1859-1861 Autograph Album of Elizabeth Faison Hines of Sampson County, North Carolina

1859-61 autograph album that belonged to Elizabeth Faison Hines, "Bettie", of Sampson County, North Carolina, with many sentiments from her fellow students at the Oxford Female College at Oxford, North Carolina.

At least two of the pages were inscribed by students at Wake Forest College, one of whom, Bettie's cousin William R. Larkins, would die in the Civil War.

The album, published by Leavitt & Allen of New York, measures almost 8" x 6-1/4" and contains the sentiments of over 40 of Bettie's relatives, friends and schoolmates.  An alphabetical surname list and an alphabetical list of the signers, together with any personal information they offered, appear at the end of this post.

Additionally, the album contains five engravings interspersed throughout.  Below, the frontispiece, "The Gift, an illustration by Phillip and engraved by Sartain.

From brief online research, hopefully correct:  [corrections and additions welcome!]

Elizabeth Faison Hines, "Bettie", was born May 8, 1841 in Sampson County, North Carolina, the daughter of John C. Hines and Mary (Faison) Hines.  On December 31, 1861 at New Hanover, North Carolina, Bettie married John Ashford, son of Thomas J. and Isabella (Slocumb) Ashford.  John would become a colonel in the Civil War.

After the war, John and Bettie settled in Sampson County, North Carolina, at Piney Grove and at Clinton. They had, I believe, ten children, but not all of them survived to adulthood, with the first two dying before the age of two. As if those tragedies weren't enough to bear, in 1889 John and two of his sons died as the result of a sawmill boiler accident; the two sons, ages 18 and 16, died immediately, and John after three days.

A brief biography of John Ashwood, including an account of the boiler accident, appears in the book "History of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, Volume 2, by Charles Elihu Slocum.

Elizabeth and her remaining two sons and four daughters continued to live at Clinton, North Carolina. Elizabeth died in 1922 and is buried with family members at the Springvale Cemetery at Clinton, North Carolina.

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above or information on any of the signers listed below, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Other inscribers who mentioned a family relationship:  [Please let me know if you can decode the names.]

• Cousin M. L. I. or M. L. J. of Brandon, Mississippi

• Cousin "Khan" or "Klean"

Another page was signed by Tom of Oxford, North Carolina, with a later note in pencil, presumably written by Bettie herself, describing Tom as "my first love"

Surnames in the Album

?	A	B	C	G
? [26]?	Allen	B ? [2]	Collier	Gary
		Barham		Grandy
		Brooks
H	L	O	S	W
H ? [2]	L ?	O ?	Stone	Woods
Hammond	Larkins [2]
Hargrave
Hart
Hines
Hufham

Signers in the Album    [Note: Given names within a specific surname may not be in alphabetical order.]

Surname Unknown

• Mary; "your best friend"
• Amanda of Oxford, signed at Oxford Female College on May 11, 1861
• Sophie
• Bell
• Signed by Bettie [another Bettie]
• Bettie of W. F. College, presumably Wake Forest College, signed at Oxford Female College on November 10, 1859; Bettie's schoolmate
• M. L. I., or M. L. J., of Brandon, Mississippi; Bettie's cousin.
• Initials made of pinpricks that I can't make out. Signed on March 3, 1861 at Oxford, North Carolina. The inscriber was very fond of Bettie, to say the least. I wondered if it might be her future husband Col. John Ashford, whom she would marry in December that year.
• Bettie
• Name is rubbed out
• "Khan" or "Klean"; Bettie's cousin
• Mattie, inscribed at Oxford Female Academy on April 21, 1860
• Mollie of Chatham, signed on April 21, 1860
• "Your Friend"
• W. I. or W. J.; first initial might actually be Wm for William
• Tom of Oxford, North Carolina. In faint handwriting on the page, presumably Bettie's, "My first love"
• Sue of Clinton
• Sallie of Florida, signed at Oxford Female College on April 27, 1860
• Mary of Columbus County
• Mary; shared the page with Sallie Hufham
• There's a mark and a reference to the fact that Octavia left a curl of her hair pasted on the page.
• S. L. I. or S. L. J. or S. L. ? of Oxford, North Carolina
• Mary of Newbern, North Carolina
• Fannie, signed on February 14, 1860 at Tawboro, North Carolina, or Lawboro, North Carolina; possibly she meant Tarboro
• X=17
• B.

A

• Sarah E. Allen, signed at Oxford Female College on October 30, 1859

B

• Katie B., signed on August 1, 1861
• Catie B., signed at Oxford Female College on Apri 26, 1860
• Etta Barham
• Mollie Brooks, signed at Oxford Female College on August 19, 1859

C

• Emma Collier, inscribed at Oxford Female College on April 28, 1860' Bettie's schoolmate

G

• Sue Gary of Garysburg, North Carolina
• Leonora Grandy, signed at Oxford, North Carolina, on October 30, 1859

H

• Mary H., possibly the Mary who described herself on another page as Bettie's best friend.
• ? H., signed at Oxford, North Carolina, on March 3, 1861; first initial might be F.
• Mary A. Hammond of Grafton, Massachusetts, signed at Oxford, North Carolina, on December 30, 1859
• Mary Hargrave of Chapel Hill, North Carolina,signed at Oxford Female College, on November 24, 1860
• Patty Hart, signed at Oxford, North Carolina, on February 4, 1860
• Elizabeth Faison Hines, "Bettie", of Sampson County, North Carolina; album owner
• Sallie Hufham; shared the page with Mary

L

• B. G. L.
• Willie R. , possibly Willie R. Larkins [surname rubbed out], signed at Wake Forest College on February 10, 1859. Presumably the William R. Larkins who died in the Civil War.
• "W." Larkins; Bettie's cousin. Possibly William R. Larkins who inscribed another page.

O

• B. O.

S

• Addie Stone, or Adelie Stone, of Grove, North Carolina

W

• Ann E. Woods of Prospect Hill, North Carolina, signed at Oxford Female College in North Carolina.

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