There's a student in my Mordecai rolls named Martha Crow, who attended for one session, the second half of 1813. She's called "Patsy Crow" in the Mordecai ledger, on the August 1813 page, and her name is with Betsy Mason and Littleton Williamson--possible connections there.* As far as I can see, that's her only mention in the Mordecai family's papers.
There are a few possible Martha Crows in the genealogical sites:
This Martha Crow was born in North Carolina about 1795, making her 18 in 1813--older than the usual student, but not out of bounds, and that would explain her brief stay. She married John A. Dugger in 1835 ((as his second wife, when she was 40). Same Martha Crow was definitely called Patsy, and was the daughter of Abraham (aka Abel) Crow and Sarah Willis, of Orange County NC. Much of their family migrated to Tennessee, including Martha.
A slightly better candidate, age-wise, is this Martha Crow, born in 1800 to Rev. Charles Crow Jr. (born in NC, 1770-1845) and Sarah Harlan (born in NC, 1775-1820) in South Carolina. In 1819 she married a James Meredith, and had two children, Permelia (b. 1822 in Georgia) and Henry Hitt Meredith (1820-1896). She seems to have married again, to Thomas Harvill(e), before she died in 1830, age 30.
Another possibility (on the young side this time) is Martha "Patsy" Crow born c1807. She married in 1824, in Kentucky, to John J. Tipton, and had two children, Martha and Samuel.
Well, that's three possibilities. None of them obviously far more
likely than the others. Maybe something will come up to help tip the
balance, or bring a completely different Martha Crow to consideration.
*I thought Littleton Williamson's origin might be a help--but he was from Georgia (I don't have any students definitely from Georgia yet, and it would have been pretty far to go). He may simply have been en route in 1813, having served in the War of 1812, and carried a few students along the way. The "Betsy Mason" in their company could have been the "Eliza Mason" in my rolls--except that Eliza Mason wasn't a student at the Mordecai school in 1813, to my knowledge. Nor was the only other student named Mason. Curiouser and curiouser.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
114-115. Margaret and Martha Crittenden Brownlow
Two girls named Crittenden are on my list of Mordecai students:
Margaret B. Crittenden of Halifax County, NC, attended the school for both 1811 sessions.
Martha Maria Crittenden, also of Halifax County NC, attended the school for the first 1811 session.
The word "Crittendens" appears in the school ledger in September 1813, but I don't know the context of that. There don't seem to be any mentions of them in the family correspondence.
********
Martha Crittenden (1799-1881) had a long association with Warrenton. From a local history written in the 1920s:
*Sidenote: There seems to have been a fashion for "exotic" names among some wealthy white North Carolinians of this generation. Tippoo Sahib Brownlow was obviously named for Tipu Sultan (1749-99), the sultan of Mysore. Another man from a different family, Hyder Ali Davie (son of the governor of North Carolina) was named for Tipu's father, Hyder Ali, also a sultan of Mysore.
**********
I can find much less about Margaret Crittenden of Halifax County. There's a marriage record that finds her matched with Anthony A. Wyche of Virginia in November 1818. This family chart has his name as Augustus Wyche, and shows them with three daughters (Margaret, Laura, and Augusta). (There's a grave for Laura Wyche Henarie (1827-1915) in a Catholic cemetery in Texas. The bio with her listing says she was born in North Carolina, the daughter of Margaret Crittenden and "Emmett" Wyche. So Mr. Wyche's first name is a bit slippery.)
Margaret may have married twice; Margaret Crittenden Carnal (1800-1871) turns up in a cemetery in Louisiana, with a daughter Augusta Wyche Canfield (1830-1898); if that's the same woman, some sad stories are in that plot. Augusta Wyche Canfield looks to have had three little daughters on the eve of the Civil War; her husband died in battle, and all three girls were gone by 1867 (the youngest lived to be six years old; the other two, even shorter). So, did Margaret go to comfort her youngest daughter, widowed and thrice bereaved, in her last years?
**********
Note that I still have no parents' names for Margaret and Martha, nor indeed do I know for certain that they were sisters.
UPDATE 5/15/13: I have heard from a local historian with an interest in the Crittendens. Margaret and Martha were, indeed, sisters, the daughters of Henry Crittendon of Northhampton County; he died in 1803. Their mother may have died before that date, when the girls were very little. My correspondent also confirms that Margaret married a second time, to a Mr. Carnal (whose first name isn't agreed upon in the various records). Martha Crittenden and Tippoo Sahib Brownlow had four daughters, it seems: Margaret (Mrs. James B. Yellowly); Elizabeth (Mrs. Benjamin W. Edwards); Rebecca (Mrs. Nathaniel Edwards), and Ellen Brownlow (unmarried), who was a teacher in Warren County, and who (many years after the Civil War) was in possession of a breastpin containing a lock of Robert E. Lee's hair.
Margaret B. Crittenden of Halifax County, NC, attended the school for both 1811 sessions.
Martha Maria Crittenden, also of Halifax County NC, attended the school for the first 1811 session.
The word "Crittendens" appears in the school ledger in September 1813, but I don't know the context of that. There don't seem to be any mentions of them in the family correspondence.
********
Martha Crittenden (1799-1881) had a long association with Warrenton. From a local history written in the 1920s:
"Mrs. Brownlow was Miss Martha Crittenden of Halifax County. She was a lady of means and had received the best educational advantages of her day. She was a boarder at the Mordecai School in Warrenton when the building burned. At her beautiful home, La Vallee, in Halifax County, she had teachers to conduct the education of her four daughters... Mrs. Brownlow was one of the most remarkable women I ever knew. Her courage, her indefatigable industry, her capacity along all lines, her cheerful amiability, her patient resignation when adversity came, were subjects of the comment and admiration of all her knew her..."
It goes on like that for a while. Not sure how one session at the Mordecai school counts as "the best educational advantages of her day," but that's a pretty typical tone of local histories. Anyway, we learn that in 1817 Martha married the most wonderfully-named Dr. Tippoo Sahib Brownlow of Wilmington (c1794-1879).* The couple lived in Halifax County, where Tippoo was a trustee of a female seminary located on their La Vallee estate. In 1849 or 1850, they moved into Warrenton and bought the corner hotel, "perhaps the best known and best kept hotel in the State," according to the same local history (so take that as likely hyperbole). This is one of their grandsons, James Brownlow Yellowley (1848-1914).
*Sidenote: There seems to have been a fashion for "exotic" names among some wealthy white North Carolinians of this generation. Tippoo Sahib Brownlow was obviously named for Tipu Sultan (1749-99), the sultan of Mysore. Another man from a different family, Hyder Ali Davie (son of the governor of North Carolina) was named for Tipu's father, Hyder Ali, also a sultan of Mysore.
**********
I can find much less about Margaret Crittenden of Halifax County. There's a marriage record that finds her matched with Anthony A. Wyche of Virginia in November 1818. This family chart has his name as Augustus Wyche, and shows them with three daughters (Margaret, Laura, and Augusta). (There's a grave for Laura Wyche Henarie (1827-1915) in a Catholic cemetery in Texas. The bio with her listing says she was born in North Carolina, the daughter of Margaret Crittenden and "Emmett" Wyche. So Mr. Wyche's first name is a bit slippery.)
Margaret may have married twice; Margaret Crittenden Carnal (1800-1871) turns up in a cemetery in Louisiana, with a daughter Augusta Wyche Canfield (1830-1898); if that's the same woman, some sad stories are in that plot. Augusta Wyche Canfield looks to have had three little daughters on the eve of the Civil War; her husband died in battle, and all three girls were gone by 1867 (the youngest lived to be six years old; the other two, even shorter). So, did Margaret go to comfort her youngest daughter, widowed and thrice bereaved, in her last years?
**********
Note that I still have no parents' names for Margaret and Martha, nor indeed do I know for certain that they were sisters.
UPDATE 5/15/13: I have heard from a local historian with an interest in the Crittendens. Margaret and Martha were, indeed, sisters, the daughters of Henry Crittendon of Northhampton County; he died in 1803. Their mother may have died before that date, when the girls were very little. My correspondent also confirms that Margaret married a second time, to a Mr. Carnal (whose first name isn't agreed upon in the various records). Martha Crittenden and Tippoo Sahib Brownlow had four daughters, it seems: Margaret (Mrs. James B. Yellowly); Elizabeth (Mrs. Benjamin W. Edwards); Rebecca (Mrs. Nathaniel Edwards), and Ellen Brownlow (unmarried), who was a teacher in Warren County, and who (many years after the Civil War) was in possession of a breastpin containing a lock of Robert E. Lee's hair.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
113. Maria Crenshaw
There was a student at the Mordecai school named Maria Crenshaw. I have her attending for the last three sessions (mid-1817 to the end of 1818), from Hendersonville VA, with an adult named Branch Osburn possibly connected to her account. "Branch Osburn for M. Crenshaw" appears in the school ledger for July 1817; and "Osburne for Miss Crenshaw" in November 1817; again the names are paired in the January 1818 ledger page. In June 1818, a "Capt. Knight" is paying for Miss Crenshaw's schooling.
Now, bear with me, this gets a little complicated: Branch Osborne (b. c1793) of Nottoway Co., Virginia married twice. His first wife, Elizabeth Guerrant Dupuy, was the older sister of a Mordecai student, Elvira Dupuy (more on her soon). His second wife, Mildred Carter, was kin to the Crenshaws--her stepmother was born Lucy Anne Crenshaw, and two of her brothers married women named Crenshaw (presumably kin of Lucy's). So we have this Mr. Branch Osborne connected to the Mordecai school through his first wife, and to the Crenshaw family through his second wife. But still no Maria Crenshaw...
So I feel like I'm close, but no bingo. Maria Crenshaw was very likely one of the Crenshaw/Carter/Osborne clan living around Nottoway and Amelia Counties. But which one, and what happened after her brief stay in Warrenton, I still can't say.
(A further tidbit--there are Marthas in this family. Did I misread Maria/Martha? Doesn't seem likely, but maybe.)
Now, bear with me, this gets a little complicated: Branch Osborne (b. c1793) of Nottoway Co., Virginia married twice. His first wife, Elizabeth Guerrant Dupuy, was the older sister of a Mordecai student, Elvira Dupuy (more on her soon). His second wife, Mildred Carter, was kin to the Crenshaws--her stepmother was born Lucy Anne Crenshaw, and two of her brothers married women named Crenshaw (presumably kin of Lucy's). So we have this Mr. Branch Osborne connected to the Mordecai school through his first wife, and to the Crenshaw family through his second wife. But still no Maria Crenshaw...
So I feel like I'm close, but no bingo. Maria Crenshaw was very likely one of the Crenshaw/Carter/Osborne clan living around Nottoway and Amelia Counties. But which one, and what happened after her brief stay in Warrenton, I still can't say.
(A further tidbit--there are Marthas in this family. Did I misread Maria/Martha? Doesn't seem likely, but maybe.)
Saturday, January 12, 2013
112. Arnette S. Craig
A student named Arnette Craig is on the rolls for the Mordecai school; she was there three sessions, mid-1817 to the end of 1818 (and maybe past, because there were some students who stayed past the sale). I have her as a student from Richmond VA, with a Samuel Paine as the adult name attached to her account, along with a Mrs. Craig, suggesting that Mr. Craig died before mid-1817.
Her unusual first name helps find mentions...except that it's spelled so many different ways.
"Papa received a letter from Mr. Saml. Paine, the gentleman who conversed with you respecting the school requesting admission for Miss Craig. She cannot be received this session, but if they wish it will have a place reserved for her next," Rachel Mordecai wrote to Solomon Mordecai in the summer before Arnette came to Warrenton (27 July 1817). She seems to have shared a ride to school with another student, Harriet Marx, who was kin to the Mordecais (18 January and 17 February 1818); Rachel reported the scene on Arnette's arrival at school, "I have just heard an alarm sounded of 'Arnett Craig is come' but as she has not made her appearance I cannot vouch for it being well grounded" (15 February 1818). The next year we find Rachel reporting from outside Richmond, "Mrs. Payne, Arnot Craig's mother, died suddenly a few days since..." (6 December 1819).
Okay, turning to the genealogical information online: Arnette S. Craig (1805-1873) was the younger daughter of Adam and Mary Mallory Craig, of Virginia. This is the Adam Craig house in Richmond (here's the marker). Adam died while his daughters were young; Mary Mallory Craig remarried to Samuel Paine in 1817. In 1822, Arnette Craig married Philip Whitehead Claiborne (b 1801, also in Virginia). At some point around 1830, the Claibornes move to Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama, where they were still living in 1860. They're listed with at least eight children; this is the grave of one of Arnette's granddaughters, Mary Claiborne Porter (1859-1939).
Arnette must not have minded her unusual first name, because she named one of her own daughters Philapella (1843-1871).
Her unusual first name helps find mentions...except that it's spelled so many different ways.
"Papa received a letter from Mr. Saml. Paine, the gentleman who conversed with you respecting the school requesting admission for Miss Craig. She cannot be received this session, but if they wish it will have a place reserved for her next," Rachel Mordecai wrote to Solomon Mordecai in the summer before Arnette came to Warrenton (27 July 1817). She seems to have shared a ride to school with another student, Harriet Marx, who was kin to the Mordecais (18 January and 17 February 1818); Rachel reported the scene on Arnette's arrival at school, "I have just heard an alarm sounded of 'Arnett Craig is come' but as she has not made her appearance I cannot vouch for it being well grounded" (15 February 1818). The next year we find Rachel reporting from outside Richmond, "Mrs. Payne, Arnot Craig's mother, died suddenly a few days since..." (6 December 1819).
Okay, turning to the genealogical information online: Arnette S. Craig (1805-1873) was the younger daughter of Adam and Mary Mallory Craig, of Virginia. This is the Adam Craig house in Richmond (here's the marker). Adam died while his daughters were young; Mary Mallory Craig remarried to Samuel Paine in 1817. In 1822, Arnette Craig married Philip Whitehead Claiborne (b 1801, also in Virginia). At some point around 1830, the Claibornes move to Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama, where they were still living in 1860. They're listed with at least eight children; this is the grave of one of Arnette's granddaughters, Mary Claiborne Porter (1859-1939).
Arnette must not have minded her unusual first name, because she named one of her own daughters Philapella (1843-1871).
111. Mary Connick
I have a student in the rolls for the Mordecai school named Mary Connick. No hometown, no adult name attached to the account. She seems to have been at the school in 1809 (its first year), and then later for the first half of 1811. That pattern sounds like a local girl...
I think she only turns up once in my transcripts of the Mordecai papers--1.50 for pocket money for "M. Connick" is in the school ledger for May 1811. That's it. Not much to work with there.
Connick is an established surname--think Harry Connick Jr., for one--but it's possible that the name Connick was misspelled by the Mordecais, or misread by me. Maybe it should be Cormack, or Connaught? Not seeing any likely candidates, with any variation. Trying Polly (a common nickname for Mary at the time)... Okay, well, there's a Polly Cormack born 1797 (which would be the right year for a 1809-1811 student), born in North Carolina, daughter of Lewis Cormack (1769-1842) and Esther; but it looks like their family had moved to Tennesee by 1805. Probably not her.
Too many dead ends for now to connect Mary Connick the student to anyone in other records. We'll wait and see if anyone comes along who know's more.
I think she only turns up once in my transcripts of the Mordecai papers--1.50 for pocket money for "M. Connick" is in the school ledger for May 1811. That's it. Not much to work with there.
Connick is an established surname--think Harry Connick Jr., for one--but it's possible that the name Connick was misspelled by the Mordecais, or misread by me. Maybe it should be Cormack, or Connaught? Not seeing any likely candidates, with any variation. Trying Polly (a common nickname for Mary at the time)... Okay, well, there's a Polly Cormack born 1797 (which would be the right year for a 1809-1811 student), born in North Carolina, daughter of Lewis Cormack (1769-1842) and Esther; but it looks like their family had moved to Tennesee by 1805. Probably not her.
Too many dead ends for now to connect Mary Connick the student to anyone in other records. We'll wait and see if anyone comes along who know's more.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
109, 110. Nancy and Catharine Collins
I have two students named Collins listed as attending the Mordecai school:
Ann or Nancy Collins was there in three periods: The second half of 1811, from 1814 to mid-1816, and both 1818 sessions. That's a strange pattern; is it possible there were two, even three girls named Ann/Nancy Collins?
Catharine Collins attended the school for just one session, the first half of 1811.
I don't have adults' names or hometowns attached to either girl's account, so this could be a short entry.
Or not. There's a mention in an 1812 letter from student Emily Sitgreaves to Caroline Mordecai, asking "My love to all the girls I know especially Mary Stith, and my dear little Collins write me how she comes on." Except we don't have a Collins students at the school in 1812. Emily Sitgreaves attended in both 1811 sessions, so she could be referring to either Nancy or Catharine with affection.
There's a letter from Caroline Plunkett to Ellen Mordecai dated 10 June 1826, in which she mentions "did I tell you Nancy O Brien, Collins, was going to keep school next session..." That construction can mean "Nancy O'Brien, who used to be Nancy Collins" in the Mordecai letters. Another mention of Nancy Collins comes twenty years later: Ellen Mordecai writing back to Caroline on New Year's Eve, 1846, says:
I found a possible match for Catharine Collins: There's a family history that mentions a Catharine Collins born 1802 in South Carolina, who married in 1826 to a Henry Rodgers at Monroe, Georgia, and had five children--and her second daughter was named Nancy. She was widowed before 1850, and died between 1850 and 1870, probably in Murray Co., Georgia. There weren't a lot of students who attended the Mordecai school from South Carolina, but there were some, so this Catharine wouldn't have been an outlier geographically.
The student (or students) Nancy Collins could be this Nancy Collins, born 1798 in North Carolina, the daughter of Griffin and Martha Collins. She would have married a Mr. Robinson (not O'Brien), and if all the Ann/Nancy Collinses are the same, she would have been 20 by the time she finished at the Mordecai school. It's not impossible, but certainly unlikely. Another family history has this Nancy Collins, daughter of William and Martha Collins, who married in 1827 to Samuel Black, in Bourbon KY--But her family moved from Virginia to Kentucky in 1797, probably before she was born. There's no record of students coming to the school from Kentucky, though certainly some moved there later in life. Haven't found a Nancy Collins O'Brien who would fit the mention from 1826, though.
Nothing for sure in this one. But I'm glad to have the Collins mentions put together here, and maybe someone from family or local history will come by to claim one or both of these students.
Ann or Nancy Collins was there in three periods: The second half of 1811, from 1814 to mid-1816, and both 1818 sessions. That's a strange pattern; is it possible there were two, even three girls named Ann/Nancy Collins?
Catharine Collins attended the school for just one session, the first half of 1811.
I don't have adults' names or hometowns attached to either girl's account, so this could be a short entry.
Or not. There's a mention in an 1812 letter from student Emily Sitgreaves to Caroline Mordecai, asking "My love to all the girls I know especially Mary Stith, and my dear little Collins write me how she comes on." Except we don't have a Collins students at the school in 1812. Emily Sitgreaves attended in both 1811 sessions, so she could be referring to either Nancy or Catharine with affection.
There's a letter from Caroline Plunkett to Ellen Mordecai dated 10 June 1826, in which she mentions "did I tell you Nancy O Brien, Collins, was going to keep school next session..." That construction can mean "Nancy O'Brien, who used to be Nancy Collins" in the Mordecai letters. Another mention of Nancy Collins comes twenty years later: Ellen Mordecai writing back to Caroline on New Year's Eve, 1846, says:
"Mary and I went all over the schoolhouse now moved to where stood our kitchen and the school house is now used for one and sleeping apartments for the servants. Only one name remains Nancy Collins cut deep into the schoolroom mantlepiece."So not only was Nancy Collins a student at the school, but one who left a permanent impression, literally.
I found a possible match for Catharine Collins: There's a family history that mentions a Catharine Collins born 1802 in South Carolina, who married in 1826 to a Henry Rodgers at Monroe, Georgia, and had five children--and her second daughter was named Nancy. She was widowed before 1850, and died between 1850 and 1870, probably in Murray Co., Georgia. There weren't a lot of students who attended the Mordecai school from South Carolina, but there were some, so this Catharine wouldn't have been an outlier geographically.
The student (or students) Nancy Collins could be this Nancy Collins, born 1798 in North Carolina, the daughter of Griffin and Martha Collins. She would have married a Mr. Robinson (not O'Brien), and if all the Ann/Nancy Collinses are the same, she would have been 20 by the time she finished at the Mordecai school. It's not impossible, but certainly unlikely. Another family history has this Nancy Collins, daughter of William and Martha Collins, who married in 1827 to Samuel Black, in Bourbon KY--But her family moved from Virginia to Kentucky in 1797, probably before she was born. There's no record of students coming to the school from Kentucky, though certainly some moved there later in life. Haven't found a Nancy Collins O'Brien who would fit the mention from 1826, though.
Nothing for sure in this one. But I'm glad to have the Collins mentions put together here, and maybe someone from family or local history will come by to claim one or both of these students.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
106, 107, 108. The Colemans
I have four (well, three*) students in my dissertation appendix named "Coleman":
The main mentions of these Colemans in the Mordecai papers seems to be in the ledger: Col. Coleman paying for music and French in July 1813 (so that's for Margaret), "John W. Pleasants for Miss Coleman" in January 1817 (so that's Louisiana), "Col H E Coleman, Miss Maria" in January 1818, etc. There was a bill paid to a shoemaker, for boots for a group of girls including "M Coleman," in March 1818. The family also knew a Dr. Coleman in Warrenton, who may have been kin to these girls, but there are no mentions of daughters or nieces of his at the school.
Louisiana Coleman's unusual first name makes her a good place to start. Louisiana Coleman (1804-1883) was the youngest daughter of Maj. Samuel Coleman (1755-1811) and Susannah Pleasants Storrs, of Henrico County, Virginia. Her unusual first name was part of her family's pattern--she had among her older sisters "Araminta" and "Emmeline." Her father died in 1811, so the John W. Pleasants who covered her bills might have been a maternal relative. She married John Newton Gordon (1793-1870) in 1823, and they had eight children who all lived to adulthood: Susanna, James, Amelia, Mary, Maria, Ann, John, and Edward (guess she didn't inherit her parents' fancy for offbeat names.)
Col. Henry Embry Coleman (1768-1837) turns out to have been a prominent figure. Among other roles, he was on the jury that tried Aaron Burr for treason in Richmond in 1807. His house, Woodlawn, was in Halifax County on the Staunton River, near John Randolph's plantation. He and Anne "Nancy" Gordon (d. 1824; not a sister to the John Newton Gordon above, but maybe not a distant relative either) married in 1795, had twelve children; their eldest daughter Elizabeth married Charles Baskerville, whose sisters Mary and Ann Baskerville attended the Mordecai school.
Second daughter Margaret Murray Coleman (1798-1869) was probably the Mordecai student Margaret M. Coleman. She was fourteen when she arrived at the Mordecai school for a year of education. She married in 1821 to Richard Logan (1792-1869) of Halifax County, a lawyer and member of the Virginia legislature. They had seven children; Margaret's son Richard died at Gettysburg. She died just six months after becoming a widow, and is buried in Halifax County.
Henrietta Maria Coleman was the fifth child, third daughter in the family--so "H. Coleman" and "Maria Coleman" in the rolls were, indeed, very likely the same person. She was born 1803, attended the school from 1815-1818 (ages 11-15), and married in 1834, to Rev. John Thomas Clark of Halifax County. They lived at Chester VA (this house seems to have been Rev. John's), and had three children. She died in 1844, age 40.
H. Coleman who was only at the school in late 1818, right before the school was sold.*(It turns out that H. Coleman is really Maria Coleman again--see below.)
Louisiana Coleman, of Richmond VA, who attended for both sessions of 1817 and may have had a "John W. Pleasants" attached to her account.
Margaret M. Coleman attended both sessions of 1813, and was connected to a Col. H. E. Coleman.
Maria Coleman attended for six sessions, mid-1815 through mid-1818, and was also connected to a Col. H. E. Coleman.
The main mentions of these Colemans in the Mordecai papers seems to be in the ledger: Col. Coleman paying for music and French in July 1813 (so that's for Margaret), "John W. Pleasants for Miss Coleman" in January 1817 (so that's Louisiana), "Col H E Coleman, Miss Maria" in January 1818, etc. There was a bill paid to a shoemaker, for boots for a group of girls including "M Coleman," in March 1818. The family also knew a Dr. Coleman in Warrenton, who may have been kin to these girls, but there are no mentions of daughters or nieces of his at the school.
Louisiana Coleman's unusual first name makes her a good place to start. Louisiana Coleman (1804-1883) was the youngest daughter of Maj. Samuel Coleman (1755-1811) and Susannah Pleasants Storrs, of Henrico County, Virginia. Her unusual first name was part of her family's pattern--she had among her older sisters "Araminta" and "Emmeline." Her father died in 1811, so the John W. Pleasants who covered her bills might have been a maternal relative. She married John Newton Gordon (1793-1870) in 1823, and they had eight children who all lived to adulthood: Susanna, James, Amelia, Mary, Maria, Ann, John, and Edward (guess she didn't inherit her parents' fancy for offbeat names.)
Col. Henry Embry Coleman (1768-1837) turns out to have been a prominent figure. Among other roles, he was on the jury that tried Aaron Burr for treason in Richmond in 1807. His house, Woodlawn, was in Halifax County on the Staunton River, near John Randolph's plantation. He and Anne "Nancy" Gordon (d. 1824; not a sister to the John Newton Gordon above, but maybe not a distant relative either) married in 1795, had twelve children; their eldest daughter Elizabeth married Charles Baskerville, whose sisters Mary and Ann Baskerville attended the Mordecai school.
Second daughter Margaret Murray Coleman (1798-1869) was probably the Mordecai student Margaret M. Coleman. She was fourteen when she arrived at the Mordecai school for a year of education. She married in 1821 to Richard Logan (1792-1869) of Halifax County, a lawyer and member of the Virginia legislature. They had seven children; Margaret's son Richard died at Gettysburg. She died just six months after becoming a widow, and is buried in Halifax County.
Henrietta Maria Coleman was the fifth child, third daughter in the family--so "H. Coleman" and "Maria Coleman" in the rolls were, indeed, very likely the same person. She was born 1803, attended the school from 1815-1818 (ages 11-15), and married in 1834, to Rev. John Thomas Clark of Halifax County. They lived at Chester VA (this house seems to have been Rev. John's), and had three children. She died in 1844, age 40.
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