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My Long Branch of Early County, Georgia

My Long Branch
of Early County, Georgia

by Terry Jenkins

Martha Long

Martha Long had three children ca. 1812-1816, apparently out of wedlock. Court documents of Early County, Georgia state that these children were illegitimate. The documents are estate records of Brown Liverman, whom Martha married. Brown Liverman's first wife was killed in 1818 by Indians. Brown Liverman's family is enumerated in Wilkinson County, Georgia in 1820. Is Martha already married to Liverman? There is a 26-45 yr old female listed in the household. Published recollections of Early County show that Martha and Brown Liverman were one of the early marriages of Early County. In 1821 Brown Liverman was killed by his negro slave, who was tried, convicted and hanged for the offense.

Martha married Henry Ball on 15 March 1824 in Early County. Martha is found on estate documents recorded at the county level as late as 1833. In 1850 Henry Ball is still located in Early County with another wife. I'm unsure what happened to Martha or which of the children listed with Henry Ball were Martha's offsprings.

One of Martha's children, Andrew Jackson, moved to Texas by 1850, living in Polk County.

Martha's illigitimate children:

  1. Nancy Long, b. abt 1812, married John Purifoy
  2. Sarah Long, b. abt 1814, married Needham Standley
  3. Andrew Jackson Long (see below)

Andrew Jackson Long

Andrew Jackson Long was born in about 1816 in Georgia. He was the illigitimate son of Martha Long, who had two other illigitimate children, Sarah and Nancy. The Long family is found in Early County, Georgia sometime around 1820 as Martha is recorded as marrying Brown Liverman in one of the earliest marriages in the county. Andrew married in Early County on 14 September 1841 to Millie (Mittie) Roe. Millie was the daughter of John Roe. Andrew and Millie had three daughters, the youngest one born in 1847, supposedly in Texas. Millie died before the 1850 census was taken, The children are listed on the 1850 census as living with Edward and Sarah Roe in Polk County, TX. Edward was a brother of Millie and was taking care of the children, Andrew is found living close by in Polk Co. By 1860, Andrew Long and Daniel Roe, another brother of Millie's who was also in Polk County in 1850, had moved to Bastrop County. The three children have not been located on the 1860 census at this time.

In 1870 Andrew Jackson Long is enumerated in Gainesville, Cooke County TX, age 54, along with his son William Long, born in Texas. So it is assumed that he was married a second time although a marriage record has not been found and as such the name of William's mother is unknown at this time.According to date submitted to LDS by a descendant of William, Michael Stites whom I've been unable to contact, William was born on 21 January 1862 in Louisiana

On 24 November 1864 in Bastrop County, Andrew married Mary Jane Dancer Gray. Mary Jane was born in Shelby County, Tennessee on May 19, 1829, the daughter of Ashall Dancer and Mary Ward. Her first marriage was to Joseph Leonard Gray on 7 November 1844 in Bastrop County, Texas.  They had ten children before Joseph Gray's untimely death in 1863. He supposedly died at home in the presence of his wife and a neighbor, who happened to be Andrew Jackson Long.

Andrew and Mary have a daughter, Sarah, in 1866. In 1870, as stated previously, Andrew and son are living in Cooke County. In 1880, Andrew and William are back in Bastrop County living beside Mary J. Gray Long. They are shown as divorced. Since Andrew was living away from Mary in 1870 and the 1870 census doesn't show marital status, it is not known but assumed that the divorce was before this time. Mary Jane has one son and a daughter by the previous marriage living with her along with Sarah Long.

It is unknown when Andrew died but two different branches of the family have stated that he is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Ballinger, Texas, the final resting place of his oldest daughter Martha Jane. No record is found of this burial as the early records of Runnels County are very slack.

Children of Andrew and Millie Roe Long:

  1. Martha Jane Long (see below)
  2. Nancy Long, b. 1844, possibly married ___Parish in Travis Co. TX 1866
  3. Axie Green Long, b. 8 Oct 1847, d. 8 Aug 1926,

Child of Andrew and second wife:

  1. William Laney Long, b. 21 Jan 1862 LA or TX, d. 1 Sep 1892 Bastrop Co. TX, buried Antioch Cemetery, Bastrop Co., m. Laura Olive Cottle 16 Dec 1883: Laura, b. 9 Jun 1858, d. 17 Aug 1955, buried Old Runnels Cemetery, Runnels Co., TX

Children by Andrew and Mary Jane:

  1. Sarah Long, b. 1866

Martha Jane Long Jenkins

Martha Jane Long was born in December 1842 in Georgia. She was the daughter of Andrew Jackson Long and Millie (Mittie) Roe. It is believed that Jackson and Mittie moved to Texas before 1847. Mittie died before 1850 and their three children moved in with Mittie's brother, Edward, and his family in Polk County, Texas. The children have not been found on the 1860 census.

Martha married Elisha “Eli” Jenkins in Williamson County, Texas on 13 September 1860. They had one child: Benjamin Jackson Jenkins, born 1861. Eli was killed in the Civil War in 1864 at the Battle of Pleasant Hill and Martha remained in Williamson County. She and her son were enumerated in 1870, living in Liberty Hill, Texas with John and Nancy Russell.

In 1876 in Williamson County, Martha married Samuel P. Brown. The marriage took place at the home of B. F. Goats. Unsure of the connection between these two families. They had one daughter: Eva Rebekah Brown, born 1877. They moved to Runnels County in October 1879. He settled near Blue Gap and was instrumental in organizing the county. He was the first Justice of the Peace in his precinct. He moved to the town of Runnels in 1885 and moved to Ballinger in 1887. In Ballinger, Samuel engaged in the hotel business and was elected County Commissioner in 1890 and was reelected in 1892.

Samuel died on 28 January 1896 and was buried in Ballinger’s Evergreen Cemetery. Martha lived with her daughter, even after her daughter’s marriage to Joseph L. Spoonts, until her death on 01 February 1914. She is buried beside Samuel in Ballinger. There is a single marker showing the achievements of Samuel Brown during his Civil War years.

Child with Eli Jenkins:

  1. Benjamin Jackson Jenkins, b. 1861, m. Mollie Hammonds

Child with Samuel P. Brown

  1. Eva Rebekah Brown, b. 1877, m. Joseph Lane Spoonts

Links

Early County, GAGenWeb
My Roe Family of Early County, Georgia