Finding Your Folks: Jane A(nna Lisa) Byram Kelley

This little gal has really had me stumped for a long time. With John Byram’s book, “Byrams in America” open beside my computer night and day, I have been sitting here looking at her name at the top of his list of children for weeks and weeks, wondering where in the world she fit in and if, indeed, she was a child of James and Hannah Byram. After all, John also listed Turner Byram as a child of James and Hannah and I’m certain he was not. I have some interesting observations about Turner Byram and his Coweta connections which I will save for another day.

I think I’d better explain John’s book which has its good points and its bad points. I purchased it several weeks ago directly from John who sent it first class so I would get it quickly. I appreciated his doing that.

I would like to say first, the book has an amazing amount of Byram family information in it. There are Byrams from all over the United States, carefully catalogued in John’s own system which is easily understood — I mean there are thousands of these guys. Just getting them all into the book in some semblance of order was a monumental task in itself.

There are also thousands of sources but most are just names of people who sent in the information. That’s the bad part. There is little to no documentation or verification of information, particularly on this branch of the Byrams which John has dubbed “VA-2,” meaning they are a branch of the Virginia Byrams.

Also, if different people sent a different version of a child’s name, that child’s name is listed more than once. Under James and Hannah’s children, there is a “John F.H. Byram” and a “James F.H. Byram.” James F.H. is said to have married Mary E. Tidwell when we know now for certain it was John F.H. Byram.

Yet, someone said Mary married James and moved to Alabama which, of course, she did not. But the information is in the book, along with the submitter — but no verification or source of the information (census, etc.)

One of the contributors of information on the Virginia (and later Coweta) Byrams is a Mrs. Mary B. Crouch Jr. who is now deceased. I tend to agree with Mrs. Crouch more than I do the other submitters but what I wouldn’t give to peek into John’s files and see what she said about her sources of information.

Without that, I have had an awful time trying to sort these children.

Anna Liza has topped the list of “mystery Byrams” until just the other day when my brain finally opened up and saw what was actually in the book. I may be wrong on this one but here’s what I think.

Mrs. Crouch stated that Anna Liza was born in North Carolina and married John Kelly. Since she was at the top of the list, my mind saw her as one of the older daughters when she was actually one of the younger ones. Anna Liza Byram, I believe, is none other than Jane A. Byram who almost ended up being an “old maid.” Her full name, I believe, was Jane Anna Liza Byram, or even perhaps Jane Ann Eliza Byram.

My biggest clues came from Rootsweb files on John Kelley which, unfortunately, also had no documentation. But they did have a specific marriage date so I knew there had to be a record somewhere. I found it in Campbell County. Jane A. Byram married John Kelley 22 Nov. 1860. At the time, Jane was 33 and John was 24. I could not find them in the 1870 census but I did find them in 1880 in Coweta. Jane was the right age and she and her parents were both born in North Carolina, fitting the bill for my Jane perfectly.

Jane, as you remember from James Byram’s will, was the only single daughter and received “extra quilts.” The will also said: “ ... I will if my Daughter Jane A. Byram die without issue that the property willed to her and its increase be equally divided between the four Boys above named and two girls to wit Amy Brock and Martha C. Cook.” So, you can see James was worried that his next to youngest daughter might not marry at all.

In the 1860 census (following her father’s death in 1858), Jane was still single but the head of her household (#867), with the “Hearse” family living with her. Her brother Andrew lived next door on one side (#866), and her brother John (and his wife, Mary Eunice Tidwell) lived on the other side (#868).

John Kelley, Jane’s future husband, also was in Coweta County in 1860, living with the Skeen family (#831) while his father, William H. Kelley, and his second wife, Sarah C. Stamps, lived nearby in #827. John’s mother, Nancy Fretwell Kelley, passed away sometime before 1858.

All these families were in northern Coweta County near Palmetto and the Campbell County line.

After Jane and John married, the Civil War broke out and John went off to fight for the Confederacy. His pension application reveals some interesting things.

I tried my best to find John and Jane in 1870 but they have eluded me completely, although I have searched for every variation of the name “Kelley” I could think of. In 1880, they were in Coweta County, living in the Palmetto-McCollum District, with six children: James, 20; Nannie, 18; Emma, 15; Beatrice, 13; Ella, 11; and John, 8. (I believe John may have been “Johnnie,” a female, but I’m still working on that one.)

I believe Jane died sometime after 1890 and John may have remarried a much younger woman. As soon as I can get back to the probate records I should know for sure. Jane may have had property which should have been passed on to her children.

There’s more to this story but we’ll have to save it for another time. I hope you’ll stay with us for future chapters.

Stories about your ancestors who lived in the south metro Atlanta area are most welcome. Send them to The Citizen, P.O. Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214, or e-mail jkilgore@thecitizen.com or JodieK444@aol.com.