CHARITY SHEPHERD WILLIAMS
Mother Of Nine
March 2nd post of Ancestral Women 31-Day Challenge honoring one of my women ancestors. Join me and add one of yours, too.
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Charity Shepherd Williams (April 1846-February 5, 1922), daughter of William (Robin) Shepherd and my 2nd paternal grandmother, was born in Columbia, Georgia, and lived there until her marriage to Eli Williams (1826-1913) on December 22, 1867.
They had 9 children, the first of whom died months after birth. The fourth child, Willie Williams, was my great grandfather.
Census records show she lived in Columbia until at least 1880. The 1900 Census indicates the family was living in Augusta, GA, about forty-five minutes from Columbia. Her husband worked at a local hotel and Charity was a “housekeeper,” stay at home wife and mother to their children.
Family records indicate Charity and Eli purchased a home sometime in the early 1900s and moved in around 1905. This home was built next door to her son Willie’s home.
I recall going between the two homes in the 1950s when descendants of Charity and Eli lived there. And, there were the trips to Cedar Grove Cemetery, Augusta, GA, with my grandmother and grandaunt to help clean the grave of Charity and Eli.
My grandmother and her siblings helped raise me. They loved talking about their childhood. Their stories were fascinating and made more interesting because they had photographs.
In the case of my 2nd paternal grandmother, my grandmother and grandaunts had access to the home in which Charity and her family lived in for 46 years. It is these oral history stories and photographs, plus my own memories of 1245, that helped in writing this tribute to Charity Shepherd Williams. May she RIP.
This is beautiful, and the fact you still remember parts of the story from your memory but can still recall the oral history. I absolutely love when I get to read your work. It's so inspiring to learn more about my history.
This is a wonderful tribute to Charity