Here it is a little closer.
It says:
In Memory of Hettie,
Wife of Wiley Floyd.
Age 130 Years,
Born...1770
Died May 30, 1900
Gone But Not Forgotten.
Honored, Beloved and Wept,
Here Mother Lies.
Isn't that amazing? I guess it could be a hoax but if it is then it is an old one because the headstone looks just like all the other ones around 1900.
If the dates are accurate...
-She was born a British subject (France had given Alabama to England 7 years before she was born)
-She was 6 years old when the Declaration of Independence was written and died when the USA was 124 years old..
-She was 19 when George Washington became our 1st president..
-42 during the War of 1812..
-49 when Alabama became a state. (For most of her early life Alabama was passed back and forth between England and Spain)
-91 when the Civil War started..
-95 when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated..
-She was 39 when Lincoln was born and lived 35 years after he died..
-She lived to see 25 presidents, she died in the last year of William McKinley's term.
-Franklin Delano Roosevelt the 32nd president was 18 years old when she died... Dwight Eisenhower the 34th president was 10 when she died. Ronald Reagan the 40th president (He left office just 22 years ago) was born just 11 years after her death.
-If she had a child at 20ish and each succeeding generation had children at 20ish she would have easily known her great great great great grandchildren.
-The average life expectancy in the American colonies is estimated to have been between 25-45 years old. Infant mortality is thought to have been between 30-40%. If she was born in the wiles of Alabama the statistics were probably worse. Hattie lived to be 130 against terrible odds.
She must have been quite a woman. Wouldn't it be cool to know her story. We know she was married and had children. But how many children? Were any of her children alive when she died? How long was she a widow? Did she live in Alabama her whole life? How did she finally die? Did she live all those years and die from a cold or spider bite? Was she a Christian?
I guess I'll never know but her life reminds me that no matter how long we live we still have an appointment to keep. It is appointed unto man to die and after this the judgement. I would have to live until 2097 to match Hettie Floyd. Do I have 87 more years to live? Problably not. Do I want 87 more years here? Nope! But I must be prepared for that divine appointment whenever it comes. Whether we get 20 or 130 years we must not neglect to prepare to meet God.
I don't know Hettie Floyd's spiritual condition when she died 110 years ago. I didn't have a chance to influence her at all. But I do have a chance to influence you. Are you prepared to meet God? Is Jesus Christ Your Savior and Lord? These are questions that have eternal consequences.
You can find more information about salvation here or send me a message and we can talk. In spite of Hattie's long life we all know you don't have to be old to die. Now is the time to repent and prepare to meet God.
Davy
Very kewl...I love it! Awesome research. Makes me want to go to Alabama and do even more research. Since I can't do that and you're already there, you'll have to do it for me. We all want to know more about Hettie Floyd...please feed us.
ReplyDeleteThanks. If I have a chance later I will look at other gravestones close to hers. She may have some family members buried here too. I will let you know what I find.
ReplyDeleteDavy
Hi Davy and Tommy!
ReplyDeleteI found a little that may be contradictory, and sorry to be so...Perhaps THIS Wiley was a son of Wiley rather than Bart. She would have been 42? It seems unlikely her son or grandson would marry a woman with an identical name but who am I to say? We hail from ole Caintuck!
Steve
http://www.migrations.org/individual.php3?record=15538
Additional Notes
Wiley Floyd is thought to be the son of Bartholomew Floyd who was in the 1800 Brunswick County census and then in the 1810 and 1820 Columbus County and was last found in the 1830 Montgomery County, Al. census. Wiley married Hettie Mooney in Montgomery County, Al. in 1829 and is shown with her and a large family of children in Montgomery County in 1830; Covington County, 1840; Pike County in 1850. Hettie and the children are in Coffee County in 1860 and Hettie remained there until her death in 1900. In the 1850 census, Wiley is shown as a blacksmith. It is thought that Bartholomew possibly went to Arkansas with another son.
Hey that's neat! Thanks for "digging" up that information. Maybe I'm not understanding but I don't see the contradiction. If Hettie married Wiley Floyd in 1829 and they are listed with a large family in 1830 then it must have been a second marriage for one or both of them.
ReplyDeleteThe other Floyd grave, Pollie Anne says Mother of W. J. Floyd 1843-1903. Anyway it sure is interesting. Thanks again for the information.
Davy
Wow! Hettie Mooney Floyd is actually my 4th great-grandmother. I found this headstone a few months ago at the beginning of my family history research. Like you, it intreaged me. However after some research and talking with family it does seem that the headstone cannot be accurate. It is inconsistant with the births of her children for one. My 3rd Great grand father was Calvin Floyd, Hettie and Wiley's 7th and final child. He was born in 1842. In my research I am finding that the alternate birth year for Hettie to be somewhere around 1800. The census for 1850 showed her as being 38. I am finding that more accurate. If born in 1800, She would have been 42 when she gave birth to her youngest child. Much more believeable then being in your 70s!
ReplyDeleteBut once I came to this conculusion, I began to ask why does this gravestone have inaccurate information? Ive since learned that the vast majority of My family (grandparents and before) were unable to read and write and more had little to no education. Because of this, many (like my great grandparents) did not know their birth year or exact age. So maybe it was a situation like that? I guess we will never really know until we can ask The Lord when we get there!
Also, Polly Ann was the oldest of the 7 children born to Hettie and Wiley. She had a son W.J. "Bill" Floyd born in 1859. Bill had a son who became a church of God minister.
So cool to see my ancestor's headstone on your page!
Amanda Anderson
4th great grand daughter of Hettie Floyd
Like Amanda Hettie was my 3rd great grandmother and as she says most of the family did not read or write but my grandmother who was Calvin granddaughter Hettie youngest always said she was 110 and most of Calvin children lived to be quite old my great father lived into his 90's it was always unclear as to if it was 95 or 98 and one of his sister lived to be 110 just thought I would share that info on her
ReplyDelete