Clemeth CAVENDER

                   INFO. FROM SYBIL MCRAY,PO BOX,491,GAINESVILLE GA.30501 1800/1810,CENSUS PENDLETON DIST. S.C.
1820/30 CENSUS OF HALL CO. GA.
CAVENDER FAMILY FROM WESTMORELAND CO.VA. TO SPARTANBURG DIST. & THEN TO PENDLETON DIST,S.C.  BEF., 1820,CLEMETH WALKED TO N.E.GA.
AND SELECTED A HOMESITE IN THE CHEROKEE NATION. HE THEN RET. TO S.C.
BRINGING HIS FAM. TO GA. NEAR WHAT IS NOW NEAR THE HALL AND LUMPKIN CO.
LINE.  MARRIED DAUS. FANNIE AND BETSEY CAME WITH THEIR FAM.
THEY LIVED NEAR THE INDIANS ON FRIENDLY TERMS.
(The following Information is from "Montgomery Memories 2002" The Clemeth Cavender Story.)
"On a hilltop, shaded with towering ancient trees, is the family burial plot of the Cavender-Barnes family.  The area is enclosed by a fence for protection from cattle grazing in the rolling meadows which surround the cemetery.  Clement CAvender, who came to this part of North Georgia, settled here while it was yet the Cherokee Nation.  The cemetery is located off  Highway 60, turn right on Highway 115 at Murrayville, go three miles and then right on a dirt road that will lead directly to the gates of the burial plot.  Herein are buried the Cavenders and descendants by names of Barnes, Abercombie, Head, Pierce, Stewart and Truelove.  Family tradition says that Clement Cavender walded to Northeast Georgia from South Carolina, selected the age when the family moved to Georgia.  That she well remembered that there was no bridge across the rivere where Thompson Bridge is now located.  The family camped along the river banks until Clemth could build a raft which required cutting logs and stringing them together with strong vies.  After the raft was completed Clemeth carried the horses across the river, to test the strength and safety of the raft, and then returned for the family and other belongings.  Clemth's daughter also told that no road existed at that time and the family riding in the wagon made very slow progress as the father walked in front, slahing away with an axe trying to clear a pth of travel.
The Cavender family lived nearby and on friendly terms with the Cherokee Indians.  A small creek near the Cavender home became a gathering place for the Indian squaws because of the water and small trees furnished the items for weaving baskets.  These baskets were sold or traded to white settlers for items they wanted.  The 1800 Census of Oconee County, S.C., enumerated an Ezekiel, James and Clemeth Cavender.   A catherine Cavender married Elijah Cornwell about 1783, perhaps in Dinwiddie County, VA.  James CAvender was enumerated in Spartanburg District, S.C., in 1790.  Cornwell moved to Jackson and then Jasper County, GA., and it seems that some of the Cavenders removed from South Carolina to Georgia about the same time.
       Clemeth Cavender was enumerated in the 1820 census of Hall County, GA.  Living in the family were three males under 10 years of age, one male between 10 and 16 years old, one female between the ages of 10 and 16, and one female between the ages of 26 and 45.  The family owned two female slaves.
      The headstones in the cemetery as inscribed: Clemeth Cavender, Sr. born Jan 4, 1774, died Feb. 14, 1836.  Rebecca, wife of Clemeth Cavender, born Oct. 5 1778, died Jan. 29, 1852.
       Family records give the information that Clemeth Cavender was born in Virginia.  He was married to Rebecca Dedman either in Noth or South Carolina.  Rebecca Didman was born in North Carolina.  (The name is often spelled Deadman.)
       The will of Edmond Deadman recorded in Rowan County, N.C. (Will Bk. G, p 287) names his daughters, wife, and sons. "16 July 1808...to beloved wife Elizabeth Deadman as much of my House Hold goods and Kitchen furniture as she shall think proper...to my son Elijah Deadman... to my five daughters, Namely: Elinor Poor, Elizabeth Hainline, Temperance Cross, Comfort Spriggs, and Rebecca Cavender, which Money is to be paid to my above Mentioned daughters as soon as may be convenient after the money is collected on their making application for the same which money I will to them their heirs and assigns forever.  I will unto my son William Deadman the Tract of land whereon I now live said to contain two hundred and nine acres and a Quarter...reserving for my wife the Mansion House and other buildings..."
The witnesses were William Lane and Isaac Baker and the will wa proven in court August 1813.
      It is not known if Clemeth Cavender served in the military.  He was the right age to have enlisted in the war of 1812.  Records hsow that he was a fortunate drawer in at least two of the Georgia Land Lotteries and drew lots in Habersham and Cherokee Counties.
      Clemeth and Rebecca Dedman Cavender were parents of twelve children. (possibly) A reconstructed chart of the family lists names and ages that are believed to bet their siblings.
     Clemeth Cavender moved his family from South Carolina to Georgia prior to 1820.  He was enumerated along with his family in the 1820 census of Hall County.  Clemeth Cavender walked from his home in South Carolina, according to tradtion, to Geargia and selected a tract of land on which he wished to settle.  He then returned to his home state and brought his family, a wagon, horses and other belongings. to this area and settled near Murrayville.
     A long deserted two-story, three or fouur room log house still stands as a reminder of these early settlers.  Windows are open spaces and the house in now in use as a place for storage for hay and fodder.  A descendant said the first abode built by Clemeth Cavender was very rustic and hastily erected.  The two-story house was built a few years later.  Grandchildren of Clemth and Rebecca Dedman Cavender, several times removed, still live near the old homeplace.  Numerous descendants are scattered throughout Northeast Georgia and all the western states.