These are my most difficult brick walls. I know they had two sons, James Henry born in 1846 and Joseph Franklin born in 1848. According to James's death certificate, both he and Dewitt were born in "Lanor" County. The death certificates of both sons have a whole lot of "Don't Know" about Matilda. And that is the sum total of my knowledge of Dewitt and Matilda, my 3rd great-grandparents.
I think that James and Frank are living in the household of William and Argent Sumerell in Lenoir County in 1860. William and Argent at 25 and 27 respectively are too young to be their parents. I know that James lived in Craven County in 1870 in the household of Freeman Waite Stilly, his future father-in-law, and I think that Frank was still in Lenoir, but in the household of Peter and Nancy Sumrell.
I know that Peter was the son of Washington Sumrell and William was, probably, Washington's baby brother, both being sons of James Sumrell and Nancy Susan King. But how Dewitt would fit in that family, I don't know. And Matilda is even a bigger mystery.
I may have found a clue regarding Matilda. On Lenoir County's USGenWeb site, under Deeds, there's an abstract in Book 5 that says:
P 463 – Indenture – 6 Dec. 1870 – Joseph Franklin Sumrell to Council Phillips - $100 for 40 acres – tract SS Great Contentnea Creek and known as Lot # 3 in the division of the lands of Simeon Langston dec which was allotted to Matilda Langston wife of William Sugg – adj Susan Phillips wife of Lacy Phillips, lands belonging to the estate of James Thomas, dec, and the lands belonging to the estate of William L. Phillips, dec – it being my ½ interest of the total WIT: James L. Canaday, Susan C. Canaday
Enrolled 13 March 1884, B. L. Taylor, ROD
No previous enrollment date
How does she relate to Simeon? If this is the Simeon, son of Absolam and Dorothy, who was born in 1769, then she's more likely to be his granddaughter. But, one can never discount the second marriage! There were, actually, two Simeon Langstons around at this time. One in Wayne the other in Lenoir. I have little doubt they're related somewhere along the way. Lenoir Simeon seems to have died in the 1820s, whereas the one in Wayne survived until 1846.
