Thirty Fathers in 30 Days: Andrew Dennis

 

Monument For Andrew Dennis

Long-livers leave lots of records, and Andrew Dennis lived a very long time, especially in consideration of the time frame of his years. Andrew is, or was, my fifth Great Grandfather. He was born sometime between 1835 and 1850 by estimations, and died July 14, 1832, in Montgomery County, North Carolina. His monument is located at the Prospect Baptist Church Cemetery in Montgomery County. I can't tell you how old this church is, but it's at least 183 years old. The resting place of Benjiman Bell, 1761-1843 is also located there.

Prospect Baptist is an still an active church and is located on River Road, in "Troy, North Caroina". That's almost laughable as the location of this church is a long way from Troy. Troy is only the closest municipality with a zip code. The church was actually part of a more ancient, and now very rural, community. It is acknowledged that Andrew Dennis lived on River Road. There is even an adjoining road that bears his family name adjoining it. 

Montgomery was a burned county, known for Courthouse fires, so much of the information on Andrew and his family has been lost to time, but still, he left a deep footprint in the soil of old Montgomery.

A comment left on his profile on Find-a-Grave says, "At the age of 94

He served his country in the War of 1812. May he rest in peace." Meaning he lived to be 94, and was a soldier in the War of 1812. That last part is debatable, considering he would have been a septigenarian. I would think that may have been mistaken for a younger Andrew Dennis, perhaps a descendant. We'll look into that more in a minute.

 Like Connor Dowd, from my previous post, that you can access here, Andrew Dennis falls on my Maternal Grandmother's branch of the family tree, the Mauldin branch. I descend from his daughter, Martha, called Patsy, who married a Blalock. Their daughter, Mary, called Polly, married Thomas Alexander Mauldin, a great-grandson of Connor Dowd, whose daughter Sarah Jane married a Mauldin. 

Patsy was also a long liver. She must have gotten it from her dad. The Dennis's proved to be a sturdy and prolific stock. Her husband, David, did serve in the War of 1812, and boy was he a character. The Blalock and Dennis properties are shown in deeds to have been connecting, so they were neighbors.  I believe they lived near the river town of Henderson, which at one time was the County Seat, and founded, more or less, by Henry Delemothe, as he lived near there, too, and was the Postmaster for a term. Henderson was where David Blalock enlisted for military service during the War of 1812.

Andrew's exact year of birth remains unknown. We know he was an adult in 1779, as he signed a petition to separate what would become Montgomery County from Anson County, and he was applying for land grants several years before that. He was in the 1790 census, and in the 1800 census, he was over 45, which means he was born before 1755. 1810 gave the same information, of course, and the 1820 census of Montgomery was destroyed. The most telling was the 1830 census, his last, that portrayed him as a man in his 90's and his wife as in her 70's.

Name	Anders Denniss
Home in 1830 (City, County, State)	East of Pee Dee and Yadkin River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 90 thru 99	1
Free White Persons - Females - 70 thru 79	1
Total Free White Persons	2
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored)	2

1830 census, showing an elderly couple living alone. In the list, he is shown near Haltoms, Morgans, Tolberts, Bells and McRae's.

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From nclandgrants.com I learned that Andrew Dennis was associated with 4 land grants totalling 400 acres betwenn 1783 and 1803. These were all in Montgomery County and were:

Issued 10-11-1783, Entered 1779- 150 acres on the Northeast side of the Yadkin River.

Issued 10-11-1783. Entered 1779- 150 acres on the east side of the "Uhary" River on Cedar Creek.

Issued 7-15-1795. Entered 1792- 50 acres on the east side of the Pee Dee River and 

Issued 8-20-1803 Entered 1800- 50 acres beginning at a pine at Thompson Clements corner. (Was this supposed to be Clement Thompson?

We'll explore these more shortly, but for those who don't know, Uhary was a different, or phoenetic spelling of Uwharrie and the Yadkin and Pee Dee Rivers are basically the same river. At the point where the Uwharrie empties into the the Yadkin, the river becomes the Pee Dee. Andrew Dennis settled very near where this event happened. 

This beautiful house, which amazingly is still standing, to my knowledge, was occupied by descendants of Andrew Dennis, and it is believed that at least the foundation is part of the original structure of Andrew's house, built up on one of his  150-acre land grants

Most of what I've learned of Andrew is from the surviving land records accessed in the Stanly County History Room library, or online at Family Search, the records available at ancestry.com and newspapes.com. To discover more about his descendants beyond my direct line, I referenced two books, 'Revised J. A. Morton Descendants', compiled with the assistance of other members of the family  by George Luther Wallace, 1983, and 'Blalock and Related Families Pioneers in Virginia, The Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, and Texas' 1597-1988, by Delton D. Blalock.

My brilliant and tenacious distant cousin and genetic research expert, Cynthia, with whom I share multiple family lines, the Andrew Dennis line being one of them, has provided a wealth of information and knowledge on her blog, Uwharrie Roots. I have greatly benefited from , and resourced her blog post on Andrew, which can be found at the below link.

Uwharrie Roots: Descendants Aplenty

I'm sure there will be some duplication in the presentation of records, but we do arrive at things in a different way. Cynthia has mastered the art of using DNA to follow distant trails. I have dabbled with it, and made a few inroads, but quickly become frustrated with the creation of more brickwalls and mysteries it has seem to create for me. She is a preeminate expert on all things Montgomery County, which I know just a little about, as my roots were more in Stanly County. 

 Martha, the wife of Andrew, is more of a mystery than he is. I do not know her maiden name. If anyone has any information on that, please contact me.

The most information on Martha I have found is in the 1850 census of Stanly County, which was formed from the part of Montgomery County west of the Yadkin-Pee Dee River in 1841. The Dennis's lived on the East side , the Montgomery side of the river, but my 4th Great Grandparents, David and Martha Dennis Blalock, moved to the west side and brought the widowed Martha Dennis with them. In this record, she is 94 years old and her birthplace is given as Virginia. 

1778

Andrew had arrived to the area of Montgomery County while it was still a part of Anson County. Above is shown one of the December grants of 150 acres, the one lying on Cedar Creek neat the mouth, including William Ballards improvement. Improvement meant that the land had been cleared, tilled, and sometimes built upon.

The other December 23rd grant, also originally in Anson County, was on the south side of Island Creek,  on a branch on the south side of Edwars improvement.

Montgomery County formation from 1779 petition

The final and Successul Petition to Divide Montgomery in Anson came 9 years after the 1770 petition and 2 years after the 1777 petition. Many of the names are still prominent in Montgomery and Stanly County today. I see my ancestors Colby Randle, Isaac Calloway and son Job Calloway,and Rev. William McGregor.

John Harris, Bartlett Megreger, John Walker, Randle Jackson, John Randle,

Isaac Allen, West Harris, son of Henry Harris, Adam Rone, James Johnson, Moses

Gordon, James Bryant, J osias Randle, Joseph Vickery, Jacob Shankle, Thomas

Simson, William Nobles, Sr., Andrew Dennis, Nathaniel Dennis, William Allton,

James Runnels, William Morriss, Thomas Newman, Herbert Suggs.

Andrew Dennis signed the 1779 petition to divide Montgomery County from Anson County, which was a very huge block of land in the beginning. I have many ancestors in this list, perhaps some that I don't even realize yet, as I discover more connections all the time, mostly as maternal ancestor's maiden names are uncovered, and fathers of  brickwall ancestors are found. His name is listed next to Nathaniel Dennis, and no proof of a specific relationship has been found between the two. Their land was on the same side of the river, but in no way conjoining, but that does not rule out a familial relationship of some kind. The paragraph above this one was written by me on a genealogy page I manage, with the list of names coming from the actual document, most of it excluded, with just the portion that names Andrew Dennis shown. There's a very long list of names on the petition.

Above is the handwritten version of the parcel on Island Creek.

And the cover of the property on the north side of the Yadkin River.

"This plot Represents Ond Hundred and fifty acres land in Montgomery County on the north Ease side of the Yadkin River Beginning at the oak Corner of John Edwards and Running Thence south seventy four East one Hundred and ten pole to a stake thence south sixteen  West two Hundred and nineteen pole then North seventy four West One Hundred and ten pole to a pine then North sixteen East two hundred and nineteen pole to the Beginning surveyed four Andrew Dennis the 27th Day of July 1779. 

Mark Allen Survey (or).

Mark Allen was also an ancestor of mine. I know at some point, someone is wondering, "Who wasn't?". It's true, I have deep roots in the Stanly/Montgomery/Anson/Union/Cabarrus area of North Carolina. Old Roots. So, sometimes the paths of various ancestors crossed in the days when the population was sparser. 

Mark Allen was from Allenton and the community was named for him and his brothers. It was on the west side of the River near the current town of  Norwood and Andrew Dennis lived on the east side of the river near the Uwharrie community. The land records, which are almost all we have, besides family bibles, and stories, if any remain, to inform us of our Dennis ancestors. Land records can't tell us what kind of person or people they were. 

"N Carolina Mont. County  `733 ) To the Surveryor of sd county Greeting you are here by Required to Lay of (sic) & survery according to Law for Andrew Dennis a track or parcel of Land containing 50 acres joining Joseph Bells Lines & John Walkers on the Waters of Cedar Creek Observe the Directions of the accr of assembly made of Provided in such cases given from Under my hand at office this 2 Day of March 1792   Jno Crump " 

John Crump was a land speculator who lived along the river in the current El Dorado community. 

He also penned the document below from 1794

"To the surveyors of sd (said) County Greeting". This document was prepared not for Andrew Dennis, but Benjamin Bell. "for Benjamin Bell on my own line joining Andrew Dennis's line." So the Bell and Dennis families were close neighbors. I wonder if anyone has looked in the Bell family to see if there were any relations or if Martha could have been a Bell?

The above document was from 1802, and one of the later ones. Thomas Cotton, who owned an enormous plantation along the Yadkin River, was the surveyor. It begin at a line of Thompson Clement's corner, so Thompson was his actual first name. This tract was on the south side of Cedar Creek. It also connected to John Stewarts  line then to John Thompson's line, then to Andrew Dennis's corner, so it was a tract that joined property he already owned. From this we can tell he must have been sucessful in his ventures, as he kept expanding his land holdings.

In 1812, Grant number 6951, a tract was ordered to be laid off for Jacob Bennett on Island Creek that joined his own property and that of Andrew Dennis. The small tract of 35 acres was ordered on January 9th, 1812 and signed by Will Stone. 

There was one newpaper article related to Andrew Dennis and this was in the Raleigh newspaper date June 4, 1819.  J. Cockrane (Cochran), a ranger, reported that Andrew was missing a yellow bay mare of 12 years old, with a brand on her left shoulder and two white streaks on either side of her neck. She was appraised at $30.00. Andrew Dennis was described as living in Montgomery County near Henderson, and that puts him exactly where the land records suggest.

Andrew was also mentioned in the above January 11, 1819 survey for Phillip Edwards and penned by Brittain Chappell. It was for 100 acres on the Uwharrie River and met the corner of Andrew Dennis's 50 acre tract that had been granted to him. Also mentioned is Watery Branch,  Hardy Morgan, John Stewart again, and Bunnells corner stake. Hardy Morgan is known to have worked for Henry Delamothe and would later marry his widow.

The above document is a little difficult to read, but I felt it should be included in the most salient documents that we have with a mention of Andrew Dennis. It is shown above in it's entirety and involves the daughters of Dr. Kron. 

A little background on them. Henry Delamothe, who had came to the area for the gold, lived near, or in, the town of Henderson, was a single man with no heirs at the time. It is said he came with or fought with the Marquis de Lafayette. He had a niece who married Dr. Francis Kron, from Prussia, and convinced them to come to America and he would will them his massive holdings and wealth, when he died, as he was an old man by then. They came and settled on the west side of the river, just opposite of his lands, on a property that had belonged to my ancestor, Rev. William McGregor, a Scottish minister of the Baptist faith. Delamothe and Kron, both educated and arrogant men, clashed at some point and Delamothe changed his mind. He married a very young girl named Bethany, at a very old age and in a story of its own, arranged for the birth of an heir. Two were born and one died young and as he disproved of a second one, he all but disowned his wife and legal children. Long story short, his grandnieces, the two Kron sisters, ended up inheriting a good deal of his property.

I am emphazing the two pertinent parts of the court document.

Fall Term of 1858, Adelaide and Elizabeth Kron vs Martine Hinson

" represents 135 A of land granted to Cary Pritchard the 11th October AD 1783 & may be known by the lines being colored yellow S T U V represents 150 A granted Andrew Dennis the 11th of October A D 1783 and may be known by the lines being colored blue."

Had the Kron sisters ended up with some of Andrews old property too? I believe with the information available it may be possible to acertain exactly where he lived. 

Andrew Dennis remains an ancestor I don't know a great deal about. Some report that he came from Pennsylvania before arriving in Montgomery County. 

There was an Andrew Dennis who served in the a militia in Pennsylvania. Was he ours?

A descendant of Andrew Dennis named Jason Hinsin, in 1959,

applied for a Military Headstone using the information found in Pennsylvania for an Andrew Dennis, and was denied. 

Andrew Dennis appears in a tax list for Germanton, Pennsylvania dated July 29, 1776. Coincidentally, so does Philllip Sell. We know Andrew was in Anson (Montgomery) by 1778. This was a time for a great deal of migration from the north into the Carolinas. Ours?

There are four known children of Andrew and Martha Dennis but the census suggests more.

Name	Andrew Dennis
Home in 1800 (City, County, State)	Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10	1 James
Free White Persons - Males -10 thru 15	2 Jesse and Andres Jr.
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over	1 Andrew Sr.
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10	1 My Patsy would have been 8.
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15	1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25	2
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44	1 Martha
Number of Household Members Under 16	5
Number of Household Members Over 25	2
Number of Household Members	9

In 1800, there appears they could have had three daughters we don't know the names of. 

Name	Andrew Dennis
Residence Date	6 Aug 1810
Residence Place	Hattom, Montgomery, North Carolina, USA
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15	1 James
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25	1 Andrew Jr.
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over	1 Andrew Sr.
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25	1 Patsy
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over	1 Martha
Number of Household Members Under 16	1
Number of Household Members Over 25	2
Number of Household Members	5

In 1830, Jesse was on his own and counted near John Tillman and Buckner Stacy. 

Map Showing Henderson town, from "Old Town" Uwharrie Roots Blog post

The known chldren of Andrew and Martha Dennis were:

1) Jesse Dennis (1781 - after 1840) Entered a Land Grant in 1818, appears to have had a familiy in 1830. Disappears from records. Perhaps migrated away. 

2)  Andrew Dennis Jr. (1785- 1850) Married Alice Crocker, immigrated to Jackson County, Tennessee.

3) Martha "Patsy" Dennis (1792-1883) Married David Blalock, migrated to neighboring Stanly County.

4) James "Jimmie" Dennis (1798-1869) Married Mary "Polly" Morgan, remainded in Montgomery County.

Who Was George Farmer?

 

With an observation of George Farmer, I enjoy a welcome recall to my Tyson Township, Stanly County roots. Ruminating on his interlaced connections to my family tree, like a morning glory vine with its daily snaking around and slowly weaving in and about the boughs till it meets its efflorescent goal, I realize I have not a datum on his origins. Other family researchers don't either, it seems. I would be remiss if I didn't give a gander at the ipseity of George Farmer. 

He seems an unattached thing, hovering in midair without connections, and without a childhood. Which isn't true, of course. He didn't drop into the vicinage of my Tyson families as a rootless plant, pulled up from a ghostlike garden and tossed aside along the Rocky River. The man lived, as all men do, and had two parents, and four grandparents, biologically, but perhaps with rocks in the river along the way. As is now, life's random occurrences and brevity can cause bends and breaks in the family tree, as he may have had, and almost certainly would in the 19th century. 

Let me begin with what I know of George Farmer, his family and its connections to my family tree. 

George T. Farmer married Sarah Elizabeth Watkins, daughter of Arnold Watkins, a Stanly County farmer with Anson County roots, and his wife Marina Wilkerson, around 1865, according to the 1900 census, as no marriage contract is found. Their first son, Joseph, was born around 1868. 

In 1870, the young couple is shown with Joseph, age two, in Tyson Township, near West and Upchurch families.

In 1880, George and wife are living in Center township, right next to an Eli A. Farmer. He's also near John P Morton, several Blalock's and Benjamin Franklin Duke. The family connections are like a spider web! 

Eli A. Farmer was 39 years old in this record, as was George T. Farmer. George certainly did not practice obfuscation of his origins.  However, one might view the coincidence of two men with the same,( not overly common in the area), surname, of the same age, and think "Brothers!". That was not the case. I already knew Eli A. Farmer or knew who his people were. They were not brothers. This does not mean that they were not related in some manner, but exactly how, I cannot speculate at this juncture. 

I had come upon Thomas Farmer during the dead-end research of my ancestor John Falkner, a third Great Grandfather from Anson County.  Thomas Farmer was born about 1805. He shows up in Anson County in the 1840, 1850 and 1860 census records, recorded in Sandy Point and Diamond Hill. His wife was named Winnie or Wincy, she was seen by both names. Born about 1813, Winnie disappears before 1870, the year that Thomas, and Eli, show up in Stanly County, in Center Township, or around Norwood.  During that year, Thomas is living with his daughter, Ann, Eli, and two grandchildren, Thomas and Elizabeth. This does not mean Winnie was deceased.  Thomas' death date is sometime after 1871, when he last appears in a document as living, and 1880, where he no longer appears, but his surviving children do. Thomas had close connections to the Carpenter family, both in Anson and Stanly. He had a few deed exchanges with John A. Lilly and Simeon Carpenter and contact with a Seabury Carpenter. One of his sons was named Seabury. It could possibly be that his wife was a Carpenter due to the close connections with that family.  Just a thought. He also partnered with a Martin T. Farmer, in an 1860 document in Anson County.

Martin is suspected to be his brother. Martin is also the one of the first names of his son, Seabury. Some have split these into two different sons, but Martin C. is shown in 1850, but no Seabury and Seabury in 1860, but no Martin, being born about the same year. As Seabury is also seen spelled with a "C" as in Cebury, it is my belief they were one and the same. Eli was the youngest son. 

After my own research, I've determined that Thomas and Winnie were the parents of four children. 

A) James H. A. Farmer, born around 1834. He is 16 in his parents' home in 1850, and marries Sarah "Sallie" Hildreth, daughter of Thomas Hildreth and Hispira Childress Hildreth before 1857. His son's obituary states that his father died in "the War between the States", but his wife is shown alone in 1860, and his two children are living with Thomas in 1870, so his year of death remains a mystery. More on them in a few. 

B) Lana Ann Farmer (aka Lancy, called Ann) was born sometime between 1828 and 1843. Her year of birth is shown twice as 1836, which I believe is the most accurate. Ann was an old maid and lived with her parents up until the 1870 census.

 She became the second wife of Shelby Carpenter in 1875, and her age given in that document was 38. She had one child with Shelby, Julius Benjamin Carpenter. 

In 1880, Lana Ann Farmer Carpenter is shown in Tyson Township with her 60-year-old husband, suffering from liver disease, and her 80-year-old mother, W. (Winnie) Farmer, suffering from old age. Lana doesn't live until 1900.

C) Thomas Martin Seabury Farmer was born about 1838. He is shown in both the 1850 and 1860 census records with this birth year and older than Eli in both. He enlisted in the Confederate Army at age 24, under the name Thomas S. Farmer and became a casualty of it. 

Name	Thomas S Farmer
Enlistment Age	24
Birth Date	abt 1838
Birth Place	Anson County, North Carolina, USA
Enlistment Date	29 Oct 1862
Enlistment Place	Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Enlistment Rank	Private
Muster Date	29 Oct 1862
Muster Place	North Carolina
Muster Company	I
Muster Regiment	60th Infantry
Muster Regiment Type	Infantry
Muster Information	Enlisted
Muster Out Date	21 Nov 1862
Muster Out Place	Murfreesboro, TN Hospl
Muster Out Information	died disease
Side of War	Confederacy
Survived War?	No
Occupation	Farmer
Title	North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster

D) Eli Armstead Farmer was born between 1840 and 1842 according to the 1850-1880 census record. His death records give his date of birth as August 10, 1834, but I believe this was exaggerated. He is shown as the youngest child in all the census records of his youth. He was the only child to live a long life, passing away on June 6, 1921. In the 1920 census, he was living on Cottonville Road in Center Township, and was buried at Cedar Grove UMC Church Cemetery. 

He married Nancy J Morton, daughter of Armstead and Frances Wilkerson Morton, on November 5, 1871. They were the parents of seven children, Emma Farmer Duke, Charles Baxter Farmer, William Henry, Wincie Gertrude, Samuel Armstead, Thomas Cicero, and Walter Virgil.

Many family trees add two more, Thomas F. and Elizabeth, because they appear in his household in 1870, but those two were grandchildren, by his oldest son, James. 

Sarah/ Susan Elizabeth Farmer lived with her mother in one census, and her grandfather in another, but died young and unmarried in 1873.

Thomas Crosson or Cason Farmer married Martha Kissiah Thompson, daughter of George W. and Mary Ann Morton Thompson in Albemarle, Stanly County. Both his marriage document, shown above. 

 His death certificate shows his parents as James H. and Sallie Hildreth Farmer. 

Thomas moved his family to High Point, in Guilford County, where he worked as a Shoemaker. He and Kessiah had three children. His son, James Seabury Farmer, became a respected minister. His obituary, shown above, states that he was born in Anson, moved to Stanly, and had spent the last 25 years in High Point. His father, named as James M. Farmer, was noted to have been killed in the Civil War. He could have separated from Sallie Hildreth Farmer before the War, as she is alone in 1860.

Thomas, the Carpenter

The elder Thomas Farmer, grandfather of the above Thomas, worked as a Carpenter. As I previously mentioned, he was shown in a deed, purchasing land together in Anson County with a Martin S. Farmer

1840 Anson County

In the 1840 census, above, Martin Farmer is listed third from top and Thomas Farmer is listed second from bottom, so they lived, for a time, in the same general vicinity. 

One Farmer descendant has Thomas being the son of a James Farmer, son of a Thomas Farmer. I've not done enough research, and will not, as it's not my direct family, to either agree or disagree with these findings. The snippet above speaks on this particular line, so it may be of interest to someone to delve into. What I can confirm is that there was an older James Farmer in early Anson County. He appears in the 1790 census with a family of six, and in the 1800 census with what could be interpreted as five daughters and six sons. In that same year, there are no other Farmers in Anson, but a Thomas in Iredell. 

1810 finds a Joseph and Jessie in Anson, and a Margaret and John in Cabarrus. 1820 finds only Joseph in Anson, an Elisha in Iredell, and none in Iredell or Cabarrus. In 1830, there are no Farmers in any of those counties, then in 1840, we have Thomas and Martin in Anson, and Joseph is now in Montgomery County, West Pee Dee, which means he is located in Stanly County. 

Joseph is show as a young father in his 20's, his probable wife a little older than himself, and six children under 14, three boys and three girls. 

Hold that thought, and let's return to the main subject of this post, George T. Farmer. 

1900

George T. Farmer lived to see the 20th century. He's 60 and his wife, 59, here with their daughters, Nancy E., 21, Lila W. 19 and "Lizer" J. 14. A 16-year-old boy has been hired as a farm helper, too, named Pop Colson. 

George and Sarah's children were:

1868 Joseph Farmer only appears as a two-year-old and then no more, leaving us to speculate that he died as a child.

1871 Marina "Mary" J. Farmer married twice but remained childless. Her first marriage in August of 1887, was to Thomas Deberry Green. Thomas Green did not have another wife, but did father a child, during his marriage to Marina. He fathered a daughter in 1892 with Inezzie McSwain, herself a product of an unfortunate birth, and squarely in my family tree as the daughter of my Second Great Granduncle on my mother's side, Caleb H. Aldridge, her mother his young stepdaughter. Inez was also the abandoned wife of my second Great Grand Uncle on my father's side, William Thomas Hooks, the son of my Third Great Grandfather, William Matthew Hill, and his sister-in-law, Emmaline Hooks. Inezzie was truly a tragic character in my family tree. Thomas died in 1895 and Marina remarried in 1897 to William Crowell Aldridge, my 1st cousin, four times removed. I began the post explaining that the Farmers were entangled tightly in my family tree. 

1875 Adam Huston Farmer married Julia Adeline Boone, daughter of William Peter "Andy" Boone and Mary Jane Smith. Andy's father, Andrew, moved to Alleghany County, NC after his first wife, Jane Hobbs died. Before he did, he had married into my family tree, of course, by choosing Martha "Patsy" Murray, as a bride. Patsy Murray married him the same day that Keziah Murray married Jesse Mills. Keziah was the daughter of my 4th Great Grandfather, Jesse Murray. Patsy was tied to her brother, James Murray, who died about 1850. I've not deduced whether or not Patsy was his daughter, or a younger, second wife. Adam Huston Farmer and Julia had 11 children: Joseph, Hurley, Walter, James, Johnsie, Nealie, Elizabeth, Virginia, Beatrice, Dorothy and Lila. He died in 1953, at 78, and was buried at Cottonville Baptist Church. The second family connection to these Boone's is that my Great Grandfathers oldest sister, Mollie, married Julia's brother, John Frank Boone. 

1879 Nancy E. "Nannie" Farmer was the first wife of John Teeter "Jaspar" Davis. He was the son of my 4th Great Granduncle, Edward Winfield Davis, the second sheriff of Stanly County. Another link to my family tree. All this due to their location in Tyson. They had one son, George Dewey Davis, and Nannie died young in 1911. John T. Davis then married a second time to Jennie Lenora McSwain, a daughter of the previously mentioned Inezzie McSwain, with Joshua Myrick "Mike" Harward, a man she did not marry. They had six children and he would marry a third time to a girl from Davidson County who had boarded with his brother, and they had twins. Nannie was buried in the Davis Family Cemetery in Cottonville, and her son would move to Vass, NC. 

1881 Lila W. Farmer married George Henry Boone, a brother of her sister-in law, Julia Boone Farmer, with all those same connections. They were the parents of five boys; Charlie Black Farmer, Arthur Jennings, George Travis, Jevaid and Thomas Alexander. She died in 1957, at 62, and was also buried at the Cottonville Church. 

1886 Eliza Jane Farmer married George Washington "Gus" Davis. She was his first wife, but he had no children by either wife. Gus was the older brother of my Great Grandfather, William Hampton Davis. This is the closest family connection. Almost every child of George and Betty Farmer had a connection to my family tree. Eliza passed away in 1934 and was also buried at Cottonville. She was only 52. 

Now, having looked at George's life after marriage, it's time to find him before.

Looking for George T. Farmer in the 1850 census, I am incapable of doing so. However, I do find other Farmer family members in Stanly County that look like a scattered tribe. 

The first record is in Center Township, which we now consider the Norwood area in Southern Stanly.  Headed by 55-year-old Mary Thompson, the home also includes a 35-year-old George W. Thompson and three young Farmer family members, Mary, 18, Leon 5, and Wesley, age 3. At this point, I don't want to make any assumptions on how these three are related to each other, except that they probably were. They live near a group of McSwain's, and next to Benjamin Ivy. 

Next, I find a 12-year-old Joseph Farmer living in another Thompson home. This is, of course, not the same Joseph in 1840. The home is headed by 25-year-old William Thompson, and looks like a young family with Mary, 20, and Susan, 2. There must be a strong Thompson connection to the Farmer family.  William is probably closely related to Mary and George W. Thompson. A 9-year-old "Samuel" Morton is also boarding in the home. As I have an ancestor named Samuel Parsons Morton, I have looked at this child in the past and determined that this was Lemuel Morton, not Samuel, and he was the son of David Morton, Jr. and Nancy Reddin Morton. Unfortunately, Lemuel became a casualty of the Civil War.  

They also lived in Center, near Hardy Watkins, James Allen and John Duke, just one page over from the previous Farmers. 

Lastly, we have William Farmer, age 18, living near my ancestor, Calvin Lee, and amongst a grove of Blalock's, whose land bordered Calvin's. William, like Joseph, has also been taken in by a young family, headed by 27-year-old Jordan Blalock, who has a wife and infant daughter. They live near John Norwood, of the Norwood Brothers Store that the town would be named for. He had married into my family, at one point, by marrying the widow of Burwell Hudson. Albert Murray, son of my third Great Aunt, Mariah Murray, is boarding with John Norwood. In fact, Murray children are scattered over the entire neighborhood. 

I find where William Farmer married just four years later, to Martha J. Phillips on February 10, 1854.

This list of Farmers, in order of age appear as:

Mary 18

William 16

Joseph 12

Leon 5

Wesley 3

No George, but that doesn't mean he wasn't there, somewhere. Born in 1841, he would have been a 9-year-old, and could have been counted under the wrong surname in someone's, possibly a relatives, home. 

Mary Ann Farmer, age 18 above, soon married. She has a very interesting story which deserves its own post, but briefly, she became the second wife of a much older, and very interesting man from a prominent Chesterfield County, South Carolina family. 

On November 2, 1851, she married the notorious Thomas Crawford Ellerbe. Born in 1785, he was a 66-year-old groom and she a 19-year-old bride. If that wasn't creepy enough, he had a shocking background on top of it all. His family was wealthy and had produced doctors, lawyers, statesmen, business leaders and Thomas. He had been previously married to Mary Cash, a member, through her mother, of the wealthy and respected Boggan family of Anson County. Mary was fortunate, in that she was not dragged down by the weight of his past but was the beneficiary of his estate. Thomas died in Stanly County in early 1852. His 50 plus page estate file shows that he had establish himself well in and around the Rocky River Springs area and Cottonville, having many locals who owed him money, before his demise. The file included properties in Chesterfield and Anson County as well.  This left Mary Ann Farmer a young, and very eligible widow. 

She was quickly charmed and swept up by John Francis McIntyre, my first cousin 5 times removed, son of my 4th Great Grandaunt, Elizabeth Murray McIntyre and Malachi Stokes McIntyre. They were married March 6, 1852, just four months after her first marriage. 

A. J. Shankle was the administrator of the estate and Uncle E. W. Davis was the sheriff who served the papers and signed as to Mary Ann receiving her year's allowance, even after her remarriage. 

I found the above accounting page from the Thomas Ellerbe probate papers very interesting. It was from Dr. A. J. Shankle, Admin. of the Estate to Celia Easley. Celia was a lady who I intend to focus on in a future post. She was a free person of mixed African and European ancestry, who would purchase her husband, Harry Randle, a slave. Their children were all freeborn, as the status followed that of the mother. She was paid for 'Helping to move goods from the Springs", then to Jones Greens, then move goods back to "The Springs", and for the use of wagon for cutting wood, then moving goods on the last day of the sale. Her name for her signature was spelled "Selia" Easley, and she made her mark with an 'X'. 

Thomas Ellerbe was shown in Chesterfield County in 1850 and Anson County in 1840, but he had obviously been in Stanly County, perhaps traveling back and forth at first, making connections, and meeting the teenaged, can we guess it, orphan, Mary Ann Farmer. She must have made an impression. 

I feature her, because her name, and situation, had changed before 1860, which is the first time we see George. 

George Farmer, now shown as 21, although in actuality was 19, is living in the home of the very respected and important citizen, James F. Kendall, working as a day laborer. He is followed by two other new names, John, 19, and Margaret, 17, and two familiar names, the two youngest boys in the home of Mary Thompson in 1850, Leon, now 15, and Wesley, now 13. But check out the neighborhood!

It begins with Valentine Mauney, a merchant and businessman, whose reach and influence extended to many counties, from Fayetteville, Cumberland County, to Davidson and Randolph Counties. Valentine had married Winnie Catherine Davis, and his brother, Ephraim Mauney, who would relocate to the mining boomtown of Gold Hill in Rowan County, would marry her sister, Elizabeth. The Davis sisters were daughters of James Davis, brother of my Great Great Great Grandfather Henry Davis, who also had substantial properties and businesses on both sides of the Rocky River, Stanly and Anson, as did the Kendall's. After the Mauney's was James F. Kendall, 39, followed by his younger brothers, William D. Kendall, 33, B. L. (Benjamin Leonard) Kendall, 35, John Q. Kendall, 28 and Rueben A.  Kendall, 26. They were followed by George D. Efird, William Coley, Sr and Dr. A. J. Shankle and his wife, Charlotte. Dr. A. J. Shankle was previously mentioned as the Administrator of the Estate of Thomas C. Ellerbe. His wife Charlotte Davis was also a daughter of the previously mentioned James M. Davis and his wife, Rowena Lee Davis. This meant that Valentine Mauney, who led the page and Dr. Shankle, who closed it out, were brothers-in-law. This was plantation row along the Rocky River. Stanly County was not known for its grand plantations like Anson County and other counties through South Carolina, down the Pee Dee River were, but there were a few along the rivers. The forks of the Rocky River, with the Pee Dee River, were known as a very fertile area. A community started there early in the county's inhabitation, with ferries, Inns, and even a town, called Allenton. It spread up the Rocky from there, on both sides of the river, with Walls, Kendall's, Winfield's, Howells, Beards, Avett's, Ropers, Lees, Broadway's, Nash's, Morrisons, and others.  Just up from this section was the Davis Plantation. 

These were the sons of Thornton Kendall. Another Kendall, Rueben the elder, lived on the Anson side of the river. He was the father of my ancestor, Henry Davis's first wife, Sarah. I descend from his second wife, Martha Palmer. There were multiple interactions between the Kendall and Davis families.

There is something else to ponder in this grouping. Young Reuben A. Kendall (to separate him from the older Reuben), was married to Sarah, seen here at age 26, whose maiden name was Farmer. Hmm, another young Farmer. 

Below is the death certificate of Jesse B. Carpenter showing his parents as Margaret Farmer and James Carpenter.

And above is Margarets Obituary. 

Her death certificate states that she was born in Anson County, but the informant didn't know the names of her parents. 

The 1860 grouping appeared to be a possible group of siblings, which included the younger of the 1850 group in the home of Mary Thompson. Time to find out more about her. Come to find out, Mary would pass away in 1854, just a few years after the census, leaving a very informative Probate file.

She was the widow of a William Thompson who died about 1840.

Stanly County Equity court, Spring term of 1859

"To the Honorable Judge of this Court The Petition of Patsy Pritchard, William Farmer, R. A. Kendall  wife Sarah, John M McIntyre & wife Mary Ann, Jo? Farmer & George Farmer John Farmer, Margaret Farmer Leon Farmer Wesley Farmer (the said George, John Margaret Leon & Wesley being infants who due by their guardian & next friend J F Kendall Edmund Thompson James Thompson George Thompson Elisha Thompson (stricken out) William Thompson Alexander Thompson Calvin C Thompson Mary A Thompson Robert D Thompson Francis Thompson and Winey Thompson ( the said Calvin Mary Robert Francis & Winey being the heirs at law of Elisha Thompson all of whom are infants of tender years who are - - - by their Guardian Benjamin L. Duke against Thomas Thompson.

  

Your petitioners further show that their ancestors the said Mary left as her ? heir at law Patsy Pritchard, Wm Farmer, R A Kendall and wife Sarah, John McIntyre & wife Mary Ann nee Farmer, George Farmer John Farmer Margaret Farmer Leon Farmer & Wesley Farmer the said ? Sarah & Mary Ann & also William Joe George John Margaret Leon & Wesley being the children of Nancy Farmer deceased who was one of the heirs at law of the said Mary decd...

Calvin Thompson, Mary A Thompson Robert D Thompson Nancy Thompson & Wincy Thompson the said (repetition of the above names) being infants & the heirs at Law of Elisha Thomson deceased and Thomas Thompson are the only heirs at law of the said Mary Thompson. They further show that from the large number of heirs and the small size of the tracts of land that it is impossible to divide the same by metes and boundaries without doing manifest injustice to your Petitioner..

Patsy Pritchard et all

vs

Thomas Thompson 

North Carolina                Court of Equity

Stanly County

In pursuance of a Decree of the Honorable, the Court of Equity made at Spring Term 1859, I proceeded on the 1st day of Sept. 1859. After due advertisements to see the lands mentioned in the Petition to the highest bidder, according to the of the decree, 1st Tract, containing 32 acres to Joseph Farmer, who became the last & highest bidder at the sum of sixty-four dollars, second tract containing 30 acres to Burwell Hudson who became the last highest bidder at the sum of $131. .. the purchases entered into bond with sufficient security

The Petition of Patsy Pritchard, William Farmer R A Kendall & wife Sarah, John McIntyre & wife Mary Ann, Joe Farmer & George Farmer John Farmer Margaret Farmer Leon Farmer Wesley Farmer (the said George, John Margarett Leon & Wesley & next friend J F Kendall, Edmund Thompson.

Mary Thompson, maiden name unknown, had passed away at the age of 59, and the above records a dispute, (isn't there always a dispute among heirs?), even of her unsubstantial property, between her many heirs. Her children are named, as are the offspring of the two children who had predeceased her. Her son, Elisha, was alive in the 1850 census, but passed away before this 1859 event. His children were Calvin C. Thompson, Mary Abigail Thompson, Robert D. Thompson, Frances "Fanny" Thompson and Winey Tabitha Thompson. He had married Martha C. Duke. Her daughter, Nancy, had married Joseph Farmer. She had died between the birth of Wesley, who is shown as three in 1850, and the 1850 census taken in June. Her husband, Joseph Farner was also deceased. Two of the Farmer children were married, and shown named with their husbands, Sarah, who married Reuben A. Kendall and Mary Ann, who married John F. McIntyre, after her brief marriage to Thomas C. Ellerbe. The other Farmer children were named as William, Joe, George, John, Margaret, Leon and Wesley, with George, John, Margaret, Leon and Wesley being under 21, which legally categorized them as infants. James F. Kendall had been named as the Guardian and 'next friend' of the minor Farmer children.

Mary, the widow of a William Thompson who died around 1840 or after, had also left living children including Patsy Thompson Pritchard, who had brought on the dispute, and Thomas Thompson, whom it was against, and also included Edmund, James, George, William, and Alexander Thompson.

So, George Farmer had not fallen out of the sky. We was the son of Joseph and Nancy Thompson Farmer and the grandson of William and Mary Thompson. In the earliest inception of Stanly County, NC, Joseph Farmer the first was mentioned once and his wife, Nancy mentioned twice in the Court of Pleas and Quarters. In the May 1843 Session, Joseph Famer had conveyed property to the heirs of Thomas Steele and R. J. Steele. The deed was proved by John Thompson.

In May of 1849, James Harward was appointed the Administrator of Joseph Farmer. This gives us a fairly reasonable estimate of his year of death. Bondsmen were E. W. Davis and John Howell, my family.

In August of 1850, just 15 months later, Letters of Administration on the estate of Nancy Farmer were given to George W Thompson with Elisha Thompson and James S. Turner as securities.

Later, we will see in the Estate records of one of George T. Farmer's siblings, a share of the land of William Thompson, as an heir, comes into play.

 He had a large family of siblings. They were:

1832) Mary Ann Farmer who married Thomas C. Ellerbe first, and John Francis McIntyre, second. Much of her story has been told previously in this post. She had a large family with her second husband, whom she raised in Tyson Township. Later in life, the couple migrated west, first stopping in Lauderdale County, Tennessee, and ending up in Roans Prairie, Grimes County, Texas, where Mary Ann died in 1900 and buried in the Old Oakland Cemetery there.

1834)  Sarah Farmer who married Reuben A. Kendall. Reuben was a Civil War Casualty, passing away on Valentine's Day, 1865, at Point Lookout, Maryland. They had two sons, Thorton A. Kendall, born in 1859, died as a child, and John Atlas Kendall, born in 1863 , who married Mattie Treadway, lived a long life and raised a large family, including many sons. He settled in Rockingham, Richmond County and finally in Wadesboro. Sallie, as she was known, died sometime between the 1880 census and 1889, when her only living child married. Her son died in Wadesboro in 1930.

1836) William M. Farmer married Martha Jane Phillips on February 10, 1854, in Stanly County. They had one son, James Oliver Farmer, in 1861. William enlisted in the Confederate Army on March 25, 1862. He appears to have headed west to start a new life, or to escape the War, leaving his family abandoned. He married Amazia D. Kenneman in Williamson, Texas, on November21, 1862. She died in 1868, and he remarried Marjorie Rebecca Fail later that same years. She had been married once before. William Farmer died that same year at the age of 34, cause unknown. Possibly still Civil War related as a deserter, maybe not. His widow remarried for the third time to a Johnson, and had ten children, living until age 77.

1837)  Joseph K. Farmer aka "Joe" who married Lucy Ann McSwain. One son, Joseph Alexander Farmer born Christmas Day, 1862. Joe had enlisted in the Confederate Army on August 8, 1862. He died of Typhoid Pneumonia on December 23, 1862 in Lynchburg, Virginia. He never met his son.

Some family trees have Joseph Alexander as the son of John A. Farmer, but it was Joe. There are two small estate records, "John W. Smith, admin. of Joseph Farmer vs James K Faremer et all 1873" and Lucy Ann Farmer's Petition for Dower in 1871, which mentions an only child named Joseph Farmer. The jury consisted of ME Blalock, John Genes, Will Lowder, B. L. Duke, and laid off the lands of Joseph K. Farmer deceased, being Lot No 7 in the lands of the Heirs of William Thompson, deceased. This was Joe's share of property in his grandparent's estate, William and Mary Thompson, after the death of his mother, Nancy Thompson Farmer. Litte Joseph was appointed a guardian, William R. McSwain, from his mother's family.

The 1871 suite was first heard in the August Term of Court, 1863 and described $100 in indebtedness', and Lucy Ann Farmer became the purchaser of her husband's land and her son's inheritance. The biggest mystery here is, who was 'James K Farmer'? The only James in the family line I can figure was James H. A. Farmer, son of Thomas, who may or may not have been the brother or some other kin of Joseph the first. He passed away in 1863 and so it could not have been him, and what claim would he or his children have on Joseph K's estate? I wonder if it was a mistake and the person and their 'et al', was not James, and maybe even not a Farmer. If anyone has any insight into this kerfuffle, let me know. 

On September 26th, 1874, Lucy A. Farmer gave to Joseph A. Farmer, for motherly affection, property on the Rocky Rivier adjoining M. M. McSwain and others, known as the James Thompson lot. 

It was signed by Guardian W. R. McSwain and Lucy A. McSwain, as Lucy had married her cousin, Charles John McSwain, by that time. They would have three children together. Could the lawsuit have been with James Thompson and not James K Farmer? There was not a James Farmer anywhere close, or with local roots, that could have fit Cinderella's shoe.  Food for thought. 

1840-41 John A Farmer enlisted on September 7, 1861, in Albemarle in Company K, 28th Infantry of the Confederate Army. He died in battle on December 13, 1862, at Fredericksburg, Virginia, at the age of 21. The two brothers, John and Joe, died within two weeks of each other, from different causes, one in battle and the other from one of the many illnesses the soldiers were prone to fall with. 

1841- George T. Farmer was next in line. I won't extrapolate on him except to note he married Sarah Elizabeth "Bettie" Watkins and remained in Stanly County.

1843- Margaret E. Farmer married James C. Carpenter, son of Edmund Lilly Carpenter and wife, Martha Baucom Carpenter, on March 15, 1875.

They lived around Burnsville and Lanesboro in Anson County, before moving to Mecklenburg, where they remained. They were the parents of six children, with only four living until adulthood, Hattie, William, Jesse and James. 

Margaret Farmer Carpenter passed away January 14, 1920, at the age of 77.

1845- Leon R. Farmer enlisted on the same date, September 7, 1861, in Company K, 28th NC Infantry, in Albemarle, as his older brothers. He was 16 years old. Leon fought for 3 years, he was imprisoned at Hanover Courthouse.  He died of illness on May 1, 1864, in Virginia, at the age of 19.

1847- Lewis Farmer is only shown as a 13-year-old boy in the home of the elderly Susan Easley, probably as hired help. 

He is in the right location and age range to have been a child of Joseph and Nancy Farmer; however, he is not in the list of Mary Thompsons heirs. He is not seen anywhere else, so must have died before 1859.

1849-Wesley Swift Farmer was fortunate enough to have escaped the War due to his age. If it had lingered, he may not have.  Wesley married Mary Ann Taylor.

He was placed in the guardianship of J. F. Kendall, after the death of his grandmother, Mary and apprenticed with a Wagoner, Alexander Yates, and learned the skills of a "Cooper".  He is shown above in the 1870 census in Laurel Hill, Richmond County, North Carolina. By 1880, they have moved to Wadesboro, and now have two children, Margaret and Mattie. By 1890, Wesely had moved his family north, to Baltimore, Maryland, where Wesley made a career of selling Fertilizer. The 1900 census indicated they had been the parents of 10 children, with 5 living and the 1910 census recorded that they had 13 children with five living. Margaret and Mattie were not part of the five living. Mattie had died in 1885. The other known children were Clyde, Lida, Mary, Nannie, Naomi, Holly and Ruth. Wesley and his wife both died in 1932, within two months of each other, he in January and she in March. They were buried at the Willow Oak Cemetery in Washington, DC. 

Besides the two brothers, William and Joseph, who had one son each, both named Joseph.

In his younger days, George T. Farmer was having problems with debt. He indentured much of his crop and livestock to W. E. Blalock.

In 1851, when George was 20, Benjamin L. Duke was allowed $12 by the County for keeping him up for four months, supposedly until he turned 21.

Later, George must have been having some medical issues, because he was a pauper, and M. J Waddle was allowed $11.25 for treating him. These dates were before he married. He seems to have recovered. 

Joseph Farmer- The First

So now that we know George and his siblings were the children of Joseph Farmer and Nancy Thompson Farmer, what can we learn about Joseph?

November 12, 1841 

An Indenture between Joseph Farmer and Thomas Steel, deceased heirs and Robert J. Steel of Richmond County, North Carolina. The Steels paid Joseph $75 for a tract of land, being in Stanly (formerly Montgomery County). The tract touched David McSwain's corner and Joseph's old tract, and Easley's line. The deed was witnessed by John and William J. Thompson.

This is the only deed involving Joseph Farmer in Stanly County. However, there were others in Montgomery County before the new county split off. 

In the Court records, James Harward was appointed administrator of Joseph Farmer. He entered into bond with E. W. Davis and John Howell. 

The Estate Settlement was in 1857, although Joseph had long passed away. There was no Will. 

The only probate files found in Stanly County for the Farmer family was that of George T. in 1905, and the two related to his brother, Joseph K. who died in the Civil War. 

Thomas Farmer, who was of the same generation as Joseph the first, eventually moved to Stanly County from Anson, as his son did, and there are three deeds involving him. 

In book 9, page 290, he is indentured to J. W. Lilly and allocated personal property to cover it if not paid. Book 9, page 525, involves the same people and the same property. Book 10, Page 22 was between Thomas Farmer and Simeon Carpenter, involving corn and cotton grown on the property of CW West that Thomas was renting, dated April of 1875. Thomas was getting up in age at this time and struggling to keep his head above water.

Shortly after, in 1878, George and his wife Sarah were among the heirs of the estate of her father, W. H. S. Watkins. The others were Robert R. Lee and wife, Jane; Churchwell Carpenter and wife, Sophrania Ann; Whitson Ross and wife, Araminta D Ross. This was advantageous to George T. Farmer, as it allowed his to alleviate his debts and be able then create a positive net worth, so that by the time he passed on thirty years later, he left his family in a better position than he had been in.

Joseph Farmer had been named in a land record that was a who's who of his neighborhood and in-laws. The road that Arnold Watckins had been appointed overseer of stretched from the Anson line to Center, later renamed Norwood.

Also, during the 1840's, Joseph Farmer and Mary Farmer, his daughter Mary, I am guessing, were among the witnesses in a case of Forcible Trespass against William Mills. Other witnesses were Robert Lanier, Matthew Waddill and James Harward. James Harward is also named in the road record and became the administrator of his estate.  I believe they must have been pretty close friends.

In conclusion, if I wished to doggedly pursue this theory, which I don't, I would look for leads on Joseph Farmer being the son of James, perhaps, and the brother of Thomas and Martin, probably. But this is who George T. Farmer was, son of Joseph Farmer and Nancy Thompson and brother to Mary Ann, Sarah, Margaret, William, Joseph K., John A., Lewis, Leon, and Wesley. He hadn't fallen from the sky.