The purpose of this post is to describe the life of Elizabeth Eddins/Edins/Edens, oldest daughter of John and Zilpha Eddins, Lexington and Orangeburgh Districts/Counties, SC. She married Benjamin Wingard and then Unknown Brown.
Before continuing, let me declare strongly that this post's goal is not to make anyone upset—only to lay out the facts that I believe describe her life. The material is labeled as fact with sources or as theory with supporting evidence. I will gladly change/amend this blog post if you provide evidence to prove!
To begin:
Much of the information posted about this Elizabeth on Ancestry and the internet is confused or incorrect.
For example:
The birthdate may be correct, being within the estimates of the best Eddins researchers. Even the marriage date to Benjamin Wingard may be correct, though the source isn't mentioned in any book or document I've come across in 30 years. It's pretty specific, so there may be some truth to it. The death date, however, is just plain silly. Elizabeth had at least six and possibly seven children: Mary, Samuel, Albert, Jobe, William, Jacob and probably Sarah. In addition, Alabama was not a state until 1820. And no one has ever proved that John Eddins's name was John William Eddins (though it might be. Show me the evidence).
Here's another example:
"Regarding Elizabeth Eddings who married Benjamin Wingard, I don’t know much. I looked at the World Connect project on the Internet to see what others had posted about them and the info I found was almost useless. One poster showed their daughter Mary being born before her mother. Here is what little I have on them. Elizabeth was born circa 1777 . About 1794-95 she married Benjamin Wingard and apparently their first child was William, born 12/10/1795. Their other children were: Mary, Jacob, Sanuel, Albert, and Jobe. I estimate they all were born during the period circa 1798-1807. Due to Benjamin's young age, he might have lived with his parents for a while."
http://genforum.genealogy.com/eddins/messages/741.html
Findagrave.com shows first son William's birthdate as 12/10/1799:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5977292/william-wingard
Assuming this info is correct within a year or two, then Elizabeth would have married Benjamin Wingard about ages 17 - 19. They may have lived with his parents. William, the first child, was born 12/10/1799 or so, when Elizabeth was 18 - 22.
William's grave says 1799:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=wingard&GSfn=william&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=3&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=5977292&df=all&
The 1800 Census agrees with William's birth year as 1796 - 1799:
In the 1800 US Census for SC, Benjamin Wingard is living in the Orangeburgh District of Lexington County. In the household are one male under 10 (born 1791 - 1800), one male 16 - 26, (born 1774 - 1784, Benjamin) and one female 16 - 26 (Elizabeth, born 1774 - 1784). Where are the rest of the children supposedly born before 1800??? Nowhere if William was the first and born in 1899. Neighbors include most of the Hendrix families, Michael Lee, Philip Fry, Peter Hendrick, John Lipes.
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7590/images/4440836_00154?ssrc=&backlabel=Return&pId=494726
Here's an interesting digression:
In Memorialized Records of Lexington District, S.C., 1814 - 1825, Page 68, Brent Holcomb lists this transaction: Benjamin Wingard buys 378 acres on the head of Congaree Creek from George Liks (Litesy??); sale price $378; dated December 19, 1801; recorded and proved December 1, 1817. Many people have listed December 19, 1801, as Benjamin's death date. He probably died after, but at least there's now a source for the very specific date.
Skipping ahead in time:
In 1828, Elizabeth's mother Zilpha ran an ad in the SC State Gazette that listed her children, including "John Edins" and "Elizabeth Brown." The ad also named those of Zilpha's children living outside SC. John and Elizabeth are not mentioned, so they must have still been living in SC in 1828.
You can find the content of Zilpha's ad in an earlier ALRoots2 post. Here's the web link, but it's behind a paywall:
http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/newspapers/doc/v2:11B55F04C806628C@GBNEWS-11BB082D13CEFFC8@2389070-11BB082D58F81ED0@6-11BB082E17EBB3F8@/?search_terms=edins&s_dlid=DL0114120622143605554&s_ecproduct=SUB-Y-6995-R&s_ecprodtype=RENEW-A-I&s_trackval=&s_siteloc=&s_referrer=&s_subterm=Subscription%20until%3A%2010%2F11%2F2015&s_docsbal=%20&s_subexpires=10%2F11%2F2015&s_docstart=&s_docsleft=&s_docsread=&s_username=rsjmc@earthlink.net&s_accountid=AC0112050822015911400&s_upgradeable=no
One thing it's possible to conclude from this entry is that Elizabeth got remarried after Benjamin's death (after 1801) to Mr. Unknown Brown.
Backtracking to 1810:
The 1810 Census does not list Benjamin Wingard and sadly, it doesn't list either "Elizabeth Wingard" or "Widow Wingard." An obvious conclusion is that Benjamin died our moved away by 1810 and that Elizabeth and children were living with relatives.
There IS a "Widow Brown"but probably not Elizabeth as she would have been 37 or so and woman who's head of household is over 45.
In the 1810 U.S. Census for SC, Widow Brown is living in Lexington District. In the household are two females 16 - 25 (born 1785 - 1794) and one female 45 and over (Widow Brown, born 1774 or earlier).
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7613/images/4433429_00127?ssrc=&backlabel=Return&pId=582275)
Moving farther forward in time, however, we find a good candidate for Elizabeth:
In the 1820 US Census for SC, Elizabeth Brown is living in Lexington County. In the household are one male 26 - 44 (born 1776 - 1780 but not head of household), two females 10 - 15 (born 1805 - 1810), one female 26 - 44 (Elizabeth, head of household, who must be 40 - 44, born 1776 - 1780). Three people engaged in agriculture. two people under 16, two people over 25. Total is four people. Neighbors: Geiger, Fey, Meetze, Lee, Kinzler, Griffen, Battles, Strickland, Oswalt, Price, Reisinger, Swygert.
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7734/images/4433457_00088?ssrc=&backlabel=Return&pId=981570
Also, consider this:
In Memorialized Records of Lexington District, S.C., 1814 - 1825, Page 127, Brent Holcomb lists this transaction: Elizabeth Brown gifts to Mary and Sarah Wingard, 30 acres lying by the Broad River; executed 20 March 1822; proved the same day; recorded April 3, 1822.
Elizabeth is the 1820 head of household. Mary and Sarah may be the two females 10 - 15. At this point I don't know who the male is; perhaps Jobe. (Oh, boy—something else to investigate:)
And the final record for Elizabeth's life:
In the 1830 US Census for SC, Elizabeth Brown lives in Lexington County. In the household there is one female 50 - 59 (Elizabeth, born 1771 - 1780) and one free colored person 10 - 23. Next door is John Eddings (John S. Eddings, Elizabeth's brother). Neighbors: Roof, Ruff, Lee, Oswalt, Newman, Qualttlebaum, John Eddings.
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8058/images/4410695_00720?backlabel=ReturnSearchResults&queryId=cdb84693e052aabd5bc77378745e21cc&pId=661013
Elizabeth Eddins (b. 1777 - 1780) would be 50 to 53, so her age matches Elizabeth Brown’s in 1830.
That's all I have found about the life of Elizabeth Eddins Wingard Brown. There may be other good sources available. I'll keep looking. Comments with proof are always welcome!
Since Mary Wingard mar
