Squire Alfred Moore
Veazey and Margaret Frances Umstead
Squire Alfred Moore Veazey
1818-1895
Margaret Frances Umstead Veazey 1827-1921
BY ANN VEAZEY DAVIS
(Estimated that these pictures were made about 1870.)
(Based on Dot Curl's Memories in the Descendants of John Veazey)
Dot Curl wrote of her Mother's memories of her own
grandfather, and Dot's great-grandfather, Alfred Moore Veazey,
in her "Memories" that she left in written form for
her family.
Squire Alfred's son, Logan Alvis Veazey, Dot's grandfather,
died at the age of 29 from typhoid fever, leaving his wife, Mary
Elizabeth "Aunt Polly" or "Granny Polly" Roycroft
Veazey, and six children. Aunt Polly was expecting her last child
when her husband died, Margaret "Maggie" Veazey (Clark)
was born six months after her father's death. Aunt Polly's then
youngest son, Lonza Edwin, died a few short months after her husband,
and before this last little girl was born. Can we imagine the
heartache that this dear young woman endured during these trying
months.
Aunt Polly was encouraged and supported, at least
emotionally, during these days by her in-laws, Squire Alfred Moore
Veazey, and his wife Margaret Frances Umstead (Veazey). Her eldest
daughter, Dot's grandmother, spoke often of how her grandfather
came on Sunday mornings and took her (on horseback) to Knap Of
Reeds Baptist Church for services. He would take her again in
the afternoon to Concord Baptist Church for Sunday School. She
often spoke of how good her grandmother and grandfather were to
all her family after loosing their father. Her grandmother would
cook all the week to have food for them on Sunday.
Until I read my Second Cousin's notes after her
death, my paternal great-grandfather had only been a name on a
tombstone in the Veazey cemetery in Butner. Somehow reading about
how attentive he was to the young family of his deceased son,
made him a sensitive, caring man to me. I had never heard these
stories in my own family, but then my grandfather did not die,
thus he was there to take care of his own brood.
Dot was told that Squire Alfred owned all of Veazey
Ridge before the Civil War and gave all of his six sons a home.
He was a Justice of the Peace and a very prominent man in Granville
County. He signed many documents that are on record today in Granville
County. It was his distinctive signature that led me to recognize
the little book that he sent to his first cousin, once removed,
Jemima F. Gooch.
Squire Alfred was considered quite well off financially
and family tradition says that he was approached by old Wash Duke
about a partnership in the fledgling new tobacco business. Squire
Alfred was asked to furnish the wagons for transportation of the
tobacco and products. Somehow this offer did not appeal to Squire
Alfred and he declined the partnership offer.
What's In a Name?
As was often the custom in the 19th century, sons were often given
the name of a prominent politician, thus all of the George Washingtons,
Thomas Jeffersons, Franklin Roosevelts, etc. We believe that Squire
Alfred Moore Veazey was named for Alfred Moore who was born in
Brunswick County, NC, May 21, 1755, and died in 1810. He served
in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War; was a member
of the North Carolina State Senate, 1782; the North Carolina state
attorney general, 1782; a member of the North Carolina state legislature,
1792; state court judge, 1799; Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court,
1799-1804. Moore County, North Carolina, is named for him. Judge
Alfred Moore died October 15, 1810, and is buried in St. Phillips
Churchyard, Southport, NC. Evidently William and Nancy had heard
of Alfred Moore and wanted to honor his memory by naming their
son, Alfred Moore Veazey.