Winter Rainwater Wedding - Part 1

It was a chilly winter day in Polk County, Georgia (1)   when nineteen year old Frances Rainwater, daughter of Joshua Rainwater and Polly Peterson, married eighteen year old Reuben Ayers, son of Martin Ayers and Sarah Simmons.

Polly Peterson Rainwater
Frances' mother
Photo shared by: Trudy Capps

I wonder, who was there to witness their marriage?  Did Frances have a special dress?  Did family and friends gather afterwards to celebrate her special day?

Frances was the youngest of the three Rainwater daughters and the baby in a family of six children.  Her family lived along the beautiful winding Tallapoosa River in Haralson County, Georgia. Their father, Joshua, supported their family by farming. Their family was among the early members of the Bethany Baptist Church (2)  located on the outskirts of the current town of Tallapoosa.  If Frances was like other girls of her time, she grew up helping her mother, Polly, with cooking, sewing and caring for their small farm animals.

Bethany Baptist Church
Haralson County, GA
(original location but newer building)
Photo shared by: David Rawlings

By the time Frances married Reuben on January 24, 1856, her older siblings Mariah, Abner and Olivia, were married and living nearby with their spouses and children. Siblings Matilda and John were still at home and would not marry for several more years.


In October of 1857, Reuben and Frances welcomed a baby girl to their home. They named her Mary Ann,  but called her Molly.  By the1860 US Census (3), they were living just across the Georgia/Alabama border in the rolling hills of Calhoun County, Alabama and Reuben provided for the family by farming.  Frances' sister, Olivia, and her husband, John Ganus,  and their three sons Frank, John and James R. were living nearby. As a farmer's wife and the mother of a little girl,  Frances settled into life, with her older sister Olivia nearby for friendship and support.

Overlooking Calhoun, Alabama
Wikipedia Commons

By August of 1861, Reuben, Frances, and Molly returned to Haralson county, Georgia where Reuben enlisted with Company A,  35th Georgia Infantry. Although Frances' mother, Polly, had passed away, Frances's father,  Joshua, and several of her siblings lived close enough to be a help and support while Reuben was away at war. Typically soldiers' wives had to care for their farms and their families while they anxiously awaited for any news about their husbands and their regiments.  I am sure Frances was no exception.

Joshua Rainwater Family

Joshua RAINWATER  (b. 13 Nov 1791 SC d. 15 August 1878 Upshur TX) & Mary PETERSON  (b. abt 1794 SC  d. bef 1860 GA

• Matilda RAINWATER b. 10 Aug 1821 Pendleton Dist, SC - 16 Sep 1904 Haralson Co, GA 
• Mariah RAINWATER  b. 1826  d 1903 SC - 1903 Talledega, AL
• Abner RAINWATER b. 1827 d. 1908  b. 16 Apr 1827 SC - 23 Sep 1908 Hamilton, TX
• Olivia RAINWATER b. 20 Feb 1831 Hall Co., GA  - 12 Sep 1902 Okmulgee, OK 
• John RAINWATER b. 19 Jun 1832  GA - 14 Jun 1890 Upshur, TX
• Frances RAINWATER b. Jul 1837 GA  - 1913 Polk Co., GA

1.  Marriage  Reuben Ayers to Frances Rainwater 24 January 1856, "Georgia, County Marriages, 1785-1950," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-25515-21526-85?cc=1927197 : accessed 16 Oct 2014), 0419307 (005191034) > image 94 of 415.
2. Lois Owens Newman and Carroll County Genealogical Society, Haralson County A History (Carrollton, GA: Carroll County Genealogical Society, 1994), 93.
3. 1860 U.S. census, Calhoun, Alabama, population schedule, Oaklevel PO, p. 42 (penned), dwelling 302, family 302, Ruben Ayres; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 23 October 2014); from Family History Library Film: 803004. 

Copyright © Michelle G. Taggart 2014,  All rights reserved