Hi, this is my first post here but I am looking for someone who may have
some information regarding a George Washington Carpenter who was born in
1865 in North Carolina (we think it was most likely Surry County.)
His mother was a Martha Jane Killen, whose parents were a John and Nancy
Killen. She had two sons: Henry (born 1864) and George (1865). After this
she married a Phillip Carpenter (b. 27Aug1823) on 3Apr1873 in Surry Co.,
NC. Phillip and Martha had 4 children: A. Marion Carpenter (b 22 Oct 1874
d. 23 Dec 1964 in Ashe Co.); Mary Jane Carpenter (b 05 Aug 1876 d. 30 Dec
1967 Sullivan Co. TN); Rhude B. Carpenter (12 Aug 1880, moved to VA sometime
after 2nd marriage); James Floyd Carpenter (b. 13 Oct 1882 d. 23 May 1977)
Phillip died on 13 Apr 1918 and Martha died 11 Oct 1930, they are both
buried in Lansing NC.
*This is what I am trying to find out:*
1. The name of George and Henry's father. This is the point in my family
tree where I hit a dead end. We think it is possible that Martha Jane may
have had these two sons out of wedlock and they took on her husband's name,
as was common practice at the time. This is only a theory though. My
grandmother seems to remember hearing from my grandfather (George's son)
that his father's surname was gentry, but this is also not proven. I don't
know about the out of wedlock theory though, back in those days I find it
hard to believe that she would have had a chance to have two children out of
wedlock. Perhaps the father went off to the Army or something? Just a
thought.
2. If the father was a Gentry, I can find no Killens that lived in Surry
Co. at the time of the 1850 census. I did find several Gentrys that would
have been old enough to have children in 1864-65. However, there were no
Killens at all in Surry Co. in 1850. I don't have access to the 1860
census.
Well thats all I have about this branch of the family tree. Any help anyone
could provide would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!
Don Carpenter