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

30 Fathers in 30 Days: Colby Randle

 

No. 1243 State North Carolina Auditors Office, Salisbury District lower Board August 21st 1783.

This may certify that Colby Randle exhibited his claim and was allowed thirty-one pounds and seventeen shillings. 

Thomas Wade Jun Clerk

John Auld

Stephen Miller.        Aud'r

This Chiles

Colby Randle is one of my 7th Great Grandfathers. At this level one has 512 seventh Great Grandparents and 256 seventh Great Grandfathers. I have less due to the pedigree collapse in my Paternal Grandfathers line and my Maternal Grandmothers line. This means both had more than one path back to the same ancestorial couple. Still, it's a grand party of people, most of whom I do not know. The Randle family line is one that I can trace beyond the 7th Great Grandfather, from Colby to his father William and mother, Ann (8th), to William' father, John and his wife, Mary Johns Randle (9th), and perhaps even into the rocky, foggy rivers of time to the immigrant ancestor of Johns rumored father, William, who supposedly died during passage. That last one I've not seen proven by any documentation, just family tales passed down. 

Like many of my ancestors of this period, (but not all), Colby Randle was a Patriot. I am descended from his daughter, Susannah Randle, who married Job Calloway. This is on my Maternal Grandfathers side of the family, through his mother, Penny Wayne Turner Davis.

Colby Randle was born about 1746 in Brunswick County, Virginia. He was the son of William Randle and Anne, (some say Anne Clack, others Marshall).  The Randles were part of a mass migration out of Southside Virginia, that ensued for decades, whose members settled along the Yadkin/Pee Dee River in the southern Piedmont of North Carolina.

 03 Jan 1744. Deed Book 2, page 518. John Wray of the County of Brunswick to William RANDLE of the same, for 23 pounds ten shillings a tract of land in St. Andrews Parish in Brunswick County on Meherrin River. Wit: John RANDLE and John Yarborough.

From land records, it appears he grew up along the Meherrin River.

During the years of the Revolution, a group, perhaps a wagon train of them, of Randles, their neighbors and kin, made their way down to the Yadkin/PeeDee River. Some made their home in Anson County. Others in the young County of Montgomery that broke off from Anson in 1779. I believe they may have been in company of the Allens, Stokes, and a few others and I descend from all of those down one road or another. It was reported that they were escaping the rage of Tories during the War years, which were at their hottest and most volatile in the early 1780's.

The formal dining room of the Randall House circa 1835 with the beautiful mural of the house and grounds in historic times.

I've often heard, or seen in print, the description of "Dumb John Randall", told as to differentiate him from his nephew, John Randall the younger. It was not meant as an insult, the man was a deaf-mute, but still very astute. Image my glee when seeing the Brunswick County, Virginia deed below, that ties the Randle family from the banks of the Pee Dee River near Norwood, to those on the Meherrin River in Brunswick County, Virginia.

8 Mar 1779. Deed Book 13, page 255. John RANDLE, deaf, Josias RANDLE and Jean RANDLE wife of the said Josias RANDLE of the parish of Meherrin and County of Brunswick of the one part and Thomas Allen of the same place, that John, Josias, and Jean RANDLE for and in consideration of the sum of forty five pounds current money of Virginia sell Thomas Allen a tract of land on south side of Meherrin River in Brunswick County, on Rocky Run. Signed John RANDLE, Josias RANDLE and Jean RANDLE. Wit: Peter RANDLE, Richard RANDLE and Edmond RANDLE

And then they promptly packed and headed south to the Pee Dee River. Some of them. The Find-a-grave entry for "Dumb" John Randles' includes a quote from renowned missionary and minister, Francis Asbury. 

 

"John Randall lived in the present Stanley County, North Carolina, a few miles north of Norwood. Jesse Lee, traveling the Salisbury Circuit, preached in his home in 1784. "The man of the house was always deaf and dumb," said Lee, but "he is esteemed as a pious man." The community became a regular preaching place and Asbury stopped there on numerous occasions (February 15, 1785; April 3, 1789; December 20, 1793; November 16, 1798; February 23, 1800; December 8, 1804.) Services were first con­ducted in the Randall house and then in a brush arbor. A church was erected before 1800. Randall Church is now the oldest in Stanley County. (Grissom, op. cit., 248.)"

From Francis Asbury journals online

The Randle family quickly established their own church or meeting house, to serve the citizens of the growing area. 

Colby Randle was one who showed up in Montgomery County in the 1790 census.

Other Randles shown were Johnson and Benajah.

1792 Jesse McClendon, John Randle, and Colby Randle entered 50 acres of land in Montgomery County, North Carolina "on the Pee Dee beginning at Valentine Vanhoose line as supposed to be being the upper end of sd Vanhoose Island including vacant land above his line and as much of the river as will make out the complement." Dated April 3.  

Colby and his brother, John, (there were lots of Johns, as there always are), first settled next to Valentine Vanhoose, who had his own island on the river. If I'm not mistaken, that island was later called Bull Island. Vanhoose was a Revolutionary War Patriot who grew in Anson County, (probably the part that became Montgomery and later Stanly). His parents were from New York and Pennsylvania who had arrived to the Pee Dee around 1755, so,  very much pioneers to the Carolina Piedmont, of Dutch origin, I believe.

Origins

The Randles were early Virginia Colonists, considered to be of British origin. They settled first in the Tidewater region of Virginia. They are first found in King & Queen County, and then in King William County.  Patriarch John Randle Sr. (1678-1730) is solidly verified, but less certain that of his reputed father, named William, who died about 1698 on the voyage to America, leaving his twenty-year-old son. A son of John Sr., John settled in Meherrin Parish in Brunswick and married Frances. He was Colby's grandfather. There was also a James and Jeconias from that generation. From there came:

William Randle, who enlisted in the Continental Army in 1775. He sold his 780 acres in Brunswick and moved to the Pee Dee River in Montgomery County, NC.

John Randle III married Molly Ware and also moved to the Pee Dee River in Anson/Montgomery. He would migrate again to Stewart County, Tennessee and died there in 1821.

Their brother Josiah Randle remained in Brunswick. His son, Isham, would migrate away.

Richard Randle was also a Patriot fighter in the War. He came to the PeeDee Region for a term before removing to Illinois.

Susannah Randle married Peter Jackson.

Elizabeth Randle married John Lightfoot.

Ann married Robert Tillman

Other siblings were Barnett, who married a Martha, and Amy,.I don't know what happened  to Amy, if she married or what her future held. 

The Randle or Randall surname traces back to medieval England and comes from given names like Randall or Randolph. 

John Randle the first, was the first one to make landfall. 

The will of John Randle, of Brunswick County, Virginia, was dated November 17. (Brunswick County, VA Will Book 3, pg. 116)

In the name of God Amen, I John Randall of Brunswick County being of perfect sound disposing mind and memory and calling to mind the mortality of this life and knowing it is appointed for all men once to die do make and ordain this my last will and testament and first of all I recommend my soul unto the hands of God that gave it to me hoping through the merits of my blessed Savior to have remission of all my sins and my body I commit to the Earth to be decently buried at the discretion of my Executors hereafter named and as vouching such temporal Estate as it pleased God to Bless me with I give and dispose of in the following manner.

IMPRIMIS I give and bequeath to my loving wife, Frances Randall the use of all my personal estate during her life and widowhood as also the use of my manor plantation during her life or widowhood. Item. I give and bequeath to my son Josias Randall one shilling Sterling. Item. I give and bequeath to my daughter Susanna Ware one shilling Sterling. Item. It is my will and desire that all my lands be equally divided between my three sons John Randall, William Randall and Peter Randall only reserving for my son John Randall the first choice of my land.

Item. It is my will and desire that after the death or marriage of my wife that all my personal estate to be equally divided between my three sons John Randall, William Randall and Peter Randall and my daughter Frances Randall only reserving to my son John Randall the first choice and I do nominate and appoint Frances Randall my wife and my friend Arthur Harris executors of this my last will and testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto affixed my hand and seal this seventeenth day of November 1752.

John Randall

Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of us. Thomas Booth, Joseph Ships, John Booth.

At a court held for Brunswick County on the 28th day of August, 1753, This will was presented in court by Frances Randall one of the executors therein named who, made oath thereto and the same was proved by the oaths of Joseph Ships and John Booth, witness thereto and ordered to be recorded and certificate granted the said Mary for obtaining a probate thereof in due form, she having with John Maclin and William Randall all her securities of five hundred pounds with condition according to law and Liberty was reserved to Arthur Harris the other executor therein named to join the probate thereof when he should think fit.

Teste: Litt. Tazewell, Clerk

In his will, John named his wife, Frances, son Josias (or Josiah), daughter Susanna Ware, daughter Frances II, and sons John, William, Peter. In the codicil, his wife is referred to as "Mary", so she must have been a Mary Frances. I don't believe her maiden name has been proven, but I've seen 'guesses'.

I was also intrigued to see the name of Arthur Harris, who is also ancestor of mine, through the Win(g)field line. It was a small, close-knit population in Southside Virginia.

I've seen said that Colby's father, William made it to North Carolina. He did not. He died in Brunswick County, Viginia. His Will was tested dated there on October 19, 1770. It can be found in Brunswick County Deed book 4 page 67.  In fact, there are several who remained, and others who may have passed through on their way to Tennessee or Alabama, which began opening up in haste in the 1820's. There are names of Randles in the records of both Brunswick and Anson/Montgomery, that no one has attached to a place in a family tree. I believe they were probably younger family members, nephews or cousins, who didn't tarry long upon the Pee Dee, or died young before leaving a deep footprint. 

The Will of William (Sr) is found below. The inclusion of the designation of Sr. indicating there was a younger William in the area, who was not a son. 

In the name of God Amen, I William Randle, Sen. of the Brunswick County, in Virginia, being in a weak state of body but in perfect sound sense and memory, calling to mind the uncertainty of Human life, do make and ordain this my last will and testament, revoking and disannulling all other will or wills heretofore made by me. In the first place I give and bequeath my Soul to God who gave it to me and my body to the earth, to be buried in a Christian like decent manner.

• Imprimis my will and desire is that all my just debts shall be paid out of my estate.
  
  Item. I give unto my son John Randle a negro girl named Jane to him and his heirs and assigns forever.
  
  Item. I give and bequeath to my son Coalby Randle then shilling current money of Virginia.
  
  Item. I give and bequeath to my Daughter Anne Tillman one negro boy named Cambridge, to her and her heirs forever.
  
  Item. I give and bequeath to my son Barnett Randle one negro boy named Isaac, to him and his assigns forever.
  
  Item. I give and bequeath to my Daughter Elizabeth Randle one negro girl named Violet to her and her heirs forever.
  
  Item. I give and bequeath to my Daughter Susanna Jackson ten shillings current money of Virginia.
  
  Item. I give and bequeath to my daughter Amey (Oney) one negro boy named Abraham to him(her?) and his heirs forever.
  
  Item. I lend to the only proper use of my well-beloved wife, Anne Randle one negro winch named Abby during her life and at my beloved wife's decease my will and desire is that the said negro Abby may be then the property of my daughter Amey and her heirs forever.
  
  Item. I give and bequeath to my son John Randle all my lands on the north side of the branch known by the name of the Saw Scaffold Branch to him and his heirs forever.
  
  Item. I give and bequeath to my son Barnett Randle the plantation whereon I now live with all the lands thereunto belonging on the south side of the Saw Scafford branch to him and his heirs forever.
  
  Item. I give and bequeath to my son John Randle two cows and calves to him and his heirs,
  
  Item. I give and bequeath to my daughter Anne Tillman two cows and calves,
  
  Item. I lend to the use of my well beloved wife Anne Randle all the residue of my estate not heretofore mentioned be it of what quality or kind soever, after my just debts are satisfied and at her decease my desire is that it may be equally divided between my son Barnett, My daughter Elizabeth, and my daughter Aney, and I do appoint my well beloved wife and my son John RANDLE my whole and sole executors of this my last will and testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this 19th day of October in the year of our Lord 1770.
  
  William RANDLE
  
  Signed, sealed and acknowledged in presence of Henry Munger Benjamin Wheeler & Randle Woolsey               At a court held for Brunswick county the 22nd day of April 1771, this will was presented in court by John Randle, one of the Executors therein named who made oath thereto according to law the same being proved by the oaths of Henry Mounger, Benjamine Whealer, and Randle Woolsey his securities entered into and acknowledged their bond in the penalty of one thousand pounds with condition as the law directs, certificate is granted him for obtaining a probate thereof in due form and liberty is reserved the Executrix therein named to sign in the probate when she shall think proper.   Testetor P. Pelham, Clerk of Court, Court Test: WE Elmore.

William mentioned his wife Anne, daughters Anne Tillman (who married Robert Tillman), Susanna (Peter) Jackson, Elizabeth (John Lightfoot), and Amy Randle, and sons John, Barnett, and Colby. Amy has also been transcribed as 'Oney', which could be 'Omie', short for Naomi. I believe Robert Tillman was related to Roger Tillman, who also lived in Brunswick County.

William's widow, Anne, remarried after his father's death, to an unknown Mr. Allen. Her Will was proved on November 24, 1783, in Brunswick County, Virginia. 

After the typical statements about 'perfect sense and memory' and worldly goods, she continued:

Item I give to my son Colby Randle one Negro Man Named Harry to him and his assigns forever. 

She also names daughters Elizabeth Lightfoot, Sarah Jackson, Rebekah Jackson and Susannah Jackson. 

She names no others of the Randle sons. She names Sarah and Rebeckah, who are not listed in the Will of William Randle. This leads me to believe that perhaps the other Randles, outside of Colby, Susannah and Elizabeth, may not have been her children, but his from an earlier marriage. Barnett died in 1781, so predeceased his mother. Had she had Sarah and Elizabeth after the death of William by a Mr. Jackson, who died before she married a Mr. Allen? Or were these daughters that predated her marriage to William Randle, and three sisters/half-sisters, all married Jacksons? This has triggered my curiosity. I know Susannah Randle married a Peter Jackson. I will have to look into his family. 

Another intriguing fact is that she left her son, Colby Randle a man named Harry. Harry Randle traveled with Colby from Virginia to what is now Stanly County, NC. He married a free woman of color named Celia Easley. She actually purchased him so that he could live with her and their children. At one time, she even took a loan out on him. The more I learn about the incredible Celia Easley, the more I am fascinated with this incredible, enterprising lady. There is still a pond in Cottonville known as "Old Harry Randles' Pond".

1800

Colby is shown in the 1800 census of Montgomery County between Jonathan McDonald and John Thompson. Further down the page, past the McSwain's and Blalock's, there is a George Randall listed next to James Duke. George was not a brother. Whose son, was he?

Above is the plat of Colby Randles 250 acres grant on the south side of the Yadkin River. It joined his own corner and is dated February 25, 1780. Colby, with Neddy Pennington, was his own chain carrier.

This addition was of 50 acres and came decades later, dated September 10th, 1804. It was on the south side of the Yadkin River on Maple Branch. Charles Jones and Joshua Carter were chain carriers.

The above was 50 acres ordered to be laid off and surveyed for Colby Randle, dated January 13, 1801, prior to the previous one, it gives a little more information, stating the tract joined Spears line and "pariots" line and included a spring on the Maple Branch.

Colby would die in 1804, just after that deed was entered. 

Colby was married twice. His second wife was Letty or Littie Elmore. She is my ancestor, as mother of Susanna. I find it interesting that a W. E. Elmore was the court testator for William's Will. Colby and Lettie were married around 1772 in Brunswick County, VA. She was not old enough to be the mother of his oldest son, John, so it is known there was a previous wife. One source gives the date of the Randalls arrival to the Pee Dee River area as November 2, 1774. I don't believe this is correct, at least for Colby. He married Letty in Brunswick before then. His military service, or contribution, was also in Brunswick County, after this date.

Colby had four known children:

John, born about 1780.

Susannah, born about 1790, who married Job Callaway, son of Isaac.

Temperance, born about 1792, who married James Hodges.

Alfred, born in June of 1800, who married Frances Forrest. 

As for Colby's personality, in a letter from James Randle, written in 1867, it was said of Colby, that he was, "said to be quit a dissipated man". He may have been known to wander, a ladies' man, so to speak. There may have been other descendants, genetically.

It is also a fact that Colby was in Anson/Montgomery Counties, NC before the death of his mother in 1783, so he would have had to gone back to Virginia to make claim on Harry and sit for his mother's Will. 

A quick timeline of Colby lies below

1772 Will of William Randle testate in Brunswick, VA. 

1780 Montgomery Co, NC tax list along with Isham, John and Josiah Randle; Peter Jackson and Richard Tillman, brother-in-law's, also listed.

1781 Death of Barnett Randle, his brother. It is said Barnett wished to join them in NC but was too ill. Will names wife, Mary and two children, Griffin and Nancy.

26 November 1789, Land grant issued in Montgomery County, NC

1790 Montgomery Co, NC census:

1800 Montgomery Co, NC census:

1804 Died Montgomery Co, NC

1822 Will of Colby Randle settled. Job Callaway was an executor of the estate and Isaac Callaway, father of Job, was an appraiser appointed by the court

According to his estate files, Colby died in 1804. He was 58 years old.

State of N. Carolina

Montgomery County

At a Court of Equity held for the County aforesaid to September Term 1822.

                His home Frederick Nash Esqr. being present.

Humbly complains ....Alfred Randle that Colby Randle late of said County departed this life sometime in or about the year Eighteen Hundred four having first duly made and published his last will Testament...

The Will is not found in Montgomery County records, but it existed. 

If my negro wench Jane should have any more children, I desire that Tempy Randle and Alfred Randle shall have own a piece of them and if there be any more children to be equally divided between my other four children. This suggests that Colby had a fifth child. 

One Job Callowa was duly appointed and qualified as administrator of the Estate of the said Colby Randle with ..Parham Jones and Tempy..

Subpoena to the said Parham Kirk and James and Tempy to...Bill of complaint.

One child which is named Abel (a slave) = that several years ago ...Tempy Randle intermarried with James Hodges and ..after which (to wit) in and about August 1820 the said James Hodges sold he said negro Abel or his interest in him Parham Kirk who the took possession him the said Abel and has...

Colby Randles actual Will was lost, or burned, in one of the destroyed Montgomery County Courthouses.The above suit took place in 1822, 18 years after his death. It mentioned the ownership of a slave boy named Abel, who was born to Colby's slave Jane, after his death, and the mention in his Will of any future offspring of Jane and the disposition of such yet unborn children. It's literally mindboggling that the fate of yet unborn people had been determined in such manner. At any rate or reach, it named Temperance "Tempy" Randle and her husband, James Hodges, and mentioned his other FOUR children. So, at the time of his death, Colby had 5 children: John, Susannah, Tempy, Alfred and an unknown child.

Name	Colby Randle
Home in 1800 (City, County, State)	Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10	1 Alfred
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25	1 John
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over	1 Colby
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10	2  Susannah and sister ?
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15	1 Temperance
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44	1 Lettie
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over	1
Number of Slaves	5
Number of Household Members Under 16	4
Number of Household Members Over 25	3
Number of Household Members	13

The 1800 census suggests the child was a daughter.

Nearly one hundred years after the death of Colby Randle, the division of his property, although unaccessible outright, came up again in an historic transction and involved the many hydroelectric projects that transformed the Yadkin/ Pee Dee River area. It involved Dr. Dillon Brown and his wife, Fannie McCall Brown of New York City and the sale to George J. Whitney. So how did such a large block of Stanly County property end up in the hands of  New Yorkers so far removed from the banks of the Yadkin in Stanly County, North Carolina?

George J Whitney was an investor from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He had the foresight to recognise the auspicitiousness of  harnassing the power of the Yadkin River. Dr. Dillon Brown was also an investor and the deed was recorded on July 5, 1901, and since the river bordered both Stanly and Montgomery, one was simultaneously recorded in both counties, 

A few years prior, Dillon Brown had made purchases of large tracts of land along the Yadkin, most especially in the area of the Narrows, seen as "Narrowsville" on old maps around the 1820's.

A portion of one of these deeds is shown above. Dated January 30, 1899, this involved a purchase of land between Mary C. Kirk and Dillon Brown.

This transaction included "Lot No 1 inthe division of the lands of Colby Randle". One hundred years later.

"Beginning at a stake on the bank of he River a corner of the lands of Daniel Kirk decd'. It met up with Lot 2. If we could find mention of all the Lots of Division, we might find the missing daughter. Mary C. Kirk was a descendant of Colby Randle.

Prior to all the land transfers, the wheels of progress had been turning. Dr. Brown, George Whitney and a third man named J.P.R.Polk all had interest in a corporation called the North Carolina Power Company. They wanted to buy up 12 full miles of riverfront lands and construct three hydroelectric dams in order to supply to power to the cities about that were in a period of industrial growth due partly to the onslaught of the textile mills. When George Whitney consolidated the landholdings and business interests under the umbrella company called the Whitney Company, his vision included the building of a massive granite dam and a town to grow around it named Whitney. A bit of a narcissistic vision. The project would eventually fail, but soon after was taken up by a French Aluminum Company and would evolve into the town of Badin, several miles downstream, and eventually,the building of Alcoa.  The rest is history. 

Little of Old Whitney remains, except a road that bears the name, the railroad tracks, and the canals. It's of particular interest to me because of the existence of the Graveyard Islands. These were high points that would not be swallowed by the ensuing water backup. The dams generated lakes, as well as electricity.  Family and community cemeteries were displaced. One of the individuals whose remains were exhumed and relocated to  the islands was that of Vashti Calloway Morton, wife of Samuel Parsons Morton and granddaughter of Colby Randle. Rev. S. P. Morton and Vashti are also my ancestors, and he grew up in that same area along the river, north of Badin, but close enough to have attended Ebenezer Church, now Badin Baptist. I have long been hoping that the land records and location would give hints into who the parents of Rev. Morton and his siblings were. I do know his father died young, and that Sammy took over the raising of his younger siblings, so that is one hint.

Other families affected by the buyout were also descendants, mostly grandchildren, of the early families who lived along the river in that area, and the property having passed down the line, specifically the heirs of Edmund Lilly and Alpha Swaringen. Because early land transactions fractured the original 400-acre Colby Randle block, Dr. Brown targeted Tract One from the executors and heirs of Alfred Randle and the Swaringen/Parker family holdings that consolidated the Narrows topography that he was most interested in.

The above portion of the Stanly County Topo Map shows he location of where the historic site of Whitney was located. The Colby Randle lands were somewhere near this landscape on the southwest of the river.

Finally, in January of 1935, a Randle descendant sought the Revolutionary War records of our brave Patriot ancestors. A packet of information followed. By this time descendants of Colby Randle and his cousins and nephew, Isham, had spread across the country. Many had migrated to the Indiana and Illinois area. Thank you for your service brave Randles.