Arlene Eakle’s Tennessee Blog

There is a power in having a unique genealogy place where you can learn new techniques, discover new sources, share your excitement when you find something no one else has unearthed; and, THIS IS THAT PLACE!

I have dug in and studied early Tennessee–that seems to be more troublesome for genealogists  because census records are missing and incomplete.  Vital records take real diligence to find.  And courthouse fires have snapped many property records out from under us.  So just identifying  candidates for father and mother are tricky.  And positive links to North Carolina, Maryland,  and Virginia are a genealogy challenge.

J.G.M. Ramsey of Mecklenburg, near Knoxville Tennessee, finished his Annals of Tennessee 16 Nov 1852.  It was published originally in Charleston SC, 1853.  It was a remarkable achievement for that time.  He found and published documents with an integrity that renders confidence in them even today–even when they no longer exist.

There are errors in his work–caused by lack of information, imperfect research tools, incomplete data supplied from memory as you might expect to find in an early work of its kind.

Still Ramsey is the beginning place for the history of East Tennessee.

In 1999, Overmountain Press reprinted the original edition for East Tennessee Historical Society.  With some key additions:  A new “Introduction” by Dr. William H. Masterson, President of the University of Chattanooga.  “Annotations Relating Ramseys’ Annals of Tennessee to Present-Day Knowledge” by Stanley J. Folmsbee.  A new, “Every-name Index” compiled by Miss Pollyanna Creekmore and Miss Marie Crain.

I invite you to add this reprint edition to your winter reading list and spend some time with these new parts.  You will find some interesting insights into this early history.

For example, Mr. Folmsbee identifies the movements of several Indian tribes through Tennessee, not just the Cherokees.  How many times have genealogists sought their East Tennessee ancestors among the Cherokees without luck?   Creeks and Seminoles also appear here early on.  And in one instance a large body of them arrived and stayed for months at a time.

A sense of place has erroneously tied one tribe to the “place called there” (coined by Michael Murdoch, the Southern Evangelist), when the Shawnee also appear early in Tennessee.  And the Iroquois, including the Seneca.  These tribes and their roving bands were only somewhat territorial.  And this knowledge could drastically change your genealogy venues.

Sources not available or known to Ramsey are described in the Annotations that will enable you to find ancestors in resources not previously available for genealogy before.  Break your losing streak!  Re-visit Ramseys’ Annals of Tennessee. Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle

PS  Jurisdiction and place are not synonymous.  Although they are often treated as the same thing by unwary genealogists.  I will have much more to say about these two genealogy research dimensions in future Tennessee blogs.

The military district in Tennessee which shows on most historical maps is actually District #2–along the Cumberland River where it first crosses the present TN-KY boundary all the way west to the spot where the Cumberland turns north back into KY.

At the time District #2 was created, the Tennessee-Kentucky boundary line did not exist as it does today.  Tennessee extended well north and included the areas that would eventually become Allen, Simpson, and Warren counties (among others) in Kentucky.  Actually, the TN-KY line was not finalized until many years later, when TN citizens discovered that they now lived in KY and were given a choice which state they wanted to conduct their legal business in.

This district includes the Red River with branches beginning across the current KY boundary line in old Simpson county, as well as in Sumner county TN.  These branches join to form the Red River.  And it eventually empties into the Cumberland in present-day Montgomery county TN (originally Davidson county).

Military District #1 was created in 1780 as a military reserve by North Carolina to award lands in lieu of pay to soldiers who served from NC in the Revolutionary War.  It lay between the Powell and Holston Rivers along the Clinch in East Tennessee and may have originally crossed the current Virginia boundary line.  These rivers joined to form the great Tennessee River.

District #2 was created in 1783 by North Carolina for two reasons:

1. Military District #1 was inadequate to supply enough land to fill all the claims that were submitted.
2. A substantial area in District #1 became involved in what is known as the Glasgow Land Frauds and grants ceased for a time, to allow for investigation into the charges and claims arising from those charges.

See my Genealogy News Sheet Blog on Genealogy Evidence, Monday August 21, 2006: Exact Proof:  Little-Known and Never-Used Military Records for more details and a short bibliography of source materials to document your ancestors in these military districts.  There is also a checklist of Bounty-Land Records, revised in my blog of 28 Feb 2008.

Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle  http://arleneeakle.com

PS  Watch for my cute and clever tee shirts, mugs, and tote bags–you will surely want something with my picture on it!  HA!

Between 1-13 November 1835, some 31 Texas colonists, calling themselves Texians (many of them from Tennessee), met to discuss and decide what to do about grievances with Mexico.  Frontier defense was a major problem–Indian raids and general lawlessness both plagued these democratic settlers.  And provision for the Texas Rangers was included in the Organic Law of the Republic of Texas signed on 13 November 1835.

The Texas Rangers were founded by a hand-written call-to-arms from Stephen F. Austin.  The Governor of Tejas, Jose Trespalacios, had approved the formation of a small force of militia to protect settlers from marauding Indians.

The first group of Rangers, referred to as a ranging company, included American frontiersmen, Mexican vaqueros, and a few friendly Indian scouts. But this militia was inadequate to the need as settlers from the American states flooded into Texas over the next few years.

As the discussion proceeded, the number of Rangers was to be 25, then 35, and finally set at a battalion of 150, divided into three detachments under the command of a Major.  The Rangers were a military force for the express purpose of frontier protection.

Over the next 100 years, with changes in the law in 1844, 1874, 1901, 1911, and 1935 (amended in 1937), the Texas Rangers moved from the jurisdiction of the Adjutant General to the Department of Public Safety under a Public Safety Commission.  From a largely volunteer frontier militia force to a highly trained, paid law enforcement organization recognized world-wide for its special nature.

Most of us owe our knowledge of these Rangers to John Wayne and Chuck Norris.

Afton Reintjes, who worked with me for many years and still accepts phone calls for me when I am out of town, has researched George Washington Smith.  This worthy ancestor served not only in the Texas Rangers.  He was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the War for Texas Independence, the Mexican War,  and served in the Greys during the War Between the States (Civil War).  A few years back, she was instrumental to getting a Texas Star/DAR headstone for his grave.

If you suspect that an ancestor or other relative may have served in the Texas Rangers, contact the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, I-35 and University Park Drive, PO Box 2570, Waco TX 76702-2570.  254-750-8631 http://www.texasranger. org

This website is beautifully organized with the right links and access to lists of men, history, books to buy, and bibliography.  Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle   http://arleneeakle.com

PS  If your Tennessee ancestor had kin who joined the Texas Rangers, their files and data may unlock your pedigree.  So please don’t conclude that this archive has nothing for you until you check it!  In a library survey at the Fort Worth Public Library conducted by Donald Martin, then Genealogy Librarian,  over 75% of Texas respondents were seeking Tennessee ancestors.  Break your losing Streak!

PPS  Even if you don’t have a true Texian in your family, check the Texas Rangers for your Tennessee roots.

Live from the Redding CA Family History Expo!  Talking to attendees here, People from South Carolina migrated directly into TN.  Without stops along the way in North Carolina or Virginia.  Coming directly from South Carolina.

Watch surnames in directories and databases for exact locations to research.  This is where  a less common surname is a bonus.  And the strategy works  for moat surnames.

You can even map where the surnames are located and then study the flow of rivers and the directions the roads run.  Check  the easiest and shortest route first.  Then stop and search the indexes for the counties along the river, well into South Carolina.  Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle      http://arleneeakle.com

PS Still working on a borrowed computer.

Webmaster Kathryn here to let you know that’s why she’s missing in action.

The older histories of Tennessee and its environs drew heavily upon diaries and journals and letters of contemporaries.  For example, in Gilmore’s Rear Guard of the Revolution, he quotes from the “Tour of  Montpensier, the Duke of Orleans:”

May 7th [1796]At the Clinch Ferry they had heard much of the remarkable migration into that region which had followed the treaty of peace with the indians; twenty-four thousand whites and four thousand blacks, they learned, had crossed the ferry for the Cumberland Valley the year before.

And a favorite of mine, Walter T. Durham’s Before Tennessee:  The Southwest Territory, 1790-1796:  A Narrative History of the Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio. 1990. (Rocky Mount Historical Association, Rt 11E, Piney Flats TN 37686).  This book is available on microfiche at the FHLibrary #6101361. Consider this paragraph:

The increased use of militia for defense in 1793 cast paymaster David Allison in a prominent public role.  Although the militia was under the governor’s command and was both called to duty and dismissed by him, the soldiers received their pay from the federal government.  Payroll records were kept for each company, and the company captain’s responsibility was to see that they were promptly and properly submitted to the government for approval.  When Allison received monies for payrolls from Philadelphia, he advertised the dates and places for payday and the names of the captains who should appear for their companies [in the Knoxville Gazette].

Federal payrolls for each company and announcements in the newspaper of the captains who were to collect the pay for their companies.

And read on for this description of how the census was set up to ensure that all the population was counted:

On November 28, 1795 based on census reports from all eleven counties, Governor Blount certified to the Secretary of State Timothy Pickering that there were 77,262 inhabitants in the Southwest Territory, a total that comfortably exceeded the minimum requirement of 60,000 for statehood.  A generous count had been virtually assured by tying the sheriffs’ pay for conducting the census directly to the totals reported.   The larger the numbers reported, the more the sheriffs were paid.

Quoting from correspondence 17 Nov 1795 in the David Henley Papers 1748-1823 to document the clever trick.

[The Mero District census for 1790 is reported missing.  Only small portions of it appear in print.  See 1790 Census for Ohio, Volume 2 published by Ronald Jackson, AIS Printing.  It seems to me that a thorough search among the papers for the Territory Southwest of the River Ohio will probably turn up other portions of the lists.]

No comment is made, however, of the danger in tying the payroll to the numbers.  Padding the totes has always been a risk when the stakes are high–be careful with lists of names.  Be sure to verify their presence in the Territory from other sources, including the militia payrolls mentioned above.

Your research success in Tennessee will be in direct proportion to your diligence in running the lists against other lists.  And in your diligence in finding the lists in the first instance:  there is much to be discovered in the diaries and the journals and the letters written by the eye-witnesses to Tennessee history.  Your favorite Tennessee genealogist , Arlene Eakle http://www.arleneeakle.com

PS  Tune in to my Research Tips posted on Facebook. Click the link on my Home Page.

Many of the original land entries in Tennessee were Military Bounty Land Claims.  And while they were supposed to apply to the military land district only–along the Cumberland River in Middle Tennessee–claims on the land extended across eastern, middle, and into western Tennessee.

Availability of these extensive bounty lands led your ancestors to claim military service–even if they did not serve; or, even if they served on the wrong side; or, even if they served in the wrong state!   Even if, your ancestor was originally from Virginia, if he claims military service in North Carolina, for Tennessee lands, you can find him. By using the claim number with related document numbers, you can track your ancestor from Tennessee back to his home county in North Carolina.

What a great time it is to be searching for those difficult-to-find ancestors in Tennessee!

Military Bounty Lands: Located in Tennessee, under North Carolina laws

1780 Enlistment Act, 3,000 needed

- bounty land of 200 acres and a prime slave

- land awarded in Powell River Valley (East Tennessee)

1782 Military Claims Act, issue indents and certificates

- warrants issued for “duration of war” service to soldier or heirs

- Military District established along the Cumberland River in Davidson County

Privates, 640 acres

Non-coms, 1000 acres

Subalterns, 2560 acres

Captains, 3840 acres

Majors, 4800 acres

Surgeons, 4800 acres

Lt. Colonels, 5720 acres

Commandants, 7200 acres

Colonels, 7200 acres

Brigadier Generals, 12,000 acres

Chaplains, 7200 acres

Surgeon Mates, 2560 acres

- any soldier settled on military lands before 1780-, received 640 acres–called Pre-emption Grants.  Also included original settlers and other non-military persons living on Tennessee lands

1783 Military Warrants Act, register service with the Davidson County Entry Taker

1784 Extension Act, persons who served in the militia or died during settlement of Davidson County granted 640 acres.  152 persons are named in the law itself.

See Shirley Rice, The Hidden Revolutionary War Land Grants in the Tennessee Military Reservations. Lawrenceburg TN:  Family Tree Press, 1992.  See also the record abstracts of Dr. A. Bruce Pruit already referenced in previous Tennessee blogs.  Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle  http://arleneeakle.com

For the past few days, I have immersed myself in Tennessee records, Tennessee history, Tennessee ancestors–in short, in Tennessee Stuff.  You know the Southern word, “stuff”–pronounced with a slow drawl as if the word were spelled with ten u’s instead of just one, don’t you?

My apologies for such a break in this blog.  But a wise reader said I was better off saying nothing than using filler that wastes readers’ time…or words to that effect.  So I needed some time to fully organize my six linear shelves of Tennessee collectings (not including my books).

You get the payoff, hopefully, in new sources to search, new references to check, new libraries to visit, new ancestors to find.  Please stay tuned, I have some great stuff to share.  Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle http://arleneeakle.com

PS  A current ad for Home Depot tells us to “…turn our doing dials up a notch.”  Sounds like good advice for genealogists too.  Genealogy activity is down everywhere–even online.  BIG MISTAKE.

In 1966, Robert M. McBride wrote an article, well illustrated with county boundary maps, showing where the lost and discontinued counties of Tennessee were.  See “Lost Counties of Tennessee,” East Tennessee Historical Society Publications #38 (1966): 3-15.

There are 95 counties in Tennessee.  In the past counties may have existed briefly or only on paper, some were long-lived. Watch for records if your ancestors resided in these areas.

The Watauga Association of 1772 took the name of Washington District at the end of 1775 and in July 1776, petitioned North Carolina for annexation.  NC created the county of Washington in 1777 from Burke and Wilkes counties.  There is little evidence that either of these NC counties or the District of Salisbury or Western District exercised any jurisdiction over Tennessee territory.  At the time of the 1790 census, Tennessee was known as Territory South of the Ohio River.

Bell–1870, along the border of Alabama, present Fayette, Hardeman, McNairy Counties

Christiana– 1870, name changed to present Loudon County

Christian–1852, 1869, parts of present Carroll, Gibson, Madison, tip of Crockett.  Also called Grant County.

Caswell–1785-86, under State of Franklin [settled from Caswell NC?], present Jefferson County

Cumberland–1837, 1844, 1856 as present Cheatham County

Etheridge–1870, parts of present Carroll, Henry, Weakley, and Gibson Counties

Hanes–1877, parts of present Benton, Decatur, Henderson, Carroll Counties

Hanover–1844, present Fayette County

Hatchie–1846, present Hardeman and McNairy Counties, overlapped with Bell

James–1871-1919,  eastern part of Hamilton County.  Citizens brought suit in 1890 to keep county intact until 1919.

Jones–1844, parts of Monroe, Loudon, and Blount Counties

Lewis–1843- 1869, present Lewis County

Nashoba–1871, southeastern Shelby County

Powell–1835, parts of present Hawkins, Greene, Sullivan, Washington Counties

Putnam–1842, 1854, present Putnam County

Spencer– under State of Franklin, 1785-86: present Hawkins, Hancock, parts of Claiborne, Grainger, and Hamblen Counties

Taylor–1852, parts of present Hardin and Wayne Counties

Tennessee–original county, 1788,  present Montgomery (1796), Robertson (1796), Cheatham, parts of Dickson, Houston, Stewart

Wayne–1785-86, under State of Franklin, present Johnson, Carter, parts of Unicoi and Washington Counties

Webster–1873, parts of present Claiborne, Campbell,Union

Wisdom–1875, present Chester County

These counties are “lost” because of change of name, failure to comply with constitutional requirements, temporary abolishment then being re-established, consolidation with another county, etc .   Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle   http://www.arleneeakle.com

Where there is no direct proof  of relationship in the records, and the documents do not appear to give obvious circumstantial clues, you can use other elements of identity to show probable relationship:

1. Migration Patterns: Family members tend to move together in groups from one place to another.  This is especially true  where adult sons or sons approaching marriageable ages do not already have land holdings.  The father will move to a place where can either acquire sufficient land to share with his sons or where the  vacant land available will allow them to buy their own land.

Russell Gist was a blacksmith, born in Kentucky about 1805.  Searches in eight separate counties for his origins disclosed that Thomas Gist is the only Gist male of the right generation, in the right places, at the right time periods to qualify as the father of Russell Gist.

Thomas Gist outlines his own migrations in his Revolutionary War pension file S1762.  He resided in Greene County TN and enlisted from there.  About 4 or 5 years after the war he moved to Knox County TN where he lived 9 years.  This would place him in Knox County from 1787 to 1796.  He then moved to Barren County KY where “I remained till  about twenty three years ago.” His statement was made 21 Aug 1832, placing him in Barren County until 1809.  During this time Russell Gist was born in Kentucky.

Thomas then moved to Smith County TN across the state line, where he stayed for two years only.  Last, he moved into White County TN just in time to appear on the tax rolls in 1811.  He remained in White County TN until his death.  Making most of these same moves were Thomas’ father Benjamin.  His brothers :  Joseph with whom Thomas had served in the war, certifying the service of them both in affidavits submitted with their pension applications.  And William.

Joseph Gist remained in Barren County.  William died in either White County or  Jackson County TN.  William had land holdings in both counties and the loss of the records byfire, makes it difficult to determine which.

Stay tuned for other chapters in the Gist saga.  Your favorite Tennessee Genealogist, Arlene Eakle http://www.arleneeakle.com