Perhaps when you started researching your Stallings ancestors you were excited to find resources like the “Manning Files” or the “Stallings Family Record.” If you live in South Carolina, or went for a visit, you may have found the terrific collections at the South Caroliniana Library that include files of genealogists like Leonardo Andrea, Louise Crowder and Bessie Garvin. Let this, then, be a cautionary tale: such resources are great, but check the sources cited to make sure they add up. If no source is cited, check the “fact” to make sure there is evidence to support it.
Of the numerous South Carolina Stallings men named John spanning several generations, one such John Stallings was the son of Shadrack and Civil Stallings.[1] John was born in approximately 1815[2] and died in 1873.[3]
The “Manning Files,”[4] states that John Stallings was married first to Kissannah Bates.[5] However, proof of this cannot be located in probate files, wills, newspaper articles, marriage records, deeds, birth records or death records.
In Barnwell County Marriages – Early to 1911, by Dee Ann Price, John Stallings is listed with Kissannah Bates as his wife.[6] No source is cited. Notes by the author state that when no source document was cited, the information was obtained from “journals, letters, Bibles, pedigree charts,” etc. Dee Ann Price may have obtained her information from the Manning Files.
John Stallings’ first wife was indeed named Kissannah. Her obituary was published in the Southern Christian Advocate 10 November 1843. The obituary states “Died, on the 26th of October, Mrs. Kisanor Stallings, wife of John Stallings of Barnwell District, S.C., aged thirty-two years and two months.”[7]
John Stallings did marry a Bates. Sometime after 1850 he married Sarah A. Bates, daughter of Burrell Bates.[8] Burrell Bates died without a will 23 August 1852, approximately nine years after John’s first wife died.[9] The distribution of Burrell’s estate to his heirs was recorded on a final return certified by the court 18 March 1856. The account records equal distributions to Burrell’s children: A.J. Bates, A.J. Bates as guardian for James H. Bates, John Stallings and wife, John Bates, James Stallings and wife and Joseph S. Bates. The distributions were made in 1855.[10]
Burrell Bates’ two daughters were still living with him when the 1850 census was taken.[11] Sarah married John Stallings between 1850 and 1860.[12] Burrell’s other daughter, Catherine, became the wife of James Stallings, M.D., as later records show.[13] Their mother Sarah E. Bates died before the administration of her husband’s estate was completed,[14] and the same distributees are recorded in an account of her estate.[15]
Sometimes it’s necessary to review an entire set of records from a particular time period, rather than limit a search to reviewing only documents associated with specific indexed surnames. A review of early Barnwell County Deeds located a receipt that was recorded 2 August 1845, whereby several beneficiaries acknowledged receipt of a “distributive share” from the estate of A.W. Eubanks.[16] John Stallings received a distributive share of $325. Other distributees receiving similar amounts were James J. Holland, Giles Bowers, Mary Carrie, Glover Foreman and J.J. Eubanks. The receipt doesn’t state when the money was actually distributed, and no further documents relating to A.W. Eubanks’ estate could be found.
Kissannah Eubanks was the daughter of Adam Eubanks and Judith Toole[17] and the sister of A.W. Eubanks (aka Andrew Washington Eubanks).[18] Adam Eubanks died in about 1820.[19] An account filed by the executor of Adam’s will, Adam’s son John Eubanks, in the probate proceeding was certified by the Ordinary of Barnwell District on 15 January 1834 and reported distributions to heirs made in February and March 1833.[20] Persons receiving distributions were: Giles Bowers in right of his wife, James J. Eubanks, Isaac Eubanks, James J. Holland in right of his wife, Kissannah Eubanks, Melinda Foreman, Mary Carrie, A.W. Eubanks (via John Eubanks, guardian) and John Eubanks.
According to the age stated in her obituary, Kissannah would have been about 22 when she received the distribution from her father’s estate. Later censuses indicate that John and Kissanah’s oldest child was born in 1841.[21]
A.W. Eubanks was incompetent and his brother, John Eubanks, managed his affairs.[22] When he died his assets were distributed to his siblings, as his parents were both deceased.[23] Kissannah’s share was distributed via her husband John Stallings.[24] I was unable to find records indicating when A.W. Eubanks died; I only located the receipt. Also of note is that the receipt is dated approximately two years after Kissanah’s death. It is possible that the receipt was recorded to memorialize a transaction that happened some years prior.
Clearly, John Stallings’ first wife was Kissannah Eubanks, daughter of Adam Eubanks, not Kissannah Bates.
© Sherrie T. Cork
Please cite as:
Cork, Sherrie T. “John Stallings : A correction to the record” Web blog post. Descendants of Rebellion. 19 June 2017.
Endnotes:
[1] John filed a petition to sell the property of his “deceased father” in 1839. (Petition to Sell Property, Estate of Shadrack Stallings, Bundle 74, pkg 1, Miscellaneous Probate Records, 1787-1958, Barnwell County Court, Barnwell.)
[2] 1850 U.S. census, Barnwell County, South Carolina, digital image, Ancestry.com (http:ancestry.com : accessed 13 April 2016), citing National Archives microfilm publication Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, roll M432_849, page 365B, image 85.
1860 U.S. census, Barnwell County, South Carolina, digital image, Ancestry.com (http:ancestry.com : accessed 13 April 2016), citing National Archives microfilm publication 1860 U.S. census, population schedule, roll M653_1213.
1870 U.S. census, Barnwell County, South Carolina, digital image, Ancestry.com (http:ancestry.com : accessed 13 April 2016), citing National Archives microfilm publication 1870 U.S. census, population schedules, roll M593_1484, page 358B, image 307162.
[3] Will of John Stallings, box 44, pkg 11, South Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1670-1980, Barnwell County Court, Barnwell.
Petition of J.M. Woodward for Letters of Administration, Estate of John Stallings, box 44, pkg 11, South Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1670-1980, Barnwell County Court, Barnwell.
[4] William Harris Manning and Edna Anderson Manning, compilers, “Manning Files,” Manuscripts Division, South Caroliniana Library, Columbia.
[5] There are several possible spellings for this name: Kizannah, Kisannah, Kissanah, etc. I will use Kissannah throughout to be consistent.
[6] DeAnn Price, compiler, Barnwell County Marriages, early to 1911, Manuscripts Division, South Caroliniana Library, Columbia.
[7] “Kisanor Stallings,” Obituary, Southern Christian Advocate, 10 November 1843.
[8]John Stallings (reported age 46) and Sarah A. Stallings (reported age 29) are together on the 1860 census. Sarah (reported age 21) is on the census with her father in 1850. A final return filed in Burrell Bates’ estate in 1856 records a distribution to “John Stallings & wife.” (1850 U.S. census, Barnwell County, South Carolina, digital image, Ancestry.com (http:ancestry.com : accessed 13 April 2016), citing National Archives microfilm publication Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, roll M432_849, page 393B, image 141).
1860 U.S. census.
Final Return, Estate of Burrell Bates, Bundle 114, pkg 6, Miscellaneous Probate Records, 1787-1958, Barnwell County Court, Barnwell.
[9] Letters of Administration dated 15 November 1852, Petition for Letters of Administration, Estate of Burrell Bates, Bundle 114, pkg 6, Miscellaneous Probate Records, 1787-1958, Barnwell County Court, Barnwell.
[10] Final Account, Estate of Burrell Bates.
[11] 1850 U.S. census.
[12] 1860 U.S. census.
[13] 1850 U.S. census (Burrell Bates household).
1860 U.S. census, Barnwell County, South Carolina, digital image, Ancestry.com (http:ancestry.com : accessed 13 April 2016), citing National Archives microfilm publication 1860 U.S. census, population schedule, roll M653_1213, page 433.
1870 U.S. census, Barnwell County, South Carolina, digital image, Ancestry.com (http:ancestry.com : accessed 13 April 2016), citing National Archives microfilm publication 1870 U.S. census, population schedules, roll M593_1484, page 401B.
Tombstone, “Catherine E. wife of Dr. James Stallings, photo, findagrave.com (http:findagrave.com . accessed 26 May 2017), Williston Cemetery, Williston, South Carolina.
[14] Petition for letters of administration, Estate of Sarah E. Bates, dated 21 November 1853, Bundle 118, pkg 10, Miscellaneous Probate Records, 1787-1958, Barnwell County Court, Barnwell.
[15] Account, Estate of Sarah E. Bates, dated 11 February 1856, Bundle 118, pkg 10, Miscellaneous Probate Records, 1787-1958, Barnwell County Court, Barnwell.
[16] Receipt, Barnwell County Deeds, book BB, page 211, Barnwell County Court, Barnwell.
[17] Account, The Estate of Isaac B. Toole, dated 22 February 1816, Bundle 22, pkg 28, Miscellaneous Probate Records, 1787-1958, Barnwell County Court, Barnwell.
[18] Account No. 4, Estate of Adam Eubanks.
Will of Adam Eubanks.
[19] Account No. 4, The Estate of Adam Eubanks, dated 15 January 1834, Bundle 35, pkg 9, Miscellaneous Probate Records, 1787-1958, Barnwell County Court, Barnwell.
Will of Adam Eubanks, dated 8 September 1817 and recorded 31 October 1820, Bundle 35, pkg 9, Miscellaneous Probate Records, 1787-1958, Barnwell County Court, Barnwell.
[20] Account No. 4, Estate of Adam Eubanks.
[21] 1850 U.S. census (John and Sarah Stallings household).
[22] Receipt, Barnwell County Deeds.
[23] John Eubanks filed a petition on 30 December 1831 stating that Judith Eubanks, wife of Adam Eubanks, had lately died. (Estate of Adam Eubanks, Barnwell County Court.
[24] Receipt, Barnwell County Deeds.
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