Joseph Peter RING (~1795-~1865) +
Carmela MEDLINE (~1810-????)

James Thomas (16 Mar 1827-2 Oct 1890) — m. Mary Eleanor Ring about 1851; m. Harriet Elizabeth Jane Pettit Ring on 6 Jan 1874

Nancy J. (12 Oct 1829-27 Jun 1917) — m. James Harvey Haney on 21 Oct 1852

William R. (1831-1865) — m. Harriet Elizabeth Jane Pettit in 185x

Susan Lauren (12 Mar 1833-21 Sep 1917) — m. W. Preston Duncan on 18 Oct 1849; m. William C. “Buck” Kent on 7 Nov 1869

Mary Adeline Medaline (Mar 1835-1918) — m. Daniel David Duncan on 10 Jan 1856

Morgan M. (~1838-????)

Carmela (~1840-188x) — m. John D. Rust on 21 Oct 1858

Margaret (1842-????) — m. George W. Rust on 28 Apr 1859

Joseph was born in Stokes County, North Carolina, the son of Thomas Joseph Ring III and Susan Fountain.

Carmela, sometimes listed as Carmelia or Cornelia, was also born in North Carolina. Her father was reportedly named John.

There are stories about the Ring family being mixed-blood Cherokee, part of the 1831-1840 diaspora of the eastern tribes known as the Trail of Tears. I don’t know whether this is true. If it is, the Cherokee descent would almost certainly have been on Carmela’s side. The Cherokee of North Carolina were forced out beginning in 1838. Their trail ran from western North Carolina into central Tennessee, and then west through Arkansas.

Joseph and Carmela married about 1825 in North Carolina, and moved west into Tennessee. The 1840 census for Haywood County, Tennessee, northeast of Memphis, listed the Joseph Ring family as consisting of a man in his 50s, a woman in her 20s, a boy and girl age 10-14, a boy and girl age 5-9, and a girl under 5. That fits pretty well, if not perfectly, so it was probably them.

They moved further west into Arkansas in the early 1840s, if not before. A Joseph P. Ring from Arkansas served in the Mexican War of 1846-1848, a private in Gray’s Battalion of Arkansas Volunteers. That might have been him, but there’s not enough data to know.

The 1850 census found them in Lawrence County, Arkansas: Joseph P. (55) and Carmela (40) from North Carolina, with children James (22), Nancy (21), William R. (19), Morgan M. (11), Carmela (9), and Margaret (7). They were next door to their recently married daughter Susan. Carmela and Margaret, the youngest, were born in Arkansas, the other children in Tennessee. Where was Mary?

The 1860 census showed Joseph (66) and Cornelia (49) Ring, both from North Carolina, living in Franklin Township (later part of Stone County), Independence County, Arkansas. With them were daughter Cornelia Rust (18), born in Arkansas; son-in-law John Rust (26), from Tennessee; and grandchild James V. Rust (1).

Joseph reportedly died in 1866 in Independence County, Arkansas, or perhaps in 1865 in the part of Lawrence County that became Sharp County a few years later. A wikitree.com page claims Carmela died on 27 Feb 1907, but I can’t confirm that and am frankly skeptical. The C. L. “Lizzie” Ring who died on 27 Jun 1907 in Little Rock was a much younger woman.

Children

James Thomas Ring (1827-1890)

James married his cousin Mary Eleanor Ring (17 Dec 1831-12 Apr 1873) from North Carolina, daughter of his father’s half-brother James W. Ring and Pernella Quillen, in the early 1850s. Their children:

Christopher Clay (26 Sep 1853-13 Mar 1937) — m. Casander Ann Ring in Jan 1875

Eliza Ann “Lizzy” (14 Oct 1855-15 Aug 1881) — m. Jasper William Copeland on 15 Jun 1879

Arminta O. (26 Jan 1858-12 Jun 1886) — m. ??? Fulks

Marion Columbus (9 Nov 1861-17 Feb 1907) — m. Margaret Elizabeth Young on 8 Mar 1883; m. Sarah Emmiline Anderson on 25 Jan 1884; m. Josephine Anderson on 9 May 1897

Jasper Newton Greene (30 Apr 1864-13 Jun 1892) — m. Irene Wainwright on 19 Nov 1887

Virginia C. (24 Oct 1866-10 Dec 1874)

Almeda Emeline “Alla” (2 Dec 1869-10 Apr 1876)

George Washington (31 Mar 1873-28 Nov 1967) — m. Etta Younger on 24 Aug 1893

After Mary’s death in 1873, James married his brother’s widow, Harriet Elizabeth Pettit Ring (1836-1890). They had two children:

Tennessee (24 Apr 1874-7 Mar 1955) — m. William Francis Brasher on 25 Sep 1904

Caldonia (12 Feb 1876-Aug 1934) — m. William Henry Eason on 3 May 1894

The 1880 census showed them with James and Mary’s children Marion, Jasper, Emeline, and George; James and Harriet’s children Tennessee and Caldonia; and Harriet’s children Franklin and John by James’s brother William. James and Harriet both died in 1890 and are buried in the Ring Cemetery in Evening Shade, Sharp County, Arkansas.

Nancy J. Ring (1829-1917)

Nancy married James Harvey Haney (1821-1863) in 1852. They lived in Franklin Township, Independence County, Arkansas. Their children:

Camila (1853-18 Jun 1886) — m. James Williamson Younger in 1864

William J. (2 Feb 1855-5 Apr 1855)

James T. (1856-????)

John Breckenridge (Apr 1858-1911) — m. Martha E. McEntire on 8 May 1879

Robert C. (1862-????)

Harvey Mack Lee (19 Oct 1862-27 Apr 1937) — m. Rachel Catherine Anderson on 26 Apr 1883; m. Sleaty Jane Anders on 14 Dec 1903; m. Martha Lizabeth Walker Link on 7 Aug 1919

James died in 1863. It appears that Nancy later had a child out of wedlock:

Thomas Jefferson (Mar 1868-1 Jun 1944) — m. Mary E. Brightwell on 1 Nov 1893 and on 3 Aug 1910

There’s some confusion about son Thomas. Besides marrying the same woman twice, he’s buried under a tombstone that gives year of birth 1855 despite every census record or marriage record during his lifetime indicating he was born about 1868. There might be some confusion of records here. By 1900, Nancy was living with Thomas in Big Rock & Washington Townships, Sharp County. By 1910, she was with son Mack and family in Wayne, McClain County, Oklahoma. She died in 1917, and is buried in Randolph Cemetery, Maysville, Garvin County, Oklahoma.

William R. Ring (1831-1865)

William married Harriet Elizabeth Jane Pettit or Petty (10 Jan 1836-15 Mar 1890) from Tennessee in the early 1850s. Their children:

Casander Ann (29 Jan 1854-4 Jul 1939) — m. Christopher Clay Ring in Jan 1875

B. P. ()

Franklin Pierce (6 Oct 1859-6 Dec 1929) — m. Celia Angeline Barnett on 26 Jul 1894; m. Nancy Ann Blackwell in 19xx; m. Della A. Atkinson on 18 Mar 1903; m. Anna Evans on 31 Jan 1910

Malissia Jane (13 Nov 1861-19 Nov 1920) — m. Joseph Allen Gay on 8 Mar 1885

John David (1864-13 Mar 1937) — m. Amanda A. Hardin on 24 Jul 1890; m. Nancy Caroline Prevett Blackwell on 18 Aug 1913

William fought for the Confederacy, and died in early 1865. He’s buried in the Ring Cemetery in Evening Shade, Sharp County, Arkansas. On 1 Oct 1866, his widow Harriet married Jonas B. Petty (~1818-????). They had one child:

Missouri (~1869-????)

Jonas apparently died by 1870, as the census that year showed Harriet with just her four living children, missing B. P. William’s brother James had become guardian of his minor children in 1867. Harriet married him in 1874. They had two more children; see James’s entry above for details. Note that William’s daughter Casander married her cousin and step-brother Christopher, James’s eldest.

Susan Lauren Ring (1833-1917)

Susan has her own entry in the family tree.

Mary Adeline Medaline Ring (1835-1918)

Mary married Daniel David Duncan (1824-1904), brother of her sister Susan’s husband, on 10 Jan 1856. See the James & Elizabeth Duncan page for details of this family.

Morgan M. Ring (~1838-????)

No records for Morgan after 1850.

Carmela Ring (~1840-188x)

Carmela married John D. Rust (~1835-~1891) from Tennessee in 1858. Known children:

James V. (1859)

William R. (1862)

John (1868)

Samuel (1870)

Robert (1872)

Crawford (1875)

Mary B. (1879)

In 1860, John, Carmela, and son James (1) were staying with Carmela’s parents in Franklin Township, Independence County. John was in the Union 4th Arkansas Infantry during the war. There was also a Confederate 4th Arkansas Infantry, but we know it was the Union one because there are federal pension records for John from the 1890s.

Can’t find them in the 1870 census. In 1880, the family, missing only James, were living in Sullivan Township, Sharp County. The census got Carmela’s name as “Kamalia”.

Carmela probably died in the early 1880s, since John married again on 8 Feb 1883 to Queen Victoria Southard (Mar 1846-1917), née Powell. I can’t find them after that. A John D. Rust died in 1923 in Chicot County, Arkansas, but that wasn’t him, as the 1900 census showed Queen Victoria Russ (54) as a widow in Jefferson Township, Independence County. The 1891 pension records for John were probably because that was when he died. Queen – or do we call her Victoria? – remarried to a W. W. Woolf or Wolfe in 1902, and died in 1917.

Margaret Ring (1842-????)

Margaret married George W. Rust (~1837-????) on 28 Apr 1859. That’s the last I have for either of them. Rust was a surprisingly common surname in late 1800s Arkansas.