Carliles of Tate County Mississippi

The first phase of this journey will be told with respect to the individual men of our Carlile line, going back as far as I have names for them. Though we probably never will know the names of earlier men, there is still quite a story to tell of those times. The second phase will take our line back to England, and how its Y-chromosome tells us where they came from before the advent of human civilization. The final phase will cover the rest of the family tree of Ada Carlile, my great-great grandmother, through all of her great-great grandparents. Keep in mind that most of them lived their lives before the Revolution and information about them may be scarce.



Turley Morris's mother was Ada Carlile, born 1864 in Fayette County Alabama. Her father was George Washington Carlile, born 1834 in Jasper County Georgia. He got married in Pike County Alabama (where other Carlile cousins lived) and raised his family in Fayette County. He served in the Alabama 2nd Batallion Light Artillery in the Civil War. His father was also named George Washington Carlile, who went by Washington. He claimed to have been born in 1812. He said he was born in Georgia. Both of these are in question, because both of his parents are said to have died in 1812. I haven't seen the document myself, but ancestry.com has a hint where someone wrote that Washington and his sister Rachel were orphans and came under the custody of John West in 1812. I found an article online by descendants of Rachel who said her father was John Carlile, and he was assumed killed in the War of 1812. Their mother was Mary, and she died in Alabama, and left instruction for the children to be sent to Jasper County Georgia. I've seen other claims that John Carlile died 1811 in Jackson County Georgia. And a source said John West took guardianship of the children in 1818.

Now, it's clear that no one seems to know exactly what happened. What is fact is that John West was related to Mary. See the West section below for details, but I believe he was her uncle. It seems clear that John West lived in Jasper County. If his taking custody actually happened in 1812, the cause of John Carlile's death wasn't the War. Note the 1811 claim. It's possible that the years are wrong and John Carlile was killed in the War of 1812, which would've been the Creek War in 1814 in the Georgia area. John West taking guardianship in 1818 fits better, and suggests that Mary died closer to then than 1814. The Alabama claim led me to research the Fort Mims massacre, that maybe John Carlile's family was in the fort and he and Mary were killed and their children survived, but I've not seen the name Carlile in documents associated with it. It's not strange that John could've been killed in the War. What is strange is that Mary died, apparently not long after. If they died at the same time, maybe they had actually gone to future Alabama, and maybe some incident with the natives occurred. Whatever it was, Washington grew up with John West as his father, in Jasper County Georgia. It's a total guess that Washington was also born there.

George and Rachel's father was John Carlile, born about 1770 in Edgecombe County North Carolina. John's father was William Carlile, born 1736 in Charles City County Virginia. Our Carliles were in Charles City County for a century. William was of age to fight in the Revolutionary War, but I've found no record of it. The family moved to North Carolina about 1760, so I wonder if this was related to service in the French and Indian War, which ended in 1763. William's father was also called William, born 1697. William Sr's father was Robert Carlile, born 1674. Robert's father was Richard Carlile, who landed 1657 in Virginia and settled in Charles City County, 23 years after it had been established as one of the original Shires of Virginia. Our Carliles lived on the James River upstream from Williamsburg and Jamestown. I have no evidence that they were slaveholders. Presumably they immigrated as Anglicans.

Richard was born in Kent England, which is near London. Our line is traced back with confidence through his forefathers William and Jonathan to Christopher Carlile born 1530 in Kent. Christopher was a famous scholar of Cambridge. But no one seems to know what Carliles he came from. I'll note at this point that I've used the spelling Carlile in tribute to Christopher, because that seems to be the spelling he used. It was also common for our line in America. The surname Carlile comes from the city Carlisle (standard spelling) which is in far northwestern England near the border with Scotland. Carlisle Castle was built 900 years ago over the site of a Roman fort near Hadrian's Wall. From that time, Carlisle has been solidly English, and our line migrated from there to reside eventually around London. Before the arrival of the Normans, Carlisle was in an area that was fought over by the English kingdom of Northumbria and the Scottish kingdom of Strathclyde.


Peterhouse, first Cambridge college, founded 1284

Our line probably identified as Scottish while the Strathclyde kingdom existed, which is evidenced by their origin. Our Carliles are R-M269, the Celtic haplogroup. Ours evidently lived in the area of Carlisle by the time the Romans arrived. A settlement existed there, of the Carvetii tribe. They were likely associated with the Brigantes Celtic Britons. Rome conquered the Carvetii and destroyed their settlement and built the town of Luguvalium at the site, which later became the city of Carlisle. As stated previously, this was the western end of Hadrian's Wall. By the 5th century our Romanized Britons were part of the Kingdom of Rheged until the Kingdom of Strathclyde arose about 700 AD.

Amanda Carlile's other Great-Great-Grandparent Lines

In the last phase of this document, I collect all that I know about the non-Carlile paternal lines of the great-great-grandparents of my great-great-grandmother, Ada Carlile. Refer to the Scott Pedigree page for a simple view of Ada's ancestors.

Rigby

Ada Carlile's mother was Margaret Rigby, born 1839 in Macon County Alabama. Margaret's father was Alfred Ribgy, born 1812 in Warren County Georgia. The form of the name used then was Rigsby. Paul McCartney is influencing me, but I use the form Rigby throughout. English surnames often had loose s's hanging around, like Rigby and Rigsby being the same name. That said, the name Rigby is said to come from a town called Rigsby in England. Alfred's father was William Rigby, born 1775 in Craven County North Carolina. William's father was Hugh Rigby, born 1729 in Lancashire England. This is a late-immigrating English line, among a few in this tree. I found no evidence that this line were slaveholders. I'm guessing they were Anglican. Descendants have been tested as Y-DNA haplogroup R-M269.

Henderson

Washington Carlile's wife was Eliza Henderson, born 1815 in Marlboro District South Carolina. Eliza's father was Alexander Henderson, born 1776 in Richmond County North Carolina. Alexander's father was Archibald Henderson, born 1740 in Argyllshire Scotland. Richmond is in central North Carolina on the South Carolina border, which was a strange place to immigrate directly to. Archibald was 36 when Alexander was born. I wonder if Archibald first immigrated somewhere on the coast - Pennsylvania was common for Scottish immigrants - and came a bit later to Richmond. His wife was born in England and was nine years younger, so she was 27 when Alexander was born. I suppose that leaves time for them to have wed outside of North Carolina, but I have no document of it. Regardless, they moved to a location that took most Scots-Irish Americans a century or more to come to. Archibald is claimed to have been a Revolutionary War soldier, so it looks like he fought from North Carolina. Though the name Henderson looks Scandinavian, it's said to be Pictish, having a very deep history in the Scottish highlands. It looks like our line was of Y-DNA haplogroup R-M269, which fits with the Picts. But there are many I-haplogroup Hendersons who may actually have come from Vikings. The Hendersons were considerable slaveholders, so given that Archibald wed an English woman, I presume they were Anglican.

Grizzle

Margaret Rigby's mother was Martha Grizzle, born 1815 in Warren County Georgia. Martha's father was Stephen Grizzle, born 1790 in Halifax County North Carolina. Stephen's father was Willie Grizzle, born 1769 in Nash County North Carolina. Willie's father was William Grizzle, born 1745 in Chesterfield County Virginia. William's father was also named William, thus William I of III, born 1725 in Henrico County Virginia. William I's father was George Grissel, born 1695 in Lorraine France. Lorraine is in the Alsace region, where others of our French ancestors immigrated from. The Grissels were likely Lutheran. There is a Grizzle DNA project, which surprised me, but none of them came from France. There are many Griswolds in that project, and I've seen attempts to connect our line to Griswold, but I'm sure this is nonsense. Our line is most likely of Y-DNA haplogroup R-M269. The Grizzles were not slaveholders.

West

As described previously in this document, John West took in Washington Carlile and his sister when their parents died. It was a bit of a journey for me to connect the dots. The initial info on Washington's mother was that her name was Mary Kellum, and her parents were William West and a woman named Huldy with no maiden name. I've had difficulty placing William West in Georgia, and I've wondered if John West actually was Mary's father. But Huldy has been proven to be an ancestor, so that adds credence to William West being correct. I did a lot of research on Kellum/Kellam/Callum and made no discovery. You would think that maybe John Carlile was her second husband, and she was the widow of a Kellum man, but I have a birth year of 1788 for her, and there was no time for her to have had a previous marriage. That said, I have 1770 as John Carlile's birth year, so maybe Mary was born earlier.

Regardless, ThruLines support William West as her father. Therefore Washington Carlile's mother was Mary West born 1788 in Edgecombe County North Carolina. Mary's father was William West, born 1760 in Isle of Wight County Virginia. William's father was also named William, born 1734 in Isle of Wight. William Sr's father was Henry West, born 1690 in Isle of Wight. Henry's father was Robert West, born 1667 in Isle of Wight. Robert's father was William West, born 1643 in Bristol England. I have a note that a West was taken prisoner in the fall of Charleston South Carolina in the Revolutionary War, but it doesn't seem to have been a direct ancestor. For a long time I didn't know who William Jr's ancestors were, until I found Baptist church records in Georgia that said John West was born in Isle of Wight, which led me to the correct path. William West the immigrant is also the patriarch of the West line in the Burrell tree, having two sons that were my ancestors. The surname West means an ultimate origin in Cornwall, which was adopted in Devon, indicating that they "came from the west". This line is presumed to be Anglican. It's possible that they were slaveholders, but the line is too early to have records. Descendants of this line have been tested as Y-DNA haplogroup I-M253. This probably means they were Normans.

Ezell

Eliza Henderson's mother was Rebecca Ezell, born 1779 in Brunswick County Virginia. Rebecca's father was Benjamin Ezell, born 1749 in Surry County Virginia. Benjamin had a son Benjamin whom Rebecca seems to have migrated south with. Benjamin Sr's father was John Ezell, born 1707 in Surry. John's father was George Ezell, born 1674 in Surry. George's father was also named George, born 1648 in Surry. George Sr's father was Timothy Ezell, born 1620 in Nottinghamshire England. Houseofnames.com says that Ezell is a surname from Silesia, in what is now Poland. I've found no explanation for how such a line could've become English. But I found another site that says Ezell is an alternate spelling of a clan that came from Eskdale in Dumfriesshire Scotland. Another form is Esdaill, which shows how the name shifted. This is a much more plausible source of our line. Nottinghamshire is still quite far from Scotland, which helps to explain how far the pronunciation shifted. Presumably ours were Anglican when they immigrated. There actually is an Ezell DNA project, and they're almost all of haplogroup R-M269. They were considerable slaveholders.

Felts

Alfred Rigby's mother was Mary Felts, born 1775 in Warren County North Carolina. Mary's father was John Felts, born 1749 in Sussex County Virginia. John's father was also named John, born 1727 in Surry County Virginia. John Sr's father was Thomas Felts, born 1703 in Surry. Thomas's father was Humphrey Felts, born in 1648. I don't know anything else about him, but Felts is said to be a Dutch surname. I'm at a loss what to do with this, because Holland-to-Virginia is an unheard of path. People went to Holland for religious shelter from persecution in England, and Virginia was just as bad in that regard if not worse. Our Felts line must've been Anglican somehow. I would think the line became English before coming to America. I've found no evidence of slaveholding. There is a Felts DNA project, with just a few names in it. Even so, most of them are from different haplogroups. The only multiple ones were I-M253, including the one from England, so that's my guess for our line.

Harrison

Martha Grizzle's mother was Elizabeth Harrison, born 1782 in Dobbs County North Carolina. Elizabeth's father was Benjamin Harrison, born 1755 in Johnston County North Carolina, probably in the same place that Elizabeth was born, because Dobbs was formed from Johnston. Benjamin had quite the life. He was a captain in the Revolutionary War, and he was murdered in Laurens County Georgia in 1811. We know this because another researcher found a newspaper clipping of the story, from the Georgia Express, that Benjamin's murderer Hansel Roberts had been imprisoned and escaped, and a reward was announced for his recapture. I don't know if he ever was. Benjamin's father was Thomas Harrison, born 1715 in Albemarle County North Carolina, which was probably still in the same place. Thomas's father was also named Thomas, born 1685 in Charles City County Virginia. Thomas Sr's father was John Harrison, born 1640 in Charles City. John's father was William Harrison, born 1620 in Charles City. William's father was John Harrison, born 1599 in Staffordshire England. There's another Harrison line in this tree, but there was no relation in America. I've found no evidence of slaveholding in this line, but they look likely to have been. The Harrison DNA project gives no way to identify connections to it, so I have to guess R-M269 for ours. Harrison looks like a Scandinavian name, but it seems to be too widespread for all Harrisons to have come from Vikings.

Booth

John Carlile's mother was Mary Booth, born 1746 in Frederick County Virginia. I evidently went on a pointless journey to find her, because after many attempts were rejected by ThruLines, including Mary Glenn and Mary Whatley, I resorted to Mary Booth, whom ancestry.com hints always said was the correct maiden name. The problem is that ThruLines reported no matches for her either. A made a remark in my notes to leave the line alone until I came to this point in the process, of writing it up, and then see what the status was. Well, now ThruLines returns eight matches for Mary Booth. So I have to believe that she was my ancestor. Her father was William Booth, born 1723 in Gloucester County Virginia. William's father was Thomas Booth, born 1705 in Surry County Virginia. Thomas's father was George Booth, born 1677 in Charles City County Virginia. George's father was Thomas Booth, born 1646 in Lancashire England. The surname Booth has deep roots in Lancashire, derived from Old English bothe, which means "herdsman's hut". Descendants of the line have been tested as Y-DNA haplogroup R-M269.

Doyle

As described in the Washington Carlile story, I had the name Huldy for his mother's mother. I was at a loss to know anything else about her, until I found that Huldy was a nickname for Huldah, and then I found that other researchers were aware of a Huldah Doyle who was William West's wife. Knowing her maiden name hasn't helped to find her father, though. I've seen a John Doyle who followed a similar path. She was born about 1770, while John was born 1748 in Ireland. Doyle is an Irish surname from Leinster, so I suppose that Huldy was related to him. Presumably this was a Catholic line of Y-DNA haplogroup R-M269.

Smith

Archibald Henderson's wife was Mary Smith, born 1749 in Westmorland England. I know nothing else about Mary, and I tend to not trace earlier than the immigrant of a line anyway. We have Smith in multiple places in our tree, and I obviously have no way to know if Mary is related to any of them. The curious thing about this line is that Mary was born in England, Archibald was born in Scotland, and yet they found the place and time to get married and ended up in the deep south of America. I make the default assumptions about an English line here.

Davis

Rebecca Ezell's mother was Sarah Davis, born 1740 in Brunswick County Virginia. I know nothing else about this line either, but Davis is a Welsh surname. I assume this was like a typical English line.

Cursiter

Hugh Rigby's wife was Elizabeth Cursiter, born in 1745. I know even less about this line, not knowing where she was born. Cursiter/Cursitor is said to come from Orkney in the Scottish highlands. Hugh was born in Lancashire England. Elizabeth could've been like Mary Smith and wed in America, except she was Scottish and her husband was English. I assume this was a Scottish Presbyterian line.

Harrison

Mary Felts's mother was Molley Harrison, born 1751 in Sussex County Virginia. Molley's father was Joseph Harrison, born 1722 in Charles County Maryland. Joseph's father was also named Joseph, born 1687 in Charles. Joseph Sr's father was Richard Harrison, born 1660 in Charles. Richard's father was Joseph Harrison, born 1623 in Kent England. As stated for the other Harrison line in this tree, there's no known relation. Though this Harrison line rubbed shoulders with the McAtees in Charles County Maryland, I don't think they were Catholic. Most people in Charles were Protestant, and I think this line was.

Hadley

Stephen Grizzle's mother was Sarah Hadley, born 1769 in Orange County North Carolina. I believe that Sarah's father was Jeremiah Hadley, born 1741 in New Castle County, Delaware. I'm more certain about Sarah's grandfather, who was Joshua Hadley born 1703 in West Meath Ireland. Hadley is an English surname from Essex, so this line evidently went to the Irish plantations before coming to America. I presume therefore that they were Anglican.

Williams

Benjamin Harrison's wife was Charity Williams, born 1764 in Edgecombe County North Carolina. Charity's father was James Williams, born 1740 in Edgecombe. James's father was John, born 1697 in Edgecombe. John was a common ancestor of both of my parents, and two of his children were my mom's ancestors. This line is Welsh R-M269.

Summary of Ada Carlile's Great-Great-Grandparent Lines

Three of the sixteen lines were confirmed slaveholders. Quite a few more might've been, but I've found no records, and many died before 1790. Ada's ancestors were almost completely Anglican, with one Lutheran and one Catholic line. They were probably very genetically homogeneous, with only two lines known to have not been of the standard R1b western Europe haplogroup. Those two were Germanic, maybe Viking. More than half of Ada's ancestors were English, while some were Scottish and Welsh, and French and Irish.

Migration paths
Carlile: 1890 Senatobia, Tate, Mississippi - 1860 Fayette, Fayette, Alabama - 1800 Monticello, Jasper, Georgia - 1770 Tarboro, Edgecombe, North Carolina - 1670 Charles City, Charles City, Virginia - 0 Maidstone, Kent, England
Rigby: 1835 Tuskegee, Macon, Alabama - 1825 LaGrange, Troup, Georgia - 1805 Warrenton, Warren, Georgia - 1765 New Bern, Craven, North Carolina - 1600 Wigan, Lancashire, England - 0 Rigsby, Lincolnshire, England
Henderson: 1800 McColl, Marlboro, South Carolina - 1775 Rockingham, Richmond, North Carolina - 0 Kintyre, Argyllshire, Scotland
Grizzle: 1802 Warrenton, Warren, Georgia - 1790 Halifax, Halifax, North Carolina - 1765 Nashville, Nash, North Carolina - 1745 Chesterfield, Chesterfield, Virginia - 1725 Henrico, Henrico, Virginia - 0 Metz, Alsace, France
West: 1780 Tarboro, Edgecombe, North Carolina - 1665 Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight, Virginia - 0 Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
Ezell: 1775 Laurenceville, Brunswick, Virginia - 1645 Surry, Surry, Virginia - 1600 Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England - 0 Eskdale, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Felts: 1770 Warrenton, Warren, North Carolina - 1745 Sussex, Sussex, Virginia - 1690 Southwick, Surry, Virginia - 1600 London, London, England
Harrison: 1710 Kinston, Albemarle, North Carolina - 1620 Charles City, Charles City, Virginia - 0 Lichfield, Staffordshire, England