The Hale Family - Amos Pinkney Hale

Amos Pinkney Hale, my ggg-grandfather, was born on May 31, 1857 in Coweta County, Georgia to Rachel Lurania Melvina Hale. There are a lot of conflicting information on the birth date of Amos. His obituary states he was born on May 31, 1867 and his grave stone also gives this date. This date can not be correct. The obituary itself has a conflict in its information: Amos died in 1945 and the obituary states he was 87 years old, which would put his birth year as 1857(8), and not the 1867 as stated. The census records also indicate a birth date before 1860. I am assuming the '6' should have been a '5' and when the obituary was typed the error crept in. I believe that whoever placed the stone at Hillview Annex used the dates from the obituary and did not look up the information. The grave marker seems too new to be 65 years old. (Picture to the left is Amos and his brother Stephen.)

In late 1879 or early 1880, Amos married Mary Caroline Smith. Caroline, as she was known, was born in April 1864 in Georgia or Alabama. There is conflicting information on the parents of Caroline. One researcher claims that his family Bible indicates her parents are Henry Smith and Sarah, and that Henry helped to drive the Indians out of Georgia. He also claims that Caroline's parents are more specifically Henry Parks Smith and Sarah Sterling. Henry and Sarah do have a daughter named Caroline, but upon further research you will see her first name is Virginia, not Mary and that she was born in 1873, not 1864 which makes her nearly 10 years too young to be Amos's wife. I have recently found a Harry and Sarah Smith in Heard County, Georgia who have a daughter named Caroline born in 1864. Since Harry can be a nickname for Henry, this family seems to be a strong match to what we are looking for. Further research is needed into the family of Harry and Sarah to know for sure.

Nine children were born to Amos and Caroline. They are Lucius Joshua, William Stephen, James Grady, Elizabeth Pearl, Lucy M., Sarah, Birdie B., Susie and Leila. As the story goes, Caroline became ill sometime around 1900 and the couple hired Kate Walden, a 19 year old girl, to come care for Caroline and the children. As Caroline was dying, she asked Kate to marry Amos and care for him and the children. It is unknown what illness Caroline had, or how debilitating it was. After Kate lived with the family, Caroline still had children. It is unknown exactly when Caroline died, but her youngest child was born in 1905 and Amos married Kate on June 6, 1909 in Carroll County, Georgia. Kate was the mother of one daughter, Frasia.
Amos died on January 15. 1945 in Lagrange, Georgia. He was buried in Hillview Annex. Kate lived on to be almost 100 years old dying less than 1 month from her birthday on March 19, 1981.

Ancestry Page
Find A Grave Page

Sources:
Census Records - 1860-1910 Randolph County, Alabama
Census Records - 1920 Coweta County, Georgia
Census Records - 1930 Carroll County, Georgia
Grave Photos
Obituary - Amos Pinkney Hale, Lagrange Daily News
Social Security Application - Kate Walden