Great-grandparents

I have decided to label names by generations. I can't really figure out the best way to do this yet, so this is my idea for the moment. 1. Me, 2. My mom/dad, 3. Grandparents, so on and so on.

My great grandparents (4) are buried in Boonville Cemetery. Due to someone else's diligence, namely Rick Kreiss, both are transcribed on findagrave.com. The entries are as follows:


John Emory Brendle
Birth:
Mar. 19, 1883 Yadkin County North Carolina, USA
Death:
Dec. 23, 1965 Elkin Surry County North Carolina, USA
Son of William Pleas and Martha Jane (Brown) Brendle. Family links: Spouse: Martha Elizabeth Walker Brendle (1883 - 1967)


Martha Elizabeth Walker Brendle
Birth:
Aug. 12, 1883 Wilkes County North Carolina, USA
Death:
Feb. 11, 1967 Elkin Surry County North Carolina, USA
Wife of John E. Brendle; daughter of William L. and Nancy Jane (Reece) Walker.

The story I have been told is that he married my great-grandmother because she was the most beautiful woman in the county.

Notice my great-grandfather's mother (5)? This is a problem. Another site which has appeared to pull information from the Yadkin County marriage records has her name as Elizabeth Jane. I believe the Elizabeth is correct. The marriage record is transcribed here:
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~schulthe/ChrisFile/b59.htm#P164
I do not know who owns this ancestry page, but I need to find out because the line on the Brendle side now goes all the way back to Germany in this already prepared tree. Lucky break huh?

Yet another source, this book on Google, has her in the family of Robert Brown, (5) who sadly, died in the war. This book has her as Sarah who married Wm. Pleasant. This is from an oral history though, so I take the marriage record to be the most accurate. I will be in Boonville this coming Saturday, so I am going to stop at the cemetery and check the graves as well.

So, armed with Eliza's name, I actually did venture to the State Library/archives across the street yesterday. Took me all of five minutes perhaps to locate Eliza in the 1860 census for Yadkin County where she was three. He brother's are listed as George W. and Robert, which matches the Civil War book that I will be ordering a copy of on payday. She is three at the time, Robert (male) is 18, Meary A. (female) is 15, George W. (male) is 13, James F (male) is 11, Leany (sp?) (female) is 8, Thomas is 5, Eliza is 3 and John J is 1 month old. It saddens me deeply that this happy sounding family would lose their oldest son three years later to the ravages of war. This leads me to the next generation though, Eliza's (5) parents are Jacob Brown (6) and Elizabeth (6).

So, I am not sure why there is some confusion over Eliza's name. Clearly, she must have been called Eliza as that is what the census lists, and I think the marriage record would be most accurate, so I am going with Eliza Jane(5) over Sarah or Martha. I will have to go back to the state files myself and pull the marriage record and also a more official recording of Robert's (and possibly George's) war service.

The sixth level on the paternal side is George Daniel Brindle (6) born about 1820 in Surry County and Mary Pauline "Polly" Weathermon (6) born about 1825 in Surry County. Just a total side note, in 1857 Yadkin County was formed out of Surry County, so beyond this point, there is no more Yadkin County.

Another note of interest, the spelling change seems to have occurred at this point. Some sources have William Pleasant Brendle and some have William Pleasant Brindle. Some also have the reversed spellings for George Daniel (7). I am not sure why this occurred, but it is interesting and I can only assume it resulted from someone not having a great ability to read or write and using the name the way it sounded rather than how it was spelled. George's father was Daniel Brindle (8), which I have not yet run across as BrEndle, so the change occurs at this point in time. I never see BrIndle after William Pleasant.

That gives me exactly what I need to find for William Pleasant and Eliza. I have already acquired Eliza's childhood census record, so I need to fetch -
1. William Pleasant and Eliza's marriage bond (which I know exists since the "Chris site" has it recorded.)

2. Census record for William, which also lives in the 1860 census, but in Surry not Yadkin

3. See what I can find in the Civil War records for Robert(6) or George(6) Brown.

4. Visit my great-grandfather's cemetery marker in Boonville while I am there next weekend, and might as well check out my grandmother's and grandfather's while I am there, right? And depending on the people I am with, perhaps make it to Mitchell's as well where generation 8 is buried, but that is a post for another day!