THE CARVER-WESTMORELAND CONNECTIONBy BELFORD E. CARVER, EdD ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** August 2001 The historic marker of the Macedonia Baptist Church in Livingston Parish states that Anglo-Saxon Protestants settled in that area in the 1800s. Livingston was carved out of St. Helena in 1832, the year that GEORGE WASHINGTON WESTMORELAND was born, somewhere in St. Helena, on July 4. His parents were Elizabeth (Betsy) Tate and Lenoir (Noah) Westmoreland. GWW’s first marriage took place in Amite Co., MS, to ADALINE JULIA BROWN, on December 18, 1853. On August 20, 1859, he received from the State of Louisiana Patent No. 7107 to land in Section 21, T5, R5 in Livingston Parish, 6.16 of those acres were later donated to the Macedonia Baptist Church. He and Julia had five children, one of which was MARY ELIZABETH, (1856-1887) who later married CALVIN GREEN CARVER. (Others were Beauregard (Bog), Willie E., Dora, and David C.) GWW also served as a private in the Southern Army. He was in Co. B, 9th Battalion of the La. Infantry. He was a prisoner for a short period of time, but was paroled because of ill health. A CSA headstone marks his grave in the Pine Hill Baptist Cemetery just west of Leesville, LA. George also served as one of the first members of the presbytery of the Macedonia Baptist Church, as well as Moderator Protem on at least one occasion. According to the church minutes, he also ran into some trouble with his one of his fellow church members and was charged with contempt, but was later acquitted of the charge. He also served in 1875 as one of the Livingston School Directors. George applied for a CSA pension three different times--1894, 1903, and 1905. He was rejected on all three. He died in Vernon Parish on July 17, 1906, about two months prior to his final rejection by the Pension Board. He had to begin selling off his property during his latter years in order to survive. Because of his ill health, his farming activity declined. His second wife, MINERVA C. BRABHAM, died about 10 years later on November 11, 1916. She is buried next to George at Pine Hill. Apparently they were nearly destitute by the time of their deaths. (Minerva and GWW had the following children: Florence, Jane, John Wesley (Wessie), Zach Elijah and Emma. Minerva was born in 1841 in MS. They married in 1866.) CALVIN GREEN CARVER was born July 3, 1850, probably in Mississippi. His parents were ROBERT WILLIAM CARVER and SARAH ANN RUSSELL (2). He married MARY ELIZABETH WESTMORELAND on October 21, 1872, and their children were Julia Ann, George Robert (Bob), Tom Ellis, Francis (Fannie) Cornelia, John Green, all born in Livingston Parish; and Marshall Rite, Willie (Will) Theodore, and Isaac Monroe, who were born in Vernon Parish. All the children are buried in Vernon Parish, except Will, who is buried in Beaumont, TX. According to the Macedonia Baptist Church minutes, (prior to their marriage) Mary Elizabeth and Calvin Green joined the church by experience on July 3, 1870 and were baptized on August 6, 1870. On September 4, 1870, Calvin’s father, William, joined by experience. I did not find Sarah’s name in these minutes, but later found her listed as a member of the Pine Hill Baptist Church in Leesville, LA. Calvin purchased in 1878 land from his father-in-law, George, and did some farming. At the same time, land was also sold to MOSES P. HINSON who was Calvin's brother-in-law. He married Mary Elizabeth's sister, NANCY EUDORA WESTMORELAND, about 1878. In 1921, EVERETT I. CARVER and his father, JOHN GREEN, visited the old home place, but found only a spot where the house stood, surrounded by bushes. In 1993, Mr. H. C. Durbin, who lives about a mile or so up the road, said he remembered there was a dugged well near their house which had long since rotted down. As a boy, he used to hunt in the "Carver field." Today, much of the area is dense forest. Calvin Green had a sister named MARTHA. She was born in 1863, and died from injuries received from a falling tree in 1892 or 1893. She married in Livingston Parish on February 9, 1887 to HESAKIAH (Hess, Hez, or Plez) RAYBORN. They were married by J. W. Whitehead, Justice of the Peace, whose daughter, ANNIE, married WILLIE E. WESTMORELAND. No known children were born to HEZ and MARTHA (1). Martha and Hesakiah were also members of the Macedonia Baptist Church. Their names do not appear in the minutes after August 5, 1893. According to the 1870 census, his parents were Henry and Lucinda Raborn, when “Hess” was three years of age; born in LA. According to this census, Henry and Lucinda were born in MS. Other children included Sarah, age 7 born in MS; Jinney, age 5; Massilla, age 2; and Mariah, age 1, all born in LA. They are not listed in the 1880 census.The Westmorelands and the Calvin Green Carvers moved to Vernon some time between 1880 and 1883. [Beulah Carver Hicks told me that her father, Bob, told her that the original destination was to go to Texas, but Vernon became their home instead. The author also learned that possibly some of the same Carver clan moved to Henderson County, TX, in 1853. (2)] MARY ELIZABETH died April 17, 1887, about a month after the birth of Monroe. She is buried at Old Mt. Pleasant Cemetery west of New Ilano, LA. (CALVIN had two other wives after Mary Elizabeth died, Harriet C. Gill, and Katherine (Cathern) R. Hughes. Calvin and Cathern are buried at Welcome Cemetery, Simpson, Vernon Parish, LA.) Calvin, apparently called GREEN by many, homesteaded 100 acres of land near the Westmoreland home in Vernon Parish on or near Sabine River. The first trip from Livingston to Vernon (about 300 miles) took one month in a wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen. The trip obviously was a hazardous one, including swollen rivers to cross, avoiding quicksand, and running out of drinking water. About 1895, Green went back to Livingston Parish for his parents. ROBERT WILLIAM CARVER died February 17, 1896, and his wife, SARAH ANN, died December 22, 1900. They are buried in Vernon Parish next to Mary Elizabeth and Harriet and some infants. SARAH ANN RUSSELL CARVER is reported to have been part Indian, tribe unknown; she could speak the language of her tribe. In the 1880 Livingston Parish Census, she and her parents are reported to have been born in LA (1). CALVIN GREEN CARVER (1850-1931) had nine children that lived to adulthood; eight of those married and had children. Therefore, his number of descendants is quite large. GEORGE WASHINGTON WESTMORELAND (1832-1906) had five children each from two different wives; so obviously his descendants are quite large also. Mrs. MAUD CARVER WALTON (1904-1976) completed in 1961 a comprehensive CALVIN GREEN CARVER FAMILY TREE after extensive research. She was the daughter of REV. JOHN GREEN CARVER, who was born in Livingston Parish, near the Macedonia Baptist Church, in 1880. Rev. J. G. Carver had two other sons, Cecil and Herbert. This writer is the son of Herbert and Doris LaBorde Carver.*** (1) If the reader has additional information to share, please contact me at 1512 Pecan Street, Hammond, LA 70401, (985) 345-0369. Email: bcarver@i-55.com(2) In a conversation with two other Carver researchers, Gloria Haney and Keith Carver, there is a possibility that ROBERT WILLIAM CARVER is the son of WILLIAM (BILLY) CARVER, JR., and MARY WILLIAMSON (Pickens Co., AL). Billy is the son of WILLIAM CARVER, SR., and probably NANCY CARVER (Caswell Co., NC). Another possibility is Billy Carver’s brother, JOHN and his wife, NANCY CLAYTON. They had four sons that served in the CSA, which is a clue. Three of these were from Henderson Co., TX. The fourth one, Green, remained in Alabama. A missing clue is that Robert had a brother named Marshall who died of a nose bleed. Date and place unknown. Another story is that Robert left Duck River, TN at the age of 17 and headed south. The date when the Carvers arrived in Livingston Parish is unknown at this writing. It was probably around 1869-70, when the name of Green Carver appeared in the Church minutes.A third possibility is CORNELIUS “Neil” Carver (1796-1867) who also had four sons who served in the CSA. His wife was Neomi (Naomi) Ray. They lived in Jackson Co., TN. He is of the same William Carver clan of NC: however, no Robert William or Marshall is listed as part of this family either. –BEC–1