Samantha Blevins Pruitt Adams

Samantha Blevins was born December 5, 1870, to Rev. Calloway C. Blevins and his wife Lucinda Caudill, presumably in Wilkes County, North Carolina, as her parents were living in Walnut Grove township when the census was taken in July of 1870.  (1)

Samantha married Adam Hampton Pruitt on December 30, 1885, and gave birth to thirteen children, twelve of whom lived to adulthood. She was widowed in July of 1916, when her husband, Hamp, died of cancer of the stomach at age 53. Samantha was about 46 years old, with six children still under the age of 18.  Dora was 17, Fay was 14, Gar was 12, Vestal was 9, Zona was 7 and Dennis was only five years old. All except the perhaps the youngest two children were old enough to do chores and help provide for the family. Additionally, two of the older boys, Mack and Charlie, were still at home. Mack was 20 and Charlie was 19 years old when their father died, and were still living with their mother and all the younger siblings when the census was taken in 1920, except for Dora, who married in 1919.  (2)

Samantha Pruitt and her five youngest children - click to enlarge

In this photograph, from left to right: Gar, Samantha and Fay. Back row, left to right, Vestal, Dennis and Zona Pruitt.  Dennis was born in 1911, so perhaps the picture was taken around 1920 or so.  (3)

In 1926, Samantha and five of her children, Fay, Gar, Vestal, Zona and Dennis were living at 221 E. 13th Street in Winston-Salem, NC. Fay and Zona worked at P.H. Hanes Knitting Company, Gar was a barber, Vestal was a laborer, and Dennis was a clerk at Hampton Brothers. The youngest in the family, Dennis would have been 15 years old in 1926. No city directory was found for 1927, but in 1928 Samantha and the five children were still in Winston-Salem. By 1929, Samantha and Fay had left Winston-Salem.  (4)

By 1930, Samantha was back in Wilkes County living with her son Charlie, who was married with four children of his own. Her daughter, Fay, was also living with Charlie and his wife, Phoebe.  (5)

On September 14, 1931, Samantha married a second time, to her late husband's first cousin, Ambrose Adams. (6)  Samantha was 60 and Ambrose was 56. This was a first marriage for Ambrose, whose shared the homeplace with his mother, Lucy Adams. Ambrose died May 27, 1943, leaving Samantha a widow for the second time.  (7)

Ambrose and Samantha, probably 1941, with three of Vestal's children - click to enlarge

Samantha died of bronchial pneumonia at the home of her son, Gar Pruitt, in Edwards township of Wilkes County, in the town of Elkin, on April 2, 1957, at the age of 86. (8)  She is buried at Walnut Grove Baptist Church beside her first husband, Adam Hampton Pruitt.  (9)

Hamp and Samantha Pruitt's grave marker - click to enlarge

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Information added after initial publication is referenced in red below

(1)  1870 census, Calaway Blevins household, Walnut Grove township, Wilkes County, NC, www.ancestry.com.

(2)  1920 census, Mack W. Pruitt household, Walnut Grove township, Wilkes County, NC, www.ancestry.com.

(3)  picture shared by Robyn Pruitt, daughter-in-law of Vestal Pruitt, email to Ervin Pruitt dated 20 January 2007.

(4)  Winston-Salem City Directory, 1926-1929, www.ancestry.com

(5)  1930 census, Charlie Pruitt household, Walnut Grove township, Wilkes County, NC, www.ancestry.com.

(6)  Register of Deeds Office, Wilkes County Courthouse, Wilkesboro, NC, record #7362.

(7)  NC Death Certificate for Ambrose Adams, #336 (stamped), www.ancestry.com.

(8)  NC Death Certificate for Samantha Pruitte Adams, #13916 (stamped), www.ancestry.com.

(9)  Photograph taken by Debbie Hendren Pruitt at Walnut Grove Baptist Church, 4650 Cabin Creek Road, Hays, NC.