JOHN BARNWELL AND THE LEABOWS OF LONE MOUNTAIN,
TN - pictures
I have no doubt that the information I have written about here
already has been discovered and compiled by others who have done a much better
job of it. I am the great-great-grand-daughter
of John Raphael Lafayett Barnwell.
While providing here what information I have about my Barnwell forebears
that might be helpful to others, I also am looking for information as to who really was his father. I am not a professional genealogist, so
please substantiate any sources I provide.
Additionally, if I have misquoted any of the sweet and endearing folks
that I contacted back in the early 1980’s, and who were so generous as to provide
invaluable information to a stranger - who although a distant relative -
suddenly intruded on their lives, I do apologize.
John Raphael Lafayett Barnwell was born ca 1854/55 near Tazewell,
(Claiborne Co.) TN, at Ball Creek near
Years back, I wondered if the older William Barnwell of the 1830
Claiborne census could be the husband of Lavania Leabow Barnwell. If William and Samuel were her sons, then
she would have been only around 14 when the oldest was born. Why then the 10-year gap between the older
and younger siblings - unless they were perhaps from a different father and
received the name Barnwell only from their mother? If such were to be the case, I am not descended from
Barnwells. Another possibility I considered
was that the younger children of Lavania were also the children of the
17-year-old William R. Barnwell listed with the Leabow family in 1850. William was 17 - Lavinia was 31. Was he her son, her stepson, the father of
her younger children - or none of the above?
I am sure they all turned over in their respective graves if they were
aware of all these wild speculations!
My great-great grandfather, John R. Lafayett Barnwell, per oral
family history, had only one known
sibling, his older sister Martha, yet there was some vague rumor that he had a "twin" brother who had gone
to Texas and was never heard from again.
John is buried in the
I have listed below the sources that I have found in my search for
our Barnwell ancestors. I hope the
information I have included may be helpful to others interested in our
history. The information received from
telephone calls is roughly transcribed, and is not intended to quote anyone
directly.
Cheri Tousignant
theappalachian@comcast.net
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FAMILY OF JOHN (
Excerpted from "Old Tazewell" by Mary L. Hansard:
Jackson Leabow lived at Ball Creek, Lone Mountain, Claiborne Co.,
TN. His father-in-law was
Edward (Ned) Jennings Sr. of Cedar Fork Church. Jackson Leabow and his wife died around 50 years before Mrs.
Hansard was writing her book (per the book).
John Leabow -- left area
Isham -- left area
Urial (Royal?) bought old
homestead
mar. (1)
Rosa Saunders ca 1840 - had Robert and
mar. (2)
Mrs. Jacob Walker (dau of William Lewis)
had Isham
G. (who married Rachael Rodgers)
Lavany
Mrs. Wells {Note: The 1850 census shows:
Richard
Wells 45 Farmer NC
Lottie M.
Wells 38 TN
Mary
Wells 17 TN
Liretta
Wells 11 TN
living near the Leabows. It
is very likely that Lottie M. Wells is Jackson Leabow's daughter, "Mrs.
Wells", however, Lottie Wells is here 38 years while Lavany is 31 - and
Mrs. Hansard says that Lavany is the OLDEST daughter.}
“Urial, from his first marriage to Rosa Saunders, had dau Malissa
who mar. William Hodges ca 1880.
(William Hodges' first wife was
a M. Shumate and their
children were Tilman and Lucy).
Lavania (Lavany) was the oldest daughter of Jackson Leabow, Sr.
She married a Mr. Barnwell sometime in the 1830's”.
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The 1850 Claiborne Co. TN Census shows:
John Leabow 58
M Farmer TN
Mary Leabow 55
F TN
Luvany Barnwell 31
F TN
Wm. R. Barnwell 17
M Laborer TN
Samuel Barnwell 15
M TN
Martha Barnwell 5
F TN
Mary A. Barnwell 2
F TN
Note: John R. Barnwell had not yet been born, as he apparently was
born ca 1854. He was said to be about
mid-70's when he died, per family oral history, on 10 May 1928. The 1910 Bell Co. KY census shows John R.
Barnwell, age 56 - born in TN. This
would indicate that he was born in 1854.
If he died in 1928, he would have lived approximately 74 years. He was in household (listed as
"uncle") of John R. Guy.
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The 1830 Claiborne Co., TN census shows:
William Barnwell Head (included in count below)
1 male 20 - 30 years
1 male 50 - 60 years
1 male 90 - 100 years
1 female 20 - 30 years
1 female 40-50 years
1 female under 5 years
The 1830 Claiborne Co., TN census also shows Isaam Lebow and female
(wife?) both aged 20 - 30 years with one child (male) under 5
years.
The 1830 Claiborne Co., TN census also shows Mary LeBow as head of
household which (including herself) had males: 1 of 5 - 10 years,
1 of 15 - 20 years, 1 of 50 - 60 years and females: 1 of 5 – 10
years, 1 of 10 - 15 years, 1 of 15 - 20 years and 1 of 40 – 50 years.
Same census also showed:
Daniel LeBow as head of household which (including himself) had
males: 1 of 5 - 10 years, 2 of 10 - 20 years, 1 of 40 - 50 years, and females:
1 of 10 - 15 years, 1 of 15 - 20 years, and 1 of 30 - 40 years.
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The 1850 Claiborne Co., TN census shows:
Royal Lebow 32 Farmer TN
Rosanna Lebow 33 TN
Malissa A Lebow 10 TN
Sterling L. Lebow 7 TN
Amana (sic) M. Lebow 5 TN
Calaway LeBow 2 TN
Jasper
The 1850 Claiborne Co., TN census also shows:
Edward Jennings 76 Farmer VA
Sarah Jennings 75 NC
Wm. H. Jennings 46 TN
Mary Jennings 10 TN
James Jennings 12 TN
George Jennings 10 TN
Garrett Jennings 8 TN
William Jennings 6 TN
The 1850 Claiborne Co., TN census mentioned above was enumerated on
27 Sep 1850.
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The 1870 Claiborne Co. TN Census shows:
William Guy
27 TN White male Farmer
Martha Guy 22 TN White
female Keeping house
Lutitia Guy
3 TN White female
Lafayett Barnwell
15 TN White
male Works on farm
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The 1880 Claiborne Co. TN Census shows:
John R. Barnwell
26 TN White male Laborer
Sidney Barnwell
27 TN White female Keeping house
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NOTE THAT
BETWEEN 1870 AND 1880 LAFAYETT BARNWELL BEGAN BEING LISTED AS JOHN R. BARNWELL!
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The 1910 Bell Co. KY Census shows:
John R. Guy 43
H TN
Amanda 49 W TN
Cora 18 D
TN
Sudie 16 D TN
Dewey 11 S TN
John R. 56 Uncle TN
Barnwell
All of the above entries show self and both parents as born in
TN. John R. Barnwell is listed as a
widow(er), John R. Guy (evidently his nephew and son of John R. Barnwell's
sister Martha Barnwell Guy, is listed as a coal miner, who can both read and
write. John and Amanda had been married
27 years at this census.
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Older family members say that John R. Barnwell‘s family originally
was from South Carolina. That he was a
young man at the battle of Vicksburg, MS,
(I do not know if he was a participant), and that he used to have some
mini-balls or clay rifle balls which may have been from that battle. (I speculate that perhaps it was his father
or an older relative that may have been at this battle and brought back the
mini-balls, as John would have been only around 10 - 12 years old during the
Civil War). Males displaced by this war
could possibly be the answer as to where the Barnwells came from. A letter which I received (in reply to a
query) from Stephen R. Wise of the
University of South Carolina, states that Barnwell, SC was named
for John Barnwell (1748 - 1800) of Beaufort, SC, a militia general in the
Revolutionary War. He commanded a
brigade in the later portion of the conflict and was promoted to Major General
at the war's end.
He held no rank in the Continental Army. He was the grandson of John Barnwell (1671 - 1724) who was known
nationally for his Indian campaigns in which he obtained the nickname
"Tuscarora Jack". The
genealogy of this family has been done in both Stephen B. Barnwell's An
American Family, 1969 and in the “South Carolina Historical Magazine” Vol.
II, pp. 46-88. John Rafael Barnwell
does not appear in either work, thus it is most probable that he was not a
member of this particular clan of Barnwells – if he were a Barnwell at all.
Yet, I found an impressive paralleling of first names of males of our clan and
of those in SC. In addition, I found a
Barnwell male born in TN, who died in SC.
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Per a conversation I had years back (early 1980s) with Mr. Willard
Guy, whom I believe is a grandson of Martha Barnwell Guy, and therefore a
great-grandson of John R. Barnwell, John R. is buried in the
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On 16 Jul 1982, referenced by Mr. Willard Guy of
She is the granddaughter of Martha Barnwell Guy - the sister of
"Fate" Barnwell (John R.).
Fate was the only known brother of Martha.
Beulah did not know the names of Martha's parents. Martha was raised by her grandparents at
Beulah remembered seeing "Fate", her great-uncle, several
times when she was a child. She called
him "Uncle Fate". Martha was
born and raised at
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The following information was from my great-aunt Allie Fair Frye
Taylor:
John Raphael Barnwell had a sister Martha who married a Guy. Aunt Allie remembers Martha Barnwell Guy as
a very old woman of about 90, but that even at that advanced age she had real black
hair and brown eyes. She did not look
her age, and she resided in
Martha and John supposedly had a twin brother who went away from
home when young and they never could locate him again. Dora, Allie (my great aunts) and Bessie Frye (my grandmother) were young
girls when their grandpa John Barnwell died.
Aunt Allie thought that 1928 seemed too late to her. Her brother George
Frye, his wife, Celia Baker, and Bessie Frye and Allen Grubbs (my grandparents)
were already married when John R. died.
Allen and Bessie married in 1921.
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Per a call to Ms. Dora Barnwell of Middlesborough, she was born in
1924. I understood that she is daughter
of Tommy andLovina (Lovie) Barnwell, and granddaughter of Charles Edgar
("C. E." Barnwell and his wife Kitty Wilson Barnwell. Charlie Barnwell had sisters Mary Barnwell Turner
and Martha Barnwell Frye. Charlie
Barnwell lived near
Mary had: George, Bessie,
Fred and
Charlie had: Edgar, Mossie,
Jane, Clara, Tommy and Hubert.
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Per call to Ms. Mossie Barnwell Yoakum, Speedwell, TN, Mary, Martha
and Charlie were children of John R. Barnwell. Not many Barnwells were left – a few of her
dad's family were still living. Mary's
family went north. Martha is
dead as is her husband and son.
She says John R. Barnwell had one brother who went to TX and took up
some land. He wanted John R. to go with
him, but John lost trace of his brother.
She said J.R. died about 1926.
Mossie has a sister - Ms. Janie White in Pineville, wife of John White.
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Per call to Ms. Janie White on 11-28-81, Janie was 71 years
old. She remembered J.R. Barnwell, and
called him Jack. He died probably 1927
or, more likely 1928 - just before she got married in 1929. He lived at Middlesborough when he
died. Her sister-in-law, Ms. Judy
Barnwell, wife of her brother Hubert, lives in Middlesborough. She (Judy) was contacted by a Barnwell whom
she did not know (evidently seeking family connections/history). Judy lives in Middlesborough, but her
husband Hubert died in a plane crash in the mid 1970s. Janie said that John R. Barnwell, “Jack”, as
he was called, had three children: Mary, Martha and Charlie. Sidney, his wife, died before she, Janie,
was born. Her mom gave her a picture of
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Per a call to Judy Barnwell of Middlesborough, her husband Hubert
Barnwell’s parents had twelve children, nine of whom survived. His mom was 40 when he was born and 44 when
his baby sister was born.
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NOTE: Amongst the old
photographs, which I borrowed to copy from Uncle George Frye's daughter Dora,
there is photograph of two very young children, a boy and a girl, seated in a
reedwork (wicker) chair. They are both
very blond and very handsome children.
On the reverse of the original picture, someone had written in very poor
script with a pencil what looked like "Unie Barnwell's children". As I never could find any reference to a
Unie Barnwell, I wondered what the name actually was and to whom it was
referring. Some years ago, I came to
realize that the name possibly is Vnie or Vanie (Lavaney) Barnwell. If this were to be the case and the Vanie
being referred to is the mother of John R., Martha and Mary Barnwell, then the
children are possibly John and Martha (or Mary) when very young. I never thought that the print could be
quite that old due to the high quality of it and due to the fairly modern look
of the dress, etc.. The little boy does
have somewhat of a resemblance to John R. in shape of the head and so
forth. In addition, as the parents of
Lavania Leabow Barnwell (with whom Lavany continued to live after her children
were born) were quite well off, it is conceivable that she could afford a good
photographer for her children.
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NOTE: From the book “
"The White Horse of the Peppers - A Legend of the
Boyne": Quoted: pg 196-197:
" In some time, the notice of
the stranger was attracted by the singular and picturesque tower of Lusk that
arose on their sight, and he questioned Rory as to its history and use. {He (the stranger) is a predatory English
soldier looking for the estate of the Peppers, Ballygarth, which has been
promised to him as plunder for his successes on behalf of William of Orange
against the minions and supporters of King James, recently defeated at the
Battle of the (River) Boyne.} 'It's a
church, it is,' said his guide. 'It
looks more like a place of defence,' said the soldier. 'It is a square tower with circular
flankers.' 'To be sure, it is a place
of difince, said Rory. 'Isn't it a
place of difince agin the divil (God bless us!) and all his works; and mighty
great people is proud to be berried in it for that same. There is the Barnewells (the lords of
Kingsland, I mane), and they are berried in it time beyant tellin', an has an
iligant monument in it, the lord himself and his lady beside him, an the broad
o' their backs lyin' dead, done to the life.'"
Wills &
Estates
John Barnwell
Settlement with LEVANA
BARNWELL, Guardian of Minor Heirs of JOHN BARNWELL, deceased Amount
of former settlement made 19th February 1848 $$434.13 ½ Amount paid out by
Guardian for the wards: Clerk's fee for making and recording this settlement
$1.50 Guardian charges for her trouble and attention to the business for 2
years $7.50
Leaves a balance
of $425.13 ½ remaining in the hands of the Guardian this 19th day of February
1849. Thomas J. Johnson, Clerk
Settlement with VANA
BARNWELL, Guardian of the minor heirs of JOHN BARNWELL, deceased
Amount of former settlement with interest $450.64 Cash received the 1st of July
1849 with interest $52.00 Paid Clerk’s fee for making and recording this
settlement $1.50 Paid Guardian for his trouble and attention as Guardian $2.50
Leaves a balance
of $498.64 remaining in the hands of the Guardian, this 19th day of February
1850. Thomas J. Johnson, Clerk
Settlement with W.
W. GREER, Agent for LEVANA BARNWELL, Guardian to minor heirs of JOHN
BARNWELL, deceased Amount of former settlement with interest $450.64 Paid
clerk’s fee for making and recording this settlement $1.50 Paid guardian
charges for trouble and attention $2.50
Leaves a balance
of $446.64 remaining in the hands of the Guardian, this 19th day of February
1850. Thomas J. Johnson, Clerk
Settlement with LEVANNA
BARNWELL, Guardian of minor heirs of JOHN BARNWELL, deceased Amount
of former settlement with interest $528.55 ¾ Cash received from estate of
William Barnwell, deceased, with interest $103.50 Paid Clerks fee for renewing
bond and making and recording this settlement $2.25 Paid Guardian for trouble
and expenses $10.00
Leaves a balance
of $619.80 remaining in the hands of the Guardian, this 19th day of February
1851.
Thomas J.
Johnson, Clerk
Settlement with LEVINA
BARNWELL, Guardian of R. S. BARNWELL, Minor Heirs of JOHN
BARNWELL, deceased Amount of former settlement with interest $328.49 ½ Paid
C. H. Williams’ receipt for attending to the estate $25.00 Paid clerk’s fees
$1.50
Leaves a balance
of $301.99 ½ remaining in the hands of the Guardian, this 19th day of February
1852.
Thomas J.
Johnson, Clerk
Settlement with LEVINA
BARNWELL, Guardian of WILLIAM R. BARNWELL, minor heir of JOHN
BARNWELL, deceased Amount of former settlement with interest $328.49 ½ Paid
Hugh Graham receipt for clothing $46.20 Paid David Cardwell receipt for
boarding $4.00 Paid J. B. Lam receipt for tailoring $9.00 Paid R. C. Williams
receipt for attending to the estate $25.00 Paid clerk’s fee for making and
recording settlement $1.50 Leaves a balance of $242.79 remaining in the hands
of the Guardian, this 19th day of February 1852.
Thomas J.
Johnson, Clerk
Settlement with LEVANA
BARNWELL, Guardian of R. J. BARNWELL, Minor Heirs of JOHN
BARNWELL, deceased Amount of former settlement $320.11 ¼ Paid clerk’s fee
for making and recording this settlement $1.50
Leaves a balance
of $318.61 remaining in the hands of the Guardian, this 19th day of February
1853.
Thomas J.
Johnson, Clerk
Settlement with LEVANA
BARNWELL, Guardian of WILLIAM BARNWELL, minor heir of JOHN
BARNWELL, deceased Amount of former settlement $257.35 ¾ Paid clerk’s fee
for making and recording this settlement $1.50
Leaves a balance
of $255.85 ¾ remaining in the hands of the Guardian, this 19th day of February
1853.
Thomas J.
Johnson, Clerk
Settlement with VANA
BARNWELL, Guardian of R. J. BARNWELL, Minor Heir of JOHN BARNWELL,
deceased Amount of former settlement with interest $337.69 Paid clerk’s fee for
making and recording this settlement $1.50
Leaves a balance
of $336.19 remaining in the hands of the Guardian, this 14th day of February
1854.
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