Agnew

The first John Agnew is believed to have come from County Antrim in Ireland with his wife Elizabeth, and three children; two of whom were George (b. c. 1762) and John (b. c. 1764).  He arrived in South Carolina onboard the "Lord Dunluce" 20 December 1772, and on 6 January 1773 petitioned for land in Craven County on the south fork of the Wateree Creek.  The land was surveyed 24 February 1773 and he was granted 300 acres based on his family size (5 people).

George served in the Revolutionary War, enlisting at the age of 16 from Chester Co., SC — Camden District.  He served in the Light Horse Calvary for 2 years and 7 months.  Even so, it later took three applications before he began receiving a pension of $25.00 a month. Leaving South Carolina after 1790, he moved to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama before finally settling in Lauderdale County, Mississippi where his descendants were born and lived.

The younger John is supposed to have been a veteran of the War of 1812, and came to Georgia from South Carolina sometime after that war. He is shown on the 1820 census with his wife Mary (Polly) and several children, living in Walton County, Georgia. Agnew family history states that John (near 1830) returned to Ireland to visit relatives, and died on the return voyage to Georgia. Another reference states he died in South Carolina in 1830. At the time of the 1830 census Polly is shown living with the children in Gwinnet County. Based on John’s military service, Polly and the children were eligible to receive land in the Cherokee Land Lottery of 1832, for which they applied. The land they received was located in the southern part of what became Walker County in 1833. It is stilled owned by descendants of John Agnew.  John and Mary (Polly) were parents of the following known children:

Samuel Agnew, b. c. 1807, d. after 1880, m. Mary Shields

James Agnew, b. c. 1818, d. c. 1884, m. Sarah Lumpkin

Ruth Agnew, b. c. 1824

Benjamin Agnew, b. c. 1826, d. late in 1871, m. Mary Elizabeth McElhannon, daughter of Jonah Isaiah and Eleanor (Shields) McElhannon.

William Agnew, b. c. 1827

Isabella Agnew, b. c. 1828, m. William Maddux

Liza Agnew, b. c. 1829

The long gaps in birth dates (1807 - 1818, and 1818 - 1824) of the children are unexplained. Possibly, there were other children who did not reach maturity. The land they lived on belonged to all of the children, but after his mother’s death (1865) James acquired the property (possibly buying his siblings interests in the property). James’s descendants are the Agnews who still own the property. This may have been what prompted Benjamin and family (and his in-laws the McElhannons) to leave Georgia and move to Arkansas in 1869.

Walker County is in the northwest corner of Georgia where many Cherokee villages were located, and near the Cherokee Nation's former capital at New Echota.

The 1850 Georgia census for Chatooga (or Chattooga) district, Walker County, lists:

Benjamin Agnew, farmer, age 24, born Ga c. 1826

Elizabeth age 21, born Ga c. 1828

John Mc. age 2, born Ga c. 1848

(and Benjamin's older brother in the same household) 

Samuel Agnew, farmer age 44, born Ga c. 1806

Mary age 43, born Ga c. 1807

The following children were born (all in Duck Creek, Walker Co., Ga. except Florence) to Benjamin and Elizabeth:

1.    John McElhannon Agnew, born 1 Dec 1848, d. 6 Aug 1904 Logan Co., AR, m. Mary Long in Georgia and had one daughter. After moving to Arkansas, married Mary E. Florence Inman, and had two daughters.

Eliza Lou Agnew, b. 4 Nov 1871, d. 9 Feb 1959, m. James T. Wilmoth

daughter

daughter

2.    James Madison Agnew, born 30 Aug 1850, died 1931. James married Alice J. Stevens at age 48, and was the father of two sons and a daughter.

Mary Elizabeth Agnew b. 27 Jul 1902, d. 4 June 1971

James Russell Agnew b. 23 Sep 1905, d. 21 May 1954, m. Emily A. Mullins

Normal N. Agnew b. 27 Jul 1910, d. c. 1944 in France

3.    Margaret L. Agnew, born 1852, d. 1919, m. William J. Rogers 29 Aug 1878, Logan Co, Arkansas, and had five children.

William B. Rogers, b. 29 Apr 1881 d. 23 Jun 1960, m. Anne J. Colburn

Voisie E. Rogers, b. 30 Nov 1882, d. 30 Dec 1932, m. James M. Friar

June Berry Rogers, b. 12 Feb 1886, d. 28 Oct 1959, m. Myrtle D. Brown

Ethel Rogers, b. c. 1888, m. Vernon Ray

Jettie Rogers, b. c. 1890, m. William M. Davis

4.    Mary J. Agnew, born 1855, m. Joshua Martin and died later in childbirth with their first child. Joshua then married her sister Nancy (Nan).

5.    Martha A.E. Agnew, born c. 1857, died c. 1860-69

6.    Isah(?) V. Agnew, born c. 1859, died c. 1860-69

7.    Nancy I. Agnew, b. 9 Jun 1861, d. 22 Oct 1906, m. Joshua Martin 9 Mar 1879, Logan Co, Arkansas, and was the mother of six children.

Jettie E. Martin, b. 19 Feb 1883, d. 11 Dec 1961, m. James F. Butler

Homer E. Martin, b. 22 Sep 1887, d. 6 May 1970, m. Irma Lou Askins

Junie Martin, b. 19 Apr 1890, d. 28 Jun 1908, never married

Jessie B. Martin, b. 19 Apr 1890, d. 26 Sep 1971, m. William J. Butler

Lottie Martin, b. 7 Jul 1891, d. 14 Oct 1918, killed in military service

Myrtle L. Martin, 25 Nov 1898, d. 4 Dec 1987, m. John F. Butler

8.    Hugh Samuel Agnew, born 18 Sep 1863, d. 12 Apr 1912 in Logan Co., AR, m. Lena Belle Hoskins 5 Dec 1887, and was the father of ten children, three of whom lived to reach adulthood, and three (not listed) who died in infancy.

Emma E. Agnew, b. 2 Apr 1889, d. 29 Jul 1902

Nancy E. Agnew, b. 10 Apr 1890, d. 16 Oct 1978, m. Eugene Poindexter

Johnnie B. Agnew, b. 6 Oct 1891, d. 19 Sep 1903, killed by a mule.

William H. Agnew, b. 7 Mar 1893, d. 22 Dec 1965, m. Mary L. Smith

Oscy Mae Agnew, b. 2 Nov 1894, d. 22 June 1897

James Mack Agnew, b. 10 Mar 1898, d. 19 Jan 1901

Hugh Samuel Agnew Jr., 2 Apr 1905, d. 1 Oct 1959, m. Lavada E. Gattis

9.    Sarah Emma Agnew, born c. 1864, m. William J. Carter 16 Feb 1882, Logan Co, Arkansas (see Carter line) d. 1886 due to complications of childbirth, with her third, stillborn child.

Myrtle Elizabeth Carter, b. 3 Dec 1882 d. 13 Oct 1967, m. Forrest P. Pilgreen

Emma Ocie Carter, b. 19 Dec 1884, d. 9 Nov 1975, m. William E. Lloyd

10.    Laura Mrytle Agnew, born 19 Jan 1868, d. 20 Jun 1948, m. Gluce C. Baldwin and had four children, one of whom died in infancy.

James Baldwin, b. c. 1892, d. 1974, m. Juanita Askins

Herbert Baldwin, b. 1 Jan 1894, d. 25 Oct 1918

Lydia Baldwin, b. c. 1896 m. Howard Rose

11.    Florence Tulula (Lou) Agnew, b. 18 September 1871, d. 25 Jan 1962, m. Andrew P. Shamblin. No children.

As a general statement, most of the Agnews are buried in McKendree Cemetery near Subiaco, Arkansas.  Benjamin is supposed to be buried at Patterson’s Bluff, near there, and Elizabeth is supposed to be buried at or near Roseville.  Logan County cemeteries can be found on the internet, but a search for these two was unproductive.

Almost all of my information of the Agnews comes from Kenneth Agnew, a descendant of Hugh Samuel, Sarah Emma’s brother.

Emma's brother James M. is listed in Goodspeed's "Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Western Arkansas" written about 1894. The article is quoted in its entirety, since it gives information of all of the Agnew family.  "J.M. Agnew, merchant and postmaster at Roseville, is a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Agnew, of Walker County, Ga. The parents emigrated to this State in the fall of 1869, and here the father died in the summer of 1871, when our subject was twenty-one years of age. The latter was reared to the arduous duties of the farm, and on account of the breaking out of the war he received a rather limited education. After the death of his father he remained with his mother, working the farm, until twenty-eight years of age, and then bought and located upon a tract of land which he cultivated for two years. He then moved to Roseville and embarked in the grocery business which he still continues. In 1888 he was appointed postmaster at this place and has since discharged the duties of that office in a creditable and satisfactory manner. Mr. Agnew was born on August 30, 1850, and has been in public life for several years. He has gained for himself a reputation as a solid and reliable tradesman, and one whose energy and enterprise must of necessity materially develop this enterprise. His mother still lives in Clark Township, this county, and although sixty years of age she is strong and hearty. She is the mother of eleven children, eight of whom grew to maturity, and she now resides with her youngest son on the homestead. Mr. Agnew is a member of the A.F. & A.M. lodge at Roseville, and he is also a member of the K. of P. of this place. He has remained single. He is a hard worker, is honest and upright in his dealings with the public, and gets a good share of the trade."

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