Working on Wednesday: Jeremiah Warren (About 1772 - 1832), Part 1, His Life

Over his lifetime Great-Uncle Jeremiah, the oldest son of Jesse Warren Sr., prospered as a farmer in Hancock County, Georgia, where he had moved with his parents around 1791.

From 1812 Property Lists we can see that Jeremiah was paying taxes on nearly 300 acres in Hancock County and on another 202 acres in Laurens County and he owned seven slaves.

[Ancestry.com. Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Original data: Georgia Tax Digests [1890]. 140 volumes. Morrow, Georgia: Georgia Archives.]

In the 1820 U.S. Census Jeremiah was the only white person living on his property along with 15 enslaved persons.

[1820 U S Census; Census Place: Claytons, Hancock, Georgia; Page: 91; NARA Roll: M33_7; Image: 96. Township : Claytons. Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fourth Census of the United States, 1820. (NARA microfilm publication M33, 142 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

And by the 1830 census enumeration, Jeremiah had a young white lad between 10 and 14 living with him (perhaps one of his nephews?) and now owned 28 slaves. Jeremiah never married and after his father's death in 1827 he appears to have been the person his siblings turned to when they needed money.

[1830; Census Place: Hancock, Georgia; Series: M19; Roll: 18; Page: 171; Family History Library 

Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data: Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. (NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

On July 12, 1832, the Southern Recorder published his obituary:*

Died, at his residence, in Hancock county, on the 14th ult. JEREMIAH WARREN, in the 60th year of his age, after a severe affliction, of which he was confined more than six months. By his death, a large family connexion are deprived of an affectionate relative and invaluable friend, and the chasm in society will long remain to be filled. When in life, he was respected by all who knew him, and now he is dead, many deplore his loss.

So far what little we know about Jeremiah is pretty standard for his time and place. However, his will, first introduced in Hancock County court by his executors** on July 2, 1832, was so shocking to his brother-in-law Joseph Johnson and his wife Susan (Warren) Johnson that they sought to have the will voided by filing their first Caveat.

["Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-30371-15650-88?cc=1999178&wc=9SYB-7M3:267654601,267802801 : accessed 04 Dec 2014), Hancock - Wills and administration records 1831-1840 vol N - image 77 of 376; county probate courthouses, Georgia.

I've read quite a few Georgia probate records over the years and this was the first t ime I'd ever seen a will contested.*** The whole situation got more intriguing as I read on through the documents so I'm going to share this story with you in subsequent posts.



*Source: Georgiagenealogy,org
**Note that Jeremiah didn't name any of his family as executors of his will.
***In 1844 this same couple contested the will of another of Susan's siblings, her sister Mary Warren.

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