(b. 1834)
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Susan was the wife of John A. Faucett who helped his family run the Faucett Mill. Her sister-in-law Anna Davis Faucett Whitted was related to Governor William W. Holden. Her cousin Bettie Whitted attended the Burwell School.
More than one young lady in Orange County was named Susan Roberts, and more than one young man was named John Faucett, but relying on dates and relationships and family lore, the researcher is pretty sure this is the correct Susan. Susan was probably the daughter of John W. Roberts and Judith Clement Roberts and the sister of Albert, Sarah, John, and Dr. William C. Roberts. Her upbringing was on a farm.
Susan attended the Burwell School in the mid-1850’s probably at the same time as Bettie Whitted, who also was born in 1834. Bettie was the daughter of Henry and Anna Davis Faucett Whitted; her mother was the older sister of John A. Faucett. If John Faucett and Susan Roberts had not already met each other in rural Orange County, their acquaintance could have been made through Bettie. Susan and John did name their first daughter Bettie.
The young couple were married in Orange County in December,1858 by the traveling “Minister of the Gospel” F. M. Jordan, who eventually established a Baptist church in Winston. Witnesses to the marriage bans were John’s brother Albert and Orange County Sheriff George Laws. The wedding could have been at the courthouse, at the new Baptist Church just a block from the Burwell School, or at home.
The Faucetts owned a grist mill on the Eno River along with two mill houses, one of which served as a boarding house when the river was too high to cross at the nearby ford. The mill, houses, and farm are located northwest of Hillsborough on a road still called Faucett Mill Road. Susan and John lived on the farm, in their own homestead valued at $2,700. Nearby lived John’s mother Elizabeth and brothers Elijah, George, and Albert, their homestead and mill valued over $10,000. Nearby lived the family of W. D. Faucett, cabinetmaker.
July 4, 1862 John enlisted as a private, age 33, farmer in the CSA Company NC 57th Infantry, Company I, which was organized in Alamance County. In the 1870 census John’s occupation is listed as “miller,” and as a miller he could have avoided service in the CSA; however, he went with other soldiers to Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and other locations in Virginia, where the Infantry surrendered at Appamatox.
Included in the 1870 census of John A. Faucett’s household are his wife Susan and two children, John age 8 and Bettie age 5. In 1873 a third child, Patricia--called Pattie--was born.
In 1875, John died, and Susan moved with her children to live with her sister Sarah A. Roberts, to help run her farm in Little River Township. The 1880 federal census shows the household to include Sarah A. Roberts, widowed, farmer; Susan Faucett, 48, sister, housekeeper; John Faucett, 18, nephew; and nieces Bettie Faucett, 14, and Pattie Faucett, 7. According to the 1880 census, Sarah suffered from chronic illness.
North Carolina Marriage Records show that Pattie Faucett was married to George Crabtree in 1895. Her parents, John and Susan Faucett, are recorded as dead. Pattie and George had 7 children: John Allen (1896), Annie B. (1898), Mary E. (1900), Hall Carlton (1901-1963), George W. (1904), Maud (1906) and James S. (1908).
The Faucett family had ties to New Hope Presbyterian Church and Fairfield Presbyterian Church where family members are buried in the church cemeteries, but there is no record of Susan’s grave [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14].
Susan Roberts was born 1834, in Orange County, NC.