JOHN CALLIER FAMILY

John Callier/Caller was born about 1756 in the region of Granville County, NC, that would become Warren County. His parents were Robert and Jemima Callier/Caller. By 1780 he was a colonel of the North Carolina Militia, and a DAR line has been established on him. In 1781 he married Sarah Wood in Warren, daughter of William Wood, Jr., and Martha Kendrick. In 1784 John left, sold out to his father Robert, Sr., and they left for new lands in Wilkes County, Georgia, where he became a captain of a militia district there.

In 1804, he wrote a letter to the President of the United States from his plantation "New Canaan", today called Callier's Hill, in the Tombigbee region of the Mississippi Territory, present day Washington/Clarke counties of Alabama, in which he stated, "I came to the Tombigbee in the year '97. In the year `98 I moved a large family white and black to this country where I have continued to reside. Ever since the organization of the courts of justice in the Mississippi Territory, I have had the appointment of Presiding Justice in the County Court and Chief Justice of the Orphan's Court." Colonel John Callier of the 3rd Regiment was also the leading militia officer of the region, a great responsibility because of the Indian threat on the frontier. Many petitions to Congress from the area bear his name during this time. In 1806 he was a member of the MS Territorial legislature, of the Fourth and Fifth General Assembly.

John was a passionate American patriot, always seeking ways of ridding the region of Spanish control. In 1807 Aaron Burr, the former Vice President accused of treason, was arrested on his flight from Natchez near John's home on the Tombigbee where he had hoped to make connections with the Callers whom he knew were sympathetic to removing of the dons who imposed a 24% tax on goods in the region.

In 1810 John and his brother, James, were again involved in a similar filibustering episode when they became leaders, along with Reuben Kemper and James Kennedy, in the "Mobile Society," a group who hoped to free the port from Spanish control. The plot was foiled and members of the group arrested by the territorial judge, Harry Toulmin. However, popular opinion was so great on behalf of the uprising that the Callier/Caller family were never punished for their actions. The attack led to more Federal notice of the remote region and ultimately to Alabama statehood.

John died in 1816, and his estate was administered in Clarke County, Alabama, by his son Robert. Children of John and Sarah Callier included Robert, Caroline Ann, Mary "Polly", George Washington, and James. Robert married (2) Harriet Fenley; Caroline married John McGrew, Jr.; Mary married John Flood McGrew; and James married Martha Yocum.  Many family members who did not remain in Alabama migrated to Glaiborne County, Mississippi, and Texas.

©2004 by Sue Burns Moore No portion of this any document appearing on this site is to be used for other than personal research.  Any republication or reposting is expressly forbidden without the written consent of the owner.