In and around Kingston, Georgia
Shem Carnes, the gg-great grandfather of Gladys Hall, was born in 1810 or 1812 in South Carolina. He moved to Rabun County, Georgia sometime before 1835 because he married Elizabeth Adams there on 9 February 1834 when he was 24. Between 1837 and 1839, he moved to District 952, Cass County, Georgia – later the Kingston District.
I saw a reference to him being a winner in the 1932 Cherokee Land Lottery, but I was unable to find a record.
Shem remained in or around Kingston, Cass/Bartow County, the rest of his life. He and Elizabeth are in the 1880 census, and Shem, 89, is living with his son Richard S. B. Carnes in Kingston in 1900. He appears in every U.S. census from 1840-1900 except the 1890 census, which was lost in a fire.
Shem and Elizabeth were very poor in the 1850s. Their children attending school are listed in the "Poor School Book" as indigent in 1854, 1856 and 1857 (see "Documents").
Shem died on the first or third of May, 1905. He is buried at Connesena Baptist Church cemetery near Kingston, with his wife. I could not find their graves, and according to a correspondent, their graves are unmarked.
Shem and Elizabeth lost one son in the Civil War, James Canada, who was killed at Gettysburg and had another, Elias, captured there and held as a prisoner of war. Their younger son, Andrew Jackson Carnes, was sent north during the war to avoid having to fight. Andrew Jackson Carnes is the grandfather of Fannie Mae Carnes..
When Sherman's army went through Kingston because of poor intelligence or poor judgment (the Confederate army was at Cassville), the soldiers, as usual, lived off the land. It was all part of Sherman's plan to "make Georgia howl." Among those howling was Shem Carnes. In 1876, he petitioned the government for war reparations for the loss of or damage to his property after the conflict was over. His request was approved (“Southern Claims Commission,” Report No. 14915).
Elizabeth Adams was born 1811 in South Carolina and died between 1880 and 1900 in Kingston, Georgia. In the 1880 census, she is ill. The text is hard to read, but it looks like an “Affliction of Liv,” meaning a liver infection.She was the daughter of Richard Adams and Mary Parker, born 1770 in South Carolina. Richard Adams's parents are unknown, but her mother's parents were Moses Parker and Nancy Sands.
Moses Parker was born 26 August 1744 in Virginia and died 12 November 1830 in McColl, Marlboro County, South Carolina. His parents were Nathaniel Parker and Ann Clayton. Nancy Sands parents are unknown, and nothing further is known of this line.
The children of Shem and Elizabeth
1. Ann, Anna E. or Fannie A. Carnes was born in South Carolina in 1837, and on 25 September 1853, at the age of 16, married Littleton M. Fountain in Cass County. She died there in May 1910 at the age of 73. Littleton Fountain was born 15 June 1830 in South Carolina and died July 1912. They had six children:
– Silas Fountain, born 1856
– William Taylor Fountain, born 13 July 1865
– Annie Elizabeth Fountain, born 23 July 1866
– Rebecca Mariah Fountain, born 20 October 1867 in Bartow County
– Charles Henry Fountain, born 1876 or 1877 in Georgia (he died in 1951 and is buried at Connesena Cemetery)
– Alice V. Fountain, born 1880 in Kingston.
Note the 1870 Kingston census lists a son, James A., born 1858, says William was born in 1860, and a baby, Shem, two months, but lists no Silas.
Littleton M. Fountain is buried at Connesena Cemetery and has a CSA marker: “Company D, 14th Georgia Infantry” (See “Our family in wartime”). Littleton suffered some form of permanent injury during the Civil War. He is on a list of "maimed Confederate veterans" published in Cartersville in 1894. Littleton is only drawing a small amount, $10, when some on the list are drawing $100, so his injury was relatively minor, perhaps the loss of a finger or fingers.
2. Elias Grady Carnes was born in 1839 in Georgia and is listed in Division 12, Cass County, in 1850 with his family. He married Nancy Indiana Shugart on 23 September 1858 in Floyd County. Elias died before 1870 because his wife and their children – Mary born 1860, and Adelaide born 1866 – are living next door to her father Alfred Shugart and his family in 1870 in Floyd County. He has been confused with his nephew, also Elias G. Carnes, son of Andrew Jackson Carnes, so this Elias’s often cited death year of 1832 is in error. The senior Elias G. served in the Civil War with his brother and was taken prisoner at Gettysburg, which was no doubt a factor in his early death.
The confusion of their names led to a Confederate marker being placed on the younger Elias G.'s grave at Blue Pond Baptist Church cemetery in Floyd County. The actual grave of Elias G. the elder is unknown. For more information, see "Our family in wartime."
Nancy Indiana Shugart was born 25 February 1841 in what is now Gordon County, and died in Surry County, North Carolina. Her father was Alfred Shugart, born 12 January 1807 in Surry County, and her mother was Phoebe York, They were married on 3 November 1830 in Gordon County.
In 1860 Alfred and Phoebe are in the Watters District of Floyd County, and in 1870 are at McGuire's Store (another name for the Watters District), Floyd County. Phoebe York was born 1811 in Surry County, North Carolina. Her year and place of death are currently unknown. In 1870, Alfred’s wife’s name looks like Fesuly. She is 57, born about 1813 in North Carolina, so Phoebe and Fesuly could be the same person.
McGuire's Store, also known as Nannie, was a post office established in 1852 at or near the intersection of Highways 53 and 140 in north Floyd County. They may be living in Shannon, about two miles south on Highway 53. It is the only town in the district, but I do not know when Shannon was established. I think they lived in a community because next door to Alfred is a printer.
Alfred Shugart's father was Leonard Shugart, born 2 July 1772 in Cane Creek, Orange County, North Carolina. He died 9 March 1858 in Yadkin, North Carolina. At age 24, on 9 March 1797, he married Mary Russell in Deep River, Guilford County, North Carolina. Mary Russell was born 17 June 1775 in Surry, and died in 1852, place unknown.
Mary Russell's father was Charles Russell, born in 1733 and died 18 April 1840 in Surry. Mary Russell's mother's name was Catherine Ayers. Nothing else is known of her.
The children of Elias G. and Nancy Indiana are Mary Carnes, born 1859, and Adelade, born 1865, both in Georgia.
3. James Canada Carnes was born 1841 in Cass County. He married Louise Elizabeth Shugart on 23 September 1858 in Floyd County, the same day his brother Elias Grady married her sister, Nancy Indiana. Louise was born 4 April 1838 in North Carolina and died 31 May 1924 in Kingston. She is buried at the Connesena Cemetery (Her tombstone says Mrs. L. E. Carnes).
James Canada Carnes died in Pennsylvania on 30 August 1863 after suffering a wound on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, 2 July 1863. For more on him, see "Our family in wartime."
Elizabeth died 31 May 1924 in Kingston. She is living with her father and mother, Alfred Shugart and Phoebe York, in the 1870 census at McGains Store, and with her son Elias in 1880 in Kingston.
According to Stephen Carnes, James Canada was buried in the cemetery at the hospital in Gettysburg, then moved to Savannah about1877. But his grave site is apparently empty, which may indicate that he is buried in a mass grave adjacent to the site.
Elizabeth Shugart is buried in the Connesena Baptist Church Cemetery north of Kingston. In the same plot is a marker for Ravenell Ohare Ballard, an infant (8 October 1882-11 July 1884) who must be related to Rhoda Ballard’s family (she is Elias Canada’s wife; see below).
In the 1870 census, Alfred Shurgart is 63, living with what looks like Tesaly, 57, and Carrie, 17. Next door are Indiana 30, with Mary 10, and Adelaide 4, and Elizabeth 33, Elias C. 10, and Emma 8. Also next door are Mark and Mary Shugart, both 24, and their son William, 1.
Elizabeth Shugart and James Canada Carnes had two children:
i. Elias Canada Carnes, born 8 August 1859. An Elias Carnes married Elizabeth Barnes on 2 September 1888 in Bartow County.
ii. Emma or Anna, born 1861. I know nothing else about her.
Elias Canada Carnes is easily confused with Elias G. Carnes (the names of both his uncle and his cousin), was born 8 August 1859 in Kingston and died 11 September 1947 in Rome. He is buried in East View Cemetery there. He married Rhoda Ballard, born 2 January 1866, on 25 January 1888 in Bartow County. She died 27 February 1942 in Rome. They are buried in the East View Cemetery in Rome.
Rhoda Ballard’s father was Joseph Ballard, a Civil War veteran. He was born in Campbell County, Tennessee, on 5 December 1820, according to his Civil War records.
Elias and Rhoda had the following children, (most of this information was provided by Stephen Carnes):
– Henry Harrison Carnes, born 2 January 1891 in Kingston, Georgia and died 2 August 1917 in Kingston. Henry married Eva Bell Vaughn on 1 January 1915, daughter of George and Susie Roper Vaughn. Eva Bell was born 17 April 1895 in Cherokee County and died 13 February 1985 in Rome, Georgia. They had two children: Howard, born 30 March 30 1915 in Kingston and died there 13 August 1915, and Henry Harrison Carnes, 7 October 1907-14 February 1991. Henry married Florence Barbara Sommer in June of 1946. They had six children: Stephen Henry, David John, Holly Ann, Nancy Ann, Susan Marie and Kathy Lynne.
– Ollie Bell Carnes, born 27 January 1889 and died 15 January 1938 in Floyd County. She married Oscar Grady Padgett 28 December 1910 in Bartow County, and they had two children: Ralph, and Katherine, who married a Reynolds.
– Thomas Theodore Carnes, born 13 February 1894 (1893 according to the 1900 census) in Bartow County and died 17 June 1950 in Floyd County. He married Bessie Jane Edwards 25 September 1924 in Gordon County. She was born 17 April 1905 and died 22 December 1991. They had seven children. Since some or all of them may still be alive, I have omitted their names.
– Annie May Carnes, born 16 August 1895. She married L. Andrew Padgett on 24 December 1910, and they had one child, Ollie Bell, born 28 February 1912 and died 12 March 1914. Nothing else is known of Annie May.
– James Franklin (Frank) Carnes, born 28 July 1900 (1898 according to the 1900 census), and died 22 May 1982 in Floyd County. He married Mary Lee (Maymie) Alford on 12 December 1924 in Floyd county. She was born 5 February 1901. Their known child is James Alford Carnes, born 28 February 1928, and died 15 July 1935 in Floyd County.
– Walter Grady Carnes, born 11 September 1902 in Bartow County, and died 12 June 1987 in Rome, Georgia. He married Henrietta Yarbrough on 10 February 1926 in Dalton, Georgia. She was born 8 July1908. They had four children, who may still be living.
4. Richard S. (B) Carnes was born in Georgia in 1843 and married a woman named Margaret F. ?. She was born 10 September 1846 in South Carolina and died 21 April 1905. I know nothing else of them except that Shem Carnes was living with them in Kingston in 1900 and 1930. I don't have a record of any children. Margaret is buried in the Connesena Cemetery.
5. Andrew Jackson Carnes, born 1845, is in our direct line of descent, as noted above.
6. Dorcas Maria or Moriah Carnes was born 25 September 1847, probably in Cass County, and died 11 November 1924, place unknown. She married James Hiram Dodd, born 1835 in South Carolina, wedding date unknown. They had three children, all born in Georgia: Sarah E. Dodd born 1871, Mattie E. Dodd born 1873, and Etta "Ettie" Virginia Dodd born 11 October 1879 or 80 and died 1985. Dorcas is said to have hated her husband and begged everyone before she died that she not be buried next to him. I do not know if her wish was fulfilled.
7. Kiddy Carnes, possibly the youngest, born date unknown, married Windsor Graham. At this time, nothing else is known of her.
Shem Carnes' ancestors
Shem Carnes' father was James "Jim" Carnes, born in 1784-5 in King, Stokes County, North Carolina (the 1870 census says South Carolina). His mother was Dorcas Carney, born in 1773, one record says born in North Carolina. Jim Carnes' second wife was Sarah Rice, born 1782.
Jim and Dorcas married in October 1803 in the Greenville District, South Carolina. They were apparently well off.
In the 1840 Census, James' family is living in District 952, Cass County. In 1870 he is living in Adairsville (Subdivision 144), Bartow County with his daughter Sarah (Sallie) Gentry, 42, a widow, and her children Mary R. 20, Frances C. 15, and Thomas B. 9. James is 85 and a retired farmer.
One door away from them is an Amy Carnes, 52, and her family, plus Rebecca Gentry.
And in 1880 he is in the Eighth District, Murray County. The Eighth District, called the "Bloody Eighth" for its violence, is just across the Gordon County line near Nicklesville, Georgia. The elder Jim, 95, is living with his daughter, Sallie Gentry, 62, and next door to James Jr., 52.
The records on the children of Jim Carnes and Dorcas Carney, and Jim and Sarah Rice, are crossed and confused. One sources says that to the best of his knowledge, Jim and Dorcas’s children were Eli, born 1809, Nancy, born 1804, and Shem born 1811 or 1812. Most records say that Jim and Dorcas had three children: Shem, Francis Marion, and James G. And some say Jim and Sarah had two, Frances, born in 1827, and James C., Jr., born 1828. And, as the census records state, Jim had a daughter named Sallie who married a Gentry. Altogether, the speculative list of all Jim’s children includes:
1. Eli William Carnes, born 23 April 1803 or in 1810 in Lancaster, South Carolina. On 9 November 1831 he married Clarissa Adams – Elizabeth Adams' sister – in Rabun County, Georgia, but by 1850 he and Clarissa were living in the 26th District, Cherokee County, Alabama. By 1860, they are living in District 5, Hamilton County, Tennessee. I have no record of him after this.
2. Shem Carnes.
3. Francis Marion Carnes. A Francis M. Carnes married Mary C. Allen on 20 May 1855 in Cass/Bartow County.
4. Missouri Carnes, born 1814 in South Carolina and died before 1870 in Georgia, probably Bartow County. Missouri married a woman named Amy, possibly a Kearns. See "Some census records." In 1840 and 1850, they are in District 952, Cass County, Georgia, in 1860 in the Cassville District, and in 1870, Amy is in the Adairsville District.
Their children, all born in Georgia, included:
Rebecca Carnes born 1841.
John Carnes born 1842-43.
Sarah Carnes born 1844-45.
David Carnes born 1846.
Martha D. Carnes born 1842-43.
Amy O. Carnes born 1850.
Mary A. Carnes born 1852-54.
Andrew V. (Edward) Carnes born 1856-57.
Eliza Ora Carnes born 1858.
5. Emily Carnes, born 1820 in Cobb County, Georgia. On 5 November 1840 in Cass County, she married William T. Adams, probably a brother of Elizabeth and Clarissa above. Her last known residence is Division 12, Cass County, in 1850.
6. James, or John R. Carnes, born 1815-20 in North Carolina. His name is James in the 1870 Chattanooga census. He is the father of King Solomon Carnes, below.
7. A daughter born 1818 according to one website, but probably 1828, in South Carolina. This is Sarah/Sallie Gentry, 42 in 1870.
8. A son born 1825.
9. James C. Carnes, born 1828 in South Carolina. There is a James Carnes Jr., 52, born in South Carolina, living next door to Jim in Murray County in 1880. He married a woman named Melanie.
Needless to say, I can't say who is who.
Jim Carnes' parents were Hubbard Kerns Carnes, (1765-1851) of North Carolina, and his mother was Mary Polly Marianne Callahan, (1764-1825) of South Carolina.
The children of Hubbard and Mary Carnes were:
1. James Jim Carnes.
2. Elizabeth Carnes, born about 1788, probably in Stokes County, North Carolina.
3. William Hubbard Carnes, born 1790 in King County, North Carolina. She is with the family in Rabun County in 1820.
4. Mabry Mabe Carnes, born about 1795 in Stokes County. She lived in Lumpkin County, Georgia.
5. Agnes Carnes, born 1795 in Mount Airy, Surry County, North Carolina.
6. Ruth "Granny Tutor" Carnes, born November 1799 in King County, North Carolina.
7. Louvica Polly Carnes, born 1803 in Surry County. There is a note after this information that says "Cherokee." I have no idea what it means.
8. Isaiah Carnes, born about 1804 in Stokes County.
9. Hubbard Jr. Carnes, born 8 September 1808 in Brushy Creek, Taylors County, South Carolina.
10. Madison Carnes, born 1812, probably in South Carolina.
Dorcas Carney's father was Absalom Carney, born 27 January 1744 or 45, and died 13 September 1832 in the Greenville District, South Carolina. Her mother was Sarah, last name unknown, born 1739. Absalom Carney was the son of John or John G. Carney (1717-1811) and Mary, last name unknown (1715-?).
Absalom and Sarah had 11 children: Dorcas, Absalom, Margaret, Eli, John, Joshua, Shem, Thomas, Susannah, and Sarah. No further information has been found on them. One sources' research lists Thomas 1741-?, Daniel 1743/44-?, Traverse 1743-44-?, Absolom, Mary 1747-?, Jane 1748/49-?, Onesby 1755-?, and Anthony 1756-?
John G. Carney’s father was Thomas Carney III 1690-1743/44, and his mother was Sarah Clifton 1695-?. Thomas Carney III’s father was Thomas Carney II 1670-? and his mother was Abigail 1665-?. Thomas Carney II’s father was Thomas Carney 1640-?. His wife is unknown and nothing further is known of this line.
Note that the Hall-Smith family tree crosses several times in Surry County, North Carolina. This is another family irony. In addition to the Shugarts, Yorks, and Russells above who were born or died there, another major branch of the family tree, that of Philamon Perkins and Obedience Cox, is connected with Mount Airy, North Carolina, and the Perkins are said to have been one of its founding families.
King Solomon Carnes
Also, Gladys Hall mentioned a King Solomon Carnes in the family tree, and sure enough he is listed in the following censuses:1870, Subdivision 13, Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee, 1880 District 8, Murray County, 1900 Kingston, Bartow County, and 1910 Ward 1, Rome, Floyd County. His was born about 1853 or 1857-8 in Georgia or Tennessee (the census records vary) and his parents are said to be James R. Carnes, born about 1820 in Georgia, and Jane (last name unknown).
I think James R. Carnes is Shem’s brother, the James or John Carnes said to have been born in 1815 in North Carolina in one family record.
In the 1870 Chattanooga, Tennessee, census, James R., 50, is a farm laborer born in Georgia. His wife is Jane, 42, born in South Carolina. Their children are George A. Carnes, 18, King S. Carnes 13, and Marion Carnes 6, all born in Georgia.
In the 1880 Murray census, King is living one census page and 21 houses from Jim, Sallie, and James Jr. In 1900, he is living one door down from Richard S. B. and Shem Carnes.
King Solomon Carnes married Margaret S. Hulsey or Halsey on 10 May 1874. They are in Murray County in 1880 with two sons, John and James. King also married Mary Landers on 22 January 1888 in Bartow County. She is his wife in the 1900 Kingston census. They are said to have had at least eight children. In 1900, in the Kingston District, their children are: Thomas 9, born February 1871, Lillie D. 7, born January 1873, Maggie B., 6 born January 1894, and Rosa N., 2 born in June before the 18th in 1897.
