By By LYDIA GRIMES Feature Reporter
I told you a couple of weeks ago that I had some material on the Grace family and I will share some of it with you. There are people living in Brewton who descend from this family, some in ways that even they may not know.
Most with the family name of Grace in this area are descended from William Grace who was born about 1706 in Ireland and died Nov. 1769 in Westmoreland County, Va. His wife was named Ann and his will named his children, one of whom was John Grace who was born about 1730 in Ireland and died 24 May 1802 in Sussex County Delaware. He married first Nellie and then Sarah Dolbee (1732). John left a will in which he named his children, one of whom was Thomas Grace who married Sarah Maddox. Their son James Grace was born 3 Aug. 1769 in Maryland and died 2 Aug. 1859. He married Nancy Jane Betts, the daughter of Samuel and Ibby Betts. She was born 6 July 1775 and died 4 Oct. 1865.
They became the parents of nine children, the oldest being Samuel Grace. He was born in 1795 in Hancock County, Ga. and died 4 Aug. 1882 in Alabama. He and his first wife, Hetty Sawyer, are buried at Pine Orchard Methodist Cemetery. He had married Hetty 15 Nov. 1816 after having served in the War of 1812. In 1871 he was living in Conecuh County in 1871. Samuel married second to Catherine Skinner in Monroe County in 1871. He and Hetty had at least seven children before her death. Those children were James H. Grace, Epsie Anne Grace, Beatrice Grace, Mary Jane Grace, Elizabeth Grace, Caroline Grace and Samuel Grace Jr. There were probably other children who were born at earlier dates.
Next week I will tell you a little more about these people. I find that this family left descendants scattered from Dale-Henry to Conecuh-Escambia County.
I want to show you another photo that is in the collection that belongs to Mrs. Byrd of Maryland. It is of downtown Brewton during the flood of 1928 (not 1929 as you would have thought). It was made April 23, 1928 and was made by Thompson's Studio. You can plainly see several of the old businesses and figure out which was which. I am sure of the corner of the Bank of Brewton, the building that is now The Ritz and what was the Central Pharmacy between them.