John Lewis Machen

John Lewis Machen Family
South Carolina,Alabama, Arkansas

John Lewis Machen
b 1 Sept 1793 (?Newberry),SC d. 24 April 1883 Prescott, Ark
buried - Westview Cem., LaFayette, Chambers Co., AL%

m. Leah Renwick Dec 1815 Spartanburg, Laurens Co., SC
b 23 March 1794 Newberry Co., S.C.
d. 19 Nov. 1859 Lafayette, Chambers Co., Ark
buried - Westview Cem.,Lafayette, Chambers Co., AL %
her father - ? her mother - Agnes "Nancy" Renwick

father - James Machen
mother - Dorcas Payne

Children of Leah Renwick
James Henry Machen (Confed. vet.)	b.25 Sept 1816 * Greenville,SC	d. 1 July 1891* (from brother's bible record) buried- East Antioch Baptist Cem. Columbia Co. Ark	1m. Elizabeth ? 10 Jan 1847 * 2m. Elizabeth ?*
Nathan Renwick Machen (Confed. vet.)	b.22 Sept 1818 *# Greenville, SC#	d. Jan 1896 Bastrop/Lampasas?,TX*	m. Sarah Ementine House #* 7 Jan 1838 Pike GA b 1821 SC
Roseannah Jane Machen	b.26 Dec 1820 Greenville,SC#*	d. 30 July 1888 Chambers Co. AL* buried Westview Cem., Lafayette,AL	m. William Hampton Anderson c1842 died Lafayette, AL 15 Apr, 1854%*
John W. Machen	b. 25 May 1823 SC*	d. died young*	m.
Nancy Mariah Machen	b. 6 Oct 1831 GA#*	d. 24 Sep1866, Bastrop, LA	m. John Presley Renwich 22 Sept1858 @ Chambers Co.,AL (first cousin)*
Wm. Simpson Machen	b. 2 May 1828 GA# (31yrs in 1860 Chambers,AL)	d. Sept 1885 AR* buried- Fort Smith, Ark	m. Mrs. Sarah Wheat Crowell c1880 Camden-Ouachita AR*
John L. Machen Jr. (Confed. vet.)	b. 20 May,1833 GA*#	d. after 1880 Ark	m. Martha "Mattie" Burnes @ 21 Jan 1856@ 7 Feb 1855 Tallapoosa, AL*@
Franck Leonades Machen	b. 25 Feb 1836 GA#*	d. 21 Feb 1905 *Columbia Co, AR	m. Mary Susan Gladney Feb.1868 Columbia Co,AR*

#LDS records
@ Alabama Marriages
%Westview Cemetery Records, LaFayette, AL, photo courtesy of Pamela C. Kelly
*records of Laura Cleveland Edwards

1793-Sept 1 - John Machen is born to James Machen and Dorcas Payne in Greenville, South Carolina [LDS records of S.C.]

1812- Mar 3 - John Machen, Jr. enlists in the war with the Creek Indians in the Regiment of Captain Joshua Ingram with infantry company of Colonel Reuben Nash. He is discharged in Aug. 1813 in Abbeville Dist., S. C.
[affidavit of Feb.26, 1878. Bounty Land Grant Records]

1813-Feb. - He volunteers at Greenville, South Carolina, along with his father, Sergeant John Machen in the South Carolina Militia for the War of 1812.
[affidavit of Feb.26, 1878. Bounty Land Grant Records]

INDIAN WARS - John Machen "served as Sergeant in Captain Joshua Ingram's Company, Colonel Reuben Nash's Regiment of South Carolina Militia, in the war with the Creek Indians. He volunteered at "Touey's Old Field" in Greenville District, South Carolina."
[John Machen's pension applicaton, Arkansas Pensions, 1818-1900, p90]

1815- He marries Leah Renwick in Spartanburgh Dist., South Carolina.

1819-Leah Renwick Machen receives an inheritance of three slaves from the estate of her mother. see the continuing court battle in 1853.

1823-26 - He and Leah move to Georgia with their four children. Most of the other Machens had already moved in the Alabama by 1830. John and Leah remain at least through 1836 when their last child is born.

1838 - His son, Nathan, marries Sarah Ementine House in Pike Co., GA. John and Leah probably remain in Georgia until at least 1838 when they move to Alabama.
[Early Alabama Marriages,]

1850 - John Machum(sic) (57m)SC is here with Leah (56f) SC, children include William (23m), Nancy (18f), John Machum Jr.(16m), and Leonidas (14m). Also with them seems to be a granddaughter of Roseannah Jane who had married Wm. Hampton Anderson -- Elizabeth Anderson (7f) AL. All of the children where born in Georgia priocipallly because of the territorial disputes. [Chambers Co. p.269, AL]

1853- John and Leah Machen file suit against Henry Thompson and Shanks over the ownership of two slaves that they bought from Isaac Payne illegally. They are demanding the return of the slave Celia and the two children born to her since leaving South Carolin in 1843 to settle a debt the Machen's have in Alabama.

17 Ark. 199. Machein Vs. Thompson. Ark. Co. Chancery.
4 Oct . 1819 Nancy Renwick of S. C. conveyed to dau. Leah (Mrs. John Machin a Negro Sara & her ch. Spencer & Young. Afterward Mrs. Machin moved to Ga., then to Ala. In 1843 Isaac B. Payne took the slave Celia (dau. of Sara). Celia was b. 1828 Ga. & was sold by Payne in Memphis, Tennn. to Henry J. Thompson & Shanks in 1843. In Oct. 1843 Thompson bought Shanks' interest in Celia & brought her to Art. 3 mo. later. The ch. Jim & Elizibeth were b. to Celia, since 1843. In the Ala. cas MICHAN & WIFE VS. WYATT (21 Ala. Reporter 813) some of descendentgs of the slave Sara were levied upon for debts. The complainant Michan in Ala. case is the same woman complainant here under the name MICHIN. Mrs. Machin resided in Randolph Co., Ala. when she filed this action 21 Dec. 1853. affirmed. [Taunton. p. 174]

1855-Mar. 23 - At age 63, he appears before Nathan Y. Hunter in Chambers Co. AL to give an affidavit on his military service. He states he received a land grant of 80 acres in Cambers Co. AL, but he disposed of it legally. He is interested in obtaining the "aforesed Bounty Land to which he may be entitled under the act approved March 3, 1855. He also declares that he has not applied for nore received under this or any other act of Congress any Bounty Land except the one above mentioned."
[affidavit of Mar.23, 1855. Bounty Land Grant Records]

1859- Nov. 19- Leah Renwick Machen, John L. Machen's wife dies at age 65 in Chambers Co. AL, [Westview Cemetery Records, LaFayette, AL]

John L. Machen,
Westview Cem.,Lafayette, Chambers Co., AL
photo courtesy of Pamela C. Kelly

Leah Renwick Machen
Westview Cem.,Lafayette, Chambers Co., AL
photo courtesy of Pamela C. Kelly

1860 - John is (66m) living with R. J. Anderson (36f) millener in Chamber Co., AL. He is listed as a farmer but apparently his wife has died by this point and he is living with his widowed daughter Roseannah and her three children. Her husband,William Hampton Anderson , had died in 1854.
[Chambers Co, p724]

John's son Wm. S. Machen (31m carpenter )and Leonidaz (24m) are living nearby [Chambers Co., p727]

1861- 1865
Nathaniel and John L. Machen enlist in the Confederate army.

Machen, James H..; Co. A; 1 (Crawford's) Ark. Cav. ; Pvt/Pvt
Machen, J. L.; Co. G. 6 Ark. Inf.; Cpl/Cpl

Machen, Nathan R.; Co. E; 1 (Crawford's) Ark. Cav. ; Pvt/Pvt
1871- Feb. 14 - John Machen applied for benefits as a Veteran in the Indian Wars from the state of Arkansas.

War of 1812 pension application S. O. #29617, S. C. #21406. B. L. W. #13822-80-50 and #22274-80-55. Served as Sergeant in Captain Joshua Ingram's Company, Colonel Reuben Nash's Regiment of South Carolina Militia, in the war with the Creek Indians. He volunteered at "Touey's Old Field" in Greenville District, South Carolina. On 2 November 1850, John Machen, Senior, applied for Bounty Land in 1855 in Pickens District, S. C. His pension application was executed on 14 February 1871, he was a resident of Columbia County, Arkansas, however, he requested that correspondence be addressed to his son vis, John Machen, Prescott Station, Cairo & Fulton Railroad, Nevada County, Arkansas. In his application he stated that he was married to Leah Renwick in December 1815 in Spartanburgh District, South Carolina, but she had been dead many years. John Machen Senior died in Prescott, Arkansas on 24 April 1883.
[Arkansas Pensions, 1818-1900, p90]

According to Laura Cleveland Edwards and affadavits in the Bounty Land Grant files " one of the reasons we think John L. Machen died in Ark. Part of this is confused with the file of another John Machen in S. C. (probably, John Seaborn Machen (73 in 1850) but the later is surelly for John Lewis Machen. " He states that the confusion comes from the fact that John Machen Senr. was a sergent in the same regiment. He also states he is living in Neveda Co. in 1878. Frank Machen also lived in Nevada Co. Ark during this time.

1878- Sep 4 - John makes an affidavit before the county clerk of Nevada Co., Arkansas at age 86 to apply for additional land under the bounty law of 3 March, 1855.
[affidavit of Sep 4, 1878. Bounty Land Grant Records]

1883- 24 April - John Lewis Machen died in Prescott, Nevada Co., Arkansas.

source:

U. S. Census
Kelly, Pamela C. tombstone photos from Westview Cem., Chambers Co., AL- 1023 Lantuck Rd, Valley, AL 36854, pckelley@mindspring.com
Payne, Dorothy E., Arkansas Pensions, 1818-1900, Records of Some Ark Residents who applied to Fed. Gov. for Benefits Arising from Service in Fed. Military Org. (Rev. War, War of 1812, Indian and Mexican Wars, 1985
Early Alabama Marriages, Family Adventures, 1991, Vol. 26 (p1 & 2)and 28, p2, P. O. Box 290354, San Antonio, TX 78280-1754
Records of the LDS library, as of 1992, Alabama, Arkansas, and South Carolina Westview Cemetery Records, LaFayette, AL
Laura Cleveland Edwards records, 816 Perry Howard Rd, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526,
Bounty Land Grant Records, S. O #296171, SC #21406, BLW #13822-80-50, US Archives
Taunton, Joan Thurman. Abstracts of Arkansas Reports, January 1837 through January 1861. Ark. Gen. Society, P. O. Box 908, Hot Springs, AR 71902-0908, 1988

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