Individual Details
James Nehemiah Howard Sr.
(Apr 1735 - 1 Apr 1798)
Nehemiah Howard was a soldier in the American Revolution. His service was documented by Salley & Wates.
He was the son of Stephen Howard and Sarah Sanders. He married Edith "Edie" Smith. He named their children in his will which was probated in 1798. (Source: Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992):
Nehemiah Howard
Archer Howard
Sarah Howard married John Putman
Joseph Howard married Sophia Smith
John Howard married Jane Vivian
Hester Howard married Andrew N Torrance
Ann Nancy Howard married Elijah Owens
Mark Howard married Julia Malone
James Howard married Tabitha Motley
Benjamin Howard married Michaella Owens
Mary Howard married Thomas Woodward
In his Application for Membership in the Alabama Society of the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution, Howard Ellington, great grandson of Joseph and Sophia Smith Howard recorded that Joseph Howard served as a private in Colonel Brandon's South Carolina militia. His great, great grandfather was too lame for military service, but suffered deprivation at the hands of his Tory neighbors: they burned his house and threatened his life. Source: SAR Membership Application National Number 88098, Alabama State Number 623. Lineage: Howard Ellington> Alice Gertrude Howard> Thomas Jett Howard> Joseph Howard> Nehemiah Howard.
The DAR designated Joseph Howard DAR Ancestor Number A021171 and Nehemiah Howard DAR Ancestor Number A058089. More than fifty ladies proved they were lineal descendants of Nehemiah Howard and joined the DAR. Reference the DAR GRS (dar.org).
In 1994, the Stephen Heard Chapter, NSDAR, adopted a project in which they erected a memorial "In Honor Of Revolutionary War Soldiers whose graves and/or estates are in Elbert County, Georgia" in the Revolutionary War Soldiers Memorial. This was a memorial, not a cenotaph.
Per the Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots, Nehemiah Howard was buried in the family cemetery on his property. May this memorial serve as an expression of the gratitude we owe him for risking his life and braving the unknown to help build a new country: our America.
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The Separate Baptist Movement: The Story of the Early Beginnings of the Fairforest Baptist Church in Union District
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH IN UPPER SOUTH CAROLINA
by ROBERT A. IVEY
NEHEMIAH HOWARD’S FAMILY
“He was the son of Stephen and Sarah Sanders Howard, and was born in 1735, in Onslow County, N. C. He spent his childhood in Onslow County near New River. His parents died, when he was probably 10 years old, and he was raised in a neighbor’s house.
He married Edith Smith, daughter of Luke B. and Judith Farris Smith circa 1757. She was born circa 1740, in Henrico County, Virginia. They had eight sons and six daughters.
Luke B. Smith gave Nehemiah Howard 90 acres of land in Orange County, N. C., in 1761. He was living in the Haw River community of North Carolina, when the Haw River Baptist Church was organzied in 1764, “on the last Saturday in October.” He signed the Regulators Advertisement No. 9 in North Carolina.
Nehemiah and Edith Smith Howard probably came to South Carolina, with the Smiths in 1770.
Nehemiah and Edith were members of the Deep River Baptist Church in Orange County, North Carolina.
On June 23, 1774, Nehemiah Howard received two Royal Land Grants in Craven County (Union District), S. C. One of the grants was for 150 acres on Fairforest Creek, and the other was for 150 acres on Sugar Creek in South Carolina. Nehemiah’s land adjoined land belonging to Benjamin Gist.
Here they built their house, which they called “Cross Keys”. Leonidas Howard reported that Nehemiah, due to an injury to one of his limbs, could not join in the fighting, but that his sympathies were with the men struggling for his country’s freedom. Nehemiah did smith work for the army and furnished supplies.
During the Revolutionary War, a leading Tory in the vicinity called a meeting to stir up for the Tories. Nehemiah attended and although a simple farmer with no particular schooling and not accustomed to speaking publically, rose and convinced his neighbors not to throw their lot with the Tories.
Shortly thereafter, some Tories and several British officers came to his house and one of the officers attacked him with a sword. Nehemiah fended him off with a walking cane. His house was later burned by Tories.
Nehemiah and Edith’s eldest son, John Howard, was a Patriot Soldier, and enlisted as a Private under Capt. John Putnam in the South Carolina Militia. John rose to the rank of Major by the end of the war, serving with General Thomas Sumter and General Francis Marion.
Major John Howard married Jane Vivian, daughter of the Reverend Thacker Smith Vivian and Mary Brock Vivian.
Nehemiah Howard was later paid for Smiths Work and provisions for the public use in 1778, during the American Revolutionary War.
Their oldest daughter, Sarah, was born in Orange County, N. C., circa 1758. She married the Reverend John Putman, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Barnett Putman, circa 1782, in Craven County (Union District), S. C. He was born on June 29, 1751, in Culpepper County, Virginia.
John Putman moved to North Carolina with his parents at an early age. He was listed on the rolls of Captain Jodin Harper in the North Carolina Militia in 1772. They moved to Craven County (Union District), S. C., just before the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.
John Putman was a Patriot Soldier and served as a captain on foot and on horseback in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon from June 22, 1780, to January 1, 1782. His brother, Barnett Putman, served as a horseman under Col. Thomas Brandon.
John Putman was ordained as a minister of the gospel in the Padgett’s Creek Baptist Church in 1794, and became pastor of the church. He later founded the Union Meeting House on Mitchell’s waters of Fairforest Creek. This church was later named the Putman Baptist Church.
In 1784, Nehemiah Howard began selling his land in Union District, S. C. He sold 150 acres on waters of Fairforest Creek to Archer Smith, his brother-in-law in 1785. He moved his family to Elbert County, Georgia, circa 1787. He died in Elbert County, Georgia, before April of 1798, and was buried there. His wife, died on January 27, 1829, in Milledgeville, Georgia
He was the son of Stephen Howard and Sarah Sanders. He married Edith "Edie" Smith. He named their children in his will which was probated in 1798. (Source: Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992):
Nehemiah Howard
Archer Howard
Sarah Howard married John Putman
Joseph Howard married Sophia Smith
John Howard married Jane Vivian
Hester Howard married Andrew N Torrance
Ann Nancy Howard married Elijah Owens
Mark Howard married Julia Malone
James Howard married Tabitha Motley
Benjamin Howard married Michaella Owens
Mary Howard married Thomas Woodward
In his Application for Membership in the Alabama Society of the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution, Howard Ellington, great grandson of Joseph and Sophia Smith Howard recorded that Joseph Howard served as a private in Colonel Brandon's South Carolina militia. His great, great grandfather was too lame for military service, but suffered deprivation at the hands of his Tory neighbors: they burned his house and threatened his life. Source: SAR Membership Application National Number 88098, Alabama State Number 623. Lineage: Howard Ellington> Alice Gertrude Howard> Thomas Jett Howard> Joseph Howard> Nehemiah Howard.
The DAR designated Joseph Howard DAR Ancestor Number A021171 and Nehemiah Howard DAR Ancestor Number A058089. More than fifty ladies proved they were lineal descendants of Nehemiah Howard and joined the DAR. Reference the DAR GRS (dar.org).
In 1994, the Stephen Heard Chapter, NSDAR, adopted a project in which they erected a memorial "In Honor Of Revolutionary War Soldiers whose graves and/or estates are in Elbert County, Georgia" in the Revolutionary War Soldiers Memorial. This was a memorial, not a cenotaph.
Per the Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots, Nehemiah Howard was buried in the family cemetery on his property. May this memorial serve as an expression of the gratitude we owe him for risking his life and braving the unknown to help build a new country: our America.
----------------------
The Separate Baptist Movement: The Story of the Early Beginnings of the Fairforest Baptist Church in Union District
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH IN UPPER SOUTH CAROLINA
by ROBERT A. IVEY
NEHEMIAH HOWARD’S FAMILY
“He was the son of Stephen and Sarah Sanders Howard, and was born in 1735, in Onslow County, N. C. He spent his childhood in Onslow County near New River. His parents died, when he was probably 10 years old, and he was raised in a neighbor’s house.
He married Edith Smith, daughter of Luke B. and Judith Farris Smith circa 1757. She was born circa 1740, in Henrico County, Virginia. They had eight sons and six daughters.
Luke B. Smith gave Nehemiah Howard 90 acres of land in Orange County, N. C., in 1761. He was living in the Haw River community of North Carolina, when the Haw River Baptist Church was organzied in 1764, “on the last Saturday in October.” He signed the Regulators Advertisement No. 9 in North Carolina.
Nehemiah and Edith Smith Howard probably came to South Carolina, with the Smiths in 1770.
Nehemiah and Edith were members of the Deep River Baptist Church in Orange County, North Carolina.
On June 23, 1774, Nehemiah Howard received two Royal Land Grants in Craven County (Union District), S. C. One of the grants was for 150 acres on Fairforest Creek, and the other was for 150 acres on Sugar Creek in South Carolina. Nehemiah’s land adjoined land belonging to Benjamin Gist.
Here they built their house, which they called “Cross Keys”. Leonidas Howard reported that Nehemiah, due to an injury to one of his limbs, could not join in the fighting, but that his sympathies were with the men struggling for his country’s freedom. Nehemiah did smith work for the army and furnished supplies.
During the Revolutionary War, a leading Tory in the vicinity called a meeting to stir up for the Tories. Nehemiah attended and although a simple farmer with no particular schooling and not accustomed to speaking publically, rose and convinced his neighbors not to throw their lot with the Tories.
Shortly thereafter, some Tories and several British officers came to his house and one of the officers attacked him with a sword. Nehemiah fended him off with a walking cane. His house was later burned by Tories.
Nehemiah and Edith’s eldest son, John Howard, was a Patriot Soldier, and enlisted as a Private under Capt. John Putnam in the South Carolina Militia. John rose to the rank of Major by the end of the war, serving with General Thomas Sumter and General Francis Marion.
Major John Howard married Jane Vivian, daughter of the Reverend Thacker Smith Vivian and Mary Brock Vivian.
Nehemiah Howard was later paid for Smiths Work and provisions for the public use in 1778, during the American Revolutionary War.
Their oldest daughter, Sarah, was born in Orange County, N. C., circa 1758. She married the Reverend John Putman, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Barnett Putman, circa 1782, in Craven County (Union District), S. C. He was born on June 29, 1751, in Culpepper County, Virginia.
John Putman moved to North Carolina with his parents at an early age. He was listed on the rolls of Captain Jodin Harper in the North Carolina Militia in 1772. They moved to Craven County (Union District), S. C., just before the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.
John Putman was a Patriot Soldier and served as a captain on foot and on horseback in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon from June 22, 1780, to January 1, 1782. His brother, Barnett Putman, served as a horseman under Col. Thomas Brandon.
John Putman was ordained as a minister of the gospel in the Padgett’s Creek Baptist Church in 1794, and became pastor of the church. He later founded the Union Meeting House on Mitchell’s waters of Fairforest Creek. This church was later named the Putman Baptist Church.
In 1784, Nehemiah Howard began selling his land in Union District, S. C. He sold 150 acres on waters of Fairforest Creek to Archer Smith, his brother-in-law in 1785. He moved his family to Elbert County, Georgia, circa 1787. He died in Elbert County, Georgia, before April of 1798, and was buried there. His wife, died on January 27, 1829, in Milledgeville, Georgia
Events
| Birth | Apr 1735 | New River, Watauga County, North Carolina | |||
| Marriage | Abt 1753 | North Carolina - Edith "Ede" Smith | |||
| Death | 1 Apr 1798 | Elbert County, Georgia | |||
| Burial | Howard Family Burial Grounds, Hartwell, Hart County, Georgia |  |
Families
| Spouse | Edith "Ede" Smith (1740 - 1829) |
| Child | Archer Archibald Howard (1756 - ) |
| Child | Sarah Howard (1758 - 1843) |
| Child | John Harrison Howard (1761 - 1822) |
| Child | Hannah Howard (1763 - ) |
| Child | Archibald Howard (1768 - ) |
| Child | Benjamin Howard (1768 - 1809) |
| Child | Joseph H. Howard (1772 - 1849) |
| Child | Nehemiah Mealing Howard (1773 - 1856) |
| Child | Nancy Ann Howard (1773 - 1852) |
| Child | Mary Elizabeth Howard (1774 - 1807) |
| Child | James Howard Howard (1776 - 1856) |
| Child | Harmon Howard (1778 - 1793) |
| Child | Isaiah Howard (1783 - ) |
| Child | Rev. Mark Howard (1784 - 1852) |
Endnotes
1. .