…“Tale of Two Johns” Character Profiles… |
Margaret Knox
b. abt 1814 - d. 1850-1860
Overview
Eldest daughter, Margaret
Knox, b. abt 1814, married Amos Alfred Alexander sometime before 1834, when their first child was
born. Why wasn’t she, or her heirs, named?
Family lore, passed on to me by Wilson Knox in
October 1999, is that "one of John's daughters climbed out an upstairs
window one night and ran off to be married against her father's
wishes." If John was very upset, he
may have disinherited Margaret. The details
of this family tradition cannot be verified, but seem plausible, given her
omission in his Will. The family, and
therefore Wilson, did not know her name; however, 1870 court papers eventually
revealed her identity.
We do not know when Margaret (Knox) Alexander
died. She may have died before her
father wrote his Will in 1853. Our last
record of her is in 1850, where she appears with her husband and family living
in Hickman Co, TN. She does not appear in the 1860 census with her family, so
is assumed to have died between the 1850 and 1860 censuses in
Her brothers’ deaths are the only reason we know of
Margaret’s existence. John R. and Andrew S. Knox, both died AFTER their father
died in July 1860 -- both without heirs "of their body." John's Will gave specific instructions as to
the disposition of their legacy in this event. In 1870, John's eldest son
Robert J. Wilson Knox petitioned the Court to distribute his brothers' combined
estates among the surviving "heirs at law" -- which by law included
deceased daughter Margaret's heirs, duly documented in Court documents and
Loose Estate Papers. [Mecklenburg Co, NC – Loose Estate Papers. Knox, Andrew S.
& John R. 1863 <Reel 60,
Margaret’s namesake was probably her grandmother,
Margaret (
=====================================================================
1840
Name:
Alford Alexander
Township:
Lower Regiment , page 127)
County:
State:
1 WM 30-40 (Amos Alfred Alexander, b 1807)
2 WM 0-5 (Robert D.
Alexander b. 1834; John K Alexander b. 1836)
1 WF 20-30
(Margaret Knox, b. abt 1814)
2 WF 0-5 (Mary J.
Alexander b. abt 1838 and (male) Keziah
b. about 1840?
Notes:
Family
configuration fits known facts about this family. The given names Alford and
Alfred were often used interchangeably. Assume this is Amos Alfred Alexander son of
Ephraim K. Alexander, and Margaret Knox daughter of John and Mary B. Knox.
Amos
Alfred descends from the Alexander line that is apparently unrelated to the
"Alexandriana" Alexanders of Mecklenburg.
1850
Name:
Amos A Alexander
Age:
43
Estimated
birth year: abt 1807
Birth
Place:
Gender:
Male
Home
in 1850(City,County,State):
HH
353:
Amos
A., 43, NC, farmer
Margarette,
36, NC (b. abt 1814)
Robert,
16, NC (b. abt 1834)
John,14, NC
Mary,
12, NC
Kezziah,
10, NC (female)
Eliza,
6, TN, (b. abt 1844)
Charley,
4, TN
George,
1, TN
Note:
Also
in this HH is Thomas Harville, 44, Laborer, NC. Logically, this entry may be why some
researchers assumed that “Margarette” was a Harville.
1860
Name:
A A Alexander
Age
in 1860: 53
Birth
Year: abt 1807
Birthplace:
Home
in 1860:
Gender:
Male
Post
Office:
Household
Members: Name Age
A A Alexander 53
John
K Alexander 23
Eliza
An D Alexander 15
Charles
B Alexander 14
Margaret
Alexander 75 (Amos'
mother, Margaret Price)
==================================
Charles
Linn <[email protected]> wrote:
From:
"Charles Linn"
To:
"Peggy R. Bruckner"
CC:
"Jean McClanahan"
Subject:
Ancestors of Ruth Hunter Knox
Date:
Hi
Peggy,
This
message relates to your web pages "Ancestors of Ruth Hunter Knox" at
FamilyTreeMaker.com.
I
want to thank you for making this very important genealogy information
available, give you some information you probably don't
have, and ask some questions.
My
name is Bill Linn. A first cousin, Jean (Potter) McClanahan and I have been
researching the genealogy of our great grandmother, Eliza (Alexander) Potter.
A
few months ago Jean was searching microfilms on loan
from the LDS Family History Library in
In
checking this out, she also found the
Results
were poor until Jean found your web pages along with "Descendants of
Robert Ewart Sr.", also at FamilyTreeMaker.com. To make a long story short, we share common
Knox ancestors with your "Ruth Hunter Knox" backward from John Knox
(1777-1860) and Mary Brandon (1794-1874).
Here
is some new information for you:
John
Knox and Mary (
on your
listing. (PRB note: Mary B. Knox who m. Benjamin B. Smith is already shown on
the page)
Margarette
(Margaret) Knox was the first born. She was born about
1814 in NC (per the 1850 Census of Hickman Co TN). She married Amos Alfred
Alexander before 1834 died between 1850 and 1860 in TN. She was my Grandfather's Grandmother and the
Knox link for the inheritance.
The
other daughter was Mary Knox who married Benjamin B. Smith and had children. We
have no birth date for Mary, but she died before 1872 in
This
is what we learned from the microfilms:
John
(Sr.) Knox of Mecklenburg Co., NC made his will
Margarette
was not named. She could have been deceased. She is
listed with her husband Amos Alexander and family in the 1850 census - TN,
Hickman Co., 353 - 50. The 1860 census does not list her with the family.
John
Knox made bequests to all he listed. He left the bulk of his land (420 acres)
to John R. and Andrew with the provision that they care for their mother and
she have use of the land during her lifetime. If either John or Andrew died
without heirs, their land would go to the remaining brother.
John
(Sr.) died
This
was done and the land was sold for $3000. This amount,
plus interest and less expenses of the sale resulted in $3099.70 being equally divided between Robert J., Patrick J. and the
children of Mary Smith and the children of Margarette Alexander.
Margarette's daughter, Eliza (our great grandmother) had also died. That is why our
grandfather and his siblings, rather than their mother, were
named as heirs for a portion of the estate.
We don't know why the delay in settling John R. Knox's estate
(January 4, 1863 to 1870-72). It could
have been because Mary Brandon was still alive and still had dower rights.
============================
RootsWeb
WorldConnect Project File:
http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jf-63&id=I05427
ID:
I05427
Name:
Amos Alfred Alexander
Sex:
M
Birth:
ABT. 1807
Father:
Ephriam K. Alexander b:
Mother:
Margaret Price b: ABT. 1796
Marriage
1 Marguirete (F) b: 1814
Children
Robert Alexander
============================
RootsWeb
WorldConnect Project File:
http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=hjackwells3&id=I6405
Jack
Wells <[email protected]>
ID:
I6405
Name:
Amos Alfred ALEXANDER
Given
Name: Amos Alfred
Surname:
Alexander
Sex:
M
Birth:
ABT 1800
Note:
"
The children of Ephraim K. Alexander and Margaret Price were: Nancy Davidson
Alexander, who married Hugh McAulay., Amos Alfred
Alexander, married Marguirete ___ , Martin N.
Alexander, married Clarissa ____ , Susannah Alexander, mentioned in the will of
Amos Alexander, "to descend to Ephraim's daughter, Susannah" (Amos's
Will dated December 7, 1813.) Joseph J. Alexander, married to Pheriba Fowlkes, Ephraim Augustus
"Gus" Alexander, married to Susan Frances Walker (My direct line.) Robert P. Alexander, married Martha _____, and Elizabeth Alexander.
Death:
AFT 7 DEC 1813
Note:
Susannah Alexander mentioned in the will of Amos Alexander: "to descend to
Ephraim's daughter, Susannah" (Amos's Will dated December 7, 1813.)
Father:
Ephraim K. ALEXANDER b: ABT 1770 in Beatties Ford, Mecklenburg Co, NC