Thomas Spriggs

I believe the Thomas Spriggs mentioned in this story, taken from The Huntsville Historical ReviewA History of Early Settlement: Madison County Before Statehood 1808 – 1819, is the Son of Thomas Spriggs’ whose will was proven in 1806 in Greenville S.C. The Ezekiel Spriggs would have been his younger brother who was living in Northwest Georgia at the time. There is a Thomas Couch listed here as well, who might have been a relative of the James Lawrence Couch who married Young Thomas Spriggs’ Sister, Mary (Couch) Spriggs. Perhaps one of Young Thomas’ brother in laws by Mary’s marriage into the Couch family went with Spriggs to Alabama. This is of course speculation.

“Approximately l ‘/2 miles northeast of the Three Forks, the Lollar (Lawler) Creek enters the Mountain Fork of the Flint River. The land north of the creek to present day Buckhead Run was occupied in 1809 by a settler named Daniel Bayless. Mr. Bayless was not compelled, as some were, to buy his land as soon as it was available. But rather, he waited until summer of 1810, and traveled to Nashville to make his purchase. He owned the land until 1812 and then assigned it to another settler named Spriggs. Thomas Spriggs was an unmarried yeoman farmer who soon found a young woman with whom he could share life, work and his modest farm. It is not known how, when, or with whom “Syndirella Lynch” came to the Territory, but on June 30, 1813, Thomas went to Huntsville to obtain a license to marry her. In less than a month after their wedding, Thomas returned to Huntsville and went to the land office. Spriggs bought the northern adjoining quarter section and doubled his acreage. The Spriggs began their life together near the east side of the Flint River. They planted crops and tended to their stock of a few cows and hogs. Thomas was also a beekeeper. Life was sweet for Thomas and Syndirella and sweeter still when their baby son, Milton, was born in 1814. However, by harvest time of 1815, Thomas Spriggs had died. The young widow was barely twenty-six years old, had a one-year old child, and a 320-acre farm. Winter was coming and one could only speculate how a woman could cope with seemingly overwhelming circumstances. Fortunately for Syndirella, there were good neighbors who guided her guided her through the legalities of widowhood. Some helped her secure bond to administer her late husband’s estate herself. John Bayless, Stephen Smith, Joseph Mason, John Rogers and John Wood were appointed to inventory the personal property and prepare for the estate sale. Also, the Orphan’s Court allowed Mrs. Spriggs some measure of freedom to dispose of the perishable property.

On Friday, January 12, 1816, the young widow bought from the estate three cows, two calves, some hogs, a horse and bridle, and a crib of corn. In addition to the stock, she purchased a shovel plow, axe, hoe, and an iron wedge to continue some means of crude cultivation. Syndirella bid for two beds and bedclothes, as well as other household furnishings. Like many settlers, her only kitchen appliances were a Dutch oven and a skillet. She had three chairs, a chest, two baskets, a flat iron, and a frontier necessity – the loom. The sum of her worldly goods was exposed for the community to see. Syndirella Spriggs kept the farm, paid the taxes, and somehow provided for herself and her son. Nearby, there were other neighbors who had survived war, want and loss, and they understood her grief. Major Daniel Wright and Col. Williams Wright and their families were there. Major W right’s daughter and son-in-law, Betsy and Thomas McCrary, and their family were close by as well. Thomas Couch, Richard Griffin, William Wells, and a possible in-law named Ezekiel Spriggs, were also aware, if not already involved, in her circumstances. And, there was another settler, James Bell, who also began to notice the young widow.

1790 CENSUS - GREENVILLE Co., SOUTH CAROLINA

SNDX County St L Name F Name NARA Roll Pg# Family Grp

S162 GREENVILLE, SC SPRIGGS Thomas M- 637 011 068 02 03 04 00 00