The mysterious Mr. Wilkins Stone

We're going to stay in Meriwether County one more week and have a little fun with a story sent to me by Tim Allman a few weeks ago. Tim, as you may remember, shared his Allman family of Heard County which connected to the Echols and Wood families there.

Sometimes when you put the facts together and strange things start happening, it's sort of fun to imagine the scenarios that might have caused those facts to appear as they do. You may or may not be right, but in the absence of more information, or until more comes along, it's fun to try and put the story together.

This curious story concerns one Wilkins Stone of South Carolina and Georgia who just disappeared and was never heard from again. Well, at least that's the story the Georgia relatives tell. And the home he built in Meriwether County still stands today, including the outhouse, according to one of Wilkins' great-great-grandsons. But, let's start at the beginning. The facts in the following story were supplied by Tim, but the imagining, as you will see later, is some of my own. See what you can come up with.

Wilkins Stone was born 23 Dec. 1812 in South Carolina and moved to Georgia sometime in the early 1830s. It was in Georgia that a young lady by the name of Sarah Walton caught his eye and they were married 1 Oct. 1835 in Lincoln County.

In the late 1830s, Wilkins and Sarah moved to Meriwether County, built their home, and had their first child, John, born about 1839, as shown in the 1840 Meriwether census.

By 1850, Wilkins, now 38, and Sarah, 31, had two more children, Mary, born about 1845, and William H., born about 1848.

The 1860 Meriwether census still shows the happy family, now with more children: Sarah H., born about 1852 and Jesse W., born about 1855.

But then ... Wilkins disappears from Georgia. In the 1870 Meriwether census, Sarah is shown as age 51 and head of the house, with children William, 23, Sarah, 18, Jesse, 15, and a young child, John, age 1. It is not known if this is Sarah's child or a grandchild.

But, did Wilkins really disappear? Tim may have found otherwise.

In the 1870 census of Marion County, Illinois, there is a W.H. Stone, age 56, born in South Carolina, but with another wife and family! Is this our Wilkins? His wife is named Anna, age 36, (born in South Carolina) and there are four children. The first two Tim believes are Anna's children. The children are: W.H. Stone, age 16, born in Georgia; W.O. Stone, age 12, born in Georgia; Augustus Stone, age 3, born in Illinois; and an unnamed infant, age one month, born in Illinois.

Okay, you say. Get real here. This is just a coincidence. The initials "W.H." could stand for anything, and I agree.

But look at the next (1880) census. Wilkins and Anna have moved to Arkansas and he is definitely listed as Wilkins Stone. The census shows them in Benton County, Arkansas, with additional children. Wilkins Stone is 67, born in South Carolina; Annie Stone is 44, also born in South Carolina, and their three children are Augustus, 12; Edward, 10; and Minnie, 7. All the children were born in Illinois. This has got to be the same family we found in Illinois in 1870.

Back in Meriwether County in the 1880 census, Sarah (actually listed as "Sallie") is still unmarried, listed as a widow, and her son, Jesse, now age 24, lives with her.

Okay. What happened? Did Sarah and Wilkins just get a divorce and he went away? Not according to the descendants. He just "disappeared." And, remember, Sarah gives her marital status as "widow" in 1880. Divorce is unlikely a part of the picture.

But there is a big clue here. Wilkins disappeared between 1860 and 1870 ... and you know what was going on during those years. Yep. The Civil War. So here's my best shot (I admit to being a hopeless romantic).

Wilkins went off the fight in the Civil War and was captured or wounded and taken north for the duration. He met and fell in love with the lovely Anna, herself recently widowed. Maybe she nursed him back to health. Maybe her kindness and beauty bowled him over. Maybe he felt sympathy for her if she was, indeed, a widow.

So here was Wilkins, captured and away from his fellow soldiers who may not have known what happened to him. Perhaps he "chose" to disappear. Perhaps his love for Anna far outweighed his responsibility to Sarah and his Georgia family. And, we really don't know ... maybe he was just a first class jerk.

But the fact that Sarah said she was widowed in 1880 shows that she thought he was dead. And, we don't really know anything about Sarah's personality either. Maybe she was a real hell-raiser. Maybe Wilkins had just had enough. Here was an opportunity to get away from it all.

But, whatever the case, I agree with Tim that the man who shows up in Illinois and later in Arkansas is more than likely our missing Mr. Stone of Meriwether County. Only more research and going through Civil War and court records will tell us more.

I kind of liked the "nursed him back to health" version. What's your take on it?

Is there a mystery in your family tree? Have you had an interesting genealogy adventure? Know of a good research facility? Got an interesting family history to share? Send it to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; E-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!

(Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others.)