Cicero Stevens Primrose

(1831-1867)

At a Glance

Cicero Stephens Primrose ( ca.1831-ca.1864) was the son of Robert Primrose (15 October 1782-6 December 1856) and Ann or Anne Stephens (12 March 1802-13 April, 1863). Robert was born in Kilmarnock, Ayr, Scotland. Cicero had three siblings: Mary Anne (or Ann) Primrose (1826-1916) who attended the Burwell School and married Albert Morris Noble (1923-1903); Robert Stuart Primrose (1828-1870), a physician and an Assistant Surgeon with the 16th Reg-iment, NC Troops, in the American Civil War, who married Burwell School stu-dent Sarah (Sally) Sitgreaves Attmore (1833-1882); and John W. Primrose (1839- ).

Cicero married Mary Snead Chapman on 11 February 1857 in Craven County, NC. While there is a discrepancy in the sources consulted as to the number of children they had, the researcher speculates they were the parents of two daughters: Caroline Primrose born in March 1858 and who died in childhood; and Mary Ellis  "Min"  or  "Minnie"  Primrose (1863-1949) [1].

Story

Cicero's occupation is listed as bookkeeping in the 1860 US Federal Census in New Bern and a railroad agent in ancestry.com. He enlisted in the American Civil War on the Confederate side on May 16th, 1861. He was commissioned an officer in Company F, North Carolina Company A 1st Light Artillery Battery with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. He was promoted to full 1st Lieutenant on November 12th, 1862. Sources differ as to the date of his death. In the Book of Burwell Students, Mary Claire Engstrom indicates he died in 1867. Another source indicates that he died circa 1864 in the Civil War. The researcher found in Find a Grave that he died in June 1867 and is buried in CedarGrove Cemetery, New Bern, Craven County, NC. The 1867 date seems to the researcher to be the most plausible [1].

Biographical Data

Important Dates

Cicero Stevens Primrose was born c. 1831, in New Bern, NC. He died June 1867 [2], and was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Craven County, NC, USA [2].

Occupations

• Bookkeeper.
• Railroad agent.

Relatives

• Parents: Robert Stuart Primrose (1782-1856) [1] and Anne Stephens (1802-1863) [1].
• Spouse: Mary Snead Chapman  (1835-1882), married from February 11, 1857 to 1867. They were married in Craven County, NC [1] They had two daughters, Caroline Primrose (b. 1858) [1] and Mary Ellis Primrose (1863-1949) [1].
• Maternal grandparent: Marcus Cicero Stephens.
• Siblings:
  • one brother, Robert Stuart Primrose Jr (1828-1870) [1].
  • one sister, Mary Anne Primrose (1826-1916)  [1].
• Others: Sarah Sitgreaves Attmore  (sister-in-law, 1833-1882) and Catharine Chapman  (sister-in-law, 1834-1890).

References

1. Mary Claire Engstrom. The Book of Burwell Students: Lives of Educated Women in the Antebellum South. (Hillsborough: Hillsborough Historic Commission, 2007).
2. http://www.findagrave.com/