My great grandmother – Sophia Dollar Friddle, was raised by
her grandfather and step grandmother.
So, I realized early on in my genealogical searches with my mother, that
he was a significant person. Beyond the
fact that I am descended from him, he had a huge part in shaping the life of my
great grandmother and therefore my grandmother and mother who had a profound
part in shaping who I am. However,
Alexander Monroe Dollar has never been an easy man to pin down, genealogically
speaking!
Alexander Monroe Dollar was born about August 1838 depending
on what document you look at. Some say
it is August 1839 – but August 1838 is
the date that makes the most sense. He
was probably born in Orange Co., NC.
His parents were William Henry Dollar and Jane “Jennie” Sparks. Their marriage date was 22 May 1838 in Orange
Co., NC. So, while the date of 1839
might look like a more reasonable time after marriage to have a child, William
Henry Dollar and Jennie Sparks second child, William Henry Dollar, Jr was born
on 4 Jul 1839 so the August date proves to be even more unlikely. Supposedly, Alexander Monroe Dollar was born
in Orange Co., NC and shortly after his birth; William Henry Dollar brought his
small family via wagon from Orange Co., NC to Ashe Co., NC. William Henry Dollar was blacksmith by trade
and worked as most did during that time frame as a farmer as well. I am sure that he left Orange Co., NC because
he was a younger brother and didn’t have much in the way of prospects in terms
of owning land. The Dollar family lived
in the North Fork township of Ashe Co., NC near the town of Solitude.
At the age of 18, Alexander Monroe Dollar married Elizabeth
Pennington, the daughter of Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson on 17 Jan 1857
in Ashe Co., NC. On 6 Apr 1858, their
first child is born, Amanda Jane Dollar.
I have often wondered if Elizabeth Pennington had more pregnancies and
lost them in miscarriages because there seems to be quite a gap between their
first two children.
Like many young men
of his age, Alexander Monroe Dollar enlisted as a Confederate Soldier in Co. L,
58th Infantry Regiment, North Carolina on 20 Jul 1862. I suspect that he wasn't too good of a
soldier because he deserted on 9 Feb 1863 at Big Creek Gap in Tennessee. Went home long enough to get his wife
pregnant with their second child and perhaps plant his crops and returned to
duty on 10 Dec 1863. Once again he
deserted a second time near Dalton, Georgia on 19 Mar 1864 and went over to the
enemy. He took the Oath of Allegiance on
10 Oct 1864 and I assume came home sometime later. His younger brother enlisted on the same day
and also deserted, returned to duty and then was declared unfit for duty and
spent the rest of the war as a hospital nurse at La Grange, Georgia. Both were part of the 58th North
Carolina which I have been told had one of the worst desertion rates in the
Civil War. Since most of these soldier
came from the Ashe Co., NC area, I suspect that these deserters felt free to
return home and live their lives without much in the way of repercussion, makes
me think that they weren't too devoted to the Confederate cause.
Alexander and Elizabeth’s second child was John Dula Dollar
b. 3 Oct 1863 in Creston, Ashe Co., NC (he is my 2nd great
grandfather). Their third child Emeline
Caroline Dollar was born on 15 Mary 1866 in Ashe Co., NC. Their
family was complete with the birth of their youngest child, Roby Smith Dollar
on 18 Apr 1868 in Ashe Co., NC.
Census records tell me that in the 1860 census, Alexander
and his young family are living near his father. By 1870, they are living next door to his
father-in-law Levi Pennington. It is
interesting to note that Elizabeth’s brother is also living with him and his
listed as insane. Levi Daniel Pennington
had received injuries during the Civil War and returned home mentally ill and
spent the majority of his life in a mental institution after the war. By 1880, Alexander Monroe is probably still
living in the same place, but his father in law has passed away and at this
point, he is listed as a wagon maker, while 17 year old John Dula Dollar is
listed as a shoemaker and the younger two are also members of the household. Their oldest daughter is living half the
county away with Elizabeth’s brother, Larkin Pennington. It was sometime in the next few years, that
Alexander Monroe Dollar and Elizabeth Pennington that they left Ashe Co., NC
and traveled over to Johnson Co., TN (a neighboring county) and traveled up to
settle in what is now the Laurel Bloomery part of Johnson Co., TN near a town
called Shingletown. Elizabeth’s uncle
Andrew Pennington lived there with his family and perhaps told them of the
availability of land.
It is unknown as to when Elizabeth Pennington died, but it
was sometime after their move to Johnson Co., TN in 1883 and Alexander Monroe
Dollar’s marriage to his second wife, on 9 Jun 1887 to Sarah “Lulu” Rebecca
Pearce. There is no known location as to
where Elizabeth is buried or any idea as to when she died exactly or what she
died of. She would have been somewhere in
her early to mid 40’s in age. Their
daughter Emeline marries Caleb Wills Noland in 1881 at the age of 15. Sometime after their move to Johnson Co., TN,
Alexander Monroe Dollar along with his younger brother John Wesley Dollar and
son, John Dula Dollar have a small mill.
I am not sure if they were producing lumber or shingles which is how the
area derived the name Shingletown. All
that is left of that signifies the location of that mill, is a small road sign
that says Dollarsville road.
John Dula Dollar married Buena Vista Bailey in 1889, he was
24 and she was 17 years old. Very
quickly two children came along in 1890 and 1891 (Claude & Bessie) and then
my great grandmother was born in 1894.
Buena Vista died in April of the same year…and so John Dula was left
with three small children and probably turned to the only people he could, his
father and step mother. Alexander’s
second wife, Lulu, was actually a midwife and was present when my great grandmother
was born. I am sure that Lulu had
primary care of my great grandmother through those first few months of life and
certainly after her mother’s death.
In 1897, John Dula Dollar remarries and takes his oldest
children to live with him and his new wife.
Somehow, Lulu convinces him to leave his youngest daughter with her
grandfather and step grandmother. So
that his house that in the 1900 census, my great grandmother is living with her
grandparents in the little house in the holler as I like to call it. I know from stories that I have heard, that
my grandmother was rather spoiled and could do pretty much whatever she
wanted. I don’t know if the grandmother
did the spoiling or perhaps both grandparents.
However, when Alexander Monroe Dollar died on 14 Aug 1908 in Silver
Lake, Johnson Co., TN, my great grandmother’s life of leisure was about to
end. Her father was making noises about
taking her back to live with him, and her grandmother convinced her to get
married instead.
 |
John Dula Dollar's young family - taken about 1895 -
Claude on the left, John Dula holding Sophia and Bessie on the right. |
There are so many details missing from this story about
Alexander Monroe Dollar. I don’t know exactly
where he was born nor do I know where he was buried. I know that he was referred to as Monroe or “Roe”
Dollar and probably never went by Alexander or Alex. He worked at times as farmer, carpenter or
wagon maker and as a mill worker. I have
never seen a photo of him or either one of his wives. There is still so much about him that is
shrouded in mystery…and at this point, there is no one to ask. My great grandmother died before I turned 12
and she was probably the last living person who knew him. There is a lot more that I wish I knew about
this great great great grandfather of mine!
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