Martha "Mattie" A. or Jane Pugh

Mattie Pugh may have been raised by a cousin, Tom Humphreys, according to Aunt Ida Wilson Helms' memory.

When children were young, they attended Wilderness Methodist Church, Brooksdale (Person Co, NC).

She is buried at Shiloh Baptist Church near Indian Trail, Union Co, NC

A major discrepancy I have found is on Mattie's birth date and year. I had calculated her birth date from her death certificate as Jan 28, 1878, born in Danville, Pittsylvania Co, VA. However, on the 1900 census listing for her and Newton F. and family (below), her birthdate is given as Sept 1869 in NC. In fact, all the census records seem to agree that both Mattie and Frank (and their parents) were born in NC (rather than VA as we have thought). And the census record for Mattie's brother John says *he* was born in VA, while all the other children in the William Gillis family he is listed with were born in NC.

Mattie Pugh may have been raised by a cousin, Tom Humphreys, according to Aunt Ida Wilson Helms' memory. Her brothers were Emmett, Joe, Lindsay and Johnny. Ida said Emmett killed a man in New York, changed his name to Smith, and got a job on the ill-fated Titanic [I suspect that some of this is family lore]. She said Joe and Johnny went to Georgia.

When children were young, they attended Wilderness Methodist Church, Brooksdale (Person Co, NC).

May 1998: Dad and I spent the day in the VA State Library in Richmond today stalking our elusive ancestors. Some good finds, though slow going.

I couldn't find Mattie's parents [at this time I was looking for Mary Gillis and John Pugh] in the 1870 or 1880 VA or NC census--nor could I find Mattie-- but found little Johnny (John T. Pugh) living in 1880 with his uncle William A. GILLIS, who had a large family in Holloways Twp. in Person County (wife Rebecca; children Harriet, Sarah C., [William] Thomas, Hugh M., Joseph J., Sarah [yes, two Sarah's--I think this is Laura, from the other census record], Robert H., and Albert S.).

Several different census records (1870, 1880) said Wm Gillis was born in GA in 1828, and there was also a Sarah B. Gillis (age 35 in 1870) living with a widow Elizabeth Box (age 46 in 1870) and her children just down the road from William--all three born in GA. Elizabeth's children were born in NC, ranging in age from 19-6: Daniel, Scintha, John R., William M., James M., Martha, and Emma [The other Gillis in Person county, Peter Gillis, was apparently a freed slave, probably one of William's]. So it looks like members of the Gillis family came up from either Montgomery or Emanuel County, GA (there are clusters of Gillises in both counties--needs further research) and settled in Person Co. Mary apparently came and married John Pugh--or maybe Pugh was also from GA--who knows? But there are lots of Pughs in VA, and my hunch is that he was from Campbell County. It looks as though something had happened to John and Mary by 1880 and the children were farmed out to relatives. This concurs with what Aunt Ida told me. I still haven't found the other children. However, she had told me she thought they were raised by a Tom Humphreys family, and there were loads of Humphreys living in the same neighborhood as the Gillis family (Holloways Twp., Person County).

A major discrepancy I have found is on Mattie's birth date and year. I had calculated her birth date from her death certificate as Jan 28, 1878, born in Danville, Pittsylvania Co, VA. However, on the 1900 census listing for her and Newton F. and family (below), her birthdate is given as Sept 1869 in NC. In fact, all the census records seem to agree that both Mattie and Frank (and their parents) were born in NC (rather than VA as we have thought)--though the new information on Mattie's mother makes it seem likely that Mary Gillis was born in GA. And the census record for Mattie's brother John says *he* was born in VA,

while all the other children in the William Gillis family he is listed with were born in NC.Notes from May 1998: Dad and I spent the day in the VA State Library in Richmond today stalking our elusive ancestors. Some good finds, though slow going.

July 2000 UPDATE:

I've just made a significant breakthrough following a research trip to Virginia this week. Not much more on the Wilsons, but some major new finds on the Pugh side. It does contradict the information in Mattie Pugh's death certificate, but I believe that the new information is more accurate than that on the death certificate.

I went to the Danville, VA library this week, and I found Mattie's family living in the city of Danville (Pittsylvania Co VA) in 1880: her father was ALFRED M. PUGH (not John) and the wife was listed as Isabella V. (not Mary). This was very puzzling. Also, this census confirmed the 1869 birthdate for Mattie that all of the census records had shown, as opposed to the 1878 date we had calculated from the death certificate.

That led me back to 1870 and 1860 and 1850...and I found that Alfred did have a wife Mary, but found that she is not a GILLIS after all.

What I have determined is that Alfred M. PUGH (b. 1830 in Halifax Co, VA) married a cousin, Mary E. PUGH (b. 1833) in 1857 in Caswell Co, NC. Alfred was the son of WILLIAM D. PUGH and Martha McDANIEL of Halifax Co, VA, who married there in 1813. Alfred, age 20, is listed in the 1850 census in Halifax with widowed mother Martha as HOH and sisters Martha and Mary. By 1860 Alfred has married, and he and Mary are living in Danville, Pittsylvania County, VA next door to Mary's father, EDWARD L. PUGH (b 1798) and his second wife Nancy and children. In 1870 Alfred, Mary and 5 children are living in Chatham District of Pittsylvania Co, VA, and then it appears that Mary died soon after the birth of John (b 1876), and Alfred remarried this Isabella.

Apparently, according to the 1880 census in Danville, Alfred was a tobacco factory worker who was disabled with bronchitis and out of work for over a year. I imagine he died soon after the 1880 census was taken, since little Johnny was enumerated that same year living with Aunt Rebecca Pugh Gillis (sister of Mary and daughter of Edward) in Person County (William A. Gillis family). It is my belief that Mattie went to live with Rebecca and William Gillis' daughter Rebecca Gillis Humphries, who was married to Doc Humphries and had a son named Tom among others. I don't know where the other children went, nor what happened to the stepmother Isabella.

Of course there is no 1890 census, and by 1900 Mattie was married to Frank.