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Ebenezer Folsom

Ebenezer Folsom was living in Lowndes County by 1840. The original census schedule names a household head indexed as “Ebenezer Tolsom,” with Ebenezer Folsom supplied as an alternate reading. Ten years later, the original Lowndes County census clearly records Ebenezer J. Folsom, a thirty-three-year-old Georgia-born farmer, in a household with Priscilla J. Folsom and seven younger residents.

Land records place him more precisely. A deed dated November 21, 1859 conveyed Ebenezer G. Folsom 245 acres in District 12, Land Lot 259, then in Brooks County. Another deed records Ebenezer G. Folsom conveying fifty acres in November 1859. The deed indexes establish his presence in Brooks County, although the recorded instruments still need to be opened and transcribed.

The 1860 Brooks County census records E. J. Folsom, age forty-three, with Priscilla J. and a household that continues the 1850 family. The schedules therefore verify Ebenezer J. and E. J. as the same man. The deed indexes use the middle initial G, and later cemetery and family sources call him Ebenezer George Folsom. His complete name should remain qualified until an original record resolves the difference.

An 1861 Brooks County deed-index entry independently names Priscilla Jane Folsom as the grantee of 485 acres in District 13, Land Lot 106. Later tax and deed indexes document her property record, and the 1870 census records Jane as head of the continuing household. These records verify her full married name and independent landholding. The maiden surname Rogers remains secondary-supported because no inspected original record supplies it or names her parents.

A 1938 Folsom genealogy identifies Ebenezer as a son of George Folsom and Edith Penny and a brother of Thomas, Israel, Pennywell, and Elizabeth Folsom. That reconstruction is secondary-supported because no inspected original record names the parents. The same body of evidence, combined with the census household chain, makes Ebenezer the strong-probable father of Israel Lee Folsom, the later Barney farmer and railroad promoter.

Ebenezer now qualifies as a supplemental early settler through his 1840 and 1850 census record. The 1859 deeds place him more precisely in Brooks County. They do not place his home at the later Barney townsite; his documented Barney connection runs through his son Israel Lee.

Sources

  1. 1840 U.S. census, Lowndes County, Georgia, p. 239, “Ebenezer Tolsom,” alternate Ebenezer Folsom, NARA M704 roll 45; Ancestry collection 8057, record 1792507, image 4411334_00491.
  2. 1850 U.S. census, Lowndes County, Georgia, p. 386A, line 10, dwelling/family 354, Ebenezer J. Folsom household, NARA M432 roll 75; Ancestry collection 8054, record 18780820, image 4193244-00506.
  3. 1860 U.S. census, Brooks County, Georgia, Tallokas post office, p. 676, dwelling/family 183, E. J. Folsom household, NARA M653 roll 112; Ancestry collection 7667, record 10752873, image 4211371_00024.
  4. 1870 U.S. census, Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, p. 92B, dwelling 195, Jane Folsom household, NARA M593 roll 137; Ancestry collection 7163, record 3690105, image 4263363_00188.
  5. 1880 U.S. census, Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, ED 4, p. 319D, dwelling 658, P. J. Folsom household, NARA T9 roll 135; Ancestry collection 6742, record 7465655, image 4240127-00283.
  6. Brooks County deed grantor index, Thomas F. Rogers to Ebenezer G. Folsom, warranty deed dated November 21, 1859, recorded January 14, 1860, Deed Book A, page 265, 245 acres, District 12, Land Lot 259; FamilySearch image 3:1:3Q9M-C9BC-JH24-5; user-supplied image reading.
  7. Brooks County paired deed indexes, Ebenezer G. Folsom to Seaborn Jones, warranty deed dated November 18, 1859, recorded December 2, 1859, Deed Book A, page 221, fifty acres; FamilySearch images 3:1:3Q9M-C9BC-V3CY-1 and 3:1:3Q9M-C9BC-V7VJ-6.
  8. Elizabeth Knowles Folsom, Genealogy of the Folsom Family, vol. 2 (1938), pp. 896–897 and 902.
  9. Find a Grave memorial 105112038, Ebenezer George Folsom; used as derivative support for the expanded name, dates, spouse, and family links.
  10. Israel Lee Folsom profile and supporting census, marriage, newspaper, probate, and cemetery evidence: https://www.barneyga.com/railroad-people/i-l-folsom/.