Sudie Furman, whose father refused to allow her to marry Eugene Whitefield Dabbs when he asked years earlier, heard of the untimely death of Maude McBride Dabbs and the six children she’d left behind and felt called to return home to raise those children. She and Eugene Whitefield Dabbs were married in 1910. Some would henceforth refer to the two wives of Eugene Whitefield Dabbs as Mother Maude and Sweetie Sudie, although it should be noted that a pious woman such as Sudie would never have appreciated nor acknowledged such a nickname. Maude McBride Dabbs left six children, the oldest being 14 and the youngest being 4 years of age. Young Thomas Hoole Dabbs would follow his mother in death three years later in 1911 at the age of 9 from pneumonia.
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| Sudie Furman - Second wife of EW Dabbbs |
Sudie was a staunch Baptist and joined the Baptist Church
With the McBride family now all deceased, Eugene Whitefield Dabbs surveyed the debt and calculated that it could only be managed if the land was put back together as one unit and some timber and land sold to pay bills. On July 20, 1915, the firm of Lee & Moise represented Eugene Whitefield Dabbs in an effort to avoid bankruptcy.
It took several years, however, to settle the estate. On August 1, 1922, approximately 5800 acres of land remained. Following the payment of taxes and debts the remaining land was redistributed. This was done through the Court of Common Pleas in the County of Sumter, SC, in an Order Confirming Return of Commissioners in Partition that had Eugene W. Dabbs, Jr., James McBride Dabbs, Elizabeth G. Dabbs, and Sophie McBride Dabbs named as Plaintiff’s vs. Guy McBride Dabbs and E.W. Dabbs, Sr., as defendants. According to reports, this was simply the most efficient way to redistribute the land and since Guy McBride Dabbs was still under the age of 22 as stipulated in the will, his name was placed with that of his father.
This very specific division is documented with boundaries and acreage and redistributed in the following way: Eugene Whitefield Dabbs retained 870 acres; 244.75 acres went to EW Dabbs, Jr.; 188.75 went to Elizabeth Gertrude Dabbs; 263.4 went to Sophie McBride Dabbs; 235.54 went to James McBride Dabbs; and 452.6 went to Guy McBride Dabbs. (In land distributions, one must take into consideration percentages of swamp land, farming land and forest.) An additional 2,063.8 acres remained in the names of the five children of Eugene Whitefield Dabbs with him named as trustee. With the profits from this land he was to handle the taxes and insurance and repair on the buildings on 282 acres of land surrounding the summer home where The Aunts lived. They had life-rights to remain in the house. He was also to pay an annuity of $25.00 per year to Miss H. R. Warren for life. On March 22, 1918, Louisa Warren Fraser signed a document releasing the estate of Sophronia Warren McBride from any further payment of an annuity for the sum of $400.
There are indications that the Warren Eugene
Dear Mr. Dabbs,
Your letter received today came as a surprise to me. You mention our dear Maude. I recall a conversation I had with her when she asked me to ride with her to call at our pastors in which she told me she had recently made her will and had left an annuity to me and to my two sisters after any death. That you had remarked it was a very small legacy, she replied let it stand at that but on good crop years you could make it larger. Knowing how she felt about it I can accept this gift from you with thanks, with the liberty of using for others as well as for self as otherwise it would not be for my comfort or pleasure.
Truly yours, Harriett Warren
Eugene Whitefield Dabbs and Sudie Furman Dabbs
“Mr. Dabbs and Sudie were at the Baptist Church
Other than what appear to be amiable exchanges, there is little recorded about the Warrens after this point in our history, even though there are numerous Warrens who now live in the Sumter Warren Warren Warren
