September 2, 1859, Cumberland County, Kentucky. She was dau of James Albert Sewell and Phoebe Kay Fairchild.
Children of Basley Marcom and Hannah Sewell are:
3
i. Elzania Francis Marcom, b August 15, 1854; d Bet. 1931 and 1937 Cumberland County; md William Lane ( Malone) Lee.
ii. Joseph C. Marcom, b August 31, 1839.
iii. James A Marcom, b June 20, 1841.
iv. Nancy Marcom, b July 29, 1843.
v. Barton Lafayette Marcom, b April 22, 1845.
vi. Abiued S Marcom, b July 23, 1847.
vii. Justina Perlena Marcom, b February 18, 1849.
viii. Sarah C Marcom, b August 23, 1851.
]
Later - in HWC’s 1945 entries
“Learned of Bernad Marcom’s death on Okinawa, May 18, 1945. News came in Delcie’s letter dated June 4 and received at Heidelberg, Germany on 30 June 1945.” (I’m guess that should be ‘Bernard Marcom’ - bcs)
See
http://alumni.unc.edu/veterans/veteran.asp?pid=707040444
Coy Bernard Marcom Jr.
Hometown: Mecklenburg County
Home state: N.C.
Class: 1936
Degree: Not applicable
Date of Birth: June 15, 1912
Date of Death: May 18, 1945
Conflict/Era: World War II
Branch: Army
Rank: First Lieutenant

Marcom was enrolled at UNC from 1932 to 1934. He later was a representative of the U.S. Epperson Underwriting Co. of Kansas City, Mo., traveling throughout South Carolina and western North Carolina.
Marcom was a member of one of the three U.S. Marine divisions that made up III Corps of the 10th U.S. Army, which invaded Okinawa on April 1, 1945. Employing the attrition tactics that had made the conquests of Saipan, Pelelieu and Iwo Jima so difficult for the Americans, the Japanese provided only token resistance to the initial landings, husbanding their forces from the intense bombardment of the beaches during the landing to use them in prepared defensive positions later in the battle. III Corps swiftly overran the central and northern parts of the island, then was shifted to the south, where XIV Corps, composed of four U.S. Army divisions, had run into the heavily defended Shuri Line.
Marcom was killed in action on May 18, 1945, as III Corps participated in the assaults against the Japanese defensive positions along the Shuri Line.
Sources:
GAA Alumni Records;
www.answers.com/topic/battle-of-okinawa

See
http://www.archives.ncdcr.gov/FindingAids/containerlists/Mecklenbur...
a 1950 will record exists in Mecklenburg County, NC, for a Coy Bernard Marcom
see

A James A. Marcom was in Civil War
Co D, 30th NC Infantry
Enlisted 2-13-62 at Wake Co, NC. Private, age 21. POW 11-7-63 at Kelly's Ford, VA. Imprisoned 11-11-63 at Point Lookout Prison, MD. Exchanged in February 1865.

Marcoms . . . . related to the 'Aunt Mary Marcom' abt whose death my father writes?

See
Holly Spgs Cemetery

http://www.interment.net/data/us/nc/wake/hollyspcity/city.htm

accessed 11/06/08 bcs

Seagraves, Mary B. Marcom, b. 8 Aug 1861, d. 1 Mar 1956
Marcom, Caroline, b. 31 May 1825, d. 8 Sep 1914
Marcom, J. D., b. 13 Oct 1843, d. 26 Apr 1920
Marcom, Ora J., b. 13 Oct 1855, d. 18 Sep 1932