From Don Milford Oct 15, 2006;

To identify the children and subsequent descendents of James Olive, Jr. and Elizabeth Burt we must first start with the earliest verifiable evidence of the family. I believe that to be the 1790 U.S. Census of Wake County, North Carolina. In that census, the family of James and Elizabeth is shown to have 2 males over 16 years of age, 4 males under the age of 16and 3 females. If we allow 1 male over 16 and 1 female for James and Elizabeth, we have left 5 sons and 2 daughters living at home in 1790. Since James and Elizabeth had moved to Columbia County, Georgia around 1792-1793 and the Columbia County, Georgia Census records of 1800 and 1810 were destroyed by fire, we have no record of their household in those years. We have to search county court records to establish identities and, fortunately, there are many records in Columbia and Warren County to work from.

I have been through Wills, land records, property transfers, marriages, estate records, newspaper articles and anything else I could find relating to Olive?s and related families in order to establish identities of all the children. In this report I will lay out evidence to support the family connections and bring out questions that I feel need to be answered. I feel confident in naming 5 sons and 3 daughters born to James and Elizabeth: John, Wiley, Berry, Thomas W., Ichabod, Delilah, Lucy and Frances.

The first evidence of James and Elizabeth in Columbia County is a deed dated December 14, 1793 when James Olive, ?planter of Columbia County?, bought land on Kiokee Creek from James Donnelly. James also bought 173 acres on Kiokee Creek from Benjamin Harris on April 5, 1796. Several other deeds are registered in Columbia County on James, but the most important is a deed dated June 22, 1803. In this deed, John Olive bought the 173 acres that James bought from Benjamin Harris in 1796. In this deed, Elizabeth is mentioned as James? wife several times and signs the deed along with James. This proves that she moved to Columbia County with James and was still living in 1803. James died in the fall of 1820, probably in October. John Olive was granted Letters of Administration over the estate on November 6, 1820 and an estate sale was conducted on December 29, 1820. Final returns on the estate were filed by John on March 3, 1823.

JOHN OLIVE
John Olive married Sarah Magruder on January 3, 1803 in Columbia County. Sarah was the daughter of Col. Ninian Offut Magruder and Mary Harris. In Col. Magruder?s will of 1803 he names John Olive as his son-in-law and provides for Sarah in the event John is unable to provide for her. John witnessed several deeds for his father, his siblings and his in-laws as well as some other local residents. John is also the only Olive child that left a Last Will and Testament. In his will he names his 2 sons and 5 daughters. He died in January of 1837 and is buried alongside Sarah in the Ninian Magruder graveyard in Appling, Georgia on the banks of the Kiokee Creek on Highway 221. His grave is the only one of his generation that we know the location of.

WILEY OLIVE
Wiley married Lucretia Newsom, daughter of Claiborne Newsom, in Columbia County on December 22, 1801. There are several land records on file that reference Wiley, but most important are those involving children of Ninian Offut Magruder. Several of those records use a post on ?Wylie Olive?s? land as a marker of property lines. A Sheriff?s sale of property of John Olive in 1802 (later required in 1803) gives a description as bordering on land owned by Hoge, James Olive, Wylie Olive and Magruder. Wiley appears at the estate sale for James Olive in 1820 and for Zadock Magruder (Sarah?s brother) in 1821. A notice appeared in the Augusta Chronicle on January 10, 1824 in which Wiley declared a divorce from Lucretia stating she had left him without provocation and taken all her belongings. He further admonished anyone from doing business with her and declared that he would not be responsible for any debts she may incur. In January of 1825 a lawsuit was filed against Wiley Olive on behalf of Lucretia Olive by her brothers to reclaim her 1/8 share of the estate of Claiborne Newsom. I have not found any later record of Wiley in Columbia or Warren County except for a letter left unclaimed in the Warrenton Post Office for him. I have not located the disposition of the lawsuit or the transfer of his land. They could be tied together. The family is shown in the 1820 Columbia County Census with (in addition to Wiley and Lucretia)1 male between 16 and 21, 1 male between 10 and 16, 4 males under the age of 10, 3 females between 10 and 16 and 2 females under the age of 10. In 1830 the family is shown in Warren County, Georgia with the head of household listed as Lucretia Oliver. There is also a Wiley Oliver in Twiggs County, Georgia (below Macon) in 1830 but I have not had the opportunity to investigate that lead yet.

BERRY OLIVE
Berry married Elizabeth Wilkins, daughter of Sheriff William Wilkins, on May 18, 1813 in Columbia County. The marriage record lists her as Eliza Wilkins and her fathers will lists her as Betsy Olive, but in her own official records (deeds and will) she refers to herself as Elizabeth. I suspect their marriage was one of convenience because of several things. In William Wilkins will he makes it clear that Berry and Betsy maintained separate houses and names his grandchildren, none of which were Olive?s. After Berry died in 1832, Elizabeth signed a deed of transfer to Thomas W. Olive on April 28, 1834 giving Thomas full control over Berry?s estate prior to her marriage to Jesse Clarke. In her will written January 28, 1845 and probated on March 9,1847 she names her nieces and stepchildren as heirs and names Sen. Andrew Jackson Miller (son-in-law of John Olive and Sarah Magruder) as her executor.

Like Wiley and John, Berry witnessed several legal transactions involving James, his siblings and the Magruders and was at the estate sales of James Olive and Zadock Magruder. Of most interest, however, was a deed of indenture that he entered into with Sally Scott, a ?free woman of color?, and her two daughters on July 25, 1814. In this deed Berry assumes responsibility of Sally and the daughters, and Sally accepts, with no set time period of expiration. This is interesting because it fits with the oral family tradition of the black Olive family of Thomson, Georgia. Their tradition is that their Olive progenitor was a white man in Appling who fathered daughters with their black grandmother. They further state that he acknowledged paternity and provided for them although they had to maintain separate houses.

THOMAS W. OLIVE
Thomas married Elizabeth Wilkins, daughter of Justice of the Peace Thomas Wilkins sometime prior to 1818. Although not as involved with the family legal proceedings as his brothers, he was also present at James Olive?s and Zadock Magruder?s estate sale. His legal dealings don?t get complicated until after assuming control of Berry?s estate in 1834. Immediately Thomas Wilkins began providing for his ?only grandson? Thomas B. W. Olive. Thomas Wilkins wrote his will on April 17, 1834 although he did not die until 1847 and in the will he provides for his grandson Thomas B. W. Olive. In a deed dated September 25, 1838 he transfers ownership of his Negro slave Aggy and her children to his daughter Elizabeth Olive with the stipulation that , in the event of Elizabeth?s death, ownership is to transfer to Thomas B. Olive and that his son-in-law Thomas W. Olive is to have no control or involvement. It appears that by assuming control over Berry?s estate, Thomas had created concerns or problems between himself and his father-in-law. According to descendents of Thomas B. W. Olive, Thomas died August 15, 1837 and Elizabeth died February 10, 1839. In his will, Thomas Wilkins set aside land for a family Cemetery but I have not located it nor do I know who is buried in it although it is likely that Thomas and Elizabeth are buried there.

ICHABOD OLIVE
I know very little about Ichabod and it probably is because he died relatively young. There is a marriage record in Columbia county dated January 27,1818 between Bud Olive and Prudence Grinage. The 1820 Columbia County Census, enumerated in June, lists Ichabod Olive with 1 male over 21 and 1 female over 21. At the James Olive estate sale in December of 1820, Prudence Olive bought a bed and furniture with a trunk and bureau and Prudence Olive married John Tindall in Columbia County on August 25, 1828. Taken together this indicates that Bud died between June 1820 and 1827, probably with no children.

DELILAH OLIVE
Delilah married Edmund Lashley in Wake County, North Carolina March 13, 1783. Assuming they were living in their own home in 1790, she would not be one of the 2 daughters in James and Elizabeth?s house at that time. According to their descendents, Edmund and Delilah moved to Pike County, Georgia which is northwest of Macon. The next generations were in Dodge County in the southwest portion of Georgia and in Florida. There is strong evidence of them, however, in Columbia County prior to that and involvement with James? family. Although they were not at James Olive?s estate sale, James Lashley is listed on the returns John Olive filed on the estate in 1823. Also, Elijah Lashley was at Zadock Magruger?s estate sale with the Olive brothers in 1821. Delilah?s son Elijah and daughter Elizabeth both married in Columbia County.

LUCY OLIVE
Although I have not had the opportunity to dig into Lucy?s family, there is a marriage record in Columbia County for Lucy Olive and Stephen Hoge. Hoge was a Justice of the Peace that witnessed several Olive transactions. Hoge is also listed as an adjoining property owner to James Olive, Wiley Olive and Ninian Magruder and he was at James Olive?s and Zadock Magruder?s estate sales.

FRANCES OLIVE
Frances married John Butt on June 20, 1810 in Columbia County. In a deed dated May 20, 1813, James transfers ownership of 2 female slaves to his daughter Frances Butt and his son-in-law John Butt. They lived in Warren County, Georgia where John was Justice of the Peace in Warrenton. The actual status of John and Frances?s marriage is a little unclear because John is listed in the 1850 Warren County census with the children while Frances?s estate, administered by their son John D. Butt in 1854, has her listed as Frances O. Andrews.