William starts to appear on the extant tax records about the same time he got married. In 1836 he appears next to his probable aunt Patience and his father. He owns no land but pays a poll tax. The same is true in 1837. In 1838, William's father Henry paid for sons John, Joshua, and William as well as for his probable sister Patience. Patience owned land but the 3 sons only paid poll tax.
William and Sarah (Bill and Sally according to some descendants) married on 27 Jul 1837 in Hancock County. They apparently lived with his parents after their marriage. They do not appear on the 1840 census, but Henry's household includes both a male and female 20-30 plus two females under 5, which could be them and their daughters Minerva (born 1838) and Frances (1839). All of his brothers are listed in their own households, again making it likely that William is the son still living with Henry.
William's aunt Patience Garner was a founding member of Union Baptist Church near Warthen in Washington County. The church was founded in 1844. William's parents joined in 1845, while he and Sarah joined in 1848 and he was made a trustee shortly thereafter. Throughout the 1850s, he was frequently one of the men charged with investigating problems among the church congregation, including the fact that Sister Cherry was no longer attending.
The next surviving tax record is 1848 with William again listed by his father, aunt, and two brothers. He is the only one to not own land at this point, with his father having 600 acres, his aunt 200, and his brothers 150 each. It is probable that he was in fact still working his father's property or possibly his Aunt's. In 1849, he and Patience are still listed with Henry but John is further away in that same district and Joshua does not appear there at all. None of them own slaves.
William and Sarah do appear in the 1850 Federal census, in Washington County. William, age 38, is a farmer with no property listed. Sarah appears to be 30. The household includes their children Manerva (Minerva), 12, Frances - 10, John L. 9, Andrew J. 6, William C 4, and James T. 2. Also in the household is John Bridges, 16, listed as a labourer. Frances and Lawson (John L.) both attended school. Everyone in the family was born in Georgia. With no property, William does not appear in the agricultural census for that year, nor is he in the slave owner's census.
The last available pre-war tax record in 1851 is interesting because William again just pays a poll tax. Patience, listed next to him, pays property tax but Henry is not listed in the records even though he was certainly alive and owned property at that time. As noted previously, Patience probably died between 1851, when she is last noted paying taxes, and 1855 when William purchased from Nancy Garner the land she had inherited from Patience.
In 1860, William (49) and Sarah (41) appear in the census with a whole flock of children: Minerva - 21, Frances - 19, John L. - 18, Andrew - 16, William - 14, James T - 12, Levi (Lee Roy) - 10, Green L - 10, Lavina - 7, Washington - 6, Linton - 4, and Elizabeth - 2. Also living with them is George Barron, "mechanic", age 49.
This census is the first document to reflect William owning any property, giving him a real estate value of $1200 and personal property of $1000. William does appear on the 1860 agricultural census, immediately above his father. That census shows him having 200 acres of land, of which 25 acres were unproductive. This matches closely the 200 acres that Patience had been paying tax on. At that time he had 4 horses, 2 milch cows, 2 oxen and 8 other cattle. He produced 8 bushels of wheat, 350 bushels of Indian corn, and 7 bales of ginned cotton.
Sarah died early the following year, cause of death unknown. She was 42 at the time and her youngest child was about 2, so she might have died in childbirth or just from one of many diseases. William did not remarry after her death despite having so many children to raise. The 1860s turned out to be a hard time for him, not only with the war and Sarah's death but he lost his mother in 1865, his father in 1867 and probably also his oldest daughter Minerva in 1867. And while their exact dates of death are not known, Sarah's father and mother apparently died during that period as well.
Sarah's death will have spared her the anxiety of seeing several of her sons go to war. Lawson, A.J., Columbus and James all ended up either volunteering or being drafted into the Confederate army, although they all survived. Lee Roy and Green Lee were just slightly too young when the war ended to have to serve. William was very fortunate in this regard, as two of his brothers did lose sons in the war. William, his brothers and his sons took the Oath of Allegiance on 12 July 1867. William and his brother John probably went together since they are sequential on the oath pages. Both signed with their marks although their sons could write their names.
Despite the difficulties of the 60s, William was still doing fairly well in the 1870 census. He is still a farmer, with $2305 real estate and $1200 personal property. His children are growing up, but most are still at home. Thomasa, age 30 (possibly Frances) is listed as a housekeeper. Frances did not marry until late in life, so it would make sense for her to still be in her father's house. John L. age 28 is next in the household, although he is listed as a farmer and has property in his own right, $1930 real property and $700 personal. Andrew J. age 28 is also listed as a farmer. He has no real property but he does list personal property of $1000. The remaining children at home were James L. age 22, Leroy (Lee Roy), age 20, Greenleaf (Green Lee) age 20, Lavinia 17, Washington 15, Linton 13, and Sarah E 12. James, Lee Roy and Green were all listed as farm laborers. Lavinia was stated as having no occupation and the youngest 3 were attending school. His sister Sarah (too many Sarahs in this family) does not show up in the census, but was probably living with him or possibly one of his brothers. Family lore has it that she inherited property from her father which she eventually gifted to her niece Lavinia and her husband, but in 1870 Lavinia was still unmarried.
The 1870 agricultural census reflects William's relative prosperity as well. He has more land now, having presumably inherited some from his father. The number is hard to read, but he appears to have 280 acres of improved land, 231 acres of woodland, and 30 acres of "other unimproved" land. His farm was valued at $1200 and farming implements and machinery at $200. He had paid $400 in salaries the previous year, including any room and board offered. He owned 4 horses, 2 mules, 4 milch cows, 2 oxen, 12 other cattle, 17 sheep, and 60 pigs for a total livestock value of $750. The 60 pigs are interesting, that's far more than any of his neighbors. He had produced 155 bushels of spring wheat, 800 of Indian corn, and 75 of oats.
There are 3 surviving tax returns for William between 1872 and 1877. Unfortunately, they do not give the year on the returns but they are in sequence. On the first, William has 3 children between 6 and 18, so this would have had to have been in 1872 since that is the year Washington turned 18. He owned 706 acres of land, valued at $3580. He had $643 in cash or solvent debts. All other property was valued at $1032. This gave him a total value of $5255 and a taxable value of $5055. As a farmer, he did not have to pay the additional Professional tax.
On the next tax record he has 750 acres valued at $4641. He did not pay a poll tax, presumably because of his age. He owned household and kitchen furniture worth $300, livestock worth $810, and farm equipment worth $548, giving him a total value of $7554.
The final assessment for this set, so some point between 1874 and 1877, William's property has grown to 938 acres with a value of $4581. His household goods are valued at $300, livestock at $805, and farm equipment at $440 for a total property value of $6833.
In 1878 or 1879, his property is assessed as 870 acres worth $4241. His household and livestock have not changed significantly, $300 and $730 respectively, with $395 of farm equipment. That made his total property assessment for that year $6666.
1880 is the final census where William appears. He is a farmer, age 69, widowed. He states he was born in Georgia with his father born in South Carolina and his mother in North Carolina. He was not able to read and write. Also in the household were Lawson, 40, Andrew J, 38, Lee Roy, 30, Washington, 26, and Linton Stephens, 23. Lawson and A.J. were listed as farmers. Lee Roy and Washington were described as 'working on the farm' and Linton as a physician. All were listed as single, although in Lawson's case that is only technically correct. All were also listed as unable to read and write. They could all certainly write their names but Linton in particular, as a university graduate, was highly unlikely to be illiterate.
William has not been found on the 1880 agricultural schedule but neither have his sons. The extant schedule for that area is not in good physical shape and there are several Williams for whom the surname cannot be read.
William's tombstone states that he died in 1894. However, the tombstone appears to be much newer than the grave and may have been added considerably after the fact. In his estate records, his son Lawson, the executor, states that he died on 6 January 1889. He died intestate but Lawson was granted letters of administration on the estate. Lawson took out a $12000 bond for this, witnessed by 3 of his brothers. He first estimated the value of the estate at close to that, including 1000 acres of land and personal property but shortly afterwards changed that to $6200. Lawson quickly requested permission to sell all perishable goods as well as some of the land.
The land sale was to pay off debts and to facilitate dividing the estate among the children. The land was described as The Home place, 250 acres, the Mathis/Mathews place 500 acres and the Watkins place 249 acres. This was later revised to be as follows:
The Mathews place - 310 and 3/4 acres bounded by J.C. Duggan and J.L. Garner on the North, A.M. Mathews and T.G. Duggan and T.J. Cummings on the East, and by his own land on the South and West.
Also 20 acres adjoining lands of J.M. Archer on the North, East by T.T. Brown, South by J.J. Garner, West by John Garner.
Also 33 acres of land near Union Church, bounded on the North by G.W. Garner, East by Duggan, South by Duggan and West by G.W. Garner.
The Home place was 503 acres bounded on the North by S.A. Garner [his sister Sally Ann], J.L. Duggan, East by his own lands and T.J. Cumming; South by G.E Walker, J.E. Garner, A. J. Garner and J.C. Duggan; West by S.A. Garner and L. S. Garner.
After the land, crops, and personal items were sold, each of William's heirs received $466 in January 1890, an additional $275 each in 1891, and $10 in 1892. Sarah Elizabeth's share, which would have gone to her children, was dispersed to their father J.P. Carr, who was designated as the guardian.
William and Sarah Johnson Garner had the following children:
- Minerva. Born 7 Nov 1838, supposedly died 8 August 1867. Never married and no children.
- Frances (Fannie), born 16 Dec 1839, died 6 Dec 1911, buried at Union Baptist Church cemetery in Washington county. She married James Roberts in 1880 and her widowed brother-in-law John P. Carr in 1889. She did not have any children.
- John Lawson, born 18 Aug 1841, died 7 Jan 1897, buried at Union Baptist church. He married Mary Victoria McCook on 18 Aug 1892, after they had already had four children.
- Andrew Jackson (A.J.), 23 March 1843 - 23 Dec 1911. Buried at Union Baptist Church. Never married and no children.
- William Columbus (seen in some family records as Christopher Columbus or just Columbus), born May 1845, married Mary Catherine Dutenhoefer 15 Dec 1867. Date of death has not been determined. He may be the W.C. Garner of the correct age who appears in the Milledgeville Asylum in 1910 and 1920. When his brother A.J.'s estate was distributed in 1911, his son Hollifield signed as his guardian, indicating some sort of incapacity. He had 7 children.
- James Thomas, 29 Feb 1848-17 Jun 1926. He is buried at Balerma Baptist church in Hancock County. He married Louise Victoria McCray on 27 Dec 1877 and they had 6 children.
- Lee Roy, 4 Jun 1850- 3 Nov 1932. Twin brother to Green Lee, buried at Union Baptist Church. He married Catherine Lou Dutenhoefer and they had 5 children.
- Green Lee, 4 Jun 1850 - 14 Mar 1930. Married first Amanda Lou Walker on 21 Jan 1879 and then Hattie Gheesling on 18 Jan 1884. Buried at Union Baptist Cemetery.
- Louvenia (also seen as Lavinia and her tombstone says Lounera), 6 Dec 1852 - 6 Nov 1897. Buried at Union Baptist Cemetery. Married Green Mills on 27 April 1879. They had at least 3 sons but only one lived to adulthood.
- Washington Moses, 11 Aug 1854 - 28 Sep 1896. Buried at Union Baptist Church. He married Claudia May Hood on 2 May 1889 and they had 3 children. She later married a second time to Lee Blount.
- Linton Stephen, 16 Nov 1856 - 26 Sep 1893, Buried at Union Baptist Church. He was a medical doctor. He married Addie Lee Archer on 11 Sep 1881. They had 4 children of whom one died as a young child. After his death, Addie married a second time to Oscar E. Smith.
- Sarah Elizabeth (Lizzie), 16 Jun 1858 - 19 May 1889. Buried at Union Baptist Church. She married John (J.P.) Carr, but date of marriage is unknown. They had 5 children. After her death, John married her sister Fannie.
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