Date of birth: May 1862
Marriage: early 1890's to Mattie Young, they had two children: Lela and Laura
Henry had another son named Ivey. I don't know anything about Ivey's mother.
Date of death: October 6, 1901
Thank goodness for censuses, or I would know next to nothing about Henry Marcus. From stories that I've been told by my relatives that have done more extensive research on him and his family, it seems that his mother was mistress to a wealthy man in the area who supported her and her children but remained anonymous.
Henry was the oldest of at least four children and grew up near the mountains of NC. He apprenticed with a blacksmith in a nearby town in 1880 when he was 18 years old, and probably for some time before and after that.
Henry's 16-year-old brother Hosea was working as a servant at the same time for a farmer and his wife that lived in Johns River Township, where they grew up. I couldn't find any records for their younger brother Noah besides the 1870 Census shown here. However, I did find a Laura Marcus Allen that was living close to a Hosea A. Marcus at the time that they both passed away in/near Carrabus county, NC. I'm guessing that they are Henry's younger siblings. I found one other record for Henry's sister Laura--it appears that she and her mother were working as servants in 1880 (Laura was 14 at the time). I'm guessing that Henry's father must have passed away and had not been able to leave anything to Mira and her family. For some reason, Hosea and Laura are listed as being two years younger than they would have been if the 1870 census's ages were correct. As teenagers, I'm sure they cared very much about their actual age, so I wonder what made them claim that they were younger than they actually were?
Between 1880 and 1900, some significant things happened. Henry fathered a son, Ivey--I wasn't able to find any records for Ivey's mother, but that doesn't mean she and Henry weren't married. Of course, that doesn't mean they were, but we can't assume anything. Henry also moved to South Carolina at some point, and met Mattie Young. The two were married in the early 1890's and had two girls, Lela and Laura.
About Henry's death--the story goes that Henry had been incarcerated and escaped. There was already tension between him and Mattie, so when Mattie asked the town law enforcement for advice, he told Mattie to shoot Henry Marcus if he tried to go into the house. He did come by, so she took out a gun and told him to leave or she'd shoot. Henry came up to the house, and well, she shot. It's a sad story, but definitely an interesting piece of our family history. Evidently there's a news article about it, but I don't have it, so we'll have to suffer without the official story until I do.
1870 Census
1880 Census
1900 Census
I think Aunt Lois knows where to find the news article about him.
ReplyDeleteGrandma told me te details of this story. Evidently, he came at Mattie with a knife, and she shot in self defense. You can call her for a more complete story. I think Laura was old enough to remember the experience.
ReplyDeleteI always thought the law sided with Mattie, but they put Mattie in jail the next day. Her brother Ham (Hamilton) came to prison to stay with her. Mattie's father hired a prestigious lawyer, and the trial is in the USC archives. What a sad story :(
DeleteAnd I have read the small type newspaper article! Aunt Lois sent it to me, but I can't find it in my email. It was a crazy read!
ReplyDeleteIt turns out Henry and Mattie both brought a child from a previous relationship (Ivey and Lela). The only child Henry and Mattie had together was Laura E.
ReplyDelete