Margaret Louisa Ireland Giddens was born in Duplin County*, North Carolina, on 22 November 1842. Her parents were Samuel Ross Ireland and Elizabeth "Eliza" Newton. Margaret married Lewis Devereux Giddens, the son of David Giddens and Sophia Britt. They were the parents of twelve children, four of whom died in infancy.
Margaret was a member of St. Paul's Church in Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, and was president of the Ladies' Aid Society for many years.
Lewis died on 2 November 1909. Mourning clothes Margaret wore after his death were donated to the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh. You can view these items by clicking on the link.
Margaret died on 15 February 1915 and is buried with her husband in the Willowdale Cemetery in Goldsboro.
*Records conflict as to the location of her birth. Some sources state she was born in Duplin County, and others say Sampson County. She was born at the family home called "Erin Home," which is said to have been near Faison.
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Diana
Arthur Fountain Smoot, "Giddens: History of Family and Oldest Store," Mary Daniels Johnstone, coordinator, History of Wayne County, North Carolina (Winston-Salem, 1982), p. 189.
kgrijfh, "Ryan", private tree, Ancestry, Private tree accessed with permission, 7 December 2023.
Margaret Ireland Giddens obituary, Raleigh Christian Advocate (North Carolina), 18 March 1915, p.12. A digital copy was found in the files of Diana Quinn. The original database is unknown.
"Margaret Louisa Ireland Giddens," photograph, 1914; scanned image, original photograph from the privately-held collection of Kathryn Ryan, NC, 2022.
Search Results for Giddens, North Carolina Museum of History (https://collections.ncdcr.gov/mResults.aspx?pS=giddens&db=objects&dir=MOH%20MUSEUMOFHISTORY# : accessed 7 December 2023).
