My Genealogy Home Page:Information about Lewis Petty
Lewis Petty (b. February 02, 1822, d. March 15, 1855)
Lewis Petty (son of Luke Petty and Mary Coward) was born February 02, 1822 in Jones County, Georgia, and died March 15, 1855 in Lafayette County, Mississippi.He married Mary Ann Elizabeth Jane Swinney on March 20, 1851 in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, daughter of William Caswell Swinney and Susan E. Hunter.
Notes for Lewis Petty:
LEWIS PETTY-MARY ANNE ELIZABETH JANE SWINNEY
Lewis is the second son of Luke and Mary Petty and was named after Mary's uncle.He was born February 2, 1822 in Jones County, Georgia and migrated with his parents to Mississippi in 1842.He is first mentioned in the 1850 census in Lafayette County, Mississippi working as a laborer on the James Terry farm.Months later, on March 20, 1851, he married Mary Ann Elizabeth Jane Swinney who was about 17 at the time of the wedding (1850 census Pontotoc County, Mississippi).Lewis had to post a $200 bond to get married.This was a customary law that would satisfy the state in the event that if the marriage failed a child would be provided for without the aid of state funding.
The couple had a son James William Petty, named after his maternal Grandfather on December 29, 1851.Lewis died of unknown causes (possibly yellow fever) on March 15, 1854 (Family Bible Records).Others list his death in 1855 or 1859.Mary E. Petty probated his estate consisting of eleven pieces in Lafayette County, Mississippi in 1855 (Eatman, 1978).A probate was customarily done about a year after the death where no will was filed so that any debts owed by the estate could be presented before a magistrate.
The now widow Mary E. Petty remarried shortly after Lewis' death to Stephen G. (George) Fields.They are mentioned in the Tishomingo, Mississippi 1860 census, along with J. W. Petty, and daughters Amanda M. and Susan E. Fields.In the 1860 census Susan was four and Stephen was twenty-one, so adding about one year for fetal development to Susan's four years we can calculate a late 1855 wedding date and a 17 year old groom.Here it is noted that James William did not change his surname to Fields, even though Stephen raised the young boy as his own.In the 1870 Tishomingo census James does not have the surname Petty recorded as his last name in contrast to the 1860 census.Family history shows J. W. was very interested in his last name and started spelling Petty without a second "e" based on an illiterate "signature" from the marriage license of his parents.It is also noted J. W. Petty did not name any of his children after his stepfather, but he did have a son William Lewis that was named after both of the boy's grandfathers.
Although born in Illinois, Stephen Fields enlisted in the 32nd Mississippi C. S. A. on March 8, 1862.He was a member of C Company with the rank 4th corporal.His name appears on a list of prisoners captured at Nashville on December 16, 1864 (Lockhart, 1977).After serving in the military Stephen returned home and the couple by the 1880 Prentiss County, Mississippi census added a daughter Hilliard and a son Thomas to the family.A quick calculation from census records show that when Stephen left to go to war he had a pregnant wife with three small children.
The couple left Mississippi for Illinois some time after 1873 and returned after 1879 (1880 Tishomingo, Ms. census).Stephen probably had lots to tell the family back home of his experiences fighting for the Confederacy upon his return to Illinois. Fields applied for a pension for his role in the civil war in 1900 (Wiltshire, 1983).
More About Lewis Petty:
Burial: Unknown, Mississippi.
More About Lewis Petty and Mary Ann Elizabeth Jane Swinney:
Marriage: March 20, 1851, Pontotoc County, Mississippi.
Children of Lewis Petty and Mary Ann Elizabeth Jane Swinney are:
- +James William Petty, b. December 29, 1851, Pontotoc County, Mississippi, d. May 28, 1919, Boyd, Wise Gounty, Texas.
- Leonard Petty, b. 1853, Mississippi, d. 1857, Mississippi.