Elizabeth C. (Harper) Nevill's Land, 1878

©  Kathy Duncan, 2020

In my neverending quest for information about Granderson D. Nevill Sr. and his wives, I came across this deed a while ago. It is one more breadcrumb.

On 9 December 1878, Elizabeth Caroline Nevill, wife of Granderson D. Nevill Sr. purchased a tract of land in Crawford County, Arkansas from Silas M. and Martha A. Carney for $400. In the deed, she is named as being the wife of Granville D. Nevill.

Crawford Co., Ark Deed Bk C, p. 351

This is a very curious document. I don't think I've ever seen a wife, rather than a husband, making a land purchase. What does that mean? Is she making the purchase with money that she brought into the marriage so that this is a way of protecting her interest in the land? Is the purchase being made in her name to protect it from any debt or liability that Granderson might have or anticipates having?

Significantly, this deed indicates that Granderson D. Nevill Sr., like his son, was sometimes known as Granville. I believe that in 1878, Granderson D. Nevill Jr. was living south of Crawford County and west of Hartford. That makes me feel like the county clerk was not mixing up the two men.

This deed also indicates that Granderson D. Nevill was still living in 1878, which is born out by the 1880 census, when he was living in Crawford County, Arkansas, with his wife Caroline and his sister-in-law, Martha Harper.

Elizabeth Caroline (Harper) Nevill seems to be the last of Granderson D. Nevill's wives. She evidently sold her land on her own. That sale is in the Crawford County deed books, but the deed itself is not available on FamilySearch. Elizabeth C. Nevill also homesteaded land in Crawford County. She did not die until after 1910.

Keywords: Grandison Dandridge Nevill Neville

John Kelley Sr's wife, Charity

©  Kathy Duncan, 2020

For years and years, researchers have been listing the wife of John Kelley Sr., who died in Fairfield County, South Carolina, in 1842 as Charity. The problem has been that not one person has ever offered up any documentation for that.

The closest I've come is a book of Hinds County, Mississippi tombstone transcriptions that states that John Frost Kelly who died in 1874 and was supposedly buried in the Utica Cemetery was the son of John and Charity Kelly and that Lydia Ann "Seastreak" buried in the "James Lee/John Kelly cemetery" was the daughter of John and Charity Kelly. Many of John Kelley Sr's children removed to Hinds County, Mississippi. The problem is that Frost Kelly's tombstone cannot be found in the Utica Cemetery. And no one has been able to take a picture of Lydia Ann "Seastreak's" tombstone. I've read on Findagrave that most of those tombstones where she is buried have fallen over flat, and many are broken. Apparently, many of them are hidden under brush or a thin layer of dirt. I once thought Lydia "Seastreak's" tombstone must be eroded since her name was Seastrunk and the years for her birth and death are way off. Now I think her stone was already broken when the cemetery was transcribed with the damage running through the area were the years and the end of her last name are. Please, someone, photograph that stone and prove me wrong! Those two tombstones represented the only documentation I knew of for the existence of a wife named Charity for John Kelley Sr.

John Kelley Sr. bought a lot of land in Fairfield District, South Carolina, but he sold very little of it during his lifetime.

However, on 27 September 1825 John Kelley Sr. of Fairfield District, South Carolina sold 147 acres of land on Little Sawney's Creek to his son Littleton Kelley. That land was bordered by the lands of  John Kelly and Sarah Milling, formerly David Milling's.

The best part of this document is that John Kelley Sr's wife Charity released her dower rights to that land on 11 May 1826 and signed with her mark. So far, this is the only deed record that includes her.

Charity Kelly was likely John Kelley Sr's last wife, but mathematically, she could not have been his only wife. Therefore, she is not the mother of all of this his children. My ancestor John Kelley Jr. was born about 1786. Some of his siblings may have been older than he was since their ages are not all accounted for. However, of the siblings who are accounted for, their births range from about 1786 to about 1823. That would be a span of almost 40 years, much too long for one woman.

Knowing that Charity Kelly was John Kelley Sr.'s wife as of 1826, sheds some light on the possible wives in John Kelley Sr.'s census entries.

John Kelley Sr's wife, possibly Charity, predeceased him, and he died in 1842. Unpacking John Kelley Sr's household on the census is difficult. He had thirteen surviving children, many of whom were deceased before 1850. Many of their birthdates can only be guessed or fit into a range of several years.

John Kelley's Sr. household in Fairfield District, South Carolina in 1790:

John Kelly 2 4 4

Two males over 16 = John Kelley Sr. and unknown
Four males under 16= John Kelley Jr., Elisha Kelley, Middleton Kelley, Hiram Kelley?
Four females = a wife, Mary Kelley, and two unknowns?

1800 Fairfield District, South Carolina:

John Kelley 4201 - 0101

Four males 1 - 9 =
Two males 10 - 16 = John Kelley Jr.?
One male 26 - 45 = John Kelley Sr.
One female 10 - 16 = Mary Kelley?
One female 26 - 45 = wife

1810 Fairfield District, South Carolina:

John Kelly  32201 - 001

Three males 1 - 9 =
Two males 10 - 16 =
Two males 16 - 17 =
One male 45+ = John Kelley Sr.
One female 16 - 26 = Mary Kelley? or a new wife?

The 1810 census marks a significant change in John Kelley's household. His wife who should have been in the 26 - 45 age range or older is gone. Now the eldest female is 16 - 26 years old. She is either daughter Mary Kelley, or Mary Kelley is married and John Kelley Sr. has a new, younger wife. At least four more Kelley children were born between about 1810 and 1823, among those children were Lydia Ann (Kelley) Seastrunk and Frost Kelley.

1820 Fairfield District, South Carolina:

John Kelly 110101 - 2011

One male 1 - 9 =
One male 10 - 16 =
One male 16 - 26 =
One male 45+ = John Kelley Sr.
Two females 1 - 9 = Lydia Ann Kelley, Louisa W. Kelley
One female 16 - 26 = unknown
One female 26 - 45 = Charity?

1830 Fairfield District, South Carolina:

John Kelly 020120001 - 1020001

Two males 5 - 9 =
One male 15 - 19 =
Two males 20 - 29 =
One male 60 - 69 = John Kelley Sr.
One female 5 - 9 =
Two females 10 - 14 =
One female 40 - 50 = Charity?

1840 Fairfield District, South Carolina:

J. Kelly 0001000002

One male 15 - 19 = unknown
Two males 70 - 80 = John Kelley Sr. and unknown

On the final census, John Kelley Sr. does not have a wife, so presumably, Charity Kelley was deceased. The unknown male age 15 - 19 is likely one of the Kelley's youngest sons, perhaps Obadiah K. Kelley. The other male age 70 - 80 is unknown.

Based on the census, Charity would have been born between 1790 and 1800 in an unknown location. She can't be the Charity Carrie Gray who has been linked to John Kelley Sr. because she is over 20 years younger than that Charity. At this time, Charity's maiden name is unknown.

John Kelley Jr. in 1820, 1830, 1840

©  Kathy Duncan, 2020

To quickly recap, my ancestors, John Kelley Jr., and John Kelley Sr., were both in Fairfield District, South Carolina in 1820. However, there was also a pair of John Kellys in the neighboring county of Kershaw. They were also known as John Kelly Jr. and John Kelly Sr.

Kershaw County, South Carolina 1820

On this census, John Kelly Jr. was in the 16 - 25 year age range. He is too young to be my John Kelley Jr., and his household is missing a young daughter. The John Kelly Sr. listed below him was in the 26 - 44 year age range. He is much too young to be a Revolutionary War veteran as was my John Kelley Sr. Both of these John Kellys can be ruled as being my John Kelly Jr. and Sr.

The presence of so many John Kellys causes confusion at the point when my John Kelley Jr. moved from Fairfield County to Kershaw County, which is where he was located by 1830. It especially makes early land deeds difficult to attribute to him.

By the 1830, Kershaw County, South Carolina census, the other pair of John Kellys seem to be gone, so I may be able to attribute land deeds after that date to my John Kelley Jr.

On the 1830 Kershaw County census, John Kelly was a single man aged 40 - 50, which fits with a man born about 1786. John Kelly's daughter was no longer in his household. So where did she go?

Kershaw County, South Carolina 1830

She was evidently married to William Thomas by this time. His household can also be found in Kershaw County, South Carolina in 1830.

Kershaw County, South Carolina 1830

In William Thomas's household is a wife aged 20 - 29 and a daughter aged 1 - 4. William Thomas himself was in the 30 - 40 age range. This seems like a very good fit for John Kelley Jr.'s daughter and son-in-law. Missing from this household is the daughter who was on the 1820 census. She may have married and is unaccounted for. Or she may have been deceased.  The young daughter on this census is also unaccounted for. She does not seem to be one of the surviving Thomas children named in the partition of John Kelley's estate in Kershaw County, South Carolina in 1862.

Of interest is the elder Thomas Thomas listed on this census. William B. Thomas of Pickens County, Alabama is thought to be the son of a Thomas Thomas.

Because the 1830 census was put in alphabetical order, it is impossible to know the proximity of these people to each other.

Back in Fairfield County, South Carolina, the 1830 census was not put into alphabetical order, so it is possible to see the evolution of the old neighborhood.

John Kelley Sr. has aged another decade, and the wife in his household is as much as 20 years his junior.

Fairfield County, South Carolina 1830

On the previous page, it is possible to see that John Kelley Sr's. son Littleton Kelley now has his own household.

Fairfield County, South Carolina 1830

The 1840 Kershaw County, South Carolina census is in alphabetical order, so it is possible to see who is living near John Kelley Jr.

Kershaw County, South Carolina 1840

On this census, John Kelley is in the 50 - 60 year age range even though he is known as a Jr. That is because his father John Kelley Sr. is still living. John Kelley has a wife in the 20 - 30 year age range. She was my great-great-great-grandmother Nancy Missouri Owens, born in 1819, so she was 21 years old when this census was taken. The boy under five years old is their son William Kelley, born in 1840.

Sarah Ciples, living near John Kelley Jr., rang a bell. I had seen the Ciples name in conjunction with a newspaper clipping that mentioned a John Kelly Jr.:

Camden Gazette 14 June 1821

This seems to indicate that John Kelley Jr was living in Kershaw County as early as 1821. What cinches the connection for me is this reference to a piece of land, which appeared in The Southeastern Reporter.

James L. Kilgore was deceased around 1850, and this is part of a dispute over this his estate. The Sarah Ciples and John McDowell referenced were in close proximity to John Kelley Jr. on the 1840 census. Of note is the reference to Richard Owens, whose land also bordered James L. Kilgore's. Richard Owens was the father of Nancy Missouri Owens and was the father-in-law of John Kelley Jr. An added clue is that Kilgore's land was bounded by White Oak creek.

A search for a map turned up this 1854 version of the area of Kershaw County, South Carolina where John Kelley Jr. lived.

The dark river on the left is the Wateree. The creek headed north from just above the "K" is White Oak creek. Living along that creek can be seen the households of Ciples, McDowell, and Kelly.

William B. Thomas and Miss Kelley

©  Kathy Duncan, 2020

Sometimes it helps to stop sifting through one family or one individual's records and just work on something else. It adds some mental distance. It provides an opportunity to return to an old problem with fresher eyes. That cooling-off period usually pays off for me in more ways that one. So naturally, I dropped my Mason puzzle and randomly picked up my John Kelley Jr. puzzle. Like you do.

John Kelley Jr., who married my ancestress Nancy Missouri Owens and lived in Kershaw County, South Carolina, had an unknown first wife by whom he had at least one daughter. That daughter married William B. Thomas and removed to Pickens County, Alabama. She died before the 1850 census, so her given name is undocumented. However, she had several children, and they are all named in a request to partition their grandfather Kelley's estate in Kershaw County, South Carolina in 1862.

I'm left to wonder where Miss Kelley met William B. Thomas and when they married. What was her given name and who was her mother? In pondering the 1850 census household of William B. Thomas, it struck me that he was fairly old. The 1850 census has his birth in 1793 and the 1860 census places his birth in 1798. And when was his father-in-law John Kelley Jr. born? About 1786. What?? That means John Kelley Jr. was only around ten years older than his son-in-law. That means Miss Kelley married a man several years her senior. That had not registered before. In fact, he was old enough to be on the 1830 census as an adult. Possibly the 1820 census. I had not pinpointed him on an earlier census. I recalled, though, that there was a Thomas family living near John Kelley Jr. on an earlier census, and I had considered that William Thomas might be connected to them.

Going back to the 1820 census of Fairfield County, South Carolina, I located the household of John Kelley Jr.:

Here is John Kelley Jr. living between Jame Loughhorn and John Kelley. There are so many John Kelleys in Fairfield and Kershaw County, South Carolina that it has been difficult to positively identify my John Kelley on the census. This John Kelley Jr was long overlooked because he did not seem to fit what I had known about my ancestor. That little girl in the household through off researchers for decades. This John Kelley Jr. is, however,  a fit for my widowed ancestor with a young daughter. As a bonus, he is living next door to an elder John Kelley, who is his father. This elder John Kelley was a large slaveholder, and those slaves were distributed from his Fairfield County estate twenty years later. James Loughhorn is probably the same person who is mentioned in the estate settlement of John Kelley Sr. and whose name has been difficult to decipher. John Kelley Jr. is in the 26 to 44 year age range. My John Kelley, born about 1786, was 34 in 1820, so he falls within this age range. John Kelley Jr.'s daughter is aged 10 to 15 on this census.

Looking back up the page to the Thomas household, I found...

This is the William Thomas household that I had originally dismissed because I thought he was too old and did not have a son young enough to marry Miss Kelley. This William Thomas was in the 16 to 25 year age range. William B. Thomas, born in either 1793 or 1798, falls within this age range. Well. I'll be. That makes sense, doesn't it? People usually married someone who lived near them. William Thomas had a daughter age 1 to 10 and a wife age 16 to 25.

It would seem that William Thomas's wife probably died, and he remarried Miss Kelley as his second wife. The eldest Thomas child named in the John Kelley estate partition was John K Thomas, born in about 1832 in South Carolina. I wonder if his full name was John Kelley Thomas? William Thomas and Miss Kelley would have married by 1831 at the latest. However, since I can't find William Thomas in Fairfield County, South Carolina, or Kershaw County, South Carolina in 1830, I would guess that they married by 1830 and moved.

It may still be possible to learn Miss Kelley's given name and the name of her mother. It seems very possible that Miss Kelley was an heir to one of her maternal grandparent's estates. Her surname would appear as either Kelley or Thomas. Hopefully, her given name will be provided as well as the name of her mother.

The place to start with this task would be to research about 20 households below John Kelley Sr.'s, the households between William Thomas and John Kelley Jr., and 20 households above William Thomas.

Of course, now there is an elder daughter of William Thomas's to track down.

That's not a small task. I might just get back to sifting through my Masons.

Joseph Mason, Fayette County, Tennessee, 1826

©  Kathy Duncan, 2020

By the end of 1826, my ancestor Joseph Mason had removed from Madison County, Alabama to Fayette County, Tennessee.

He sold 132 acres of land in Madison County, Alabama to his brother-in-law Edmund Young for a hefty $4,540. The witnesses to this deed were Joseph's other brother-in-law William Young and John J. Bain. Since John J. Bain was also a witness to the will of Joseph's father Rev. Michael Mason, Sr., it is time to suspect that he may have been more than a neighbor or friend. He could be another brother-in-law. This deed transaction was dated 25 December 1826. They were transacting business on Christmas Day?! One important feature of this particular deed is that wife Mary is not included and did not release her dower, suggesting that she is deceased.

Madison Co., AL; Land Deeds Bk L, p. 261

Madison Co., AL; Land Deeds Bk L, p. 262

However, just add a little confusion to the mix, a Joseph Mason married a Mary Robertson in Madison County, Alabama on 13 June 1824. That is two years after my Joseph Mason and his wife Mary sold a property in Madison County. Is this the same Joseph? If it is, is this an indication of another wife? Have two wives named Mary died by 1826??

On 19 May 1826, Joseph Mason filed an occupant claim for 100 acres in the Eleventh District of newly created Fayette County, Tennessee. One of his property boundary markers was a beech tree, marked "J M." This land grant was finalized on 3 December 1827.

Joseph Mason was still in Fayette County, Tennessee in when the 1830 census was taken. On that census, he does not have a wife.

Fayette County, Tennessee 1830

Joseph Mason's household was recorded as 02111001-011

Two males 5 - 9 [b. 1825 - 1821] =
One male 10 - 14 [b. 1820 - 1816] =
One male 15 - 19 [b. 1815 - 1811] = George Mason?
One male 20 - 29 [b. 1810 - 1801] = Michael J. Mason?
One male 50 - 59 [b. 1780 - 1771] = Joseph Mason
One female 5 - 9 [b. 1825 - 1821] =
One female 10 - 14 [b. 1820 - 1816] = Catherine A. Mason ?

I am having trouble accounting for all the people in Joseph Mason's household. When I am working with an early census, I always want to see more people in a household than there should be than fewer. I already know that I have not accounted for all of Joseph Mason's daughters. Could these younger children be from wife (wives?) Mary? Could a widowed son with children be living with Joseph? Could Joseph be raising the children of a deceased daughter? In addition, Joseph may have had other children who did not survive to adulthood. I also have a sneaking feeling that not all of his children may be accounted for in his probate. There is an Edmund Mason born in Alabama, who is also in DeSoto County, Mississippi in 1850, and he is the right age to be a son of Joseph's, but I don't think he was included in the probate record. Edmund Mason could have been named after Joseph's brother-in-law Edmund Young. Edmund Mason removed to Texas and lived until near the end of the century.

As usual, I seem to be generating more questions than answers.