Mary "Polly" Huff Wilson

Mary “Polly” Huff Wilson
1840-1899
(Mother of our great-grandpa, Charles B Wilson)

Mary Polly Huff Wilson was the daughter of Matthew Huff and Theodota "Dotie" Day.  She was born on June 15, 1840 in the hills of western Virginia in Grayson County.  By 1850, the Huff family was living in the neighboring county of Carroll, Virginia.  Mary was enumerated as “Polly Huff” in the 1850 Carroll County, Virginia census.  Polly was a common nickname for Mary.   The Matthew Huff family starts on the bottom of page 339 and continues on the next page.  Polly is listed on line 3 the next page.

1850 Federal Census

Carroll County, Virginia, District 11

The Matthew Huff family left Virginia in 1857 and joined a large wagon train going to Texas.  Mary Polly would have been around 17 years old when her family, extended family, and friends loaded up their wagons and left for Texas.

Wagon Train

The Huff Family settled in Collin County in a community called Farmersville.  Not long after arriving in Texas, Polly met William B Wilson.  They were married on 7 December 1858 by J.M Chipman, JP in Collin County, Texas.

Marriage Record

William B Wilson and Mary Huff

7 December 1858, Collin County, Texas

Mary Polly and William became the parents of seven children: William David, James Ervin, Laura May, Doris Belle, Charles B, Rosa Lee, and Mary Lillian.  Information on the children can be found here

Family tradition states that Polly became blind in middle age.  Supposedly, Polly was never able to "see" her son, Charles Bee Wilson.  Charles said that he would often lead his mother by the hand because she could not see good enough to walk by herself.  Pardon papers for her husband, W. B. Wilson, refer to Polly several times as being blind.  One pardon request, probably written in 1889, stated that Polly had been blind for seven (7) years.

Polly's husband, William, enlisted and served in theConfederate Army during the Civil War.  After the war was over, William could not settle down to farming.  William picked up some bad habits while in the army -- playing cards, gambling, drinking.  After he got home from the war, William would go off gambling and drinking for months at a time, leaving Polly to care for home and children by herself. 
Mary Polly supposedly had beautiful red hair.  Not sure which side of her family she got her red hair from – the Huff/Thompson side or the Day/Cock side.  But the gene for beautiful red hair has passed down to grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on to this day to my own grandchildren.

Family tradition states that Polly was a sweet, kind, and gentle woman.  She would often laugh, never got mad, and was very patient with her family.  She was also very faithful and had a strong belief in God.  Polly gave a copy of her hymn book to her son Charles just before he left to be a cowhand on cattle drives.  The book was covered with a red cloth and had some random embroidery stitches on it.  To view a blogpost about the hymn book, click here

Polly Huff Wilson's Hymn Book

In 1870, Mary Polly and her children were living in Weston, Collin County, Texas with her in-laws, James and Martha Wilson.  Mary was 30 years old.  Her children William,  James,  and Laura are also living in the home with their grandparents.   This census would fit with the scenario of William leaving his family.  It is not known where William living in 1870.

1870 Federal Census, Collin County, Texas

Mary Wilson (highlighted) living in the home of her in-laws,

James and Martha Wilson.

The family was still living in Collin County in 1888 when William was convicted of horse theft.  He was sentenced to 5 years in prison but was pardoned in 1890.   The pardon papers states a hardship case for William B. Wilson's family: His wife, Polly, was blind, and he had a large family to care for. William also had an aged father to help provide care for. William escaped in January 1890 before the pardon was granted in May of 1890.

The Wilson family was living in Woods County, Oklahoma in the 1890's.  Granddaughter Maymie said the family lived at Griever, Woods, Oklahoma.  Four of the Wilson children were married in Woods County during the late 1890’s and early 1900’s: Rosa married Daniel Baugh in 1897, Mary Lillian married John Marrs in 1898, James married Melissa King in 1900, and Charles married Pearl Hatfield in 1902.  

Road Sign at Griever, Woods, Oklahoma

When Polly was on her deathbed, a message was sent into town to notify William.  He was in the middle of a poker game at the saloon.  William stayed to finish his game before going home.  Polly had already passed away when he arrived home.  She was just 58 years old when she died.

The following news of Polly’s burial was found in the Alva Pioneer newspaper in a section called “Chester Pickings", published on 24 March 1899.

Alva Pioneer (Alva, Oklahoma)

24 March 1899

Mary Polly apparently died and was buried during the week of March 12^th -18^th, 1899.  She was buried in the Chester Cemetery.  No headstone exists today, but there are several unreadable and unmarked headstones. 

Polly's son Charles B passed down treasured stories 

of  his mother to his children, who then passed them to their descendants. 

To view family on Ancestry.com, go to the Wilson Hatfield Ancestors tree.  cmyroots