Featherbed Branch drains from a hill in southern Anson County. It flows paralell, in a manner of speaking as a stream can, to the Chesterfield Road on its west and Jarman Road on its right. It crosses Bethel Road and just before hitting Gulledge, becomes a tribuatary of to the South Fork of Jones Creek. 

To its east, another stream found in these early deeds of the Faulkner and associated families is Mill Creek, that crosses Teal Hall Road before also flowing into the South Fork of Jones Creek. In these lands lived the early Falkners, and others who bear the same surnames as these roads, Gulledges, Teals and Jarmans. 

Nathan Faulkner first shows up as a taxable in Bute County, NC in 1771. Just a few years later, other Faulkners show up, his brothers, his father, his cousins. Asa, Emanuel, Benjamin, mulitiple Francis's, Elijah, and others begin to purchase land near and around Nathan. Why did he come and why did they follow? I don't know, but the answers might be found in the areas they came from, which I will explore at a later date. 

I had noted some pertinent deeds in my previous post, The Faulkners of Featherbed Branch, that you can find at the following link.

The Faulkners of Featherbed Branch

The post was getting unwieldly, so I broke it in two. I had covered the deeds involving Nathan and some of his kin, from 1777 to about 1790, a period of 13 years. 

In the only mention of Emanuel Falkner, in Book C2, Page 124, dated August 10, 1792, Sheriff Thomas Wade executed a sale of property to William May Carpenter (I believe this was a reference to his occupation, and not his name, to differentiate him from another William May, as I have seen it before.), 150 acreson SW side of Pee Dee River, beginning at a second corner stake of a 200 acre grant to William May on the middle prong of Jones Creek, joined Melton (Nathan Melton) and crossed the branch, sold on August 10, 1786 to William May, Jr.  by his friend, William May, Carpenter due to an execution from Anson County Court against Emanuel Falkner for 7.19 l, and cost due to suit by William May carpenter, land sold because no goods or chattels found. Both William Mays were mentioned as grantees of the deed.Thomas Wade, sheriff. 

There was an earlier court record with problems between the Mays and Francis Falkner. This may be a tract inherited by Emanuel after the death of Francis. 

I will pick back up with some deeds involving the Stanfields, sometimes seen as 'Stanfill', a connected family who had migrated with the Falkners from Cumberland County, NC, to Anson, and I believe were intermarried with at some point and manner. 

On March 3, 1789, a Jonathan Jackson of Anson County sold 320 acres on both sides of Thomason Creek, that had been granted to Benjamin Jackson in 1749. This deed was found in Book B2, P 390, and witnessed by Thomas Shaw, John Jackson , & John White.

Book B2 p 387 dated Nov. 16, 1790, Govenor Alexander Martin had granted to John Standfield Grant 4915 of 150 acres that bordered the property of Benjamin Jackson and 'where John "Stanfull" now lives. It bordered a Booth, crossed Meltons Branch (a Nathan Melton keeps coming up) and "Stanfulls" old line. Signed by the Govenor Martin and Secretary J. Glasglow.

Book B2 P 388, the very next deed, dated April 16, 1791, James Falkner shows up, witnessing a deed between John West and Charles West, ancestors of my husband Btw.

 James was a son of Francis Jr, who died about 1794 in Anson County, who ended up migrating with several (most) of his siblings, and a few of the younger Stanfields, to the part of Knox County, Kentucky, that would become Whitley County in 1818.

Book C2, p 350, High Sheriff William May sold to Richard Wallace, two tracts on Mill Creek and Wilkes Mill Creek that bordered John Stanfield property, 'where he lived', meanting John Stanfield was living in the same general area as the Faulkners, although he later bought or inherited through his wife, land on Thompson Creek. This action was due to execution in Anson County court against William May, Sr.  and another from Hillsbourough Superior Court and the Govenor, for taxes that were in arrears. I think many early settlers made the migrations to start anew and avoid debts from other counties. 

In Book D, P 68, dated Jan. 29, 1795, John Stanfield witnessed a deed between Thomas Shaw and Samuel Jackson.

No, not that Samuel Jackson. This one was related to the afore mentioned Jacksons, and to the other witness, Isaac Jackson, who lived on the North fork of Thompsons Creek.

The next year, on July 19, 1796, Isaac Jackson and John Stanfield, the two witnesses,  are seen as executors to the estate of John Jackson, deceased, and sold that property to Thomas Shaw. It was described as "all but a third of said land Mrs. Jackson is to have her life in and after the death to Thomas Shaw".  It was again, on Thompson's Creek and signed by Isaac Jackson and John Stanfield.

In Book C2 p 436 dated April 24, 1795 James and Joseph Falkner sold to William Johnson, 180 acres that began at a hickory on William Fieldings 350 acre survey, crossed Crawley's line, joined Murphy's great branch. Joseph signed with an "O" and James signed with an "X". Witness was William Bennett.

James and Joseph are seen together, and despite being related, are not seen in deeds with the other Falkners. I believe this to be a sale of property after the death of Francis Jr., after which they removed in a group to Blount County, Tennessee and would eventually relocate to Kentucky. The known  children of Francis Jr, brother of Nathan Falkner were: Joseph , Francis III , James, Edith (Price) and Prudence (Fox).

In January of 1795, there's another deed involving the Estate of Colonel John Jackson naming John Stanfield "Yeoman" and Isaac Jackson "Yeoman" as executors. The Will of Col. John Jackson, following, shows that John Stanfield was married to his daughter, Sarah.This Deed is found in Book C2 P 392.

Anson Co., North Carolina Will Book A, Pg 32, Last Will and Testament of John Jackson 
In the name of God Amen. The twenty eight day of March and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety four I John Jackson of Anson County and in the State of North Carolina, being weak in body tho of a perfect mind and memory, thanks be unto almighty God, therefore call unto mind the mortality of my body knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain this my last will and testament that is princibly and first of all I give my Soul to God that give it and for my body I recommend to the Earth to be Buried in a Christian Manner at the Discretion of my Executors, nothing Doubting but I shall Receive The same again at the general resurrection by the mighty power of God and as Touching Such things as it has pleased God to bless me with in this Life.
I Give Devise and Dispose in the following manner: first for My Lawfull Debts to be paid out of my Estate by my Executors and then I give to my Dearly Beloved Wife a childs part of my Estate, I give to my daughter SARAH Stanfill five pounds and to my son JONATHAN Jackson one hundred and thirty pounds upon ISAAC Jackson account and to my son SAMUEL Jackson five Shillings and to my Daughter HULDA Hill five Shillings and to my Daughter PHEBE Shaw five Shillings and to my Daughter MARY White five Shillings and to my Daughter ELIZABETH White thirty pounds and to my Daughter REBECCA Jackson forty pounds paid by my Executors at the time of her being eighteen years of age and My will and Desire is that all my Estate Should Be sold by my Executors and after the above Legices is paid Remainder to be Devided Equally amongst all my children. Lastly I constitute and make and ordain Isaac Jackson and John Stanfill my sole Executors of this my last will and Testament and Do Disalow and Revoke all other wills and testament, Ratifying and confirming no other but this my last will and testament in witness where of I have hereunto Set my Hand and affixed my Seal the Day and Year first above written. John Jackson (Seal)
Signed in the presence of William Gulledge and Elias Haney, October Court 1794

So John Stanfield married Sarah Jackson and James Stanfield married Mary Cox. I also know that Sampson Stanfield was married first to a lady named Easter, probably Easter Faulkner and second to Nancy Thomas.

The New Era

At the turn of the century, 1700's to 1800's, the Faulkners seemed more rooted, just before they were to pull up roots.

November 21, 1798 John Turner sold to Jeremiah Gaddy 2 tracts of land on the Morris Branch of Jones Creek. The second tract mentioned in this transaction bordered "Fieldings Old Survey", which was mentioned in a prior deed involving Asa Faulkner and having had mentioned a Birmingham Rudd. This deed names instead a George Loundsdell Rudd's line, 'joins mouth of Morris's Branch, Falkner's Mill Seat, a row of trees marked by Asa Falkner & James Farr, Bexley John Lambden & William Fielding". Signed John Turner and witnessed by Ph May & H. Marshall. Book G P. 137

Book G P 134 Dated March 23, 1800 certified that Martha Weaver was 'invested with full power' to sell and recieve pay for a "tract on the main road where John Weaver was killed and all other property."The quotes in this transcation seem to be from the words of Nathan Falkner, as it states that "Martha Weaver, wife of John Weaver, saw cause to sell & John Weaver said he was well satisfied with her trading" Signed Nathan Falkner and witnessed by Noah Rushing. 

I wondered what the relationship was between Martha and John Weaver and Nathan Falkner, as I have yet to find one. 

The mention of Noah Rushing was interesting, however. Noah Rushing was a Colonel in the Revolutionary War. He was born about1758 and was married to Chloe Huntley. Some trees have Nathan's wife, Sarah, as a Rushing. I've not yet found evidence of that.

There's nothing to be found on John and Martha Weaver at that time in Anson County, making me wonder who they were, exactly. There's a John in 1830 and again in 1850, cropper, in Morven. In 1794, in Book C2 P 279 Martha Weaver had sold to James Moultrie on Cedar Creek of Thompsons Creek, 300 acres that met Fords line, Abram Allquise's line, Dills line and John Mitchells line. The tract had been surveyed for John Granade in August of 1772. Testator was Phillip Gathings. 

This leads me to believe that the Weavers were tied to the following individuals in the following 3 transactions in Book C2, pages 78, 80, and 81. Dated 1792, Page 80 was a transfer of property from Elizabeth Forehand to John Weaver of land on Cedar Creek and joined Dill's old line and Nehemiah Forehand sold by Hugh Johnson to James Forehand and was witnessed by Nathan Faulkner and Stephen Jackson.

Page 78 was again involving Elizabeth Forehand and John Weaver, part of  a 450 acre tract that had been granted May 1, 1769 to Phillip Dill, and by 'diverse converyances' had ended up in the hands of Elizabeth Forehand, which she had became vested in a power of attorney to dispose of the land. and was connected to a deed from 1789 between John Johnson and James Forehand. Witnesses were Nathan Falkner and Samuel Jackson.

Page 81 was a transaction between Daniel McRae and John Weaver that originated with John Granade, and bordered the property of Abram Allguire and Ford on ' Thomsons' Creek. Testators were Nathan Falkner and John Brooks. 

Also related was July 1792 deed Book C2 p 85 between James Forehand and Nehemiah Forehand, land on Cedar Creek, Witnessed by William Rushing and James McDuffie.

The Wisdoms were another family that were neighbors and associates of the Faulkners in Anson County. 

There's a 1790 deed in Book B2 Page 194 between Bartholemew Chunning of Anson and George Chunning of Darlington County, South Carolina. It was witnessed by William Wisdom and Thomas Wisdom.

April 1792, Nathan witnessed a transaction between John Lowry, Anson planter of Benjamin Buchanon, Sr. of Chatham, concerning Charles' Booths land

April 16, 1792 A transcation between Thomas Vining and John Cason of Richmond County on the South Fork of Jones Creek. Neighboring properties mentioned were that of Jason Meadors, James Knotts and Lewis Lowery. Witnessed by Nathan Faulkner and James Boggan. Proved by Nathan Faulkner April 1793. Book C2 P 158.

July 15, 1792 Francis Van Landingham sold to Richard Odom, 100 acres on a Fork Creek and witnessed by Nathan Falkner and Lucy Shumaker.

Sept. 1793, Nathan Faulkner witnessed a transcation between Burilingham Rudd and Robert Wallace, planters of Anson County. Lowry's Branch, Millers and the 'Dry Prong mentioned, along with Thomas Dickson, William Vaughn, Odom and Meadors. Book D P 219.

Oct 3, 1793 Ricard Farr Jr. and wife Lucy of Anson to John Turney, also of Anson, 2 tracts, one on Morris's Branch of Jones Creek, joined William Owens, William Johnson, George Reed, Crawley and included William Fieldings survey, granted by the King to William Fielding on Nov. 22,1771 and sold by him to William Owens who sold it to George Loudsdell Rudd in 1783. Second tract was on Jones Creek, ran along Rudd's line, to the mouth of Morris's Branch where "Acey" Faulkner's mill seat was, met James Farr, Bexly John Lamdan and William Fieldings beginning.  Witnesses were Richard Farr and James Farr. Book C2 P187.

Nov 13, 1794 Isaac Jackson and John 'Stanfill', executors of John Jackson, deceased, estate to Thomas Shaw.  On Thomasons Creek, bordering Benjamin Jackson. Witnessed by Thomas Gulledge and NathanFalkner.  Book D P 61.

September 16, 1794, William May, high sheriff to Richard Wallace land on the Great Branch of Mill Creek, on the side of a hill, joins Wilkies Mill Creek, John Stanfields home line of land where he lives, William May's home, where he formerly lived, land sold for arrarages in taxes.C2, P 350.

Book E Page 40 concerns a property sold by Stephen Pace, Esquire to Thomas Lewis. William May and Isaac Stanfield mentioned. Oct 22, 1795

Book E Page 450, May 1796 Asa Faulkner of Anson to John Crawford of the same sold 50 acres on Jones Creek, bordering George L. Rudd, Thomas Jones, Bexley Lamden, Asa Faulkner, and John Crawford, including Asa's Mill Seat. Witnessed by Benjamin Duckworth and Richard F. Crawford. 

Sept 3, 1796, Richard Odom sold property to William Rushing on Rushing's Creek, bordering Richard Worthen and 'Blunder' Curtis. Witnessed by Nathan Falkner and Eli Rogers.

This next deed I consider one of the most important, so I will show it word for word. 

Book H2 P 250   Anson County deeds, Dated December 2 1800

"Know All Men by these Presents that I, Nathan Faukner of the State of North Carolina in the County of Anson hath this day sold and made over unto Jonathan and Warren Faulkner of the same place all my stock of cattle and hogs, three feather beds and Furniture and all my other household furniture and my crib of corn for the consideration of one hundred and sixty Spanish milled dollars and that I the said Nathan Falkner doth furthermore and hereby warrant and defend the said premises from any claim right or title by or from any person or persons as witness my hand and seal this second day of December 1800.

Signed Nathan Faulkner (Seal)

Testators : Noah Rushing & Wm Rushing

Anson Court, Jany 1802, ordered to be sealed. 

Nathan is ridding himself of his stock, furniture and produce. This sounds like a man about to be on the move, or either, close to death. Herein is the mention of Johnathan and Warren Faulkner. I believe them to be sons of Nathan. 

1800

The Faulkners that show up in the 1800 census were Nathan, Jonathan, Job, Francis and Asa.

On this page, Jonathan Falkner and Nathan Faulkner are very close, with Betsy Franklin between. Daniel and Stephen Jackson, seen in some Falkner involved deeds, are nearby, as is John Cason. Job Faulkner is just up a few spaces.

Asa is found living near the Rushings and the Stanfields. Thomas Wisdom and James Chiles, mentioned in a number of deeds involving both Nathan and Asa. Asa in sandwiched between Rowlin (or Rowland) and Jason Rushing and near both Isaac and John Stanfield.

And Francis is living next to David and Nancy Hildreth, who I know lived several miles south of Wadesboro.Sampson Stanfiled, who would migrate with this Francis, son of Francis, who died about 1794, to Knox/Whitley County, Kentucky via Blount County, TN, is living nearby. The Mays, who are mentioned in several deeds along with Faulkners, are in a grouping just above. 

The Very next deed after H2 Page 250, wherein Nathan Faulkner sells personal property to Jonathan and Warren Falkner, page 251, involves Francis 'Falkner', and his brother, Joseph Faulkner, although dated January 20, 1795, the year after Francis the elder (Francis Jr, in actuality) supposedly died. 

Jan 20 1795, Joseph Falkner of Anson to John May, 38 acres on Wilkeys Mill Creek, bordering Robert Edwards, John May & Francis Falkner, sold to 'Me" (Joseph) by Robert Hall. signed by Joseph and witnessed by Ezra Bostick.

Featherbed Branch off of Teal Hall Road 

In 1799, Asa Faulkner gave oath on a transaction witnessed by himself, his brother, Nathan Faulkner and William Wisdom, that had beed granted to Robert Jarman and transferred to Marianne Jarman.

In 1796, an interesting deed involving Featherbed Branch of Jones Creek, was when Attorneys Lanier and Johnson , for John and Hugh Waddell transferred to John Cason 185 acres on the branch. Book F, P 163.This may have been the property were the cemetery is located now. 

In 1795, John Stanfill witnessed a transcation from John White, blacksmith, to Archelus Blake, Planter, that crossed the road to "New Town", being a remnant of 300 acres of property once owned by John Jackson, Esquire, and sold by his executors, of which John Stanfill (Stanfield) was one. Two of John Jackson's daughters had married Whites, per his Will, so John White must have been his son-in-law, as was John Stanfill. Book F. P 164.

December 6, 1799 The Govenor granted to James Chiles, 1555,100 acres  and 200 acres at Richard Wallaces, and Thomas Wisdoms corner, on the East side of Gun Branch, joined Francis Wisdom, crossed Camden Road, joined the heads of Featherbed Branch, witnessed by B. Williams and Will White.Book G p 14.

A few days later, James Chiles recieved another Grant from the Govenor, # 1593, for 200 acres beginning at Benjamin "Duck's" corner Book G P 14, as well. 

In November of 1804 James and Lydia Liles sold to James Miller Tindle, their share of the estate of ElizabethChiles at Grassy Islands, 'being land that fell to us from John Chiles estate', found in Book M, p 356, meaning they were heirs of John and Elizabeth, probably Lydia being a daughter and James, her husband.

In December of 1798, James Chiles witnessed a transaction between Elisha Brealer of Winton County, South Carolina and Thomas Jones, of Anson, concerning land on the South Prong of Jones Creek, joining Robert Jarmen, and a grant to Elisha Brealer, and a tract he had bought of Emory Jerman. Book E P 323

Elisha Brealer and Emory Jerman may have further tales to tell. 

Land records weave together to form a story, which in the beginning seems nothing more than a puzzle, but you can see people moving in and around, transferring property before they take off to other lands, or just ridding themselves of inheritances they are not going to use. Some fall ill in their later years and can no longer tend to large properties, and thus transfer it to those they are close to, in exchange for being cared for in their older years. The lands speak, if one will listen. 

Next, what happens when the century turns?

Georgia County Courthouse, historic

In a letter dated April 4, 1837, .Asa William Luther Falkner, Sr., wrote to his Uncle, Job Falkner, of Liberty Hill, Georgia, introducing himself as the son of his brother, Elijah. Elijah had died as a young man and Job had not seen his brothers children since they were very small. Asa had caught news and the address of his Uncle from letters written to Joel and Malachi Gulledge.

The Letter

Asa may or may not have had an inkling that very soon, an illness would come upon him and that his days were numbered. He, himself, would pass away not long after the writing of this letter,   and a second letter would be written by William Webb, the husband of Asa's sister, Susannah.

The letter written by William Webb excited me, because he seemed to be expanding the family tree. He mentioned Joel and Malachi Gulledge as Uncles, and added that "I must inform you that your old grandmother Gulledge is yet living but she is almost helpless."  Another interesting tidbit was,"I am living at the place where your mother was born." But for all those suggestive hints at who the mother of Job Falkner may have been, I finally figured out that William Webb thought he was writing to his wife's brother Job, not her Uncle Job. 

Job Falkner, the elder, had married Mary Frances Gulledge, a sister of Joel and Malachi Gulledge, not a niece. His mother remains unknown, and probably was from Granville or Cumberland County. This Jobs' age also tenders him unlikely to have had a living grandmother. 

He's shown as between 16 and 25 in 1800, between 26 and 44 in 1820, between 50 and 59 in 1830 and between 60 and 69 in 1840, giving his rough birthyear as about 1775, give or take. He would have been 62 or so in 1837 upon recieving this letter, putting any grandmother of his over 100.

My belief is that 'old Grandmother Gulledge'that Billy Webb was referring to was Bathsheba (sometimes seen as Barsheba) Watts Gulledge, widow of William Henry Gulledge and mother of Joel, Malachi and Mary Frances Gulledge Faulkner.

Joel Gulledge had a woman in her 60's in his home in the 1830 census and one in her 70's in the 1840 census. This was probably Bathsheba, and who Billy Webb was referring to. 

So Billy didn't help solve the mystery of who Asa Falkner had married, like I thought he would. 

It also did not take a great deal of digging to discover than when he said he was living where "your mother was born", he was referring to Elizabeth Huntley Falkner Webb, his mother-in-law/ stepmother, daughter of Robert Huntley, Sr.

So, this is what we know about Job Falkner Sr. , the Uncle of A. W. L. Faulkner Sr., not the brother. His first appearances were in land records, such as this one, where he and Francis Wisdom are chain carriers for a survey for Elisah Falkner (aka Forkner) of 500 acres. Also mentioned in the deed are John Falkner, Asa Falkner, William Wisdom, father of the aforesaid Francis Wisdom, and Chiles. Also the evil Pleasant Mays, and yes, I've gained that oppinion of the man after reading much about him.

March 12, 1802 Surveyed for Elisha Forkner 500 acres in Anson Co. on head drains of Morrises Branch beginning at Pleasant Mays corner adjoining John Forkner, Asa Forkner, Will Wisdom and Chileses. Chain carriers Job Forkner, Francis Wisdom. Signed H. Marshall Sur.

Or this one, where he is a witness and gave oath and witnesses the sale of a property from a David Collins to Elijah Faulkners, his brother,along with Jonathan Falkner and Merit Meek.

Dec. 15,1798 David Collins of Anson County to Elijah Falkner of the same sold 2 tracts of 200 acres, the border beginning at a hickory on the east side of Lowery's Branch near the mouth of Dry Prong. It crossed the 'dreans' or drains of Lowery's branch, crossed the branch and that was the first tract. The second tract was one of 100 acres that began at a stake on the line of David Collins new survey. It joined Ready Branch, crossed Lowery's branch and the fourth line of Collins new survey. The witnesses were Job Falkner, Merit Meek and Jonathan Falkner.Job Falkner gave oath in Oct, 1805 Book L Page 8.

Or these two, where he again is a witness.

On Dec 15, 1798, David Collins of Anson sold to Elijah 'Falkoner' two tracts. One was on the east side of Lowry's Branch near the mouth of the Dry Prong and the other mentioned Ready Branch, Lowry's and Collins new survey.  Witnesses were Job "Folkour", Merit Meek, and Jonathan Forkner. Book L Page 8.

On Oct 19, 1803 Elisha Falkner sold to Francis Wisdom, 500 acres, that he had been granted, on Morris's Branch. Witnesses were Elisha B. Smith and Job Falkner. Book L P 13.

Job is always seen with several reoccuring names, Asa Falkner, John Falkner, Elijah Faulkner, Elisha Falkner, the Wisdoms, the Chiles, and the Buchanons. On lesser occassions, Nathan or Jonathan Falkner are mentioned. Job's first census is that of 1800, and he isn't listed very far from Nathan and Jonathan Falkner, who are listed very close to each other, one space between. The Wisdoms, Chiles, Buchanons, sometimes Mays, Teals, and John Cason are mentioned as neighbors. 

In 1800, Job is a very young man, between 16 and 25, as well as his brige, Mary Frances Gulledge. They had one little boy so far. Job was still in Anson County around 1805 and 1808, but I believe he was on the move before 1810, as he is not found anywhere in the census records. From records of his children, however, he must have lingered in Edgefield District, South Carolina, however, as several of them were born there. 

Edgefield was where several of the Falkner/Fortner family had already settled, cousins, possibly even brothers, of his. I know some of Nathan's children migrated there, and I believe at this juncture Nathan was his Uncle. Further research into the Edgefield District families is required before any declarations. Suffice to say that Archibald settled there and Jonathan too, on his way to Tennesee, and we know they were in Anson County prior. 

In 1818, Job appears in a tax list for Twiggs County, Georgia, in the geographical center of Georgia.

His next appearance is in Walton County, Georgia. While in the past, I've found that most of the immigrations were done in groups, family groups, neighbors, etc., I have not found that in Job's case. He wasn't in the War of 1812, that I can see, so it doesn't appear to be a land lottery move, and he had no familiar names around him or near him. After Edgefield, it appears he struck out on his own with his wife and children. 

Walton County is in the North Central part of Georgia, and while Georgia brings to mind the historical cities of , Atlanta and Savannah, we tend to forget a large part of it belonged to the Creek far after the Revolution. Walton was incorporated in 1818 and Job shows up just a few years later in the census. Twiggs was incorporated in 1809, so as lands are opening up, Job is moving into them. Between 1818 and 1820, he was moving north.

In 1820, his household had increased to 9 people, two adults and 7 under 16. Imagine traveling under those conditions in the early 1800's, on those scant roads, in territory still occupied by roaming bands of Creek and other tribes, with 7 children under 16? At least three of his sons were between 10 and 15. 

 In 1827, Job applied for the Land Lottery in Troup County, Georgia.

I found this information on the lottery. It was 202 1/2 acres and the Grant fee was $18 per land lot.

There was a long list of people who were eligible for the drawing. Widows whose husbands died in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, or the Indian Wars. Various categories of orphans, families of illegitimate children, children of convicts, mentally challenged individuals and other categories of people, especially women and children, who might not ever otherwise have had the means or opportunity to own land, but it also included vets and bachelors over 18 who had lived in Georgia at least 3 years. The category I feel Job Faulkner fell in would have been that of a married man with a wife or son under 18, or with an unmarried daughter, who had lived in Georgia for at least 3 years. He had all of those.

Troup is all the way over on the border of Georgia and Alabama, and that is not where he ended up. He may not have gotten the land he wanted in Troup, because in 1826, we find Job in a tax list for Fayette County, Georgia and that's where he is in the 1830 census.

1826 Tax Listing of Fayette County, Georgia

In 1830, Job is in his 50's and has 6 children still at home. 

He's no longer the only Faulkner in the county. His oldest living son, William Gulledge Faulkner was about 25 and head of his own household. Job had a son over 20 now, and another in the latter part of his teens still at home. Those would have been Asa Elijah and Thomas Jefferson Faulkner. So there was an Asa Elijah, son of Job, though, and named, I believe, for his grandfather and great grandfather.

Fayette County was a little east of Troup, but still part of the Creek ceded lands. But ever the rolling stone, Job still wasn't settled.

In 1837, Job had applied for a Land Grant in Alabama, in conjunction with his son, Joel, who would have been about 22. This one was for nearly 160 acres.

And a second one for over 80 acres. What drove him to keep moving? Was he just a worm in hot ashes? Was it the drive for good bottom land? Was he determined to have something to leave to his children, to keep them well-situated?

By The President: Martin Van BurenEntry:  U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907

Name  Job Falkner
Issue Date  5 Aug 1837
Place  Randolph, Alabama, USA
Land Office  Mardisville
Meridian  Huntsville
Township  22-S
Range  13-E
Section  12
Accession Number  AL3030__.071
Document Number  3322

Transcribed Record of: U.S. General Land Office Records, 1776-2015  Randolph, Alabama
Preemption Certificate No. 3322

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting:

WHEREAS Job Falkner and Joel Falkner of Randolph of County Alabama, have deposited in the General Land Office of the United States, a Certiicate of the Register of the Land Office at Mardisville whereby it appears that full payment has been made by the said Job Falkner and Joel Falkner, according to the provisions of the Act of Congress of the 24th of April, 1820, entitled " An Act making further provision for the sale of the Public Lands," for the North East quarter of Section twelve in fractional Township twenty-two, of Range thirteen, in the District of lands subject to sale at Mardisville Alabama, containing one hundred and fifty-nine acres and fifty-six hundredth of an acre, according to the official plat of the survey of the said Lands, returned to the General Land Office by the Surveyor General, which said tract has been purchased by the said Job Falkner and Joel Falkner.

Now know Ye, That the United States of America, in consideration of the Premises, and in conformity with the several acts of Congress, in such case made and provided, Have Given and Granted, and by these presents Do Give and Grant, unto the said Job Falkner and Joel Falkner and unto their heirs, the said tract above described: To Have and To Hold the same, together with all the rights, privileges, immunities, and appurtenances of whatsoever nature, thereunto belonging, unto the said Job Falkner and Joel Falkner as tenants in common and not as joint tenants - and to their heirs and assigns forever.

In Testimony Whereof, I, Martin Van Buren, President Of The United States Of America, have caused these Letters to be made Patent, and the Seal of the General Land Office to be hereunto affixed.

Given under my hand at the City Of Washington, the fifth day of August in the Year of our Lord one 

by A Van Buren, Sec'y.

Job may have chosen Joel, no doubt named for Mary's brother, Rev. Joel Israel Gulledge, as he was the youngest son, and by this time, his older brothers had gotten 'situated' on their own.

Randolph County, Alabama was Job Falkner's last stop. He was in later 60's and Mary Frances Gulledge Falkner was already past 70. She must have been a few years older, despite that, she outlived him by several decades. This tumbleweed had managed to take his and Mary Frances's Anson County, NC genes into Alabama. 

Randolph was just across the Alabama/ Georgia state line, so he wasn't making great leaps of distance as he moved, just on a constant move. I don't believe he would have had the opportunity to set up a successful farming operation as much as he moved. Imagine how long it would have taken just to build a house and a barn, and other workable farm buildings. He must have had an occupation that he could have packed up in a stachel or wagon and transported with him. Although no census or tax record places him there, several of Job's children were reported to have been born in Jaspar County, Georgia. 

This county isn't even bordered by Troup, Triggs, Walton, Fayette, or any of the other counties in Georgia he was found in. And he was the only Job Falkner in that area at that time. Actually, the only Falkner, period.

According to Family Records, and they kept good ones, Job Falkner died in Randolph County, Alabama in June 1, 1843. His grave and stone have dissolved into the loins of Mother Nature, but his memory lives on in the hearts of his descendants, and at least three of his children kept family bilbles, passed down to their own descendants, with records of him and Mary Francis written in them. If he were my direct ancestor, which he is not, I would probably be trying to find all the land records he made in his travels, as he obtained grants and sold them like the rolling stone he was. 

Mary Frances is shown living alone in 1850, as a 75 year old widow with property valued at $400. This is a little misleading though. She may have still lived in her own home, but listed around her were her daughters and even some granddaughters, with their own families, so they were nearby. There was Joseph and Mary Falkner Breed, Calvin Jones and Nancy Falkner Ussery and William and Harriett Cumbee. Mary gave her birthplace as South Carolina, which could have been true. Anson borders South Carolina, and I haven't dug that deeply into the Gulledges.

After Job's passing, Mary Frances Gulledge Falkner lived for a time with the oldest of her three daughters, Mary Hasseltine Falkner Breed, wife of Joseph Harrison Breed. She is shown as 84 in this record, with a year of birth as 1776. The transcription was really bad, Falkner/ Falletta? But that was not the last record we have of her. This was in 1860.

Mary Hasseltine (some also give her a middle name of 'French' as in Mary French Hasseltine Falkner Breed), had a daughter named Melissa. In 1870, Mary Frances is 94 and living in Bacon Level, Randolph County, Alabama with her granddaughter, Melissa (or Malissa) Breed Hollis. She doesn't live long after this.

Find - A - Grave gives Mary Frances Gulledge Falkner a date of birth as June 1, 1787 and a date of death as June 1, 1870.

I believe these to be incorrect, as she was still living in August of 1870, with her granddaughter, Melissa. She also gives her own year of birth as 1775 and 1776 in the three census records she appeared in. I don't doubt she died in Randolph County, Alabama.

The children of Job and Mary were:

1) William Gulledge Falkner born 1805 in Anson County, NC and died 1891 in Shelby County, Alabama. Married Nancy Laura Parker and Margaret Fedora Cloud (the widow McDaniel).

2) Asa Elijah Faulkner born 1808 in Anson County, NC and died in 1883 in Coffee County, Alabama.Married Nancy Falkner, daughte of Willis Falkner, who appears in Edgefield, SC. At this juncture in my research, I believe that Willis was probably one of the son's of Jonathan Falkner, and I believe Job was the son of Asa, making them second cousins. If Willis was a son of Asa ,they would have been first cousins.

3) Thomas Jeffereson Falkner born about 1809, places given as both Anson or Jaspar County, GA. Most likely Edgefield, SC. Married Sarah Ann Breed, second, Samantha Breed. Died 1895 in Montgomery, AL

4) Wilson Falkner (named possibly for Falkner ancestress, Betsy Wilson), born June 4, 1810 is Edgefield District, SC and died on Nov. 2, 1872 in Randolph, AL.Married Frances "Franky" Burdette.

5) Mary Hasseline French Falkner b 1812 Jaspar County, GA d 1891 in Van Zandt, TX. Married Joseph Harrison Breed.

6) Alice Ealcey Mary Falkner b Jan 13, 1813 in Edgefield District, SC died Feb 13, 1862 in Randolph Co. AL. Married James William Burdette.

7) Joel Elmer Falkner b July 31, 1815 somewhere in Georgia, d. Dec 20, 1864 in Mobile, Alabama. Married Sarah T. Ussery.

8) Nancy Ann Falkner b Dec. 22, 1817 in Walton County, GA. d Oct 7, 1905 in High Shoals, Randolph, AL. Married Calvin Jones Ussery.

The children of Job and Mary Frances have their own interesting stories to tell. That will be my next chapter.

Job Falkner was born around the time of the American Revolution in Anson County, North Carolina. He married Mary Frances Gulledge, daughter of William H. and Bathsheba Watts Gulledge, as a young man. She was born either in North or South Carolina. I believe Job to have been one of the sons of Asa Falkner, son of Francis Falkner, who had migrated from Queen Anne's County, Maryland to Granville County, NC, then Cumberland, then Anson.

Job was a rolling stone. He didn't let the soil dry on his heels. From what I have been able to surmise, his first few sons were born in Anson, he then relocated to Edgefield District, South Carolina, where many of his kin had already located. From there, he traversed through several counties in Georgia, following the land lotteries as they became available, going from Jaspar to Twiggs to Troup to Walton to Fayette, before finally settling in Randolph County, Alabama about 1837 and passing away there in 1843. He and his wife, Mary Frances had 8 children who lived to adulthood. This is their story. 

William Gulledge "Gully" Falkner

Their firstborn was William Gulledge Falkner, named for his maternal grandfather and nicknamed "Gully".  I had begun this post with the title of "The Children of Job and Mary Frances Gulledge Falkner", but changed it, Toungue-In-Cheek to "Job's Children". While no one names their children Job anymore, in the late 1700's and early 1800's, they did. While census records indicate that Job and Mary F. may have had two older sons, the names of such are not known, and neither is their disposition or fate. 

I will refer to Gully by his nickname, as their were far too many Williams in the world at that time. He was a feroscious visage, at least later in life. According to legend and memories, and the lead-in portrait, he wore his hair long and unkempt, and had lost one of his blue eyes  to war, fight or accident, perhaps, I don't know which. In my quick study of the Gulledges, many have tried to link his mother's family to one of those illusive "Cherokee Princesses", (why are folks so deadset on creating some distant Native ancestry), however, the war records that recorded descriptions of the soldiers, had a large number of the sons and grandsons of this family as "fair", "fair-haired" and with blue or 'light' eyes, so I doubt this was true. If it was, it was so far back it washed away. 

Gully was born March 3, 1805 in Anson County, North Carolina, so he was one who made all of the moves with his 'worm-in-hot-ashes' father. On February 26, 1828, he married Nancy Laura Parker, the daughter of Isaiah and Laodicea Parker. She was also born in Anson County, North Carolina. Her parents passed away in Dekalb County, Georgia, so the families may have been migrating together in the beginning.

Gully and Nancy are listed just 2 years after their marriage in Fayetter County, Georgia, with an infant son and 4 slaves in the household. 

He recieves a land grant in 1838 in Randolph County, Alabama and has followed his family there.

 In the 1840 census, in Randolph County, his family has expanded to 7 children, his oldest son now 10 to 14, and two between 5 and 9, and 4 daughters. There are two men in their 30's in the home, one of them obviously Gully, but it also states that only one person in the home was employed in agriculture, while 8 were scholars. That means the 30-something year old man was also a scholar, perhaps a boarder, perhaps a relative, perhaps a tutor he had hired to teach his children. He no longer had any enslaved people in the household.

Gully was a farmer by trade, and by 1850, he was listed in Shelby County, Alabama.

Randolph and Shelby were not bordering counties, however, on April 24, 1854, he was elected as a Justice of the Peace back in Randolph County, again, after the current one resigned.

By 1860, Gully and family had returned to Shelby County and the youngest of their children, a daughter named Judson, was now 7.

Photo from Find-a-Grave by Sandra Adams

Gully lost his beloved Nancy on June 2, 1867, she was 57 years old. She was buried at the Old Sterrett Cemetery and it appears her memory has lovingly been kept alive.

On July 18, 1858, in Shelby County, Alabama, Gully had stood as surety for the marriage of James A. McDaniel and Fadora Cloud. 

Margaret Fedora Cloud McDaniel Faulkner

Fadora would become his second wife.

Tabitha Fadora Cloud was born June 29, 1838, in Alabama to Squire Cloud and Peggy Shepherd. Gully robbed the cradle with her, because when he married the young widow, he was 53 and she was 29, having married her first husband, James McDaniel (also seen as McDonald), when she was 20. She had two sons, Robert Squire and William B. by her first husband. Gully had 11 surviving children with Nancy Parker, but most of them were already adults, save the very youngest. In fact, Asa, his eldest, was the same age as Fadora.

With Fadora, he had 5 more children, and the age range was vast. Gully was 24 when his first child was born and 76 when he had his last. Despite the decades of difference in their ages, Gully still outlived his wife by a few years. Fadora passed away in 1887, when her youngest was only six and Gully passed away on May 16, 1891 at the age of 86. He was the father of 16 children and helped raise two stepsons. He himself, both wives and a majority of his children and some of his siblings are buried in the Old Sterrett Cemetery.

Clinton Slayton

With Nancy Laura Parker he had: 

1) Asa Calvin Falkner (1829 -1920) m Sarah Jane Smith, 14 children.

2) Mary Hasseltine "Polly" Falkner (1832-1908) m John Levi Crim, 7 children.

3) James Mathew Faulkner (1833-1880) m Mary Belshire, 2 children.

Jim on the left (credit Kelly Burrus)

4) Sarah Elizabeth Faulkner Hollis (1835-1884) m Stephen M. Hollis, 14 children.

5) Angeline Catherine Faulkner Duke (1838-1864) m Henry M. Dukes, 2 children.

6) Nancy Laura "Nan" Faulkner Collins (1839-1910) m William Hilliard Collins, 11 children.

7) Christine Celesta "Clystie" Faulkner Andrews (1839-1923) m John Seaborn (aka Seibert) Andrews,  12 children.

Five of the children of Gully; Nan and Clystie in the back, Nan's husband, Hilliard, in front, followed by William Jobe, Asa Calvin, and Elijah 'Lige' Faulkner. Provided by Rachel Mosely via Delula Tamarine Collins. About 1891.

8) William Jobe Faulkner (1843-1907) m Sarah Clementine Epperson, 11 children.

9) Harriett J. Faulkner (1845 - 1885) m William George (Bill) Weldon, 9 chiildren.

10) Elijah "Lige" Faulkner (1848-1933) m Sarah Oden, 4 sons.

11) Judson C Hasseltine Faulkner Brasher (1852-1907) m John Alexander M. Brasher, 7 children. Judson seems like an unusual for the era, but cool name for a woman at the time. The "C"is believed to be for Clarrissa, one of her daugthers names as well. I wonder if there is any significance in the name Judson, or in the repetition of the name 'Hasseltine' or a similar spelling, thoughout the entire family.

Shared by Bonnie Mauzey, Judson on left.

By Fadora Cloud McDaniel Faulkner;  two stepsons, Robert "Tobe" and Willie. The children of Fadora and Gully were in an entirely different generation than their older half-siblings. Even Judson was 17 when Jeff was born.

12)  James Jefferson "Jeff" Faulkner (1869-1938) m Nancy Jane Goodwin, 11 children.

13)  Martha Falkner (1871 - ?) 

14) Susan Margaret "Susie' Falkner Lynn (1871-1957) m Frank Belton Lynn, 11 children.

15) Henry Joseph Falkner ( 1875-1937) m 1st Mary Ellen Johnson: 7 children: Bertie, Homer, Vera, Vida, Zadie, Audie, Zora. M 2nd Dora Theola Isbell; 6 children; Jana, Euna, George, Gracie, Maudie, Lottie.

16) Annie Effie Falkner O'Barr (1881-1947) m Andrew O'Barr, 8 children.

The youngest children of William Gulledge Faulkner circa 1930. Their father was born in 1805. Courtesy of Lisa McCoy

Asa Elijah Faulkner

Asa Elijah Faulkner, named, I suppose, for his Grandfather, Elijah, and his Great Grandfather, Asa, was born in Anson County in about 1808, meaning Job was still in residence until then, at least. He's one of the most interesting children of Job, for me, not only because of his cookie crumb name, but in his other amazing links.

We know that Job's first stop after leaving Anson was to Edgefield District, or County, in South Carolina, where a colony of Faulkners (also seen as Fortner in SC at this time, but it was the same family, because when they moved on to Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, etc, they suddenly reverted back to Faulkner or any number of its various spellings). had formed. Archibald Falkner, the eldest son of old Asa, this one's grandfather's brother Nathan, had settled here, after being shown as a young man in land records, and the 1790 census, in Anson. We know by the 1790 and 1800 census records that Nathan appears to have had a large family, some girls, but mostly boys, at least seven in the home in 1790, when Archibald was already married, and then some who were born between 1790 and 1800. This was probably due to marrying  a younger wife afte the death of the first one, kind of like in the case of Gully Falkner.

So, having been born in Anson County, NC, Asa Elijah would have spent possibly a few years in South Carolina as a child.

His first appearance an adult is at age 29, when he is appointed as the Postmaster of Weehadkee, Randolph County, Alabama, after pillowing back and forth all over Georgia as a child, with his family. This tells me that despite the constant moves, Job had ensured his children recieved an education, and I believe he may have even employed a private tutor, due to the presence of a 30 year old "Scholar" in his home.

Weehadkee, as a town, no longer exists, but there is the creek, that bears the name still there, and the remains of an impressive mill and a church that bears the name. Amazingly the Post Office, that was closed in 1954,still stands.

The next step for Asa Elijah was to marry, which he did, with Nancy Clarinda Faulkner on December 7, 1838.

You may notice, that Nancy Clarinda was also a Faulkner. She was the daughter of Willis and Patience Gulledge Faulkner . Anything sounding familiar here? Job and Willis Faulkner both gave bond for the marriage of their children.

Willis is first found in the 1800 census of Edgecomb District of South Carolina as a 'Fortner'. He will get his own post, but quickly, tree after tree has him as being born there, however, this is just the first place they find him. There were actually two Willis Falkners in Edgefield at the same time. The other had a different path and a different wife, not to say he may have been distantly connected (or not so distantly ) at some point. The Willis who married Patience Gulledge was in Edgefield through 1820, had made it to Dekalb County, Georgia by 1830 and to Macon County, by 1840, where he was appointd as a Postmaster in 1842.

And to Randolph in 1842, where he was also appointed Postmaster.

And seems to have died around 1845, at least by 1850, when his widow, Patience, is seen living with Elijah and Nancy. This is just too much of a coincidence. Willis is one of the Edgefield Falkner/ Fortners I am looking at to have been members of this family, and at this juncture, I believe him to have been a son of Nathan, which would make Job and Willis first cousins and Asa Elijah and Nancy Clarinda second cousins. If Job and Willis were brothers, which I don't believe is the case, as all of Asa's sons seem to be accounted for in the Anson County land records. 

In 1850, Elijah and Nancy have three little girls and her mother, Patience, is living with them. She's 62 and born in South Carolina. As Patience's maiden name was Gulledge, as evidenced by multiple documents among her children, and Gulledge was, and still is, a common name in Anson County, the chances of Job's wife, Mary Frances Gulledge Faulkner, and Willis's wife, Patience Gulledge Faulkner, being related is pretty high. They were even close in age. They could have been cousins, and although there is not a Patience usually listed among the children of William Henry Gulledge and Bathsheba Watts, she still could have been a sister, as all of the possible daughters have not been identified. Just dashes in a census.  I did just find a Family Tree that had Patience as a daughter of W H and Bathsheba, but he did have brothers. She could have been a niece, there's no real evidence. Mary Frances had also claimed to be born in South Carolina too, so there's that.

Gulledge is the name of the Township or area of Anson County where the lands of Asa, Job and the other Faulkners had lived, however and still is, named for the Faulkner family, so the fact that both women were Gulledges is highly suspect of a relationship.

Willis was in Randolph County, Alabama in 1838 for the wedding, however. 

Asa Elijah and Nancy Clarinda Faulkner settled in the town of Elba, in Coffee County, Alabama, where they farmed and raised their children as best as they could.

Folsom Cabin Historic site in Elba, Alabama, typical of the settlement times.

Coffee is in the Southern part of Alabama, and Elijah lived along the Pea River, known for being a cotton growing area. He died on November 30, 1883 at the age of 75 and was buried at the New Hope Community Cemetery, as was several members of his immediate family, although many stones there have crumbled or faded. Nancy Clarinda Faulkner Faulkner died sometime after Elijah, date unknown. It is believed she was buried beside him.

Their known children were:

1) Mary Elizabeth Faulkner  b 1842. Lived with her parents into her 30's. Not in the household in 1880. No further information.

2) Martha Pamela Faulkner "Mattie" (1847-1920) married William Thomas Pritchitt, 9 children.

3) Nancy Clarinda Faulkner Jr. (1851- Unknown) married Elijah Holland, 4 children.

4) Mancil Faulkner (1852 - before 1870) Died as a child.

5) William Wallace Faulkner Sr. (1854-1927) Married 1st Virginia Yancy Davis, 6 children, Married 2nd : Hallie Matilda Robinson, 1 son. Note: There was a great deal of intermarriage between Faulkners and Robinsons spanning generations.

6) James Monroe Faulkner (1859-1917) Married 1st Loudie James, 2 children. Married 2nd Laura Turner, 1 son.

7) Joel Morgan Faulkner (1863-1893) Never married.

Note: There seems to have been a great deal of illness and handicapps in this branch of the family, possibly due to the duplicate Falkner and Gulledge roots. William Wallace Faulkner and family were the healthiest and most sucessful group.

William Wallace Faulkner

Capt. Rev. Judge Thomas Jefferson Faulkner

Every litter of pups has an Alpha, and in the family of Job Faulkner, it was Jeff.

Thomas Jefferson Faulkner was born on April 22, 1810 in Anson County, North Carolina and died on April 22, 1895, in Montgomery County, Alabama. He was an Attorney, a minister, and a Captain in the Civil War.

Faulkner's Battalion, Mounted Infantry, was an organization of 1st Class Militia in Randolph County, also known as County Reserves. Officers and men were not liable for conscription, being over age fifty, under the age seventeen, or inside the age range 17-50 but discharged or exempt from Confederate military service.

Occiers were:
Lt. Col. Jefferson Faulkner
Maj. John Reaves, formerly Capt. of Co. �A�

Election results dated Nov. 17, 1864.

Capt. James M. K. Guinn, Co. �A� elected Nov. 17, 1864
Capt. B. H. Ford
Capt. A. P. Hunter
Capt. W. M. McClendon
Capt. O. W. Shepherd
Capt. D. A. Self
Capt. Larkin Breed, Co. �F�, elected Nov. 17, 1864 from Co. �A�. 127 officers and men appear on the original roll for Company "A" prior to the creation of Company "F". A letter from Capt. Breed, addressed Wedowee Ala., Dec. 1, 1864, yields his right to requisition arms to Col. Faulkner.

Letter from Gov. Thomas H. Watts confirmed Jefferson Faulkner as Lt. Col. of a mounted battalion composed of companies of the Randolph County Reserve, Dec. --, 1864

In May 1865 all men of Capt. Hunter�s Co. were discharged at Talladega AL by the captain.

Roll dated Oct. 22, 1864, signed Capt. B. H. Ford, lists seventy officers and men on brown paper roll, drawn up in descriptive roll format. Members were from Randolph and adjoining counties.

He, being older in years, led an organization of men in a 1st Class Militia in Randolph County, called The Reserves, as it was comprised of men over 50 or under 17, out of the years of conscription. His son, Jefferson Manly Faulkner, obtained the rank of Captain during the War. Jeff married into the Breed family, as did his sister, Mary Hasseltine Faulkner. The Breeds, Burnette's and Ussery's were highly intermarried and entangled with this generation of Faulkners. Captain Larkin Breed, mentioned above, was his brother-in-law.

While there appears to be no picture of Jeff, the military descriptions of him were as tall, fair, blue-eyed and dark-haired. Above, it appears his son, Manly, took after his father. I say this to dispute the person who keeps labeling this famiy as Cherokee. Sorry, they were not.

Jeff's first appearance as an adult, was his marriage on December 6, Fayette County, Georgia, to Sarah Ann Breed, before his family's move to Randolph County, Alabama by 1840. The Breeds and Faulkners seem to have moved to Alabama together as is suggested by his brother-in-law, Larkin in the Randolph County Militia, and  his sister, Hasseltine marrying their brother, Joseph.

Jeff is the Head of his own household in 1830, in Georgia and his oldest daughter, Emily has been born. Sarah Ann passes away in the early 1830's, after the birth of two children, cause unknown.

On February 8, 1833, in Randolph County, Alabama, Jeff marries Sarah's younger sister, Samantha. 

Some folks have unsurreptitiously merged the two Breed sisters into one. After quite a deal of pulling apart the spaghetti, I've came to the conclusion that there were indeed two. Two dates, two states, two names, two sisters, and a 6 year difference in their ages.

The above biography from The Alabama, US Surnames Files ,Expanded, gives a good deal of detail about both the Faulkner and Breed families. It reveals that the Faulkners were Welch, and came to North Carolina from Maryland, as my distant cousins's DNA suggests. It's incorrect in a few instances, however, when it declares he married both of the Breed sisters in Randoph County, AL, when the documents showed he married Sarah in Georgia.

The 1840 census finds Jeff in Randolph County, AL and the 1850 in Tallapoosa.

At this juncture, he's and attorney in Township 20, and there are 6 children. I don't know the relationship of the young woman, Elizabeth, living with them, as Emily was his oldest known daughter.

By 1860, Jeff has acquired 4 enslaved persons, an older man, a middle-aged woman, and 2 children, something he had not done prior in 1830, 1840 or 1850.

In 1860, he is a serving as a Minister, he is not running a farm. He is living in town and his neighbors are a Judge of Probate, an Attorney, a Blacksmith, the Clerk of Court, Constable, Bootmaker, Tailor, Mantle Maker, Money Dealer, Clerk, Dry Goods Merchnat, Milliner, Printer, Seamstress, Carriage Maker, Physician, Grocery Merchant, and a Wagon Maker. He has 7 children,some already adultes, and he's taken in an orphan boy, John A. Comb. Emily, 30, and possibly ill, has no occupation. His son William Avery Breed Faulkner, 27. is a lawyer. Mary F., 27, is a common school Teacher and Sarah, 18, is a music teacher. He may have also acquired the enslaved people as an act of charity, especially the children. The older man and middle-aged lady may have been helping around the house, cooking , and attending to any  horse and buggy that were probably had.

The Civil War came and Jeff and his sons had illustrious careers as military brass. Their stories deserve their own post. As educated men and among the elite of the community, they enjoyed the perks of being officers.

The family had moved from Chambers County, back to Randolph County, and then to Mongomery by 1870. Jeff was again acting as an attorney and had taken in a young Scottish widow, as a housekeeper and  her son.

The last census shows Jeff returning to the call of his heart, that of a minister. The history of the Baptists in Alabama reported on him as a pastor of the Wedowee Baptist Church.

Later, he would also minister at High Pines, where his older brother attended.

By 1880, Jeff was 70, supporting both his wife and single daughter, Elizabeth, mistakenly recorded as a May, and his widowed daughter, Samantha Faulkner Beasley and her son Ralph. Sarah "Sally" had married a much older Union soldier from Kentucky, who was born in Maryland, named Franklin C. May. Those Mays were always a sting in the Faulkner hide, but this one was working as a brick and stonemason.

Rev. T J Faulkner died in 1895, and was buried in Autauga County, where his oldest son William Avery Breed Faulkner lived.

The children of Thomas Jefferson Falkner were:

With Sarah Ann Breed (1808 - Abt 1835)

1) Emily Faulkner (1830-1865). Never married.

2) William Avery Breed Faulkner (1833-1911) Avery worked as an Attorney, and then as a Clerk of Circuit Court for many years., first in Russell County, then in Chilton.

A very interesting fact about Avery is that he went all the way to Richmond County, NC, which borders Anson, the place his grandfather had left so many prior, to marry Mary Jane "Mollie" Ussery. It may have been an arranged marriage and shows how closely people kept in touch despite the distance.

Seven children were born to the marriage.

By Samantha Breed (1815- aft 1880)

3) Mary Frances Faulkner (1839-1868) m James Henry Chatham, an attorney.

4) Sarah Ann "Sallie"  Faulkner (1841- 1901),   married Franklin Collett May.

Frank May was born in Maryland, in around 1818. He was a Captain in the Kentucky Calvary and a Union soldier, who was taken as a P.O.W.  This information was gained from Sally's application for a widow's pension. Although it doesn't appear they had any children, he married a lady named Catharine in Kentucky and arrived in Alabama between 1868 and 1870, with his wife and three children, Cora, John and Francis Lee. I don't know what happened to his family. He died in November 1883.

5) Lt. Col. Jefferson Manly Faulkner (1843-1907). Attorney, politico, Railroad Man, founder of a retirement home for Confederate soldiers, Chairman and founder of the Alabama State Archives.

Married Elizabeth Cameron, two sons.

6) Cordelia Amanda Faulkner (1846-1848) Died of Typhoid at age 2.

7) Samantha "Mantie" Faulkner. (1850-1881). Married John W. Beasley. One son, Ripley Faulkner Beasley.

8) Elizabeth Ann Faulkner ( 1858- 1887). Never married.

Wilson Faukner

The date of birth given for fourth son, Wilson  Faulkner, is June 4th, 1810. If one compares this to that of his older brother, Thomas Jefferson Faulkner, it's easy to tell something is off. Either Jeff was actually a year older, or Wilson a year younger, I don't know. What I do know is that these folks did not usually keep up with their exact birthdays very well, by these folks meaning those who lived a hundred or two hundred years ago.Age was transient.

Wilson was the first child born afte Job left Anson County, North Carolina on his quest for land grants in the lottery as the Cherokee and Creek ceded lands were opening up. As we all know, it was a 'give a mouse a cookie' situation in the terriblest of terms. Yet it happened, it was history and part of the fabric of America.

Born in Edgefield County, South Carolina, Wilson makes his first appearance in records with his marriage to Frances "Frankie" Burdette in 1821, in Georgia. The Burdettes were one of the families with multiple ties to the Faulkner family.  

Frankie was the daughter of Humphrey and Isabella Davis Burdette, originally from Pendleton, Anderson County, SC. They are supposedly pictured in the above portrait titled "Isabella and Humphrey". 

Wilson, not to be outdone within the realm of Faulkners, was a land prospector and a lawman. I've found 13 separate Homestead and Cash Entry Patents for him.

He appears first in the 1840 census in Chambers County, Alabama. He and Frankie are in their twenties and their only child, Amanda, is between 5 and 9. By 1843, he's moved with the family to Randolph County, Alabama, where in 1843, he's appointed Coroner and Judge of Probate. It's clear that the Faulkner children, particularly the sons, were well educated .

In the 1850 census, Wilson and Frankie are living in Randolph County and he is lableded as a farmer, and their daughter, Amanda is already married. Like Jeff Faulkner, their station in life has blessed them with the ability to take in orphans, like young James Den, who may have been the son of a james Dentwho was entering land  lotteries in the 1830's and 1840's.

Amanda C. Faulkner had marreid Wiley Jackson Bean, very young and by 1850, their firstborn son, John W. Bean, had been born. Wiley was a Georgia boy, whose parents, Walter and Martha Davis Bean, were from Burke County, North Carolina. The Burdettes and the Beans were both interesting families on their own and both mothers were Davis's.

Wilson accepts four Civil Appointments as the Sheriff of Randolph County, Alabama, off and on between 1843 and 1860. His wife, Frankie served as a midwife. 

Name:	Wilson Falkner
Age:	50
Birth Year:	abt 1810
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Birth Place:	South Carolina
Home in 1860:	Northern Division, Randolph, Alabama
Post Office:	Rockdale
Dwelling Number:	129
Family Number:	129
Occupation:	Sherriff & Farmer
Real Estate Value:	1500
Personal Estate Value:	1000
Inferred Spouse:	Frances B Falkner
Household Members (Name) Age Wilson Falkner 50 Frances B Falkner 47 Humphrey Burdett 80 Izabel M Burdett 18 Alfred M Burdett 13 Josepus Burdett 11

The 1860 census shows Wilson as a Sheriff and farmer, Frankie as a seamstress, and living with them is her 80 year old father, Humphrey Burdette, and three of the children of her deceased brother, John, Isabella, Alfred, and Josephus. Their daughter, Amanda, and her husband , Wiley, are shown living in Rockdale, with 5 children between 10 and 1.

Encyclopedia of Alambama

Then came  War. The Home Guard, or Militia, was a precursor of the National Guard. In the media, they have been protrayed as essentially bad, and at many times they were. However, their intent and formation was not, comprised of men too old or incapacitated and boys too young to serve in regular trrops,  the Home guard was establish to protect local citizens from the enemy, women, children, the elderly and infirm.

On November 17, 1864, as war raged around him, and his world seemed only one tragedy after another, Sheriff Wilson Faulkner resigned his position and joined the Randolph County Alabama Home Guard under the command of none other than Col. Jefferson Faulkner. His military records describe him as 54 years old, 6 feet tall, Grey hair, Grey eyes and a fair complexion.

His son-in-law, Wiley Jackson Bean, enlisted in the 13th Alabama troops, Company E. Also in his company were relatives of Frankie, Benjamin Apling Burdette, Samuel Monroe Burdette and Littleton Jesse Burdette, along with other members of the Bean family. It stated he was born in Jasper County, GA and at present was a farmer in Fix Creek, Alabama, aged 38 and married. He was in the "Randolph Rangers" and participated in the battles of Yorktown, South Mountain, Antietam and Gettysburg, where he was taken prisoner. He was sent to Ft. Delaware on Pea Patch Island, Delaware, to a Union. He died of scurvy under horrific conditions on January 13, 1864 , six months after capture, and was buried at Finn's Point, Salem, New Jersey.

Fort Delaware per "Visti Delaware"

The death of Wiley was not the only tragedy Wilson and Frankie had suffered. On March 6, 1862, Amanda died after a fall from a horse at the age of 29. She was buried at the Mount Prospect Church Cemetery in Wedowee, Randolph County Alabama. Some say she was actually buried in the Bean family cemetery and theirs only a monument at the church.

Amanda was predeceased by a son, Monroe Bean, who had been born on February 7, 1852, and died at about 8 years old, buried in the Faulkner cemetery with Wilson and Frankie.

On March 20, 1865, Wilson filed a claim with the C.S.A. on behalf of grandchildren John, Emmaline, Winston, Elliott and Asbury. 

He also filed for, and received, legal  custody of his grandchildren, there in named as John, Martha A. , Wiley Winston, Elliott and Berry.

Name:	Fancis B Fulkner[Francis B. Falkner][Frances Burdett Falkner]
Age in 1870:	56
Birth Date:	abt 1814
Birthplace:	South Carolina
Dwelling Number:	53
Home in 1870:	Rockdale, Randolph, Alabama
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Post Office:	Wedowee
Occupation:	Midwife
Inferred Spouse:	Wilson Fulkner
Household Members (Name) Age Wilson Fulkner 60 Fancis B Fulkner 56 John Bean 18 Emely Bean 17 Winston Bean 15 Eliot Bean 12 Abery Bean 9 Rusle Coleman 30 July Ann Coleman 26 Amanda Coleman 8

The 1870 census shows the family in Rockdale, Post Office Wedowee, with the 5 grandchildren in the home. Frankie was a midwife and Wilson a farmer. Like his brothers, Wilson shared his abundance and was always altruistic.

In his last years, Wilson returned to his career as a land speculator, often traveling to auctions and property sales. On November 2, 1872, he had ridden out to West Point, Georgia to one such sale, and suddenly fell over dead, possibly of a heart attack. He was 62. His body was returned to Randolph County, where he was buried in the family cemetery.

Frankie is shown as a 60 year old widow living alone in Hse number 172, but right next to her, in Hse number 173, is S.A. Bean, 20, wife Rilla, 21 and brother Winston Bean, 25.

Frankie died December 13, 1897, of a Cardiac Arrest at age 84. She was laid to rest beside Wilson.

S. A. Bean acted as the executor of the estate of Wilson Faulkner, who left no will. Heirs were:

John W. Bean of Thorn Hill, Marion County, AL,

Martha Emmaline Dingler of Sevier County, AL,

W. W. Bean (Wiley Winston), of Ofelia, AL,

Mary Elliott Beavers of Sevier County AL,

Samuel Asbury Bean of Ofelia, AL.

All the surviving children of his daughter, Amanda.

Mary Hasseltine "Polly" Faulkner Breed

Mary Hasseltine Faulkner Breed shared by NSD78'.

Mary was the oldest daughter of Job and Mary Frances Gulledge Faulkner, despite having older brothers. She was born on October 16, 1812 in Jasper County, GA, which must have been the family's first pitstop on the way into Georgia after leaving North and South Carolina, yet doesn't catch them in a census or tax record. 

Her existence would have been a mere dash in a census record at this time until her marriage, at age 19.

Her father, Job, appears in a Georgia Land Lottery record for Troup County in 1827, and this is the county where on December 20, 1831, she married Joseph Harrison Breed.

Polly, as she was called, was not the first member of her family to intermarry with the Breed family. Her brother, Thomas Jefferson Faulkner, had married Sarah Ann Breed, an older sister of Joseph, and after she died young, he married her younger sister, Samantha.

William Avery Breed 

They were the children of William Avery Breed and Frances Brantley Breed. The Breeds had settled in Walton County, Ga after also being part of a steady flow from the Carolinas. Avery hailed from the Craven District of South Carolina and first shows up in the 1790 census of Union County, South Carolina. 

Frankie was born in Georgia, but was the daughter of Phillip Brantley and Nancy Larkin from Chatham County NC. The son of Joseph and Catherine Lee Breed, Avery married Frankie on Christmas Day, 1795, in Warren County, Georgia. They became the parents of 14 children, 8 sons and 6 daughters, and spent their last years in Randolph County Alabama. This was the source of the names Avery, Larkin and Brantley that appear in several names throughout the Faulkner family. 

Joseph, named for his own grandfather, first shows up in the 1840 census of Randolph County, Alabama, where he and Polly raised their family.

According to family records, a their first daughter, Sarah Ann, had died as a young girl, before the 1850 census.

The second born, Harriet, married young to William W. Cumbie, and is shown in 1850 with her own child and family. William's family lives nearby, but they are right next door to the Breeds. 

So 1850 finds Joe and Polly with 3 children and a farm worth $1000.  On the next page, but right after Harriet, is 75 year old Mary Frances Gulledge Faulkner, Polly's mother, and just below her, the Users, whom younger sister, Nancy married into.

They lived in a place called Bacon Level, that sits right on the Alabama/ Georgia border. It sounds like somewhere famous for pig farming, doesn't it? Here's where the site     

The strangest town names in Alabama

       says it comes from.

1. Bacon Level.

Bacon Level, located in Randolph County, was named in pioneer days, according to retired Lt. Paul Swisher of Roanoke. He said: “Local story has it that some pioneer travelers, circa 1800, had their camp robbed and provisions were taken. They were told there were some outlaws up the way, where the trail leveled out. Sure enough they found their missing bacon at the level spot, hence the name Bacon Level.”

The area now, and then, too, is known for its pottery and white clay, in conjunction with bordering, Chambers County, Georgia.

Then, Bam! A link to the Edgefield District of South Carolina and an explanation for Job Faulkners constant moving and that of connected families, like the Usserys of Montgomery and Anson Counties in North Carolina. Job was a Potter.

His children made their own marks, through law, politics, farming, preaching, or prospecting land, but Job was a Potter, looking for the good clay.

Name:	[Joseph Breed]
Age:	53
Birth Year:	abt 1807
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Birth Place:	Georgia
Home in 1860:	Southern Division, Randolph, Alabama
Post Office:	Rock Mills
Dwelling Number:	343
Family Number:	343
Occupation:	Farmer
Real Estate Value:	1000
Personal Estate Value:	1500
Inferred Spouse:	Mary H Breed
Inferred Child:	Mary L BreedMary F Breed
Household Members (Name) Age Joseph Breed 53 Mary H Breed 48 Mary L Breed 14 Mary F Breed 7 Mary Falletta 84

1860 finds Joseph with a house full of Mary's, except one was a transcription error. Mary H was Polly, Mary L was actually Melissa, on the actual document, "Missy", Mary F. was youngest daughter, Mary Frances and Mary "Falletta" was grandmother, Mary Faulkner.

Ten years later, not much has changed, Melissa has gotten married and is living next to her parents. Her Grandmother, Mary F. Gulledge Faulkner is now in her 90's and living with Melissa. A little girl named Melinda Brand is living with John and Polly. She was the child of a neighbor, John and  Verlina McGeehee Brand and one of a set of twins, with her sister, Matilda. It is unknown why she was living with the Breeds, but in 1880, she still is, 18, and listed as a housekeeper/ servant.

Sometime before 1880, Joe and Polly's oldest living daughter, Harriet Breed Cumbie, had moved to Van Zandt County, Texas. Joe and Polly decided to join her at some point in the 1880's.

Joseph was the first to pass away, on October 16, 1888, at age 81. Polly would join him in three years, on December 21, 1891. She was 79. Their daughter, Harriet would join her parents on July 6, 1897, at age 65. She had long been a widow.  They were buried at Corinth cemetery, Grand Saline, Van Zandt County, Texas.

The children of Mary Hasseltine 'Polly'Faulkner Breed and Joseph Harrison Breed were:

1) Sarah Ann Breed (1831-1840).

2) Harriet Elizabeth Breed (1832-1897) Married William Washington Cumbie. Four children; Thomas Jefferson Cumbie, Frances Clementine Cumbie, John Avery Cumbie, and Mary Cumbie.

3) Jefferson Faulkner Breed (1834-1911) Chambers County, Alabama. Married Paricina Z. MacDonough. Five children; Joseph, Sarah Jane, Bettie, James and Ella.

Hollis Family shared by NSD78

4) Melissa Elizabeth Faulkner (1843- 1923) Van Zandt, Texas . Married James Warren Hollis. 9 children; Wayne Dee, Charlie Hill, James Monroe, Alma Jocora, Joseph Breed, Harriet Rebecca, Jefferson Avery, Lillian Myrtle, Nathan Duke Hollis.

5) Mary Frances Breed (1852-1899) Kent County, Texas. Married Abel Joseph Hagins, 10 children; Benjamin Joseph, Powhatan Elcano, Dues Jefferson, Downas Deuane, Carl Emmett, Fannie Edith Odessa, Earl Rush, Lucille, Joseph Breed, Jerome Winters Hagins.

Alice Ealsey Faulkner

Alice was born  January 13, 1813, in Edgefield County, South Carolina, before the Georgia migration. She did not live a long life, but long enough to have given birth to  at least 10 children, according to family reocrds. Not many of them made it to adulthood, unfortunatley,  for possibly various reasons. Constant migration seems to have been no way to raise a family.

On Feb 13, 1832, at the age of 17, Alice married James Woodall BurnBurdette, another child of Humphrey and Isabell Woodall Burdette. Several siblings marrying into the same families was a common thing in those days, making a number of children, double-cousins.

Name:	James W Burdett
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Age:	43
Birth Year:	abt 1807
Birthplace:	South Carolina
Home in 1850:	Beat 13, Randolph, Alabama, USA
Occupation:	Farmer
Industry:	Agriculture
Real Estate:	50
Line Number:	1
Dwelling Number:	1
Family Number:	1
Inferred Spouse:	Alice Baretett
Inferred Child:	Benjamin BaretettSamul BaretettLittleton BaretettFrances Baretett
Household Members (Name) Age James W Baretett 43 Alice Baretett 35 Benjamin Baretett 14 Samul Baretett 8 Littleton Baretett 5 Frances Baretett 1

They had all made it to Randolph County, Alabama by 1850. According to family records, they had lost four children, many of them buried in Georgia, by then.

William Wesley, born in 1834, their firstborn, Franklin in 1837, Earlincter in 1839 and Heflin in 1841, all sons, and all having died before 1850. Some of those names may be the results of hard to read old script, by the way. So in 1850, there are three, second born Benjamin, Samuel, Littleton and only daughter, Frances. They remain in Rockdale, Randolph County Alabama, until at least 1860. Little Francis passed away as a baby, and two more sons had joined the family. 

Name:	James W Burdett[James William Burdett]
Age:	52
Birth Year:	abt 1808
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Birth Place:	South Carolina
Home in 1860:	Northern Division, Randolph, Alabama
Post Office:	Rockdale
Dwelling Number:	1141
Family Number:	1141
Occupation:	Farmer
Real Estate Value:	800
Personal Estate Value:	250
Household Members (Name) Age James W Burdett 52 Alsey Burdett 67 Samuel Burdett 19 Littleton Burdett 16 Jas Burdett 9 Wilson Burdett 7 Catharine Ogletree 30

One of the more interesting facts of this census was the addition of a 30 year old woman in the home, Catharine Ogletree. On this date, she would have been pregnant by their 19 year old son, Samuel. The 11 year age difference probably didn't bother him much, as you can see, his mother was 12 years older than his father.  Samuel would do the honorable thing and marry Catherine. Their daughter, Georgia Ann, was born in September of this same year.  There would be no more children. There in lies a story of it's own. Sam fought in the Civil War. He never returned to Alabama and was assumed dead, but he was not. He started a new life. Story in another post.

Shortly after the birth of Georgia Ann, the Burdette family was on the move again, this time to Texas.

Alice didn't survive the move. She died sometime in 1862 and is thought to have been buried in the Bean-Faulkner Cemetery in Randolph County Alabama. John died in 1868 and is buried somewhere in Leon County, Texas, where his son Ben and other family members were living. 

Ben took in his two youngest brothers, James Alfred and Wilson. They are shown as teenagers, living with him in Leon County, TX in the 1870 census.  The surviving children of John and Alice were:

1) Benjamin Apling Burdette Sr. (1835-1921) Meridian, Bosque, Texas. Married Amelia "Millie" Hood. 13 children, Susan Elizabeth, Maryann Martina, William Wesley, Emma Frances, Benjamin Apling Jr., James Gora, Salina Isabelle, John Monroe, Lurana Arcana, Leette Robina, Albert Alonzo, Ella Mae, George Isaac.

2) Samuel Monroe "John" Burdette (1843-1929) Williamson, Tennessee. Married 1st Catherine Mahala Ogletree. 1 child. Married 2nd (with living wife in another state) Sarah Frances Hargrove 16 children. Married 3rd Sarah Stewart Howell, 3 children.

3)Jesse Littleton Burdette (1845-1862) Died in the Civil War in Washington County, Maryland. His older brothers also served in the Civil War, but survived. Littleton was wounded in the Battle of Antietam and died at the Lewis Farm Hospital. He was 17 and unmarried.

4) James Alfred Burdette (1851-1874) Leon County, Texas. Was a minor when his parents died and lived with older brother Ben, along with younger brother, Wilson. Died at age 22 of unknown reasons.

5) Wilson Burdette II (1852- 1933) Leon County, Texas. Married 1st Margaret Grubbs, 6 children, Married 2nd Laura Corriher, two daughters.

Joel  Elmer Faulkner and wife, Sarah Thomas Ussery Faulkner, courtesy of Sue Faulkner Causey.

Joel Elmer Faulkner

Joel Elmer Faulkner was born on July 1, 1815 in Jasper County, GA. He was the youngest son and second to the youngest child of Job Faulkner and Mary Frances Gulledge Faulkner.  

Joel was the son who followed in his father's footsteps and became a Potter. It may have been the reason his father Job, made a land purchase in conjunction with Joel in Randolph County Alabama, that and the fact that his older sons were already established on their own and in their own careers.

This was a career that Joel had passed down to his own sons, in turn.

About 1836, Joel married Sarah Thomas Ussery, a daughter of Robert Jackson and Mary Chears Ussery. Sarah was born February 5, 1818, in Anson County, NC. Her family was from the Richmond and Anson County area, and were also potter's by trade. They all seemed to have magnated towards Randolph County Alabama at various times, but obviously knew each other. 

Greenberry Morton was another potter from the Montgomery/Anson area of North Carolina (and another person in my Morton Family Tree), who migrated from here to Randolph County, Alabama. He was a brother -in-law of Joel Faulkner and had married Sarah's sister, Winifred. 

Joel purchased land first in 1837, and then received another grant in 1851 in Shelby County, Alabama. He was the first Potter in the town of Sterett, and one of the founding members of the community. 

In 1840 and 1850, Joel, Sarah and their growing family are found in Bacon Level in Randolph County.

Then in 1860, they are found in Sterett in Shelby County.

The book, Alabama Folk Pottery, by Joey Blackner, has this mention of the Joel Faulkner family.

After 1860, the Civil War broke out, and Joel, now  , enlisted on July 15th, 1864, in the Co K, Third Reserves Infantry, near the end of the war. It was a fateful decision.

Tombstone of Joel Faulkner, contributed by Tim Childee.

Sgt Joel Faulkner passed away on December 20, 1864, only 8 months after he enlisted. He was 49 years old and buried at Magnolia Cemetery in Mobile, Alabama.

1870

His widow, Sarah, would survive another 12 years. She is shown as Head of Household in 1870, with her youngest 4 children and her son, Robert, 24. 

She passed away on March 18, 1877 and was buried at the Old Sterett Cemetery in Shelby County,  Alabama.

The children of Joel and Sarah Ussery Faulkner were:

1) William Hilliard Faulkner (1838-1907) Married Sarah E Webster 5 children; Charles, Dovie, Joel, John W. S. and Sarah A. Faulkner.

2) Maston Ussery Faulkner (1839-1907) Married Ethelda Webster, a sister of Hilliard Faulkner's wife, Sarah. Both were daughters of Seamon Henley Webster and Lucinda Lunetta Hughes Webster. Six biological children were born to Maston and Ethelda: Arabella Theodosia, Emma Olean, Mary Jane, Martha Louella "Mattie", Paul Castleberry, and James Rhoden Webster Falkner. Adopted son, Ibry Stracener Falkner.

3) Mary Jane 'Polly' Faulkner McGinnis. Married Rev. Sanford Vanderver McGinnis, Settled in Dyke's Mill Shelby County Alabama, 8 children; Sarah Hudson, Mary Catherine, Lutisha Carolyn, Martha Emma, Mehitable A. 'Hattie', Valcey Almeade, Dovie Ella, Basil William. Finally a son. 

4) Lucinda Faulkner b 1842. No further info. Died as infant. 

5) Amanda Emmaline Faulkner Kincaid (1842-1911) Married John Adams Kincaid. 10 children; James Henry, Sarah L., Genetta Evaline, Amanda Frances, Martha Jane, John Boone, Theola, Joel Robert, Ida Amandice 'Mintie', William Jefferson.

6) John Henry Job Faulkner (1844-1913). Married Sarah Caledonia Vandiver. Seven children; Sarah Rosa, Joel Larkin, William T., Mary Frances 'Franky', Martha Elnora 'Ellie', Maude Ann, Connie. Job was in the Civil War and folks keep connecting his records to that of his grandfather Job Faulkner.

7) Robert Franklin Faulkner (1846-1923) Married Clarissa Jane Byers. Four children; John Hilliard, James Lynnar, Rufus Perry, Sarah Ann 'Sadie'.

8) Joel D 'Jote' Faulkner (1850-1924) Married Amanda Frances Byers, sister to Roberts' wife, Clarissa. Ten children: James P, Valcie Arena, Thomas Calvin "Callie", Willie, Jefferson Burch, Janie, Mary Doyle, Lela, Joel Elmer, Leslie Frances. 

9) Elijah Jefferson Faulkner (1852-1907) Married Amanda Melissa White, Four children; Marion Wesley, William Ussery, Annie Caroline, Edna Elmira.

10) Sarah Frances Faulkner Vick (1854-1898). Married William Mitchell Collins 'Bud' Vick Sr. Four children; James Lambert 'Lambkin',  Sarah Frances "Frankie", William Mitchell Collins Jr, John Monroe 'Johnnie'.

11) Thomas Bunyon Faulkner (1856 - 1924); Married Mary Lou White; Five children; Sarah Ann Ada, Mary Isabella, Voiler Elizabeth, Ollie C., John Bunyan.

12) Calvin M. Faulkner ( 1859 - 1863) Died as child, buried at Old Sterett Cemetery.

13) Isabella Brown "Belle" Faulkner (1861-1924) Married Thomas Moody Goodwin. Belle was born when her mother was 43 and her father died when she was only 3, followed by her mother when she was 16. She married the very next year and became the mother of 11 children: Lillie, Robert Percy, Avery Roscoe, Flora Elizabeth, Benjamin Franklin,Lucy T. Leila Victoria, Clark Rudolph, Luther Thomas, Beatrice Emily, Arthur Lee, Joel Toomie Goodwin. 

Belle Faulkner Goodwin and Family

.

Nancy Ann Faulkner Ussery 

Nancy Ann Faulkner , the youngest child of Job and Mary Frances Gulledge Faulkner, was born December 20, 1817, in Walton County, Georgia, while her parents were still in their migration stage. She grew up in Randolph County, Alabama, where she would remain. Like her closest sibling, Joel, she would marry into the Ussery family, who, like her parents, were from the Anson County North Carolina area, and who also, were potter's by trade.

At age 20, in 1837, she would marry Calvin Jones Ussery, brother of her sister-in-law Sarah Ussery Faulkner and son of Robert Jackson Ussery and Margaret Chairs. 

Calvin was quite the character and quite the catch. Nancy was known as a quiet and pious lady, by people who knew her in old age, meaning she might not have always been that way.  

Calvin was born in that part of Anson that became Richmond County, but related still to the Montgomery County and Anson County Usserys that remained. 

Calvin Jones, a Potter by trade like his father and father in-law, also became involved in politics. The following description of him at age 32 was derived from the Randolph County Alabama archives.

Note the dot, Calvin, a Whig, ran against Wilson Faulkner, a Democrat. That must have been an interesting factor at family reunions. The article continues,.

Calvin Jones Ussery was not just a self-made man and a community servant. He was industrious, productive and resourceful and a leader in the community.

The above clip describes his multiple business ventures. In addition to be a businessman and devout church member, he was very involved in politics, both before and after the war. Caleb and Nancy raised a large family, typical of the time.

Their last census together was the 1880, where they are listed in Business. Calvin is listed as the superintendent of a Flour Mill. Their son, John Robert is living with them and his job was 'working in Tanyard '. Two granddaughters, Ida and Ella, are living with them, incorrectly named as Usserys, they were instead, McPherson's. Son Millard Fillmore Ussery is living next to them and also working in the flour mill. Above them is merchant William Weathers, married their daughter, Nancy, who was reknown for her beauty.

Calvin must have had a bit of the psychic talents as well. His Last Will and Testament included the following cryptic premonition, "I, C.J. Ussery, am in my 65th year of age

"I, C.J. Ussery, am in my 65th year of age and propose making a trip to Texas, and not being very stout, I appoint Millard F. Ussery and my wife Nancy A. Ussery lawful executors. I have already given about $500 each to my children. To my son Thomas I give $1200, owing to his being wounded in the late war; to the daughter of my son Calvin I have given nothing. My executors shall settle on her $1200 of my effects as soon as she becomes of age or married. If I die before my wife does, then this place and premesis shall be her home during her life of widowhood, and at the expiration of either, there must be an equal division of the money on hand after sales. Ella and Ida McPherson, my granddaughters, shall if they choose, make my house their home so long as they remain single or conduct themselves ladylike. If available, pay $200 to Callie Ussery, my son Calvin Ussery's daughter. File 7 August 1906, as a substitute will.. CJ Ussery

Calvin passed away on August 15, 1884, according to his son, Millard F. Ussery, in High Shoals, Alabama. Nancy Ann Ussery was his surviving widow. Listed next-of-kin were Susey Veal, High Shoals, Emmaline Mayfield, Roanoke, T. F. Ussery, High Shoals, Louise Waller, Roanoke, Nannie Weathers, High Shoals, W.F. Ussery, same, J.R. Ussery also High Shoals, Betty Weathers, High Shoals, Callie Ussery, daughter of Calvin Ussery (Jr.), a minor, Calvin having predeceased his father. 

Nancy outlived Calvin by two decades. She even made it into the 20th Century. In 1900, she is living with daughter, Sarah Weathers, one of two who married Weathers, and son Millard right next door, and another daughter on the other side. She would love 5 more years.

Nancy's obituary states that her intermittent was at Bacon Level and that she was 90. Actually, she was 85.

The Children of Nancy Ann Faulkner Ussery and Calvin Jones Ussery were:

Paragraph on William Faulkner Ussery, Nancy's son, from "Notable Men of Alabama '. He was not the oldest son, by far.

1) John Ussery (1837-1838) Died as infant.

Obituary of Martha Susan Veal

2) Martha Susan "Susie" Ussery (1839-1896). Married 1st; William M McPherson, 6 children. Married 2nd; William H. Veal, One child, Blanche.

Tom Ussery

3) Thomas Frederick Ussery (1843-1926) Married Mary E Hudson. 7 children: Olive Leolia, Medora Lee, Novella Fannie, Anderson, Hudson Tarfus,Eula Ann, Thomas Cleveland.

4) Louisa Frances Ussery (1845-1927) Married Stephen S. Waller, 10 children: Mary Elizabeth, Ollie Bell, Oscar Calvin, Elonzia A., Elliott Rufus, Jesse B., Norah L., Daisy J., Louisa Gertrude, Nancy Samantha.

5) Emmaline D. Ussery (1847-1888). Married William Smith Mayfield.12 children: Mary Jane, James C., William D., Theodosia, Emma A., Ada, Anna, Zella Pearl, John, Cora T., Cepheus Taylor, Bella. 

Painting of Nannie  Ussery Weathers as a young girl

6) Nancy "Nannie" T. Ussery (1848-1891) Married Dr. William "Buck" Weathers. Died of 'La Grippe' two days after the birth of son. 12 children: Thomas Calvin, Florence Roberta, Robert Edward Lee, Lula B., Estella Pearl, William Ernest, Stanley Ervin, Guy Spurgeon, Rob Stewart, Lionel L. 'Leo', Annie Maude, Infant son who died after his mother's death.

7) Calvin Jones Ussery Jr. (1849-1869). Fought in Civil War in Third Alabama Reserves and Third Battalion Reserves, as was underage. Married Elizabeth A. "Bettie" Suddeth. One child, daughter Calvin J. "Callie" Ussery Vinson, born five months posthumously to her father, named in her grandfathers will. Calvin, only 20 when he died, is said to have died from complications from the war, another source suggests suicide.

Callie

8) William Faulkner Ussery (1851-1930) ( Short Biography seen above Nancy's portrait), Married Susan Frances Clopton, 3 children; Beulah, who died as toddler, Lena Ophelia and Gordon Clopton Ussery.

W. F. Ussery

9) Mary Martha 'Mollie' Ussery (1854- 1917) Temple, Bell, Texas. Married James W. Sparks; 5 children: Viola Hastings, Hattie, William Calvin, Zena E., Eva.

10) Millard Fillmore Ussery (1857- 1924) Married 1st: Mary Jane Taylor, 4 children; Calvin Jones, Roy Millard, Audrey I, Adele. Married 2nd: Lura Viola Awbrey, two children; Nannie Lou, William Alfred aka Fred.

11) John Robert Ussery (1859-1919) Postmaster of High Shoals. Never married. Did take in a number of nephews and neighbors.

12) Sarah Elizabeth Faulkner (1862-1940). Married Jesse Bealon Weathers. One of several Usserys to marry Weathers. 9 children including an infant born 1893, died 1894. The others were: Daughter Herschel Huron, Iris Faye, Lillian There's, Florence Lee 'Florrie', Robert Hoyt, Jessie Mae, Willie Sue, Lurline Ann.

Bettie U. Weathers

Job Faulkner and Mary Frances Gulledge Faulkner left many children and grandchildren who lived well into the 20th century. His art of pottery continues among his descendants to this day. Many of them were important in the settlement of Randolph County, Alabama and other locations as they spread west. 

They did things differently in the old days, that doesn't mean they did not have to deal with similar issues, problems, and emotions. It just meant they had different traditions and less options than we have today. Or, maybe they actually had more.

Take the Civil War, for instance. Today, we hear of the short and long-term effects of PTSD, and other residual maladies from serving in the military. Don't you suppose the daily horrors, illnesses, and images borne by the men who survived Civil War battles were just as haunting and horrific as our soldiers face today?

In researching a branch of the Faulkner Family who migrated from Anson County, North Carolina to Randolph County, Alabama, I came across a story that needed a little more research and a little more telling, that of one Samuel Monroe Burdette.

He was born on March 6, 1843, at Fox Creek, in Randolph County, Alabama. The community of Fox Creek is long gone, but the creek and the property remain. It's now a recreational area off of Lake Wedowee in Randolph County, located on the eastern-central border of Alabama, near the Georgia State line.

Samuel was the 6th of 7 children of James Woodall Burdette and wife, Alice Falkner Burdette. But the story didn't actually start with him because over a decade prior, in Wilkes County, Georgia, in May of 1821, Catherine Mahala Ogletree was born if John "Jake" Ogletree and wife, Nancy Rice. They were married on August 20, 1820 and Mahala came soon after. Her age is very fluid. She portrayed herself as older or younger, whatever would serve her best.  As many of these ladies of the 19th century as I have came across, she was not alone in this action.

Now, I'm not certain how many children were born to Jake and Nancy, only that there was at least one more, a son, nor do I know what happened to Nancy, but I do know John "Jake" Ogletree died about 1833, or possibly a year prior, as his estate was settled that year. Catherine Mahala Ogletree, an orphan, was then sent to Randolph County, Alabama, where she went to live with her mother's younger brother, Moses Rice. There, she met the Burdette family.

The 1860 census speaks volumes, without meaning to. We find Catharine Ogletree living as a boarder with James and Alice. They are well in their middle years, over half of their offspring have flown the nest to start their own, and they have 4 remaining children at home, including 19 year old Samuel. Catherine Ogletree is shown as 30, but she could have been as old as 39. This census was taken on August 27, 1860. What it doesn't report is that Catharing Ogletree was heavy with child by this date.

Now, I don't know the details, whether it was at the end of the gun of Moses Rice, whether it was voluntary, or if there was a Sheriff (who would have been Samuel's Uncle Wilson Falkner at this time), and a bastardy bond, or from pressure from his parents, but 19 year old Samuel Burdette would make the much older Mahala Ogletree an honest woman, and marry her. There's no real way to know, but something tells me it was no love story. Granted, this age difference wasn't unheard of, neither was it common. If you notice, Alice Faulkner had several years on James Burdette, but their marriage was a lengthy one that had produced a large family. 

For Samuel and Mahala, there would be no more children and to me, that speaks volumes in itself. Georgia Ann Burdette was born the very next month after the census, in September of 1860. Samuel and Mahala didn't get married until December 13. 

from Alabama Pioneers

Then came the Civil War and the Burdette family was affected in a large way. Samuel's older brother, Benjamin Apling Burdette, fought in the War, as did his younger brother, Jesse Littleton Burdette. Ben made it out alive, Littleton did not, and Samuel, well, here's the story.

Samuel M. Burdette enlisted in Company E, 13th Alabama Infantry under Captain M. D. Robison on July 26,1861. He's in the July Muster Roll in Randolph County and in Montgomery in August of 1861. He is present in Nov - December of that year under the command of Captain John Adams Moore and continued as such until May-June of 1862, when it was noted that he was sick "from wounds recieved in battle".

The above document shows him at the Hospital in Staunton, Virginia. At various times, he was found at Howard's Grove Hospital in Richmond, Va, where he was suffering from Rheumatism, in June of 1863, where it was noted that "Burdette is improving". In August of 63, at Howard's Grove he was described as suffering from "Debilititis, Convalescent" and on Dec 31, 1865, he was in the Hosptial at Staunton, Virginia for Pleurisy, which was highly unusual, as you will see.

On August 17, 1864, Samuel M. Burdette took the Oath of Allegience to the United States. He was described as being fair of Complexion, with dark hair and gray eyes, five foot 6 in height, with his residence given as Randolph County, Alabama. It was noted that he had deserted at Petersburg, Virginia on August 17, 19864, and recieved a pass to Indiana.

The above page states that S. M. Burdette, Pvt. Co. E 13th Regt. Alabama Calvary was a POW at Knoxville, Tennesee (Rebel Deserters) during October/ Novemeber 1864, disposed as "Took the Oath October 7, 1864 Sent to Chattanooga, Tenn Oct 8 64".

He appeared on a Roll of Prisoners of War, captured at Antietam and paroled at Sharpsburgh.

Here he was back in the Hospital.

The Sept / Oct 1864 Muster Roll noted that he had Deserted on August 15, 1864.

In 1895, Mahala Ogletree Burdett, filed for a Widow's Pension. It was not her first attempt. It appears she knew he had joined the 10th Tennesee Calvary.

Which he had. The Tenth Tennessee, as opposed to the side he had signed up for in 1861, was a Union Troop, not the Confederates. As this was Mahala, the Samuel Burdette who was in Co. E, 13th Alabama Regiment, was the same Samuel Burdette who was in Co. M. Tennessee Calvary.

A photo of Cordova, Walker County, Alabama durine the time Mahala would have lived there.

Cordova Mill Village, Encyclopedia of Alabama

Georgia Ann, only child of Samuel and Mahala Burdrte, inherited her mohter's longetivity, living unil 1958, and the age of nearly 

Samuel S. Morton House, Carter Rd. Leiper's Fork, Tennessee

CLIPPED FROM The Tennessean Nashville, Tennessee 21 Sep 1913, Sun  •  Page 4

Pony Jr. was a laborer and murdered execution style at the wheel of his car.

CLIPPED FROM Nashville Banner Nashville, Tennessee 30 Jun 1945, Sat  •  Page 4

Stock photo

When learning of the lives of distant relatives along the bloodline, I'm struck by how often and tragically certain individuals lost children, hence the need, then, for larger families to hope to survive at all. All manner of diseases and accidents for which they had minimal, if any treatment for, lay around every bend.

I wanted to focus breifly on one such child and one such family. Occasionally, I feel as if I am being led by someone other than myself across the veil, as if they ask to be found, to be remembered, for their lives and their existence to be acknowledged. Such is the case of Eugene Head and his family. 

Eugene was born on June 13, 1899 in Weakley County, Texas. He was the son of William Paul Head and Mary Elizabeth "Bettie" Phillips. He was a Great Grandson of Gideon Job Faulkner and wife, Nancy Sellers Faulkner, originally of Anson County, NC, who migrated to Carroll County, Tennesee in it's earliest days. 

Eugene had an older sister, Zelphia R., born in 1898, and a younger sister, Oma Mae, born in 1902

Tombstone of William P Head, contributed to Find-a-grave by Mrs. Fenton

Bettie would outlive him by quite awhile and raised her children as best she could. In 1910, the only census in which Eugene appears because the 1900 skipped them, Bettie is running a Boarding House in order to support her children. She may have also gotten a pension from the railway. 

The Cook family were boarders and it is revealed that Eugene's middle initial was "G". I wonder if it was for Gideon.

The location of Fulton County in realtion to Weakley County, Tennesse.

Young Eugene G. Head was returned to his home county of Weakley, Tennesee for burial at Mount Moriah with his fathers. 

Courtesy of Mr. Reece, the tombstone of Eugene Head

A Tin from Shelby Bisquit Company

 Having just spent a very long time and a great deal of research on a post, only to lose the whole thing following the very last sentence, I just had to step away. Step away from the subject, the road I was going down and that lane of research and topic altogether. Breathe. All due to one missed keystroke on my phone. That happens. It has happened before and in those two cases I've not yet returned, but held some of my steps in my mind. Who knows how long it will take for me to want to take those same steps again?

Instead, I will return to a series I have been back and forth on a few times. I call it the "Bad Girls of Stanly County." It's good to be back home. The 'bad girls' were the rare females who showed up as defendants in the early courtrooms of Stanly County, North Carolina. Some appeared over and over, others only once. Occasionally, women appeared in Civil proceedings, challenging inheritances, dower rights, tenant contracts and the such. These were not the bad girls. The bad girls were those who stepped outside the boundaries of proper behavior for ladies of the 19th century. Sometimes they were drunk and disorderly, sometimes they even went to brawling. Most of the time, the offenses had to do with the control, or lack of it, of their sexuality, adultery, fornication, or giving birth to a child out of wedlock. A few even ran 'bawdy houses', or dens of iniquity, a place where immoral or illegal things happened. 

The genealogical importance of these events come in the form of brickwalls in family trees. Children born out of wedlock, most of the time, took the surname of their single mother. Occasionally, the individual would go by different surnames at different times in their life, making it difficult for those trying to build their family tree. Some ill-begotten folks would even invent an imaginary father, usually "John", to disguise their shame of not having a father and use it on their legal documentation, their spouse and future children never knowing the difference. And then comes DNA testing and all those old secrets coming spilling out.

For this post, I have returned to an old list, made over a year ago, and a few individuals in my own family tree.

The simplest way to explain Bastardy Bonds to a novice to old court records is that they are the antiquated form of child support. The scrofulous word used to describe them, simply meant, in its day, a child born out of legal wedlock, which  was considered a shameful thing to be. The thing colors the word, the word doesn't color the thing, a fact modern society seems to have forgotten. They keep printing up new terminolgy to refer to something, to make it more, um, palatable, 'a rose by any other name.' In time, the new terminology becomes unusable because it is offensive, as it describes 'the thing', and they have to create new, unoffensive terminology again, and that new term will also become offensive in time. The cycle repeats itself.

John T. Honeycutt, (1803 - 1878) was my 4th Great Grandfather. I don't know for certain who his parents were, despite the several guesses of other researchers. There were more than a few Honeycutts in early Stanly County and how they were related to one another has not been nailed down to my knowledge. That's a mountain I haven't climbed. I have been able to find mention of John, himself, in a number of places and had always thought of him as a good and decent man. 

It was John who owned the  land where Liberty Hill Baptist Church near Red Cross in western Stanly County was originally built, a church co-founded by another of my ancestors, the Rev. John Lambert. The current building is directly across the road from where the original building stood, so that gives me a general idea of where John Honeycutt lived. 

Liberty Hill Baptist Church in Stanly County, NC

You can imagine my surprise, when, while perusing the bastardy bonds of Stanly County, NC from the 1850's, looking for something else, for someone else, I came across the following entry.

The ancient script is a little difficult to read, and was written in 19th century legalese, so, I will translate a few of them. Above, the mostly printed document stated that John and George Huneycutt were held and firmly bound to a bond of 500 hundred dollars, a significant amount of money in those days. The bond was for an Obligation that John Huneycutt was the reputed father of a Baseborn child begat upon the body of Elizabeth Robbins, a single woman of Stanly County, a fact he did not deny. John Huneycutt and Elizabeth Robbins had concieved a child out of wedlock. The year was 1853.

Following are several excepts from the same group of documents.

Basically, in November of 1853, John Huneycutt had been taken to court to answer to the charge of Bastardy.

He had given bond, along with George Huneycutt, in order to support the illegitimate child for at least the first 5 to 7 years of its life. 

George D.Whitley was the Justice of the Peace hearing the motion.

Bonds were given and plans were made and all parties went on to live and the child was provided for, for a time.

The question remained, which John Huneycutt and who was Elizabeth Robbins?

John Huneycutt, my 4th Great Grandfather first shows up in census records in 1830 and by that time, he is a young man with a wife and 3 small children under 5, two boys and a girl. No marriage record is found, but it can be easily assumed he married around 1825. His neighborhood was typical west Stanly names, Tucker, Efird, Furr, Crisco, Little. A Great to some degree Uncle of mine is also listed on the same page, Frederick Lambert, who ends up moving to Mississppi. 

John and his wife Sylvia, grow their family. There appears to have been at least one child who was lost before 1850, when they were named, which was typical of the times, but they appear to have brought in to the world a pretty healthy brood, as 11 children made it to adulthood. These were:

1) Frances Caroline (1827-1903)

2) George Washington (1828-1907)

3Charles McKinley (1830-1910)

4) John Timothy (1832-1892)

5) Asberry Franklin (1837-1912)

6) Ephraim E. (1839-1935)

7) Eben Zebulon ( 1842 - 1863)

8) Sylvia Samira (1844-1916)

9) Mariah Priscilla (1846-1887)

10) David Levi (1848-1893)

11) Eli Filmore (1850-1922)

Of these, Charles McKinley, known as "Kin" or "Ken', is my line and my 3rd Great Grandfather. He, his sister Fanny and brother, George, were the three children who would have been in the 1830 census. Next came John Timothy "Jackson" Huneycutt, the fourth born. In 1853, John Timothy would have been a 21 year old man, young and full of vinegar and spit. His father, notably pious, would have been a time-worn 50 year old. Older brother George also gave bond on this situation, to help John, whom I believe was John the younger. It makes more sense. 

So, who was Elizabeth Robbins?

In the early records of Stanly County Superior Court, in 1843, the estate of one Isham Robbins was settled. His will was mostly one full of religious rhetoric and prayer, but after about 3 paragraphs of behailing the Lord, Isham finally names his wife, Fanny, short for Francis,  as the recipient of all his wordly goods and names John Huneycutt as the executor of his Will. Isham Robbins does not appear in one census record of Stanly County, or in the 1840 one of Montgomery, which is where the citizens of Stanly, which didn't exist until 1841, were enumerated. Oddly, he is listed in the very first tax record of Stanly County, in 1841, with 100 acres of Cucumber Creek. There is no record of him purchasing this land. Four years later, in the 1845 Tax List, his widow, Frances, is shown with 100 acres of property on Bear Creek, and their son, Solomon F. Robbins, is shown with 125 acres on Stony Run Creek. Of note, John Huneycutt, in this same list, is shown with 300 acres on Stonly Run.

Isham Robbins and wife, Francis had two known children, Solomon Franklin Robbins, born in 1826, and Elizabeth "Betsy" Robbins, born in 1823. Solomon had married Sarah Hinson, daughter of William F. or T. Hinson and wife, Martha Curlee Hinson, in the late 1840's. Elizabeth never married. 

Betsy Robbins was already a tainted woman by the time she had a child with John Timothy Huneycutt. In the August, 1849 Session of Stanly County Superior Court, we find this entry:

'Samuel Coley, reputed father of baseborn child begot og Elizabeth Robbins gave bond of $500 for maintenance of said child with G. M. Sides, S. F. Robbins, Hardy Hatley and J. C. Kennedy as securities." 

Betsy's brother and some of their neighbors had agreed, together to help support this child with Sam Coley. It was unusual to see the name of J. C. (Jordon) Kennedy, as the very next paragraph had found him in the very same situation with a child born of Sarah Smith.

Sam Coley (1818-1901), was a man about 5 years older than Betsy and had lived in the same general area. The twist was that when he had the trist with Betsy Robbins, he had been married to the former Martha Eudy for about 5 years and was already the father of 3 children with 6 more, by his wife, to follow. Lyndsey, the son of Sam Coley and Betsy Robbins, was born the year between Coley number 3 and Coley number 4. Such was the life in mid 19th century Bick Lick Township. 

The 1850 and 1860 census records for the Huneycutts and Robbins have to be seen together to understand what was going on.

In 1850, we see the Charles Cagle household, followed by the John Huneycutt household. In the John Huneycutt household is 17 year old MaryAnn Burris, who will marry his son, Charles McKinley and become my third great grandparents. MaryAnn or Anna, was the daughter of Susan Honeycutt and Joshua Christian Burris, who was a man with many mistresses. I believe Susan was a sister of John's, making Mary Anna his niece. 

Listed after Mary Ann Burris is a 70 year old Frances Huneycutt, with Elizabeth 27, and 'Linda' (actually Lyndsey), in the home. Following them is George W. Huneycutt, John's son, who is already married, and working as laborer on his father's farm. John T. is 18 years old at this time.

In 1860. is the Charles Cagle household followed by the John and Sylvia Honeycutt household. Several more of the children are know adults. They are followed by the household of 80 year old Fanny (Frances) Robbins, Betsy, (Elizabeth), now 36, and her two sons, Lyndsey (fathered by Sam Coley) and Greene, (fathered by John Huneycutt).  After them is Susy (Susan) Huneycutt, 55, whom I believe was John's sister, and her youngest daughter, Syliva, 18. Susan had a son, Joshua and I believe another son , John, who are shown as being bound out, as Mary Anna was, in the early court records. Sylva, at 18, seems to have stayed with her mother, and reveals the name of her father, J. C. Burris, on her documents. 

It's easy to see that Fanny and Betsey "Honeycutt" of 1850 were actually Fanny and Betsy Robbins of 1860.

Why were they enumerated as Huneycutts in 1850? What was the exact relationship of the Robbins and the Honeycutt family, beyond that of John II and Betsy?

Another oddity is the appearance of a 14 year old Fanny Robbins in the home of Susy Honeycutt, who was a tenant of John (and likely sister). Who was this? Solomon Franklin Robbins had a daughter named Frances Caroline, who is shown as a 9 year old in the home of her mother, Sarah, in 1860. She marries Robert Cagle, son of the above mentioned Charles. Was this the same girl, and the census taker was off on her age? Was she visiting her grandmother, whom she was named for and just happened to be in Susy's house, on the same farm? Or was this a different girl altogether? Was she the daughter of Betsy, maybe? She wasn't anywhere in 1850, and she is not shown again, unless she was Solomon's child. And in case you missed it, the oldest daughter of John and Sylvia Honeycutt was also named Frances Caroline. Was this a clue?

Fanny Robbins, the older lady, was Frances Caroline Whitley Robbins, daughter of George Whitley II. I've read several accounts of the Whitley family, and they all give her a death date of 1858, yet, here she was, counted in the 1860 census. The particular place I found this information was "George Whitley Family", compiled by Walter Charles Whitley of Little Rock, Arkansas. 

Fanny was not in the 1870 census. 

Also not in the 1870 census was her grandson, Lindsey Robbins, son of Betsy and Sam Coley. 

Name:	Linsey Robbins
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Estimated Birth Year:	abt 1853
Birth Place:	North Carolina, USA
Age:	17
Death Date:	Feb 1870
Cause of Death:	Pneumonia
Census year:	1870
Census Place:	Big Lick, Stanly, North Carolina, USA

Lyndsey died of pneumonia in February of that year at age 17, according to the Mortality Schedule. It would have been nice if they had kept a mortality schedule for every year.

With her mother and oldest son dead, Elizabeth and her younger son, Green, took refuge with the Borroughs or Burris family.

Elizabeth was found living with the Davidson Burroughs family, while Green, 14, was in the home of J.C. Burroughs, previously mentioned.

Her brother, Solomon Robbins was still alive and has a story of his own, but as for Green and his mother Betsy, they disappeared to be seen no more. Or did they?