Family History: Lizzie Baldwin 3.5.13

Elizabeth Jane Baldwin was born at UNC Hospital in 1995. She goes by the name "Lizzie." Many of her ancestors came to North America from England in the early 1700's. One individual, Isaac Allerton, traveled to Plymouth in 1620 on the Mayflower! Another one of her ancestors turned out to be quite a bully while another was most likely a murderess! Armagil Wade (or Waad) was known by some as the "English Columbus," and worked for Henry VIII as his Clerk of Council. Lizzie has quite a heritage!

 This is a photo of Bully Wade and his family. William Drayton Wade was born in 1857 and was a child during the Civil War. He came from a very wealthy family, and it was likely they owned many slaves. William was not considered to be a nice man; in fact, he was given the nickname "Bully" for a reason. Bully was said to be a very stern man. He killed one of his farm workers by beating him with a cane because he did not saddle his horse correctly. The man was buried and the incident was "hushed up."

 Ezekiel Baldwin and Minnie Huff with their 6 children. Ezekiel Smith Baldwin was born in 1876. He was a member of a Free Mason group called "Al-Sihah."

 Ezekiel and Minnie eventually had 9 children. One of the couple's children was Lizzie's grandfather, Albert Sydney Baldwin, Sr., who was born in 1916. During WWII, Albert joined the Navy and was stationed in Okinawa. (above) When his group of ships were traveling to Okinawa, he witnessed Kamikazes coming out of the sky and plummeting into American ships. On the island, there was still a Japanese presence, and sometimes the Japanese would come out of the woods and begin shooting at the soldiers!

 These are Lizzie's great grandparents, Nellie Crockett Spencer and Charles Spencer. Nellie's father's second marriage was a catastrophe. When Nellie was only twelve, her father died suddenly, and it became clear that the stepmother might have had something to do with his unexpected death. According to the family, Mr. Crockett was poisoned by his wife with arsenic. See the article below from the New York Times.

As you can see, these family history papers are fascinating! More to come...