My 2nd great grandfather William Carrol Meece had (5) brothers; George Washington Meece, Sr., John William Meece, Phillip Meece, Abraham Meece and Thomas Richard Meece. Their parents, John Meece and Catherine (Katey) Elizabeth Goad Meece, would move to Maury County, TN shortly after they were wed in Bedford County, VA on March 12th, 1804. At the time he was 21 years of age, and she was only 14 years old. They purchased property alongside Rutherford Creek, just S/E of Spring Hill and N/E of Columbia, TN.
In Ancestry, as well as other sites, (3) of the (6) sons are described as being born in Bedford County, VA. I believe that this is incorrect and that all (6) of their sons were born in Maury County, TN. Abraham and his brother Thomas Richard didn’t stray far from home. Hickman County is adjacent to Maury County and Centerville, TN in Hickman County is only 30 miles away from Columbia, TN in Maury County. George, John and Phillip would move to the Northern District of Mississippi and William would move to Livingston, TX in Polk County.
Abraham Meece was reportedly born somewhere around 1812. He married Jane (Jinny) Stowers on December 25th, 1836 in Sumner County, TN. Jinny was born in Sumner County sometime around 1816. Her family relocated there from North Carolina. The county seat is Gallatin and the most populous city is Hendersonville. It is unclear how Abraham and Jinny met, but it is approximately 63 miles from Columbia, TN to Hendersonville, TN. Nashville, TN sits between the two.
As you will note in the marriage license, a pledge of money or a surety bond was filed with the court by the groom. “…the penal sum of Twelve Hundred and Fifty Dollars” was the financial penalty that the groom and bondsman would have to pay if a legal reason was found to stop the marriage. In most cases, no money changed hands, but the sum served as a serious deterrent against frivolous or unlawful marriages. The bond would become null and void once the marriage was concluded.
There appears to be some confusion between an entry for an Abraham Meese and Abraham Meece in both the 1860 and 1870 United States Federal Census. The 1860 Census lists an Abraham Meese in Illinois married to a Matilda McMillen. The same combination is true for the 1870 census but this time he is in the state of Arkansas. These are two different individuals. Both census should be struck from the record.
According to the 1850 census, the following children were listed: Elizabeth (Eliza) Rebecca Meece (12), Charles W. Meece (10), Onseco Meece (8), Catherine L. Meece (7), Mary F. Meece (7) and George Washington Meece (5). The name Onseco is highly unusual, and I cannot find a historical match for it online. Were Mary and Catherine twins? In this census, Abraham is married to a Martha L. According to a descendant of Julia Flippen (Hazel J. Hayes), Martha L. refers to Martha Francis Southall, Flippen’s daughter. Her research is entitled “An Unidentified Flipp’n Family.” The census states that Martha is (44) which equates to her birth date. The “L” however cannot be mistaken for an “F”. Hazel J. Hayes does not document a marriage date, and I can find no marriage certificate.
Interestingly enough, a Susan S. “Susannah” Southall married Abraham’s brother Thomas Richard Meece. It is not clear if Susan “Susanna” Southall and Martha Francis Southall are sisters, but they are clearly part of the Southall family. Ancestry portrays them as sisters but it also shows James “John” Southall and Judith “Julia” produced 15 children. This was an impossibility based on James “John” Southall’s date of death and the birth date of several of the children.
According to some fairly detailed records pertaining to James “John” Southall he had five children; Elizabeth R. Southall (Betsy), Susan “Susanna” Southall, Martha Frances Southall. William Albert Southall and John Mac Southall. Based on these records “James died of Smallpox in New Orleans on 16 Feb 1815 during the War of 1812, serving in the 2nd Regiment of TN Militia under Colonel John Cocke, assigned to the company under John Dalton. All were under the command of General Andrew Jackson.” Abraham’s father also fought in the War of 1812 under Andrew Jackson.
And what happened to Jane (Jinny) Stowers? Based on their ages in 1850, all of the children could have been born to Abraham and Jinny. Did she die during childbirth? Another confusing component is the death certificate of Elizabeth (Eliza) Rebecca Meece, the first born. The “Name of Father” is Abraham Meece and the “Maiden Name of Mother” is Southall. Her son, Oscar Dayton Duncan, provided the information for the death certificate. I can’t believe that Elizabeth would have forsaken her mother for her stepmother. If Martha Francis Southall was Elizabeth’s mother, then she would have married Abraham in the latter half of 1837.
We may never know how Jinny died but the following were two very distinct possibilities. Consumption or tuberculosis was a widespread and deadly epidemic at that time. An epidemic is the unexpected and rapid increase in disease cases or the rates of a specific health-related behavior within a particular population, community, or region, exceeding what is considered normal. The medical community did not yet understand its cause and there was no effective medical treatment.
The country was also at the tail end of the second cholera pandemic, which occurred from 1826 to 1837. Once again, little was known about the cause and transmission of the disease. The county was hard hit by the fourth cholera pandemic in 1873. It was spread by steamboat passengers who traveled throughout the waterways, especially in the South on the Mississippi River and its tributaries. This specifically included Nashville, which is located on the Cumberland River. A tributary is a river or stream that flows into a larger river or lake, rather than flowing directly into the sea or an ocean. Nashville was only (17) miles away from Hendersonville, TN and (29) miles away from Gallatin the two largest population centers in Sumner County. President James K. Polk died of cholera at his Nashville, TN home in June of 1849, only three months after leaving office.
Next up is Eliza Phillips. According to the Tennessee, U.S., Marriage Records, 1780-2002 Abraham Meece was married to Eliza Phillips on September 16th, 1863. In one of the Ancestry Family Trees, a member records a divorce in 1870 but provides absolutely nothing to substantiate it. Aside from that, I know nothing about her. They were only married for 10 months, so a divorce was likely. The marriage record doesn’t provide her age or anything else.
In the 1860 United States Federal Census for Columbia, TN in Maury County Abraham is described as a farmer with a personal estate valued at $550.00. M.L. returns but this time she is 60 years old. In the previous 1850 census she was 44 years old??? It looks like Elizabeth (Eliza) Rebecca Meece and Charles W. Meece were living with them. In the 1860 United States Federal Census for Hickman County, TN, Martha’s children Mary F. Meece and Onseco Meece were reported as part of the household of her brother William Albert Southall. William is described as a farmer and Onseco as a farm laborer.
So, sometime between the census and 1863 Martha either dies or they are divorced. Divorce was not easily granted in 1860, and couples could not simply agree to separate. The process required legal proceedings that were often expensive and socially stigmatizing.
On July, 16th, 1864 Abraham marries Martha D. Stephenson. This record also showed up in the Tennessee, U.S., Marriage Records, 1780-2002. Strangely enough it showed up twice under Martha Francis Southall in Ancestry. Once again, her age, place of birth, etc. is not provided.
I know that you think that this has become implausible, but there is more. On December 21st, 1872 Abraham marries Evaline Tidwell. Once again, it’s recorded in the Tennessee, U.S., Marriage Records, 1780-2002. This news is also published in The Herald and Mail, a local paper published in Columbia, TN on Fri, Jan 03, 1873 · Page 3. I can find very little about most of these women. I believe the chances are high that Abraham fathered more children.
The Herald and Mail
Fri, Jan 03, 1873 ·Page 3
And finally, on November 17th, 1881, at the age of 70, Abraham marries 62 years old Nancy T. Aydelott. It will prove to be the biggest mistake of his life.
THESE ARE ARTICLES TAKEN FROM THE
“HICKMAN PIONEER” NEWSPAPERS FOR THE
YEAR 1884. DURING THIS TIME, SOMEONE FROM
THE COMMUNITIES WOULD WRITE ARTICLES
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY. THE WRITERS NAMES
WERE FICTITIOUS. THE ARTICLES INCLUDED ARE
FROM THE COMMUNITIES OF SWAN CREEK;
“SUNRISE”, “SWAN”, “SWAN BLUFF”, ETC.
APRIL 18, 1884
“LOCAL”
Mr. Bas Peery started to return to his home, in Kentucky,
last week. He is accompanied by his father, Esp. M. G.
Peery.
“MISCELLANEOUS”
Last week, Mrs. Nancy Meece, of Swan, was arrested on
charge of having poisoned her husband, Abram Meece,
who died on the 12th. of February last. She gave bond for
her appearance at the circuit court. The woman is 73 years
old, and her husband was 76 at the time of his death. Her
son-in-law, J. A. Himes and his wife, Mary T. Himes, are
also charged with the same offense. The affair created a
good deal of excitement and will doubtless be well
ventilated by the courts. They were arraigned before
Justices R. M. Anderson and V. B. Shouse and waived
examination, giving bond for their appearance, as stated.
I’ve contacted the Tennessee State Library and Archives in order to follow up on what happened after the arrest. I’m still waiting for a reply. His brother Thomas Richard Meece, along with a number of other Meece family members, were buried at the Campground Cemetery in Centerville, TN located in Hickman County. I’ve been unable to locate Abraham or Nancy’s burial location.
I have a million questions about all of these marriages (6 in total). Was Abraham a womanizer? Was he abusive? Was he both? As I explained in my narrative about my great-grandmother Amelia Antoinette Brown Meece: “Married women lived a very restricted life; wives were expected to cater to the needs of their house and husband. Women had few rights in the 19th century. They could not own property, could not vote, did not have legal rights to their children, could not work outside the home, and were generally controlled by their husbands. Women’s suffrage, the right to vote, wasn’t ratified until August 18th, 1920, (4) years after Amelia died.”
Domestic violence was reportedly pervasive at that time although no statistics were kept. Spousal abuse was not widely considered a crime and was generally treated as a private family matter. The social stigma and legal systems of the era often discouraged victims from coming forward. English common law, which heavily influenced American jurisprudence, had long given husbands the right of “chastisement,” or corporal punishment, for their wives. A man’s violence against his wife was largely accepted as a right to discipline and rule his household.
A woman with no economic power was often trapped in an abusive marriage. Unfortunately, that is still the case today. Certainly not to the degree that Nancy may have experienced in 1884. Perhaps, Nancy felt that she had no other recourse, so she sought the help of her daughter and son-in-law to poison Abraham. She was desperate and she felt that his death was her only way out. Obviously, money was not a factor or a motive.
I’ve pieced together more than I thought I could. I purposely saved my narrative on Abraham towards the end because I knew how complicated the story was. When I began this research a year ago, I started with Abraham. I quickly moved to someone else when I discovered how difficult the research was going to be. Obviously there is a lot of conjecture and a lot assumptions made when piecing this story together. Bottom line, he was poisoned and he died. I would gladly welcome contributions by the readers.