(1828-1904)
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Julia Matilda Benners was the sixth child born to Lucas Jacob Benners V, (1791-1836) a planter in Craven County, North Carolina and his wife Evalina Roe Tomlinson (1797-1834).
She married John Aza Beall Fitzgerald, a lawyer and Methodist
minister, from Bledsoe County, Tennessee on January 11, 1849. After their marriage they settled in Waynesville, Haywood County, North Carolina.
Her great-uncle was William Norwood of Hillsborough, a judge in the Superior Courts of North Carolina [1].
Julia Matilda Benners was born on June 24, 1828 in Craven County, North Carolina, the sixth of eleven children of Evalina Roe (sometimes spelled Evelina Rowe) Tomlinson and Lucas Jacob Benners V. Mr. Benners was a planter and served in the North Carolina House of Commons from Craven County in 1827. According to the United States Federal Census in 1830, 42 people lived in his household including 33 enslaved persons.
Julia’s mother was the daughter of William Tomlinson and his wife Winifred Lenoir Norwood. Winifred Lenoir Norwood was the sister of Judge William Norwood of Hillsborough, who was a judge in the Superior Courts of North Carolina, thereby making him Julia’s great-uncle. One could speculate Julia’s family found out about the Burwell School through her Norwood relatives. Three of Judge Norwood’s granddaughters attended the Burwell School—Annabella (Bella) Giles Norwood, Margaret (Mag) Yonge Norwood, and Robina (Rob) Norwood and cousins of Julia. Julia’s sister Sarah Frances Benners married cousin James Hogg Norwood, son of Robina Hogg and Judge William Norwood.
Julia married John Aza Beall Fitzgerald on January 11, 1849 in Craven County, North Carolina. In the Livingston Law Register published in 1854 Fitzgerald is listed as a lawyer in Waynesville, Haywood County, North Carolina. However, in the 1870 United States Federal census he is listed as a Methodist minister. In this same census, Julia’s occupation is keeping house. Julia and her husband were the parents of twelve children. Five children died before the age of four, a daughter died at fifteen, and a son at nineteen.
Julia’s husband died in 1878. In the United States Federal Census of 1880, Julia is listed as head of household, widowed, keeping house and that seven children are living with her. By 1900 the census lists the number of her living children as four and that two of them Rosa V. Fitzgerald and Mary Fitzgerald are living with her. Julia’s occupation is given as farmer. Julia died on October 12, 1904 at the age of seventy-six. Rosa and Mary did not marry and the researcher found that Mary died of enteritis at Broughton Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina in 1918 after a stay of almost nine years. Rosa died in Morganton in 1919. The researcher wonders if she died in Broughton Hospital as well but could not verify this.
Julia, her husband, and most of her children are buried at Green Hill Cemetery in Waynesville, Haywood County, North Carolina. Photographs of gravesites appear in Find A Grave for many of the Fitzgerald family members. Probate records for Julia and her husband are online in the North Carolina Wills and Probate Records,1665-1998.
Only two of Julia’s children married—Ellen Fitzgerald Ellis and Joshua Fitzgerald. Of the two only Joshua had children. He and his wife Charlotte Swanger (1877-1941) were the parents of Flora Fitzgerald McCall (1899-1980) and Samuel Gray Fitzgerald (1910-1996). While Samuel did not have children, Flora was the mother of four daughters and four sons. Julia’s descendants and Flora’s live in Franklin, Macon County, North Carolina and various towns in Florida [2] [3] [4] [5] [6].
Julia Matilda Benners was born on June 24, 1828, in Craven County, NC. She died on October 12, 1904, and was buried in Green Hill Cemetery [7].