in Bedford County, Virginia. Elizabeth Jane, born March 27, 1790, was the
daughter of William Pennington Quarles and Nancy Ann (Hawes) Quarles.
Charles Francis, born November 4, 1782, was the son of William Burton, Sr.
and Frances Penn. When William Pennington and his wife, Nancy Ann, came
to White Plains, Tennessee, in 1809 from Bedford County, Virginia,
Elizabeth Jane and Charles Francis came with them. From written
documents, it seems that we can safely assume that Charles Francis and
his wife, Elizabeth Jane, lived at White Plains until their deaths, and are
buried in the Quarles-Burton Cemetery, which is on land
where the original Quarles home was built.
Elizabeth Jane died at an early age on October 21, 1814, just a few months
after her father, William Pennington Quarles, was murdered on April 2, 1814.
Elizabeth Jane and Charles Francis had two children, Frances Ann Louisa
Penn Burton, born May 13, 1811, and Stephen Decatur Burton,
born October 8, 1813. Frances Ann Louisa Penn, never married, died when
she was barely 20 years of age on March 3, 1831. Stephen Decatur Burton
was born October 8, 1813 and married Mary “Polly” Davis (Davies) Goodbar
on July 19, 1835. Stephen died March 17, 1892, and Mary died
November 21, 1895.
After the death of Elizabeth Jane, Frances Ann Louisa Penn was raised by her
maternal grandmother, Nancy Ann Hawes Quarles. It can be said from letters
and stories that she lavished Frances Ann in love as well as dressing her
in fine clothes. A letter written by her grandniece, Miss Minnie Young,
in 1948 says in part... Frances Ann must have had beautiful clothes, for
there were still some remaining in the attic when I was a child, and many of
them were given to me when I was collecting “curios” connected to the
family.... When she sickened and died, the nearest doctor was in Kentucky.
He was sent for and came and stayed. Among all the old papers, I remember
seeing the receipt for his bill, which read, “received payment for four days
and nights of constant attention.” According to the Charles Burton
Bible Record as recorded by Clara C. Coile in 1932, Frances Ann Louisa Penn
Burton died “after a severe illness of seventeen days in the 20th year
of her age.”
From what we read, I think we can vision Nancy Ann Hawes Quarles not only
as a very caring and loving mother and grandmother, but also a very strong
lady who had to become head of the household just a few months before
Elizabeth Jane died.
Although Elizabeth Jane’s life was very short, only 24 years of age, she left
a life-long legacy when she gave birth to Stephen Decatur Burton, who in
turn has given “us” the home we know as “White Plains”.
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