Evelyn Lillie ABNEY

F, b. 15 December 1883, d. 24 March 1911
Pedigree
Relationship
Grandaunt of John Kennedy BROWN Jr.
Evelyn Lily Abney
     Evelyn Lillie ABNEY, daughter of Samuel ABNEY IV and Martha Anne WALKER, was born on 15 December 1883 at the Abney House "Trail's End" in near Randolph, Chilton County, Alabama.1

Evelyn Lillie ABNEY appeared on a census, enumerated 18 June 1900, in the household of her parents Samuel ABNEY IV and Martha Anne WALKER in Maplesville, Chilton County, Alabama. She was 14 years old.2

Evelyn Lillie ABNEY was educated in Alabama Girls' Industrial School, Montevallo, Alabama, between 1901 and 1903. She received a cooking and Domestic Science certification in 1903.3,4

Evelyn Lillie ABNEY appeared on a census, enumerated 15 April 1910, in the household of Samuel ABNEY IV in Maplesville, Chilton County, Alabama.5 On 22 July 1910, as part of the pageantry of the unveiling and dedication of the Confederate monument in Centreville, a parade was held before 4,000 visitors. The chief attraction of the parade was provided by the twelve most popular young women, each representing a Southern state and each seated by an escort in a buggy decorated with confetti. Evelyn Abney symbolized South Carolina; Nell Steele, Mississippi; Olivia Wallace, Alabama; Annie Weaver, Georgia; Emma Love Riley, Louisiana; Margaret H. Hogan, Texas; Ray Stewart, Virginia; Beulah Avery, Arkansas; Dorothy Smith, North Carolina; Jessie Fondren, Tennessee; Delia James; Missouri; and Pearl Oglesby, Kentucky. More than 100 Confederate Veterans also participated, including Evelyn's proud father, Sam Abney. Capt. Zach Abney, Lt. Phil Vance, and Jacob Dennis Mayberry were there from Co. F 11th Alabama Infantry. Mary Mayberry, UDC president, unveiled the statue.6 Evelyn never married. She was engaged, but died of typhoid fever before the wedding.

Abbey Brewer found some old envelopes and one letter addressed to Miss Evelyn Abney from 1905 to 1907. The return address was: Guy Rice, Prattville, Ala. Edward Guy Rice was an attorney from Prattville (1878-1943), the son of James D. Rice and Louisa Missouri Zeigler. He married Myrtis Justice in 1913, two years after Evelyn's death. Could Guy Rice have been Evelyn's fiance?.7,8 She died on 24 March 1911 in the Abney House, Maplesville, Chilton County, Alabama, at age 27. She was said to have been a very beautiful girl ("the prettiest of the lot") with lots of beaux and her father was very grieved over her death.9,1 She was buried in Abney Cemetery.9,10
Last Edited=28 Jun 2023

Citations

  1. [S276] Edgefield Chapter South Carolina Genealogical Society, ABCDs of Edgefield, Samuel Abney Bible, pg. 114.
  2. [S103] 1900 U. S. Census, Chilton County, Alabama, Sam Abney household #173, pg. 128A, Maplesville, Precinct 7, Vol. 10, ED 31, Sheet 10, Line 19.
  3. [S591] Amy D. Minor, "Enrollment Records," e-mail to John K. Brown, 14 August 2006.
  4. [S1155] "AGIS Bulletin 1907" , 1907, Vol. 1 No. 2, pg. 19 & 66.
  5. [S262] 1910 U. S. Census, Chilton County, Alabama, Samuel Abney household #125, Vol. 16, ED 48.
  6. [S187] Rhoda Coleman Ellison, Bibb County, Alabama, pg. 217-219.
  7. [S199] Abney Hintgen Brewer, "Abney Research," e-mail to John K. Brown.
  8. [S199] Abney Hintgen Brewer, "Abney Research," e-mail to John K. Brown, 2 Jul 2017, information about Guy Rice.
  9. [S72] Abney Hintgen Brewer. "Abney Family History", (Unpublished manuscript), 1993 Author's Personal Collection.
  10. [S5] Howard F. McCord, Cemeteries of Bibb County, Alabama 1817-1974.

Information on this site has been gathered over many years from many sources. Although great care has been taken, inaccuracies may exist. Please contact [email protected] with corrections or questions..