Genealogy Addiction Break Nearly Over

Sometimes you need a break from Census Records, microfilm, indexes, research books, cemeteries, and dead people.  Sometimes you just need some time in the here and now.  That is where I've been since the last post here on Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors which was exactly Seven Months ago. 

You know you need a break when you are naming every ancestor in your Family Tree, but you can't remember what to call your sister.  That happened.   Then every time I thought about reading a newly downloaded novel to my Kindle, a 'Shaky Leaf' on ancestry popped up with a hint that required more Census Record reading. 

My Geneaology Addiction got so bad I began photographing headstones in Old Cemetaries that weren't even my Kin.  And if that wasn't bad enough, I started researching the names on the headstones, writing their stories and adding them to my Family Tree as adoptees.  The final nail in my 'Intervention Coffin' came when I wanted to take our family vacation to Salt Lake City, Utah.  Nobody wanted to tour the libraries of the Family Search Facilities.

If the truth be known, it was fairly easy to be away from Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors.  I mean, really, it's not like any of them were going anywhere.  Besides, I simply traded one addiction for another.  That's right,  I've spent the last seven months obsessing on downsizing my other addictions...vintage jewelry, vintage quilts and linens, and my collection of old dishes and knick knacks.  Thankfully, Christmas intervened!  Now that I have purged all that stuff...I count rearranging and storing stuff...I am ready to get back to my Georgia Ancestors.

 

A bit of reorganizing and adding 'Page Tabs' will help with the chronological order of my Georgia Ancestors.  I do have a plan about how they are to be presented in a book, and hopefully this new posting and Tab Filing System will work.  Afterall, I want to avoid this....

A Genealogist's Nightmare

Once there was a man who at age 23 married a pretty widow who had a grown daughter.  His Father fell in love with her and soon they wed which made the Dad his son-in-law.  His daughter became his mother for she was his Father's wife and to complicate matter the son became the Father of a baby boy who became the brother-in-law to his Dad and so became his uncle.  Sadly, the baby was also the brother to the widow's grown up daughter, who was his step-mother. 

 

His Family Tree became a mangled, twisted trunk all the way to the roots as he realized his wife was now his mother's mother and although she was his wife, she was also his grandmother, too.  He thought, "If my wife is my grandmother then I am her grandchild and every time I think of it, it simply drives me wild...for now I have become the strangest case ever recorded as the husband of my grandmother."  He was his own Grandpa!

 

I hope I haven't given my Great Aunt Savannah the vapors with that run down of what could be ahead in the 'Fourth Generations' Family Tree research.  It could happen with what I already know about her brother, my great grandfather marrying their first cousin.  And there's more...her sister married her brothers wife's brother.

Ooops...there she went...out like a light.  I'd better go and get the smelling salts.  In the meantime, you can browse around Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors.  Just click on the  Tabs below the header for the stories of each Generation of Pittmans.  Also there's the stuff on the sidebar.  See ya next year!

Napier Progenitor...A Planter, Officer, Attorney and Vestryman

Robert Napier was born in Hampton Parish, York County, Virginia to Doctor Patrick Napier and wife Elizabeth Booth Napier(1641-1717) on May 2, 1660.  He was the first Napier to be born in America as his father Patrick was an immigrant from Scotland having arrived on the shores of Virginia in 1655 at age 21.  Robert had one sibling, a sister, Francis Napier Crump (1665-1720). 

Robert's father Dr. Patrick Napier died when Robert was nine years old, leaving Robert his sister Francis and mother Elizabeth well provided for in his will dated February 2, 1668.  The following is the portion of the will that names and provides for Robert and Francis....
    ...pcell of land lying in the prsh of Blessland in the county of New Kent in Virg containing by estimation fifteen hundred acres...To Have & hold the said piece of land to my said deare wife ELIZABETH NAPIER for the home of her natural life alsoe my will and pleasure is that my two deare children Robert Napier, Francis Napier shall have and enjoy the said piece of land or plantation...I give and bequeath unto my dears sone Robert Napier the majority on one halfe of the said piece of land containing fifteen hundred acres... (complete Will presented in Dr. Patrick Napier's segment).
Robert married Mary Perrin on October 11, 1668.  Mary was the daughter of a distinguished and wealthy land owner Richard Perrin and wife Katherine Royall.  The Napier's,  Perrin's and Royall's were considered elite citizens of New Kent, Henrico, Virginia.  All were members of  Henrico Parish where Robert and Mary were married. 

In 1740, the Vestry of Henrico Parish built a new structure which eventually became St. John's Church of Henrico County Virginia.  As one of the largest public buildings in the area, it served as a meeting place for prominent political figures and orators including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other Virginians who heard Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty of give me death."

Robert and Mary had seven children with the first born in 1692 and named Booth...Mary's mother Elizabeth's maiden name.  Their second child was a daughter born in 1694 and given the name Francis after Robert's sister.  Following the given name tradition, their third child was a son named after his father born in 1697.  Katherine was born in 1700 and died in 1751.  Patrick was born in 1713 and named after his doctor grandfather.  Robert and Mary's last son, Rene, was born in 1715 and would become the direct ancestor of my Great Great Grandfather Rene Marion Pittman.

The Napier's resided in Henrico County well into the 1690's where Robert continued to obtain and sell land patents in St. Peter's Parsh, New Kent and King and Queen Parish which would eventually become King William County.  A land grant in 1704 was within the bounds of the Indian Lease laid out according to the Articles of Peace for the Pamunkey Indians.  The Articles described the land granted to Napier as "It began on the north side of the Swamp on the river, to the mouth of Nicatawance Creek, along side the creek, to Philip Williams' line."  This patent was just two months before his daughter Elizabeth was born.

A declaration of the inhabitants of King and Queen County, filed in England March 1701/02 listing all the militia officers of the county included Robert Napier, Lieutenant.  The French king had tried to set up 'James III' on the English throne in place of King William III, but had failed.  King and Queen County's officials were glad, and so expressed themselves in a letter of loyalty to King William III. During his service it is assumed he rose to the rank of Captain, a title which he carried the rest of his life. 

Napier and later his son Robert appear in numerous documents concerning Wills and Deeds in Goochland County.  A last record of note is one filed by his wife Mary Perrin Napier acting as Power of Attorney which appended a deed of sale from her husband.  It read:  I doe By these Presents appt. Capt. William Randolph my true lawful Attorney for me in my stead to acknowledge my right of Dower to one hundred and fifty acres of land sold by my husband to Mr. Nicholas Cox confirming the Same as if personally present myself, as Witness my hand this third day of April 1718.  It is a matter of record that Mary Perrin Napier occasionally raised her hand in court to prevent her husband Robert from gambling away their children's money, and to ensure that he would spend a percentage of his income to support his family.

Captain Robert Napier was know as a Tobacco Planter, a Militia Officer, an Attorney and a Parish Vestryman.  He is historically noted as the real progenitor of the Napier name in America, since he was the only male child of his parents, and had a much larger progeny than his father.  Many if not all Napier's today can trace their origin back to Captain Robert Napier and Mary Perrin Napier. 

It is believed he died in Goochland County even though records from the time of his death have been lost or damaged.  Henrico County's records, also damaged and unreadable might have shown that he lived there at the time of his death and wrote his Will there.  No records of his Will or probate of his Will has been found in either County.



References for this post:  Captain Robert Napier-circa 1600s and early 1700s-Virginia...ancestry.com public member documents submitted Jan.15,2011.  Pittman Family Tree on ancestry.com, Sandra Pittman McPeak, owner. 

 

THE NAPIER FAMILY, a detailed Genealogical Research Anthology/Report traces the Napier Ancestry to 1600's Scotland.  HERE is the Link.  It is a significant and historical read with numerous speculations of Napier kinship to Earls, Lords, Dukes, Knights and even ties to King James I.  I will leave the Pittman/Napier Scottish Connection Research to another Pittman Family Historian, and I will get back to Georgia's Pittman/Napier Connections of ....

Rene's Maternal Lineage to NAPIER Family Tree

Matrilineality is a system in which descent is traced through the mother and maternal ancestors.  It is also a societal system in which one belongs to one's mother's lineage, which can involve the inheritance of property and or titles.   Rene Marion's matrilineal line to the Napier Family Tree was two generations of females which included his mother Francis Stone Pittman and his Grandmother Julia Napier Stone. 

Rene was born in 1812 when his mother was 29 years old and his grandmother Julia was 62.   Had his mother Francis held with 'Second Son Naming Tradition', his given name would have been Marvel...after her father Marvel Stone.  However, it is thought from piecing together early census records, marriage records and wills that grandfather Marvel was estranged from his wife Julia, daughter Francis and possibly most if not all of his seven living children. 

Two years before Rene's birth, Marvel Stone age 61 married for the third time.  Julia Napier was his second wife from which he could have separated or divorced as early as 1800.  She was not listed as a member of his household in the 1800 Census data.  It is presumed Julia was living with daughter Judith as indicated from probate records.   In 1807 when daughter Francis married Ichabod B. Pittman through a 'Marriage Bond' negotiated and signed in his stead by son Washington W. Stone...another indicator of family dissent and resentment against Marvel.

Mary Julia Napier was the daughter of  Rene Napier and Winifred Champion.  She was born in 1750 in Goochland, Virginia, and was only one year old when her father died.  She was named in his will dated October 30, 1871, which stated "I give and bequeath unto my Loven Daughter Mary Napier, one Negro boy named Solomon to her and her heirs forever."  Other bequeaths indicated Rene Napier was the owner of  land on Long Island Creek and a Plantation in Goochland County, Virginia.

Rene Napier was the youngest child of Captain Robert Napier and Mary Perrin.  The Napier's of Virginia were descended from a French Huguenot family of Manakin who came to Virginia as early as 1620.  He was born in King William, Henrico County, Virginia in 1715.  He married Winifred Champion about 1740 and fathered eight children:  Mary Jane 1730-1797, Rene 1739-1807, John F. 1740-1764, Chloe 1745-1790, Boothe 1746, James 1747, Champion 1748-1817 and Mary Julia 1750-1829.

Julia's widowed mother Winifred, married Thomas East in 1757.  Julia and her siblings still of the home became residents of North Cumberland County, Virginia.  It was her third marriage having married Francis Hudnall before Rene Napier. Winifred and Thomas had three children...Martha, James and Ezekial. 

Winifred Champion Hudnall Napier East died in August 1777.  

Julia Napier Stone was 27 years old, married for six years and mother to

Judith, John, William and Joshua Stone.

 Frances would be born six years later in 1783.

Sixty-two years after Rene Napier's death, his granddaughter Francis

broke with tradition and named her 'Second Son'

Rene Marion Pittman.

Etymology and Historical Origin~Rene is a French masculine name from the Latin Renatus meaning 'reborn'.  Such given names were used by early Christians in celebration of Jesus' resurrection or in reference to spiritual rebirth through baptism.  Two of the most notable name bearers are the French philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650) known as "The Father of Modern Philosophy" and Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte (1898-1967) most famous for his "The Son of Man" self-portrait where a green apple is suspended in front of his face. 

Rene Marion...A Given Name That Broke With Tradition

The Importance of Given Names

In genealogy we usually concentrate on surnames since they are the most important way of identifying people who are related.  A surnames is usually inherited and, while it may be changed, some form of it is usually retained.  Given names are more important in a way because they represent a voluntary choice by the parents.  A name is usually not given lightly.  It represents thought and feelings and can be significant to the researcher.  Such is the case of my Great Great Grandfather Rene Marion Pittman.

In the Pittman Family naming history, the names 'Rene' or 'Marion' were not found among the ancestors, at least from the Colonial Period to the time of Rene Marion Pittman's birth on January 28, 1812.  In the Pittman Family you will often see the same names used over and over again.  While certain names are popular in different areas in different times in history, the repetition represents a pattern.  Many cultures believe in honoring their elders and do so by naming children after them.  For example during the period between 1700-1875 the pattern was thus...

~first son was named after the father's father

~second son was named after the mother's father

~third son was named after the father

~fourth son was named after the father's eldest brother

~first daughter after the mother's mother

~second daughter after the father's mother

~third daughter after the mother

~fourth daughter after mother's eldest sister

 

Rene Marion Pittman was the 'Second Son' of Ichabod Byrd and Francis Jackson Stone Pittman.  Their 'First Son' was Thomas Augustus.  Already they have broken the pattern by not naming him after his Pittman grandfather John Ichabod.  When it came time to name their second son, it seems Frances was reluctant to name her child with her father's name of Marvel...which may have been due to the estrangement from her father at the time of her marriage when her brother Washington Ware Stone was the signee on the marriage bond.  That story HERE. 

 

Francis broke tradition by going to her mother's side of the family and named her second son after her maternal grandfather Rene Napier.  Since the focus of my Georgia Ancestors has been on the 'Paternal Lineage' and the Pittman name, the discovery and the source of my Great Great Grandfather Rene Marion's name was one I could not resist digging into.  

What a surprise and significant treasure of genealogical information the name NAPIER has revealed.

At this point in Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors if I were to continue with the established pattern of  a 'Generation Timeline', I would be initiating the 'Fourth Generation of Pittman's in Georgia'.  This would begin with the children of Rene Marion and Mary Anne Howell Pittman of the 'Third Generation', and include my Great Grandfather George Washington Pittman who was the first to migrate to Texas.

 However, like my 3X Great Grandmother Francis, I am going to break the pattern and take this time to share the research on the family of  my 4X Great  Grandmother Mary Julia Napier Stone and her Napier family name.  

Third Generation Direct Descendants...Rene M. and Mary Howell Pittman

Rene Marion Pittman

Born - January 28, 1812 in Columbia County, Georgia

Died - October 24, 1873 in Queen Mills, Cobb County, Georgia

Son of

Ichabod Byrd and Frances Jackson Stone Pittman

1780-1827       1783-1857

Siblings

Thomas Agustus Pittman

1808-1872

Selina Ann Pittman

1815-1853

Joseph Marshall Pittman

1823-1890

Wife

Mary Anne Howell Pittman

January 28, 1822 - August 22, 1890

Married - December 20, 1840 

Rene Marion and Mary Ann Howell Pittman and the Howell Family lived in the Southern part of Cobb County in the vicinity of the Chattahoochie River. The Howell property, near Garrett's Bridge is now (1850's) owned by Mrs. Hampton Howell, the daughter of R.N. Pittman (? if N is meant as M). The adjoining Pittman property is owned by Mrs. Hattie Pittman Parish, daughter of Allison Pittman. (Allison son of Rene and Mary Ann)

Mary Ann's father, Isaac Howell, was a pioneer settler of Cobb County, and the brother of Evan P. Howell of Gwinnett County, then Atlanta County. Her brothers married Sewell sisters, and another brother married Elizabeth Redwine whose family was also associated with the Word Family in neighboring Coweta County.

Many Fulton and Cobb County landmarks are named for the Howell and Sewell families including: Howell Mill Road, Sewell Mill Road, Sewell Farms Subdivisions.

Mary Ann's Uncle Captain Evan P. Howell acquired the Atlanta Constitution Newspaper when it was struggling in it's infancy, and was the Editor-in-Chief for many years.
(From: The First Hundred Years, A Short History of Cobb County Georgia)

Children of Rene Marion and Mary Anne Howell Pittman

William Howell Pittman

1842-1909

George Washington Pittman

1843-1938

Albert Singleton Pittman

1845-1921

James Allison Pittman

1848-1928

Mary Eugenia Pittman Howell

1850-1934

Fannie Margaret Pittman

1850-1934

Emma Pittman

1854-1979

Elizabeth Lizzy Pittman

1857-1921

Isaac Marion Pittman

1859-1919

Savannah Bartow Pittman Brown

1862-1937

Rene Marion Pittman served in the 7th State Guard Volunteer Infantry Regiment of Georgia, and enlisted as a Sargent in Company K at the age of 49 years on May 31, 1861. (documented in US Civil War Records and Profiles). 

The 7th Georgia along with the 8th, 9th, 11th, and 59th made up Gen. 'Tige' Anderson's Brigade in Hood's Division of Longstreet's Corps. The GA 7th Infantry Regiment was formed in May, 1861, at Atlanta, Georgia, and in June moved to Harpers Ferry,Virginia. Assigned to Colonel F. S. Bartows Brigade, Army of the Shenandoah, it was active in the fight at First Manassas. In April 1861, the regiment had 611 effectives and served under the command of General G. T. Anderson until the end of the war. It participated in the campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia from the Seven Days Battles to Cold Harbor, except when it was detached with Longstreet at Suffolk, in Georgia, and at Knoxville. The 7th was not involved in the Battle of Chickamauga. It was active in the long Petersburg siege south and north of the James River and later the Appomattox Campaign. (From:  The War for Southern Independence In Georgia)


Rene Marion and Mary Anne Howell Pittman lived most of their lives in Cobb County, Georgia, and were documented in the following US Census:
~US Census of 1840 - R.M. Pittman, age 28, head of house with 4 free white males and 1 free white female in household.  4 Slaves...2 males and 2 females with ages that indicate a young couple with two young children.  Agriculture.
~US Census of 1850 - R.M. Pittman, age 38, head of house with wife Mary Ann age 28.  Children:  William, George, Albert, James and Mary Eugenia.  Occupation Farmer.
~US Census of 1870 - R.M. Pittman, age 58, head of house with wife Mary Ann (47) and children:  James (23) farmhand, Mary, Fannie, Emma, Elizabeth, Isaac Marion, and Savannah.  Occupation Farmer.  Listed Real Estate value at $2500 and Personal Estate $500.
~US Census of 1880 - Mary A. Pittman, age 54, widowed head of house with children:  Eugenia (30), Fannie (28), Lizzie (23), Savannah (19)...all keeping house...Isaac (2l) Farmer.  (This Census taken 7 years after Rene Marion's death shows his widow and children farming his land.  His older sons Albert, George and Loren as living on neighboring farms.  Is possible that older sons inherited their part of their fathers estate and continued to farm all of R.M. Pittmans land.
~US Census of 1890 - There is no 1890 Census.  It was destroyed in a fire.  By the next Census in 1900, Mary Ann Howell Pittman has died, her older sons left Georgia for Texas, and her daughters have married or have moved in with relatives.  It is not know what became of the R.M. Pittmans Land....still researching.


Rene Marion and Mary Anne Howell Pittman are buried in The Howell Family Cemetery.
The Howell Family Cemetery is located in Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia.
There are 99 Howell/Pittman and Relatives buried there .
A descendent of the Howell Family, Clark Howell Hogan discussed founding the Howell Family cemetery in one of the Volumes of Cobb County Georgia Cemeteries. He said, "the cemetery was established in 1860 with the death of *Isaac Howell who fell dead, according to family legend, while 'cussing' Abraham Lincoln. Having said he would rather die than see Abe elected President."  *Isaac Howell was Mary Anne's Father.
Find A Grave Memorial Links:
Rene Marion Pittman
Mary Anne Howell Pittman
 
Rene Marion and Mary Anne Howell Pittman
2X Great Grandparents of
Sandra Sue Pittman, Author
Tracks of My Texas Ancestors
through their son
George Washington Pittman

Pittman Brothers From Paulding and Cobb Counties

Rene Marion Pittman and Joseph Marshall Byrd Pittman were two of the three sons of Ichabod Byrd and Frances Jackson Stone Pittman.  Both were born in Columbia County, Georgia as was their older brother Thomas Augustus and sister Selina Ann. 

As the 'Third Generation' of Pittman Georgians, Thomas, the oldest child's story was featured first...'Father of Fifteen-Husband To Two', and Selina's story...Selina Rides Upon the Wings of Time...told second.  Rene Marion was the second child and Joseph Marshall the fourth and youngest. 

The two brothers lived most of their young years in Gwinnett County with their parents and siblings.  Brother Thomas remained in Gwinnett County for most of his life, and sister Selina stayed close to brother Joseph following her marriage and early death.  All however, stayed in close proximity to three counties in North Georgia...Gwinnett, Cobb and Paulding where they owned fertile farm land and raised their families.  

Joseph Marshall Byrd was named after his great grandfather the Reverend Daniel Marshall, and his father Ichabod Byrd.  Records often refer to Joseph as J.M.B. Pittman...such was the listing in the 1864 Census for Reorganizing the Georgia Militia.  Fourteen years earlier in the 1850 Census his name was listed as Joseph M. B. Pittman.  In the Census of 1870, he was listed as Joseph Pittman.  

The name 'Byrd' seems to be isolated to Ichabod and Joseph.  As unusual as 'Byrd' is, it does not appear in the fraternal Pittman ancestors dating back to the late 1600's and the Colonial Pittmans.   'Byrd' is not found in any of the female ancestors given or surnames dating back to the same period. 

Joseph married at age 23 to his first cousin Elizabeth Harriet Stone in 1846.  Elizabeth was the daughter of Washington W. Stone, the brother of Joseph's mother Frances.  Four years later in the 1850 Census Joseph is listed as a Farmer in Cobb County with real estate valued at $5000.  He and Elizabeth have one daughter, Eugenia born in 1847.  Living on adjoining land to the Pittman farm is sister Selina and husband Drury Dunn and their eight children. 

In nearby Coxes District, Cobb County, brother Rene Marion and his family of wife Mary Ann Howell and five children are listed in the 1950 Census.  The Census is not as complete as in Joseph's District and does not state the value of Rene's property, but it is assumed from earlier records that both have been heir to their father's property which had been handed down through the generations from a Colonial Land Grant.

Over the next ten to twelve years with the onslaught of the Civil War much if not all of the Pittman land holdings in Gwinnett, Cobb and Paulding counties was lost.  Joseph and Elizabeth appear in the 1864 Census for the Reorganizing of the Georgia Militia as living in Paulding County.  The last of their twelve children were born in 1865 with twin boys, George Irwin and William Hansel.   Of the twelve children, the twins and one sister Mary Alice Bella 'Bell' lived to adulthood.

In the 1870 Census Joseph (47), Elizabeth (47), Mary 'Bell' (19), Hayes (12) George and William (5) were still living in Paulding County.  His occupation was listed as a farmer with his real estate valued at $500 and personal property of $100.  Three years later in 1873 Hayes died at age 15.  After 1873 there are no 'confirmed'  records of Joseph, Elizabeth, Mary 'Bell' or the twins until the 1900 Census for George Irwin and William Hansel who were 34 years old. 

Between the two confirmed records, a gap of over 25 years, there are sketchy, hearsay, and unconfirmed Census records as well as the Howell Family Cemetery headstones to piece together the lives of Joseph and Elizabeth.

It is known that Mary 'Bell' married a Thomas Clay probably during the early 1880's.  In the 1900 Census she is listed with brother George Irwin as Bell Clay, 45 yrs., single and no children.

In the 1880 Census, there is one Joseph Pittman (57) found in neighboring Fulton County in a town called Bulkhead.  If it is Joseph M.B. Pittman, the indication would be that he left his wife and fifteen year old twin sons in Paulding County while he supplemented his income as a traveling 'Peddler'.  Likely, Joseph, Elizabeth and twin sons were either missed during the Census taking or were living with daughter Mary 'Bell' Clay...no records for her and husband Thomas have been found.  Due to the destruction of the 1890 US Census by fire at it's headquarters in Washington D.C., there are no records for anyone until the 1900 Census. 


Joseph Marshall Byrd Pittman died March 14, 1890 before the 1890 Census was taken in April-June.  However, his wife, twin sons and daughter Bell Clay would have been enumerated and some record of their whereabout known had the 1890 Census had not be destroyed in fire.

Elizabeth Harriet Stone died on June 6, 1893 and was buried beside her husband in the Howell Family Cemetery.  It is assumed that they are buried here as an available gravesite from the wife of Rene Marion, Mary Ann Howell Pittman.  As her fraternal family cemetery, Mary Ann buried her husband Rene Marion in 1873 here.

 It also assumed from the inscriptions on Joseph and Elizabeth's headstones, that the monuments were erected some years after their deaths by their granddaughter Alma Pittman Croft, daughter of twin George Irwin.  George Irwin and his wife are also buried at the Howell Family Cemetery with headstones similar to his parents and with an inscription noting the donation of the stones by Alma Pittman Croft.

William Hansel, twin brother to George died three years before George on February 14, 1940, in Gwinnett County and is buried there.  Mary Alice Bellah 'Bell' who was listed with brother George Irwin in the 1900 Census died on December 30, 1911, at age 60, and although no records of death or burial have been found, it is assumed that she was still a member of brother George's household. 

All in all, it appears that Joseph Marshall Byrd and his first cousin wife Elizabeth Harriet Stone began their lives together in times of prosperity.  With the loss of seven children some of whom died at birth and others as toddlers or teens, the following years were filled with tradgedy and hardship.  Although they survived the Civil War, their family farms and many relatives did not. Their descendents through twins George and Willliam for the most part, remained in Georgia in and around the three counties of their parents and grandparents....Gwinnett, Cobb and Paulding.

Please refer to the FIND A GRAVE Link List on the Sidebar for

Memorials and more information for the Pittman Ancestors named in this post.

Selina Rides Upon The Wings of Time

The only daughter of Ichabod Byrd and Francis Jackson Stone Pittman, Selina Ann, like her older brothers Thomas and Rene was born in Columbia County, Georgia.  As the first girl child born into the Kiokee Creek Pittman Family since her Aunt Lucy Eunice, Selina was surely doted upon by her paternal grandparents John and Lucy Eunice Pittman.

Also referred to in some family documentation as Emeline Selina,  her appearance in early census was as a number in the category of 'free white females' while living under the roof of her father.  It was not until the 1850 Census that her name first appeared in the Census as the wife of Drury N. Dunn.

Based on the 1850 Census and the birth of her first child, her marriage date has been estimated to be in 1832 when she was 17 years of age.  It is not known how the couple came to know each other and marry as Drury Dunn hailed from Tennessee and no documentation or hearsay has been found to explain his appearance in Georgia.

By the time the 1850 Census was taken, Selina and Drury were enumerated  as Free Inhabitants in California District in the County of Cobb, State of Georgia.  Drury's occupation listed as Farmer with real estate valued at $225.  He was 42 years of age and Selina was 35 with children Francis 14, Robert 15, Sophia 13, Mary 12, Caroline 9, Washington 7, Elender 5, and Marshall 2. 

Listed just above the Dunn's on a neighboring property was Selina's younger brother Joseph Marshall Byrd Pittman, his wife Elizabeth and daughter Eugenia.  His property was valued at $5000, which brings to question whether Drury's $225 was in real estate or personal property.  More than likely Selina and Drury were living on her inherited property which was included in her brother's 1850's listing.

According to records, Selina had one more child in 1852...day and month unknown.  Lucius T. Dunn was her tenth child in twenty years of marriage.  The following year, 1853, on the 11th of November, Selina  died at age 38.   The cause of death is unknown and no documentation has been found.  However, there was an epidemic of yellow fever that swept through Georgia that year.

Drury was a widower at age 47 with ten children between the ages of 19 and 1 year old.  Three months after Selina's death, a marriage citation was issued to Drury Dunn and Elizabeth B. Hammock who were wed on February 23, 1854.

The Dunn Family's next documentation was in the 1860 Census taken in Township 15 Range 12, Calhoun, Alabama.  Drury, Elizabeth and 8 of Selina's children were listed as residents.   From all indications and later years of Census Records, most of Selina's children remained in Alabama with their father and step mother Elizabeth who bore Drury one more child.

Drury Dunn lived to the age of 77 years.  He died in Cleburne County Alabama and is buried in Upper Cane Creek Cemetery, in Fruithurst, Alabama.  His Find A Grave Memorial...HERE.
 Selina's children buried in Upper Cane Creek Cemetery are: son Marshall Pittman Dunn and daughter Caroline Dunn Thompson.  Son Robert Edward Dunn is buried in Terrell Cemetery, Marion County, Alabama.  There is no record of Selina's death or the whereabouts of her final resting place.   She is, however, fondly remembered and documented here on

Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors as the sister of my

2xGreat Grandfather Rene Marion Pittman.

Photo Disclaimer....Photo of children not intended to depict any person named herein.  Headstone photo from ancestry.com public domain.  Wedding dress and accessories from authors personal collection...photo ©property of Sue Pittman McPeak.

Father of Fifteen...Husband To Two

Thomas Augustus Pittman was born in the fall of 1808 in Columbia County, Georgia, where the Pittman name held a measure of historic and notable significance.  He was the great-grandson of Rev. Daniel Marshall, who established the first Baptist Church in Georgia. 

His grandmother Lucy Eunice Marshall Pittman upheld her father's Baptist influence by raising eight sons and a daughter to abide by the scriptures.   Her first son and Thomas' father,  Ichabod in turn continued to put down roots in Columbia County near his homestead along Kiokee Creek and the Kiokee Creek Baptist Church.

By the time Thomas was seventeen years of age, his parents had completed their family with three more children.  A small number of offspring for the times when most farming families boasted ten to twelve children.  As the oldest son, Thomas began his work on the family farm just a few years before his father's untimely and early demise in 1827 at age 45, just 20 years after his Georgia Bonded Marriage to Frances Jackson Stone.

Thomas married young at the age of 17 the year before his father's sudden death.  His June Bride, Sarah B. 'Salley' King were married on June 15, 1826.  Salley was the daughter of a Revolutionary War Soldier from North Carolina who migrated to nearby Wilkes County, Georgia and then to Taliaferro County where Thomas and Salley were married.

Thomas and Salley made their home in Taliaferro County near her parents and large extended family, with all eight of their children born there.

 Salley died on February 14, 1852, apparently either in childbirth or soon after giving birth to James, who apparently did not survive either.  There are no official death records for either of them. 

However, less than one month later Thomas age 43, married Lucy Ann Bramblett age 24.  Lucy was the daughter of Ambrose S. and Nancy M. Huckabay Bramblett of Gwinnett County, Georgia.

It was not uncommon for a widower left with young children to remarry sooner than later.  There was a large extended Pittman Family in the Gwinnett , Columbia and surrounding counties known by all and known to be a family of upstanding community minded people with strong Christian beliefs and morals.

As Lucy was a single 24 year old woman close to the Pittman Family of Gwinnett County, she was a likely bride for Thomas and a mother for his children.  Given the short time between Sallye's death and Lucy's wedding, it would not be unthinkable for the union to be another of Georgia's Bond Marriages. 

Thomas and Lucy had seven children over a period of fifteen years.  Their oldest living child was Georgia Anne Pittman who died at age 86 years in 1947.  She never married and at the time of her death, her only living relatives were the children of her thirteen siblings and half siblings.  Between the two marriages, Thomas Augustus Pittman more than made up for his parents lack of a large family with fourteen of his fifteen children living to adulthood. 

~The only exception to at least a mid-life age was Asa Pittman who died at age 20, a casualty of the Civil War.
~William Thomas-served in Co I, Georgia 16th Infantry Regiment, enlisting one month after the death of his brother Asa.
 ~Simpson Clabus-served in Co A, Georgia 42nd Infantry Regiment, enlisting in March 1862...one month before his brother Asa's death.
~Jackson G.-served in Co I, Georgia 16th Infantry Regiment enlisting July 16, 1861.

Thomas Augustus Pittman lived the last twenty years of his life in Gwinnett County, Georgia with his second wife Lucy.  He died in 1872 at the age of 64 years old in Hog Mountain, Gwinnett County, Georgia. 

Lucy was almost half his age and lived another twenty-eight years.  She died January 13, 1900.  Thomas, Lucy and Sallye are buried in the Ebenezer Baptist Church Cemetery in Gwinnett County Georgia.

Rest In Peace 2nd Great Uncle and Aunts.  You are remembered as the Third Generation Georgians in Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors.

The Third Generation

 

Ichabod Byrd Pittman married Frances Jackson Stone on

October 12, 1807 in

Columbia County, Georgia. 

KNOW all Men by these Presents, That we

Ichabod Pittman & Washington W. Stone

are held firmly bonded unto the Court of Ordinary of Columbia County,

in the form of

EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY-SEVEN DOLLARS and FOURTEEN CENTS,

to which payment well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, our heirs,

executors and administrators, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents,

sealed with our seals and dated this 12th day of October 1707

The Condition of the above Obligation is such

That, whereas there is a MARRIAGE intended to be Solemnized between the above named

Ichabod Pittman and Francis J. Stone

if there be no lawful cause to obstruct the same, then this Obligation to be void,

else to remain in full force and virtue.

 

Signed, Sealed and Acknowledged in the presence of

A. Crawford, clk

 

With the Marriage Bond and Wedding Rings,

Ichabod Byrd and Francis J. Stone

were married on October 12, 1807.

 

The documents mistaken date of 1707 was not a cause to void the marriage which ended Twenty Years later in 1827 with the death of Ichabod Byrd.  The dowry (present) of $857.14 helped to establish the young couples home in Columbia County Georgia where Ichabod was born and raised...his story...First Son~Second Generation. 

 

The document, signed by Ichabod and Francis' brother Washington W. Stone, bound the couple together in Solemn Matrimony and gave lawful cause for future Heirs....The Third Generation.



First Son~Second Generation...Ichabod Byrd Pittman

Although there is not a great deal of documentation on the life of Ichabod Byrd Pittman, he was born in a well documented and historically significant time in the life of his parents and grandparents who were pioneers in the expansion of the American Colonies in Georgia and the pursuit of Religious Freedom.

The first son of John Ichabod and Lucy Eunice Marshall Pittman, his birthdate has not been definitely established.  His parents were married in 1781 and his brother Marshall is documented with a birth year of 1783, therefore, it is accepted that Ichabod was born in 1782.

Ichabods mother, Lucy Eunice was the daughter of Daniel Marshall, the Patriarch of the Marshall Family and the Kiokee Baptist Church whose rich history is well documented in the realm and the pursuit of Religious Freedom and the establishment of the first Baptist Church in Georgia. 

Ichabod's father John and his Colonial parents John and Mary Rowe Pittman were followers and founding members of Daniel Marshalls Kiokee Baptist Church established in Columbia County, Georgia in 1772. 

It is highly probably that Ichabod Byrd was Baptized in the Kiokee Baptist Church Baptismal Pool which today is recognized as a Georgia Historical Landmark along with the Church that occupies the original land of the First Kiokee Baptist Church.

Ichabod Byrd Pittman and Frances Jackson Stone were married on October 12, 1807.  Frances was the daughter of Marvel and Mary Julia Napier Stone who prior to 1807, had been residents of Wilkes County, Georgia. 

In the 'Condition of Obligation' Certificate, which states what is assumed as her dowry of EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY-SEVEN DOLLARS and FOURTEEN CENTS, Frances' brother Washington Ware Stone signed, sealed and acknowledge the document.

The wedding was likely to have taken place in the Kiokee Baptist Church with the Reverend Abraham Marshall performing the ceremony.  Abraham was Ichabod's Uncle who would have taken over the Ministry of his father Daniel who died in 1784, two years after the birth of his grandson Ichabod.

 By 1820 Ichabod and Francis were well established in Capt. Horatio Gatrells District in Columbia, Georgia, as seen in the 1820 US Federal Census.  This early Census was numerical enumerator only with the only name that of the Head of House/Landowner.  The following matches names with the numbers:
~Free White Males under 10.......Rene Marion Pittman
~Free White Males 10-15............Thomas Augustus Pittman
~Free White Males 26-44............Ichabod Byrd Pittman (38yrs)
~Free White Females under 10....Selina Ann Pittman
~Free White Females 26-44...........Frances Jackson Stone Pittman(37yrs)
Ichabod and Frances would have one more child, Joseph Marshall Byrd Pittman born July 24, 1823.

Four years and one month after Joseph's birth, Ichabod Byrd Pittman died on August 23, 1827.  Records of his death and burial have not been found.  The cause of death is not known, but there was an epidemic of Yellow Fever that swept through Georgia in 1827 which could attribute to the lack of death certification and a quick burial. 

Ichabod Byrd Pittman...3xGreat Grandfather

Memorial Burial at Family Cemetery
Mount Carmel United Methodist Church Cemetery...Unmarked grave.

Both of his Parents, brothers Hiram and Jeptha and sister Lucy Eunice Jenkins are buried there.

Frances Jackson Stone Pittman...3xGreat Grandmother 

Lived another 30 years, remained a widow and lived in Gwinnett County, Georgia

for most of the rest of her life.
Died January 28, 1857...Buried Paulding County, Georgia
Flint Hill United Methodist Church Cemetery 

 

 Her four children all grew to adulthood with son

Rene Marion Pittman

becoming the next Direct Ancestor and the beginning of the

Third Generation of American Pittmans

featured in

Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors.

Lucy Eunice...A Legacy Moniker

Lucy Eunice Marshall Pittman was no doubt 'The Matriarch Pittman' of the 'Second Generation Georgians'.   So beloved by her children and grandchildren that at least one of her names...Lucy, Eunice or Marshall...was bestowed on her descendants, both boys and girls. 

By the time Matriarch Lucy had her one and only daughter after seven sons, there were over ten grandchildren named after her.  Without hesitation, Lucy Eunice the first, passed her remarkable name to her daughter born around 1800.

Would she live up to the 'Lucy Eunice Legacy'?

Only time would tell...and tell it has.  After two hundred and fourteen years to date, Lucy Eunice II's history is vaguely documented and uncommonly missing in the well documented lives of her parents and brothers. Her exact birthdate is unknown.  In death, she was Laid to Rest in an unmarked grave.

Even so, Lucy Eunice Pittman has a story to tell.

"I will not pay any debts by William H. Jenkins, who I married in 1832...Lucy E. Jenkins, July 8, 1837."  Gwinnett County Records/Newspaper Notice

"NOTICE:  I  deny posting Libel against my husband, William H. Jenkins....Lucy E. Jenkins, July 29, 1837."  Newspaper Notice

It appears that after five years of marriage, Lucy and William have had their problems.  At this time there is no documentation or mention of children born to this union.  There is also no records to indicate that Lucy and William separate or diviorce...which would have been unacceptable in the eyes of society and the prominent Pittman Family.

"NOTICE:  March 31, 1843...Sheriff's Sale...Land Sale of William H. Jenkins to satisfy a Judgement by J.W. Cardwell."

Lucy and Williams undocumented...'No more News Notices'...life must have gone on for another seven years.  At least until the 1850 Gwinnett County Census where the Pittman name appears not only as a Resident of the County but also as the Enumerator of the 1850 Gwinnett County Census.

It is revealed by an earlier 'Pittman Family Historian' that Daniel N. Pittman noted in this Census that his sister Lucy Eunice Pittman Jenkins declared herself as Widowed.  However, her husband, William H. Jenkins was alive and likely not so well, living right next door.  It seems that the brother and Magistrate Daniel N. Pittman of Lucy Eunice had found a way to end the union without marring the family name.

Declaration by Daniel N. Pittman...The 1850 Morality Schedule

A woman may be declared a widow if she has been abandoned.

"Natural spring water, vegetation, and the 'Inebreating' fluid which is so bountifully manufactured on many of the streams of this division.  But the men must (?) partake of the juice manufactured into alcohol and are held captive by the evil one at his will.  The apple is a delicious fruit but when fermented and distilled ought not to be placed to his neighbor's mouth by the bottle which beggars many citizens of all descriptions discovering their nakedness truly as said the prophet Habakkuk chapter 2nd verse 15th." 
In his strong words backed up by the Bible, Daniel, legally and morally declared his brother-in-law a captive/maker of the devils brew, a drunk, unfit husband and dead.

Regardless of his Magistrate Brother-In-Laws 1850 Declaration as to his 'Dead ToUs' status and Unfit Family Man, William H. Jenkins survived another ten years to appear in the 1860 Gwinnett County Census.  This Census is extremely important in revealing the history of Lucy Eunice's life between the time she married William in 1832 until August 23, 1860, the date of this Census.

First, it reveals a child born to Lucy and William.  Robert born in 1837 when Lucy recanted her Libel Notice against her husband.  There is no denying Roberts birth and birthrights as the son of Lucy and William and the grandson of Lucy Eunice and John Ichabod Pittman.  His existence helps explain Lucy's staying in close proximity to her husband and father of her child.  It is suspected that Lucy's marriage and choice of a husband was less acceptable to her brother Daniel than to Lucy, and that she was caught in the proverbial  'rock and a hard place'.

Secondly, it confirms the Pittman Family Landholdings before the Civil War with Robert apparently having inherited his Mother's real estate valued at $1,500 with a personal estate of $4,000 which for the time indicates a moderate to wealthy status.  Since his father William is listed as a member of the household and not the head, it reinforces Robert's wealth came from the Pittman side of the family, since William's land was sold off in a Sheriffs Sale nearly twenty years earlier.

Next, the absence of Lucy Eunice Pittman Jenkins in any of the 1860 Census indicates that her death must have occurred in the ten year period between the Census'.    Another interesting note is the occupation listed for William...carpenter.  He must have been quite a 'Jack of All Trades' and a patriot as his Find A Grave Memorial notes:

WM. H. Jenkins is listed as Muscian in County A, 39th GA Volunteer Regiment Infantry,

Murphy Guards, Sept. 26, 1861.

This record suggests that at age 59/60 William H. Jenkins was an early enlistee in the Confederacy.  He, however, was not a casualty of the Civil War but died of a 'Fever' in August 1869 as documented in the US Federal Census Mortality Schedule of 1870.  He is buried in an unmarked grave in Mount Carmel United Methodist Church Cemetery where Lucy II, Lucy I and many other Second Generation Pittmans are interred.

Lucy Eunice Pittman Jenkins

Time Hurried On for Hiram the Seventh Son

Hiram Pittman was the seventh son of John Ichabod and Lucy Eunice Pittman. At the age of 23 he was appointed a First Lieutenant in Georgia's 131st District Company Militia by Governor John Clark. His military career of four years ended in May 1824.

Two years passed before he married Elizabeth Daughtery in 1826.  It is after this marriage that Hiram first appears in the court records of Columbia County, Georgia.  Elizabeth was the sixteen year old daughter of Neail Daughtery whose estate settlement prompted Hiram to petition the court on behalf of his young wife.

Court records show that Hiram's Hearing of the Petition took place on Monday, September 3, 1827.  He signed a receipt approximately six months later on February 23, 1828 for one fifth of the estate which included one lot of land valued at $660.67, negro slaves Betty, Peter, Tom, Sally and her three children, Peggy and Chebra with a value of $1900.  In addition Hiram and Elizabeth received $161.86 from the sale of personal property belonging to the estate. By this time Elizabeth had given birth to their first child, John M. born December 18, 1826.

John M. Pittman became one of the largest landowners in Gwinnett County with as much as 500 acres in the Pinkneyville area.  Some of his holdings were from land inherited from his father Hiram who died in 1839 when John was 13 years old.  He and his younger siblings Joseph, Emily and Louisa along with their mother Elizabeth (29 yrs.) appear in the 1840 Gwinnett County Census as living on the estate of Hiram Pittman along with 36 slaves.  One year later a notice releasing Administration of the Estate from young John and Elizabeth was published in the newspaper.

In November 1841, Peter F. Hoyle gave Bond in Gwinnett Inferior Court as Guardian for John,Joseph, Emily and Louisa Pittman, orphans and minors of Hiram Pittman.  Peter Hoyle was a wealthy and highly respected physician in Decatur and had a large estate of lands, Mills, and Negros.  In the DeKalb County 1850 Census he has listed the widowed Elizabeth as his wife and her children as members of his household.  Emily and Louisa were listed with real estate holdings of $800 and John M. now 24 yrs. old as a farmer with $1200 in real estate.  Son Joseph Hiram Pittman, migrated to Texas where during the 1880's he was elected District Clerk of Goliad, Texas.

The cause of Hiram's early demise is not known.  The inscription on his tomb suggests that perhaps he died of a sudden illness.  The tomb also is inscribed...In Memory of Hiram Pittman who died in the 42nd year of his age AD 1839.  Erected by Mrs. Elizabeth H. Pittman, His wife, AD 1841.   The inscription date is after Dr. Peter Hoyle was awarded guardianship of the estate and Hirams children.

Elizabeth and Dr. Hoyle had three daughters together.  They lived in Decatur for many years where he was a practicing physican and planter until he suffered a heart attack.  They moved to Jacksonville, Florida and lived with their daughter Fredonia and husband Doctor William Haddock.  Dr. Hoyle died in January 1871 and Elizabeth in February 1882.  They are buried in Jacksonville, Florida.

Hiram and Elizabeth's son John M. died at age 52 in Gwinnett, Georgia and is buried in a nearby cemetery to his father Hiram and his grandparents John Ichabod and Lucy Eunice Marshall Pittman.

Emily died in August 1852 at age 21 and is buried in Decatur's Old Cemetery.   Her Tomb, much like her father's is surrounded by a decorative iron fence and is inscribed  with words from a poem by L.H. Sigourney published in 1842...

Gone where no dark sin is cherished

Where no woes nor fears invade.

Gone are youth first bud had perished

To a youth that ne'er can fade.

 

Louisa Susan Pittman married William Augustine Green in 1853, had four children and last appeared in the 1860 Census with wealthy land owner husband listing his real estates value as $30,000 and personal estate of $12,000.  It is indicated that her husband died not long after the 1860 Census leaving Louisa a wealthy young widow.  It is likely she remarried and due to a change in her last name, the rest of her life and death can not be researched at this time.

 

Hiram and Elizabeth's youngest child and son Joseph Hiram Pittman as mentioned earlier migrated to Goliad, Texas where another branch of the Pittman Family has prospered.  Joseph died in February 1898 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Goliad, Texas.  He married Laura Word in Cass County Georgia and they had six children who became citizens of Goliad County, Texas.

 

Hiram Pittman   

1789~1839

Mount Carmel United Methodist Church Cemetery

 

As You this Mausaleum view

Think that a home as small awaiteth you.

Time hurry's on, nor long will death delay

To take the life and leave nothing but clay.

 

Oh Hiram, you left so much more than Elizabeth could possibly have known on that day!