EarlyCarvell Family History

Carvell Family History

Contained within this volume are four separate books that,

when read together, will provide an overview of how some of

the early 19th Century settlers to the Giles County and

Lawrence County areas of Middle Tennessee became related by

marriage as well as offer a glimpse into the personalities of

some of their descendants.

The 19th Century genealogical and contextual history of the

Carvell, Ball, Carpenter, Keltner, Joines, Hayes and Puryear

families was researched and compiled by descendant Claudia

Johnson over a period of several years. The material is

contained in Book I, Early Giles County Carvells and Related

Families, Book II, Families of Ammett and Cora Carvell, Book

V, Joines Family History, and Book VI, G.W. Joines, Civil War,

all of which were written by Claudia Johnson.

Materials for Book III, Ammett and Cora Carvell, a Legacy

of Labor, Laughter and Love, and Book IV, Carvell Family Tall

Tales and Treasured Memories, were collected and edited for

use in this four-volume book primarily by descendant Daphene

Carvell Cope, who also authored many of the biographical

narratives. Photos and stories were contributed by descendants

from throughout the country.

Early Giles County Carvells

And Related Families

An Original Work by Claudia Johnson, Descendant

Carvell Family History, Book I

Carvell Family History, Book I, was researched, written and designed in whole by Claudia Kay Johnson, daughter of Okaleen Carvell Johnson, granddaughter of Dewey Carvell, great granddaughter of Robert Ammett Carvell, great great granddaughter of Robert James Carvell and great great great granddaughter of James Carvell. This book may be downloaded and printed for educational, genealogical or family history use only. Permission is expressly denied by the author as to reproduction for sale. For questions, additions, corrections or dialogue, please contact the author at dejavu159@gmail.com or visit www.pastpage.blogspot.com or www.issuu.com/claudiajohnsonhistory.

Copyright 2013 by Claudia Kay Johnson, all rights reserved.

Dedicated to the memory ofClaudia Lux Dunavant

March 28, 2012 – Aug. 4, 2012great great great great great granddaughter

of James and Lydia CarvellGranddaughter of the author, Claudia Johnson.

She was our beloved angel baby who left behind a broken-hearted family

whose hearts will never mend.

Recorded as Carvil, Carvill, Carville (English and French), the Provençal Carvilla and the Irish MacCarvil, O'Carvil, MacCarvill, O' Carvill, Carvill, Carvel, Carvell and Carvil, this is a surname of confusing origins.

Carvell is a locational name from one of two places in Normandy, France, – either a town called Carville in an area of Calvados or from the village of Carville in Seine-Inferieur. Locational surnames are usually “from” names – that is to say names given to people after they moved from their original homes to somewhere else as an easy means of identity. The meaning of the name is probably “the house on the rock,” although “the stone house” is also a possibility.

The name was brought to Ireland by the Norman conquerors of the 10th Century, and it was used in Ulster as an Anglicization of the Irish surname MacCearbhaill, formerly Anglicized as MacCarroll. This Ulster sept was noted for its musicians, and several members are recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters written in County Donegal in 1632 - 1636. The name entered England after the 1066 Conquest. The first recorded spelling as a family name is shown to be that of Walter de Careuilla (Walter of Carville) in 1195 in The Pipe Rolls of Wiltshire during the reign of King Richard I (Richard the Lionheart).

What does the surname “Carvell” tell us about our history?

Irish Crest

English Crest

Ulster, Ireland

Carville, Normandy, France

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The Tennessee Carvell family has long held the belief that the first Carvells arrived in Giles County, Tenn., from Missouri, which of course, could not be true. Missouri was not admitted to

the Union until 1821. Even as late as 1840 there were no people listed in the U.S. Federal Census as living in Missouri named Carvell or any of the spelling variations. Another intriguing but historically unsubstantiated family story about the Carvells’ early years in America tells of an immigrant through New Orleans who made his way north to Tennessee and Missouri. Extensive review of passenger and crew lists, naturalization

records, tax records and census documents shows no person or family named Carvell, Carville or Carvel arriving in New Orleans or at any southern port prior to the first Carvell’s appearance in Giles County, Tenn.

The Carvell (spelled various ways) name appears in public documents in America in the 1600s, with the largest concentrations around New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Maine, according to a comprehensive analysis of official federal census and tax data. As early as 1667 a man named Thomas Carvell was recorded as residing in Cattle Marks Township, Somerset County, Maryland.

In 1696 John Carvile is in Petitioner’s Township, Cecil County, Md. Robert Carvill appears in the 1699 Tax List for North Side of Patapsco Township, Baltimore County, Md. In 1703, a Mr. Carvill was living in South Side of Gunpowder Township, Baltimore County, Md.

A Carvell is listed in an official document called “All Oaths of Allegiance, Chester County, Pennsylvania, taken before the Justices of the Peace, 1777-1785.” In 1776 and 1778 William, Alexander and John Carvill appear in Anne Arundel and Frederick counties in Maryland in tax lists or Fidelity Oath records. These Fidelity Oaths were oaths of allegiance to the United States denouncing Great Britain.

Richard Carvell is listed in the 1800 Census for Salisbury, Rowan County, N.C. His home includes three males age 16-25, one male and one female over 45, two females under 10, three females 10-15 and one female 16-25. It summarizes that two household members are over 45 and five are under 16 (all female).

A William Carvell appears in the 1810 Census for Rowan County, N.C. There is one white male 45 and older, one white female 26-44, a white male 16-25, a white female under 10 and a white female 10-16. Two people are under 16 and two are more than 25, leaving the son to be between 17 and 24.

Giles County was opened for settlement in 1809 following finalization of treaties with the Cherokee. Neighboring Lawrence County was opened for settlement in 1817 following completion of the Chickasaw treaties in 1816.

The Tacker, Morris, Campbell and English families, some of the earliest settlers to Giles County, living predominately in the northwest quadrant near Campbellsville, migrated from Rowan County, N.C., where they had appeared in census records from 1790-1810. These families have documented ties through pre-Revolutionary War tax lists and other public records from Anne Arundel and Frederick counties in Maryland, where the Carvell name is also found in records from the 1600 and 1700s.

The 1810 Census for Tennessee has not survived, so the Carvell family cannot be placed in Tennessee in 1810 by using that record alone. The 1812 Tax List for Giles County contained no listing for Carvell, though some of the Rowan County, N.C., families mentioned above were already in Giles.

Carvell Family in America

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The birthdate of James Carvell , whose descendants are the subject of this book, is recorded as April 15, 1815, on his tombstone in the Carvell Cemetery, Minnow Branch, Giles County, Tenn. He and his family consistently answered Census questions that he was born in North Carolina. Perhaps James’s parents or grandparents lived in Maryland, moved to North Carolina, then continued the journey westward, settling in Giles County.

By 1820 there are three appearances of the Carvell name in Giles census records. However, it is not known definitively if one of the Carvells in Giles County in 1820 is the father of James because, prior to 1850, U.S. Census records showed only the heads of household, making it impossible to learn from Census records alone the name of any other household member. The three Carvells listed in the 1820 Census are Edmund, William and William.

One William Carvell appears in the 1820 Census for Giles County, Tenn., taken Aug. 7, 1820. There are two people in the household, one male 45 and older and one female 45 and older.

Another William Carvell appears in the 1820 Census for Giles County, Tenn., taken Aug. 7, 1820. There is one male and two females under age 10, one male and one female ages 26-44. One female is over 45. James Carvell could have been one of these little boys. This appears to be a young family with perhaps one of the couple’s mothers being in the home.

Also enumerated on Aug. 7, 1820, in Giles County was Edmund Carvell. His home contains a male and female age 26-44, two males under age 10, two males 10-15 and one female under 10.

A page-by-page review of the original images of the 1830 Census for Giles County revealed that the Carvells were omitted from the records. This was not uncommon for census takers to miss entire families.

Edmund appears again in the 1840 Census. In the home is a male 50-59, a female 40-49, two females 10-14, two females 15-19. Living in Benton County, Tenn., in 1840 is another Edmund Carvell with a male and female ages 20-39 and a boy and girl under age 5. In 1843 Edmund was a witness for Joshua Morris, whose family had moved earlier from Rowan County, N.C., and who was now applying for land on the waters of Big Creek.

Also in 1840, a William Carvell lives in the 7th District of Maury County, which borders northern Giles County above the Campbellsville and Minnow Branch communities. There is a male 50-59, a female and a male 15-19. Also appearing is H. Carvell whose household contains a male and female ages 30-39, a male and female ages 5-9, two males and one female under age 5. Another William Carvell lives in Giles. His household includes a female 30-39, a male 20-29, a male and female 10-14 and 8 slaves.

Giles County, Tenn., Carvells

William Carvell and a James Carvell appear in the 1836 Giles County

Tax List for District 13, with neither owning any slaves or acreage.

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James and Lydia Wilson Carvell

The 1840 Census shows James Carvell, whose household included a male and a female between the ages of 20-29 and one female child under the age of 5. If James were born in 1815, he would have been 25 in 1840. Lydia, his wife, was born in 1822, according to her tombstone. This would also make her between 20 and 29. Their oldest child, Mary C., was born in Sept. 1839.

The early marriage records of Giles County, Tenn., were destroyed during the Civil War by occupying Union troops. No record has been found for the marriage of Lydia and James Carvell. However, since most people had their first child within 1-2 years after marriage, if Mary C. was the first born, with no miscarriages, stillbirths or infant deaths for the couple, the Carvells could have married around 1837-38.

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Eliza Ann Carvellb. Nov 4, 1850, Laclede County, Mo.d. Nov 25, 1917, Giles County, Tenn.& Theo Taylorb. Aug 1839, Tennesseed. bef 1920m. Oct 5, 1891, Giles County, Tenn.

James Carvellb. Apr 15, 1815, North Carolinad. Jan 22, 1892, Giles County, Tenn.& Lydia Wilsonb. Jan 1822, North Carolina or Tennesseed. Nov 6, 1887, Giles County, Tenn.m. ca 1838, Giles County, Tenn.

Mary C. Carvellb. Sep 1839, Giles County, Tenn.d. bef 1910, Giles County, Tenn.& William Henry Francisb. Jun 1839, Giles County, Tenn.d. Mar 13, 1913, Giles County, Tenn.m. 1859

Elizabeth Jane Carvellb. Apr 27, 1842, Tennesseed. Sep 19, 1890, Giles County, Tenn.& Theo Taylorb. Aug 1839, Tennesseed. bef 1920m. Oct 3, 1867, Giles County, Tenn.

Robert James Carvellb. Jun 9, 1846, Giles County, Tenn.d. Jul 11, 1924, Giles County, Tenn.& Julie Ann Joinesb. Jan 2, 1845, Giles County, Tenn.d. Feb 22, 1924, Giles County, Tenn.m. Sep 20, 1865, Giles County, Tenn.

Eliza Ann Carvellb. Nov 4, 1850, Laclede County, Mo.d. Nov 25, 1917, Giles County, Tenn.& J Boazm. Feb 16, 1878, Giles County, Tenn.

Joshua Buchannan Carvellb. Dec 10, 1857, Tennesseed. May 9, 1929, Francitas, Jackson County, Texas,& Nellie Louisa Duncanb. May 13, 1871, Giles County, Tenn.d. Dec 25, 1945, Francitas, Jackson County, Texas,m. Dec 9, 1886, Giles County, Tenn.

Nancy A. Carvellb. Apr 1852, Tennesseed. 1902, Giles County, Tenn.

Susan Rebecca Carvellb. Dec 23, 1858, Tennesseed. May 25, 1943, Lawrence County, Tenn.& Joshua M. Wilsfordbp. Tennesseem. Dec 22, 1883, Giles County, Tenn.

Harriet Isabella Carvellb. Feb 11, 1861, Giles County, Tenn.d. May 20, 1926, Pulaski, Giles County, Tenn.& Marion Jefferson Boazb. Aug 13, 1860d. Oct 24, 1927, Pulaski, Giles County, Tenn.m. 1881, Giles County, Tenn.

Married her sister’s widower.

Never married.

James & LydiaCarvell’s Children

Was married to Julie Ann Joines Carvell’s niece. Moved to Texas.

Was married to both Elizabeth Jane and Eliza Ann Carvell

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By 1850 the family had moved to Missouri to work. On the Nov. 19, 1850, Census James is listed as a laborer, and the Carvell family was living in the home of another family in the 45th District, Laclede, Mo., which had been founded only a year earlier and was experiencing an influx of workers and settlers from Tennessee.

The Carvells first boarded in a private home, with the head of household, Moses Bryan, listed as a farmer, along with people from various states, who were all listed as laborers. The Census taker recorded that James was 33 and born in N.C. Lydia was 28, born in Tennessee.

On Nov. 4, 1850, Lydia had given birth to a daughter, Eliza Ann. When Eliza died on Nov. 25, 1917, her place of birth was listed as Laclede, Mo., and her parents as James and

"Liddie" Wilson Carvell, both of which are listed as having

been born in N.C. Eliza Ann should have been i n c l u d e d i n t h e

household in 1850, but a strange and inexplicable provision of the 1850 Census instructed Census takers to omit any child born after July 1, 1850. In that census, Mary C. is listed as 10; Elizabeth Jane is 8; Robert James (our ancestor) is 4; and all were born in Tennessee.

James Carvell Family in 1850

U.S. Census, 1850, 45th District, Laclede, Mo.

Laclede County, Mo.

The James Carvell family was listed two separate times in the 1850 Census. By Dec. 23, 1850, James is the head of household in the

98th District, Texas County, Mo. This time James is listed as 36, Lydia, 29, Mary C., 11, Elizabeth, 8, and Robert James, 4. This

census record is more in line with other facts derived from tombstones and various documents related to the family over the years. Perhaps James answered the Census taker's questions himself, while at the location in which the family

resided in November the questions were answered by someone other than James or Lydia. Lydia's place of birth is given as Tennessee, but here James's birthplace is given as N.C.

Texas County, Mo.

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James and his family returned to their native Giles County where most of his children lived out their final days. There is no census record enumerating the household of James and Lydia in 1860. Census takers often missed families and did not return after a couple of attempts to find them at home.

Fortunately, there is an agricultural schedule that was an attachment to the official household enumeration for the 1860 Census year that lists James Carvell in the Northern Subdivision of Giles County. His farm was on Minnow Branch. For perspective consider that $1 in 1860 had the buying power of $27.67 in 2013. James Carvell was not wealthy, but he was comfortable.

The agricultural schedule reports that in 1860 James is farming 25 acres of land valued at $800. His farming equipment is valued at $100. He had five horses, three milk cows, four working oxen, three other cattle, five sheep and 25 hogs, all valued

at $675. For the year e n d i n g J u n e 1 , 1860, the farm’s produce included

375 bushels of Indian corn, 15 pounds of wool, 5 bushels of peas and beans, 20 pounds each of Irish and sweet potatoes, 100 pounds of butter and two tons of hay. The value of animals slaughtered was $350.

It seems unlikely that so much could have been accomplished without James and his family living on their farm for a substantial amount of time before the

agricultural schedules were completed for the 1860 Census, leading to the conclusion that the

death certificate of Harriet Isabella “Belle” Carvell Boaz contains mistakes. At her death on May

21, 1926, the informant for the death certificate gave her date of birth as Feb. 11, 1861, in Missouri, listed her parents as James and Lydia Wilson Carvell and mistakenly stated that her parents were born in Missouri. Since it was most likely a child or grandchild who answered the questions on the death certificate, it would have been easy to make such assumptions, but all other facts prove this information to be inaccurate.

James Carvell Family Back in Giles County

– Selected U.S. Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1860

Giles County, Tenn.

Also listed in the Laclede County household is William Carvell, age 51, a laborer, who was recorded as being born in Maryland. An Elizabeth Carvell, age 43, who answered the census during the same time period, is living in Giles County,

Tenn. In the house are William K., 18, Lucretia J., 17, John A., 15, and Susannah Tacker, 64, who was Susan Kernut, widow of Joshua Tacker and is the mother of Elizabeth Tacker Carvell. The Tacker family moved as a group from Rowan County, N.C., when Giles County was opened up for settlement in 1809. Is it possible that this Elizabeth Carvell was the wife of William Carvell who went to Missouri to work along with James? Is James a cousin or nephew to William Carvell?

Mysteries

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James did not serve in the Civil WarThere is no evidence that James Carvell engaged in the Civil War as a soldier.

While there are several James Carvells mentioned in records from both the North and the South, extensive review of these men, their service or pension records and census records after the war are proof that none of them are James Carvell of Giles County. Dewey Carvell, great grandson of James and son of Robert James, recalled a story that was told to him by his grandfather, Robert James, about the skirmish on Minnow Branch following the Battle of Campbellsville. Robert James said that the Yankees “poured through the swag in the hill” in front of their house. The description of this entry into Minnow Branch is included in the the History of the Ninth Regiment Illinois Cavalry Volunteers published in 1888 by E.A. Davenport. The “swag in the hill” is still clearly visible and virtually unchanged today. Davenport tells about an incident that occurred on a farm with orchards and outbuildings situated in a large clearing in the valley between the hills. Two women and some children ran from a large house that was between Yankee and Rebel fire. “Both sides, by one impulse, ceased firing until they had passed out from between the lines,” Davenport wrote. The Carvell property was situated in that precise area.

After the WarThe 1870 U.S. Census reflects that James Carvell continues to live

in Giles County, Tenn. James is now 55 and Lydia is 50. Robert James “Bob” Carvell is married to Julie Ann Joines and lives nearby. Eliza is now 19, and her birthplace is listed as Missouri. Nancy, 16, Joshua Buchanan, who was known as "Buck," 13, Susan, 12, and Harriet

Isabel la , 9 , are l i s ted as Tennessee born. James’s birthplace is stated as N.C., and Lydia's as Tennessee. In 1871 James Carvell served as a witness for the widow of a War of 1812 soldier who was a Minnow Branch neighbor as she sought a pension. In 1880 James is 65, Lydia, 58, Nancy, 27, Buck, 25, Susan, 22, and Harriet Isabella, 19. James’s birthplace is given as N.C. in the Census, but he does not give a

birthplace for his parents. Lydia's birthplace is given as Tennessee with both her parents having been born in N.C. This is Lydia's last census. She died Nov. 6, 1887, and was buried in the Carvell Cemetery on Minnow Branch, Giles County, Tenn.

James Carvell and sons Joshua B. & Robert J. appear in Giles County in the 1891 Tennessee enumeration of eligible voters who were age 21 or older in their resident counties as of Jan. 1, 1891.

News clipping from local paper about James Carvell

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Lydia is buried beside Jamesin the Carvell Cemetery

United States Federal Census, Giles County, Tenn., 1870

United States Federal Census, Giles County, Tenn., 1880

Tennessee Census of Male Voters, Giles County, Tenn., 1891

James and Lydia’s son Joshua Buchanan “Buck” Carvell, surrounded here by members of his family, died on May 9, 1929, in Jackson County, Texas, where

he first appeared in the 1920 Census, having moved

from Giles County, Tenn. His wife, Nellie Duncan,

is to his left. She was the daughter of

Nancy Joines Duncan Henson,a daughter of

George W. Joines, making Nellie a niece of Julie Ann Joines Carvell.

Nellie’s mother, Nancy, had moved to Texas with her second husband, John D. Henson, after the stabbing death of Nellie’s

father, Reuben Duncan, on the Joines family farm in Giles

County, Tenn.

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Wilson Carvel, Laclede County, Mo.Living next door to James and Lydia in Laclede County, Mo, at the time of the 1850 Census are Wilson Carvel, 28, his wife,

Clarinda, 28, and their daughter, Elizabeth, age 3, who was born in Missouri, indicating that the couple had been in Missouri at least since 1847. The Census states that Wilson was born in N.C. and his wife in Tennessee. Though there is only circumstantial evidence, Wilson and James appear to be brothers.

The Wilson Carvel family remained in Missouri, with Wilson Carvel applying for and being granted 80 acres of land in Laclede County in 1859. Many of Wilson Carvel’s descendants reside in Missouri to this day. That branch of the family officially adopted the spelling as “Carvel” for their family name.

By the 1870 Census, Wilson’s real estate was valued at $600 and personal property at $1,000. His children included Lydia Ann, Martha Jane, Mary Emmaline, William W., James J., Eliza Clarinda and Andrew J. In the 1870 Census he stated that he was born in Tennessee. He died sometime after he had answered the 1880 Census, which listed his children living at home as Henry Clay, Liza

Clarinda, James Jefferson, Mary Emmaline and Lydia Ann, 30. Wilson answered that both of his parents were born in North Carolina. It is notable that Wilson’s children bore names used throughout the Carvell lineage, like James, Martha Jane, Mary, Liza and Lydia.

In 1900, Clarinda is 70 and widowed, living in the home with her (and Wilson’s) son, Henry Clay Carvel, who is single, her daughter Liza, who is widowed, two grandsons and one granddaughter. She had given birth to 13 children, but only seven were living in 1900. She

does not appear in the Census after that time. Henry married late, had a large family and died in 1944 at age 74. A marker has been erected for them at the Gustin-Carvel Cemetery in Gasconade County, Mo. Despite their answering census records consistently that they were white and the overwhelming evidence that points to Wilson as the brother of James, meaning both are descended from those of

Norman/British descent who lived along the American Eastern Seaboard since the 1600s, someone has stated on the marker that Wilson and Clarinda were “Cherokee Indians, Trail of Tears,” which of course, cannot be correct for any number of reasons.

It is not impossible that the Carvells, like many others in Tennessee who migrated to the Mid-West, used the roads left when the

Trail of Tears moved through Tennessee.

Euly Strawn, Lawrence County, Mo.Euly Carvell Strawn was born Dec. 1, 1814, according to her tombstone. She married William S. Strawn, born Jan. 12, 1812, around

1833, presumably in Giles County, Tenn. Listed in the 1840 Census in the William Strawn household are a couple ages 20-29 and two males and one female under age five. In 1850 the family lived in Lawrence County, Mo. Their daughter Elizabeth

E. was 15 and sons Stephen Bethel Strawn and James Washington Strawn were 13 and 11. Four more children had been born in Missouri. They were William Carvell Strawn, 8, John P. Strawn, 6, George Franklin Strawn, 4, and Mary Amanda, 1. Between 1850 and Euly’s death on April 1, 1857, she bore Henry A. in 1853 and Nancy

Jane in 1855. In the 1860 Census William’s children were still in the home except for Elizabeth and Stephen. Both of them lived their lives out in Texas, with Stephen founding the town of Strawn, Texas, in 1881 when the Texas and Pacific Railroad reached the location and becoming a banker and wealthy rancher. On Jan. 31, 1870, William died. The 1870 Census shows his children George, Henry and Nancy Jane living in the household of their older

brother William Carvell Strawn, who left Missouri to become a pioneer of Oregon. James W. moved to Texas for the remainder of his life. After a stint in Texas, John P. relocated to Kansas where he is buried. Only Nancy Jane, Mary Amanda and George Franklin remained in Missouri in the community where their parents lived. Euly Carvell Strawn and her husband are buried at the Lee Cemetery,

Verona, Lawrence County, Mo.

Mary Peterson, Lawrence County, Mo.Mary Carvel Peterson was born in Tennessee ca. 1819. She and husband John migrated to Missouri before 1845, having five

children there. The children were Liza, Moses A. William B., James and Thomas Benton. John worked on railroad construction until enlistment in the Civil War. Mary’s great-granddaughter, Agnes Southard, stated that Mary moved to Leclede to be near her brother Wilson and his wife Clarinda while her husband was away. She also reported that John died during the war, and Mary struggled to keep her children together. She gradually lost her eyesight and lived with her children as she got older. She died in the late 1890s and is buried

in Casey Cemetery in Nebo, Mo. There is little documentation to support Mary as a sister of James except for being identified as a sister of Wilson. Several attempts were made in speaking with Peterson descendants about the proof that Mary was a Carvel and other facts, but they had accepted family stories. One photo that was offered was clearly not this family because the children were the wrong age/birth

order and gender to be the Peterson children. James, Mary, Liza and William are names used throughout the Carvell family.

Possible Siblings of James Carvell - Wilson & Euly

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James Carvell signed his will on Oct. 1, 1890, in Giles County. James appears in the 1891 Tennessee Voter's List on page 29 as residing in the 13th Civil District of Giles County, Tenn.

His date of death is Jan. 22, 1892, as recorded on his tombstone in the Carvell Cemetery. His will was probated on Jan. 27, 1892. The original will appears in Will Book

B, page 615, in Giles County, Tenn., Probate Court records.In his will he leaves his home place "west of the Lynnville and Campbellsville road" to Susan

R. Wilsford, Ann Boaz and Nancy A. Carvell, "to them and their heirs after that to have and to hold as long as they live." He crossed out "and their heirs after that."

He willed to Joshua “Buck” Carvell a 57-acre piece of land bought from Samuel Yokley known as the Wilkinson land. "He paying $40 – $10 to Robert Lee Taylor (his grandson) and $10 to Harriet I. Boaz to have and hold as his on. One half of the above his, the other half is my interest, which I will to him paying the $40 as mentioned above to him and his heirs forever."

The balance of the land south east of the home tract, about 40 acres, was to be divided between Robert J. Carvell, Robert Lee Taylor (grandson), Harriet I. Boaz and Mary C. Francis. “The share of whoever died without heirs would go to the remaining.”

His personal property was to be sold, his funeral expenses paid, his debts paid and the remaining funds equally distributed among all his children.

The will (page 13) was signed on Oct. 1, 1890, and witnessed by David Parsons and W.A. Cross.

His will was contested in Giles County Chancery Court Files, File Box C-7, case 5645, in 1903. The case file’s sworn statements provide additional details about the children of James and Lydia. A lawsuit filed Feb. 26, 1903, pitted Robert James Carvell, Mary Carvell Francis and Eliza Ann Carvell Taylor against Joshua Buchanan Carvell, Susan Carvell Wilsford, Harriet Isabella Carvell Boaz and the children of Susan Wilsford – Mollie, Liddy, Wiley, John, Louanna and Robert Wilsford.

The property in question was described in the lawsuit as being bordered North by John Ada, East by George Carpenter and Taylor, South by William Francis and West by R. S. Strawn. An order was entered Sept. 29. 1903, by Chancellor W. S. Bearden ordering that as a result of the lawsuit the purchaser of the land, R. S. Strawn, would pay the Clerk and Master the cost of the deed, after which, all liens were removed. The land sold for $570. The attorney fees and fee for guardian ad litem (for minor children) was $137, leaving net distribution of $333 to be divided among seven people. Robert James assigned his share of $61.85 to attorney E.E. Eslick (who was later elected to U.S. Congress and died while speaking on the floor of the U.S. House). When Robert Ammett Carvell provided information in 1924 for the death

certificate of his father, Robert James, he stated that both James Carvell and his wife, Lydia Wilson, were born in Virginia. Since Virginia had never been given by either of them as a place of birth, it seems safe to deduce that this was a mistake. James was almost certainly born in North Carolina, while Lydia could have been born in N.C. or Tennessee. Lydia’s lineage is not addressed in this book because of serious discrepancies in previous existing research and insufficient documentation located heretofore to resolve these discrepancies.

James Carvell’s Death

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Will of James Carvell, Giles County, Tenn., Probated, Jan. 27, 1892

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James Carvell’s will was disputed by his children.Giles County Chancery Court Files, File Box C-7, case 5645, 1903

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