Charity Elizabeth (May) Williams

Charity Elizabeth was born Charity Elizabeth May in April, 1860 to Harry and Elizabeth May. Her place of birth was on the Cadron River, Conway County, AR. She is buried near her sister, Julia Ann McBride in Powers Chapel Cemetery.

"Lizzie" gave birth to four girls; Mary Alice (my grandmother), then Nancy Alfara, Ollie Lenora, and Francis. After several failed marriages, Lizzie finally married James David Williams in Falls County on July 27, 1907. The marriage gave her a step-daughter, Edna Williams.

In July of 1913, Charity Elizabeth was killed in a freak accident. The family had loaded up into a buckboard for a trip to my grandmother's house near Oglesby, TX. As the team of mules pulling the wagon got over the Briery Creek bridge, a sack full of cats set about screeching for their lives. Someone had thrown the sack off the bridge. The screeching scared the mules so bad that they started backing off the bridge, and J. D. Williams did his best to control them long enough for everyone to escape. He later tearfully told the family that, for some reason, Charity just couldn't move. Fear, I would suspect. Anyway, she landed in the creek bed with internal injuries, broken ribs, and a broken arm. According to an old newspaper clipping, a Scott & White doctor came to call, but could not save her. She died a few days later.

Ever since I was young girl, Daddy and his older sister told me stories about Charity Elizabeth, and the way she died. As I began piecing her life together, locating more and more information, this truly remarkable story emerged. The father of these girls went off to fight in the Civil War, and their mother drowned trying to get them to safety. There were actually 6 girls in the household, but after losing both parents, they were all farmed out as orphans. Julia Ann knew the farm where Charity was, and "borrowed" a horse from the family that she lived with. She hid in the bushes until Charity came out to fetch water from a spring, and stole her. There was an old turkey roosting in the bushes near Julia. As Charity walked down the trail to the spring, Julia grabbed the turkey, and threw it out of the bushes. Charity went to see what had spooked the turkey and her older sister nabbed her. From there, the two sisters made their way to Texas. To this day, we have never been able to locate any of the other sisters. Apparently, Charity was small when the family took her in. She grew up thinking that her last name was Hawthorne, or some variant of that surname. Julia thought her last name was Holly. They both died thinking that they were half sisters. In truth, they were full sisters, confused by what they had endured as children.

Julia outlived her sister, but she had a very sad life, and died a horrible death. After she lost a child, she had a nervous breakdown (according to her descendants). She was committed to the state hospital in Austin for many years. She died when her nightgown caught fire at that facility.