Deeds of Sumter Co., SC, beginning 1800, show the following, abstracted: AA-134 Sumter Dist. Ezekial Hyatt, grantor; George Keller, grantee 150 acres situate on a branch of black river called Beaverdam Swamp in as has been called Claremont County; adj Robert Carter and all other sides by vacant land at the time of the original grant to Hugh Montgomery. --th day of October 1800 twenty-fifth year of the year of the independence of America. Wit: Henry Young; Abigail Young. (1)

The actual deed refers to original grants. "... as shall appear by a plat annexed to the original grant situate on a branch of the Black River called Beaverdam Swamp as has been called Claremont County bounded East by land laid out for Robert Carter and all other sides by vacant land at the time of the original grant granted to Hugh Montgomery."

There is also another tract of land which Keller deeded to Cook: 150 acres in Craven Co., now Sumter District, which George Keller purchased at a Sheriff's sale, date not stated. Another entry in Deed index for Sumter Co. is: Bk B "Kellar, George from James Carter per Sheriff Rogers, 1805, p. 400, Release." (2)

Another tract of land was conveyed: "forty-two and one-quarter acres situated on McGirt's branch, waters of Black River, Sumter District, bounded West by George Keller, North by George Keller, and South by John Dutust (?), said tract being conveyed to George Keller by Henry Young by Deed." The total number of acres, according to this conveyance, is 739 1/4 acres. Jean [sic] Keller, who signed with her mark, was interviewed privately and relinquished her dower rights 18 Dec 1810. Witnesses were Ezekiel Dubose and J. G. McWhorter.

Note that McGirts branch, Sumter Co., is mentioned in a deed or two of Cason Scott, (d. 1816) also of Sumter Co. Two of Scott's sons were to marry Keller daughters. A plat map accompanies the deed and is on page 508. Another watercourse shown on the map is Montgomery's branch. Most of the markings have to do with trees and measurements. Some neighbors noted: Jennings land (a neighbor of the Scotts also); John Linders (?) land; Weldings land; Grants land; Henry Youngs land.

Searches were made in South Carolina censuses of the surnames of grooms of Keller brides, as given in the Geroge Keller Bible record, as published by the Mississippi Genealogical Society.

1. There was an older David Davis in 1800 census, Sumter Co. Perhaps he was father or uncle of David Davis, who married Nancy (Ann) Keller in Wilkinson Co. in 1815. (She later married Ephraim Carnes, who died in Copiah Co., MS ca 1831. Nancy was a widow for many years. She retained the Keller Bible record, which was passed down to her descendants, and which was later transcribed and published by the Mississippi Genealogical Society.)

2. There was a John Rembert, an older man, in Claremont Co. in 1800, and there were five other Rembert families in Claremont Co., where the Scotts were living in 1800 census. A John Rembert claimed land in Mississippi Territory (AMERICAN STATE PAPERS, V. III, p....) It is to be noted that one Rembert family went to Harrison Co., TX. Refer to the WILLIAM ROSE OF SURRY CO., VA by Eunice Brooks Freese. [Privately published: Fort Worth, TX: 198?]

3. There was a Samuel Simpson in Laurens District in 1800, the year a Samuel Simpson and Elizabeth Keller were married. They may not have migrated to Mississippi-Louisiana Territory. The Bible record of the Keller family indicates Elizabeth died not long after the marriage.

4. Thomas Scott, who married Mary Keller in 1802, probably was counted in 1800 census with his father, Cason Scott in Claremont Co., which was later renamed Sumter Co.

The U.S. census indexes do not give adequate clues as to the whereabouts of George Keller prior to his move to Wilkinson Co., Mississippi circa 1812 or thereabouts. The reason is that he--or his namesake--may have been in Louisiana rather than across the border in Wilkinson Co, MS. His name appears in Feliciana Parish, LA, about 1811, according to AMERICAN STATE PAPERS, v. III, p. 472. His name is in a long list of names in a table entitled "Claims West of Pearl River," subtitled "Abstract containing a list of the names of settlers on land in that part of Louisiana which lies east of the Mississippi river and west of Pearl river, who have no claims thereto derived from either the French, British or Spanish Governments." His number by settlement is 105, and the date is as given above. when several Kellers appear in Wilkinson Co., MS census.

Prior to 1800, when we find several George Kellers listed in cenuses of Sumter Dist. and of Newberry Dist, SC, we find George Kellers in Chatham Co., SC: (Source: Accelerated Indexing Systems - Search 1)

Keller, Geo. - Chatham - 006 - TX 1793 (tax list)

Keller, Geo. - Chatham - 005 - TX 1792 (note to self: mixed twps)

Keller, Geo. P. - Chatham - 021 - TX 1806

The given names of Kellers in SC censuses, tax records beginning circa 1784 are Mary, et al (1784); David, Issac, Jacob, John.

1800 census shows three Kellers in Newberry District, SC, all on page 81:

George Keller - 10010 - 10100 - 00

Jacob Keller - 42010 - 11010 - 00

Adam Keller - 00001 - 00201 - 00

We deduce from the age categories that this other George Keller was a relative newlywed in 1800 as he had only two children and seemingly a young wife. However, the "George Keller Bible" record says George and Jane were married in 1782, twelve years earlier than the 1810 census, but yet Elizabeth Keller, their daughter, was married to Sam Simpson in 1800, according to the transcribed Keller Bible Record, which had at least one error in the name of a daughter. Had George Keller been married previously to the mother of Elizabeth Keller? Did George and his family follow the German custom of marrying after the birth of one or two children? Or, were their daughters child brides, a not unusual custom for the time or place? If the transcribed Bible record is correct and Elizabeth is indeed the child of Jane Moore (?), she probably was a child bride.

In the censuses cited above, Jacob Keller was the next eldest--he had the largest number of children and was of the same age group as George but had an older wife. Adam Keller and his wife had only two children--females--and they were in the oldest age category. Whether these Kellers are related is unknown, but we would suspect they were.

The1810 census shows George and Jacob Keller still in Newberry Co.--Adam has disappeared--and now there are Kellers, George and two Thomases, in Sumter Co., SC, where Cason Scott and his seven sons and two daughters lived. Based on the cited deeds, however, it appears Keller was in Sumter Co. at least as early as 1803 and as late as 1810.

Deeds of Newberry Co., showing some Kellers are as follows:

A-2-115 - Keller, Daniel (grantors) et al vs. Jno Owens 23 Aug 1805; rec. 7 Feb 1818 (Note: 1800 shows a Daniel Keller in Orange Co.)

A-2-416 - Keller, Jno ---- 10 Nov 1813; rec 30 Nov 1815

B-2 - Keller, Elizabeth et al vs exparte heirs Geo Keller; 18 Jun 1828; rec 18 Jun 1823??? (Note: Is this the George Keller who had now migrated to Mississippi? Keller's probate was in Mississippi, and his wife was named Jane, as seen in THE WOODVILLE [MS] REPUBLICAN and in the "Keller Bible Record.")

A history by Summer, NEWBERRY CO, SC (LAPL GEN R 975.71 N534Su) states this about the "Germans and Dutch Saxon Settlers":

"The Germans of the Dutch Fork section of the State were mostly from the regions of Heidleberg and were Palatines. They had fair or light colored hair and blue eyes; but there was, also, some evidence of an earlier amalgamation with French Huguenots who had fled from France into Germany and Holland, then sought refuge or moved into England; due to the French King's order to banish all Protestants. A mixture of German and French constituted mostly the types of people from Alsace-Lorraine from which came many settlers in colonies of Germans and Dutch to America, sailing from Rotterdam. They, as well as the English and Scotch-Irish, brought with them early customs, habits and dress peculiar to their countries." We do not know anything of Keller's European background but at least we know that there was in Newberry Co. a considerable group of Northern Europeans of Germanic background.

There are two Kellers in Orange Co., SC: F. and G. The 1820 census shows no Kellers in Sumter Co., SC. Land records of Sumter Co. imply that George Keller and his wife Jane had migrated to Mississippi Territory by this time.

It is to be noted that in 1808 one Thomas Young married Jane Keller (Keller Bible Record.) We surmise the marriage took place in SC as there are later Keller deeds in Sumter Co. It is also noted that Claremont Co. mentioned in the foregoing deed was the county where Cason Scott and family were enumerated in 1800 census. Other Keller deeds in Sumter Co. are 1805, 1812, as well as one by Jane in 1812 (dower). d. Sumter Co. RMC (Deeds): Index to Grantor and Grantee Conveyance 1802-1871 (AZ) C81113 (on film SU 1 at South Carolina State Archives):

AA - Kellar, George - fr Ezekiel Heath - 1803 - 134 - Release

B - Kellar, George - from James Carter per Sheriff Rogers - 1805 - p. 400 - Release

CC - Keller, George - to Jas. B. Cook - 1812 [506?] p. 500 - Release

CC - Kellar, Jane - to Jas B. Cook - 1812, p. 507 - Release

According to Keller Bible records located in Mississippi Genealogical Society Bible Records, V. II, George Keller's wife was Jane Moore. There were Moores in Newberry Co., SC evidently as early as 1785. See Robt Moore's deeds in Q-2, pp. 63 and 73 for dates. Partial list is in Keller file. Moore given names were: John, Oliver, Jno., Sr (1827), Robert, William.

The George Keller family who married into the Cason Scott family of Sumter Co., SC, later of East Feliciana Parish, LA, (many surviving members later were of Copiah Co, MS) are believed to have migrated from the same general area in South Carolina, if not the same place, Sumter District or Orangeburgh/Newberry Cos, SC, to the area of Wilkinson Co., MS or to Feliciana Parish, LA, across the border. As stated earlier, there was an early land claim for George Keller in Feliciana Par., LA, where several of the Scotts claimed land: Joseph and Cason Scott stated they settled 1816; Thomas Scott, 1818; W. D., Zachariah, James, Samuel T. Scott and brother-in-law, Joseph Howell, all in 1819. They are all listed on page 440 of V. 3 of AMERICAN STATE PAPERS. All except Joseph claimed land in Feliciana Parish. Joseph claimed land in East Baton Rouge. See land claim of Wm. P. Rose in his biography. Philip McMullin's GRASSROOTS OF AMERICA (973 R2M at LAFHC), index of ] AMERICAN STATE PAPERS (SL film 0908745 ff) shows the following listings for Kellers, indicating that they had public land claims in western lands, probably Louisiana and Mississippi:

KELLER

George..........3:472

Jacob.............3:227

John..............3:441 (compare with Scott brothers)

Jonas.............4:150; also 5:25

Nicholas........2:276

Peter.............3:55

Conrad.........5:367

Fred..............8:528

By 1820, we find four Keller households in Wilkinson Co., MS as shown below. We believe the George Keller family left South Carolina soon after the 1810 census, but some members may have left earlier. Interestingly, we do not find Cason Scott listed in 1810 census index of either SC or MS, although he did not die until 1816. Because of Scott's age (he died in 1816 at age 75, says his obituary in the Charleston TIMES), he may have been living with one of his sons at "High Hills, Santee District," his place of death, and the son may have been counted as "head of household."

A number of Keller men served in the War of 1812 in Mississippi Territory, Hinds Battalion of Cavalry, Mississippi Militia (Mrs. Dunbar Rowland, MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY IN WAR OF 1812 [Baltimore: 1968], p. 159). There are some of the same names we found in the earlier SC records:

Keller, George, private

Keller, George, Jr., private

Keller, George, Sr., private

Keller, Jacob, private

Keller, John, private

Keller, Joseph, private

Keller, Thomas, private

Of these, it is believed only George, Jr. is George Sr.'s son. Keller had one other son--Thomas, who married Sarah Clark in 1810. It is believed, based on county records, that Thomas may have married the widow of William D. Scott, son of Cason Scott the elder. Her previous name was Mary R. Clark.

The 1820 census for Mississippi shows these Kellers in Wilkinson Co.:

Joshua Kella [Keller?] (prob. age 26 to 45)

Francis Keller (prob. age 26 to 45) [Note: Francis Keller was an appraiser for inventory of Benj. Strother, dec., Dec 1818, Wilkinson Co.

(Wilkinson Co. wills, Bk 2-236.)]

George Keller, Jr. (age 26 to 45)

George Keller, Sr. (over 45)

George W. Keller (age 16 to 26) with one female child and female 16 to 26 (Subsequent records indicate he is the son of George Keller Sr.)

Thomas Keller (2 males age 16 to 26; 1 female 16 to 26)

By 1830 the MS census shows only two Kellers:

George W. Keller - Wilkinson Co. (age 20 to 40) 3-0-1-0-0//1-1-1-0-0

[Son of George Keller; wife Eleanor Waddell, who later remarried to James McDonald.]

Thomas Keller - Copiah Co. (age 40 to 60) 4-1-0-1-0//1-1-1-0-0 (He is believed NOT to be the son of George Keller who had the same name. A Thomas Keller, possibly a cousin, had married Margaret Keller, an older daughter of George Keller. We have been unable to trace this son-in-law named Thomas Keller.

(1) Index shows the grantor is Ezekiel Heath, which may be an error.

(2) Deed Index, which is labeled Sumter Co. RMC (Deeds): Index to Grantor & Grantee Conveyances 1802-1871 (AZ), South Carolina Department of Archives; also at Family History Library, Salt Lake City. They are also available at the Dallas TX Public Library Genealogy Room. and at the SC State Archives, Columbia, SC.