The Jennings Family William Jennings and his younger brother Allen were two of seven children thought to have born to Robert

The Jennings Family

William Jennings and his younger brother Allen were two of seven children thought to have born to Robert
Jennings Jr. (c.1764-1843) and Elizabeth Arnold (c.1765-c.1831), of Oglethorpe County, Georgia, and arrived
amongst the early Fayette County settlers. Robert Jennings Jr. was a Revolutionary War soldier, Captain William
Duke's District, serving on the Virginia line. About 1785, he left Virginia for South Carolina, removing to Georgia
approximately a year later, settling in Wilkes County, in the part that was set off to form Oglethorpe County in 1793.
His large land holding there was on Long Creek.

In January, 1827, Robert Jennings executed deeds to his sons William and Allen, providing land for them in Fayette
County. The 1827 Fayette County Tax List shows William Jennings with 202 ½ acres of land in District 6, located
on Camp Creek, adjoining that of his brother, Allen Jennings, also 202 ½ acres, also on Camp Creek, but in District
7. William Jennings was also noted as holding 250 acres in Early County. By 1834, the two brothers together held
over 1,500 acres in Fayette County, with over 1,000 of that adjoining one another. By 1849, together, they held 57
slaves. Their names are spelled various ways in these records, including Jennins, Jennings, Jinnings, Ginnings and
Gennings.

William Jennings (1785-1853) married Rhoda Hill (1788-1843) in Oglethorpe County, daughter of Mordecai Hill
and (first name unknown) Arnold. They had two children:

1. John A. Jennings (1810-1853) married Sarah F. Hubbard (1821, died before 1860). They had five children:

a. William J. Jennings (born 1839).

b. Elizabeth Jane Jennings (1840-1875) married Linton Leroy Moses (1831-1890), son of Neal Moses and Nancy
Manning Graham, and had Lanorah (1857-1857), Egbert (1858-1888), Norton Norman (c.1859-1887), Angelus
Gaston (1860-1913), Addela (born c.1864), and Lula Moses (born c.1868). They removed to Calhoun County,
Arkansas.

c. James Thomas Jennings (1842-1862) served with Company A, 21st Regiment, Campbell County, dying from
severe wounds suffered at the battle at Manassas, Virginia.

d. Rhoda Emily Jennings (1844-1933) married (1) Thomas Jefferson Handley (1830-1862), son of Jared Handley
and Mary A. Coker, and had Osceola (1860-1936) and Thomas Jefferson Handley Jr. (1863-1946). Thomas
Jefferson Handley died while serving with Company H, 30th Georgia Regiment. She married (2) John James
Handley (1842-1935), her first husband's brother, and had Lewie Erastus (1867-1936), Eula Allie (1869-1948),
Della (1871-1914), Minnie Lucrecia (1874-1901), Edwin (1876-1928), Attie (1878-1969), John Jennings (1881-
1963), Dock E. (1883-1965), Stella (1885-1963), and Aurelie Evelyn Handley (1888-1890). He served with
Company G, 44th Georgia Regiment, the "Huie Guards." They removed to Texas, eventually settling in Mitchell
County.
e. Mary Ann Susanna Jennings (1846-1911) married Charles A. Harvey (born c.1843), and had Maude Forester
Harvey. She married (2) Delone W. Dorsett (died 1888), and had Thomas Walter and Ernest Delone Dorsett (1886-
1948). She married (3) E. H. McPherson.

2. Elizabeth Jennings (1814-1866) married William May (1811-1860), son of Drury May (1783-1841) and Anna
Moses (1785-1839), widow of John Moses. Sometime after the 1850 Fayette County census, likely about 1853, they
removed to Conecuh County, Alabama, where William May died. His widow returned to Fayette County. They had
six children:

a. Joseph Jennings May (1833-1901) married Sarah Jane Matthews (1837-1882), daughter of Thomas C. Matthews
and Nancy Westmoreland, and had William Thomas (1857-1921), Lelia C. (1859-1868), Elenora Elizabeth (1865-
1931), Lois B. (1868-c.1940), Serena Eunice (1871-1915), Lucy Alice (1874-1954), Mary Madelyn (1877-1912),
and Robert Toombs May (born 1880). He married (2) Mrs. M.A.E. Mills. He married (3) Laura Altamyra Snoddy.
Colonel Joseph Jennings May is believed to be the highest ranking Confederate officer buried in Fayette County. He
had commanded the 16th Alabama Regiment during the War Between the States.

b. Zipparah May (1835-1854) married George J. Miles. He served as an officer with the Georgia Militia, 549th
District, Fayette County.

c. Aurelia May (born 1837) married Alonzo C. McIntosh (born c.1829), and had William and Nancy E. McIntosh,
twins (born c.1859). Alonzo C. McIntosh served as an officer with the Fayette Dragoons, Company E, 2nd Regiment,
Georgia Cavalry.

d. Seaton G. May (1839-1847).

e. Rhoda Ann May (1844-1920) married (1) Peter Sanford Phillips (1835-1872), son of Littleberry B. Phillips and
Elizabeth Smith, and had William B. (1861-1863), Queen (1863-1867), John Wesley (1865-1925), Bobbie May
(1867-1923), James Sanford (1870-1934), and Joseph Edgar Phillips (1872-1929). He was a physician. They
removed to Panola County, Texas. She married (2) John Henry Ross (1829-1885), son of Edward Ross and
Elizabeth J. Butler, and had Mary Elizabeth (1878-1895) and Augustus H. Ross (1880-1881).

f. William D. May (c.1850, died before 1860).

Allen Jennings (c.1794-1849) married Cynthia Varner (1795, died after 1857) in Oglethorpe County, daughter of
Frederick Varner, mother's name unknown. Frederick Varner was a Revolutionary War soldier. They had six
children:

1. India Ann Jennings (born 1823) married (1) William M. Craig, and (2) a Dunn, first name unknown.

2. Rhoda Sophronia Jennings (born c.1824) married Reuben Millsapp.

3. William Jennings (1826-1863) married Sarah Frances Swanson (1833-1905), and had Marquis Allen (1852-
1926), William Franklin (born 1854), Margaret Ann Jenkins (born 1856), Mary Catherine (born 1859), Thomas
Andrew (born 1860), and Stonewall Jackson Jennings (born 1862). They removed to Alabama. William Jennings
served with Company B, 34th Alabama Infantry, dying from exposure suffered during the battle at Murfreesboro,
Tennessee.

4. Oney Jennings (born 1828) married Anderson M. Parker.

5. Thomas Jennings (born 1830) married Louisa E. Black, daughter of Cyrus Black and Elizabeth Barkley, and had
Edgar, Fannie T., Thomas A., Lillie, Willie, and Lizzie Jennings. They removed to Texas, and, later, to Washington
County, Arkansas.

6. Elizabeth Jane Jennings (born c.1835) married Marcus Washington Swanson, son of Samuel Swanson and Sara
Weaver, and had Onie, Alonzo, Yancey, Ida, Dolly, Paul, and Claude Swanson.

Copyright © 2001by Robert E. Johnston. This copy contributed for use by Fayette Co., GAGenWeb.

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by Linda Blum-Barton