Seaborn
Carroll is shown on 1850 census of
Dale County,
Alabama (p. 187, Household 294) age 46 (1804) born in NC, along with wife Chasey age 37 (1813) born in NC, daughter
Piety age 18 (1832) born in
AL, son William age 14 (1836) born in
AL, son Thomas age 12 (1838) born in
AL, son Richard age 11 (1839) born in
AL, son
Seaborn age 9 (1841) born in
AL, son Carey age 7 (1843) born in
AL, son Marion age 4 (1846) born in
AL, and son James age 2 (1848) born in
AL. There is a marriage bond for a Ceborn
Carroll and Nancy Ellen dated March 15, 1830 in
Johnston County, NC, with
Carrell Johnson as bondsman. It is possible that this may be a first marriage. Seaborn
Carroll was most likely the son of William
Carrell (b. about 1765-1770, d. after 1830) of
Johnston County, NC and his second wife
Piety Fluellin. This is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that Seaborn’s oldest daughter in 1850 was named
Piety, and his eldest son was named William. William
Carroll and
Piety Fluellin were married March 18, 1797 in
Johnston County, NC, with
Abraham Perry as bondsman. William Carrell’s first wife was Sarah Stevenson/Stephenson (Stevens on marriage bond), daughter of Solomon
Stephenson, Jr. and his wife Anna “Nancyâ€
Johnson, whom he married February 8, 1790 with John
Carrell as bondsman. Sarah died between 1790 and 1797. William
Carrell was the brother of my ancestor James
Carrell (b. about 1765, d. May 16, 1834; md. February 1, 1792 (bond January 30),
Rhoda Stephenson, b. about 1778, d. after 1859). Rhoda, wife of James, was a sister of Sarah
Stephenson, William’s first wife. James and William
Carrell lived in the area of Camp Branch in what is now Pleasant Grove Township,
Johnston County, NC. The area is in close proximity to McGee’s Crossroads (the intersection of Highways 50 and 210 in western
Johnston County). Beginning in the late 1820s, several of the sons of James
Carrell began migrating back and forth to
Alabama, permanently establishing residence there in the early 1830s. Their cousin
Seaborn Carrell apparently also migrated at that time. James
Carrell died in 1834, and two years later in 1836, his widow
Rhoda left
North Carolina and established residence with her children near Ozark in
Dale County,
Alabama.
To give you an overview of the
Carrell family of
Johnston County, NC, the earliest definitive ancestor was John
Carrell, who established himself on Swift
Creek and White Oak
Creek in
Johnston County (near the Johnston/Wake County line) about 1752. He evidently died sometime in early 1762, and the following year in 1763, Elizabeth
Johnson, widow of Sill
Johnson, was appointed guardian to the minor heirs of John
Carrell. It is believed that Elizabeth
Johnson was either the younger sister or elder daughter of John
Carrell. The minor children of John
Carrell were William, John, Benjamin, Susannah, and Lucy. William was evidently very close to being of age, as he had a land transaction shortly afterwards, thus suggesting that he was probably born about 1742 or so. Evidence also suggests that other children were Britton and James
Carrell, who were probably already of age. In 1772, Standley
Carrell, a widow, was summoned by the
Johnston County Court to bring in her “base born†child. At a later court that same year,
Absalom Carrell, who was 10 years old, was presented in court to be bound out. It is believed that
Absalom was referred to as “base born†because he was a posthumous child (i.e. born after his father’s death). Standley must have been the wife of John
Carrell (d. 1762), as she was termed a “widow†and he is the only
Carrell referenced as deceased prior to that time in
Johnston County. Absalom
Carrell is probably the same individual who married Eleanor Robinson and resided in South Carolina and later Mississippi.
Britton
Carrell (b. about 1740-1742) migrated to Warren County,
Georgia. He married Winnefred Benton, a widow, in that county on February 6, 1812. He lived to an advanced age and died after 1830.
James
Carrell (b. about 1740-1742) settled in adjoining
Cumberland (now Harnett) County, NC, where he died in 1778 with
Abraham Perry as his administrator.
William
Carrell (b. about 1742) resided in
Johnston County, but beginning in the 1790s began acquiring land in
Columbia County,
Georgia. His first wife was Ann, and his second wife was Sarah Penny, widow of Caleb Penny, whom he married on July 29, 1806 with brother John
Carrell as bondsman. William died in 1811 having residences both in
North Carolina and
Georgia, and his will was probated in
Johnston County in 1812. William and Ann had two sons named William and James, and they are mentioned in his will. For many years, I and most other researchers believed that these two sons were identical with William
Carrell (md. Sarah Stevenson; 2md. Piety Fluellin) and James
Carrell (md. Rhoda
Stevenson). However, in recent years, the research of both Lesa Pringle of Utah and myself in the records of
Columbia County,
Georgia has shown that William’s sons were two different men than our ancestors. Both pairs of men were living concurrently in
North Carolina and
Georgia respectively. Thus, our James and William were NOT the sons of William
Carrell (ca. 1742-1811) and wife Ann as previously believed.
John
Carrell (b. about 1754) remained in
Johnston County, NC. His first wife is unknown, but he married his second wife Aly Ferrell on July 21, 1801 in
Johnston County, NC. In 1814, John received land in Tennessee in behalf of the Revolutionary War service of his deceased brother Benjamin
Carrell. John
Carrell died in 1816. He devised his will in
Johnston County, NC in 1814, and it was probated in 1817. I am directly descended from John’s daughter Winnefred
Carrell, who married Willie
Johnson.
The parentage of James
Carrell (md. Rhoda
Stevenson) and William
Carrell (md. Sarah Stevenson; 2md. Piety Fluellin) is not certain. Tradition among descendants of James
Carrell allege that his parents were Duncan McCarroll and Isabella Dallas of Ireland, but this seems to be largely a family myth with little basis in fact. There is no evidence of such a couple in the records of Johnston or
Cumberland Counties, nor has any proof of them been found elsewhere. There is little doubt that both James and William were grandsons of John
Carrell (d. about 1762) of
Johnston County. John
Carrell (1754-1816) served as bondsman for both of his nephews - William when he married Sarah
Stevenson in 1790, and James when he married
Rhoda Stevenson in 1792. When William married
Piety Fluellin in 1797, his bondsman was
Abraham Perry. Perry, who probably married either Lucy or Susannah
Carrell, had served as administrator of James
Carrell in Cumberland County in the year 1778. Estate records would suggest that James
Carrell (d. 1778) was neither married nor had any children, so it is unlikely that he was the father of James and William. John
Carrell and
Abraham Perry serving as bondsmen for both of William's marriages bolsters the link between John (d. 1762) and our ancestors James and William. All that can be said with certainty is that James and William
Carrell were probably grandsons of the original John
Carrell (d. 1762).
In regards to the ancestry of John
Carrell (d. 1762) of
Johnston County, early in my research I proposed the theory that John was the son of John
Carrell (will written 1710, proven 1714) of Isle of
Wight County, Virginia and his wife Elizabeth Vasser. Since so many early
Johnston County families originated from Isle of
Wight County, it seemed logical and in keeping with typical migration patterns. The repetition of similar first names also seemed to make such a connection plausible. Over the years, researchers have taken material that I submitted to the
Johnston County Heritage Center in Smithfield, NC on the
Carrell family and canonized this connection as fact, when it is merely a theory that I originally proposed. It should be understood that the ancestry of John
Carrell (d. 1762) of
Johnston County has not been fully established, and that his connection to the Isle of
Wight County
Carroll family is speculative, not documentarily proven.
