History Sheet
for Harriet Ann Springfield
(Those who knew her well called her Hattie.)
Compiled by
Nancy
Quillin Long
Date: March 24, 2013 (updated March 2016)
Sources:
http://www.thegagenweb.com/gawhitfield/bios/springfield/springfield.htm
Charles C Chaney cites the following sources
1. Census.
1860. Murray.
GA, Page 41. Dwelling: 275. Family: 271.
2. Allen, Johnnie F. Informant.
3. Census. 1850. Murray.
GA, Page 265. Dwelling: 1626. Family: 1626.
4. Vital Records Index-North America, Marriage record of W. L. Bridges
& H. A. Springfield. Family
History Library Number 339861. The date is recorded as 2 January 1870.
5. Census. 1860. Murray.
GA, Page 41. Dwelling: 275. Family: 271.
6. Census. 1870. Whitfield County,
Georgia, Page
160. Dwelling: 375. Family: 371.
7. Whitfield-Murray Counties,
GA, Marriage Books, Whitfield
County Marriages, Book B (1), shows her name as W. A. Springfield. Z. D. Clark,
minister. The date is recorded as 30 Dec 1869.
8. Jr Edward E. Van Schick, SOME GEORGIA
COUNTY RECORDS;
Greenville, SC: Southern
Historical Press, Inc, 1997, Volume 6.
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=llh&id=I17471
Website
by Linda L Harris
I had already found Harriet
Springfield and William Lewis Bridges in the Censuses.
These two websites confirmed my research.
It
is interesting that there is a book about the Springfields.
Joyce Howard Ellis and Ann
Pollard,
SPRINGFIELD
FAMILY 1739-2001. Captain Thomas Springfield, his wife,
Laodicea
"Dicey" Langston including His Parents and Siblings And Their
Descendants (
Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press, Inc., 2001), volume two.
Harriet Ann Springfield was born
on 9 Oct 1845 in
Murray County,
Georgia, to
Aaron Springfield and Emaline Rollins Springfield.
Her father, Aaron, died when she was 2 years
old so her mother moved back to her parent’s home, also in Murray Co, where
they are found in the 1850 census.
There
were 3 daughters and Harriet was the middle daughter.
So, in 1850 Harriet, her mother, and her
sisters, were living with grandparents, George and Elizabeth Rollins.
Her mother, Emaline, remarried a
man named Ransom Johnson who had served as a private in the 34
th
Regiment of the
Georgia
infantry Company A in the Civil War.
Harriet
was found in 1860 at the age of 15 living with her mother, Emaline, and Ransom
Johnson in the Militia District 972 in Murray Co, Georgia, in the Rock Creek
area.
Harriet’s oldest sister had moved
away so Harriet is the oldest child, followed by her blood sister, Dorcas
Elizabeth, and now there were 4 step-siblings as well.
This was a blended family. Harriet was listed
as Harriet Johnson.
Harriet married William Lewis
Bridges when she was 24 years old on 30 Dec 1869 in Whitfield Co., GA.
Prior to their marriage, William had served
in the
Georgia
infantry so in the 1870 census they were living in the Militia District 872 in
Whitfield Co. GA.
The first of 12
children was born in 1871, the last in 1890.
Unfortunately, there was a daughter born in 1872 who lived only a year
and a son born in 1873 who died when he was 2 months old.
My descendent, Mattie Bell, was the 6
th
child born, but due to the deaths of 2 children, she was the 4
th
child listed in the 1870 census.
Mattie’s older brother Hugh had already married Nancy Jane “Janey” Jones
and they were living nearby.
In 1880, Harriet and William were
living on a farm in
Dalton,
Whitfield Co., Ga, with 5 young children. Also living with them was a
13-year-old black male name Caasar Rodgers.
The census has him listed as a servant/laborer who can not read or
write.
By 1900, Harriet and William had
moved to Colin Co
Texas
and still had 6 children living with them, ranging in ages from 24 to 10.
They were living on a farm that was rented
and all of the children were listed as farm laborers and indicated that their
24 year old daughter Mary had not been employed in 10 months.
My Mattie Bell had married Martin Harmon
Jones and they were renting the farm next to Harriet and William.
Harriet and William had moved to
Jones Co
Texas
by 1910.
They only had their youngest
daughter, Lucy age 19, living with them.
Their son George Ezra and his wife Minnie Ola were living on a nearby
rented farm.
It appears that William was
paying a mortgage to own his farm.
Other
children living in Jones Co were Mary Daisy Dwiggins, James Henry Bridges,
Bessie May Sims and Carrie Fay Lyles.
It
appears that many of them settled in and around Jones and Collin counties, with
a few moving eventually to Foard and Taylor counties.
The very next year, Harriet died
on 25 Jan 1911 at age 65 and William died the following month on 14 Feb 1911 at
age 68.
They are both buried in the
Stith Cemetery
in Jones Co
Texas.
Their gravestone is quite large.
Below
their names is engraved: "They died as they lived trusting God."
