Samuel DeBarris Lance (1851-1929)

Samuel DeBarris Lance was an interesting person. He was the son of Samuel Riley and Rebecca Hunter Lance. He joined the Confederate Army at a younger age than allowed. Here is what I have in my genealogy notes about him:
Samuel had naturally curly hair.

In the Civil War he was wounded in the line of duty. He was holding a stallion during drill and was kicked in the right leg. The wound never entirely healed.
As a young man he traveled to Missiouri with his friend and companion, Sid Wright. He staked out a claim for many acres of land, which he never returned to farm.

Samuel Debarris was called "Debarris" by family and friends probably to differentiate him from his father Samuel Riley which was mostly called "Riley.

Debarris was a very young Confederate soldier. He was serving under General Lee at Ringgold Ga. He was holding the horses and was struck in the leg by a large stallion with a wound that never fully healed. He has a confederate gravestone at his grave in Hayesville, NC at the Hayesville United Methodist Cemetery. There is a record that he applied for and got a disability pension in 1925 before he died in 1929 for his service in the Confederate military. His wife Malinda Davenport Lance continued to draw the pension of about twenty-five dollars a month after his death.

In spite of his injury ,Debarris lived a very colorful and productive life. He was a tall impressive figure with brown curly hair.

His first marriage was to Tennessee Elizabeth Anderson and they produced a large family of eight to ten children. They began their marriage in Union County, Ga. but moved to Clay County, Hayesville,NC, when it may have still been called Fort Hembree for the fort that was built there to gather up the peaceful local Indians and send them on the tragic "Trail of tears". Debarris and his brother, "Andy" Lance helped built the original courthouse at what is now Hayesville, NC. They did the brick and mortor work on it and liked to tell how they walked the comb of the peak of the roof to celebrate it's completion. "Cap" Anderson had won the bid to build the courthouse and they were working with him.

Sadly, his wife Tennessee died in childbirth, giving life to her son, Charlie.

After Debarris lost his first wife, He married the very young Malinda Elizabeth Davenport. Malinda was staying with a mother that had given birth and needed assistance near Fort Hembree. Debarris then started another family of ten children.

He fathered 18 children from both wives.