The Till Family of Butler County

The Tills of Butler County are descendants of the original Swiss immigrant, Nicholas Till, who came from Prattein, Basel, Switzerland to the port of Charleston, South Carolina in 1737 with his wife, Anna Marie During, and their six children. Nicholas, born 29 September 1695, was a linen weaver and a rifle marksman. Two of the children died during the ocean voyage and Nicholas himself died 10 days after arriving in Charleston, South Carolina. Anna Marie and his remaining children made their home in Orangeburg, South Carolina. The great grandson of this first Nicholas Till, who was also named Nicholas Till, was born about 1771 and married in Orangeburg to Barbara. Her maiden name may have been Bruner. The children of Nicholas and Barbara Till of Orangeburg, South Carolina migrated to Lowndes County Alabama before 1830. We believe their children are: Catherine Till, born 1795, married James Gill; Nicholas Till, born 1797, remained in South Carolina; Daniel Till, born 1798, married Rosanna Hungerpiller; Mary Till, born 1804, married Daniel Coleman; Barbara Till, born 1807, married Jacob Arant; Jacob Till, born 1809, married Eliza Ward; John Till Sr., born 1810, married Martha Arant; Elizabeth Till, born 1818, married Robert Autry; and David Till born 1820, moved to Lauderdale County, Mississippi.

Daniel Till and Rosanna Hungerpiller had married in South Carolina about 1818. Daniel moved his family from Lowndes County to Butler County where he had purchased land in August of 1837. Soon after, Daniel was dead at only 40 years old. His widow, Rosanna, remarried about 1848 to Needham Perritt a veteran of the War of 1812. There are no early marriage records in Butler County before the Courthouse fire in 1853, but I found a record of the marriage license fee of fifty cents paid by Needham Perritt in 1848/49. There were no children from this second marriage. Rosanna died 8 March 1869. No burial site has been confirmed for either Daniel or Rosanna Till.

We believe the children of Daniel Till and Rosanna are: Rebecca Till, born 1820, married James Haigler; Harmon Till, born 1822, died before 1859, married Louise Hinson; John Till Jr., born 1824, married Sarah Ann Surline Little and married second, Verlinda Luckie; Henry Hampton Till, born 1826, married Elizabeth Luckie; Samuel Washington Till, born 28 August 1827, married Elizabeth Manning, and married second, Callie Shell; Elizabeth Till, called "Betsy", born 1831, married Eli Black; Allen David Till born 1835, died 1862, during the Civil War, married Johannah Arant; James H. Till, born 1837, died 1862, during the Civil War, married a cousin, Victoria Till, the daughter of John Till Sr.; and Daniel Green Till, born 1838 married Nancy Ann Stuart.

Samuel Washington Till, son of Daniel and Rosanna, married Rachel Elizabeth Manning, the daughter of Bryant Manning, in Lowndes County on 10 November 1852. Their children are: John Daniel Till, born 1853, married Sarah Hayes; Mary Frances Till, born 1855, married Rias Dantlzer; Andrew Allen Till, born 20 July 1857, married Martha Jane Majors; Melissa Till, born 1859, married James McCrory; Samuel Artemis Till, born 1861, married Rachel Majors; Nancy Elizabeth Till, born 1864, married Jesse Silcox; Lucinda Rosanna Till, born 1866 married Thomas Eddins; Martha Jane Till, born 1868, married James Andrew Jackson Majors; Permilla Ola Till, born 1869 and died 1872; Robert E. Lee Till, born 1873, died 1909, unmarried; and Stonewall Jackson Till, born 1875, married Frances Arilla Lester. Martha Jane Majors, Rachel Majors and James Andrew Jackson Majors were siblings, children of Benjamin Majors and his wife Elizabeth Wall of Butler County.

Samuel Washington Till enlisted in the Civil War at Notasulga, Alabama in March of 1863 as a private in Company A, 13^th Alabama Regiment, serving until discharged at the war’s end April 1865. Elizabeth Manning Till died 30 October 1883. Samuel then married Callie Shell on 15 February 1885. Samuel died 22 August 1888. Both Samuel and Elizabeth are buried at County Line Cemetery, on the Lowndes/Butler County line.

Andrew Allen Till married Martha Jane Majors, daughter of Benjamin Majors and Elizabeth Wall, in Butler County on 24 December, 1877. Their children are: William Artemis Till, born January 1879 and died July 1879; Samuel Benjamin Till, born December 1879, died of Brights Disease in 1906, while studying to be a minister at Livingston Normal College, unmarried; Mary Elizabeth Till, born 1882, married Louis Spence; Alonzo Washington Till, born 1884, married Florence Gardner; Cammie Suphronia Till, born June 19, 1886 married William Calvin Pouncey; Andrew Jackson Till, born and died in 1888, Leila Ester Till, born 1890 married Judson Williams; Martha Velma Till, born 1892, married Claude Gardner; and Jacob Elvin Till, born 1894, married Minnie Maurice.

Andrew Allen Till made his living as a Butler County farmer. Andrew Till died 31 May 1915 and Martha Jane Majors Till died 18 November 1932. Both are buried at Friendship Methodist Cemetery in Butler County.

Cammie Suphronia Till, daughter of Andrew Allen and Martha Jane Till, married William Calvin Pouncey in Butler County on 5 October 1902. Willie, as he was called, was the son of William W. Pouncey and Winniford Caroline Williams, also of Butler County. Cammie died 11 July 1969 in Montgomery, Alabama and Willie died 26 February 1940 in Georgiana. Both are buried in Friendship Methodist Church Cemetery in Butler County. Cammie and Willie Pouncey were the grandparents of my husband, Jeffery Hendricks, son of Lucile Pouncey and J. D. Hendricks.

There are many, many descendants of the Till family of Butler County scattered throughout the country, almost 4,000 recorded at the last count, with numerous Butler County families connected by marriage, including Majors, Dantzler, Arant, Autry, Pope, Stabler, Shell, Luckie, Jones, Black, Haigler, Coleman, Williams, Manning, Pouncey, and many others. Some well known descendants are: Hank Williams Sr., and Hank Williams Jr., famous country musicians, Melba Till Allen, Alabama State Auditor, and Cornelia Wallace, second wife of Alabama Governor George Wallace.

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Sources: Census records of Orangeburg South Carolina, Giessendanner Lutheran Church records of Orangeburg, South Carolina, the Giessendanner letter, written 1737, "Swiss Emigrants in the Eighteenth Century", by Albert Faust and Gaius Brumbaugh, Census records of Lowndes County Alabama and Butler County Alabama, Marriage records of Butler and Lowndes County Alabama, Alabama Death Records, Probate records of Butler County, Cemetery Records of Butler County, Land records of Alabama, the family Bible of Andrew Allen Till, interviews with descendants and family legends passed down to today’s descendants.

Jonathan Majors was born in South Carolina in March of 1793 and died in Butler County in February 1863. Family legend reports that his family came from Scotland. He may have been a child of Revolutionary War Veteran, Benjamin Majors of Pendleton District, South Carolina who died in Dallas County, Alabama in 1835. No proof has been found to prove or disprove that supposition. Jonathan was married somewhere in Georgia to Mary Matilda Mathews about 1815. Jonathan Majors is found in the Henry County 1830 census, in the 1850 census his family is found in Dale County, Alabama and by the 1860 census the aging Jonathan and wife Mary are living in the household of their son James Majors in Covington County, Alabama. Soon after Jonathan died in 1863 in Butler County and is buried in the New Prospect Cemetery in Butler County. Very little is known of Mary Matilda Mathews. She was born about 1795 in South Carolina and died sometime after 1880. Her burial place is unknown. The known children of Jonathan and Mary Majors are: John Majors, born 30 March 1816 in Georgia, married Serena Matilda Cook, died 2 May 1902; Rachel Majors, born about 1824, married John Hathorn, lived and died in Texas; James Majors, born about 1828 in Alabama, married to Suphronia Beasley, died in 1865 as a result of injuries received during the Civil War; Benjamin Majors, born 27 April 1830 in Alabama, married Elizabeth Wall, died 10 March 1899; and David Majors, born 11 December 1836 in Rocky Head, Dale County, Alabama, married Susannah Daniel, died 15 September, 1914 in Butler County.

Benjamin Majors, son of Jonathan and Mary, was born 27 April 1830 in Alabama possibly Henry or Dale County. He married about 1851 probably in Dale County to Elizabeth Wall. Elizabeth Wall, the daughter of Jesse Wall and Susan Hawthorn of Dale and Coffee County, Alabama, was born 2 Nov 1833 in Georgia. Their children are: Martha Jane Majors, born 11 July 1854 in Butler County, married Andrew Allen Till, died 18 November 1932; Susan Majors, born 1856, died 1863; Rachel Nancy Majors, born 27 April 1859, married Samuel Artemis Till, died 14 August 1896 in Butler County; Shadrick Benjamin Majors, born 22 October 1862, married first Lena Hildreth, married second to Julie ??, and third to Goolie Lowery, died 2 January 1938 in Butler County; James Andrew Jackson Majors, born 26 May 1866, married Martha Jane Till, died 19 October 1944 in Butler County; Emaline Majors, born in 1868, married to Thomas Joyner, died in May 1931 in Butler County; Evaline Majors, born 13 March 1868, twin to Emaline, married George W. Lowery, died February 15, 1935 in Butler County; Jesse Harris Majors, born 14 July 1870, married Ora Ellie Dantzler, died 28 May 1911 in Butler County; J. David Majors, born 6 September 1873, never married, died 9 March 1942 in Butler County; and George Walter Majors, born 19 November 1875, married Charity Elizabeth Whittington, died 7 February 1954 in Butler County.

Benjamin Majors enlisted in the civil war in Butler County on September 4, 1862. He was a private in Company B, 17^th Alabama Infantry Regiment as was his brother James. He was captured near Nashville Tennessee on December 15, 1864 and sent to Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois to be processed and sent to Military Prison in Louisville, Kentucky. His Alabama Civil War military records state that he applied for a pension for going blind as the result of a musket ball to the head during the Battle at Kennesaw Mountain. However, modern science has proved that blindness was inherited in the Majors family and he probably would have gone blind during his lifetime regardless of the head injury. The inherited gene for blindness that is prevalent in the Majors family is called "Sticklers Syndrome" and is being extensively studied by Dr. Scotty Parma, a descendant of Benjamin Majors.

Benjamin died 10 March 1899 in Butler County and Elizabeth died 26 September 1885 in Butler County. Both are buried in New Prospect Cemetery in Butler County. Benjamin’s obituary from "Butler County Alabama Obituary Records" by Marilyn Davis Barefield taken from records in the Greenville Advocate states: "Ben Majors, age 70 to 75 died at the residence of his brother Dave Majors, near Georgiana last Friday. For many years he lived in the Mt Olive area. He had been blind for many years. dated: 3/15/1899 (born 4/27/1830)"

Martha Jane Majors, the oldest child of Benjamin and Elizabeth, was born 11 July 1854. She married Andrew Allen Till 24 December 1877. Andrew was the son of Samuel Washington Till and Rachel Elizabeth Manning. Martha Jane and Andrew Till’s children are: William Artemis Till, born 24 January 1879, died 12 July 1879; Samuel Benjamin Till, born 14 December 1879, died 25 March 1906; Mary Elizabeth Till, born 1 January 1882, married Louis Spence, died 21 May 1921; Alonzo Washington Till, born 3 January 1884, married Florence Gardner 4 February 1904, died 11 November 1945; Cammie Suphronia Till, born 19 June 1886, married William Calvin Pouncey on 5 October 1902, died 11 July 1969 in Montgomery, Alabama; Andrew Jackson Till, born 20 July 1888, died 26 July 1888; Leila Ester Till, born 18 February 1890, married Judson Lamar Williams, died 20 March 1946; Martha Velma Till, born 11 March 1892, married Claude Gardner, died in Tallahassee, Florida; and Jacob Elvin Till, born 29 November 1894, married Minnie Lee Maurice, died April 1963.

Cammie Suphronia Till married William Calvin Pouncey 5 October 1902 in Butler County, Alabama. She was only 16 and her father signed the marriage license giving his consent to the marriage. This couple had twelve children, one of which, Lucile Pouncey Hendricks is my mother-in-law. I am married to her youngest child Jeffery Hendricks. I have been researching her family history for twenty years, and she has been extremely interested and helpful in my research. (See the Till family history elsewhere in this publication.)

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