Hattaways and Teals of Campbell County

I received an interesting e-mail from Erin Leongomez (esl001@worldnet.att.net) recently which mentioned a connection to the Cochran family of Campbell County. The Hattaway family connects to Henry Cochran's brother and sister-in-law, Felix and Susan Cook Cochran, through their son, James (who married Mittie Weah Tarrance), and James' daughter, Allie Weah Cochran who married Owen Dodd Hattaway. Erin added a couple of postscripts after her initial letter and I have sort of incorporated them into the whole story. There are a lot of hidden clues in this letter. But, I'll let Erin tell you in her own words:

"I am looking for ancestors of Lacy Hattaway (born 1796 in N.C.) and his wife, Elizabeth 'Betsie' Teal (born 1795 N.C., probably Pitt Co.). The Hattaway name is also spelled Hathaway, Hathoway, Holloway, and possibly Attaway.

"I am wondering if Lacy took his mother's maiden name as his first name, since there was a Lacy family in Pitt Co. Both of my sons carry the Hataway name as their middle name. It is interesting that Lacy does not appear to have given any of his children the name Lacy, but that several grandchildren and great grandchildren carried the name Lacy.

"Lacy and Betsie wed in Jasper Co., Ga. in 1825 and had moved on to Campbell County by the 1830 census. They lived in Campbell the rest of their lives and are buried at Friendship Baptist. Betsie and her children donated land to build a church next to their family burial ground in 1877. Lacy and their son, Frank, were already buried there. Frank was killed while hauling logs with a team of oxen.

"Lacy died in 1868 and Betsie died in 1884. Betsie must have been a very thrifty woman from the estate sale I have. She was still keeping bees at nearly 90 years of age.

"Many of Lacy and Betsie's descendants are still active members of Friendship. Their Homecoming is the third Sunday in August and I always try to attend even though I live in south Florida. It's just a special place to be.

"My great-grandparents left Palmetto about 1923 and moved to Florida, but Friendship has remained so important that my father still brought them in the 1960s, his grandmother shelling boiled peanuts for him along the ride. Some 80-plus years after their move, we still look forward to our Homecoming at Friendship. My great grandfather always said of his wife, 'You can take the girl out of Georgia, but you can't take the Georgia out of the girl.'

"I suspect that Elizabeth's father may have been Emanuel Teal Jr., a Revolutionary War Soldier who died in Carroll Co. in 1833. Lacy purchased some land in Campbell Co. from George Washington 'Wash' Teal in 1834. Wash was the son of Emanuel Teal Jr.

"Some relation (whether brother or cousin) of Emanuel Teal Jr., Loderick Teal from Pitt Co. (also a Rev. War soldier who died in Coosa Co., Ala. at over 100 years of age), sold land in Coweta with his sons Calvin and Jordan in the early years after Campbell was carved out of Coweta Co.

"Bradberry Teal (Loderick's brother) also appears to have settled in Campbell County. Joshua Teal, son of Loderick, and Brad's brother, William Teal Jr., were in the 1840 census of Campbell Co.

"Lacy's relatives pose more of a question since there were Attaways in Campbell and amongst our own family the name varies between Hattaway and Hataway. My great grandfather, Owen, said he lost his second 't' in the Great Depression. One of the loose connections I have with Lacy is that he was 'attorney in fact' for the estate of John Nations in 1843. Perhaps they were merely friends, maybe they were related.

"Lacy must have been an excellent farmer. The houses of his sons, Emanuel and Walter Hattaway, and of his daughter, Eliza Hattaway Cook, are still standing and still occupied. But did he inherit some money to help him?

"To add confusion to an already hazy situation, Lacy and Betsie's daughters, Naomi and Mary , married Meshack and Jesse Teal respectively. No connection has been made to any Teal family regarding Meshack and Jesse. Meshack is noted as 'the last person hanged in Campbell County' in 1856 and Jesse appears to have died during the Civil War. As if this was not enough, Lacy and Betsie's granddaughter, Louisa Hattaway, married Matthew Comar Teal (Wash's grandson).

"I suspect Emanuel Teal Jr. as being Betsie Teal Hattaway's father since one of her oldest (if not the oldest) sons was named Emanuel.

"In Betsie's 1884-1885 estate, she left money to Pernina Teal Carter (married Joseph Newton Carter in Campbell Co. in 1841, d. after 1884, probably in Ala.) Pernina's relation to Betsie is unknown. It is possible that she was the daughter of Emanuel Teal Jr. by Martha Patsey McHenry, whom he married in 1818 in Anson Co., N.C. at age 60. Patsey, who is on his Rev. War pension application, was probably not his first wife.

"Besides outliving their son Frank, Lacy and Betsie also outlived their sons-in-law, Jesse and Meshack Teal, and Wm. F.M. Mapp, who was in Co. A, 21st GA regiment, Campbell Home Guards.' William died of disease in Richmond shortly before the war ended. Lacy and Betsie's son, Dave, lost his leg at the Battle of Peachtree Creek but still managed to farm with a plow the next 53 years before dying at age 86. Their youngest daughter, Eliza Ann Hattaway Cook, died of childbirth in 1877.

"I have a lot of pictures on my Web site at www.familytreemaker.com/users/l/e/o/Erin-S-Leongomez/index.html. The Hattaway and Teal info is under the book section."

Many thanks to Erin for that family history. If you have a genealogy story about a south metro Atlanta area family, 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.)