(1833- 188)
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Sallie Grice is mentioned in the The Book of Burwell Students: Lives of Educated Women in the Antebellum South [1] as one of the girls from Sampson County who attended the Burwell School at the same time; however, there is no narrative for Sallie. The entry for the Murphy twins states that Sallie was an “orphaned cousin” and their letters home to their mother (Eliza Faison Murphy) mention her. Sallie was the daughter of Isaac W. Grice and Martha Ann Torrans. She was the granddaughter of Elizabeth Faison Torrans, sister of William Alexander “Billie” Faison. After the death of her mother and father in 1834 and 1836, respectively and her grandmother in 1835, Sallie and her two siblings, were raised by Billie Faison and his wife, Susan Moseley Faison. They sent Sallie to the Burwell School with their daughter Amelia who was of similar age [2] [3].
Sarah “Sally” Grice is mentioned in letters written home by Mary Bailey Murphy and Susan Moseley Murphy July 15, 1848 “Sally and Amelia send their love to you.” Susan writes that there are “5 Sampsons girls” at the Burwell School, and Mary notes that “we are in class with Fanny Burwell she is a little girl about eleven years old.” Another letter says that Sally and Amelia are walking downtown together.
Sally Grice is not included in the United States Census of 1850 [4] with the Patrick Murphy family in which the Murphy twins are 16 years old and listed as students.
The United States Census of 1840 [5] of Sampson County, NC gives Sarah Grice as head of the family for a household including a male aged 30-39, a female aged 5 – 9, and a female aged 60 -69, with 33 slaves. One could speculate that the child is Sally Grice, living with her grandmother for whom she was named.
In the United States Census of 1860 [6], Patrick Murphy is listed as a lawyer worth over two hundred thousand dollars in real and personal property, and also as holding in trust property of seven people, one of whom is “granddaughter of B Grist” at the value of $735. This may refer to Sally Grice, with a difference in spelling.
The Sampson County Register of Deeds office contains many documents involving property transfers between Grice and Faison families (the Murphy girls’ mother was a Faison).
Sallie was the great niece of William Alexander “Billie” Faison, wealthy planter and business man in Sampson County, NC. In addition to their own children, Billie and his wife Susan Moseley Faison raised several grandchildren and nieces and at least one nephew, among them Sallie Grice and her sister Elizabeth Lucinda Grice (b. 1830) and brother James Alexander Grice (b 1831). They were the children of Martha Torrans and Isaac W Grice, who died in 1834 and 1836, respectively. Billie Faison became the legal guardian of the 3 children of Isaac Grice and Martha Ann Torrans. In 1854, at the Faison home Mt. Pleasant, Sallie married James Miller Shine of Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. James’ father, Richard Alexander Shine was originally from Sampson County, NC but moved to the Leon County area of Florida sometime before 1833 since James was born there. The Shine family were early and important settlers of the Tallahassee area and ultimately also the Orlando area of Florida.
Sallie and James established a home in Tallahassee and had 4 sons: Richard Kenan Shine (b. 1856), Walter Newton Shine (b. 1858), Charles Francis Shine (b. 1859), and Clarence James Miller Shine (12/2/1863-6/24/1925). James enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1862 and died at Stuart Hospital in Richmond April 1865. To date, the last record found for Sallie was the 1885 Florida census in which she resided in Leon County Florida as head of household with her son, Clarence [7] [8] [9].
Sarah was called Sally or Sallie.
Sarah Eliza Grice was born on October 1, 1833, in Sampson County, NC. She died after June 25th, 188.
[1], Mary Bailey Murphy (b. 1834) [1] and Susan Moseley Murphy (b. 1834) [1].