The Jennings Family
William Jennings
and his younger brother Allen were two of seven children thought to have born to
Robert Jennings Jr. (c.1764-1843) and Elizabeth Arnold (c.1765-c.1831), of Oglethorpe
County, Georgia, and arrived amongst the early Fayette County settlers. Robert Jennings
Jr. was a Revolutionary War soldier, Captain William Duke's District, serving on
the Virginia line. About 1785, he left Virginia for South Carolina, removing to
Georgia approximately a year later, settling in Wilkes County, in the part that
was set off to form Oglethorpe County in 1793. His large land holding there was
on Long Creek.
In January, 1827, Robert Jennings executed deeds to his sons William
and Allen, providing land for them in Fayette County. The 1827 Fayette County Tax
List shows William Jennings with 202 ½ acres of land in District 6, located on Camp
Creek, adjoining that of his brother, Allen Jennings, also 202 ½ acres, also on
Camp Creek, but in District 7. William Jennings was also noted as holding 250 acres
in Early County. By 1834, the two brothers together held over 1,500 acres in Fayette
County, with over 1,000 of that adjoining one another. By 1849, together, they held
57
slaves. Their names are spelled various ways in these records, including
Jennins, Jennings, Jinnings, Ginnings and Gennings.
William Jennings (1785-1853)
married Rhoda Hill (1788-1843) in Oglethorpe County, daughter of Mordecai Hill and
(first name unknown) Arnold. They had two children:
1. John A. Jennings (1810-1853)
married Sarah F. Hubbard (1821, died before 1860). They had five children:
a. William J. Jennings (born 1839).
b. Elizabeth Jane Jennings (1840-1875)
married Linton Leroy Moses (1831-1890), son of Neal Moses and Nancy Manning Graham,
and had Lanorah (1857-1857), Egbert (1858-1888), Norton Norman (c.1859-1887), Angelus
Gaston (1860-1913), Addela (born c.1864), and Lula Moses (born c.1868). They removed
to Calhoun County, Arkansas.
c. James Thomas Jennings (1842-1862) served
with Company A, 21st Regiment, Campbell County, dying from severe wounds suffered
at the battle at Manassas, Virginia.
d. Rhoda Emily Jennings (1844-1933)
married (1) Thomas Jefferson Handley (1830-1862), son of Jared Handley and Mary
A. Coker, and had Osceola (1860-1936) and Thomas Jefferson Handley Jr. (1863-1946).
Thomas Jefferson Handley died while serving with Company H, 30th Georgia Regiment.
She married (2) John James Handley (1842-1935), her first husband's brother, and
had Lewie Erastus (1867-1936), Eula Allie (1869-1948), Della (1871-1914), Minnie
Lucrecia (1874-1901), Edwin (1876-1928), Attie (1878-1969), John Jennings (1881-1963),
Dock E. (1883-1965), Stella (1885-1963), and Aurelie Evelyn Handley (1888-1890).
He served with Company G, 44th Georgia Regiment, the "Huie Guards." They
removed to Texas, eventually settling in Mitchell County.
e. Mary Ann Susanna Jennings (1846-1911) married Charles A. Harvey
(born c.1843), and had Maude Forester Harvey. She married (2) Delone W. Dorsett
(died 1888), and had Thomas Walter and Ernest Delone Dorsett (1886-1948). She married
(3) E. H. McPherson.
2. Elizabeth Jennings (1814-1866) married William May
(1811-1860), son of Drury May (1783-1841) and Anna Moses (1785-1839), widow of John
Moses. Sometime after the 1850 Fayette County census, likely about 1853, they removed
to Conecuh County, Alabama, where William May died. His widow returned to Fayette
County. They had six children:
a. Joseph Jennings May (1833-1901) married
Sarah Jane Matthews (1837-1882), daughter of Thomas C. Matthews and Nancy Westmoreland,
and had William Thomas (1857-1921), Lelia C. (1859-1868), Elenora Elizabeth (1865-1931),
Lois B. (1868-c.1940), Serena Eunice (1871-1915), Lucy Alice (1874-1954), Mary Madelyn
(1877-1912), and Robert Toombs May (born 1880). He married (2) Mrs. M.A.E. Mills.
He married (3) Laura Altamyra Snoddy. Colonel Joseph Jennings May is believed to
be the highest ranking Confederate officer buried in Fayette County. He had commanded
the 16th Alabama Regiment during the War Between the States.
b. Zipparah
May (1835-1854) married George J. Miles. He served as an officer with the Georgia
Militia, 549th District, Fayette County.
c. Aurelia May (born 1837) married
Alonzo C. McIntosh (born c.1829), and had William and Nancy E. McIntosh, twins (born
c.1859). Alonzo C. McIntosh served as an officer with the Fayette Dragoons, Company
E, 2nd Regiment, Georgia Cavalry.
d. Seaton G. May (1839-1847).
e.
Rhoda Ann May (1844-1920) married (1) Peter Sanford Phillips (1835-1872), son of
Littleberry B. Phillips and Elizabeth Smith, and had William B. (1861-1863), Queen
(1863-1867), John Wesley (1865-1925), Bobbie May (1867-1923), James Sanford (1870-1934),
and Joseph Edgar Phillips (1872-1929). He was a physician. They removed to Panola
County, Texas. She married (2) John Henry Ross (1829-1885), son of Edward Ross and
Elizabeth J. Butler, and had Mary Elizabeth (1878-1895) and Augustus H. Ross (1880-1881).
f. William D. May (c.1850, died before 1860).
Allen Jennings (c.1794-1849)
married Cynthia Varner (1795, died after 1857) in Oglethorpe County, daughter of
Frederick Varner, mother's name unknown. Frederick Varner was a Revolutionary War
soldier. They had six children:
1. India Ann Jennings (born 1823) married
(1) William M. Craig, and (2) a Dunn, first name unknown.
2. Rhoda Sophronia
Jennings (born c.1824) married Reuben Millsapp.
3. William Jennings (1826-1863)
married Sarah Frances Swanson (1833-1905), and had Marquis Allen (1852-1926), William
Franklin (born 1854), Margaret Ann Jenkins (born 1856), Mary Catherine (born 1859),
Thomas Andrew (born 1860), and Stonewall Jackson Jennings (born 1862). They removed
to Alabama. William Jennings served with Company B, 34th Alabama Infantry, dying
from exposure suffered during the battle at Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
4. Oney
Jennings (born 1828) married Anderson M. Parker.
5. Thomas Jennings (born
1830) married Louisa E. Black, daughter of Cyrus Black and Elizabeth Barkley, and
had Edgar, Fannie T., Thomas A., Lillie, Willie, and Lizzie Jennings. They removed
to Texas, and, later, to Washington County, Arkansas.
6. Elizabeth Jane Jennings
(born c.1835) married Marcus Washington Swanson, son of Samuel Swanson and Sara
Weaver, and had Onie, Alonzo, Yancey, Ida, Dolly, Paul, and Claude Swanson.
Copyright © 2001by Robert E. Johnston.
This copy contributed for use by Fayette Co., GAGenWeb.
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Compilation Copyright 2008 - Present by Linda Blum-Barton