Yancey White, born 1810-1812, believed first cousin of  Adolphus White 

While I have not proven Yancey White's relationship with Adolphus White (father of our subject William White), both families came from Pendleton District, South Carolina and the two may have had a common grandparent. At age 39 Yancey White had dark blue eyes and light hair. His home was Pendleton District. Between 1852 and 1860 he migrated to Floyd County, Georgia and lived in an adjacent county separate from the other group of Pendleton Whites who arrived in Georgia about 1831.

Yancey White Timeline From Records

1811 Born in South Carolina, likely Pendleton District (later Pickens, later Oconee).
1832 Estimated year of marriage to Rebecca Bryce.
1833 Aug 5: Birth of first daughter Jane White in Pickens County, married George Washington Burns, she died Oconee County, SC 1918 June 28.
1840 Lived in Pickens County, SC., 3 in household: Himself and wife, each 20-29 and a daughter 5 - 9. He and his wife were born 1811-1820.
1849 Was a guardian ad litem for child Jas R. G. Bryce in Pickens County. The father seems to be Thomas Bryce, deceased. Thomas Bryce is said to be a brother to Rebecca Bryce and to have married Yancey's sister Mahala White, b. 1804.

1850 May 3, Keowee Courier, p. 4. Sheriff's Sale -- to be sold at the Court House in Pickens District on the first Monday and Tuesday of May next. "153 Acres of land more or less, near the Double Cabin, adjoining lands of Mrs. Vandiver, James Ferguson jr. and others, levied on as the property of M.S. Vandiver at the suit of YANCEY WHITE. (newspapers.com, accessed 16 Jan 2018.)

1850 Lived in Anderson County, SC with wife Margaret.
1852-60 Relocated to Floyd County, Georgia
1860 Census: Age 49, lived Cave Spring P.O., Floyd County, Georgia with Eliza, age 30. Neither had slaves counted in the census.
1870 Lived at Livingston Post Office, Floyd County, Georgia with wife Talitha Murray White, age 30.
1873-75 The Tax list has Mrs. E. White with 140 acres of property in 1874. In the last entry for her, 1875, she had no property. She was 45 if her 1860 stated age of 30 was correct. The appearance is that Eliza claimed to be married (or to have been married) to Yancey White, even though Yancey lived with Talitha Murray and her young children.

Floyd County Tax Records

Year, District, image#	Name	Acres	District &section	Land value	Household &kitchen furniture	Livestock value	Plantation & mechanical tools	Other property	Note	Aggregate value
1873, Livingston, 255	White, Mrs. E.	140	3,4	400						400
1874, Livingston, 479	White, Mrs. E.	140	3,4	400	50			75		525
1874, Livingston, 479	White, Yancey	160	3,4	200	50		100	500		850
1875 Livingston 703	White, Yancey	160	3,4	200			70	305		575
1875 Livingston 703	White, Mrs. E.

Source: Floyd County, Georgia, Property Tax Digests, ancestry.com

See more property tax records on this site data-dump/ga-tax-digests.htm and download specifics.doc

1880 Continued at Livingston Post Office. Mary Murray White, age 28, was his wife.

1885 Yancey White was on the Georgia Property Tax Digest at Livingston District, Thomas Mills post office. He had 160 acres valued at $250.
See also section "Postscript on Yancey White" below.

Reported age of Yancy White over the years
Date	Age	Born
1840	20-29	1811-1820
1850	38	1812
1860	49	1811
1864 Jan	54	Jan 1810 or before
1870	61	1809
1880	67	1813
I take his birth year as 1811, the age stated in 1860 at which time his partner's stated age was 30 (b. 1830).

Dates
		1853 Dec 6	Birth of Mary Murray

Yancey White's Floyd County, Georgia Period, 1860-1890

This section was re-written in Jan. 2018 after the writer noticed the age of Eliza in 1860 to be 30, not 80. Yancey did not go to Georgia with his elderly mother.)

By the 1860 census Yancey White, 49, had moved to Cave Spring district, Cave Spring post office, Floyd County, Georgia. The census lists him as a domestic and his female companion, age 30, as a farmer with $3500 in real estate and $5,639 in property. He was born in South Carolina and the woman's birthplace was not stated. Neither name is on the slave schedule as an owner that year. Listing Yancey as a domestic and Eliza as a farmer in 1860 may have been a mistake, or the woman may have been the land owner. In later tax records the woman is later listed as "Mrs. E. White" and her property was separately listed and taxed from that of Yancey.

The 1860 census listing was household 1511 on page 352, date 30 July 1860 by Wm. Johnson. Cave Spring is a little over 4 miles from State Line Cemetery. Therefore Yancey White was in proximity to the Harbour plantation and Mary Adams.

1864 January. Yancey White appeared in the "Census for Re-organizing the Georgia Militia" in the 1059th Militia District, where he was a 54-year-old farmer and stated he was born in Pendleton District, SC. (By this report he was born before January 1810.)

1864. For a time during the war, Yancey White was in Floyd Legion (State Guards) as a private and a cavalryman. It was the purpose of the Census for Re-organizing to identify men not in military service to serve as state guards.

1867 August 31, Yancey White married Tillitha Murray in Floyd County. Book A p. 327.
"Georgia Marriages, 1808-1967," database, familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FW8Y-NHH : 24 December 2014)"
Note below that on 28 August he was arrested on a charge of Bastardy brought by Katherine Matthews, a black woman, and released on $1000 bond. His marriage was three days later. Was it a marriage to cover another pregnancy, or did it benefit Yancey in some other way such as being a diversion from his Katherine Matthews troubles?

His home in 1867, according to the news clipping below, was Thomas' Mills on Big Cedar Creek.

In 1870 Yancey White, age 61 (b. 1809), lived in subdivision 141, Livingston Post Office, Floyd County, Georgia. As in 1860, he was a farmer. He owned personal property worth $650, no real estate. He was born in South Carolina. Note that he lost his ownership of real estate and moved away from Cave Spring district to Livingston/Thomas' Mills after 1860. His partner and housekeeper in 1870 was Talitha (Murray) White, 30 (b. 1840), born in Georgia. Children in the household were Mary Elizabeth White, 2, born Georgia; and Alice Watters White, 5 months, born December 1869 in Georgia. The two-year-old was designated an idiot. Talitha Murray was probably an older sister of Mary below, an older daughter of John C. Murray, who was a close neighbor of Yancey White in the Livingston District in 1867. I found no marriage license for Yancey and Talitha, and it is unclear if Yancey was the father of the two children.

Two marriage certificates exist for Yancey White and Mary Murry. On 9 Feb 1871, Yancey White got a license to marry Mary Murray in Dallas County, Alabama. (Alabama, Select Marriages 1816-1942, ancestry.com.) No one with those names is found in the Dallas County 1870 census. On 10 Jan. 1875 he was married in Floyd County (Book B p. 295) by A. D. [Alvin Dean] Hardin, J.P. In 1870 a Mary Murray, age 16, no occupation, born Georgia, lived with her large family at Cave Spring, subdivision 141, Floyd County. The father was John C. Murray, 69, farmer, b. Georgia. The mother was  Margaret, 54, housekeeper, b. Tennessee. There was no child at home named Talitha.  On Aug 16, 1867, John C. Murray was placed on a Livingston district voter roll after having given oath recorded at Oath Book A page 456. Yancey was two names below at A-458. Georgia, Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869, Floyd, district 42. ancestry.com.

In 1880 Yancey White continued to live in Livingston, militia district 1059. He understated his age as 67. He was a farmer and he and his parents were all born in South Carolina. Mary White, age 28 was his wife and housekeeper. She and her parents were born in Georgia. Three children were in the house: Mahalie, 4, female, daughter; Martha, 2, female, daughter; and Yancey, 7 months, male, son. Yancey Jr.(By the way the son was buried at Oakland Cemetery, Rome, Georgia and his stone says born 30 Sep 1879. The children were born in Georgia. The last person in the household was Billey, 24, male, black, a servant who worked on farm. He and his parents were born in Georgia.

1885. Yancey White was on the Georgia Property Tax Digest at Livingston District, Thomas Mills post office. He had 160 acres valued at $250. He had livestock worth $470, as much as anybody else except one other on the page. Ancestry.com. Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892 [database on-line], accessed 3 Jun 2017.

Yancey White's Meeting and Relationship With Mary Adams and other freed women

James White, by his mother Mary's recall to the census taker, was born 1862. Mary was still a slave in 1862 in the household of Burwell Harbour on the Coosa River at State Line, Georgia. When James was conceived in 1861, Yancey White , age 50, lived with his companion Eliza at Cave Spring if he had not already moved to Thomas' Mills, on Big Cedar Creek. Either was within 3 or 4 miles of the Harbour household. The Harbours lived near the Alabama line on the Coosa River near State Line Church on Blacks Bluff Road. The State Line cemetery was where Harbour was later buried. When I wrote on another page about Yancy White having the opportunity, I mean he lived within a couple of miles of his victim. The motive is revealed by his lifetime pursuit of other young women, both black and white, into his later years. Bullying, or force, is suggested as the means by a reading of other episodes, one involving attempted murder of a black woman who had a child by him in or before 1867. Let me present to you, without pleasure, the likely father of James White.

Harbour was not a pleasant man either, according to his father-in-law John Bale, who disinherited him for his intemperance with alcohol. His wife Josephine got the inheritance and seems to have applied it to form a company with her husband. When Josephine died in an institution after a long illness, Harbour restructured the business into a partnership with another man.

"Captain De la Mesa, with a file of men..."

1867 Location of Yancey White
The newspaper article says he lived at Thomas' Mills. The map shows that to be on Big Cedar Creek. From Big Cedar Creek to State Line Cemetery, where Burwell Harbour is buried, is three miles. I don't have the exact location of his plantation, but three miles is a reasonable guess and close enough for a motivated man to walk.   

The below complaint was lodged with the U.S. military government which sparsely occupied each county during reconstruction.
Bastardy Complaint
Date: 28 Aug 1867   
Complaintant: Katherine Matthews (Col'd)      
Defendant: Yancey White (white man)               
Place of Residence: Floyd County Ga.
Nature of Offense: Bastardy
Deposition: Referred to civil authorities. Arrested and bound in sum of $1000 to appear at next session of Court.
Source: "United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of Freedmen's Complaints, 1865-1872," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2QR-M2CJ : accessed 29 January 2017), Yancey White, 28 Aug 1867; citing Residence, Floyd, Georgia, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1903, Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1861-1880, RG 105, (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 76; FHL microfilm 1,574,284.

Map showing Thomas' Mills, home of Yancey White. Source: George Cram Railroad and County Map of Georgia, 1885, at http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/histcountymaps/floyd1885bmap.htm  

Yancey White Signs On to Segregated Schools

(corrected entry) The July 1869 Grand Jury of the Floyd Superior Court, of which Yancey White was a member, found exactly as Judge F. A. Kirby advised them: They recommend that state legislators be "requested and instructed to use their influence to acquire such a system of common schools as will prohibit, in express and unmistakable terms, any mixing of the races, and providing separate schools for each race." The report of the grand jury, of which George S. Black was the foreman, was published in the July 30, 1869 Rome Weekly Courier. Judge F. A. Kirby's charge was published in the July 23 edition. 

1890-1938, Yancey White's Descendants by His Last Wife
Mary Murray White,

News article on Mattie White (daughter of Yancey White)

Note: Sep. 4, 1876 is the birth date given on Martha's (Mattie's) Atlanta death certificate by an Erwin son. If that is correct then she turned 15 on Sep 4, 1891. The news article agrees. It is from 1892, when Mattie was 15 1/2.

The news article at right about Mattie White, daughter of Yancey and Mary White, came from  the 21 Feb. 1892 issue of the Atlanta Constitution, p. 10. Also from a clipping sent to me by Jim Roache of Burlington, NJ on 15 Oct 2017 (croache48 at comcast dot net)

Information gleaned

1. James Pledger, 22,  of Foster’s Mill near Cave Spring, Floyd County, Georgia, married 15-year-old Mattie White in the early part of last fall (1891) at Kirks Grove, Alabama, though Pledger beieves it was not valid. They lived together a few months, then Mattie White ran away with another fellow and married him in Atlanta.

2. James at age 16 had married his first wife, a young widow, 22, named Mrs. Lizzie (Wallace] Chastiner, in Cave Spring. They lived together a year or more, separating some four years ago (1888).

3. James’ father Balliff Pledger lived on his farm near Mrs. Yancey White. [In Livingston District near Foster’s Mill.] Some time after his separation in 1888 James moved back to his father’s farm.

4. George Wallace, a brother of James Pledger’s first wife, married Mrs. Mary White, widow of Yancey White.

5. Yancey White died 26 Mar 1890 according to Floyd County librarian Pat Millican’s communication to Jim Roach, my 2017 correspondent, and is buried in an unmarked grave at Cedar Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.

6. Mrs. White’s children had been given to different parties to raise. Hon. John C. Foster took Mattie White to raise.

7. Last fall (1891) James Pledger ran away with Mattie White. The girl’s father-in-law [the reporter probably meant step-father], George Wallace, stole the girl for him and helped them get away.

8. James Pledger and Mattie White lived together for a few months and just before Christmas 1891 she deserted him in Atlanta and ran away with another felllow. Pledger believes she married again in Atlanta.

9. Justice Hampton was a justice in Foster’s Mill district.

10. On Feb. 20, 1892 James Pledger was in Floyd County jail charged with bigamy.

11. Wright, Harper & Wright were defense attorneys who represented Pledger.

12. The death certificate of Yancey White, Jr. (below) was informed by Mrs. C. M. Erwin of Atlanta. A following death certificate shows that was his sister Mattie who married Claud M. Erwin in  Atlanta.

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Death Certificate of Yancey White, Jr. in Rome, Georgia 1928
He was the younger brother of Martha Mattie White

Facts from death certificate of Yancy White (Jr), Militia District 919, Dean St., Rome, Ga.
Date of death: 11-5-28
Name of husband or wife: Catherine Exum White
Date of birth: Sep. 30, 1879. At death age 49, occupation bridge foreman, birthplace Floyd Co Ga. Name of Father Yancy White. Birthplace of father, S.C.
Maiden name of mother Mary Murrey. Birthplace of mother Floyd Co. Ga
Informant: Mrs. C. M. Erwin, Atlanta, Georgia Rt. 3
Cause of death: Paralysis. Contributory: none. Signed J. V. Wrandeer, M.D., Rome, Ga.
Place of burial: Oakland. Date of burial: 11-7-1928

Death certificate source: Georgia Deaths 1928-1940, familysearch.org

More facts about  Yancey White (Jr.) and Catherine Exum White

1900 census: 310 6th Avenue, Ward 2, Rome, Ga. Evline Exum, female, b. May 1840 Tenn., widowed head of household. In household: daughter Katie White, born Canada Sep. 1877, stated age 20,  marriage year 1900, father and mother born Tennessee. Son-in-law Yancy White b. Apr 1879 in Georgia, father born Georgia, mother born Georgia. And a 16 year old white female boarder named Dollie Hill from Georgia.

From the 1910 census: 1504 Gordon St., Rome, Ga. Yancey and Kate White were each age 30. They had been married 10 years. (born 1880, married 1900)

Yancey: Born Georgia; Father born S.C., mother born Mississippi, occulation bridge foreman for a steam railroad company.They rent their house. Children were Donald T. White, 8; Golden I White, 5, a girl; Cecil R. White, 1. and Baby Not Named, 0, a girl. Kate White was born Oklahoma, her father in Tennessee, her mother in Virginia.

1920 census: Park Ferry Road, Watters district, Floyd County, Ga.
Yancey: age 40, born Georgia, father, S.C., mother Georgia. Occupation farmer, industry railroad construction. Spouse Kate White, age 41, b. Kansas, father Tennessee, mother Tennessee.

Children (all born Georgia) Donald T. White 18, Golden I White 15, Cecil R. White 11, Violet M. White 9, Ramaine White, 7, daughter.

Martha White Erwin in Atlanta

1920 Census, Atlanta Ward 2, Fulton County, Ga. 61Formwalt St.
Martha Erwin, 42, born Georgia, wife of--
C. M Erwin, 46, b. Tennessee, occupation Propriator at nursery.
William Erwin, son, age 21, single, born Texas, occupation house carpenter.

1930 Census, Atlanata, DeKaklb County, Georgia, 85 Boulder Crest Rd. home owned, no radio
Claud M. Erwin, head, b. 1877 in Tennessee. Age 21 at first marriage. Occupation nurseryman, employer.
Martha Erwin, wife, age 52, homemaker, age 20 at first marriage; can read and write; father b. SC, mother b. Georgia
Mary Brooks, age 76, widowed mother in law, b. Georgia, father born SC, mother b. Tennessee.

Note: Mary Brooks was born 1854, near the birth year of 1852 reported for Mary Murray in the 1880 census when she was married to Yancey White Sr. The 1930 mother-in-law is the remarried and widowed Mary Murray White.

1938 Death Certificate of Martha White Erwin (Mattie)

Martha White Erwin death 4 Sep 1938
County DeKalb Militia district 1061, Atlanta (35+ years a resident) [since before 1903]
Place of death and Residence: 1110 Boulder Crest Dr. (Ward D-9), Atlanta, Ga.
Female, white, married. Date of birth Sept 9, 1876. Age 61 yr, 11 mo, 25 days. Housewife. Birthplace: Georgia. Father Yancy White b. Georgia. Mother Mary Murray b. Miss.
Informant C.M. Erwin, 1110 Boulder Crest Dr. [her husband]
Burial West View Cemetery, Atlanta, Ga. 9/6/38. Undertaker Brandon-Bond-Condon, Inc, Atlanta.
Certification: Date of death 9-4-1938 at 8:15 p.m.
Coronary Thrombosis. Contributory: Atheriosclerosis with hypertension. Acute pulmonary ordema..
E. R. Bren, M.D., 768 Juniper St. NE, Atlanta.
Death certificate source: Georgia Deaths 1928-1940, familysearch.org

1940: Cecil White and wife Louisa, age 30 and 31 are in Ward 2 Atlanta, DaKalb County, 161 Carter Ave. SE. He is a poleman and quite likely the son of Martha's brother Yancey White, Jr.

Mary Murray White, wife of Yancey White, mother of Martha (Mattie)  White
She also married Wallace, Sims, and Brooks

The 1930 Claud M. Erwin census, above, shows a 76-year-old woman resident named Mary Brooks. She was widowed. She is stated to be mother-in-law of Mr. Erwin, so she appears to be Mrs. Erwin's mother Mary Murray White from Floyd County, Georgia.

Mary Brooks was the last wife of Yancey White. At her death she was the widow of John Brooks and she lived with her daughter Martha (Mattie) Erwin in Atlanta. Certificate: DeKalb County, Atlanta, 1110 Boulder Crest Drive S.E., white widow. Date of birth Dec 6th, 1851. Age 81 years 9 months 26 days. No trade. Birth: Georgia. Father: John Murry, b. Ga. The informant was her son-in-law Claud M. Erwin of Atlanta who did not remember Mary's mother's name and seems to have added 2 years to her age. Burial place: Rome Georgia 10/4/1933. DATE OF DEATH: OCT 2ND, 1933 of bronchial asthma, contributing factors: Senility or degeneration, J.J. Boides, M.D. Death certificate source: "Georgia Deaths, 1928-1940," familysearch.org

Floyd County marriage certificate in book F, p. 99 dated 15 Dec 1896 between John Brooks, age 25, and Mrs. Mary Sims, age 43, who seems to be Mary Murray who first married Yancey White. Source: Georgia Marriage Records From Select Counties 1828-1978, ancestry.com, retrieved 10/20/2017

1920. The Atlanta City Directory for 1920 and 1921 show a John D. and Mary Brooks at 2 Harden Street. He is a carpenter. Unknown who this is. Otherwise, I've not been able to locate them.

1910 census: Floyd County Almshouse, Etowah district, Kingston Road, visited #159.
John Brooks, Male White 31 Married 1 time, born U.S., farmer. Beside him:
Mary Brooks, F W 57, married 3 times, U.S., no occupation.

1900 census: Inmates at Almshouse, Waddell Street, Rome, Georgia.
John Brooks, 29, b. Oct. 1871, Married 3 years. Ga Ga Ga
Mary Brooks, 46, b. Dec 1853, , Married 3 years. Ga SC La. Mother of 7, 3 living.

1894. Floyd County Book E p. 426, Mary Wallace and J.J. Sims receive a license on May 29 and are married on 18 June, 1894.

1891. Floyd County Marriage Book E p. 108. The widowed Mary White  marries William Wallace as in the newspaper clipping above.

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Yancey White Records in Pendleton District, South Carolina 1810-

At least 18 White families were in Pendleton District, SC in 1810. By coincidence several were on the same page as Aaron Hardin, a direct ancesor of this writer.

1810 Born Pendleton District, South Carolina. According to the 1864 Census for Re-orgaiizing the Georgia Militia, living in the 1059th militia district of Floyd County, Ga. He was a farmer.

1830 Census, South Carolina, Pickens District.
Alexander White 50-59; his presumed wife 50-59 (b. 1770-80). He had a son 15-19 who could be Yancey, and a son 20-29. He had two daughters 20-29 (the right age to be Mahala), one girl 15-19 , and one girl 5-9, making a household of 8. There were no slaves. There are age matches to Yancey, to Mahala, and to the mother Elizabeth. However I have no proof this is the family of Yancey White.

1840 Census, South Carolina, Pickens District, p. 355.
Alexander White 70-79 (b. 1761-70)
presumed wife 70-79
2 M 5-9
1 F 15-19
2 F 20-29
1 F 30-39
No slaves.
1 person employed in agriculture

adjacent to above:
Andrew P. White 20-29 and his presumed wife 15-20
2 boys under 5, 1 5-10. No girls.
No slaves.

I located Yancey White (who I believe is a cousin of Adolphus White) on the 1840 Pickens District, SC census, p. 346. He was married to Rebecca Brice and had one daughter Jane, b. 5 Aug 1833, who later married George W. Burns in that place. Both husband and wife stated their age as 20-29. A daughter was age 5-9. No slaves in 1840.

1845. Between 12 Nov and 12 Dec 1845 "Yancy White" was a buyer at an estate sale of John Harris in Anderson County. Alexander, Elliot, Willie, "Pendleton District & Anderson Co SC Wills, Estates, Inventories, Tax Returns & Census Records" p.254 (c. 1980)

1850 Census, South Carolina, Anderson District, Northwest Division page 177a, family #294. Dated 8 Aug 1850.
Yancey White, 38 (b. 1811-12), M, farmer, $200, b. SC
Margaret White, 48 (b. 1801-02), F, b. SC
Jane White, 17 (b. 1832-33), F, b. SC.
There were three slaves: One woman, 25, black; one girl, 2, black; and 1 male 8 months, black.

On the following page, family #300:
G. R. League, 28, M, blacksmith, b. SC, married within the year.
Mary League, 26, F, b. SC, married within the year.
Jane White, 6, b. SC. (curious and a mystery to this writer)

1851 Mary Carver Bastardy Accusation
1851 Feb 4. Clerk of Court Office, Pickens, SC. Mary Carver, a single woman states that on 4 Feb. 1851 at the house of Yancey White in Pickens District she was delivered of a female bastard child with deep blue eyes and light colored hair and that Yancy White a farmer did get her with child.
Wooley, A Collection of Upper South Carolina Genealgical and Family Records, volume 1 p 340. 1979: Southern Historical Press. Files of Pauline Young Pack 646 #1.

A death certificate issued in Oconee County, SC in 1918 confirms Yancy’s presence there in 1833.  Jane Burns, female, white, widow, died 28 June 1918. She was born 5 Aug 1833 in Oconee County, SC (then Pickens). Her father was Yancey White, born SC, and her mother was Rebecca Brice, born SC. The informant was J. Y. Burns of Seneca, SC. Debbie Bryce Mccollum, pedigree16@att.net has the name as Margaret Rebecca Brice at wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com.

Bryce, Thomas. Box 16 #206. Probate Judge Office. Pickens, S.C. Est. admr. 9 July 1847 by Alexander Bryce, W. L. Keith, who are bound unto Wm. D. Steele, Ord. in the sum of $600.00. On 5 Nov 1849 heirs were to appear in court to show why the real estate of the said decd. lying on Conneross Creek adj. land of Col. J. C. Kilpatric, containing 230 acres should not be sold. The heirs were: Jane the wife of Wm. Hays. Jas. R. G. Bryce, Elizabeth the wife of Johathan R. Cleveland. On 3rd or 5th Nov Jas. R. G. Bryce a minor over 14 years wanted to appoint Yancy White his guardian. Pauline Young, vol 2, p. 34. Interpretation: Thomas Bryce died and the probate judge appointed as administrators on 9 Jul 1847 Alexander Bryce and W. L. Keith. The date 5 Nov 1849 was set for a hearing to decide on the sale of 230 acres of land. Heirs were (1) Jane [Bryce] the wife of William Hays; (2) Elizabeth [Bryce] the wife of Jonathan R. Cleveland; and (3) James R. G. Bryce. The latter was a minor over 14 and requested Yancey White to be his guardian. It seems, because Yancey White married Rebecca Bryce, that the two Bryces were her brothers, with Thomas having adult daughters, therefore born before 1810. Mrs. Thomas Bryce must have died. Below in this section, it is claimed that her name was Mahala White, b.  and was the sister of Yancey White. A Cleveland Genealogy showing Elizabeth Bryce and her mother Mahala White Book Title: "The genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland families An attempt to trace, in both the male and fe..." by Edmund Janes Cleveland, 1899. Ancestry.com, North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 [database on-line]  The relevant section is 16468, page 2237 of 2981. (Comment: This genealogy was compiled 120 years ago, thus it was a distance of 50 years from the 1850s when people's memories and records were fresher than today.) Caution -- The above is a genealogy without sources. However it does confirm the Thomas Bryce 1847 probate record shown above, that his daughter was Elizabeth Bryce, the wife of Jonathan R. Cleveland. The genealogy shows Elizabeth Bryce b. Aug 23, 1829, died May 16, 1858; it shows her father as Thomas Bryce and her mother as Mahala White. Mahala White has been claimed to be a sister of Yancey White. No evidence is shown in the several claims, including this genealogy. However it seems clear from the probate, with the boy asking for Yancey White as his guardian, that Yancey White was an uncle of the boy at least by marriage to  Rebecca Bryce, evidently a sister of the deceased Thomas Bryce; and if Yancey's sister was Mahala (for which there is no proof), the wife of Thomas (for which there is no proof), then Yancey was an uncle by blood. 1849: Pickens District Real Estate Divisions (Continued from Volume XVIII, p.158) The undersigned respectfully shows that so far as he knows or is advised that Jas R. G. Bryce for whom he had been appointed “Guardian ad Litem” would receive no injury for the sale of the Real Estate of Thomas Bryce Decd and that he therefore consent to said sale 3 Decr 1849. Yancy White Guardian ad Litem for J. R. G. Bryce. The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, SCMAR, Volume XVIII, Number 4, Fall, 1990, ancestry.com Comment: Yancey White’s first wife was a Bryce. Yancey White was the young man's uncle by marriage. In 1849 Yancey was in a period of irresponsible behavior and relocation. The young man was not enumerated with Yancey in 1850. It seems likely the boy James Bryce, then over 16, made other arrangements. In the settlement of the estate of Thomas Bryce, Yancey White was asked to pay and did pay the estate a note of $55.16. Probate beginning 9 Jul 1847. South Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1670-1980 for Thomas Bryce, at frame 461 of 990, ancestry.com In 1850 Yancey White lived in the Northwestern Division of Anderson County, SC. His daughter Jane was age 17 and instead of Rebecca a 48-year-old woman named Margaret White (b. SC 1802) resided with him. There were three slaves: One woman, 25, black; one girl, 2, black; and 1 male 8 months, black. “Compton’s Place of Georgia Connections and Much More” is a tree on wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com by Billkerr1937@gmail.com. Under Margaret Rebecca Bryce he prints this note he received:  “My name is Debbie Bryce Mccollum and my E-mail address is pedigree16@att.net.  Jane White born June 5, 1833 is the only child of Yancey White born 1812 and Margaret Rebecca Brice/Bryce born 1802 possibly a sister of my second great grandfather Alexander Bryce and his brother Thomas Bryce born 1805 married to Mahala White born 1804 (sister of Yancey). I do not know the parents although I think the mother is possibly Elizabeth.” Sincerely, Debbie McCollum. 6/19/15 McColllum letter to me: Mahala White's oldest daughter is Elizabeth Bryce. She married Jonathan Reeder Cleveland. External source, not confirmed by the present author: Yancy White family by fmb1943 at Ancestry.com.

About his wives' different names in 1840 and 1850: Some say she is the same woman called Rebecca Margaret. More likely, Rebecca died or was abandoned after 1840. Before 1850 Yancey located from western Pickens to northwest Anderson County to live with Margaret, a woman10 years his senior, perhaps a widow. In 1850 Yancey's daughter, 17-year old Jane White, lived with them. Margaret was a slaveholder in 1850 of a 25-year old woman and her two young children. Yancey and Margaret used the name "White" to the census taker, giving a presumption of marriage.

Yancey White's Ancestors, Mother, and Daughter in South Carolina

Elizabeth Martin of South Carolina -- Mother of Yancey White
My 2017 correspondent was Jim Roache of  Burlington, New  Jersey, an Adams descendant of Jane White Burns. Mr. Roache (croache48@comcast.net) has done a line of research that shows Yancey White's mother was Elizabeth Martin (1789-1880). This writer has not found a hint of Elizabeth Martin's White husband or of a Martin second husband.  It may be that the conception of Yancey White was a hit-and-run by a Mr. White not unlike Yancey, and that she was never married, but used Martin out of convenience or because it was her maiden name.  This scenario remains to be seen. We see evidence this Pickens and Oconee County woman remained close to the Bryce family, the family of Yancey White's first wife. It is as if Yancey married his own half sister, an event quite believable considering Yancey's whole life history with woman.

Elizabeth Martin Record
Elizabeth Martin is found on the 1850 US Census for Pickens County as head of household number 1035.  She was 60. She was born 1790 in SouthCarolina. She has real estate worth $250. Living in her household was Rheuben Brice, a male, age 14.  Yancey's first wife was  Rebecca Brice. Some claim Mahala White, an older sister of Yancey,  was born 1804 and married Thomas Bryce born 1805, and that Rhuben Brice was their son.

1858 Jan 13. Elizabeth Martin in the  Pickens County Probate record of Lewis W. Reeder
Estate of Lewis W. Reeder. Probate Judge Office, Pickens, S.C. ...I, James H. Reeder of Pickens Dist. for the sum of $167.46 to me paid by Mrs. Elizabeth Martin  of the same Dist. have bargained, sold and assigned all my rights, title, and interest in the real estate of my brother Lewis W. Reeder decd. to be my full share due from the Commissioner in Equity in Oct. 1858 with interest. Dated 13 Jan 1858. Wit: J. G[ambrell] Bryce, A. F. Reeder. Signed: James H. Reeder. Pauline Young, Upper South Carolina, vol 1, p.261-262.

On Jane White Burns, first daughter of Yancey White
A few items are easily discovered on familysearch.org. The death certificate of Susan Jane Burns , single, shows she was born Aug 25, 1853 and died March 13, 1921, all in Anderson County. Her father was George W. Burns, born South Carolina, and her mother was  Janie White b. South Carolina. The death certificate of Lucy Burns Adams, widowed, shows she was born 1873 in Anderson County and died 1 Sep 1945 in Seneca, Oconee County. She was 72 and a housewife. Her husband was J. M. Adams. Her father was G. W. Burns and her mother was Jennie White. Both parents were born in Anderson County.

In 1850 George W. Burns, age 28 (b. 1822) lived in Anderson County in the household of his father Joseph Burns. The Anderson County census of 1870 reveals a large family for George age 48 and Jane age 38: Elizabeth, Susan J., Nancy B., Mary F., Joseph Y, Thos. C., and Martha C., plus perhaps a parent and grandparent, Frances Burns, 52, and Margaret Burns, 78. The last listed were a young black couple, Charles and Berry Gains, 17 and 15.

South Carolina Deaths, 1915-1965; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DRF7-PN?cc=1417492&wc=M6YD-GTL%3A30410501

·Pauline Young, Upper South Carolina, vol 1, and vol 2 are short for:
"A Collection of Upper South Carolina Genealogical and Family Records" published by Southern Historical Press, 1979 and 1981, collected by Pauline Young, ed. by James E. Wooley.

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