Mary Melinda Sisson (a.k.a. Mary Marinda Sisson), m. William M. Ingram 1847
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In reply to:
Re: Thomas INGRAM m. Millender LANG, 1823, Henry Co. GA
Jonathan McKeen 8/19/09
For years a cousin of mine and I have been trying to identify the parents of Mary (Sisson) Ingram, who was our third great-grandmother. By George I think I've finally done it. Mary was married to William M. Ingram on April 29, 1847 in Carroll Co., GA, and according to the marriage record her maiden name was "Mary Marinda Sisson." This is what we've referred to her as for all these years, but I now think she was probably born Mary Melinda Sisson.
Mary Melinda Sisson was born Oct. 20, 1827 probably in Clarke Co., GA, the daughter of Rodman Sisson and Elizabeth Easley Parr. Rodman and Elizabeth were married Nov. 4, 1824, probably in Clarke Co., GA. (Mary (Sisson) Ingram named one of her sons Andrew Rodman, or Rodman Andrew.)
Elizabeth Easley Parr was born June 7, 1806 probably in Clarke Co., GA, the daughter of Benjamin Parr and Martha Duncley "Patsey" McKinney, whose family seems to be pretty well documented. Benjamin was a Revolutionary soldier, born Sept. 1, 1760 or 1761 in Roxbury Twp., Morris Co., NJ. Patsey McKinney was reportedly born Sept. 15, 1777, though personally I suspect she was born a bit earlier than that. Benjamin and Patsey were married (or at least their marriage bond was dated) July 25, 1790 in Wilkes Co., NC. They moved to Georgia soon afterwards, where their eleven children were born.
Benjamin was later a pensioner, and his pension file (available at Footnote.com and Ancestry.com) includes numerous birth, death, and marriage records copied from family Bibles. Included in these records are Elizabeth (Parr) Sisson's date of birth and the date of her marriage to Rodman Sisson, as stated above, as well birth dates for their three children:
1. William Henry Sisson, born Aug. 19, 1825.
2. Mary Melinda Sisson, born Oct. 20, 1827.
3. Ann Eliza Sisson, born July 9, 1829.
These records also state that Rodman Sisson died Aug. 26, 1829. Therefore Elizabeth was left a widow at age 23, with three very young children. I don't know what became of her until Oct. 13, 1853, at which time she married Anderson Smith, apparently a Methodist minister, in Carroll Co., GA. In the marriage record she is listed as "Elizabeth Sizemore." Sizemore might have been a mistranscription of "Sisson," but more likely Elizabeth had been married to a Mr. Sizemore after Rodman's death, given the fact that nearly 25 years had intervened since Rodman's death.
Anderson and Elizabeth Smith were listed in Carroll County in the 1860, 1870, and 1880 censuses. In each census their household included Elizabeth's daughter Ann Eliza Sisson, who apparently never married. In 1860 and 1870 Ann was listed with her stepfather's last name, but in 1880 she was called his stepdaughter and was listed as "Ann E. Sison." This is the last I know of Anderson, Elizabeth, and Ann.
Elizabeth's son William Henry Sisson married Angeline Long May 27, 1847 in Carroll Co., GA (about a month after his sister Mary married William M. Ingram in the same county.) Less than four months later, on Sept. 7, 1847, William H. Sisson enlisted in the U.S. army in Villa Rica, Carroll Co., GA, for service during the Mexican-American War. According to his enlistment record (available at Ancestry.com) he was 22 years old, a farmer, described as 5’ 10½” with sandy hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion. Wililam died Jan. 31, 1848 at Tacubaya, Mexico, now part of Mexico City. (I now figure my great-great-grandfather, William Henry Ingram, born in 1850, was named after his late uncle, William Henry Sisson.)
Elizabeth's daughter, Mary (Sisson) Ingram, who was widowed in 1863, moved from Carroll Co., GA to Alabama probably in the early 1870s, despite the fact that her mother, stepfather, sister, mother-in-law (Millie (Lang) Ingram), and brother-in-law (Isaac Newton Ingram) remained in Carroll County. So why did she move to Alabama? My guess is that she followed her son Tom there, or went with him when he made the move. Thomas Jefferson "Tom" Ingram married Martha Ann Gamble on Oct. 20, 1870 in Carroll Co., GA, daughter of Alfred and Julia Gamble. Within a few years Tom and Martha, as well as Martha's parents and younger siblings, were all living in Alabama.
So why did Tom Ingram move to Alabama? I don't know. But it might have had something to do with a murder that took place in Carroll County in 1871. The following is summarized from abstracts of articles published in the Carroll County Times from 1871 to 1873 (available from the Carroll County GAGenWeb site).
On Jan. 13, 1871, John Woods was murdered at his home near Bowdon, Carroll Co., GA. Soon afterwards a Thomas J. Ingram, while on a "drunknen spree," confessed that he had held the horses of two men, brothers Charles and William Albright, while they went to John Woods' home and shot him. After this came out the three men were indicted, Charles and William Albright for murder and Tom Ingram as an accessory to murder, but by then the Albrights had fled the state.
In April 1873, William Albright was apprehended in Indiana and was brought back to Carroll Co., GA to stand trial. Apparently his brother Charles was apprehended around the same time. In July 1873, while in jail awaiting trial, Charles Albright escaped, apparently making a clean getaway.
In Oct. 1873 William Albright was tried, found not guilty, and released. At the same time the charges against Thomas J. Ingram were dropped on account of the absence of a material witness.
In the 1870 census, Charles Allbright, age 27, was enumerated in Carroll Co., GA, Bowdon Post Office, one household away from John Woods, age 37. In the same census Thomas J. Ingram, age 21, was listed in the household of his mother, Mary (Sisson) Ingram, in Carroll County, Bowdon Post Office.
More Replies:
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Re: Mary Melinda Sisson (a.k.a. Mary Marinda Sisson), m. William M. Ingram 1847
Emily Emmerson 9/02/11