This post will complete the family of Frederick Alberty and his three wives. Previously, family sketches have been posted for his children born to first wife Elizabeth Krieger and the sole known son, Moses, born to Frederick’s unidentified second wife.

Widow Elizabeth Alberty’s pension application contains an extraordinary entry, given the lack of vital records in that time period in North Carolina.

From Page 12 of the widow’s pension:

State of North Carolina, Surry County
We Joseph Williams and Jeremiah Marion two of the acting Justices of the peace for the County aforesaid do hereby certify that we have before us the marriage bond filed in the Clerks office of said County executed by said Frederick Alberty on the 29thday of March A.D. 1788 which Bond purports to be for a marriage between the said Alberty & Elizabeth Raperwho is now the widow of said Frederick Alberty deceased; we also certify that we have also before us the register of the births of their children, Viz. Jesse Albarty was born in the year of our Lord December 29, 1788. Nancy Albarty born 28th day of February 1791. Judy Albarty was born the 30th day of June 1793, John Albarty was born the 18th of July 1795. Franky Albarty was born the 30th of September 1797, Polly Albarty was born in the year of our Lord December 7, 1801. Frederick Albarty was born March 12, 1804. James Albarty was born May 14, 1807. Andrew Albarty was born December 3, 1809. David Albarty was born the third day of September 1812.
Witness our hands & seals this 16thday of July A.D. 1839
S/ Jo Williams, JP
S/ Jeremiah Marion, JP

I have been unable to find this “register,” but it implies that it is some official record. Regardless, it proves the names and birth dates of Frederick and Elizabeth (Raper) Alberty’s children, all born in surry County, North Carolina:

1. Jesse, born 29 December 1788; died after 1850, possibly Owen County, Indiana; married Martha (perhaps Bray), c1809
2. Nancy, born 28 February 1791; no further record
3. Judy, born 30 June 1793; no further record
4. John, born 18 July 1795; died 4 April 1873, Adair County, Oklahoma; married Mary Wright, 10 September 1814, Hickory Log, Cherokee, Georgia
5. Franky, born 30 September 1797; died 29 August 1894, Saline County, Missouri; married Jacob Treece, 21 February 1817, Surry County, North Carolina
6. Mary, born 7 December 1801; died after 1860, probably Surry County, North Carolina; married Robert Marion, 1 June 1823, Surry County, North Carolina
7. Frederick, born 12 March 1804; died c1862, Marion County, Indiana; married Matilda Harrison, 20 May 1828, Surry County, North Carolina
8. James, born 14 May 1807; died after 1820
9. Andrew, born 3 December 1809; died after 1820
10. David, born 3 September 1812; died after 1830

In 1820, Frederick made a supplemental statement in his pension request, indicating that the four youngest children were still living at home. The ages are off slightly from the birth register above, but Frederick was about 80 years old. Frederick Jr. was 14, but sickly and with a disabled right arm. James was 12, Andrew 10 and David 7 years old.

In spite of this great list of ten children, complete with birth dates, no further information has been found about Nancy, Judy, James, Andrew and David.

The census records help, as in 1800, Frederick was enumerated with one adult male and one adult female plus one male 10-15 (Jesse), one male under 10 (John) and one female under 10 (Franky) since those three children are found in later records.

Therefore, by deduction, Nancy and Judy both died in childhood.

In 1810, Frederick and family still lived in Surry County, North Carolina. Jesse was out of the home, but Frederick and Elizabeth had six remaining children at home, one male 10-15 (John), one female 10-15 (Franky), three males under 10 (Frederick, James and Andrew) and one female under 10 (Mary).

In 1820, there were still six children at home with two females 16-25 (Franky and Mary), two males 10-15 (Frederick and James) and 2 males under ten (Andrew with a December birthday and David).

By 1830, Frederick and Elizabeth had but one son still at home, aged 20-29 years. Frederick Jr. was married and living next door, so the remaining son had to be James, Andrew or David.

In 1840, the only two Albertys in Surry County are Nathan Alberty and Frederick Alberty Jr.

Could Nathan Alberty be David Alberty? Both were born in 1812. We know David’s birth date was 3 September 1812. I don’t find a gravestone image online for Nathan, who died in 1893. The memorial says his birthday was 11 April, but there is no source for that date.

The reason I am wondering if they might be the same person is because in 1850, Elizabeth Alberty was living alone in Siloam, Surry, North Carolina with Draughn and Badgett neighbors. Nathan was also in Siloam, in a different neighborhood, but by 1860, he was living in in a house with Draughn neighbors, too.

Could Elizabeth’s youngest child have been David Nathan or might he have just changed his given name, perhaps for a religious reason as Nathan was a minister.

Quite maddening is the fact that Elizabeth Alberty wrote her will on 27 May 1859. It was proved in Surry County Court in May 1860 and named just one heir – William Lewis, for taking care of her in her old age!

That makes me think that Nathan might not be David, as I can’t see a minister refusing to care for his aged mother in that time period.

However, except for daughter Mary, who married Robert Marion, Elizabeth’s other children all left North Carolina and settled in Indiana, Oklahoma and Missouri.

On the other hand, maybe Elizabeth didn’t want to live with her children.

Given the fact that there is absolutely no trace of James or Andrew Alberty and possibly of David if he wasn’t the same person as Nathan, I have to say that Jesse, John, Franky, Mary and Frederick were the surviving children of Frederick and Elizabeth (Raper) Alberty.

While working on the Krieger family earlier this year, I realized that I had only written about Frederick Alberty, his first wife, Elizabeth Krieger, and their family in any great detail. That’s probably because my husband is descended from Frederick’s and Elizabeth’s son, John Henry Alberty.

In spite of years of research, there is still one mystery about John Henry Alberty – the maiden name of his wife, Rebecca. My mother-in-law’s family, from Oklahoma, had the common lore of Cherokee blood. I’ve never been able to prove it, but it is possible that Rebecca is the link to the Cherokee Nation.

Why would I believe that? Well, it’s because of today’s family sketch about Frederick Alberty and his second unknown wife, who, like Elizabeth Krieger, died young. I’ve seen a supposed name for her, but not for decades, and don’t want to get any rumors started, so she will remain anonymous.

Frederick married for the second time after May 1781. With one year’s mourning considered respectable, he likely married c1782 or 1783.

His third wife, Elizabeth Raper, applied for a widow’s pension after Frederick died. One statement in that file corroborates the fact that Moses was born from Frederick’s second marriage:

North Carolina Surry County September the 22nd 1846
We Matthew Laffoon & Sarah Laffoon his wife do certify that we have heard Frederick Alberity [sic] and Elizabeth Alberty [sic] said to be his 3rd wife and Matthew Laffoon says that he has seen one of said Alberty sons that he said of his first wife by the name of Henery one other son of his second wife by the name of Moses & some other of his children that I do not recollect their names and said Matthew Laffoon do also say that he has heard Elizabeth Alberty say that she was said Frederick Alberty 3rd wife.
S/ Matthew Laffoon

Frederick’s second wife may have died giving birth to the only known child of this marriage – Moses.

Moses is the reason that I think the wife of my husband’s ancestor, John Henry Alberty, might be Cherokee.

The remainder of this post is a bit of a sticky wicket, as there are few-to-no records to document any of this information.

Frederick and the mysterious second Mrs. Alberty were the parents of one known child:

1. Moses, said to have been born about April 1788, but I believe he was slightly older than that because his father married wife #3, Elizabeth Raper, after a bond was posted on 29 March 1788. The most accurate statement that can be made is that Moses was born between 1782 and 1787 – probably closer to 1787.

Moses married Sallie Wright, a Cherokee woman, c1811, possibly in North Carolina, but more probably in today’s Floyd County, Georgia. At the time it was called “Etowah” and anglicized to ‘Hightower.”

Moses Alberty’s descendants are documented members of the Cherokee Nation.

Furthermore, Moses’s ‘brother” John, who was actually his half brother, born to Frederick Alberty and third wife Elizabeth Raper, married Mary Wright, c1814, reportedly in Georgia.

[My husband’s Henry Alberty married Rebecca c1811 and while Henry appears in the 1820 and 1830 censuses of North Carolina and the 1840 and 1850 censuses of Washington County, Arkansas, he is nowhere to be found in 1800 or 1810. He might well have been with his half brothers in Georgia and it’s been suggested that his wife Rebecca might have been a Wright, sister to Sally and Mary.]

Moses Alberty appears in very few records. The earliest mention of him, aside from his father’s pension application, is in Cherokee records and the Treaty of 1817. He was granted “a reservation” in Georgia in the right of his wife for 640 acres of land in lieu of moving to Arkansas; there were four people in his family, presumably Moses, his wife and two children.

The next record of Moses is his gravestone, which is original to the time period and somewhat illegible and not of much help.

I hesitate to share the list of his (purported) children because I have no documents to support it. However, if you are descended from Moses Alberty and Sally Wright, I believe that you might have success with the Cherokee Heritage Center.

However, some of the children are called “Old Settlers,” meaning they voluntarily moved to Indian Territory so did not take part in the terrible forced removal on the Trail of Tears.

Several of these children have gravestones, which is where most of these dates originate.

Purported Children of Moses Alberty & Sallie Wright:

1. Nancy, born 27 July 1811; died 12 February 1894, Claremore, Rogers, Oklahoma; married (1) Bluford West (2) James Markham. The Old Settlers Roll lists her as Nancy Marcum.
2. Levi, born c1813; no further record.
3. John D., born c1817; married Jennie Buffington
4. Amelia, born 2 July 1824; died 5 March 1892, Sportsmen Acres, Mayes, Oklahoma; married Thomas Lewis Rider
5. William W., born 2 July 1824; died 8 February 1867, Wagoner, Wagoner, Oklahoma; married (1) Musidora Rogers (2) Nancy Buffington
6. Jacob T., born 21 January 1826; died 21 March 1872, Sportsmen Acres, Mayes, Oklahoma
7. Bluford West, born August 1829; died November 1889, Tahlequah, Cherokee, Oklahoma; married (1) Nancy Martin (2) Eliza Missouri Bushyhead

I first researched the Alberty family in pre-internet days. As I remember, some of this information may originally have come from Buffington family members.

Because the Alberty name is just about one where almost everyone Alberty today can be traced back to Frederick and given the birth years of Moses’ children, this list seems reasonable.

In closing, I do want to repeat that there is NO document created in their lifetimes accessible today that verifies much of this information.