Jeremiah & Charity RHODES Combs of Tennessee and Arkansas (1746/7-1802/7) (s/o Mason & Dorothy COMBS, Jr.)

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Jeremiah COMBS (Mason Jr., Mason, Sr., John, Archdale), b Jul 1788, VA; d 1 Feb 1867,* Madison Co, AR; m 1810, Warren Co, TN, Charity RHODES (aka RHOADS), b Jan 1794, NC; d 30 Aug 1860, Madison Co, AR; both buried Kingston Cemtery, Kingston, Madison Co, AR.

*The Goodspeeds' Northwest Arkansas, Madison County Biography of their son, John D. COMBS, b 17 Nov 1815, lists his father as born 1790, d 1866; and their mother as having died in Madison Co, AR in "1860, at the age of sixty-one or sixty-two." (b 1798-1799). Both the 1830 and 1840 census enumerations list Jeremiah and Charity as b 1790-1800, but in 1850, Jeremiah is listed as b ca 1788, and in1860 as b ca 1786. In 1850, Charity is listed as b ca 1794, and in 1860 as ca 1790. The above birth and death dates are from cemetery enumeration (Dates stones were erected and by whom?).

Jeremiah COMBS was probably b in Russell Co, VA, based on his father's apparent residence at the time of his birth (1789 Russell Co, VA Tax Lists). The family had moved to Hawkins by 1795, and apparently continued to reside there, on Beaches Creek, through 1801 when Jeremiah's ancestry is documented by an 1801 Hawkins Co, TN land trust in which he is named as the son of Mason COMBS. His marriage to Charity is documented by the Goodspeeds' History of Northwest Arkansas, Madison County Biography of his son, John D. COMBS (see below).

Jeremiah, his brother, Simon, and their mother, Dorothy, apparently continued to live in Hawkins Co, TN until at least 1807, but by 1812 Jeremiah and Simon were residing in Warren Co, TN (Tax List of Benjamin Lockhart) on land adjacent to that of Martin JOHNSON (h/o Sarah COMBS) and Daniel PAINE (h/o Sylvy COMBS). Martin JOHNSON (relationship to Jeremiah not known). Martin JOHNSON (the same) and a William PAYNE (believed to have been brother of Daniel) were among the witnesses to the 1801 land trust.

Jeremiah and Simon were again recorded in Warren in 1816 and Jeremiah in 1818, but in 1820, neither are on the Warren Co, TN census (even though both appear in the records of that county as residents in 1818 and 1821, and even though Martin (Sarah Combs) Johnson, John (Nancy Combs) Fleming, and Daniel (Sylvy Combs) PAYNE are listed). They have not been located elsewhere and were apparently either missed by the census taker or possibly in East TN (most of whose 1820 census enumerations are not extant).

In 1828, all of the above families except Daniel and Sylvy COMBS Paine, who had already moved on to Alabama, then Illinois, are listed on the 1828 Rocky River Church List of Warren County, as well as an unidentified Tempie COMBS. By 1829, Sarah COMBS Johnson had died. Simon and Jeremiah COMBS, Sarah's husband, Martin JOHNSON, John and Nancy Combs Flemming, and an unidentifed John COMBS are listed on the 1830 Warren Co, TN census:

Page 374 Line 08 Jeremiah (Charity RHODES) Combs, 111001-111101
1 male b 1790-1800 [Jeremiah, b 1788 [sic]]
1 female b 1790-1800 [Charity, b 1794]
1 female b 1810-1815 [Nancy, b 1812???]
1 male b 1815-1820 [John David, b 1815]
1 female b 1815-1820 [Emeline, b 1818]
1 female b 1820-1825 [Tennessee Ann, b 1820]
1 male b 1820-1825 [Mason Canada, b 1823]
1 female b 1825-1830 [Sarah, b 1824?]
1 male b 1825-1830 [William Buford, b 1829]

Note: Nancy, b 1812, m pre-1832, Thomas CLARK, b 1809, and a Thomas CLARK, b 1800-1810, with a female in HH who was born 1810-1815, is on page 368 of this census near Barnet & Mahal COMBS Owen (d/o Simon), who may be Nancy, in which case, either a daughter remains unidentified or died young.

By 1833, Simon COMBS had died, and Jeremiah COMBS and Martin JOHNSON had moved on to Madison Co, AR, with an as yet-unidentified John COMBS (By 1850, Barnett & Mahala COMBS Owen had also removed to Madison Co, AR).

The 1840 Madison Co, AR Census, Kings River Twp., p. 38,  includes Jeremiah's family  and several now-grown children:

Line 11 John COMBS 11002-20001-0
(son of Jeremiah and Charity RHODES Combs)

Line 14 James B. McELHANEY (Emeline COMBS)  21001-0 [sic]
(daughter of Jeremiah and Charity RHODES Combs)

Line 16 Thomas CLARK (Nancy COMBS) 110001-22001-0
(daughter of Jeremiah and Charity RHODES Combs)

Line 17 Jeremiah COMBS (Charity RHODES) 2111001-0010001-0

Note: On Line 13 is a second John COMBS, h/o Mahala, and in 1850 in Prairie Twp.

Jeremiah's household is identified as:

1 male, b 1790-1800 [Jeremiah, b 1788]
1 female, b 1790-1800 [Charity, b 1794]
1 male, b 1820-1825 [Mason Canada, b 1823]
1 male, b 1825-1830 [William Buford, b 1829]
1 female, b 1825-1830 [Sarah, b 1824 [sic]]
1 male, b 1830-1835 [Wheeling, b 1832]
2 males, b 1835-1840 [Columbus, b 1838; Jesse Rhodes, b 1840]

Note: Only the census record of George W. KING, h/o Tennessee Ann, has not yet been located (pending file check by editor).

The 1850 Kings River Twp., Madison Co, AR Census lists:

#467 farmer $1500
Jeremiah COMBS 62 m VA cannot read or write
Carity [sic] 56 f NC cannot read or write
Columbus M. 12 m AR attended school
Jesse R. 9 m AR

#468 laborer ----
William B. COMBS 21 m TN
Wheeling 18 m TN Laborer

In 1860, the Kings River Twp. census lists:

HH# 0772
Jeremiah COMBS 74 m VA [b ca 1786]
Charity 70 f NC [b ca 1790]
Jesse R. 20 m AR [b ca 1840]
Houston FULINGTON 40 m TN [b ca 1820]
Susan    " 34 f TN
Sarah J. 14 f TN
George 12 m TN
William 10 m TN
Mary A. 7 f TN
Nancy M. 6 f TN
John F 5 m MO
Loyd J. 2 m MO
(1860 Madison Co, AR Census, Madison Co Gen Soc Edition, p. 59)

Note: Houston FULLINGTON m 2 May 1845, Roane Co, TN, Susan GALYON. They have not been located on the 1850 TN Census Index, but were in Wright Co, MO in 1870. Their relationship to Jeremiah or Charity, if any, remains unknown.

Eight of the twelve childen of Jeremiah & Charity RHODES Combs are identified primarily (thus far) by the 1887 Goodspeeds' Northwest Arkansas, Madison County Biography of their son, John D. COMBS, b 17 Nov 1815, who identifies himself as the s/o Jeremiah and "Miss RHODES," and states that they had 12 children, eight of whom were still living at the time of his interview, and whom he identified as:

Nancy, widow of Thomas CLARK
John D.
Emeline, widow of James McELHANEY
Tennessee, widow of George W. KING
Mason C.
Sarah, widow of Caroll LANE
Wheeling
Jesse R.

Missing from above (already deceased) are William Buford, d 30 Nov 1881; Columbus, d 1860-1861; and two unidentified children (probably died young???).

See also Combs Researcher Travis Norris'  Jeremiah & Charity RHODES Combs and Early Jeremiah COMBS of the Southern Frontier.

The Children of Jeremiah & Charity RHODES Combs