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Genealogy: Finding Your Folks

The Carroll family of Bethany, Part 1

By Judy Fowler Kilgore

In the Fayette County cemeteries book, page 23, Bethany United Methodist Church, there are two obscure little listings with initials only, “H.H.C.” and E.D.C.” These probably would go unnoticed and unknown since the surnames on either side are Spier and Ellington. Neither starts with a “C” and one is not likely to connect these initials with either family.

The reason for the short listing is that when the survey was done for the book (published by the Fayette County Historical Society in 1987), the gravestones were tipped forward, were too heavy to be lifted, and therefore the information on them could not be read.

These are actually the graves of Hullum Hodge Carroll and his wife, Emmeline D. Harper Carroll, members of the family of John Harper and Leah Maddox we wrote about several weeks ago. Mary Harper sent me the initial family information from another cemetery survey and also sent me photos of the gravestones which have now been raised back into an upright position.

A week or so later, I heard from a descendant, Dorothy Greer Beaudoin (dgb304@comcast.net), who sent more information on this family. Dorothy is desperately trying to find an obituary for Hullum, who died in 1878, and wanted to know if the newspapers still held in Fayette County repositories went back that far. (I don’t think so but perhaps someone familiar with that topic would know more.) Although Dorothy was raised in the Atlanta area, she no longer lives here and finds it impossible to drive “home” to do her research.

Since we have already done the family background on Emmeline Harper Carroll, we’ll go into the background and family of Hullum Carroll, with many thanks to Dorothy. Hullum and Emmeline Harper Carroll were her great-great-grandparents.

Dorothy writes:

“My great-great-grandfather was Hullum Hodge Carroll who married Emmeline D. Harper, my great-great-grandmother, on 6 Jan. 1842 in Pike County, Ga.

“I have a lot of info on this Carroll family and a little on the Harper family. Your article added greatly to my Harper information. Thanks so much for writing that article!”

(Actually, Mary did all the work. I just passed it on. So, the thanks go to Mary.)

Dorothy continues: “I've been looking for an obit for Hullum Hodge Carroll, but unfortunately I can't drive ‘home’ to Georgia to look. It's called ‘old age.’ I was born and raised in Atlanta.

“Do you know if the old newspapers at the Fayette County Library go back as far as 1878? Do you know of anyone who can search the Fayette County Library for old newspapers for a fee? Or is an obit from 1878 more likely to be in an Atlanta paper? Hullum Hodge Carroll died 11 Nov. 1878. Many years ago I found their graves at Bethany along with many Harpers. I believe that Bethany was in Fife, Ga., which has disappeared as a town.

“Hullum Hodge Carroll was the son of the Rev. Jesse William Carroll (b. 17 Sept. 1800 in Wilkes Co. Ga, d. 11 May 1876 in Rockdale Co. Ga.) and Ann Hodge (b. 14 July 1798 in Oglethorpe Co. Ga, d. 15 March 1870 in Newton Co. Ga.) Both are buried in Conyers, Ga.

“Hullum was named for his grandmother, Rachel Hullum, 1766-1859, and his grandfather, the Rev. James Hodge, 1768-1841. Both are buried in Starrsville, Ga. (Newton County).

“Jesse W. Carroll and Ann Hodge married 19 Sept. 1819 in Georgia (probably Jasper County). They lived in Pike County between 1820 and 1830. They were on the Newton County census in 1830 and lived there until their deaths. Rockdale County was formed from part of Newton County in 1871. Jesse W. Carroll was a Methodist Minister Circuit Rider. He married (2) Mary Ann McClung, widow of David McClung, on 15 Sept. 1870. They had no children.

“Jesse W. and Ann Hodge Carroll's children were:

“(1) Hullum Hodge Carroll.

“(2) Sarah E. Carroll, b. 14 March 1828, d. 24 Oct. 1824.

“(3) Mary Ann Carroll, b. 28 Sept. 1824, d. 11 Jan. 1837.

“(4) Wm. Stewart Carroll, b. 24 May 1828, d. 6 Feb. 1903 in Newton County, married Ruth Franklin Lindsey 7 Feb. 1847 in Newton County. Both are buried in Oxford Historical Cemetery.

“(5) Martha Elizabeth Parks Carroll, b. 26 June 1830, d. 2 Jan. 1920 in Morgan Co. Ga., married (1) David Eddleman (2) Elias Ozburn.

“Hullum Hodge Carroll was born in Pike County. 28 Dec. 1820. He married Emmeline D. Harper on 6 Jan. 1842 in Pike County. He is on the 1850 Pike Co. GA census. His occupation is listed as ‘merchant.’ He is in the Atlanta City Directory in 1860 as a bookkeeper. On the 1870 Fulton County census, he is listed as ‘bookkeeper.’ The family lived in the First Ward of Atlanta.

“Hullum Hodge Carroll died 11 Nov. 1878 and is buried beside his wife, Emmeline, in Bethany Cemetery. Emmeline died 17 May 1871.”

Dorothy lists the children of Hullum and Emmaline Carroll as James Henry Carroll (b. 1842), Margaret Ann Carroll (b. 1845), William M. Carroll (b. 1847), Jane L. Carroll (b. 1849), Mary Eloise Carroll (b. 1851), Sarah Josephine Carroll (b. 1855), Charles Carroll (b. 1857), Laura E. Carroll (b. 1861), and Tullulah Emma Carroll (b. 1864).

We’ll go into a little more detail on those children next week. Many thanks to Dorothy for sharing her information. She would love to hear from anyone who is connected to her Carroll family.

I welcome all letters and e-mails about genealogy and info on south metro Atlanta families. Send them to The Citizen, P.O. Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; e-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com. Any letters and/or e-mails I receive are subject to being used in the column.

Until next week, happy hunting!