Capt. John CARNEY b. 1748-1752 North Carolina d. 1838 Davidson County, Tennessee: Our Family History

Carney & Wehofer Family
Genealogy Pages

1752 - 1838 (86 years)

Photos
U.S. Map 1763 at time John was moving

Name	John CARNEY
Prefix	Capt.
Born	1748-1752	North Carolina
Gender	Male
Military	1775-1783
	During the American Revolutionary War (ca. 1775-1783), John Kearney (Carney) was assigned to the Army of General George Rogers Clark and Crockett's Regiment, with Richard Brashear, who was at Cahokia 31 May 1780
	The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography , Oct., 1893, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Oct., 1893), pp. 127-141
Court Case	Abt 1785	Davidson Co, Tn
	Davidson County, Tennessee County Court Minutes 1783 - 1792 by: Carol Wells page 31
	April 1785 Court Session - "John Boyd vs Ja. Rains. Trespass. Assault & Battery (page 127) Jury: John Cox, C. Ruddle, William Crutcher, John Buchanan, Jn. Tucker, Moses Larracy, Sam' Martin, Samuel Desson, JOHN KARNEY, Wm. Gower, Mark Nobles, Ed Hogan, Ed Hickman. Wit. Francis Armstrong, Wit. Wm. Crutcher.
FamilySearch ID	GP48-WPF
_UID	96D001F737C54CEBA59D6CC8079B38BFA06E
Died	1838	Davidson County, Tennessee
Person ID	I112680638	Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy
Last Modified	16 Sep 2024

Father	Captain Arthur CARNEY (KEARNEY), b. Abt 1732, Orangeburg, South Carolina, British Colonial America , d. 1783, Georgia (Age ~ 51 years)
Mother	Elizabeth ADERTON, b. Abt 1733, Rowan County, North Carolina , d. Abt 1769, Mississippi (Age ~ 36 years)
Family ID	F50573639	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family 1 Unproven, d. Yes, date unknown

Children

	1. Elijah CARNEY, b. 1771, North Carolina , d. 1851, Davidson County, Tennessee (Age 80 years)
	2. Vincent CARNEY, b. Abt 1773, Probably North Carolina , d. 24 Feb 1844, Whites Creek, Davidson County, Tennessee (Age ~ 71 years)
	3. Martha "Patsy" CARNEY, b. 4 Apr 1783, Whites Creek, Davidson County, Tennessee , d. 19 Jun 1871, Launca County, Texas (Age 88 years)

Last Modified 2 Apr 2019

Family ID F50573460 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Family 2 Naomi "Naoma" KNOX, b. Abt 1758, Pasquotank, North Carolina, British Colonial America , d. Bef 1850, Davidson, Tennessee (Age ~ 91 years)

Married Abt 1775

Children

	1. William CARNEY, b. Abt 1775, North or South Carolina, British Colony , d. Abt 1849, Tennessee (Age ~ 74 years)
	2. Lucy CARNEY, b. Abt 1779, North Carolina , d. North Carolina, United States

Last Modified 14 Sep 2024

Family ID F536731809 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Notes

WikiTree Sep 2024
Biography
1776 Project
Captain John Carney served with 1st North Carolina Regiment, Continental Army during the American Revolution.

What follows abstracts material collected by Jim Carney, a presumptive direct descendant of John Carney.[1]

Some census data places John Carney's North Carolina birth before 1750. K Johnson attributes his birth as 15 Apr 1748. Martha "Patsy" Carney, the last daughter, was born about the time the family likely traversed Natchez Trace, about 1783, when they settled in the newly formed Whites Creek, Davidson County, North Carolina, later Tennessee.

At that time, more than 80% of western North Carolina was still Indian Lands, surrounding Davidson County. Settlers were isolated in this territory, numbering about 200. In 1795, hostilities with the Indians ended. Of note is that Tennessee was not formed until 1790, when it was entirely organized and ceded from western North Carolina. Some of the birth location attributions may have had more to do with realigned borders, as opposed to resettlement.

Historians postulate that John Carney was related to William and Arthur Carney. Both were Indian Traders, documented regionally from 1783 onwards in towns including St. Augustine, Pensacola, Mobile, Chickasaw Bluffs, New Orleans Fernandina, Bon Secour, et al. Other traders of note were Turner Brashear, Lachlan and John McGillivray, John Turnbull, and others. Turnbull has a close family relationship with the Carneys, in local records including the Brashears (Brassiers) and the Leflores.
Another John Carney, Half-Sibling of John Carney, and DNA Testing

DNA testing of several Carney Family volunteers has confirmed the Mississippi John Carney (born 1775) line is related through an exact match with 46 markers to the Tennessee John Carney (born 1748) line. Despite the speculation of other researchers, this evidence suggests that we should not merge Iklannabee (often referred to as John Carney, especially later in his life) into the John Carney born in 1748. Instead, it is presumed that they were half-brothers. Arguments are well-described in the RootsWeb source material, giving logistics on birth dates for each of the men and their children.
John Carney in The Records

During the American Revolutionary War (ca. 1775-1783), John Kearney (Carney) was assigned to the Army of General George Rogers Clark and Crockett's Regiment, with Richard Brashear, who was at Cahokia 31 May 1780.
Crockett's Virginia Regiment: Lt. Colonel Joseph Crockett; Major George Walls; Surgeon Charles Greer
Captains: John Chapman (killed); William Cherry, John Kerney, Benjamin Kinley (died), Peter Moore, Abraham Tipton, Thomas Young
Approx 650 men in the Crockett regiment. See https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4241740.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3Aef43e48bb9f65ae02a09f1ebc5be9371&ab_segments=&origin=&initiator=&acceptTC=1

John is the son of Arthur Kearney, who married Celeste Brashear. Most of Richard Brashear's regiment resettled in Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. Kinship probably facilitated John's resettlement of his family after service from North Carolina to Tennessee following the war.

"The men in Captain Roger's Old Militia Company lived in the North East part of Davidson County from Dry Fork/Whites Creek to Sycamore Creek."[2]

John Carney appears in the records of 1787, about four years after his arrival in Davidson County, as a juror in a trial:

"Defendant came to plaintiff('s) house, picked up a chair, knocked plaintiff down, (and) bit his thumb."[3]

Father John Carney and sons William and Elijah are later mentioned in the 1798 Sumner County Tax Roll. Sumner County was formed from the east portion of Davidson County. A year later in 1799 they are also mentioned in a Davidson County road improvement filing:

"Isaac Earthman to oversee the Road beginning at the foot of The ridge thence to the head of Long Creek, down said creek about one mile to the tree marked with a large O with all lands above Dry Fork East & West of said Creek To wit: William Smith, JOHN CARNEY, WILLIAM CARNEY, ELIJAH CARNEY... and all taxables (taxable persons) in (said) bounds."[4]

Elijah CARNEY and Vincent CARNEY both bought more land holdings on Dry Fork Creek on the same day (6 Jun 1809) from Frederick Stump.
1812

John CARNEY and William CARNEY bought land on nearby Marrowbone Creek in February 1812. On 7 Feb 1812, the worst earthquake in US history occurred in Northwest Tennessee, when a large land mass dropped several feet, tidal waves occurred, and a back-flow of the Mississippi River resulted in the formation of the 13,000-acre Reelfoot Lake. John Carney bought 40 acres at Marowbone, land known as "Edward Blackburn's old place" on 25 Mar 1812.

Later, it is noted there were four of these men (John, William, Elijah and Vincent) listed on the rolls of the 1812 Davidson County Militia. John and William were in one regiment, and Elijah and Vincent were in another. It is believed that this John was not a participant, but it would have been nephew John Jr (born 1775), as this John would have been in his 60s. It cannot be ascertained with certainty if these Militia members were involved in only defense or saw any action in nearby states against the Spanish. Militia members were not entitled to land grants following the war. Such grants were reserved for those serving three years in the regular military.

We find JOHN KERNEY in the 1830 Davidson County, Tennessee Census 2 males - under 5; 1 male - age 15/20; 1 male - 80/90; 1 female - under 5; 1 female - age 15/20; 1 female - age 20/30; 1 female - age 60/70; 1 female - age 80/90. This indicates that John remained married as late as his eighties. This is the last mention that we find of John Carney in the records.
Children

William CARNEY, b. 1770, South Carolina d. Abt 1849, Tennessee
Elijah CARNEY, b. 1771, North Carolina d. 1851, Davidson County, Tennessee
Vincent CARNEY, b. Abt 1773, Probably North Carolina d. 24 Feb 1844, Whites Creek, Davidson County, Tennessee
Lucy CARNEY, b. Abt 1779, North Carolina d. Yes, date unknown
Martha "Patsy" CARNEY, b. 4 Apr 1783, Whites Creek, Davidson County, Tennessee d. 19 Jun 1871, Launca County, Texas

Sources

? RootsWeb Carney Ancestry, Carney, Jim. Last revised Apr 2011, accessed 10 Oct 2018.
? Pioneers of Davidson County, Tennessee - Edythe JR Whitley, 2009, Baltimore: Clearfield.
? Davidson County, Tennessee County Court Minutes 1783 - 1792 by: Carol Wells page 31 - April 1785 Court Session - "John Boyd vs Ja. Rains. Trespass. Assault & Battery (page 127) Jury: John Cox, C. Ruddle, William Crutcher, John Buchanan, Jn. Tucker, Moses Larracy, Sam' Martin, Samuel Desson, JOHN KARNEY, Wm. Gower, Mark Nobles, Ed Hogan, Ed Hickman. Wit. Francis Armstrong, Wit. Wm. Crutcher.
? Tennessee Court Minutes. July 1799, page 20.

http://www.avocadoridge.com/carney/getperson.php?personID=I112680638&tree=tree1

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Thomas Abel for creating WikiTree profile Carney-378 through the import of abel2012.ged on Jan 26, 2013.

OLD RESEARCH NOTES:
John Carney was born in North Carolina around 1748-1750, as determined from censuses of him and his children. K. Johnson has birth as 15 Apr 1748. Most of his children were also born in North Carolina, but some (if not several), as noted on the Census rolls including sons William, Elijah and Vincent, and daughter Lucy - may have been born in east North Carolina/Tennessee. Martha "Patsy" Carney the last daughter was born about the time the family may have came up through the Natchez Trace in 1782/83 and settled in White's Creek, Davidson County, North Carolina (later Tennessee), which had just formed as a county in 1783. At that time, over 80% of western North Carolina was still Indian Lands which surrounded Davidson County isolated in the middle of this semi-hostile territory with only 200 able bodied men in all settlements. Until the Indian wars ended in 1795, only a trickle of settlers entered. It is important to note, that Tennessee was not formed until 1790 as it was entirely organized and ceded from western North Carolina. It is possible, some of the family children did not move far at all from their birth places and the borders were what moved.

It is suspected John Carney was related to William and Arthur Carney, who were Indian Traders found trading in these areas from 1783 onwards, in towns such as St. Augustine, Pensacola, Mobile, Chickasaw Bluffs, New Orleans Fernandina, Bon Secour, etc. Other traders of note were Turner Brashear, Lachlan and John McGillivray, John Turnbull, and others. Turnbull has a close family relationship with the Carneys as seem to be locally the Brashears (Brassiers) and the Leflore's

DNA testing of several Carney Family volunteers has confirmed the Mississippi John Carney (B: 1775) line is related through an exact match with 46 markers to the Tennessee John Carney (B: 1748) line. Despite other researchers speculation, we cannot merge Iklannabee into John Carney (B: 1748) who is believed to be his half-brother. Reasons: (1) This John Carney has children with sufficient documentation proving that they were born and partially raised in the North Carolina and then arrived in Tennessee territory in 1783 - Iklannabee birthdate firmed up about 1758 and would have been father at 12. (2) Iklannabee was Indian in appearance, and ½ breeds were not then allowed to own land in Tennessee/North Carolina or serve as juror. (3) It is shown in several Censuses that John and his children were never mentioned to be anything other than white.

The plausible conclusion as evidenced by the DNA testing and rolls, censuses, land deeds, etc is that Iklannabee of Mississippi and John Carney (B: 1748) of Tennessee have the same father, believed to be the same Indian Trader who plied his wares in Indian Territory. The Choctaw Indian Territory extended from Mississippi to eastern Alabama and up the Natchez Trace into Tennessee.

The first mention of John Carney in official records is in 1787, four years after arrival confirmed when he was a juror in a trial. Reference: Book - Davidson County, Tennessee County Court Minutes 1783 - 1792 by: Carol Wells page 31 - April 1785 Court Session - "John Boyd vs Ja. Rains. Trespass. Assault & Battery (page 127) Jury: John Cox, C. Ruddle, William Crutcher, John Buchanan, Jn. Tucker, Moses Larracy, Sam' Martin, Samuel Desson, JOHN KARNEY, Wm. Gower, Mark Nobles, Ed Hogan, Ed Hickman. Wit. Francis Armstrong, Wit. Wm. Crutcher. Def' came to plaintiff house picked up a chair, knocked plaintiff down, bit his thumb.

The Carney men, John, William and Elijah are later mentioned on the 1798 Sumner County Tax Roll. Sumner County was formed from the right (east) portion of Davidson County. A year later, they are also mentioned again in a road improvement filed in Davidson County, Tennessee Court Minutes July 1799 page 20 Isaac Earthman to oversee the Road beginning at the foot of The ridge thence to the head of Long Creek, down said creek about one mile to the tree marked with a large O with all lands above Dry Fork East & West of said Creek To wit: William Smith, JOHN CARNEY, WILLIAM CARNEY, ELIJAH CARNEY...and all taxables in sd bounds.

Elijah CARNEY and Vincent CARNEY bought more land holdings on Dry Fork Creek on the same day (6 Jun 1809) from Frederick Stump. John CARNEY and William CARNEY bought land on nearby Marrowbone Creek in February, 1812. John Carney bought land known as "Edward Blackburn's old place" on March 25, 1812 - 40 acres on Marrowbone. This follows the worst earthquake in U.S. History which occurred February 7th in Northwest Tennessee where a vast land area drops several fee, tidal waves and a back flowing Mississippi River result in 13,000 acre Reelfoot Lake.

During the war of Independence from English rule, John Kearney (Carney) was assigned to The Army of General George Rogers Clark and Crockett's Regiment with Richard Brashear who was at Cahokia on 31 may 1780. John is believed to be related to Arthur Kearney, who married Celeste Brashear indicating at least a familiarity with the Brashear family further strengthening the connection to Arthur as John's relative. Most of Brashear's regiment resettled in Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. This would fit with John's resettlement of his family after service from North Carolina to Tennessee in 1783 following the war. Source Book: "Pioneers of Davidson County, Tennessee" - By: Edythe R. Whitley "The men in Captain Roger's Old Militia Company lived in the North East part of Davidson County from Dry Fork/Whites Creek to Sycamore Creek"

By 1790, The newly formed United States had 230,000 immigrants from England, and the second most prolific immigrants were 142,000 settlers from Ireland. Together with other immigrant nationalities and all their descendants, the population was now 3,929,326. In 1917, The Irish (later termed Scotch-Irish in 1970's), begin deserting Ireland following 100 years of leasing land with oppressive rents by absentee Anglo landlords and a crumbling linen trade, famine and droughts. The Presbyterians who predominated the Irish were disadvantaged by the Penal laws of the Church of England, but were just a likely to become Methodists and Baptists upon settlement in America. It is estimated over 200,000 Ulster Irish-Scotts relocated to America, followed my more when the potato famines later occurred. Most of the earlier settlers found there independent and unique ways were unwelcome in Boston, Philadelphia, etc unlike the potato famine refugees in later years, and found themselves traveling to the backwoods of America and the Appalachian region, settled almost exclusively by these Irish. The typical migration involved small networks of related families/clans that settled together, intermarried and avoided outsiders. After many years of English oppression in Ireland, these Irish were ardent patriots of their new land America.

Later, it is noted there were four of these men (John, William, Elijah and Vincent) listed on the rolls of the 1812 Davidson County Militia. John and William were in one regiment, and Elijah and Vincent were in another. It is believed that this John was not a participant, but it would have been nephew John Jr. (B:1775) , as this John would have been in his 60's. It cannot be ascertained with certainty if these Militia members were involved in only defense or saw any action in nearby states against the Spanish. Militia members were not entitled to land grants following the war, only those who served for three years in the regular military.

We find JOHN KERNEY in the 1830 Davidson County, Tennessee Census 2 males - under 5; 1 male - age 15/20; 1 male - 80/90; 1 female - under 5; 1 female - age 15/20; 1 female - age 20/30; 1 female - age 60/70; 1 female - age 80/90. This would indicate he was married as late as his eighties, but to whom it is not known.

The rest of the family is well documented in the area for years to come with children, families, extended families etc, but further mention of John Carney after 1830 is not confirmable in context to be our John Carney, and his death was believed to be around 1838.

Sources

[S1105] Carney DNA Project, Carney DNA Project, (Consolidation of documents available through Carney DNA Project).
[S1175] Military Service, Virginia Historical Society, (The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography , Oct., 1893, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Oct., 1893), pp. 127-141 https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4241740.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3Aef43e48bb9f65ae02a09f1ebc5be9371&ab_segments=&origin=&initiator=&acceptTC=1), Links Captain John Kearney to Breshears under Crockett Regiment of 650men (Reliability: 3).

Capt. John CARNEY[1, 2]

Capt. John CARNEY^{[1, 2]}