Mourning Blanshard

1768 - 1834  (~ 66 years)

• Name	Mourning Blanshard
  Birth	Mar 1768	North Carolina   [1, 2, 3]
  Gender	Female
  Death	Sep 1834	Whitley County, Kentucky   [1, 2, 4]
  Burial	Red Bird Cemetery, Williamsburg, Whitley, Kentucky   [1, 2, 4]
  Person ID	I10836	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others
  Last Modified	26 Feb 2023

  
  

  Family	James Sumner,   b. Abt 1766, Gates, North Carolina d. 1834, Whitley County, Kentucky (Age ~ 68 years)
  Marriage	Aft 3 Apr 1784	Gates County, North Carolina   [5, 6]
  Children	+ 1. Nancy Anne Sumner,   b. Jun 1804   d. Jul 1876, Williamsburg, Whitley, Kentucky (Age ~ 72 years)
  Family ID	F6390	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	26 Feb 2023

  
  

• Notes

  According to P. Bryant, current maintainer of her Find a Grave page, she has been extensively confused with the Mahala Smith (1799-1882) who married Joseph Chestnutt Sumner (1793-1880). There appears to be no evidence that our Mourning (Blanshard) Sumner was called "Mahala" in her lifetime, despite the presence of that given name on her modern gravestone at Red Bird. Bryant goes on to say that the two extant contemporary records of Mourning (Blanshard) Sumner are her Gates County marriage contract and the 1790 census, neither of which call her Mahala. The marriage contract does show her birth surname as Blanshard and calls her "of Hertford County." It also specifies that once married, she will continue to have full possession of the land and slaves that were hers before marriage. Witnesses were Starkey Sharp, Walter McFarlane, and Joseph Witherington. 3 Apr 1784. (An Aaron Blanchard of Chowan County, North Carolina made his will on 15 Jul 1772, naming daughters Millicent, Mary, and Esther, wife Rachel, and "trusty friend" James Sumner, the latter of whom was also named an executor, leading many people, including us, to the hasty conclusion that Aaron was her father. But the James Sumner who married Mourning Blanshard would have been a young child at the time of Aaron Blanchard's will.) Assertions that she was of Cherokee heritage are, to the best of our knowledge, baseless.

  
  

• Sources

  [S282] Nancy Jonckheere, 23 Dec 1999, post to Cumberland-River-L. [S1055] Findagrave.com page for Mourning Blanshard Sumner. [S840] Ancestry of Elizabeth Louise White by Steven C. Perkins., date only. [S840] Ancestry of Elizabeth Louise White by Steven C. Perkins. [S115] North Carolina Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868, on ancestry.com. [S250] North Carolina Marriage Index, 1741-2004, on ancestry.com.