Surles Family History (Interlinked to Surls)
Sibling Descent Lines
Descendants of Unknown Surles
Generation No. 1
1. UNKNOWN1 SURLES He married (1) UNKNOWN UNKNOWN. He married (2) UNKNOWN UNKNOWN1.
Children of UNKNOWN SURLES and UNKNOWN UNKNOWN are:
i. ROBERT2 SURLES.
2. ii. HENRY SURLES, b. Wake County NC; d. 1818, Wake County NC.
iii. EDWARD SURLES.
Generation No. 2
2. HENRY2 SURLES (UNKNOWN1)1 was born in Wake County NC1, and died 1818 in Wake County NC1. He married MARY UNKNOWN1.
Children of HENRY SURLES and MARY UNKNOWN are:
3. i. THOMAS3 SURLS, SR, b. 1773, Wake Co, NC; d. March 1861, Chattahochee County GA.
4. ii. JOHN SURLES, b. 1776, Wake County NC; d. Abt. 1812.
iii. LITTLEBERRY SURLES.
Notes for LITTLEBERRY SURLES:
275 Acres of Land Per Wake COunty Census and Tax List value $1.23 Tax Payable- by Frances Holloway Wynne
iv. HENRY SURLES.
v. WINNIE SURLES.
vi. AFARY SURLS.
vii. FRANCIS SURLS.
viii. BENJAMIN SURLS.
Generation No. 3
3. THOMAS3 SURLS, SR (HENRY2 SURLES, UNKNOWN1) was born 1773 in Wake Co, NC2, and died March 1861 in Chattahochee County GA3. He married RUTHA MAYNARD November 28, 1809 in Wake Co, NC4, daughter of WILLIAM MAYNARD and AGATHA UNKNOWN. She was born 1790 in Wake Co, NC5, and died Aft. 1850 in Smith County TN.
Notes for THOMAS SURLS, SR:
Thomas's Will as provided by Ellen.
Thomas Surls of the County of Chattahochee in the State of Georgia being of advanced age but of sound and disposing mind and memory make this my Last Will and Testament hereby revoking all other wills by me heretofore made.
Item 1 My Soul I commend to God who gave it and my body I desire to be buried in a decent manner, suitable to my circumstances and conditions in life
Item 2 After the payment of my Just Debts and my Funeral expenses I give and Bequeath the whole of my Estate, Real and Provisional and any other debts that may be owing to me at the time of my death to my beloved wife Rutha Surls for her use and benefit during her life to be kept together and managed as she with the help of my Executor, hereinafter appointed, may think most for her comfort and convience and the benefit of my estate.
Item 3 After the death of my wife Rutha Surls, as soon as practical, consistently with the interest of my estate I desire that the whole real and personal, shall be sold and the proceeds of said sale together with any increase in money, debts or property that may have accrued over and above the support of my Beloved wife Rutha Surls, to be divided as hereinafter appointed below.
Item 4 To my Grandson Ruffin Surls, the son of my daughter Polly Banks I give and bequeath one hundred dollars, to him and his heirs forever. I give and bequeath to my Grandson Thomas Banks,son of my said daughter Polly Banks, One Hundred and fifty dollars, to him and his heirs forever. To Each of the other children of my said daughter Polly Banks that may be living at the time of the distribution of my estate shall take place I give and bequeath one hundred dollars.
Item 5 The balance of my estate I desire and so order to be divided equally between my son Francis Surls and the children of my Deceased son, Henry Surls, that is my son Francis to have one half and the other half of said residue of my estate to be divided equally between my said grandchildren, the children of said Henry Surls deceased
Item 6 If at any time during the life of my said wife Rutha Surls it should be deemed best for the convience and the intrest of my estate to sell any of the stock or to exchange for other more suitable it is my will that executor has that priviledge.
Item 7 I appoint my son Francis Surls Executor of this my Last Will and Testament with full power to execute the same, I also appoint him Trustee for all my Grandchildren herein named, the children of my said son each and all of said children may be entitled and when they shall arrive at the age of twenty one years or many to pay and deliever to each the share to which each is entitled, and in case any of said Grandchildren should die, leaving child or children living before the division of the estate takes place, the share to which such deceased parent would be entitled to go to the surviving child or children.
Item 8 I hereby authorize my said executor to make any and all sales comtemplated by the will without any order from any court, and further relieve him from being required to give any securities. Executor and Trustee aforesaid in any condition where it may become nessasary to execute this will.
In Testamony whereof I Thomas Surls have hereinto set forth my hand and affixed my seal to this 1st day of March 1860.
Thomas X Surls
His Mark (seal)
The foregoing writing signed, sealed, and published by Thomas Surls as his last Will in our presence and we at his special request have hereinto signed our names as witnesses in the presence of said Testator and each other this 1st day of March 1860.
Test Theophilus Sapp
E.M. Weems
William Clark
Probate Minute Book B
I Francis Surls do solomnly swear that this writing contains the last will and testament of Thomas Surls Deceased, so far as I know or believe, and that I will well and truly execute the same by paying first the debts and legacies contained in said will, so far as his goods and chattels will extend, and the law requires me and that I will make a just and true inventory of all such estate so help me GOD. March 4, 1861
Before E. G. Raiford Ordinary
Francis X Surls
His Mark
From the History of Chattahoochee County, GA.
page 284- Thomas Surles
Wife Rutha Surles, Dua. Polly Banks Sons : Ruffus (should be Ruffin) Surles, Thomas Banks, Chi. of dec'd son Henry.
Witnesses: Theophilus Sapp, E. M. Weems, William Clark, Dated March 1 1860. Probated Feb 4 1861. Anderson Willis. Daughters : Clara (Mr Anderson W. Wynn) Paschal Perry; son William Lane
Page- 89 & 90 (Referring to membership in Good Hope Church, Located on Fort Benning Military Reservation.)
Messrs Tom and Henry Surles and Misses Fannie, Hattie and Julia Surles.- Indicates membership in the church.
Thomas and Son Frances are on the First Tax Digest found at Cusseta year 1857.
More About THOMAS SURLS, SR:
Burial: Ft. Benning Military Reservation- Columbus GA6
Census: 1850, Residing in Muscogee County GA-Federal Census
Probate: February 04, 1861, Chattahoochee County, GA
Children of THOMAS SURLS and RUTHA MAYNARD are:
5. i. FRANCES4 SURLS, b. 1812, Wake County NC; d. Aft. 1880, Chattahochee County GA.
ii. THOMAS SURLS, JR, b. 1822, Wake County NC; m. PENNY JOHNSON, January 13, 1836, Johnston, NC.
6. iii. MARY POLLY SURLS, b. 1810, SC or Wake County NC.
iv. HENRY SURLS.
v. NANCY SURLS, m. (1) WILLIAM H. PARKMAN; m. (2) WILLIAM DODSON.
vi. UNKNOWN SURLS, d. Burned to death.
4. JOHN3 SURLES (HENRY2, UNKNOWN1)7 was born 1776 in Wake County NC, and died Abt. 1812. He married SUSANNAH YATES October 15, 1808 in Wake County NC, daughter of WILLIAM YATES and MARY TAPP. She was born 1778 in Wake County NC, and died 18507.
More About JOHN SURLES:
Cause of Death: Drowned7
Military service: Discharged at Norfolk7
Children of JOHN SURLES and SUSANNAH YATES are:
7. i. DELIA4 SURLES, b. 1812, Wake County NC.
8. ii. MAJOR SURLES, b. 1810, Cumberland County NC; d. 1857, Monticello, Jefferson County Florida.
Generation No. 4
5. FRANCES4 SURLS (THOMAS3, HENRY2 SURLES, UNKNOWN1) was born 1812 in Wake County NC8, and died Aft. 1880 in Chattahochee County GA. He married (1) UNKNOWN WILSON. He married (2) MELVINA TERRY June 24, 1849. She was born January 1825 in Bibb County, GA9, and died Aft. 1910.
More About FRANCES SURLS:
Census: 1850, Muscogee County GA
Occupation: 1850, Farmer- Taken from Census Data
Property: 1860, House 489-from Census records Estate Valued at $2000.00 (Real Estate Property from his fatherThomas Surls Sr. of Wake County)Will probated 1860
Residence: 1850, Muscogee County GA
Children of FRANCES SURLS and UNKNOWN WILSON are:
i. NANCY5 SURLS, b. 1837, Muscogee County Georgia.
ii. RUTHA SURLS, b. 1839, Muscogee County Georgia; m. THOMAS SAMUEL BARTLETT, November 24, 1860.
More About THOMAS SAMUEL BARTLETT:
Killed: Civil War
iii. MARY ELIZABETH SURLS, b. 1842, Muscogee County Georgia.
iv. FRANK N SURLS, b. 1843, Georgia; d. 1921, Macon, Ga.
Notes for FRANK N SURLS:
He was very fat and had to have a blacksmith make a special Chair for him. Rented quarters on Camp Benning, he was in the Army.
More About FRANK N SURLS:
Census: 1910, Camp Benning- Harps Mill District
Education: May 26, 1921, buried in Riverdale Cemetery, Macon Ga
v. MARY SURLS, b. 1845, Muscogee County Georgia.
vi. LUCY SURLS, b. 1844.
Children of FRANCES SURLS and MELVINA TERRY are:
vii. SUSAN CATHERINE5 SURLS, b. 1850, Muscogee County Georgia.
viii. GEORGIA SURLS, b. 1855.
ix. HATTIE SURLS.
x. FANNY SURLS, d. Burned to death.
xi. THOMAS J. SURLS, b. 1852; m. M.A. UNKNOWN, 1865; b. 1844.
xii. HENRY F. SURLS, b. 1856.
xiii. JOHN SURLS, b. 1850.
xiv. CAMY SURLS, b. 1854.
xv. ELIZABETH SURLS, b. 1856.
xvi. ANN SURLS, b. 1866.
xvii. JULIA SURLS.
6. MARY POLLY4 SURLS (THOMAS3, HENRY2 SURLES, UNKNOWN1) was born 1810 in SC or Wake County NC. She met (1) UNKNOWN UNKNOWN. She married (2) DRURY BANKS. He was born 1807.
Child of MARY SURLS and UNKNOWN UNKNOWN is:
i. WILLIAM RUFFIN5 SURLS, b. 1834, North Carolina; m. (1) SARAH UNKNOWN; b. 1828, South Carolina; m. (2) MATILDA ANN REBECCA ROBERTS, March 04, 1873, Jackson Gap, ALABAMA; b. November 02, 1849, Jackson Gap, ALABAMA; d. July 12, 1932, Cedartown,Georgia.
Notes for WILLIAM RUFFIN SURLS:
He died in a head-on train collision, however the date and place are not known. He left Mammy Surls and the only thing she ever heard about him was that Uncle L.B. talked to the man who was the fireman on the train and he verified that he had been killed. Mammy never got any compensation from the railroad company.
The family never gave him a pet name, they just called him Mr. Surls.
He was married previously in Columbus, Georgia and had several children by his first wife. It is not known whether the marriage ended by divorce or death of his first wife. When Mama and Papa left Jackson Gap, they moved first to Columbus and actually lived on the same street that Mary Surls Cook, one of the children lived on.
The 1880 census for Tallapoosa County , Alabama, lists him as SURELS. It also has his occupation as "mill hand." It also lists him as being born in NC not SC . It is not known if these are errors on the part of the census taker, or fact. It also lists his date of birth as 1834, age 46 at time of census. This also raises the question of whether he served in the Confederacy or not, and where.
More About WILLIAM RUFFIN SURLS:
Education: engineer on Central of Georgia Railroad
Notes for MATILDA ANN REBECCA ROBERTS:
She is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Cedartown, Georgia.
She liked to read the Bible, preferably aloud.
She stole a horse from the Yankees, plowed with oxen, quilted, liked to travel even when she was elderly.
She was known as "Becky" until she became a grandmother, then was known affectionately as "Mammy".
She was born November 2, 1849 in Jackson Gap, Alabama.
She was married to William Ruffin Surls and lived with him in Jackson Gap for many years. They separated and he left and was killed in a head-on train collision. She was not notified of this but Uncle L.B. talked to the man who was the fireman on the train and he told her it was true.
She had 2 brothers, William Benjamin Roberts, and George Menoey Roberts, and 1 sister, Celia H Roberts Freeman.
She died July 12, 1932 in Cedartown, Ga.
She was a nurse trained by Dr. John Britt.
She was a whiskey taster fro the government.
She split rails.
She had a gold pendant with gold on one side and orange colored stone on the other side, given to Becky Surls by Mildred Surls Barnett.
She had a bone crochet hook which was handed down to Linda Surls Stell.
When she was about 13 years old, during the war, her mother always cooked enough food so that she could send some over to Cecelia Freeman, Mammy's sister. Mammy had to walk across the pastures to take it to her, and there were army deserters from both sides that hid in the woods. They would throw rocks at her and try to get her to leave the food behind. When asked what she did, she replied, " I just stuck out my tongue and kept right on walking!"
The Surls home was located off the dirt road that leads out of Rock Springs Baptist Church in Jackson Gap. The road is off to left right before you get to the Britt family cemetery which is in the woods on the left. The Surls/Roberts farm was covered by Lake Martin but the cemetery is reportedly still above water.
She had a velvet evening bag with a tassel on it. She kept her money in it in a chest and had a change purse that she kept under her pillow that she kept her house money in.
MAMMY SURLS' RECIPE FOR POUND CAKE;
6 medium eggs
2 sticks butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
pinch baking powder
Cream butter and sugar together. Alternate eggs and flour, beating as you add, add pinches of salt and baking powder. Add flour, bake at 350 for about 1 hour. Grease and flour pan.
MAMMY SURLS' TEA CAKE
1 cup sugar
1 egg in self-rising flour
little milk
buttermilk
1/2 cup crisco
Work up, with nutmeg or vanilla, roll out like biscuits and cut. bake.
More About MATILDA ANN REBECCA ROBERTS:
Education: buried Greenwood cemetery, Cedartown, Ga
Children of MARY SURLS and DRURY BANKS are:
ii. THOMAS5 BANKS, b. November 1837, Muscogee County GA; m. FRANCES P. UNKNOWN; b. November 1848, Georgia.
More About THOMAS BANKS:
Residence: 1900, Living in Chattahoochee County GA, Coleman GA, Militia District 1108
iii. PAMELIA ANN BANKS, b. 1836, Stewart County, GA; m. JONATHAN BARTLETT, 1861; b. 1825, Edgefield County SC.
More About JONATHAN BARTLETT:
Residence: 1840, Moved to Georgia in 1840
iv. RUTHA BANKS, b. 1841, Muscogee County GA.
v. AFRA C. BANKS, b. 1845, Muscogee County GA.
vi. EDNNY BANKS, b. 1847, Muscogee County GA.
7. DELIA4 SURLES (JOHN3, HENRY2, UNKNOWN1) was born 1812 in Wake County NC. She married EDWARD MAYNARD August 07, 1829 in Wake County NC. He was born 1805 in Wake County NC.
Children of DELIA SURLES and EDWARD MAYNARD are:
i. JOSEPH5 MAYNARD, b. 1830.
ii. JOHN MAYNARD, b. 1832.
iii. WILLIS MAYNARD, b. 1833.
iv. JACOB MAYNARD, b. 1835.
v. PENNY MAYNARD, b. 1836.
vi. LESTER MAYNARD, b. 1838.
vii. WILLIAM MAYNARD, b. 1839.
viii. PEGGY MAYNARD, b. 1841.
ix. HADDY MAYNARD, b. 1841.
x. WINNIFRED MAYNARD, b. 1844.
xi. MERCY MAYNARD, b. 1845.
xii. BRINKLEY MAYNARD, b. 1846.
xiii. JAMES MAYNARD, b. 1850.
xiv. ANN MAYNARD, b. 1848.
8. MAJOR4 SURLES (JOHN3, HENRY2, UNKNOWN1)10 was born 1810 in Cumberland County NC10, and died 1857 in Monticello, Jefferson County Florida10. He married REBECCA MOORE10 December 22, 1829, daughter of JOHN MOORE and PENELOPE JOHNSON. She was born 1808 in North Carolina10,11,12, and died 1879 in Monticello, Jefferson County Florida13.
Children of MAJOR SURLES and REBECCA MOORE are:
i. CALVIN5 SURLES13,14,15, b. 1832, North Carolina16; d. WFT Est. 1833-192217,18.
More About CALVIN SURLES:
Residence: Lived Georgia19
ii. MARY SURLES19,20,21, b. 1833, Jefferson County, Florida22; d. WFT Est. 1834-192723,24.
iii. JOHN HENRY SURLES, SR.25, b. 1836, Jefferson County FL25; d. 1924, Baird Texas25; m. MARIAH HILL25, March 03, 1858, Wascom Station, Harrison County, Tx.26,27; b. 1838, Alabama28; d. 1929, Baird Texas28.
More About JOHN HENRY SURLES, SR.:
Burial: Putnam, Callihan County Texas Cemetery28
Fact 1: 1924, Died of cancer.29,30
Fact 2: 1924, Buried in Baird Cemetary31,32
Military service: Wounded in Civil War in Selma Alabama33
More About MARIAH HILL:
Burial: Putnam, Callihan County Texas Cemetery33
iv. PENELOPE SURLES33, b. June 20, 1840, Jefferson County FL33; d. October 28, 1924, Streetman Texas33; m. RICHARD GREEN MANNING, December 24, 1857, Jefferson County Florida; b. February 21, 1835, Florida; d. March 04, 1879, Freestone County Texas.
v. ROBERT SURLES33,34,35, b. 1842, Jefferson County FL36; d. May 23, 1862, Tulahoma Tennessee-Shot and died from wounds36.
vi. NARCISSA SURLES36,37,38, b. 1843, Jefferson County FL39; d. Streetman Texas39.
vii. SARAH SURLES39, b. 1845, Jefferson County FL39; d. WFT Est. 1846-193940,41.
viii. ELIZABETH SURLES42, b. 1846, Jefferson County FL42; d. WFT Est. 1847-194043,44.
ix. BRIGHT SURLES45,46,47, b. January 19, 1848, Jefferson County FL4849,50; m. CLARA MALINDA FOLSOM, December 16, 1869, Pelham Georgia; b. March 13, 1854, Monticello Florida; d. May 30, 1911, Pelham Georgia.
Notes for BRIGHT SURLES:
[surls200a.GED]
Lived in Georgia
x. EDNA SURLES51, b. 1849, Jefferson County FL51; d. WFT Est. 1850-194352,53.
xi. NANCY SURLES54, b. November 16, 185154; d. June 10, 190954.
More About NANCY SURLES:
Burial: Putnam, Callihan County Texas Cemetery54
xii. MARTHA SURLES55,56, b. 183757,58; d. WFT Est. 1838-193159,60.
Endnotes
****NOTE****
Some of the information on this page came from Sources located in the Federal and State Archives located in Gerogia. Some information was provided by Mary Taylor and her book called "Footsteps through time". To Mary, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, your information has been a treasure to add to the family history that I collected prior to recieving your information.
Other family sources include pictures, bibles, letters, interviews, newspaper articles and probate Records, Burial and funeral records are also included in this data. To everyone who has contributed data, you have my deepest thanks.- Crispin Vessell Webmaster
2. Birth information from 1850 Census- Muscogee County, GA..
3. 1860 Chattahoochee County, GA Federal Census, Thomas Does not appear on Census Records for Chattahoochee County GA for 1860.
4. Wake County NC Marriage Records.
5. 1850 Census Record for Muscogee County GA. Birth information given on Census, List Rutha as wife of Thomas Surls both of Wake North Carolina.
8. Birth information from 1850 Census- Muscogee County, GA., Birth information given on 1850 Muscogee County, GA Federal Census.
9. Birth information from 1850 Census- Muscogee County, GA. and 1860 Census for Chattahoochee County, GA, States Bibb County, GA for birth on Census.