30 Fathers in 30 Days: Job Calloway

 

The Biblical character of Job was a long-suffering, but faithful believer in God, never swaying from his convictions, despite what tragedy, loss and illness befell him. A dejected and miserable individual to say the least.  

The etymology of the name Job sources an original word for father, but that which had evolved into 'the persecuted 'or, 'one who suffers'. It doesn't sound like an optimistic name to lay upon a child. Yet, I ended up with two, at least, Fifth Great Grandfathers named Job. Both were born in the later decades of the 18th century. Why had their parents given them such a sorrowful name?

In the case of Job Calloway, (1790-1835), son of Isaac Calloway (1750-ish to after 1810), he was named for an uncle, brother of Isaac, who had kept moving southward and ended up in Georgia. From what I can tell, neither of their lives was as terrible as that of the biblical Job. 

I have posted on Job Calloway before, but not in great detail. See the link below.

The Setting of the Son: The Will of Job Calloway

The Calloway or Callaway surname is Norman in origin, and comes from the French "Cail", meaning pebble, or pebble-way. It's a place name, referring to a family from Caillouet-Orgeville in Eure, France, who later migrated to Dorset. 

Village of Origin shown in red

Our line began with a Peter Calloway, in the village of Marnhull, Dorset, England. His son, Peter II, was born there around 1640. Peter II indentured himself for passage to America. According to "Callaway Family History 1630-1898"  compiled by Robert Ellis Colson, Peter bonded himself to William Pressley for payment of passage and arrived in Northumberland County, Virginia where he worked for seven years. Fifteen years later, he would relocate across the Chesapeake Bay and settle near the Wicomico River in Maryland and worked as a Carpenter on his 50 acre headright until March 26, 1667.

On that date a girl named Elizabeth Johnson, daughter of John and Susan  Johnson, was brought to court on a bastardy charge and named Peter Callaway as the father of her child. Peter was fined 1000 lbs. of tobacco and Elizabeth was fined 500 lbs. Peter was also to pay Elizabeth 100 lbs. of tobacco, the current currency in the Quaker era court.

Peter and Elizabeth avoided further prosecution by making their relationship legal and married on March 26, 1667, in Princess Anne, Somerset County, Maryland.  He had arrived as a very young man, possibly a teenager, around 1649. He and Elizabeth raised their family of 11 children in Somerset, Maryland, where Peter died in 1719 at age 81. The children of this couple were part of a very mobile generation of young Americans who migrated into Virginia, North Carolina and later, Georgia.

Among those 11 children, was John Callaway or Calloway, the spelling being interchangeable. John was born about 1685 and married Mary Gould, daughter of Edward and Francis Gould on Christmas Day, 1709, in Stepney Parrish, Somerset County, Maryland.

John was a Cooper by trade. Peter had been able to build his wealth in Maryland and owned numerous tracts of land, the true American dream. John inherited some of this land and added to it himself. His collection of properties were given names. In various patents, lists and rent rolls they were known as Callaway's Folly, Callaway's Chance, Callaway's Hard Fortunes, Callaway's Venture and Venture Still. His extensive properties extended into Delaware.

Johan and Mary had  a family of nine children four sons and five daughters. Mary died before John, but John lived a long life, to age 85,  surviving all of his children except one, son Ebenezer. The oldest of these nine was a son named Edward, our line.

Edward Callaway was born in 1711 in Somerset County, Maryland and became a wheelwright by trade, and a farmer. He was my 7th Great Grandfather making John my 8th and Peter my 9th. Edward married around 1734 to Elizabeth Anderson. His first purchase of property was in Somerset County, Maryland consisting of 50 acres of land between Wicomico River and Broad Creek, an estate known as "Ryan's Grave". How outré' and ghoulish. They remained there for about a decade or more, before moving to Sussex County, Delaware in 1745, and purchasing 200 acres in Cedar Creek Hundred. While in Delaware, he purchased a 216-acre tract called 'Battle Green'.

Edward was like a worm in hot ashes. After another decade, in 1755, he sold his old plantation called Ryan's Grave in Somerset, and four years later, in 1759, he moved the family back to Maryland, this time settling in the less populated Worchester, Maryland. Somerset and Cecil were filling up and had been for over a century. Edward was the ancestor who brought the Callaway's to North Carolina. In 1760 he sold the Cedar Creek property and in 1763, he sold Battle Green. He was on his way to Onslow. 

On December 7, 1765, two years after the Battle Green sale, Edward Callaway had a survey of 300 acres on the White Oak River in Onslow County, North Carolina. Edward lived five years after moving to Onslow, passing in 1770. 

White Oak River forms the Northeast border of Onslow

Isaac Callaway, my 6th Great Grandfather, son of Edward, was born around 1750 on the Ryan's Grave homestead in Somerset, Maryland and moved with his family to Onslow County. After Edwards death, the family was again on the move. They sold the property in Onslow and moved to what was then Anson County, North Carolina.

While in Onslow, the Calloway's lived near a man named Peter Arnold. Isaac would marry his daughter, Elizabeth. The Arnold's also relocated to Anson County. This was usually done in groups of neighbors and relatives. 

Elizabeth, Edward's widow, moved with her sons to Anson County, and settled along Mountain Creek in what is now Stanly County. About ten years later, four of her five sons would again migrate to Wilkes County, Georgia. Most of her sons, including Isaac, would serve in the Revolutionary War. Some folks have the War record of Isaac's brother Job, attached to my ancestor, Job Calloway. This is incorrect. Our Job was too young. That record belongs to his uncle Job, son of Edward. Elizabeth Anderson Callaway died in Wilkes County, Georgia sometime after their 1784 move. The five sons of Edward and Elizabeth Arnold Callaway were:

John who married Bethany Arnold

Job who married Mary

Isaac who married Elizabeth Arnold

Joseph who married Sabrina Morgan and Elizabeth Lee

Joshua who married Isabell Graves Henderson.

Some of the weddings took place in Onslow County, and others in Stanly (Montgomery/Anson).

Isaac was the only brother to remain in North Carolina.

Calloway Plantation House, Wilkes County, Georgia

Isaac Calloway

Isaac Calloway. my 6th Great Grandfather is first seen in the 1770 tax record of Onslow County, North Carolina. 

Isaac entered a grant of 100 acres on Mountain Creek on the southwest side of the Yadkin River on November 22, 1779. Chain Carriers were Joshua Carter and Isaac Calloway. 

Isaac would settle in Montgomery County, NC, which would have been part of Anson prior to 1779. He received a grant in Montgomery County, on the southwest side of the Yadkin River, on the south fork of Mountain Creek. Along this creek is where Job was born, lived, raised his children, and died.

In the first census of the USA, Isaac is shown heading a household of ten, one male over 16, four under, and five females. 

Name	Isaac Callaway
Home in 1800 (City, County, State)	Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10	1
Free White Persons - Males -10 thru 15	2
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over	1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10	4
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15	1
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44	1
Number of Household Members Under 16	8
Number of Household Members Over 25	2
Number of Household Members	10

In 1800, Isaac was still heading a household of ten. A male over 45 would have been himself, with his wife, Elizabeth Arnold, the female between 26 and 44. He had two boys between 10 and 15 and one under ten in the home and one girl between 10 and 15 and four under ten. 

The list of children I have of Isaac Callaway and Elizabeth Arnold are:

Bethany Callaway - Married David Kendall.

Isaac Callaway Jr. - Married Mary Barrett and relocated to Wilkes County, Georgia with his uncles.

David Callaway - Married Judith Tillery and relocated to Wilkes County, George and later to Madison County, Florida.

Elizabeth Callaway - Married Richard Stoker

Job Callaway - Married Susannah Randall

Sarah Callaway - Married John Randall 

Anne Callaway - Married James Colby Randall.

Eunice Callaway - Married Burrell Willis Coggin, moved to Dekalb County, Tennessee.

Vashita Callaway - Married John Parker.

John M. Callaway - Married Elizabeth Smith and secondly, Lucinthia Ingram.

Above, a record from the Arnold family website showing descendancy of Eunice Ann Callaway Coggins.

Job's father Isaac was the only Calloway in Montgomery County in 1810. He was in Captain Kirks District, near Kirk's, Carters, Safley's and Jones, which put him on the west bank of the Yadkin River in the Mountain Creek area. Isaac had accumulated 600 acres on both sides of Mountain Creek by 1800. He would later add a 150-acre tract. 

Isaac would serve in the Revolutionary War as a soldier from Montgomery County. After the War his brothers and at least one sister relocated to Georgia. Two of Isaac's sons would go with them, Isaac Jr. and David.

Isaac died after the 1810 census.  His estate wasn't settled until after the death of his widow, Elizabeth. Elizabeth Arnold Callaway was listed as a member of Rocky River Church in 1828, and her grandson in law, Samuel Parsons Morton, would be a minister there in later years. 

Elizabeth died on June 30, 1834 and Isaac's estate was settled during the 1836-1837 period. Both are buried at the Palestine Community Cemetery near Mountain Creek between Albemarle and Badin, which began as the Callaway Family Burial Ground. 

Job

My 5th Great Grandfather, Job Calloway " Isaacson," was born between 1785 and 1790 in Anson County, North Carolina. There must have been a very early ancestor in Peter's line named Job, as the family seems to have left a trail of Jobs everywhere they had settled. When my Job appeared in the Montgomery County, NC census, there was also a Job Calloway in Somerset, Maryland, where his family had come from, and another in Wilke's County, Georgia, where some of his father's brothers had pushed on to. This would have been his uncle.

Above, the family of Isaac's brother, John, who also named a son Job. Note: he was not born in Bedford County, Virginia. His parents were clearly in Maryland the year he was born. He may have removed to Bedford as a young adult, and there are records of him in the same area as Isaac in Anson/Montgomery (Stanly) County before he migrated to Wilkes County, Georgia.

The above record for Job Calloway from 1783, would have been lost if it had not been presented and proved later on in Stanly County in August 1851, most likely by the Moss family. The Carr and Bankston family were very early inhabitants, or owners, of land in what is now Stanly County, but their names are not familiar in more modern records because they did not stay. This was not my 5th Great Grandfather Job, as he was not yet born, but his family was, showing he was born here, along Mountain Creek. This Job would leave the area for Georgia.

Above, 400 acres on the lower side of Rock Hole Creek is referenced as being next to Andrew Bankston and Robert Carr, and a second 87 acres next to Job Callaway "being part of Carr's tract". 

In 1771, Stanly was still part of Anson as Montgomery had not been formed yet. Courts were few and far between. When Jacob and Job Calloway, along with Robert Carr and others, were ordered to lay the road from Edward Moore's store on the Yadkin River, they were referring to land in present Stanly County, probably near the Mountain Creek area where the Callaway's lived to the river, above the mouth of the Uwharrie. There was an early village in Stanly County called Narrowsville, named for the Narrows of the Yadkin River. It did not appear to be located right upon the river, but a short distance from it. The Salisbury Road is shown to have run, in another old map, between Mountain Creek and the river, and crossing the river, or ending at it, just below the mouth of the Uwharrie, (on the eastern bank of the Yadkin, across from the site of the old town of Henderson. Near the top of the map, another road veers off the Salisbury Road, and ends at Stokes Ferry. This would, of course, have been the Stokes Ferry Road, south of Ryals Creek. Narrowsville must have stood near this road, somewhere just west of the Narrows. There are a few names listed on the map, with one of them being Carters, on the Salisbury Road, near the headwaters of Mountain Creek. I believe the Calloway's probably lived in the vicinity of the Carters.

An old newspaper article from 1804 tells of a John Moore living on Mountain Creek, along with Luke Marbury on the same creek. He could have been a relative of Edward Moore.

As his father served in the Revolutionary War, Job put in his service in the War of 1812. The records describe him as being 5 foot 10 inches tall, with grey eyes, dark skin and dark hair. He received 100 acres on the Yadkin River in 1814 for is service, according to

Job only appears in one census, that of the 1830 in Montgomery County. He was probably also in the 1820 as Head of his own household in 1820, but that document was destroyed. He married Susannah Martisha Randall or Randle sometime soon after 1810, the daughter of Colby Randle and Lettie (Short for Letitia) Elmore. 

I have also posted on Colby Randle in this series on fathers 

Job and Susannah also settled along Mountain Creek and raised their family there. He inherited 64 1/2 acres from Isaac Callaway.

By 1830, Job was heading a household 11 people. He is shown as a man in his 40's, as was Susannah. There was a boy between 15 and 19, two between 10 and 14 and two under 5. Likewise, there was one female 15 to 19, one 10 to 14, one 5 to 9 and one under 5. This would record would have included all of his children, listed below, with the exception of the last, Matisha Callaway Kendall.

Job's neighbors in 1830 included Kinchen Pennington, John Fulchs (Folks), Timothy Ragsdale, Ethelred Morris, Thomas Rice, Howell Parker, J. Thomas Moss, Annis Carter, Cecily Fulchs and Daniel Kirk.

Archibald Smith, Fred Hinson, Joseph Ingram and William Jones.

Job, like his father, would build his wealth and land holdings over his lifetime, which wasn't long, but long enough to do so. 

On October 12, 1814, 60 acres was granted Job Calloway on the southwest side of the Yadkin River, meeting the properties of Letty Randle, his mother-in -law, and Francis Locke, who lived near Locke Mountain near the Narrows. Chain carriers were John Forrest and Jonathan McDonald.

There was an additional grant entered on the same day for 20 acres, always connecting to both Letty Randle and Francis Locke. This time Charles Jones and Jonathan McDonald were chain carriers.

Job and Susan Callaway were at times members of Rocky River Baptist Church across the Rocky River in Anson County. At other times, their church membership was at Kendall's Church in the Kendall Valley along the Salisbury Road.  It was obvious they were of a primitive Baptist ilk. In Mr. Colson's Calloway book, he states that Job and Susannah lived in "what is now the Davidson Talbert Place" three miles north of Albemarle. He also recounts a story concerning Job Callaway and his church attendance. 

"On the Saturday before the fifth Sunday of May 1830, Job rode to the Rocky River Church to ask that Kendall's Church be constituted as a regular church. Kendall's was only a few miles from his home.....There is some speculation that the Callaway's had a falling out with the Rev. Sammy "Crying Sammy" Morton at Rocky River Church.'

Job Calloway did not live to be an old man, despite some folk's opinions on the contrary. I will get into that later. He was born around 1790 and died in 1837, making him about 48. Above is a court record from 1838, where his will was offered for probate by evidence of Samuel P. Morton, his executor, son- in- law and my 4th Great Grandfather. 

The above transaction between Samuel P. Morton and his brothers-in-law's, Isaac Calloway, Alfred Calloway, and Agrippa Calloway, took place during the division of property of the Calloway estate. Isaac, the son of Job, is not to be confused with his uncle, Isaac Jr. the brother of Job, who went to Georgia with his uncles.

The division and swapping of properties among the heirs of Job Calloway continued nearly a decade after his death. The above deed references a 200 acres tract on Long Creek, not in the typical area of his abode, crossing a branch referred to as "namons" branch, twice, a branch I'm not familiar with. This 200-acre property is one mentioned as a grant for military service in the book, "Callaway Family History 1630-1898" compiled by Robert Ellis Colson. Upon his death, it was sold to his son-in-law David Kendall by his executor and son-in-law, Samuel P. Morton and widow, Susannah. This property was located roughly in what is known as the Kendall Valley, along the Old Salisbury Road in northern Stanly County today. 

In 1854, John, Job's son, transferred his interest in his father's property to his brother, Isaac. 

In 1858, Susan Callaway transferred her dower and right to the house she lived in and inherited to her sons, "the boys", I believe meaning the younger ones, Isaac, Agrippa and Elmore. She would have been about 68 years old, having been born on July 11, 1790.

The original will of Job Callaway is thought to have been destroyed by fire in one of the Montgomery County Courthouse fires prior to 1841, when Stanly County was founded. It was brought before the Stanly County court in the May Session of 1858 and presented as actual under the oaths of Nelson Pennington and Samuel P. Morton. At his death, Job was in possession of about 770 acres of land. 

After the usual wishes for disposition of his body, Job left the balance of his estate to his "beloved wife" after his debts were paid during her widowhood and or in the case of remarriage, he wanted it to go to his children.

rd I give to my eldest daughter Mary McLester property to the amount of $70 which property she has got.

4th I give to my second eldest daughter Vashti Morton property to the amount of $70 which property she has got.

5th I give to my eldest son Isaac Calloway property to the amount of $70 which property he has got. the above mentioned children having their property now in hand are not to recieve anything more until all the rest of the children recieve $70 each if there be not that much, if not the three oldest above mentioned to pay over to the rest unitl all are equal.

6th I divide in this that 20 acres of land lying on the Yadkin River be sold.

7th I direct in my will that 400 acres of land at home be priced at $2 per acre + my 4 boys younger than lsaac buy the same + pay into the estate the amount thereof + as they come to the age of 21 they are at liberty to build, settle, + clear said land outside of the old premises so that there shall be no improvement on the widows peaceable possession + if they choose not to take their place in this land the said when called for by the 1st oldest or by any of the 4 when 21 to laid off equally + value accordingly to division + the drawed for by them four boys, viz, Elmore, John, Agrippa + Alfred. 

Job appointed his son-in-law, Rev. Samuel P. Morton as his executor.

			Susanna Randall Callaway passed away on April 18, 1870, of consumption. Other members of the family died about the same time. Mary Callaway McLester also died of consumption the same year. She may have been taking care of her ill mother. Job and Susannah were both buried in the Calloway family cemetery, with his parents. The cemetery is still in use, but overtime became the Palestine Community Cemetery. The Calloway's were early citizens of the Palestine Community and descendants still live there. The ten children of Job and Susannah Randle Calloway were: 1) Mary M. Calloway 1810-1870. Married Daniel McLester and died of consumption.  2) Vashita Calloway 1812-1846. Married Samuel Parsons Morton 3) Isaac Calloway 1814- 1898. Married 3 times; Mary Kendall, Betsy Mann and Mary Linda Carter. 4) Elmore W. Calloway 1816 - 1898. Married Samantha Mariah Hodges. Moved to Tatnall, Georgia. 5) John C.  Calloway 1819-1862. Married Mary Clay. 5 children, died Petersburg, VA. Civil War. 6) King Agrippa Gamaliel Calloway 1823-1890 Married Eliza Elliott, 6 children. 7) Alfred S. Calloway 1827-1863. Married Mary Jane Marks, 1 child. Died Lynchburg, Va, Civil War. 8) Cassandra Calloway 1828 - Unknown. Married 1st William D. Kendall, 2nd to a Pennington, 3rd Nathaniel Wallace. 9) Sarah Calloway 1829-1894 Married James M. Clay. Moved to Grayson County, Texas. 10) Martisha R. Calloway 1834 - 1911. Married Benjamin L. Kendall. Moved to Tatnall, Georgia Palestine One of the earliest mentions of the town of Palestine in Stanly County that I can find mention of was published  in the Charlotte Observer in 1888. It was the description of a lengthy road being built by the state. The mention of our section involved the road leading from Albemarle would "run by Palestine Church in Stanly County and will cross the Yadkin at Penningtons Ferry; thence will run through Eldorado in Montgomery County direct to Asheboro in Randolph County." The Charlotte Observer Charlotte, North Carolina • Thu, Jul 12, 1888Page 4 We can ponder on old and modern maps what road, or a connection of them, that might have been, but the mention was of Palestine Church.  There are other accounts of the Post Office named Narrows, being renamed Palestine on April 7, 1880, and Green M. Dry being the first Postmaster. So, to my understanding, the name Palestine seems to have been derived from the Church, and the Church name from the Bible.  A quick history of the church states that the site began as a place established for seasonal outdoor camp meetings during the 1860's. Those meeting transitioned into a formal church and eventually a Methodist Congregation. At present, it is the Palestine Community Church. One afternoon recently, I decided to drive by on my way from Badin to Albemarle and first caught site of the old Calloway family cemetery highlighted by a sunbeam through the clouds from the curve before the railroad tracks. It's a mix of old and recent interments, the oldest being in the center of the cemetery and many of the stones now missing or illegible. In the church history is mentioned that the area was first settled by the pioneer Calloway and Talbert families. The church would later adopt the Calloway family cemetery as it's own, and it is now simply the Palestine Community Cemetery. The most populous name in the cemetery seems to be that of Dry, and a Dry was the first Postmaster. Early newspaper accounts also mention several Drys in connection with Palestine, especially an Adam Dry. Talbert is also a common name in the population of the marked stones.

As I thought of my Calloway ancestors and their connection to this land, a heavenly peace came across sky and I felt the connection to the early families who settled in the long ago community of Narrowsville, when the land was fresh and the people few. Other names popular among the internments are Blalocks, Bowers, Carpenter, Carter, Donahoe and Davis. Two of my Great Grandfather's brothers are buried here, as well as the son and descendants of my second Great Grandfather's brother who moved from the Stanly side of the Rocky River to Burnsville in Anson. His descendants relocated back to Stanly to the Palestine area. There is also a heathy population of Foremans, Forts, Fespemans and Hopkins. Hopkins are almost as populous there as Talberts, but no one family can touch the number of Drys buried there. The names like Halls, Griffins, Goss and Greens, Rummage and other litanies of common Stanly County names found here, were all intermarried into the primary four names found here: Drys, Hopkins, Talberts and Carters. The Davis family married into the Carters. The family of country singer, Kellie Pickler, who grew up here, are buried here, having married into the Drys. I can remember driving by the old Union Russell store, that I hoped would stand forever, but someone took it down in recent years. Russells also possess a good representation in the plots.

		Somewhere in these visible graves, deprived by tiime and weather of markers, are Isaac and Elizabeth Arnold Calloway and Job and Suannah Randle Callaway.

An old cemetery record book states that the grave of Isaac and Elizabeth lie beneath the first cedar tree as you enter the drive, but the cedar tree is no longer there. This was however, part of the property where Isaac Calloway lived and raised his children over 200 years ago, along Mountain Creek, which ran right through it and behind the cemetery.

It is also said that Job lived in the old Davidson Talbert place. Palestine now, is a place where five roads meet and cross. One of those "five-point' intersections. The church is there, many homes and several independant businesses. They used to have a sewing mill, now they have a towing service. The lot of the old putt putt golf is still there, but with decades of disuse. There is still a Christmas parade every year. And the Calloways wil rest in peace here forever among the ghosts of old Narrowsville.

Calloways and their descendants still live in and near Palestine.

Below, some information on the Wilkes County, Georgia Calloways

Enoch Callaway Homestead, Wilkes County, Georgia

The Callaway family of Georgia, established by brothers Job Callaway (c1741-1804), John Callaway (1746-1821), Joseph Callaway (1754-1821) and Joshua Callaway (1757-1816), is one of the best known family names in the state of Georgia. These men, sons of Edward Callaway (1711-1769); grandsons of John Callaway (1746-1821); and great-grandsons of American immigrant Peter Callaway (c1640-c1719), migrated with their families from Onslow County, North Carolina and settled the western lands of Wilkes County about 1783. Joined later by nephews, Isaac Callaway, Jr. (1776-1822) and David Callaway (1779-1844) sons of brother Isaac Callaway (c1750-c1819), the Callaway family spread through the surrounding counties, across the state and eventually westward as new land opened to settlement.

From these early times, Callaway’s and their allied families have been leaders in the civic, religious and political affairs of their communities, states and nation - a commitment that now stands at two-hundred and twenty-seven years as of 2010. The Callaway Family Cemetery is located on the Enoch Callaway Homestead near the town of Rayle in Wilkes County, Georgia. Known through the years as both the John Callaway Cemetery and the Rev. Enoch Callaway Family Cemetery, the family burying ground is located on land first settled by the Callaway’s in 1783 and still occupied by their descendants today.

While most of the individuals buried in the cemetery are descendants of Rev. Enoch Callaway (1792-1859), youngest son of John Callaway (1746-1821) and Bethany Arnold (1749-1844), some cousins from the Job Callaway (c1741-1804) family line are found among the gravestones. Descendants of Job, Joseph, Joshua, Isaac Jr. and David Callaway, as well, are found in the early history of Wilkes County, many still living in Wilkes County today and several connected to John and Bethany Arnold Callaway through allied families.

Directions:

From Georgia Highway 78 take Callaway Road(County Road 82) 1.5 miles (northeast) to Adolphus Callaway Road, turn right and travel 1.3 miles (southeast), passing the Enoch Callaway homestead (457 Adolphus Callaway Rd.) at .6 mile (pavement ends after .7 mile). Continue another .6 mile on the dirt road and turn left at the old wooden gin mill (also on the left). Travel .3 mile through the field to the cemetery.

Excerpt from 'The History of Anson County" by Mary Louise Medley

 

'A contemporary of Freeman and the Ratliff preachers was Samuel P. Morton known as 'Crying Sammy Morton'. An emotional type, he was given to shedding tears from the pulpit. Deacon Uriah Staton, large landowner of the Rocky River section and  a leader in both the first church there and a later one at Red Hill, usually went to sleep when Uncle Sammy preached. When asked about this he is said to have replied, "I know I can trust Uncle Sammy, but a stranger I have to watch'. Morton was born in Stanly County in 1805 and lived near Badin. He was an earnest, good man and filled with the spirit, and lived a meager life, bordering on poverty. He requested that the words on his tombstone be 'S. P. Morton A Sinner Saved by Grace.' What he lacked in colorful revival tactics, he made up in sincere good work. He converted and baptized many people during his ministry. '

  Note: The present town of Badin did not exist during the lifetime of Sammy Morton. What the author meant was he lived in the area of the present town. Ebenezer Baptist Church, now Badin Baptist, did exist and in it's cemetary is buried the father of Sammy Morton's first wife, Vashti Calloway, Job Calloway. Vashita Calloway Morton's grave and the homestead of Samuel P. Morton at the time was is the path of the expanding waters of Badin lake during the Dam construction era. Vashti's grave, with many others, was relocated to one of the Graveyard Islands near Tuckertown Dam. Sammy and his second wife, Lucy Ingram Morton, are buried at Red Hill Baptist Church in northern Anson County. 

The newspaper clipping above, I've found attached to the profile of Job Calloway who was married to Susannah Randle. This was not him by a long shot. There are also claims that he is buried at Kendall's Church and not Palestine. The Job Callaway buried at Kendall's Baptist Church was the one mentioned above. He was the grandson of my 5th Great Grandfather, for whom he was named. Job Callaway the III was the son of Isaac Calloway the III, son of Job II. He was born April 26, 1847, and in the spirit of serving in the military as his predecessors did, he was a Civil War Vet. He married Elizabeth Mann and died on April 23, 1934. 

) Mary M. Calloway 1810-1870. Married Daniel McLester

2) Vashita Calloway 1812-1846. Married Samuel P. Morton

3) Isaac Calloway 1814- 1898. Married 3 times; Mary Kendall, Betsy Mann and Mary Linda Carter.

4) Elmore W. Calloway 1816 - 1898. Married Samantha Mariah Hodges. Moved to Tatnall, Georgia.

5) John C.Calloway 1819-1862. Married Mary Clay. 5 children, died Petersburg, VA. Civil War.

6) King Agrippa Gamaliel Calloway 1823-1890 Married Eliza Elliott.

7) Alfred S. Calloway 1827-1863. Married Mary Jane Marks, 1 child. Died Lynchburg, Va, Civil War.

8) Cassandra Calloway 1828 - Unknown. Married 1st W. D. Kendall, 2nd Nathaniel Wallace.

9) Sarah Calloway 1829-1894 Married James M. Clay. Moved to Grayson County, Texas.

10) Martisha R. Calloway 1834 - 1911. Married Benjamin L. Kendall. Moved to Tatnall, Georgia

Thirty Fathers in Thirty Days: Mathias Marriott

 

The Old Mill by Jacob Alfred Miller

The surname of Marriott entered my family tree with the marriage of Henry Davis and Mary Marriott, who became my 7th Great Grandparents. Mary was the daughter of  William Marriott and Sarah Collier Marriott, daughter of Thomas Collier, my 8th Great Grandparents. William was the son of Mathias Marriott and his wife, Alice, my 9th Great Grand parents and Matthias is the subject of this post.

The name has French origins and means literally "Little Mary" or "son of Mary". It originated with French Huguenots, a group of Protestants who held to Calvinist, or Reformed, Protestant values and traditions. They arrived in England by the 12th Century, when the first recorded Marriott (in its varying forms) was Hervicus Mariot who was found in a listed in the Register of Knight Templar for Warwickshire.

The clip above was shared anonymously on Find-A-Grave from a list of Surry County individuals receiving acreage for the transportation of British settlers to Virginia. Mathias Marriott and his partner, Thomas Hart, received 338 acres of the north side of Blackwater Swamp for transporting seven people from England to Virginia. The land bordered the property of George Blow.

Blackwater Swamp is in the headwater section of the Blackwater River. It begins in Prince George County, flows southeast through Surry and forms borders with Sussex and Isle of Wight, Virginia before crossing into North Carolina. It's a beautiful, but not particularly navigable or profitable area for the early colonists to plant farms. Mathias Marriott became a miller.

From "Early Virginia Families Along the James River: Their Deep Roots and Tangled Branches Vol. III  Louise Pledge Heath Foley

These were the first generations spreading south, west and north out of Jamestown, in someways still inextricably tied to Jamestown. The growth spread like wildfire. Mathias Marriott and his partner Thomas Hart had received that first tract of land in 1672 for transporting William Jellett or Gilette, John and Richard Booth, an unnamed African couple, and two women, Ann January and Alice Price.  Ten years later, in 1782, Robert Caufiled was granted a parcel of 2250 acres, with record of a trail of cadaster from George Blow in 1664 to Mathias Marriott and Thomas Hart in 1672, those before and said 'deserted', meaning they no longer were in possession of this particular property. Why had Marriott & Hart deserted this particular parcel?  Was it dangerous or untamed? Caufield had transported 26 people including "Jacob, an Indian" and "James, a negro" and  Thomas Turner, someone I'm looking at to see if he is the same possible ancestor in another line. 

Mathias Marriott was the son of a William Marriott of Swan's Point, Surry County, Virginia, and I elaborate a little more later on. His date of birth is given as anywhere from 1641 to 1645, with 1644 being given the most often. Sometime during the 1660's, most likely the latter part of the decade, he married Alice Warren, daughter of Col. Thomas Warren, Esquire. I have Warren ancestry through Henry Davis who married Mary Marriott, Mathias's granddaughter, and also, this line through Mary, herself. Whatever the actual marriage, date, we know it preceded 1670.

In the above record from 'Surry County Records" compiled by Eliza Timberlake Davis, Baltimore, on page 377, is found a September 1670 record of an indenture by Mrs. Jane Warren, the widow (seen as 'relict') of Thomas Warren, "late of Surry County, Virginia, deceased, " and "Mathais" Marriott, who had married their daughter, Alice (Alyse) Warren, "ye only sister by ye whole blood unto Wm. (William) Warren, deceased and sonne (son) To ye aforesaid Thos. (Thomas) Warren.'  Apparently Mathias and his mother-in-law, Jane, were not in agreement on the division of property after the death of Thomas Warren Senior. "controversie and variance" the document called it.  Jane was given her due and a stipulation was made that if she or Thomas Jr. (sonne of above said Thomas Warren and Jane his wife) should die before Thomas reached the age of maturity, twenty-one, their portions are to go to the youngest son, named William, and when he died to the heirs of Mathias and his wife, Alice Warren Marriott.

The inheritance was listed as 1667 pounds of legal tobacco, casks, a white mare and her foal, a bed, a gold ring, a castor hat from the estate of William and the full share of a child. Jane, the widow. was given one third of the value of the house, orchards, and estate and Mathias was allowed his own share of the crop of wheat. It was signed Jane Warren, Mathias Marriott, George and Gertrude Watkins, neighbors.

The above clip from the same book, just down the page, leads in with an entry that mentions a Major Marriott on the west side of Besse's Swamp. I don't believe this is Mathias, but his father, William. However, two entries later, we see that on February 24, 1670, John Hunnicutt and Elizabeth Warren had contracted to enter marriage. Witnesses were John Corker and Jane Warren. This was the sister of Alice Warren, and the Jane signing as witness, the widow of Thomas Warren. Elizabeth, who'd received a small inheritance from her father, had suddenly became more marriageable and John Hunnicutt was an opportunist. The Hunnicutt family was an early and expansive one. I don't know it the descendants of this couple were among those who would populate our area of North Carolina, but it is certainly possible. The river of migration flowed in the right direction.

At the bottom of the page is a mention of James Stradling being indebted to William Marriott, father of Mathias. He owed 755 lbs. of tobacco. There were also some random, yet interesting entries that simply told of the details of life at the time in early Virginia. A 19 year old boy testified of the hogs on Hog Island. Had they been placed there for keeping, or were they wild hogs? Also, the body of a man, who had been dead a long time was found in the river. Who was he? Was he English? Had foul play been involved?

On the next page, which ventures into the year 1671, we find the entry stating John Hunnicutt, brother-in-law now of Mathias Marriott, had been given Elizabeth's 'due portion' of the estate of her father, Thomas Warren Sr. by Mathias. Jane Warren is mentioned and George Watkins was witness. The lead in was concerning a Hannah Davis, servant to 'ye Watkins', maybe or maybe not, George. She came to court to testify about her child. What issue about the child was not explained.

Another page over, in 1672, Mathias Marriott sold to George Watkins a man named "Kie". This shows that slavery had began. There were two types of servants, slaves and bond servants. The lead-in mentioned a servant boy with two and a half years remaining in servitude to the Allen family name Edward Welbanks. I hope Edward made it. Only one in ten child servants made it to adulthood and freedom. They were worked hard and fed poorly, sometimes abused. If they fell sick, their recovery was rare, due to lack of treatment, cleanliness, and nutrition. A few were treated like family, and those were the most likely to survive. 

A preserved Colonial Sawmill

In a list of Surry County Proprietors of Surry County is found the name of Mathias Marriott. It was located, "within one mile of the courthouse on the head of Grey's Creek.'  Marriott's Mill was located at Wier Neck, Gray's Creek, Surry County. 

Location of Gray's Creek across from Jamestown

- From the Virginia Gazette (Dixon) October 23, 1779:

"To commence from the first day of Jany 1780, at which time possession will be given, the plantation whereupon the late Mr. Mathias Marriott formerly lived, lying in Surry County, within one mile of the courthouse on the head of Gray's Creek...The sawmill with her appurtenances and a 25 hogshead flat for the use of the sawmill will be included in the lease of his plantation. "Virginia Gazette (Dixon), 23 October 1779, 1:2

His sawmill was so sturdy it would survive him for decades.

While Mathias's year of birth is assumed to have been between 1641 and 1645, that of his wife Alice is known to have been 1645, as she gave her age as 32 in a 1677 deposition. 

Mathias and Alice were the parents of five known (some debatable) children:

Margaret Marriott Flake (1673-1722) Married Robert Flake III

Elizabeth Marriott Mizell Hill (1676-1738) Married Luke Mizell 1st, then Robert Hill, son of Sion Hill

"Marion" Marriott Cripps (1679-1767) Married William Cripps (Matthias's Will names her as "Marriott Cripps, not Marion). 

Rachel Marriott Browning (abt. 1680-?) Married Francis Browning

William Marriott (1688-1767) Married Sarah Collier

William (my line) was the only son.

Some include a daughter, Alice, who married a William Gwaltney. She was instead a granddaughter, daughter of Margaret Marriott Flake. (See lineage at end of post)

Among appearing in other lists of early Virginia colonists, and Surry County records, the family Matthias Marriott and Alice Warren Marriott are also among the descendants of Charlemagne. 

While interesting, this is not rare among anyone who can trace their family lines back to Jamestown. Charlemagne currently has an army of descendants, and any Warren line carries this honor. This brings us to face with a few horrifically sad facts. Many poor families came to unfruitful ends, not having the ways and means to support growing, healthy children who would grow up to propagate. Many of the settlers in the new world, and Jamestown in particular, were the families of younger sons of the landed gentry. Oldest brothers were heirs to the estate, and the younger sons had to seek their fortunes elsewhere. They were, however, not without resources. Many would transport servants and the indentured and endured the same harsh winters, Native attacks and diseases that the disenfranchised and bonded servants did, but they had better accommodations, skills and education, and they ate better, so their offspring were the more abundant and viable. 

One of the earliest records of Matthias in Surry was when he was called to serve on a jury in 1665.  He was called for an inquisition into the death of a young boy, an indentured servant of a man named Ralph Coats. In the end they found that the child had died a natural death. Mathias would have had to have been over 21 at the time to serve on the Jury or born before 1644.

In a timeline of Matthias Marriott's name appearing in court record we next find:

1669- He appears on the list of tithable or taxable citizens with himself and two other people, one of which was a slave.

1670- Matthias was in court in an argument with his mother-in-law, Jane. Jane was an incredible woman. One must keep in mind that women often married very early in these days. Life expectancy was brief, childbirth was dangerous and marriage was often a game played by the parents of a couple that involved inheritances and fortunes and associations. It was not uncommon for a 15-year-old girl to be married to a 48-year-old man. Widows still in their child-bearing years were encouraged to remarry quickly and men with young children often sought a wife to aid in their care quickly, as well.  

Jane Allen had first married a man named John King. After he died, she married Thomas Warren, Sr. on January 1, 1659, at the age of 29.  She married a third time to Samuel Plaw in 1669 at the age of 39. She had three sons, all of them with Thomas Warren: Thomas Jr., Robert Sr. and Allen Warren. Some attribute Elizabeth Plaw, daughter of her third husband, Samuel Plaw, to Jane, but that would be a little disgusting. Elizabeth Plaw would become the wife of Thomas Warren Jr. While stepsibling marriages were not uncommon, as life was short and women were few in those days, but not half-sibling marriages. I would then propose that Elizabeth Plaw was the daughter of a previous marriage of Samuel Plaws, not Jane's child. 

Jane was not Alice's mother. She was Thomas Warren's second wife, as he was her second in exchange. His first wife was Elizabeth Spencer, daughter of William Spencer and Alice Lightfoot. Elizabeth had been previously married to a Robert Shepherd but had married Thomas Warren on September 23, 1654. She was the mother of Alice Warren Marriott, William Warren and Elizabeth Warren Hunnicutt. Also, by her first husband, Anne, John, Robert and William Shepherd. 

In 1670, Jane Allen Warren Plaw and Matthias Marriott had a dispute involving the division of the estate of Thomas Warren, which had been burdened with a number of stipulations, one that had also involved the estate of William Warren, son of Thomas Sr. To solve the issue, a slave or servant by the name of Thomas was to remain in the servitude and home of the Marriotts. The next year, 1671, is when Matthias sold the slave he was likely taxed for in 1669, named "Kie", or in some transcriptions, "Kid", to his friend, George Watkins.

1672- September 4th - Matthias Marriot was found in Contempt of Court. The "Act of the Assembly" was awash with inane rules, one of which forbid servants from walking willy-nilly about town, or anywhere really, on Sunday, typically their only day off. He had given his man, "Thomas", a note, "to go abroad on Sunday, he having no business, also he rendered scurrilous language (Matthias) to the Court both yesterday and to-day". Boy, I'm sourcing the renowned Davis temper that our genomes still carry to this day further and further back. Matthias was fined 200 lbs. of tobacco, the favored currency of the time, and costs. 

1673- Matthias and his wife, Alice sold to John Salway on Jul 23rd, a tract of land that had been inherited by her brother, William, from their father, Thomas, and upon William's death, to her.

1674- Mathias again appears in the list of Tithables, with someone named N. Witherington and one slave, probably Thomas. 

Now, here is where it gets a little confusing.

1675- Matthias Marriott barters the services of one Thomas Boggs, his "manservant" , as security, to Nicholas Meriwether for a debt owed. Now, from previous records, we know Matt had a slave named Thomas. We know from the tax list, that Thomas had to have been black, as his slave was referred to as "Negro", a Spanish word for black, that was used archaically to refer to someone of African origin. In later records, it appears that Thomas Boggs was freed from services and lived as a white man, so there must have been two Thomas's, Thomas Boggs, an indentured servant and an English or Irishman, and Thomas, an enslaved man of African origin.

In 1679, Mathias is listed with two taxables, the other being Thomas Boggs, above.

In 1680, Thomas Boggs is a free man and responsible for his own tithes, or taxes. There is a Mizell next to him, whereas Matthias's daughter would marry a Luke Mizell, and a Charles Marriott, relation unknown, showing up in the household of Walther Flood (later Floyd).

Matthias Marriott is also one of the enumerators that year.

1683, Matthias is in a list of debtors to George Proctor. He is probably 40, or close to it by then.

This document also lists John Hunnicutt as a debtor to the same estate. 

It also mentions the estate of Major Marriott, which refers to Major William Marriott. While there is not one particular document that names Matthias as a son of Major William, there is a weight of circumstantial evidence that implies as much. There was about a three-decade age difference, multiple connections, and locational proximity, for the support of it. 

1688 Matthias is alone as a taxable. No more slaves or indentured servants in his home. His children and in-laws may have been able to provide labor by then, the oldest entering their twenties. 

1695- Things were quite for a number of years until Matthias received a small stipend for some service from the estate of Mary Ironmonger.

1696- Matthias must have been a good boss.

In July of 1696, he purchased land in Southwark Parish in conjunction with Thomas Boggs, his former servant. The land was from the estate of Christopher Lewis, consisted of 200 acres, and part of a grant to Christopher Lawson. James Stanton and Richard Hargrave were witnesses.

As an example of how small this community really was, and how interconnected its people, Jane Plaw, widow of Thomas Warren, Sr., is also mentioned on the same page.

As was Robert Flake (Flacke), who married the Marriotts daughter, Margaret.

The two entries also connect Alice Gwaltney with the Flakes, her parents.

Mathias Marriott died in 1707. He knew the end was near when he wrote his Will on June 12, 1707. It was probated on September 2, 1707, so he passed away sometime that summer between those two dates. Probably in August. He would have been around 65-66 years old. Life was hard.

1707

He left his soul (written 'soule') to God and named Alice, his wife as Executrix.

He required his debts to be paid and wanted all of his 'profits and commodities' to go to Alice, and upon her death or remarriage to go to his son, William. He left his land to William Marriott, his only son, with the stipulation that if William should die without issue, (heirs/children), then his share to go to his grandson Thomas Flake, son of Robert and Margaret Marriott Flake.

Everything else, not before stated to go to William, exceptions listed below that statement. He left a book of 'Deniry" to each of three listed daughters, Margaret Flake, Elizabeth Hill and Marriott Cripps.  Some have her as 'Marion' but it is clear to me in her father's will that it was Marriott. He also left for Elizabeth Marriott Hill a spotted rug, to go to her after the death of her mother. Witnesses were Samuel Thompson, William Humuford and Roger Williams.

One of the coolest things to me when I began climbing my family tree was to be able to see the actual signatures of these long-ago ancestors on the ancient documents. This is Matthias's signature from 319 years ago. 

Inventory of the estate of Matthias Marriott, November 1707.

 Matthias's estate was not much compared to today's capitalistic standards, which is a blessing to us all. But for these early years of scrapping the Virginia swamps, he did pretty well.  Listed was 4 cows, three heifers and one young steer, three calves and one small yearling. He had 32 old books, that must have been shipped over from England. There was the standard amount of furniture, beds, blankets and such, a pallet of pewter, candlesticks, mortar, pallets of wool and cotton, cookware, farming utensils, bridles and other horse-riding apparatus, three sheep, shearing utensils and pottery and poultry and one breeding cock. And several mules.

Descent from William Warren to Mary Marriott Davis

Below is the lineage of Alice Gwaltney to Thomas Warren.

The Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry. Lineage of Members

Mathias was one of my earliest Virginian ancestors, and an ancestor of Job Davis