Sarah Keziah Duke

by Gary D. Duke, 10JUL2006

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Moses Duke and Nancy Burge Duke had seven, perhaps eight, children. At the time of Nancy’s death it is noted in the Probate Court document that she left “seven heirs” which would indicate they were all living in 1851. The lives of five of the seven are known but we can only identify the names of two girls - Elizabeth and Martha - with no other information about them. It is also possible, even likely, that there were only five surviving children at that time but that either Elizabeth or Martha had married and had two children which would also qualify as “heirs” since they would receive their mother’s share of the estate.

1. Richard 1804 South Carolina

2. Austin Peay 1806 South Carolina

3. Bartlett Smith 1810 South Carolina

4. Elizabeth ? 1812 South Carolina

5. Burrell Burge 1816 South Carolina

6. Sarah Keziah 1818 South Carolina

7. Martha ? 1821 South Carolina

We don’t know the exact age of Nancy Burge Duke - it was somewhere between 1780 and 1783 with 1781 being most likely. In 1901, a relative said Moses & Nancy had a daughter “Martha, who died young”. In the 1820 census, Moses & Nancy had five boys and 2 girls, all under sixteen, in their household. In 1830 there were only four boys and now three girls. All were gone by 1840. As the last girl, named either Martha or Elizabeth, was probably born after the 1820 census, it appears that a son may have died between 1820-1830.

Sarah Keziah Duke is one of the three daughters of Moses Duke and Nancy Burge but she is the only one of the three about which any information is known. She was born in 1818 in South Carolina and moved with her parents to Lowndes County, Mississippi about 1830.

In Lowndes, she married on 2-2-1836, when she was 17 years old, to Elisha Boucher, a neighboring widower who was then 32 years old.

BOUCHER

(Much of the “Boucher” information was taken from the “Boucher” family website, written by Gwen Boucher who has authorized it’s reproduction here)

Thomas Boucher, born in Virginia before 1780, was listed in Tax records for Lee County, Virginia 1796 - 1800, but he moved to Smith County, Tennessee about 1800. He was in Warren County, Tennessee, by 1804 and got some land there in 1809. He was a witness on a deed in Madison County, Alabama, in 1819 in which James McGowan sold land to Seth Rogers. In 1820 he was living in Dallas County, Alabama, and by 1827 he had moved again to Fayette County, Alabama. I believe he died there before 1830. Thomas Boucher’s first wife was named Rachael ____ and they had:

Joshua Boucher 1798 VA became Methodist Minister

Lockey Boucher 08-05-1802 TN [This is not Lockey Adams who married Felix Woods, see the Note below. This Lockey is not proved]

Elisha Boucher 1804 TN

Thomas G. Boucher 1817 TN

His wife Rachael ___ died and Thomas remarried in Bibb County, Alabama, on 3-23-1825 to Margaret Ann Cates and had:

Joseph Jasper Boucher 1826 AL

As the Boucher family moved, kids grew up and married. Lockey married Felix Wood in 1819 in Madison County and Elisha married on 6-7-1825 in Dallas County to Sarah Rebecca Jones. Her father was Robert Jones who also lived in Dallas County.

After Thomas Boucher died, Felix Wood became guardian of Thomas G. Boucher but Thomas’ second wife Ann became guardian of her son Joseph and Ann moved east to Shelby County, Alabama, taking Joseph along.

When his father Thomas moved to Fayette Co., AL in 1827, Elisha Boucher and his father-in-law Robert Jones moved from Dallas County to Chilton County, Alabama. In 1830 Elisha moved from Chilton to Fayette County and settled near his father. His wife Sarah died in there in 1834 and Elisha then remarried on 2-2-1836, with his brother-in-law Felix Wood as Minister, to Sarah Keziah Duke, a daughter of Moses Duke and Nancy Burge. He had these children:

with Sarah R. Jones- she died 1834

1. Lewis Alexander 12-19-1825 AL

2. Rebecca Ann 09-09-1827 AL

3. Richard Asbury 05-09-1829 AL

4. Sarah J. 1832 AL

5. Thomas Calvin 03-09-1833 AL

with Sarah K. Duke

6. Rachael Caroline 1838 MS

7. Moses David 1839 MS

8. Mary Emily 1840 MS

9. Joshua R. 1843 MS

10. Lockey Virginia 1849 MS

11. Martha 1852 MS

12. Florida Ophelia 1854 MS

13. William Wiley 1856 MS

In western Alabama, the first land record for Elisha was registered by him on 10-1-1835 although I believe he actually got it a few years earlier. It was 40 acres in what was then Fayette County, Alabama (now Lamar) at t16s, r15w, s3. This land was right on the Alabama border with Mississippi.

Elisha Boucher obtained additional land in Lowndes County on 4-1-1837 located at t17s, r17w, s24, portion “F”, which contained 44 acres. This land was just on the east side of land owned by Moses Duke. It was an irregular portion inside Mississippi but with the eastern side bordering Alabama and was actually adjacent to his 1835 grant inside Alabama.

Elisha and Sarah were listed in Lowndes County in the 1837 state and the 1840 federal censuses.

In 1846 he obtained more land in Lowndes Co. at t17s, r17w, s24 which was another 67 acres adjoining his prior land.

In 1849 a large number of relatives, most of the Dukes and Fosters, some Bouchers and Mixons, all moved farther west, to Chickasaw County, still in Mississippi, and Elisha & Sarah moved at the same time. In Chickasaw Co. , Elisha and his family were all members of the Soule Chapel Methodist Church.

On 9-24-1850 in Chickasaw County they were:

Elisha Boucher 45m TN

Sarah K. 30f SC

Richard A. 20m AL

Sarah J. 18f AL

Thomas C. 16m AL

Moses D. 11m MS

Joshua R. 6m MS .

On July 16, 1860 they were still in Chickasaw, Buena Vista post office:

Elisha Boucher 56m TN

Sarah 47f SC

Thomas 27m AL

Joshua 18m MS

Martha 8f MS

Ophelia 6f MS

William 4m MS

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Lewis A, Richard A., Thomas C., Moses D. and Joshua R. all joined the CSA. Of their six sons, five joined the Confederate Army. I believe that all of them, with the possible exception of Joshua, survived the war. Their sixth son William, who was only 5 years old, got to stay at home.

In 1870 they were still at the same place in Chickasaw:

Elisha Boucher 66m TN

Sarah 52f SC

Florida 17f MS

William 16m MS

In the 1880 census, Sarah Keziah Duke Boucher was 63 years old and lived in Chickasaw with her son William W. who was still single. Elisha had died before that date. Son Moses D, 41 years old, and daughter Sarah J. Boucher Carlisle, 38 years old, lived adjacent to them.

Sarah K. Duke Boucher died in Chickasaw about 1887. I have located neither her grave nor that of Elisha.

THE CHILDREN

Sarah Keziah Duke Boucher was the mother of eight children, numbers 6 through 13 in the list below. She was the step-mother of the first five.

1. Lewis A. married Lucy A. Fulford in 1865. Lucy was two years younger than her sister Mary who had earlier married his brother Thomas. Lewis, who is listed in most records as “Lew” or “L.A.” Boucher, lived in Chickasaw County, Buena Vista post office, in 1870 and had two children. He was still there in 1880, still married to Lucy, and they had three children at home. His brother Thomas C. lived next to them. By 1900 Lewis and Lucy had moved with some other family members to Karnes County, Texas, where he lived in in the household of his son E. T. Boucher and two other sons also lived with them. Lewis was then 75 years old and Lucy was 59. His younger brother William Wiley Boucher had also moved to Karnes. In 1910 Lewis & Lucy were elderly and lived in Nueces County, Texas, in the house of their son Ed Boucher and his family. Lewis was then 84 years old. The Boucher website says he died “before 1916".

2. On 11-11-1846 daughter Rebecca married John Wesley Mitchell. She was born in Alabama in late 1827 and her middle name is reported to be “Ann”. I have not found them in 1850 or 1860. In 1870, living three houses away from Lewis Boucher, in Chickasaw County, Buena Vista post office, there is a family:

John W. Mitchell 45m AL

Elizabeth 40f AL

Joseph C. 22m AL

John 16m MS

Malinda 14f MS

Mary 9f MS

Thomas 4/12m MS

Washington 11m MS

I cannot be certain this is “Rebecca Ann” but her age is about right, born in Alabama, and she lived near to her Boucher families. I have not tracked this family further but the Boucher website say she died June 1, 1887 and does not list any children. A “family tree” says her full name was “Rebecca Ann Elizabeth Boucher” so the 1870 family may well be hers.

3. On 2-18-1862, Richard A. married Mary Alma Brand. Her parents were Joshua P. Brand and Mary W. Cunningham. In 1870 Richard and Mary lived in Chickasaw, Buena Vista post office, near several of his brothers. They had four children. They continued to live in Chickasaw, had ten children, and he died there in 1916.

4. About 1858 Sarah J. Boucher married William Carlisle. She was born in 1832 in Alabama. In 1870, they also lived in Chickasaw with Buena Vista post office, had four children, and are listed between the family of her brother Moses and her parents Elisha & Sarah. I have not found them after that time.

5. On the July date in 1860 when Elisha & Sarah were in Chickasaw, living just a few houses away, was Nancy Fulford, 60f born in South Carolina, with two daughters living with her. One of the daughters was Mary A. K. Fulford, then 19 years old, and the other daughter was Lucy Fulford, then 17 years old. Later that year Thomas C. Boucher married Mary A. K. Fulford. Thomas was born in Alabama in early 1833. I don’t find them in 1870 but in June 1880 they lived in Chickasaw next to his brother Lewis’ family. Thomas was 47, Mary was 41 and they had seven children living at home. I did not find them in 1900 but in 1910, Thomas C. was living in Forrest County, Mississippi, in the house of his son William L. Boucher. Thomas was a widower and 78 years old. Per the Boucher website, Thomas Calvin Boucher died in Forrest County in 1911. Forrest County is in the far south portion of Mississippi so involved a substantial move away from the rest of the family.

6. Rachael Caroline Boucher was born in 1838. She was not with the family in 1850 and would have only been 12 years old. It is my presumption that she had died. Many “family trees” do not include her in the list of children. None have any additional information about her. I include her because she is listed as a child in the “Boucher Bunch” website.

7. Moses David (I presume that “David” is his correct middle name - I would have expected it to be “Duke” and that he was named after Sarah’s father, but all researchers say it was “David”) was a Confederate soldier and was taken prisoner at Knoxville in 1863. He remained in Federal prisons until released in June 1865. After returning home he married Lavinia Ambrosia Day on November 20, 1866. They lived in Chickasaw, Buena Vista post office in 1870 with children Sarah E. and John O., they were still there in 1880 with six children, S. E., J. O., William Leo, John A, M. Ophelia, and Mary A.. On June 7, 1900 they were listed in Webster County, Mississippi. The area of Webster County was taken from Choctaw County in April, 1874 and originally called Sumner. In January 1889 it was renamed Webster. Those family members in Webster in 1900 probably were still living in the same places but the county had just been renamed.

Moses Boucher 05-1839 MS head

Linnia 09-1841 MS wife

Sarah 09-1867 MS daughter

Joshua B. 12-1868 MS son (“John O.”)

Edward 07-1880 MS son

Hays D. 02-1884 MS son

Arthur L. 09-1886 MS son

James L. 02-1990 MS son

Leon 07-1995 MS (grand-son)

Their son George lived four families away in Webster with his wife Mary and four children. I do not find son William Leon in 1900 and speculate that grandson Leon is his child. There are differences in reports of the children of Moses and Lavinia so I present what I believe to be their correct list of children:

1. Sarah Elminah 09-1867 married W. D. Bryant

2. John O. “Joshua” 12-1868

3. William Leon 1871

4. John A. 1872

5. Margaret Ophelia 1874 m. 1 Josh Adams

m. 2 Lige Spikes

6. Mary Agnes 1877

7. George 1878

8. Edward 07-1880

9. Hays D. 02-1884

10. Arthur Lee 09-1886

11. James L. 02-1890

It is reported by others that Moses D. Boucher died in Ardmore, Carter County, Oklahoma, in 1902 and that Lavinia died in Mississippi in 1918. I can not confirm the information about Moses but I do note that, in 1910, Lavinia was a 64 year old widow and living in Webster County, Mississippi, with her son Edward.

8. Mary E. Boucher was born 1840 but she was not with the family in 1850. I have no other information about her and presume she died young.

9. Joshua R. Boucher was born 1843. He was living with his parents in 1850 & 1860. We know he went to war and I cannot find him afterward. I do not have his service record but I presume he died in the war.

10. Locky Virginia married William Riley Perry about 1865. He was usually called Riley. He was born in 1838 in Mississippi and, in 1860, he was living with his mother, Jane Perry, in Oktibbeha County, just east of Chickasaw. On 7-16-1870 Riley & Locky were living in Oktibbeha:

William R. Perry 32m MS

Locky V. 19f MS

Mallick E. 3f MS

James C. 1m MS

Jane 77f SC (his mother)

It is reported that Riley & Locky lived in Texas in 1881 & 1882 but I have no further information about them The Boucher website says that she died in Webster County, Mississippi, in 1918.

11. Martha Boucher was born 1852 and was with the family in 1860 but not 1870 and I have not found a marriage for her and have no further information about her.

12. Florida Ophelia Boucher was born in 1854. She was with the family in 1860 & 1870 but I cannot locate her after that time. There is no marriage record for her.

13. William Wiley Boucher was born in 1856. In 1880, after his father had died, he was still single and living in Chickasaw with his mother living with him. After the census, William Wiley married Mary Elizabeth Duncan on August 22 of that year. After his mother Sarah died in 1887, William W. & his wife moved to Karnes County, Texas in 1889. In 1900 he and Mary had five children and they lived near to his brother Lewis. By 1910 William W & Mary had moved to Johnston County, Oklahoma. In 1920 they were in Okmulgee County and their 26 year old son Harper D. lived with them. They were still in Okmulgee in 1930. William was then 73, Mary was 68, and son Harper, still single, lived with them as did daughter Mary Byrd, who was a 40 year old widow.

[Note :Other researchers, since I wrote the above Felix Wood story, have clarified the information about Lockey Adams. Her maiden name was Adams, not Boucher. She was born 8-5-1802 in Davidson, TN, to Francis L. Adams and his wife Isabelle Young. It was a stormy marriage. Francis L. Adams was born ca 1766 in South Carolina & in the late 1700's migrated to the area along what was to become the Tennessee/Alabama boundary. On 3-29-1799 in Davidson county, TN, he married Isabelle Young. She was born 2-27-1770 in Pennsylvania. They lived in Davidson County for a few years but moved south into what was to become Madison County, Alabama around 1800. Francis & Isabelle had three daughters: Sarah born 5-27-1807 (date?) who later married Brutus Finley & lived in Kentucky, Nancy born ca 1800 who married James Tapley in Alabama but they later moved to Chickasaw County, Mississippi, and Lockey born 8-5-1802 who married R. Felix Wood in Madison County, AL & their story is related above.

The family dissolved in late 1806 as related in a divorce action filed by Francis Adams in Madison County, AL on 6-27-1822. On that date Francis sought divorce from Isabelle alleging they had lived together after marriage until early Jan 1807 when Isabelle committed adultery and ran off, deserting him. Isabelle, although she then lived in KY, responded to the suit and agreed that they had married, lived together until late 1806 but that Francis had then deserted her and their children. She denied any adultery. Before Francis left, he rented their farm to his brother Joseph Adams. Fortunately, Joseph agreed to allow Isabelle & the girls to continue living there. But, a few months later, Francis returned and, through threats, forced her & the girls to leave the farm. Francis then again left the area. Isabelle & the girls moved in with her mother until Nov 1817 when they and some other relatives all moved to Christian County, KY, where they still live. The court dismissed the suit & required Francis to pay all costs. (With this family history, I am surprised that Lockey & Felix Wood named their first child “Francis Adams Wood.”) – Gary Duke, April 2009]

More information about Felix Wood and Locky Adams can be found here.