SPRING HILL CEMETERY, MAURY COUNTY TENNESSEE
From: Marcia Witt
Barb Miraslaw wrote to me and she has proved C.W. was Charles Wesley Owen.
1. C.W. Owen was a dry goods merchant/Grocer in Maury County Tenn. Do you see his death dates?
2. Do you see tombstone or death for Mary Grigsby Shields, wife of W. R, Shields, saddlemaker of
Maury Co, Tenn
Barb Miraslaw also writes this to Marcia Witt: 20 Feb 2010
I've been busy the last few days studying the Grigsbys and trying to fill in the gaps. You asked about the marriage of
Frances Grigsby and C. W. Owen and his full name, etc. It took some time, but it was (in my opinion) a masterful bit
of detectve work.
I first searched for Fannie Owen in the census records, and knowing that she died in 1905 (from the Find A Grave entry)
I started with 1900. A Fannie Owen was found, living in Maury County (b. in Virginia Feb. 1826) with husband Wesley
(b. in Tenn. May 1838), married about 1873. We already know that Frances and C. W. were married in Nov. of 1872, the
marriage dates are consistent. Then I went to the 1880 census and found Fannie in Maury County (b. abt. 1838 in
Tenn.) with husband Wesly (b. abt. 1841 in Tenn.), with Wesley's mother Sarah (b. abt. 1816 in Tenn.). Then I
searched for Sarah Owen in the 1860 census and found Sarah C. Owen in Maury County (b. abt.1816 in Tenn.), with
children Charles W. (b. abt. 1838 in Tenn.), A. F. (a male, b. abt. 1840 in Tenn.) and Richard W. (b. abt. 1844 in
Tenn.). Then I searched for Sarah in the 1850 census and found her in Williamson County (b. abt. 1820 in Tenn.) with
children Doney (a female b. abt. 1837 in Tenn.), William (b. abt. 1839), Wesley (b. abt. 1840), Richard (b. abt.
1843) and someone named Osborne Nicholson (b. abt. 1812 in Tenn.) Most surprising was that she was living next door
to Cordy and Polly Nicholson, parents of Mary and Matilda (wives of Benjamin Grigsby.) At this point I'm wondering if
Osborne is a child of Cordy and Polly and is helping out Sarah, since she lives next door to the Nicholsons. But
then I searched for a potential marriage for Sarah, and found an entry for Sterling W. Owen, married Jan. 24, 1833
in Williamson County to Sarah C. NICHOLSON. It all made perfect sense! Charles Wesley Owen, son of Sarah C.
Nicholson Owen (and sister of Mary and Matilda) married Frances Grigsby, sister of Benjamin Grigsby, husband of
Mary and Matilda. Furthermore, I found a record of death for a Sterling Williamson Owen, who died at Spring Hill
Feb. 26, 1845.
I have not found any information to verify that Sarah is indeed the daughter of Cordy and Polly Nicholson; to the
contrary, I found someone's tree that has her the daughter of a different Nicholson couple. However, Cordy and Polly
were married Dec. 22, 1813 in Williamson County and a 1816 birth date for Sarah, and the fact that they were next door
to each other in 1850 would make this a plausible conclusion. Will have to do more digging to verify.
Mary Grigsby (daughter of Etchison and Sallie) married W. R. Shields Feb. 7, 1855 in Williamson County. I found the
couple in Maury County in 1860 (Mary was b. abt. 1831 in Virginia, which is consistent with what we already know.)
Found nothing after that, but I didn't focus too much on it. Will return to the task later today.
William G. Grigsby's daughter Sallie married George Stanley Nov. 18, 1872 in Williamson County and then it appears that
the Grigsbys and daughter Sallie with husband George moved to Navarro County. After William died, Selena and the kids
came back to Tenn., and Sallie and her husband stayed in Navarro County. (I have no idea of why Selena went to
Pulaski - I surmise that she had relatives in Giles County, but have no proof yet.) Sallie and George had 3 children;
some time between 1880 and 1890 Sallie must have died because George has a different wife in 1900, and an
approximate marriage date of 1890, with 3 more children born between 1891 and 1899.
As for Matilda's age - I'm thinking that whomever took the information from the tombstone may have read it wrong,
because the census records indicate that she was born about 20 years later than what you have. I'm not saying that
they did, but I know from personal experience that old tombstones can be hard to decipher. I'm withholding
judgment on this issue until I see actual photos of the tombstone, or can go to the cemetery and see for myself.
And I am going to go there, along with other cemeteries. Just too many unanswered questions right now!
Marcia, (Marcia Witt) I hope you are pleased with the new information. I'm kind of proud of the result.
Barb coleslaw@wctc.net