Person:Job Karnes (1)

Information on Job Karnes

F. Landis Weaver writes:

10. Job Kerns was born about 1772 in Bedford County, Virginia. He was l iving in 1806 in Adair/Russell County, Kentucky (he was also there on 1 810-60 Census). He died after 1860 in probably Russell County, KY (age s hown as 97 yrs on 1860 Census). He was buried in (possibly) Kearnes Cem etery, West Russell County, Kentucky.

Job Kerns lived a long life, although his exact birth and death dates c an't be established. He was shown as age 83 in 1850, and 97 in 1860. Ea rlier Census records had categorized his birth as 1770-1780. He appears t o have not been able to accurately state his age by 1850 & 1860, and a g uess of "about 1772" has been made. This may be wrong, but his memory m ay have been failing in his later years, and his earlier Census records w ere probably more accurate. His birth in about 1772 also seems to fit b etter with the estimated birth-years of his brothers and sisters. Job's w ife, Phoebe, was evidently still alive for the 1840 Census, but had die d before 1850. Job Sr. was shown as living in the household of Job Kern s Jr. on the 1850 and 1860 Census.

Job married Phoebe Clark (daughter of Isham) in Bedford County on 31 De c 1800. Job apparently bought some land in Russell County, Kentucky nex t to his brother Thomas, while it was still a part of Green County, in 1 801. It is not known if he moved there immediately, but he was known to b e there in 1806. On 28 Sep 1806, Job witnessed his father's signature i n Bedford County on a Power-of-Attorney to have Thomas divide his 645 a cres of Kentucky land into three parts. Job produced the document in th e Adair County, Kentucky Court on 8 Dec 1806, and swore to the authenti city of his father's signature (Deed Book A, page 459). Job evidently m ade the trip of about 500 miles on horseback or in a wagon, in less tha n 10 weeks. Someone in Kentucky had apparently made a deposition to a l ater Court that Job had transported several slaves from Virginia to Ada ir County, Kentucky The Census records confirm that nearly all of the f irst generation of Kerns families in Kentucky owned one or more slaves.

Job & Phoebe's children are mostly unknown. Census records indicate tha t they had at least 6 sons and one daughter. Since Job Sr. was living w ith Job Kerns Jr. in 1850 & 1860, Job Jr. was probably one of his sons. N o clues have yet been found to identify his other children. Job & Phoeb e's burial location is unknown, but a "Kearns Cemetery" is located abou t 5 miles west of Jamestown, and about 1/4 mile west of the junction of R t. 619 and Munther Rd. About half of the 50 to 100 burials are marked o nly with stones, and it is possible that Job & Phoebe were buried there . A tombstone for a Joby Kerns (1835-1916), who might have been a grand son of Job Sr., is located in that cemetery. However, there are numerou s other cemeteries in the area, and there is very little evidence of wh ere the various Kerns family members were actually buried.