Key Facts

Snapshot:	Confederate widow
Parents:	226Philip Groover 227Matilda Henry
Born:	circa 1835 Georgia
Last known record:	11 July 1891 Cleburne County, Alabama
Buried:	allegedly buried in the Antioch Methodist Church Cemetery, Cleburne County, Alabama; see notes below Coordinates: N33.6400 W85.3973

113S. Ellen Groover was born in Georgia circa 1835.1,2 Her father was 226Phillip Groover.3 Her mother was 227Matilda Henry, as explained in the problem section below.

This document from an 1884 lawsuit prove who 113Ellen's father and husband were.3

Problem: Resolved Who is 113Ellen's mother? Although no document explicitly identifies 113Ellen's mother, the relationship can be inferred from a series of other records. Before I present the evidence in more detail, here's a quick overview: 113Ellen had a brother Phillip H. Groover, who was born in 1829 and seems to have been named in honor of his maternal grandfather Phillip Henry. Therefore, we can conclude that 113Ellen's parents (226Phillip and 227Matilda) were married by 1829 at the latest, and thus 227Matilda must have born 113Ellen, who was born circa 1835. 226Phillip Groover had a wife named 227Matilda, and sons Phillip and William K. (among other children).3 These two sons (Phillip and William K.) both joined Company I, 48th Alabama,5,6 and later both were buried in the same cemetery.7,8 Phillip's military records and tombstone show that his middle initial was H.5,7 (The interaction between the two brothers helps to confirm that "P. H. Groover" in the Confederate records and on the tombstone is indeed the person of interest, and not someone else with a similar name.) 227Matilda's father was named Phillip Henry.9 This conjuncture—of a grandfather named Phillip Henry, and a grandson named Phillip H. Groover—implies that the grandson was named in honor of his grandfather. Therefore, despite the lack of an explicit marriage record, one can surmise that Phillip H. Groover's parents (i.e., 226Phillip Groover and 227Matilda Henry) were already married by the time he was born. Since Phillip H. Groover was born in 1829,7 and since his parents apparently remained married from his birth until his father's death many decades later,3, one can reasonably infer that 227Matilda was the mother of all of 226Phillip Groover's subsequent children, including 113Ellen, who was born circa 1835.1,2

The 1850 census shows 113Ellen with her family in Cobb County, Georgia.4

1850: 113Ellen's family in Cobb County, Georgia. Full page.4

Although the abovementioned 1884 lawsuit record proves that 113Ellen married 112Hiram Brown,3 we don't know exactly when. It must have been sometime in the 1850's, since we find them living together together in Cobb County in the 1860 census.10 Although they're listed alone, I very strongly suspect that they actually had two sons, since the 1870 census shows 113Ellen with two boys over age 10.1 Why the boys aren't listed in 1860, I don't know. 112Hiram and 113Ellen are the last two names on the page, so perhaps the enumerator became distracted or disorganized as he switched to the next page.

1860: 113Ellen and her husband in Cobb County, Georgia. Full page.10

Her husband was a Confederate soldier, and he died in the final days of the war. In 1870 we find 113Ellen and her children living next door to her father 226Phillip.1

1870: 113Ellen's family in militia district 693 (map), Coweta County, Georgia. Full page.1

By 1880 she had moved to Cleburne County, Alabama.2

1880: 113Ellen's family in Cleburne County, Alabama. Full page.2

In 1887 she applied for a pension based on her husband's Confederate service. She signed another, similar application on 11 July 1891, and this is the last record I've found made while she was alive.11

113Ellen's signature on a Confederate pension application.11

She probably died soon thereafter. A tombstone-like marker bearing her name is in the Antioch Methodist Church Cemetery, Cleburne County, Alabama at coordinates N33.6400 W85.3973. As you can see in the photo below, the marker shows fairly modern styling, so it was likely placed years—probably several decades—after 13Ellen's death. It lies in a somewhat unusual location separate from the other graves. It also bears the name of her husband 112Hiram Brown—even though he's definitely not buried here. Therefore, I have doubts about whether 13Ellen actually rests here.12

I searched for probate records but found nothing relevant in:

•	Cleburne County, Probate Judge, Estate Records, 1868-1918, Bostick Marcus - Camp Sarah E. (Alabama Archives LGM313/R24 order#S2006.0230)
•	Cleburne County, Will Records, 1884-1910, Volume 2 (Alabama Archives LGM113/R13 order#S1992.6159)

I searched for an obituary in the Cleburne New Era's 17 December 1891 edition, but I didn't find one. The Alabama Archives also has copies of the 3 December 1891 and 7 January 1892 editions, although I didn't read them. Sadly, other editions (e.g., 10 December 1891) are probably no longer extant.

Sources Cited:

1: 1870 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 693, Coweta County, Georgia. Page 105, dwelling 724, family 712, Ellen Brown household. NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 145. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DCWF-S5?i=34&cc=1438024&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMCSR-PRM>, accessed 17 January 2021.

2: 1880 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Cleburne County, Alabama. Enumeration district 44, sheet 194C, dwelling 123, family 124, Ellen Brown household. NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 8. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYYJ-QG9?i=5&cc=1417683&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AM4JC-M7J>, accessed 17 January 2021.

3: Cleburne County, Alabama. Estate case files, case #256 for Phillip Groover. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C91H-W59D?i=1303&cat=1346039> et seq., accessed 17 January 2021. The most important image is #1315, which names the decedent's children.

4: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Merritt's district, Cobb County, Georgia. Page 162B, dwelling 972, family 972, Phillip Groover household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 66. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZYK-P8W>, accessed 31 January 2020.

5: National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, entry for W.K. Groover of Company I, 48th Alabama Infantry, <https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=A7437CA3-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A>.

6: ibid., entry for P.H. Groover of the same unit, <https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=A6437CA3-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A>

7: Tombstone for P.H. Groover (born 19 May 1829, died 19 August 1905), Antioch Cemetery, Cleburne County, Alabama. Findagrave.com, <https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5254692/phillip-henry-groover>, accessed 31 January 2021.

8: Tombstone for William K. Groover (born 11 March 1837, died 11 November 1917), Antioch Cemetery, Cleburne County, Alabama. Findagrave.com, <https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5254667/william-kirby-grooverfs>, accessed 31 January 2021.

9: Anson County, North Carolina. Wills Book B, pages 229-230. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-NH93-GQ?i=447&cc=1867501&cat=309286>, accessed 31 January 2021. The pertinent phrase reads, "my daughter Matilda Groover wife of Philip Groover."

10: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Merritt's district, Cobb County, Georgia. Page 426, dwelling 1468, family 1429, H. Brown household. NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 117. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YBP-Y1P?i=1&cc=1473181&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMZMK-JYH>, accessed 13 December 2020. Also available on the Internet Archive.

11: Folder of pension documents for veteran H. Brown [further identified as Hiram Brown in internal documents] and pensioner S. E. Brown, on the microfilm reel for veterans A. C. Brown through John Louis Brown, Alabama Confederate pension applications, Alabama Dept. of Archives & History. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3S7-B986-F?i=694&cc=3029256>, accessed 14 December 2020.

12: Memorial marker for Hiram Brown (1833-1865) and Susan Elmira Groover Brown (1834-1891), who were married 7 December 1854, at Antioch Methodist Church Cemetery, Cleburne County, Alabama, coordinates N33.6400 W85.3973. Photograph taken by Bryant J. Knight on 7 February 2021.