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JAMES MADISON CHAMNESS, named for the fourth U.S. President, was born in
McNairy County, Tennessee in February, 1814. It was there also that he married Mary Ann
Richardson on June 7, 1841. They met at a spring where she had gone for water and they
eloped from there.  When their 5th child was a year old, they moved to Texas. The year
was 1850 and the mode of travel was an ox wagon. Six weeks on the road brought them to
Rusk County, a few miles from Tatum. It was here they built a log house near Mary's
brother, Brooks Richardson.  Then in 1868, they moved to old Harmony Hill, where they
went into the mercantile business. They remained there until James's death in April of
1874.

James and Mary Ann Chamness had 13 children, including two sets of twins. They were:

STEPHEN MATTHEW CHAMNESS married Lara and they had one son.

BENJAMIN CLAY CHAMNESS married first, Amanda Adams and had 9 children. He
married second, Molly Young and had 6 more children. He married a third time and added
9 step-children to his family.

NANCY E. CHAMNESS married J.A. Coats and they had 3 children.

PERMILIA F. CHAMNESS married Jim Grigsby and had several children.

W.W. CHAMNESS died at the age of 21.

SUSAN P. CHAMNESS married John W. Bowen and had 6 children.

J.B CHAMNESS married Mollie Barber and had 2 children. Later he married Charity Z.
Williford and they had 6 children.

MARY P. CHAMNESS married William Craig and they had 4 children.

GEORGE B. CHAMNESS married Lara Board and had 1 child.

HENRY THOMAS CHAMNESS married Maggie Brasher and had 8 children. Later he
married Lizzie Singletary Copeland and they had 1 child. Henry died in 1917. A
horse-drawn funeral coach came from Carthage to Harris Chapel. On the way, in the
funeral procession, one of the horses suddenly fell dead from the heat and exhaustion.

SARAH CHAMNESS died at the age of 5.

LARA J. died at the age of 16 months.

*HARRIETT SAFRONIA CHAMNESS is my ancestor (great-great-grandmother) who married Thomas A. Crawford.
They had 7 children, listed under the CRAWFORD chapter.
 

Though the early Chamness history has not yet been confirmed as part of our ancestry, it is
likely a connection will be found and I shall include it here.

Anthony Chamness was born February 5, 1713 at East Smithfield, London, England and
died in September 20, 1777. He married Sarah Cole, daughter of Joseph and Susanna Cole.
Anthony landed in America at age 13. They had 14 known children. Their first children
were born in Frederick County, Maryland. The last were born in Orange County, North
Carolina, in an area that later became part of Chatham County. They lived in Cane Creek
and were Quakers at that time.
 

Anthony was married 4 times. He had many children.
His wives:   1. Sarah Cole  married November 24, 1735 St Paul's
                            Parish, Baltimore, Maryland.
             2. Rachel Beeson  married September 1, 1766 in NC
             3. Mrs. Margaret Williams  married May 9, 1778
             4. Margaret _____ married May 9, Cane Creek, NC

His 7th son from his first marriage was John Chamness, born 1749 in North Carolina who
married Charity Haworth. They had several children, then John took off and left them and
married a Sally Berry in East Tennessee where he had children. He left children William
Chamness, Berry Chamness and two daughters who were grown about 1820 or so and then
he went with Sally and the other children to southern Illinois where he died in 1825.

The Texas line of Chamness, James Madison Chamness, may be connected to William or
Berry Chamness of McNairy County Tennessee. No birth information has been found for
James's father Joab. Several of James' children were given the middle name "Berry".

While it is likely that our Chamness line descends from Anthony, only our connection to
Joab can be proved at this time.

1. PANOLA COUNTY HISTORY BOOK, published 1976, East Texas Genealogical Society, Tyler, Texas
2. NORTH RANDOLPH HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY, Vol II, No 2, 1968, p.51-52.
3. GENEALOGY OF COLBERT WOOD HENLEY FAMILY: Chamness Line 1725-26 to 1961.
4. ANCESTRAL FILE, Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.
5. CHAMNESS FAMILY IN AMERICA, by Zimri Hanson, 1922.
6. Cane Creek Meeting Records, Guilford College Library, NC.
7. HERITAGE series of genealogy books for Randolph County NC
8. GENEALOGY JOURNAL RANDOLPH COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, Vol III 1979, pgs 4, 42, 45
9. GENEALOGY JOURNAL RANDOLPH COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Vol XIV, #4, 1983, pgs 45, 48.
10.GENEALOGY JOURNAL RANDOLPH COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, #1, Vol VII, pg 46.
11.GENEALOGY JOURNAL RANDOLPH COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, #4, Vol X, pg 13, 14, 19,
12.GENEALOGY JOURNAL RANDOLPH COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Vol XI #1, 1987, 1803 Tax List, pgs. 5, 40.
13.GENEALOGY JOURNAL RANDOLPH COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, #3, Vol XII, 1988, pgs 25, 23.
14.GENEALOGY JOURNAL RANDOLPH COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, #3, Vol XIII pgs. 46, #1 pg 22
15.GENEALOGY JOURNAL RANDOLPH COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, #1, 1993, pg 8.
16.HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY INDIANA by Andrew W. Young, 1872,  reprinted 1967 by Eastern Indiana Publishing Co, pg 210
17.Randolph County Genealogical Society, Randolph County Public Library, 201 Worth Street, Asheboro, N.C. 27203
18.Panola County Historical and Genealogical Society, 211 N. Shelby Street, Cathage, Texas, 75633.
19.Accelerated Index System, Church of Latter Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.