James Bohannan (b. 1765+5/-5) of NC

The Bohannans of NC, TN, IN, IA, MO

Acknowledgement- Thanks to Donna Staley

for the 1856 Iowa Census information on the Grammers and Bohannons, which led to the identification of Henry Grammer's wife as a Bohannon!

The wife of Henry Grammer (b. VA abt. 1808, d. IA? aft. 1870, m. TN 1827) is listed as Elizabeth "Betsy" Bohan (b. NC 1806, d. IA 1872) in Knox Co., TN marriage records. There are no other records for "Bohan," but there are a number of "Bohannan" marriages. Similarly, the 1830 Knox Co. TN Census lists no Bohans, but the family of James Bohannan (age 65+5/-5) appears there. All this suggests that Betsy's real surname is probably Bohannan. This is supported by the fact that the 1840 Census for Lawrence Co. IN, where Henry & Betsy Grammer had moved about 1831, lists James Bohannan Sr. and his son James Jr. in the same vicinity. Furthermore, after another move of Henry Grammer to IA in 1855, another Bohannan (William) appears as a next-door neighbor.

There appears to be another marital connection between the Grammers and Bohannans, via the Cools. Henry and Betsy (Bohannan) Grammer's daughter Clementine (b. TN 1831) married Alfred Cool (b. IN 1828). Alfred's father Jacob Cool had moved from KY to Orange Co., IN about 1821. In 1849, Jacob, a widower, married a Dorothy Bohannan (b. NC 1809) in neighboring Lawrence Co. IN. The next year, Dorothy Cool ("Cole") is listed in the IN census in the home of Mary A. "Buchanan" (age 69, b. NC), who was living very near James and William "Buchanan" (both b. NC). Here are some suggestive facts about these "Buchanans":

James and William are almost certainly Bohannans - William's wife and children have the same names as in the 1860 IA listing for William Bohannan mentioned above, and James's data agree exactly with those of James Bohannan Jr. in 1840.
Mary A. "Buchanan" is the right age (69) to be James and William's mother, and is also the right age to be James Bohannan Sr.'s widow. A striking feature of the census listings (see below) of James Bohannan Sr. is that he was considerably older than his wife.

As for Dorothy (Bohannon) Cool, there are a couple possiblities. She might have been James Sr.'s daughter, i.e. James Jr., William, and Betsy's sister. Census data for James Bohannan Sr. (see below) in 1820, 1830, and 1840 show a female of the right age range for Dorothy. Against this scenario is the fact that in 1850 she had a 9 year old daughter Betsy Ann "Cole" with her, though she and Jacob Cool were married in 1849. This would suggest Dorothy might have been married about 10 years earlier, in which case she might have been a Bohannan by marriage rather than birth. Still, I have found no record of another Bohannan family with a woman Dorothy's age in 1840 IN.

Census data for the Bohannans:

1790 NC, Stokes Co.
- James Bohannnan, 3 males >.16 y.o., 5 males <.16 y.o., 6 females, 1 slave
1800 NC, Stokes Co.
- James Bohannan, males 3 10-15 y.o., 2 16-25 y.o., 1 26-44 y.o., 1 >44 y.o.; females 2 16-25 y.o., 2 26-44 y.o., 1 >.44 y.o.; 4 slaves
1810 NC, Surry? Stokes? Co.
- James Bohannan, males 1 <10 y.o., 1 26-44 y.o.; females 2 <10 y.o., 1 26-44 y.o.
- Frances Bohannan, males 1 <10 y.o., 2 16-25 y.o.; females 2 16-25 y.o., 2 26-44 y.o., 1 >44 y.o.; slaves 5
- Elliott Bohannan, males 1 <10 y.o., 1 16-25 y.o.; females 1 <10 y.o., 1 26-44 y.o.
1820 NC, Stokes Co.
- James Bohanan, males 2 <10 y.o., 1 10-15 y.o., 1 >44 y.o.; females 2 10-15 y.o., 1 26-44 y.o.; 2 agric. workers
1830 TN, Knox Co., East Tennesee District, p. 332
- James Bohannon, males 2 10-14 y.o., 2 15-19 y.o., 1 60-69 y.o.; females 1 5-9 y.o., 2 20-29 y.o., 2 40-49 y.o.
1840 IN, Lawrence Co., Marion Twp.
- James Bohannon Sen'r, males 1 15-19 y.o., 1 70-79 y.o.; females 1 30-39 y.o., 1 50-59 y.o.
- James Bohannon, males 1 5-9 y.o., 1 20-29 y.o.; females 1 <5 y.o., 1 20-29 y.o.
Mary & Dorothy, 1850 IN, Lawrence Co., Marion Twp., Dw. 197, Fam. 197
- Mary A. Buchanan, 69 y.o., white female, b. NC, cannot read & write
- Dorothy Cole, 41 y.o., white female, b. NC, cannot read & write
- Betsy Ann ", 9 y.o., white female, b. IN, att. school
James Jr., 1850 IN, Lawrence Co., Marion Twp., Dw. 180, Fam. 180
- James Buchanan, 39 y.o., white male, Farmer, $1000 real prop., b. NC
- Eliza Buchanan, 37 y.o., white female, b. KY
- George W. Buchanan, 16 y.o., white male, Farmer, b. IN
- Caroline Buchanan, 13 y.o., white female, b. IN, att. school
- William G. Buchanan, 8 y.o., white male, b. IN, att. school
William, 1850 IN, Lawrence Co., Marion Twp., Dw. 176, Fam. 176, p. 336
- William Buchannan, 28 y.o., white male, Farmer, $75 real prop., b.NC
- Frances Buchannan, 27 y.o., white female, b. NC, cannot read & write
- Adeline Buchannan, 7 y.o., white female, b. IN
- Sarah J. Buchannan, 5 y.o., white female, b. IN
- Mary E. Buchannan, 2 y.o., white female, b. IN
- John Buchannan, 9 mo. o., white male, b. IN
William, 1856 IA, Jefferson Co., Des Moines Twp.
- William Bohannon, age 35, male, married, in state 1 year, b. NC, Farmer,
- Franky Bohannon, age 34, female, married, in state 1 year, b. NC
- Adaline Bohannon, age 13, female, in state 1 year, b. IN
- Sarah J. Bohannon, age 11, female, in state 1 year, b. IN
- Ellen Bohannon, age 8, female, in state 1 year, b. IN
- James Bohannon, age 4, male, in state 1 year, b. IN
- Mahala Bohannon, age 2, female, in state 1 year, b. IN
- Charles Bohannon, age _, male, b. IA
Note: the neighboring household is Henry & Elizabeth Grammer & family.
William, 1860 MO, Putnam Co., Breckenridge Twp.
- Wm. Bohannon, 40 y.o., white male, Farmer, $300 real prop., $400 pers. prop., b. NC
- Frances Bohannon, 39 y.o., white female, b. NC, cannot read & write
- Adaline Bohannon, 17 y.o., white female, b. IN, att. school
- Jane Bohannon, 14 y.o., white female, b. IN, att. school
- Ellen Bohannon, 12 y.o., white female, b. IN, att. school
- James Bohannon, 9 y.o., white male, b. IN, att. school
- Mahala Bohannon, 5 y.o., white female, b. IN, att. school
- Marshall Bohannon, 1 mo. o., white male, b. MO
William, 1870 MO, Putnam Co., Union Twp., Dw. 204, Fam. 204
- Bohanan, Wm. T?, 50 y.o., white male, Farmer, $900 real. prop. $500 pers. prop., b. NC, cannot read & write
- Bohanan, Frances, 49 y.o., white female, Keeps house, b. NC, cannot read & write
- Bohanan, James, 19 y.o., white male, At home, b. IN
- Bohanan, Marshal, 10 y.o., white male, At home, b. MO, Att. school, cannot read & write
- Bohanan, Geo W., 7 y.o., white male, At home, b. MO, Att. school
- Bohanan, Margaret, 5 y.o., white female, At home, b. MO
William, 1880 MO, Putnam Co., Union Twp., Dw. 266, Fam. 268
- Bohannan, W. T., white male, 60 y.o., married, Farmer, b. NC, father b. NC, mother b. NC
- Bohannan, Frances, white female, 59 y.o., Wife, married, Keeping house, cannot read & write, b. NC, father b. NC, mother b. NC
- Bohannan, Marshall, white male, 20 y.o., Son, single, Farmer, b. MO, father b. NC, mother b. NC
- Bohannan, Geo. W., white male, 18 y.o., Son, single, Farmer, b. MO, father b. NC, mother b. NC
- Bohannan, Margaret, white female, 15 y.o., Daughter, single, At school, b. MO, father b. NC, mother b. NC

If you can contribute something to this account of the Bohannan family, please e-mail information to me and it will be published here as soon as possible.
Thanks!

Larry Cool
e-mail: Larry.Cool@sbcglobal.net