Ancestor Talk

My paternal great-great grandparents Isaiah and Jennie (Wesley) Withrow had 10 children during slavery in North Carolina’s Rutherford county. They both passed on in the early 1880s resting assured that their two daughters Lucinda and Nancy Ann had married and their eight sons were thriving. Here are 12 Withrows descendants of our patriarch and matriarch located in the 1910 Federal census, Rutherford County.

Albert Withrow, 1851 -1919 was the fifth son of Isaiah (“Isaic”) and Jane (“Jennie”) Withrow born enslaved in Rutherford County, North Carolina on Sept. 15, 1851. His marriage to Mary Jane Houser of Logan Store Township on Nov. 26, 1873 (or 1874) produced nine sons and three daughters. In the 1910 Federal census for Duncan Creek Township, he, Mary and their three children, Callie, Joseph and Henry were together; Albert was farming while the rest worked the crops. An advocate for Blacks’ education, he was appointed to the County Board of Education in 1901. ¹ Albert paid for his youngest brother, the Rev. Dr. Chauncey Isaiah Withrow’s, college education. It was Chauncey who preached the North Carolina Methodist Conference’s evening service Nov. 30, 1914 in Thomasville where Albert had been ordained to Christian ministry earlier in the day.²

Later, Albert’s probate included $5.00 to J.P.D. Withrow, a prominent Hollis merchant and grandson of his enslavers, to auction his property. And $14.30 dues to his Masonic lodge were to be paid from Albert’s estate. He passed Feb. 27, 1919 from dysentery and mitral valve regurgitation while still farming in Duncans Creek and was buried in Brooks Chapel UMC cemetery, Shelby. He passed his given name, vision and generosity on to the author’s father, Albert McKinney. That Albert is the author’s great-granduncle.

Clarence Withrow, 1892 – 1896 was Albert and Mary Jane Withrow’s next to the youngest, short-lived child born Oct. 15, 1892. He passed Sept. 17, 1896 and was buried in Brooks Chapel UMC cemetery, Shelby. He is Diana’s first cousin 2x removed.

Edwin (Edgar) Withrow, 1886 – 1974 was William and Mary McCraw Withrow’s only son born on May 20, 1886. His WWI draft card atypically indicated his race as “African.” He and Nannie Scott had six daughters and they farmed in Rutherfordton. As a widower and employed as a janitor, he passed in Spindale on Nov. 19, 1974. “Ed”, “Edgar” or “Edwin” was the proud father of a WWII Purple Heart and two Bronze Battle Stars recipient, William Thomas Withrow, PFC. Edwin lies in the historic Wells Springs UMC cemetery, Forest City. He is Diana’s first cousin, 2x removed.

Ervin (Irwin, Erwin) Withrow, abt 1854 – 1950 was the sixth child born enslaved to Isaiah and Jane Withrow and he married Ella Carpenter (1864-1940). The May 1910 Federal census indicates that Ella had birthed four children but none had survived. Ervin’s eyewitness account of Rev. James Withrow’s injured sons’ return to the Hollis plantation from the Civil War was reported in the 1937 Rutherford News, according to Scott Withrow’s article. ³ It’s possible that as a boy, he assisted in caring for them in the housewhich may have been the impetus for State Rep. Grady Withrow to introduce HB 991 for him to “receive Confederate pension as a Negro body-servant.”⁴ Typically, African-American body-servants  accompanied their enslavers to the battlefield or served them in camps thereby may have been considered for Confederate pensions. Currently, there is no evidence that Ervin did either and the bill did not pass. Ervin is featured in the film documentary “What We Inherit” released in 2025 by Bunbury Films in Montreal, Canada. ⁵ His newspaper obituary stated he was the oldest black in the county; judging by his news interview and the 1860 Federal slave schedules, Ervin was indeed near 100 years at death on Mar. 9, 1950. And he was the oldest member of Wells Springs UMC in Forest City at that time where he and Ella were buried. He is Diana’s great-granduncle.

John William Withrow, 1885 – 1966, was the youngest of 11 children born in Nov. 1885 and the only son of Toliver and Judy (Lattimore-Twitty) Withrow. Called “Little Johnny” by relatives as he was so thin, somehow John’s first daughter was said to have weighed about 300 lbs. In the 1910 Rutherford county census, he was married to Daisy McKinney with their first child, a 1 1/2 year old daughter Ora aka Ocie. A cousin in Michigan shared how for years he brought watermelons and senior relatives to family reunions hosted at his sister Janie Withrow Logan’s farm in Forest City. John passed Jun. 20, 1966 and rests in the Wells Springs UMC cemetery. He is Diana’s great-uncle.

Joseph Withrow, 1890 – 1913, sixth son of Albert and Jane Withrow born on Sept. 13, 1890, attended common school and farmed in Hollis. Unfortunately or fortunately, he was not admitted to the tuberculosis sanatorium in Asheville and succumbed to the disease Nov. 24, 1913. He was single and lies in the Brooks Chapel UMC cemetery with his parents. He is Diana’s 1st cousin 2x removed.

Lula Withrow, 1887 – ?, was the second daughter of Calvin “Zan” and Katherine Wells Withrow. In the 1910 Federal census, a 23 year old Lula Withrow was boarding in the Wiley household with her four year old daughter Lucie, the first of two children. She was a literate farm laborer; details of her death are to be determined. She is Diana’s 1st cousin, 2x removed.

Thomas Withrow, abt 1876 – ?, was Albert and Mary Jane’s second son who at 20 years of age, married Amanda Elliott (1879-?) in Rutherford County where they farmed. Their three sons, Milford, Henry and Thomas Jr. are enumerated in the 1910 census with them. Unfortunately, Amanda had birthed two more children who had not survived by Apr. 1910. Thomas is Diana’s 1st cousin, 2x removed.

Toliver Withrow, abt 1840 – 1920, was Isaiah and Jane’s first child, born enslaved. On the 1910 Federal census, he was 66 and living with his second wife of 15 years, Harriett Jessie Henson. Their daughter Alice’s 13 year old son Grady Young lived with them; she had passed before the enumeration. Toliver had 10 daughters with his first wife Judy Lattimore (Twitty?) and one son John William Withrow (see above). After his 10 heirs were notified of their shares in his estate valued at $600.00, a public auction on Feb. 2, 1920 disbursed the remainder of his personal property. He was buried at Wells Springs UMC cemetery having died of pneumonia at the age of 80 on Jan. 7, 1920. He is Diana’s great-grandfather.

Lucinda Withrow, 1850 – 1927, the first daughter of Isaiah and Jane Withrow born enslaved, married Pose Frank Hamilton (1834-1914) and they lived next door to her brother Toliver in the 1910 census. Three of their unmarried daughters were home with them in Rutherfordton. Lucinda was illiterate and did private duty as a laundress while Pose worked at odd jobs. Two of their daughters Ossie and Blanch also did private duty as laundresses while 22 year old Litha cooked in a boarding house. Lucinda passed on Jan. 2, 1927 and rests in the Wells Springs UMC Cemetery, Forest City. She is Diana’s great-grandaunt.

Nancy Ann Withrow, abt 1854 – 1925, the second daughter of Isaiah and Jane Withrow born enslaved, was widowed for a second time by the 1910 Federal census and lived “next door” to her siblings, Toliver, William, Lucinda. She owned the home once shared with her deceased husband, Pleasant Burge but was working out as a farm laborer in 1910. Her daughter Lela, a private duty cook, Lela’s two year old daughter Fannie and Nancy’s eight year old nephew Joseph Young are in the household. It was on Nancy’s father-in-law Nelson Burge that the KKK first raided in Rutherford county “sometime around February 1870” before the more famous McGaha raid occurred.⁶ Nancy rests in Wells Springs UMC cemetery. She passed Jun. 16, 1925, rests in Wells Springs UMC cemetery and is Diana’s great-grandaunt.

William Withrow, 1861 – 1939, was the sixth son of Isaiah and Jane Withrow born enslaved on Aug. 30, 1861. Around 1880, he married Mary McCraw and in 1910, their three daughters, Laura, Florence and Nola are still home along with his niece Caroline Young and nephew William Young. Although the 1910 census stated that he was illiterate, William was likely one of the “coloreds” appointed to the County Board of Education along with Albert Withrow in 1901.⁷ It was his daughter Annie Laura, a public school teacher, who arrogantly used her literacy as a qualifier to administer her uncle Ervin’s estate in 1950. William passed Aug. 16, 1939 andrests in Wells Spring UMC cemetery. He is Diana’s great-granduncle.

Footnotes

1  “Appointment of Committees,” The Rutherfordton Tribune, Jul. 18, 1901, page 3, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-rutherfordton-tribune/202182521/ Albert and William Withrow and their sister Lucinda’s husband, Pose Hamilton were “colored”appointees to the Board.

2  “Soul Stirring Talks Made At Conference,” Greensboro Daily News, Nov. 30, 1914, page 2, https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-and-record-soul-stirring-talks-alb/202769059/.

3  Scott Withrow, The Heritage of Rutherford County North Carolina, Vol. 1, 1984, Genealogical Society of Old Tryon County, #445

4  “Legislative Record – New House Bills,” The News and Observer, Raleigh, Mar. 25, 1939, page 3, https://www.newspapers.com/paper/the-news-and-observer/3272/

5  Kacim S. Azouz, “What We Inherit,” Bunbury Films, Montreal, 2025, YouTube, 1:56, https://youtu.be/qu7XWxqiYvU?si=_QsPc1-iQ89mncUm

6  Clarence W. Griffin, History of Old Tryon and Rutherford Counties North Carolina 1730-1936.(Miller Printing 1937) #327

7  “Appointment of Committees,” The Rutherfordton Tribune, Jul. 18, 1901, page 3, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-rutherfordton-tribune/202182521/ 1 “Appointment of Committees,” The Rutherfordton Tribune, Jul. 18, 1901, page 3, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-rutherfrdton-tribune/202182521/