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Daniel COMER (b c1785)

Daniel Comer is my maternal great-great-great-grandfather.

Where to begin? Clearly, Jason Comer had a father and a mother. But who were these two people?

A court document in Union County establishes the fact that Jason's mother was Nancy Turner, but what was the given name of the male Comer to whom she was married? On 27 Jan 2020, there were 152 family trees on Ancestry.com that referenced Jason Comer. Of those that ventured to name Jason's father, the records seem divided between those that point to Daniel Comer and those that point to William Comer.

Recently I was given a photocopy of a Union County court document that seems to date before Nancy Turner's children Ann and Jesse came of majority age, suggesting a date prior to 1839. The page is apparently from a more complete record of a petition to sell some of James Turner's land. The page notes that all the parties who were beneficiaries of James Turner's estate have concurred on the sale of the land. James' widow has consented as has son Benjamin. Daughter Nancy is presumably deceased but her children have all been asked to consent and all have consented, The two minor children consented through their older brother Jason acting as their guardian ad litem. The record incidentally but states directly that Nancy "married to D Comer."

Neither the 1800 nor the 1810 US Census recorded names other than those of the head of household. In 1800, there were seven Comer households in Union District. They were William, William Jr, Robert, Joseph, Stephen, Samuel and John Comer. In 1810, there were only three Comer households in Union County, SC, William, Daniel and John, and one, David, in nearby Newberry County. There is direct evidence that Jason was born in South Carolina in later census records. The presumption that he was born in Union County would seem reasonable. It would then seem that there could be five Comer and census households into which Jason could have been born, Daniel, David, John, William, and William Jr.

With this evidence from the court records of Union County stating that Nancy was married to D Comer, I think we can safely discard William, Robert, Joseph, Steven, Samuel and John as possible candidates for the father of Jason Comer. That still leaves David and Daniel, and there is a distinct possibility that there is not one Daniel in Union County, but instead there were two Daniel Comers.

David Comer, who lived in adjacent Newberry County in 1810, was reported to be 26-44 years old in that year. He had four daughters under 10 and two sons, one under 10 and one age 10-15. It seems he could be a valid candidate for Jason's father, but David does not appear in the censuses of South Carolina in later years. (There is a David Comer living in AL in 1820 whose family demographics could possibly fit those of the 1810 Newberry David.) Since Jason lived out his life in Union County, it seems unlikely that he could have been from a household that left the state before 1820 when he would have still been only a child.

Daniel Comer is one of two choices for the father of Jason among the family trees posted on Ancestry.com. Fortunately for us, one Daniel Comer living in Union County died testate in 1825. His will, written early in that year named his wife Susannah, two sons, Jess and Aron, and three daughters, Molly, Rosannah, and Sally. It seems to me that this direct evidence about his sons and their names requires that this Daniel be removed from consideration as Jason's father. Sons Jess and Aaron are easy to trace. They moved on to Tennessee and then Aaron moved on to Mississippi.

It seems likely that there were at least two Daniel Comers living in Union County to whom Nancy Turner could have been married. Examining the two census entries for Daniel Comer in 1810 and 1820, it is hard not to come to the conclusion that these two Daniels are not the same person. The household in 1810 seems a most unlikely match for the household of Jason's parents. But the household in 1820 fits quite nicely.

The composition of Daniel Comer household in 1810 (a total of 5 persons):

1 A male, 45+, presumably the head of household Daniel

2 A male, under 10

3 A female, 45+, presumably Daniel's wife

4 A female, 26-44

5 A female, 10-16

And the composition of Daniel Comer household in 1820 (a total of 6 persons):

1 A male age 26-44, presumably the head of household, Daniel

2 A male under 10

3 A female age 26-55, presumably Daniel's wife

4 A female age 10-15

5 A female under 10

6 A female under 10

Just on the face of it, it would seem that the Daniel of 1810 cannot be the Daniel of 1820. In the case of the 1820 Census, it is possible that the identity of the children in the household could be matched as (2) Jason (a bit younger than we might have expected but not entirely out of line), (4) Susannah (this would suggest she was older than Jason and probably born in 1808), (5) and (6) two of the three younger daughters of Nancy Turner, Mary, Eliza and Anna (it is entirely possible that one of these three daughters was born after the 1820 Census was taken though it is not what I had earlier concluded).

This seems to me to suggest there is a very real possibility that the household of Daniel Comer caught by the 1820 Census is the household of Jason Comer.

With that, having found all other Union County Comer heads of household doubtful candidates, I conclude that the Daniel Comer who appears as head of household in the 1820 Census in Union County, SC is the most likely parent of Jason Comer.

That leaves me with many questions. Where did this Daniel Comer come from? Who were his parents? What became of him after 1820? When did he die? Did he die before or after his wife Nancy Turner?

One thing that seems clear is that the Daniel Comer who was the father of Jason Comer and possibly the head of household that appears in the 1820 US Census in Union County was not the Daniel Comer who died in Union County, SC in 1825 and left a will that names his wife Susannah and his sons Jess and Aron. But the absence of any Daniel Comer from a census record in 1830 is at least one reason to think that Jason's father may have died between 1820 and 1830. The most relaxed search on Ancestry for a Daniel Comer in the 1830 US Census nationwide returns only nine entries and only three of those are in the south, one in Maryland, one in Virginia (a Daniel Cumbee) and one in Tennessee (a Daniel Coomer). Only the Tennessee entry seems even remotely possible to be Jason's family and the demographics of that household simply cannot be matched to a household that would include Jason's parents and siblings. So the question remains, where was Jason's family in 1830? Were they still in Union County, SC and simply missed by the census? Were either parent or both parents now deceased and the children living in a relative's household there? So, the timing and location of the death of Jason's father must remain a mystery.

And, with so very little to go on, there is no point in even speculating on this Daniel's parents or birth. The birth year used in this page is based on nothing more than an attempt to make Daniel a rough contemporary of his wife Nancy and old enough to be a parent of his children.

Note: I am particularly grateful to Mike Comer and Robert Porter who first steered me away from concluding that William Comer could have been Jason's father and to Mike for providing me with the document that appears as a photo in the page above.

Sources and Notes:

Thoughts on the reliability and usefulness of early US Census records. One cannot help but wonder just how comprehensive early (1790-1840) censuses of the US were. Taking a census is a daunting task. Enumerators faced huge challenges in getting a comprehensive count. They clearly made errors. But my impression after looking at the record of Comers in Union County is that the census records may be largely accurate. Readability and spelling both prove challenges in examining the census records. For example, the John Connor who appears in the list of Union County households in 1790 was probably John Comer and I have interpreted the records assuming that. Similarly, my William Comer [2] does not appear in Union County in 1810, but there is a record for William Cowen (at least as it has been transcribed in Ancestry) and examining the facsimile of the original record, I think the person who transcribed the record simply misread the original. In later years, the enumerator faced the daunting task of both learning the age of household members and, much worse, computing a tally to place in each of very poorly defined age groupings. Still, on the face of it, the results were surprisingly what might be expected. Two male children under 10 in 1800 give way to two male children from 10-16 in 1820. Some records are surprising and lead to considerable wonder, but, on the whole, I think the records provide a reasonable basis for genealogical theories.

1810 US Census, household of David Comer: Ancestry.com. 1810 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Newberry, South Carolina; Roll: 61; Page 120; Image 00207, Family History Library Film: 0181420. The 1810 US Census of Newberry, South Carolina on 06 Aug 1810 shows the household of David Comer consisting of 1 male under 10, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 26-44, 4 females under 10, 1 female 26-44, 1 slave. 6 HH members under 16; 2 HH members over 25; Total of 9 HH members.

1810 US Census, household of Daniel Comer: Ancestry.com. 1810 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Union, South Carolina; Roll: 61; Page 580; Image 00432, Family History Library Film: 0181420. The 1810 US Census of Union County, SC on 06 Aug 1810 shows the household of Daniel Comer with 1 male under 10, 1 male 45+, 1 female 10-15, 1 female 26-44, 1 female 45+, a total of 5 household members 3 over 25.

1820 US Census, household of Daniel Comer: Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Union, South Carolina; Page 144; NARA Roll: M33_121; Image 264. The 1820 US Census of Union County, SC on 07 Aug 1820 shows the household of Daniel Comer with 1 male under 10, 1 male 26-44, 2 females under 10, 1 female 10-15, 1 female 26-44, 1 engaged in agriculture, 4 under 16, 2 over 25, six total persons.

1825 Will of Daniel Comer: Ancestry.com. South Carolin, Wills and Probate Records, 1670-1980. The will, dated 01 Jan 1825 and recorded on 22 Aug 1825 in Will Book B, page 105, names Daniel's wife Susannah Comer, two sons Jess and Aron Comer and three daughters, Polly, Rosannah and Sally Comer.

1838 Court of Ordinary Petition for partition of land once belonging to William Comer [2]. South Carolina Probate Records, Bound Volumes, 1671-1977. FamilySearch: South Carolina, Union County, Real estate book, 1835-1872 > image 37 of 402; citing Department of Archives and History, Columbia. Note: This record (page 18) shows a petition filed by John Comer on 28 Jan 1839 for the partition of his father, William Comer's land. It names all of the seven heirs of William Comer. They are 1 John Comer, 2 Thomas Comer, 3 Samuel Comer (E P Porter acts for him), 4 William Comer, 5 Nancy Jane Comer (wife of John Jolly), 6 Rhoda Comer (wife of E M Gregory), 7 Mastin Comer (Isaac Gregory serves as his guardian.

Union District court document naming husband of Nancy Turner as D Comer. A photocopy of this document was given to me by Mike Comer and it can be viewed by clicking Photo 1 above. I have been unable to find the document in Famiy Search records of the property and probate records of Union County, SC, though I am confident it can be found there. The document must date before Nancy's children, Ann and Jesse, reached the age of majority. That suggests a date prior to 1839. The document incidentally but directly states that Nancy Turner "was married to D Comer."