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

The Setting of the Son : The Will of Job Calloway

 

As all things begin, so then must they end. On March 10, 1837, Job Calloway, of the Western part of Montgomery County, North Carolina, knew his days were numbered. He was weak of body, and ill of health, and knew it was nigh time to get his affairs in order. Only 47 years old, only 3 of his 10 children had reached adulthood. His loving and dutiful wife drew near, knowing widowhood was upon her and most likely filled with sorrow and fear. But faith would hold her, her two married daughters, Mary Calloway  McLester, and Vashita Calloway Morton, lived near and would provide emotional support and help with the younger children. She had 4 strong sons in their teens and early twenties to work the farm and help provide for the family, and a fifth not close behind; Isaac 23, Elmore, named for her mother, Leticia "Lettie" Elmore Randle, 20, John C. 18, Arippa 14 and Alfred 10. The family was completed by three little girls, Cassie (Cassandra) 9, Sallie (Sarah) 8 and Tishie (Martisha) 3.

Job called two of his  trusted friends and neighbors, Nelson Pennington  amd Joseph Clayton, to witnesses the act of his writing of his will. He named his son-in-law, Samuel P. Morton, a godly and well-studied man, to be his Executor. His life should not have been but half over at least, yet, his wordly vessel was giving way, there was not time to wait. So he began:

"In the name of God amen, I Job Calloway of the County of Montgomery and State of North Carolina being weak in body and low in health but of my right mind knowing shortness of life and  certainty of death make this my last will and testament and + desire my wordly goods to be disposed of  in the following manner. 

1st I recommend my spirti into the hands of him who first gave it + my body to the earth from whence it was first taken to be buried after a Christian manner at the descretion of my Executor.

2nd I give and bequeth to my beloved wife after my debts are satisfied or paid all the balance of my property to her to use for the use of raising the little ones of her body, the same property (if any) and love to her during her widowhood + after her death or end of her widowhood the property to be divided equally between my children. 

3rd 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. 

8th I also choose for the Executor of this my last will + testament Samuel P. Morton as my Executor.

Signed on the 10th day of March AD 1837

Job Calloway

Witnesses:

Nelson Pennington

Joseph Calloway 

The document was filed in May of 1838

Job Calloway and his wife, Susannah Randle Calloway were my 5th Great Grandparents. 

Job was the son of Isaac Calloway (Sr) and Elizabeth Arnold. The family originated in Maryland.

Susannah was the daughter of Colby Randle and Leticia Elmore. The family originated in Virginia.

I felt it important to reiterate his will, given the fact that I've seen Vashti given as the daughter of Isaac Calloway in so many lists, reports and family trees. Isaac was her grandfather, and she had a brother named Isaac. She also had an Aunt named Vashita for who she was obviously named, but the Vashti who married Samuel P. Morton was the daughter of Job Calloway.

Job was buried in the Calloway Family Cemetery with his parents, Isaac and Elizabeth Arnold Calloway. The cemetery expanded to include others in the community and became the Palestine Community Cemetery, located centrally between Badin and Albemarle. Susanna Randle Calloway would outlive Job by nearly 40 years. She died April 18, 1870 and was buried with her husband. The couple were the parents of 10 children, 5 sons and 5 daughters, beginning with two daughters, followed by 5 sons in a row and ended with 3 more daughters. He lost 2 sons in the Civil War, and 3 children migrated away, while the remainder stayed behind.  They were:

1) 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

PIM

 

Isom Pemberton Morton, Son of George C. Morton

I've found that all are in agreement that Ezekial Morton and his wife, Betsy (Elizabeth Brumbelow Morton), had at a minimum a dozen children. Some family trees add a 13th child and others, even add a 14th. I'm here today to explore one of them, to which my DNA gives a little creedence. The paper trail of the descendants of Ezekial Morton and Elizabeth Brumbelow Morton is a little rusty. 

Ezekial and Betsy frist show up in the census records of North Carolina as a young married couple living in Anson County with one young son under 10, and both of them were under 25 years of age. 

Name:	Ezekiel Morton
Home in 1800 (City, County, State):	Fayetteville, Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:	1 John D.
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25:	1 Ezekial
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25:	1 Betsy
Number of Household Members Under 16:	1
Number of Household Members:	3

That son should be John D. Morton, born in 1799.

Name:	Ezekiel Morton
Home in 1810 (City, County, State):	Palmer, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:	2 William & Hezekiah
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15:	2 John & Joseph
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44:	1 Ezekial
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:	1 Hannah
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44:	1 Betsy
Number of Household Members Under 16:	5
Number of Household Members Over 25:	2
Number of Household Members:	7

Ten years later, in 1810, the young family has moved to the area of Palmer in what was then Montgomery County, NC, and is now Stanly County, NC. Listed on that same page of families living in "Palmer" were John Burrows, Solomon Burrow (Burris), Ambrose Huneycutt, Henry Underwood, Dempsey Hathcock, Edward Almond, Malichi Harwood, Hardy Hatley, William Hatley, Martin Almond, Isaac Burleson, Jacob Greene, Demarcus Palmer, and Thomas Castles, all very familiar names to anyone who has done any research at all on the families living in the western part of the county, around the present communities of Red Cross, Endy, Frog Pond or Big Lick. 

The family size is now 7, they have 2 sons between 10 and 15 and two under 10, and just one daughter under 10. We can easily presume these 5 to be John (1799) and Joseph (1801) as the 10 to 15, Betsy probably being pregnant with Joseph at the time of the last census, William (1802) and Hezekiah (1803) as the under 10 year old sons, and Hannah (1810) as the only daughter, keeping in mind that record and age-keeping in those days was not always an exact science, although certain old tombstones had age down to nearly the minute. 

Name:	Egeril Morton[Ezekiel Morton]
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):	West Side Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:	2 Levi C. and Allen G. (1825 & 1827)
Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9:	1 Ezekial John (1822)
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19:	1 Jesse (1811)
Free White Persons - Males - 50 thru 59:	1 Ezekial
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14:	2 Susanna & Nancy (1818 & 1816)
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19:	1 Dicey (1813)
Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49:	1 Betsy
Free White Persons - Under 20:	7
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	1
Total Free White Persons:	9
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):	9

The 1820 census for Montgomery is missing, so there is a 20 year jump to the 1830 census. In 20 years, a child could have been born,  married and out on there own, especially if that child was a girl. I've borne witness to that in my own family tree, especially in between the 1880 and 1900 census's as most of the 1890 census was lost to fire.

The Ezekial Morton family in 1830 was a family of 9, but this was not complete as the older children were in their 20's and 30's and out on their own, starrting their own families. He is now noted as living on the West Side of the Pee Dee River, the area we now call Stanly County. There are 3 young females and 4 males. 

There are a total of 14 Morton families in Montgomery County in 1830. They are divided into "East Pee Dee", the side that remained Montgomery County, and "West Pee Dee", the side that would become Stanly County. 

East Pee Dee boasted the households of David Jr., Dominick, Edward, Jincy, and Thomas.

West Pee Dee contained the households of Ezekial, George, James, 2 Johns, Joseph, Samuel P. and two Williams.

I must mention here that Samuel P. Morton was none other than the Rev. Samuel Parsons Morton, and another ancestor of mine on my mother's side of the family. While he was buried at Red Hill Church in Anson County, he was born and grew up around Ebenezer Church in Stanly. Ebnezer is now Badin Baptist and slap dab in the middle of the town of Badin, which was not in existence when GGGGGrandpa 'Crying Sammy' was born. 

With this knowledge, I can divide the Stanly County Mortons into two basic groups, the Badin area/ Eastern Stanly Mortons and the Red Cross/ Big Lick Western Stanly Mortons. 

For instance, James Morton and Samuel P. Morton were listed within a few households of each other. So was one of the John's and one of the Wills. 

Joseph, was of course, my line to Ezekial, his second born son. 

Name:	Joseph Morton
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):	West Side Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:	2
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:	1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:	1
Free White Persons - Under 20:	3
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	2
Total Free White Persons:	5
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):	5

So we have Joseph as a young man in his 20's and he and his wife have 3 little children under 5.

Name:	John Marton[]
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):	West Side Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:	1 Joseoph Calvin 3 (1827) named for Johns' brother.
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19:	1 Unknown, maybe a hired hand, maybe a family member hired to help with the farm.
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39:	1 John D.
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:	2  Minty 4 (1826) Sarah 1 (1829)
Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9:	2  Betsy 6 (1824)
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:	1 Sarah, his wife
Free White Persons - Under 20:	6
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	2
Total Free White Persons:	8
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):	8

Of the two John Mortons, one has a household of 6 and lives two homesteads from Samuel P. Morton, the other has a household of 8 and lives among Western Stanly names and one page over from Ezekial. My bets are on the family of 8 John being John D. Morton, Ezekial's oldest son. The age of the children work, with just one out of place.

Name:	Will Morton[]
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):	Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:	1 Alexander
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:	1 William
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:	3 Unknown
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:	1 Frances
Free White Persons - Under 20:	4
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	2
Total Free White Persons:	6
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):	6

Of the two Will Morton's, one lives two households from Sammy, the other lives actually in Tyson community. I would place my bets on this Will being the son of Ezekial. The problem with this, is that the census shows 3 little girls under 5. If this is the right William, those little girls are unknown. 

Name:	John Folks
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):	Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:	1
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:	1 John Fowlkes
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19:	1 Hannah
Free White Persons - Under 20:	2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	1
Total Free White Persons:	3
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):	3

The last of Ezekial's older children to be found on their own is his oldest daughter, Hannah. She married with a small son, and not yet 20.

The one known child of Ezekial not accounted for in this census was Hezekiah. Perhaps he was the additional young man in John's household, however, he should have been a bit older. 

This brings up the subject of the George Morton in the 1830 census. This George is between 40 and 50 years old. This is definitely NOT George C. Morton.

By 1840, Ezekial Morton has passed away and Betsy is listed as the Head of Household. 

Name:	Betsy Martin[Betsy Morton]
Home in 1840 (City, County, State):	West Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14:	1 Allen G.
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19:	2 Ezekial J. & Levi C.
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:	1 Susannah
Free White Persons - Females - 60 thru 69:	1 Betsy
Persons Employed in Agriculture:	2
No. White Persons over 20 Who Cannot Read and Write:	1
Free White Persons - Under 20:	3
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	1
Total Free White Persons:	5
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves:	5

There are now 11 Morton household listed in Montgomery County. We can break them down into West Pee Dee and East Pee Dee, as they were enumerated separately. The ones listed in West Pee Dee were: Betsy, David Jr. (another David was in East Pee Dee), Hezekiah, Jessee, John, Joseph, Samuel P., William and William Sr. No sign of a George. Hezekiah, Jessee, John and Joseph were of course, sons of Ezekial and Betsy. Of the two Williams, one was living fairly close to Joseph and very close to Green D. Morgan, who married his sister, Dicey, and Mark Morgan, who married his sister Nancy. The other William, by virture of his neighbors, John Melton, G. W. Thompson, Kirks and others, seemed to be living around the Swift Island area, so we'll peg him as being the East Stanly William Morton. The other two Mortons on the Eastern side of West Pee Dee were GGGGGrandpa Samuel P. Morton and David Jr. 

Name:	Elizabeth Morton
Gender:	Female
Age:	75
Birth Year:	abt 1775
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Almonds, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Cannot Read, Write:	Y
Line Number:	19
Dwelling Number:	505
Family Number:	506
Household Members Age Green P Morton 23 Elizabeth Morton 23 William Morton 3 Sophia Morton 1 Elizabeth Morton 75

By 1850, the Mortons had expanded all over the county as sons and grandsons struck out on their own. Hezekiah was no more, but left his widow, Susannah, with their children. Betsy was still alive and living with her son, Allen Green (or Green Allen, it was interchangeble) Morton and his young family. They were right next door to her son, ( my line), Joseph and Margaret Almond, and oldest son John's son, (Joseph) Calvin Morton (Jr.), named for his uncle. 

I don't see where George Crogan Pemberton "Pem" Morton fits in. We do find George for the first time in a census in 1850, where he is living with his wife, Mary, and their little girl in Harris Township, which is the Northeastern section of the county. 

Name:	George C Morton
Gender:	Male
Age:	30
Birth Year:	abt 1820
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Harris, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Occupation:	Farmer
Industry:	Agriculture
Real Estate:	83
Line Number:	5
Dwelling Number:	322
Family Number:	323
Household Members Age George C Morton 30 Mary Morton 22 Sarah S Morton 1

This is probably the land he bought on December 14 1849, just months before this census was taken, from David Safely. In Book 3, Page 6, of the Stanly County Deed Books, we see where George bought 82 acres for $82 from David Safely that was located on both sides of the Salisbury Road and on the waters of Grassy Creek, meeting the property line of Wiley Safely.

Just two years later, on February 11, 1851, he bought 40 acres for $100 from Noah Thompson and his wife, Tabitha, that seems to have adjoined the previously purchased property. This lot, obviously much more valueable due to the purchase price for half the size, was also located on both sides of the Salisbury Road and both sides of Grassy Creek and also ran with Wiley Safely's line. 

But the 1849 deed was not the first record I find for George Morton in Stanly County, instead, he is first found in the Minutes of the Pleas and Quarters Court in the February 1846 Session on a charge of Bastardy. George C. P. Morton, about 26 years old,  had fathered a child out of wedlock with one Polly Kirk, about 18. He was ordered to pay $30 at the May 1846 term of court, $15 at the May 1847 term of court and $15 at the May 1848 term of court. 

The child was a little girl that Polly Kirk named Eliza Sophronia Kirk (Morton). 

Name:	Eliza S Kirk
Gender:	Female
Age:	4
Birth Year:	abt 1846
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Freemans, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Line Number:	10
Dwelling Number:	196
Family Number:	197
Household Members Age Parham Kirk 27 Sarah E Kirk 49 Mary S Kirk 22 William D Kirk 15 Eliza S Kirk 4

In 1850, she and her mother, Mary "Polly" Smith Kirk, were living with Polly's family in a home headed by her younger brother, Parham, with their mother, Sarah Stone Kirk, and their youngest brother, William Deberry Kirk. 

Mary Smith Kirk did not stay single, Smith being her middle name, and not her maiden name, by the way. On February 25, 1853, Mary S. Kirk, now 25, married Rev. John Wesley Middleton, son of John Littlleton and Betsy Carter Littleton. 

In 1860, Eliza was still living with her Grandmother and Uncle Parham, while her mother had started a family with Rev. Littleton.

Name:	Eliza Kirk
Age:	14
Birth Year:	abt 1846
Gender:	Female
Home in 1860:	Stanly, North Carolina
Post Office:	Albemarle
Dwelling Number:	221
Family Number:	221
Attended School:	Yes
Household Members Age Perhan Kirk 37 Sarah E Kirk 55 Eliza Kirk 14 Sarah Kirk 9

Eliza ended up getting married, herself, on September 8, 1869 to John M. Jenkins. She was 23. Eliza named her parents as G. C. Morton and Mary S. Littleton.

Eliza Sophronia Kirk Morton Jenkins lived a long and productive life. She and John Jenkins raised a family of  7 children in the New London area, where Eliza died at the age of 84 on June 16, 1830. They were: Parham (1870), Sarah Elizabeth (1873),Mary Ada (1875),Sophronia Tommie (1878), Dora Kron (1872), William M. (1876), and Charles E. (1887). 

Name:	Mrs Eliza F Jenkins [Mrs Eliza F Morton]
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Age:	84
Birth Date:	abt 1846
Birth Place:	Stanly
Death Date:	26 Jun 1930
Death Place:	New London, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Father:	Geo Morton
Mother:	Polly Kirk
Spouse:	J M Jenkins

She, and her family, fully knew who her parents were, even though her father had left for Missouri in 1855. We last (and first) saw George in 1850 with a wife, Mary and a daughter, Sarah. Somewhere around 1848, after his bond payments, or court-ordered child support, for Eliza Sophronia Kirk stopped, he married another Mary Kirk. 

Mary Smith Kirk Littleton was born on February 27, 1828 and died on July 4, 1886 in Stanly County. 

She was the daughter of Parham Kirk (1782-1854) and Sarah Elizabeth Stone Kirk (1802-1884).

The Mary "Polly" Kirk he married was born November 12, 1826 in Stanly County, NC and died Oct 17, 1887 in Webster County, Missouri. 

She was the daughter of Alexander Kirk (1797 - 1858) and Louisa Forrest Kirk (1802-1881).

Since Parham Kirk Sr. and Alexander Kirk were brothers, sons of  John Lewis Kirak and wife, Sarah Mary Steele, Kirk, that made the two Polly Kirk's first cousins. So to wrap all of that up, in 1846, George C. Morton had a relationship with Polly Kirk, daughter of Parham that resulted in the birth of a little girl, Eliza. He then married her older cousin,  Polly Kirk, daughter of Alexander. Both girls even had brothers named Parham. Got that?

Name:	Mary Morton
Gender:	Female
Age:	22
Birth Year:	abt 1828
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Harris, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Line Number:	6
Dwelling Number:	322
Family Number:	323
Household Members Age George C Morton 30 Mary Morton 22 Sarah S Morton 1

So, lets go back to 1850 for a minute. George and family lived in Harris Township. The previous December, he had purchased land on Grassy Creek along the Salisbury Road, from David Safely. His closest neighbors were Parkers, Carters, Calloways, Millers, Kirks and Crowells. That helps to place whereabouts he lived.

Name:	George C Merton
Residence Date:	1850
Residence Place:	Harris and Ridenhour, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Number of Enslaved People:	2

There was another detail about George C. Morton that set him apart from the Ezekial Morton family, he owned 2 slaves. Ezekial and his family did not. I do not know if the two enslaved people came to him through his wife, Polly, as some of  the Kirks were slave owners, but in 1850, George is listed with a 35 year man and a 15 year old boy.

So here begins a bit of mystery, between 1851 and 1860, George and family moved to Missouri. The mystery is that there is no record of him selling his land before he moved. What happed to the land?

Name:	George C Morton
Age:	40
Birth Year:	abt 1820
Gender:	Male
Birth Place:	North Carolina
Home in 1860:	Marshfield, Webster, Missouri
Post Office:	Marshfield
Dwelling Number:	661
Family Number:	657
Occupation:	House Carpenter
Personal Estate Value:	450
Household Members Age George C Morton 40 Mary Morton 33 Sarah L Morton 11 Martha J Morton 9 Adam S Morton 6 Nancy P Morton 2 Robert C Morton 1/12

The 1860 census shows him in Marshfield, Webster County, Missouri, working as a House Carpenter, with Mary and 5 children. The older 3 children, Sarah, Martha and Adam, were born in North Carolina, and the younger two, Nancy and Robert, were born in Missouri. 

George Morton was registered for the draft in Missouri as a Mechanic and birth year of 1819. Also from North Carolina was a David Melton. They likely had traveled together.

George died in Webster County, Missouri on February 28, 1864. I can not determine if his death was the result of anything having to do with the Civil War or not, for cetiain, but there are hints that it was. He was 44 years old. All I can find is that he served in a Civilian capacity and credited with providing supplies. Missouri was a hotbed of division in those years.

The Mortons had settled in Marshville, the county seat of Webster County, Missouri, about the time it was founded, in 1855. Webster County is located "on the summit of the Ozark Range", and noted for being well-watered and of pleasant climate.

During the Civil War, the area was divided by persons supporting both sides and others attempting to stay out of the melee altogether. George Morton died near the end of the War, at the age of 44, so I don't know what his level of participation was in it. He has no record of serving as a soldier, but in this area of neighbor against neighbor, it appears he might have gotten caught up in it as a civilian casualty. He was briefly mentioned in the 1889 book , "History of Laclede, Camden, Dallas, Webster, Wright, Texas, Pulaski, Phelps, and Dent Counties, Missouri" published by The Goodspeed Publishing Company, in a  paragraph concerning his future son-in-law, William A. Martin.

William A. Martin.  Among the men of Webster county, Mo., who have 
attained prominence as tillers of the soil and stock men, may be men-
tioned Mr. Martin, who was born in Marion county, Tenn., March 19, 1841
but was reared to manhood in Webster county, Mo., whither he came with
his parents, James D. and Catherine (Thompson) Martin, in 1852.  The 
father was born in Virginia, and after attaining manhood went to Tenn.,
where he was married, and after a few years' residence in that state,
moved to St. Louis county, Mo.  In August, 1861 he joined Company B,
Twenty-fourth Missouri Infantry, and served until his death in May, 
1864 at Pleasant Hill, La.  William A. Martin enlisted at the same time
in the same company as his father, and was at the battle of Pleasant
Hill, and in a great many skirmishes, and was severely wounded in the
right shoulder by a gunshot at the former engagement, being in the
hospital at New Orleans and Memphis for about five months.  He received
his discharge at St. Louis, January 11, 1865, homesteading the same
year the farm of 200 acres where he now lives.  He has about 150 acres
under cultivation and well improved, and his farm is situated about
eight miles from Marshfield.  He has always supported the measures of
the Republican party, and in the fall of 1884 was nominated and elected
sheriff of Webster county, and ably filled the duties of that office
for two years.  Since then he has resided on his farm.  February 19,
1865 he was married to Miss Mary L. Turner, who died in Webster county,
on the 16th of April, 1868, and he took for his second wife Miss Sarah
L. Morton, a native of North Carolina, and daughter of George Morton,
who died during the war.  Two children were born to his first marriage,
Laura M. and Charles F.  The following are the children of his last
marriage: Mary S., and James P. and Matilda C. (twins).  Mrs. Martin
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he belongs to the
A. O. U. W. and G. A. R.

From "History of Laclede, Camden, Dallas, Webster, Wright, Texas, 
Pulaski, Phelps and Dent Counties, Missouri" The Goodspeed Publishing
Company, 1889.

"Miss Sarah L. Morton, a native of North Carolina, and daughter of George Morton, who died during the war."

From the 'Ozarks Civil War' Collection, I found the following information at the following link:

https://ozarkscivilwar.org/regions/webster

When the Civil War began, most residents did not want to get involved in the conflict. There were very few slaveholders in the county, so there were few strong feelings on the slavery issue. However, after the Confederate victory at Battle of Wilson’s Creek, residents began to choose sides. The Confederate troops began to victimize the residents who supported the Union, and by August of 1861, most pro-Union residents fled to Rolla. They did not return to the area until it was back in Union control.

And after  the War, the citizens went into a veil of silence, wanting to forget the terror and tragedy of War, and to return to an era of peace and to rebuild and reestablish their quiet and solemn existence.

With George gone, the story moves on with his widow, Mary and their children, some who had been born since the 1960 census.

Mary 'Polly' Kirk, daughter of Alexander and Ludie Forrest Kirk and wife of George C. Morton

1870

Mary Kirk Morton had been joined in a community of women by her mother, Louisa Forrest Kirk and her younger sister, Francis. 

Name:	Mary Morton
Age in 1870:	44
Birth Date:	abt 1826
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Dwelling Number:	84
Home in 1870:	Ozark, Webster, Missouri
Gender:	Female
Post Office:	Marshfield
Occupation:	Keeping House
Cannot Write:	Yes
Personal Estate Value:	200
Inferred Children:	Martha J MortonAdam S MortonNancy P MortonIsham P MortonGeorge P Morton
Household Members Age Mary Morton 44 Martha J Morton 19 Adam S Morton 17 Nancy P Morton 12 Isham P Morton 8 George P Morton 6 Louisa Kirk 69 Frances Kirk 34

Her older daughter, Sarah Louisa Morton, had already married William A. Martin and started her own family. Son Robert, an infant in 1860, is not in the household, so he evidentally died as a child. She still has Martha Jane, Adam S, Nancy Paralee and her two sons, Isaham Pemberton and George Parham Morton, who were born after the census. In fact, Mary was pregnant with George Parham, who was born on July 1, 1864, when George C. Morton, his father, died on February 28, 1864. My heart goes out to this strong pioneer woman.

Marshfield, Webster County, Missouri

These families were caught in the crossfire of warring factions in an area that was of primarily Union sympathies and occupation, with sizeble pockets of Confederate Guerrillas, and marauding bands of deserters, bushwhackers and jayhawks, all raiding and robbing the local citizens for supplies.

But Polly was not alone. Not only was she joined by her mother and sister, Francis "Franky" Kirk, a closer look at the 1870 census reveals she was living right next door to Nancy Calloway from North Carolina.

Nancy was also a sister of Mary and a daughter of Louisa Forrest Kirk.

Nancy had married Parham Calloway, also from the Eastern side of Stanly County, NC. You might notice the name "Parham" was quite common in these families, hailing back to an earlier family name of perhaps a common female ancestor.

Add to that, Sarah L. Morton Martin, George and Polly's oldest girl, is living in High Prairie, Webster County, just east of Marshfeild, and right next door to Isaac Calloway.

All in all, I found 3 Calloway brothers who had migrated at the same time as George Morton to Webster County; Parham, his brother-in-law, Robert Smith Calloway and Isaac Freeman Calloway. Add David F. Melton to that and one can begin to envison a Wagon Train from Stanly County, NC to Webster County, MO.

Wagon Train by R. G. Williams

It's worth a mention that Mary's sister Martha, had married Henry Harrison Melton, a probable cousin of David. 

The Calloway brothers were the sons of Col. John M. Calloway and his wife , Elizabeth Smith. Col. John M. Calloway was the brother of my ancestor, Job Calloway. They lived roughly in the area we know call Badin, in Stanly County. Job's daughter, Vashti, married Rev. Samuel Parsons Morton and became my 4th Great Grandparents, as I have previously mentioned. Remember that.

Isaac Freeman Calloway and wife Louisa Shook

Finding Nancy Kirk Calloway opened up a narrative that also opens a window to the life and death of George Morton and family.

Parham Calloway served in the Webster County Home Guard, along with his brother, Isaac Freeman Calloway, aka "Freeman", and their nephew, Newton M. Calloway, son of their older brother, Robert Smith Calloway, who seems to have arrived in Webster County, first, via Tennesee, where Newton was born.

Freeman survived, but Parham was killed the same year as George Morton, 1864, just a few months later,  later, in June. So Mary and her sister Nancy were widowed about the same time, and both Civil War widows. It seems all of the Webster County Home Guard with Stanly and Montgomery County origins that I can find, were on the Union side.

Name:	P... Callaway
Side:	Union
Regiment State/Origin:	Missouri
Regiment:	Webster County Regiment, Missouri Home Guard
Company:	C
Rank In:	Private
Rank Out:	Private
Film Number:	M390 roll 8

It is unknown what skirmish or incidents took the lives of Parham Calloway and George C. Morton, but breif synopses of the families experiences exists within family stories kept alive through papers and memories passed on through the generations.

Restored Calloway Cabin, Webster County, Missouri

The cabin of Parham and Nacy Calloway still exists and has been lovingly restored by the county of Webster. 

Some history of the cabin and its restoration can be found in the link below. 

https://ozarksalive.com/marshfields-callaway-cabin-brings-history-home/

A story passed down through the family is breifly mentioned in the link, but is told in more detail below, posted by Earlene Price on July 22, 2011 as recounted from the papers of Mary Calloway Downer. 

During the Civil War, Parham and Nancy Callaway lost most of their livestock to marauding parties.  Not long after Parham's death and a short time before the Battle of Hartville, a number of Confederate troops were camped at the springs along the Marshfield-Hartville road.  They somehow found out about two bay mares that Nancy had hidden and sent a detachment to get them.  Nancy would not tell them where the mares were, so the troops searched the premises.  When they could not find them, they went back to the house and told Nancy if she didn't tell where the horses were hiddden they would take the daughter (Mary Ann) who was about 16 years old.  Nancy then relented and told them where the horses were hidden.  After they found the horses, they went back to the house and told Nancy that if she would send her "little boy," (James P. aged 14) to the camp with them, they would give him some horses.  He was given two very poor horses with harness and saddle sores so bad they were useless to the army.  James took them home, healed the sores and put some flesh on their bones.  They made a good team for a number of years. 

 

(This story was found among the effects of Mary Callaway Downer.)

It is not hard to imagine the Mortons livng in a similar cabin and Mary Kirk Morton experiencing similar horrors as her sister during the war years. 

1880 and beyond

The restoration years of the 1880's find Polly living in High Prairie with her two youngest sons, George and Isham. 

Name:	Mary Morton
Age:	54
Birth Date:	Abt 1826
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1880:	High Prairie, Webster, Missouri, USA
Dwelling Number:	10
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Self (Head)
Marital Status:	Widowed
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Occupation:	Keeping House
Cannot Write:	Yes
Neighbors:
Household Members Age Relationship Mary Morton 54 Self (Head) Isaam P. M. Morton 18 Son George P. Morton 15 Son

The family seems to have made themselves a little community in the high meadows of the North Ozark hills. Son Adam and his young family lived next door and oldest daughter , Sarah Martin and her family lived nearby.

This would be Mary's last census. She outlived George, but did not live a long life. Mary "Polly" Kirk Morton died on October 17, 1887, at the age of 60. She was buried in the Moore Family Cemetery in Webster County, Missouri. 

This brings me back to the begining, to the reason for this post, an answer to the question: Was George Crogin Pemberton Morton a son of Ezekial Morton and Besty Brumbalow Morton?

My guess would be No.

I don't find anything that connects him to that family or their circle. One thing you find out in genealogy is that certian connected families seemed to run in circles, even from one state to another.  Families that were connected in Virginia, stayed connected and intermarried in the Carolinas, then the same on to Arkansas or Alabama, then on to Texas and further west. 

But this begs a further question; if George was not a son of Ezekial and Betsy, why am I related to, or share DNA with, several of his descendants, as they show up in my Thru-Lines?

I believe I have an answer to that.

George C. Morton did have a circle of his own. He was connected to the Kirk and Calloway families. He was not a West Stanly Morton. He was an East Stanly/ Badin area Morton. It is my belief that I share DNA with his descendants because he was related to my other Morton ancestor; Rev. Samuel Parsons Morton. 

Now, I don't know how he was related, but I believe the relationship was a close one. Sammy Morton married a Calloway, Vashti Calloway, a cousin of the Calloway brothers that the George C. Morton family migrated to Missouri with. George C. Morton was born around 1819 or 1820. Samuel P Morton was born in 1805, 14 or 15 years older.

And then , I came upon this clipping:

Written by Mrs. G. D. Reynolds and published in the Stanly News and Press on Dec. 12, 1953.

This gives the information that  George C. Morton had been a Deputy Clerk in  the early years of this county, but also names Rev. S. P. Morton as his father. While people did marry early sometimes in those days, I still believe this was a tad too early. Right off the bat, I can see that it is wrought with several errors, the writer even contradicting herself in the same article. 

Consider the following excerpt; "History says his only son, George went to Texas after the death of his mother, Vashti, who was the daughter of Isaac Calloway."

A) George went to Missouri, not Texas.

B) Vashti died in 1846, George left for Missouri in 1855, nearly a decade later.

C) Vashti was born in 1812. George was born in 1819 or 1820. There is no way she could have been his mother.

D) Vashti was the granddaughter of Isaac Calloway, not his daughter. She was the daughter of Job Calloway.

The article then goes on to mention a daughter who married G. W. Turner of Anson, which is my line, that daughter being Elizabeth Wincy Morton Turner, and another who married Thomas Hall. 

Wincy Elizabeth Morton Turner

She then goes on to mention a second son, Stephen Ferninand L. Morton, who moved to Van Buren County, Arkansas. and gave power of Attorney to John Freeman  to settle his part of the Calloway estate, after naming George as the only son. Sammy actually had 5 daughters with Vasthi: Adaline, Susan Jane, Wincy Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah Ann. He had two sons with her, the afore mentined  Stephen Ferdinand, who married Nancy Pennigton, and George Arnold Morton, born in 1841, whom the article may have mixed up with George C. Morton. George Arnold Morton DID go to Texas, but not after his mother died, as he was only 5 years old, more like 30 years after his mother died., but I see where the confusion could come in .

Rev. S. P. Morton remarried after his first wife died, to Lucy Ingram, and had two more sons , James and Lewis, making a total of 4 known sons and 5 daughters. 

CLIPPED FROM

The Biblical Recorder

Raleigh, North Carolina

01 Jul 1885, Wed  •  Page 2

As in all things , I have a theory, derived from an obituary from the Biblical Recorder, which was written at the time of his death, not 70 years later. This obituary states that his father died when he was 18 years old (around 1823) and that as the oldest son (indicating more sons), he assumed his fathers place in the family and raised his siblings. My theory is that George Crogin Morton was the brother of Rev. Samuel P. Morton and that Sammy raised him. George would have been 4 or 5 in 1823. It works. 

To further test my theory, I went back to Thru-Lines on ancestry.com and took a closer look at his descendants that I am a match with genetically. I looked at the shared matches. The first thing I noticed was that the shared matches were on my mothers side of the family, not my  Dad's side, which the Ezekial Morton line was. While many of them have no definite connection, many of the shared matches had the notation "common ancestor".  A few of the common ancestors were William Carr Morton and Lucy Taylor, who are supposedly the parents of Ezekial Morton. That would show on anyone who has them as the grandparetns of George C. Morton. But overwhelmingly, I kept finding the common ancestors to be Samuel P. Morton or either his daughter, Elizabeth Wincy Morton Turner and her husband, G. W. Turner, my 3rd Great Grandparents.  This supports my theory that the relation is through a connection to Rev.  Sammy P. Morton. 

The children of George Crogin Pemberton Morton were:

With Mary Smith Kirk Littleton:

- Eliza Sophronia Kirk Jenkins 1846-1930 both in Stanly County, NC. Married John M. Jenkins.

With Mary "Polly" Kirk Morton:

1) Sarah Louisa Morton Martin  b 1849 Stanly County, NC - Died 1931 Marshfield, Webster County, MO.

Married  William A. Martin.

2)Martha Jane Morton b 1850 Stanly Co., NC d 1852 Marshfield, Webster Co. NC. Married Joseph T. Moore.

3) Adam Samuel Morton b 1853 NC d 1931 Marshfiled, Webster Co. MO.

Married Matilda Margaret Martin. 

4) Nancy Paralee Morton b 1858 Webster Co. MO d 1947 San Joaquin, California.

 Married William Henry Yandle. 

Nancy Parlee Morton Yandle and grandchildren.

5) Robert C. Morton b 1859 d before 1870.

6) Isham or Isom Pemberton Morton b 1862 Marshfield, Webster Co. MO d 1848 Jaspar County, MO.

7) George Parham Morton b 1864 posthumously 4 months after his father's death in Marshfield, Webster  County, MO d 1944 Amarillo, TX.

Married Malissa "Lissie" Goodnight.