Children of Mary Calhoun (abt. 1743-1805) and Samuel Kerr of Abbeville County, South Carolina — Catherine Kerr (Married Hugh Macklin) and Ruth Kerr (Married William Oliver)

George Howe, History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, vol. 1 (Columbia: Duffie and Chapman, 1870), p. 554

Or, Subtitled: “While engaged in pastoral work he was stricken with fever and died, and his grave is with us until this day”

As my previous posting about Mary Calhoun (abt. 1743-1805), daughter of Ezekiel Calhoun and Jane/Jean Ewing, notes, Mary and husband Samuel Kerr had the following children, whom Mary names in her 21 January 1805 will in Abbeville County, South Carolina: John Kerr, Jane Kerr Green, Catherine Kerr McLain, and Ruth Kerr.[1] In my last posting, I told you what I know about Mary and Samuel’s first-born child, their son John, who was born about 1766. In previous postings, I’ve shared abundant information about Mary and Samuel’s second child, their daughter Jane, who married John Green, who was born 8 October 1768. In what follows, I’ll focus on Mary and Samuel’s last two children, their daughters Catherine and Ruth.

Children of Mary Calhoun (abt. 1743-1805) and Samuel Kerr of Abbeville County, South Carolina — John Kerr (abt. 1766 – aft. 1819)

14 Tradd Street, Charleston, South Carolina, photo by ProfReader at Wikimedia Commons (2014)

Or, Subtitled: “A relatively prosperous merchant, variously listed as a hatter, general merchant, and even grain inspector”

As the previous posting discussing Mary Calhoun (abt. 1743-1805), daughter of Ezekiel Calhoun and Jane/Jean Ewing and wife of Samuel Kerr, states, the will that Mary made in Abbeville County, South Carolina, on 21 January 1805 names the following children: John Kerr, Jane Kerr Green, Catherine Kerr McLain, and Ruth Kerr.[1] I am naming these children in what I think was their order of birth, not the order in which their mother Mary names them in her will.  

Mary Calhoun (abt. 1743-1805), Wife of Samuel Kerr of Abbeville County, South Carolina

Signature of Mary Calhoun Kerr to her will, 21 January 1805, Abbeville County, South Carolina, Probate Files, box 52, pack 1231

Or, Subtitled: “We are at best but Strangers and pilgrames as all our fathers have been”

Now that I have completed a series of postings tracking family lines descending from John Green (1768-1837) of Abbeville and Pendleton District, South Carolina, and Bibb County, Alabama, a series that began with this posting, I’m going to begin a series tracking the Calhoun ancestry of John Green’s wife Jane Kerr, who was the daughter of Samuel Kerr and Mary Calhoun of the Long Cane settlement in what became Abbeville County, South Carolina, in 1785. The posting that follows will focus on Jane’s mother Mary Calhoun Kerr.

Jane Kerr (1768-1855), Wife of John Green of Pendleton District, South Carolina, and Bibb County, Alabama

Portrait of Jane Kerr Green made about 1850 at the Green house, Bibb County, Alabama, in possession of a descendant in Virginia

Or, Subtitled: “In Memory of Jane Green born in Abbeville District S.C. Oct. 8th 1768. Departed this life Nov. 2nd 1855”

As a previous posting has indicated, the tombstone of Jane Kerr Green, wife of John Green, which formerly marked her grave in the family cemetery on the Green plantation near Woodstock in Bibb County, Alabama, but is now in Tannehill Historical State Park in Tuscaloosa County, states that Jane was born 8 October 1768 in Abbeville District, South Carolina, and that she died 2 November 1855.[1] The posting I’ve just linked contains a photo of the tombstone and transcribes its inscription, which reads,

In Memory of Jane Green born in Abbeville District S.C. Oct. 8th 1768. Departed this life Nov. 2nd 1855

As the linked posting also explains, at the time John Green and Jane Kerr were born in 1768 in what would become Abbeville County or District in 1785, this area, then called Granville County, would shortly after their births become Ninety-Six District until Abbeville District/County was created.

John Green (1768-1837): Pendleton District, South Carolina Records, 1800-1818

Pendleton District, South Carolina, Deed Bk. O, pp. 136-8

Or, Subtitled: “He left Pendleton for the Alabama a week before John E. got up and expects to return in about two months”

1800-1810

As my last posting tells you as it examines Pendleton District, South Carolina, records for John Green from the 1790 federal census, which suggests that he and wife Jane were living on and managing the Keowee Heights plantation of her uncle John Ewing Colhoun, to 21 December 1798, when he had a plat for 500 acres east of the Keowee in addition to the 838 acres he acquired in 1793, there were a number of men named John Green living in Pendleton District or found in its records in the 1790s. The 1800 federal census for Pendleton District presents us with yet another challenge of sorting John Greens.