Husband John R. Lightsey 281
Born: 1859
Christened:
Died: 1936 281
Buried:
Father: David Lightsey
Mother:
Marriage:
Wife Mary Carter
Born: 1863 280
Christened:
Died: 1904 280
Buried:
Father: Martin Turner Carter Senior
Mother: Nancy Deloach
Other Spouse: John Lightsey
Children
1 M Willie Lightsey
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Rebecca McLane
2 F Coot Lightsey
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
3 M Jesse Lightsey
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Callie Vann
Husband John Lightsey
Born: 1839
Christened:
Died: 1856
Buried:
Marriage:
Wife Mary Carter
Born: 1863 280
Christened:
Died: 1904 280
Buried:
Father: Martin Turner Carter Senior
Mother: Nancy Deloach
Other Spouse: John R. Lightsey 281
Children
Husband Samuel E. Swilley
Born: 1793 - Washington County, Georgia 23
Christened:
Died: 1846 - Lowndes Co., GA 23
Buried:
Father: Samuel Swilley 23
Mother:
Marriage: 27 Feb 1817 - Tattnall Co., GA 23
Wife Mary Carter
Born: 1787
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: George Carter 108
Mother:
Children
General Notes: Husband - Samuel E. Swilley
SWILLEY, SAMUEL E. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28725011/andrew_jackson-terrell: accessed December 13, 2025), memorial page for Andrew Jackson Terrell (14 Aug 1832\endash 6 Feb 1916), Find a Grave Memorial ID 28725011, citing Wayfare Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Statenville, Echols County, Georgia, USA; Maintained by HighPlainsMom (contributor 47284866).
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28725449/mary-terrell: accessed December 13, 2025), memorial page for Mary Carter Terrell (19 Nov 1836\endash 27 Dec 1919), Find a Grave Memorial ID 28725449, citing Wayfare Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Statenville, Echols County, Georgia, USA; Maintained by HighPlainsMom (contributor 47284866).
James Davis, born November 3, 1719, was the second son of Thomas Davis (b. Aug. 8, 1693, son of John and Susannah Wyatt (?) Davis, of Stafford), and his wife, Sarah Fielding (b. May 12, 1695, daughter of Edward and Hannah Fielding, of Northumberland county). Since the publication of my Fielding and Davis notes in the Virginia Magazine, Vols. XI. and XII., I have gathered a great deal more data from county, parish, and family records, and other sources, so will include herewith a connected sketch of the Fieldings. In my former notes I omitted one entire generation, and made some incorrect deductions. Mary Elizabeth 4 Carter (Joseph, 3 Thomas, 2 Thomas 1 ), born December 2, 1721, married James Davis, of Events
• Alt. Birth: Abt 1799.
James Corbett Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28679981/daniel_guess-copeland: accessed December 4, 2025), memorial page for Daniel Guess Copeland (18 Feb 1839\endash 20 Mar 1916), Find a Grave Memorial ID 28679981, citing Wayfare Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Statenville, Echols County, Georgia, USA; Maintained by HighPlainsMom (contributor 47284866).
Husband D. G. Copeland has a pension under Lowndes Co, GA. Her pension application is on line under Echols county, GA.
1793-1846
ECHOLS
Samuel E. Swilley, first representative from Appling County (in 1820), was born in 1793 in Washington County (territory later cut into Tattnall County), a son of Samuel Swilley, R. S. He grew up in Tattnall and Liberty Counties and was married in Tattnall County, February 27, 1817 to Mary Carter, daughter of George Carter. She was a sister of Capt. Jesse Carter (Vol. 1). To them were born a large family of children of whom only five lived to be grown and married:
1. Wiley T.
2. Lucy J.
3. Sarah Ann
4. Celia
5. Sherod R.
Mr. Swilley was among the first settlers of Appling County when it was first opened to settlers, and moved there from Tattnall County. He was elected the first representative from the new county in 1820 and served in the 1820 and 1821 sessions. He was then elected State Senator from Appling County and served 1823, 1824, 1825. In 1825 he was elected on the Inferior Court bench of Appling for a four-year term, but resigned in 1827, moved to Lowndes County, and settled on Hammock Lake. He served as Justice of Peace, 662nd district of Lowndes 1830-1833. In the Indian War in 1838, he was a private in Capt. David R. Bryan's company of Lowndes County militia and served other enlistments also.
Mr. Swilley seems to have prospered owning several plantations in addition to his home place plantation which was a very large one. Extant records of Lowndes County show that he owned lots of land 29, 32, 62, 74, 75, 76, 96, 111, 112, and 229 in the 16th district and Lot 316, 10th district, all in Lowndes County, several hundred head of cattle and twenty-seven slaves, and other property. His son-in-law, R. H. Wisenbaker, and son Wiley T. Swilley, applied for administration on his estate January 12, 1847 and were appointed, but the son was taken sick and died within a few days. On March 24, 1847, the son-in-law, Mr. Bevill, applied and was appointed administrator in lieu of the deceased son.
Mr. Swilley and his wife and most of their children were victims of a malignant fever in the fall and winter of 1846, and a fever that the physicians were unable to cope with. For lack of a better name, it was referred to for many years as "the Swilley fever" by residents of this section.
(*) Extract from article "Old Times in Lowndes," written by George W. Prine and republished in The Valdosta Times November 28, 1885: "About 40 or 50 years ago my father, Robert Prine, lived on Hammock Lake in Lowndes County. He and Capt. Samuel E. Swilley owned the lake . . . Capt. Swilley was a jovial, good-natured man, one who delighted in teasing little boys. . . He with most of his family passed off with that malignant disease known as the Swilley fever."
Census References: 1820,Appling; 1830, 1840, Lowndes.
Husband J. B. Simmons
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Marriage:
Wife Mary Ann Carter
Born: 1849
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: John Carter
Mother: Elizabeth Knight 177
Children
Husband Littleberry Walker
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Marriage:
Wife Mary Ann Carter
Born: - St Bartholomews Parrish, Colleton County, South Carolina
Christened:
Died: - Wayne County, Georgia
Buried:
Father: Jacob Carter Sr. 107
Mother: Sarah
Children
1 M James Walker
Born: 3 Feb 1800 - Colleton District, South Carolina 4
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Rebecca Stephens
Marr: 1824 - Colleton District, South Carolina 4
Husband Andrew Jackson Terrell
Born: 14 Aug 1832 4
Christened:
Died: 6 Feb 1916
Buried: - Wayfare Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Statenville, Echols County, Georgia, USA
Father: John Terrell
Mother: Nancy Overstreet
Marriage:
Wife Mary C. Carter 4
Born: 19 Nov 1836
Christened:
Died: 27 Dec 1919
Buried: - Wayfare Baptist Church Cemetery, Echols County, Georgia
Father: Richard Carter
Mother:
Children
General Notes: Husband - Andrew Jackson Terrell
General Notes: Wife - Mary C. Carter
Husband James Davis
Born: 3 Nov 1719
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: Thomas Davis
Mother: Sarah Fielding
Marriage: 25 Dec 1738 111
Wife Mary Elizabeth Carter 111
Born: 2 Dec 1721 273
Christened:
Died: After 1770 274
Buried:
Father: Joseph Carter
Mother: Catherine Stevens
Children
General Notes: Husband - James Davis
James Davis owned a plantation of six hundred acres of land on "Plentiful Run," Spotsylvania county, which he called "Broadfield." In 1740 he built a story and a half brick house with dormer windows and great inside chimneys. (See illustration.) This house was burned in October, 1789, mentioned in a letter written shortly afterward to Thomas Davis by his sister, Polly, but a quaint old pen and ink drawing made in 1788 by James Davis' son, Thomas, who removed to Kentucky in that year, is yet in existence. Among the family traditions is one that the Davis children received most of their education from a tutor kept by a neighbor of the Davis's \emdash a Captain
240 William and Mary Quarterly
Winslow. Thomas, the younger son of James and Mary Davis, taught school after he settled in Kentucky, and his advertisement in the Kentucky Gazette of May 31, 1788, states that he was qualified to teach "Reading, writing and Arithmetic in its various branches, bookkeeping, surveying and Navigation, geography or the use of the globes, etc." Another tradition is that, several years before his death James Davis while riding through the forest in a storm was struck on the head by a limb of a tree, knocked from his horse and dragged for some distance. When found he was paralyzed, and though he later partially recovered the use of his limbs, the accident is said to have hastened his death. He made his will February 16, 1765, probated October 1, 1765, and left to wife the home place and a hundred and thirty acres of land, and all furnishings and stock (she had received three negroes from her father) ; son James 200 acres and the home place after the death of wife; son Benjamin the remainder of his land; son John forty shil-
lings as he had given him a hundred acres of land previously; daughter Elizabeth a bed and furniture and a cow and calf; the rest of his personalty and five negroes amounting to £203 to be shared equally by his four younger children when they came of age \emdash Mary, William, Charles and Thomas.
October 17, 1770, John Davis, of Mecklenburg county, sold to brothers James and Benjamin Davis, of Spotsylvania, his share, by reversion, of four hundred acres of land on Plentiful Run "whereof their father James Davis dec'd died seized & possessed of"; which share was expectant in the death of his mother, Mary Davis, who held a life estate therein.
James and Mary Davis had issue as follows (Bible Records) :
206. John Fielding, born January 1, 1740, removed to
Mecklenburg in 1766.
207. James C.(arterP), born March 5, 1741, died in 1792
in Spotsylvania.
208. Benjamin, born January 10, 1743, died in 1791 in
Spotsylvania.
209. Elizabeth, born February 22, 1745.
210. Snead, born May 16, 1748, died prior to 1765.
William and Mary Quarterly 241
211. William Dale, born August 28, 1750.
212. Mary, born May 24, 1753, died unmarried after 1792.
213. Felix, born April 27, 1755, died prior to 1765.
214. Charles, born October 22, 1758, living in 1794.
215. Thomas W(yat?), born November 30, 1761, died No-
vember 8, 1839, Woodford county, Ky.
Portraits of James and Mary Davis were reproduced in the
July, 1909, Quarterly.
General Notes: Wife - Mary Elizabeth Carter
"Broadfield," Spottsylvania county, December 25, 1738.
Husband James Thomas Corbett Sr 44
Born: 1797 - New Hanover County, NC 44
Christened:
Died: 17 Sep 1886 - Valdosta, Lowndes County, GA 44
Buried: 1886 - Corinth Baptist Church Lowndes County, GA 44
Father: Thomas Henry Corbett Jr.
Mother: Martha Bannerman
Marriage: 1861 - Lowndes Co., GA
Wife Mary Elizabeth Carter 42
Born: 1828 - South Carolina 43
Christened:
Died: 1905 - Georgia
Buried:
Father: John Carter Sr.
Mother: Lavina
Children
General Notes: Husband - James Thomas Corbett Sr
James Corbett was born in New Hanover County NC about 1800. Nothing is known as to the names of his parents, though the Chinkypin speculates his father as Thomas Corbett, Jr. He was married three times with the first marriage occurring before 1825. James first wife was said to be Mary Elizabeth Peterson who died before 1845. The second wife was Susan Corbett, which he married Jan. 9, 1845. The third wife was Mary Carter, married 1861. The 1850 census for Stewart County, GA listed James wife as Susan. Susan also appears in the Lowndes County census of 1860 as his wife.
James and Mary Elizabeth had the following children:
1. Franklin
2. George W.
3. James T.
4. William
5. Eliza Ann
6. Mary E.
7. John B.
James Corbett moved to Georgia in the 1830s and settled in Lowndes County On July 14, 1858 James Corbett Sr. purchased land from Peter McLeod, which bordered Mud Swamp. Two acres of that purchase were excluded for the Hickory Grove Church.
On May 3, 1859, three acres of land were purchased from James Thomas Corbett, Sr. for the building of the Corinth Baptist Church, in Land Lot 30, 16th Land District. The three trustees who purchased this land were Benjamin Limeburger, Edward McLeod and James Corbett, Sr.
By 1870, the Lowndes County census shows James' (70) wife as Mary Carter (35), daughter of John Carter and sister to Martin T. Carter Sr. as well as Allen Carter. His land is valued at $2000.
The 1880 census for Lowndes County indicates James is 83 years of age and occupation as a farmer. The same census lists wife Mary as 54 years of age. Also enumerated in the household was John Peterson listed as brother. He likely was a brother-in-law as his wife was a Peterson and brother brother Timothy married a Peterson.
It has been told that James was a very thoughtful person. He always asked if one could pay for his seed corn. If the answer was yes they were informed to go elsewhere. His extra corn was given to widows and the poorer families in the area.
James passed away on September 17, 1886 and was buried at Corinth Baptist Church in Lowndes County. He served briefly in the Indian War, being a private in Capt. John Bryan's company of Florida Militia, Aug. 16th to Sept. 15th, 1840. He and his wife were members of Corinth Baptist Church.
Mr. Corbett's third wife, Mary Carter, born 1828, had no children with James. She survived him by about twenty-five years."
References:
Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia ,Vol. 7, pg 97
Chinkypin Vol 3 #3, pgs 315-316
Husband Daniel Guess Copeland
Born: 18 Feb 1839 - Barnwell County, South Carolina 4
Christened:
Died: 20 Mar 1916 - Howell, Echols County, Georgia
Buried: - Wayfare Baptist Church Cemetery, Echols County, Georgia
Father: Lott Copeland
Mother: Susan Whetstone
Marriage:
Wife Mary Martha Carter
Born: 24 Jun 1843 - Lowndes County, Georgia
Christened:
Died: 9 Oct 1922 - Howell, Echols County, Georgia
Buried: - Wayfare Baptist Church Cemetery, Echols County, Georgia
Father: Samuel Carter
Mother: Mary Lee
Children
General Notes: Husband - Daniel Guess Copeland
General Notes: Wife - Mary Martha Carter
Death certificate shows mother as "Wetherington"
Gravesite Details
Grave stone notes date of birth 1841 in conflict with death certificate.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28680210/mary_martha-copeland: accessed December 4, 2025), memorial page for Mary Martha Carter Copeland (24 Jun 1843\endash 9 Oct 1922), Find a Grave Memorial ID 28680210, citing Wayfare Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Statenville, Echols County, Georgia, USA; Maintained by HighPlainsMom (contributor 47284866).
Husband Matthew M. Carter
Born: 1839
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: John Carter
Mother: Elizabeth Knight 177
Marriage: 14 Sep 1871
Wife Elizabeth Wheatley
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Children