History of George & Elizabeth Carter Wade as researched & written by Great granddaughter, Betty Pickens Phillips & presented at the dedication of the restored grave site of the Wade couple on September 30, 2001.
George Boxley Wade was the son of Allin Wade and Mary "Polly" (Boxley) Wade of Halifax Co., Va. who were married 13 March 1794 in Halifax Co., Va. George was born in the cold month of Jan in 1806. He had 8 brothers and 4 sisters. They were John Wade; Lucy Wade; David Wade; Wilmoth Wade; Henry Wade; Allin Wade; William Wade; Edmond Wade; and Drury Allen Wade. There was one more brother, and 2 more sisters, according to the census but we have no names for them at this time. George's Wade ancestors came from England to America in about 1650, 7 generations before George.
Elizabeth was born 15 Dec. 1814 in Tenn. to David Carter Sr. and Elizabeth M.(Maiden name unknown). She had 7 brothers and one sister. They were William Carter, Jesse Carter, Solomon Carter, John Carter, Joseph P. Carter, Mary Evia Carter, Lovern P. Carter (AKA Lovie P. Carter) and David J. Carter. Elizabeth was the next to the youngest child. Elizabeth's Carter's were descended from William Carter who was born in England in 1475. William's 4 great grandfather came to America in About 1650 as did the ancestor of George Wade.
We do not know yet where George and Elizabeth met and married. Those facts are yet to be found, but we are searching and I'm confident, that we will find those missing years between 1806 and 1837. It is believed they married in Hickman Co., Tenn. where her parents lived but there are no records because all of the County records burned in the Courthouse during the Civil War.
George and Elizabeth were first located in the 1837 Tishomingo Co., Miss. census when they only had Jane Ann. They stayed in Tishamingo Co and to them were born 9 children, all of whom were named for family. Their names were Jane Ann, Lucy, Mary Elizabeth, David Allen, John Daniel, William Tinsley, Edmond, Nancy A. "Nan", and Edward Walter. Edmond, born in 1850, died before the family came to Texas in 1860. Sometime between 1850 and 1860 they came to Texas and settled in Wood Co., as they were found there in the 1860 census. Jacob Jones who later married Jane Ann, came to Texas with them. In 1860, Elizabeth's youngest child was Edward Walter who was 7 years old. By 1862 they had moved to Cedar Grove Community near Wills Point, and Elizabeth had died. There was a baby buried here, before Elizabeth, in that short span of time between Wood Co. census of 1860 and the death of Elizabeth in 1862. We don't know the cause of the death of Elizabeth, but wonder if it was complications of childbirth of this unnamed child buried here with them. We were not sure if the child was born and died in 1861 or 1862.
In 1870 George, age 60, was living in this community with some of his children, Lucy, Allen, John, William, Nancy, and Edward. George lived alone with his children after the death of Elizabeth until he married Jane Bradberry, Hunt, Brazeale, who had been widowed twice and was the mother of 2 of George's daughters-in-law. Later 2 more of Jane's daughters married 2 of George's sons. George had stayed single for ten years after Elizabeth died in 1862. He married Jane on 5 May 1872. Jane was the mother of Luvisa Hunt (William Tinsley's) first wife, who only lived eleven months after the marriage. Jane was also mother to Lydia Caroline (Brazeale), William's second wife and mother to his 15 children. George was William Tinsley's father. George was also the father of David Allen Wade who married Jane's daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Hunt and father of John Daniel Wade who married Jane's daughter, Eliza Jane Brazile. So you see, three of George's sons married four of Jane's daughters.
Tradition says that when Elizabeth died, George insisted on burying her in a pasture beside their house by one of their babies. It is said that he did this against the will of their children. When George died, his children buried him in the pasture beside Elizabeth and the baby. Years later when Twakoni Lake was being built, a road was to be moved. The new location was to cross over the graves , or near the graves of George, Elizabeth and the baby. The Highway dept. notified some of the family, who told two of George's great grandsons, Doug Pickens & Wade Robertson of the problem. Wade & Doug talked to Doug's mother, Lydia (Wade) Pickens, one of the grand children of the George Wade couple, about what to do. Together they decided to move the gravestone parts (They were all broken up from cattle walking on them and from wear from age.) and reassemble them in the Morence cemetery beside one of George & Elizabeth's sons, William Tinsley Wade. There was not a marker of any kind found for the infant child of George & Elizabeth at that time. Had the stones not been moved, they might have been forever lost. There is a mistake on his name on the stone. It says G. W. Wade instead of G. B. Wade. The same mistake was made on his name on his stepdaughter Malissa's stone. It reads "Malissa Dau. of G. W. & J. Bruzell. At the time of her death, George was her stepfather. Her biological father was Henry Bruzell and he had already passed away. Jane was Malissa's mother.
As you know, the new road for the lake site didn't, after all, cross over the Wade graves. The original information on the location of the graves of George and Elizabeth and the child they were buried beside, has been proven to be true. In July of 2001, B. W. Wade, son of Buck Winn Wade and great grandson of George and Elizabeth, decided to reclaim the graves of his great grandparents. He talked to the owners of the property where the Wades were buried and gained permission to fence off the area where the graves are located.
B. W. and I went to the grave-site and using divining rods, I found the three graves. The divining rods are just simply copper or brass welding rods, (either will work) which have been bent in a right angle about eight inches from the end to form a handle. By walking over an area where the ground has been disturbed, and holding the rods level in front of you, they will cross when you reach the edge of the grave and uncross when you reach the other side. There is a simple explanation for this. The magnetic field was disturbed when the earth was dug into and this causes the reaction in the rods. We found the concrete pieces of the Child's gravestone on its grave.
We are here today to remember our ancestors, George and Elizabeth Carter Wade, and their baby, and to dedicate the cemetery where they are buried. This project is a work in progress. We hope to raise enough money by next year to purchase a new marker for this Wade family. If you'd like to donate toward the purchase of the stone, see B. W.
Post Script (Notes from George Boxley Wade File) (note added later):
Today's date is Aug. 1, 2001, and the pieces of the old gravestones of George and Elizabeth have been returned to the grave site. B. W. Wade built a form for the concrete and Doug Pickens did the concrete slab for the broken pieces of the gravestones to rest on. The other descendants of George and Elizabeth will be contacted and given an opportunity to help with a new stone to be placed at the head of the grave.
........... to be continued........notes by Betty Pickens PhillipsSeptember 2001--At the Wade Reunion we held a white elephant auction with all of the relatives bringing items to be donated. We raised over $1,100. to buy the tombstone for George & Elizabeth....Note by their great granddaughter..Betty Pickens Phillips
September 2002--The tombstone for George & Elizabeth has been erected and we are raising money for the purchase of a stone for the baby buried beside them....BP
September 2003-Complete...A new monument has been placed for George, Elizabeth and the baby.......Betty
Information supplied by: Betty Pickens Phillips
Betty Pickens Phillips
Page last updated November 10, 2008