I where can i get a copy of this book or at least a copy of the letter she wrote about my grandmother, Minerva Ann Bryant Higginbotham. This was a great scandal at the time in 1829 concerning the death of my grandfather Caleb Higginbotham. I would dearly like to have the newspaper accounts of this. can anyone help me get them. After the death of her husband, Caleb, which was a great scandal, she may have felt it was in the best interests of her children for her to leave. She soon married John H. Scott and moved to Marion Co. Indiana. We do not know what contact was maintained between her and the children. She died in Marion Co. (Ripley?), IN. a few years later, 1833 Land record of William G. Bryant, her father, shows he deeded his house to her and he also, appears in the petition to admin her estate that was entered by John H. Scott in 1833, who was appointed admin in 1835. Circuit Court of Marion Co. Indiana; May Term 1835 proceedings concerning the estate of Anna M. Scott, daughter of William G. Bryant. Set forth in 1833 husband of the deceased, John H. Scott, petitioned that letters of administration on her estate be granted to him; "and now here comes William G. Bryant, father of said Ann M. Scott and personally relinquishes here now his claim to administration on the estate of his daughter, the said Ann M. Scott in favour of Robert Hanna of said County." John Scott was appointed administrator. Three versions of Caleb's murder: McCants Wall & Related Families: had a servant do the deed; another is that she and Caleb were wrestling for a penknife and she accidentally killed him. She was found not guilty. Mabel Marie LaBiche, Author of "Higginbotham descendants of Benjamin and Elizabeth Graves", pub. Nov 1996. "Caleb's father, Francis Higginbotham died on 9 Dec 1828 leaving a considerable estate of which Caleb was appointed administrator. A few months later, in the spring of 1829, Caleb was allegedly murdered by his wife Ann Minerva. She was indicted and tried for his murder but was acquitted by a court of law. However, Ann Minerva was ostracized by both relatives and neighbors who viewed her acquittal as a gross miscarriage of justice, perhaps with good reason. NOTE: The following, reprinted from MISTRESS OF EVERGREEN PLANTATION: RACHEL O'CONNOR'S LEGACY OF LETTERS, 1823-1845, edited by Allie Bayne Windham Webb. 1984. By permission of State University of New York Press. pg. 34. They have Mrs. Higginbotham in jail in Clinton, and the man who shot her husband likewise. The sheriff did not venture to carry her to jail as they generally do, fearing that she might be tempted to take the dose that she had threatened doing, if in case they came to take her to jail. He went to her house in a friendly manner and informed her that it was necessary for her to go to Clinton and lay in her claim to the property, or else she might not be allowed any part that belonged to her late husband, on which information; immediately started and went there where she was taken and confined. pgs. 39 & 40. Mrs. Higginbotham has stood her trial and come off clear, by some means not well understood by her neighbors, who are greatly displeased at her good luck. Some say it was owing to the Judge being a Frenchman, not properly acquainted with the English Language so as to understand the charge against her. Not a woman in Clinton would let her enter their doors. She was ordered from several where she expected to be received kindly. Mrs. Eadie's daughter, now Mrs. Airs, drove her from her doors, too, uncommonly spirited. The man that is accused of shooting Mr. Higginbotham was set at liberty, also, and immediately declared his determination was to kill another man before he died, who they concluded must be the Jailer and had him taken and sent to his old place of confinement again. How he will fare next is unknown." "John and Amy Gatewood and their Descendants 1666-1986" by Carol J. Gothberg. Page 244. "His wife, Ann Minerva Bryant was charged with murder of her husband, Caleb, tried and acquitted. It was found a slave killed him. She married 2) John Scott, and was the daughter of William G. Bryant, a REV WAR soldier of VA. This story was verified by Dorothy Rutherford in Frankfort, KY". (i do not know who this is.) josie 11:42 AM 11/6/00 -0500, you wrote: >Anyone researching family, including slaves, in West Felicana or New Iberia >will find a treasure trove of names and dates for births, marriages and >deaths in the book, Mistress of Evergreen Plantation: Rachel O'Connor's >Legacy of Letters 1823-1845, edited by Allie Bayne Windham Webb and published >in 1983. (I was able to get the book through an inter-library loan.) These >letters are unusually valuable for they are from Rachel Swayze O'Connor of >West Feliciana to her half-brother David Weeks and his family in New Iberia >and are full of family and neighborhood gossip. She was a major slaveholder >and devoted to her slaves, regularly reporting on births and deaths. A record >of her "people" is included. Primary West Feliciana surnames are: SWAYZE, >WEEKS, FLOWER, SMITH, PIRRIE, BOWMAN, BARROW, DAVIS, SCOTT, DOHERTY, COLLINS, >LYON[S], BOON[E]. New Iberia names are CONRAD, MAGILL, PALFREY, TORIAN, HALL, >HUNTER, MOORE, HARDIN[G], TOWLES. > >Two caveats: Some of Webb's genealogy is incorrect--the letters themselves >are more reliable than the notes--and the index is incomplete. > >E. W. Prichard > > >==== LA-LGHS Mailing List ==== >LGHS: Serving Louisiana Genealogist since 1953. >Send queries for consideration to be published in The Register >contact Maurice Pecquet at <mauricepecquet@worldnet.att.net> ___________________________________________________________________ josiebass@zxmail.com 216 Beach Park Lane Cape Canaveral, FL 32920-5003 Home of the *HARRISON* Repository http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~harrisonrep/ My Southern Family WWW: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mysouthernfamily/ LINDSAY & HARRISON Surnames & CSA-HISTORY Roots Mail List GENCONNECT: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/indx/FamAssoc.html Data Managed by beautiful daughter Becky Bass Bonner and me, Josephine Lindsay Bass