John Bennett, oldest son of William and Mary (Sheffield) Bennett, was born in 1795 in Effingham County, the family being cut off into Bulloch County a few months after by the creation of that county. He grew up in Bulloch County, and was married there 21 Apr 1813, to Frances (Fannie) Harris, born 1800 in North Carolina. She was the daughter of John and Charity (Stokley) Harris, and a sister of Thompson and Hampton Harris, both from North Carolina, and early settlers of Appling County. She was born about 1800 in North Carolina and died 10 Sep 1904 in Manor, Georgia. The Harris family first resided in Bryan County after moving to Georgia from North Carolina.
The children of John and Frances Bennett were:
- Mary Ann “Polly” Bennett, born 1815, married Daniel Corbitt, son of John and Penelope (Sexton) Corbitt. Mary died 27 May 1887. She and her husband are alledged to have been buried in Camp Branch Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in Manor, Georgia. Children.
- Richard Bennett, born 2 Jul 1816 in Bulloch County, married Mary McDonald, daughter of Randall and Catherine (Miller) McDonald. She was born in Tattnall County on 27 Oct 1818, and died 20 Nov 1897. He died 27 Mar 1896 and both are buried at Axson Evangelist Church Cemetery in Axson, Georgia. Children.
- Frances Bennett, born 1818, married 1 Jan 1835, Daniel Hopps, son of Richard and Margaret (Gibson) Hopps. He was born in Wayne County, 31 Oct 1814. She died 27 Jul 1892 and is buried at the Daniel Hopps Cemetery in Screven, Georgia, with her husband.
- William Bennett, born 1820, married Martha Harris, his first cousin, daughter of Hampton and Nancy (Cannady) Harris. He died in Jan 1890 and is alledged to be buried at the Axson Evangelist Church Cemetery in Axson, Georgia. No gravestone remains.
After marriage, John Bennett with his family removed to Lowndes County, about 1826, and located in that portion now in Brooks County.
John Bennett was living in Lowndes County in October, 1828, when he joined with the other heirs of his father in executing two deeds to estate lands in Bulloch County to David Strickland.
John died in 1836 at the age of about forty years while residing in Lowndes County. His widow later married Asa Geiger, a cousin of her first husband, and a near-neighbor. Geiger’s first wife, Nancy Bennett, had died about 1838. About 1841, Asa Geiger and family moved to Ware County where he bought a farm in the present Manor district and he and his wife died there, she on 10 Sep 1904. They were members of Providence Church near Manor and are buried at the Camp Branch Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery.
SAR Application of Isham Bennett
In 1950, Isham C. Bennett, great-grandson of John and Frances Bennett through his father Hampton, applied for membership in the Sons of the American Revolution. Because official documentation on the family was limited, Isham enlisted the help of Folks Huxford, who provided a sworn statement based on his genealogical research.
This testimony is significant in identifying the source of the information later published in Volume 1 of Huxford’s Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia. In his affidavit, Huxford stated that in 1942 he visited Mrs. Mary Bennett White of Atkinson County, Georgia. She was the last surviving grandchild of John and Frances Bennett. Born on February 17, 1855, she died on June 8, 1943, just a few months after Huxford’s visit. Mary was the daughter of Richard and Mary McDonald Bennett. Her father, Richard, was the brother of William Bennett, who married Martha Harris.
Mrs. White provided a list of William and Martha’s children, which included Hampton Bennett, the father of Isham. Huxford later verified this information with Harley C. Bennett, a son of Hampton, and someone Huxford knew personally.
It’s important to note that Mrs. White never met her grandather John, as he died before she was born, but she did know her grandmother, Fannie (Harris) (Bennett) Geiger.
Conflict Resolution
Some researchers have added additional children to the ones found in the first volume of Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia. Indeed, there is ample room for there to be additional children born after William in 1820. I haven’t added them above to the list, though, as I either cannot find the linchpin connecting the individuals to John and Frances, or I cannot find any further information at all.
- Hampton Bennett. In volume 2 of Pioneers of Wiregrass, Georgia, page 297, a subscriber submitted another son to the family of John and Frances, Hampton Bennett, who they reported moved to Florida before 1850 and became a Primitive Baptist minister. I am unable to find a record of this individual. The individual details for this individual at FamilySearch have included a birth of about 1822, and that is it, with no sources. William Bennett, born about 1820, son of John and Frances had a son named Hampton Bennett.
- William Asbury Bennett. This individual has many descendants who claim he is a son of John and Frances Bennett. They say William was born about 1825 in Georgia, and died 10 Mar 1865 in Nashville, Georgia. He married Elizabeth Strickland sometime before their first child, Jeremiah, was born in 1846. He was buried at the Bennett Cemetery in Berrien County, Georgia. In 1828, John Bennett executed two deeds to estate lands in Bulloch County to a David Strickland, but I find no connection between David and Elizabeth, William’s wife, except for their surname. Huxford states in vol. 5 that William was born in South Carolina in 1825 to unnamed parents, and came to Lowndes County as a young married man, and there met and married Elizabeth (presumably as his second wife), a daughter of Stephen D. and Rachel Strickland.
- Robert Bennett. I find this last “child” of John and Frances as highly unlikely, mainly because he settled in Dawson County area of Georgia. His gravestone says he died on 29 Apr 1898 at age 75. That would have him born about 1823, while the census have him born between 1825 and 1830. He married Jane Vaughters in Lumpkin County, Georgia on 5 Jan 1847. They are both buried in the Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery in Dawsonville, Georgia. FamilySearch researchers, however, has attached him as a child of John and Frances, with no proof. Children.
Polly Bennett
“Polly” Bennett, born in 1815 the daughter of John and Frances Bennett has been identified as the wife of Daniel Corbitt. It is important for researchers to not confuse her with the “Polly” of John Bennett (1778-1850) who resided in the same counties as John and Frances, at about the same times.
Name of John Bennett
Researchers at both, FamilySearch and Ancestry, have attached the name of William to John as either William John or John William. There is no evidence of John having the name of William in any extant record, except if you inclued the census records below as a possible reason for the name William being attached to this individual.
Census Records
Only two Bennetts appear in the 1820 census for Bulloch County, Georgia: James and John. However, this presents a problem. Historical records suggest there were two distinct families headed by men named John Bennett who should have been living in Bulloch County at that time. Yet neither of these families seems to match the census record for the John Bennett enumerated in 1820. The James Bennett enumerated is over the age of 45 and probably the uncle of John. This James had a son named John, born about 1798 that better fits the 1820 census listing for John.
Both John Bennett families are reported to have relocated to Lowndes County prior to the 1830 census. However, I can clearly identify only one of them in the 1830 Lowndes County census—John Bennett (1778–1850). The second listing is neither the right age, and his household includes no sons and only two daughters under the age of ten, which does not align with what is known of the family of John and Frances Bennett. The 1830 tax records for Lowndes County also confirm that there were only two families, led by a man with the name of John Bennett, residing there.
What stands out instead is an individual named William Bennett, enumerated in Appling County in both the 1820 and 1830 censuses. This is where John’s father, William had once resided. This William and his wife are of the appropriate age, and in both years, the ages and genders of the children in their household match those of John and Frances Bennett’s known children. This raises the question: was the absence of a John Bennett in the expected location due to a census error, a second name, or perhaps William was mistakenly recorded twice as head of household when it was actually John?
Folks Huxford errs in attaching the Lowdes 1830 census to this John Bennett. That census entry belongs to John Bennett, son of James. If those two census listings for William Bennett in Appling are actually the John Bennett of Lowndes, then this information strongly controverts Mrs. White’s memories as reflected in Huxford’s certificate in Isham Bennett’s SAR application.
Sources
- Huxford, Folks, Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, vol. 1, p. 15, 306; vol. 2, p. 297; Jacksonville, Florida : Cooper Press, 1951-1967.
- “United States, Census, 1820”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLW-MDK : Thu Mar 07 13:05:17 UTC 2024), Entry for John Bennett, 1820. Likely, this is not the census record for John and Frances as the John is too old and better fits John Bennett, 1778-1850.
- “United States, Census, 1820”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLX-NTQ : Tue Jul 09 20:41:38 UTC 2024), Entry for Wm Bennet, 1820. This census listing fits what is known about John, son of James Bennett.
- “United States, Census, 1830”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHGB-ZFQ : Mon Jul 15 05:12:43 UTC 2024), Entry for John Bennett, 1830. This census listing fits what is known about John, son of James Bennett.
- “United States, Census, 1830”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHGB-ZCN : Fri Jan 17 01:28:52 UTC 2025), Entry for John Bennette, 1830. Certainly, this is not the census record for John and Frances as the John is too old and better fits John Bennett, 1778-1850.
- Ancestry.com. U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Original data: Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls. - Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/163519295/frances-geiger: accessed April 2, 2025), memorial page for Frances “Fannie” Harris Geiger (1800–1859), Find a Grave Memorial ID 163519295, citing Manor Community Baptist Church Cemetery, Ware County, Georgia, USA; Maintained by d powell (contributor 48137798).