John R. Garner, DNA, A Nephew And an Unkown Man

Sometime ago I wrote about my 3rd great grandfather, John Middleton Nall and in the process I was able to figure out who his wife's family was. I had been searching for years and the answer was right under my nose.

I'll give a brief  recap. John Middleton Nall married a Mary Jane Garner on 6 Aug 1857, in Rusk County. In John Middleton's civil war pension application it was signed by a J J Garner and T L Nix. J J Garner was John Josiah Garner b. 1836 in GA who married a Mary A Nix.  T L Nix was Mary A Nix's half-sibling Thomas Little Nix. b. 1842 in GA. After searching the 1850 census I was able found the John R. Garner family living in the next county over, Panola County. Head of household was Jno R. Garner b. 1818 GA, Elizabeth b. 1820 GA, Josiah b. 1837 GA, Mary b. 1840 GA, Ann b. 1842 AL, John b. 1846 TX and Wiley b. 1849 TX.

This is Mary Jane Garner/Nall's family. DNA verifies it. Most of her siblings are well documented but her parents are a different story. This blog post will be my attempt at piecing together the information I have in hopes of finding something new and also hoping other John R. Garner descendants will see it so that together we can find some answers. I had my Dad's DNA tested and its linked on Ancestry. He matches the descendants of several of Mary Jane's siblings. Specifically John Josiah, Ann Eliza, Andrew Jackson and Sophrona Catherine Garner.

Let me begin with the 1850 census. This tells me the approximate age and birthplace so that I can begin searching for an earlier census. Keeping in mind that all censuses earlier than 1850 only list the head of household and age ranges. If the oldest two children were born between 1836-1840 in GA that tells me that this family should be somewhere in the state of Georgia during the 1840 census. A quick search gives me a John R Garner family living in  District 788, Heard County, Georgia. There is one male child under the age of 5 - that will be Josiah, one male between the ages of 20-30 - that will be John R. , and one female in the same age range - that will be his wife Elizabeth. Also living in the same district and county is a William M. Garner.

Going off of Josiah's birth date (1818) we can assume that John and Elizabeth were married about 1835; give or take a few years. Heard County Georgia is right on the Georgia/Alabama line so both states should be searched. There are a few options but none that I'm certain are them. Quite a few online trees say that her maiden name was Rosser/Russer and there is a marriage record for a John Garner Jr. married 1839 in Henry County Georgia. I don't believe this to be them. First, the marriage is after the birth of Josiah and second, it seems that this marriage can be attributed to a John H. Garner who died in 1911 and is buried in Burnet, Texas. There is one marriage record that I think is worth looking into and that is of a J "G" Garner and an A E Harbin who were married 17 July 1832 in Hall County, Georgia. The only image of this record that I have found seems to have been hand transcribed much later in time. I wonder if the "G" could've been an "R". And Elizabeth's middle initial is given as A in at least one record. For now this piece of the puzzle will have to remain unsolved.

Sometime in the late 1840's John and his family migrated to Texas. He can be found in the Tax Rolls of Shelby County, TX, for the year 1846 as well as a William Garner. Are they brothers?  In the next county over in Panola you can find John's land record here. They even include his signature from 1851. He claimed 320 acres of land that was situated on the Irons Bayou, a tributary of the Sabine River, about 5 1/2 miles North of Carthage.




I was actually able to find a map that has his name showing exactly where his land was located.

In the above land record you will find that John dies not long after his claim on the land and it then becomes the property of his heirs.


In the Texas Probate Records, 1800-1990, of Panola County  you can find in Final Records Book C page 609 and Minutes Book B page 333 records pertaining to John R Garner's Estate. Two names will come up. Thomas J. Garner who is referred to as a nephew, and is applying to be the administrator of John's estate. and a John W (?) Williams that objects and wishes himself to be the administrator.

There is no Thomas J. Garner in any census records for Panola or surrounding counties in the years 1850 or 1860. So this leaves me searching elsewhere for his connection to John. After John R. Garner dies, his widow, Elizabeth, marries an Irishman by the name of Thomas Shannon in 1858. They have one son named John Thomas "Jack" Shannon. I find his name a bit odd considering he has a half sibling named John Thomas Garner, but maybe that's why he went by "Jack"? Elizabeth then marries another Irishman named Cornelius 'Neal' Logue in 1866. Now all of this was going on during the Civil War. So I turn to Fold3 to browse their records hoping for some clue that will help in my search. In the same unit as Neal Logue, the 28th Calvary Randal's Regiment, there is a service record for both a T J Garner and a T L Garner. No identifiable information is given.

Then there's Mr. John Williams. Before writing this post, I had only searched and found a match in census records. But now, after reading through John R. Garner's land records I found that John K(?) Williams  and Mills L. Higgins signed as witnesses, testifying that John had indeed lived and made improvements on his land for at least 3 years.

Is there a connection to John with these men other than grit and determination to settle a new land? Were they just neighbors?

Mills Higgins dies in 1860 from pneumonia. He was born about 1813 in KY and married Martha Helen Young in Marshall County AL.

John K Williams was born about 1823 in KY, serves in the CSA during the Civil War and dies in 1898

I  have great difficulty finding much for a John W Williams other than one tax record for the year 1846 in Panola County, Texas.

I've never been able to find any record for John's widow Elizabeth after her marriage to Neal Logue. She and her son "Jack" Shannon aren't listed in the 1870 census. If it is the same man, there is a Cornelius Logue enumerated in the neighboring county of Cherokee, but Elizabeth and Jack aren't with him. He is living with the Odum family.

At this point, I think I will try researching more on the nephew Thomas J Garner from the Estate records. He may be able to point me to his parents, which in turn may provide clues to John's earlier history.

Until next week,
Becky