Katy Conoly of Foster: Flora Katharine Conoly Walker Sexton

Back to the Foster Profiles index

Research completed: August 18, 2026

Bottom line

The Miss Katy/Kate Conoly who visited Foster in 1893 was Flora Katharine Conoly, later Flora Katharine Walker and Flora Katharine Sexton (born July 1876; died 12 November 1938). The identification is Verified. The more precise birth date of July 31 comes from the derivative cemetery memorial rather than a located birth record. [5][6][13]

The record chain does not rest on surname alone. The Foster newspaper calls Katy a sister of Angus J. and H. McLean Conoly [1-2]. In 1880, those brothers had a younger sister Flora C. Conoly, born about 1876 [3]. Her 1894 marriage record calls her "F Kattie Conoly" [4]. The 1900 census places widowed "Katie Walker", born July 1876, in H. McLean Conoly's Alabama household and explicitly calls her his sister [5]. Her 1938 death certificate names George Conoly and Flora Currie as her parents [6], matching the 1880 family.

Foster connection

The Valdosta Times reported on 3 June 1893 that "Miss Katy Conoly, sister of Messrs. A. J. and H. McLean Conoly", was visiting her brothers at Foster [1]. A later Foster column reported a farewell party for her and said she and Mrs. J. T. McNeill were going to North Carolina to visit relatives [2].

Those notices document a visit and family connection. They do not show that Katy owned property, worked for Rozier Conoly & Co., or lived permanently at Foster.

Identity chain

Childhood

The 1880 Lumber Bridge census lists Flora C. Conoly, age four, as a daughter of George B. and Flora C. Conoly. Angus J., 16, and Hector McL., 13, were her brothers [3]. Her sisters Jane E., Mary B., and Hattie C. were separately named, which helps prevent a middle-name guess from swallowing several daughters into one person.

First marriage and widowhood

"F Kattie Conoly", 18, married J. W. Walker, 21, in Robeson County on 7 December 1894 [4]. The initials and Kattie form connect the legal record to Flora Katharine.

By 1900, "Katie Walker", born July 1876, was widowed in Claiborne, Monroe County, Alabama. She lived with "M. L. Conoly", the census rendering of H. McLean Conoly, and was marked as his sister. Her four-year-old son John Walker was McLean's nephew. The census says she had borne two children, one living [5]. This record supplies the missing bridge between the Foster nickname, Flora's formal name, and the Walker surname.

Second marriage and later life

Flora K. Walker married T. B. Sexton in Robeson County on 25 August 1909 [7]. A newspaper account called her Mrs. Flora Catherine Walker, daughter of G. B. Conoly, and named the groom Finan De Berry Sexton [8].

The 1910 census places "Floria C. Sexton" with Finan B. Sexton and fourteen-year-old "John Warker", recorded as a son [9]. In 1920, John W. Walker is correctly described as Finando B. Sexton's stepson [10]. Flora and Finander remained at Raeford in 1930 [11].

Her 1935 will record names Mrs. Flora Katherine Sexton, her husband, and son John Walker [12]. Ancestry labels 15 August 1935 as a probate date and infers death that year, but Flora lived until 1938. The date should be treated as the will's record/execution context, not her death.

Flora died in Durham on 12 November 1938, aged 62 years and three months. The state death certificate names her parents as George Conoly and Flora Currie and her spouse as Finan Bederry Sexton [6]. She was buried at Raeford Cemetery [13].

Conflicts and namesake exclusions

1. Katy was Flora C., not an otherwise missing daughter. The 1894 "F Kattie Conoly" marriage, 1900 sister relationship, and parent-naming death certificate link the names.
2. She was not Hattie C. Conoly. Hattie appears as a separate child in the 1880 household [3]. Similarity between "Hattie" and "Kattie" cannot override the later Flora records.
3. She was not Angus J. Conoly's daughter. Angus's daughter Flora Agnes/Agnes W. Conoly was born in 1898, five years after the Foster visit [14].
4. Unrelated Katie Walker results are excluded. Ancestry returned several women of that name. The controlling 1900 record is the one in H. McLean Conoly's household, record 34662146 [5].
5. First husband's full identity remains incomplete. The marriage record gives J. W. Walker and the later records call Flora widowed. No death, burial, or probate record was found that safely expands his initials.
6. Name forms vary. Records use Flora C., F. Kattie, Katie, Flora K., Floria C., Floy Catherine, Flora Katherine, and Flora Katharine. The parent, sibling, birth, marriage, son, and spouse chain resolves these variants. "Floy" is the form rendered in the death-certificate record; the document's matching parents and spouse identify the same woman. [6]
7. The 1938 obituary index is unreliable in detail. Its automated extraction labels the subject "F. B. Sexton", misclassifies relationships, and gives an incorrect death-date field. The death certificate controls the vital facts [6, 15].

Assessment

Numbered sources

1. The Valdosta Times, 3 June 1893, p. 1, "Foster Notes", image 889763942, clipping 193407548. The article identifies Katy as sister of A. J. and H. McLean Conoly.
2. The Valdosta Times, 8 July 1893, p. 1, "Foster Notes", clipping 193407778. Farewell party and North Carolina trip.
3. 1880 U.S. census, Lumber Bridge, Robeson County, North Carolina, George B. Conoly household, ED 180, p. 520C, original image 4243413-00524, Ancestry record 14916057. The linked Flora C. entry is record 13506568.
4. Robeson County marriage record, "F Kattie Conoly" and J. W. Walker, 7 Dec. 1894, Ancestry record 11634665. Subscription may be required.
5. 1900 U.S. census, Claiborne, Monroe County, Alabama, M. L. Conoly household, ED 156, sheet 21, dwelling 429, family 431, original image 4120002_00633, Katie Walker record 34662146; McLean record 34662145.
6. North Carolina death certificate, Floy/Flora Catherine Sexton, died 12 Nov. 1938, Durham; parents George Conoly and Flora Currie; spouse Finan Bederry Sexton; original image S123_1188-0508, Ancestry record 1648564.
7. Robeson County marriage record, Flora K. Walker and T. B. Sexton, 25 Aug. 1909, original image 42091_342666-00290, Ancestry record 11604797.
8. The News and Observer (Raleigh), 29 Aug. 1909, marriage account for Flora Catherine Walker and Finan De Berry Sexton, Newspapers.com image 80439344. The linked Ancestry marriage index is record 42440337. Its machine-extracted fields were treated cautiously; the independent county marriage record [7] controls the marriage facts.
9. 1910 U.S. census, Quewhiffle, Cumberland County, North Carolina, Finan B. Sexton household, ED 58, sheet 4B, NARA T624 roll 1105, Ancestry record 178693172.
10. 1920 U.S. census, Raeford, Hoke County, North Carolina, Finando B. Sexton household, ED 60, sheet 12B, NARA T625 roll 1303, Ancestry record 76165837.
11. 1930 U.S. census, Raeford, Hoke County, North Carolina, Finander B. Sexton household, ED 11, p. 9B, Ancestry record 76518103.
12. Hoke County will record, Mrs. Flora Katherine Sexton, husband and son John Walker named, volume 1-3, p. 570, Ancestry probate record 1188004. Ancestry's 1935 "probate" label conflicts with her verified 1938 death and should not be read as a death date.
13. Find a Grave memorial 41852790, Flora Katharine Conoly Sexton, Raeford Cemetery, direct memorial; Ancestry index record 15153927. Relationships are derivative unless supported elsewhere.
14. 1900 U.S. census, Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, Angus J. Conoly household, including daughter Agnes W., born July 1898, Ancestry record 52867402.
15. The News and Observer, 13 Nov. 1938, p. 34, death notice/obituary extraction for the Sexton family, Newspapers.com image 651464848; Ancestry obituary-index record 831499609. Automated relationship fields are demonstrably garbled; used only as a follow-up lead.
16. Ancestry exact-name search for Flora Katharine Conoly Walker Sexton, reproducible search.
17. FamilySearch exact death search for Flora Katharine Sexton, North Carolina, 1938, search URL. It redirected to sign-in; no FamilySearch record page was inspected.

Reproducible search ledger

• Article verification: reviewed the cited 3 June and 8 July 1893 Foster citations and retained their exact kinship and travel claims. No permanent Foster residence was inferred.
• Ancestry: logged-in searches covered 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 census records; Robeson marriage records; North Carolina death certificates and indexes; wills/probate; Newspapers.com marriage and obituary indexes; and Find a Grave. Searches tested Katy/Kate/Katie Conoly/Conley/Connolly, each daughter in the 1880 George and Flora household, Katie Walker with son John and brother McLean, and Flora C./K./Katharine/Catherine Walker/Sexton.
• Newspaper follow-up: Newspapers.com searches followed the Foster visitor, both marriages, and the 1938 death. The 1909 marriage report and 1938 obituary page were opened. The obituary's automated extraction was not trusted where it conflicted with the certificate.
• FamilySearch: the exact record search redirected to sign-in in the current browser. No ARK or original FamilySearch image was obtained.
• Cemetery: Find a Grave was checked directly and through Ancestry. It supports Raeford Cemetery and the dates; the parentage conclusion rests on the death certificate and census, not the memorial alone.
• Land/probate: the indexed will record was inspected. No Foster, Brooks County, or Lot 227 property record for Katy/Flora was found. Her role at Foster remains that of a documented family visitor.

Remaining targets

The identity itself is settled. Useful remaining records are J. W. Walker's full name and death record, the original 1894 and 1909 marriage images at full resolution, John Walter Walker's birth record, the complete will images, and a clear 1938 obituary transcription. Those could finish the family biography but are not needed to prove who Foster's Katy Conoly was.