South Carolina Wakefields in Indiana as early as 1812

In effort to determine which Wakefields, and their associated families, moved to Indiana from South Carolina and North Carolina I have been researching Franklin County records from the 1810s. At the Franklin County Pioneer Reunion held in October of 2008, I purchased a reprint of the 1882 book, Atlas of Franklin County by J. H. Beers & Co. where there were references to Wakefields joining the Little Cedar Grove Church in 1812.

On page 61 of the book, John Wakefield and Abel Wakefield are listed as new members of the church along with several familiar associated family members: Elizabeth Stucky, John Davis, Rebecca Davis, Leanah Loller, Mary Ann Loller, and Sally Davis. The Davis and Loller families are very closely tied to the Wakefields. Future research will be conducted to determine clarify the relationship of these families. John is listed as joining sometime between September 4, 1811 and July 4, 1812. Abel was listed as joining on August 1, 1812 in the church’s new meeting house. Further on the page, Sarah Wakefield is listed as joining the church sometime between 1814 and 1830. Listed with Sarah were some of the following familiar family names: Tyner, Gant, and Davis.

William Tyner was the minister of the Little Cedar Grove Church. The Tyners were land-owners in Abbeville County, SC as early as the 1770s and lived only a short distance from the Wakefields. It is possible that the Wakefields and Tyners are related by marriage since, in 1829, William Tyner Wakefield was born to William Wakefield and Polly Shirley. It is also a possible that the Wakefields gave William the middle name of Tyner to honor the minister of the Brookville church.

I recall a reference to the Abel leaving one of the Abbeville churchs and believe it was in/around 1812. Will try and track that reference down. I knew that Abel was in Franklin County in 1817 but was unsure of when the migration into Indiana occurred. Now the picture is become a bit clearer on when the Wakefield made the move to Indiana, where they went, and who made the move. Five years of Abel’s life has now been filled in.