William Alexander Faison

(1791-1857)

Story

Updated by BSHS Researcher January 2018:

Billie Faison inherited Mount Pleasant plantation from his father, James Faison, IV (1753-1812, a Revolutionary soldier, and his mother, Mary Hollingsworth Faison ((1763-1822). Billie added to and expanded the family wealth during his lifetime. He was said to own 30,000 acres across Sampson and Duplin Counties, and during the Civil War, the Faison holdings were a major source of turpentine. He and his wife, Susan Faison, had ten children, many but not all, are buried in the Faison Family Cemetery at Mount Pleasant. He is buried there in grave site 39.

Resources:

Sampson County Historical Society Records, http://sampson histo-ry.org/2017/07/01the-faison-family-cemetery

Biographical Data

William was called Billie.

Important Dates

William Alexander Faison was born on August 30, 1791, in Sampson County, NC. He died on September 7, 1857, and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Occupations

• Farmer.

Relatives

• Spouse: Susan Moseley (1799-1860), married on February 3, 1814. In Sampson County, NC [1]
  Children:
  
  • five sons, Matthew James Faison (1819-1874), William Alexander Faison, II (1821-1903), Franklin Julian Faison (1823-1862), Abner Moseley Faison (1825-1888) and Albert Faison (b. 1826).
  • five daughters, Mary Amelia Faison (1833-1861)  [1], Eliza Ann Faison (1815-1862), Sarah Maria Faison (1816-1844), Susan Arabella Faison (1828-1902) and Elizabeth Grace Faison (b. 1830).
• Others: Mary Belle Marable (granddaughter, 1861-1909), Louisa Marable (granddaughter, b. 1859), Mary Bailey Murphy  (granddaughter, b. 1834) and Susan Moseley Murphy  (granddaughter, b. 1834).

References

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