Families of Jefferson County, Tennessee

This information was provided by Dan Carman

"Families of Jefferson County, Tennessee" edited by
the Genealogical Society of Jefferson County, Tennessee
1992.

Page 14        CARMAN by James E. Broyles

          The following is a brief sketch of the
first four generations of the Carman Family in 
Jefferson County.
          John Carman and his family arrived in
Jefferson County from Maryland in 1796.  His
son Caleb Carman married Jenny (Jane) Walker
13 Dec 1796.
          John bought 100 acres of land south of
Dumplin Creek from James Sullivan who had
patented the land the year before.  The date
was 9 Mar 1797 (registered 8 Jun 1797) and 
the price was 50 Lbs.
          John's son Caleb received a grant of
164 acres from the State of Tennessee 
registered 3 Jul 1818.  This made up the basic
family land.
          John must have been nearly 90 when
he died in 1840.  His will mentions his wife
Nancy and four children: Caleb, William,
Joseph, and Jean (Jane).
          There seems to be little evidence of
either William or Joseph in Jefferson County.
They may have left relatively early.  Jean
married John Tucker on 16 Apr 1798.  Caleb
inherited all of the family land.  The other
children each received one dollar.
          Caleb Carman also made a will in 1841
and died sometime after 1850.  The children 
mentioned in the will were: William, born about
1797, married Jane Miller 19 Aug 1822;
Thomas born about 1798, died before 1860,
married Lucinda (Lucy) Large 15 Sep 1824;
Nancy, married David Bettis 17 Jan 1815;
James born about 1802, died after 1880,
married Nancy Large 6 Apr 1831, married
second wife Clarissa Reader 8 Mar 1841; John
born about 1806, died 1858, married Mary
Jane Hodges 12 Feb 1840; Frances (Franky)
married Martin O. Atchley 19 Nov 1827;
Charlotta born about 1810, m. William Newman
5 Jan 1847; and Elizabeth born about 1815,
married Johnathan Newman 29 Jan 1840.
         Caleb is listed as a Blacksmith in the
1850 census.  He is the first among many in 
the family to practice this trade.
         William Carman and Jane had a large
family (10 children before 1850: Lottie, Rachel,
Elizabeth, Nancy, Samuel, Margaret, Mary,
John, Frances, and James). They left Jefferson
County sometime before 1850 and are found in 
the census of that year in Hamilton County,
Tennessee.
         Thomas Carman and Lucy had six 
children.  The oldest was apparently Joseph H.
Carman who served with the Union in the Civil
War and died of an ulcerated stomach in 1880.
(There was also a J.M. Carman who served in 
the same unit as Joseph and was killed in the
war.  He was buried in Jefferson City.  I have
no definate proof of the relation of either Joseph
H. or J. M. to Thomas).
         John R. C. Carman was a son of 
Thomas and went to Claiborne County,
Tennessee to work as a blacksmith for his uncle
J.C. Large.  He married a Rebecca Moody and 
died 6 Nov 1880.
            Martha (Patsey) born ca 1832.
            James Warren born about 1836,
married Nancy J. ?.
            William H. Born about 1837, married
Mary A. Large 20 Oct 1858.  Like his older
brother he worked as a blacksmith for his uncle
J.C. Large in Clairborne County and married his
oldest daughter.
             Samuel Shields born 1847, married
Mary Harper Feb 1866.  Samuel was apparently
named after the physician who delivered him.
            James Carman and Nancy had four 
children before her early death.
             Mary Jane born 22 Feb 1833, died 23
Aug 1912 in Bourbon County, Kansas, married 
a Price who died within a year of their marriage.
Later in life she went to Kansas and married her
cousin William Large.  She raised her own son 
James A. Price, her orphaned nephew Joseph
W. Carman, and the younger children of William
whose first wife had died.
             Elisha born about 1835-- no other
information.
             John F.R.M. (Rhotan) born about 1837,
died 29 Mar 1865 at Ft. Douglas, Illinois,
married Sarah Rachel Large 12 Apr 1857.  John
was named after the physician John F. Rhotan.
He died of war wounds.  His wife and daughter
did not survive the war leaving his son Joseph
W. Carman an orphan.
          John Robert born about 1839, died 
1880 in Claiborne County, married Martha Jane
Witt 28 Aug 1868.  Though his name is given
as "James" in the 1850 census, he was usually
called Robert or Bob. Censuses and other
records generally give his initials J.R. He was
buried under the name of "John."

Page 15

          James Carman and his second wife
Clarissa Reader had at least seven more 
children: Nancy M., Rachel L., Susan L., Jacob
Albert, Charlotte E., Andrew M., and Ellen L.
          John Carman and Mary Jane had three
children before his early death.
          Caleb Harrison born about 1840,
married Sarah French 5 Apr 1866; Edmond M.
born about 1842, married Mary Gass 12 Mar
1862, died 1891 in Jefferson County; Sarah M.
born about 1844, married James Monroe
Sherrod 11 Nov 1874.
           John and Mary Jane took care of John's
father Caleb in his later years.  Caleb, in turn,
passed the family land to John and Mary Jane
and to his grandson Caleb.  The other children
of Caleb each received one dollar except
Charlotta.  She was unmarried at the time and
inherited a bed, furniture, a flaxwheel, and a
cow.
          Many of the Carman family were 
members of the Dumplin Creek Baptist Church.
The earliest of these was an Ann Carman who
was received 8 April 1808.  She is mentioned
several times between then and 1811.  Her
relation in the Carman Family is not known.
She may have been a daughter of John 
Carman who was not mentioned in the Will.
Caleb Carman was received 29 Sep 1827.  His
daughter Nancy Bettis and her husband David
Bettis were received in 1828. Caleb's son
James Carman was received in 1830.  He was
very active in the church and sometimes
represented them at Association meetings. He
apparently left the church after the death of 
his first wife in 1841.  Rhotan Carman and his
wife Sarah were received in 1857.  A Joseph
Carman is also mentioned in 1838 and several
times prior to 1846.  Whether this is John's
son or a later Carman is not clear.

                         James E. Broyles