Marty and Karla Grant

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Jesse Carter (1784-1871) and Lavina Sams and Martha Burch of Buncombe Co., NC and Rabun Co., GA

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Jesse and Lavina Carter are my 5 times Great Grandparents.

Reference the book Those Who Were and Would be Named Carter The First 300 Years in America (1682-1982), Charles Marcus Liddell, II. 1982; 2 Vols. This title is currently available from the Mars Hill University book store.

Jesse Carter was born 4 Jan 1784 (per tombstone), presumably in Randolph Co., NC where his parents were around that time. He is a proven son of Edward Carter and Mary Brown, as named in Edward’s 1837 Will.

Jesse seems to be with his parents for the 1790 census in Randolph Co., NC, aged under 16 (born 1774/1790). His family moved to Burke (now McDowell) Co., NC in the late 1790s, and to Buncombe Co., NC before 1805.

The family isn’t found on the 1800 census, but Jesse, then aged about 16, was probably still home with his parents wherever they were, whether in Burke or Buncombe.

Jesse Carter married Lavina Sams on 2 May 1805 in Buncombe Co., NC. I don’t know the original source of that date. It isn’t in the official records for Buncombe’s marriage records for this era are lost. I suspect it was a family bible or other family record. Since their oldest child was born 4 Feb 1806, which was nine months and two days later, the marriage date does work.

Lavina Sams was born 14 Dec 1786 in Washington Co., NC (now TN), a daughter of William Sams and Martha Edwards. The Sams were from Virginia, moved to Washington Co., NC (now TN) ca 1783, and remained there only three or four years before moving to Burke Co., NC before 1787 in the section that later became Buncombe.

I have been unable to locate Jesse Carter on the 1810 census. There is one in neighboring Rutherford Co., NC, but the enumerations are not a good match, though it could work if we assume the census taker got the information from an ill-informed neighbor:

1810 Census, Rutherford Co., NC, p. 93, Jesse Carter, 10101-20002-0-0*

* The third male column had a 2, overwritten by a 1, or perhaps vice versa.

There was no Jesse Carter in Rutherford back in 1800, so that works in favor of this being our Jesse in 1810. However, as noted, the enumerations being off works against it being our Jesse. Another point in favor is that Jesse of 1810 Rutherford was no longer in Rutherford in 1820.

Is this our Jesse in Rutherford in 1810? Maybe. Maybe not.

Jesse Carter is listed on the 1820 census in Buncombe five houses from Jesse Jr (1794/1800) who is probably related, but I don’t know how.

1820 Census, Buncombe Co., NC, p. 92, Jesse Carter (Jun), 000100-00100-0-0

1820 Census, Buncombe Co., NC, p. 92, Jesse Carter (Sen), 210010-42010-0-0

Jesse Carter (Sr) and family moved to Rabun Co., GA by ca 1823. His parents and some siblings also moved there around the same time or soon after.

Jesse Carter is listed on the 1830 census in Rabun Co., GA next to his parents.

1830 Census, Rabun Co., GA, p. 233, Jesse Carter, 1020001-1113101

Jesse Carter is listed on the 1840 census in Rabun Co., GA.

1840 Census, Rabun Co., GA, p. 214, Jesse Carter, 00011101-00110001

They are on the 1850 census in Rabun, just two houses from Jesse’s widowed step-mother, Isabella.

1850 census, Rabun Co., GA, 436^th Dist GM, # 247/247

* Blank birth places on this census meant born in Georgia.

P. A. Stroud is probably Peter A. Stroud (c1831). I don’t know who Rebecca Briggs nor Elizabeth Bird were. They, like Stroud, were probably hired hands, the ladies for domestic work, Stroud for farm work. That doesn’t preclude them from being related. Peter A. Stroud’s uncle, named Peter G. Stroud, was Jesse Carter’s son-in-law, so that connection could explain why he was acquainted with the Carters.

Naomi Stroud, relationship to either of the Peter Strouds unknown, was married to Thurman Briggs. They were just a few houses away from the Carters in 1850. They had a very young daughter named Rebecca (c1849), thus the one with the Carters probably wasn’t their daughter.

Lavina Sams Carter died on 1 Jun 1856 in Rabun Co., GA, aged 69. She is buried at Head of Tennessee Baptist Church Cemetery.

Jesse Carter married again on 20 May 1857, presumably in Rabun Co., GA (I have no source for this marriage date or place) to a widow Martha Burch Davis.

Martha Burch was born ca 1799/1800 per her age on the 1860 census (60), or ca 1802/03 per her age in 1870 (67), or ca 1794/95 per her age in 1880 (85). She was born in North Carolina per the 1860 census, but South Carolina per the 1870 and 1880 censuses. I don’t know who her parents were, nor what part of South Carolina she came from, nor do I know who her first husband was, Mr. Davis, except that he presumably died before 1857.

Despite it being such a common surname, there were no Davis families listed on the 1850 census in Rabun Co., GA. No Burch either. There was a Jarrett Burch (1782-1856) “next door” in Union (now Towns) Co., GA in 1850. He was born in North Carolina, but could be related to Martha perhaps. His wife was Emelia “Milly” Pinson.

There is this entry on the 1850 census in Union Co., GA that *could* be the same Martha:

1850 census, Union Co., GA, 85^th District, # 29/29

That Martha Davis is certainly a reasonable match for the one who married Jesse Carter. Of course I can’t say with any certainty that it is the same one.

Jesse and Martha Carter are listed on the 1860 census in Rabun Co., GA living by themselves.

1860 Census, Rabun Co., GA, Valley, Head Tennessee PO, # 246/246

Jesse Carter is listed on the 1860 Slave Schedule. Was this Martha’s slave she brought into the marriage? He was a 10 year old black male, name not given.

Jesse and Martha are on the 1870 census in Rabun Co., GA next to his son Thomas and near son James. They have a black family living with them, Chesley and Letty Carter. (They were in Macon Co., NC for the 1880 census.)

1870 Census, Rabun Co., GA, No Township, Clayton PO, # 240/247

Jesse Carter died on 26 Feb 1871 (age 87) in Rabun Co., GA. He is buried at Head of Tennessee Baptist Church Cemetery, with what appears to be an original marker with his birth and death dates. There is a newer marker for him and his first wife Lavina also.

Widow Martha Carter is listed on the 1880 census in neighboring Towns Co., GA. She is living with another widow, Elizabeth Davis Burch, age 60, who is the widow of Martin L. Burch. They married in 1840 in Rabun Co., GA. I don’t know how Elizabeth Davis Burch (c1820) and Martha Burch Davis (c1800) are connected, but they appear to be connected two ways, potentially.

1880 Census, Towns Co., GA, Town Dist. No. 990, # 15/17

There is a Joseph Burch, 63, born in SC, a few households away. With him is a Milly Burch, 93, born SC, listed as a “boarder.” Milly is the widow of Jarrett Burch mentioned earlier. The proximity to Martha strongly suggests a connection to her Burch family.

I don’t know when Martha Burch Davis died, though sometime after 1880, presumably in Towns Co., GA.

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Children

Jesse Carter and Lavina Sams had 13 children. I don’t have proof for any of them, though the list certainly seems accurate. I’ve been led to believe there was a family Bible record that named all the children along with their birth dates. I have not seen this myself.

Jesse and his 2^nd wife, Martha, didn’t have any children, though she might have had some from a previous marriage, but I’m not sure about that.

 

1.         Martha Carter (1806-1883) married Jehu Chastain 1823 in Rabun Co., GA. They lived in neighboring Cherokee Co., NC until moving to Arkansas.

 

2.         Josiah Carter (1807-1880) married Nancy Beck 1829 in Rabun Co., GA. They moved into neighboring Union Co., GA in the 1830s and were there when that section became Towns Co., GA in 1856, and remained there until their deaths.

 

3.         Mary Wade Carter (1809-1879) married John Corn 1836 in Rabun Co., GA. They went to neighboring Union Co., GA in the section that later became Towns Co., GA.

 

4.         Elizabeth Carter (1811-aft 1850) married William Morgan 1832 Rabun Co., GA. They were in Union Co., GA by 1850, probably the section that became Towns Co., GA.

 

5.         Lavina Carter (1810/15-1840s) married John Coffee 1833 Rabun. She died in the 1840s, presumably in Rabun Co., GA. Her husband and children were in Cherokee Co., NC by 1850.

 

6.         Nancy Matilda Carter (1814-1890) married William H. Cathey 1837 Rabun Co., GA. They too went to Union (now Towns) Co., GA, but by 1870 were in western NC in Jackson Co., NC in the section that shortly afterwards became Swain County. These are my ancestors. See their own page for additional information.

 

7.         Lucinda Carter (1816-1904) married Peter G. Stroud 1836 Rabun. They lived next door in Towns Co., GA.

 

8.         William Edward Carter (1817-1902) married Caroline Matilda Watts 184 Rabun. They moved to Gordon Co., GA.

 

9.         Thomas W. Carter (1820-1889) married Catherine Matilda Pendergrass 1840 in neighboring Macon Co., NC. They lived in Rabun.

 

10.       Violet Catherine Carter died as an infant. I have no dates for her, but there is a gap in the children ca 1820/1824 where she would fit.

 

11.       Gracie Miranda Carter (c1824-1845) married George W. Pendergrass 1840 in Rabun. They moved to neighboring Cherokee Co., NC where she died around age 21.

 

12.       James Wiley Carter (1825-1880) married Jane Caroline Hurst 1845 in Macon Co., NC. They lived in Rabun.

 

13.       Sarah Adeline Carter (1828-?) married her widower brother-in-law George W. Pendergrass in 1846 in Rabun.

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For Family Group Sheet and other notes see my database pages for Jesse Carter.

Revised: January 25, 2025

Copyright © 1996-2025 Marvin A. Grant, Jr. All Rights Reserved.

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