The fourth born, and third son, of Col. Thomas Cargill Warner (1772-1833) and his wife Tabitha Warner (1776-1854), as detailed in Dr. E. Russ Williams, Jr.'s book "Kinsmen All Descendants of Wettenhall Warner and Related Families" - my sole source for this series of columns - was Thomas Coalter Warner (1800-1870). Born on January 25, 1800, he quickly became a devout Methodist, at least by 1822. Not only was Thomas Coalter Warner a Methodist minister, but he was a circuit rider. And he also wrote letters establishing his hard and fast faith.
In one such missive dated August 23, 1856, which Dr. Williams noted derived from the Ellis collection in the Louisiana State University Archives at the LSU Library in Baton Rouge, Thomas Coalter Warner noted that he rarely saw a particular, prominent couple at church. Chastising, he wrote, "Just such Methodists are a dead weight to the church and I am bound by the help of the Lord to have a change in such things then try to revive our class Meetings then and not until then we may look & Expect to see good times again in our church, I have been to several very good Meetings this year." He had, however, prefaced these remarks with the warning that "this is one of my Trying days & my hand in a dodging mood, so you must look over my Flirts & Flants…." as he proceeded to expound.
Wed to Jane Smith (1805-1846) on Christmas Day in 1825, Thomas Coalter Warner and his wife made their home at what became Warnerton. And, together, they had many children. Upon her death in 1846, Jane was buried in the Warner Cemetery. In 1850 Thomas Coalter Warner married Martha Ann Seals, who had been born in 1811, with whom he had two offspring. Like Jane, Martha was also buried in the Warner Cemetery. Upon his own death in 1870, Thomas Coalter Warner was buried in Texas where he had gone in search of a cure for cancer.
The first child of Thomas Coalter Warner and his wife Jane Smith Warner was Jeremiah Thomas "J. T." Warner who was born in 1826/1827 in Washington Parish. A cabinet maker, he also died in Texas where he had resided with his wife Mary Glass Warner and their large family. Diversified in work, J. T., also known as Jerry, fired a steam engine for a grist mill, made walking canes, and tanned hides, in addition to drawing his soldier's pension. Death befell him on February 1, 1911.
His daughter Lillie offered a poignant anecdote about her father, as related by Dr. Williams on page 42 of his book:
"While daddy was making furniture in Jefferson, his partner drank lots of whiskey. Daddy began to drink, and his coming home became later each night. Mother didn't reprimand him about it, but she realized what it would mean if he kept on drinking. One night when the children were in bed, she put out all the lights and went to bed. When he got home, he said, 'Well, what's the matter? Why did you put out all of the lights?' She replied, 'Well, at the way things are going now, it won't be long until we won't have money to buy coal oil.' That was all she said, but I later remember my father telling me that he decided that he had better quit. That was the last time he was known to take a drink."
The second child of the Warners was Salena Arvozena/Arvezina Jane Warner (1829-1911). Marrying Elisha Brumfield in 1845, the couple lived near what is now Warnerton. Like her father before her, Salena was a devoted Methodist. After Brumfield's death, she married Elbert Green Haley, a widower from Pike County, Mississippi, in 1861. There were children from both marriages.
The third child of Thomas Coalter Warner was Saleta Azalena Paine Williams (1830-1917). She married Owen Lewis Conerly of Marion County, Mississippi, in 1852. A member of the Holmesville Guards, Conerly was killed during service in the Civil War after which his wife Saleta moved with her children to Texas where she raised them and lived until her death in 1917.
The fourth child of Thomas Coalter Warner was Daniel Cornelius Warner (1833-1907). Around 1862 he married Laura Drucilla Holmes. A private, he served in Co. A, 3rd Wingfield's LA Cavalry. Daniel was devoted to Laura, and together, the couple had several children. They are buried in the Warner Cemetery.
The fifth child was Richard John Haney Warner (1835-1906) who married Julia Dickerson Belote and who is buried in Texas. Records show that he served in Company B, 16th Louisiana Infantry, as a private, enlisting in September of 1861. He spent part of his service time in the Civil War in hospitals in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Dalton, Georgia. He recognized the prevalence of typhoid, small pox, and similar diseases in a letter written to Mollie Brumfield, discovered in the Bible belonging to Salena Warner Brumfield Haley and owned by Woody Haley of Bogalusa. Yet, Richard John Haney Warner survived the war and all the maladies that went along with it. He and his wife Julia had a large family tied to Texas.
The sixth child Tabitha Joanna Holly Warner, born on January 23, 1837, died at the young age of five and is buried in the Warner Cemetery at Warnerton. The seventh child George Washington Dudley Jones Warner, born on February 23, 1838, died as a young fellow and is also buried in the Warner Cemetery.
•Stay tuned for a continuation of the children of Thomas Coalter Warner.
