Abishia Camp

Bob DeVaughan I see we share a common ancestor in Abishia. I descend from his first marriage (Rebecca Sarah Looney) and you from his second ( Asley Stone). He (I think) was an old baptist church elder/deacon who though enough of his bible and hymn book to included it in his will. He lived near or in what is now the city of Centreville Alabama. Local history books list him as an early squatter. A letter between his brothers in the 1830's when speaking of the family said brother bishia had a cancer on his face which would overtake his life if not prevented by some other disease (something else killing him first they were saying) They went on to say that his wife had died and he was going to remarry even though he had the cancer. He did live several years more and his widow your ancestor moved to Texas with some of her children. They also mentioned that some of the family living in Tennessee had used their corn crop to make whiskey to sell but had fallen on hard times and turned to drinking it as well to the ruin of that branch of the family. Abishia's ancestor Thomas Camp had some 21 children and was also married twice so we are probably connected to about everyone living in the south thru him. Abishia held onto money as well. G3 grandmother Sabrina was given $40 in the will of her father Robert Looney in the 1820's which was in the care of her father Abishia which she didn't get until he died in the 1840's. I looked around centreville but never found his grave I suspect it is unmarked possibly in the city cemetery or in a community some 5 miles north where some of the family were buried. Somewhere Here I have his will, a transcript of the letter, and a few other documents if you don't have them. I had heard that the entire family of a cousin of his were killed by escaped slaves in Ga or Sc (at least the slaves were given credit for the deed) but after that time Abishia was a bit leery of his own slaves probably the reason for his comment in his will that they should be sold if they could not be controlled. The town of Centreville was laid out by a Mrs Chottard who had obtained the land from a spanish land grant. She thought that being on the little cahaba river and near the center of the state it might become the state capital. Another town on the main Cahaba was chosen instead but was destroyed by a flood so the capital wound up in Montgomery. My ancestor Samuel Carter husband of Sabrina was elected captain in the Alabama militia and served in the early indian wars and was possibly later in the war with Mexico. He thought he could make money by running a ferry at centreville and bought mrs Chottard's old ferry and advertised up and down the river that his ferry was the best and cheapest but ran into trouble as the city had given exclusive rights to someone else to operate a ferry at that location so a long court case and GG grandpa lost out there. Mike Carter

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Name: Abisha Camp,

Titles and Terms:, Event Type: Marriage,

Event Date: 05 Aug 1837,

Event Place: Bibb, Alabama, United States Age: Birth Year (Estimated): Father's Name: Father's Titles and Terms: Mother's Name: Mother's Titles and Terms: ,

Spouse's Name: Alsey Allen,

Spouse's Titles and Terms: Spouse's Age: Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated): Spouse's Father's Name: Spouse's Father's Titles and Terms: Spouse's Mother's Name: Spouse's Mother's Titles and Terms: Reference ID: ,

GS Film number: 1782872,

Digital Folder Number: 004539227,

Image Number: 00316

Citing this Record: "Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XT4G-FY3 : accessed 20 January 2015), Abisha Camp and Alsey Allen, 05 Aug 1837; citing Bibb, Alabama, United States, county courthouses, Alabama; FHL microfilm 1,782,872.