Genealogy in Washington Parish is like a puzzle. After a while, the pieces begin to fit. And so it was, for me, with the Foyle (Foil) family. Color me lucky, I found the "Foyle (Foil) Genealogy" by Zuma Fendlason Magee and Aletha Barker Hamiter available, for a price. Published in 1956, it was bound in the dark green, hard cover material --- the signature of the late Ms. Zuma. Unlike her other genealogy work which I found in my parents' files, this treasure arrived, strangely enough, from Arizona.
The Foyle (Foil) book was dedicated "to the memory of the pioneer settlers of The United States of America who suffered the hardships which made it possible for us to have the freedom that we have today." And thanks to God was given for this blessing. And thanks are owed to Ms. Zuma, the late renowned genealogist and historian who was revered in our area, and her co-worker Mrs. Hamiter of Bradley, Arkansas. What began as their personal endeavor soon turned into a book, for relatives. And now, for us --- the public at large.
I wonder if they realized their much sought-after work would travel the country, to the Southwest and then back to the Southeast. They asked in their foreword that we "receive it with indulgence and appreciation." And so, we have. It is an impossible feat for me to cover this treasure in its entirety. The Foil family is prominent and prolific, spread across much of our parish. But we can cover some ground.
The Foyles came from Northern Ireland, where their ancestral home was situated on the Foyle River. They had arrived in this country by 1734/1735, when James L. Foyle Esq. was appointed Justice of the Peace by Governor Gabriel Johnston in Onslow County, North Carolina. Continuing in a second term as a Justice of the Peace in 1739, he became a politician in the decades that followed, serving in the Assembly of the colony and as sheriff of Onslow County, North Carolina. James L. Foyle died there in 1771.
A letter from H. G. Jones, State Archivist in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Mrs. Aletha Hamiter, explained, "The terms 'Esq.' (Esquire) and 'Gent.' (Gentleman) were the polite way of referring to a respected person. One did not have to be wealthy or particularly well educated, but the terms did signify some accomplishments and separated the gentleman from the lesser people of the day." Interestingly, Esq. evolved into an appendage to attorneys' names in this country.
In 1771 --- probably with the writing on the wall --- James Foyle penned his last will and testament, a beautiful document. Within, he not only gave thanks to God and asked for forgiveness, but he made most generous bequests, giving each of his sons --- James and John --- 343 acres of land. In addition to some home furnishings, they also inherited their father's working tools (axes, hoes, and plows from his plantation), to be equally divided between them. The decedent's daughters Elizabeth and Charity received household goods and the cotton flax, spinning wheel, and related accessories divided equally between them. All James's cattle were to be divided between his four children, two sons and two daughters. Interestingly, he desired that his "great chest" and the chimney irons remain in his home and not be removed. The plantation was to be rented out to pay for the schooling and room and board of his son John.
John was also to receive his brother James's 343 acres should James not return from the protest against unjust taxation --- a two hour conflict in Alamance County, North Carolina, on May 16, 1771. It is unclear if James Foyle, Jr., was one of the casualties because there is no further information on him. But his brother John came to own large plantations in Georgia. He died in Morgan County, Georgia in 1815.
The name was Foyle in Ireland, just like the river and lake. But in Georgia, the name varied from Foyle to Foyil. John Foyil and his wife Mary had two sons --- William and Robert --- and three daughters --- Mary, married to John Allison; a daughter married to William Peel; and a daughter married to John Peel.
The record is devoid of information on any of the five except for William who, born in 1783, made his way west with his wife Sarah, also born in 1783, to Pike County, Mississippi, by 1820, as reflected by the U. S. Census. A Baptist clergyman, William spelled his name "Foil." By 1830, the Foil family had settled in Washington Parish, Louisiana, and by 1850 they were back in Pike County. It is from William and Sarah Foil that the Foils in Washington Parish descend.
Their children included Polly Ann Foil, born in 1808, who married John Coleman Holmes; Robert Foil, born in 1811, who never married; William Foil (1813-1871), who married Mary Ann Delaughter, first, and Adeline Breland, second; Jane Foil, born in 1816, who married William Holmes; Sarah Mary Foil (1817-1871), who married John M. Stringfield (1819-1894); Caroline Matilda Foil (1819-1863), who married Jesse Bulloch, first, and John Wilson Carson, second; Angelina/Angeline Foil (1823-1886), who married John W. King (1822-1867); and John C. Foil (1824-1880) who married Mary Ann Burkhalter (1835-1917).
While some of these children settled in Mississippi and others in Louisiana, they kept in touch as best they could. According to authors Ms. Zuma and Mrs. Hamiter, "At that time there was not much chance of hearing from one another more than two or three times a year by mail. But when crops were laid by in the summer the horses were hitch[sic] to the wagon, all the family piled in and a good visit was enjoyed by the entire family and was talked about for weeks, a lot more than a tour of the United States is ever discussed now."
It sounds like a grand old time, to me.
