The Women of 1243
Ancestor One in Ancestral Women's 31-Day Challenge
MARY WRIGHT BURNETT (July 17, 1834 – February 22, 1911), my 2x maternal great grandmother, was born in LaGrange, Georgia. It is unclear when she married Alfred Wright, her first husband. The 1850 and 1860 Census records lists Mary as a “free inhabitant,” thus confirming that she was a free person of color.
Mary and Alfred lived in Washington, GA, where they had two children.
I have not found birth or marriage certificates for Mary or Alfred. Census records and oral history from family suggest they lived in Georgia from the late 1830s to about 1878. Between 1854 and 1874, they had two daughters.
The marriage between Alfred and Mary ended sometime in the late 1870s after their second child was born. The 1880 Census reveals they were living with their children in Augusta, GA. Between 1887and 1900, records indicate Mary divorces Alfred and marries Stephen Burnett on July 24, 1885. He dies May 16, 1898.
The 1900 Census reveals Mary Wright Burnett is a widow with two children, both of whom have married and have children of their own—one living in Alabama and the other in Georgia.
Mary Wright Burnett was a mid-wife and dressmaker. She most likely assisted her youngest daughter with the birth of at least four of her children born between 1874 and 1898. Mary lived with the youngest daughter and her husband/family until February 22, 1911, when, according to her death certificate, she died at home from “apolexy” or a severe stroke (.
She is buried in one of the two family plots in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Augusta, GA.
Read more about The Women of 1243 at substack.com/@drmarymarshall. Thirty more women to come, most of whom are DNA ancestors. Those who aren’t blood relatives were close friends of the family and worth reading about. I feel their presence already!
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Really nice concept for women's history month!