Mary Patience Ousley Clark Teal - Mother (Maternal Side)

Records indicate that Mary Patience was born in 1837 (could be 1839 according to 1860 Census) in Darlington County, SC and died in Chesterfield County, SC on April 15, 1909. She is buried beside John A. Teal, her second husband, in an old abandoned cemetery on Underground Branch Road near Cedar Creek Church.

Mary Patience’s father, James Ousley, was born June 30, 1795 in North Carolina and died in South Carolina August 10, 1881. He attended school and was a successful farmer. The Ousley home place was on Ousleydale Road in Chesterfield County SC. In 1850 his land was assessed at $2000 – quite a sum for those days! The 1880 Census shows that he was living with his son, James in Steer Pen SC. He was 86 years old.

James Ousley’s wife (Mary Patience’s mother) was Mary Griggs, born September 12, 1794 and died January 21, 1864. James’ and Mary P. Griggs Ousley’s children were:

• Sallie - born August 7, 1824; died December 11, 1879
• Betsy - born 1826; died 1896
• Mary - born December 4, 1828; died 1910
• Rebecca - born April 1, 1831; died October 23, 1870
• Isaac - born 1832; died July 16, 190?
• Henry C.- born December 15, 1835; died Unknown
• Patience - born 1838; died 1909
• Jemima H. - born September 25, 1842; died July 12, 1872
• James W. - born December 27, 1846; died December 20, 1925

Mary Patience first married Alexander Clark (born about 1827), who served and was killed in the Civil War. They had one daughter and four sons. The daughter was M. Ellen (born about 1859). The sons were Gilbert (born 1856), William (born about 1858), Isaac (born 1861) and Alexander (born about 1863).

As a small boy in the early 1940’s Cousin Jenkins (Lidge Johnson) remembers swimming in Little Cedar Creek and remembers the water as being cold and so crystal clear the bottom was visible as pure white sand. He states that he has never again experienced such a pure environment.

During the Civil War as General Sherman’s marauding troops marched through South Carolina, they visited Patience’s unprotected home in search of food and supplies to steal. As the soldiers plundered through the house she bravely sat on the front porch holding two of the young children on her lap hiding under her apron two hams which the soldiers did not find!

At the death of her first husband (Alexander Clark), Patience was left a large farm of 230 acres on Little Cedar Creek. This farm was transferred to John A. Teal on August 28, 1886, from the children of Patience T. and Alexander Clark. These children were William, Gilbert, Isaac, Alexander and M. Ellen Clark Wilks. This information is from pages 654 and 655, Book 8, Titles to Real Estate of Chesterfield County SC. At the time, this area was known as Steer Pen Township (according to 1880/1900/1910) census.

Patience married John A. Teal in 1872. He was born December 12, 1851, and died February 9, 1918. He was much younger than Patience - almost the age of her first son. We have no knowledge of his parents at this time. However, he had brothers (Bob and Billy) and a sister (Mary) who married a member of the Gainey family. John A. Teal, or “Big Papa” as he was known, a large, double jointed man of huge proportions, was a good and gentle man. Their marriage produced one son and four daughters:

Patience and John with daughters: Jemima Ann, Sarah Margaret, Patience Elizabeth and Elisa Jane

• Elsia Jane, born 1874
• James R., born 1876
• Sarah Margaret (known to us as “Aunt Sarah Margaret”), born January 22, 1878
• Jemima Ann (our grandmother), born July 20, 1879
• Patience Elizabeth, born July 17, 1882.

These births doubled the size of Patience’s family. She now had five sons and five daughters.

An interesting note here is that all of the living grandsons of Jemima Ann Teal were at some time nicknamed ‘Jim Teal’ after James A. Teal, our grandmother’s brother. He was a junk collector/dealer and quite possibly a very eccentric individual. According to Uncle BG Griggs, Jim came home one night excited about how he had just killed the biggest ‘cooter’ he had ever seen. In reality, he had chopped up an old abandoned Hudson Terraplane automobile with an axe. For the younger family members, this car had the rounded look of a huge turtle shell!