Notes on Rackley, Ratley, Ratliff

by Kenneth Sims

The Rackley family of Franklin County, NC. has been treated in several publications including those by Eloise Potter of Potter Publications in that county.

The Ratliff family of Blount County, Alabama (specifically that of Jeremiah Ratliff (ca 17??) who died in Blount County in 1846) is tied to this North Carolina family, and is traceable, through Charles Holt who was a Revolutionary soldier from Franklin County, North Carolina and evidently was also Jeremiah's brother-in-law. Charles Holt also died in Blount County.

Mrs. Potter and others have identified the following Rackley's who they have determined are ancestors of the Franklin County, N.C. Rackleys and thus the ancestors of the Blount County Ratliffs:

Edward Rackley arrived in Virginia in 1639. John Rackley I was the only documented son of Edward. John is believed to have been born between 1648 and 1650. He married Martha North, daughter of Anthony and Joane North. John Rackley II was the only documented son of John. His wife was named Jane. John Rackley II had two documented sons: John Rackley III and Anthony Rackley. The descendants of John Rackley III have been treated in a publication named "Dickey, Rackley" by Cleo Dickey Greener (1991). The family of Anthony has been treated in "Rackley, A Southern Colonial Family" by Eloise Potter and Timothy Rackley.

It is unclear how Jeremiah Ratliff (Ratley) of Blount County fits into this family. There were evidently two Jeremiah Ratliff's (Rackley's) of Franklin County, N.C. who were very close to the same age and were cousins. One Jeremiah fought in the Revolution and eventually settled in Lowndes County, Alabama. The other Jeremiah moved with Charles Holt through South South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and to Alabama where he lived in St. Clair County in 1820. He eventually settled in Blount County where he died about 1846.

The name Jeremiah Rackley is mentioned in several instances in Franklin County, N.C. records. Only speculation can determine which Jeremiah is referenced at any given time. One Jeremiah married Sally Hale there in 1789. A Holt was a bondsman. One Jeremiah is mentioned at estate sales accompanied by Charles Holt. This Jeremiah is obviously the Blount County one.

Donna Bartholow, a descendant of John and Fereby (Hopper)Ratliff, in her History of the Ratliff Family writes that in 1791 and 1793 Jeremiah purchased property from an estate sale in Franklin County and in 1794 he witnessed a deed when Mills Rackley sold his farm to John Micajah . Charles Holt and William Littlefield were witnesses as well.... Ms. Bartholow also records that Jeremiah's daughter Elizabeth lists her birthplace as Georgia in 1797; that Jeremiah with son Joshua and son-in-law Joshua Callahan are listed as taxpayers in Franklin Co., Tennessee in 1812 and 1814; and that Jeremiah's daughter Susie Ratliff Callahan stated that she was born in Ky and that she moved to Alabama in 1816 and settled among the Indians.

Charles Holt was a soldier in the American Revolution. In pension applications in Blount County, Alabama he stated that after the Revolution he lived in Granville and Franklin Counties, N.C for 10 years, in Spartanburg County, S.C. for 12 years, in Franklin County, Georgia for 7 years, in Dixon, Hickman, and Rutherford Counties, Tennessee for about 7 years, and in Blount County, Alabama until the time of his statement. He stated that he knew Jeremiah and Joshua RATLEY in his community. On July 30 1854 John Ratliff, aged 54, the son of Jeremiah (Jeremiah's estate), appeared before a J.P. in Blount County Court to testify that Martha Holt, was the widow of Charles Holt. He stated that he had known both Charles and Martha ever since he could remember anything, that they were his aunt and uncle, and that he had lived near them in Georgia, Tennessee, and Blount County all his life.

> As taken from his estate settlement, the children of Jeremiah Ratliff of Blount County include:

Joshua, who married Rhoda ?Baker?

Barbara, who married George Dayly

Elizabeth, who married George Dayly

John, who married Fereby Hopper

James, who married Polly Cooper

Susan, who married _______Callahan

Sally who married James Turner.

Like the two Jeremiah's of Franklin County, N.C., two more Jeremiah Ratliff's appear in Blount County in the early 1800's. One Jeremiah Ratliff was born about 1815 and married Annie Powell in Blount County on September 28,1834. Age and proximity of residences and grave markers indicate that this Jeremiah was the son of Josiah and grandson of Jeremiah. The other Jeremiah was born ca 1829 and his wife was named Mary P. (Polly). His age as given in his father's estate settlement indicates that he is the son of John and grandson of Jeremiah.

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