And that’s the story. Nothing about the murder appears in volumes of documents relating to the distribution of Josiah’s substantial estate.
Eleven years later, Josiah’s oldest son suffered a violent end at the hands of his friend.

(This story is compiled from the published appellate court opinion and testimony referred to therein.[2])
On Christmas Eve in 1847, James J. Stallings and a few of his friends went to Cornelius Tobin’s[3] house to celebrate the holiday. One of the couples who went along was Patrick Mc Elmurray and his wife Sarah Mc Daniel. Stallings was also accompanied by a Stallings child, quite possibly Martin Everett Stallings, Stallings’ oldest son, who was born in 1838 and would have been about 10 at the time.  Others in attendance were James Stallings’ brother-in-law James Cochran, _____ Turner and Baloom Grubbs[4]. They all ate dinner together and drank.
After McElmurray fell asleep in his chair, Stallings approached and woke him up. Upon being awakened, McElmurray jumped up and threatened to kill Stallings. He was no doubt drunk and belligerent. It was not the first time McElmurray had threatened Stallings’ life. The two men had fought about 18 months earlier and Stallings had been the victor, having dealt McElmurray a blow with a weight.

Tobin calmed McElmurray, assuring him that Stallings wasn’t mad and meant McElmurray no ill will.  McElmurray calmed down and had another drink with Stallings. The two were friends again.
As the group prepared to leave the Tobin residence, Sarah pleaded with Mrs. Tobin, begging that she try to prevent McElmurray from leaving with the group. Sarah told Mrs. Tobin that McElmurray said again that he was going to kill Stallings.  McElmurray and Stallings left anyway, along with Cochran, Turner and Tobin.  Mrs. Tobin, Sarah, Grubbs and the younger Stallings stayed behind.
McElmurray invited the group to his house, where they all continued drinking heavily. Tobin and Cochran left for home a short time later.  McElmurray, Stallings and Turner conti­­­nued drinking together as friends. Turner returned to Tobin’s in the morning and went to sleep. It was Christmas morning.

Sarah would later relate that she returned home from Tobin’s about an hour after sunrise and found her husband and Stallings sitting together by the fire. Sarah made breakfast and afterwards Stallings reclined and began singing a song about old maids. McElmurray argued with Stallings that there weren’t any maids in the settlement older than 10 and Stallings said, “that’s a damned lie.” McElmurray urged his wife to go with him to find a gun so he could kill Stallings. They left together to a man named Dave Stott’s house and found a gun but it wouldn’t fire. Next, they went to Aleck (Alexander) Scott’s house to ask for a gun but were told no. They returned home and saw Stallings lying near the path to the house. McElmurray gathered Stallings’ vest, jacket and hat, told his wife to shut the door behind him and not to open it. Sarah peered out a crack in the door anyway and saw her husband walk toward Stallings and throw his vest, jacket and coat towards him. McElmurray then came back to the house and went to sleep.

Mrs. Tobin would later relate that at about 10 or 11 that morning she left her house and saw McElmurray leave his house carrying something, which he then dropped to the ground near the path and began chopping it with an axe.

At about noon, Tobin, Cochran, Grubbs and _____ Dyas[5] got together to get a jug of liquor and to go find Stallings. They headed towards McElmurray’s house, the last place they had seen Stallings. Tobin went into the house but didn’t find Stallings there. The group continued along the road about 150 yards from the house and found Stallings lying next to a pile of fodder near the path with his forehead resting on his hand. His head had been chopped three times with an axe.  The group r­­eturned to the house, where they found Sarah who told them McElmurray was in bed.  Upon being awakened by his friends asking him what happened to Stallings, McElmurray jumped up to say that Stallings had left in the morning and hadn’t been seen since. There was blood all over McElmurray’s clothes.  McElmurray’s axe was later found with blood and hair on it.

James J. Stallings was only 44 years old when he was murdered and left a 34-year-old widow, with six children surviving him.
Patrick Mc Elmurray was charged with murder, convicted and sentenced to prison. He served his time in Georgia.
Forty-two years later, James J. Stallings’ youngest son would also be murdered in the same manner after a night of drinking.
Stay tuned for part 2.

© Sherrie T. Cork
Please cite as:
Cork, Sherrie T. “A Legacy of Murder – Part 1” Web blog post. Descendants of Rebellion. 2 September 2017.
_________________________________________
Endnotes:
[1] The story appears to have been first published in the Augusta Courier and repeated in numerous papers thereafter. For one account see: The Liberator, 15 October 1836, page 168, citing Augusta Courier, 24 August 1836.
[2] 34 S.C.L. 33. Court of Appeals of Law of South Carolina. The State v. Patrick M’Elmurray. May Term, 1848.
[3] Not all first names are provided in the court opinion. James Cochran is named, but Tobin, Turner, Grubbs and Dyas are only indicated by last name. James Cochran was Stallings’ brother-in-law. Turner may have been either Toliver Turner or John Glover Turner who were also brothers-in-law of Stallings. The 1840 U.S. Census and Barnwell County plats and deeds provide evidence of first names of Tobin, Grubbs and Dyas. These documents place Cornelius Tobin, Baloom Grubbs and Lud Dyas in the same neighborhood as the Scotts and the McElmurray property in the relevant time frame. See “Online Record Collection: Images,” database with images,  FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/383457?availability=Family%20History%20Library : accessed 2 September 2017), Barnwell County Plat Books. Book 4, page 100.
[4] See above.
[5] This was likely Lud Dyas. See above.

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I did know that Rosa Lowe married Joseph Jacob “Jake” Stallings and they had four children, Grady Everett, Hazel Louise, Marjorie J. and Mary Lucille.[1]
Then I found the obituary for “Mrs. Lilla Mae Bell” published in the Augusta Chronicle on 31 October 1944. The obituary states that Lilla died at her home in Ellenton and among her survivors were a sister “Mrs. Jake Stallings, Augusta” and brother “Richard M. Lowe.”[2]

Lilla’s death certificate states that her parents were R.M. Lowe and Judy Stringfield.[3]  With this information­­­ I was able to locate the correct Rosa Lowe on the 1910 U.S. Census where she is shown living in Williston, Barnwell County, South Carolina, with h­­­­­er parents R.M. and Judy Lowe and siblings Lella (sic) and Chester W.[4]  On this census, Rosa’s age is reported to be­­­­­­ 12; however, she isn’t on the 1900 census later records indicate she was born in 1900.[5]

Rosa’s older siblings, Julius and Richard, Jr., who had moved out by 1910, are shown on the 1900 census.[6] Rosa was the youngest of seven children.[7] It appears that not all children survived. In fact, the 1910 census states that the Lowes had seven children and three of them were living in 1910 but later records indicate that there were other living children. Perhaps the number three for living children was used because there were three in the household at the time the census was taken.

Julius’ death certificate identifies his parents as Richard Lowe and Judie Lowe.[8] A death certificate for Winchester “Chester” Lowe identifies his parents as Richard Lowe and Judie Stringfield.[9] In 1880, Richard and Judie Lowe were living in Rosemary, Barnwell County, South Carolina, with their two-year-old son Julius.[10] I haven’t yet located Richard, Sr. on earlier censuses and haven’t yet determined who his parents were.

It appears that Judie Stringfield’s parents were Edmund Stringfield and Elizabeth _______.[11]

When Rosa was about 21 years old in 1920, she can be found living with George W. Stallings and his wife Martha in Silverton, Aiken County, South Carolina. She is identified as George’s cousin.[12] George’s wife’s maiden name was Lowe (Martha Lowe) and George’s mother’s maiden name was Lowe (Jane Lowe). If Rosa was George’s first cousin, she would be Jane Lowe’s niece, which would mean Jane was Richard, Sr.’s sister, but Jane was born in about 1845, which would make her too old to be Richard’s sister.

However, Martha Lowe was born in 1880. She could have been one of the seven children of Matthew and Judie and therefore Rosa’s sister. If she were born in 1880 after the census was taken and married George by the time she was 20 in 1900, she would never have appeared on a census with her parents (most of the 1890 census having been destroyed). Of course, that would technically make her George’s sister-in-law and not cousin, but that could easily have been a mistake by the census taker, or a loose application of the term “cousin.”

In conclusion, Rosa Lowe was born 4 November 1900 in South Carolina to Richard Matthew Lowe, Sr. and Judie(y) Stringfield. Other children of Judie and Richard were Julius Lowe, Richard Matthew Lowe, Jr., Winchester Lowe, Lilla Mae Lowe and Martha Lowe. There was possibly one other child who either didn’t survive or was born between 1880 and 1900 and lived in other households when the 1900 census was taken (most of the 1890 U.S. Census having been destroyed).
I would love to know if anyone has any knowledge to share about this family.

© Sherrie T. Cork
Please cite as:
Cork, Sherrie T. “The Parents of Rosa Lowe” Web blog post. Descendants of Rebellion. 19 July 2017.
Endnotes:

[1] 1930 U.S. Census, Augusta, Richmond, Georgia; Roll: 382; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0019; Image: 749.0; FHL microfilm: 2340117, (http:ancestry.com : accessed 9 July 2017 [database on-line], citing United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls).
1940 U.S. Census, North Augusta, Aiken, South Carolina; Roll: T627_3783; Page: 21A; Enumeration District: 2-33, (http:ancestry.com : accessed 9 July 2017 [database on-line], citing United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls).
[2]“Lilla Mae Bell,” Obituary, The Augusta Chronicle, 31 October 1944, page two.
[3] South Carolina, Death Records, 1821-1965, (http:ancestry.com : accessed 9 July 2017 [database on-line], citing South Carolina death records, Columbia, SC, USA: South Carolina Department of Archives and History).
[4] 1910 U.S. Census, Williston, Barnwell, South Carolina; Roll: 1518; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0028; FHL microfilm: 1241518­­­­, (http:ancestry.com : accessed 9 July 2017 [database on-line], citing Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C).
[5] Gravestone; family history
[6] 1900 U.S. Census, Williston, Barnwell, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1450; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0056; FHL microfilm: 1375463, (http:ancestry.com : accessed 9 July 2017 [database on-line], citing Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls). ­­(The son R­­­­­­­­ichard is identified as Richard, Jr.; the father is identified on censuses and on Lilla’s death certificate as R.M.; later records for Richard, Jr. report his name to be Richard Matthew Lowe, Jr.)
[7] 1900 census reports 7 children born to the couple who had been married for 30 years.
[8] South Carolina Department of Archives and History; Columbia, South Carolina; South Carolina Death Records; Year Range: 1925-1949; Death County or Certificate Range: Barnwell.
[9] South Carolina Department of Archives and History; Columbia, South Carolina; South Carolina Death Records; Year Range: 1925-1949; Death County or Certificate Range: Aiken.
[10] 1880 U.S. Census, Rosemary, Barnwell, South Carolina; Roll: 1220; Family History Film: 1255220; Page: 347C; Enumeration District: 037, (http:ancestry.com : accessed 9 July 2017 [database on-line], citing Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.).
[11] 1870 U.S. Census, Rosemary, Barnwell, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1484; Page: 363A; Image: 228; Family History Library Film: 552983, (http:ancestry.com : accessed 9 July 2017 [database on-line], citing Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.).
1860 U.S. Census, 1860; Census Place: Barnwell, South Carolina; Roll: M653_1213; Page: 427; Family History Library Film: 805213, (http:ancestry.com : accessed 9 July 2017 [database on-line], citing 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Record).
[12] 1920 U.S. Census, Silverton, Aiken, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1683; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 22, (http:ancestry.com : accessed 9 July 2017 [database on-line], citing Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City)).

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