On September 5, 1826 — 190 years ago today — my 3x great-grandparents Elisha Thomas Horn and Marilda Richardson were married in Greene County, Alabama.
This entry in Greene County’s Marriage Book A records a marriage license issued on September 1, 1826, for the couple to wed. It was executed on September 5, by James C. Neill, justice of the peace. The couple obtained parental consent, as Marilda was underage, most likely 16 or 17 years old. Elisha was approximately 26 years old.
(A second entry in the record book shows a marriage license issued to Elisha and Marilda without parental consent; however, this entry is marked out in error.)
Marilda was the daughter of Samuel Garthon Richardson and Celah Hackney of Johnston County, North Carolina. Their family migrated to Alabama sometime after 1810. Elisha’s parents are unknown, although he was also a North Carolina native.
During their marriage, Elisha and Marilda lived in Sumter County, Alabama, and Neshoba County, Mississippi. Elisha was a farmer and a man of the Primitive Baptist faith. He was an organizing and charter member of Old Side Primitive Baptist Church near Sumterville, Sumter County, Alabama, when it formed in 1833. (Elisha later became a Primitive Baptist preacher after Marilda’s death. He and second wife Nancy donated land for Zion Hill Primitive Baptist Church in Leake County, and Elisha served as their pastor.)
Elisha and Marilda were married over 25 years when Marilda died in the early 1850s, either in Neshoba County or shortly after the family moved to Leake County. They had nine children, seven of which survived to adulthood — including my 2x great-grandfather, Joshua Lawrence Horne.
Sources:
1840 United States Federal Census, Sumter County, Alabama; p. 153; National Archives Microfilm M704, Roll 15.
1850 United States Federal Census, Neshoba County, Mississippi; p.121A, dwelling 101, family 109, lines 15-21; Aug 6, 1850; National Archives Microfilm M432, Roll 378.
“Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKZ3-HSCB : 21 July 2015), Elisha T. Horn and Marilda Richardson, 1826.
E. T. Horn on Neshoba County Tax Rolls, 1845, Box 3711. “Mississippi, State Archives, Various Records, 1820-1951,” database with images,FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-21381-47592-60?cc=1919687 : 21 May 2014), Neshoba > County tax rolls 1845, Box 3711 > image 8 of 19; Mississippi Department of Archvies and History, Jackson.
Horn History Book Committee. Family History of Horn Ancestors and Descendants of Elisha Thomas Horn of Zion Hill, Mississippi, Volume 1. Carnegie, Oklahoma: Self-Published, 1984.
Jenkins, Nelle Morris. Pioneer Families of Sumter County, Alabama in The Blandford Series of Yarbrough Genealogical Records. Ed. Leonard Yarbrough. Vol. 93. Yarbrough National Genealogical & Historical Association, 2015. Print.