Contributor: Great-Great Grandson David Gordon Hanserd

If you are a descendant to any of the children of David and Mariah Bridgforth, you may reference the Limestone Legacy booklet listed below and see additional information on each child.

In his will dated December 14, 1840 , David Daniel Bridgforth willed to each of his children still at home what he had previously given to his already grown children the following: a horse briddle and saddle, bed and furniture , and Fifteen Hundred Dollars.

He also willed that upon his wife Mariah Dandridge Hobbs Bridgforth’s marriage or death that his properties be divided equally among his children and the heirs of their bodies.

Limestone Legacy , Volume 31. Number 3, April 2009

BRIDGFORTH FAMILY

In Lemuel Hyde’s 1893 “Old Sixty” article published in the Alabama Courier, he states that David Bridgforth and his wife Mariah Hobbs, were both natives of Virginia and that they came first to Franklin, TN , where they came for two years. In the 1820’s they moved to Giles County settling near a Elk River and a Ragsdale Creek, just across the Tennessee Line, a few miles from a Pettusville, Limestone County , Alabama . Soon David and Mariah acquired extensive land holdings in both Giles and Limestone Counties.

David Daniel and Mariah Dandridge Hobbs Children:

1. Col. James William Bridgforth, 1817-1896, 79 yrs., buried Old Salem Cemetery, Limestone Co., AL. See James’s memorial link below, for more...

2. John Beverly Bridgforth, 1819-1852 , 32-33 yrs, buried Bridgforth Cemetery #2 on Pleasant Hill Road , in DeSoto County, Mississippi. See John’s memorial page link below to see more...

3. Mary Elizabeth Bridgforth , 1821- 1840, 18 yrs., buried Bridgforth Family Cemetery, Giles Co, TN. See Mary Elizabeth’s memorial page link below for more...

4. Robert Lamar Bridgforth , 1824-1874, 50 yrs., buried New Garden Cemetery, Elkmont, AL. See Robert’s memorial page link below for more...

5. Thomas Oliver Bridgforth (09/09/1826-01/24/1910) buried in Nesbit Cemetery, Pleasant Hill, DeSoto County, MS. see Thomas’s memorial page link below for more....

6. Henry C. Bridgforth ,1829-1847, 18 yrs.,buried Bridgforth Family Cemetery, Giles Co., TN. See Henry’s memorial page link below for more...

7.Minerva D. Bridgforth, 1830-1854, 23-24 yrs., buried Bridgforth Cemetery #2 located on Pleasant Hill Road in DeSoto County, Mississippi. See Minerva’s memorial link below for more....

8. Martha Mariah Bridgforth Hanserd 1831-1909, 78 yrs., buried Elkton Cemetery, Giles Co. Tennessee. See Martha’s memorial Link below for more.....

9. Mariah Hobbs Bridgforth, 1837-1860, 23 yrs., buried DeSoto Co., Mississippi. Twin sister to Elizabeth M. See Mariah’s memorial link below for more...

10. Elizabeth M. Bridgforth, 1837-1880, 42 yrs., buried in the Elkton Cemetery, Giles County, Tennessee. Twin sister to Mariah Hobbs Bridgforth. See Elizabeth’s memorial link below for more...

The tenth child born to David Daniel and Mariah Dandridge Hobbs Bridgforth and twin sister to Mariah Hobbs Bridgforth, Elizabeth M. Bridgforth was born February 15, 1847 in Giles Co., TN. She married (1) Aurelius Lee Harneyin Giles County, Tennessee in 1860. He was born in 1837 in Tennessee and died in Giles County, Tennessee, December 25, 1861. Aurelius Lee Harney served as a Sergeant . Co. E., Tennessee Infantry , CSA. Elizabeth married (2) James Austin Bowers 1866, son of George Bowers and Nancy Brooks. He was born February 14, 1831 in Giles Co., TN and died January 13, 1878. Elizabeth M. Bowers died January 2, 1880. Both are buried in the Elkton/Harney/Camp/Miller Cemetery in Giles Co., Tennessee. They had one daughter, Virginia Lee Bowes.