September 14, 2010

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Tabitha Hubbard Walden

Wife of John Ward of Edgehill in Pittsylvania County.

Tabitha Hubbard Walden was widowed in 1838 when a tree fell on her husband John while he was clearing land.   I have not found proof of Tabitha’s death date, but I have found sites that say she died on May 15, 1866.

As I stated in a previous blog, most of her family were buried or a plaque was placed in their memory in the Ward Family Cemetery at Brights, Virginia.  The last time I visited I did not find any marker for Tabitha Ward which I find peculiar.  I will keep looking.

According to 1840 Pittsylvania/US census Tabitha was living in Pittsylvania County, Regiment 107 with six white people and 24 slaves.

In 1850 Tabitha was still living in Pittsylvania County.  She was 60 years old.  Her son Alexander Tazewell age 21 and his son Edwin age 5 were living with her.   The next people in the census were Ferderic Landrum, an overseer, and his family and John Stone and his family.

Tabitha owned land in Campbell in 1850.  The Uninhabited Campbell County Schedule had Tabitha  owning $6000.00 of real estate, four horses, milk cows, oxen, pigs.  She was raising crops of corn, oats and Tobacco.

In 1860 Tabitha was still living and still the head of the household according to the U.S. Census. At this time no one was living with her and she was seventy years old.  She is listed in the North District Pittsylvania County,Post Office Bergers Store.  Her Pittsylvania County real estate was worth 25,000.00 and personal estate of 15,000.00.  Some of her neighbors were David Bobbitt and family, Richard Smith, Blacksmith and Henry A. Woodford and family. 

The 1870 census no longer has her listed.  So even though I do not have formal proof of her death, I must conclude that she died between 1860 and 1870.  I cannot believe that she was living all alone at the time of her death, but these were difficult times. 

Edge Hill Plantation no longer exists.  I do not know about the exact location of Edgehill, but it must have been close to the family graveyard.  I know that the Walden family home was covered by the waters of Leesville lake when Leesville Dam was built in the 1960s.  So Edgehill could have suffered the same fate.


We will now move on to William Ward and his wife Elizabeth Mumford Adams.  She was a large land owner in her own part and her family were revolutionary patriots as were other family members.