Josiah Tuck

Josiah Tuck, son of Edward Tuck, was born about 1760 in Halifax County, Virginia. As best as can be determined, his siblings were Mary, Moses, Edward Jr., Sarah, Vashti, Tabitha, Susannah, Carter, and Jane Tuck. Josiah is my 4th great‑grandfather, and our nearest common ancestor is his son, Claiborne Tuck, my 3rd great-grandfather.

Edward Tuck’s 1780 will is the key to identifying him as Josiah’s father. It names a son Josiah who fits the right age to become the man later found in Georgia, and Josiah’s daughters—Sarah, Tabitha, and Susannah—match the names of Edward’s daughters. No other Tuck family in Halifax had a son named Josiah, and Edward’s Josiah disappears from Virginia records just as a Josiah appears in Georgia. Taken together, this makes Edward the most likely father. The Tucks were established in Halifax County by at least 1748, and probably earlier.

Edward died in 1781. In his will, he left Josiah an equal share of the family’s Buffalo Creek land, to be held jointly with his brother Moses. This tract formed part of the original Tuck plantation along the upper branches of Buffalo Creek, a tributary of the Banister River. Unlike Edward Jr., who inherited the home plantation, or Carter, who received a separate tract, Josiah’s inheritance was tied specifically to the Buffalo Creek acreage.

On December 22, 1782, Josiah married Tabitha Harris in Halifax County. They eventually had at least eight children: Susannah, Sarah, Nancy, Mary, Claiborne, Benjamin W., Tabitha C., and Martha F. Tuck.

Sometime in the late 1790s, Josiah and Tabitha left Virginia for Georgia. Before departing, Josiah conveyed or surrendered his interest in the Buffalo Creek land to Moses. By 1799, he was in Wilkes County, where he appeared on the list of “defaulters”—a term referring not to unpaid debts but to men who failed to attend militia musters or submit their annual tax lists. By 1800, he had settled in Oglethorpe County, where the census recorded him as a white male aged 26–45 living with a young wife and two enslaved people. Although the census household does not reflect the older children known from later records, the enumeration confirms Josiah’s presence in Georgia at the very beginning of the new century.

By 1804, Josiah had lived in Georgia long enough to meet the three‑year residency requirement for the 1807 Georgia Land Lottery, qualifying for two draws as a married man with legitimate children. He also appears in Oglethorpe County civic records, serving as a juror during the June 1808 court term. In 1820, he was still in Oglethorpe, heading a mid‑life farming household that included his wife, several sons and daughters, and three family members engaged in agriculture.

Josiah Tuck listed as an eligible drawer in the
1807 Oglethorpe County land lottery

During the 1820s, Josiah moved back into Wilkes County, where he became part of the Burroughs–Mathews neighborhood network. His earliest known Wilkes County appearance came in October 1824, when he served as a witness—leaving his mark rather than a written signature—on the will of Peggy Burroughs. His participation as a witness, despite being unable to write, shows he was trusted and physically present in the community. In 1825 and 1826, he assisted the administrators of the estate of Josiah Jordan by paying postage on a legal commission sent to Alabama and performing other small administrative tasks. One payment to him totaled $6.37½, a figure made possible by the United States Mint’s production of actual half‑cent coins between 1793 and 1857.

Josiah continued to appear in Wilkes County civic records. He served as a juror during the May 5, 1829 Inferior Court session and, on November 1, 1830, was appointed one of the appraisers of the estate of Isaac Eason. After taking the required oath in open court, he joined William Brook, James D. Willis, and Luke Turner in producing the official inventory and valuation of Eason’s property.

The 1830 census places Josiah in District 168 of Wilkes County with his wife, an adult son, two daughters, and two enslaved young men. In 1831, the estate of Ann M. Jordan recorded income from hiring out enslaved people, including a man named Burwell who lived and worked with Josiah that year. By 1838, the tax digest for Captain Jackson’s District shows that “Josiah Tuck (old)” owned 202½ acres, with his taxes returned by his son Benjamin, indicating that Benjamin was acting on his father’s behalf.

By 1840, Josiah—now in his 70s—was still maintaining a modest farm in District 168. His household included his aging wife, two unmarried daughters in their 20s, and a girl aged 10 to 14 who was almost certainly his granddaughter Tabitha C. Hewell, whom he later described in his will as the child he had “raised.” The census also recorded one enslaved man, aged 24 to 25. A voucher from the estate of Parmenas Haynes confirms that a physician was paid for treating a man named Jack who “lived with Josiah Tuck” during 1840, aligning with the census and showing that Josiah housed and supervised an enslaved laborer belonging to the Haynes estate. His wife died sometime between the 1840 census and the writing of his will in 1843.

Voucher for medical care of Jack, an enslaved man living with Josiah (1841)

Josiah wrote his will on October 13, 1843, leaving a carefully structured estate plan that reflected both prior provisions for his older children and his desire to secure the futures of his youngest daughters. Susannah, Sarah, Nancy, and Mary each received a feather bed, furniture, cow, and calf—property they had already received during his lifetime. Claiborne and Benjamin likewise had already received livestock and household goods, including a dark bay mare for Claiborne and a bright bay mare for Benjamin. The two youngest daughters, Tabitha and Martha, unmarried and still living with him, inherited the home plantation, land, tools, livestock, and all household and kitchen furniture. His granddaughter Tabitha C. Hewell (daughter of Mary) received a feather bed, furniture, cow, and calf. Josiah named his son Benjamin and trusted neighbor Luke Turner as executors. The will was witnessed by Luke Turner, Richard J. Barrett, and Daniel M. Irvin.

Josiah’s Last Will and Testament

Josiah died between October 1843 and September 1844. On September 2, 1844, the Court of Ordinary of Wilkes County proved his will through the sworn testimony of Luke Turner and Daniel M. Wood, admitted it to record, and qualified Benjamin as executor. The estate remained under administration for several years, and in July Term 1851, the Inferior Court formally dismissed Benjamin from his executorship, issuing letters of dismission and confirming that the estate had been fully settled.

Court order dismissing Benjamin as executor (1851)

References

• Claiborne Tuck and Frances Moore marriage certificate, Wilkes. Marriage Records 1806–1832, image 243, FamilySearch.
• Edward Tuck, Last Will and Testament, Will Book 1 with Inventories and Accounts, 1773-1782, Halifax County, Virginia: Halifax. Will Books 1773–1782 | Halifax. Will Books 1773–1782, image 205, FamilySearch.
• Estate Case Files: Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Probate Estate Case Files 1790–1962, images 211, 607, and 746, FamilySearch.
• Isaac Eason probate, Wilkes. Probate Records 1828–1831, 1825–1828, image 473, FamilySearch.
• Josiah Task, Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785–1940/
• Josiah Tuck, Georgia, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790–1890.
• Josiah Tuck, Wilkes County, Georgia, Wills 1819–1836, 1837–1877, image 360, FamilySearch.
• List of Defaulters in Wilkes County for the Year 1799, The Augusta Chronicle and Gazette, Augusta, Georgia, April 12, 1800.
• Susannah Tuck, Mary Tuck, Nancy Tuck, Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828–1978.
• Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Census 1800, Land Lottery Records 1808–1832, Tax Records 1860, image 9, FamilySearch.
• Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Census 1800, Land Lottery Records 1808–1832, Tax Records 1860, image 83, FamilySearch.
• Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Court Minutes 1794–1802, 1809–1811, 1794–1801, image 258, FamilySearch.
• Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Miscellaneous Records 1823–1829, image 71, FamilySearch.
• Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Probate Estate Case Files 1790–1962, image 732, FamilySearch.
• Peggy Burroughs, Wilkes County, Georgia, Wills 1819–1836, 1837–1877, image 214, FamilySearch.
• Surveys No. 1, 1751-1901, Halifax County, Virginia: Halifax. Surveyor's Books 1751–1901 | Halifax. Surveyor's Books 1751–1901, image 170, FamilySearch.
• U.S. Federal Census, District 168, Wilkes County, Georgia, 1830, 1840.
• U.S. Federal Census, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 1820.
• Wilkes County, Georgia, Court Records 1801–1803, 1807–1809, 1811–1817, 1809–1811, 1812–1858, image 429, FamilySearch.
• Wilkes County, Georgia, Court Records 1828–1855, image 343, FamilySearch.
• Wilkes County, Georgia, Tax Records 1839, 1841, 1837, 1838, 1834, 1835, 1840, 1842, image 216, FamilySearch.
• Wilkes County, Georgia, Court Records 1828–1855, image 488, FamilySearch.

Doctor bills for Lucy, property of minors of L. B. Tuggle

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

Greene County, Georgia Probate Court Estate Records

1846 Robt. L McWhorter, guardian for Julia & W. B. Tuggle Dr.

Decr. 31st to visit and cathartic to negro girl Lucy 2.25 and bloodletting .50
Jany 1st 1847 visit and medicine 2.50
Jany 2nd 1847 visit and medicine 2.50
Jany 4th 1847 visit and medicine 2.50
Jany 5th 1847 visit and medicine 2.50
Jany 6th 1847 visit and medicine 2.50
Jany 7th 1847 visit and medicine 2.25
Jany 8th 1847 visit and medicine 2.50

Total $20.00

Recd. Of Robt. L. McWhorter, guardian of the minors of L. B. Tuggle, decd. twenty dollars in full of the above medical act for attention to a negro girl Lucy this January 25th., 1848.

Reference

Greene County, Georgia, Probate Estate Case Files 1790–1943, image 295, FamilySearch. 

James England George

James England George was born on October 6, 1875, in Brush Knobb, Henry County, Georgia. He was the oldest of six children born to Raleigh David George and Mary Willie Hollingsworth. His siblings were Bertie, Hayden Edgar, Ennis Adelle, Julia “Cleo,” and Raleigh Mae George. Though not a blood relative, James is connected to my Hobbs and Lankford families through marriage. He may have gone by Jim.

The George family after the death of Raleigh D. George
Back: James England George, mother Mary Willie (Hollingsworth) George, Hayden Edgar George
Front: Ennis Adelle George, Julia Cleo George, Raleigh Mae George

On June 15, 1880, one‑year‑old James lived in Brush Knobb with his widowed grandfather, Newton George; his aunts Sarah (14) and Gatewood (12); and his parents, Raleigh (19) and Mary (17). “Brush Knobb” was not an officially recognized community, but it was the name the 1880 census taker used to describe the local area he enumerated. Both Raleigh and Newton worked as farmers, while Mary kept house. Sarah and Gatewood were attending school. Also in the household was Melvin George, a 20‑year‑old black farm laborer.

James was 12 when his 6‑year‑old sister Bertie died in Conyers, Rockdale County, on April 21, 1887. She was buried at Smyrna Presbyterian Campground Cemetery in Conyers. Three years later, on March 23, 1891, his father Raleigh died in a tragic railroad accident at age 32. While working as a conductor in the East Tennessee yards, he was crushed between two colliding switch engines near the McDaniel Street crossing in Atlanta, Fulton County. Although he was rushed home, he died several hours later from severe leg injuries. A coroner’s jury later found that railroad employee negligence contributed to the accident. Within days, his widow, Mary George, filed a $25,000 lawsuit against the railroad, charging criminal negligence. Raleigh’s body was sent to Conyers, where he was buried beside Bertie at Smyrna Presbyterian Campground Cemetery.

Raleigh’s death left Mary to raise five children alone in Atlanta. The daughters remained in the city as adults, but James and his younger brother Hayden eventually left Atlanta for Greene County in search of work. There the brothers entered the lumber business and operated a sawmill. Hayden was known for his hot temper, and family memory suggests the two may have left Atlanta together after Hayden got into trouble, prompting a fresh start in Greene County.

James married Gussie M. (and/or Annette) McCarty, daughter of William Harris McCarty and Marian Langford Hobbs, in Atlanta, on July 31, 1898, in a ceremony officiated by the Rev. John Almand. Although the marriage certificate records her middle initial as “M,” her tombstone was engraved with the name Gussie Annette George. James and Gussie had six children: Willie Marion, Raleigh Minor, Mary Lou, James Otis, Gussie O., and Guy Walton George.

 

Two versions of the marriage license for James and Gussie

On June 12, 1900, James and Gussie were living in Militia District 146, in the Branch community of Greene County, with her widowed father, William McCarty. Both James and William were farmers. Their daughter, Willie Marion George, appeared in the census as “William M. George,” grandson, age one. James, Gussie, and William were all able to read and write.

By April 15, 1910, the family had moved to Main Street in Penfield, Greene County. James and Gussie had been married 11 years and had four children. William McCarty and James’ brother Hayden were also living in the household. James worked as a sawyer at a sawmill; William farmed; and Hayden worked as an agent for Gloria Light, a home lighting system rather than a local company. James’ sister Julia and her husband Augustus lived next door, as did my 2nd great‑grandmother Mary (Wilson) Lankford and her children Oliver and Della. James and Gussie welcomed a daughter, also named Gussie, on May 12, 1910, but she lived only a little over two months and died on July 31. She was buried at Penfield Cemetery.

Gussie, son Raleigh, and James

James’ sons Raleigh and James

James’ sons James Otis George, Guy Walton George,
and Raleigh Minor George

James registered for the World War I draft on September 12, 1918, in Oglethorpe County, giving his birth year as 1878 rather than 1875. At the time, he was a self‑employed blacksmith and automobile mechanic working in Stephens—an entirely typical combination in rural Georgia, where blacksmiths often became the first local mechanics as automobiles spread. He listed his wife, Gussie, as his nearest relative. The registrar described him as of medium height and build, with blue eyes and dark hair.

James’ World War I draft registration card

By January 8, 1920, the family was living on Bowling Green Road in Bowling Green, Oglethorpe County. Their five living children—Willie, Raleigh, Mary, James, and Guy—were still at home. James worked as an operator in an auto garage. Sixteen‑year‑old Raleigh worked as a farmer on a general farm, while Mary and James attended school. James’s 77‑year‑old widowed father was also living with the family and no longer working.

By April 25, 1930, James had moved back to Penfield, where he lived in a rented home with Gussie and their children Marion, Mary, James, and Guy. James and his son James were both working on the farm. The household owned a radio.

Gussie, James, and possibly his brother Hayden

James’s mother, Mary, died at her home in Atlanta on January 6, 1935, at age 73. After a memorial service on January 8 at the J. Austin Dillon Company funeral home, officiated by Rev. L. A. Davis and Rev. W. E. Crane, she was buried at Smyrna Campground Cemetery in Conyers. Possibly still grieving his mother’s death, James’ brother Hayden died in Atlanta on September 18, 1936, at age 54. He was buried at Penfield Cemetery.

James’ daughter Mary Lou George ca. 1939

On April 13, 1940, James was living at Penfield and Woodville Roads in Penfield, in the same home the family occupied in 1935. He had a seventh‑grade education. Their daughter Marion (40) and son James (33) and his wife Thelma (31) were living in the home and had been since 1935. James was self‑employed as a mechanic in his own shop, and his son drove an oil truck.

Original image of James provided by his grandson

Same image enhanced by CoPilot AI

On April 24, 1950, James, Gussie, and their daughter Marion were living in Penfield in the first house on the left past the Presbyterian Church. Marion, then 50, remained unmarried until age 73. Both James and Gussie were unable to work, so Marion kept house. They had lived in the same home in 1949. The 1950 census recorded James with an eighth‑grade education; he had been unable to work in 1949 and earned no income.

James’ sister Julia Cleo (George) Clark died at her home in Atlanta on March 21, 1952, and was buried at Smyrna Presbyterian Campground Cemetery in Conyers. His sister Raleigh Mae (George) Farrar died in Atlanta on October 29, 1958, and was buried at East View Cemetery in East Atlanta.

James died in Greene County on August 18, 1960, at age 82, following a stroke that left him without speech. He was confined to bed for several years before his death. His daughters Marion and Mary Lou, along with his wife, cared for him until the end. He was buried at Penfield Cemetery.

My thanks to Kenneth George, James’ grandson, who shared memories and family photos with me 10 years ago.

References

• A Conductor Killed in the East Tennessee Yards Yesterday Morning: The Coroner Investigates the Killing, and Charges the Railroad Company’s Employees with Negligence, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, March 24, 1891.
• Crushed to Death: Mr. R. D. George, a Yard Conductor is Killed by a Switch Engine, The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, March 24, 1891.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20820586/cleo-clark: accessed March 19, 2026), memorial page for Cleo George Clark (4 Apr 1890–21 Mar 1952), Find a Grave Memorial ID 20820586, citing Smyrna Presbyterian Campground Cemetery, Conyers, Rockdale County, Georgia, USA; maintained by Frankz (contributor 47926778).
• From Our Notebooks, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, April 2, 1891.
• George—Mr. Hayden E. George, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, September 19, 1936.
• Gusie O. George tombstone, Penfield Cemetery, Penfield, Greene County, Georgia.
• James E. George, Georgia, U.S., Death Index, 1919–1998.
• James England George, U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918.
• Liberty Chapel Dots, The Conyers Weekly, Conyers, Georgia, April 27, 1887.
• Mortuary, Mrs. Carroll Farrar Sr., The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, October 31, 1958.
• Mrs. A. H. Clark, The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, March 22, 1952.
• Mrs. Mary W. George, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, January 7, 1935.
• Personal family memories of Kenneth W. George, grandson of James England George.
• Personal visit to Penfield Cemetery, Penfield, Greene County, Georgia.
• U.S. Federal Census, Bowling Green, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 1920.
• U.S. Federal Census, Brushy Knobs, Henry County, Georgia, 1880.
• U.S. Federal Census, Penfield, Greene County, Georgia, 1910, 1930, 1950. 

Henry Parrott's estate: Division of seven negroes

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

Greene County Georgia Ordinary’s Office
Appraisements & Returns of Estates, Book G, 1810-1816
p. 372

Division of the negroes of the Estate of Henry Parrott decd.

Agreeably to an order of the Honorable the Court of Ordinary we the undersigned proceeded on this day to make the dividend of the negroes of the Estate of Henry Parrott decd. and have made the following distribution viz:

To Nancy S. Parrott negro Sarah @ $250 to receive 43$
To Betsy Ann Parrott negro boy Alton @ 200$ to receive 93
To Dolly Marlin Parrott negro Davy @ 275$ to receive 18
To Mrs. Patsy Jones negro Foreday @ 400 to pay 109
To Henry M. Parrott negro woman Grace @ 75$ to receive 218
To Obadiah Parrott negro Chaney @ 351$ to pay 59
To George Parrott negro Billy @ 500 to pay 209

Given under our hands this 2nd day of Jany 1815.

Thos. Greer
John Armor
Alexr. Allison

January Term admitted N. Lewis for the Court.
Recorded 5th January 1815 E. Torrence C.C.O.

Reference

Greene County, Georgia, Probate Estate Inventories 1800–1816, Probate Records 1800–1816, Sale Records 1800–1816, image 378, FamilySearch.

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.