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Notes


#1) Most of the information I have on the Thos. Gardner family came from Cleve Gardner and it is not proven every time. Some of this information came from Census Records and some came from teh biography of the O. Max Gardner, former governer and is not proven. Some of his side of the family is buried in Shelby, NC.


#2) Also in my book is a copy of the marriage bond for Thomas Garner and Olive Martin, 23 Nov 1792.
Mary Olivine Martin was a midwife and earned enough money from her own business to purchase many acres near Lawndale which became the property of Aunt Betty and eventually her black people.
In my book of certificates I have information of deed transfers by Olive Gardner. Her father was supposedly Christopher Martin, according to Cleve Gardner. In the Wm. H. Martin Cemetary is a marker for William H. Martin. Cleve Gardner says he was brother of Olive and son of Christopher. In this cemetary are, or were, markers for:
*E. A. Martin (sex unknown); B. 1775, D. 1817
*Joseph L. Martin; B. 11 June 1841, D. 22 August 1862
*A.G. Martin; D. 1822 - Age 95


#3) Martin Garner Cemetary No. 9 Twp, on lands of H. Dick Spangler, about ¼ mile SE of AD Spangler residence on east side of Shelby. Double Shoals Road in edge of woods, 7 miles NW of Shelby.

#3a) Dell Cenie Gardner:


The information on the Mitchum family came from Cleve Gardner, Mitchum or Wease Fam. Bible, Lawndale. Undocumented.

#4) Buried in what W.D. Floyd calls the Gardner Cemetary. East on NC 182 out of Lawndale, R on Ball Park Rd. Go out Ball Park Rd. 1 mile until curve to left and go R onto Power House Rd. Go 2/10 mile to gravel road to right. There is a gate. Cemetary is top of little hill on right side of rd. Only 2 graves readable, this and Olive J. Gardner.

#4a) Oliver Perry Gardner

  • Other Marriages: Margaret Young - Married May 19, 1858

#4b) Olivine Jane Gardner

  • Buried in Gardner Cemetary with William H. Gardner

#4c) Harriet Gardner

  • Other Marriages: James Bostic

#4d) Nancy Ann Gardner

  • Other Marriages: James Weaver


#5) Carrie married a Grigg which was the family name of a friend of mine in Boise, Cleo Gilchrist. She has written a book about the Grigg family. I have never pursued it as it is not my direct line.


#6) He was the youngest of the many children of Thomas Gardner. He apparently was very close to his sister, Elizabeth, who never married, as his oldest son, Rufus, lived with her much of the time.
He married Elvira Cornwell and sometime about the birth of his last child, she died and there was some kind of a ruckus with the Cornwells that showed up in Court records. Elvira is buried in the old Cornwell Cemetary on Cornwell property.
He married again to Anna Lovelace. He farmed and taught school as she did also.
He enlisted in the War between the States, at the age of around 45 and died of disease soon after in a hospital named Peace Institute in Raleigh. It was situated one mile from the State capitol. Eight acres of ground, it was to be a school for girls. The Confederate government used it for hospital purposes. The school was then moved to Charlotte. He was buried there but no one knows where that cemetary is now. I have his War Record and also application for a pension based upon his service. This pension was filed by his widow, Anna Lovelace. His description was given as 45 years old, 5 ft. 9½ in. tall, fair complexion with black hair and blue eyes.
From this point on much of the information about the Gardner and related families has come from notes left by Cleveland Gardner, County Historian of Cleveland County in the 1930's. He interviewed people, he visited cemetaries, he put down what he knew and what he thought. Much of his information is undocumented. Where it is documented, I have made note of it. He said James went to Hills farm 15 Jan 1858. I don't know where that was.


#7) Elvira Cornwell Gardner...She died soon after her youngest child was born. She is buried behind the old Cornwell property west of Lawndale. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord."
In my book of certificates, I have a copy of a Supreme Court (N.C.) record involving a deposition by Elvira Cornwell concerning a note and a warranty deed which Micajah Cornwell denied granting to John Ramseur some property or money.


#8) Known as Uncle Duffy by my family, as this is what my father and his cousins told me he was called. It was said he looked exacty like Rufus.


#9) In 1880 NC Census, Annie Gardner, widow of James L., age 57, is living with Olivine Horton.


#10) Rufus Webb Gardner was 5' 5" tall, quite swarthy, with a fiery temper and loved to give rousing, scolding talks at the church, Please Grove Baptist. He was Deacon and a church clerk for 35 years. Neighbors used to hear him coming along the path to church, talking to himself and mumbling about the church's financial problems.
When he married Sarah Elam, his Aunt Betty Gardner was so upset she left allt he many acres belonging to the Gardner family to her black ex-slaves who now have descendants living in neat brick homes all through that section near Lawndale, Philadelphia Rd area. Dr. Elam, Sarah's father, gave Rufus and Sarah some land he had taken as payment for a medical bill from a Cline. There they built their home and it still stands on the road to Fallston, but is out of our hands. Aunt Betty pretty much raised him, for some reason.
He farmed, taught school, clerked in a general store in Beam's Mill, and was Justice of the Peace for many years. He also helped to organize his church and was a charter member.
He was at Appomattox at the surrender, having fought valiantly. He felt the cause was right and was willing to leave his young wife for what he believed in. He had to walk all the way home at the end which turned out to be safer than taking the train for the train crashed, killing and wounding a lot of men.
He was well read and a great debater as was his father. He died of Mitrol Insufficiency. I have his War Record, Death Certificate, and Obituary in my record books.