Monday, January 30, 2012
Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan, Jr.
Ezekiel was a popular name among Dunagan families that came from the Ezekiel Dunagan (1771-1836) and Lydia Ann Brown union of 1792, in Jackson County, later known as Hall County, Georgia. A lot of people refer to this Ezekiel(1771-1836) as Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan but in reality he was known simply as Ezekiel Dunagan with no middle name given. Ezekiel had 19 children, 13 with Lydia and he named his 9th child Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan, born in 1811, in Hall County, Georgia, and died in 1881, and is buried on the old homeplace near the north Oconee River in the eastern part of Hall County Georgia.
This Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan (1811-1881) married Lucinda Thompson and listed in the 1850 Federal Census they had two sons: Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan, age 7, and Joseph F. Dunagan, age 4. By the 1860 Federal Census they had a total of five children:
E. J. Dunagan (17)
Joseph Dunagan (13)
Martha Dunagan (8)
William Dunagan (5)
Lucinda Dunagan (2)
Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan, Sr. was around 49 years old and probably two old for conscription into the Confederate Army, but the younger Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan, Jr. was 17 in 1860 and I found military records where he enlisted in 1862, as a corporal, in Company B, Georgia 24th Calvary Battalion, CSA. He also took a bride the same year when he married Nancy Evans in 1862, also of Hall County, Georgia. However, I could not determine if he saw any action in the war because the Calvary Battalion did not muster until 18 Feb 1864. It is possible that he served with what they called the Home Guard during this time but records are not very detailed.
The next time we find Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan, Jr. (1843-?) and Nancy Evans Dunagan, they were in Marshall, Mississippi. The 1870 Federal Census shows the following people living in the household:
E. J. Dunegan (28)
Nancy Dunegan (27)
Colley Dunegan (7)
Julia Dunegan (5)
Martha Dunegan (2)
Louis Dunegan (30) (Black)
Asbery Dunegan (20) (Black)
John Garoy (40)
The photo above was given to Hannah Barber-Abraham by her Grandmother, Mary E. Dunagan-Barber. Hannah states that she was told that this is Ezekiel Dunagan, the man sitting in the chair, and that the two young men on either side of Ezekiel are his sons by one of his slaves. Even though I did find in the 1820 Federal census that Ezekiel Dunagan (1771-1836) of Hall County, Georgia, owned four slaves, one black adult male, one black adult female and two black females under the age of fourteen, this photo could not be of this Ezekiel (1771-1836) because he died in 1836 and the still camera was not invented until 1837. I am not sure who the man in the photo is but you can see from the census of 1870 that there were two black men, Louis and Asbery, listed as living in the household of Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan and Nancy Evans Dunagan and they had apparently taken the Dunagan last name. There is no way to know for sure whether these two young men are descendants of the first Ezekiel Dunagan unless we were able to locate one of their descendants and test the DNA. However, it was not uncommon for former slaves to take the last name of the slave owner.
By 1880, still living in Marshall, MS, Federal Census shows the following family members living in the same household, the last name is spelled differently:
E. J. Donigan (35)
Nancy E. Donigan (36)
Julia E. Donigan (15)
Martha E. Donigan (12)
Mary E. Donigan (10)
Beulah E. Donigan (4)
Thomas J. Donigan (2)
Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan, Jr. and Nancy Evans Dunagan
I haven't been able to locate Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan and Nancy Evans Dunagan in the 1890 census but they are still living in Marshall, MS in 1900 and they had added a son, William Albert Dunagan (17), between the 1880 and 1900 census.
The next census in 1910, shows Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan, widowed, living in Memphis, TN, with only two of his children:
Beulah Dunagan (28)
W. Albert Dunagan (26)
RECEIVED THIS FROM A DESCENDANT FROM ASBERY DUNIGAN LISTED IN THE CENSUS SHOWN ABOVE.
1870- Asbery Dunigan age 19 (Is my g-grandfather Asbery Buffington working on the Dunnigan farm, the census list two black men, Louis and Asbery listed as living in the household of Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan. It was common for the census taker to only recorded the head of house surnamee; The face that Elizabeth Buffington is living next door is evident of their close relationship among the Evans, Dunigans, & Buffington as well as Asbery Buffington)
The Asbery Dunagan listed is my great grandfather Asbery Buffington. He was born a slave in the Buffington family in Hall County, GA and was transported to Marshall County, MS via wagon carvan with the family along with Cinn Buffington. Ezekiel Jackson Dunagan married Nancy Evans, daughter of Shopia Buffington and A.M. Evans. He was working on the Dunagan farm at the time, and as often was the practice, the census taker recorded black workers under the same surname as the head of house. I am a direct descendant of Asbery Dunagan/Buffington my DNA profile is on Ancestry. Please contact me at bouche92@hotmail.com for more information.
This is what I know: Asberry Buffington born a slave abt. 1856 Hall County, Georgia d. 5/221947 Marshall County, Ms.
1850 Hall County, GA Slave Census: Ellis Buffington had 29 slaves all listed as “B”.
Massa Buffington had 5 slaves all listed as “B”.
1860- Hall County, GA Slave Census: W.J. Buffington had 5 slaves 1 “Mu” male age 12 (unlikely Asbery based on age).
Berrian Buffington had 11 slaves 4 Mu/males (The youngest is 15 therefore unlikely to be Asbery) ***There is a note B. Buffington Adm of 10 heirs)
Note by E. Pace - employer (can’t make out the word?) of Buffington owners. He had 20 slaves, 3 Mu/males, 1 Mu/male age 4 (This could be Asbery which leaves the question who are his parents? I’m looking for any information about his parents or siblings from Georgia).
-On the 1850 and 1860 Census William Buffington, Ellis Buffington, Berrian Buffington, A.M. Evans, T. ?. Dennigan, are all neighbors.
Sometime after the civil war about 1866, it is documented that some 30 families came from Hall and Jackson County, GA to Marshall County, MS in a caravan of wagons. Quite a few families came at that time including Buffington, Evans, Dennigan, Gilmore, Gilmers, and Littlejohns
Elizabeth Buffington, Berrian Buffington, William Ellis Buffington, A.M. Evans, E.J. Dunigan all came to MS from GA and bought slaves with them.
To share information contact me at bouche92@hotmail.com.
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