Pugh Family
The Pugh family began arriving
in Pike County in the late 1820’s. Lewis Pugh was the first to arrive
in 1827 and about 1830/31 Jesse Pugh came to Pike County. These brothers are
the son’s of a Willoughby Jr. and Sarah Bobo Pugh. Lewis Pugh, son of a David Pugh, came to
Richmond County Virginia from Wales about 1695. About 1735,
Lewis and his son
John returned to Wales to claim an inheritance. He left behind a wife and six
children, David, Elizabeth, Henry, Willoughby (Sr.), Ann and Lewis, Jr. In Wales
there were difficulties with the inheritance and Lewis, Sr. never returned to America, dying there in 1740. His wife, Ann Webster Pugh
dispatched son David to Wales to continue the inheritance claim. He also did
not return and no further record of sons John and David have been found. Photo
is of the ancestral Pugh home, Tyddyn Sheffrey, in North Wales taken in 2001 by
Alice Knight Hayes. The estate was owned by David Pugh in the late
1600's and is located on the western slope of Cader Idris Mountains
overlooking Cardigan Bay and the Irish Sea. Our earliest know Pugh ancestor,
David, died in Wales about 1695.
Lewis Pugh, our ancestor, was
the first of our Pugh line to immigrate to the American Colonies. After the
death of his father, he left Wales for America, having learned that any
inheritance due him was legally encumbered. He was married about 1703 in
Virginia Colony to Ann Webster. She died after 1740 in Richmond County,
Virginia Colony.
After raising a large family,
he returned to Wales to claim his right of inheritance to his father’s estate.
His older brother, David, had died in Virginia Colony, and his younger
brother, Edward, had returned to Wales. Lewis learned that Edward had claimed
inheritance rights by lying to the royal court that his brother, David, was
deceased and that Lewis, also, was dead in Virginia Colony. Lewis ,
accompanied by his oldest son, John, then debarked in 1735 for County
Merioneth, Wales to dispute his brother’s claim and to pursue his rightful
claim to the inheritance. Unfortunately, Lewis died in North Wales before the
case was settled. Son John did not return to Virginia and Ann Webster Pugh
dispatched son David to continue the claim. He was not heard from again.
The children of Lewis and Ann
Pugh were all born in Lurenburg Parrish of Richmond County in Virginia Colony.
Records of all of their christenings appear in the North Farham Parrish
Registery of the Church of England in Richmond County, Virginia Colony.
John Pugh b. 29 April 1704 d. Wales (?)
David Pugh b. 25 December 1706 d. Wales (?)
Elizabeth Pugh b. 19 March 1708 d. (?)
Henry Pugh b. 2 March 1710 d. 1766
*Willoughby Pugh b. 3 May 1711
d. abt. 1790
Ann Pugh b. 14 November 1715 d. (?)
Lewis Pugh b. 2 March 1718 d. (?)
(Documentation: Reference christenings of all the above persons appear in WB
#6, page 396, ECD papers, Box #4, Virginia Historical Society.)
Willoughby Pugh (2-Lewis,
1-David) evidently married twice, and the children by the first marriage,
spouse unknown, were:
John Pugh b. abt. 1731 d. (?)
Rosamond Pugh b. abt. 1733 d. (?)
* Willoughby Pugh, Jr. b. abt. 1735
d. before 1800
The following children were born in Charlotte County, Virginia to a second
marriage, spouse unknown:
Thomas Pugh b. 1749 d. 1793
Samuel Pugh b. 1751 d. 1805
Young Pugh b. 1754 d. 1835
David Pugh b. 1757 d. 1806
John Pugh b. 1760 d. 1824
James Pugh b. 1761 d. 1836
Martha Pugh b. 1763 d. (?)
Willoughby Pugh Jr., grandson
of Lewis Pugh Sr, is the father of our ancestor Jesse. Willoughby lived in
Albemarle County, VA on lands that he and his wife, Sarah
Bobo Pugh, sold in 1772, then he purchased land in Amherst County, VA. Amherst County
is where Jesse was born. This property was sold in1781 and
the family moved to South Carolina in the area that became Laurens County in
1785.Willoughby died there before 1800 and
Sara died there in 1802. The children of Willoughby and Sara Bobo Pugh were:
Lewis Pugh b. about 1758 d. (?)
Willoughby Pugh III b. about 1760 d. 1825,
Sally Pugh b. about 1763 d. (?)
David Pugh b. about 1764 d. (?)
William Pugh b. about 1766 d. (?)
Martin Pugh b. about
1768 d.(?)
John Pugh
b. about 1772 d. (?)
Milly Pugh b. about 1774 d. (?)
*Jesse Pugh b. about 1776 d. 1854
The Pugh Family that settled
in Pike County Alabama area in the late 1820-early 1830 time frame have their
roots in Wales and descend from the above David, Lewis, Willoughby Sr.
Willoughby Jr.Pugh. David’s son Lewis immigrated to Virginia but returned to
Wales and died there. One of his sons, Willoughby, remained in Virginia and is
the ancestor of Jesse Pugh. Lewis’ son Willoughby had a son named Willoughby
Pugh Jr who married Sara Bobo and is the father of Jesse.
Lydia Sims is the daughter of
Zacahariah and Elizabeth Graves Sims. The Sims/Simms/Symes family has been
documented back to a John Symes born abt 1510 in England. The family was an
influential and wealthy family with ties to the Popham, Horner and Graves
families as well as the Royal Family of England, King Edward III.(Note:
An ancestor of Lydia Sims, Captain Thomas Graves, was one of the first
Englishmen to land and found Jamestown in Virginia Colony in 1607. Kline Pugh
finished the research on that project and has been inducted into the noted
“Jamestown Society”. This means that any descendant of our Pugh line can be a
candidate for acceptance into the Jamestown Society by offering proof of
descent from Lydia Sims Pugh and an endorsement of Kline Pugh, also of our
Lydia Sims Pugh line. A lifetime membership is $200.00.)
Lewis Pugh married Rebecca Sims and Jesse married Lydia Sims, both
daughters of Zachariah and Elizabeth Graves Sims in Laurens County, South
Carolina. Lewis and Jesse moved to Lincoln County, Tennessee about 1814. Lewis
was the first to move into the Mississippi Territory in what later became
Alabama and about 1817 Jesse followed him to the Conecuh County, Alabama area.
Jesse Pugh and Lydia Sims Pugh had the following children:
1. Mastin
B. Pugh, m, b. 1795 Laurens Co SC
2. Malinda Pugh, f, b. 1797 Laurens Co SC
3. Burrell B. Pugh, m, b. 29 Dec 1800, Laurens Co SC
4. Ira Pugh, m, b. 1801, Laurens Co SC
5. Elizabeth Pugh, f, b. 1802 Laurens Co SC
6. Mary Ann Pugh, f, b. 1807 Laurens Co
SC
7. Albert Pugh, m, b. 1811 Laurens Co SC
8. Louis Harrison Pugh, m, b. 1814 Laurens Co SC
9. Adeline Pugh, f, b. 1818, TN
Jesse Pugh and his sons, over the next few years, acquired in excess of 2,500 acres of land a few miles Northwest of Troy on both sides of County Road 1 (Shellhorn Road) and extending from Conecuh River to Oak Grove Church on County Road 36. In the early years the river could be forded and the area was called Pugh Ford. Later a bridge was built across the river that was called Pugh Bridge. The Pughs farmed and were well known in the county as cattle breeders. On Sundays, the family traveled to Beulah Primitive Baptist Church located in what later became the City of Troy. Jesse’s daughter, Elizabeth, married Ira E. Pugh. Ira E. Pugh was the son of Lewis Pugh and was Elizabeth’s double first cousin. Elizabeth died on July 8th, 1851 and is buried in Beulah Cemetery just inside the boundary formed by South Three Notch Street. Jesse died on June 13th 1854 and he is believed to be buried next to his daughter Elizabeth at Beulah Cemetery. However, there is no marker for him in that area. Below is the will of Jesse.
A Copy of the
Last Will and Testament of Jesse Pugh, deceased, filed in office June 19, 1854: Bird F. Fitzpatrick, Judge of Probate:
In the name of God: Amen,
I, Jesse Pugh, of the County of Pike in the State of Alabama, being of sound mind and disposing memory, and in good health, but having attained an age when I feel that it is wise to arrange my affairs in proper order, when I cannot continue to live a great while longer, do make and ordain this my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all other wills which I have at any time made.
First, I give and bequeath to my beloved wife, Lydia, the following Negres: Rubin, George, and Huldah; also 200 acres of land being the east one-half of the NW one-quarter, and the west one-half of the SE one-quarter, and the SE one-quarter of of the NE one-half of Section 14, Township 10, Range 20, in the County of Pike aforesaid. Also all household and kitchen furniture, plantation tools, two mules and one horse, five cows and calves, four sows and pigs, and ten head of stock cattle besides, five ewes, and lambs, 1200 pounds of pork, 400 bushels of corn, and 1,000 waight of fodder, to be the property of my wife during her life, subject to her absolute controle and upon her death to be sold and the proceeds divided equally among my heirs named in this will
Second, I give and bequeath to my son Maston B., a Negro girl, Charity, and a Negro boy Nelson.
Third, I give and bequeath to my daughter, Malinda Stinson, now a widow, Lucy, a Negro woman and her child, Silas, said Negroes to be the property of my daughter, Malinda, during her life and after her death to her children, and I hereby direct that in the case Malinda should marry again the said property is to be kept for her sole and separate use during her life and immediately become the property of her children upon her death.
Fourth, I give and bequeath to my son Burrell, Laura, a Negro woman, and her increase.
Fifth, I give and bequeath to the children of my deceased daughter, Polly Ann Wiggins, to-wit: Jesse, John, Emalina, Rebekka, Lydia, Albert Dowing, and Betsy, a sum of money out of my estate equal in amount to the value of the property which my children take under this will; that is, they are to have in money a share of my estate equal to the share which their mother would have received as one of my heirs had she survived me.
Sixth, I give and bequeath to the children of my deceased daughter, Polly Ann Wiggins, to-wit: Lydia, James, Rhoda, Margaret, Martha, Jessie Harrison, and Masten, the same amount of money as I have directed to be paid to the children of my deceased daughter, Elizabeth. This is they shall be paid a sum of money equal in amount to the shares which the other children are to receive in property and which their mother, my daughter Polly Ann would have received had she survived me.
Seventh, I give and bequeath to my son Ira, the following Negroes; Betsy, a woman and Rosa, a girl, and their increase.
Eighth, I give and bequeath to my son Albert, a Negro woman, Latty, and a Negro boy, Issral with future increase (trails off bottom of page but appears to be all)
Ninth, I give and bequeath to my son, Louis, a Negro boy, Henry, and a Negro girl, Cynthia, with her future increase.
Tenth, I give and bequeath to my daughter, Adaline, wife of Stephen Blackburn, a Negro woman, Ester and a Negro boy, Fortune, to be the property of my daughter, Adaline, for her sole and separate use, free from the control of her husband an not in any way liable for his debts, to be her own property during her life and after her death to descend to her children.
Eleventh, I hereby will and direct that at my death my Negros named Bill and Dolly shall be sold and also that my land not herein named and bequeathed and also other property not mentioned in my will shall be sold and that the money be employed to make up the sum to be paid to the children of my deceased daughters, as I have above directed and if there should be an overplus after paying over to my grandchildren, then the said overplus shall be divided out among all of my children as to make the shares they receive of my estate as nearly equal as possible, my wish being that each of my heirs shall receive as nearly as be an equal portion of my property; that all of my children living at the time of my death are to take the property which I have hereby bequeathed to them and if they should die before I depart this life then their property which I have bequeathed to them to descend to their children as an amount of money equal to said property to be paid to them as I have directed in the case of the children of my deceased daughters.
Lastly, I hereby appoint Masten B. Pugh and Lewis Pugh, my sons, executors of this my Last Will and Testament, and hereby desire that no security on their bond as executors be required as I have full confidence in their integrity.
I testimony I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 24th day of March, 1852.
Jesse Pugh
This the Last Will and Testament of Jesse Pugh, was signed in our presence and we have signed this in his presence and in the presence of each other this 24th day of March, A. D. 1852.
Andrew P. Love
John Key
Cornelius Smart
Admitted to Probate July 17, 1854
Following Jesse’s death,
Lydia moved to Butler County and lived out her life there with her son Masten.
Her actual date of death is not known but was after 1860.
Mastin B. Pugh married the
first time about 1815 to Elizabeth Wiggins. They had the following
children: Ivey Pugh, m, b. (?), Jeremiah Pugh, m. b. (?), Martha Ann Pugh, f,
b. 1820, Jesse C. Pugh, m, b. 1822 and Rebecca Elizabeth Pugh, b. 1833. About
1835 he married Charlotte Taylor and had these children: Margaret
Pugh, f. b. 1835, Lidia Pugh, f. b. 1837,
Adeline Pugh, f, b. 1839 Pike County AL, Mary “Polly” Ann Pugh,
Oliver Pugh, m. b, 1843, Rhody
Pugh, f, b. 1845, Lousia Pugh, f,
b. 1846, William Pugh, m, b. 1848, Lucinda Pugh, f, b. 1849, J. Pugh, m, b.
1851 Butler Co AL and Melissa Pugh, f, b. 1854 Butler Co AL.
Malinda Pugh married Micajah Stinson about 1829 and had the
following children: William , born 1833, Joshuah, born 1835 and Jasper
born 1841.
Burrell B. Pugh married
Barbary (Barbara) Smith on December 27, 1823. Their Children are: John Pugh,
m, b. 5 Nov 1824, Wade Hezekiah Pugh, m, b. 8 Feb 1826, Willoughby Sims Pugh,
m, b. 2 Nov 1827, d. 16 Mar 1915 Wood Co TX, Mariah Pugh, f, b. 5 Feb 1829,
Sarah Ann Pugh, f, b. 1831, d. 1 Sep 1895, Hannah Pugh, f, b. 15 Mar 1833, d.
24 May 1914, Adaline Pugh, f. b. 18 Oct 183 Pike Co AL5, d. 6 Mar 1856,
Melinda Pugh, f, b. 12 May 1836, d. (?), Alexander Pugh, m, b. 27 April 1838
d. (?), Jesse Y Pugh, m, Lydia Ann Pugh, f, b. 11 Apr 1842, d. (?) Texas, Mary
C. Pugh, f, b. 26 Apr 1844 Pike, d. 21 Oct 1868 and Nathan David Pugh, m, b.
1846 , d. (?).
On September 11, 1855, Burrell
B. Pugh had a will drawn up. On September 20, 1855, he died and the will was
admitted to probate on October 22, 1855. Burrell was 55 years old at the time
of his death. Below is a copy of
his will.
A Copy of The Will of Burrell B. Pugh
Burrell B. Pugh, Last Will and Testament, Filed in office September 23, A. D. 1855, and 4th day of October set for probate. Admitted to Probate this 22nd day of October, 1855, and recorded in Book of Wills, pages 129, 130, 131, and 132.
Bird Fitzpatrick,
Judge of Probate
The State of
Alabama,}
Pike County } In
the Name of God, Amen:
I, Burrel B. Pugh, of said state and county, being of sound mind and disposing memory, and well assured that in a very short space of time at most, I must exchange this world for another, and in prospect of a speedy termination of life, I am desirous to dispose of and arrange all of my temporal affairs, so that my entire estate may be kept, owned and enjoyed by my family, do make, ordain and constitute this writing my Last Will and Testament.
Item 1. I commit my body to the dust, and command my soul to God who gave it to me, trusting that through the mediation of my Savior to enjoy His peaceful presence evermore.
Item 2. I desire that all my just debts, and burial expense, be immediately paid out of any money I have or may come to have, at the very earliest practical moment.
Item 3. I desire that all my estate, both real and personal, to be disposed of as follows: to-wit: I will and bequeath that all my lands which I may have to belong, together with my Negroes, houses, hogs, cattle, and personal estate of every kind, together with evidence of debt to me belonging, including my entire estate, shall belong to be kept and held, owned and enjoyed, by my well beloved wife, Barbary Pugh, during her natural life or widowhood, and if my said wife shall desire to marry again and does again marry, then and in this event I will and desire that my entire estate above mentioned and a child's part alone, and only, to be distributed to and given off to my said wife.
Item 4. I will and bequeath that all my sons unmarried and residing with me to-wit: My sons Willoughby, Alexander, Jessie, and David, shall have given them and each of them as they arrive at age, from my estate, a good horse, bridle, and saddle worth at least seventy-five or one hundred dollars making them equal to the part that I have heretofore done for my son, Wade Pugh.
Item 5. I will and bequeath that each of my daughters who are now single and unmarried shall have set apart to them when they arrive at age or marry the following property, making that given them equal to what I have heretofore given my daughter, Mariah Stephens, and Sarah Wingard, to-wit: to my daughter Hannah, one good bed and furniture, household and kitchen furniture amounting in value at least seventy-five or one hundred dollars, and to my daughter Adaline, the like amount of furniture; To my daughter Lydia, the like amount of furniture, to my daughter Mary, the like amount of furniture: the same to be given to each of them when they marry or arrive at age as before mentioned.
Item 6. I desire that my executors hereinafter named shall complete and finish my big mill and rent the same out annually and pay the rent of to my wife. The small mill I desire to be fitted up for the use of my family.
Item 7. I desire and will that my Negro woman, Lauer, and her children, Lucious and Sam, shall be sold forthwith after my death and my said wife to have the proceeds of the sale to lay out for other Negroes as she may desire for the use of herself and benefit of my estate.
Item 8. I will and bequeath that at the death or marriage of said wife, Barbary, that all of my estate of every character shall be equally divided between my children except my daughter, Mariah Stephans, whom is not to get to enjoy any part of my estate during the lifetime of her husband, Daniel Stephans. Should he be dead at the time my estate is distributed, then a part of my estate which is now withheld from her is to be given off to her in common with the rest of my children. I desire and will that the part of my estate which would fall to her, the said Mariah Stephens, in the event that the said husband, Daniel Stephens, should be living when my estate is distributed, to be set apart and by my executors turned over into the hands of some suitable trustees, who shall keep and hold the part of my estate that in law would go to the said Mariah, for the sole use and benefit of the heirs of the body of my daughter, Mariah, being determined that her said husband, Daniel Stephens, shall in no way enjoy any portion of my estate in any case whatsoever.
Item 9. I desire that my property, after the estate shall be inventoried, shall immediately into the hands of my wife, Barbary, who together with son, Wade H. Pugh and Benjamin Wingard, my son-in-law, are appointed as my executors, to this my Last Will and Testament, in whom judgement I have confidence, and who are not to give bond as my executors nor make annual settlement with Probate Court, unless they are wasting my estate.
I desire that my friend, A. N. Worthy, shall act as the legal adviser of my executors, who I doubt not will as carefully to them advise as he has to me in my lifetime.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal to this Last Will and Testament, on the 11th day of September, A. D. 1855.
Burrel B. Pugh (Seal)
In the presence of:
Presley Davis
Bryant Wilson
W. W. Hartsfield
The State of
Alabama}
Pike County }
Before me, Bird Fitzpatrick, Judge of probate in and for said county, came Presley Davis, Bryant Wilson, and W. W. Hartsfield, the subscribing witnesses to the above Last Will and Testament of Burrel B. Pugh, late of said county, deceased, who being duly sworn on oath that they saw Burrel B. Pugh sign and subscribe his name to the above and foregoing paper writing and declare it to be his Last Will and Testament; that he subscribed his name to the same in their presence, and that they as subscribing witnesses to said will signed the same in the presence of the said Burrel B. Pugh, and the presence of each other. Affiants further say that the said Burrel B. Pugh signed the same on the day and date written in said instrument above, and that he was, at the time of signing the same, of sound mind and disposing memory, and was not influenced to make said will so far as they knew or believed; that it was his own voluntary act.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 22nd day of October, A. D. 1855.
Bird Fitzpatrick,
Judge
of Probate
It is therefore ordered by the Court that the foregoing instrument be and the same is hereby this day admitted to Probate as the Last Will and Testament of Burrell B. Pugh, deceased, and ordered to be filed and recorded.
Bird
Fitzpatrick,
Judge of Probate
(Note: In section eight of Burrell Pugh’s will he excludes his daughter, Mariah Pugh Stephens from any inheritance as long as her husband, Daniel J. Stephens, is alive. Apparently there was some “bad blood” between the two.)
Ira Pugh, the son of Jesse and
Lydia Sims Pugh married Christina. No other information on Ira.
Elizabeth Pugh married Ira E.
Pugh. Ira E. Pugh was the son of Lewis and Rebecca Sims Pugh. Lewis Pugh and
Jesse Pugh were brothers and Lydia Sims and Rebecca Sims were sisters. They
had the following children: Louis Pugh, m, b. abt 1826 Jesse Pugh, m, b. abt
1827, John Pugh, M, b. 1828, Emaline Pugh, f, b. 1831, Rebecca Elizabeth Pugh,
f, b. 1833, Lydia Pugh, f, b. 1837 Pike Co AL and Albert Downing Pugh, m, b.
1840.
Mary Ann Pugh married Kilby
Wiggins about 1825 and had the following children: Elizabeth Wiggins, f, b. abt
1825, Lydia Ann Wiggins, f, b. 1829, James
E. Wiggins, m, b. 22 April 1831, Rhody Wiggins, f, b. 1833, Margaret Wiggins,
f. b. 1834, Martha Wiggins, f, b. abt 1838, Jesse Harrison Wiggins, m, b. 1842
, Mastin Bunyon Wiggins, m, b. 11 Feb 1844, Jane Wiggins, f, b. (?) and Mary
Wiggins, f. (?).
Albert Pugh married Martha
Corbitt on March 1st, 1837. Their children were: James Lewis Pugh, m, b. 1838,
Mary E. Pugh, f, b. 1839, Newton Pugh, m, b. 1841, Felix Pugh, m, b. 1843,
Nicholas B. Pugh, m, b. 1844, Jesse Marion Pugh, m, b. 15 March 1845, George
Washington Pugh, m, b. 10 June 1846, Martha P. Pugh, f, b. 1849, Lidia Z.
Pugh, f. b. 1850, John Pugh, m, b. 1856, and Ira Pugh, m. b. 1859. John and
Ira were born in Butler County, AL.
Lewis Harrison Pugh married
Karenhapuck Corbitt on August 7th, 1838 and had the following children: Jesse
Pugh, m, b. 1834, James Pugh, m. b. 15 Apr 1839, Alex Pugh, m, b. 1842, Mace O
Pugh, m, b. 23 Dec 1866, A. (Allbert?) Pugh, m. b. 1842, Harrison Pugh, m. b.
1843, Lydia Pugh, f, b. 1846, Sarah Pugh f, b. 1848 and Sally Pugh, f, b.
1851. Lewis was robbed and murdered in his farm house at the Cross Roads by
three men on the night of May 27, 1889.One of the criminals confessed to the
murder and was hanged at Pine Level, Alabama. He was laid to rest beside his
wife in the Corbitt Family Cemetery. He was 75 yrs old. Due to the abusive
practice of a logging company, the old Corbitt Cemetery was destroyed in 1990.
Before this happened, the graves of Lewis Harrison and Karenkapuck (Corbitt)
Pugh were removed to the Old Salem Church Cemetery at China Grove in the
northern most part of Pike County.
Adeline Pugh married Stephen
Blackburn on August 24, 1838. Their children are: Elizabeth Blackburn, f, b.
1840, Liddy Ann Blackburn, f, b. 1841, Mary Blackburn, f, b. 1842, Sophronia
Blackburn, f. b. 1844, Martha Blackburn, f, b. 1845, Maria Blackburn, f, b.
1845, Joseph Blackburn, m, b. 1847 and Jesse Blackburn, m, b. 1849.
Wade Hezekiah Pugh, son of
Burrell B. Pugh married Hicksey Talbot, daughter of Joel and Catherine Beaman Talbot on
February 7, 1848. Their children
are: Maria E. Pugh, f, b. 1848 Pike County AL, Burrell Franklin Pugh, m,
b. 1849 Pike County AL, Barbara C. Pugh, f, b. 1853 Pike County AL,
Hezekiah Alexander Pugh, m, b. 29 Nov 1854 Pike County AL d. 1 Jan 1936, Rhody
(Rhoda?) E. Pugh, f, b. 28 June 1857 Pike Co AL, d.
27 Jul 1938, Andalusia,
AL, Joel D. Pugh, m, b. 1859 Pike County AL, Jefferson Pugh, m, b. 1861 Pike
County AL, Yancey Pugh, m, b. 1863 Pike County AL and William Henry Pugh, m,
b. 1866 Pike County AL.
Wade
H. Pugh died February 8th, 1868 at the age of forty-two years, leaving a wife
and nine children between the ages of two and twenty years of age. Hicksey
Talbot Pugh does not appear on the 1870 Pike County census. Rhody Pugh passed
on to her children that after her father’s death, the family went to live
with an uncle. The uncle’s name has faded from the grandchildren’s memory.
Who it was must have lived in other than Pike County as Hicksey and children
are not listed living with anyone in Pike County that year. She also told a
story that following the Civil War and the death of Wade, her father, she
accompanied her uncle on a trip to Montgomery to sell farm produce. One of the
items sold was a barrel of honey. In Montgomery they saw a former slave of her
uncle who begged them to allow him to scrape out the little amount of honey
left in the barrel. He claimed he had not eaten for several days.
One
must wonder what it must have been like during the reconstruction years
following the Civil War. Many Blacks, freed at last, moved away from the
former owner’s property into the cities and could not find work to support
themselves and their families. Others managed to find farm work perhaps on the
same farms they lived as slaves. On the 1870 Pike County census can be found
Blacks living next door to the White farmers and plantation owners while
others are living in the same house with Whites, some with the same surname as
the White head of household. It was not an easy life for Blacks or Whites
during this period. Photo on left is Willoughby Sims Pugh.
Lydia
Ann Pugh, daughter of Burrell B. and Barbara Smith Pugh, was the sister of
Wade Hezikiah and Willoughby Sims Pugh. She was born in Pike County, Alabama
in 1842. She married James Hogan Dendy on November 13th, 1866.
James Hogan Dendy served in the Company “C”, Alabama Infantry
during the Civil War and was a prisoner of war at the time of Lee’s
surrender. It is believed that the marriage took place at the home of her
sister, Mary C. “Polly” Pugh Ruston. Their first two sons were born in
Pike County prior to the young couple’s move to Wood County, Texas before
the 1870 census was taken. They made another move about 1879 to Bowie County,
Texas. They had the following
children: Joseph B. Dendy, m, b.
1867, Buford Watts Dendy, m, b. 1869, Mollie Dendy, f, b. 1872, William Allen
Dendy, m, b. 1874, Jeffalona Dendy, f, b. 1876, Orashio Dendy, m, b. 1880 and
Burrell C. Dendy, m, b. 1882. James H. Dendy died June 29th, 1892 and is
buried in the Hubbard Cemetery in Hubbard, Texas. Lydia Ann died 21 November
1922 and is buried next to James Hogan Dendy in Hubbard, Texas. A descendant
of James Hogan and Lydia Ann Pugh Dendy, Kathy Duncan, was gracious enough to
share the information on her line of the Pugh family as well as other members
of the Jesse and Lydia Sims Pugh descendants. A special thanks goes to Kathy
for her help.
More information can be found
on the Pugh families in the census reports of Butler and Pike Counties,
Alabama as well as The Heritage Of Pike County, Alabama book, published by
Heritage Publishing Consultants, Copyright 2001 by Heritage Publishing and the
Pike County Heritage Book Committee and in other publications of the Pike
County Historical Society available at the Pike County Library in Troy.
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