We began with only two clues about William Walter (“Bill”) Love: that he was born about 1874 in Tennessee, and a family story that his father married twice and had sixteen children. The search started with census records. The 1880 census in Knoxville, Tennessee lists six-year-old William W. Love as a son of Sam(uel) Love, age 50, and Sarah E. Love, age 33; there are seven children in the household.

Further research showed that “Sam Love” was Samuel Ebzan Love, born about 1827 in Limestone Springs, Greene County, Tennessee—likely named after his grandfather. He went by his middle name, Ebzan or “Eb,” and worked as a blacksmith. His parents were John Love (b. 1793, Pennsylvania) and Nancy Rinehart (b. 1793, Virginia). Their families are believed to have moved to Tennessee after it became a state, when unclaimed lands were being sold at nominal fees in the early 1800s.

Marriage records show that “E. Love” and Sarah E. Darnell (also known as Sallie) married on February 13, 1866, in Grainger County, Tennessee. Sarah’s parents were William Darnell (b. 1817) and Ruth Hodges (b. 1821), of Tennessee.

This was Ebzan’s second marriage. He first married Emma Bailey on October 4, 1852, in Madison County, North Carolina. Emma died between 1862 and 1865. The 1860 census shows Ebzan and Emma in Madison County with children:

• 1) Nancy E. Love, b. ~1854, Tennessee
• 2) John H. Love, b. ~1856, Tennessee
• 3) James Love, b. ~1857, North Carolina
• 4) Virginia (recorded “Fergena”) Love, b. ~1859, North Carolina

Between the 1860 census and Emma’s death, two more children were born:

• 5) Ebzan Love Jr., b. Sept 1860, North Carolina; later an L&N Railroad engineer in Alabama; married Alice Paralee Shelby; d. 1917
• 6) Edwin Love, b. ~1862, North Carolina

After Emma’s death, Ebzan married Sarah E. Darnell (our line) on February 13, 1866. The 1870 census in Grainger County, Tennessee shows Ebzan with Sarah, the six children from his first marriage, plus two of their own:

• 7) Margaret C. Love, b. 11 Feb 1867, North Carolina; m. Anthony Monget Odom; d. 1947. (Death certificate lists parents as Ebzan Love and Sallie Darnell.)
• 8) Milton Love, b. ~1869, North Carolina (likely named after Sarah’s brother)

By 1880 (Tennessee), the household also included Sarah’s widowed mother, Ruth Darnell, and five additional children:

• 9) Mary J. Love, b. ~1871, Tennessee
• 10) Correen Augusta “Gussie” Love, b. 16 Jun 1872, Tennessee; m. James Houston Breazeale; d. 1928
• 11) William W. Love, b. 1874, Tennessee; m. Myrtle Dot O’Ryan; d. 1949 (our line)
• 12) Musiadora Love, b. ~1877, Tennessee
• 13) Charles Darnell Love, b. 22 May 1878, Tennessee; m. Lillian Riley Keenum; d. 1938

Interestingly, Ebzan was enumerated twice in 1880: once in Tennessee with his family (as “Sam Love”), and shortly after alone in Springville, St. Clair County, Alabama (as “Ebzan Love”). The Alabama entry lists him as 53, born in Tennessee, a blacksmith, unemployed three months in the past year; father born in Pennsylvania, mother in Virginia—clearly the same person.

He likely went to Alabama for work. In the 1880s, Birmingham boomed with railroads, coal mining, and iron production—fertile ground for a blacksmith. By 1888, city directories show Ebzan Jr. in Birmingham as a railroad engineer. Ebzan Sr. found work as a blacksmith and later sent for his family. (A photo reportedly shows him in front of his shop in an early Birmingham history.)

In Alabama, two more children were born to Sarah and Ebzan:

• 14) Eugene Moore Love, b. 18 Feb 1885, Alabama
• 15) Clyde Carl Love, b. Aug 1887, Alabama; m. (1) Louise Hammond, (2) Lucy Parsons; d. 1956 (ten children)

Sarah died November 21, 1895, in her mid-40s. The 1900 census shows “Ebyan” Love, widower, with the two youngest boys, Eugene and Clyde, at home. The total proven child count for Ebzan is fifteen—very close to the family story of sixteen.

In 1854, Ebzan filed a lawsuit in Madison County, North Carolina, that reached the state Supreme Court. He claimed a verbal agreement with Philip Nielson to build a sawmill on the French Broad River at their joint expense, after which Ebzan would be co-owner. He built the mill; Nielson reneged. The court granted Ebzan reimbursement of his costs.

Between 1871 and 1873 he also filed a Southern Claims Commission petition stating U.S. military personnel had taken property in Hamblen County, Tennessee, during the Civil War. His claim was allowed, which required testimony showing both the loss and his loyalty to the Union. Although Tennessee seceded, many East Tennesseans—including Ebzan—remained Unionist; his brother Luther M. Love fought for the Union.

Ebzan died in 1910 in his 80s. He and Sarah are buried side-by-side at Oak Hill Cemetery, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama—on the National Register of Historic Places and resting place of many early Birmingham pioneers.

His headstone is three concrete steps with “E. Love, Sr.” carved on the top step. Cemetery records give his birth year as “about 1830” (likely a few years earlier) and death date January 29, 1910. Sarah’s stone reads: “Sarah E., wife of E. Love, Sr., born April 22, 1849, in Morristown, Tennessee; died November 21, 1895.”

Document cue: Tennessee, State Marriages, 1780–2002 (image reference).

Support documents include Tennessee marriage records for the Love and Darnell families and city directories for Birmingham listing Ebzan Jr. as a railroad engineer.

Document cue: second Tennessee marriage image reference.

These records, along with census enumerations (including the double 1880 entries) and the Southern Claims Commission file, tie together the identities of Samuel Ebzan Love, Sarah E. (Darnell) Love, and their children—confirming that William Walter Love (b. ~1874) fits this family group.