Sarah Emma Ware

Hello to those who follow this very sporadic blog and a big thank to you.  I started this to get out to some family member information that I had either received from my great grandmother Sarah Emma Ware Rape Cates or information I researched my self, or information others had/researched and so kindly shared with me.  The interesting thing about genealogy is that we all have bits and pieces and like a puzzle it is hard to finish the picture if you don't have all the pieces.

I have been trying to figure out and learn what happened to each of the children of William Ware (1828-1865) and his wife, Martha Gee Ford Ware.  Over the years I have been able to gather, what I consider to be full (?) information on the following children: George Harrison, Homer Cicero, Sarah Emma and William #2.  My main reason for this: I don't want them to be forgotten and I am hoping that by putting this family, as complete as possible on this blog,  None of them will be forgotten.

1. Sarah Emma Ware (Rape & Cates).  She is my great grandmother and so I know her best because I am the very lucky recipient of her cache of memorabilia and genealogy.

Sarah Emma Ware

 We know for sure that this is Sarah Emma Ware, because on the back in my mothers hand writing are the words "Grandma Cates".  She would only have know this by speaking with my grandmother, Ruth Carter, and my mother was very particular about labeling pictures of my dad's family (not so much about her own).   There is a matching one of "Grandpa Cates" from the same photographer.

Young Sarah Emma Ware

     My father identified this as his grand mother, Sarah Emma Ware.  The photograph has a Rome GA address and comparison of the 2 photos show a very strong likeness.  My dad also talks about being allowed to look at the "family memory box" as a child.



The above pictures were in a box my father brought home from the funeral of his parents, David T. Cates & Ruth Carter Cates, in 1954.  This box included;
       1.  3 family bibles (one kept by Martha Gee Ford, one kept by Sarah        Emma Ware, one kept by Ruth Carter Cates)
       2.  The list of family history data kept by Sarah Emma Ware about her family; siblings & parents, 1st marriage and children born to her and L.M. Rape
     

pg 1

 Pg 1 Transcription

Married

William Ware was married to Martha Gee Ford June 24^th 1847

Births

William Ware was born Feb 24th 1828

 Martha Gee was born Jun 14^th 1833                               

 Martha Ophilia Ware was born Jun 2 1850  

 George H.  (Harrison)      Aug 12 1852

Homer C. (Cicero)           April 6 1855                                    

Mary E. (Elizabeth)          Sept  18 1856

Sarah Emma                     Dec   2 1858

William                            April 7 1864

M.G. Miller  (Minnie Gee)                Nov 18 1867 

C.L.              (Cora Lillie)                Aug 19 1869 

A.J                (Adella Jetter)             May 24 1874

The 3 Miller children are from the 2^nd marriage to John Jetter Miller                                                                    

Deaths                                                                                                                             

William Ware departed this life      April 18^th  1865           

Mary E Baxter died                       Nov 27^th 1883 (SEW's sister)

R. R. Rape died                             Nov 14, 1887 (SEW's child from 1st marriage to L.M. Rape)

L. C. Rape died                              June 29^th 1890       "                          "                    "

L. M. Rape died                            April 14^th 1891     (1^st husband of SE Ware)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Howell Barker was married to Martha Ophelia Ware Aug 27 1867

Rial Baxter was married to Mary E. Ware Sept 7^th, 1879

L.M. Rape was married to S.E. Ware Nov 12 1884  (Lemuel M.)

End of page 1

                                                                                                                                                                     

Beginning of page 2

L.M. Rape was born Nov 7^th 1858

S. E. Ware was born Dec 2^nd 1858

L. M. Rape was married to S.E. Ware Nov 12^th 1884                                                                                                        

Ralf Reuben Rape was born 16^th of Aug 1886 

and died Nov 14 1887

Eugene Leslie Rape was born  “the 1 of April 1888"  

Leslie Cora Rape was born November  4 1889

L.M. Rape was born Sept  10 1891 (father died 7 months before his birth)                                                                                                      

 None of Sarah's children by her 1st husband, Lemuel Rape, survived to 1900                                                                                     

This was probably written between 1891-1899

Sarah left a pretty good genealogy of her immediate family members up to the time this page was written which I think must have been sometime after the birth of her 4th child and before the death of the child Lemuel M (1893) and her son Eugene Leslie (1894) so it may have been that she wrote this down while she had her mother staying with her.   Family information is that Martha died in Texas.  By 1900 she had 3 children living in Texas with their spouses, Homer Cicero married to Leona Teresa Rape (sister to Lemuel M.) in Dallas County.   William Ware (1864-1926) married to  Minnie Lee Smith living in Corsicana in.  Sarah was living in Nolan County.   George Harrison was living in Arkansas.  Sarah Emma was the only daughter that survived to this time so it is very possible that Martha Gee stayed with her until she died.

I will post information about Homer Cicero soon.  In the mean time if anyone knows anything about Martha Ophelia or Mary Elizabeth I would love to have contact with you.

Please be considerate

 These are private family papers/photo's.  I do not care if you copy to your personal genealogy information.  What I do care about is finding these reposted to places like Ancestry.com or other blogs with no source information given.  I own these picture.  I do not own the vital facts and you are welcome to them.  I do own my private assumptions that I write on this blog and would appreciate that information staying on the blog as I use this as a place to "think out" my research areas.   Sorry that I have to write this but I have recently found a few pictures that I have posted here on other blogs and on Ancestry.com.  I do not post a public tree on Ancestry so I know they have come from here.   

Update on the "Final William Ware"

Death Cert. of William Ware

Many thanks to cousin Tom Ware he stuck with things and was finally able to obtain Death Certificates for both William Ware (1864-1926) and his wife Minnie Lee Smith (1867-1938).  Neither died in Texas as the obit in 1938 mentioned, they both actually died in Jonesboro,  Arkansas.  Both Certs are from Arkansas.

My physician husband says that William probably died of a heart attack and they just chose not to autopsy him.  The attending physician mentions "Angina pectoris" as a contributing factor.  Most likely he had plaque filled arteries leading to a myocardial infarction.  








From Tom Ware;

Death Cert. of Minnie Lee Smith Ware

Per Arkansas Cert of Death copy dated 07-20-2012, Minnie Ware, widow of William Ware passed away in St. Bernard's Hospital, Jonesboro, Craighead Co., AR,  2:15 pm, Nov. 10, 1938.  She was attended by S.T. (Astlriiand ??), M.D. from Aug 17, 1938 until her death Nov. 10,1938, and died from Encephalitis - non epidemic and non contagious, with onset Nov 7, 1938,( Hubby say he doesn't know of any "non contagious" encephalitis)  with other contributory cause of importance being (Chronic or Aherria ??) Myocarditis (an inflammation of the heart muscle generally caused by a virus.)  diagnosed 1937.  Informant   Mrs. C C. Watson (who is Rhoda E. Smith her sister.  Rhoda married Caleb C. Watson  4 Nov 1902 in Collin County TX) of Jonesboro, AR, also provided the following: Residence 3529 Mc Farlin Blvd, Dallas, TX, DOB 29 Dec 1867 Arkansas, Father - William Smith of GA, Mother - Alabama Adams of AL, and Husband - William Ware. -  The hubs take on this is she may have had encephalitis but probably more likely what caused her death was the Myocarditis, all though that is a tough one to diagnose even today.  (from Wikipedia; Because a definitive diagnosis requires a heart biopsy, which doctors are reluctant to do because they are invasive, statistics on the incidence of myocarditis vary widely.)^{[1]    We are discussing medicine as it was practiced in 1937-38, heart biopsies were not a routine test, probably not done at all.}


 So now we can say we have the final documentation on that family as the 1900 and 1910 census' seem to indicate that there were no surviving children for this couple. 

Thanks again to Tom Ware for his work and effort on final documentation on this couple.
We are still searching for answers to the two older sister, Martha Ophelia Ware (Howell C.) Barker and Mary Elizabeth Ware (Royal) Baxter.

Love to hear from any "cousins" in the comments.

Flash; New Information Just In. Feb 5, 2011

 Amherst Record/Will Book 5 pg 213  will of William Ware.  Dated January 31, 1809.  Codicil; October 30 1811 and probated June 21, 1813.
Wife; Patty
Sons; Madison (under age) , Ormond (under age) and John.
Daughters; Sally (wife of William Jopling), Permilla Powell,  
      Tinsley Rucker; (through her daughter, Nancy W. Rucker, under age)
       Betsy, Lucinda, Belinda, Perlina (underage).   
Executors are;  Brother, John Ware and William Jopling (son in law) 


Conclusion: if William ever went to Georgia he returned and was living in Amherst at the time of his death in @1813.  

This information has been in my files for many years.  As I said to my PIC (partner in crime-what our husbands call my friend Vicki and I) " I looked at this document at the time (15 years ago) and didn't realize what it was saying".  I now see that "William Alexander" probably never left Amherst Co.  and the Alexander living in Fayette Co. Georgia was always #2 as Fayette County didn't exist in 1813, because the area belonged to the Creek Indians.

You just have to get enough pieces of information together before you can put the puzzle together and this puts the puzzle together.  I will get to a document in the near future on this particular Ware family as they are MOST interesting.

comments appreciated. 

RootsTech 3 Days of Great Education

I just spent 3 days at a conference of 4,000+ genealogy enthusiasts and developers.  I was there as a student to see, learn and try out some of the new technology that is coming in this field.  This is also a wonderful place to get help on data programs that are giving you fits and you want face to face help.  I hit up the folks at Ancestry.com booth about sourcing and media attachment and got a really knowledgeable woman who spent 45 min with my friend and I helping us get comfortable with just those two functions.  I also got personal help from the head developer of a program I use called Family Insite.  I had up graded to Lion on Jan 1 and knew that there might be trouble with that particular program and there was.  However, I knew that I would be going to this conference and these developer folks are always kind about giving service for their patrons.  He looked it over on my laptop, gave me some suggestions and twenty mins later I was up and running.

The opening keynote and several others are on line for free at the following address

RootsTech 2012

The opening address  "Inventing the Future, as a Community" is worth a look and is definitely entertaining.  Take a look and let me know what you think.  Comments are welcome and desired.
Have a great weekend.

Kathleen

William Ware The Final One

William Ware

Born; 7 Apr 1864 Cave Spring, Floyd County GA

            Parents are; William Ware (1828-1865) and Martha Gee Ford (1833-1900)

He was one year old when his father died and  just over two when his mother married again to John Jetter Miller.  He had 3 younger Miller half siblings  Minnie Gee Miller, Cora Lillie Miller,  Adella Jetter Miller and  5 older Ware siblings; Martha Ophelia, George Harrison, Homer Cicero, Sarah Emma Ware.  Mr. Miller brought 3 other children to the marriage, Franklin Miller (1860) and Ella Miller (1864) children of his and his 1st wife, Nancy Ann Lumkin.  Also a child of Nancy Ann and her 1^st husband, John M. Loveless;  Julia Loveless.   I can only imagine how difficult that house must have been.  This was probably not terribly unusual for the period after the Civil War.

  By 1870 there were only 3 Ware children left living with Martha and the Millers, Mary Elizabeth, Sarah Emma and William.  Martha Ophelia had married, George H. and Homer C. had gone off to Arkansas and/or Texas to live with family or friends.

By 1880 Mary Elizabeth has married and Emma and William are living with their Aunt and Uncle, Green and Jincy Ware Cunningham. 

By 1882 Emma has gone to Dallas Texas to live with her brother Homer C. and his wife Teresa and she would shortly marry Teresa’s brother Lemuel M. Rape (Nov 1884).   It must not have been too much later that William arrived in Dallas himself.  He probably lived with one of the young couples. 

 In the 1880 Dallas Co. Census the Henry Rape family and the Smith family are two doors away from each other.  What more natural thing than for a double brother and sister to be concerned about this young unmarried man so they probably introduced him to one of the daughters of this family, Minnie Lee Smith.  They married about 1892 according to the 1900 Census.

The census records for 1900, 1910 and 1920 list William as  “electrician”,  “electrician” “wiring houses” and  “proprietor” “light plant”.  In his wife’s obituary  it states, “After her marriage, she went to Corsicana and later to McKinney, where she remained for nearly 30 years. Her husband owned an electric power plant at McKinney and later owned one at Wills Point for many years. In 1924 they came to Dallas, where her husband died in 1926 and where she lived until her death “ in 1938.

  My great Grandmother, Emma Ware Rape Cates had this picture with  “William Ware” and the date Sept 13 1926 on it.  We searched for many years looking for him and looked at the couple William and Minnie many times but had nothing to tie them together then one evening I found on Find a Grave “Mrs. William Ware” and her obituary.  It just felt that I had the right woman.   I wrote asking if this was the William born in Georgia.  By the next evening  a kind person (Mel Hammer) had photographed the tombstone and all the dates matched.  We had found William!

 

So thanks to Rosemarie for putting the information on at Find a Grave

To Mel Hammer for the photo of the tombstone

To  Tom Ware for  spurring me on  to keep looking

To Sarah Emma for the photo with the death date

And to my long suffering husband, Patrick for giving me time to spend at the computer.

Please feel free to leave a comment if you connect to this family.  We are still looking for descendants of the older sisters, Martha Ophelia who married Howell Cobb Barker and Mary Elizabeth who married Royal Baxter.  Both had children, and both died early.

The Rest of the Story: #1 George Harrison Ware

The internet is wonderful for advancing family history.  I have been using it since @1995 and I have found the most "funderful" cousins from everywhere.

I have always been interested in who my Great Grandmother, Sarah Emma Ware Rape Cates, was.  Her story which I will tell in this series of posts, but not today, reads like a novel and  think the whole Ware family has a deep romantic streak in their souls because they have some of the most amazing people in their ancestry and in their descendants.  I have been privileged to meet a few of these people and today I am sharing a post by "Cousin" Tom Ware of Louisianna.

Tom was refered to me in early 2010 by another "cousin" and he had a piece of the puzzle, "What happened to the family of William and Martha Gee Ford Ware after the Civil War?"  William and Martha had at least 8 children:

Martha Ophelia 1850-1892,  George Harrison Ware 1852-1922, child died at birth 1854, Homer Cicero 1855-1904, Mary Elizabeth 1856-1883, Sarah Emma 1858-1937,  Child (possibly twins lived 24+ hours)1862,  William1864-1923.  William died 9 days after Appomattox and the end of the war.  Within 10 years the family was scattered, I know the two older sisters married but died early, Sarah and Homer married siblings in Texas, but the two brothers George and William could not be found until Tom contacted me.

This is part of the "rest of the story".

George Harrison Ware

Colonial Heights

My grandfather, George Harrison Ware was born 12 August 1852 near Six Mile, Floyd County, GA, the 2^ndst son to William Ware (1828 – 1865) and Martha Gee Ford (1833 – 1900).  He is believed to have grown up in the Joseph Ford plantation home known as Colonial Heights located (34 deg 10’ 12.49”N 85 deg 13’ 20.14”W) on old Booze Mountain Rd SW about 1.2 miles SW of Six Mile, GA which in turn is located appropriately 6 mi SSW of Rome, GA out the old Cave Springs Rd SW.  Note the southwestern leg of Booze Mtn. Rd is now called Samuel’s Mtn. Rd SW and Colonial Heights address is now 54 Samuel’s Mtn. Rd SW, Rome, GA.  His father & mother are both buried there in what is now known as the Birdsong Cemetery. 

Courtesy

The old Ware family home (Courtesy Plantation) is 1.6 mi to the west down that same road at present day 486 Booze Mountain Rd and the Ware Cemetery is about 700’ north and in front of the home.  The old refurbished home, on 1.75 acres, has been up for sale about three years and is now offered at $159,000 (see GA MLS#2539624).  Most of the old plantation of 1820 origin is now a large industrial park between Booze Mountain and Paris Lake in Floyd County, GA.  Part of a new Hwy By-Pass south of Rome, GA will pass just behind Courtesy Plantation and just in front of Colonial Plantation.  The fact that both homes are Historical Landmarks, originally built in what was then The Cherokee Nation, is probably what saved them from being gobbled up in the Hwy By-pass project.   

Grandfather’s early life, was disrupted by the Civil War, and torn asunder by the death of his father in April of 1865.  Thereafter, his mother’s older brother (Arthur S. Ford) was appointed Administrator of the Estate of William Ware and Guardian of the children until his mother could remarry – since at that time property rights were not granted to women.  His mother, Martha Gee Ford Ware, then married John Jetter Miller, a widower with children, on 16 Sep 1866 in Floyd County, GA; whereupon the property issues were resolved and Mr. Miller then became George’s Guardian.  It was said that life with the new step- father was not too desirable and by the 23^rd August 1870 Census neither George H. nor his younger brother Homer C. Ware were listed in the Miller household.  At that time George H. Ware would have been almost exactly 18 yrs old and his brother Homer C. Ware would have been about 15 yrs and 6 mo old.  They reportedly both left the home of their stepfather ultimately moving west to “Arkansas and Mississippi,” probably to a relative’s household until becoming established on their own, although Homer turned up as a single boarder in the 1880 US census for Ellis County (just south of Dallas), Texas.

 

George H. Ware next turned up in Little Rock, AR in the Pulaski County Clerk’s Marriage Records at age 23 yrs & 9 mos as having married the 40 yr & 9 mo old, widow, Isabella Eliza Jane Mills Culpepper on 19 Dec 1875.  Then in the 1880 Census for Little Rock (2^nd Ward), Pulaski Co., AR he was enumerated 12 Jun 1880 as Head of Household at 1105 Welsh St. (built by George H. Ware and occupied continuously by Ware’s until the late 1990’s) living with wife Isabella, 19 yr & 8 mo old “daughter” Fannie,  and 17 yr & 5 mo old “son” James.  George H. became a skilled carpenter along the way and later worked as a cabinetmaker in a Railroad Shop building passenger-train cars and also was a contractor  building numerous homes on Welsh St and on the east side of little Rock.

As it turns out Fannie was not his daughter but the foster daughter, Fannie L. Thomas, of the Rev. James L. and Isabella Eliza Jane Mills Culpepper, taken into their home in 1862 at Pine Bluff, Jefferson Co. AR.  Also 17 year old James (b 8 May 1863) was the only natural born child of the Rev. and Mrs. Culpepper to reach adulthood.  They and all their families were affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church of the South and later with the First Methodist Church in Little Rock.

George H’s. 1^st wife, Isabella, died 12 May 1889 and was buried beside her 1^st husband  in Bellwood Cemetery in Pine Bluff, AR; thereafter, it appears that George H. at age 38-4/12 yrs then married 30-10/12 yr old Fannie L. Thomas  (my grandmother) on 10 Nov 1890 in Pine Bluff, AR, per Jefferson Co. Marriage records.  Between 1892 and 1906 they had six children the last being my father when she was 46-2/12 years old.  George H. Ware died 22 Jul 1922 at age 69-11/12 in Little Rock, AR, from a blood clot in his leg, and is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Little Rock beside Fannie L. Ware.

 

Thanks to Tom for this sketch of George Harrison Ware's life.

If anyone out there reading this blog is a descendant of Martha and William please feel free to comment or contact me.  I would love to find the "rest of the story" on a lot of my Ware relations.