3rd Generation: Daniel and Larkin (sons of Henry?)

WARNING:  The data for these two Kerleys (Daniel and Larkin) is very sketchy.  There is fairly persuasive evidence that both of these guys actually existed and that they lived in Burke County, North Carolina at the same time as (and in close proximity to) Henry Kerley, Jr. and James Kerley (two known sons of the pioneer Henry Kerley, Sr.).  Largely because of this geographical proximity I believe that both Daniel and Larkin were related not only to each other but to Henry Kerley Jr. and his brother James.  For the reasons described below, I have assumed that they were both sons of Henry Kerley, Sr.  I could certainly be wrong, but until better evidence surfaces, that is the assumption with which I am going.

LARKIN3 (Henry,2 William1)

 Larkin has a fairly well-documented presence in Burke County, North Carolina, during the first half of the 1800's.  As we have seen elsewhere, fellows named Henry and James Kerley also lived in that county at that time.  Although this is slim evidence, my guess is that Larkin was a younger brother of Henry and James, and thus a son of Henry, Sr.

Census records.  I can find no census listing for Larkin in Burke County in 1790 (the first year in which Henry and James appear), but Larkin shows up regularly thereafter.  The 1800 Burke County census shows that a Larkin Cirley had 4 children born between 1790 and 1800 (3 boys and one girl).  This would give him an approximate marriage date of 1790, and an approximate birth date of 1770.   Thus, Larkin appears to have been slightly younger than Henry and James. (Note that the 1800 census in this county was arranged in alphabetical order so we cannot judge whether he was living close to his brothers.  Also, the handwritten entry for Larkin is hard to read and could be read as either "Cerly" or Carily.)

In 1810, Larkin (Carily) is still in Burke County, NC.  He has had 3 more kids during the past 10 years, bringing the total number of children in the house to 7.  Both Larkin and Henry Carily are found in the Morgantown section of Burke County.   (Note that in these censuses (1800 and 1810) the phonetic spelling of Larkin's last name is consistent with my theory that the original pronunciation of our name was akin to "Care-Lee").

In 1820, he is still in Burke County with six kids still at home.

He is nowhere to be found in the 1830 census, but he reappears in the 1840 census for Burke County (showing up with the spelling as Larkin Kerley for the first time).  This listing describes him as being between 60 and 70.  Thus making his birth date sometime between 1770 and 1780.  We can narrow that range down by looking at the birth ranges in all four censuses.  Doing the math, we can estimate that Larkin was born between 1770 and 1774.  If, as I suspect, his parents were Henry Sr. and Sarah, then Henry and Sarah would have been in their mid-30's when Larkin was born.  So, it is at least plausible that Larkin was their child.

I assume that Larkin died between 1840 and 1850 since he does not show up anywhere in the 1850 census.  He would have been in his 70's when he died.

Children.  I have not been able to identify any of Larkin's children.  Because of the information provided on the census records, we know that he did, in fact, have several children in the 1790's and early 1800's.  But, so far, not a single shred of evidence has surfaced providing any indication of who these kids were.  If you can trace your Kerley ancestor back to North Carolina with a birth date between 1790 and 1810, but haven't been able to tie into an existing, documented Kerley line, then maybe you are a descendant of this Larkin.  Let me know if this is the case.  

Larkin's life.  As best I can determine, Larkin lived a quiet life in Burke County.  He raised his family there, but did not leave much a paper trail.  He may have served in the War of 1812.  There is a record of a Larkin Kerby/Kerly serving as a private in the Second Regiment (McGimpsey's), and this Regiment was organized in Burke County, North Carolina.  So, it could be our Larkin. 

Another Link.  Given the proximity of his home in Burke County to the places where two other Kerley families were then living, I assume that Larkin was related to Henry and James.  But, there is one other piece of evidence supporting this theory.  I have copies of correspondence written in the 1930's by a daughter of Samuel Commodore Kerley.  Samuel was the youngest son of Aaron Kerley, who in turn was the youngest son of Henry Kerley (i.e., the Henry who lived in Burke County during the early 1800's).  In this correspondence, the daughter states that: "I have heard my father speak of a great uncle Larkin Kerley."  This statement is entirely consistent with our assumption that Larkin was a brother of Henry and James. 

Daniel3 (Henry,2 William1) 

Our best evidence for the existence of this guy is in a census of Confederate veterans published in 1911.  In that document, a fellow named William Garrett Kerly reported that he "was the son of James Kerly of N.C. who was the son of Daniel and Ann Kerly of Albemarle Co., VA.  I ascribe a fairly high level of credibility to someone's ability to provide the names of their father and grandfather.  So, I accept at face value William Garrett Kerley's statements of these particular names.

As we will see below, later census records for James indicate that he was born about 1799.   If James was, in fact, born in North Carolina in 1799, then presumably his father, Daniel should show up somewhere in a North Carolina census in 1800.  But, I have checked every single household headed by a man named Daniel in that census and could not find anyone who came even close to possibly being our Daniel.  I suspect, therefore, that Daniel was living in someone else's household (his in-laws?) in 1800.  But, the problem is that this Daniel just doesn't show up in any other census records either.    He is not listed in any of the Burke Coutny records at all.  This absence is troubling.

Were it not for some land records I would tend doubt the existence of this particular Daniel, but the land records are pretty strong.  I suspect that this Daniel lived in Burke County, NC about 30 miles from Burke County Henry's family.  Daniel received grants for two pieces of property on the waters of the Little River in Burke County.  The Little River in Burke County is about 30 miles south-east of the Linville area where Burke County Henry and his family settled.  These land grants were issued (on December 19, 1820 (120 acres) and December 4, 1838 (41 acres)).  See The North Carolina Land Grant Files, 1693 - 1960.  (It is unlikely that these grants refer to Daniel, the son of Burke County Henry, because it would have been strange for one guy to own separate tracts of land so far apart.  Morevoer, the second of these transaction (December 4, 1838,) took place at a time after the other Daniel (i.e. Henry's son) and his family had already moved out of Burke County.

It is interesting to note that the 1820 grant to Daniel specifies that part of this grant adjoined land belonging to Larkin Kearley.  Daniel and Larkin lived next door to each other, and Larkin was already established in that area when Daniel applied for his land in 1819.  Given the proximity of their farms, Daniel and Larkin have to be related.  But, again, there are no census records confirming that Daniel lived in the area where his land was located in either the 1820 or 1830 censuses (when he purchased that land).  That's a mystery.  If he was buying land there, he should have been living there. 

So, this guy is a big unknown.  The reference to him in his grandson's pension application, along with clear land records support the case for his existence, but there is nothing else to give us any insight into his story.  

So, what became of his son, James?  Basically, James moved to Wayne County, Tennessee sometime around 1830, when he was young man.  He appears in the 1830 Wayne County census with a wife and three young children (and one older child).  Recall that in the mid-1820's one of James' cousins, Lewis Kerley, (from the Burke County bunch) made the initial Kerley foray to that part of Tennessee.  (Lewis was later followed by his father, a few brothers and a sister in the mid-1830's).  So, James was one of the earliest members of the Kerley clan to move out of Burke County and settle in south-western Tennessee.  (In the 1830 census listing, James is listed only 16 names from another Kerley, a guy named Lewis Kerley.  And, no, that is not the Lewis Kerley from the Burke County Bunch.  That Lewis is listed elsewhere in that Wayne County census.  So, who was this particular Lewis Kerley?  Could he have been James' brother?  Or another cousin?  Who knows?

James remained in Wayne County, for several decades.  He and his rather large family appear in the 1850 census record for Wayne County, TN.  That record confirms that James was born in 1799 in North Carolina.  (This would put Daniel's birthdate somewhere around 1775).  By examining the birthplaces of his children we see that James lived in NC until about 1830 when he moved his family to Wayne County, TN.  The interesting thing about this is that this movement from NC to Wayne County, TN is the exact same pattern that Henry Kerley, Jr. and several of his kids followed.  This similarity of movement indicates to me that the Daniel/James family had to be related to the Henry/Lewis family.  

 Again, one of the more frustrating facets of researching the Kerleys is the similarity of this name to several others (e.g., Kerbey, Carley, Kerlee, etc).  There was, in the early 1800's, a fairly large family of Carleys/Kerleys also living in Burke County.  I am pretty sure that this other group is not related to our family (just looking at the names passed down through the ages from this family and comparing them to those names prevalent in our family highlights this).  But, there was a Larkin Carley/Kerley in this group which confuses the issue.