Twiggs-Walton County GaArchives Biographies.....Easterling, James 1760 - June 1843 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Mark Easterlin lordship1@yahoo.com September 21, 2013, 4:31 pm Source: NC SC GA Census, Tax Lists, Deeds, Newspapers Author: Mark M. Easterlin James Bennett Easterling James B. Easterling, Senior of Twiggs county GA is listed among Revolutionary War Veterans who were fortunate participants in the 1820 GA land lottery according to official Georgia State records housed in the Georgia Department of Archives and History. This family is an important one because it brings the Easterling family line from Marlboro county SC to east-middle Georgia by 1806, and begins a new spelling of the surname (with no g) a generation later in 1840 in Sumter county, GA. Almost all Easterlins in the state of Georgia today are descended from this branch of the family (aided by some of James' relatives who moved from Marlboro county SC to North Georgia around 1820-1840). James Bennett Easterling, second oldest of Reverend Henry Easterling's sons, was born in 1760 in Dobbs (now Lenoir) county, NC and died in June 1843 in probably Walton county, GA. He married and started a family with wife Elizabeth "Betty" Morris in Dobbs county NC in 1781. Following the Revolutionary War in 1783, James and Betty (and James' father, Rev Henry Easterling, 1733-1800) relocated from Dobbs NC to upper SC (Marlboro county/Cheraw district) to farm and raise their children. From about 1785-1805 James, Betty and young family lived in Marlboro and neighboring Marion county, SC near the Little Pee Dee River. They farmed raised eight children in SC, 2 girls and 6 boys. James, a widower by 1801 with an extended family, remarries around 1805 and moves to Washington county Georgia in 1806 from Marion county SC (probably to take advantage of land grants offered to Rev War vets). Most of his children moved with him to GA, including oldest son Henry W. (1786-1861), daughter-in- law Mary McQueen, son Shadrach Easterling (born 1792), and newlywed daughter Ann Easterling (1790-1867) and her husband Britton O'Neal (abt 1782-1867). Britton and Ann married in 1805 in Robeson county NC and their first child, James Isaac O'Neal, was born 18 April 1806 in Georgia. James marries a woman named Amelia (or Milly) in SC by 1805, and they have a little girl, Nancy Easterling, also born in Georgia in April 1806, one of the first Easterling children (if not THE first) born in the state of Georgia. Following the move to Washington county, James and family relocated to Twiggs county in 1810 to secure better farmland. The Easterlings were some of the earliest residents of Twiggs county, an area of central Georgia that was a frontier wilderness in those days. James settled in northwest Twiggs county to farm not far from the Ocmulgee river where he lived and worked from 1810-1830. His adult sons Henry, Shadrach, James, Joel, and Bennet also settled and raised families in Georgia. Henry and Shadrach served as soldiers in the Georgia Infantry during the War of 1812/Indian Wars from Fort Hawkins, GA. James Easterling, Sr is not listed in the 1830 or 1840 Federal census of Twiggs county GA, and he probably spent his last years with family members elsewhere in GA (most likely in Monroe, (Walton county) GA by 1830, with son Henry W. & family). James Easterling, Sr went to his reward in June 1843, and is buried in O'Neal Family Cemetery, Twiggs County. Although his name does not appear in the history books, his life and deeds as patriot and patriarch helped weave the fabric of our nation. May calm be his rest. Additional Comments: Special family ancestor, deserves recognition. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/twiggs/bios/easterli422bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/ File size: 4.1 Kb