McCauley, Lanier, Hankins, Hopkins & Taylor Families

Margaret E. THOMAS ^2852,2883

  General Notes:

Jesse & Rebecca Thomas were most likely the parents of Margaret Thomas Petty. This conclusion was reached from examination of several different sources. Margaret's death record, in 1876 in Hopkins County, Kentucky, lists her parents as J. & R. Thomas. Margaret married John Petty in Whitfield County, Georgia and her sister, Mary, married James Echols in Forsyth County, Georgia. Jesse & Rebecca Thomas' 1850 census record in Lumpkins County, Georgia is the only Thomas family in north Georgia that has a daughter named Margaret who is in the right age range to be our Margaret. Jesse & Rebecca were in Murray County in 1840 & 1860. Whitfield, Murray, Lumpkin & Forsyth Counties are all located in North Georgia. Rebecca Thomas and her son, Daniel (who was also listed in that 1850 census as well as the 1860 census with the family) were living in Logan County, Kentucky in 1870. They were living very near Margaret & John Petty and their children. While no one piece of information verifies that Jesse & Rebecca were Margaret's parents, combined they support that probability.

  More Information:

• 1850 United States Federal Census, Jesse Thomas household, Lumpkin County, Georgia: Margaret was living with her parents. She was listed as Margaret Thomas, age 14, born in Georgia. She had attended school within the year. ²⁸⁵⁷

• 1860 United States Federal Census, J. R. Petty household, McMinn County, Tennessee: Margaret was living with John and their 2 children. She was listed as Margaret Petty, age 21, born in Georgia. ²⁸⁵³

• 1870 United States Federal Census, John R. Petty household, Logan County, Kentucky: Margaret was living with John and their 6 children. She was listed as Margaret Petty, age 29, born in Georgia. ¹⁵⁴⁵

Margaret married John R. PETTY on 20 September 1857 in Whitfield County, Georgia ²⁸⁵¹.^,2856 (John R. PETTY was born ca 1836 in Tennessee ²⁸⁵³.)

• 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
²⁸⁵⁶

• 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.]