My great grandmother Emma Dora Phillips Stokes was born in 1872 to my great, great grandmother Polly Ann Phillips and a man named “Cass” Shields. Records place two Shields men in the area named Cassander (or Casander) or Cass (or Cuss) Andrew. Polly Ann and Cass were not married, but a relationship is noted in several family credible trees. (Emma Dora told relatives her father was “Cass.”)
Polly Ann, born March 23, 1849, was the first child of a young Bear Creek, Chatham County farming couple, Richard and Martha Phillips. Richard and Martha are listed in the 1850 Chatham County (Bear Creek district) census with one year old Polly Ann. The 1860 census shows her with one brother, John, and three sisters, Sarah, Rebecca, and Lydia. John and Rebecca are recorded in the 1870 census with an additional brother, Eli. Sarah and Lydia are not recorded, so I have to conclude they died sometime between 1860-70.
Mid 1800s Chatham County was largely rural farmland with a population of around 18,000 in 1850. Aside from the census records, little information is available about Richard, Martha, and the family. They likely owned a small farm.
A story passed down through family is Polly Ann left home after becoming pregnant. There is no way to verify for sure, and no doubt it caused distress. We do know in the 1880 census, Martha Phillips is listed as the head of a household with daughters “Mary A., Rebecca J.,” and two granddaughters. “Mary A.” and 8 year old granddaughter “Emily D.” are probably Mary Ann (Polly) and Emma Dora. Ten dwellings away is Jasper John Phillips, a brother of Polly Ann. Additional circumstantial evidence is the Richard (R.C.) Stokes household (with first wife Sophia) only 13 dwellings away. Richard will marry a teenage Emma Dora Phillips 10 years later. I believe this to be the same Phillips family as in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census records.
Unfortunately, the 1890 Federal Census was destroyed by a fire at the Commerce Department in Washington, DC on January 10, 1921. By 1900, Polly Ann is living two households away from Malcom “Make” Brady and his wife Lucinda (“Scinda”). According an entry in another family’s records, “Malcolm “Make” and Mary Ann “Polly Ann” Phillips had seven children. This came straight from Polly Ann’s oldest daughter Dora who said she belonged to Cass Shields, but her siblings belonged to Make Brady. Ernest Phillips’ daughter wrote down what Dora Phillips Stokes told her. Polly Ann had a total of eight children.” (Dora, Richard, Robert, Fred, Lonnie, Ernest, Alice, and Annie). I have confirmed this entry with the genealogist of record.
By 1910, Polly Ann is living with son Ernest (Earnest) and his wife Mattie. Malcom Brady died in an accident in 1904 making Polly Ann’s proximity to his widow and family understandably problematic. She continued to be part of Ernest’s household until her death.
Polly Ann died on November 1, 1930. She is buried in the Fall Creek Baptist Cemetery near Bennett in Chatham County. Her marker on row 7 is inscribed “Gone but not forgotten.”
One has to conclude Polly Ann was the mistress of Malcom “Make” Brady. Whether there was any financial support, one can only speculate, but it appears the house listed in the 1900 census may have been owned by Brady. I have learned a little about him beyond what is available in records, but will not go into detail as he is not my ancestor.
The missing 1890 census would provide additional timeline insight, but we do know oldest daughter Dora was married to the much older Richard (“RC”) Stokes and long gone with children of her own by 1900. I recall hearing my mother say “Granny Stokes” married RC to escape a hard impoverished life. A cousin has told me her mother, a granddaughter of Dora, would say Dora’s half siblings by Brady never visited her later in life. As I’ve read various obituaries for the other Polly Ann Phillips children, Dora is not mentioned. On the other hand, all appear to gone on to being well respected people within the community, a testament to Polly Ann’s raising them. Undoubtedly it was difficult and I can only imagine how some folks probably looked down on Polly Ann and the kids.
Which “Cass?” An Exercise in Probability
Possibility 1 -Cassander (Casander) Shields (1849-1924)
As noted earlier, Polly Ann and her parents, Richard and Martha Phillips, are listed in the 1850 Chatham County (Bear Creek district) census. Also in the 1850 census for adjoining Moore County, a one year old “Casander” is listed in the household of Archibald Shields, the youngest of eleven children. Note the proximity of Chatham’s Bear Creek area to Moore County. The 1860 map of the Deep River District is an indication of how people on both sides of the river intertwined.
The Phillips family appears again in Bear Creek in 1860, and census records with an eleven year old daughter “Mary.” Polly Ann Phillips is cited on occasion as “Mary” or “Mary Ann” Phillips. (Ex., Wallace Family of Moore County). The Archibald and Miriam Shields family was still in Moore County, and a 11 year old male is the youngest member of the household. The name is in cursive writing and looks like “Lessa” or “Jessa.” Historians at the US Census Bureau say early censuses are tricky in comparing names from one decade to the next. Census takers wrote what they heard from whomever answered the door. (Phonetically spelling a name such as Cassander was no doubt a census recording adventure.)
A 21 year old Cassander is still in the Archibald and Miriam Shields household in 1870. Also in 1870, a 21 year old female is in the Richard and Martha Phillips of Bear Creak household.
The trail runs cold in 1880. Archibald and Miriam are still living in Moore County, but Cassander doesn’t appear in the North Carolina census. (A “Cassandre,” age 25, in a household with 80 year Jane Shields doesn’t work). No census records are available for 1890. However, on October 3, 1898, a 46 year old Cassander Shields in (with deceased parents Archibald and Miriam) marries 20 year old Lydia Nunnery in Moore County. (Looks like this Cass fudged on his age). There’s no record of him being married previously, and there are no family witnesses at the marriage, probably because Cassander and Lydia have a daughter on August 22, 1898.
In the 1900 census, the couple and child live next door to Lydia’s parents (who are close to Cassander’s age).
Cassander and Lydia have six more children prior to his death in 1924.
Possibility 2 -Cass Andrew Shields (1842-1926)
Cass Andrew Shields was born in Moore County to Cornelius and Jane Cheeks Shields. In 1850, this Cass appears in the census with his parents and siblings. Note that Cornelius is 20 years older than Jane. His first wife, Molly Davis, died sometime before 1836.
Cornelius owned over 1000 acres, mines, and a grist mill. He is also is recorded as owning eight slaves in 1850, so this was a family of considerable wealth by Moore County standards.
Cass Andrew was the youngest of Cornelius Shields’ children. Cassandre Shields, who I describe as “possibility #1,” is a grandson of Cornelius, son of Cornelius’ oldest son Archibald. Cass Andrew never married, and was described as “slow in bodily movements and a little peculiar” in a 1976 family history by Katherine Shields Melvin. In the 1860 census, he is living with his mother. In 1870, Cass Andrew is living with his sister Elizabeth. In subsequent censuses, he is living with a sibling or niece until his death in 1926.
Conclusion
Part of the family story is great granny Dora met “Cass” when he was laying low during the Civil War. She would take him food as he was hiding. It doesn’t seem like “slow moving” Cass Andrew would be able to pull this off.
Cassandre’s age (born sometime around 1849) initially seems problematic, but the Confederacy’s conscription act in 1864 stipulated that boys as young as 17 were eligible for duty. (In fact, Dora’s future husband R.C. Stokes was a teenage Confederate soldier as a result of this act). In addition, a family Bible records Dora’s father as “Eli Cassander Shields.” It seems the more likely coupling is between two young people of the same age with families that were in reasonable proximity to each other, so I have to conclude the younger Cassander (Possibility #1) was the indeed Dora’s father.
Regardless, as I continue exploring this branch of the family tree, it leads to Cornelius Shields….Cass Andrew’s father and Cassandre’s grandfather.
Sources of note:
Forebears and Kinfolks 
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