Bowden Joyce, Founding Mothers

At about the same time, Thomas B. Byrd, a planter, moved into the hamlet that would become Greenwood village and made it his home. The United States appointed him postmaster 14 March 1839. Woodville was the hamlet post office name. 14 The planter’s 1840 household was unusually large indicating that although he had moved his residence into the hamlet he was an active plantation owner. He owned 43 slaves. Another adult and 13 adolescents also were in his household, a number that could not be fully accounted for with his known children and the children from his first wife’s first marriage. 15 Who was the extra adult and who were the adolescents? The planter’s 1840 household resembled his 1850 household in which 12 students lived. They almost certainly boarded with the planter’s family to attend nearby schools. Emily also lived in the 1850 household, working probably as caregiver to the planter’s disabled adult son and housemother to the adolescent boarders. 16 Comparing these households 10 years apart, Emily probably lived and worked in the planter’s household in 1840, earlier than is known and all along playing the same roles. Emily was about 30 years old when planter Byrd-her employer in my estimation-remarried. Elizabeth Parks was the new mistress of the house. Apparently, Emily and Elizabeth hit it off. This could not have been forecast because of their social class difference. But they had a job to do and seemingly did it well. Some examples. Elizabeth brought her youngest children with her from Georgia. As adults, neither returned to live in Georgia. To boot, her oldest child and his family joined them in a few years. The number of adolescent boarders was consistent between the decennial censuses, indicating in my estimation that the boarding house functioned well and parents trusted it. 14 Abbeville District, South Carolina, Record of Appointments of Postmasters, 1832-1971; digital image, U.S., Appointments of Postmasters, 1832-1971, database, Ancestry.com (access thought participating libraries : 22 February 2019), citing NARA microfilm publication M841, roll 114, Abbeville-Greenwood Counties, vol. 10 ca. 1832-1844. 15 1840 U.S. census, Abbeville District, South Carolina, p. 11 (penned), Thos [Thomas] B. Byrd; digital image, Ancestry.com (access through participating libraries : 20 February 2019); citing FHL microfilm 0022508. 16 1850 U.S. census, Abbeville District, South Carolina, population schedule, p. 116, dwelling 1785, family 1788, Emily Orsborn [Osborn] in Thomas B. Bird [Byrd] household; digital image, Ancestry.com (access through participating libraries : 20 December 2018); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 848.

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