63Sophronia in an undated photograph. Resized and cropped; original scan .1 I have one other photo of her.

63Sophronia in an undated photograph. Resized and cropped; original scan .1 I have one other photo of her.

63Sophronia in an undated photograph. Resized and cropped; original scan .1 I have one other photo of her.

63Sophronia A. Waldrip was born 7 February 18502 in Georgia.3-8 Her parents are 126Cain Waldrip and 127Joanna M. ___, as explained below.

Problem: Resolved Who are 63Sophronia's parents? The 1850 and 1860 censuses strongly imply that 63Sophronia's father was 126Cain Waldrip, since she was a young child living in his house and had the same surname.3,4 63Sophronia's brother Thomas E. Waldrip was born in the mid-1840's.3,4,9 Since Joanna's obituary explicitly describes her as "the mother of T. E. Waldrip," 10 we can be confident that 126Cain and 127Joanna had already married by the mid-1840's. Later censuses show that they remained married for many years,3,4 including the period when 63Sophronia was born. Therefore, we can conclude that 127Joanna was 63Sophronia's mother.

The 1850 and 1860 censuses show 63Sophronia with her family:

1850: 63Sophronia's family in Gilmer County, Georgia. Full page.3

1860: 63Sophronia's family in Gordon County, Georgia. Full page.4

About 1.5 years after the end of the Civil War, 63Sophronia married Southern Unionist war veteran 62Isaac W. Brown in Murray County, Georgia on 8 February 1867.11 For more information about their marriage, their lives together, etc., see his profile since that information won't be repeated here.

63Sophronia outlived her husband by a few years, long enough to be included as a widow in the 1910 census.8

1910: 63Sophronia's family in Franklin County, Alabama. Full page.8

Just a few weeks before her death, 63Sophronia applied for a government pension based on her husband's service during the Civil War.12 I haven't seen the application itself and don't know its outcome.

63Sophronia died on 20 December 1914. She's buried next to her husband in Phil Campbell Cemetery, Franklin County, Alabama at coordinates N34.348721 W87.705794. The epitaph on her tombstone reads, "Rest mother, rest in quiet sleep, While friends in sorrow over thee weep." 2

Sources Cited:

2: The tombstone of Sophronia A. Brown (7 February 1850 - 20 December 1914), Phil Campbell Cemetery, Franklin County, Alabama, at coordinates N34.348721 W87.705794. Photo taken by 1Bryant Knight circa 2012.

3: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Gilmer County, Georgia. Pages 426B and 427A, dwelling 1115, family 1115, Cain Waldroop household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 70. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-67C9-ST8?cc=1401638&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMZYG-VG6> et seq., accessed 16 September 2021.

4: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Calhoun, Gordon County, Georgia. Page 20, dwelling 136, family 134, Cain Waldrip household. NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 124. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBT-ZFZ?cc=1473181&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMZMD-BCK>, accessed 16 September 2021.

5: 1870 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Township 8 Range 2E, Marshall County, Alabama. Page 7, dwelling 50, family 51 Isaac Brown household. NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 29. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-D18S-J4J?i=6&cc=1438024&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMHKK-F5T>, accessed 23 September 2021.

6: 1880 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Fractional Township 8 Range 1E, Marshall County, Alabama. Enumeration district 254, page 194A, dwelling 9, family 9, Isaac Brown household. NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 24. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBS-SSP1?cc=1417683&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AM4VS-6XB>, accessed 23 September 2021.

7: 1900 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Precinct 21 Cranford, Marshall County, Alabama. Enumeration district 96, sheet 9A, dwelling 140, family 140, Isaac Brown household. NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 30. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-691Q-8TP?i=17&cc=1325221&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AM9DX-SWH>, accessed 23 September 2021.

8: 1910 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Mountain Spring Precinct 9, Franklin County, Alabama. Enumeration district 91, sheet 11A, dwelling 203, family 205, Sophronia Brown household. NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 14. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYB3-1GD?i=20&cc=1727033&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMKQV-YZ9>, accessed 25 September 2021.

9: The Guntersville Democrat (Marshall County, Alabama), Thursday 2 September 1897, page 3, column 1, about ¾ of the way down the page. The entry reads, "Thos. E. Waldrip, aged about fifty, died near Beech creek in Browns valley on Monday evening, of a malady very similar to meningitis." You can see a clipping here.

10: "Grassy," The Guntersville Democrat (Marshall County, Alabama), Thursday 22 September 1891, page 2, column 5, almost at the very bottom of the page.

11: Murray County, Georgia. Marriages book 2 (1860-1874), page 121, the marriage of Isaac Brown and Sophrona Waldroop on 8 February 1867. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9BZC-Y17?i=225&cat=277039>, accessed 21 September 2021.

12: Index card for a pension application filed by Sophronia A. Brown, widow of soldier Isaac W. Brown, in Alabama on 4 November 1912. NARA publication T288, roll 55. Ancestry.com ("U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934" / Brown, Dennis-Brown, James B. / image 3786 of 4519), accessed 25 September 2021.