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Ramona,
Thank you so much for your reply. It is nice to hear from those Chasteens who moved to Texas after the War.
My great-grandmother was Esta Marte Chasteen which I believe is a French derivation of Esther Martha Chasteen. She was born on January 28, 1850 In Anderson County, South Carolina. She married Thomas Wilborn Brown, born January 20, 1849. She died in 1919 in Banks County, Georgia. Their son Claude Asbury Brown was my grandfather. He was born February 21, 1876 in Banks County, Georgia and died in 1965 in Commerce, Jackson County, Georgia. Prior to his death I spoke to him many times about family history and secured information from him. My grandfather remembered Reny (pronounced Rainey) Chasteen. He told me that the family came from around Pendleton, South Carolina and that Reny had a brother Benjamin Chasteen who was a Baptist preacher. This information was born out by Ben Kincaid, the Chastain researcher who found some of Benjamin's descendants in his travels in South Carolina. They also knew of the brother Reny who left S.C. and never returned. My grandfather knew of no other siblings of Reny.
Reny and Annie are buried in the Riley Cemetery here in Commerce. Reny's tombstone says that he was born on March 22, 1813. This is confirmed by his published obituary in the Jackson Herald. The obituary also reflects that he was born in Greenville County, South Carolina and not Anderson as previously thought. Reny died on October 9, 1887 in Banks County, Georgia.
Reny appears to have remained in Greenville County until sometime after 1830. The church records there have him included in the minutes through 1834. He appears in the 1840 census of Anderson County, S.C. for the first time and interestingly has an elderly lady living with him. I do not believe this was Annie's mother because Milly lived with one of the Brewer sons in her latter years. It is quite possible this was Reny's mother.
If Reny was born in Greenville County, S.C. and remained there until the 1830's, he should have been included in the 1820 Census. I believe that he and Benjamin are the two children of Marian Chastain listed in the 1820 census of Greenville. As you will recall Marian Chastain was the female listed with two children, both males, under the age of 10 years. Her husband was apparently dead.
One of our Benjamin Chasteen descendants of South Carolina wrote me last year that he believed our Reny and his Benjamin were the youngest children of the Rev. James Chastain.
As you know Rev. James supposedly died in 1820 as per Leah Townsend, author of South Carolina Baptists. Moreover, there is a Baptist Church in Greenville County where James was a member after 1810. In some of the records of this church James Chastain is mentioned as being with a Mary Ann Chastain, maybe his wife. Could this be the Rev. James and could the Mary Ann be his last wife and the same person listed as "Marian" on the 1820 census. If so, our Reny and Benjamin could be the youngest sons of the Rev. James Chastain. I believe the answer can be found in the church records, if only I had the time to go over there and been some time at Furman University where they are housed.
I note you believe that our Reny is the son of John Chasteen of Anderson. I have heard this theory but have never heard or seen the reasoning behind the theory other than looking at the census records of Anderson County and assuming that Reny's birth was in Anderson and therefore, John is the most likely candidate to be his father based on the census records of Anderson and the ages of his children. Since Reny was born in Greenville County and lived there until sometime in the mid-1830's and since Benjaim and his descendants for the most part always lived in Greenville, I can subscribe to the theory that John is Reny's father without more information. I would be interested in hearing your reasons for believing that Reny's father is John Chasteen. At this point it appears that there is alot of speculation by everyone because there is no hard data.
Let me mention in passing that a few years ago I met Richard Wilson of Grapevine, Texas. Richard is descended from Henry Smith Chasteen who alon with brother James Basil left Banks County, Georgia and moved to the Arkansas and Texas areas. Richard stopped in Commerce and we visited. He was on his way to South Carolina.
Would love to hear from you again and share ideas and information.
Thanks for your response!
Terry brown
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