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Genealogy: Finding Your Folks

The Carroll family of Bethany, Part 2

By Judy Fowler Kilgore

Last week, we explored the lineage of descendants of the Rev. Jesse Carroll and Ann Hodge, parents of Hullum Hodge Carrol who is buried at Bethany United Methodist Church Cemetery in north Fayette County. The information on the Carrolls was submitted by Dorothy Greer Beaudoin (dgb304@comcast.net), who is seeking any information she can find on family members, but more particularly she would love to find an obituary for Hullum who died in 1878.

This Carroll family also connects to the Harper family of Bethany which is represented by more graves than any other family. Hullum married Emmeline D. Harper, daughter of John Harper and Leah Maddox, and, unlike members of the Harper family who moved from Pike County to Fayette County, settling in the Fife community near the Fayette/Fulton county line, Hullum and Emmeline moved to Atlanta. At least that’s where they were found in the 1860 census.

Hullum was born 28 Dec. 1820 in Pike County and was named for his grandmother, Rachel Hullum (1766-1859), and his grandfather, the Rev. James Hodge (1768-1841). Both Rachel and James are buried in Starrsville, Newton County, Ga.

Hullum married Emmeline D. Harper on 6 Jan. 1842 in Pike County and they stayed there through 1850, as he appears in the 1850 Pike County census. His occupation was listed as “merchant.” By 1860 Hullum had changed occupations and was listed as a bookkeeper in the 1860 Atlanta City Directory and also in the 1870 Fulton County census. The family lived in the First Ward of Atlanta.

According to Dorothy’s information, Hullum and Emmeline had nine children. They were:

1. James Henry Carroll, born 19 Dec. 1842 in Pike County, died 13 Sept. 1924 in Fulton County. He married Elizabeth Sockwell on 2 Jan. 1866 in Newton County. James Henry served in the Confederate Army as a sergeant with Company “H,” 27th Regiment, Georgia Volunteers.

2. Margaret Ann Carroll, born 14 March 1845, died after 1920 in Fulton County. Margaret was married four times: first to Robert Thrower who died in Civil War; second to a Mr. Gardiner; third to a Rev. Findley; and fourth to a Mr. Sweat.

3. William M. Carroll, born 12 Aug. 1847.

4. Jane L. Carroll, born 16 Sept. 1849. Jane married Albert Henderson 17 Oct. 1878 in Fulton County.

5. Mary Eloise Carroll, born 23 Sept. 1851. Mary Eloise married Hugh W. Ozburn about 1877.

6. Sarah Josephine Carroll, born 7 Feb. 1855, died 6 May 1846. Sarah osephine married William Thomas Dally 9 May 1890.

7. Charles Carroll, born 14 July 1857, died 1 June 1910 in Dade Co. Fla., is buried in the Miami City Cemetery. Charles never married.

8. Laura E. Carroll, born 1 Oct. 1861, died 1 Jan. 1944. Laura also never married.

9. Tullulah Emma Carroll, born 7 March 1864, died 26 July 1952 in Bell County, Texas. Tullulah Emma married John Gordon Brown.

Hullum Hodge Carroll died 11 Nov. 1878 and is buried beside his wife, Emmeline, in Bethany Cemetery. Emmeline preceded him in death on 17 May 1871.

There is one more Carroll buried at Bethany and more than likely he is connected to this Carroll-Harper family. He is George H. Carroll and there is only one date on the gravestone — April 15, 1938. A notation on George’s stone also says “Pvt, 262 Escort Co., ASC.” He is buried between Nellie Ellington (1877-1946) and Leona Dayton (1897-1967).

It was interesting to note that this Carroll family, with the exception of the marriage into the Harper family once, did not seem to intermarry with the other families at Bethany as many did (unless I really overlooked something). Perhaps it was because they did not reside in the Fife community.

There are two more families I’d like to cover before I wrap up this series — the Pattons and the Boyds. Strangely, not one person has written me about the Patton family which had 16 graves at Bethany as of 1987 when the cemetery book was published. The Pattons intermarried with other families at Bethany many times and I was quite surprised not to hear from anyone.

Another family which has not been mentioned is the Ellington family. It was really surprising not to hear from anyone from that family since the Ellingtons have 37 graves listed in the cemetery book.

However, George Hugh Boyd, in his book on the Boyd, Tidwell, Milam, Patton and DeGraffenreid families, gives the lineage of the Pattons at Bethany and, if I don’t hear from someone by next week, I’ll attempt to do it myself. I would love to hear from someone who has the Ellington history.

The Boyds are special to me, of course, since I have established a tentative link to them through my Boyds of Newberry (S.C.), Meriwether and Carroll counties. I may never find cold, hard proof of this link, but the circumstantial evidence based on facts leading to this conclusion is almost overwhelming.

Doing this series has been very interesting because I have been curious about the Rivers, Harpers, Ellingtons and the many families buried at Bethany since I discovered my own Fowler-Harper link and my connection to the Boyds.

Perhaps another series on families buried at other cemeteries in Fayette, Coweta and South Fulton would be fun to do also. We shall see what develops.

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!