Life History

Notes

• 1870 Federal Census, Union County, South Carolina, 29 August, Cross Key's Township, P O Unionville, page 25 (scan 361), Hse #208, Fam #214
  Gregory, W S 49 F W Merchant $4000 Real Estate, $5000 Personal Estate born South Carolina Cannot Read or Write [b abt 1821]
  Gregory, F P 31 F W At Home born South Carolina Cannot Read or Write [b abt 1839]
  Gregory, M E [Eugenia] 25 F W At Home born South Carolina Cannot Read or Write [b abt 1845]
  Gregory, Kate  8 M W At Home born South Carolina Cannot Read or Write [b abt 18562]
  Gregory, Fannie  6 F W At Home born South Carolina Cannot Read [b abt 1864]
  Gregory, Lizzie  3 M W At Home born South Carolina [b abt 1867]
  Ray, Josephine 25 F W At Home born South Carolina Cannot Read or Write [b abt 1845]
  Ferguson, Francis 15 M W At Home born South Carolina [b abt 1855]
  
  Lizzie's full name was probably Elizabeth.  Lizzie was one of several popular nicknames for Elizabeth in that era.  Her middle initial is reported in 1880 as F.  This name is likely Frances, but no docmentaton of has been found of her middle name.  A memorial in Find a Grave has reproted a Lizzie Fergurson Gregory as the daughter of W S and Penmelia Gregory.  The Penmilia would be Warren Simpso Gregory's second wife Frances Penmilia or Permilia Ferguson.
  
  But censuses reprot Lizzie born in 1867, before W S's first wife died in 1969.  He married Frances Permelia (or Penmilia as two records have the name) in 1969.  The FAG memorial for LIzzie Fergurson Gregory reports her born in 1873.  But she wasin the 1870 census.  Our Lizzie's death crtificate does report "Penmilia Ferguson" as her mother, but this is udnerstandable for a stepmother of a child who never knew her birth mother, bein only 2 when she died.
  
  Another factor does indicate that the grave reported on FAG is our Lizzie.  She is burie din a shared grave with a joint marker with Minnie Mood Gragory.  The header name is the surname Gregory, which matchs thse two sisters who neve married and lived to gether at least 30 yeas, being reported together in one hosehold in censuses for 1910, 1920,1930 and 1940.
  
  One conclusion to resolve the discrepancies between these various indicators is two-fold.  It involves two errors made on the grave marker, depending on who made some of the decisions.
  
  1. The middle name Fergurson is a variation of Lizzie's stepmother's name.  It would not be the only case where a middle name referred to most of her life with only an initifial (F) had been mistaken for a stepmother's maiden nae rather than her mother's name or maiden nmae.  The F may stand for some other name.  We might think it to be the name very common in that era, Frances.  But definitive is the fact that she was born in 1867.
  
  2. Lizzie's year of birth reported on the gravestone is the same yea as her sister Minnie, 1873.  It is a rather common error, unfortunately, on grave markers to have the wrong year of birth.  I have several examples in my immediate family of uncles or aunts, and numerous others in my extended family in this genealogy.  The engraver could very easily have inattentively engraved the same year for LIzzie as for Minnie, confusing them, looking at the ewrong line of the instructin sheet, or carelessly not double checking.  It happens.  And there is no doubt that Lizzie was here before W S's first wife died and before he married his second wife.
  
  1880 Federal Census, Union County, South Carolina, 28 June, Cross Keys, District 152, page 28, Hse #127, Fam #227
  Gregory, W Simpson W F 59 Husckster SC SC SC
  Gregory, Frances P  W F 41 Wife Keepin House SC SC SC
  Gregory, Kate M  W F 18 Dau Single Teaching SC SC SC
  Gregory, Fannie L  W F 16 Dau Single Attending School SC SC SC
  Gregory, Lizzie F  W F 13 Dau Single Attending School SC SC SC
  Gregory, Eva P W F 9 Dau Attending School SC SC SC
  Gregory, Minnie M  W F 7 Dau Single Attending School SC SC SC
  Gregory, Victer [sic] D  W F 4 Son Single At Home SC SC SC
  Gregory, Virgil W F 3mos born March 1880 Son Single At Home SC SC SC
  
  By 1900, LIzzie is the only child still living in the household.  She is reported as 39 years old and born in July 1867, matching the other records concerning her birth, and thus her parentage, as discussed above.
  
  1900 Federal Census, Union County, South Carolina, 5 June, Cross Keys Township, District 67, page 2A, Hse/Fam #19
  Gregory, W S  Head  W M March 1821 79 Married 42 years SC SC SC Postmaster Owns
  Gregory, Frances P Wife W F May 1839  60 Married 42 yrs 7 children/6 living SC SC SC No Occupation
  Gregory, Lizzie F Dau W F July 1867  32 Single SC SC SC No Occupation
  
  Lizzie never married.  In the 1910 census and later censuses she was living with her also-single sister Minnie, and Lizzie was working in a boarding house.  The 1930 census clarifies that she was a houekeeper in the boarding house.
  
  1910 Federal Census, Union County, South Carolina, 19 April, Union Township, District 124, page 7B, South Bachelor St, Hse #124, Fam #146
  Gregory, Lizzie Head F W 42 Single SC SC SC Boarding House Rents [b abt 1868]
  Gregory, Minnie Sister F W 37 Single SC SC SC School Teacher [b abt 1873]
  
  In 1930, the sisters are living at a different address.
  
  1930 Federal Census, Union County, South Carolina, 2 April, Union City, District 44-17, page 1A, 13 East South St, Hse #7, Fam #8
  Gregory, Lizzie Head Rents $35 F W 62 Single SC SC SC Housekeepr, Boarding House Rents [b abt 1868]
  Gregory, Minnie Sister F W 56 Single SC SC SC School Teacher [b abt 1874]
  
  South Carolina, Death Records, 1821-1965
  Lizzie Gregory
  Age 78, single
  Birth Date 9 July 1877 [1867] Union, South Carolina
  Father Warren S Gregory, born Virginia
  Mother [Stepmother] Penmelia [Permelia] Ferguson, born Spartanburg County, South Carolina [on her daughter Fannie's DC it was Laurens County]
  Informant Victor G Gregory, Union, South Carolina
  Death 12 December 1945 Wallace Thompson Hospital, Union, Union County, South Carolina
  Cause of Death Chronic Valvular Disease of Heart, Coronary Thrombosis
  Burial 13 December 1945 Grace Cemetery, by Edgar-Brown-Bailey Funeral Home, Union, South Carolina
  Filed 10 January 1946
  
  Gravestone of Minnie and Lizzie Gregory
  Gregory
  Minnie Mood   Mar 6, 1873   May 5, 1942
  Lizzie Fergurson [?]   July 9, 1873 [1867]   Dec 12, 1945
  Grace United Methodist Church Cemetery, Union County, South Carolina
  Photo by CEJ on Find a Grave posted 12 April 2012, accessed 6 April 2019

Sources

• 1. 1870 Federal Census, Union County, South Carolina
  • 29 August, Cross Key's Township, P O Unionville, page 25 (scan 361), Hse #208, Fam #214
• 2. South Carolina, Death Records, 1821-1965
• 3. 1910 Federal Census, Union County, South Carolina
  • 19 April, Union Township, District 124, page 7B, South Bachelor St, Hse #124, Fam #146
• 4. 1930 Federal Census, Union County, South Carolina
  • 2 April, Union City, District 44-17, page 1A, 13 East South St, Hse #7, Fam #8
• 5. 1880 Federal Census, Union County, South Carolina
  • 28 June, Cross Keys, District 152, page 28, Hse #127, Fam #227
• 6. 1900 Federal Census, Union County, South Carolina
  • 5 June, Cross Keys Township, District 67, page 2A, Hse/Fam #19
• 7. Gravestones of South Carolina
• 8. Obituaries from South Carolina