OREAR-L Archives

From: Donna Sarchet <>
Subject: [OREAR-L] Martin O'Rear
Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 01:58:33 -0800

Luisa,
In response to your earlier message----

> Donna:
> In the information you sent me regarding Martin O'Rear, it shows him
> as being born in 1793 in N.C.
> In searching my notes I found the following information which
> differs with yours. Maybe someone can clarify this descrepency. In
> addition to this information, there is also some other O'Rears
> mentioned, for example Martin's brothers, and his son Elijah and his
> children.
>
> (From the book titled: History of Walker County/Early Settlers pgs. 298
> and 299)
> O'REAR, MARTIN, a descendant of William O'Rear, an Irish immigrant,
> who settled in the Carolinas during Colonial times, was born in
> Tennessee; moved to northern Alabama and finally settled in Walker
> County before 1840. He acquired extensive farming interests and served
> for two years as tax assessor. He died in Jasper in 1864. He was
> married to a Miss Alexander, of Tennessee, who died in Jasper in 1876.
> Children - William J., Daniel, Elijah, Jefferson, Samuel, Anderson,
> Joseph, Jeremiah, and William B.
> (Walker County
> Tract Record.
> Moore's
> Alabama, Vol. II page 481)
>
> As you see, it shows him born in Tenn, instead of NC, and being a
> descendant of William O'Rear.
> If anyone can clear this up, let me know.
>
> Thanks,
> Luisa Oswalt

*************************************

Regarding the Orear sketch in the Walker Co., AL book you referred to
above, the information there is incorrect about William O'Rear being
Martin O'Rear's father and also about Martin O'Rear being born in NC.

Here's the "rest of the story"-----

All the GA/AL/TN early O'Rears/Orears descend from John Orear who was
married to Sarah (she signed a release of dower on a deed in GA).
Presumably Sarah is the mother of John's children, although this has not
been proven. This John O'Rear had several sons who, for the most part,
accompanied him to GA. (John Orear first appears in GA in 1789 in a
Wilkes Co, GA tax record.) A presumed son, Peter O'Rear, apparently died
in NC, and known son Daniel joined John later in GA. The other children
of John appear to be young children at the time of the move to GA, and a
couple of them appear to have been b. in GA.

John Orear's oldest known son was Daniel Orear, who, fortunately for us,
left a wonderfully detailed Rev. War pension application where he
mentioned moving to GA with his father's family. He specifically named
his father as John Orear. Further, in this pension application, Daniel
stated he was born in either 1758 or 1759; he was not certain as to the
exact date in that the family record that had been kept by the family
was destroyed during the Rev. War by Tories. [Not to be confused with
his first cousin, Daniel Orear, who also was a Rev. War vet from the
same county in VA and who also filed for a pension--complete with his
father's Bible pages showing exact birthdates, bless him!]

Although Daniel Orear stated he moved to GA with his father's family, it
appears that he joined his father and siblings some 11 years later.
Daniel Orear appears in the 1800 Ashe Co., NC census (Ashe Co., in far
western NC was formed from Wilkes Co., NC in 1799). John Orear, Daniel's
father, appears in the 1786 Wilkes Co., NC tax list (near a Gouch
family, whom I suspect to be Susan Gooch's relatives--possibly her
father). Daniel moved to GA shortly after the 1800 census as he starts
appearing in GA tax lists in Hancock Co. right after this.

Daniel Orear and his wife Susan Gooch apparently did not have a Bible,
but a grandson of theirs (descended from their son John O'Rear) wrote an
early 1900s memoir when he (the grandson) was in his 80s. He personally
remembered his O'Rear grandparents. Much of what we know about the
O'Rear relationships early on comes from this memoir (in fact, it's
where we get Susan Gooch's maiden name). Most of Daniel's children were
named (including Martin O'Rear), but we have had two daughters (Frances
O'Rear Shockley and Mary O'Rear Brantley) surface in recent
years--neither of whom are named in the memoir. (The information given
in the memoir was much more definitive regarding the O'Rear sons.)

Back to the William O'Rear who is listed in the Walker Co., AL history
as being Martin's father. Since there were few family records kept by
the GA/AL Orears, for years (prior to knowledge of the memoir above
referenced), genealogists had to (and still do) "piece together" these
families. O'Rear is an uncommon name, and it hasn't been too difficult
(for the most part) to group together immediate families by locale.
[Wanda Sawtelle's group is an exception here!]

For years, Kelly and O'Rear researchers were under the impression that
William O'Rear (b. 1777; m. Easter Kelley) of Franklin Co., TN (just
across the AL border) was the father of Martin O'Rear. This appears to
have been surmised because Martin O'Rear as a young adult lived in
Franklin Co., TN before moving to AL. The only older O'Rear who was
"ensconced" in Franklin Co., TN was William O'Rear (m. Easter Kelley),
who was a leading citizen there (and former sheriff). This William
O'Rear was assumed to be a son of Daniel Orear (m. Susan Gooch), who was
b. in 1758/1759. Daniel had applied for his Rev. War pension while he
was a citizen of Franklin Co., TN. Again, the theory was since Daniel
was some 20 years older than William (who could biologically be Martin's
father) and these three men all lived in Franklin Co., TN at one time,
surely they were related--gf, father, and son. Wrong. They were
actually brothers and son/nephew.

Then, another William O'Rear popped up in GA--this man married Margaret
Brown McCollum (who, by the way, had the maiden name of McCollum; Brown
was a middle name--contrary to what appears in Ed O'Rear's book; I found
this couple's marriage notice in a GA newspaper). He was associated
with and lived in the neighborhood of Daniel O'Rear's offspring. Daniel
appeared to be the only logical candidate for this William's
father--however, Daniel wouldn't have *two* sons named William.
(Actually, Daniel was the father of the William who m. Margaret Brown
McCollum and the brother of the TN William O'Rear.)

Second, last year several of us were examining O'Rears in GA tax
records. I was looking at microfilmed copies of the early 1800s Greene
Co., GA tax records when I came across the following: John Orear paying
taxes "for son William Orear." They were in a neighborhood surrounded
by Kelleys and Sims (families that Easter (Kelley) O'Rear was from), and
William Orear later (1812) appeared with these same Greene Co., GA
families in Franklin Co., TN tax records. This William O'Rear thus was
proven to be the son of John, and thus the much-younger brother (by some
20 years) of Daniel Orear.

The descendants of William O'Rear and wife Easter(Esther) Kelley O'Rear
of Franklin Co., TN are well documented. I've heard there is a family
Bible. Also, they were quite well-to-do and literate--and left very
good records. (This O'Rear family is definitely an exception to the
rule for our other deep South O'Rears!--as far as family record
keeping). A descendant of this William and Easter Kelley O'Rear, Marvin
Kelley O'Rear of Chattanooga, TN, for years helped organize a national
O'Rear family reunion. (I was fortunate to be able to attend one of
these in 1988; this was the year that the DAR dedicated a grave marker
on the grave of Daniel Orear in the Macedonia Baptist Church Cemetery
near Summerville, Chattooga Co., GA. They took a busload of O'Rear
descendants who attended the Chattanooga reunion over to the cemetery.)

Digressing a moment back to Martin O'Rear's birth state, he would have
been born in NC as his father Daniel resided there up through the 1800
federal census. Martin was born in the 1790s. Although TN was early on
part of NC (at which time TN was known as "the western country", the
O'Rears did not live there prior to TN's statehood. They were in
Wilkes/Ashe County, NC in far western NC (near where the evangelist
Billy Graham lives in Asheville, NC and where the latest version of the
movie "The Last of the Mohicans" with Daniel Day Lewis was filmed). [I
thought about our O'Rears every time I saw the background shots in that
movie.]

Many researchers on our list descend from Martin (I descend from his
brother, Robert, who primarily remained in TN).

Betty Thompson (a descendant of Martin via his son Jeremiah O'Rear),
lists the following children for Martin:

1) Jeremiah O'Rear, b. 9 Oct 1818, Bledsoe Co., TN, d. Dec 1890/Jan
1891, Walker Co., AL [Note from DS: Daniel Orear mentions in his pension
app. about residing briefly in Bledsoe Co., TN.]
--m. Catherine Cole 11 Aug 1835 in Morgan Co., AL

2) Margaret ("Peggy") O'Rear
3) Patsy[Martha?] O'Rear
4) Levicy O'Rear
5) Daniel O'Rear, b. 1822
6) Eliza O'Rear, b. 1825 , AL
7) Sarah O';Rear b. 1826, TN
8) Frances O'Rear, b. 1827, TN , D. 1 Sept 1894, Walker Co., AL
9) Elijah O'Rear, b. 25 May 1829, TN, d. 26 Sep 1907, Jasper, Walker
Co., AL; m. Sarah Melissa Feltman
10) Samuel O'Rear, b. 1830 TN
11) Ana O'Rear, b. 1833, AL
12) Lucinda O'Rear, b. 24 Feb 1834, Walker Co., AL, d. 7 Jan 1913,
Bokoshe, OK; m. James W. Mooney
13) Caroline O'Rear, b. 1835 AL
14) Anderson ("Boss") O'Rear, b. Jun 1838, Walker Co., AL, d. 12 Aug
1907 Carbon Hill, AL, m. Mary L. Williams.
15) Mary O'Rear, b. 1839, AL.

Of these children above, Betty's book traces the lines of brothers
Jeremiah, Elijah, and Anderson O'Rear.

Something else I thought you might be interested in, here's a copy of a
post Willie Barton (her husband descends from Martin's son, Elijah
O'Rear) made to the list last year:

<quote>
Martin O'Rear born: 1795 North Carolina
married:to Lutitia Alexander in 1817 died:
1864 Walker Co. Al.
buried: according to legend Martin is buried at Prospect
Cem. but there is no marker.
Lutitia Alexander born: 1800 Tenn.
parents: Jeremiah Alexander & Susan
?
CHILDREN:
1. Daniel O'Rear born: 1822 married: Mary or Mahala ?

2. Eliza O'Rear born: ca. 1825 married: Pat Lawson

3. Samuel O'Rear born: 1827 married: Martha ?

5. Sarah 'Sallie" O'Rear born: 15 Feb. 1828 married: Andrew
Jackson Nelson died: 2 March 1900

6. Elijah O'Rear born: 25 May 1829 Tenn. married: Sarah Melissa
Feltman died: 26 Sept. 1907

7. Lucinda O'Rear born: ca. 1831 married: Jim Mooney

8. Frankie O'Rear (female) born: 1833 married: Green Inman

9. Caroline O'Rear born: ca. 1835 married: John Lester Manasco

10. Anderson "Boss" O'Rear born: ca. 1837 married: Mary L.
Williams

11. Mary O'Rear born: ca. 1839 married: Jim Feltman

the above info was taken from sources: "Sketches of O'Rear Family" by Ed
O'Rear - interview with Tessie Guthrie

NOTES ON MARTIN O'REAR

Came to Walker County in early 1800s and aquired extensive farming
interests.
Was tax assessor and collector of Walker County, Al. for 2 years around
1859.
Martin had an O'Rear Mill which was a large sawmill and planing mill.
Died during the Civil War at Snoddy's Place. (legend passed down from
various sources)

Martin Orear entered land in Morgan County, Al. S32 T10 R6W.
date 11/2/1836 (Old Huntsville Land Office Records)

Martin O'Rear
1 male under 5, 1 male 5-10, 1 male 10-15, 1 male under 20,
1 male 20-30 years of age.
2 females under 5, 2 females 5-10, 2 females 10-20, 1 female 20-50 years
of age. (1840 Walker Co. Al. Census )

Pleasant Grove Church, in Beat 8, was organized on July 14, 1845, by
Rev. David W. Andrews and Rev. Flemming Howell. Martin O'Rear was
elected as its first clerk. There were seventeen charter members which
included Martin and his wife, Lutitia.

Martin is buried at New Prospect Cemetery in an unmarked grave on the
back left side of the cemetery. (Dr. Ed. O'Rear)
[Note from DS: This Dr. Ed O'Rear is Dr. Edgar O'Rear, now deceased, of
Jasper, AL; not to be confused with Ed O'Rear II (Edward C. O'Rear II)
of KY. Both were genealogists of the O'Rear family.]

Willie
<end of quote>
**************************

Also, Luisa, if you are interested in seeing what has been posted on
Martin O'Rear to our list, you may want to visit the list archives. To
get there, go to http://www.rootsweb.com and then select "mail lists."
It's a link on the left-hand side of the Rootsweb page.

When you get to the mail lists page, click on the link "Interactive
Search." You then type in "Orear" (without the quotes) since that is
how our list named appears and then you are given the option to type in
key words for a search (such as Martin).

The direct link to the search page is
http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl

Feel free to ask questions, make observations etc.--Martin and his
descendants (some of whom continue to reveal their identities from time
to time) are a popular topic on the list.

Glad to have you aboard!

Donna Sarchet

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• [OREAR-L] Martin O'Rear by Donna Sarchet <>