Her death certificate gives the names of her parents.

I believe the life of Mary Eliza Carroll can be well documented and there is no question she was born in 1835 in Sampson County and died in 1917. She was the daughter of Lewis Carroll and Catherine Elizabeth Lamb. She was the wife of George W Herring, mother of Frank W Herring and grandmother of Emma Wyatt Herring. She remarried Judson Croom after her husband died young. We know all of that now, but it took some effort to come to believe it as absolute fact.

The Herring Highlights book identified Mary Carroll as the wife of George W Herring but didn’t provide any additional information about her from which to try to learn her ancestry. Mary Jane Fennell was also named as George W’s mother and in pursuing that lead, I found information on the Internet on a Fennell family that showed clear ties to New Hanover County and that led me to visit the New Hanover County website where I came across a link to a big database of area families.

That database identified Lewis Carroll (no not the author of ”Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”) and Catherine Elizabeth Lamb as the parents of Mary Carroll. Then a search of the Internet for Lewis Carroll turned up "Lineages of Hereditary Society Members" — a book about ”pilgrims”, so I thought perhaps we had a Mayflower family here. Lewis, it turns out, had connections to the Bass family, a very interesting family of early immigrants (1619) to Isle of Wight County, VA. It turns out that the ”pilgrims” this book was interested in were not just the Mayflower kind but also included the earliest immigrants to Virginia, but that makes for an interesting family history too.

This book did not specifically list Mary Carroll, because the line it traced was that of Rachel Carroll, another daughter of Lewis and Catherine Elizabeth. But making the assumption that Rachel was Mary's sister, and because of the Bass connection, at that point Mary Carroll became an important link to some interesting early ancestors and I wanted to know more about her.

It was also becoming clear by this early point in our research that a lot of these people we were identifying were of Sampson County, in fact, it turned out that some who seemed to be early New Hanover County residents actually lived in the Black River area which eventually was annexed to Sampson County.

So I began to explore the Sampson County information, of which there is quite a lot, at our local library. And pretty soon, I hit a big problem. The 1872 will of Lewis Carroll mentions his daughter Mary E Croom. This seemed to confirm information I had seen elsewhere (on the Internet) that Mary E Carroll had married George Croom -- information that I had noted but wasn't sure I should believe and didn't want to believe as it would drop Mary Carroll and the Lambs and Basses from the Lawther lineage, but it had to be pursued.

By now we had identified some names we might be able to find in Census data and that’s where we went looking next. In the 1850 Sampson County Census, George Herring was 22, living with his father Amos and mother Mary (Mary Jane Fennell). Mary Carroll was 14 living with her father Lewis, mother Catharan (Catherine Elizabeth Lamb) and sister Rachel. The tie to Rachel and the whole of the Lewis Carroll lineage thus seemed back in play.

The 1860 Census showed George W Herring living with his wife Mary E -- and as printed up for Sampson County -- it showed (nee Carroll). Maiden name was not an 1860 Census question but somehow the 1860 Census for Sampson County (transcribed from the actual Census records and apparently edited by someone locally) showed the maiden name of many married women. A check of the Lewis Carroll household in this Census showed the absence of Mary E so there was comforting evidence of the supposed link, but could it be trusted? This Census also showed three children of George and Mary, including Francis.

The breakthrough and proof came with the 1870 Census. George W Herring was not to be found (at least not the right George W), nor was Mary E Herring there as head of household, but lo and behold, there was Judson Croom, age 27, with wife Mary, age 34 (the right age for our Mary E), a daughter Mittie and the same 3 Herring children last seen living with George and Mary including Frank. Mary Carroll had apparently married second Judson Croom and this explains her father’s will and locks it all together. The age difference between Judson and Mary E as reported in the 1870 Census is interesting, an unusual age difference that might have been a result of all the deaths of young men in the War.

So we know from Census data and his will and other sources that Mary E Carroll was the daughter of Lewis, wife of George W Herring and mother of Frank. But I did not have exact dates for her birth or death yet, nor did I have any idea where she was buried, so the struggle to complete the picture of Mary's life was not yet finished.

For awhile, I lost track of her after the 1880 Census. I didn't know if she died soon thereafter or remarried again or what. I could not find her -- in Sampson County. And then one day, for some unknown reason, I expanded my search and found her in the 1900 Census with husband Judson in Duplin County and also 1910. So then I examined tombstone transcriptions for Duplin County and I found her and learned her date of birth and date of death.

She is supposed to be buried -- according to the 1936 transcription I found -- in the George W Carroll family cemetery near Magnolia, Duplin County. I know from old maps where that is, the problem is we have gone there and see no signs of a cemetery there today.

I have also obtained a copy of her death certificate confirming everything I had learned about her.

26 Dec 1835. Mary Eliza Carroll is born in Sampson County. She was the daughter and I believe oldest child of Lewis Carroll and Catherine Elizabeth Lamb. Her mother was at most 17 years old at the time of Mary Eliza’s birth.

abt 1851. Mary Eliza married George W Herring. I don’t know the exact date but their oldest child was born abt 1853.

30 Jul 1863. Her husband George had died by this date, leaving Mary Eliza a young widow with three young children.

abt 1866. Mary Eliza married second Judson Croom. Judson had served in the Civil War, was captured at New Bern on 3 Feb 1864, confined first at Point Lookout, MD then later in Elmira, NY. He was released at Elmira 21 May 1865 after taking the Oath of Allegiance.

The 1872 will of Lewis Carroll mentions his daughter Mary E Croom.

Census tells her story.

1840. She is no doubt one of the two very young females living with her father Lewis Carroll in Sampson County.

1850. Mary Carroll was 14 living with her father Lewis, mother Catharan (Catherine Elizabeth Lamb) and sister Rachel.

1860. George W Herring lives with his wife Mary E -- and as printed up for Sampson County -- it showed (nee Carroll). Maiden name was not an 1860 Census question but somehow the 1860 Census for Sampson County (transcribed from the actual Census records and apparently edited by someone locally) showed the maiden name of many married women. This Census also showed three children of George and Mary, including Francis.

1870 Census. Judson Croom, age 27, lives with wife Mary, age 34, a daughter Mittie Croom and the same 3 Herring children last seen living with George and Mary. The age difference between Judson and Mary E as reported in the 1870 Census is interesting, an unusual age difference that might have been a result of all the deaths of young men in the War.

1880 Census. Judson and Mary live in Kenansville, Duplin County and their two daughters are present: Lizer J age 22 and Daisa M age 4. All Herring children have moved out.

1900 and 1910 Census. Mary lives with Judson in Duplin County.

12 Dec 1917. Mary E Croom died. This date and her birth date come from a 1936 transcription I found of her tombstone. It says she is buried in the George W Carroll family cemetery near Magnolia, Duplin County. I know from old maps where that is, the problem is we have gone there and see no signs of a cemetery there today.

I have also obtained a copy of her death certificate confirming the major details of her life.

Judson W Croom served as a First Sergeant with Co A, 51st Regiment NC. A book about Civil War Veterans says this about Judson: "Born in NHC where he resided as a farmer prior to enlistment at age 18 on 8 Feb 1862, mustered in as Sergeant. Promoted to 1st Sgt 31 Oct 1863. Captured at New Bern on 3 Feb 1864, confined first at Point Lookout, MD then later in Elmira, NY. Released at Elmira 21 May 1865 after taking the Oath of Allegiance."

The proof that George was the son of Amos comes from the 1850 Census. His father, Amos, left no will, but his estate file shows petitions by the children of Amos’ second wife to George W and his brother Hardy, administrators of Amos’ estate.

1850. Lives with his father.

1860. Taylor’s Bridge, Sampson County. George W Herring, a farmer age 31. I first found this household in a book at our library in which someone seems to have transcribed the 1860 Census. George’s wife is listed as Mary E (nee Carroll) – now her maiden name would not have been actually given in the actual Census, so the compiler of this book added some additional information which we assume he or she had some knowledge of. Then these children were listed in this order: Owen W 17, Repition 15, Adolphus 13, Ella 11, Thomas 9, Lewis 7, Francis 6 and Eliza 3. But it turns out that in the actual Census listing, the children are in a different order. First come Lewis, Francis and Eliza and then the older children. The implication of this (I have encountered it in other cases) is that the first three named children were actual children of the parents and the others, even of the same surname, had some other relationship. Indeed, they can be recognized as Amos’ children, George W’s siblings, and match up to children listed in Amos’ 1850 household, with two comments. Amos in 1850 is now called Repition (I think his name was really Amos Repton) and Thomas age 9 was born after the 1850 Census.

1870. Taylor’s Bridge, Sampson County. George W is not to be found. It took some work, but as explained further in the Carroll chapter, I did finally find the household of Judson Croom, a 27 year old farmer. There were Mary age 34, presumably his wife and these children: Mittie age 3 and then Lewis Herring 17, Frank Herring 16 and Eliza Herring 13. Clearly Mary had remarried and brought her children by her marriage to George W to live with her.

Remember too that in his obituary Frank’s brother was named Louis and his sister was Mrs. Highsmith, obviously Eliza.

Frank’s father most certainly was George W Herring. One source for of this is the Sampson County Death Records Index for Frank which says Frank W Herring son of George W died in 1924. Another source is those 1902 voting rolls (see McDougall chapter) which show that T W Herring age 48 (I am sure this a typo and it was F W) swore that his father George W had voted prior to 1867.

We do not know what George’s middle initial “W” stood for -- he had an Uncle George Washington Herring, so that is a possibility, but by no means confirmed. We do not know why Emma Wyatt was given that particular middle name. And we have never seen Frank’s middle name actually spelled out, it is always Frank W, F W, or Francis W. But Mary is certain that it was Withington -- another name for which we don’t know the source – and the proof of this is that his daughter was called “Withie” (spelled Wythe in the 1930 Census). This is the family of the middle name, mystery, W’s.

His date of death and place of burial is not known. I believe he maybe served in the Civil War and may have been a Civil War casualty. I know that by 1870, he had died, his wife had remarried and already had a 3-year old daughter by her second husband.

I do know he died no later than 30 Jul 1863 -- the date his property was sold at public auction. Mary E then married second Judson W Croom and lives with him and her three Herring children in 1870. My working theory is that his death had something to do with the Civil War.

There was a George Herring who served with the NC 66th Infantry Co and a George W Herring who served with the 8th Senior Reserves (Bryan's Co) in the Civil War and I found a reference to a veteran buried in Harrell's Store. However, there were several men named Geo W Herring of that era.