Elias Hales

Elias Hales, the oldest child of Martha "Patsy" Rentfrow Stancil Hales and Gillis Hales, was born July 10, 1849, in Johnston County, North Carolina.

Martha "Patsy" Rentfrow Stancil was the widow of Samuel Stancil and mother of James Henry, John Thomas, Josiah and Jacob Stancil. Gillis Hales was a well-to-do bachelor and successful farmer when Martha married him after four years as a widow in 1848.

Patsy moved her family to Gillis Hales Homestead near the Beulah Community of Johnston County. It was later known as the Glendale Community.

Elias's siblings were Lucinda, Perry, Condary, Sarah Jane, Pinettie and Jesse.

Most older men were not drafted for the Civil War, but by 1864 with the death of many soldiers communities looked to the older men for service. Gillis was drafted and enlisted at Wilmington, NC, on April 7, 1864, to serve until August 31, 1864 or the war was over. His Card Number was 49088127. He was in Company K, 66 North Carolina Infantry, 8 Battalion North Carolina Partisan Rangers, 13 Battalion North Carolina Infantry. Confederate. He went in as a private and served until July 1864 when according to enlistment records he deserted his company near Petersburg, VA.

Elias married Martha Jane "Patsy S." Creech on December 15, 1872. Patsy was the daughter of Ransom H. Creech (1833-1864) and Elizabeth "Betsy" Atkinson (1836-1881), and the granddaughter of Barnabus Ingram Creech (1810-1896), also known as Barna Creech.

Patsy was named Martha for her maternal grandmother Martha Watson Atkinson. Patsy had two siblings.

Ransom enlisted into the Civil War on 24 June 1862 in Company E. 11th Battalion North Carolina Troops. He was transferred to the 62nd Regiment Georgia Calvary July 11, 1864. He died after the Battle of Gettysburg near Petersburg, VA, on Aug. 19, 1864.

It is interesting that the battle that took Patsy's father's life was the same one that Elias' father retreated from.

Patsy had a sister Louezar and a brother B. A. Barna Applewhite. Louezar or Louise married James R. Creech, the son of Dock and Martha Creech Oct. 7, 1875. Elias' son William Madison married Octavia the daughter of John Washington Creech, who was also a son of Doctor and Martha Creech.

Elias was a member of Holly Springs Freewill Baptist Church. He inherited quite a bit of land from his father Gillis Hales and added to it. He died at only 52.

Education was a priority of Elias for his children. Grammar school was completed and sons Ransom and William boarded with a family in Smithfield in order to attend Turlington Institute. On weekends they rode their bikes back home. They stayed in an attic room and had to wash up by carrying cold water to their unheated room. They graduated from Turlington Institute and qualified to teach school.

Unfortunately Elias died December 8, 1901, when Luther was 17 and Amaziah was 15. This changed their lives and opportunities.

Their mother Patsy died six years later. We know from accounts of her daughter-in-law Octavia that she was very limited in her activities.

The Elias Hales farm was divided up among his four sons.

Ransom Hales

Ransom had dark hair and blue eyes. He was smart in school. He went to Woodard School. He boarded with a family in Smithfield and went to Turlington Institute and graduated. He slept in an unheated room in the attic and took cold water baths. He rode a bicycle to school.

He was a member of Holly Springs Freewill Baptist Church and a Mason. Ransom taught at both the Woodard School and Micro School. He taught Della Woodard and married her.

Ransom and his brother William opened the Farmer's Supply Company near Glendale in 1905. It was very large and had a cotton gin and a saw mill too. William ran the store and Ransom ran the saw mill. They sawed all the lumber free for the two-room school that replaced the Woodard School. It was named Glendale School. Ransom and William built the store with money from investors. The Farm Supply Store burned about 1913 and many thought it was arson to collect insurance money. Ransom and his brother William sold their property in North Carolina and went by rail to Cuthbert, Georgia, where they bought a farm and opened a saw mill.

They ended up spending about six years in Georgia until they headed to Florida. Here they rented land until some suitable land became available. They both bought land near each other there in Marion County.

William Madison Hales

William Madison Hales had dark brown hair and blue/gray eyes. He attended Woodard School. He had excellent penmanship. Ransom was attending Turlington Institute when William started.

They boarded with a family in Smithfield on the top flooe which was unheated and of course no running water. The water was unheated and carried from the first floor to the third. He rode a bicycle to school. He graduated from Turlington Institute in Smithfield.

He was a member of Holly Springs Freewill Baptist Church.

She was only 18 when she and William were married. He married Octavia Creech who had light brown hair and light blue eyes. Octavia was petite and about 5'2". Octavia went to school in Wilson County. Her parents John Washington Creech and Martha Darden Creech moved to the Live Oak area of Selma.

They lived with Williams parents Elias and Patsy S. Creech Hales for a few years.

William and his older brother Ransom both taught at the Woodard School and at the Micro School. Ransom was still at home as were the two younger brothers, Amaziah and Luther. Octavia also waited on her mother-in-law. William's mother had severe arthritis and needed the assistance Octavia could provide. Octavia did all the housework, cooking and laundry during a time when male teachers wore fresh white shirts with highly starched cellulose collars each day. She never recalled working so hard and having so many responsibilities.

Octavia won a Kenly Beauty Contest in 1900. The townspeople voted by giving money in the name of their favorite contestant. Being married was not a hindrance to winning a beauty contest then.

In 1905, the Farmer's Supply Company opened. There was a new saw mill and cotton gin nearby. William Hales ran the store and Ransom ran the saw mill. Ransom cut the lumber free of charge for the new two room school that took the place of the old one room Woodard School. The Farmer's Supply Company had several investors. Among them was their uncle Condary Hales. Ransom lived ½ mile west of the store and William lived in a house he had built close to the store. The store burned a few years later about 1912 or 1913.

Ransom and William opened up a sawmill located between Harvey Road and Shoeheel Road.

William and Ransom sold the land and moved the saw mill to Georgia. This was about 1913.

William and Ransom raised hogs and cattle and grew cotton and tobacco. The tobacco was sent by rail to the tobacco sales in North Carolina. William's daughter Nina, born in 1906, died while they were in Cuthbert, Georgia, in about 1915.

Ransom and William shipped most of their belonging by rail to Florida. It was picked up at a train station in Kendrick Florida. There was only a path through the woods to the rail station.

William bought land about 100 acres in Marion County. It was heavily wooded. He set up a saw mill and cut the lumber for his house. He took the lumber to Blitchton and had it planed. Until the house was finished William rented a house when he arrived in FL close to where Golden Hills is today. The well went dry up there and Percy had to take the mule and sled up to Pa Taylor's each day to get two barrels of water for the family. The tops were covered with cheesecloth to keep the water clean.

William at one time owned both the Vaugh and Smith Places.

William always took the Atlantic Constitution paper. He was a well educated and well read man.

Octavia called her husband William.

Amaziah Hales

He had dark brown hair and blue eyes. He married Effie Hales January 15, 1905 in Johnston County. Amaziah farmed and worked for the railroad in GA. He helped lay the tracks. He rented a house in GA.

He took his family back to NC for visits. He farmed in Florida.

Daughter Lillian married E. W. Jones. Janie their youngest dropped out of school and started working at McCroy's in Ocala.

Effie rented a large house in Ocala and took in boarders. At times Amaziah did not get along with his brothers. Amaziah was in need of money and he stole a valuable red hound dog named King that belonged to his brother William. King was not only a great coon and possum dog but killed snakes, only poisonous ones. He shipped the dog by rail to NC.

Luther Hales

Luther had dark hair and blue eyes. He was trained as a telegraph operator for the railroad and worked in Micro. Ransom ans William paid for this. He lived in the Elias Hales Homestead. He worked and his kids started to school in Kenly. His wife didn't like him working in Micro. His brothers were already in GA. He sold the Homestead moving to GA.

He rented a house and son Buck went to school in Cuthbert, Georgia. And a younger sister was buried there. When he moved to Florida he had a tent behind William Hales home for at least a year.

— Renn Stancil Hinton, daughter of George Ralph Stancil