Key Facts

Snapshot:	shinglemaker
Parents:	244Presley Garner 245Margaret Hinson
Born:	circa 1808 Georgia
Last known record:	1870 census Carroll County, Georgia (There's also an 1876 Carroll County tax digest that seems to include 122William, but I'm not certain.)
Buried:	unknown

122William Garner was born circa 18081,2 (or circa 1812, according to one record3) in Georgia.1-3 His parents were 244Presley Garner4 and 245Margaret Hinson.5

This estate return proves that 244Presley Garner was 122William's father. Full page.4

245Margaret's will proves that 122William is her son. Full page.5

122William married 123Sarah McGraw in Meriwether County, Georgia on 17 March 1842.6

122William's and 123Sarah McGraw's marriage record. Full page.6

In 1850, 122William and 123Sarah were living in Coweta County. They had had three children.3 Both the 1850 and 1860 censuses show 122William's occupation as "shingle maker."1,3

1850: 122William's family in Coweta County, Georgia. Full page.3

By 1860, 122William had moved his family to nearby Carroll County.1

1860: 122William's family in Carroll County, Georgia. Full page.1

I haven't found 122William in any records created during the Civil War. Somewhat unexpectedly, I don't find him listed among Carroll County's men in the 1864 "Joe Brown" census. He may have moved temporarily to Alabama during the war, since the 1870 census shows that his son Jefferson was born in Alabama circa 1862.2

In 1867 the U.S. Congress passed several Reconstruction Acts. These Acts divided the former Confederacy into several military occupation zones, which were ruled by Union military commanders. The Acts also directed the commanding officers to register Southerners who wanted to vote in upcoming elections. One registration requirement was to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States; the obvious intent was to disfranchise any lingering Confederate resistance. 122William signed his oath on 24 June 1867. He was living in militia district 729 (map), Carroll County.7

122William's Reconstruction-era voter registration oath7

He was still in Carroll County in 1870. A few of his children were still living with him.2

1870: 122William's family in Carroll County, Georgia. Full page.2

The 1870 census is the last good record I've found pertaining to 122William. There are several entries of the name William Garner in Carroll County's mid-1870's tax digests, but of these, I find only one such entry from militia district 729 (the militia district where 122William was living in 18677), and that's only true for one year (1876).8 I suspect that there were multiple men named William Garner living in Carroll County around this time, and I can't differentiate the records with confidence.

Sources Cited:

1: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). District 10, Carroll County, Georgia. Page 29, dwelling 190, family 189, William Garner household. NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 113. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBG-4Z4?i=28&cc=1473181&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMZMH-5FH>, accessed 15 May 2021.

2: 1870 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). District 5, Carroll County, Georgia. Page 13, dwelling 100, family 100, William Garner household. NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 139. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-62YS-GDY?i=19&wc=KLSJ-3TL%3A518665401%2C518832801%2C518680901&cc=1438024&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMCSK-41X>, accessed 15 May 2021.

3: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Division 19, Coweta County, Georgia. Page 304a, dwelling 296, family 296, William Garner household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 66. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-65XX-LW?i=42&cc=1401638&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMZYK-B7Q>, accessed 15 May 2021.

4: Clarke County, Georgia. Returns and mixed records, book E (1820-1830), page 479. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893G-JVMQ?i=567&cc=1999178&cat=188782>, accessed 13 September 2021.

5: Clarke County, Georgia. Wills book B (1822-1842), pages 209-210. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893G-VPHX?i=286&cc=1999178&cat=279227>, accessed 4 September 2021.

6: Meriwether County, Georgia. Marriage book A (1828-1843), page 128, marriage of William Garner and Sarah McGraw, dated 17 March 1842. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9BZH-PHP?i=79&cc=1927197&cat=269741>, accessed 15 May 2021.

7: Georgia's 1867-1868 Voter Registration Oath Books. Volume 223 (Carroll County Book A), page 141, entry 4, William Garner. Ancestry.com ("Georgia, Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869"). Although I copied the image from Ancestry.com, the corresponding microfilm at the Georgia Archives is microfilm 296/71.

8: Carroll County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1876, section for militia district 729, entry for William Garner. Ancestry.com ("Georgia, U.S., Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892" / Carroll / 1873-1877 / images 581 and 582 of 971), accessed 13 September 2021.