Finding the Ancestry of Mortimer Calvert of South Carolina

This is a summary of a query about Henrietta Calvert, orphaned as shown in 1896, Charleston, SC.

Henrietta Calvert, was left at the Charleston Orphan House in 1896, 8 yrs old.  Henrietta is listed in Orphan Records: "Admitted by father Mortimer Calvert, and mothers maiden name Agnes Scott. Lives at 12 Fishburne St. Presbyterian. Delivered to Ann E. Calvert, unknown May 9, 1905."

Great Grandmother Henrietta told family that she had an Auntie, named Anne, but that is about all that our inquiry had on the information for Mortimer.

 Mortimer was found in Census records, b 1841/2, at least we believe this is he in the index of a M. Calvert, age 35, b SC ( c 1815)

1850 SC Census

Calvert hh 585 605

M Calvert 35 m b SC Mason (thus born c 1815) Mortimer? mason?

Jackson Hope? 34 m Clerk

Ann Calvert  34 F b SC =  Ann Naser (Spouse)

Caroline Hope 32 F

John Hope 14 M

John Calvert 12 M

Mortimer Calvert 9 M (this guy is born 1841/2 according to census)

Washington Calvert 2 M

In all of our searches in behalf of this query, we were unable to learn much more. The descendant thought that maybe she was illegitimate and Ann wouldn't take her? Perhaps Agnes Scott never married Mortimer Calvert, Jr, or III either.  Both are possibilities and an illegitimacy would be a reason for Henrietta to be in an orphans home. That would possibly be explained by the given name Ann in the 1850 Census, and perhaps a later child?

Keeping in mind that the above 1850 Census, Charleston SC's census of 1861 (taken due to the

 war of Northern Aggression as they say in the south). We have Mortimer Calvert, no age, but

 single. This is Mortimer age 9 in 1850, mho, and good enough for  tracing Mortimer Jr.

 We did not find either of them in the US Census, of 1860.

 It is possible that there is a plausible Mortimer III and he is the  father of Henrietta, who married Agnes Scott or had a liaison.

Marriage of Mortimer (Sr.) to Ann Naser

It appears that Mortimer Mortimer Sr married 1835 SC marriage Index, Oct 10, 1835, Ann  Naser. Charleston Observer Marriage Notice. We must check local newspapers of the era to see if we can find a marriage record of this date. Or in other repositories or  Newspaper Archives.

Mortimer Sr. was in the 1840 Census SC but this must be a user record and not retrievable at Genealogy.com. We did spend some time walking page by page through the Census of 1840. This needs further attention and a more concerted effort, looking for surname variations, seeking a younger Mortimer Sr by a different given name b c 1815.

Mortimer Jr., age 9 in the 1850 Census, is found in the US Census 1900 as Mortimer Calbert

Census Microfilm Records: South Carolina, 1900

Lived in: 7 Ward Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, Series: T623, Microfilm:1520, bk1, page 278, Precinct 2:

HH 367 59 79 Calbert, and was born in 1843, so this must be a listing for Mortimer, Jr. And there is a marriage record for this Mortimer, 1834 in SC, marrying Ann Naser. This Census shows his wife to be Anna, two children and border, but no Henrietta.

Moritmer head b Jun 1843 age 56 Carpenter

Anna wife b Apr 1864 age 34 Seamstress

James Son b Jun 1884 age 14 Baggage Factory

Maude dau b Jan 1889 age 10 at School

Ellis, Joseph, Border b Jul 1841 age 58

All members of this family group show b SC and both parents for all born SC, all are literate.

Mortimer owns his own home. Now, This Mortimer seems to be Jr, and his father would have been born, perhaps, 1815, and he would be born in SC according to this Census Entry. There is perhaps another Mortimer, Mortimer III, who would be older than 18 or 20 and on his own, say perhaps born sometime before 1884, and perhaps, in the 1870's.

Other Census Records

US Census 1900 Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston County, Roll 1520 Book 1, Page 313a (Charleston Orphan's House):

Annie E. Calbert, age 42 Born Feb 1858, SC SC SC Matron O House This may be the Annie Herbert listed below.

Henrietta page 313A, listed as Calvert, but indexed as Calbert. Pupil, b Aug 1888 SC SC SC, literate thus she is 12 years old as the  This Census was taken June 2, 1900. Very confusing, this is page 313 for Annie, and 313 A for Henrietta. We examined the Census for Annie E. of various spellings and don't find it but we did find Annie E Herbert in 1900 in the index, right page,  There is an Annie in NC Northampton  Calvert, 1900 b 1870 and is not the correct Annie.  There is an Annie in MS: Census Microfilm Records: Mississippi, 1900 Lived in: Macon, Noxubee County, Mississippi

Series: T623 Microfilm: 822 Book: 2 Page: 185, but we do not think this is the correct family 

Phoebie 56 Midwife b SC

Henry L 20 Laborer b SC

Lyrus Landers 53 Boatman b SC

Libby " 40 b SC

John M. 14 at school b SC

Ward 4, South Carolina, CHARLESTON, Roll 1486 Book 1, Page 266a

Eliza Calvert    30 b SC Domestic Servant

Augustus Calvert 28 b SC Drayman

Ward 4, South Carolina, CHARLESTON, Roll 1486 Book 1, Page 275b

William Cuthbert, 26, B Ireland - in HH of Joseph Williams 853/1192,

no employment present.

Mortimer Jr is in the US Census 1900 as Mortimer Calbert

Census Microfilm Records: South Carolina, 1900

Lived in: 7 Ward Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina

Series: T623, Microfilm:1520, bk1, page 278, Precinct 2:

HH 367 59 79 Calbert This guy was b 1843, he must be Mortimer Jr,

marrying Ann Naser. This Census shows his wife to be Anna, two

children and border, but no Henrietta.

Moritmer head b Jun 1843 age 56 Carpenter

Anna wife b Apr 1864 age 34 Seamstress

James Son b Jun 1884 age 14 Baggage Factory

Maude dau b Jan 1889 age 10 at School

Ellis, Joseph, (a Border) b Jul 1841 age 58

US Census 1900 Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston County,

Roll 1520 Book 1, Page 313a (Charleston Orphan's House):

Annie E. Calbert, age 42 Born Feb 1858, SC SC SC Matron O House

This may be Herbert.Ooops, see remarks below on Annie Herbert.

Henrietta page 313A, listed as Calvert, but indexed as Calbert.

Listed as Henrietta Calvert, Pupil, b Aug 1888 SC SC SC 

Henrietta is listed as literate thus she is 12 years old as the Census was taken June 2, 1900. Very confusing, this is page 313 for Annie, and 313 A for Henrietta. We looked in the Census for Annie E.

of various spellings and did not find it; and as noted, we did find Annie E Herbert in 1900 in the index, right page, thus this was a wrong idea, There is an Annie in NC Northampton  Calvert, 1900 b 1870. There is an Annie in MS: Census Microfilm Records: Mississippi, 1900 Lived in: Macon, Noxubee County, Mississippi Series: T623 Microfilm: 822 Book: 2 Page: 185.

The census with Henrietta as a pupil in 1900 is the family researcher's Great-Grandmother Henrietta. Her middle name is Modena. She has wondered if they called her Maude, but family  says "No". She has always gone by Henrietta. And family members say that her mother's name was Agnes, not Ann. Orphan House records say that her parents are Mortimer Calvert and Agnes Scott. Henrietta even named one of daughters after her mother, "Agnes".

We do have a 1910 census with Henrietta living with her Aunt Ann Calvert. Orphan records confirm that she was released to her. This Ann never married. She lived with a man and his son. His name was William Adair. Ann Calvert (Mortimer's sister) is with them in 1900 and in 1910. However: But  we cannot find Mortimer or Agnes on a census. Someone in my family found an M. Edward Calvert married to an Agnes C. Scott.

The researcher noted and asked: According to family, Henrietta had an older brother. But now, no one seems to know his name. Is there any way you can help and see if there is a record of an M. Edward Calvert and Agnes C. Scott being married? That may be a clue according to the family member who is researching Mortimer Calvert and her great grandmother.

From the research and family lore, it is thought that a John John is brother of Mortimer and an Uncle also. There is a James also. These two might be the way to trace the family. We need to further research the descendants of these two siblings and see if we find the children of both Mortimer's, or even a 3rd one, walking through Census? Now Henrietta was b 1888.

We are also looking to antecedents of Mortimer Calvert C 1815 AND a Possible Mortimer III or a son named such but using a different given name. Mortimer appears to be a common namesake in the family. The family researcher posited that either Mortimer b 1843 had an illegitimate child, or, that Mortimer Jr had son James, Mortimer and others, and this Mortimer, the III, is the father of Henrietta. This may account for the family story of Mortimer m Agnes Scott. (We find no record of such a marriage). So it could be, Mort b 1843 had illegitimate Henrietta, which is why she was orphan resident in 1900.

Antecedents of Mortimer Calvert Circa 1815 of Charleston SC

John Calvert, Machinist on Bull St, Charleston, 1860?

I was looking at John Calvert who was a machinist and Mortimore Calvert was a Bricklayer thing is they have the same address it is 1860 and address is  Bull St?

William Calvert M Mary Steinson 1733

There is a William Calvert who married Mary Steinson 8 Sept 1733 they are supposed to be the parents of John Calvert who married many times and at one point Ann Withers..there is some connection to the Withers family. I see Where a Henry Gray of Charleston Gentleman and Mary Ann Withers of Goose Creek Spinster a minor, William Johnston and John Calvert Trustees.

Rebecca Withers married a Jacinth DeLaval vocation Bricks & Tile Maker..26 June 1786 and John Calvert was a witness... We did not find a marriage of a John Calvert to a Withers. There is a marriage for John Calvert to Mary Clarke 13 Nov 1755. 

There is a marriage of  John Calvert and a Elizabeth Holmes a widow 29 June 1781.

There is a John Calvert head of household in S.C., 1790.

There is a ____Calvert & _____Linthwaite that married 2 Jan 1766.. This ? Calvert has been identified as William by various researchers, and he is said to have been the father of a John Calvert who is said to have had 4 different wives(note the two above).

These probably are the Calvert's that Mortimer Calvert is descending from...a very old Calvert family  of Charleston S.C., It would seem that William Calvert who married Mary Steinson in 1733 is the proginator. 

William Calvert, Emigrant, 1733?

Karen Carty, one of our administrators, contributed the following: 

Baptists in Georgia

 In 1733, one or two Baptists arrived on the boat with James Oglethorpe:
William Calvert, a lay preacher, and his wife, who might have shared his faith. Others soon followed, totaling probably fewer than 140 by 1770. In 1772 the first continuing Baptist church, Kiokee near Appling, was founded; twelve years later the first Baptist association in the state, the Georgia  Association, appeared. As the new century opened, there were about 4,700 Baptists, gathered in 72 churches, with 3 district associations that included 90 percent of the total Baptist population. When the new nation was formed in 1776, about .52 percent of all Georgians were Baptist. In 1800 the figure stood at about 3 percent.

Source: http://libraries.mercer.edu/tarver/archives Baptists in Georgia,
1733-2010, ROBERT G. GARDNER
Georgia Settlers, Feb. 1733
There are 115 individual names in 40 families on this list. This list is accurate except where question marks appear.

Calvert, William, 44, Trader in Goods
Calvert, Mary, 42, Wife of William
Greenfield, William, 19, Nephew

Greenfield, Charles, 16, Nephew
Greenfield, Sarah, 16, Niece

The 112 individuals listed below made up the first forty families to arrive in Georgia with General James Oglethorpe. These settlers left England, sailing from Gravesend on the ship Ann, on November 17, 1732. They arrived in Charleston, South Carolina on January 13, 1733 and set sail for Georgia one week later. This list gives the name of each colonist, age upon embarking on the ship Ann, occupation and/or family connection, official position in Georgia, and status 21  years later. 

Name- Age-Occupation/Family Connection-Official Position in Georgia-Disposition by 1754

Calvert, Mary, 42, Wife of William,  (dead by 1733 )

Calvert, William, 44, Trader in Goods none listed,  No record after 1738.

This William then, was born c 1691 in England.

Source: Georgia Journeys, Being on Account of the Lives of Georgia's Original Settlers and Many Other Early Settlers from the Founding of the Colony in 1732 until the Institution of Royal Government in 1754. By Sarah B. Govern Temple and Kenneth Coleman, The University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia 1961, Appendix, pages 254-256.

The niece and nephews  of William (above) were also listed:
Greenfield, Charles, 16, Nephew to William Calvert, n/l, No record after 1738
Greenfield, Sarah, 16, Niece to William Calvert, n/l, Apparently removed to South Carolina
Greenfield, William, 19, Nephew to William Calvert, n/l, No record after 1738.

From THE CALVERT FAMILY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, By Robert B. Paslay, Jr.

The first Calvert that I have been able to find in the records of South Carolina was the marriage of William Calvert to Mary Stainson in St. Phillips Episc. Church Charleston in fall of 1733.

This is the only reference to William Calvert I have except in 1771 a William Calvert got a grant in Granville County South Carolina. We believe this William Calvert married 1733 to Mary Stainson was the father of  mJohn Calvert is 1755 married at St. Phillips Church Charleston to Mary Clark, per license Rev. Clark.

There were two other Calvert's mentioned in Charleston that could connect one a Raymond Calvert left Will in Charleston and London in 1767 had publication of his will in Charleston and a  a Joseph Calvert who was in the revolution in SC.

Francis Calvert of the seventh Generation (O'Gorman) removed to SC and had issue. This particular Calvert research is ongoing at Calvert_Genealogy Research Group and is presently also discussed on the facebook page: CalvertGenealogy.

Of particular note is the research on Valentine Calvert and his son Mason, research in the Antecedents of Mason Colbert of TN, b c 1800, whom we have proven to be Calvert via the Calvert Surname Project at FamilyTreeDNA. This Mason removed to Alabama and is one of the current research projects. Francis Calvert, who was the son of Jesse had a son Francis (SC) who m  Miss Wardlaw in the early 1800s. They had a daughter Jane Calvert.... 

A John Calvert, .... who prior to, during and after the revolution was quite some character around Charleston and moved 1789 to Columbia where he was one first County Judges and on the first City Commission of Columbia 1787 and died there 1803-4. The first record as I said of him in South Carolina was in 1755 and St. Philips Church he married Mary Clark by lic. Rev. Clark. He secondly married Elizabeth Homes, widow of Pat Holmes, and later he fourthly m Hannah Westcott, widow of David Westcott of Columbia. He was a Commissioned Merchant  Brewer- Bookkeeper, etc. In early Charleston and in 1765 met as one of the original 26 “Liberty Tree” boys to pledge further resistance to Great Britain. Commissary General of South Carolina. He was wounded at the Battle of Beauford in 1779 and in 1780 he and two sons were run out of Charleston by the British for failure to take oath of allegiance to them. In 1787 he was on the voting list of Charleston. He was in 1765 in the brewage business as partner with one Egan. His son John Calvert Jr. carried the 4 messages in 1775 from Gov. Rutledge to Gen Moultrie . His will on file 1804 in Richland County SC. He owned large tracts in Charleston, Marion, Pickens County SC and in Richland. He appears to have had no children by his last two wives and some of the minor children of this first two marriages are buried at St. Phillips. He had the following  among whom is: 

John Calvert Jr. B about 1756 married Elizabeth Mortimer of Charleston. He died Georgetown, SC 1795 and she died Charleston 1805. She was aunt to second wife of Jean Lafite. I do not know whether they had issue. Her funeral announced in S.C. Gazette.

This, I believe, is the source of the family using "Mortimer" as a given name.

There is a William Calvert b married Miss Elsenore lived at Beaufort N.F.R. 3.3. Elisabeth Calvert who in 1804 was the Executrix of her fathers will not then married she later married William Taylor nephew of Col. Thos. Taylor of Columbia and first cousin of Go. John Taylor. He was the 5th sheriff of Richland N.F.R.

Source:  THE CALVERT FAMILY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, By Robert B. Paslay, Jr. (from Spartenburg, SC, the author passed away in 1982)

Bottom Line: We are stuck at both ends of the research. From what we know, it very possibly may be that William Calvert, emigrant, is the oldest ancestor of Mortimer.

Addendum: When researching the Rhode Island Calvert's a member of Charleston, SC., Calvert's Thomas H Calvert was found residing in early Providence, Rhode Island 1830 census.  Further research and YDNA participant's for both Calvert family lines will be needed to determine if the two Calvert families were related. We know that the Calvert Rhode Island Calvert's were involved in shipping William Calvert was styled Capt in his daughter's marriage records (Newport RI) and his son John Pinckney Calvert was styled ship pilot. See previous post this blog. Charleston, South Carolina has a deep harbor Port Charleston.  Thomas H Calvert's wife who was born in Rhode Island, Ann Elizabeth Calvert's virtual Find A Grave Marker Charleston, South Carolina. 

If any can help with this research please contact us via email, or enter a message on the Calvert  Genealogy Facebook page or insure the information in response is provided to the Calvert Genealogy Yahoo Group (Research Group) or via this blog.

Thanks in Advance,

Special thanks to Karen Carty, Calvert research  group administrator.

Administrators:
David Bell (dai_sca@yahoo.com)

Laree Lee (mcdanielgirl2001@yahoo.com)