In the absence of an estate record naming Moses’ children or of other documents listing their names, it’s a matter of informed guesswork to puzzle out a likely list of the children. By “informed,” I mean that it’s important to pay attention to Birdwells showing up in places in which Moses lived, who were in those places when he himself was there, who were of an age to be possible children of Moses, and who interacted with him or others associated with him in county records. A number of researchers including Shannon Birdwell, Jerry Birdwell, Weldon J. Birdwell, and Lucille Mehrkam have worked at this project over the years and have shared their lists of Moses’ probable children with me. What follows will be my attempt to compile a list of Moses’ proven and likely children. I’ll start with proven and probable children of his first wife, whose name is not known.
Some prefatory notes on census data: as we’ve seen, by 1820, when Moses is enumerated on the Alabama state census in Limestone County, his household had four males and four females all under 21. If Lucille Mehrkam is correct in thinking that Moses assumed guardianship of two children of his half-brother Robert Birdwell in 1815 and brought these children to live with him, then two of these sons and/or daughters could belong to Robert. Moses married Hannah Folkindon/Folkinsin/Folkinson in Madison County, Mississippi Territory, in 1816, and by 1820, that couple are known to have had children Elizabeth and Joseph. Another son Amos was born in 1820. So some of the children under 21 in Moses’ household in 1820 are likely children by Hannah.
By 1820, Moses’ oldest son by his first wife, George, had married and I think it’s likely the next son, James, had also married. Moses’ daughter Harriet also appears to have married just before 1820. Some of the children in his household in 1820 are likely younger children by his first wife born to her prior to her death and his remarriage in 1816 to Hannah. I have been unable to locate Moses on the 1830 federal census, so I don’t have that census to compare with the 1820 Alabama census.
Proven and Probable Children of Moses Birdwell by His First Wife
What follows is my attempt to identify known children of Moses Birdwell by his first wife and to establish such proof as seems possible for their probable children. I am not offering complete histories of each of these Birdwell children. I have much more information on most of them. I’m simply zeroing in on pieces of information that show their proven or probable link to Moses Birdwell.
1. George Washington Birdwell was born 23 November 1791 in Franklin County, Georgia, and died 19 February 1880 at Conner Creek near Graham in Young County, Texas, with his tombstone stating, “There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God”.[1] On 14 July 1814 in Madison County, Mississippi Territory (later Alabama), he married Matilda Garner.[2]
As a previous posting notes, in a deposition George’s son Joseph Birdwell made in Young County, Texas, court on 17 December 1904 continuing his father’s and mother’s (Matilda Garner Birdwell) claim for a pension for George’s War of 1812 service, Joseph stated his father’s date of birth and deposed that he was born in Franklin County, Georgia.[3] This provides pretty solid proof that George Washington Birdwell was Moses’ son by his first wife, since Moses Birdwell is the only Birdwell appearing in Franklin County records at the time of George’s birth. George’s tombstone in George’s tombstone in Gooseneck cemetery at Graham in Young County, Texas, also states that he was born in Franklin County, Georgia, on 23 November 1791.[4]
Adding to the proof here is the fact that George began appearing in Madison County, Mississippi Territory, records in the same time frame in which Moses moved his family there from Franklin County, Georgia. George is on a tax list in Franklin County in 1810 and, as noted above, he married Matilda Garner in Madison County on 14 July 1814. I think it can safely be concluded that George W. Birdwell was a son of Moses by Moses’ first wife.
2. James G. Birdwell was born in 1795 in Franklin County, Georgia, and died in December 1849 in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana.[5] About 1819-1820, he married Aletha Leonard, daughter of Thomas Lewis Leonard and Sarah M. (probably Mauldin) Lauderdale in Limestone County, Alabama.
We have direct testimony that James was a son of Moses Birdwell from Thomas Dunlap Leonard’s 1883 manuscript “Biography of the Leonards” discussed in the posting I’ve just linked, which states that Aletha’s husband James Birdwell was a son of Moses Birdwell. As the linked posting indicates, Thomas Dunlap Leonard, who was a son of Aletha’s uncle Robert Leonard, knew Moses and James personally. The linked posting also discusses the numerous interactions between James and his father Moses in the years in which they lived in Madison, Limestone, Jackson, and Marshall Counties, Alabama, moving to those counties in tandem and appearing in various records together.
3. Harriet Birdwell was born 1800-1810, probably in Franklin County, Georgia, and died after 22 August 1842, probably in Limestone County, Alabama.[6] About 1820 in Limestone County, Harriet married Josiah Mauldin Lauderdale, son of John Lauderdale and Milbury Mauldin. Josiah was a brother of Sarah M. Lauderdale, who married Thomas Lewis Leonard, and whose daughter Aletha Leonard married James Birdwell. John Lauderdale and Milbury Mauldin were the parents of Sarah Lauderdale Leonard, whose middle initial appears as M. in various documents and whose middle name is thought to have been Mauldin.
I’ve seen no direct proof establishing Harriet as a daughter of Moses Birdwell by his first wife, but there are compelling reasons to conclude this relationship. Josiah was in Limestone County by 1820 and was married to Harriet by then, as the 1820 federal census indicates. As we’ve seen previously, Moses Birdwell moved to Limestone County in 1818 and lived there up to 1830. Josiah and Harriet Lauderdale lived continuously in Limestone County from 1820 up to Josiah’s death there between 13 January and 13 June 1842. The last record I’ve found for Harriet is her petition for her dower interest in Josiah’s estate in Limestone County on 22 August 1842.[7] Since Harriet appears not to be enumerated on the 1850 federal census, I assume she died between 22 August 1842 and 1850 in Limestone County.
Note that at the time Harriet Birdwell married Josiah Mauldin Lauderdale in or just before 1820 in Limestone County, there was no other Birdwell family living in the county besides the family of Moses Birdwell. It might also be noted that Josiah’s parents John and Milbury Mauldin Lauderdale appear in Franklin County, Georgia, records in the 1790s and early 1800s, in the same period in which Moses Birdwell was living in that county. John Lauderdale’s family seems to have been living primarily in Pendleton District, South Carolina, though owning land across the Savannah River in Franklin County, Georgia, after John appears in that county’s records by May 1784 as a “Georgia Refugee soldier” during the Revolution.[8] Also worth noting: Josiah and Harriet Birdwell Lauderdale named a son James Birdwell Lauderdale. It’s tempting to think that this son was named for Harriet’s brother, who married a cousin of Harriet’s husband, Aletha Leonard.
4. Daughter Birdwell who married a Lamb, parents of Alfred L. Lamb (abt. 1815 – 1860/1870).
That Moses Birdwell had a daughter who married a Lamb and that this couple were the parents of Alfred L. Lamb can be inferred from a statement made by Thomas Dunlap Leonard in his 1883 manuscript composed by Aletha’s cousin Thomas Dunlap Leonard, “Biography of the Leonards,” discussed above and in the posting I’ve just linked. This manuscript states that Alfred L. Lamb, who married Hannah A.E. Leonard in Limestone County, Alabama, on 15 August 1840, was a grandson of Moses Birdwell.[9]
Hannah Leonard was a first cousin of Aletha Leonard who married Moses Birdwell’s son James Birdwell. Hannah’s father John Leonard (1779 – abt. 1848) was a brother of Aletha’s father Thomas Lewis Leonard (1781-1870).
I have not been successful in identifying the parents of Alfred L. Lamb. I think the most likely candidate for Alfred’s father is a Jacob Lamb who was in Limestone County, Alabama, by 1820, when he appears on the Alabama state census in that county with a household comprised of a male over 21 years of age, a male under 21, a female over 21, and two females under 21.[10] Jacob Lamb continued to appear on the federal census in Limestone County in 1830 and 1840. If this Jacob Lamb is the man of this name who married Nancy Wilson in Madison County, Mississippi Territory on 2 January 1815, however, he did not marry a Birdwell, unless Nancy was a widow Wilson whose maiden name was Birdwell, or unless Jacob also married a Birdwell wife.[11]
Also to be noted: James Birdwell Lauderdale (1824-1886), son of Josiah Mauldin Lauderdale and Harriet Birdwell (see above on Harriet as a probable daughter of Moses) married Martha Ann Lamb on 17 January 1850 in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. Martha’s parents were James Lamb (1793-1858) and Mary Taylor. Was James Lamb a relative of Jacob Lamb of Limestone County, Alabama, where Josiah Mauldin Lauderdale married Harriet Birdwell about 1820?
Another possible clue: The 1850 federal census shows Alfred L. Lamb and wife Hannah Leonard Lamb living in Big Creek township, Phillips County, Arkansas, with a Solomon York and his children in their household.[12] Solomon York was born in 1799 in North Carolina, according to this census enumeration. Solomon had a son Alfred Leonard York born in 1828. Prior to the move of Alfred and Hannah Lamb and Solomon York to Arkansas, Solomon is in Limestone County, Alabama, records along with Alfred Lamb and members of the Leonard family. When Thomas and Sarah Lauderdale land sold their 660-acre homeplace in Limestone County to Thomas’ brother John Leonard on 6 May 1839, A.L. (Alfred L.) Lamb and Solomon York witnessed the deed.[13]
Thomas and Sarah Lauderdale Leonard had other interactions in Limestone County with this same York family. On 11 October 1833, they bought land from Solomon York’s mother Jemima.[14] On the same day, Thomas Leonard also bought land from Solomon’s brother Uriah York and his wife Rebecca in Limestone County.[15]
Another detail to be noted about Solomon York: between 1850 and 1860, he moved his family to near Paris in Lamar County, Texas, and he then died in Red River County about 1863.[16] As the previous posting noted, Moses Birdwell’s sons George and Zachariah settled first in Lamar County when they came to Texas, and then they appeared in Red River County records before their land fell into Hopkins County. Their sister Ritha and husband George M. Connally settled near Paris in Lamar County. I think it’s possible that Alfred L. Lamb had some kinship connection to this York family, though if so, I have not figured out that connection. Some family accounts have Solomon marrying a Micha Doe about 1815, apparently in Madison County, Mississippi Territory. I’ve seen no document confirming that marriage or the name of Solomon’s wife. A question worth asking: Did Solomon York marry a daughter of Moses Birdwell whose name has not been found?
I’m grouping the unknown daughter of Moses Birdwell who married a Lamb in the same age group to which Moses’ older children James and Harriet belonged because the marriage connections of James and Harriet to the Lauderdale-Leonard families suggest to me that their sister, name unknown, who married a Lamb probably had some connections as well to the Lauderdale-Leonard kinship network. Note, too, that if this daughter had a son Alfred born in 1815, she’d likely have been born prior to 1800 and would therefore have been one of Moses’ oldest children.
4. Zachariah Birdwell was born 6 January 1801 in Franklin County, Georgia, and died 18 September 1880 in Hopkins County, Texas.[17] Zachariah’s wife Mary Ann Herman, whom he married about 1825, apparently in Lauderdale County, Alabama, was the daughter of Stephen and Nancy Herman of Lauderdale County.[18]
I have not located a document stating that Zachariah Birdwell was a son of Moses Birdwell, but there’s abundant circumstantial evidence that allows us to conclude this. As noted previously, Zachariah was closely connected to George W. Birdwell, who can pretty confidently be identified as a son of Moses Birdwell and whose son Joseph deposed in December 1904 that his father George was born in Franklin County, Georgia, where Moses Birdwell was living in 1791 when George was born. All federal censuses from 1850-1880 state that Zachariah Birdwell was born in Georgia.[19]
As is also noted previously, George and Zachariah Birdwell both appear early in records of Red River and Lamar Counties, Texas, both claiming land in Lamar County that fell into Hopkins County at its formation. Tracts owned by George and Zachariah in Hopkins County were close to each other in the northwest part of the county. As also noted in the posting I’ve just linked, when Ritha Birdwell Connally, a known daughter of Moses Birdwell, came with her husband George M. Connally and parents from Alabama to Texas in 1846, they went to Hopkins County where George and Zachariah were living.
5. Ritha Birdwell was born 12 September 1812 in Madison County, Mississippi Territory, and died 6 June 1896 near Glen Rose in Somervell County, Texas. Ritha married her first husband William Parkhill about 1828 in Jackson County, Alabama.[20] The family then appeared on the 1830 federal census in Jackson County. Family records kept by her descendants indicate that William died at Guntersville in Marshall County in 1834, aged 34.[21] In 1998, James Parkhill of Roswell, New Mexico, emailed me biographical information about Ritha and her two husbands, noting that he had a manuscript written by a John Connally which provides some of this information, including that Ritha was a daughter of Moses Birdwell.[22] Jim Parkhill’s notes to me did not identify John Connally. I think it’s likely he is the John Connally (1875-1948) who was a son of Ritha’s son Charles Connally (1840-1930), with whom Ritha lived at Glen Rose in Somervell County, Texas, at the end of her life. In a posting on 23 September 2005 to the Birdwell discussion group at Genealogy.com, Jim Parkhill also states that “the Connally Manuscript written by a John Connally years ago … mentions Moses as being Ritha’s father.”
Following the death of William Parkhill in Marshall County, Alabama, in 1834, Ritha then remarried on 15 August 1835 in Blount County, Alabama, to George Madison Connally.[23] Ritha’s brother Marshall Birdwell gave bond with George M. Connally for this marriage.
Following their marriage around 1828, Ritha and her first husband William Parkhill lived in Jackson County, Alabama, where they’re enumerated on the federal census in 1830.[24] As a previous posting notes, by 1830, Ritha’s father Moses Birdwell had settled in Jackson County, to be joined there shortly by his son James. Following their marriage in 1835, Ritha and husband George Madison Connally then lived in Marshall County, Alabama, where they appear on the 1840 federal census.[25] As the posting I’ve just linked indicates, when Marshall County was formed from Jackson in 1836, Moses Birdwell’s land fell into Marshall County and he lived there up to January or February 1846, when he and wife Hannah joined Ritha and George M. Connally to move to Hopkins County, Texas, along with several of Moses and Hannah’s children. This previous posting provides an account of that move, citing material compiled by James Parkhill and noting that in Hopkins County, these families joined Ritha’s brothers George and Zachariah, with another brother Marshall arriving in Hopkins County around the same time as or soon after his father and step-mother and sister Ritha came to Texas.
As has been previously noted, after they settled initially in Hopkins County with her brothers George, Zachariah, and Marshall, Ritha and husband George then settled south of Paris in Lamar County, Texas. They remained there until at some point prior to 1870 they moved to Collin County, Texas, where they settled on Indian Creek near Farmersville. George Madison Connally died at Farmersville on 13 November 1877 and is buried in Bethlehem cemetery there with a tombstone stating that he was born 17 April 1813 and also stating his death date.[26] The tombstone states that George was husband of Ritha Connally.
Following George’s death, Ritha lived with son James Parkhill in Hunt County, Texas, until the final years of her life, when she lived with her son Charles Connally at Glen Rose in Somervell County, where she died 6 June 1896 and was buried in Cox Bend cemetery at Glen Rose.[27] There appears not to be a marker for Ritha’s grave, though a monument in the cemetery stating the names of members of the Connally family buried there gives her name. The dates of birth and death I’ve cited for her are from the biography written by James Parkhill discussed above.
Ritha named a son George Birdwell Connally (1846-1884). By husband William Parkhill, Ritha had a son James Marshall Parkhill who named a son George Birdwell Parkhill (1877-1940).
6. Abraham Marshall Birdwell was born in 1814 (or 1813 or 1815) in Madison County, Mississippi Territory (later Alabama). The 1814 date of birth is suggested by his Civil War service papers: he enlisted on 1 February 1862 at Decatur, Wise County, Texas, in Company A of the 18th Texas Infantry (CSA), giving his age as 48.[28] His service papers state that he was born in Madison County, Alabama (i.e., Mississippi Territory in 1814).
The 1815 date of birth is suggested by the 1850 federal census, which shows him listed as Martial Birdwell, aged 35, born in Alabama, and living in the household of his half-sister Nancy and husband Calvin Cunningham in Hopkins County, Texas.[29] Nancy is, of course, one of Moses Birdwell’s proven children by his second wife Hannah.
Living next door to the family of Calvin and Nancy Birdwell Cunningham in Hopkins County on the 1850 census was the family of Marshall’s sister (and Nancy’s half-sister) Ritha Birdwell and husband George Madison Connally. Also next door to the Cunninghams (on the other side) was the family of Henry Landers Birdwell, another known son of Moses Birdwell by wife Hannah, and therefore a full brother to Nancy Birdwell Cunningham and half-brother to Marshall Birdwell. Next to the household of Henry Birdwell is the household of Boney and Margaret Woods, with Samuel, Rebecca, and Margaret Birdwell living in this household. These three Birdwells are all children of Moses and Hannah Birdwell. All of these family connections found in close proximity to each other in Hopkins County in 1850 strengthen the deduction that Abraham Marshall Birdwell is one of Moses Birdwell’s children by his first wife.
On the 1860 federal census, Marshall Birdwell is enumerated as head of his household in Wise County, Texas, at Decatur post office.[30] The census gives his age as 47 and his birthplace as Alabama. Also in the household are Marshall’s wife Elizabeth and their son James F. Birdwell, along with an Ellen and Eliza Smith who are apparently relatives of Elizabeth. Living next to Marshall are Zachariah and Polly Birdwell. As discussed previously, there’s very strong evidence to conclude that Zachariah is also a son of Moses Birdwell by his first wife, and therefore a brother of Marshall Birdwell. Several households away on the same page of this census listing is the family of Thomas Garner Birdwell, a son of George W. Birdwell, Zachariah and Marshall’s brother.
Marshall’s wife Elizabeth on the 1860 census was Elizabeth Smith, according to notes sent to me in May 1999 by Weldon J. Birdwell. Weldon Birdwell says that Marshall was married prior to 1850 to a wife who appears to have died before 1852, then he married Miss C. O’Shealds in Lamar County, Texas on 16 July 1852, and before 1860, Elizabeth Smith.
Prior to moving to Texas, Abraham Marshall Birdwell appears in the same counties in Alabama in which Moses Birdwell was living, in the same time frame that Moses was in those counties. Notes compiled by Birdwell researcher Lucille Mehrkam, which Shannon Birdwell sent me in August 1996, state that Marshall was a justice of the peace in Jackson County, Alabama, in 1835. I have been unable to confirm that piece of information, but note that Moses Birdwell and his known son James were living in Jackson County at this point.
On 20 May 1836, while living in Marshall County (again, Moses’ land fell into that county when it was formed from Jackson in January 1836), Marshall Birdwell enlisted in French’s Company of the 2nd Alabama Mounted Volunteers during the Creek War.[31] Lucille Mehrkam’s notes transcribe information from Marshall Birdwell’s pension file for this service, of which she had a copy. She indicates that he applied for a pension from Hopkins County, Texas, in 1852, stating that he was mustered into service at Montgomery, Alabama, on 20 May 1836 while living in Marshall County. He was discharged at Huntsville on 18 August 1836. In 1852, he received bounty land of 40 acres for his service. He also received additional bounty land under the act of 1855. In 1859, Marshall filed another pension claim for his Creek War service. Lucille Mehrkam’s notes say that notes in the pension file indicate that Abraham Marshall Birdwell commonly went by the name Marshall and his military and pension papers are filed under that name as well as the name Abraham or Abram Marshall Birdwell. His service packet gives his name as Abram M. Birdwell. The 1859 pension application was witnessed by Marshall Birdwell’s brother George and George’s son Thomas Garner Birdwell.
Marshall Birdwell appears to have left Alabama prior to 1845, settling temporarily in Arkansas in 1845-6 and then moving to Texas prior to 1850. As was noted previously, on 1 February 1862 at Decatur in Wise County, A.M. Birdwell enlisted in Company A of the 18th Texas Infantry (CSA), giving his age as 48.[32] His muster roll index card identifies him as a captain in this company, and states that he was mustered out 7 January 1863. I have not found clear information about when and where Marshall Birdwell died. Weldon J. Birdwell’s notes state that a J.M. Birdwell who is said to have signed a petition on 26 July 1866 in Wise County for protection from the Indians is likely A.M. Birdwell, and this is the last record he had found for Marshall Birdwell.
As the previous posting notes, claims have been made that Moses Birdwell’s first wife was a daughter of Alexander Marshall of Chesterfield and Prince Edward County, Virginia (1750-1829), whose name is given in some family trees as Louise Marshall. In the linked posting, I state my reason for being skeptical of this claim. The claim that Moses Birdwell first married a Marshall wife is linked to the fact that by that wife, Moses had a son whose middle name was Marshall and this name carries on down family lines descending from Moses Birdwell.
I’m inclined to think that it’s likely that Moses Birdwell and his unknown first wife named a son Abraham Marshall Birdwell after the Abraham Marshall (1748-1819) who was a pioneer Baptist minister in Georgia and a founder of the Georgia Baptist Association.[33] As we’ve seen previously, from the time he arrived in Mississippi Territory (later Alabama), Moses began appearing in the records of Enon Baptist church in Madison County and then when he moved to Limestone County, he joined Round Island Baptist church in that county by letter in 1820.
I think that Alexander Marshall Birdwell may well have been the last child of Moses Birdwell by his first wife, since Marshall was born 1813-5 and Moses married his wife Hannah Folkindon/Folkinsin/Folkinson in 1816. If there was another child born to Moses’ first wife after Marshall, I have not found a record of that child.
Possible Other Children of Moses Birdwell by His First Wife
The preceding list finds six known or probable children for Moses Birdwell by his first wife. If the Cunningham journal is correct in saying that Moses had ten children by each of his wives, then four children remain to be identified in Moses’ first set of children. Some possibilities of other names:
7. John or John M. Birdwell?
In May 1995, Shannon Birdwell sent me a photocopy of a page from a store ledger that he thought was from Jackson or Marshall County, Alabama. Shannon had apparently not been able to identify the store in question. Since the page of the store account he sent to me is dated 1833, my guess is that the store in question was likely in Jackson County and may have ended up in Marshall County when that county was formed in 1836. I wonder if, in fact, it might be the Hillian’s store mentioned in this previous posting about Moses Birdwell.
The store account shows a John Birdwell as a debtor to the store in 1833, and next to John’s name in the store ledger is written “son of Moses.” A few lines down in the ledger the name “John M. Birdwell” appears, so this John was possibly named John M. Birdwell. Because Moses Birdwell was living in Jackson County in 1833, I think it’s very possible that this store ledger establishes that another child of Moses Birdwell was a John Birdwell living in Jackson County, Alabama, in 1833. Note that next to John Birdwell’s first entry in this ledger is the name George Connally: this is the George Madison Connally who married Moses’ daughter Ritha Birdwell.
I have found no other information about this John Birdwell. Since he does not appear among the siblings and half-siblings who all went to Hopkins County, Texas, and surrounding counties prior to 1850, I think it’s likely that, if he’s a son of Moses Birdwell, he died in Alabama prior to the move of Moses and Hannah and other family members to Texas in 1846.
8. Benjamin Birdwell?
On 18 July 1832 in Jackson County, Alabama, an agreement was recorded between John and Adam Nicer of Lincoln County, Tennessee, and Benjamin Birdwell of Jackson County, Alabama, to build a sawmill for William Burrus of Jackson County.[34] The deed states that the two Nicers and Benjamin Birdwell were “Mill rites” (i.e., millwrights). As a previous posting shows, on 22 July 1837 in Marshall County, Alabama, Moses Birdwell’s known son James Birdwell gave bond with David Ricketts in Ricketts’ administration of the estate of Adam Nichor (or, as he appears in other records, Nicar).[35]
On 4 September 1835, Benjamin Birdwell received a certificate from the Huntsville federal land office for 80+ acres of federal land in Jackson County, the east ½ northeast ¼ of section 26 township 4 range 5 east.[36] I have not found further information about this Benjamin Birdwell, but I think it’s certainly possible and perhaps even likely that he was a son of Moses Birdwell. As I’ve noted previously, I don’t find Moses on the 1830 federal census. I know from other records that Moses was living in Jackson County, Alabama, by this point, and his proven son James appears on the federal census in that county in 1830. I also do not find either the John or Benjamin Birdwell I’ve just discussed on the federal census in either 1830 or 1840, and like John, it appears Benjamin – if he was a son of Moses – did not go to Texas with other family members in the latter part of the 1840s.[37]
Note that since both John and Benjamin Birdwell show up in Jackson County, Alabama, records by 1832-3, both were likely born prior to around 1812-3.
Lists of Moses’ children by his first wife compiled by Birdwell researchers sometimes state that Moses may have had a son Moses Birdwell born in 1801. I have found no evidence for this person, though perhaps I am missing something.
Lists of Moses’ children by his first wife also often assign an Ezekiel William Birdwell (1794 – aft. 1860) to Moses as another possible son. This man, who appears to have died in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, between 1860 and 1870, was not a son of Moses Birdwell, but of Solomon Bardwell of Lawrence County, Mississippi. Ezekiel’s surname shifted to Birdwell after he moved from Mississippi to Louisiana at some point after 1838.
In my next posting, I’ll take a stab at trying to name Moses Birdwell’s children by his second wife Hannah.
[1] See Find a Grave memorial page of George Washington Birdwell, Gooseneck cemetery, Graham, Young County, Texas, created by Dana Ribble, maintained by Searchers of Our Past, with a tombstone photo by Searchers of Our Past.
[2] See Madison County, Mississippi Territory Marriage Bk. 1, p. 148, no. 294.
[3] NARA, War of 1812 Pension Files, 1812-1815, RG 15, file of George Birdwell (S.O. 25426) and widow Matilda Garner Birdwell (S.C. 15498), available digitally at Fold3.
[4] See supra, n. 1.
[5] See 1850 federal mortality schedule, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, p. 168, l. 11, stating that James died in December 1849 in DeSoto Parish, aged 54, born in Georgia.
[6] The 1830 and 1840 federal censuses both place Harriet’s birthdate between 1800-1810: see 1830 federal census, Limestone County, Alabama, p. 12; and 1840 federal census, Limestone County, Alabama, p. 139A.
[7] Limestone County, Alabama, Will Bk. 6, p. 122.
[8] On 24 May 1784, John Twiggs certified that John Lauderdale was a Georgia Refugee soldier during the Revolution and was entitled to a bounty grant. The following day, John petitioned for a grant of 250 acres in Franklin County. The day after this, a warrant for a survey of 287½ acres in Franklin County was issued to him (grant 539). See Georgia Grant Bk. HHH, p. 700; and Silas Emmett Lucas Jr., Index to the Headright and Bounty Grants of Georgia 1756-1909 (Greenville, South Carolina: Southern Historical Publishers, 1982), p. 377. The land was surveyed the day of the grant, on 26 May 1784, and registered on 3 February 1786, with the plat showing the land on Bear Creek, all sides vacant. On the location of the land, see also Franklin County Historical Society, History of Franklin County, Georgia (Roswell, Georgia: W.H. Wolfe, 1986), p. 64. A handwritten note in the file for this grant says, “Your Petitioner prays a warent for 250 acres Land in Franklin County and yr. Petr. will Pray It be Granted and Entered, John Lauderdal.” On the back is written, “John Lauderdeal, Franklin, not paid, received, no. 1282.
[9] The marriage is recorded in Limestone County, Alabama, Marriage Bk. 1832-1862, p. 300, no. 1698. The marriage return states that the couple were married by Rev. James C. Elliott; his obituary in Huntsville Independent, 24 June 1875, states that he was a Cumberland Presbyterian minister.
[10] 1820 Alabama state census, Limestone County, p. 20.
[11] See Madison County, Mississippi Territory, Marriage Bk. 1, p. 173.
[12] 1850 federal census, Phillips County, Arkansas, Big Creek township, p. 148 (dwelling/family 88; 28 October).
[13] Limestone County, Alabama, Deed Bk. 5, pp. 567-8.
[14] Ibid., Bk. 4, p. 458.
[15] Ibid., p. 459.
[16] See Find a Grave memorial page of Solomon York, Bogata cemetery, Bogata, Red River County, Texas, created by Dennis York.
[17] Zachariah’s date of birth is inscribed on his tombstone: see Find a Grave memorial page of Zechariah [sic] Birdwell, Stewart cemetery, Ridgeway, Hopkins County, Texas, created by Brandon Darrow, with a tombstone photo by Brandon Darrow.
[18] See U.G. and Gail Herman, “The History of the Herman Family,” in Pioneers of Hopkins County, Texas, vol. 1, ed.Sylvia M. Kibart and Rita M. Adams (Wolfe City, Texas: Henington, 1986), p. 107. This source gives Stephen the middle name Israel. Stephen died testate in Lauderdale County, Alabama, with a will dated 15 November 1822, naming among other children his daughter Mary: Lauderdale County, Alabama, Will Bk. 3, p. 65. Stephen had died by 18 January 1823 when his estate was sold.
A.T. Stewart notes that Zachariah Birdwell’s wife was Polly Herman, but incorrectly states that the couple married in Giles County, Tennessee, before coming to Texas: see A.T. Stewart, “Stewart Cemetery,” in Pioneers of Hopkins County, Texas, pp. 301-2.
[19] See 1850 federal census, Lamar County, Texas, precinct 4, p. 283B (dwelling/family 236; 9 November); 1860 federal census, Wise County, Texas, Decatur post office, p. 317B (dwelling 178/family 180; 23 June); 1870 federal census, Hopkins Co., Texas, precinct 4, Black Jack Grove post office, p. 149A (dwelling/family 113; 28 September); and 1880 federal census, Hopkins County, Texas, p.180A (dwelling/family 184; 10 June).
[20] Family records of Ritha’s descendants give William Parkhill a first name James.
[21] In 1998, James Parkhill of Roswell, New Mexico, emailed me a summary of the history of Ritha and her two husbands handed down in this family, noting that he had a manuscript written by a John Connally which provides some of this information, including that Ritha was a daughter of Moses Birdwell.
[22] See also James Parkhill, “Ritha Birdwell Parkhill Connally,” in the Birdwell discussion group at Genealogy.com, 5 November 2000; and James M. Parkhill, “James Marshall Parkhill,” at the Lamar County, Texas, USGenweb site. James Parkhill also shared his biographical information about Ritha Birdwell Parkhill Connally in postings to the now-defunct Birdwell discussion forum at Rootsweb on 5 and 7 July 2011. Notes Weldon J. Birdwell sent me in 1999 speak of the Connally manuscript as the Charles Connally manuscript, and state that it indicates that Ritha was a daughter of Moses Birdwell. The notes also say that this manuscript is the source for the detailed information about the move of Ritha and husband George Connally to Texas with her parents in 1846.
[23] Blount County, Alabama, Marriage Bk. B, p. 223, no. 621.
[24] 1830 federal census, Jackson County, Alabama, p. 71.
[25] 1840 federal census, Marshall County, Alabama, p. 23.
[26] See Find a Grave memorial page of George Madison Connally, Bethlehem cemetery, Farmersville, Collin County, Texas, created by William, maintained by Richard Hollis, with tombstone photos by Marianne Granoff and bonikay.
[27] See Find a Grave memorial page of Martha Louise “Ritha” Birdwell Connally, Cox Bend cemetery, Glen Rose, Somervell County, Texas, created by Lisa Hale. I haven’t seen documents giving Ritha any name other than Ritha, with the exception of the 1850 federal census which calls her Wrytha.
[28] See Texas State Library and Archives, Civil War Muster Rolls Index Cards (both Confederate and Union) in Ancestry database Texas, U.S., Muster Roll Index Cards, 1838-1900; and Ancestry database Compiled Confederate Military Service Records, research by Patricia Adkins-Rochette.
[29] 1850 federal census, Hopkins County, Texas, district 8, p. 147B (dwelling/family 184; 12 October).
[30] 1860 federal census, Wise County, Texas, Decatur township, p. 318 (dwelling 179/family 181; 23 June).
[31] NARA, Indexes to the Carded Records of Soldiers Who Served in Volunteer Organizations During the Indian Wars, compiled 1899 – 1927, documenting the period 1817 – 1858 (RG 94), available digitally at Fold3; and Virgil D. White, Index to Volunteer Soldiers in Indian Wars and Disturbances, vol. 1 (Waynesboro, Tennessee: National Historical Publishing Co., 1994), p. 106.
[32] See supra, n. 28.
[33] Robert G. Gardner, “Daniel Marshall, 1706-1784,” New Georgia Encyclopedia, sponsored by University of Georgia Libraries, Georgia Humanities, University of Georgia Press, and the University System of Georgia.
[34] Jackson County, Alabama, Deed Bk. D, pp. 292-3.
[35] Marshall County, Alabama, Final Records Bk. 1, pp. 93-6.
[36] Alabama State Volume Patent Bk. 1280, p. 489, no. 6309.
[37] I’m grateful to Aggie Birdwell of Lubbock, Texas, for pointing me to these Jackson County records for Benjamin Birdwell in a 21 January 2000 letter to me.
BEGATS AND BEQUEATHALS 
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