Mary Lourania (Forrester) Ward – my 2nd great-grandmother.

Births

• Merritt Burgin was born in 1810 in Burke County, North Carolina.
• Eliza Amanda (Forrester) Woody was born in 1846.

Births

• Benjamin Edward Forrester was born in 1850 in Georgia.

Deaths

• Caleb Miller died in 1876 in Lincoln County, North Carolina.
• Rex Venable Whitener died in 1988.

Births

• Nancy Elizabeth (Forrester) Marshall was born in 1848 in Fannin County, Georgia.

Deaths

• Sarah Malinda (Hemphill) Porter died in 1907.

Marriages

• James E. Ellis and Nancy McClure were married in 1812 in Haywood County, North Carolina (my 4th great-grandparents).
• Magdalin Elrod and James Meady Roberts were married in 1914 in Murray County, Georgia.

Click on any link above to see more information about these individuals, including source citations.

Births

• Ruth Bertha (Hemphill) Whiteside was born in 1794 in Burke County, North Carolina.
• Joseph M. Tucker was born in 1833.
• Mary Louise (Burgin) Goforth was born in 1848 in Burke County, North Carolina.

Deaths

• Captain Thomas Hemphill died in 1826 in Morganton, North Carolina (my 4th, 5th, and 6th great-grandfather).
• Joseph M. Tucker died in 1833.
• Rebecca Susana Forrester died in 1858.
• William M. West died in 1928 in Cisco, Georgia (my 2nd great-grandfather).
• Claude Lee Patterson died in 1956 in Chatsworth, Georgia.

Marriages

• Anna Margaretha (MNU) and Hans Andreas Dellinger were married in 1697.
• Ruth Bertha Hemphill and John Underwood Whiteside were married in 1819 in Burke County, North Carolina.

Births

• Nathaniel Cobb was born in 1801 in South Carolina.
• Nancy A. E. (Marshall) Forrester was born in 1845 in North Carolina.
• Eliza (Garrett) Mullinax was born in 1867 in Ellijay, Georgia.

Click on any link above to see more information about these individuals, including source citations.

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Births

• Hans Michael Dellinger was born in 1683.

Deaths

• George D. Whitener died in 1880 in Catawba County, North Carolina.
• Mary Lourania (Forrester) Ward died in 1944 in Newport, Georgia (my 2nd great-grandmother).

My 3rd-great-grandparents, Coleman Forrester and Anna Carnes, appeared on the 1870 census in Fannin County, Georgia.  I’m working backward through my 3rd-great-grandfather’s census records, as I attempt to verify the next generation back in this line.  This is the second installment in this series.

Census Abstract¹:

1. Colman Forister, age 52, male, white, Farmer, $800 real estate, $800 personal estate, b. SC
2. Ann, 45, female, white, Keeping house, b. GA
3. Edward, 19, male, white, works on farm, b. GA
4. Martha, 16, female, white, works on farm, b. GA
5. Newton, 9, male, white, At home, b. GA
6. George, 8, male, white, At home, b. GA
7. Mary, 6, female, white, At home, b. GA

The family lived in Militia District 844; their post office was in Morganton.

Analysis of the data:

1. Coleman’s information is consistent with other sources.  This census implies a birth date of 1818, while his tombstone inscription states 9 Sep 1817².  All known sources point to South Carolina as his place of birth.  His real estate and personal estate are valued higher than any other Forresters in the county.
2. Anna’s birth year becomes even more muddy with this record.  The 1900 census states that she was born Feb 1823³, while the 1880 census implies 1821⁴ and this record implies 1825.  All known records indicate that she was born in Georgia.
3. Both the 1870 and 1880 censuses imply that Benjamin Edward was born in 1851 in Georgia.  The Forrester Bible Records report his birth date as 24 Jun 1850 ⁵.  He is married and in his own household by 1880, although I haven’t located his marriage record yet⁶.  His oldest child was born about 1873, so he was likely married a year or two after this census was taken.
4. I don’t know much about Martha.  Her implied birth year based on this census in 1854, which supports the date of 13 Nov 1853 in the Forrester Bible Records.  I didn’t find her in the 1880 census in Fannin County, so she may have been married by then, although at this point, I have no evidence of any marriage.
5. Newton Coleman has somewhat inconsistent birth information.  The Forrester Bible Records report his birthdate as 4 Jun 1858, which is supported by the 1880 census.  This census, however, implies a birth year of 1861; that’s a significant difference in one so young.  As a side note, my great-grandfather is his namesake.
6. George was born 7 Jan 1861 according to the Forrester Bible records, which is supported by this census.  He would have been 19 in 1880, yet is not found in Fannin County; where was he?
7. Mary was my 2nd great-grandmother.  Her implied birth year on this census of 1864 is consistent with all known information.

Other Forresters and Carnes in Fannin County

Coleman and Anna had two adult sons who appeared in their own households in 1870. Their oldest son appeared as Lafayette Forester and lived 10 households away.  He was 27.  He lived with his wife, Nancy (25), and son, John (2).⁷ Their next son, James Polk Forrester, appeared as Polk Forester⁸.  I had some qualms about the person named James P. Forrester that I found in 1880, but now feel confident that this is the same individual and that he is Coleman and Anna’s son⁹.  His wife was enumerated as Elizabeth in 1870, and their son William was age 2.

Fannin County contained three other Forrester/Foster families that I believe are unrelated to my Forresters.  A William Foster who was born in North Carolina appeared on both the 1870 and 1880 censuses.  In 1870, he lived next door to a Robert Foster, who was also born in North Carolina.  I think they must be brothers.  Their households are consistent from 1870 to 1880. A Randolph Forrester, age 22, also appeared in 1870, but not in 1880.  He was born in South Carolina, so may be a nephew of Coleman’s, but he lived in a different district, so I think it unlikely.  He lived with a woman named Jane Forester, age 29, and several children, some of whom are too old to be his issue.

No one named Carnes appeared in Fannin County in 1870.

Births

• Rosamond Malinda (Burgin) Halford was born in 1826 in McDowell County, North Carolina.
• Salina (Tucker) Forrester was born in 1853 in Georgia.

Deaths

• Mary Ann (Marlow) Brookshire died in 1830 in Elkville, North Carolina (my 5th great-grandmother).
• Rosa Evelyn (Ellis) Roberts died in 1936 in Murray County, Georgia (my 2nd great-grandmother).
• George Washington Forrester died in 1950 in Gilmer County, Georgia.

James Polk Forrester, the second son of Coleman Forrester and Anna Carnes, was born 16 Aug 1844 in Georgia.¹

1900 Fannin County Census - Forresters

I first encountered him in the census in 1900, where he appeared as James P. Foster, 55-years old and head of household. He lived in Fannin County, Georgia.²  His mother, Anie Foster, appeared three households away³and his sister Mary Ward (my 2nd great-grandmother) appeared four households away⁴; moreover, his birth date was reported as Aug 1844, which corresponds to the birth date found in the Forrester Family Bible records, so I was confident that he was the right person. He and his wife Martha A. (age 33) had been married 11 years, putting their marriage date at approximately 1889. They had four children living at home: Magnola (6), Claud C. (4), Cattie V. (2), and George W. (1 month).

1880 Fannin County Census - James P. Forrester

My next sighting of James was on the 1880 census in Fannin County, where he appeared as James P. Forester, head of household. This time, his wife was named Elizabeth and she was 36 years old. There is a 12-year-old son named William and a 7-year-old daughter named Ida J.⁵  This is clearly not the same family, but could it be the same James? He was 35, which is the right age for someone born August of 1844. A search of all variations of the Forrester surname yielded no others named James or Polk in Fannin County. A few James Forresters were found in neighboring counties, but the ages aren’t close. This is when I started to suspect that Martha from the 1900 census was James’ second wife (although in retrospect, the difference in their ages should have been a clue). Two things made me unsure about this being the right James. His father’s birthplace was reported as Georgia, whereas all other known records show South Carolina; however I think parents’ birthplaces is one of the least reliable pieces of information on the census, so I consider that a minor negative. The other thing that gave me pause was how far away he lived from his parents. Although they lived in the same district, James appeared in dwelling #4, while his parents were five pages away in dwelling #79.

Forister-Vanzant Marriage License

Next, while searching for Forrester marriage records in Fannin County, I came across a marriage license for James P. Forister and Mary L. Vanzant, who were married 6 Dec 1866.⁶  The date seems right for the James and Elizabeth found in the 1880 census, as their first child was born about 1868; however, the name Mary L. is puzzling. There was one other record in the county for a James Forrester, who married Alice Mathis on 1 Dec 1899. The second marriage license could be for the Martha found in the 1900 census. Her middle initial was A. and they were likely married in 1899. I put a pin in both these records until I could find more information.

Forresters & Vanzants 1870

The last census record found that shows James as an adult was for 1870 in Fannin County. He appeared as Polk Forister, age 25. Also in the household were Mary, age 25, and William, age 2.⁷  This is shaping up. William was 12 in 1880, so 2 in 1870 is a perfect match. Elizabeth in 1880 was 36, which is close enough to match Mary’s age in 1870. The real clincher was the next door neighbors – their surname was Vanzant, their ages were right to be the parents of Mary/Elizabeth, and the oldest female in the house was named Elizabeth. There were no other James or Polk Forresters in the right age range enumerated in Fannin County in 1870. It’s really starting to look like the James P. Forister who married Mary L. Vanzant is the same person that appeared in the household with Mary in 1870 and married to Elizabeth in 1880. Furthermore, since his age so consistently matches the James Polk Forrester who was the son of Coleman and Anna, and there are no others with that name in the right age range, it is reasonable to believe that they are the same person.

My last step was to look at the Vanzant household in other years to make sure they did fit into this scenario. I looked again at the 1880 census – the one where I was concerned because James lived so far away from his parents. There I found the Vanzants, three households away from James.⁸  Then, I looked at 1860 to see if a Mary/Elizabeth was living at home and indeed there was – Elizabeth, age 16, which puts her birth year consistently at 1844 or 1845 on the 1860, 1870, and 1880 censuses. This looks like a match. There was no one enumerated as Mary in the Vanzant household in any of those years, so I believe James’ first wife must have been named Mary Elizabeth Vanzant and was the daughter of Lewis and Elizabeth Vanzant.