Biographies   Spartanburg County - South Carolina Genealogy Trails The Fitzgerald Family of Spartanburg County, South Carolina By Paul David Couch (Great Grandson of Albert Cleveland Fitzgerald) Matthew Vannerson (Vandiver) Fitzgerald (born: 11 NOV 1816 died: 18 SEP 1863) was the son of Nathaniel and Nancy Vandiver of Iredell County, North Carolina. Between 1830 and 1840, Matthew Vannerson (Vandiver) Fitzgerald (1816-1863) moved, in a covered wagon, from Iredell County, North Carolina, and purchased land next door to the Cannon families in Cowpens, South Carolina. He can be found on the 1850 United States Census, Spartanburg, County, South Carolina, living next door to a number of Cannon families. Matthew V. Fitzgerald (1816-1863) married his 1st wife, Julie Mathis (1818-1847), in the late 1830’s, and they had the following children: (1) James [1941-?], (2) Elizabeth Biving [1843-2 Jun 1908], (3) Albert Cleveland [14 Aug 1845 – 7 Dec 1928], (4) Pinkney B. [1846-?], and (5) Mary [Early 1847-?]. Matthew V. Fitzgerald’s 1st wife, Julie Mathis, died shortly after the birth of Mary in 1847, and Matthew married his second wife, Emily Cannon [28 Feb 1826 - 10 Mar 1882] in early 1847. Matthew V. Fitzgerald and Emily Cannon had the following children: (1) Nancy Jane [1848 – 1871], (2) Lou Aner [16 Oct 1849 - 6 Mar 1913], (3) Deborah Edmondra [19 Sep 1851 – 6 Jan 1900], (4) Matthew V. [23 Sep 1853 - 10 Jul 1913], (4) Laura [4 Jan - 23 Nov 1912], (5) Naomi [24 MAR 1857 - ?], (6) Ascinetta Carrie [1859 - ?], (7) James [1862 - ?], and (8) Joseph Miles [30 Apr 1862 - 30 Apr 1951]. The Fitzgerald, Mathis, Cannon, and Tillotson families were successful farmers and close neighbors. The families intermarried, and many of the descendants of these families can be found in the Spartanburg, South Carolina area. The Fitzgerald, Cannon, and Tillotson families were active members of Cannon’s Campground United Methodist Church near Cowpens, South Carolina. Early church records indicated that a "Brush Arbor" was started at the present site of Cannon’s Campground United Methodist Church in 1780 and that the first church was established in 1789. Ellis Cannon donated the land where Cannon’s Campground United Methodist Church was located in 1789 and where all of the church buildings have been constructed over the years. Ellis Cannon is from the Cannon family who founded Cannon Mills. One of the early church buildings is shown here. This building was constructed sometime in the late 1830’s. The congregation had a number of buildings constructed over the years, and a new, modern church stands on the site today. The old cemetery is on one side of the church. Some of the old minutes of the Sabbath School of Cannon’s Campground Methodist Church can be found in the archives of the church. These minutes were handwritten. The minutes of 24 June 1866 list the officers, teachers, and assistant teachers. Miss Harriett Tillotson is listed as a Sabbath Day Teacher. She would become the wife of Albert Cleveland Fitzgerald in 1866. "Minutes: of the Sabbath School, at Cannon’s Camp Ground June 24 Anno Domini 1866. List of the Officers and Teachers. Officers: James B. Arthur: Superintendent John Bishop: Assistant Supt. Elijah Cannon: Librarian Claudius L. Fike: Secretary Teachers: C. H. Claiborne, N. H. Pettit, Miss Harriet Tillotson, Nahum Cannon, Enoch Cannon, Miss Emeline Cannon, Lewis Webb, Mrs. Jane Love, Mrs. Isabella Webb, Miss Cannon. Assistant Teachers: Mrs. Jane Claiborne, Miss Della Templeman. Minutes of the Sabbath at Preamble. The importance of conducting a Sabbath School in a proper and judicious manner requires that we should avail ourselves of all possible means for promoting the advancement of this commendable enterprise. In view of this fact, it has been deemed advisable, that the weekly proceedings and transactions of our Sunday School should be placed on record; so that in after time they may stand as a memorial of our conduct, in this important branch of our duty. Let us therefore endeavor to perform our part in such a manner, that this record may exhibit nothing of which we will ever be ashamed; no regret on the part of teachers, nor inattention or misbehavior on the part of the scholars: but let it present a model which may serve for future times and to which we can always refer with pleasure. Thus would our project be accomplished, and we may hope that our humble though honest endeavors will be crowned with that success, which will rebound to the honor and Glory of our Heavenly Father; without whose Blessings all our efforts would be in vain. The School assembled at the usual morning hour, and we were pleased to notice so large an attendance; there being upwards of sixty members of the school, including the officers and teachers. This is very encouraging and we hope that an increasing interest may be felt throughout the community; remembering that punctuality is the life of the school. The school was opened by singing a hymn, after which a lesson from the Bible was read by the Superintendent, and a second hymn sung. The Bible classes next read their respective portions of scripture; when the Superintendent made some remarks of encouragement to the school; and gave an intermission. The Catechism and question lessons were next recited; after which some time was spent in singing in the Sunday School Bells. Brother Bishop remarked that he was much pleased at the good conduct of the school today; and he also delivered to the Librarian several of the books which were missing some time ago, and which he said were returned to him by direction of Brother May. There are still some remaining, of which he had no account. After singing and prayer by Brother Bishop, the school was dismissed. The Superintendent announced the following appointments for this place, viz; on Friday next, regular day of the circuit minister; Sunday next, service by Dr. C. Lee; and Sunday two weeks hence, a singing here. C. L. Fike Secretary Supt. James B. Arthur"  Albert Cleveland Fitzgerald (1845-1928), son of Matthew V. Fitzgerald and Julie Mathis, served as a private in Captain Butler’s South Carolina Infantry, 1st Regiment, during the Civil War. (Source: National Park Service: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors, Film Number M381 roll 11.) In 1862, he joined the Confederate army. He misrepresented his age in order to assist his native state in the Civil War. My grandmother, Nora Belle Fitzgerald Stillwell (1881-1964), daughter of Albert C. Fitzgerald, related that her father was captured by the Union Army three weeks before the War Between the States ended and survived on bread and water until the end of the war. She said that he was released and made his way home to Cowpens, South Carolina. Near the end of the war, soldiers on both sides, who were captured, were often reported as absent without leave or lost. On 17 July 1866, about one year after returning from fighting in the Civil War, he married Harriett Lucindi Tillotson, daughter of James Tillotson (1811-1887) and Elizabeth Betsy McAbee (1812-1897). Albert Cleveland Fitzgerald and Harriett Lucindi Tillotson had the following children: (1) Lunar [Luna] [8 Feb 1868 – 23 June 1914], (2) Emma Caroline (8 June 1870 – 21 Feb 1955), (3) Jessie [10 Feb 1872 – 18 Feb 1933], (4) Mattie Jane [17 Aug 1875 – 5 Oct 1957], (5) James Charles (Charlie) [21 May 1878 – 25 Dec 1946], (6) Nora Belle [18 Feb 1881 – 22 Sept 1964], Matthew Wilson (Witt) [29 Apr 1885 – 10 Mar 1969], (7) Rufus Pryor [31 Mar 1888 – 27 Oct 1976], and (8) Clyde Falls [24 Aug 1894 – 9 May 1966]. Albert and Harriett Fitzgerald’s daughter, Lunar, married Miles Winfield Mathis (b: 31 Jul 1851 d: 18 Jul 1936) and their daughter, Jessie married Abner Earlie Mathis (b: 1858 d: 4 Oct 1914). Miles and Earlie Mathis were born in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, and were sons of Tilman Mathis and Mary Gossett. Miles and Earlie Mathis moved to Texas after marrying the two Fitzgerald sisters. Harriet Fitzgerald missed her two daughters (Lunar and Jessie Fitzgerald) so much that she persuaded her husband, Albert, to pack up and move to Texas. They came to Texas in 1895 in a covered wagon and eventually settled in Denison, Texas. The only family member who did not come to Texas was Emma Caroline Fitzgerald. Emma Caroline had married William A. (Will) Wood and they decided to remain in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Like his father, Albert had been a farmer in South Carolina, and he had the same profession when he relocated to Texas. The countryside in North Texas probably reminded Albert of home with its gently rolling hills. Times were hard, but the family stuck it out despite numerous crop failures. The picture below, taken in 1898, is of the Albert Fitzgerald and Harriett Tillotson family. Back Row (Left to Right): RUFUS PRYOR (b:1888 d:1976); MATTHEW WILSON (Witt) (b:1885 d:1969); NORA BELLE (b:1881 d:1964); JAMES CHARLES (b:1878 d:1946); MATTIE JANE (b:1875 d: 1957). Second Row (Left to Right): LUNAR[Luna](b:1868 d:1914); HARRIET LUCINDI TILLOTSON FITZGERALD (b:1846 d:1918); ALBERT CLEVELAND FITZGERALD (b:1845 d: 1928); JESSIE CLEVELAND (b:1872 d:1933) Front Row: CLYDE FALLS (b: 1894 d: 1966). Not Shown: EMMA CAROLINE (b:1870 d:1955) In the summer of 1987, the Fitzgerald Clan gathered in Denison, Texas, and celebrated with a Reunion. Eighty to one hundred people were in attendance. To some it was almost like being back home in South Carolina, as South Carolinians attended for the first time. Ralph Greer, Jr., a staff writer for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, and a descendant of Albert and Harriett Tillotson Fitzgerald, told the story in the newspaper article that follows. Fitzgerald Clan Gathers for Reunion Spartanburg Herald-Journal/Monday, September 21, 1987 By RALPH GREER, Jr. Staff Writer DENISON, Texas – Ninety-two years have passed since Albert and Harriet Tillotson Fitzgerald loaded their children and belongings into a covered wagon and moved from Spartanburg1 to this East Texas community. The Fitzgeralds had ten children, nine of whom lived to adulthood. A daughter, Emma, wife of William (Will) A. Wood, was the only family member to stay behind in the Cannon’s Campground community in Spartanburg County in 1895. She didn’t see her family again for almost 21 years, when she made her first and only visit to Texas. This year, more than 80 of the estimated 200 Fitzgerald descendants gathered over the Labor Day weekend at the Harless Chapel Methodist Church in Denison for a reunion. They came from throughout Texas and neighboring states, and for the first time from as far away as South Carolina. The church is very much a part of the family’s history; it was founded by Miles Mathis, who married Launa (Lunar)2 Fitzgerald. She gave the church its name. A farmer in South Carolina, Fitzgerald did the same in this area of Texas, 70 miles north of Dallas, that probably reminded him of home with its rolling countryside. Times were hard, but the family stuck it out despite numerous crop failures, and the transplanted South Carolinians made Texas their home. It is said the decision to move west was because two of the Fitzgerald daughters, Jessie and Launa (Lunar)3, had married Texans4, and Mrs. Fitzgerald missed them so much she persuaded her husband to make the move. The eight Fitzgerald children in Texas had 33 children, and now the clan consists of about two hundred. Family closeness was apparent during the recent reunion, a day of laughter, good food, and love. New babies were shown off, and relatives caught up with what the family members had been doing since the last gathering. It also was a time of reminiscing. Sisters Lola Ball, Ozelle Duke, Jo Ellen McCoy, Geraldine Cornelius and their brother, Garland Fitzgerald, and mother, Leona, talked of the time they visited their South Carolina relatives in the 1930s. Their father, Clyde, was a railroad engineer, and the family traveled free by train. Garland Fitzgerald, also a railroad engineer, said the country was still in the Depression when the family made the trip, and his father left Texas with only $10 in his pocket. "He still had $3 when we got back," he said. Several of the older relatives at the reunion said they always had heard that the Fitzgeralds were cousins to the family of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, the mother of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. No one has ever taken the time to confirm or deny that. To the Texas Fitzgeralds, it apparently is no big thing. Leon Fitzgerald, the only living member of the generation of Fitzgeralds who traveled to Texas, is considered the matriarch of the clan5. Today the Fitzgerald descendants live in Oklahoma, California, Connecticut, Maine, Montana, Mexico, Arkansas, and South Carolina, but most still can be found in the family’s adopted state of Texas. (Herald-Journal Staff Writer Ralph Greer is a descendant of the Fitzgeralds, the grandson of Emma Fitzgerald Wood. He attended the Labor Day reunion after never having known of or met the relatives who attended. He had always wanted his daughters, Leslie and Toni, to have a family with which to hold a  reunion, he said, and now he has it.) The Fitzgerald family lived in the Cannon’s Campground Community in Cowpens, South Carolina, near Spartanburg. 2 "Launa" was actually spelled "Lunar." 3 Jessie and Lunar married South Carolina natives, Abner Earlie Mathis and Miles Winfield Mathis, respectively. Texas was their "adopted state." 4 Abner Earlie Mathis and Miles Winfield Mathis married the Fitzgerald sisters in their home state of South Carolina, and then moved to Texas. 5 Leona Cornelius Fitzgerald (b: June 1902 d: 12 February 1999) was the wife of Clyde Falls Fitzgerald (b: 24 August 1894 d: 9 May 1966). It was her husband, Clyde Falls Fitzgerald, who traveled with the family, in a covered wagon, from South Carolina to Texas in 1895. Clyde Falls Fitzgerald was one year old when they made the trip. NOTES: Footnotes added by Paul David Couch The old family photograph, circ. 1898, was included in this newspaper article in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Monday, September 21, 1987. BACK to Spartanburg County SC Genealogy Trails