Genealogical History of Some Carsons, Johnsons, and Related Families
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Chapter 22 - The Kirksey Family

The Kirksey Family is related to the Johnson family through Louise Kirksey, who married Carl Eugene Johnson.

The earliest known direct ancestors of the Kirkseys are Gideon Kirksey and Nancy T. Kirksey.  A number of researchers are trying to discover who their ancestors were, without definitive results to date.  The problem is that the name Gideon Kirksey appears in several family trees, and it is difficult to determine with certainty which parents go with each of the various Gideons.  The grandparents of Nancy T. Kirksey are also unknown.  Like so many of our ancestors, the Kirkseys migrated from the Carolinas to Georgia in the 1800’s.

A Miller Who Moved

“Our” Gideon Kirksey  was born in South Carolina in 1801.  He married Nancy T. Kirksey  in Butts County, Georgia  She who was born in 1812 in North Carolina.  Their marriage certificate reads, “This is to certify that Gideon Kirksey  and Nancy T. Kirksey  was Lawfully joined in the holy State of matrimony by me on the 8th day of July 1832.  Elijah McMichael  J. P.”  Nancy T. Kirksey  was the daughter of Elisha Smith Kirksey  (born ca. 1783 in North Carolina) and Patience Harris  (born ca. 1785 in North Carolina). Gideon Kirksey  was a miller and moved several times.  He drew land in the 1832 land Lottery in Georgia, and he purchased items from the estate of Enoch Pearson  in Butts County in 1835.  In 1840 he was in Tallapoosa County, AL; in 1850 he was in Henry County, GA; in 1860 he was in Crawford County, GA; and after 1870 he was in Taylor County, GA.  He joined Crowell Methodist Church on October 1, 1871, but in 1872 he transferred his membership to the church in Butler, Georgia.  Gideon Kirksey  and Nancy Kirksey both died in Taylor County, GA, after 1880.  Gideon Kirksey and Nancy Kirksey had eight children, including:

  • Mary Kirksey
  • Newt Kirksey
  • George W. Kirksey
  • Andrew Jackson Kirksey

  • B. F. Kirksey

  • J. M. Kirksey
  • Nancy C. Kirksey, who married Edward Turner
  • Louisa Margaret Kirksey, who married William Pare (or Parr)

George W. Kirksey, son of Gideon Kirksey and Nancy Kirksey.  lived in Atlanta.  His wife was named Hattie , and they had a son named Willie Kirksey .

Stagecoach Driver, Storekeeper, and Overseer

Andrew Jackson  “Jack” Kirksey, son of Gideon Kirksey and Nancy Kirksey,  was born April 13, 1835, in Butts County, GA. He had a short career as a stagecoach driver in south Georgia and Alabama, and later became a storekeeper and an overseer.  He married first Melissa (or Mary) Nelson  (born in 1835).  Supposedly, Melissa Nelson  was a very heavy woman who collapsed one night ca. 1862 and is buried somewhere in Florida. In 1860 Andrew Jackson Kirksey was living in Brooks County, GA.  On May 12, 1867 in Taylor County, GA, Andrew Jackson Kirksey  married second Sarah Elizabeth Dickson Griffith , who had been divorced February 12, 1862 in Taylor County, GA, and who was born November 20, 1845 in Crawford County, GA, the daughter of Curry Barnett Dickson  and Samantha E. Davis .  Andrew and Sarah joined Crowell Methodist Church by profession of faith in 1871, but transferred their membership to Butler, Georgia, in 1872.

Andrew Jackson “Jack” Kirksey  bought a lot in Reynolds, Georgia, from H. T. Coleman  for $900, and he served on the Taylor County Grand Jury in October, 1881.  Andrew Jackson Kirksey  died September 17, 1909 and his wife Sarah died January 26, 1911.  They are both buried at Crowell, in Taylor County, GA.  After their deaths, the lot mentioned above was sold to E. E. Powell  for $1500.  Incidentally, H. T. Coleman , mentioned above, left $2500 to the City of Reynolds, which was used for the construction of the Coleman Institute.  Mr. Coleman also left money to many other public institutions in Taylor County.

Children of Andrew Jackson Kirksey and Melissa Nelson were:

  • Julia A. Elizabeth Kirksey  (1854 – September 19, 1918, married Perry Turner ),
  • Benjamin Franklin Kirksey
  • Belle (or Nancy) Kirksey  (married Sol Byrd )

Children of Andrew Jackson Kirksey and Sarah Elizabeth Dickson Griffith were:

  • Mary Lizzie Kirksey  (September 1, 1868 – February, 1921)
  • Clay Julia Kirksey  (June 19, 1871 – August 7, 1904)
  • Retha Ida Kirksey  (September 8, 1873 – May 3, 1952, married Oscar Davis )
  • Barnet Lee “Barney” Kirksey  (January 16, 1875 – July 3, 1949, died of heart trouble)
  • Lena Rivers Kirksey  (October 31, 1879 – February 11, 1935)
  • Julia I. Kirksey  (October 21, 1882 – May 13, 1966)
  • Ira Hill Kirksey  (October 13, 1884 – June 10, 1957)
  • Andrew Dixon Kirksey  (September 4, 1888 – July 15, 1936).

Barnet Lee “Barney” Kirksey, son of Andrew Jackson Kirksey and Sarah Elizabeth Dickson Griffith,  was born in Taylor Coujnty, Georgia, on January 16, 1875.  In Taylor County on December 10, 1899, he married Ida Elizabeth Philmon , who was born in Marshallville, Georgia, on June 28, 1879.  Barnet Lee “Barney” Kirksey  was a farmer. He died in Macon, Georgia July 3, 1949, and is buried in Macon Memorial Park Cemetery.  Ida Elizabeth Philmon  died December 23, 1954, and is buried with her husband.

Death Comes in the South Pacific

Ira Hill Kirksey, son of Andrew Jackson Kirksey and Sarah Elizabeth Dickson Griffith,  had a son named Andrew Jackson Kirksey  (born November 15, 1917, married Cloy Boynton ), who was killed in August, 1943, when Lt. John F. Kennedy’s  boat PT109 was rammed by a Japanese ship in the South Pacfic in World War II.  Two other children of Ira Hill Kirksey  were Ira H. Kirksey Jr . and Newsome Kirksey .

Benjamin Franklin Kirksey  was born in Florida near St. Augustine May 18, 1857.  He married Sarah Rebecca Davis , born in Taylor County, GA, February 22, 1856, daughter of William H. Davis  (1818-1912) and Caroline Missouri  (or Minnie Melissa) Gardner (1830-1890) .  He was a member of Crowell Methodist Church in Taylor County, GA.  They lived in a log house near Crossroads School in Taylor County, where they had a farm.  Benjamin Franklin Kirksey  died of paralysis May 21, 1934, and Sarah Rebecca Davis  died August 15, 1932.  They are both buried at Mount Pisgah Church Cemetery in Taylor County, Georgia.   

Children of Benjamin Franklin Kirksey and Sarah Rebecca Davis were:

  • Rufus Carlton Kirksey  (Feb 10, 1885 – June 2, 1969, married Ida Mae Theus )
  • William Clifton “Cliff” Kirksey  (married Ethyl Roberts “Effie” Byrd of Butler, Georgia )
  • Minnie Kirksey  (married Charles Denard McInvale )
  • Lester Kirksey  (married Beatrice Taunton )
  • Howard Kirksey  (married Ethel Joiner )
  • Ayls Berry Kirksey
  • Anna Belle Kirksey  (married Lou Harmon )
  • B. F. “Benjie” Kirksey  (Feb. 24, 1900 – July 15, 1974, married Gertrude Cox )

Another child may have been David Kirksey .

Of the children of of Benjamin Franklin Kirksey and Sarah Rebecca Davis, Rufus Carlton Kirksey  is buried at Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church.  Cliff Kirksey  died May 15, 1928, and is buried at Crowell.  Minnie Kirksey  is buried at Mount Olive.  The remaining children are all buried

at Mount Pisgah Church Cemetery in Taylor County, GA.

A Suit of Clothes in Exchange for a Name

Ayls Berry (Elzie) Kirksey  was born October 6, 1890, in Butler, Georgia.  When he was born, Mr. Elzie Shehee , a neighbor, came to see the new baby and told his parents, “If you’ll call that baby Elzie, I’ll buy him a suit of clothes when he gets grown.”  Mr. and Mrs. Kirksey nicknamed the baby Elzie, but in his old age, “Elzie” Kirksey could not remember whether or not he got the suit of clothes.

Ayls Berry Kirksey was a farmer.  He married Lizzie Savannah Peterman (See Chapter 23) on July 28, 1914 in Butler, GA.  Ayls Berry and Lizzie Kirksey  moved from Taylor County to DoolyCounty about 1922.   Ayls Berry Kirksey  died in Fort Valley, Georgia, December 31, 1966.  He is buried at Mount Pisgah Church Cemetery near Butler, GA.  Lizzie Savannah Peterman died October 24, 1971, near Marshallville, Georgia.  

Ayls Berry Kirksey and Lizzie Savannah Peterman

Children of Ayls Berry Kirksey and Lizzie Savannah Peterman were:

  • Louise Kirksey
  • William Franklin Kirksey
  • Mary Alice Kirksey .

William Franklin Kirksey, son of Ayls Berry Kirksey and Lizzie Savannah Peterman,  was born January 8, 1920.  In Taylor county, Georgia, on October 27, 1940, he married Martha Genelle Baggett , born July 4, 1922, died 1993.  William Franklin Kirksey died May 2, 2003 in DeFuniak Springs, Florida.  Even though they had divorced, William Franklin Kirksey and Martha Genelle Baggett are both buried in Saraland, Alabama.  They had three sons, all born in Dooly County, Georgia:
  • Thomas Berry Kirksey  (born August 27, 1941)
  • William Franklin Kirksey  (born March 31, 1945)
  • Larry Warren Kirksey  (born August 26, 1947).

Thomas Berry Kirksey, son of William Franklin Kirksey and Marth Genelle Baggett,  married 1st Sally Johnson , and they had two sons, Barry  and Johnny .  Thomas Berry Kirksey  and his third wife have a daughter, Sara .

William Franklin Kirksey , son of William Franklin Kirksey  and Martha Genelle Baggett , had two sons by his first wife, William  and Kelly , and one daughter, Heather , by his second wife, Barbara .

Larry Warren Kirksey ’s wife is named Cheryl , and they have three children:
  • Michelle Kirksey
  • Mark Kirksey
  • Matthew Kirksey . 

Michelle Kirksey, daughter of Larry Warren Kirksey and his wife Cheryl,  married Gene Wallace , and they have a son, Joshua Wallace , and a daughter, Bailee Wallace .

Forty-Eight Bombing Missions

Mary Alice Kirksey, daughter of Ayls Berry Kirksey and Lizzie Savannah Peterman,  was born in Dooly County, GA, July 29, 1928. On November 7, 1948, she married James Edward Taylor , born in Macon County, Georgia, July 17, 1922.  During World War II, James Edward Taylor  volunteered for the Army Air Corps in August, 1942.  After gunnery training, James Edward Taylor  flew forty-eight bombing missions in B-24’s over Germany and German-occupied territory.  He was discharged from the army October 17, 1945. 

James Edward Taylor and Mary Alice Kirksey  had three children, all born in Montezuma, Georgia:

Mary Anne Taylor  (born April 9, 1953)

James Edward “Jim” Taylor , Jr.(born August 12, 1955)

Thomas Daniel Taylor  (born July 9, 1967).

On June 23, 1973, Mary Anne Taylor, daughter of James Edward Taylor and Mary Alice Kirksey ,  married Dennis Lynn Jones , born October 12, 1948.  Their children are Amy Lynn Jones , born September 21, 1979, and Leigh Ann Jones , born June 21, 1982, both born in a hospital in Americus, Sumter County, Georgia.

In Truman, Arkansas, on June 25, 1983, James Edward “Jim” Taylor , Jr., married Valerie Michelle Wright , born June 2, 1959.  Their children are:
  • James Edward Taylor  III, born May 5, 1987 in Blytheville, Arkansas
  • Marissa Evon Taylor , born April 26, 1991, in Blytheville, Arkansas
  • Erin Nicole Taylor , born March 7, 1977, whom James Edward Taylor , Jr., adopted on April 7, 1986.  Her name at birth was Erin Nicole Wright.

Born in a Log House

Louise Kirksey, daughter of Ayls Berry Kirksey and Lizzie Savannah Peterman,  was born in Taylor County, GA, June 1, 1915, in the log house mentioned earlier, and moved to Dooling, Georgia, with her parents when she was six years old.  She graduated from Byromville (GA) High School in 1933.  She married Carl Eugene Johnson  (See Chapter 17) October 23, 1938 in Byromville, Georgia.  In 1953, Louise Kirksey and Carl Eugene Johnson moved to Fort Valley, Georgia, where he was engaged in the propane gas business and she became head of the sample department at a local bedspread factory.  Louise was an expert seamstress, and supplemented the family income making dresses.  She made many of their daughter’s clothes, including her wedding dress. 

Louise Kirksey became active in the Eastern Star (part of the Masons) in Fort Valley, and she suffered a severe stroke while serving as Worthy Matron, presiding at an Eastern Star meeting in Roberta, Georgia.  She remained in a coma for about a month, but finally came out of the coma and was only partially paralyzed afterward.  In 1985, Louise and Carl moved to Greensboro, NC, to be near their daughter, Vivien Elizabeth Johnson.  She died of another stroke on March 6, 1993, in Greensboro, NC, and was buried in Section F, Oak Lawn Cemetery, Fort Valley, GA.

References: 27, 49, 50, 52, 122, 133, 180, 186, 202, 225, 280

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