Finding the Ancestors of Clarke County, Georgia by Ron Ray            From work collected by Ron Ray, Muriel Keyser, Janis Wamsley and others            www.eaglequestpro.com/ray
	Georgia
The area around Bishop from 1801 to 1875 was in Clarke County, Georgia.
Maps on this page are from a web site with link on www.eaglequestpro.com/ray. Select Web Sites tab, USGS site.

Getting Acquainted

With the memory of the British War (ending about 1781) still crisp in everyone’s mind, attention was now focused on the new western lands. The frontier was in a state of turmoil with angry Indian tribes that flanked the western front. The nation’s insatiable desire for more land spawned one battle with the natives after the next. Several accounts of battles hastened the building of protecting forts along the water ways as described in “Clark County, Georgia History of Bishop, Georgia” by C. G. Sharp: First the author talks about the history and settlement patterns. She said that individuals in Greene County from the 1790s show up as residents of Clarke Co after 1801 as well as some names recorded in the 1780s in Wilkes County, Georgia. (John Fielder as an example). The pattern suggest a migration path from Wilkes County through Greene County to Clarke County which later became Oconee County, as the frontier moved deeper into Indian country. She found that a number of Greene County settlers who fought with the Indians during the Oconee War were some of the first settlers of Clarke County (See Appendix B for county boundaries.)

Scull Shoals was the starting place for many of the first families who settled here. Many families that had early roots came from Virginia. Scull Shoals is found in the lower part of early Clarke County that later became Oconee County, I found Scull Shoals on the Oconee River at the southern border of present day Oconee and Greene County (Notice all the county names that end with an extra ‘e’? Someone really liked that letter). Leaders of the community were usually Revolutionary War veterans (districts were named after them). As the Indian threat diminished, families pushed north into Clarke and Oconee counties. Clarke County was named after Elijah Clark (spelled Clark) who was a resident of Wilkes County (I love these spellings). Elijah had a colorful career of fighting Indians on the Oconee frontier. He became a major general of the Georgian militia and later a major general in the French army fighting against the Spanish. Wish I could see the movie.

Page 63 shows residents of Wilkes County 1780s to 1790s and also showing up in Clarke County as the first settlers: George Freeman, James Freeman, Holman Freeman, John Freeman, Stephen Kemp, John Fielder, Harmon Runnalds and others. We have found these names around our Ray and Nobles in Clarke County

Clarke County was made from part of Jackson County in 1801. That part of Jackson County came from Franklin County when Jackson County was created in 1796. Franklin County was created in 1784. Hundreds, even thousands of acres were given out by the government as bounty grants and headright grants. Bounty grants were parcels of land given to mostly veterans. The acreage depended on their rank or status when in the military (230 acres for a Private and nearly 2000 acres for a general. Headright grants were parcels given to the heads of families, two hundred acres plus 50 additional acres for each family member and slave. The head of family had to appear before a court in the county where the land resided to get a warrant for a parcel of ground. We have record of Stephen Nobles obtaining a headright of 50 acres in Clarke County in 1803. Vacant land was quickly divided up and was scarce even in the 1790s.

John Lowry had first grant of 350 acres just south and east of Bishop’s city limits in September 1798. A later deed indicated that the land included parts of Greenbrier and Freeman Creeks. He sold to Stephen Kemp in September 1799. Both Lowry and Kemp (and wife Mary) lived in Wilkes County for a time between 1785 and 1790. Stephen Kemp quickly sold of 157 acres to Stephen Nobles in July 1800. Holman Freeman Jr lived in Wilkes County, but was given land grants of 3770 acres south of Bishop extending to the Apalachee River (south fork of the Oconee River). His brother James also had 600 on Freeman’s Creek. There were 5 Freeman brothers whose family came from Virginia and settled in Wilkes County. Holman Freeman Jr. sold 540 acres to John Fielder.

John Fielder was well known in Greene County in the 1780s and 1790s. Fielder’s Station or Fort at Scull Shoals was named for him. In his book, George White describes John as “a celebrated scout and hunter,” whose wife was herself quite capable of self-defense against attacking Indians (from C. G. Sharp). “She further notes that Fielder and his family moved into Greene County soon after its formation (in 1786, lived on the Indian frontier line in Morgan County right after it was formed (in 1807)”

C. G. Sharp’s Appendix shows a tax lists for years 1802, 1804 and 1805 and is summarized here:
Freeman Creek Area
Kemp (Camp) Stephen
Joseph (Raye) Ray [Gee maybe our family started the extra ‘e’ thing. What a trendsetter.]
John (Raye) Ray

Greenbrier Creek Area
William Bishop
Kemp (Camp) Stephen
Noble (Nobles, Nobels), Jonathan
Noble (Nobles, Nobels), Stephen
Reynolds (Runnels), Daniel

Robertson’s (Robinson’s) Creek
Reynolds (Runels), Thomas

Again quoting from C. G. Sharp: Stephen Nobles became a significant landowner in the pre-Bishop area in the earliest days of Clarke County, but did not become a permanent settler of Clarke County. He lived in Wilkes Co and then moved to Baldwin County.

[Stephen Nobles was mentioned as “Not a permanent settler”, but bought and sold land as part of his livelihood.]

Nobles bought one tract of land from Stephen Kemp in 1800. . . Two other land purchases . . .positioned Stephen Nobles, each time, as a neighbor to Stephen Kemp. Nobles sold off a great deal of this land in the pre-Bishop area during the first two decades of the 1800’s. . . The fact that Nobles did not long reside [if at all] in Clarke County was made clear by a deed transaction in 1807 involving land in Clarke, in the deed, he is described as “Stephen Nobles of Baldwin County”.

I will come back to the comment of Stephen Nobles of Baldwin County, but first a note about members of the Runnels/Runels/Reynolds family and origins.

In a book titled “The Heart of the South”, by Rowland Dunbar. . . it talks about the beginnings of Lawrence County, MS. “For a period of five years county courts were held at the house of Wright Mitchell, and then a rude log court house. . . Harmon Runnels, Chief Justice of the Quorum; Stephen Noble, J.Q.; Benjamin Goodson, J. Q.; James Stigler, J. Q.; Harmon M. Runnels, Clerk and Hardin D. Runnels, Sheriff, constituted the first court as organized March 6 1815. . . [Then he talks about Monticello as the home of ] Harmon Runnels, Hiram G., Harmon M. and Hardin D. Runnels, were his sons. Harmon Runnels came to the State from Georgia, built the first house in Monticello and was a forceful representative in the constitutional convention of 1817.”

Ok, back to Stephen Nobles of Wilkes County. He moved to Baldwin County before or during 1807. In 1807 Morgan County is formed from Baldwin County so for the next few years, Stephen Nobles is found in Morgan County records. In September of 1811, Stephen obtains a passport to travel through the Creek Indian Nation to settle in Lawrence County, MS. The passport gives permission to travel for his family (wife and 7 children) and seventeen Negroes. The passport also permits the following men with their families and slaves to make the trek: Jacob Carter, William Sparks, Henry Askue [Askew], Howell Holley, Jeremiah Farlow, Minor Johnson, Bird Smith, and Lodewick Henderson “all of the County of Morgan. So now we have a minor migration from Wilkes County, Georgia to the frontier counties (Franklin, Jackson, Clarke, Baldwin, Morgan Counties, Georgia to Lawrence County, MS.

Our Rays from Jackson County (which was formed from Franklin County), Georgia also ended up in Baldwin/Morgan County, Georgia and later in Lawrence County, MS. In 1799 John and Joseph Ray [sometimes spelled Raye] paid taxes on land in Moore District in Jackson County, Georgia. Clarke County was formed from Jackson County in 1801. From 1801 to 1807 we have several tax lists and court records mentioning not only Joseph and John who had adjoining land, but also several of their relatives and friends. For instance a Clarke County tax list shows: Jonathan Nobles [who we think is the father of Elizabeth Nobles wife of John W. Ray] on Green Brier, Joseph Raye adjoining Wright on Freeman Cr., Stephen Nobels [sic] on Green Brier, Stephen Kemp adjoining Rayes on Freeman Cr., John Raye on Freeman Cr. It also mentions Wm Nobels Sen and Wm Nobels Jun. from Wilkes/Warren County as shown on Appendix B of this report. Freeman Creek starts just south of the town of Bishop and flows south 4 or 5 miles, emptying into the Apalachee River. There is a close relationship between Elizabeth Nobles and Stephen Nobles that lasts through the years, but we don’t know what it is [perhaps an uncle or close cousin, but not the father].

5 Jun 1807, Stephen Nobles has purchased land in Baldwin County and is residing there. He is also buying and selling land in the area and nearby counties. Also, in 1807 Joseph Ray, of Clarke County (formerly Jackson County), purchases land in the adjacent Baldwin County. This same parcel would later to be in Morgan County only because of a boundary change when Morgan County is created in the same year, 1807. All of these counties are in close proximity. The land purchases in Baldwin/Morgan County was only a few miles from those lived on in Clarke County. So at this time, Joseph Ray is living in Clarke County next to John Ray, whom we think is his son and our direct ancestor.

A few months later in February 1808 Joseph Ray Sr. sells land to his two sons, Robert and Joseph Ray Jr. He mentions his wife’s name as Anna, but does not mention John Ray. The last mention of Joseph Ray Sr. is on the 1810 tax list for Clark County. In October of 1810, John Ray, whom we thought was his son, appears in court and accepts moneys in Joseph Ray Sr. behalf, who is not present anymore. Perhaps he had died.

It should also be noted that on the 1808 tax list it shows our John Ray(e) of Clarke County also purchased land in Baldwin County on Little River. Little River travels south from just inside the southwestern border of Morgan County down to the town of Milledgeville in Baldwin County. We have the records of a John W. Ray on the Milledgeville, Baldwin County company muster roll for War of 1812. From Aug 23, 1813 to Mar 10, 1814. 1814 was also the last time John Ray shows up on Clarke County, Georgia tax list. However, there was an entry for Jury duty in 1815, but no more mention of him in Georgia. After 1816, he shows up in Lawrence County, Mississippi with Elizabeth and children.

Now let us go back a bit and catch up the Nobles side. In 1805 the tax lists shows Jonathan Nobles family living just over the hill from John and Joseph Rayes. Rayes/Rays are on Freeman Creek and Jonathan is on the next creek named Green Brier [now spelled Greenbrier]. Stephen Nobles has also purchased land on Green Brier. Stephen Nobles has a daughter named Polly. In 1808, in Morgan County, she marries Henry Askew [spelled many different ways]. In January of 1811 he buys a parcel of land in Morgan County. In September of 1811 he is convinced to travel with his father–in-law to Lawrence County, MS and appears with Stephen Nobles and close friend William Sparks on the passport to leave Georgia. The passport seemed to be the means to notify every one of your intentions to leave so creditors have a chance to settle and not leave any loose ends behind. It also seemed to be an attempt to control migration through Indian land, perhaps easing the tension of whites ‘trespassing’ in large numbers.

So, Where Did They Come From?

Cousins Allie Mae Ray and Joy Ray Tatum from Carroll County, MS area say that family stories about John W. Ray, who lived in Lawrence County, MS had parents named Joseph and Anna. Joseph and Anna were supposed to have come from Clarke County, Georgia. Also John W. Ray’s wife Elizabeth Nobles (spelled different ways) had a father by the name of Jonathan Noble/s who also lived in Clarke County, but was supposed to have come from Baltimore, Somerset County, Maryland. Before Joseph and Anna lived in Clarke County, they were to have lived in North Carolina and before that. . . England. Allie Mae and Joy have helped us find the individuals in Clarke County and evidence that supports them as being related. We still don’t have definitive proof of the relationship, which we need, but the preponderance of documents found show a very close association in Georgia. Another similar handed down story came from Garnette Ray Riales of Carrollton, MS. She said her grandfather Joseph Ray, son of Jonathan Ray, told her that the Rays were of Scotch-Irish descent that first settled in Virginia; then went to the Carolinas, thence to MS.

Several acquaintances of the Rays/Rayes have their lines starting out in England, taking up residence in Virginia, moving to North and/or South Carolina, and then to Franklin/Jackson/Wilkes/Green /Clarke County/Counties, Georgia. This route was the favorite of many settlers and closely follows the Indian wars and opening of settlements as the Country expanded its borders and opened up ‘new’ land for settlers and soldiers. Perhaps if we looked at where the friends of the Rays and Nobles came from, we might check there and find our ancestors.

The Sparks family came from Goochland County, Virginia (early 1700s), and moved to Salisbury, Rowan County (bef. 1761), North Carolina, then to Wilkes County, North Carolina, then to Franklin County, Georgia (bef. 1786), then to Athens, Clarke County, Georgia, then to Lawrence County, MS (~1812). William Sparks was one that traveled with Stephen Nobles to Lawrence County. His family has a very colorful past, being involved with Revolutionary War, Indian wars, and early law enforcement. The movie “The Patriot” starring Mel Gibson could easily have been about William Sparks.

The Goodson family comes from Bertie County, North Carolina (~1749). James Goodson’s wife Rachael Ratcliff was born in Talbot County, Maryland (1728). William Goodson was born in Craven County, South Carolina (~1753). James Goodson Jr. was also born in Craven County, South Carolina (~1755) and married Elizabeth in Charleston District, South Carolina (~1796).

John Askew's will to wife Mary and children was drawn in 1756 in Goochland County, Virginia.

Thomas Owen Carpenter and his Carpenter relatives: Adam, Soloman, Owen, George, Jonathan, and William moved from Moore and Montgomery Counties, North Carolina to Franklin County, Georgia (~1800). Then moved to Lawrence and Carroll Counties, MS (1814+).

Jonathan Kemp came from Pendleton County, South Carolina (bef. December 1795) and moved to Franklin County, Georgia.

On January 3, 1785 Stephen Nobles is granted 200 acres in Wilkes County, Georgia as noted in the Revolutionary War records of Georgia.

Since people tended to move from place to place in groups, usually family or close friends, it is highly likely that if you find the friends you may also find those who you seek. I hope the above family movements of their friends give you areas to begin your search. Also, while searching, you need to be aware of other names of friends and possible relatives. If you find these names in your search they should act as signals that with more research in those areas, you may turn up the families you seek. The following shows a more complete list of people that associated with our Rays and Nobles while they were in the Clarke County area of Georgia (1796 to 1816). Shown first is their family name followed by the first names for each prominent, family member:

Askew: Henry, William
Few: Benjamin, James, Wm (William)
Fielder: John, Wm
Foster: Jesse, John, Richard
Gann: Nathan
Goodson: William
Hester: Archabald, Charles, Elizabeth, Elsey, Mathew, Randolf, Robert, Samuel, Stephen, Thomas
Kemp: Jonathan, Joseph, Nathan, Reuben (of Wash. Co), Stephen, Wm (of Wash. Co)
Nobles: Abilee (or Absher of Wilkes Co), John, Jonathan, Levi, Robert, Stephen, William
Ray: Ann, Henry, Joseph, Joseph Jr., Robert, Wm
Sparks: Abel, Absalom, Ann, Bailey, Hardy, Isaac, James, Jesse, Jerimiah, John, Martin, Mathew,
Nancy, Nathan, Richard, Sarah, Thomas, Wm Jr, Wm Sr. (Richard Sparks on 1804 Clarke Co, Ga tax list, as well as 20 Jul 1822 White Sandy Creek Baptist Church records)
Steen: James, Wm
Turner: James, Joshua, Wm

A little more. . .

The following points of interest may also assist in your search. Mary Turner Bryan (1st wife of John Alexander Ray) born in NC. James Young is a familiar name and is found in Franklin, Morgan and Clarke County and also appears in 1835 in Carroll Co, MS as attorney for William F. Young and on deeds with John A. Ray, Nathan Hooker and others.

What To Know About the Families

You need to know as much of the basic information about the family you are searching for as possible. Names, dates, and places of births, deaths and marriages are necessary so that during your research, you can tell if you find them. Another valuable use of basic information is to share with others such as county clerks, so they know whom your are searching for and can help find the correct ones. For this information see Appendix C. You can select this info, on Appendix C, and copy it to a letter.

Where to look

First examine this report and see if you have any information that can be added or if corrections are needed. If so contact Ron Ray, EagleQuestPro@gmail.com or go to the website www.eaglequestpro.com/ray and you will find a current email address as well as a wealth of information to help you in finding relatives. You can also see what has been found if you look in the ‘Library’ there. You can also click on the Web Sites tab to see a list of the best Genealogy sites on the Internet. It is hard to talk about them in a short space, but I will pick 3 or 4 to summarize. Under the section “Visit Other Family History Sites” the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS have a wonderful site where you can see what families others are working on, you can get orders for microfilm ready which can be ordered and viewed at any of hundreds of LDS libraries scattered across the nation, and get a multitude of help for genealogy work, including a good, free Family History software program. If you click on Rootsweb link, you will be taken to a site that has a lot of free information as well as their membership information. Hundreds of original census records are available for free. Rootsweb also allows you to post your information in a number of ways and to view others information. It is a great place to find people working on your line. The postings are also free. This site is great for many things. It allows you to find state resources, such as State archives and addresses for county contacts. It also shows what resources counties have placed on the web for helping you find your ancestors. I suppose I have to mention “Cyndi’s List” which contains over 230,000 links to genealogy related sites on the web.

Under the “Maps and Location Finders” section are some great sites. The “Search for Geographic Sites” is extremely helpful in finding any watercourse or previously populated town that has ever been plotted on a map. If you want more detail click on the Products tab and get “Shoe Box Full of Names”.

Next you should focus on one or more counties and read every piece of information you can about it that was recorded during the time period you are concerned about. Marriage records, death records, wills, church rolls, newspapers, court records, everything should be scanned and examined for family and their friends. Often later you will find that friends are related by marriage and wished you had written down information about the friends too. Visually scan indexes of books or microfilms for Ray and Nobles. When you find them, look around for their friends too. When in doubt, find the closest LDS Family History Center in the phone book and go there. They assist anyone that comes in the door to do research on their family history. Show them the information in Appendix C and ask how you can find more information about these families. The Church has people that take microfilm of county records and countries throughout the world. These microfilms are categorized and available for viewing at the Centers, though they may have to be ordered. The cost to view them is a few dollars per film and may take a week or so for the Center to get them.

Take a notebook and digital camera (if you have one, or you can make copies of the information you find). Record where you find each piece of information so you can find it again if needed and others can know where to look if you share it.

Counties have employees that can do research for people you are related to. They usually charge a nominal fee for searching their records. Where to write can be found on the Rootsweb site as mentioned previously. We have found some most interesting court records of ancestors this way.

Another thing to do is to buy a membership of Ancestry.com and search through the records they have. They offer free trial memberships so you can see what they offer. Appendix D shows some information about Nobles and Rays that was searched there. This gives hints as to what counties to people with those names lived in that they had records for. Keep in mind that Ancestry.com does not have complete information for all counties. You still have to contact counties and do research yourself, but it does provide a good place to start.

What to look for

What we need to find is a will of Joseph Ray, a marriage certificate for John W. Ray and Elizabeth Nobles, a court record showing family of Joseph Ray, Church record showing family names, Census or Tax records that have Joseph shown with the right amount of children that for the time. John W. Ray would probably have married Elizabeth about 1800. This is just about a year later when we see he paid taxes in Jackson County and during the years when so many changes were happening to the county boundaries. Which county did this information end up in, if it is available? We cannot go too much further back in time or we don’t know if the names we find are the ones we are looking for. If one finds a Joseph Ray or John in other states or counties and they are still living there after 1799, then they are probably not our Rays. But if they appear earlier (than 1799) in the other counties, but not after 1799 then we should scour the documents further for more clues since they may be the right ones.

We also need to do a similar search for Jonathan Nobles, supposed father of our Elizabeth Nobles. Here we need more info in Clarke or Jackson or Franklin Counties (or surrounding counties) to get a better idea of the rest of the family members and where they came from. Keep in mind the time frames that have been discussed previously. We need to verify that Jonathan is indeed the father of our Elizabeth Nobles. We need to find out the relationship between Jonathan Nobles and Stephen Nobles.

More work also needs to be done to uncover records in Clarke and its neighboring counties of Georgia to provide more proof of relationships in the Ray and Nobles families and give clues as to where they came from. As the boundaries of the counties changed, the records could have ended up in neighboring counties. State archives as well as National Archives (NARA: http://www.archives.gov/) contain a wealth of information. Contact information for the state archives and research resources can be found by going to http://www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/usa.html and clicking on the state of interest. If you are unsure as to what to do, send the information in Appendix C to the addresses you will find on the web site for state or county of interest and ask them what you must do to get more information about these families.

When Should I Do Something

Now. Start by planning time in each day or a particular day of the week to work on Family History. Visit web sites to understand what is there and start writing emails and letters to State/County offices and National Archives to get information on what and how to ask for information. Visit the closest Church of Jesus Christ of LDS Family History Centers and get acquainted with all the resources they offer. They have people that volunteer to help everyone on obtaining the needed information and have many books, film readers and other resources. They are a wonderful, free resource.

How do I Store or File the Information I Receive

There are probably as many answers as there are people you ask for how to file the information you accumulate. First, generally you need a computer program that can store the basic information, notes and keep track of where you got the information. The Church of Jesus Christ of LDS has purchased rights to a very excellent program called Personal Ancestor File (PAF). You can download it for free. It will keep the family information organized and make it easy to share. The link to the free software (as well as all other web sites mentioned in this report) can be found at http://www.eaglequestpro.com/ray. Once there, click on the Web Sites tab and find the link to PAF.

As your information grows you probably need notebooks for the states you are working in with dividers for each county that you get information. You will likely need a drawer with folders for each family and maybe some specialty folders depending on the information you collect.

See Appendix E for an example of the data you may find and some interpretation in the footnotes. See Appendix F for an example of what you may find viewing borrowed microfilm of county records.

Get Busy

Appendix A
County Map of Georgia – 1790 Clk    Clarke Gre    Greene Fr      Franklin Jac     Jackson Mor   Morgan Wks  Wilkes
County Map of Georgia – 1800

County Map of Georgia – 1810

Appendix B

From a book at St George FHC: Warren County 1794 Tax List. Warren was formed from Wilkes in 1793. This shows William Noble Sr and William Noble Jr on Ogechee waters

Shows Wm Noble Sr and Jr. and Stephen Noble. Nathan Brewer borders Nobles & Doles. Jesse Doles also lives on Ogechee waters and lives next to Bishop & Cooper. Stephen Noble's property is next to Bishop & Reynolds. Daniel Reynolds lives next to Bishop & Brewer. John Freeman lives next to Going & Noble. Note some of these names appear in this report.

Appendix D

From Ancestry.com Web Site

John and Joseph Ray in Wake Co, NC 1790 Census Records. Jonathan Noble in Worcester County, Md in 1790 probably not ours since he was still there in 1810. 1790 Census of Moore County, NC – George Cagle, Owen Carpenter, Adam Carpenter (Ancestry.com site) 1800 Census of Moore County, NC – Same as 1790 above plus John Ray, James Collins (Ancestry.com site) 1790 Census of Montgomery County, NC – Wm, Jonathan, Solomon, Owen Carpenter, Wm Noble, Wm Lusk, James Young (Ancestry.com site)

Appendix E

Example of Data From USGenWeb.com – Abbreviated listing

Appendix F

Example of Data From Microfilm at a Family History Center