HANSELL, Mary Tallulah

HANSELL, Mary Tallulah[1, 2]

Female 1836 - 1912  (76 years)

Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name HANSELL, Mary Tallulah 
    Nickname Lulu 
    Birth Sep 1836  Oglethorpe, Macon, Georgia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 4, 5
    Gender Female 
    Residence 11 Jun 1860  Oglethorpe, Macon, Georgia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [4
    Death 30 Dec 1912  Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 5
    Burial Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [6
    Address:
    Westview Cemetery 
    Person ID I13170  Pickel_Bartlett
    Last Modified 29 Oct 2019 

    Father HANSELL, William Young,   b. 5 Mar 1789, Greenville County, South Carolina, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 16 Oct 1867, Milledgeville, Baldwin, Georgia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 78 years) 
    Mother HARRIS, Susan Byne,   b. 1 Jan 1797, Burke County, Georgia, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1873, Oglethorpe, Macon, Georgia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 75 years) 
    Marriage 16 Jan 1812  Baldwin County, Georgia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [7, 8
    Residence 1 Jun 1830  Baldwin County, Georgia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [9
    Residence 11 Jun 1860  Oglethorpe, Macon, Georgia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [4
    Lawyer 
    Family ID F4002  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family PELHAM, William,   b. 14 Sep 1836, Roxboro, Person, North Carolina, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 9 Jul 1889, Anniston, Calhoun, Alabama, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 52 years) 
    Marriage 29 Jan 1868  Macon Georgia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 10
    • Estimated based on birth of eldest child in 1880 census.
    Residence Jun 1880  Belton, Anderson, South Carolina, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [11
    Mail agent 
    Children 
     1. PELHAM, Susan,   b. 1869, Calhoun County, Alabama, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Jun 1880, Belton, Anderson, South Carolina, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 11 years)
     2. PELHAM, Martha McGehee,   b. Jun 1871, Alabama, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Yes, date unknown
     3. PELHAM, John Peter,   b. 7 Aug 1873, Alexandria, Calhoun, Alabama, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 6 Jul 1922, Dyer, Gibson, Tennessee, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 48 years)
     4. PELHAM, Francis Gilmer,   b. 1875, Calhoun County, Alabama, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1900 (Age 25 years)
     5. PELHAM, Tammy Gilmer,   b. 1875, Calhoun County, Alabama, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1900 (Age 25 years)
    Family ID F4000  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 16 May 2022 

  • Notes 
    • Mary Tallulah Hansell Pelham was the daughter of the Honorable William Young Hansell (1789 - 1867) and Susan Byne Harris Hansell (1797 - 1873). She cared for her elderly parents, and sister the duration of the Civil War. 

      Lulu, as she was called, carried on much correspondence from Oglethorpe, Georgia during the war with others including Charlotte Branch of Savannah, Georgia. She had been in love with Lt. John Branch, Charlotte's son. He was killed at the 1st. Battle of Manassas. She met Charlotte's son while he was a Cadet at VMI. Miss Hansell's letters were a comfort to Charlotte after her loss.

      Lulu was a school teacher before the war. The schools were closed during the second half of the war and she was left with the busy tasks of milking the cows and running the home when the emancipation proclamation freed all the slaves. Her letters are very dramatic, showing her excellent handwriting skills. The entire Hansell family was inundated with ailments and in her letters she could not see past them. She seemed very depressed at times, obviously the war was taking it's toll on the entire family.

      In her letters she describes dating Mr. William Pelham, Mr P. as she called him. They both met while attending Oglethorpe College. Her obvious sympathetic nature and need to be needed seem to have landed her in the middle of a relationship of complete dependence. William was very dependent on her. Her letters show that she was aware of this before she married him in 1868. She fretted at leaving her invalid parents to marry him and move to Anniston, Alabama. He was quite perturbed with her for delaying their wedding. 

      Records show that William was severely beaten on the head by his captors. Because of this Lulu and Will had a tumultuous marriage. He became violent at times, and was a heavy drinker. They had 5 children and lived the last two years of the marriage apart, she in Atlanta and he in Anniston, Alabama where he worked for the Railroad. 

      The John Pelham Historical Association says, "In Surry of Eagle's Nest, John Esten Cooke wrote (p. 390): "In the spring of 1864, I received a note, in the delicate handwriting of a young lady, from Georgia, and this note contained a small bunch of flowers --heartsease, violet, and jessamine -- tied up with a tress of hair.

      The note lies before me, with its faded flowers -- here it is:

      "For the sake of one who fell at Kelly's Ford, [John Pelham] March 17th, '63, an unknown Georgian sends you a simple cluster of spring flowers. You loved the "gallant Pelham," and your words of love and sympathy are "immortelles" in the hearts that loved him. I have never met you, I may never meet you, but you have a true friend in me. I know that sad hearts mourn him in Virginia, and a darkened home in Alabama tells the sorrow there. My friendship for him was pure as a sister's love, or a spirit's. I had never heard his voice.

  • Sources 
    1. [S110] 1900 Federal Census, Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia, ED 0044, Page 9, Dwelling 182.

    2. [S102] Cer, Shared by Travis Davis 5/6/2016.

    3. [S102] Cer, Shipley/Banks Tree.

    4. [S316] 1860 Federal Census, GA Military District 1070, Macon, Georgia, Page 45, Dwelling 32.

    5. [S102] Cer, Shared by Crystal Burnham 2/8/2013.

    6. [S109] Find-a-Grave website, MEMORIAL ID: 55019597.

    7. [S109] Find-a-Grave website, MEMORIAL ID 57580813.

    8. [S102] Cer, Georgia, Compiled Marriages, 1754-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA.

    9. [S301] 1830 Federal Census, Baldwin County, Georgia, Ancestry Page 11 of 30, No. 11.

    10. [S99] Family Search (Church of Latter Day Saints), "United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934." Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 14 June 2016. Citing NARA microfilm publication T288. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

    11. [S70] 1880 Federal Census, Belton, Anderson, South Carolina, ED 30, Page 28, Dwelling 234.