Pierre Chastain "The Immigrant" and His Continuing Influence (part 2) Learning From the Past - Shaping the Future

Dr. Pierre Chastain (ca. 1659-1728) , known as “The Immigrant,” made giant ‘footsteps in the sands of time’ in at least three of the four areas pinpointed: improved living conditions, religious life, economy and agriculture.

Let us look briefly at his family for whom he sought to leave a memorable legacy. He and his first wife, Susanne Renaud, had eight children: Jean Adam, Marie Susanne, Pauline Elizabeth, Pierre, Arthuze, Jeanne Francois, Pierre Samuel, and Suzanne. Of these, seven died young, leaving only Jean Adam Chastain of his first children to carry on the Chastain name. Susanne Renaud and four of their children died by 1701 in Manakin Town, Virginia.

By his second wife, Anne Soblet. Pierre Chastain had eight children. Perhaps living conditions were more conducive to rearing children in a healthier atmosphere for six of eight of these lived to adulthood and married. The children of Pierre and Anne were: Judith, Susanna, Pierre (Jr.), Mary, Elizabeth, Rene, Janne and Mary (Marie) Magdalene. Of these, Mary and Janne did not marry, died young. Pierre Chastain married, third, to widow Mary Magdalene Trabue but had no children by her. All of you gathered at the Pierre Chastain Reunion in 2011 have traced your roots back to your inimitable ancestor, Pierre, the Immigrant, over whose name we proudly write the superscription 1.

Not to show partiality, by any means, but by way of illustration, I have selected stories of Chastain descendants from several generations to bear out the truth that many of Pierre’s progeny did, indeed, make a difference in the four areas of society we have named: (1) improved living conditions; (2) religious life; (3) politics and government; and (4) agriculture and the economy. Let us learn from their lofty examples and make a difference now and in the future. Selections include (and there could be many more):

Rev. John “Ten Shillings Bell” Chastain (1743-1805), third generation, son of Pierre Chastain and Mildred Archer Chastain. He was born in Manakin, Goochland County, Virginia. His migrations took him to various places. He died and was buried at Table Rock in Pendleton District, Pickens County, South Carolina. He had a distinctive nickname: “Ten Shillings Bell.”

It has been reported that this minister of the gospel, in association with such well-known evangelicals at the time as the Rev. Shubael Starnes and others of the “Great Awakening” movement on the frontier, was known for his resonating voice, one that carried well to great crowds gathered to hear the gospel. The cost for a well-wrought bell, one that resounded clearly, was ten shillings. Hence the nickname, a compliment to Rev. John Chastain’s ability as an orator and preacher. Before the term “church planter” was known in American parlance, Rev. John Chastain traveled far and wide establishing and strengthening churches of what became the Baptist faith. In Western North Carolina in 1774, an area that became Sullivan County then Carter County, Tennessee, he ministered at the Sinking Spring Baptist Church. Moving about forty miles to Pendleton District in South Carolina (Pickens County) in 1790, he preached there, then became pastor of the Middle Saluda Baptist Church in the Greenville District. He founded the Oolenoy Baptist Church in Greenville District in 1795 and became its first pastor. Prior to leaving Virginia, he signed an oath of allegiance at the beginning of the Revolutionary War to be faithful to the colonies. Anyone tracing their ancestry back to the Rev. John Chastain can claim him as a patriot to qualify for membership in Sons and/or Daughters of the American Revolution. In all four areas of our consideration, the Rev. John “Ten Shillings Bell” Chastain made giant steps in the sands of time. John Chastain and his first wife Mary O’Brien had eleven children: Abner, John, Jr., Martha, Edward Brigand, Mary, Elijah, Elizabeth, Cleo (Chloe), Benjamin, Nancy and Joseph. Following Mary O’Bryan Chastain’s death about 1797, he married, second, a widow, Mrs. Mary Robinson. Their children were Violet, William and Mary Lavinia.

Rev. John Chastain’s son, Benjamin (1780-1845), was selected as an Indian agent and settled in 1837 on the Toccoa River (Union County) in what became Fannin County, Georgia (1854). The story of his work in dealing with the Indians on land sales, and heading up Ft. Chastain, a holding station for the Cherokee prior to the Trail of Tears, was the subject of an earlier Chastain article.

Next in our line of Chastain greats is the Rev. Abner Chastain, (1803-1871), fifth generation from Pierre the Immigrant, and tenth of fifteen children of Edward Brigand Chastain (1769-1834) and Hannah Brown Chastain (1771-ca 1832-1837). Migrations and land holdings show that this Abner Chastain (not to be confused with his uncle by the same name, son of Rev. John “Ten Shilling Bell” Chastain) was born on Christmas Day, 1803 in Pendleton District, South Carolina. His parents took him to North Carolina by 1809. Just where and when Abner Chastain was ordained a Baptist preacher, we have not discovered the record. However, in minutes of Choestoe Baptist Church, Union County, Georgia (organized perhaps by 1832; minutes intact and preserved from 1834 to the present), this Rev. Abner Chastain was pastor. Like his grandfather, Rev. John Chastain, Abner was a church planter, leading Choestoe Church to assist with organizing other churches within the vicinity of the mountain region. According to history, 1869 had been a bad crop year due to draught and depleted lands. Rev. Abner Chastain led in organizing a massive wagon train of 250 people and started the long trek west to Colorado to settle on lands available there. We can only imagine the responsibility of leading enough wagons to accommodate a crowd of 250 men, women and children, and the hardships, illnesses and challenges they faced along the journey. Abner’s first wife, Susan Pemberton O’Kelley, may have died on the way west or shortly after they settled there at the Heurfano River two miles east of St. Mary’s at LaVeta, Colorado. True to form, Rev. Abner Chastain soon started a church in the new settlement. In the fall of 1870 he baptized the first convert there in the Heurfano River. He married, second, Amanda Elzy, Unfortunately, Rev. Abner Chastain died of pneumonia on April 1, 1871, leaving behind a new settlement and a church without the dynamic of his much-needed leadership. But he, too, even in his 67 years of life, added significantly to Chastain “footsteps in the sands of time.”

[Next: Elijah Webb Chastain, political leader; Oscar Fitzallen and Zenobia Chastain, educators; and Jason Coward Chastain, farmer, in the saga, “Learning from the Past - Shaping the Future.”]

c2011 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Sept. 15,2011 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Some Chastains Were in Union County by 1834

Chastain is a surname heard often in the mountain region of North Georgia. It is a steadfast family name and people who bear it (spelled variously Chasteen, Chastaine and other ways) have been solid citizens contributing in areas of farming, education, politics, Christian ministry, medicine, business and merchandising.

The earliest census of Union County in 1834 reveals three families of Chastains living within the bounds that became the county in 1832. These were John B. Chastain with three males and three females in the household; Edward Chastain, also with three males and three females counted; and Abner Chastain, with three males and four females registered.

By the 1840 census, the Chastain households had grown to seven in Union County, namely John, Abner B., Edward, Benjamin, James, Joseph C. and Abner. This increase in population of Chastains did not mean necessarily that four more families had moved into the county, but that some of the children of the three families in Union in 1834 had married and established homes within the decade.

The 1850 census reveals nine Chastain households with the following named as heads of families: John, J. B., Withrow, James, Jason, Calvin, William, Martin and Edward. One of the Chastain family historians, M. A. McGraw, in his book entitled Jason Coward Chastain and His Family (c1976) gives insight to how we find early Chastain settlers in Habersham, Union, Gilmer, Fannin and other mountain counties: "As these families came to Georgia, they all settled in the same area on Cherokee lands which became Cherokee County in 1831, Union County in 1832, and Fannin County in 1854. Their homeplaces were the same, but as the large area was subdivided, the records would seem to indicate they lived in different places." (page 12)

Returning to some of the Chastain families found in the early Union County censuses, we will trace more on their origins and contributions.

John Chastain (listed in a separate household in 1840 census) was born in Haywood County, North Carolina in 1791 or 1792. He had a nickname, "Hootchie," to distinguish him from another John Chastain, his uncle, who was known as "Blind John." The name "Hootchie" was given to this John because they settled in a bend of the Chattahoochee River when they first came to Georgia.

John Chastain married twice, first to Nancy Coward and second to Nancy Withrow. By his first wife he had one son, Jason Coward Chastain (1818-1900). By his second wife Nancy Withrow, John had eight children: Withrow, James, Joseph DeKalb, Malinda, Susanna, Hannah, Benjamin Nelson, and John. Evidently John and Nancy Coward Chastain divorced after Jason Coward was born. She later married a Kelly. When she was elderly, she returned to the home of her son Jason Coward Chatain at Dial in Fannin County. He cared for her in her dotage and she was buried in the family cemetery on the rise above the commodious Chastain house. John Chastain and his wife Nancy Withrow Chastain lived in the Ivy Log section of Union County where their eight children were born and reared.

John's father was Edward Brigand Chastain, born March 29, 1769 in Buckingham County, VA and died in 1834 in what is now Fannin County, GA. His mother, Edward Brigand's wife, was Hannah Brown (1771- about 1837). They were believed to be the parents of sixteen children, but records have been found of only fifteen, namely: Delilah, Jemimah, John, Rainey, Hannah, Mary, Griffith, Cyrus, Jehu, Abner, Elisabeth, Nancy, Martha, Edward Bruce, and Joseph Carleton. Perhaps one of their children died in infancy.

Hootchie" John Chastain's grandfather was the famous John "Ten Shilling Bell" Chastain (1743-1805), a Baptist preacher who worked with other famous pioneer ministers such as Rev. Shubael Starnes to establish churches on the frontier in Virginia, North and South Carolina. The "Ten Shilling Bell" nickname came for the elder John Chastain because of his resonating and clear ringing voice. It was reported that he could be heard, when preaching, "for a mile or more" on a still, clear day or night. Rev. John Chastain was declared a patriot when he signed the oath of allegiance and pledged his support for the American side in the fray against Great Britain. He and his family were in Powhatan County, Virginia at that time.

The other two Chastain households in Union County in 1834 were that of Edward Chastain and Abner Chastain. The Edward is believed to be Edward Brigand Chastain (1769- 1834). It seems he was enumerated in the 1834 census before his death later that same year. His partial family history is given above.

Abner Chastain was a son of Edward Brigand and Hannah Brown Chastain. Born in 1803, Abner was ordained to the gospel ministry prior to the Civl War. He married, first, Susan Pemberton O'Kelley in Habersham County, GA. This Rev. Abner Chastain served as pastor of the Choestoe Baptist Church before moving west. He led a wagon train going west, with some 250 people from Union County in the massive move. His wife, Susan, died on this trip west. Abner later married Amanda D. Elzy. Arriving in Colorado, Abner Chastain settled on the Huerfano River east of St. Mary's. There he established a Baptist Church and baptized the first convert in the Huerfano River in the fall of 1870. (Subsequent articles will trace more of the Chastain story. - EDJ)

[References: Union County census records, 1834, 1840, 1850. Books: M. M. McGraw, Jason Coward Chastain and His Family (1975). Pierre Chastain Family Association, Pierre Chastain and His Descendants Volume I (1995)]

c 2009 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published June 4, 2009 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.