The West Family Line - The Children of William Robert West

The Children of Robert West and Betty Greenway

Ada Virginia West

Ada was born on 26 June 1889 according to her death certificate. On this certificate Ada's birthplace is listed as North Carolina, we know that the family was either in Granville or Franklin County but unfortunately we do not know which place is her birthplace.

On the 1900 Census Ada's birth is shown as June 1887 and she was 12 years old living with her father and brothers and sisters in Cedar Rock, Franklin County.

Ada married Joseph Edward Moore on 15 Oct 1905 in Franklin County. Joseph was the son of Simon Moore and Lucy Joyner from Louisburg, North Carolina.

By 1910 Edward and Ada were sharing their home with her father, Robert, and their son, Robert Gillis Moore.

The 1920 Census shows two more children; Marion and Ada have joined the family. 

Edward passed away 22 Jan 1930. Ada passed away on 9 Jan 1973. Edward and Ada are buried at White Level Baptist Church.

Robert West

Robert was born 29 Sept 1892 in Franklin County, North Carolina. 

In 1900 he was living with his brother Thomas and his wife Mollie. Also in the household was his father and brothers and sisters.  In 1910 he was living with his brother Luther and his wife Kate. 

On 22 Jan 1911 Robert married Zelpha Gertrude Pearce. Zeffie was Luther's wife Kate's sister. 

Zeffie was the daughter of Doctor Buck Pearce and Carolina Gupton. 

Robert and Zeffie had two daugthers, Swannie and Sadie. 

Robert passed away on 2 Feb 1914 and was buried at White Level Baptist Church. 

Zeffie later married Luther Collins.

This is a picture of Zeffie and Luther Collins:

Lessie West

Lessie was born on 29 May 1889 in Franklin County, North Carolina. At 17 she married Joseph L. Wester on 18 Dec 1906. Joseph was the son of Thomas Wester and Sarah Wilson.

They had 8 children; Mabel, Samuel, Charlie, Kathleen, Hilda, Iam, Beal and Emily.

They made their home in the Cedar Rock area of Franklin County. 

Joseph passed away in 1951. Lessie died on 3 Jan 1980. They are both buried at Hickory Rock Baptist Church on the Fire Tower Road in Franklin County. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Next post is about Luther West my great grandfather and son of Robert West.

Pattie

The West Family Line - The Children of Robert

The Children of 

William Robert West and Betty Greenway

Robert and Betty had eight children. They began their life together in Granville County, North Carolina and later moved to Franklin County. No one knows why they made this move. However, there may be at least one clue as to when they moved. Luther's death certificate lists his birth place as Granville county. Luther was born in 1883. Ada's death certificate does not list a county of birth but Robert's lists Franklin County as his birth place. Robert was born in 1889. From this we can guess that the move was between 1883 and 1889. If anyone has more information I hope they will share. I need to look into land purchases etc and maybe that will give a better time frame.

William Spencer West

William Spencer was born in November of 1871 in Granville County. On 16 Dec 1896 he married Frances Etta Greenway from Granville. Etta's father was James Henry Greenway. James was Betty's brother, Robert's wife.

William and Etta West

Below is the 1900 Federal Census. 

Etta's mother Nannie Greenway was a widow and living with Spencer and Etta. Etta's sister Mary was also living in the home.  Nannie lived with Etta and Spencer until her death on 14 Oct 1923. 

William Spencer and Etta lived in Watkins, Vance County, North Carolina. They were not blessed with children during their marriage.

William and Etta's farm in Watkins

Etta passed away on 10 Dec 1951 and Spencer passed on 29 May 1953. They are both buried in Sunset Garden Memorial Cemetery in Henderson, North Carolina.

Samuel Thomas West

Samuel Thomas was born in Granville County in July 1873. Thomas moved to Franklin County where he married Mollie Wester on 13 Dec 1900. Mollie's parents were Thomas and Sarah Wester of Franklin County.  They were not blessed with children during their marriage. Samuel passed away 12 January 1922 and was buried at Hickory Rock Baptist Church on the Firetower Road in Franklin County. Unfortunately I have not discovered what happened to Mollie yet. 

1900 Census

The 1900 Census shows the family living together in Cedar Rock, Franklin County, North Carolina.

Thomas and Mollie are listed as head of household.

Solomon West

Solomon was born 28 Aug 1874 in Granville County. He and Luther would share households and business investments during their lives. Solomon married late in life to Annie Best Collins. Annie was the daughter of Ollie and Geneva Collins. They married on 2 Feb 1930. He was 55 years old and Annie was 20 when they married. They had three children; Maxine, Ronald and David.

Below is the 1930 Census; Sol and Annie had just married and they are living with Luther and his family.

Annie B. West

Solomon

Solomon passed away on 10 July 1962. Annie passed in June 1975. They are both buried at White Level Baptist Church. From Annie's death certificate it appears she remarried, a Gilliam.

Lelia West

Lelia was born on 10 Jun 1880 in Granville County. Lelia married Joseph Clifton Collins on 18 Nov 1899 in Franklin County. Joseph's parent were William Henry Collins and Martha Ann Murray of Franklin County. 

The 1920 Census shows Lelia married but Joseph is not listed. The Census records before and after have him listed. Wonder where he was??

This census lists their children; Bettie, Mamie, Columbus, Joe and John.

There was another daughter Iola.

Joseph passed away 26 January 1947. His death certificate indicates he was buried in the Collins cemetery in White Level. Lelia passed away on 19 January 1969 and is buried in the cemetery at White Level Baptist Church. 

I have a picture of Bettie and her husband William E. Wood.

Next post will be about the other children of Robert and Betty West. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Pattie

The West Family Line - The Children of Thomas

William Robert West

Son of Thomas

My great great grandfather

William Robert West was born on 14 Feb 1841 in Lewis Township, Granville County, North Carolina. The 1850 Census shows Robert with both his parents.

This would be the last time that Thomas, his father, would appear with the family. 

In 1860 Robert was living with Brodie and R.E. Meadows and working as a farm laborer. 

A few short years later the Civil War would begin and Robert enlisted on 8 Jul 1862 in Oxford, Granville County, North Carolina. He was in the 23rd Regiment Company I. He was 23 years old with fair complexion, brown hair and gray eyes and 5 foot 5 1/2 inches tall. Things seemed to go well until 12 May 1864 when he was captured near Spottsylvannia, Virginia. He was sent to Point Lookout Maryland and then on 10 Aug 1864 he was transferred to Elmira, New York. 

Elmira New York

Conditions at Elmira were not good. The prisoners lacked nourishing food, suffered bouts of dysentery, small pox, typhoid and pneumonia. Thankfully Robert was transferred for exchange 11 Oct 1864 back to Point Lookout Maryland. He was exchanged on 29 Oct 1864.

 

Robert was captured again near Petersburg, Virginia on 25 Mar 1865. He was released on 22 Jun 1865.

After the war Robert lived in Maryland and worked, according to a family story. This would explain why Robert did not appear in the 1870 Census.

Robert married Elizabeth "Betty" Greenway on 2 Oct 1870 in Granville County.  Betty was the daughter of Samuel Greenway, who died from small  pox in the Old Capital Prison in Washington D.C. during the war, and Mary Jane Parrott. 

They appear in the 1880 Census living in Sassafras Township, Granville County.

In the ten years that they have been married the family has grown. Spencer is 9 years old, Tommie is 7, Solomon is 5 and Lelia is 1.

Because the census of 1890 was destroyed it is hard to pinpoint when the family moved to Franklin County, North Carolina. 

The next published census is 1900 and we find the family living in Cedar Rock, Franklin County.

Robert is living with his children and listed as widowed. To find out what happened to Betty I turned to the newspaper and found this article.

This article appeared in the Franklin Times on January  20, 1899. From this we find that Betty had been sick and gone to Baltimore for treatment and died on January 14, 1899. I have not been able to find a death certificate yet or locate where she was buried. She might be buried at White Level Baptist Church where Robert is buried. 

Robert's oldest son Spencer did not come to Franklin County with the rest of the family. He made his home in Vance County. More on him later.

Robert and Betty had eight children. 

• William Spencer
• Samuel Thomas
• Solomon
• Lelia
• Luther Martin
• Ada Virginia
• Lessie
• Robert Jr.

Robert passed away 25 Jan 1917. According to the information given at the time of death, he was 75 years 11 months and 11 days old. The cause of death was yellow jaundice. He was buried at White Level Baptist church on 26 Jan 1917.

In 1953 Robert's son, Luther, applied for a marker for Robert for his service in the war. 

Coming up will be more about the children of Robert and Betty West.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pattie