Ann R. Cunningham

Ann R. Cunningham

Ann R Cunningham Torbert, 1795-1877

• Father: Alexander Cunningham b. s 1765, d. 1797
• Mother: Anne E. (?) b. c 1774

• It is quite possible that Ann Cunningham who married James Anthony Torbert was Ann Rees John Cunningham, daughter of the late Alexander Cunningham Master Mariner by Ann, christened at Saint George-in-the-East, Stepney, London, on 21 June 1797, birth date recorded as 25 December 1795. Further, on 20 July 1797, Ann Cunningham petitioned the Corporation of Trinity House: "The Humble Petition of Ann Cunningham widow of Alexander Cunningham, Aged 23 Years, Sheweth that your Petitioner’s Husband Alex’r Cunningham was bred to the Sea and served there as a Master – Commander of the Brig Lucy w’h sailed from London to Martinico – left with one Infant ten months old – the Father died on his passage home – Having one child aged two Years. . . . We recommend her as a proper Object of the Corporation's Charity. As Witness our Hands, the Seventh Day of July 1797. Wm ?Clappeson? [illegible], Herbert Mayo D.D. Rector of St George Midx, John Butlor Church Warden, Elijah Goff Church Warden." We find this circumstantial evidence very persuasive, as much of it fits with vague family lore about Alexander Cunningham and "the islands." Also according to family lore, Ann and Alexander Cunningham’s daughter Ann was "a playmate of Princess Charlotte who would have been queen. . . ." (presumably referring to the daughter of Charles IV, born 7 January 1796).
• Ann R. Cunningham was born on 25 December 1795 in London, England, although we are mindful that her date of birth is recorded in the Torbert-Cornish Bible as 24 Decembeer 1799, and in the 1850-1870 censuses her age varies by ten years, and her grave marker gives her date of death and age only. This birth date is based upon what we believe to be her London christening record.
• She was the daughter of Alexander Cunningham and Anne E. (?).
• Ann R. Cunningham and John Sidney Moxsy were cousins, but whether he was the son of a brother or sister of her mother or father has not been discovered; consequently it is not solid evidence that her maaiden name was Moxsy.
• She married James Anthony Torbert, son of Col. Anthony Torbert and Margaret Simpson, on 23 December 1820 in Wakefield, Baldwin County, Alabama.
• Ann R. Cunningham appeared in the census of 1 June 1850 in Marengo County, Alabama, living next door to her half-sister Hannah Harrell.. Other members of the household included John Sidney Moxsy Torbert, Alexander Cunningham Torbert and Mariah Louise Harder.
• Ann R. Cunningham appeared in the census of 1 June 1860 in Marengo County, Alabama, and next door was Mathew Henson, probably the Torbert overseer, and his family.. Other members of the household included Mariah Louise Harder.
• She was a planter, according to the 1860 census.
• She was enumerated in the census of 1 June 1870 in the household of John Sidney Moxsy Torbert in Spring Hill, Marengo County, Alabama.
• Ann R. Cunningham died on 22 May 1877 at age 81 in Marengo County, Alabama.
• She was buried at Torbert Family Cemetery in Old Spring Hill, Marengo County, Alabama.

• Last Edited: 10 Apr 2010