Margaret Sallie Briles Colvert

(8 April 1908 – 17 July 1988)¹

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) curates about 16 vascular plant specimens collected by Margaret Sallie Briles Colvert.  She signed her specimens as “M. Briles”.  As all cataloged to date were collected in the spring of 1928, and most were collected in Guilford County, North Carolina, it is likely that she collected them for a botanical class at the North Carolina College for Women located in Greensboro.  Ms. Briles’ specimens were transferred from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to NCU in 2018. It is likely that NCU is the sole repository for plant specimens collected by Ms. Briles.²

Margaret Sallie Briles was born on 8 April, 1908 to Thomas J. Briles (1861-1913) and Charity Nancy “Nannie” Westmoreland Briles (1869-1926).³ Margaret was the youngest of six children, and they lived with their parents, maternal grandmother, and maternal uncle in Thomasville (Davidson County, North Carolina).³   Thomas Briles, Margaret’s father, was a machinist in a chair factory, while her uncle, Emanuel Westmoreland, was an upholsterer in a chair factory.  Margaret’s sister, Doris (1894-1944), married Francis Alexander, who was listed in the 1930 Census as a bookkeeper at a chair factory.^4,5    It seems likely that the chair factory which employed the extended family was the Thomasville Chair Company, founded in 1904; it is currently known as Thomasville Furniture Industries.⁶

Ms. Briles graduated from North Carolina College for Women in 1930 with an A. B. in Education.^7,12  In 1963 The North Carolina College for Women became the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.⁸

On 6 November, 1932, Margaret, age 24, married Frank Turner Colvert (1905-1994).^3,8  Margaret took Colvert’s surname upon marriage. Frank was a radio operator for the North Carolina Highway Patrol, then a radio engineer in broadcasting.^{9, 10} The 1950 Census lists Margaret Colvert’s profession as “Senior Statistical Clerk, State Statistics Bureau”.¹⁰

Margaret Sallie Briles Colvert died at age 80 on 17 July, 1988 and is buried in Raleigh Memorial Park in Wake County, North Carolina.¹¹

 

 

SOURCES:
1.  “Margaret Sallie Briles Colvert” Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Find a Grave. Find a Grave®. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.

2.  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) collections.  SERNEC Data Portal. 2024. http//:sernecportal.org/index.php. Accessed on August 21.

3.  “Margaret Sallie Briles Colvert” Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/104608037/margaret_sallie-colvert: accessed August 21, 2024), memorial page for Margaret Sallie Briles Colvert (8 Apr 1908–17 Jul 1988), Find a Grave Memorial ID 104608037, citing Raleigh Memorial Park, Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, USA; Maintained by Wake County Genealogical Society (contributor 48669445).

4.  Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.  Original data: Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

5.  Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.  Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.  Year: 1930; Census Place: Thomasville, Davidson, North Carolina; Page: 21A; Enumeration District: 0029; FHL microfilm: 2341419.

 CITE THIS ARTICLE:
McCormick, Carol Ann. 2024. The Collectors: Margaret Sallie Briles Colvert (1908-1988). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden.  https://ncbg.unc.edu/2024/08/21/margaret-sallie-briles-colvert/