Callison History

To give a flavour of the early life of the Callison in the US, we need only to read Billy Kennedy's book on the Scots-Irish in the Shenandoah Valley where there is a chapter devoted entirely to the Callison family.

Describing their origins in Armagh, the Callisons, originally Quakers were said to have migrated from Ireland to Pennsylvannia and then to the Shenandoah Valley, of Virginia. James Callison (most likely Anthony's brother)(born 1722) and his wife Isabella came to Augusta County from Abermarle County, Virginia, acquiring two plots of land near Greenville. Their second daughter Isabella, born in 1746, married in 1779 George McNutt, from Co. Antrim, Ireland. George fought for American Independence at the battle of Kings Mountain in 1780 and by 1785 had left Virginia to settle in 'Irish Bottom', south of the French Broad River in what became Jefferson County, Tennessee. Jenny, their daughter was said to be the first white child born south of the river.

Anthony's son James, settled in the north side of the Greenbrier river, Virginia with his first wife, Elizabeth, McCallister, whom he married on August 17, 1765. James obtained more land in the area and his son Anthony married Abigail McClung, daughter of Charles McClung, one of the founding fathers of Knoxville, Tennessee. James later moved to Grainger County, Tennessee, most likely to be near his son and uncle's family. Elisha, James's son with Mary Callison, served in the 2nd Regiment Virginia Militia in the 1812 War and became a Colonel. He served as a judge in County Court for 27 years, and served as a representative in the Virginia Legislature, 1845-46 and 1850-51 at which time he had acquired over 22,000 acres of land. Elisha's youngest son, William Henry Callison, was a confederate soldier in 'Stonewall' Jackson's Brigade, 27th Virginia Infantry Company 'E' and died on the battlefield at Manassas on July 21, 1861.

Origins of the Callison name

There are two possible origins of the surname Callison. Firstly, this surname may be of local origin, being derived from the place where a man once lived or where he once held land. In this case the surname comes from the town of Calais in Northern France and means simply "son of the one from Calais". This would mean that the surname is a variant of Callis or Calliss, of which early records date back in the Norman Conquest when the surname first arrived in England. One William de Caleio is noted in the "Inquisitia Eliensis" of 1086, while in 1190 in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire we find the name of one Richard de Caliz.

Secondly, and more likely the surname may be of matronomyc origin, belonging to that group of surnames derived from the forenames or Christian name of a mother. In this case the surname evolved in the Borderlands of Scotland from whence it spread to the north of England, and it is a shortened form of the name MacAllison, just as Callister comes from MacAllister and Calpin from MacAlpin. In this case the surname means "son of Allison", Allison or Alisan being a popular Border form of the forename Alice. This surname probably entered England in the sixteenth century, although forms of the name are recorded in Scotland some three centuries prior to this.