Jesse Shivers, Continental Line Musician

As part of my ongoing series honoring America’s approaching 250th anniversary, I turn next to the life and service of Jesse Shivers, a Pitt County native who served as a musician in the North Carolina Continental Line.

Jesse Shivers was born around 1760, almost certainly in Pitt County, North Carolina, where he lived his entire life along the Tar River and the branches of Mark’s Swamp. He was one of at least eight children of Jonas and Sarah (“Sary”) Shivers: Jesse, Jonas Jr., Shadrach, Amasa, Mary, Elizabeth, Nancy, and Bethia. The Shivers family had settled along the Tar River and Mark’s Swamp by the 1760s, and Jesse grew up among the Briley, Davis, Ewell, and Rodgers families who appear repeatedly in later deeds.

Jesse is connected to my family through my paternal grandfather, Carroll Harvey Lankford Sr. His mother, Alice Beman Lankford, was married to Robert Dawson Callaway. Through that marriage, the line descends as follows: Jesse Shivers Sr. → Jesse Shivers Jr. → Mahala Eliza Ann Shivers → Lemuel Lunceford Callaway → Robert Dawson Callaway → Alice Beman Lankford → Carroll Harvey Lankford.

At about 18 years old, Jesse entered military service during the middle years of the Revolutionary War. On “the last of April or first of May 1778,” he enlisted at Martinborough (now Greenville) for a nine-month term in the North Carolina Continental Line. He served as a musician—an enlisted soldier responsible for carrying commands by fife or drum, not a hired helper—in Captain Francis Child’s company of Colonel James Hogun’s regiment. State records show that he was mustered on July 20, 1778, receiving his enrollment certificate while passing through Petersburg, Virginia. He also appears in The State Records of North Carolina, vol. XVI (1899), listed as “Shivers, Jes., musc.” in Child’s Company, 10th Regiment, confirming his role and regiment in the compiled military abstracts.

 

Jesse as he appears in The State Records of North Carolina, vol. XVI (1899)

Musicians were essential to eighteenth‑century military life. Their fifes and drums carried commands across the noise of camp and battlefield, regulated marching cadence, and structured the daily routine. Jesse’s records do not specify whether he was a fifer or drummer, but his role placed him at the center of regimental communication and discipline.

Jesse later testified that he “served until about the first of May 1779,” when he was discharged at Halifax, North Carolina. He stated that he “was in no battle,” which was true of many who marched north during that year. The Continental Army needed men to hold the line, to keep the regiments intact, and to support the larger movements of Washington’s forces. Jesse did exactly that. His 1819 pension testimony, given more than 40 years later, matches the details of his 1778–1779 service exactly, confirming the reliability of his recollections.

In November 1785, the State of North Carolina issued Jesse a pay voucher for £26.10.0, the standard compensation for a nine‑month Continental soldier. It was a modest sum, but it represented the state’s acknowledgment of his service. 

State of North Carolina pay voucher for Jesse Shivers

After returning home, Jesse resumed farming in the Mark’s Swamp neighborhood, where he quickly began acquiring land. His name appears in county deeds by the late 1780s, already established within the Mark’s Swamp–Tar River community. The name of his wife is unknown; no surviving deed, probate record, or court entry identifies her. Census records, however, show that Jesse had a large family. The 1790 enumeration lists 1 adult male, 1 adult female, 3 sons under 16, and 3 daughters. By 1800, Jesse appears as the sole adult in a household of 12 children, with no adult woman present—evidence that he had become a widower by this time. At least 4 sons can be documented through later deeds: Shadrach, Benjamin, Jesse Jr., and James.

Jesse’s landholdings expanded steadily. In 1787, he purchased more than 300 acres from his father, Jonas Shivers, strengthening his position in the Mark’s Swamp neighborhood. After Jonas Sr.’s death in 1790, Jesse received Tract No. 1 in the estate division—a substantial portion of the original Shivers plantation. Its boundaries, shared with Briley, Davis, and the old Shepherd patent, match the landmarks that appear repeatedly in Jesse’s later deeds. 

Throughout the 1790s, Jesse continued consolidating land. He purchased roughly 200 acres from Robert Flake and Abraham Burly in 1792, sold a 60-acre tract to William Norcott in 1793, and appeared as executor of the Henry Proctor estate in 1797, selling 50 acres on the north side of the Tar River and Mark’s Swamp to Solomon Ewell. That same year, he bought 73 acres from Isaac Briley, and in 1798 he purchased land from his brother-in-law Levi Rodgers, husband of his sister Elizabeth. By the end of the 1790s, Jesse controlled several hundred acres on both sides of Mark’s Swamp, forming the core of the Shivers family holdings for the next generation.

In 1799, the state issued Jesse a 98‑acre land grant on the north side of Mark’s Swamp, followed by a smaller adjoining grant of two acres. These grants anchored him geographically in the same neighborhood where his siblings and children appear in later records.

98‑acre State Land Grant issued to Jesse on March 14, 1799

1798 Survey: Jesse Shivers 98 Acres on Mark’s Swamp,
Pitt County, North Carolina

By 1800, Jesse was living in the Greenville District of Pitt County with a large household of children. In 1802, he sold a 150‑acre tract on Highsmith’s Branch to Richard Harris and purchased a 255‑acre plantation from William Slade on the south side of the Tar River. Both deeds were witnessed by Shadrach Shivers and Rebeckah Shivers (wife of Jonas Jr.), showing the close involvement of his siblings in his affairs.

In 1803, Jesse conveyed 101½ acres to his son Shadrach “for the natural love and affection” he bore him. The deed’s reference to the private path leading from Jesse’s house to the public road places his residence firmly within the long‑standing Shivers neighborhood near Mark’s Swamp.

In 1810, Jesse conveyed another tract to Shadrach—a formal sale of land on the north side of Great Swamp bounded by Wells, the John May patent, Clarke, Vanwright, Cummings, and the main road. Later that year, he purchased 77¾ acres from his sister Sarah and her husband William Harrell, land inherited from their father, Jonas Sr.

In 1811, a 50‑acre tract Jesse had applied for in 1807 was surveyed for him on the north side of the Tar River and south side of Grindal Creek, beginning at a corner of his son Shadrach’s property.

Survey of Jesse Shivers’s 50-acre tract on Grindal Creek,
Pitt County, September 19, 1811

In 1819, at about 59 years old, Jesse applied for a federal pension under the Act of 1818. Fellow soldier Henry Barnhill testified that Jesse had completed his nine‑month term “on the continental establishment,” and neighbor John Anderson confirmed that Jesse was old, poor, and in need of assistance. Jesse was placed on the pension roll at $8 per month beginning June 16, 1819, but was removed in 1820 under the strict provisions of the Act of that year.

Pension Roll of the United States for Revolutionary War Pensioners
(Jesse is on the bottom line)

In the final months of his life, Jesse transferred his remaining landholdings to his sons. On January 24, 1820, he conveyed 49 acres to Shadrach. On August 10, 1820, he sold the 750‑acre home plantation on the north side of the Tar River to his son James for $700. Because the 49‑acre deed was proved in February Term 1821 after Jesse’s death, his death occurred between August 10, 1820 and February 1821.

A U.S. Revolutionary War Burial Index card on Ancestry lists Jesse’s death as May 11, 1820, but this date is not reliable. These cards were created from compiled service and pension summaries, and the “May 1820” date reflects the Act of May 1820, when pensioners were required to re‑qualify—not an actual death record. The card correctly identifies him as a musician and places his burial in a family cemetery in Pitt County, but the details are general. Deed evidence shows Jesse was still alive on August 10, 1820, and had died by February 1821, establishing the true death window. Many researchers repeat the incorrect May 1820 date or link him to a Jesse Shivers from Isle of Wight, Virginia, but the evidence shows that Jesse was born in North Carolina and lived there his entire life.

Jesse Shivers spent his life within a few miles of the Tar River, moving from Revolutionary War musician to one of the principal landholders of the Mark’s Swamp neighborhood. His deeds, surveys, and pension testimony trace the life of a man who served his country, raised a large family, and helped anchor a multigenerational community in Pitt County. Though his wife’s name is lost, his children and their descendants carried the Shivers presence forward long after his death in 1820–1821. His life, documented through his service and land records, reflects the experience of many Revolutionary War veterans who returned home to raise families and rebuild their communities.

References

• Greene County, Alabama, Court Records 1844–1846, images 100–101, FamilySearch.
• James Hogun; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hogun. 
• Jesse Shivers Sr., Revolutionary War Burial Index.
• Jesse Shivers, Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, compiled ca. 1800–ca. 1912, documenting the period ca. 1775–ca. 1900.
• Jesse Shivers, North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Vouchers, 1779–1782.
• Jesse Shivers, North Carolina, Secretary of State Land Grant Records, Pitt County, Warrant No. 17, December 1, 1798, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh.
• Jesse Shivers, Pension Roll of the United States for Revolutionary War Pensioners.
• Jesse Shivers, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S 42010, North Carolina: United States. Military Pension Records 1775–1900, images 1–11, FamilySearch.
• Jesse Shivers, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560–1900.
• Jesse Shivers, U.S., Revolutionary War Pensioners, 1801–1815, 1818–1872.
• Jesse Shivers, U.S., Revolutionary War Service Records, 1775–1783.
• Jesse Shivers, U.S., The Pension Roll of 1835.
• Pitt County, North Carolina, Deeds 1788–1794, 1793–1797, image 386, FamilySearch.
• Pitt County, North Carolina, Deeds 1817–1819, 1819–1822, images 57 and 371, FamilySearch.
• Pitt County, North Carolina, Deeds January 1797–September 1804, images 42, 138, 193 and 480, FamilySearch.
• Pitt County, North Carolina, Land Records 1779–1783, images 723–724, FamilySearch.
• Pitt County, North Carolina, Land Records 1788–1793, images 283–284 and 651, FamilySearch.
• Pitt County, North Carolina, Land Records 1797–1801, images 51–52, 186, 206–207, and 341, FamilySearch.
• Pitt County, North Carolina, Land Records 1805–1807, image 449–450 and 511, FamilySearch.
• Pitt County, North Carolina, Land Records 1813–1817, image 365, FamilySearch.
• Pitt County, North Carolina, Land Warrants 1735–1957, images 44 and 268, FamilySearch.
• The State Records of North Carolina: Published Under the Supervision of the Trustees of the Public Libraries, By Order of the General Assembly,” vol. XVI—1782–’83, collected and edited by Walter Clark, 1899.
• U.S. Federal Census, Greenville District, Pitt County, North Carolina, 1800.
• U.S. Federal Census, Pitt County, North Carolina, 1790. 

Jack and Greene, property of Mary Ann H. Findley

This post is part of an ongoing project to record names of enslaved people of Greene County, Georgia I find in historical records. 

Temperance Crusader, December 17, 1857

Administrator’s Sale.

WILL be sold on the first Tuesday in February next, before the Court House door in Greenesboro’ between the legal hours of sale, two negroes, viz: Jack about 17 years old and Greene about 13 years old. Sold as the property of Mary Ann H. Findley dec’d, under an order of the Court of ordinary of Greene county. Terms cash.

S. M. FINDLEY, Adm’r.

Greenesboro Ga, December 7th, 1857.

Reference

Administrator’s Sale, Temperance Crusader, Penfield, Georgia, December 17, 1857. 

Lemuel Lunceford Callaway

Lemuel Lunceford Callaway, son of Rev. Lemuel Callaway and Mahala Eliza Ann Shivers, was born in Greene County, Alabama, on January 17, 1840. He grew up in a large family of at least 10 children—Navia, Milton, Nancy, Malinda, Lemuel, Matilda, Sarah, Shevers (possibly Shivers), Caroline “Carry,” and W. A. Callaway. Lemuel later became the father‑in‑law of my great‑grandmother, Alice Beman Lankford, though we share no blood relationship.

For years, I assumed his middle name was Lawrence, simply because that was how it appeared in online trees and on Find A Grave. But none of the records in my files ever spelled out a middle name—some listed him simply as Lemuel Callaway, while others used only the middle initial “L”. While researching this sketch, I found his Civil War service record listing him as Lemuel Lunceford Callaway. To confirm that “Lunceford” wasn’t a clerical error, I looked for earlier documentation and located an 1859 Baylor University catalog that also recorded him as Lemuel Lunceford Callaway. Lemuel’s maternal uncle was Offa Lunsford Shivers, so it’s possible his middle name “Lunceford” was a variation of “Lunsford.” Because the Baylor catalog was published during the years he attended, it provides strong evidence that Lunceford was his true middle name.

Lemuel was born into a busy household. In 1840, his parents had recently purchased a 160‑acre homestead in Sumter County, Alabama. His father, a mid‑level planter, oversaw 9 family members and 18 enslaved people. The Callaway home was a working plantation with constant activity, many children, and the structured world of the antebellum South.

During the first half of the 1850s, the family was living in the Gaston District of Sumter County. Rev. Callaway, born in Georgia, farmed land valued at $3,800. Several of the children had attended school that year, even though only Milton was formally listed as a student. Lemuel’s sister Navia lived next door with her husband John Harper and their daughter Margaret. That same year, the Callaways sold more than 680 acres—evidence of how much they had built since arriving in Sumter County, and also a sign they were preparing to leave Alabama. Their disappearance from county records after 1851, combined with Lemuel’s presence at Baylor by 1858 and the family’s appearance in Wharton County by 1860, shows they migrated to Texas between 1851 and 1854, joining many Alabama planters moving west.

By the late 1850s, the Callaways were settled in Wharton County, Texas. Lemuel appeared in Baylor University’s Preparatory Department roster in 1858 as an 18‑year‑old student. He attended only one academic year, 1858–1859, in the College of Arts and Sciences.

 

Lemuel’s mother, Mahala, signed her will on October 25, 1858, and a codicil the next year. She died before December 26, 1859, when the will was proven in Wharton County. She was only 48.

In April 1861, Lemuel enlisted locally at Wharton, Texas, as men began organizing for military service. A few months later, in August, he joined the Rough & Ready Mounted Rifles of Wharton County, a short‑term Texas State Troops militia formed for home defense. 

After his brief militia service, Lemuel entered Confederate service in September 1861, mustering at Houston with Captain John T. Holt’s Company H, 8th Texas Cavalry—better known as Terry’s Texas Rangers—for the duration of the war. He traveled roughly 55 miles to rendezvous and brought equipment valued at $25.

Muster rolls show him present for duty through 1863. He was hospitalized twice—first at Nashville in December 1861, and later at Clinton, Alabama, where he was listed as absent sick. He suffered wounds to his right foot and left hip that left him partially disabled. When the regiment surrendered at Greensboro, North Carolina, on April 24, 1865, Lemuel was not among those paroled. In his 1902 Georgia pension application, he explained that his officers had given him permission to leave on the morning of surrender. Fellow Ranger E. M. Phelps later testified that Lemuel had served honorably and “proved himself a brave soldier,” confirming his presence with the regiment from its organization in 1861 until the end of the war. His years with the Rangers placed him with the regiment during its major campaigns, matching the period when his muster rolls show him present for duty.

As a member of Terry’s Texas Rangers, Lemuel served in one of the most active cavalry regiments in the Western Theater. The Rangers often fought dismounted, skirmishing under heavy fire and supporting exposed artillery. At Shiloh in April 1862, they were ambushed at close range while crossing a ravine in single file, suffering heavy casualties and losing more than 50 horses. They later fought at Stones River in 1862 and at Farmington in 1863, all during the years when Lemuel was documented as present for duty. The close‑range fighting and rapid movements typical of these campaigns are consistent with the wounds he later described to his right foot and left hip.

During the war, Lemuel married Anna “Josephine” Mullins on December 23, 1863, in Penfield, Greene County, Georgia. She was the daughter of John “Jack” Mullins and Julia Ann Williams and the twin of Georgiana. The Christian Index announced the marriage on January 8, 1864, noting that Lemuel was “of Texas,” while Josephine was living in Penfield at the time. They had six children together: Talula “Lula,” Jack Mullins, Carrie, Robert “Bob” Dawson, Lemuel Kelser, and Earnest Callaway. Three of their children later married into the Lankford family.

Marriage announcement, The Christian Index, January 8, 1864

After the war, Lemuel and Josephine settled into family life in Georgia, where their first children were born during Reconstruction. By 1870, they were living in Greene County near Josephine’s relatives in Penfield. Lemuel worked as a farm laborer, and the census captures them with their young family in its early stages.

On June 18, 1880, Lemuel and Josephine lived in District 146 of Greene County with their six children. Lemuel farmed while Josephine kept house, and three of the children attended school. Josephine’s parents and her brother Benjamin lived two doors away. That same year, Lemuel operated a modest share‑rent farm with 27 acres of tilled land and a small amount of woodland and unimproved ground. His farm was valued at $500, with $10 in equipment and $150 in livestock. He raised corn, wheat, cotton, and potatoes, and kept cows, sheep, and chickens. The family produced butter, eggs, and wood, and the farm’s total production for 1879 was valued at $450. Josephine died on May 7, 1882, at their home near Penfield. Her burial place is unknown, though Penfield or Old Shiloh Cemeteries are likely.

Greene, Herald and Journal, The Oglethorpe Echo,
Crawford, Georgia, May 18, 1882

In March 1883, Lemuel was Sunday school superintendent at Shiloh Church in Penfield. On April 12, 1883, he married Julia Celeste Askew, daughter of Ezekiel “Griffin” Askew and Cornelia Frances “Fanny” Mullins. Lemuel was 30 years older than Julia, and they had eight children together: Sidney Johnson, Arthur Howell, Olivia, Annie C., Eulilla “Lilla” May, Ida “Ruth,” Samuel Ezekiel, and Claude Parkis Callaway.

By June 6, 1900, the family lived in Hutchinson, Greene County, about six or seven miles southwest of Penfield. Lemuel was listed as “Lem.” He farmed, and he and Julia had been married 17 years. All eight of their children were living, and several were in school.

Lemuel applied for an Indigent Pension on January 12, 1903, five days before his 63rd birthday. He stated he had lived in Georgia since December 10, 1869, though this date was almost certainly mistaken, since he married Josephine in Georgia in 1863 and their daughter Lula was born there in 1866. He reported that he had been a farm tenant since 1865 and based his application on age, infirmity, and poverty. Between 1894 and 1901 he owned no property and was supported largely by his wife and children. His annual support cost about $80, of which he contributed roughly $15 by doing light farm work. His household included Julia and six children. They had no homestead, and every member of the family had to contribute.

When he reapplied in 1906, the Pension Office required additional testimony. In 1908, Ranger E. M. Phelps submitted an affidavit describing Lemuel as a brave and reliable soldier and confirming that he had served continuously. Surviving pension papers cover 1903, 1906, 1908, and 1909. An Indigent Soldiers Roll shows Lemuel received $240 in payments—$60 per year—from 1909 until his death.

Extract of the Indigent Soldiers Roll listing Lemuel in Greene County

On April 28, 1910, Lemuel and his family lived on a rented farm on Greensboro and Cary Station Road. At age 78, he was no longer working. Five of his children, ages 12 to 20, still lived at home. His son Arthur lived next door with his wife Reaney and daughter Muzette and may have helped support both households.

Lemuel’s daughter Eulilla died on April 13, 1911, just before her 19th birthday, and was buried at Greensboro City Cemetery.

A little over a year later, on July 22, 1912, Lemuel died in a railroad accident in Greensboro. He was working as a night watchman for the Georgia Railroad when he was struck by a train on the Richland Creek trestle at about 5:30 a.m., roughly three miles west of town. Atlanta newspapers noted that he was deaf and likely did not hear the train approaching. A coroner’s inquest ruled the death accidental.

A later family account added that a red signal light had been turned incorrectly, causing Lemuel to walk onto the trestle to adjust it. This detail does not appear in the newspaper reports but was preserved in family memory.

Lemuel was buried on July 23, 1912, at Greensboro City Cemetery after an 11 a.m. service led by Rev. L. A. Dutton. He rests in plot Q‑24b beside his second wife Julia, who died in 1934, and near their daughter Eulilla. Early photos show his original stone standing alone; later photos show a military stone added on the right and Julia’s stone on the left, with his original marker cleaned.

 References

• Ann Josephine Mullins, Georgia, Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828–1978.
• Armor, E. H., The Cemeteries of Greene County, Georgia, p. 156, 1987.
• Arthur Howell Callaway and Claudia Parkie Callaway, U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007.
• Caught on Trestle and Is Killed by Train, The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, July 22, 1912.
• Email from Jack Callaway to Denise Murphy, September 18, 2000.
• Greene County, Georgia, Government Pensions 1861–1864, image 9, FamilySearch.
• Greene County, Georgia, Marriage Licenses 1850–1865, Guardianship Records 1804–1916, Marriage Bonds 1813–1816, images 158 and 160, FamilySearch.
• Greene, Herald and Journal, The Oglethorpe Echo, Crawford, Georgia, May 18, 1882.
• L. L. Callaway Dead, The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, July 24, 1912.
• L. L. Callaway Killed by Passenger Train, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, July 23, 1912.
• Lemn Calloway, Selected U.S. Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, Agriculture, 1880.
• Lemuel Callaway, Georgia, Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828–1978.
• Lemuel Callaway, Georgia, U.S., Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867–1869, Oath Book, Warren County, July 1867.
• Lemuel Callaway, U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850–1885.
• Lemuel L. Callaway, Georgia, Confederate Pension Applications, 1879–1960.
• Lemuel L. Callaway, Texas, Baylor University, 1858; U.S., School Catalogs, 1765–1935.
• Lemuel Lunceford Callaway, Texas, Baylor University, 1859; U.S., School Catalogs, 1765–1935.
• Lemuel Lunceford Callaway, U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861–1865.
• Mahala Eliza Ann Callaway, Texas, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1833–1974.
• Marriage record: Wharton County, Texas, Marriage Records 1847–1898, image 144, FamilySearch.
• Married—Lemuel L. Callaway and Ann Josephine Mullins, The Christian Index, Washington, Georgia, January 8, 1864.
• Our Neighboring Counties, Green: Herald and Journal, The Oglethorpe Echo, Crawford, Georgia, March 1, 1883.
• Personal visit to Greensboro City Cemetery, Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia.
• Robert Dawson Callaway, Lemuel Kelser Calaway, Sidney Johnson Callaway, and Claude Parkis Callaway, U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918.
• Samuel Caloway, Alabama, County Marriages, 1805–1967.
• Samuel Ezekiel Callaway, U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949.
• Sumter County, Alabama, Deeds 1838–1840, 1837–1838, image 98, FamilySearch.
• Sumter County, Alabama, Deeds 1849, 1852, images 334–335, FamilySearch.
• Texas 8th Cavalry (Confederate), Overview, Fold3.
• The Baylor Bulletin: A Directory of Ex-Students of the College of Arts and Sciences of Baylor University, vol. XXIII, no. 4, August 1920.
• Train Kills Aged Tender of Road’s Switch Lights, Atlanta Georgian, Atlanta, Georgia, July 23, 1912.
• Two Railroad Victims Buried at Greensboro, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, July 25, 1912.
• U.S. Federal Census Gaston, Sumter County, Alabama, 1850.
• U.S. Federal Census, District 143, Greene County, Georgia, 1850.
• U.S. Federal Census, District 146, Greene County, Georgia, 1880.
• U.S. Federal Census, Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia, 1910.
• U.S. Federal Census, Hutchinson, Greene County, Georgia, 1900.
• U.S. Federal Census, Militia District 140, Greene County, Georgia, 1870.
• U.S. Federal Census, Penfield, Greene County, Georgia, 1910.
• U.S. Federal Census, Sumter County, Alabama, 1840.
• U.S. Federal Census, Union Point, Greene County, Georgia, 1950.
• U.S. Federal Census, Walkers, Greene County, Georgia, 1920.
• U.S. Federal Census, Wharton County, Texas, 1860. 

Mary and Jim, property of B. E. Spencer and Henry English

This post is part of an ongoing project to record names of enslaved people of Greene County, Georgia I find in historical records. 

GREENE SHERIFF’S SALES.

WILL be sold before the court-house door in the city of Greenesboro, on the FIRST TUESDAY in NOVEMBER next, within the legal hours of sale, the following property, to-wit: 

One house and lot in the village of Penfield, whereon B. E. Spencer now lives; also, a negro woman named Mary, about forty years old; also, one pair counter scales: Levied on as the property of B. E. Spencer, to satisfy a fi fa from the Superior Court, in favor of C. C. Norton vs B. E. Spencer and Joseph H. English. 

Also, at the same time and place, 6 cane bottom chairs, 6 windsor chairs, 1 bureau, 4 chests, 2 beds, bedstead and furniture, 1 wardrobe, 1 carpet and 1 clock: Levied on as the property of B. E. Spencer, to satisfy a fi fa from Greene Superior Court, in favor of Scranton, Seymour & Co. vs B. E. Spencer and Henry English. Property pointed out by Henry English. 

Also, at the same time and place, one negro boy named Jim, about 22 years old: Levied on as the property of Henry English, to satisfy two fi fas from Superior Court of said county, one in favor of Scranton, Seymour & Co. vs B. E. Spencer and Henry English, and one in favor of Scranton, Kolb &, Cos. vs said Spencer and English. 

I. MORRISON, Sheriff:

Sept 30, 1858

Reference

Greene Sheriff’s Sales, The Georgia Temperance Crusader, Penfield, Georgia, September 30, 1858. 

Lucy Agnes O’Brien

Lucy Agnes O’Brien was born in 1883 in New Zealand to James O’Brien and Margaret Montcashel. She was the 10th of 14 children born to the couple: Infant O’Brien, Margaret, William James, Mary Ellen, Kate Dorothy, Mary, Johanna, Timothy, William James (second of the name), Lucy Agnes, a second infant O’Brien, James Joseph Montcashel, Veronica Bridget, and a stillborn infant O’Brien. Though not related by blood to my husband, Lucy connects to his Athya family of Scotland through marriage, as the aunt of the husband of his third cousin once removed.

Lucy’s father, born in April 1845 in Dublin, Ireland, migrated to Pātea in the South Taranaki District in 1863. New Zealand offers no surviving census records listing individuals by name for the years the O’Briens lived in Pātea; although censuses were taken regularly, the household schedules were destroyed after statistical extraction. As a result, the O’Brien household had to be reconstructed through birth, marriage, and death registrations, electoral rolls, newspapers, and local records. Because these sources consistently show only one O’Brien family living in Pātea during this period, I am confident that all 14 children belong to James and Margaret. New Zealand’s Birth, Death and Marriage Historical Records website proved essential in identifying them.

Individual entries of the O’Brien children from New Zealand’s
Birth, Death and Marriage Historical Records website search engine

Two infant siblings are buried at Pātea General Cemetery in the same Roman Catholic section as their father, James O’Brien. One was born on August 17, 1885 and died the following day. The other, born on June 4, 1899, was stillborn. Stillbirths were not required to be registered in New Zealand until 1912, so it is unsurprising that this child appears only in the cemetery register and not in the civil birth index.

Transcription of O'Brien's buried at Patea General Cemetery

On the evening of March 30, 1892, nine‑year‑old Lucy was at home in Pātea with two younger siblings—one aged 5 and the other 21 months—while both parents were out. Her mother was working as a midwife, and her father, feeling unwell, had stepped away for a walk. The two children were almost certainly her 5‑year‑old brother James and her toddler sister Veronica. Lucy was peeling potatoes for the family’s tea and standing near the kitchen hearth when her clothing suddenly caught fire. She later admitted she had been standing too close. Her father described her as a good, sensible child who had often been trusted to watch the younger ones. He believed the tragedy was the result of pure accident.

Startled and engulfed in flames, Lucy ran first to the water tank and then to the well, hoping to reach water, but the tank was low and she could not draw from the well. In her panic she ran again—long before the era of “Stop, Drop, and Roll”—and the movement only intensified the flames. She collapsed in the paddock near the fence separating the O’Brien home from the neighboring property.

Mrs. Maria Gunn, a neighbor, heard Lucy’s screams and ran to her, smothering the flames by wrapping the child tightly in her own clothing. Mr. A. A. Gower, a chemist and druggist who lived nearby, also hurried over. Together they removed the burning clothing as carefully as possible and carried Lucy into the house. Mr. Gower sent for oil and lime water—standard burn treatments of the time—and for Lucy’s mother and a doctor. Lucy, desperate for her mother, once jumped from Mr. Gower’s arms, crying out for her. Mrs. Gunn and Mr. Gower managed to settle her in bed and applied dressings to ease her pain.

Dr. Perkins, the local physician, was not at home when the message reached him, but he came as soon as he could. When he arrived later that evening, he found Lucy suffering from extensive burns. She was restless, irritable, and constantly asking for water. After examining her, he decided to leave the dressings undisturbed, ordered hot water bottles for her limbs, and instructed the neighbors to keep her quiet and administer a stimulant—meaning a small dose of brandy, spirits, or strong tea—only if she weakened. He feared she would not survive the night. When he returned the next morning, Lucy had died.

An inquest was held on April 1, 1892. Testimony was given by Lucy’s father, Mrs. Gunn, Mr. Gower, Dr. Perkins, and her mother, Margaret. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death but added a pointed criticism of James O’Brien, suggesting that if he had been working regularly and supporting the household, Margaret would not have needed to be away from home earning money. They recommended that the police consider a prohibition order against him.

The inquest testimony shows Lucy as a responsible child doing her best in a household stretched thin by work, illness, and the demands of a large family. Her death was a tragic accident shaped by the realities of nineteenth‑century domestic life, when children were often entrusted with responsibilities far beyond their years and when even a moment’s misstep near an open hearth could prove fatal.

References

• A Sad Death, The Patea County Mail, Patea, South Taranaki District, New Zealand, March 31, 1892.
• Birth Search Index, Birth, Death and Marriage Historical Records website; https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search/search?path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Dbirths. 
• Late Fatal Accident, The Patea County Mail, Patea, South Taranaki District, New Zealand, April 4, 1892.
• New Zealand, Birth Index, 1840–1950.
• New Zealand, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1840–1902
• New Zealand, Civil Registration Death Index, 1840–1972.
• New Zealand, Death Index, 1848–1966.
• New Zealand, Historical Birth Index, 1840–1925. 

Charles and Penny, servants of B. Brantly

This post is part of an ongoing project to record names of enslaved people of Greene County, Georgia I find in historical records. 

Penfield, Oct. 7th 49 

The African Branch met in conference, Bro. Stillwell acting as moderator. 

Bro. Charles and Sister Penny, servants of bro. B. Brantly, presented letters from Shiloh and were received. 

Church adj. 
J. M. Stillwell, Mod. 
L. Greene, Clk. pro. tem.

Reference

Penfield Baptist Church Minutes: 1839 – 1885, p. 133, Penfield, Greene County, Georgia, Mercer University Libraries. 

The Overton Myth

As part of my ongoing look at the Revolutionary War in honor of America’s 250th birthday, I next turned to my Overton line. While reviewing my notes, I came across John Overton Sr., my 4th great grandfather. His son, Abijah Overton, is my direct ancestor. I had not done much focused research on John himself—certainly not on his possible Revolutionary War service—but other researchers had shared claims over the years. According to them, John had volunteered during the war and later drew a land bounty in Walton County, Georgia, supposedly awarded in the 1820 land lottery for his service.

However, when I began searching for any primary records to support this story, I came up empty.

Many online family trees claim that Abijah Overton’s father was “Captain John Overton,” a Revolutionary War soldier from Louisa County, Virginia. This claim is incorrect—and the historical evidence makes that clear. The Virginia John Overton (1755–1822) lived his entire life in Louisa County. His military service is well documented, as are his landholdings, marriage, children, and probate. None of his children were named Abijah, and none migrated to South Carolina or Georgia. The Revolutionary War soldier, John Overton of Louisa County (1755–1822), left a clear paper trail that never leads out of Virginia.

Published histories of Louisa County identify the only Revolutionary War Overtons from that county as the sons of Capt. James Overton—John, Thomas, and Waller—whose migrations carried them into Kentucky, Tennessee, and Louisiana. None of these men ever lived in South Carolina or Georgia, and their well‑documented lives bear no resemblance to the South Carolina farmer who became the father of Abijah Overton.

I also searched the Georgia Archives’ Headright and Bounty Land Records, the Georgia Virtual Vault collections, the published indexes of Georgia Revolutionary War bounty grants, and the federal bounty land warrant files; no record of any bounty land issued to a man named John Overton appears in any of these sources. I also searched the South Carolina Department of Archives and History’s Revolutionary War collections—including the Audited Accounts, Stub Entries, and published indexes of South Carolina militia service—and found no record of any Revolutionary War service for a man named John Overton in that state.

On the other hand, the Carolina John Overton appears only in South Carolina and Georgia records, and only during the decades after the Revolutionary War. He is first documented in the 1800 census in Kershaw District, South Carolina, where he appears as a man aged 26 to 44 with a wife and four young children. Ten years later, in 1810, he appears in Lancaster District, again as the only Overton in the entire state. His household includes a male under 10 years old—the exact age bracket for Abijah, born in 1805.

After 1810, John followed the common migration route into Georgia. He appears in Walton County in 1820 and in Newton County in 1830, where he is listed as a man aged 70 to 79. This continuous census trail from 1800 to 1830 documents his life as a South Carolina–born farmer who moved into Georgia with his family. It also proves that he was alive and living in Georgia during the years when the Virginia officer was still in Louisa County.

Further evidence comes from Newton County, where John Overton continued to appear in records well into the 1830s. On February 15, 1836, he sold the east half of Lot No. 198 in the Ninth District—the same 101¼‑acre tract he had purchased in 1828—to Absalom D. Smith. The deed identifies him as a resident of Newton County and shows him signing with a mark. This 1836 transaction proves that he was alive and living in Georgia 14 years after the Virginia officer had died in Louisa County in 1822. The Virginia soldier never lived in Georgia, never owned land there, and left a complete probate trail in Virginia. The 1836 Newton County deed therefore provides yet another clear distinction between the two men and further confirms that Abijah’s father was not the Revolutionary War captain from Virginia.

This Carolina John Overton was born between 1760 and 1774, making him too young to have served as a Revolutionary War officer. He would have been a child or teenager during the war, not a captain. No military records, pension files, bounty land applications, or wartime service documents exist for him. The only Overton military records from the Revolutionary War period belong to the Virginia family—a separate and unrelated line.

So once again, I began my research for this sketch thinking my 4th great grandfather was a patriot, but that was not the case.

References

• History of Louisa County, Virginia: Louisa. Local Histories 1669–1936, image 170, FamilySearch.
• John Overton, Virginia, US, Revolutionary War Pensions, 1800-1900.
• Newton County, Georgia, Deeds 1826–1830, 1822–1826, Mortgages 1826–1830, 1822–1826, images 559–560, FamilySearch.
• Newton County, Georgia, Deeds 1834–1837, Mortgages 1834–1837, images 227–228, FamilySearch.
• U.S. Federal Census, Lancaster County, South Carolina, 1810.
• U.S. Federal Census, Newton County, Georgia, 1830.
• U.S. Federal Census, Walton County, Georgia, 1820.