McCauley, Lanier, Hankins, Hopkins & Taylor Families

John R. PETTY ²⁸⁵²

  General Notes:

John R. may be the son of John Petty of Bradley County, Tennessee and Whitfield County, Georgia but that is not completely proven.

  More Information:

• 1860 United States Federal Census, J. R. Petty household, Calhoun, McMinn County, Tennessee: John, Margaret and children, Melissa and Henry were living in the 16th Civil District. John was listed as age 24, born in Tennessee. His occupation was listed as renter.
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• Civil War Military Service: John fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War and was wounded in battle according to a newspaper article about his daughter, Samantha, written in about 1941 when she was 80 years old. ^2854,2855

• 1870 United States Federal Census, John R. Petty household, Logan County, Kentucky: John, Margaret and their children, Melissa, Henry, Samantha, Mary, Daniel and Joseph were living in the Keysburg District. He was listed as a farmer, age 34, born in Tennessee.
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John married Margaret E. THOMAS, daughter of Jesse THOMAS and Rebecca, on 20 September 1857 in Whitfield County, Georgia ²⁸⁵¹.^,2856 (Margaret E. THOMAS was born ca 1836 in Georgia ^2853,2857 and died on 28 July 1876 in Hopkins County, Kentucky ²⁸⁵⁸.)

• Wedding Ceremony: 20 September 1857, Whitfield County, Georgia. John and Margaret were married by Mr. Thompson (1st name unreadable on the marriage record).

View Marriage Record
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• Residence: ca. 1861, Dalton, Whitfield County, Georgia. ²⁸⁵⁹ The family moved from McMinn County, Tennessee to Dalton sometime between 1860 and Apr 1861 when their daughter, Samantha, was born in Dalton. Molly and Daniel were also born in Georgia in 1865 & 1867 respectively.

According to a newspaper article about Samantha written in 1941, shortly after the Civil War, the family moved from Georgia back to Tennessee and then later to Kentucky. If census records showing the state of birth for the Petty children are correct, they could not have moved to Tennessee until after Daniel was born in 1867 and then moved to Kentucky before Joseph was born there in 1869.

• Residence: bet. 1867 and 1869, Logan County, Kentucky. The family moved to Kentucky sometime between 1867 (when Daniel was born in Georgia) and 1869 (when Joseph was born in Kentucky). Since they were in Logan County in the 1870 census, it is assumed that is where they settled when they arrived in Kentucky, although, Samantha told that they lived in Hopkins County. Perry, Nathaniel and John were also born in Kentucky between 1871 - 1874 but it is unclear if they were born in Logan or Hopkins County.

• Residence: 1874, Hopkins County, Kentucky. ²⁸⁶⁰ Their son, John Franklin, was born in Hopkins County in 1874.

• 1880 Not Found in Census: John Petty has not been found in the 1880 census. Margaret died in 1876 and most of their minor children were living in Forsyth County, Georgia with Margaret's sister, Mary and her husband, James Echols so it is possible that John died before 1880. It's also possible John had deserted the family prior to Margaret's death. [Lois McCauley Dockins, granddaughter of Samantha Petty Hankins, remembered hearing that her grandmother's father had a problem with alcohol and had deserted his family.]