It
is interesting that the lot sizes were an entire acre. This gave plenty of
room for the owners to not only build a dwelling on, but room for planting a few
crops. Nice!
Dabney's
Children and what was his wife's name, Silvia or Sophia?
Ok,
let's look a little deeper into Dabney and Silvia and a woman named Sophia.
The Freedman's Bureau records which show that Dabney was married as
far back as 1858, clearly list Dabney's wife's name as Silvia. The
record indicates that they had 2 children by 1866. However later, in the 1870
Federal Census, we see Dabney's wife's name is Sophia. Now it is common
to find, when looking at Census records that personss' names can be incorrectly
listed, written etc. At times, the same person has alternate names.
We shall see this later even in the Flemons/Flemming/Fleming clan. I
began to focus on this "glitch" because I was trying to understand
why in the 1863 Civil War draft, Dabney was not taken and dismissed because as
the Evening Star newspaper reported at the time, he was "Only parent
of children". This was in 1863 and the Freedman's Bureau record of
him and Silvia/Sophia having 2 children was in 1866. So where was Silvia
in 1863? They were listed together in 1858 and 1866. To get an
understanding of this, I first ultimately found out how many children Dabney
had. Looking at Census records, I found that he had a total of 4
children.
In the 1870 Census below, we see Sophia listed as his wife, then a daughter
Martha (b. 1858), and on the next page another daughter Amanda (b. 1864) and
then John, who we later learn is also called Dabney Jr.
Note that after John (Dabney Jr.) in the record above, we see the census taker going
to the next house and who is next door? The Johnson family, featuring
Milton and Jane. Hmmm. Getting
back.
In
the 1880 Census below, Dabney's wife was listed as Sophia, and this time
daughter Martha is not listed (she would have been around 21 and maybe she has
gotten married, moved out, etc.). Next, Amanda and Dabney Jr. are listed
along with a new arrival to the family; enter Charles.
So,
all the children are Martha (b. 1858), Amanda (b. 1864), John
Dabney (keep your eye on this guy b. 1868) and Charles (b. 1872). This is
the family. Note that Dabney's son John, is also at
times listed as simply Dabney Flemming . He is referred to as
John only in a few records. For clarity, we shall refer to him as
"Dabney Jr", as he is referred to in the 1880 Census record
above. In another place he is called John D. Flemming.
Ok so, did Silvia pass after she and Dabney arrived in
DC and then Dabney married Sophia? Not sure. Could this be the
reason that during the 1863 draft he was not inducted? If Silvia had
passed between the time they came to DC (which may have been well before 1863)
and the '63 draft, Dabney indeed would have been the "only parent of
children". At that time the only child would have been Martha,
who was born in 1858. I will leave this open to suggestive input from
readers.
There is however, a record regarding the final resting place of
Sophia. It is in Moore's Cemetery, in S.E. D.C. Being also
previously known as Rosemont Cemetery, this now defunct cemetery is/was located
off of Suitland Parkway, near Stanton Rd. S.E. There are other
sources which say that in 1967, bodies which were buried here were
dis-interred and then re-interred at Harmony Memorial Park / Cemetery in
Landover, Maryland.
There is a high-degree of probability that this is indeed Sophia, Dabney's
wife. lf she is also the Silvia mentioned in the earlier Freedman's
Bureau records, then this would be my great-great grandmother.
Here is more information and a
LINK
