Amanda J. Dunford ^78,183

   Another name for Amanda was Mandy Honaker.¹⁸⁴

  General Notes:

Email from Max Ervin dated August 19, 2000:

Don,

The background on Amanda, wife of JFM Carty, is rather complicated. She is first found in the Russell Co 1850 census in the household of William Akers (HH #1056) at age 2, and listed as Amanda J. Dickenson. There is also a Henry Dickenson, age 1. In working with some Dickenson researchers, particularly with a descendant of this young Henry, we have come to the conclusion that this is Amanda Dunford, born out of wedlock to Rosannah Dickenson and William F. Dunford.

The first clue came from the following from a descendant of this Henry:

"In 1988, I went to a Dickenson family gathering in Kingsport and talked to 12 old folks, all granchildren of Henry Dickenson, and none of them could shed any light on the subject, except to confirm that Henry had a sister named Amanda. However, one 81 year old lady in a wheel chair told me the following: When Henry was one year old his father had left home and his mother in desperation placed Henry at a table with food and then went out and jumped off a "lover's leap" killing herself. That his true name was Dunford and not Dickenson, and that it was all recorded in a Bible her mother had."

This was disregarded at the time, because her daughters said she was imagining it, that there was no Bible. But, she and her daughters went on to say they had visited Amanda several years previously on Copper Creek, that she had married a "Carter" or something like that, and that one of Amanda's daughters had married a Ring.

The specifics are off a bit, in that Rosannah and Wm Dunford did marry in 1855, and Rosannah's suicide may have been around 1857, after the birth of Robert, not Henry.

I am attaching my notes on Rosannah and her father Edmund Dickenson. As you can see, some of it is speculation, but the pieces seem to fit. It's somewhat messy, resulting from converting it to .txt, but it should be readable if you apply "Word wrap".

Regards, Max

  Noted events in her life were:

1. Census: #1056, Age 2, Russell County, Virginia, 1850.

Amanda married John Franklin Mcilhenney Carty, son of Thomas J. Carty and Caroline Porter. (John Franklin Mcilhenney Carty was born on 12 Jun 1845 in Russell County, Virginia, died on 2 Jun 1925 in Russell County, Virginia and was buried in John Franklin Mcilhenney Carty Cemetery, Russell County, Virginia.)