Tag Archives: Mary Broadway

Broadway, Dulworth

Who Was Mary Broadway (c1775-1853+)?

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I have a mystery on my hands. Well, okay, I admit I have lots of mysteries, but this is today’s mystery.

Exactly who was Mary Brawdeway (Broadway) who married John Dulworth on 2 December 1803 in Knox County, Tennessee?

I have written about the Dulworth family, but I have never put the spotlight entirely on Mary, who left only a handful of clues. Here they are:

  1. In 1850, she reported that she was 75 years old, thus born c1775, and from South Carolina.
  2. Many list Broadway as Mary’s maiden name, but I don’t believe that was so for two reasons and they are both children. Peggy Broadway was born c1796, in NORTH CAROLINA, if the 1850 census is correct,  and married (1) Thomas Robinson on 23 December 1813 in Knox County, Tennessee. Thomas Robinson died soon, as Peggy Robinson married (2) John A. Smith, 26 August 1815, Knox County, Tennessee. (3) John Henry, 13 July 1849, Lawrence County, Indiana. She died after 1850, last found living with her family in Iroquois County, Illinois.
  3. Louvina Broadway was born c1800, Tennessee, and married John Rush, c1820. The 1820 census shows John Rush with one adult female in the household, both 16-25, with no children. They appear to be newlyweds. Louvina and John rush both died 1870-1880, probably in Cumberland County, Kentucky, where they were living. I have seen references to these young ladies being called Dulworth, but I believe that is because John Dulworth would have been their stepfather and the man who raised them. The Broadway surname is non-existent in early Knox County records. With the connection to the Dulworths, it appears they are Mary’s daughters by a previous marriage.
  4. Mary Broadway left John Dulworth and settled in Cumberland County, Kentucky. I have found no evidence that John ever left Knox County, Tennessee. Mary married (3) Solomon Prewitt on 4 November 1840, per information in his pension application as a soldier of the American Revolution. Mary died sometime after 16 February 1853, when she is last mentioned in it.
  5. I can find no other mention of any surname close to Broadway/Brawdway/Bradway in Knox County, Tennessee records between 1790-1820.
  6. The 1790 census of South Carolina has only one Broadway entry, that of Charles Broadway who lived in Laurens County, South Carolina. This Broadway family was good sized with 4 males over the age of 16, 5 males under 16 and 3 females. Charles Broadway certainly had some young men who might have married c1795. By 1800, Charles was gone, but I find Alexander Braudway, 0001-2001, and William Braudway, 1001-2001, in Laurens County, South Carolina. Some of the family obviously went on the move unless they all died.
  7. If Peggy Broadway Robinson Smith Henry was correct about being born in North Carolina, that opens up another entire can of worms. Laurens County, South Carolina is nowhere near the border with North Carolina. In 1790, there were 4 Broadways listed in the North Carolina census. First, there is Eliza Bradway in Franklin County, Gracy Broadaway in Anson County, and both James and Jesse in Craven County. Of those four, Anson County is the only one that borders South Carolina. Gracy had three males over 16 and seven females in the household. This looks like a real possibility to check out because, while Gracy was gone in 1800, John and William BRAUDAWAY both appear in Anson County. Mary’s name on her 1803 marriage record was spelled BRAWDEWAY. Both spellings indicate that they may have pronounced the name as Broad-a-way.
  8. If Mary (MNU) Broadway was born in South Carolina and married there, she might have been from either Lancaster or Chesterfield Counties, South Carolina, as they both have borders with Anson County, North Carolina.

NOTE: Although my husband hasn’t had any matches to Broadway kin who have trees, I have found two or three cousins in the Dulworth side of the family who have matches to Broadways in Anson County, North Carolina! I may be on to something here.

That’s it for all the clues, but I think I am going to look into the Braudeway/Broadway/Braudaway family in Anson County, North Carolina. If you have any other suggestions, please share them. 🙂

Broadway, Cumberland Co KY, Dulworth

John Dulworth and Mary Broadway, 1803

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John Dulworth and Mary Broadway are two solid brick walls in my husband’s family tree.

John “Dulwitt” first appears on as a private in Flennekin’s Company of Knox County’s Regiment, Hamilton District Militia, Territory south of the Ohio, 1792-1794.

He was likely born in the early 1760’s, in Germany according to family tradition, and married Mary “Brawdeway” in Knox County about 2 December 1803. John may have died before 1820. There is family lore, undocumented, that John left a will leaving his possessions to his daughter Hannah, stating that “my wife left me early.” There is a large gap between James’s and Hannah’s birth. It isn’t known whether there were other children born in this span. If it is true that Mary left John, perhaps it was between 1805 and 1815 and she returned to him before leaving for good.

JohnDulwitMaryBroadwayMarr1803
Dulworth-Brawdeway Marriage License

John and Mary Dulworth had four known children, all likely born in Knox County, TN:

1. John, born about 1803/4; died Oct 1855, Cumberland Co., KY; married Hyla Willis
2. James, born about 1805; died 11 Nov 1887, Cumberland Co., KY; married Elizabeth Gwinn Spear
3. Hannah, born about 1815; died after 1870; married William Spear
4. Daughter, born about 1817; died after 1820; no further information

I also believe that Mary Broadway was a young widow when she married John Dulworth. Absolutely no Broadway records have been found relating to Mary and a possible first husband in Knox County. However, there is one marriage record:

ThosRobinsonPeggyBroadwayMarr1813
Robinson-Broadway Marriage License

Thomas Roberson/Robinson married Peggy Broadway on 23 December 1813, also in Knox County. Peggy was probably about sixteen when she married.

There is also a Louvina Dulworth who also appears as Broadway. She was born about 1800 and is likely a second daughter of Mr. Broadway and Mary. She married John Rush about 1819 or shortly before the 1820 census, when a young John and young female lived a couple of doors away from Mary Dulwit in 1820. Solomon Pruett, who Mary married between the 1840 and 1850 censuses, lived in between the Rushes and Mary.

JohnRush1820censusCumberlandKY
John Rush, Solomon “Pruett” and Mary Delwit
1820, Cumberland Co., KY

On 6 June 1823, Mary “Dulwit” assignee of James W. Taylor, received 50 acres of land on Sulphur Creek in Cumberland County, KY.

Mary (Unknown) Broadway Dulworth Prewitt died after 16 February 1853, when she was approved to receive a widow’s pension based on third husband Solomon Prewitt’s Revolutionary War service. She likely died in Cumberland County, Kentucky, but no death record or gravestone has been found for her.

Mary reported in 1850 that she was born in South Carolina and there were Broadway families living in that state in the 1790-1800 time frame. Her first husband may well be part of one of those families, but I have found no clues to uncover her family ties.

Other than being German, I have not found any clues for John Dulworth’s family origins either. I think aliens dropped him down into Tennessee from a space ship.

If you have Dulworth or South Carolina Broadway family ties, please leave a comment.

Broadway, Dulworth

John Dulworth-Mary Broadway, Another Brick Wall

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One of the things I love about blogging is that as I choose ancestors to spotlight, I am forced to check for new information that might have been found about some of these lost lines. I’m not sure that it is going to help much with this particular brick wall, but I can always hope. My husband, Dave, is descended from John Dulworth and Mary (?) Broadway through his mother’s family:

1. David Stufflebean

2. Edward Stufflebean, 1917-2002
3. Ruby Jewel Sturgell, 1919-2013

6. Oscar Elden Sturgell, 1893-1968
7. Ethel Anne Nation, 1900-1976

14. Clayton Columbus Nation, 1872-1922
15. Matilda Jane Dulworth, 1869-1931

30. Abraham Dulworth, 1840-after 1910
31. Mary Jane Adams, Abt 1850-1932

60. James Dulworth, Abt 1805-1887
61. Elizabeth Gwinn Spear, Abt 1817-1878

120. John Dulwit/Dulworth, Abt 1763-?
121. Mary (?) Broadway, Abt 1766, SC-Aft 16 Feb 1853

Part of the difficulty with this family is that there are few written records for them.

John Dulwitt first appears on a list of militia men on guard in Knox County, Tennessee dated 1792-1794:

JohnDulwittMilitia1792
John Dulwitt, Knox Co., TN 1792-1794
Ancestry.com

The second, and last record, found for John Dulworth is his marriage to Mary Broadway on 2 December 1803 in Knox County, TN:

JohnDulwitMaryBroadwayMarr1803
John Dulwit-Mary Brawdeway Marriage, 1803
Ancestry.com

There are a couple of road blocks here. The first, and it is a big one, is that the census records for eastern Tennessee are missing before 1830.  Secondly, most people who have placed information about this family on line seem to believe that Broadway was Mary’s maiden name. I don’t believe that. I don’t have any idea what it was, but I firmly believe that Mary was a fairly young widow when she married John Dulworth.

The Broadway name appears in only two other places  and those are also marriage records.  Peggy Broadway married Thomas Robinson in Knox County, TN on 23 December 1813. That record is a certainty.

The next connection is a bit more tenuous. There is a Louvina who married John Rush about 1819, probably in Cumberland County, Kentucky. Family descendants say her maiden name was either Broadway or Dulworth and her age in census records consistently place her birth about 1800-1801, two years before John Dulworth married Mary Broadway. In 1820, newlyweds John and Louvina Rush are living only two doors away from Mary “Delwit.”

I have seen references on line to a will supposedly left by a John Dulwit stating that his wife “left me early” and that he was leaving all to daughter Hannah. However, I have never been able to locate a source for this will in Knox County, TN or Cumberland Co., KY.  No date has been given with this reputed will, either.

The next factual information found is Mary, already referenced in the 1820 census, above. She is the head of household and her known Dulworth children are in the household with her.

It appears that John Dulwit died before the 1820 census as he is not found in Tennessee or Kentucky in a household apart from Mary. Many on line trees place his birth at about 1778, but I believe he was born some years before that. I would expect for him to be on a 1792-1794 militia list with no other family found in the area, he was likely at least 21 at that time. That would place his birth closer to 1770.

Mary Broadway married Solomon Prewitt, a Revolutionary War pensioner, shortly after 4 November 1840, the date on a marriage bond noted in his pension file.

In 1850, her age was reported in the census as 75, which would place her birth year at about 1775.

That would be a good fit for a woman who had children born in the late 1790’s during a first marriage to Mr. Broadway. In her affadavit for a widow’s pension in 1853, Mary’s age was given as 87 years old, which is probably too old, especially when compared to her age of 75 in the 1850 census. Mary died sometime between 16 February 1853, when she was approved for her pension and the 1860 census, probably in Cumberland County, Kentucky.

There stands the brick wall. By the 1850’s, the family surname was most commonly recorded as “Dulworth.” Her children died in places where parents’ names weren’t included on death certificates or there were no death certificates at all. No probates have been found, the few land records recorded for this family gives no indication of family origins and no family Bible records or anecdotes have surfaced.

FamilySearch brings up a John Henry Dalwerth baptized a Catholic on 20 Mar 1753 in Juelrich, Rheinland, Prussia; parents are John Jacob Dalwerth and Anna Magdalena Funck. I have no idea whether this family is related to John Dulworth of TN and KY.

Comments and suggestions are welcomed!