Brief Life History of James
James Kerr was born on 29 November 1791 in Westmorland County, Pennsylvania. When he was about 8 years old, his family relocated briefly to Fleming County, Kentucky, and soon thereafter moved to a farm in Mason County, Kentucky where his parents finally settled. James purchased land in Parke County, Indiana in 1816 but did not permanently settle there until about 1822. James married Sarah Merrill in Mason County, and they were favored with three children, Mary, Susan and Samuel. Sarah died in 1824. James subsequently married Mary Hartman, who had come to Parke County from Virginia in 1818. The couple had nine children. James died on August 16, 1876. Mary passed away in 1884.
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Family Time Line
Sources (10)
- James Keer, "United States Census, 1870"
- James Kerr, "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954"
- James Kerr, "Find A Grave Index"
Spouse and Children
Children (15)
+10 More Children
Parents and Siblings
+2 More Children
World Events (8)
1794 · Creating the Eleventh Amendment
The Eleventh Amendment restricts the ability of any people to start a lawsuit against the states in federal court.
1812 · Harrisburg Becomes the State Capital
Harrisburg had important parts with migration, the Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution.
1819 · Panic! of 1819
With the Aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars the global market for trade was down. During this time, America had its first financial crisis and it lasted for only two years.
Name Meaning
English and Scottish: topographic name for someone who lived by a marsh or swampy woodland, Middle English kerr ‘brushwood, wet ground’ (Old Norse kjarr). A legend grew up that the Kerrs were left-handed, on theory that the name is derived from Gaelic cearr ‘wrong-handed, left-handed’.
Irish: variant of Carr .
Americanized form of German Kehr or of some other similar (like-sounding) surname.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
Possible Related Names
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