Hosea Bright Breazeal and Sarah Elizabeth Mayfield, Union Parish, LA submitted by: Tim Hudson ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ HOSEA BRIGHT BREAZEAL & SARAH ELIZABETH MAYFIELD Hosea Bright Breazeal was born 5 April 1813 in Pendleton District South Carolina. He was the son of Nancy Breazeal (1791 - 1841), who was not married when her son was born. Nancy Breazeal was the daughter of Joel Breazeal (c1755 - 1829) and Rebecca Griffin Breazeal (c1760/70 - 1845+), who had married in Chatham County North Carolina in 1779. There is no record of the identity of Bright Breazeal's father. Little is known of Bright's early years, but he apparently lived with his grandparents in Pendleton District South Carolina. Within a few years of Bright's birth, his mother Nancy Breazeal married a Mr. Lawless, probably either Larkin B., Hiram, or Henry Lawless. Joel's household on the 1820 census consisted of an older male and female (Joel and Rebecca), a male aged 16--26 (apparently their son Joel M. Breazeal), a female aged 10--16 (apparently their youngest daughter Lucinda), a young male child (apparently Bright Breazeal), and several slaves. Joel Breazeal's married children began moving westward to Tennessee and Alabama a few years before 1820. His son William Breazeal and son-in-law Azariah Cobb were in Tuscaloosa County Alabama by 1823, and in about 1824 Joel sold his plantation in Pendleton District and joined his relatives in Alabama. He bought a 240 acre farm on Bear Creek in southeastern Tuscaloosa County Alabama on 24 January 1826. Joel Breazeal died on 5 August 1829, and by Joel's instructions in his will, the plantation became the property of his youngest son Joel Marshall Breazeal. In 1830, the household of Joel M. Breazeal consisted of a male aged 20-30 (Joel M. Breazeal), a female aged 60-70 (apparently his mother Rebecca Griffin Breazeal), a male aged 15--20 (apparently Bright Breazeal), and several slaves. Sarah Elizabeth Mayfield was born in Pendleton District South Carolina on 17 June 1819, the daughter of Archibald Mayfield and Tabitha Bennett. Archibald was a veteran of the War of 1812, and his father Samuel Mayfield was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Sarah spent her early years near both sets of her grandparents, Samuel and Jane Mayfield and Elisha and Sarah Todd Bennett. The Breazeal, Bennett, and Mayfield families were not only close neighbors in Pendleton District South Carolina, but also connected by marriage: Joel and Rebecca's daughter Mary Ann Breazeal married Elisha and Sarah's son Stephen Bennett in 1815. About 1824, the Mayfields moved with numerous relatives and neighbors from Pendleton District South Carolina to Tuscaloosa County Alabama. Although the Bennetts remained in South Carolina, Archibald's parents Samuel and Jane moved with their son to Alabama. Archibald Mayfield also bought a farm on Bear Creek in Tuscaloosa County, adjoining the farm of Joel Breazeal. In addition to begin neighbors, the Breazeals and Mayfields belonged to the same church, Sardis Baptist Church. Hosea Bright Breazeal and Sarah Elizabeth Mayfield were married on 18 February 1836 in Tuscaloosa County Alabama. They apparently lived on either the Breazeal or Mayfield plantations. Archibald Mayfield died in 1833 and upon Tabitha's death in 1842, Bright Breazeal bought 40 acres of her plantation. Between 1846 and 1849, Joel M. Breazeal began to sell his farm in Tuscaloosa County in preparation to move west to Pickens County. This probably coincided with the death of Rebecca Griffin Breazeal (she was alive in 1844 but this is the last known record of her). When Joel M. Breazeal sold the last of his father's old plantation on 26 January 1849 and moved away, Bright Breazeal also moved his family away from Bear Creek. He settled about ten miles northwest of the old Breazeal/Mayfield plantations and bought a farm there. A few years after the death of their mother Tabitha Bennett Mayfield in 1842, most of Sarah's siblings left Alabama for Arkansas, and Bright's aunt Rosannah Breazeal Cobb and her family also left for Arkansas. Bright Breazeal's eldest daughter Tabitha married on 12 June 1856 and died the following year, on 8 October 1857 (possibly in childbirth). A month later, on 23 November 1857, Bright and Sarah sold their Tuscaloosa County farm and moved to southern Union County Arkansas/northern Union Parish Louisiana. Although Bright was listed as a resident of northern Union Parish on 17 December 1858, shortly thereafter he settled next door to his uncle and aunt, Azariah and Rosannah Breazeal Cobb near Caledonia, Union County Arkansas. Also living nearby was Sarah's brother Andrew J. Mayfield and his family (he had married the daughter of Azariah and Rosannah Breazeal Cobb). Bright bought a farm from his first cousins Joel M. and George Cobb either in 1857 or 1858. Bright Breazeal served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Jackson Township, Union County Arkansas Home Guard during the War Between the States. His eldest son Andrew J. Breazeal died in the service of the Confederate States Army at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on the Mississippi River, on 25 April 1862. His other sons Reuben S. and James K. Polk Breazeal also served in the Confederate Army. Bright and Sarah Breazeal sold their farm near Caledonia, Union County Arkansas, on 2 November 1866 and moved a few miles south to extreme northern Union Parish Louisiana. They bought a farm north of Spearsville and remained there for the rest of their lives. Bright served as a justice of the peace in Union Parish just as he had in Tuscaloosa County Alabama. He was also active in New Hope Primitive Baptist Church from 1872 until 1887, serving as church clerk from 1880 until 1887. Sarah died in 1888, and Bright in 1891. They are buried in the Spearsville Cemetery next to their youngest daughter, Laura Agnes, who died in 1912. *************************** Sources: I wrote this brief biography based upon my own personal research into the Breazeal family, as well as family information shared with me by Mr. Gene Barron. These sources in particular document the facts stated above: +++ the court records of Tuscaloosa Co AL +++ the court records of Union Co AR +++ the court records of Union Parish LA +++ US census records +++ National Archives records +++ family Bible records +++ various church records