Elisha Spence (1776-1835): The Youngest Sons–Part One: Joseph Spence (1816-1860)–Two Families Unscrambled

Joseph Spence and Mary “Polly” McDaniel Marriage Record in Tennessee Marriages

This is the story of what happens when you have four families in one or two generations with numerous children bearing the same names! It creates a hideous phenomenon known more commonly as a Major Mess! For years, I wondered about some of the information I had acquired concerning the two youngest sons of Elisha Spence–Joseph Spence (1816-1860) and Elisha Bell Spence (1818-1840)–his last two children. But for the life of me, I could not find anything more than what I had acquired. Fortunately, with the availability of many records today, I was able to achieve some success on these lines. While unscrambling the two lines, I went on to unscramble  additional lines–something I had to do in order to prove I had unscrambled the first two! And while my original intention was to combine Joseph and his brother Elisha in one article, that proved to be impossible.

This last article will be divided into three parts: Part One dealing with Joseph Spence (1816-1860) and Mary “Polly” McDaniel (1817-1850); Part Two dealing with Elisha Bell Spence (1818-1840); Part Three dealing with another cousin family who has been snaggled up into all of this. With all of this in mind, I will now enter Part One.

In 1816, Elisha and Jane Bell Spence had a son. One of Elisha’s cousins–Brittain Spence (1791-1829)–and his wife–Jane “Jennie” Forehand (1797-1830)–also had a son in 1816. I do not know which son was born first, but they were born close together. Elisha and Jane lived in Davidson County, Tennessee in 1816. Brittain and Jennie lived either in Davidson County or in Rutherford County in 1816. By 1820, Brittain and his family relocated to Rutherford County, Tennessee, where they appear on the Census for that year(1). They were married in Davidson County May 9, 1812(2). Elisha and Jane Bell were married in Davidson two years previously on October 25, 1810(3). Jennie Forehand was a sister of Phoebe Forehand (1802-1878), who married William Spence (1795-1869)–another cousin of both Elisha and Brittain. [This William Spence is destined to return in Part Three of this article. Interesting to note that I began this entire Spence series over a year ago with an article on William Spence. I will be closing it with an article on the same line!]

My guess is that Brittain and Jennie’s son was born first since they named him Joseph Spence. “Joseph” was a common name in Brittain’s family. His parents were Samuel Spence (1760-1805) and Julian (Julia/Juliana) Gray (1760-1804)–the same Gray line that Elisha’s son, Levi James Spence (1801-1843) married into. Brittain’s grandparents were Joseph Spence (1700-1783) and Louisa Sarah Rencher (1708-1783), and his great grandparents were Alexander Spence (1669-1735) and Dorothy Truman (1672-1734). Alexander Spence was a brother of James Spence (1674-1740)–Elisha Spence’s grandfather.

Shortly after the birth of Brittain and Jennie’s Joseph, Jane Bell Spence gave birth to a boy. And the two families decided that wouldn’t it be nice if two babies bore name the same name of Joseph!  Thus begins the confusion! For clarity’s sake here, I will refer to Elisha and Jane’s son as Joseph (Elisha) and to Brittain and Jennie’s son as Joseph (Brittain). I will discuss Joseph (Brittain) first since I believe he was born first (and he is less complicated!)

Joseph Spence (1816-1880), Mary Ann Fears (1817-1859), and Mary E. (Spence) (1844-1880)

Brittain and Jennie Forehand Spence’s children follow:

1. Samuel Spence (b. 1814).  Samuel was born in Rutherford County, Tennessee. According to Brittain’s Will(4), Samuel was his oldest son. I have no additional information about him.
2. Joseph Spence (1816-1880). Under discussion here as Joseph (Brittain).
3. Elizabeth Spence (b. 1819). Elizabeth was born about 1819 in Rutherford County, Tennessee, and she died March 3, 1899 in Rutherford County, Tennessee. She had two marriages: Eben R. (or B.) Fears, whom she married June 17, 1833 in Rutherford County, Tennessee(5) and John Evans, whom she married May 27, 1841 in Rutherford County(6). She is identified in her father’s will.
4. Phoebe Spence (1820-1897)–named for Jennie’s sister.  Identified in her father’s will. Phoebe was born October 7, 1820 in Rutherford County, Tennessee, and she died March 7, 1897 in Rutherford County, Tennessee. Her husband was James Granderson Williams (1812-1898), whom she married in Rutherford County, Tennessee June 16, 1836(7). Their children were: (a) William Nelson Williams (1838-1917); (b) Elizabeth Jane Williams (1841-1914); (c) Enoch Alson Williams (1844-1864); (d) Nancy Virginia Williams (1847-1929); (e) Malissa (Mary?) Ann Williams (1850-1851); (f) Phebe Adna Williams (1854-1933); (g) Mary James Williams (1858-1862). Phebe is identified in her father’s will.
5. Alson Spence (1822-1860).  Alson is also identified in his father’s will. He was born in Rutherford County about 1822, and he died in Rutherford County. Some people believe he lived to be almost 100! But his probate file is dated 1860 in Rutherford County(8). His wife’s name was Mary Ann Revel (1822-1860), whom he married December 23, 1840 in Rutherford County(9). Some records identify her as Mary Ann Reed (same marriage date). I believe that is a transcription error and that her name was Revel.  Their children were: (a) Francis Spence (1842-1861)–Francis may have died in the Civil War; (b) Sarah J. Spence (1844-1861)–she married William Jefferson Carlton (1837-1912) in 1860 and died the following year; (c) Kinchen R. Spence (1846-aft 1860); (d) Julia A. Spence (1850-1920)–she married John E. Mallard (1846-1918); (e) Arvie B. Spence (1852-1929)–she married John Asbury Williams (1847-1925)(10), (11).
6. William Spence (b. 1823). William is mentioned in his father’s will. He was born in Rutherford County about 1823. He was alive when his father died in 1830, but I could find no record for him after that. He may have died young.
7. Mary Spence (b. 1825). Mary is mentioned in her father’s will. She would have died after 1830. May have died young.
8. Julianna Spence (1827-1854). Julianna is mentioned in her father’s will. She was born March 5, 1827 in Rutherford County, Tennessee, and she died January 2, 1854 in Bedford County, Tennessee. She married John Richard Stem (1822-1878) in 1852. They had a son named Marion Luther Stem (1853-1906). She died in 1854. According to her Find-a-Grave Memorial where she is erroneously identified as Ann Sprouse, she was born March 5, 1827 in Rutherford County, Tennessee, and she died January 2, 1854 in Bedford County, Tennessee(12). She is buried in the Stem Cemetery in Bedford County, Tennessee.

The second son of Brittain and Jennie Forehand Spence, Joseph Spence was born either in Davidson County, Tennessee or in Rutherford County, Tennessee in 1816. He died in Greene County, Arkansas after 1880. He is identified as the second son in his father’s will(13). Joseph had two marriages. His first wife was Mary Ann Fears (1817-1859). They had married in Rutherford County on December 4, 1833(14). Their children follow:

1. Nancy Louisa Spence (1831/4-1909). [Note: I provide two dates of birth here. Her tombstone on Find-a-Grave indicates that she was born in 1831. However, her parents didn’t get married until 1833. More than likely, she was born in 1834 in Rutherford County, Tennessee.] She died in Marshall County, Tennessee on July 15, 1909. According to her Find-a-Grave Memorial:

Birth:	Oct. 4, 1831
Death:	Jul. 15, 1909
Nancy Louisa Spence Endsley Dau of Joseph Spence & Nancy [sic] Ann Fears Spence Wife of Alexander M Endsley Married 30 Aug 1856 i Marshall Co TNFamily links: Spouse: A M Endsley (1826 – 1908)*Children: J J Endsley (1858 – 1894)* Julia Endsley Smith (1868 – 1913)**Calculated relationship
Burial: Head Springs Cemetery Lewisburg Marshall County Tennessee, USA
Created by: gordon Record added: Apr 24, 2011 Find A Grave Memorial# 68877718 [15]

The full list of their children follows: (a) John J. Endsley (1858-1894); (b) William M. Endsley (1859-1931); (c) Martha J. Endsley (b. 1860); (d) George A. Endsley (1864-1935); (e) Mary E. Endsley (b. 1866); (f) Julia C. Endlsey Smith (1868-1913); (g) Joseph E. Endsley (b. 1870).

2. Britton Spence (1835-1910). Britton was born in September 1835 Rutherford County, Tennessee, and he died in Arkansas in 1910. His wife was Elizabeth “Betsy” A. Cox (1840-1910). Their children were: (a) Charles Spence (b. 1858); (b) R. Spence (b. 1860); (c) Minerel Millinder Spence (1869-1939); (d) Allie B. Spence (b. 1872); (e) Eva M. Spence (b. 1880). Prior to relocating to Arkansas, Britton settled in Madison County, Tennessee, where he and his family appear on the 1860 Census(16).

3. William Spence (1837-1900). William was born in March 1837 in Tennessee, and he died in 1900 in Perry, St. Francois, Missouri. His wife was Susan M. Steele (b. 1842). Their children were: (a) John P. Spence (b. 1865); (b) Sarah F. Spence (b. 1866); (c) Eller Spence (b. 1868); (d) Londokie Spence (b. 1877); (e) Joseph C. Spence (b. 1883); (f) George Anthony Spence (b. 1887); (g) Leona Spence (b. 1889).

Mary Ann Fears died around 1859. Joseph went to Kentucky by 1860 where he married his second wife: Mary E. (Her last name is unknown.)  By 1870, Joseph moved his family to Clark, Greene County, Arkansas, where they appear on the 1870 Census(17). The children of Joseph Spence and Mary E. Spence follow:

1. Julia Ann Spence (1865-1880). Julia was born in Tennessee about 1865, and she died after the 1880 Census in Greene County, Arkansas. I have no further information about her.
2. Susan “Sudie” Spence (1872-1930). Sudie was born in Haliday, Arkansas in 1872, and she died in 1930 in Greene County, Arkansas. Her first husband was John Michael “Mike” Cooper (1865-1920), whom she married in 1887 in Greene County, Arkansas. Their children were: (a) Carlie C. (Charles) Cooper (1887-1943); (b) an unidentified child born 1890; (c) Pearly Cooper (1893-1920). Her second husband was James H. Ward (1880-1920),whom she  married in 1900 in Greene County, Arkansas(18).  Their children were: (a) Robert Ward (1901-1994); (b) Charles Ward (b. 1906).
3. Charles Edward Spence (1873-1940). Charles was born February 15, 1873 in Arkansas, and he died after 1940 in Collier, Greene, Arkansas. His wife was Bertha E. Spense (b. 1885). Their son was Cletra R. Spence (b. 1914).
4. Mary E. Spence (1877-aft 1880). Mary was born about 1877 in Arkansas, and she died after 1880 in Union and Clark, Greene County, Arkansas.

Joseph and his family appear on the 1880 Census for Greene County, Arkansas(19). They may have moved to Independence County, Arkansas by late 1880 or early 1881 because I found a probate file for Joseph Spence listed there(20).

Joseph (Brittain) will reappear in the next section.

 

Joseph Spence (1816-1860), Mary “Polly” McDaniel (1817-1850), and Frances E. Spence (1838-1860)

The Elisha Spence family and the Brittain Spence family may have traveled from North Carolina to Tennessee together. The two families were close, and the two young Joseph Spences grew up together and bonded like brothers. They kept things lively in the neighborhood, no doubt pulling tricks on other family members.

Elisha and Jane Bell Spence’s second youngest son, Joseph–noted here as Joseph (Elisha) –was born in Davidson County, Tennessee in 1816, and he died after the 1860 census in Haywood County, Tennessee. Had I not discovered his marriage record in a book of Tennessee Marriage Records at the Denver Public Library years ago, I may not have ever found him! His records have been so mixed in with Joseph (Brittain)’s, it is difficult sorting them out. However, I accepted the challenge and weathered the storm!

A young child Joseph’s age appears in the Elisha Spence household on the 1820 Census for Davidson County, Tennessee. A chart depicting the family is listed below. I included their names in the margin:

Name	Elisha Spence
Home in 1820 (City, County, State)	Davidson, Tennessee
Enumeration Date	August 7, 1820
Free White Persons – Males – Under 10	2 (Joseph/Elisha B)
Free White Persons – Males – 10 thru 15	1  (William)
Free White Persons – Males – 26 thru 44	1  (Elisha)
Free White Persons – Females – Under 10	2 (Angeline/Jane)
Free White Persons – Females – 10 thru 15	2  (Rhoda/Susan)
Free White Persons – Females – 16 thru 25	1  (Milly Catherine)
Free White Persons – Females – 26 thru 44	1  (Jane)
Number of Persons – Engaged in Agriculture	2
Free White Persons – Under 16	7
Free White Persons – Over 25	2
Total Free White Persons	10
Total All Persons – White, Slaves, Colored, Other	10                           (21)

Milly Catherine had married Lewis Jones that year and lived in Perry County, but she was helping out her family in Davidson County when this census record was taken. Samuel and Daniel were in Perry County, Tennessee. Levi James was living in North Carolina.

The 1830 Census for the Elisha Spence household in Davidson County presents the following image:

Name	Elisha Spense
Home in 1830 (City, County, State)	Davidson, Tennessee
Free White Persons – Males – 10 thru 14	1  (Elisha B)
Free White Persons – Males – 15 thru 19	1  (Joseph)
Free White Persons – Males – 50 thru 59	1  (Elisha)
Free White Persons – Females – 10 thru 14	1  (Jane)
Free White Persons – Females – 15 thru 19	1  (Angeline)
Free White Persons – Females – 50 thru 59	1  (Jane)
Free White Persons – Under 20	4
Total Free White Persons	6
Total – All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored)	6                         (22)

The children of the first marriage are gone. Samuel, Daniel, Milly Catherine and her husband are in Perry County, Tennessee. Levi has returned from North Carolina and is living in Madison County, Tennessee. William is now living in North Carolina. Rhoda and Susan were living in Williamson County. Shortly after this census was taken, Elisha moved his family to Madison County, where he died in November 1835(23). After her husband’s death, Jane Bell Spence moved her family to Marshall County, Tennessee, where some of them appear on the 1840 Census:

Name	Jane Spence
Home in 1840 (City, County, State)	Marshall, Tennessee
Free White Persons – Males – 10 thru 14	1
Free White Persons – Males – 15 thru 19	1
Free White Persons – Males – 20 thru 29	1 (Elisha B)
Free White Persons – Females – 10 thru 14	1
Free White Persons – Females – 15 thru 19	1 (Elisha B’s wife?)
Free White Persons – Females – 40 thru 49	1 (Jane)
Persons Employed in Agriculture	1
No. White Persons over 20 Who Cannot Read and Write	2
Free White Persons – Under 20	4
Free White Persons – 20 thru 49	2
Total Free White Persons	6
Total All Persons – Free White, Free Colored, Slaves	6                        (24)

My perception of this chart has changed since my earlier examination of it. Elisha B. Spence is the only one left at home with possibly a wife? I don’t know the identities of the others living in Jane’s household. She may have taken in some orphans. The other possibility is that they were siblings of Elisha B.’s wife. (Hope to settle that issue in Part Two of this article.)

So where was Joseph?

I don’t believe he settled in Marshall County with his mother. In fact, I believe he relocated to Williamson County before his father’s death. Some of his siblings had already settled there or were in the process of settling there. He liked being close to other family members, and he renewed his close ties with his cousin, Joseph (Brittain). The distance between Williamson and Rutherford County was short, so family members visited one another frequently. And shortly after his removal to Williamson County, Joseph met his future wife.

Her name was Mary “Polly” McDaniel (1817-1850). She was the daughter of Lowery McDaniel (1774-1852) and his wife Margaret (1780-1860), who lived in Davidson County. I don’t know how Joseph became acquainted with Polly McDaniel. Lowerey McDaniel appears on an early Davidson County tax list dated July 19, 1813, so the McDaniels, like the Spence family, were early settlers there(25). No doubt, Joseph and Polly had known one another since childhood. And Polly McDaniel may have been the reason why Joseph returned to the area.

They were married July 29, 1835 in Davidson County, Tennessee(26), four months prior to Elisha Spence’s death and two years after his cousin, Joseph (Brittain)’s marriage. The couple then settled in Williamson County, where they appear on the 1840 Census:

Name	Joseph Spence
Home in 1840 (City, County, State)	Williamson, Tennessee
Free White Persons – Males – Under 5	2 (Unknown Sons)
Free White Persons – Males – 20 thru 29	1  (Joseph)
Free White Persons – Females – 5 thru 9	1  (Unknown daughter)
Free White Persons – Females – 20 thru 29	1  (Polly)
Persons Employed in Agriculture	1
Free White Persons – Under 20	3
Free White Persons – 20 thru 49	2
Total Free White Persons	5
Total All Persons – Free White, Free Colored, Slaves	5                                (27)

By 1840, Joseph and Polly had three children–two boys and a girl. The girl was the oldest and is listed as between the ages of five through nine. She was probably born in 1836. The two boys are under the ages of five. The names of these children are unknown because they did not survive and died long before the 1850 Census. Three names of their later children are known, however, but are not without controversy. I will introduce these children by name. Then I will discuss the controversy. Then I will discuss the children individually. But I need to introduce another cousin first because she is going to impact this study. Her name was Frances E. Spence. She was born about 1838, and she was the daughter of Amos B. Spence (1800-bef. 1850) and Mary Elizabeth Spence (1805-1872). This family will be profiled in Part Three, but Frances enters the picture here. One of Joseph and Polly’s daughters would be named for her.

The names of the known children of Joseph and Polly McDaniel Spence follow:

1. Elisha H. Spence (1841-1921)
2. Joseph Spence (1845-1860)
3. Frances “Fanny” A. Spence (1849-1880)–the child named after the cousin Frances, born 1838.

These children appear in the Joseph (Brittain) household on the 1850 Census for Rutherford County, Tennessee, per the following:

Name	Joseph Spence
Age	34
Birth Year	1816
Birthplace	Tennessee
Home in 1850	May, Rutherford, Tennessee
Gender	Male
Family Number	1017
Household Members	Name Age Joseph Spence 34 Mary A Spence 33 Nancy Spence 16 Britton Spence 14 Wm Spence 11 Elisha Spence 9 Jos Spence 4 Fanny Spence 1   (28)

For  years, people have been including Elisha, Joseph and Fanny as children of Joseph Spence (Brittain) and Mary Ann Fears when instead, they were children of Joseph Spence (Elisha) and Mary “Polly” McDaniel. I must admit I did the same thing until I started digging into it. What follows is the rest of the story.

Joseph and Polly had three children: Elisha (born 1841), Joseph (born 1845), and Fanny (born 1849). Polly never recovered from the birth of Fanny, and Joseph was beside himself. Plus they experienced the deaths of their first three children, whose names are unknown. Finally, Lowery McDaniel (Polly’s father) and Joseph (Brittain) came to the rescue. Polly would return to her parents’ house to recover there. The children would stay with Joseph (Brittain) and Mary Ann Fears until Polly recovered. The 1850 Census for Lowery McDaniel follows:

Name	Lowery McDanel
Age	76
Birth Year	1774
Birthplace	Virginia
Home in 1850	District 22, Davidson, Tennessee
Race	White
Gender	Male
Family Number	9
Household Members	Name Age Lowery McDanel 76 Margaret McDanel 70 Polly McDanel 40 Honrles McDanel 42 John McDanel 36 Drewry McDanel 34 William McDanel 32 Lousana McDanel 12 Rebecca McDanel 27 (29)

This is another case of the census taker assuming that everyone in the household possessed the same surname. Most of them did. Polly’s surname was Spence. The census taker did provide the location of births for the people listed here. Lowery was born in Virginia.  Margaret, Polly, and Honries were born in South Carolina. The others were born in Tennessee. I believe Honries, John, Drewry and William were Polly’s brothers. Rebecca was probably a wife of one of them. Lousana was probably one of Lowery and Margaret’s grandchildren. Census takers did not designate actual relationships on these early census records.

Polly did not recover. The census record is dated November 22, 1850. Polly died shortly after that record was taken. And then Joseph really was beside himself. His grief left him powerless to do anything.  Finally, one cold blustery wintry day, he went to Rutherford County to see his children. Twelve-year old Frances Spence was staying in the household at the time, helping Mary with the children. Noting his cousin’s depression, Joseph (Brittain) made a suggestion. [The following is not an exact conversation, but a suggestion as to what could have been said.]

“Why not go out to Missouri?”

“What?” Joseph asked.

“Why not go out to Missouri and see your family? You need to get away from here.”

Joseph grew silent.

“Find someone to go with you–” Joseph (Brittain)’s eyes traveled across the room in the direction of young Frances, whose eyes were wide at the suggestion. Frances’ adoration of Joseph was well known throughout the family. “Like Frances, here!” he added.

Frances’ hand shot immediately to her mouth.

Joseph laughed. It was the first time any of them had seen him laugh in weeks.

“Are you kidding?” He said. “Mary would never let me haul Frances out to Missouri!”

“Well, all we can do is ask!”

“In this weather?”

“Go when the weather clears in the spring.”

Joseph grew silent. He hadn’t seen some of his family since their father’s funeral. It would be great seeing them again.

“Angeline lives in St. Louis,” he said. “I guess the rest of them live on the other side of the state–Jasper and Newton County. Rhoda and Dave Gill talk about moving there.”

Getting approval for Joseph to take Frances to Missouri required a trip to see her mother Mary, who was now living in Weakley County. So the following weekend, Mary Spence was surprised to see the two Josephs and her daughter standing on her porch. Amos had passed away. Mary chose to continue living in Weakley with her children. And when she heard why they were there, she could only gasp–

“You want to do–WHAT? MISSOURI!”

It took some time to persuade her, but both Josephs were expert in persuading people to do things–something they had mastered as young boys.

Mary eyed her daughter, whose eyes clearly read: “PLEASE!”

“And after all, we are pioneers!” Joseph (Brittain) closed his argument.

“Oh, I don’t know! Missouri! Oh my! What would Amos say?”

“I’m sure he would approve!” Joseph (Brittain) offered.

Finally, Joseph (Elisha) found  his voice.

“I can’t think of another person I would like to travel with me to Missouri, Mary!” He said. “I can promise you, I’ll keep her safe!”

And so when spring broke and the weather settled, Joseph and Frances traveled to Missouri. Joseph liked Frances. She was easy to talk to, and she listened. They stopped a day or so in St. Louis to see Angeline, who was a widow. Then they traveled to Jasper County and astounded everyone when they showed up on their doorsteps. A great celebration took place to welcome them. Of course, the people spent hours listening to Joseph’s stories about Polly and his children who were living with a cousin in Rutherford County. And they plied Frances with questions about her family. And then the day came for them to leave.

“Well, Joe, you oughta move here!” Samuel suggested.

“Oh, maybe,” Joseph responded. “Guess I’ll be in Tennessee for a while.”

The family watched them head down the road.

“I can see which direction this is going,” Samuel told Elizabeth. “They’ll be married in a few years.”

Joseph Spence and Frances E. Spence were married in Weakley County, Tennessee about 1853 when Frances turned fifteen. They settled in District 4 in Haywood County, Tennessee, where they appear on the 1860 Census:

Name	Joseph Spence
Age	44
Birth Year	1816
Gender	Male
Birth Place	Tennessee
Home in 1860	District 4, Haywood, Tennessee
Post Office	Belles Depot
Family Number	732
Household Members	Name Age Joseph Spence 44 Francis E Spence 22 Elisha Spence 19 Joseph Spence 15 Francis A Spence 13  (30)

Joseph (Brittain)’s wife Mary Ann Fears had died in Rutherford County in 1859. In 1860 when Joseph (Elisha) and Francis were living in Haywood County, Joseph (Brittain) traveled to Kentucky that year where he married his second wife: Mary E (Last Name Unknown). She may have been a cousin. At this point, I don’t know. Joseph’s children by his first marriage had left home by 1860. It is unknown how long he remained in Kentucky but by 1870, he had relocated to Greene County, Arkansas. His name is erroneously recorded on the 1870 Census as Joseph Spencer:

Name	Joseph Spencer
Age in 1870	54
Birth Year	1816
Birthplace	Tennessee
Home in 1870	Clark, Greene, Arkansas
Race	White
Gender	Male
Post Office	Gainesville
Household Members	Name Age Joseph Spencer 54 Mary E Spencer 26 Julian Spencer 7 Susan Spencer 6  (31)

Joseph (Elisha) remained in Haywood County, Tennessee. His  sister, Mary Jane, and her husband James Garrett had lived in District 10 prior to 1860. But as noted in a previous article, Jane and James Garrett and their two children died before 1860.

I wish I could say this story has a happy ending for Joseph and Frances, but it does not. Sometime after the 1860 Haywood County Census, Joseph, Frances, and Joseph’s son, Joseph, died. They either died of some disease, or they may have been casualties of the Civil War. Fighting was fierce in Western Tennessee (which was primarily Confederate) during the Civil War. People were often killed simply for being loyal to the Confederacy, or else they were caught in the crossfire. Fortunately, the other two children: Elisha H. and Fanny survived. Their stories follow.

Elisha H. Spence (1841-1921). Elisha was born in May 1841 in Williamson County, Tennessee, and he died November 1, 1921 in Sweet Home, Pulaski, Arkansas. As previously noted, Elisha, his brother Joseph, and his sister Fanny lived with Joseph (Brittain) and Mary Ann Fears Spence in Rutherford County after their mother’s death in 1850. They were reunited with their father Joseph (Elisha) after his marriage to Francis in 1855, placing them in Haywood County. In 1861, Elisha enlisted in Company G, Tennessee 27th Infantry Regiment, C.S.A(32). According to his service records, he served in both Companies C and G, and his service appears to have been long-term. He did survive the War. I believe that had his family members died of a disease or plague, Elisha and his sister would have died as well. So I think his family died in the conflict.

After the Civil War ended, Elisha went to Kentucky, where he met and married Matilda (Last Name Unknown) (1844-1900) in 1866. Between 1866 and 1876, Elisha and his family appear to move back and forth between Kentucky and Tennessee. Then he moved to Greene County, Arkansas where Joseph (Brittain) was living. Had he been a natural son of this Joseph, he would have headed to Arkansas immediately after his discharge. But he was searching for his own family members in Kentucky and Tennessee. When he discovered they were all gone, he relocated to Arkansas, where he rejoined the Joseph (Brittain) family.

The children of Elisha H. Spence and Matilda follow:

1. Jackson W. Spence (1868-1963)
2. Chapil N. Spence (b. 1869)
3. Lenora Spence (b. 1872)
4. Samuel Spence (1876-1902)
5. Robert J. Spence (b. 1878)
6. Francis Crice Spence (b. 1884)

Elisha H. Spence died November 1, 1921 in Sweet Home, Pulaski County, Arkansas(33). He is buried in the Little Rock National Cemetery, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Frances “Fanny” A. Spence (1849-1880). Fanny was born in Williamson County, Tennessee, and she died after 1880 in Texas. As noted earlier, she was named for a cousin–Frances E. Spence (1838-1860)–who  eventually became her step-mother. After her parents and brother Joseph died, her other brother Elisha took her to relatives in Madison County, Tennessee, and she stayed with them until she married.  On August 14, 1869, Fanny married James H. Bray (1840-1921) in Madison County, Tennessee(34).  Their children were:

1. Ella Bray, born 1862
2. Lillie Bray, born 1869
3. John S. Bray, born 1872
4. E. H. Bray, born 1874.

James H. Bray was born in Marshall County, Tennessee April 12, 1840, and he died February 6, 1921 in San Antonio, Bexar, Texas. His parents were Elisha G. Bray (1804-1877) and Rachel P. McDaniel (1818-1887)–possibly a relative of Polly McDaniel.  According to his veteran’s records, he served with the Confederate Army in the Civil War and received a pension for his service:

Name	J H Bray
Application Date	4 Apr 1916
Birth Year	1840
Birth Place	Marshall, Tennessee
Age	76
Pension File Number	32762
Application Type	Veteran
Household Members	Name Age J H Bray 76  (35)

The Brays appear on the 1880 Census for Blossom Prairie, Lamar, Texas(36). This is the last record for Fanny. She would have died after that 1880 Census.  James H. Bray died February 6, 1921 in San Antonio, Bexar, Texas(37).

 

This article continues with Part Two: Elisha Bell Spence (1818-1840)

 

References

(1) 1820 Census for Rutherford County, Tennessee about Brittain Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(2) Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 about Brittain Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(3) Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 about Elisha Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(4) Tennessee Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008 about Brittain Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(5) Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 about Elizabeth Spence and Eben Fears. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(6) Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 about Elizabeth Spence and John Evans. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(7)  Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 about Phoebe Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(8) Tennessee Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(9) Tennessee Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(10) 1850 Census for Alson Spence, Rutherford County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(11) 1860 Census for Alson Spence, Rutherford County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(12) Find-a-Grave Memorial for Juliana Spence Stem (listed as Ann Sprouse), Find A Grave Memorial# 22971124. Find-a-Grave Website. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.findagrave.com

(13) Tennessee Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008 about Brittain Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(14) Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 about Joseph Spence [Brittain]. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(15) Nancy L. Spence Endsley Find A Grave Memorial# 68877718. Find-a-Grave.com website. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www. ancestry.com.

(16) 1860 Census for Madison County, Tennessee about Britton Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(17) 1870 Census for Clark, Greene County, Arkansas for Joseph Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(18) Arkansas County Marriages, Index, 1837-1957 about Sudie Spence Cooper. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(19) 1880 Census for Greene County, Arkansas for Joseph Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(20) Arkansas, Wills and Probate Records, 1783-1998 about Joseph Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(21) 1820 Census for Davidson County, Tennessee for Elisha Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(22) 1830 Census for Davidson County, Tennessee for Elisha Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 6 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(23) Elisha Spence Estate Inventory dated November 1835. Copy obtained from the Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee.

(24) 1840 Census for Marshall County, Tennessee for Jane Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(25) North Carolina and Tennessee, Early Land Records, 1753-1931 about Lowerey McDaniel. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(26) Tennessee State Marriage Records, 1780-2002 about Joseph Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(27) 1840 Census for Williamson County, Tennessee about Joseph Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(28) 1850 Census for Rutherford County, Tennessee about Joseph Spence (Brittain). Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(29) 1850 Census for Davidson County, Tennessee about Polly McDaniel Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(30) 1860 Census for Haywood County, Tennessee about Joseph Spence (Elisha). Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(31) 1870 Census for Greene County, Arkansas for Joseph Spence(r). Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(32) U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 about Elisha H. Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(33) U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962 about Elisha H. Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(34) Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 about Frances Spence and James H. Bray. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(35) Alabama, Texas and Virginia, Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958 about J H Bray. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(36) 1880 Census for Lamar County, Texas, J. H. Bray. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(37) Texas Death Certificates, 1903-1982 about J. H. Bray. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 7 Oct 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

Research–Research–Research–

 

I’m pausing!

Not really, but I am buried in research at the moment. I’m working on the last article in the Elisha Spence series. Years ago, I discovered a book at the Denver Public Library that enabled my research and gave me the information needed. And I located  the notes I had made about that book in my research notebook. However, I discovered a list of additional page numbers I had made, and I now need that book in order to complete the article.

I don’t go downtown any more, and our libraries here don’t have these books. The little Carnegie Library in Boulder was once a valuable place to go for research. They closed out their genealogy department and sent everything related to genealogy to the Denver Public Library.

So began my search for the book on the internet. And I found it! Amazon had the book and only one copy left in stock. I bought it. I won’t receive it until late in the week. They usually ship things quickly.

Meanwhile, I am working on the article concerning Elisha Spence’s youngest sons. As it turns out, four families are going to be involved in that last chapter, and I’m trying to nail all of them down. I’ve made some really interesting discoveries, and I’m looking forward to sharing them in that chapter. After that, I will write a summary and a conclusion and decide which line I want to pursue next. It will probably be a line from my father’s side of the family.

I still have some articles to add to the Spence section. I had them on my old website and want to include them here after revising them. So I will probably add those to the Spence section while researching the new line I will be focusing on.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch–

 

Elisha Spence (1776-1835)–The Second Family: Part Two–Mary Jane Spence (1813-1860) and James Garrett (1806-1860)

James Garrett and Mary Jane Spence Marriage Record–Copy obtained from the Tennessee State Archives and Library

 

[NOTE: This article is a major undertaking. I started it over several times before settling upon this final draft. The absence of original records destroyed by fire, floods and human hands creates a major barrier to validity. That absence also leads to frustration, and frustration leads to the creation of fiction. Fiction impedes finding the truth. My frustration here this week  has dealt with fiction writers and has led to numerous headaches. I hope that I have done justice to the people involved in this narrative. My goal is to tell their stories as accurately as possible.]

Mary Jane Spence (1813-1860) and James Garrett (1806-1860)

The second daughter of Elisha Spence and Jane Bell, Mary Jane Spence (Jane Spence) was born in Williamson County, Tennessee between 1813-1815, and she died before 1860 in Haywood County, Tennessee. On September 21, 1842, she married James Garrett (1806-1860) in Williamson County, Tennessee(2). [Note: The bond was recorded September 20 and the marriage return date was recorded September 21. She is listed on one document as Jane Spence and on the other as M. Jane Spence.] They were in Haywood County, Tennessee in 1850, where they appear on the Census(3). A summary of the 1850 Census follows:

Name	Jane Garrett
Age	35
Birth Year	abt 1815
Birthplace	Tennessee
Home in 1850	District 10, Haywood, Tennessee
Gender	Female
Family Number	381
Household Members	Name Age James Garrett 46 Jane Garrett 35 Harvey Garrett 6 Sarah Garrett 6(4)

There were three generations of “Mary Janes” in her family; her maternal grandmother, Mary Jane Boyd Bell; her mother, Mary Jane Bell Spence, and Jane–Mary Jane Spence! Young Jane followed the same tradition as  her mother: they were both known by their middle names.

She grew up in the Elisha Spence household and watched the older children disappear. She knew Samuel, Daniel and Milly Catherine but since Levi and William spent so many years in North Carolina, she wasn’t all that familiar with them. Apparently, she was a companion of the two Rhodas while they were still at home.

Her father died in November 1835 in Madison County, Tennessee(5). After his death, her mother took her children to Marshall County, where Jane Bell Spence died about 1842. She last appears on the 1840 Census for Marshall County, Tennessee(6).  The following is a summary of that census record–[Note: Jane Bell Spence is 40-49 on this record. The youngest son Elisha B. Spence is the only one at home. The female 15 through 19 is Elisha’s wife. I do not know the identities of the other three people but believe they were Elisha’s wife’s siblings. Joseph Spence had moved to Williamson County, where he married in 1835. Angeline and Mary Jane also relocated to Williamson County where other siblings were living by 1838]:

Name	Jane Spence
Home in 1840 (City, County, State)	Marshall, Tennessee
Free White Persons – Males – 10 thru 14	1
Free White Persons – Males – 15 thru 19	1
Free White Persons – Males – 20 thru 29	1 (Elisha B. Spence)
Free White Persons – Females – 10 thru 14	1
Free White Persons – Females – 15 thru 19	1 (Elisha’s Wife)
Free White Persons – Females – 40 thru 49	1 (Jane Spence)
Persons Employed in Agriculture	1
No. White Persons over 20 Who Cannot Read and Write	2
Free White Persons – Under 20	4
Free White Persons – 20 thru 49	2
Total Free White Persons	6
Total All Persons – Free White, Free Colored, Slaves	6 (7)

As previously noted, after her mother’s death, young Jane had a decision to make about her own future. Samuel, Daniel and Milly Catherine were already in Missouri, and Angeline was making plans to move there. She invited Jane to go with her. But Missouri was so far away! Levi and William were in Weakley County, but she didn’t want to settle there. Eventually, she decided to remain in Williamson County, Tennessee where the two Rhodas were living as well as her own natural brother, Joseph Spence. (He will be covered in Part 3.) The youngest member of the family–Elisha Bell Spence–was still living with his mother when she died. (He will also be covered in Part 4. The Conclusion will then follow.)

And there was another reason for her choice of Williamson County, Tennessee–a man by the name of James Garrett, who was had been living in the area for a while, and who was a friend of her family.

James Garrett (1806-bef. 1860)

Finding James Garrett was no easy matter! I thought it would be a simple job. But the only two documents I have for him are the marriage document referenced above and the 1850 Census for Haywood County, Tennessee. I could have made this a really simple story by introducing those two documents followed by a conclusion–two paragraphs at most. However, my sense of “shoveling” and “digging” prevailed, and I started doing just  that. The 1850 Census notes that James Garrett was born in North Carolina in 1804, and that he was living with his wife and children in Haywood County, Tennessee. The more I dug, the more Garretts I spaded up. And the more Garrets I spaded up, the deeper I had to dig.

What was so special about Haywood County? I wondered.

According to the Wikipedia site:

Haywood County was created from part of Madison County in 1823–24, and was named for Tennessee judge and historian John Haywood. Haywood County was part of Madison County when the Tennessee General Assembly created it in 1823–24. (Later, portions of Haywood would be carved out to create Lauderdale and Crockett Counties.) The legislature designated Brownsville as the county seat.

Farming, especially of cotton, was the basis for the local economy for much of its history. Until the Civil War, this meant a plantation system dependent upon slave labor; after the war, tenant farmers and sharecroppers took the place of actual slavery(8).

The reference to Madison County did not escape my notice. Shortly after the 1830 Census in Davidson County, Tennessee, the Elisha Spence family moved to Madison County. While shuffling through Haywood County records, I discovered a number of Garretts residing in Haywood County, the majority settling in District 10.

And that is where James and Jane lived in 1850, I thought. Those Garretts must have been related to James, and they came from North Carolina! But from where?

***

James Garrett was actually a twin born in Greene County, Tennessee in 1806. His biological parents were Jacob Garrett (1780-1838) and Barbara Jack (b. 1783), who were married in Greene County, Tennessee November 11, 1805(9). Jacob was born in 1780 in Buckingham County, Virginia, and he died before March 5, 1838 in Greene County, Tennessee. Barbara gave birth to twins in 1806: a son named John, who did not live, and James. Apparently, Barbara was ill after the double birth, an illness that lasted a long time.. The infant James went to live with his uncle and aunt in Person County, North Carolina: Samuel Garrett, Jr. (1772-1858) and Elizabeth Broughton (1778-1858). James was raised in their household with their children. I doubt that he had any contact with his natural parents. His parents were happy that he was settled in a good household. [Note: I will cover Samuel and his family after I finish with Jacob.]

Jacob and his brother Samuel came from a prominent Garrett family from Chesterfield and Buckingham Counties of Virginia. The records have been scrambled regarding that family. Everyone has a different opinion about them since so many of the original Buckingham, Virginia records are missing or destroyed(10).  Briefly, their ancestry follows:

Jacob and Samuel were the sons of John Garrett (1743-1831)  and Elizabeth Amonet/Amonett (1743-1789). I seriously doubt that Samuel was Elizabeth’s son since John and Elizabeth were married December 7, 1778 in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Samuel was born in 1772, as is verified on the 1850 Giles County, Tennessee Census(11). Some people have attempted to compensate for this by changing Samuel’s birthdate to 1783 or 1785. Doing that throws everything else off, however. Since Samuel was the oldest child, I believe John had an earlier marriage and his first wife’s name is  unknown.  The children of John Garrett and Elizabeth Amonet/Amonett follow:

• Samuel Garrett (1772-1858). About to be discussed. Probably by John’s first wife.
• Jacob Garrett (1780-1838). Under discussion
• Pleasant Garrett (1781-1826). Pleasant was born September 10, 1781 in North Carolina, and he died December 20, 1826 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. His wife was Margaret Peggy Brevard (1793-1876). Their children were: (a) John Garrett (b. 1810); (b) James Garrett (b. 1811); (c) John B. Campbell Garrett (1813-1891); (d) Priscilla Garrett (1814-1894); (e) William Moore Garrett (b. 1816); (f) Elizabeth Jane Garrett (b. 1820); (g) Albert Francis Marion Garrett (1822-1891); (h) Pleasant Jasper Garrett (b. 1824); (i) Margaret Jerusha Garrett, who died in 1907.
• Elizabeth Garrett (1784-1860). She was born in Virginia, and she died in Rockcastle, Madison, Kentucky. Her records are really confusing, so I won’t extend her line. John and Elizabeth Amonett Garrett had a daughter named Elizabeth. That is the only information I can verify.
• Margaret Garrett (b. 1789). I have no additional information.

[Note: The family information for John Garrett and Elizabeth Amonet/Amonett comes from The Garrett Family of Craighead Co. and Greene County, Arkansas website](12).

John Garrett was the son of Isaac Garrett (1719-1775) and Ann (Rux??). Isaac was the son of John Smith Garrett (1690-1743) and Susannah Featherstone Burton (b. 1695) of Amelia County, Virginia(13).

***

By 1808, Jacob Garrett and Barbara Jack began having additional children of their own.  I acquired a copy of Jacob’s will in order to verify them:

• Sarah Elizabeth “Sally” Garrett (1808-1851). Sally was born in Greene County, Tennessee in 1808, and she died in 1851 in Navarro, Ellis County, Texas. Her husband was Abijah Smith Gibbs (1805-1860). Their children were: (a) William Riley Gibbs (1827-1892); (b) Elisabeth Gibbs, born 1830; (c) Mary Anne Gibbs, born 1833; (d) Barbara G. Gibbs, born 1835; (e) Sarah J. Gibbs, born 1837; (f) James Patrick Gibbs (1839-1925); (g) John S. Gibbs, born 1841; (h) Martha R. Gibbs, born 1843; (I) Drucilla E. Gibbs, born 1845; (j) Lucy C. Gibbs, born 1849.
• Elizabeth J. Garrett (1810-1870). [Note: Elizabeth’s records are often jumbled with her sister Margaret. Jacob’s will indicates they were separate individuals]. Elizabeth was born in November 1810 in Greene County, Tennessee, and she died in 1870 in Liberty, Bollinger, Missouri. Her husband was William Youngblood (1806-1870). Their children were: (a) Alfred Mory Youngblood (1827-1864); (b) Son Youngblood (1829-1829); (c) John Garet Youngblood (1831-1890); (d) Dr. James M. Youngblood (1833-1879); (e) Martin V. Youngblood (1841-1881); (f) Barbara “Barbary” Youngblood (b. 1843); (g) Mary Magdalene Youngblood (1844-1873); (h) William O. Youngblood (1846-1903); (I) Elizabeth Youngblood (b. 1851); (j) Sarah A. Youngblood (b. 1851); (k) Emma Youngblood (b. 1853); (l) Lincoln Youngblood (b. 1854).
• Margaret Garrett (1811-bef. 1860). Margaret was born in Greene County, Tennessee in 1811, and she died before 1860 in Greene County, Tennessee. About 1825, she married a Waddell (sometimes spelled Waddle). He died before 1827. As yet, I haven’t discovered his full name. [Note: This was an interesting discovery for me since my husband Howard lived just outside Greenville, Tennessee when he was a boy, and his best friend was a Waddell. We’ve been back to Greene County on two different trips, and enjoyed the hospitality there immensely. We also toured the old town of  Jonesboro and saw Davy Crockett’s birthplace there.  I understand the Waddells were among the early pioneers in the area. Some of the Waddells, Crocketts and Garretts intermarried.  No doubt, Howard’s Waddell friends were in some way related to the Waddell who married Margaret Garrett! On July 23, 1827, Margaret Garrett Waddell married Allen Kennedy (1809-1833) in Greene County, Tennessee). Allen was born in 1809 in Greene County, and he died in Greene County April 19, 1833. According to the Greene County, Tennessee Cemetery Records:

Name	Allen Kennedy
Relation	husband
Relative	Margaret Kennedy
Birth Date	1809
Death Date	19 Apr 1833
Age	24 Years
Comments	Sacred to the Memory of Allen Kennedy
Cemetery Name	Greene County Tomb Stone Records Mt. Zion Cemetery
Cemetery Description	Located 9 miles southeast of Greeneville, on road connecting the John Sevier Highway and Jones Bridge roads in the 22nd Civil District of Greens County. This cemetery is on the grounds of the United Presbyterian Church at that point(14).

Allen and Margaret had the following children: (a) Jacob Martin Kennedy, born 1828–who is mentioned in his grandfather’s will as Jacob Kennedy; (b) John Wesley Kennedy (1831-1896); and (c) Martha Kennedy (1833-1850).

• John Garrett (1813-bef 1838). John was born in 1813 in Greene County, Tennessee, and he died before 1838 in Greene County. His wife’s name is unknown, but they had a son named William Jacob Garrett, who was born before 1838 in Greene County, Tennessee, and who is mentioned in his grandfather’s will as William Jacob Garrett.
• Magdelene Garrett (1815-aft 1838). Magdelene was born in Greene County, Tennessee, and she died after 1838 in Greene County, Tennessee. I have no additional information about her. She is named in her father’s will.

[Note:  Information about the children of Jacob Garrett and Barbara Jack is from his will dated January 26, 1838 and entered for probate March 5, 1838. His will mentions his wife Barbary; his grandson “William Jacob, son of my son John Garrett, Deceased”; daughter Sarah; daughter Elizabeth; daughter Margaret; daughter Magdalene; the fact that daughter Margaret married a Kennedy and had a child: Jacob Kennedy(15).]

Some people think Jacob had a second marriage–that he married Barbara Jack in 1805 (which he did), and that he married a Rachel Stone in Madison County, Kentucky in 1806 (which he did not). That was a different Jacob Garrett. This Jacob had only one wife–Barbara Jack. She was the mother of all of his children, and she was still alive when he died in 1838, according to his will. He settled in Greene County, Tennessee, and he stayed there!

His will  does not mention the oldest surviving twin, James Garrett (b. 1806), but James was placed in the Samuel Garrett household as an infant where he bonded with Samuel’s family. It is doubtful that there was any relationship between James and his real parents. James grew up presuming that Samuel and  Elizabeth were his real parents and that he was born in Person County, North Carolina. It didn’t bother him that one brother had the name of James. People often used the same name in the same generation; the second James was James B. Garrett. I have yet to discover James Garret’s middle name, although it may have been Harvey since his son was given that name: James Harvey Garrett.

***

Samuel Garrett, Jr. was born in 1772 in Chesterfield or Buckingham County, Virginia, and he died in 1758 in Pulaski, Giles County, Tennessee. On September 3, 1798, he married Elizabeth Broughton (1778-1858) in Amelia County, Virginia(16). After their marriage, they moved to Person County, North Carolina, where most of their children were born:

• Parthenia Garrett (1799-1840). Parthenia was born in Person County, North Carolina about 1799, and she died in Giles County, Tennessee in 1840. On June 22, 1820, she married John Alfrod Tillman (1790-1855) in Giles County, Tennessee(10). Their children were: (a) Harriet Tilman, born 1822; (b) William Turner Tillman (1822-1892); (c) John Alexander Tillman (1825-1884); (d) James Henderson Tillman (1827-1884); (e) George Washington Tillman (1829-1919)(17).
• Addison Broughton Garrett (1800-1874). Addison was born in Person County, North Carolina about 1800, and he died in 1874 in Giles County, Tennessee. His records are sometimes confused with his brother, James B. Garrett, who, as already mentioned, is not the James Garrett under discussion here. His wife was Elizabeth McKay (1800-1850), whom he married about 1815. Their children were: (a) James Garrett (1815-1855)–not the James Garrett under discussion here either; (b) Mary Ann Garrett (1825-1878); (c) Henry S. Garrett (1827-1875); (d) Elizabeth B. Garrett (1831-1866); (e) John Thomas Garrett (1833-1878); (f) Nancy Garrett (1836-1878); (g) Isham Stephens Garrett (1838-1863); (h) Abegale Garrett (1843-1926); (I) Ethlinda Ann Garrett (1848-1878)(18). Addison appears to have had two additional marriages: Martha Keath on October 24, 1856 in Giles County, Tennessee, and Mary Gordon on March 14, 1865 in Giles County, Tennessee(19).
• James B. Garrett (1802-1891). James was born October 6, 1802 in Person County, North Carolina, and he died September 4, 1891 in Lauderdale County, Tennessee. His wife was Harriet Tilman (b. 1823). Their children were: (a) Martha Ann Garrett (1848-1889); (b) John Jackson Garrett (1851-1931); (c) Elizabeth Phoebe Garrett (b. 1853); (d) Samuel Garrett (b. 1860); (e) Nancy J. Garrett (b. 1861). As noted, he is not the James Garrett under discussion here  and is the other brother with the same first name. By 1836, he appears on the tax records for Haywood County, Tennessee(20). By 1850, he was back in Giles County(21). By 1880, he relocated to Lauderdale County, Tennessee, where he appears on the Census(22). James B. Garrett died September 4, 1891 in Lauderdale County, Tennessee, and he is buried in the Crossroads Cemetery, Ripley, Lauderdale County, Tennessee(23).
• Henderson Alexander Garrett (1807-1860). This is one of the families who settled in Haywood County. Henderson was born in Person County, North Carolina in 1807, and he died after 1860 in Haywood County, Tennessee. His wife was Amanda Rickman, who was born in 1812 in Tennessee. [Note: The 1850 Census for Haywood County, Tennessee shows James Garrett living next door to a large family of Rickmans. I believe they were Amanda’s relatives(24).] Their children were: (a)William Garrett (1835-1864); (b) Marcus A. Garrett (born 1838); (c) Augustus Garrett (b. 1839); (d) Elizabeth Garrett (1840-1870); (e) Mary E. Garrett (b. 1844); (f) Henderson Garrett (1846-1864); (g) James Garrett (b. 1848). Henderson and his family appear on the 1850 census for District 10, Haywood County, Tennessee(25) as well as the 1860 Census for District 10, Haywood County, Tennessee(26)
• Mary Martha Garrett (1809-1860). Mary was born in Person County, North Carolina in 1809, and she died after 1860 in District 10, Haywood County, Tennessee. Her husband was Isaac Ishom (Isom) Rainey (1807-1853). He was born May 4, 1807 in Brunswick, Virginia, and he died January 8, 1853 in District 10, Haywood County, Tennessee(27). He is buried in the Crossroads Cemetery, Ripley, Lauderdale County, Tennessee. [Note: A number of these people are buried in that cemetery who all died about the same period of time.11

I have an idea that James Garrett, his wife Jane Spence, and their two children are buried there without markers.] Mary Martha last appears on the 1860 Census in Haywood County with several of her children. Mary Martha and Isaac Isom’s children were: (a) William Charles Rainey (1827-1927); (b) Adolphus Rainey (1832); (c) Addison Levi (A. L.) Rainey (b. 1835); (d) Frances Rainey (b. 1836); (e) Samuel Rainey (b. 1838); (f) James W. Rainey (b. 1839); (g) Elizabeth Rainey (1844-1848); (h) Martha Rainey (1847-1856); (I) Henderson Alexander Rainey (1848-1906); (j) Amanda J. Rainey (1850-1929). Mary may have married a Hendren prior to her marriage to Isom. Her Find-a-Grave Memorial follows:

Birth:	1809 North Carolina, USA
Death:	unknown Lauderdale County Tennessee, USA
Wife of Isom/Isham Rainey. She would have died sometime between 1860-1870 in Lauderdale County.Isom and Mary Rainey had children: William C. Rainey, b. 1830 Giles Co. A.dison L. Rainey (twin) Adolphus Rainey (twin) Delicia Frances Rainey mar. Joseph Hendren Samuel Rainey, b. 1837 Giles or Madison Co. James A. Rainey, b. 1839 Giles or Madison Co. Elizabeth Rainey, b. 1844 Madison Co. Martha Rainey, b. 1847 Madison or Haywood Co. Henderson A. Rainey, b. 1848 Haywood Co. Amanda J. Rainey, mar. William CoffmanFamily links: Spouse: Isom Rainey (____ – 1853)Children: Addison L. Rainey (1835 – 1911)* Samuel B Rainey (1837 – 1911)* James W Rainey (1839 – 1913)**Calculated relationship
Burial: Crossroads Cemetery Ripley Lauderdale County Tennessee, USA
Created by: Southern Roots ღ Record added: Sep 14, 2015 Find A Grave Memorial# 152316667(28)

• Phoebe (Phebe) Garrett (1815-bef. 1860). Phoebe Garrett was born about 1815 in Person County, North Carolina, and she died before 1860 in Haywood County, Tennessee. She appears to have never married and was living with her parents in Giles County in 1850(29). Her parents both died in 1858. After her parents’ deaths, she moved to Haywood County, Tennessee, where other relatives were living.
• Nancy Garrett (1817-1858). Nancy was born in Person County, North Carolina in 1817, and she died in Giles County, Tennessee in 1858. She does not appear on the 1850 Census in the Samuel Garrett household(29). I do not know whether she married or remained single.
• Samuel Jackson Garrett (1818-1895). Samuel Jackson Garrett was born in Giles County, Tennessee–indicating the Samuel Garrett family had moved there by then–and he died April 6, 1895 in Gates, Lauderdale County, Tennessee. He is buried in the Crossroads Cemetery, Ripley, Lauderdale, Tennessee. His Find-a-Grave Memorial follows:

Birth:	Oct. 18, 1818 Giles County Tennessee, USA
Death:	Apr. 6, 1895 Gates Lauderdale County Tennessee, USA
Wife: Mary McColpin Garrett Father: Samuel Garrett Mother: Elizabeth Broughton Garrett Children: James Monroe, Alra R., Ira, Henderson, Letitia, Vera, Wesley
Burial: Crossroads Cemetery Ripley Lauderdale County Tennessee, USA
Created by: Christy Ball Record added: Jul 13, 2001 Find A Grave Memorial# 5608749(30)

Samuel’s wife was Mary McColpin (1836-1897). Their children were: (a) Monroe Garrett (b. 1862); (b) Alva Garrett (b. 1864); (c) Alra R. Garrett (1864-1906); (d) Ira Garrett (b. 1866); (e) Henderson Garrett (b. 1869); (f) Lutita Garrett (b. 1872); (g) Bera Garrett (b. 1875).

• Elizabeth A. Garrett (1828-1858). Elizabeth was born in 1828 in Giles County, Tennessee, and she died in 1858 in Giles County. While her name appears on an accepted list of Samuel and Elizabeth’s children, I can’t help but think she was a grandchild. If her date of birth is correct, Samuel would have been seventy-eight, and Elizabeth would have been seventy-two. Likewise, a young woman named Timmantha Garrett (b. 1838) appears on the same 1850 Census in Samuel’s household(31). Timmantha disappears from the records while many people believe Elizabeth lived until 1858. Then Elizabeth disappears from the records. Unless the dates of birth are wrong, these two women were probably grandchildren. Perhaps Samuel and Elizabeth took in a number of orphaned children from the various Garrett families over the years.

The Life and Times of James Garrett

And so it seemed only natural for James Garrett to accompany the Samuel Garrett family from Person County, North Carolina to Giles County, Tennessee. The move to Tennessee occurred around 1818 when James was twelve years old. Giles County sounded like an interesting place. James was eager for excitement.

A brief history of Giles County from the Wikipedia site follows:

Giles County is named after William Branch Giles, a Senator from Virginia who sponsored the admission of Tennessee as the sixteenth state into the Union. He also sponsored the building of the city and courthouse, which has burned four times. The current courthouse was built in 1859 by the George Moore and Sons company. It cost about thirty thousand dollars to complete. Though it stood through the Civil War, it suffered much damage. One of Giles County’s local heroes is James McCallum, who served as Grandmaster of the Tennessee Masons, a member of the Confederate Congress, and mayor. He lived in Giles County for seventy years.

Until Maury County was established in November 1807, the area of the future Giles County was considered to be part of Williamson County. Two years after the formation of Maury County, Giles County was created from southern Maury County on November 14, 1809 by an act of the State Legislature. Nearly half of the new county lay in Chickasaw territory until September 1816(32)

The reference to Williamson County quickly caught my attention. Many of my Spence and related families lived in the area. Samuel Garrett often traveled to Williamson on business, as well as to Davidson County. Young James no doubt accompanied him. And it was on one such excursion where Samuel Garrett met Elisha Spence, and young James soon met the rest of the family. The two families often got together. James Garrett and Mary Jane Spence probably knew one another for some time before “romantic sparks” began to fly between them. Then in 1830, the Elisha Spence family moved to Madison County.

“If you go over there, let me know. I’d like to tag along!” James told Samuel one day.

“Hmmm! I wonder why!” Samuel Smiled.

Elisha died in 1835. His family moved from Madison to Marshall County. And by 1836, James B. Garrett appeared on the tax records for Haywood County. James accompanied him whenever he went over there, stopping by Marshall to see Jane. Then Jane’s mother died in early 1842. After the funeral, she told James she was moving to Williamson County where two of her sisters and her brother lived. James and Jane were married September 21, 1842 in Williamson County. By then, a number of the Garrett brothers were moving to Haywood County. James and Jane would move there as well.

They had two children who appear to be twins: Harvey and Sarah, born in 1844. They last appear on the 1850 Census for Haywood County in District 10(33).

James was a farmer, although I’ve read some glorious accounts focused upon who he may have been. Those accounts also include his wife Jane. She bears the McDearmon surname in some accounts, even though people making that claim use the 1842 marriage record clearly showing her surname as SPENCE. Mary Jane Spence was NEVER a McDearmon–probably the reason why I spent so much time working on this article during the week!

One wild story connects James Garrett with a Rev. James Garrett, a minister in the Anglican Church, who spent years preaching in Tasmania. (James and Jane were Baptists, Methodists, or Presbyterians, and they  stayed in Tennessee). That same story connects the daughter Sarah with two marriages: one to a Jones in Eastern Tennessee, and the other to someone in Australia where they had a number of children. Those Garretts did exist in Australia, but they were not James Garrett (1806-1860), Mary Jane Spence (1813-1860) or their children Harvey and Sarah! All four members of my James Garrett family disappear in Haywood County, Tennessee before the 1860 Census.

When you stop and think about it–I decided–a number of people disappeared in Haywood County around 1860!

While James Garrett, Jane Spence and the children disappear before 1860, the 1860 Mortality Chart for Haywood County, Tennessee lists pneumonia as  the cause of numerous deaths that year in District 10(34). The Garretts may have died of pneumonia.  Those farms were all close together and family members frequently interacted with one another. The Garretts may have even died in the early 1850s. Isom Rainey died in 1853. He and his wife were in District 10 in 1850. Neither James nor Jane nor their children appear on any 1860 Census that I have studied!

I don’t know where this family is buried. A number of the Garretts and their relatives are buried in Crossroads Cemetery, Ripley, Lauderdale, Tennessee, so I suspect these Garretts are buried there as well. Many graves are unmarked. As I recall, over 200 people are buried in Crossroads.

One thing I definitely know is this: James Garrett (1806-1860), Mary Jane Spence (1813-1860) or their children certainly aren’t buried in Tasmania!

 

This article continues with Part 3: Joseph Spence (1816-1860)

 

References

(1)  Official Copy of James Garrett and Mary Jane Spence Marriage Record. Bond posted: 20 Sep 1842. Marriage: 21 Sep 1842, Williamson County, Tennessee. Obtained from the Tennessee State Library & Archives, Nashville, Tennessee.

(2) Tennessee State Marriage Records for James Garrett and Jane Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(3) 1850 Census for Haywood County, Tennessee, the James Garrett Family. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(4) 1850 Census for Haywood County, Tennessee, the James Garrett Family. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(5) Elisha Spence Estate Inventory, dated November 1835, Madison County, Tennessee. Listed on the records as “Li Spens.” Official copy obtained from the Tennessee State Library & Archives, Nashville, Tennessee.

(6) 1840 Census for Jane Spence, Marshall County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 26 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(7)  Summary of 1840 Census for Jane Spence household, Marshall County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 26 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(8) Haywood County, Tennessee, from the Wikipedia site. Wikipedia.org. Article last modified 29 Aug 2015. Date Accessed: 26 Sep 2015. Available online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haywood_County,_Tennessee

(9) Tennessee State Marriage Records for Jacob Garrett and Barbary Jack, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(10) Early Virginia Garretts–portions on Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(11) 1850 Census for Samuel and Elizabeth Garrett, Giles County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(12) Bill Crouch (1997). Garrett Family of Craighead Co. and Greene County, Arkansas. Created 1997. Genweb.com. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.couchgenweb.com/family/garrett.htm

(13)Bill Crouch (1997). Garrett Family of Craighead Co. and Greene County, Arkansas. Created 1997. Genweb.com. Date Accessed: 26 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.couchgenweb.com/family/garrett.htm

(14) Greene County, Tennessee Cemetery Records about Allen Kennedy. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(15) Tennessee, Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008 about Jacob Garrett. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(16) Virginia Marriage Records, 1700-1850 about Samuel Garrett and Elizabeth Broughton. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 26 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com.

(17) The record and genealogy of the (Tilghman-Tillman-Tilman-Tilmon) family, 1225-1938 : compiled from an original mss. by James D. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 26 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(18) Bill Crouch (1997). Garrett Family of Craighead Co. and Greene County, Arkansas. Created 1997. Genweb.com. Date Accessed: 26 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.couchgenweb.com/family/garrett.htm

(19) Tennessee State Marriage Records about Addison Garrett and Mary Gordon. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 26 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(20) Early Tennessee Tax Records; James Garrett (1836-Haywood). Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 26 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(21) 1850 Census for Giles County, Tennessee, James B. Garrett. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 26 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(22) 1880 Censes of Lauderdale County, Tennessee, James B. Garrett. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 26 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(23) Find-a-Grave Index for James B. Garrett. Ancestry.cim, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 26 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(24) 1850 Census for James Garrett, Haywood County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(25) 1850 Census for Henderson Garrett, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(26) 1860 Census for Henderson Garrett, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(27) Isaac Ishom (Isom) Rainey Find-a-Grave Memorial. Index at Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(28) Mary Garrett Hendren Rainey Find-a-Grave Memorial. Find-a-Grave.com. Created by: SouthernRoots Record added: Sep 14, 2015, Find A Grave Memorial# 152316667. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.findagrave.com

(29) 1850 Census for Samuel Garrett, Giles County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(30) Samuel Jackson Garrett Find-a-Grave Memorial # 5608749.  Find-a-Grave.com Website. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(31) 1850 Census for Samuel Garrett, Giles County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(32) Giles County, Tennessee from the Wikipedia Site: Wikipedia.org.  Last Updated: 29 Aug 2015. Date Accessed: 26 Sep 2015. Available online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giles_County,_Tennessee

(33) 1850 Census, District 10, Haywood County, Tennessee for James Garrett. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(34) 1860 Mortality Schedule, Haywood County, Tennessee. Genealogy Trails Website. Date Accessed: 28 Sep 2015. Available online at http://genealogytrails.com/tenn/haywood/cenmort1860.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elisha Spence (1776-1835)–The Second Family: Part One–Angeline Spence (1811-1860) and David Lemasters (1795-1848)

Lewis & Clark Statue, St. Charles, Missouri–overlooking the River. (I’ve had this in my files for a number of years. No information about original source.)

 

Robert Bell came from Guilford County, North Carolina in 1783 and settled near Bledsoe’s Lick in Sumner County. Later he moved to Mill Creek, 10 miles Southeast of Nashville. He died February 1816 of small pox, aged about 85 years. He was twice married and had a total of 19 children: six by his first wife and 13  by his second wife, Mary. His first wife’s name is not known(1)

Capt. Robert Bell was born December 1736 in Guilford County, North Carolina, and he died March 26, 1816 in Davidson County, Tennessee. He was the son of John Bell (1710-1750), who was born in New York and who died in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and Elizabeth Fell. His first wife was Katherine Walker (1742-1773). Their children were: (1) Mary Bell (1763-1827); (2) Sarah Bell, who died in 1821; (3) Rebecca Bell, who died in 1816; (4) John Bell, who died in 1829; (5) Abraham Bell, who died in 1769; (6) Samuel Bell (1766-1836); (7) Ann Bell (1768-1860); (8) Catherine Walker Bell (1770-1857); (9) Robert Fielding Bell (1773-1853). [Note: I did not extend these lines because I am uncertain how accurate they are!]

His second wife was Mary Jane Boyd, who was born in 1754 in North Carolina, and who died in childbirth July 24, 1795 in Davidson County, Tennessee. She was the daughter of John Boyd (1720-1766) and Rebecca (1730-1758) Their children were:

1. James Bell (1777-1823). James was born August 23, 1777 in Guilford County, North Carolina, and he died June 23, 1823 in Wilson County, Tennessee. His wife was Mary Dean (1777-1829)
2. Hugh F. Bell (1779-1850). Hugh was born May 1, 1779 in Guilford County, North Carolina, and he died in 1850 in Pontotoc, Mississippi. His wife was Margaret McKinney (1781-1840). Their children were: (a) Caroline Bell (1802-1887); (b) Zilpha Bell (1803-1889); (c) Alfred Bell, born 1805; (d) Paris Dooley Bell (b. 1807); (e) Florence M. Bell (1812-1872); (f) Jane Bell, born 1814; (g) Robert Allen Bell (1816-1896); (h) Mary Boyd Bell (1817-1864); (I) James Daniel Bell (1818-1882); (j) Adeline Bell, born 1827.
3. Daniel Bell (1780-1814). Daniel was born in Guilford County, North Carolina in 1780, and he died in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1814.
4. Francis Marion Bell (1782-1866). Francis was born November 23, 1782 in Rowan County, North Carolina, and he died June 21, 1866 in Talula, Menard, Illinois. His first wife was Peggy Bails (1789-1807), and his second wife was Elizabeth Allen (1790-1835), by whom he had his children.  Their children were: (a) Margaret Patsy Bell (1809-1892); (b) Margaret Bell (1810-1885); (c) Thomas Allen Bell (1811-1870); (d) Mary Bell (1812-1902); (e) Andrew Jackson Bell (b. 1814); (f) Robert Washington Bell (1814-1845); (g) Daniel R. Bell (1815-1868); (h) Zachariah Bell (1817-1854); (I) Francis Marion Bell (1819-1879); (j) Margery Ann Bell (1822-1858); (k) John Jefferson Bell (1823-1875); (l) William Carrol bell (1826-1900).
5. William Bell (1784-1850). William was born in Guilford County, North Carolina about 1784, and he died after 1850 in Sumner County, Tennessee.
6. David Bell (1786-1863). David was born July 2, 1786 in Guilford County, North Carolina, and he died August 1, 1863 in Robertson County, Tennessee.
7. Thomas Bell (1789-1879). Thomas was born September 13, 1789 in Guilford County, North Carolina, and he died in September 1879 of pericarditis in Rutherford County, Tennessee. His first was Martha Edmiston (1797-1845). Their children were: (a) George D. Bell (b. 1818); (b) Robert F. Bell (b. 1823) and (c) Lycurgus Bell. His second wife’s name was Catherine, born 1816.
8. Nathaniel Bell (1790-1844). Nathaniel was born May 3, 1790 in Davidson County, Tennessee, and he died in 1844. His wife was Eleanor Johnston (1780-1867).
9. Sarah “Sally” Bell (1792-1848). Sarah was born in Tennessee in 1792, and she died March 3, 1848 in Greene County, Illinois.  Her husband was John Allen (1792-18410.
10. Mary Jane Bell (1795-1842). [The subject under discussion here.]

 

Elisha Spence (1776-1835) and Mary Jane Bell (1795-1842)

Mary Jane Bell was born July 24, 1795, probably in Davidson County, Tennessee. In 1810, her father took her to Elisha Spence’s home. The two families knew one another from their time in North Carolina, and they reunited in Davidson County, Tennessee. They lived close to one another south of Nashville. Elisha’s wife had just died in childbirth, and Elisha was in desperate need of help since he had several small children in the household. Jane became a nanny to the children; she bonded with the family. On October 25, 1810, Elisha and Jane Bell married in Davidson County, Tennessee(2). Four children were born of this marriage.

The rest of this article is devoted to those four children and their families. It has been divided into several parts. This one is devoted to the oldest daughter: Angeline Penelope Spence.

.

Angeline Penelope Spence (1811-1860) and David Lemasters (1795-1848)

Angeline Penelope Spence was born about 1811 in Davidson County, Tennessee, and she died before 1860 in St. Charles, St. Louis, Missouri. She appears to have idolized her older brothers: Samuel and Daniel, and she bonded well with Milly Catherine. She also idolized Levi, but he relocated to North Carolina, so she saw little of him until later. And she became a big sister to the younger children, helping her mother manage the household. A young woman her age appears in the Elisha Spence household on the 1820(3) and 1830 Census(4). Shortly after the 1830 Census, the Elisha Spence family relocated to Madison County, Tennessee, where Elisha died in November 1835(5). After Elisha’s death, the older children began planning their move to Missouri, which they achieved by 1837(6). Angeline wanted to go with them, but her mother did not want to leave Tennessee. By 1840, Jane relocated to Marshall County, Tennessee, where she appears on the Census with her children(7).  Angeline probably moved to Marshall County with her mother; a young woman approximately her age is in the household. The 1840 Census is the last record I could find for her mother. In all likelihood, Jane Bell Spence died in 1842–the year Angeline relocated to Missouri and joined her siblings there. 1842 was also the year when Angeline met her future husband.

David Lemasters was born in 1795 in Virginia, and he died in 1848 in St. Charles, St. Louis, Missouri. His parents were Isaac Lemaster, who was born in Charles County, Maryland in 1748 and who died in St. Charles, St. Louis, Missouri in 1802,  and Nancy Ann Scott (born 1750). His paternal grandparents were Isaac Lemasters, born in Charles County, Maryland in 1728; died in 1802 in Davidson County, Tennessee, and Ann Flint (1730-1802). His paternal great-grandparents were Joseph Lemaster, born in St. Marys, Maryland in 1693; died 1730 in Charles County, Maryland, and Catherine Ward (1695-1730). David came from a large family of true pioneers, many of whom were trailblazers and over-mountain men.

The family of Isaac Lemaster and Nancy Ann Scott follow: [Note: These family records have been terribly confused. I am only including the individuals I can verify.]

1. Mary Lemasters (1769-1837). Mary was born in Allegany County, Maryland in 1769, and she died in Pike County, Missouri in 1837. She had two husbands: Nathaniel Clark (1772-1792) and Thomas Jefferson Mackey (1774-1858), by whom she had her child: Mary Mackey (1801-1879). According to a biographical account of Thomas Jefferson Mackey:

Hon. Harrison G. Mackey, one of the old and prominent citizens of Pike County. . . .His father was Thomas J. Mackey, born in North Carolina, July 26, 1809. He in turn was the son of THOMAS Sr., also a native of the same State and of Irish ancestry. The latter was born in 1774, and came to Missouri in 1814 from Tennessee, where he had made his home for about ten years. He located in what is now St. Charles County, farming there for about two years, when he moved to what is now Pike County and Calumet Township. He had made a claim of a quarter section of land, but being prospered in his farming interests he added to this acreage until he bacame the possessor of three hundred and twenty acres. Thomas, Sr., was a very public-spirited man, helping forward all movements calculated to aid in the development of his community, and among the enterprises in which he was interested was the first grist mill in the section. He was an intimate friend of Gen. Jackson, and consequently was a strong Democrat in politics. He was a leader in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in his locality, in the faith of which he died in November, 1858, at the home of his son-in-law in Marion County. He was married to a Miss Masters, and to them were born eleven children. (note – errors noted are that his son Thomas J. was born in Tennessee not North Carolina and he married {Mary} Lemasters not Masters cs (8).

2. Benjamin Evans Lemasters (1784-1842). Benjamin was born in 1780, and he died November 10, 1842 in St. Charles, Missouri. I’m going to extend his line because some of the research I did years ago applies to Benjamin’s household and not to David Lemasters’. According to the Swearingen, Lemasters, Francis, Winfrey Family History Book under “Notes for Benjamin Lemasters:

Benjamin Evans Lemasters: Benjamin served in the military on Jun. 7,1812 in Boone’s Rangers, Missouri Territory. This statement is before the list of men in the unit: “Muster Roll of a company of mounted Rangers under the command of Captain Nathan Boone in the service of the United States commanded by him from 7th June to 31 July 1812.” Listed as a Corporal is Evan Lemasters. He appeared on the census in 1830 and 1840 in St. Charles Co., Missouri(9).

[Note: Nathan Boone was a son of Daniel Boone.]

The Lemasters, Francis, Winfrey book states that Benjamin was born in 1780 in Tennessee; other sources claim that he was born in Monongalia County, Virginia. The Lemasters book identifies his wife as Nancy Jones, who was born about 1786 in Blount County, Tennessee. Other sources identify his wife as Adria Journey (b. 1781), who may have been a second wife. The Lemasters, Francis, Winfrey book identifies the  children of Benjamin Lemasters and Nancy Jones as:

i. Isaac Lawrence  Lemasters, born Bet. 1816 – 1820 in Missouri; died Feb 2, 1857 in Carrollton, Carroll Co., Missouri.

ii. Nancy Lemasters, born Bet. 1811 -1815.

iii. Mary Lemasters, born Dec 21, 1815 in Missouri; died 1890 in Marysville, Nodaway CO., Missouri.

iv. Daughter Lemasters, born Bet. 1802- 1817.

v. Audrey Lemasters.

vi. Benjamin Franklin Lemasters, born Nov 10, 1824; died 1856 in Carrollton, Carroll Co., Missouri.

vii. Amanda “Manda” Lemasters.

viii. Martha Lemasters, born Bet. 1821 – 1825.

The two most important references for my purposes here center upon Isaac Lawrence Lemasters (b. bet 1816-1820); d. 1857) and Nancy Jane Lemasters (1815-1860).

Isaac Lawrence Lemasters was born in St. Charles, Missouri in 1817, and he died February 2, 1857 in Carrollton, Carroll, Missouri. His first wife was Jane Henry (1823-1850), by whom he had his children, and his second wife was Elizabeth Elliott, about whom nothing is known. The children of Isaac Lemasters and Jane Henry were: (a) Abraham Lemasters (1843-1858); (b) John A. Lemasters (1844-1858); (c) David Lemasters (1848-aft 1860); (d) Georgeann “Ann” Lemasters (1849-1904); (e) George W. Lemasters (1849-1912).  David, Ann and George all appear on the 1860 Census for Isaac’s sister, Nancy, in Carroll County, Missouri(10). She was a widow, since her husband had died the previous year, and she took in Isaac’s three children with her own.

Nancy was born in St. Charles, Missouri in 1815, and she died after August 29, 1860 in Sugar Tree, Carroll County, Missouri. Her husband was William H. Harrison (1815-1859). Their children were: (a) Sophia Harrison (1838-1903); (b) Andrew E. Harrison (b. 1839); (c) Audrey Elizabeth Harrison (1840-1928); (d) William H. Harrison (b. 1846); Nancy Harrison (1846-1893); and Amanda T. Harrison (b. 1849).

(When I first started doing this research, I thought David, Ann and George were David Lemasters’ children. They were not.)

Returning to the children of Isaac Lemasters and Nancy Ann Scott:

3. Nancy Ann Lemaster (1786-1860). Nancy was born in 1786. Some people think she was born in Virginia. She died in Pike County, Missouri April 27, 1860. Her husband was John Mackey (1766-1840), and their son was Thomas Mackey (1809-1876).

4. David Lemasters (1795-1848). Under discussion here.

David Lemasters was born in Virginia in 1795, and he died January 7, 1848 in St. Charles, Missouri. David was a wanderer and an adventurer. According to The Jasper County History:

The First Permanent Settlements

The honor of having made the first permanent settlement in Jasper county belongs to Thacker Vivion, an emigrant from Kentucky, who located at the spring at the foot of the hill in Sarcoxie, about a stone­s throw southwest of the railroad depot at that place. Vivion is said to have been the first white man who settled permanently in the region of country west of the Turnback River in Lawrence County. He went to Texas about thirty years ago, and at a recent date was still living in that state. About the same time came John M. Fullerton, also from Kentucky, and settled near Sarcoxie where he died about the year 1850. These settlers were undisturbed for a year or two, but other pioneers soon began to make their appearance and to occupy the beautiful and promising country. Ephraim Beasly, Hiram Hanford, Ephraim Jenkins, and Thomas Boxly all came in the Spring of 1833. Mr. Beasley settled on Centre Creek, four mileswest of Sarcoxie, on the place now owned by Stephen M. Hood. Jenkins made his home on the creek which now bears his name a mile or two from Dr. Moss. ís William and Tryon Gibson arrived a little later in the year 1833. Tryon settled on the present site of the High Hill School House five miles southwest of Carthage. Abraham Onstott, the father of Judge John Onstott arrived with his family from Indiana, and stopped where Sarcoxie is now on the 13th of November, 1833, a night made memorable by the falling of the stars. Onstott remained there two or three weeks and then settled five miles south of Carthage. He lived there till 1860, and then removed to Texas and died there. Judge Onstott, his son, is now in all probability the oldest male settler in the County, and has lived within its limits longer than any other man. In the fall of 1833 David Lemasters also came to the County, and made a location on Centre Creek, on the farm now occupied by Thomas Alexander, five miles southwest of Carthage(11).

Like his brother, Benjamin Evans Lemasters, David appears on the 1810 Census in the Louisiana and Missouri Territory in “Muster Roll of a Company of mounted Rangers under the command of Captain Nathan Boone”-rank: Private; appointment or enlistment: 18 Jun18 Jun 1812; to what time: 12 months to 18 Jun 1813…”(12)

About 1816, David married Ann Mackey (1793-bef. 1843) in the Missouri-Louisiana Territory. She was the daughter of James Mackey (1759-1834) and Rebecca Scott (1767-1818), and she came from North Carolina. They had a number of children. However, I have only been able to identify the name of one daughter. The 1830 Census for Pike County, Missouri indicates 1 m -5; 1 m 5-9; 1 m 10-14; 1 m 30-39(13). The same census indicates 1 f -5; 1 f 5-9; 1 f 10-14; 1 f 30-39. The 1840 Census for Marion, Newton County, Missouri indicates 2 m -5; 3 m 5-9; 1 m 10-14; 1 m 15-19; 1 m 20-29; 1 m 40-49. It also indicates 3 f -5; 1 f 10-14; 1 f 15-19; 1 f 20-29(14).  Ann Mackey died before 1843. It is possible the children all went to live with other relatives, with only one of them staying with their father. It is also possible that some of them died. The only known child appears below:

Jane Lemasters was born October 28, 1817 in St. Charles County, Missouri, and she died June 19, 1894 in Carthage, Jasper County, Missouri. On July 23, 1835, she married John Wesley Gibson (1815-1869) in Jasper County, Missouri. Their children follow: (a) Wesley Gibson (1836-1863); (b) Benjamin F. Gibson (1838-1861); (c) Rebecca A. Gibson (1841-1874); (d) John Wesley Gibson (1843-1875); (e) Isaac N. Gibson (1847-1881); (f) Terry W. Gibson (1850-1871); (g) Eliza M. Gibson (1852-1856); (h) Mahala E. Gibson (1854-1916); (I) Mary A. Gibson (1856-1857); (j) Sarah Elizabeth Gibson (1858-1944). There is a Gibson Cemetery between Carthage and Webb City, Missouri where all of these people are buried.

According  to the Jasper County Biographical History:

Mrs. Jane Gibson.  It is half a century this fall, 1883, since Mrs. Gibson first landed within the borders of Jasper County, Mo., where she has lived almost uninterruptedly for fifty years.  She is, therefore, almost the first white settle who came to this county, and one of a very few who still survive.  Mrs. Gibson was born in St. Charles County, Mo., Oct. 28, 1817, where she was raised until quite a young woman.  Mrs. Gibson was married July 23, 1835, to John W. Gibson, who was born in Tennessee, Nov. 10, 1815.  Their children are Wesley, Benjamin F., John W., Isaac N., T. W., Rebecca A., Martha J., Eliza M., Mahala E., Mary A., and Sarah E.  Mr. John Gibson, her husband, died in December, 1869, and with several of the family is buried near the house he built in an early day, in 1835, in which his widow still resides.  Mrs. Gibson survives all her family but  three children, and is still smart and enjoys good health.  Mr. Joh Gibson entered nearly a section of land on the banks of Center Creek, and it is unexcelled for fertility and location.  The estate has been mostly divided up among the children and heirs.  Only a small homestead is reserved by the widow during her life.  Her father (David Lemasters) and father-in-law (Tryon or John T Gibson?) used to own slaves previous to the war, and they took them to Texas for protection.  Mrs. Gibson has experienced the hardships and privations of pioneer settlement.  She has planted corn in the sod and an ax, and the only bread the first season was made from corn pounded up into coarse meal.  Indians, wild game of all kinds, and distant neighbors were the rule, with Springfield and Boonville their trading points.  She has ridden to Sarcoxie horseback, about twenty-five miles, and paid fifty cents a yard for calico, and one dollar a yard for muslin for her wedding dress.  Incidents in her life might be given indefinitely, illustrating the joys as well as toils of her early history, were there space[sic].  Mrs. Gibson is conceded to be among the oldest living settlers of the county, and its history were incomplete without a sketch of her life.  She is a lady of great force of character, decided opinions, she dares to express, whose life is an open book, historic, yet ever new(15).

David Lemasters arrived in Jasper County in 1833, and he left there ten years later.  According to the County History, he was brought up on a charge of forgery in the early days of the court:

The first circuit court was held on the 25th of February, 1841, Judge Charles S. Yancey
presiding. J. P. Osborn acted as sheriff. It is related that that gentleman took a plug of tobacco
from his mouth, stepped to the door of the log shanty about twelve by sixteen feet in size, and
proclaimed to the world at large that the Jasper county circuit court was now in session. That
simple sentence, prefaced of course with the customary “Hear ye, Hear ye,” started the wheels of
the court, which have been running since except during the years of the war, when they became
slightly clogged.

The place of the holding of the first court was at the residence of George Hornback, only a short
distance below the Gaston farm, about two miles west of where the city of Carthage is now
situated. Mr. Hornback at that time kept a small store there, where could be purchased needful
articles, as salt, tobacco and powder. The grand jury, for want of better accommodations, after
receiving their charge from the judge, retired to a large log, and there held their deliberations.
Nothing of great importance was brought before their notice, and only one indictment was found-
-against David Lemasters for forgery, and this was set aside at the subsequent term of court (16).

Angeline Penelope Spence may have arrived  when her services were needed most. David had just been acquitted of the forgery charge in 1841. His wife had died before 1843. He was in desperate need of a nanny–of someone to help organize his household. That’s when Samuel, Daniel and Milly Catherine introduced Angeline to David Lemasters. She settled into his household as his nanny.

David and Angeline bonded quickly.  Prior to Angeline’s arrive, David began making plans to move away from Jasper County, where he had been for ten years. He planned to return to St. Charles, where family members were ready to accept his children into their households.  His daughter, Jane, would remain in Jasper County since she had married and was settled there. David decided there was one more person he wanted to take with him to St. Charles. On May 7, 1843, David Lemasters and Angeline Spence were married(17). [The return date on their certificate was May 11, 1843.] Shortly after that, they left Jasper County for David’s home in St. Charles, Missouri. As far as I can tell from existing records, they did not have any children.

On January 7, 1848, David died intestate in Green, St. Charles, Missouri(18). Angeline’s name appears on his probate file dated January 17, 1848(19). On July 26, 1850, James Green was appointed Administrator to sell his personal property(20). And Angeline had no desire to return to Jasper County.

On July 14, 1853, Angeline married a Lemasters’ family friend in St. Charles by the name of David G. Hutcherson (1797-1879)(21). David Hutcherson was born in Virginia in 1797, and he died in 1879 in Arkansas City, Arkansas. He had several wives and children by all of them except Angeline:

By Sarah Butler, whom he married in Mecklenburg County, Virginia on January 28, 1828:

1. Peter F. Hutcherson, born 1830
2. Mary J. Hutcherson, born 1832

By Mary P. Lett, whom he married in Mecklenburg County, Virginia on February 17, 1840:

1. Caroline S. Hutcherson, born 1840
2. Demetrius D. Hutcherson, born 1842
3. Susan G. Hutcherson, born 1847

Angeline died before 1860 in St. Charles, Missouri. David Hutcherson moved to Texas after her death, where he is found on the 1860 Census for Denton(22), Texas. By 1870, he moved to Guadalupe, Texas, where he appears on the Census(23). Then he died in 1879 in Arkansas City, Arkansas.

To Be Continued in Part Two

 

References

(1) Notes from an old Notebook of Compiled Tennessee History. Original Source unknown. Possibly a Davidson County, Tennessee History

(2) Tennessee State Marriage Records about Elisha Spence and Jane Bell. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(3) 1820 Census for Elisha Spence, Davidson County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(4) 1830 Census for Elisha Spence, Davidson County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(5) Elisha Spence Estate Inventory Filed by Anderson Skillern Nov 1835, Madison County, Tennessee. Copy of original obtained from Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee, 1998.

(6) Samuel P. Spence 1837 Land Deed for Sale of Land in Perry County, Tennessee. Copy obtained from Microfilm. LDS Genealogical Library and Archives. Salt Lake City, Utah.

(7) 1840 Census for Jane Spence, Marshall County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(8) MARION, RALLS, & PIKE COUNTIES MISSOURI,  Portrait and Biographical Record published 1895
Page 383

(9) “Notes for Benjamin Lemasters,” Swearingen, Lemasters, Francis, Winfrey Family History Book PDF file, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(10) 1860 Census for Nancy Harrison, Carroll County, Missouri. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(11) “The First Permanent Settlements,” Copied from: Greene County Archives Bulletin Number Forty-three;
Heritage County Atlas Reprints Volume 6. An Illustrated Historical Atlas Map of Jasper County, Mo.
Published by Brink, McDonough & Co., 1876. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(12) U.S. Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820 for 1810, David Lemasters, The Missouri-Louisiana Territory. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(13) 1830 Census for Pike County, Missouri, David Lemasters. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(14) 1840 Census for Marion, Newton County, Missouri, David Lemasters. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(15) Jane Lemasters Biography, Jasper County, Missouri Biographical History. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(16)HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY, MISSOURI 1876 Atlas Pages 2-3 Copied from: Greene County Archives, Bulletin Number Forty-three; Heritage County Atlas Reprints Volume 6, An Illustrated Historical Atlas Map of Jasper County, Mo. Published by Brink, McDonough & Co., 1876. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~judysstuff/jasper/jashist01.htm

(17) Missouri State Marriage Records, Jasper County, Missouri, for David Lemasters and Angeline P. Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(18) David Lemasters Probate File, St. Charles, Missouri. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(19) David Lemasters Probate File, St. Charles, Missouri. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(20) David Lemasters Probate File, St. Charles, Missouri. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(21) Missouri State Marriage Records, St. Charles, Missouri, for David G. Hutcherson and Angeline Lemasters. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(22) 1860 Census for Denton, Texas, David G. Hutcherson. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(23) 1870 Census for Guadalupe, Texas, David G. Hutcherson. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 23 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

 

Elisha Spence (1776-1835)–Part Fourteen: Two Rhodas and a James–Part Two

Replica of meeting house, Clear Fork Baptist Church Cemetery, Monticello, Kentucky. Photo shared on Ancestry.com by Carlinbrooks 16 Feb 2013.

In 1798, Rev. Isaac Denton, Jr. was the first preacher to enter this Transmontane Wilderness . He became a distinguished, prolific, pioneer preacher and leader in South Central Ky. and North Central Tenn. He established the first churches and first school in the frontier territory. He was Clear Fork Baptist Church’s founder and first pastor until his death in 1848. He ministered in Ky. and Tenn. for over 55 years. He and his 3 sons preached a total of about 175 years(1)

***

No, he wasn’t an orphan–but he was raised by another family!

Not only did I find the family who raised James W. Denton, but I also found his real family!

 

Thomas J. Denton (1781-1833) and Francis Boring (1790-1870)

James W. Denton was the oldest son of Thomas J. Denton.  Thomas was born in Tennessee in 1781, and he died in Cocke County in 1833. The known children of Thomas J. Denton and Frances Boring (1790-1870) follow:

1. Joseph Jefferson Denton (1810-1887). Joseph was born March 10, 1810 in Washington County, Tennessee, and he died September 9, 1887 in Cocke County, Tennessee. His wife was Charity Huff (b. 1816). They had a daughter: Margaret Denton (1841-1920).
2. William Addison Denton (b. 1812, Washington County, Tennessee). William died in Cocke County. His wife’s name was Mary (1820-1861). They had a daughter named Frances “Fannie” E. Denton (1861-1949), who married a Hux.  William last appears on the 1880 Census for Cocke County. He is buried in the A. J. Denton Family Cemetery.
3. Temperance Francis Denton (1815-1878). Temperance was born in Washington County, Tennessee in 1815, and she died May 30, 1878 in Cooke County, Texas. She had two husbands: John Murrell, about whom nothing is known and Henry Jackson Click, Jr., by whom she had a daughter: Mary Jane Click. In 1870, Temperance appears on the Census for Perry County, Tennessee(2). This is a connection to Perry County that I had been seeking given the fact that Samuel and Daniel Spence and Milly Catherine Spence Jones had lived there prior to their departure for Missouri. Temperance appears on the Perry County census records for 1850 and 1860 in the Samuel Denton household. (I will get to Samuel momentarily).
4. John B. Denton (1816-1901). John was born in November 1816 in Washington County, Tennessee, and he died in Cocke County in 1901. His wife was Mary Wilson (1828-1894). They had three children: (a) James Anderson Denton (1854-1929); (b) Frances M. Denton (b. 1856); and Thomas J. Denton. Nothing else is known about Thomas.
5. Sarah A. Denton (1818-1892). Sarah was born February 20, 1818 in Cocke County, Tennessee, and she died December 20, 1892 in Giles County, Tennessee. Her husband was Calvin Allen (1813-1870). Their children were: (a) William A. Allen, born 1836; (b) George William Allen (b) George William Allen (1839-1908); (c) Temperance Allen, born 1842; (d) George Thomas Allen (1842-1916); (e) Morris Calvin Allen (1845-1910); (f) Hiram Allen, b. 1848; (g) Louisa Allen, b. 1852; (h) Houston Allen, born 1856; (i) Rufus J. Allen (1858-1917); (j) Martha Allen (1859-1896); (k) Lewis Allen (1862-1950); (l) John Morgan Allen (1865-1946).
6. Louisa Denton (1830-1920). Louisa was probably by Thomas J. Denton’s second wife Elizabeth. He married her October 31, 1822 in Cocke County, Tennessee(3). His first wife, Francis Boring, was still alive, so they may have divorced. Louisa was born October 1, 1830 in Washington County, Tennessee, and she died January 23, 1920 in Cocke County, Tennessee. Her husband was Houston Sisk, whowas born in 1827. Their children were: (a) James Sisk, born 1866, and (b) Dora Madeline Sisk, born 1872.

One reason why James W. Denton would be raised by another family centers upon his mother’s health after his birth. She was only sixteen when he was born, and James was her first child. He would have been born in Washington County, Tennessee in 1806–the exact month and day of his birth is unknown. Enter the Rev. Isaac Denton!

 

Rev. Isaac Denton (1768-1848) and Martha Patsy Crouch (1772-1848)

Isaac Denton was born September 1768 in Orange County, North Carolina, and he died January 26, 1848 in Clinton County, Kentucky. His wife was Martha Patsy Crouch, who was born June 3, 1772 in Henry County, Virginia, and who died in Clinton County, Kentucky. They are buried in the Clear Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Clinton County, Kentucky.

Isaac Denton and Thomas J. Denton were related; their progenitors coming from New York. They both claim direct descent from Samuel Denton (1631-1713) and Mary Rock Smith (1640-1715) on the Denton line, and from William Odell (1634-1697) and Sara Vowels (1649-1697) on the Odell line.

Isaac Denton’s parents were Isaac Denton (1733-1797) and Ann Whitson (1733-1771), and his grandparents were Capt. Abraham John Denton II (1700-1774) and Mary Odell (1702-1774).  According to information submitted to Ancestry.com by rmsmith1971:

It is believed that Abraham, who was called “Captain” was a part of the militia used in defense of the settlers. He was also referred to as Doctor when living on his plantation in the Shenandoah Valley.

“Abraham, according to sources in Orange CO, NY, had some problems with local law and soon after left the county for a new home in the Shenandoah County of Virginia. This was in 1729 or 1730. Thus started the move westward, for his sons each moved in different directions into the frontier.”

Abraham’s will was written August 20, 1774 and probated September 27, 1774 in Shenandoah CO, VA. “in the County of Dunmore, Colony of Virginia, being very sick and weak in body but perfect mind and memory. First leaving my loving kind and true wife Mary Denton and William Reno Executors. I therefore will and bequesth my loving kind and true wife Mary Denton the lower part of my land and plantation during her lifetime also the legal thirds of the moveable estate. Also Ii give my well beloved son Abraham Denton my wearing clothes: two pr. boots, two coats, two vestcoats and one pr of breatches and as he has received his part of the land, I give unto him five pounds current money of Virginia to be paid to him out of my two daughters, Phebee Plumley and Martha Moore their parts of the moveable estate and the land after my wife Mary Decrees the tract of land to be equally divided between them both that is to say Phebe Plumley and Martha Moore.” Signed Abraham Denton, Senr. Witnesses: Mary Little, Dorothy (X) Clock, Elizabeth Smith, Mary Peerceson.

From The Tennessee Valley Historical Review: “Abraham Denton, Junior, became involved with the law in New York in about 1729-30. He, along with some close relatives, left that state and headed for Virginia, crossing the eastern part of Pennsylvania and the Northwestern part of Maryland. In the Valley of Virginia, then Orange County (later Augusta County) and the upper Virginia Valley, (Frederick, later Dunmore, and still later Shenandoah County) we find Abraham and his family. Also about the same time, Jonas Denton and others had reached the Virginia country. Samuel, Robert, James and John Denton begin to appear in the same general locality. The deeds in Frederick County clearly prove that the Dentons
were there as early as 1755 and became prominent citizens.”

Abraham left a deed dated August 12, 1774 which was signed by Mary Denton Little. Dorothy Clock (Clark) Elizabeth Smith and Mary Pareson (Pearson) made their marks. By this information, Mary Little was still living in 1774 and had enough education to sign her name. Abraham was a Captain in the French and Indian War in the Provincial Army
of 1766.

As the older generation died off, the younger ones became less rooted in the old lands and soon started departing for the southwest(4).

Isaac Denton Sr. was born in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and he died in Washington County, Tennessee in May 1795. The following is from his Find-a-Grave Memorial:

Birth:	1733 Shenandoah County Virginia, USA
Death:	May, 1795 Washington County Tennessee, USA
Son of Abraham John Denton and Mary Sarah O’Dell. Married Ann Whitson about 1765.He is listed as DAR #A132656 for patriotic service during the Revolutionary War.Isaac left his will in Washington CO, TN, Will Book Vol. 1, p. 34, 35. dated July 14, 1794 which lists his beneficiaries as wife Anna and children Isaac, Jeremiah, Martha, Agnes and Elizabeth.Burial is unknown.Family links: Parents: Abraham John Denton (1700 – 1774) Mary O’Dell Denton (1702 – 1774)Spouse: Ann Whitson Denton (1745 – 1802)Children: Isaac Denton (1768 – 1848)* Agnes Denton Crouch (1770 – 1836)*Siblings: Abraham Denton (1726 – 1827)* Isaac Denton (1733 – 1795) Phoebe Denton Plumlee (1737 – 1779)***Calculated relationship **Half-sibling
Burial: Unknown
Created by: treesandleaves Record added: Apr 30, 2015 Find A Grave Memorial# 145845320(5)

The Rev. Isaac Denton was born in Orange County, North Carolina in September 1768, and he died January 26, 1848 in Clinton County, Kentucky. His wife was Martha Patsy Crouch (1772-1848). Their known children follow:

1. Anna Denton (1804-1849). Anna was born September 14, 1804 in Cumberland, Kentucky, and she died September 29, 1849 in Moddyville, Kentucky. Her husband was Charles Reagan (1799-1879). Their daughter was Emeline Clemanza Reagan (1832-1862).
2. Isaac Denton (1806-1893). Isaac was born December 23, 1806 in White County, Tennessee or in Clinton County, Kentucky, and he died August 23, 1893 in McMinnville, Warren, Tennessee. His first wife was Rutha Walling (1809-1840). Their children were: (a) Susannah Denton (1832-1833); (b) Emaline Denton (1834-1859); (c) Isaac Denton (1837-1866); (d) Ozias D. Denton (1838-1876); (e) George W. Denton (1840-1871). His second wife was Mary Polly Greer (1812-1883). Their children were: (a) Isaac Denton (1836)–he may be the Isaac Denton from the first marriage; (b) Sarah Ann Denton (1842-1860); (c) Ruthie Denton (1845-1873); (d) James Mordica Denton (1850-1911); (e) Joseph Evander Denton (1853-1854). I will list them here, but I do not know whether they are children of these two marriages, or foster children: (a) Phoebe Denton (1827-1855); (b) Martha Denton (1829-1855); (c) Nancy Denton (1830-1858); (d) James W. Denton (1835-1844)–he may have been named after James W. Denton–the subject matter here; (e) Shelby Walling (1844-1925)–she would have been from Ruth’s line but not her daughter; (f) Mary Denton (1847-1864).
3. Tabitha Harriett Denton (1808-1858) Tabitha was born in 1808 in Gainesboro, Jackson, Tennessee, and she died in 1858 in Arkansas City, Arkansas. Her husband was William Proctor Welch, who was born in 1804. Their son was Turner Goodall Welch (1840-1915).
4. George Nolan Denton (1809-1890). George was born January 31, 1809 in Clinton County, Kentucky, and he died December 27, 1890 in Lamar, Texas. His first wife was Martha “Patsey” Robinson (1808-1867). Their children were: (a) Isaac Robinson Denton (1830-1856); (b) John J. Denton, born 1838; (c) James A. Denton, born 1841; (d) Lucille Denton, born 1843; (e) George Alfred Denton (1846-1916); (f) Robert O. Denton, born 1848; (g) Cassan A. Denton, born 1849; (h) Charles R. Denton, born 1851; (i) Martha L. Denton. His second wife was Sarah Sallie R. Parrish (1806-1884).
5. Rev. Joseph Crouch Denton (1811-1887). Joseph was born May 5, 1811 in Cumberland, Kentucky, and he died September 29, 1887 in Clinton, Kentucky. His wife was Mary “Polly” Long (1811-1901). Their children were: (a) Solloman L. Denton (1833-1836); (b) Elizabeth Denton, born 1836; (c) William L. Denton (1837-1908); (d) Samuel L. Denton (1842-1859); (e) Matilda L. Denton, born 1849; (f) Mary Denton, born 1850.
6. Phoebe Denton, born 1811 in Kentucky
7. Jeremiah Denton, born 1815 in Kentucky.

 

Another Cousin Connection: James W. Denton (1806-1860) and Samuel Denton (1801-1860)

Samuel Denton was born in White County, Tennessee in 1801, and he died in 1860 at Cedar Creek, Perry County, Tennessee. This is the primary Denton connection to Perry County, Tennessee. Samuel and James W. Denton would travel there together. On January 12, 1828, Samuel married Argent Coleman (1802-1860) at Cedar Creek, Perry County, Tennessee. Their children were: (a) Nancy Denton (1823-1850); (b) Sarah Sally Denton (1832-1906); (c) John F. Denton (1833-1861); (d) Benjamin Franklin Denton (1833-1861); (e) Mary Elizabeth Denton (1839-1927). He was another distant cousin in the Denton-Odell line!

Samuel’s father was Benjamin Denton, Jr. who was born in 1733 in Granville, South Carolina and who died in 1848 in Tennessee. His mother was Margaret Peggy Ann Anderson (1774-1840). His grandparents were  Benjamin Denton, Sr. (1750-1810), who was born in Granville, North Carolina, and who died in 1810 in White County, Tennessee, and Priscilla Celia Rebecca Wiggins (1755-1808); his great grandparents were Samuel Denton, who was born in1 734 in Orange, New York and who died in 1811 in Pendleton District, South Carolina, and Margaret Moore (1714-1781). And his great-great grandparents were Capt. Abraham John Denton II and Mary Odell (1702-1774), who have already been discussed! These Dentons were all distant cousins!

I’ve already recounted some of James W. Denton’s activities in the Part One of this article. While he went to live with the Rev. Isaac Denton as an infant, he apparently maintained contact with his real family. In the end, he probably spent as much time with them as he did with the Isaac Denton family.

In July 1826, the Thomas J. Denton family was plagued with a partition action filed by Thomas’s brother, Samuel Denton (b. 1800), per the following newspaper notice:

State of Tennessee, Cocke County; May Sessions, 1826

Samuel Denton vs. Jonathan Denton, Jonas Denton, Thomas Denton and David Denton

PETITION FOR PARTITION

Samuel Denton filed his petition in open court, for partition of the lands therein described, and prays the court to make an order of publication, Wherefore, it is ordered that publication be made in the Knoxville Enquirer, three successive times, that he will present said petition at next term of this court, in order to have the prayer if the same granted, it appearing to the satisfaction of said Court that David Denton, one of the Defendants, resides in the State of Alabama.  W. GARRETT, July 12, 1826(6).

The partition action involved the division and settlement of lands in their father’s estate. By now, his distant cousin, Samuel Denton (1801-1860) had returned from Perry County, Tennessee for a short visit. Perry County had been recently established, per the following:

Perry County was formed in 1819 from parts of Humphreys and Hickman counties. It is named in honor of Oliver Hazard Perry  (1785–1819), American War of 1812 naval officer who, after his flagship was severely damaged, continued the fight from another ship and forced the surrender of the British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie. Decatur County was formed from the portions of Perry County west of the Tennessee River. The first settlements in the county were along Toms Creek near the Tennessee River, with the first known birth in the area occurring in 1818. This is the first written date involving the area that would become Perry County, but it is evident that the area had some European permanent settlement prior to this. The seat of government and courts were originally located in a small town known as Harrisburg approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the current seat of Linden. The county seat was transferred to its current location in Linden in 1848, where the current courthouse stands today. Harrisburg no longer exists as a municipal entity or recognized location(7).

James needed no further encouragement. He was looking for a place to go. The Rev. Isaac Denton family were fully settled in Kentucky and had been there for some time. He really didn’t want to go to Kentucky since he preferred Tennessee. So he returned to Perry County with his cousin, Samuel, and settled in with them for a short time. He met the Samuel Spence, Daniel Spence, Lewis and Milly Catherine Spence Jones, and it wasn’t long before he relocated to Davidson County, where he met the Elisha Spence family. And as noted in Part One, he met two Rhodas in the family. The rest is history.

So what happened to the children of the two Rhodas?

The Children by Rhoda Louisa Spence

As noted above, James W. Denton married Rhoda Louisa Spence on May 10, 1831 in Davidson County, Tennessee(8). They were divorced in 1837 or 1838. Four children were born of the marriage: two boys and two girls. Rhoda kept the girls with her and James kept the boys with him. Rhoda married Michael D. Gill while James married Rhoda’s sister, Susan Rhoda Spence. The Gill family moved to Missouri while the Dentons remained in Williamson County, Tennessee. I covered the Gill family extensively in Part One, but I will present the information I have on the Dentons here.

1. Thomas J. Denton (1832-1862). Thomas was born in 1832 in Williamson County, Tennessee. He died in combat at Murfreesboro December 31, 1862. Thomas appeared on the 1860 Census for Union, St. Francis, Arkansas(9). However, when the War broke out, he returned to Tennessee and joined the Confederate Army. His name appears on the U.S. Confederate Army Casualty Lists and Reports, 1861-1865(10). He was named for James Denton’s biological father.
2. Elizabeth Jane Denton (1832-1911). I have no update, but will include her information. She was named Elizabeth for Rhoda Louisa’s sister who died in North Carolina and Jane for Rhoda’s stepmother. She was born January 24, 1832 in Williamson County, Tennessee. I stated in Part One that if these birth dates are correct, Elizabeth Jane and Thomas J. were twins. She married James Mattison Buckingham (1823-1904) on March 27, 1852 in Williamson County, Tennessee(11). They had one daughter: Milly A. Buckingham (1864-1938). The Buckinghams moved to Missouri with the Gills. They first settled in Jackson Twp., Jasper County, Missouri. By 1900 they were in Benton, Newton County, Missouri.
3. William H. Denton (1833-aft 1887). William was born in Williamson County, Tennessee in 1833, and he died after 1887 in Williamson County. On December 22, 1859, he married Sarah V. Boyd (1832-aft 1920) in Williamson County, Tennessee(12). They had a son whose name is not known. William also joined the Confederate Army. He served with the M. 2. Tennessee Cavalry. In 1864, William filed for divorce(13). They must have remarried because on November 22, 1920, Sophia filed for her widow’s pension(14). William was declared an invalid on August 17, 1887. I could find nothing further about him after that date.
4. Milly Ann Denton (1833-bef 1860). Milly Ann was born March 16, 1833 (another set of twins if the birth dates are correct) and she died bef. 1860 in Clinton County, Kentucky. Apparently she didn’t want to move to Missouri. On October 14, 1852, she married Williamson Alexander in Dickson County, Tennessee(15). They may have eloped. Both of them do not appear on records for 1860. They may have moved to Clinton, Tennessee where a number of Milly’s Denton relatives and Williamson’s Alexander relatives were living. They may have died while traveling there, and they may have been the victims of foul play. The Dickson County marriage record plainly shows Milly’s name as Milly Ann Denton, but the recording notation on the side of the document identifies her as Milly Ann Dayton. I am inclined to believe the actual marriage license.

 

The Children of Susan Roden/Rhoda Spence

This is from the 1850 Census for Williamson County, Tennessee–the one and only record fort his family(16).

1. Samuel Denton, born 1838 in Williamson County, Tennessee and he died before 1860 in Williamson County. He was named for Samuel Denton (1801-1860)–James’ cousin who lived in Perry County– and for Susan’s oldest brother–Samuel Perry Spence. Samuel may have died young. I could find nothing else about him.
2. Isaac Denton (1841-bef. 1860). Isaac was named for James Denton’s benefactor–the Rev. Isaac Denton. I believe that he also died before 1860. I could find nothing else about him.
3. Abner Denton (1845-bef 1860). Abner was a Spence and a Denton name. I could find nothing else about him and believe he also died before 1860.
4. Susan Denton (1846-bef 1860). Named for her mother. I could find nothing else about her.
5. James W. Denton, Jr. (1849-aft. 1880). James was named for his father. I could find nothing else about him.

So what happened to this family, including James and Susan?

James was a farmer and worked in agriculture. I have a feeling that James, Susan and all five of their children suffered the same fate as Michael D. Gill and Rhoda Louisa Spence by being struck by an epidemic. I think they were all victims of some type catastrophe and died within a few days, weeks or months of each other.  According to the Tennessee Timeline on Rootsweb, a number of catastrophes took place in Tennessee during this timeframe:

June 1850 Cholera epidemic
Apr 29 1852 Earthquake- VA, NC, and TN
Aug 28-30 1852 TN river flood
1854 Cholera Epidemic (17)

The Timeline notes additionally:

The great Cholera epidemic was spread by immigrants from Europe. The major years were 1832, 1849, 1866, and 1873. By 1890, the disease was practically controlled. –Malaria was also of epidemic proportions in the late 1800’s. The hottest summer on record was 1886, and later 1887. Mosquitoes were out of control in the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys, as well as tributaries. This went on for years. –TB was also of epidemic proportions at the time. Children ages 5-15 rarely died from the “adult” epidemics, as this is a period of “Natural Immunity.” (18)

The Timeline further notes:

In case you ever wondered why a large number of your ancestors disappeared during a certain period in history, this might help. Epidemics have always had a great influence on people – and thus influencing, as well, the genealogists trying to trace them. Many cases of people disappearing from records can be traced to dying during an epidemic or moving away from the affected area. Some of the major epidemics in the United States are listed below: 

1850    Nationwide             Yellow Fever

1850 July 17    Gainesboro, TN             Cholera

1850-1    North America Influenza

1851 Coles Co., IL, The Great Plains, and Missouri   Cholera
1852 Nationwide [New Orleans-8,000 die in summer]Yellow Fever

1854 Tennessee, Giles County              unknown epidemic

1855    Nationwide [many parts] Yellow Fever

1857-9 Worldwide [one of the greatest epidemics]  Influenza

1860-1    Pennsylvania  Smallpox

1862     Tennessee, Shelby County, Memphis Yellow-fever(19)

***

Thus completes the story of Elisha Spence and Susanna Spencer and the lives of their children and some of their grandchildren and other descendants.

I have one more article to write in this series which will focus on Elisha’s second marriage to Jane Bell. There were four children of that marriage. My information is limited, so they will be covered in the last article. Then I will write a Conclusion and move on from there.

 

References

(1) Rev. Isaac Denton, Jr. Gravestone Inscription, Clear Fork Baptist Church Cemetery, Monticello, Kentucky. Find-a-Grave.com. Shared by Carlinbrooks 16 Feb 2013 on Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(2) 1870 Census for Perry County, Tennessee for Temperance Denton. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(3) Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 about Thomas J. Denton. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(4) Information about Capt. Abraham Denton, Jr., submitted by rmsmith1971 10 Jul 2012, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(5) Isaac Denton Find-a-Grave Memorial No. 145845320. Index at Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(6) Samuel Denton Partition Action, May-July 1826 from the Knoxville, Gazette. Posted on Ancestry.com by Lucinda Copeland 10 Jun 2014. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(7) “Perry County, Tennessee” From the Wikipedia Site. Modified  29 Aug 2015. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_County,_Tennessee

(8) Tennessee State Marriage Records for James Denton and Rhoda Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(9) 1860 Census for Union, St. Francis, Arkansas showing Thomas J. Denton. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(10) U.S. Confederate Army Casualty Lists and Reports, 1861-1865 for Thomas J. Denton. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(11) Tennessee State Marriage Records for James Mattison Buckingham and Elizabeth Jane Denton. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(12) Tennessee State Marriage Records for William H. Denton and Sophia V. Boyd. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(13) Tennessee Divorce and Other Records, 1800-1965 about William H. Denton and Sophia V. Boyd. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(14) Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 about William H. Denton. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(15) Tennessee Divorce and Other Records, 1800-1965 about Williamson Alexander and Milly Ann Denton. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(16) 1850 Census for the James W. Denton Family, Williamson County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(17) Historic Timeline of Tennessee. Rootsweb.com Website. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnmcmin2/tennesseetimeline.html

(19) Historic Timeline of Tennessee. Rootsweb.com Website. Date Accessed: 21 Sep 2015. Available online at http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnmcmin2/tennesseetimeline.html

Elisha Spence (1776-1835)–Part Thirteen: Two Rhodas and a James–Part One

 

 

Moss Springs Cemetery, Jasper County, Missouri. Taken May 2001

 

 

He must have been a wonder!

That’s what I thought while sorting through the James W. Denton-Rhoda Louisa Spence-Susan Roden/Rhoda Spence Triangle!  Fortunately, the situation did not turn out what it originally promised to be. Perhaps discovering two sisters bearing the name of Rhoda sparked his initial interest.

Rhoda Louisa Spence and Susan Rhoda Spence were the youngest daughters of Elisha Spence and Susanna. Rhoda Louisa was the twin of William Spence of Weakley County. As noted in the previous article, the twins were born in Randolph County, North Carolina or in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina March 28, 1809. Some people think they were born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. That is a possibility since Elisha Spence moved around quite a bit. Then in early 1810, the family set out for Davidson County, Tennessee, where Susan was born in late September. In 1830, the Elisha Spence family still resided in Davidson County, but by the early 1830s, they moved to the western part of the state. The older children were still living in Perry County; Levi returned from North Carolina and settled in Madison County. Elisha moved his family to Madison.

By 1830, however, Rhoda Louisa and Susan Rhoda were on their own and both had their eyes set on marriage.

Enter one James W. Denton who had an eye for the young Rhodas.

According to the one and only census record I located for him, he was born in Tennessee in 1806(1). I have no idea where he originated or who his parents were. A number of Denton families resided in the area, but James doesn’t appear to match any of them. A James W. Denton died in 1861 in Smith County, Tennessee(2), but that individual appears to have been born about 1846. Another James W. Denton married a Sophia Shaw in Williamson County in 1829(3), but he wasn’t this James W. Denton. That James W. Denton remained married to Sophia. And then there was another James W. Denton in Maury County who married there and raised a family. He died in 1880 at the age of 85(4). He was not this James W. Denton either! And there was a large family of Dentons in Perry County, Tennessee. I could not find a link there either, however. He may have come from Eastern Tennessee since a large group of Dentons resided there as well.

Several things may have happened to James. He may have struck out on his own at an early age. He may have been orphaned.  And there is the possibility that James W. Denton was not his real name!

At any rate, with the Elisha Spence family moving to Madison County, Tennessee and the two Rhodas remaining in Williamson County, James had free reign of the situation. According to Tennessee Marriage Records, on May 10, 1831, James W. Denton married Rhoda Spence in Davidson County, Tennessee(5). The question is this: Which Rhoda?

 

Rhoda Louisa Spence (1809-1860)

Rhoda Louisa Spence and James W. Denton were married in Davidson County, Tennessee May 10, 1831. Their children were:

1. Thomas J. Denton (1832-aft 1860). Thomas was born in Williamson County, Tennessee on January 21, 1832 (a twin), and he died after 1860. He may be the Thomas J. Spence who appears on the 1860 Census for Arkansas in Union Twp., St. Francis, Arkansas.
2. Elizabeth Jane Denton (1832-1911). Elizabeth was born January 21, 1832 in Williamson County, Tennessee. Elizabeth and Thomas J. were twins if the dates are correct. She died in Newton County, Missouri September 6, 1911. On March 27, 1852, she married James Mattison Buckingham in Williamson County, Tennessee. Their daughter was Milly A. Buckingham (1864-1938).
3. Milly Ann Denton (1833-1850). Milly was born about 1833 in Williamson County, Tennessee. She last appears on the 1850 Census for Williamson County, Tennessee. She may be the Milly Ann Denton who married Williamson Alexander in Dickson County, Tennessee on October 14, 1852(7)
4. William Denton (1833-1850). William was born about 1833 in Williamson County, Tennessee. He last appears on the 1850 Williamson County, Tennessee Census in the James W Denton household(8).

James and Rhoda Louisa began experiencing difficulties in their marriage, and I don’t know exactly when those difficulties started. They probably erupted after Rhoda’s  family moved to Western Tennessee and after Susan started spending a great deal of time at Rhoda’s house. One thing led to another, ending in a divorce between James and Rhoda. I haven’t found an exact date for the divorce, but she married Michael D. Gill November 27, 1838–the same year when Susan married James W. Denton! So the divorce would have been about 1836 or 1837. There were four children from her marriage to James Denton: two girls and two boys. Rhoda kept the girls while James kept the boys–hence the Denton surname.  Elizabeth Jane and Milly Ann were raised by Michael D. Gill, and they took the Gill name: Elizabeth Jane Denton Gill and Milly Ann Denton Gill.

Michael David Gill was born about 1800 in Louisa County, Virginia, and he died around 1860 in Jasper County, Missouri. He was the son of Mitchell Gill (1772-1810) of Charlotte County, Virginia and Nancy Dabbs (1774-1809) and the grandson of Michael Gill (1730-1801). Michael’s brother was Mitchell Gill (1803-1880). Mitchell was born February 5, 1803 in Charlotte County, Virginia, and he died March 6, 1880 in Richland, Keokuk County, Iowa. His wife was Catharine Thompson (1796-1880). Their children were:

1. James Gill (1835-1906)
2. Susan Gill (b. 1840)
3. Ellen Gill (b. 1842)
4. Sarah Gill (b. 1847)
5. Louisa Gill (b. 1848)
6. Lydia Annis Gill (1850-1916)

Mitchell may have gone to Tennessee with his brother Michael, but he was in Indiana by 1835. Catherine was probably his second wife. They were married June 4, 1846 in Keokuk, Iowa. The last three children listed above would have been theirs. The first three would have been by a first wife.

Michael David Gill appears on early census records as follows:  the 1820 Census for Charlotte County, Virginia(9), the 1830 Census for Davidson County, Tennessee(10), the 1840 Census for Davidson County, Tennessee(11), the 1850 Census for Williamson County, Tennessee(12), and Missouri Land Records for 1856, 1857, and 1860 in Jasper County, Missouri(13), (14), (15). The Michael D. Gill family were in Jasper County by March 10, 1856 when he obtained his first warrant for land. In all likelihood, they were in the county earlier.

The children of Michael David Gill and Rhoda Louisa Spence follow:

1. Samuel S. Gill (1842-1880).  Samuel was born in January 1842 in Williamson County, Tennessee, and he died May 28, 1880 in Savoy, Fannin County, Texas. Samuel served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. His military file is quite substantial.  He enlisted at Camp Cedar July 21, 1862 for a term of three years. He fought in the Battle of Helena, Arkansas July 28, 1863 in which he was slightly wounded. His name appears on a Roll of Prisoners of War of Cos. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and K, 11th Missouri Infantry of the Confederate Army, commanded by Major James Phillips, surrendered at New Orleans. Louisiana by Gen. E. K. Smith, C.S.A., to Maj. Gen. E.R.S. Canby, USA May 26, 1865; paroled June 8, 1865 at Shreveport, Louisiana(16).  Samuel went to Texas after his release, where he married Emma Louis Brooks (1850-1880) on December 20, 1868 in Fannin County, Texas. Their children were: (a)  William M. Gill, born December, 1869 in Fannin County, Texas; and (b) Maude Gill (1873-1962). William was born about December 1869 in Fannin County, Texas. I have no additional information about him. Maude was born December 24, 1873 in Savoy, Fannin County, Texas, and she died November 30, 1962 in McKinney, Collin, Texas. On November 29, 1898, Maude became the second wife of George Clinton Masters (1861-1942). George’s biography from Find-a-Grave follows:

 

Birth:	Sep. 6, 1861
Death:	Jun. 20, 1942
born DeKalb County, AL died Denton, Denton County, TX  From Penne Magnusson Cartright Hannum, rec’d 19 Apr 2015 Clint traveled extensively and was an early day advocate of the motor home and travel trailer. He came to Texas in 1880, worked at various occupations for a few years until he settled in Denton where he became a traveling salesman. He made many trips back to Alabama to visit relatives and entertained everyone with his stories of adventure.Family links: Parents: Benjamin Franklin Masters (1833 – 1886) Nancy Elizabeth Kay Masters (1837 – 1917)Spouses: Margaret ‘Maggie’ Keith Masters (1869 – 1895) Maude Gill Masters (1873 – 1962)Children: Emma Alberta Masters Giddens (1899 – 1998)* Gill C. Masters (1916 – 1980)*Siblings: Silas Pickens Masters (1854 – 1868)* Nuton Jasper Masters (1855 – 1860)* Robert M. Masters (1858 – 1858)* John F. Masters (1859 – 1861)* George Clinton Masters (1861 – 1942) Ira N. Masters (1863 – 1886)* Lura Jane Masters Totherow (1865 – 1891)* Ida Lee Masters Green (1867 – 1917)* Luther Morgan Masters (1869 – 1943)* Marcus Lee Masters (1871 – 1959)* William Addison Masters (1873 – 1942)* Joseph A Masters (1876 – 1923)* Ella Jane Masters Upton (1879 – 1972)* Sidney Wyot Masters (1880 – 1972)**Calculated relationshipInscription: FatherNote: h/o 1) Margaret ‘Maggie’ Keith and 2) Maude Gill
Burial: Odd Fellows Cemetery Denton Denton County Texas, USA Plot: Section A
Created by: RMLeahy Record added: Jun 13, 2006 Find A Grave Memorial# 14599940 (17)

Note: The two children listed on the Find-a-Grave Entry are the children of George Clinton Masters and Maude Gill: Emma A. Masters Giddens (1899-1998) and Gill Clinton Masters, Sr. (1916-1980).

Samuel S. Gill is believed to be buried in the Greenwood Cemetery, per the following account:

I believe Samuel Gill is buried here.  The find a grave website details that the west side of this cemetery was devoted to victims of the May 1880, Savoy Tornado. The wooden markers were later destroyed by a grass fire in 1935. So we will never know for sure (18).

Samuel Gill apparently died in the 1880 Savoy tornado!

2.  Daniel David Gill (1844-1920).  Daniel was born February 15, 1844 in Williamson County, Tennessee, and he died October 29, 1920 in Jane, McDonald, Missouri. Daniel also served in the Confederate Army. He was also in Company A, 11th Missouri Infantry, CSA and enlisted August 10, 1862 at Coon Creek, Missouri under Col. Hunter for three years. He appears to have survived the war unscathed. Unlike his brother, Samuel, he returned to Jasper County, Missouri, where he married Lavesta Ann Roy (b. 1847) in Jasper County. They had one child: Mary Gill (b. 1870). The Gills resided in Jackson Twp., Jasper County, Missouri in 1870(19), in Marion, Newton County Missouri in 1880(20), and in Jane, McDonald County, Missouri in 1900(21).  Daniel David Gill died in Jane; he and his wife are buried in the cemetery there. His wife’s name is engraved on the tombstone, but there is no date of death for her.

3. Isaac Ivy Gill (1847-1922). Isaac was born November 24, 1847 in Williamson County, Tennessee, and he died July 27, 1922 in Jane, McDonald County, Missouri. His middle initial is registered as “A” on his tombstone. I remember reading one descendant’s account that the tombstone carver misunderstood the pronunciation of the middle initial: “Ah” vs. “I”– something related to the southern pronunciation. So the “A” was put on his tombstone. His middle name really was “Ivy.” Isaac was too young for the Civil War.  On January 31, 1875, he married Texanna Triplett (18 in Jasper County, Missouri. She was the daughter of Layton C. Triplett (b. 1832) and Nancy E. Hansford (b. 1834), the niece of George Washington Triplett (1825-1909), who married Rebecca Jane Spence (1828-1859)–daughter of Samuel Perry Spence and Elizabeth Inman [my third great grandparents]– and the granddaughter of John Hore Triplett (1804-1882) and Mary Butler Bradley (1807-1875). Their children were: (a) Daniel Laton Gill (1878-1935); (b) William Franklin Gill (1887-1970)–I have a feeling he was named after my grandfather, William Franklin Spence (1884-1973); (c) Isaac Newt Gill (1898-1952). The Gills resided in Marion, Newton County, Missouri in 1880(22), in Benton Twp., Newton County, Missouri in 1900(23), in Bentonville Ward 3, Newton County, Missouri in 1910(24) and finally in White Rock, McDonald, Missouri in 1920(25).

As noted previously, Rhoda’s daughter by James W. Denton–Elizabeth Jane Denton Blankenship (1832-1911)–resided in Newton County with her family. In 1860, they were in Jackson Twp., Jasper, Missouri.

I should mention here that there was another Louisa Gill who relocated from New York to Jasper County and who settled in Carthage. She was the mother-in-law of A.M. Drake–a noted figure in Jasper County history, and she died in October 1871 in Jasper County. That Louisa Gill was not this one. That Louisa Gill came from New York and descended from a New Hampshire line of Gills who fought in the Revolutionary War. Her maiden name was Gill and not Spence.

So what happened to Michael D. Gill and Rhoda Louisa Spence?

Michael and Rhoda last appear together on the 1850 Census for Williamson County, Tennessee as follows:

Michael D. Gill, age 50, born Virginia–Occupation: Shoemaker

Rhoda Gill, age 42, born North Carolina

Elizabeth J. Gill, age 18, born Tennessee

Milly A Gill, age 17, born Tennessee

Samuel Gill, age 8, born Tennessee

Daniel D. Gill, age 6, born Tennessee

Isaac I. Gill, age 3, born Tennessee(26)

Michael D. Gill last appears on the 1860 Land Warrant (dated August 1, 1860) mentioned previously. Neither Michael nor Rhoda appear on the 1860 Census for Jasper County, Missouri. However, their sons and Rhoda’s daughter by her first marriage do appear on that census: Elizabeth J. (Denton) Buckingham and her family in Jackson Twp., Jasper County, Missouri–Census dated July 10, 1860(27);  Samuel Gill as a farm laborer in the Aaron Foster household in Marion, Jasper County, Missouri–Census dated July 3, 1860(28); Daniel Gill in the Milly Catherine Spence Jones household, Jackson Twp., Jasper County, Missouri–Census dated July 9, 1860(29); and Isaac Ivy Gill in the Elizabeth Inman Spence Household, Jackson Twp., Jasper County, Missouri–Census dated July 11, 1860(29).  Michael and Rhoda do not appear on the 1860 Census. I believe that both of them died in June 1860. The August 1, 1860 land warrant to Michael was issued after his death. And the next question is what killed them?

The suspected culprits?

Influenza, Yellow Fever or Cholera!

According to the American Epidemics from the Genealogy Quest Website, Missouri and other places had their share of problems from 1850 through the Civil War.  In my chart below, I stopped with the smallpox epidemic in Pennsylvania in 1860-61. Missouri’s unique problem stemmed from the fact  that so many settlers were moving there mostly from the South where the epidemics were so great, and they were bringing the diseases with them: “Wintering each year in the Deep South, in the spring the disease would join the emigrants heading west. Cholera made its way up the Missouri on riverboats. An outbreak on board the Yellowstone in July 1833 turned it into a floating death trap. One of the few survivors, Joseph La Barge, later recalled that just below Kansas City he buried eight victims in one grave. Fear of an epidemic caused Missouri residents in Jackson County to threaten to destroy the ship(31). The list below is from American Epidemics:

1850	Nationwide	Yellow Fever
1850	Alabama, New York	Cholera
1850-1	North America	Influenza
1851	Coles Co., IL, The Great Plains, and Missouri	Cholera
1852	Nationwide	Yellow Fever
1853	New Orleans	Yellow Fever: 8,000 died
1853	Mobile	Yellow Fever: 1,191 deaths
1853	Vicksburg	Yellow Fever: 500 deaths
1853	Lake Providence, LA.	Yellow Fever: 165 deaths
1853	Philadelphia	Yellow Fever: 128 deaths
1853	Jackson, Miss.	Yellow Fever: 112 deaths
1855	Nationwide	Yellow Fever
1857-9	Worldwide	Influenza: one of the greatest epidemics
1860-1	Pennsylvania	Smallpox(31)

I am reminded of another experience I had while researching my Grandmother Inman’s Clay/Klee line. My second great-grandfather, John Clay (1794-1844) was living in Franklin Twp., Summit County, Ohio. The Clay farms were close together, and John was working over at his uncle, Christian Clay’s farm where he contracted cholera.  Howard and I visited Franklin Twp. while on our way to Pennsylvania one year. The graves are lined up in a row in the Grill Cemetery in Summit County: John, his uncle and his uncle’s family–all of them dying within a few days, weeks or months of each other in 1844. Something similar to this happened in Jackson Twp., Jasper County, Missouri between 1849 and 1860:

Lewis Jones–1849

Daniel Spence–1857

Daniel Bryant–1858 (the father of Adeline Elizabeth Bryant and father-in-law of Lazarus Spence)

Polly Pewitt Spence–1859

Samuel Perry Spence–July 1859

Rebecca Jane Spence (daughter of Samuel)–1859

Rhoda Louisa Spence Gill–June 1860

Michael David Gill–June 1860

and  others.

Michael David Gill and Rhoda Louisa Spence are probably buried in the Moss Springs Cemetery, Jasper County, Missouri. Their graves are not marked.

This article concludes in Part Two

 

References

(1) 1850 Census for Williamson County, Tennessee about James W. Denton. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 17 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(2) Probate File for James W. Denton, d. 1861, Smith County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 17 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(3) Tennessee State Marriage Records for James W. Denton and Sophia Shaw. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 17 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(4) Probate File for James W. Denton, d. 1880, Maury County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 17 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(5) Tennessee State Marriage Records for James W. Denton and Rhoda Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo. Utah. Date Accessed: 17 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(6) 1850 Census for Williamson County, Tennessee, Michael D. Gill Family. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 17 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(7) Tennessee State Marriage Records for Williamson Alexander and Milly Ann Denton. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(8) 1850 Census for Williamson County, Tennessee, James W Denton Family. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 17 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(9) 1820 Census for Charlotte County, Virginia, Michael D. Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(10) 1830 Census for Davidson County, Tennessee, Michael D. Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(11) 1840 Census for Davidson County, Tennessee, Michael D. Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(12) 1850 Census for Davidson County, Tennessee, Michael D. Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(13) U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907, 10 Mar 1856 for Michael D. Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com.

(14) U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907, 15 May 1857 for Michael D. Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(15) U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907, 1 Aug 1860 for Michael D. Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(16) Samuel S. Gill Military File, Company A, 2nd Reg’t, 11th Missouri Infantry C.S.A., 1862-1865. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(17) George Clinton “Clint” Masters Find-a-Grave Memorial No. 14599940. Index at Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(18) djgill40, Comment on Greenwood Cemetery Photo submitted to Ancestry from Find-a-Grave, 10 May 2015. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(19) 1870 Census for Jasper County, Missouri, Daniel David Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(20) 1880 Census for Jasper County, Missouri, Daniel David Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(21) 1900 Census for White Rock, McDonald County, Missouri, Daniel David Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(22) 1880 Census for Newton County, Missouri, Isaac Ivy Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(23) 1900 Census for Newton County, Missouri, Isaac Ivy Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(24) 1910 Census for Newton County, Missouri, Isaac Ivy Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(25) 1920 Census for McDonald County, Missouri, Isaac Ivy Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(26) 1850 Census for Williamson County, Tennessee, Michael D. Gill. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(27) 1860 Census for Jasper County, Missouri, James M. Buckingham Family. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(28) 1860 Census for Jasper County, Missouri, Aaron Foster Household. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(29) 1860 Census for Jackson Township, Jasper County, Missouri, Milly Catherine Spence Jones Household. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(30) 1860 Census for Jackson Township, Jasper County, Missouri, Elizabeth Inman Spence Household. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Access: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(31) “Cholera” from the Kansapedia Website: The Kansas Historical Society: Copyright 2015. Author: Unknown.  Article Created: June 2013. Article Modified: February 2013. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at: http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/cholera/12010

(32) American Epidemics from the Genealogy Quest Website. Date Accessed: 19 Sep 2015. Available online at http://genealogy-quest.com/glossary-terms/american-epidemics/

Elisha Spence (1776-1835)–Part Twelve: A Mystery in the Household–William Spence of Weakley County, Tennessee (1809-1856)

New Hope Methodist Church Cemetery Sign, Weakley County, Tennessee. Photo from Find-a-Grave.com

New Hope Methodist Church Building, Weakley County, Tennessee. Photo from Find-a-Grave.com

 

The New Hope United Methodist Church, located in the northern edges of Weakley County Tennessee, was organized 148 years ago. On November 12, 1831, Walter H. Jones sold to William Spence, James S. Wood, James T. McFall, Jepe W. Ballard, John Davis and William H. Jones, Trustees of the New Hope Meeting House, a parcel of land for $5 upon which to build a house of public worship. This small church building was hewed from poplar logs and was the first of three buildings.

Other land was deeded to the church by John S. Wood on August 10, 1842; R. F. Roberts on August 9, 1850, and Abe Sawyers on August 9, 1880. On August 15, 1891, A. Sawyers gave an acre to the church for a burying ground. The church bought land from Mr. Sawyer on July 30, 1895 for additional burying grounds, and on August 12, 1895 land was purchased from T. J. and Sallie Spence.

The present structure was built in 1915. A basement was added in 1953 and remodeling of the front entrance was completed in 1963. In 1962-63, a new parsonage located on Frankie Lane in S. Fulton was purchased by New Hope and other churches on the charge of Harris and Chapel Hill(1).

William Spence, a twin of Rhoda Louisa Spence and a son of Elisha and Susanna Spence, was born March 28, 1809 in Randolph County or in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and he died  before October 7, 1856 when his will was filed in Weakley County, Tennessee. An abstract of his Will follows:

Spence, William — September 19, 1856

Wife — Nancy

Son — Thornton

Dau — Sarah

Exec.  Daniel Spence and William Cloar

Wit– C. M. Wheeler and J. M. Bennet

Filed: October 7, 1856.  p. 390-391(2).

William and his twin Rhoda Louisa were still infants when their mother died in 1810.  Elisha Spence married Jane Bell on October 25, 1810 in Davidson County, Tennessee(3), so Jane would become the mother William, Rhoda Louisa and Susan Rhoda would remember. Their mother died in childbirth with Susan, and Daniel was four years old at the time of his mother’s death. He remembered his mother and was reluctant to accept Jane at first. But he soon bonded with her. For Samuel, Levi, and Milly Catherine, Jane seemed like an older sister. She was only five years older than Samuel. Between 1810 and 1820, William watched his older siblings leave home. Samuel and Levi departed first, followed by Milly Catherine and eventually, Daniel. William remained at home with his twin and younger sister. Beginning 1811 or 1813, four additional children would arrive of the new marriage. [They will be discussed in Part 14.]

Tracing William Spence and his family members has been a real challenge. I thought it would be easy at first because of the information I found in Weakley Remembered years ago(4). Like so many older publications, some of the material was in error–and it took me an extra week tearing into all of that. In this case, I think the Civil War was the culprit behind the loss of so many verifiable records. When armies went into an area, they often sacked and burned the courthouse because they wanted to destroy those records. I am reminded of an account I read several years ago where the citizens in a Virginia county put the records on wagons and moved them from place to place with the Union Army behind them. There was a great deal of fighting and sacking and burning in Western Tennessee during the Civil War.  So that is the reason for the problem.

According to Weakley Remembered, the first settlements there occurred in 1820. Weakley notes that before then, there were few white persons in the area. Then in 1780, “North Carolina issued thousands of land grants” there. Most of these early grants were for military service, or they were land specific(5). Weakley County was created October 21, 1823 and was completed in 1825(6).

The following concerns William Spence:

William Spence, b. March 28, 2809-d. Sept. 24, 1856. Married Nancy _________ (1804-1874). Both buried in the New Hope Cemetery near Ruthville, Weakley County(7).

The children are identified as follows:

Children:

Thornton J. Spence (1836-1908)

m. 1873 Sarah Ellen Morgan (1856-1940)

Sarah Spence m. Thos. James

Mark Spence, d. 1874

Daniel C. Spence, d. July 20, 1870–died after a horse fell on him

Samuel Spence–killed by falling tree cutting wood

James Lane Spence m. 1881 Margaret Elizabeth Dunlop(8)

I will stop here. James Lane Spence was actually Joseph Lane Spence. Joseph Lane Spence was actually a son of Samuel Spence of this narrative, and a grandson of William Spence of Weakley County, per the following death record:

Name:	Joseph Lane Spence
Gender:	Male
Birth Date:	11 Nov 1854
Birth Place:	Tennessee
Age:	78
Death Date:	27 Dec 1932
Death Place:	Martin, Weakley, Tennessee
Father’s name:	Sam Spence
Father’s Birth Place:	Tennessee
Mother’s name:	Sarah Woods
Mother’s Birth Place:	Tennessee
Certificate Number:	28103
Wills and Probates:	Search for Joseph Lane Spence in Tennessee Wills & Probates collection (9)

William Spence’s story follows.

A son William’s age still appears in the Elisha Spence household in Davidson County, Tennessee on the 1820 Census(10). William would have been eleven years old. By 1825, he probably went out to Perry County where his brothers Samuel and Daniel and his sister Milly Catherine Spence Jones were living. Other Spence relatives resided in that area, including Amos Spence (1800-1830) and his brother Jordan Pearce Spence (1792-1878)–sons of Edward Spence (1760-1802) and Esther Pearce (1765-1800). [Another brother of Amos and Jordan, William Spence (1795-1869), resided in Davidson County, Tennessee. He appears on the records there as early as 1810, so he must have relocated to Tennessee with the Elisha Spence group.] By 1830, William of Weakley’s brother, Levi James Spence, returned from North Carolina and settled in Madison County, also in Western Tennessee(11).

William married Nancy Hale (1810-1874), reportedly in Tennessee based upon the birth of their first child the following year. However, several of his older children were born in North Carolina until 1840, when he first appears on the census for Weakley County, Tennessee(12). His son, Samuel Spence, appears on the 1860 Census for Weakley County with a birth place listed as North Carolina(13). It is possible that William returned to Randolph County, North Carolina where a large family of Hales lived. That’s where he met Nancy Hale, and they were married in North Carolina and not in Tennessee. (To date, I have not been able to find anything about her family. I’m beginning to think that she was an orphan who was raised by another family. If this is true, it would explain part of the mystery coming up later in this article.) Rebecca was the first daughter born in Tennessee in 1839–so they would have been in Weakley County by then.

The children of William Spence and Nancy Hale follow:

1. Samuel Spence (1830-bef. 1870). Samuel was born about 1830 in Randolph County, North Carolina, and he died before 1870 in Weakley County, Tennessee after being struck by a falling tree. His wife was Sarah Woods (b. 1830). Their children were:

a. Ellen Spence (b. 1846)

b. Joseph Lane “Bud” Spence (1854-1932). Joseph was born November 11, 1854 in Weakley County Tennessee, and he died December 27, 1932 in Martin, Weakley County, Tennessee. His wife was Margaret Elizabeth Dunlap (b. 1850). I only have his children’s names: (I) Bud Spence; (ii) Willis Spence; (iii) Rice Spence; (iv) Mozell Spence; (v) Fannie Spence; (vi) Lockie Spence; (vii) Edna Spence; (viii) Leila Spence; (ix) Ellen Spence. Those names are listed in Weakley Remembered(14).

c. Ellen T. Spence (b. 1857)

d. Lafayette Spence (b. 1857)

e. Wilson Spence (b. 1858)

f. Henrietta Spence (b. 1859)

2. Sarah Spence (b. 1834). She married Thomas James. I have no additional information.

3. Thornton Jefferson Spence (1836-1908). Thornton was born in Pasquotank, North Carolina about 1836–indicating the William Spence family had moved from Randolph to the Pasquotank area. He died August 30, 1908 in Weakley County, Tennessee. According to his Find-a-Grave Memorial, Thornton served with the Confederate Army in Co. K, 12th Kentucky Cavalry during the Civil War(15). His wife was Sarah Emaline Morgan (1856-1940). Their children were:

a. Sarah E. Spence (b. 1882)

b. Robert P. Spence (b. 1884)

c. Martha J. Spence (b. 1886)

d. Thornton V. Spence (b. 1889)

e. Ruth A. Spence (b. 1897)

Additional children for Thornton are listed in the “Mystery” section below.

4. Rebecca Spence (b. 1839) I have no additional information.

5. Joseph Washington Reed (1840-1925). Joseph is the mystery in the family. He will be discussed below.

6. Mark Spence (1843-1874). Mark was born about 1843 in Weakley County, Tennessee, and he died in Weakley County in 1874. I have no additional information.

7. Daniel C. Spence (1845-1870). Daniel was born in Weakley County, Tennessee, and he died July 20, 1870 after a horse fell on him. I have no additional information.

8. John Spence (b. 1848). No additional information.

 

The Mystery of  Joseph Washington Reed (1840-1925)

Joseph Washington Reed (1840-1925) and Matilda Chambers Scofield (1855-1926). Photo submitted to Ancestry.com by patriciareed47 Aug 15, 2011. Photo taken about 1910 in Kentucky

Friday, 24 May 1996

Barbara,

This information below is from Weakley Co Remembered. I am looking for a Louisa Spence who married Wilson Reed and when they were going thru Weakley Co from NC to Mo in 1840 she had a baby (my GGGrandfather) and died after childbirth. I have not any of her family but wondered who these people are. See old messages below:

—Seeking information on the SPENCE family of Weakley Co TN. Bible records show that Thorten Spence b. 1836, d 1908 married Sarah E. MORGAN. She was b 1856 d 1940. Children born between 1875 and 1896 were: W.D. Spence, Jim J. Spence, N.L. Spence, Sarah Elizabeth Spence, Robert Pain Spence, Martha Jane Spence, Thorton Van Vuron Spence, John Wesley Spence, Luther Mark Spence, Ruth Anna Spence.

Thornton SPENCE’s father was William SPENCE b. 1809 d 1856. His mother was Nancy ?  b. 1804 d. 1874.

Is there any relationship between this SPENCE family and Louisa SPENCE Reed who died in childbirth in Weakley Co TN in 1840?(16)

Yes, Sara, I believe there is!

This question has perplexed me for years. I didn’t unravel it until recently, and believe that I finally have it figured out.

The 1850 Census for the William Spence household in Weakley County, Tennessee shows the following:

William Spence (42)

Nancy Spence (46)

Sarah Spence (16)

Thornton Spence (14)

Rebecca Spence (11)

Joseph Spence (9)

Mark Spence (7)

Daniel Spence (5)

John Spence (2) (17)

Joseph Washington Reed was born March 8, 1840 in Weakley County, Tennessee, and he died July 27, 1925 in Weakley County. He was the son of Wilson D. Reed (1802-1865) and Louisa Spence (1814-1840). Wilson’s family wasn’t difficult to find.  He was born in 1802 in Warren County, North Carolina to a J. W. Reed (1785-1857), and he died after 1865 in Warren County, Missouri.  He appears on the 1860 Census in Howell County, Missouri, but he apparently died after 1865 in Warren County. One possible reason for his move? He served in the Union Army during the Civil War!

He married Louisa Spence about 1839 in North Carolina. They were on their way to Missouri when Louisa died after childbirth March 8, 1840. According to Sara Stinchcomb, the Wilsons stopped at an inn in Weakley County when Louisa went into labor. The following is from an email message I received from Sara after she received my initial reply:

“Barbara,

Your messages are very exciting!! My GGGrandfather Joseph Washington REED (born 1840) the son of Louisa SPENCE Reed named his first son Samuel James and the second son William Joseph and my Grandfather Martin Alonzo (Martin is a family name in the wife’s family). The daughters were Ida Eugenia, Margaret Louisa and Minnie Ina. Louisa’s husband. Wilson REED went on to Missouri where he is found in 1860 census with a new wife and children in Howell County.

Do you know of connection of the SPENCE family with a CONNER family? The home (inn?) where Wilson and Louisa SPENCE Reed stopped in Weakley Co to have the baby was owned by the Samuel CONNER family and the CONNER family raised the child. Joseph Washington REED. They called this little community there in Weakley County “Pasquotank” I understand from oral family tradition.

The Conner family came to Weakley Co. from Knox Co area of East TN and they were originally from VA. I just can’t help but believe that he would not have left the child with total strangers and they would raise him like a son which they did unless there had been some family or neighborhood tie back in VA or NC….(18)

Wilson’s second wife’s name was Martha (last name unknown), and they had the following children: (a) Eliza J. Reed (b. 1846); (b) Alonzo Reed (b. 1849); (c) Thomas M. Reed (b. 1851).  His wife Martha filed for his Civil War Military Pension April 23, 1891, so he may have lived until then(19).

I do not know of a specific connection between that Conner family and the Spence family of Weakley County. Since Joseph appears on the 1850 Census in William’s household, I believe the Conners took care of him until they could find a family for him. They knew the Spence family in Weakley and they also knew that Louisa was a Spence. But the story goes much deeper than that. Louisa was related to William Spence. She knew William and his family resided in Weakley County. That is why the Reeds were trying to make it there before Louisa had her baby.  The following is a summary of my research. My conclusions result from the research presented here.

The name Louisa was prominent among the Pasquotank Spence families. William Spence’s twin  sister’s name was Rhoda LOUISA Spence.  In order to understand this narrative, I need to go back to the progenitor of Louisa Spence Reed’s line: Isaac Spence (1722-1806).

Not a great deal is known about Isaac Spence beyond his dates. Many people think that he was born in Duplin County, North Carolina. But that county wasn’t formed until 1750 from New Hanover County. Some people think he came from Virginia, but I could find no satisfaction there. The more I fussed around with this thing, the more I was able to conclude that Isaac was born in Pasquotank County, North Carolina. But to which family?

Sara Stinchcomb was right when she said that Wilson Reed would not have galloped off until assured his son was in protective, caring hands. It is important to remember something else. William Spence returned to North Carolina and was first in Randolph County and then Pasquotank. Quite possibly, William knew Wilson and Louisa Spence Reed. William and his family returned to Tennessee about 1839. Wilson and Louisa were married about 1839. William and Nancy may have relocated to Weakley after the wedding! So my search for Isaac Spence’s family targeted William Spence’s line. After digging through my old North Carolina Research Notebook and reviewing everything I discovered about Isaac Spence, I discovered what I was looking for–something I at one time considered.

Isaac Spence (1722-1806) was a twin of my fifth great-grandfather William Edward Spence (1722-1785). They were the sons of James Spence (1702-1753) and Elizabeth Greaves (1707-1755). So the information concerning the children of James Spence and Elizabeth Greaves now look like this: [NOTE: I am only detailing Isaac here since the others have been detailed in a previous article. I will insert a link to that article HERE for their information]:

1. Isaac Spence (1722-1806). Isaac was born in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, and he died in Pasquotank County in 1806(20). His wife’s name was Esther, and nothing else is known about her. Isaac and his twin brother William Edward Spence (1722-1785)  traveled about North Carolina together.  Isaac first appears on Pasquotank records on the 1786 Census(21). He also appears on the 1790 Census for Pasquotank County(22). Isaac and Esther Spence had two children: (a) Isaac Spence (1745-1820) and (b) Nancy Spence, who died after 1806. Nancy is the only child listed in Isaac’s will. By 1806, his son Isaac had re-established himself in Duplin County. The rest of this narrative will be devoted to Isaac Jr’s line.

Isaac Spence (1745-1820)

Isaac Spence was born in Pasquotank, North Carolina in 1745, and he died in Cumberland County, North Carolina October 21, 1820. On April 27, 1769, Isaac married Mary Elizabeth Bowden (1744-1821) in Duplin County, North Carolina. They had the following children [NOTE: These children have been terribly confused. I am following The Heritage of Harnett County, North Carolina for their names.]:

1. John Spence (1770-1830). John was born in Duplin County, North Carolina in 1770, and he died in Cumberland County, North Carolina in 1830. His wife was Rhody Rebecah Dean (1780-1870). Their children were:  (a) Delila Spence, born 1801; (b) Timothy Spence (1825-1850); (c) Martha Spence; (d) Olivia Spence; (e) Nancy Spence(23). According to The Heritage of Harnett County, North Carolina: “John Spence moved from Duplin County to the area that is now Harnett County just before Thomas Jefferson became President (about 1800). Then his father and two brothers moved up to join him.  The father, Isaac Spence, was born about 1745, and records show his marriage in Duplin County in 1769, six years before the beginning of the American Revolution. The brothers were Timothy and Elisha. John bought land on Neill’s Creek and Hector’s Creek in 1805. His father and brothers sold all of their holdings in Duplin and began buying land in Harnett. Timothy built a log house near what is now the Christian Light Community. In the woods, a few hundred yards off the paved road, is a graveyard where the first Spence settlers are buried. The grave markers are large stones bearing no lettering(24).  
2. Timothy W. Spence, Jr (1771-1852). The subject under discussion here.
3. Elisha Spence (1775-aft 1840). (When I discovered this Elisha Spence, I understood where my fourth great-grandfather (Elisha Spence) obtained his name. This Elisha Spence was born in 1775. My Elisha Spence was born in 1776).  Elisha Spence was born in 1775 in Duplin County, North Carolina.  After the deaths of his parents, he moved to Johnston County, North Carolina, where  he married Nancy Wood, Jr. on November 25, 1823.  I know nothing else about her but tend to connect her surname with the same Wood or Woods family in Weakley County, Tennessee. (William Spence’s son, Samuel, married Sarah Wood (b. 1830). Unfortunately, I do not have the names of Elisha and Nancy’s children. Elisha last appears on the 1840 Census for Johnston County, North Carolina(26).

Timothy W. Spence, Jr (1771-1852)

The father of Louisa Spence Reed, Timothy W. Spence was born June 4, 1771 in Duplin County, North Carolina, and he died May 3, 1852 in Cumberland County, North Carolina. I would like to think his middle name was William! In 1791, he married Martha Futch (1778-1853) in Barnwell, South Carolina.  They had a large family. Each time I look into their family, I find someone new–so that is something I need to research later. For now, I am going to list the names that I have and will focus on Louisa here. Whenever I complete the study of this family, I will write a later article.

The children of Timothy W. Spence and Martha Futch that I have to date are:

1. Anne Spence (1790-1834)
2. Polly Spence (1792-1837)
3. Isaac Spence (1794-1848)
4. Thomas Spence (1795-1860)
5. Elizabeth Spence (1796-1828)
6. Sarah Spence (1798-1850)
7. James Spence (1800-1870)
8. John Spence (1800-1882)
9. Ingram Spence (1802-1880)
10. Anne Spence (1804-1880)
11. Catherine Spence (1807-1880)
12. Matthew Spence (1808-1843)
13. Timothy W. Spence (1809-1878)
14. Daniel Spence (1811-1898)
15. Louisa Spence (1814-1840). Under discussion here
16. Eliza Spence (1817-1862)

Louisa Spence (1814-1840). Louisa was born November 4, 1814 in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and she died in childbirth March 8, 1840 in Weakley County, Tennessee. She was the wife of Wilson D. Reed (1802-aft 1865). They are the parents of Joseph Washington Reed (1840-1925). Wilson’s father’s initials were reportedly J.W. Reed. Perhaps his full name was Joseph Washington Reed. Joseph (1840) was named for his grandfather.

There are other significant names involved in this study. One of them is Reed. Louisa Spence’s husband was a Reed, whose father’s name was apparently J. W. Reed. However, Louisa’s uncle, John Spence, married Rhody Rebecah Dean (1780-1870). Rhody was the daughter of Hardy Robinson Dean (1740-1823) and Elizabeth Jane Reed (1752-1823). Hardy’s family came from England and settled in North Carolina. But Elizabeth was possibly an orphan. She was taken to New England where she was raised by Ezra Dean (1718-1806) and Sarah Snow (b. 1719). No one knows the identity of her real parents, but her surname was Reed. Ezra Dean was a descendant of Walter Dean (1612-1693) and Eleanor Strong (1613-1693) of Taunton, Bristol, Massachusetts. They evidently raised Elizabeth as their own daughter–a theme that runs throughout these family lines. Eventually, she returned to North Carolina, where she married Hardy Robinson Dean. There is a possibility that Wilson Reed and Louisa Spence were distantly related.

I don’t know whether Wilson D. Reed ever reconnected with his son. Joseph Washington Reed used the Spence surname while he was living in William’s household. But they did not hide his parentage from him, and he used the Reed surname when on his own.

William Spence died in 1856 in Weakley County, Tennessee. His will dated September 19, 1856 lists his wife Nancy, son Thornton, daughter Sarah. Daniel Spence was Executor of his estate along with William Cloar. The witnesses were CM Wheeler and J.M. Bennett. It was filed October 7, 1856(27).  After his death, Joseph (a blacksmith) went to live with the Conners at their inn, where he appears on the 1860 Census(28).

Joseph married Victoria Scofield (1844-1872) in 1865 in Weakley County. They had the following children:

1. Lena Martha Reed (1867-1896)
2. Georgia Reed (b. 1868)
3. John Reed (1871-1872)

His second wife was Matilda Elizabeth Chambers (1855-1926), whom he married February 25, 1874 in Obion, Tennessee. Their children were:

1. Ida Reed (1878-1953)
2. Samuel James Reed (1879-1960)
3. William J. Reed (1881-1975)
4. Martin E. Reed (1885-1968)
5. Mary L. Reed (b. 1887)
6. Lula Mae Reed (1887-1970)
7. Martha A. Reed (b. 1890)
8. Minnie Ima Reed (1890-1977)
9. Thomas Reed (no information).

Joseph Washington Reed died July 27, 1925 in Weakley County, Tennessee. He was buried July 28, 1925 in the New Hope Methodist Cemetery, Weakley County, Tennessee–the same cemetery where the William Spence family is buried.

 

References

(1) Weakley County, Tennessee Cemetery Listings. p. 376.

(2) Weakley County, Tennessee Will Book A–1828-1842.

(3) Tennessee Marriage Records about Elisha Spence and Jane Bell. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 10 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com.

(4) Baker, Pansy, Nancy Reynolds, Charlotte Stout. Weakley Remembered: Weakley County, Tennessee. Skullbone Printing, Bradford, Tennessee.

(5) Weakley Remembered, Vol. 2, p. 4.

(6) Weakley Remembered, Vol. 2, p. 4.

(7) Weakley Remembered, Vol. 3, pp 85-86

(8) Weakley Remembered, Vol. 3, pp 85-86

(9) Tennessee, Death Records, (1908-1958). Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(10) 1820 Census for Elisha Spence, Davidson County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(11) 1830 Census for Levi Spence, Madison County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(12) 1840 Census for William Spence, Weakley County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(13) 1860 Census for Samuel Spence, Weakley County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(14) Weakley Remembered, Vol. 3, pp. 85-86.

(15) Find-a-Grave Memorial 19946446 about Thornton Jefferson Spence. Find-a-Grave Index. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(16) Sara Reed Stinchcomb, Spence-L Digest. Rootsweb.com. Message posted 24 May 1996. [May be in the old archives] http://www.rootsweb.com.

(17) 1850 Census for William Spence, Weakley County, Tennessee. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(18) Sara Reed Stinchcomb, Spence-L Digest. Rootsweb.com. Message posted 24 May 1996. [May be in the old archives] http://www.rootsweb.com

(19) U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 for Wilson Reed, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(20) North Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 about Isaac Spence.  Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(21) North Carolina Census Records, 1790-1890 about Isaac Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(22) 1790 Census for Pasquotank, North Carolina about Isaac Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(23) The Heritage Book of Harnett County, North Carolina, Vol I, 1993. Portions available at Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(24) The Heritage Book of Harnett County, North Carolina, Vol I, 1993. Portions available at Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(25) North Carolina Marriage Collection, 1741-2004 about Elisha Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(26) 1840 Census, Johnston County, North Carolina about Elisha Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(27) William Spence Will Abstract: Will dated 19 Sep 1856; Filed 7 Oct 1856. Weakley County, Tennessee Will Book A 1828-1842, p. 390-391.

(28) 1860 Census, Weakley County, Tennessee for Joseph Washington Reed. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 16 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

The Elisha Spence Series: New Discoveries and Reflections

Old buggy in Fort Garland, Colorado, taken April 25, 2015.

It was time to take stock of things!

Labor Day 2015 found me staring at my computer screen. I was getting ready to write the article about Elisha and Susanna Spence’s next child–a daughter–but then I noticed something and paused to ponder it for a while.

So, why did the next daughter–Rhoda Louisa Spence–and the last daughter–Susan Rhoda Spence–share the name of Rhoda?

I previously remarked  that there were a number of Rhodas dispersed throughout the family. But the fact that two of them were lodged so close together in Elisha Spence’s first family caused me to pause and wonder. I had missed something. It was time to retrace my steps! And so I spent Labor Day 2015 communing with my ancestors. The result was definitely rewarding beginning with my rediscovery of an old handwritten research notebook.

Susanna’s Real Name

Susanna’s father John Spencer (1750-1801) had two wives. I realized that early in my research. But six months ago, I didn’t know which wife was Susanna’s mother. John’s first wife was Mary Catherine (“Milly” Catherine) Roden (1754-1784). His second wife was Caroline Elizabeth Toney (1767-1830). Before discovering this fact, I assumed his first wife’s name was Sarah based upon my  handwritten note I had made in my notebook during an excursion to the Denver Public Library. At the time, I thought Susanna may have been his first wife’s daughter. And my handwriting often became sloppy while taking those notes. Much later, I misinterpreted my handwritten R as an S and assumed that Susanna’s middle name was Sarah. After my ten-year hiatus from genealogy, those notes became more difficult to read. Susanna eventually became Susanna Sarah. And she remained Susanna Sarah for a long time. Then came an amazing discovery in the pages of an old notebook of South Carolina research: Susanna was the daughter of John Spencer’s second wife Caroline Elizabeth Toney.

I must admit I wasn’t too happy with my new discovery, especially after all the work I undertook uncovering Mary Catherine-“Milly” Catherine Roden.  I had already researched the Roden/Wroughten families several years ago. I knew nothing at all about the Toney family. After updating my family tree and after receiving a number of DNA confirmations on the Toney line, my attitude changed. But on Labor Day 2015, I was faced with another dilemma and realized I needed to investigate it before writing about Elisha and Susanna’s remaining daughters.

So who was Rhoda, and why was she so important to Elisha and Susanna? Why were their last two daughters named Rhoda?

I began my search the day before Labor Day and finally took my frazzled brain to bed. I should never go to bed like that! The ancestors chatter at me all night long. I got up at midnight and returned to my tree and stared at my connections.

Perhaps Susanna’s middle name wasn’t Sarah, I decided. Perhaps it was–Rhoda? Susanna Rhoda Spencer?

Then I went to bed and finally went to sleep. I would search through my old notebooks the following day. Rhoda was an excellent possibility! After all, I had seen a number of Rhodas in the Spence-related families: Rhoda McBride springing to mind immediately. But I also recalled seeing the name frequently on South Carolina records.

There has to be some connection!

There was!

Labor Day produced the hidden notebook containing the handwritten note I made long ago. Susanna S Spencer was actually Susanna R Spencer. But the R could have been Rachel? Roberta? Rebecca?–any number of R names. And then I saw it.

Roden!

Susanna Roden Spencer! Susanna Rhoda Spencer!

The Roden name was given at birth. It was transformed into Rhoda in later years and eventually, Rhoda was used for the two girls!

Okay, that explained the middle name! It would have been easier to accept had Mary “Milly” Catherine Roden been Susanna’s mother! But Susanna was the daughter of Caroline Elizabeth Toney and not Mary Catherine Roden.

Why would they use the first wife’s surname?

What follows is the rest of the story and it begins with something I have long suspected.

The Roden-Toney-Massey Lines

Mary “Milly” Catherine Roden and Caroline Elizabeth Tony were cousins through the Massey, Massie, Macie, Mace lines, although I have not found the exact connection. William Wroughton (1663-1746) was Milly’s great-grandfather. William resided in Dorchester County, Maryland and had three marriages. His first wife was Hannah Meredith (1663-1689). His second wife was Susannah “Anna” Mace/Massey (1660-1702). And his third wife was Rachel Wingate (1668-1746). My current family tree layout for William’s family follows:

By Hannah Meredith:

Thomas Wroughton (1684-1765)–Thomas was the only son to inherit William’s property. He remained in Dorchester County.

John Roden (1685-1720)–Milly Catherine’s grandfather. His name is spelled Roden on various records. John moved to Calvert County, Maryland and died there in 1720. His wife was Elizabeth Jane Winman (1687-1721). Their son, Thomas Winman Roden, Sr. (1715-1807) was Milly Catherine’s father, and her mother was Mary Potts (1720-1785). Thomas and his brother William (1710-1770) settled early in Chester County, South Carolina. John Roden passed away years before his father’s death.

William Wroughton III (1686-1738)–William also predeceased his father.

By Susannah “Anna” Mace/Massey:

Dorcas Wroughton (b. 1690). I have no additional information about her. She may have died young.

Henry Wroughton (twin) (1695-1747). Henry was betrothed to Mary Meredith (1695-1712)–my sixth great grandmother– only she eloped with James Robert Ingram (1692-1757)– my fifth and sixth great grandfather on two separate lines. Henry appears to have died the year after his father. I do not have any additional information about him.

Josias Wroughton (twin) (1695-1761). Josias’ wife’s name was Rachel and they had two sons: David Roten (1724-1816) and Josiah Joseph Rhoten (1738-1774).  He remained in Dorchester County, Maryland, although it appears he may have resided in Pennsylvania for a while. According to Settlers of Maryland, Josias bought 85 acres of land in Dorchester County, Maryland 15 Nov 1728 (1)

Ambrose Wroughton (1700-1746). I have no further information about him.

By Rachel Wingate:

Rachel Wroughton, born after 1700. Rachel married a Pritchett, but his first name is unknown. Rachel is mentioned in her father’s will along with her mother, Rachel, and William’s oldest son Thomas (2) 

(Note: An interesting fact about the Dorchester Wroughtons is that they were Quakers. Milly Catherine’s family became Baptist after they settled in South Carolina.)

William’s second wife is of interest in this narrative. Susannah “Anne” Mace/Massey (1660-1702) was the daughter of Nicholas Massey, Sr. (1629-1693) and Anne Mace (1631-1724). I traced the Massey line back to Nicholas Massey (1443-1491). And this is where the Toney line comes into play. Caroline Elizabeth Toney’s second great grandmother on her mother’s line was Cecilia Massie (1644-1790). Cecilia was the daughter of Peter Davie Massie (1640-1719) and Penelope Ashley Cooper (1639-1711). I traced this Massie line back to John O. Massey/Massie (1429-1509). What is clear is the fact that the Massey family had a powerful influence in England at one time, as noted in an article titled “Massey Lineage”:

Origin of the name Massey came from Ferte de Macei in France near Mont St. Michel. The name has several spellings: De Mace’, de Macei, de Mascy or de Massy. Gradually the name became de Massey and the plain Massey by 1250 or so.

A Norman from Ferte de Mace’, France married Margaret de Sacie, daughter of Lord Sacie. This was our Hamon de Macei the First. He died in 1101.

Going back, the ancestor of this Hamon was Osmund de Cenevilles whose son was given lordships southeast of Paris. This Hamon de Corbeil (of Ferte de Mace) helped to complete a cathedral in Corbeil in 950. He died in 957 and is buried in this cathedral. His great-grandson, Hamon Denatus (“Rattlejaw”) died in 1047 fighting against Duke William who later became William the Conqueror.

There are conflicting reports on the Abbey rolls that Hamon de Mace or de Macei the first fought in the battle of Hastings in 1066, commanding a force of sixty archers. other rolls list other de Macei names. Some historians think Hamon deMacei’s father was the one mentioned. A Mathieu de Mace was in the battle of Hastings and commanded eighty knights. Mathieu and Hamon were closely associated in 1192 and were no doubt relatives.

After the battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror gave an earldom in the Chester area of conquered England to his nephew Hugh Lupus, “The Wolf”. Lupus in turn had the power to create baronies. he created eight and one became a baron, Hamon de Macei the First and was called Denham-Massey after the village of Denham. A Saxon named Elured formerly held the lands which were considerable in area.

Later, King Rufus in 1087, who was the son of William the Conqueror, gave Hamon I a good deal more land because he was a “proficient archer”.

Hamon I was listed in the domesday book of 1089. He built a castle Denham-Massey which was partially destroyed by King Richard the III. Now only the mound site remains.

Hamon II Married Eleanor de Beaumont and died in 1140. Hamon III married Agatha de Theray. He founded Abbey Berkett in Chesire, England. He and his son Robert took the side of King John when the nobles forced King John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. Later the King was beheaded.

Hamon III rebelled against King Henry II and lost some of his lands. Years later lands were returned to the Masseys.

Hamon IV (born approximately 1181) gave a church of Bowdon to the Priory of Berkenhead. As a marriage present he gave the entire town of Stretford, England to his daughter in 1250.

Hamon V, known as “Ould sir Hamon”, was born in 1210, died in 1273. He married Ciceley Gernet who gave land for a leper colony.

Hamon VI was born in 1256, died in 1342. His daughter Alice married William Standley who became Chancellor of England in 1353 during the reign of Edward III. For three generations the Massey-Standley families were prominent at court and even hyphenated the names during this time. A female Massey, lady in waiting to the Queen, had charge of the royal children under Henry VII and a Massey was royal chambermaid to Henry VII. Hamon VI led an army of 4,000 foot soldiers against William Wallace a Scot, who was leading a Scottish rebellion. His third wife, Joan Clinton, was very extravagant forcing him to sell land. Leaving no heirs, the land passed out of the Massey Family. The reign of the barons lasted 260 years.

The family continued however, from William, the younger brother of Hamon V to a Richard in 1322 to a Hamon de Pontington (Estate Name) He was knighted by the crown in 1347. The next important Massey was Sr John de Pontington, knighted in 1380. He was commissioned by Richard II to quell the Irish uprising. His son, Hammond, was knighted in 1389. His son, Sir Hugh married Ann Bold in 1389. She was heir to Coddington Estates.

In the early 1300’s a de Tatton branch of the Massey family was founded. Our branch was the de Pontington Coddington. A son, William Coddington Massey was knighted in 1435 and married Alice Wooton. His grandson, Nicholas Massey moved to Ely England. It is now Cambridge.

Henry VIII founded the Anglican Church and took large estates away from the Catholics. The Masseys, being connected to the court, chose to follow Henry VIII and so came into lands in Ely (Cambridge) given by Henry VIII. Nicholas Masey and his brother went to Ely in 1536.

A great-great grandson, John Massey, married Sarah Birde in 1614.

Their son, John Massey, went to Fort Henry, Virginia in 1636. Fort Henry is now Petersburg, Virginia. He was sponsored by Walter Ashton. A first cousin of this John of 1636, Nicholas, came from Ely in 1658 to Dorchester , Maryland. We can be traced directly to this Nicholas.

Through history from William the Conqueror, 1066, to Queen Elizabeth I 1604, members of the Massey family were accorded honors of knighthood, lands and position. When the Stuarts replaced the Tudors on the English throne the Massey family lost influence.(3)

John Massey and Sarah Birde were the parents of Nicholas Massey (1629-1693) (husband of Anne Mace) and grandparents Susanna “Anna” Mace/Massey (1660-1702)–William Wroughton’s second wife!

As previously stated, I do not know how Susanna “Anna” Mace/Massey and Caroline Elizabeth Toney’s Massies  connect, but I am certain they are related. The Wroughton/Roden-Massey/Massie/Macey/Mace-Spencer-Toney families were all on the same social level and traveled in the same circles. Milly Catherine and Caroline Elizabeth were close friends and spent a lot of time together.

And then I made a huge discovery about Caroline Elizabeth’s family.

Caroline Elizabeth Toney and her husband John Spencer were distant cousins. That was my Labor Day Surprise. I suspected they were cousins, but I found the connection yesterday. As noted earlier, Caroline spent a great deal of time with the Spencer family. She lived in Virginia while the Spencers resided in South Carolina. But she traveled back and forth. When Milly Catherine died, John relocated his family to Virginia where he married Caroline Elizabeth. They stayed in Virginia for a while and then returned to South Carolina.

Caroline’s parents were Sherwood Toney (1738-1833) and Lorena England (1743-1810). Lorena England’s parents were William Anderson England (1710-1768) and Elizabeth Lee (1702-1805). And yes, this is the Lee family of the Northern Neck of Virginia. Elizabeth’s parents were my eighth great grandparents: Major John Lee (1678-1731) and Ann Taylor (1684-1731). I came out of this discovery with two well-known distant cousins: President Zachary Taylor is my third cousin seven times removed, and General Robert E. Lee is my fourth cousin seven times removed!

[Two humorous notes on such an occasion:

I would hate to recall the many hours I spent looking for General Lee in my father’s Lee line years ago based one of those old family legends. I could never prove that story and there is a good reason. The General’s ancestors came from England. Dad’s Lees came from Ireland. “Maybe they were his poor Irish cousins!” I concluded.  And today I found General Lee on my mother’s side of the family!

Concerning President Taylor: For seven years, I spent my K-6 elementary school years at Zachary Taylor Elementary School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  I must have passed his portrait “a million times” without realizing there was a connection! However, I have fond memories of Taylor Elementary. Perhaps my inner spirit sensed a bond!]

The cousin connection between John Spencer and Caroline Elizabeth Toney lies within Lorena England’s line via the England surname. Their surname was England back through my twelfth great grandfather–Richard England (1540-1604). Richard’s father was Sir William England (b. 1498, Norfolk), whose first wife was Lady Susan Knightley Spencer–“Baroness de Spencer” (1498-1532). She died in 1532. Richard’s mother was William’s second wife–a member of the Spencer family whose first name may have been Margred. After his marriage to Baroness de Spencer, William became Sir William “High Sheriff Northampton” de’Spencer “Knight of Wormleighton-Althorp England”. William’s father was the Earl of Sunderland, and his mother was Lady Isabel Graunt Spencer. My thought is that the England surname was originally Spencer. Then through the laws of primogeniture and political upheavals, a “lesser” branch of the family became England while the greater branch of the family retained Spencer. (Surprisingly, I received my first England DNA match today while I was writing this!)

***

So why did John Spencer and Caroline Elizabeth Toney decide to incorporate Milly Catherine’s maiden name into their daughter’s. One reason could be found in Deuteronomy relating to preserving a deceased relative’s legacy within the immediate family–in this case, Milly Catherine’s maiden name. The other reason centers around the fact that Milly Catherine and Caroline Elizabeth were very close, and John really loved his first wife. So preserving her name in this fashion was a lasting tribute to her. Susanna and Elisha wanted to use the name somewhere in their family. But after the passage of time, Roden was transformed into Rhoda. Susanna began using Rhoda and then passed it on to her two daughters. As more time passed, the name Rhoda gradually disappeared.

On the other hand, the name  Milly Catherine began with Elisha and Susanna’s oldest daughter and became a tradition carried down through several generations!

 

 

References

(1)  Settlers of Maryland 1679-1783 about Josias Wroughton. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 8 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(2)  William Wroughton Will dated 29 Jan 1745 and recorded in 1746. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 8 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(3)  “Massey Lineage”–author unknown. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 8 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

Elisha Spence (1776-1835)–Part Eleven: The Case for Elizabeth Spence (1804-1809/10)

A rose for Elizabeth

 

Years ago, when I first began searching for the children of Elisha Spence, I recall seeing a record for Elizabeth Spence, born 1808. I found it in the old IGI records. After the passage of time and after being unable to discover anything else about her, I deleted her from the list I was compiling. And that’s when I began hearing from people.

“What about Elizabeth?” they asked.

Sometimes they added a surname:

“What about Elizabeth Ramseur?”

(Believe it or not, I found that item in one of my notebooks: a copy of an old email someone sent me over twenty-years ago.)

“Her surname was Ramseur!” I responded. “I’m looking for Spence.”

Ultimately, I decided that submitters of early records confused Elizabeth Ramseur with Elizabeth Spence. As noted in the update I provided in the James Spence of Randolph County article, Elizabeth Ramseur married Malachi Spence. Malachi Spence was a son of David Spence and Esther Lombard. And David Spence was another son of James Spence and Lucy Upton of Randolph County, North Carolina. There was no way Elizabeth Ramseur was a daughter of Elisha Spence!  However, the name Elizabeth still haunted me, and I began wondering What if there was an Elizabeth?

An excellent possibility! I recently noted that Elisha and Susanna had a child every year or every other year. Samuel was born in 1800. Milly Catherine was born in 1802. Daniel was born in 1806. The twins were born in 1809. And their last daughter Susan was born in 1810. Elizabeth could have been born between Milly Catherine and Daniel or between Daniel and the twins. Susanna’s mother was Caroline Elizabeth Toney.  Young Elizabeth’s full name could have been Caroline Elizabeth Spence and typical of the old Spence custom–her family referred to her by her middle name.

I must admit, the more I thought about Elizabeth, the more I became convinced that she did exist and that she was probably born between Milly Catherine and Daniel. I began checking various records on ancestry making certain I didn’t have her confused with someone else. A number of Spence families resided in in Surry, Rowan, and Guilford County who came from other lines. For example, there was an Elizabeth Betty Spence (1812/13-1843) who was the daughter of James Spence (1775-1826) and Mary Coots (1775-1815). This Elizabeth Spence was born in Guilford County, North Carolina, and she died in Harris County, Georgia. She married McAlvin Howell Spence (1810-1899). He was the son of Nathan Spence, Jr. (1785-1853) and Adeline Reeves (1784-1848). McAlvin was born in Rockingham County, North Carolina, and he died in Harris County, Georgia. James Spence and Nathan Spence, Jr. were brothers. They were the sons of Nathan Spence, Sr. (1743-1833) and Elizabeth Quinnelly (1745-1820), the grandsons of John Spence (1715-1772) and Mary Nutter (1725-1773), and the great grandsons of Patrick Spence (1680-1746) and Phoebe Sasserson (b. 1680). This branch of the Patrick Spence family settled in Talbot County, Maryland, settled next in Delaware, removed to Guilford County, North Carolina, and then relocated to Georgia. Elizabeth Betty Spence was not the Elizabeth I was seeking. She was born in 1812 or 1813 in North Carolina, long after the Elisha Spence family settled in Tennessee. And the Guilford County/Rockingham Spences were from a different line.

There are a number of Elizabeth Spences of record born between 1800 and 1808 in North Carolina, but none of them connect as a child in the Elisha Spence family. I searched the counties from Randolph, Davidson, Surry, Guilford, Rockingham, Rowan and Burke Counties and could not find a qualifying candidate for the role. The Elizabeths I found had a different surname at birth and took the Spence surname after marriage, or they were Spences at birth but were from a different line.

So what have I concluded?

I tend to believe that yes, there was an Elizabeth Spence, who was the daughter of Elisha and Susanna Spencer Spence. I believe that she was probably born between Milly Catherine and Daniel, making her year of birth about 1804. She may have died in infancy, and she may have lived a few years. I think it is possible that she died before Daniel’s birth in 1806. A female child her age does not appear on Tennessee census records in the Elisha Spence family, so she definitely passed away prior to the family’s departure for Tennessee. She may have lived until 1809 or very early 1810.

I believe that she did exist for a number of reasons:

1. The number of people who contacted me about her when I first started researching the Spence family. They were either relying on the same old IGI record I discovered, or else they had heard a story that a daughter named Elizabeth died young.
2. Given the fact that Elisha and Susanna named their children after specific family members or friends, it seemed odd to me that none of them were named for Susanna’s mother. I have several DNA connections with Caroline Elizabeth Toney so as far as I am concerned, the identity of Susanna’s mother is no longer in question.
3. Because of the distance between Milly Catherine and Daniel, it is quite possible that Elisha and Susanna had a daughter in 1804, who died late 1809 or early 1810. The 1804 date is more likely than the 1808 date.

So, yes, I believe there was a Caroline Elizabeth Spence, who was born in Randolph County, North Carolina in 1804 and who died in Randolph County in 1809 or  very early 1810 who was the daughter of Elisha Spence and Susanna Spencer.

 

 

Elisha Spence (1776-1835)–Part Ten: The Children of Daniel Spence (1806-1857) and Mary Ann “Polly” Pewitt (1810-1859)

Joel Spence (1832-1896) and Martha Jane Hood (1828-1887). Photo sent to me by Wayne Spence.

John William Spence (1864-1935) and Myrta Alzina Moss (1877-1953). Photo sent to me by Wayne Spence.

John William Spence (1864-1935) and Daniel Wayne “Tucker” Spence (1859-1940) Photo sent to me by Wayne Spence.

 

As noted in the previous article, Daniel Spence was born in Randolph County, North Carolina in 1806, and he died in Jasper County, Missouri in April 1857. His wife Mary Ann “Polly” Pewitt was born in Williamson County, Tennessee in 1810, and she died in October 1859 in Jasper County, Missouri. They were married in Williamson County, Tennessee on December 9, 1828(1). Their children follow:

Joel Spence (1832-1896)

Joel Spence was born August 17, 1832 in Davidson County, Tennessee, and he died January 20, 1896 in Jasper County, Missouri. On September 7, 1853, he married Martha Jane Hood in Jasper County, Missouri(2). She was a daughter of  Joel Owensby Hood (1803-1891) and Nancy Haskins (1807-1876)–my third great grandparents. [Note: I will be covering the Hood line in a later article.] This family fled to Kansas during the Civil War and in Lawrence, Douglas, Kansas and in Palmyra, Douglas, Kansas. They were probably in Lawrence during the Quantrill Massacre, although I believe they probably lived on a farm outside the town. It would have been a frightening experience for them.  According to an article titled “Lawrence, Massacre: August 21, 1863”:

The bloody guerrilla fighting along the Kansas-Missouri border that began with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 only got bloodier with the coming of the Civil War. Union Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing, Gen. William T. Sherman’s brother-in-law, was assigned to command the District of the Border, where he was faced with the seemingly impossible task of trying to stop Confederate raiders–primarily the guerrilla band led by the notorious William C. Quantrill.

In 1863, Ewing began arresting women suspected of aiding Quantrill’s men. Many were mothers, sisters, and wives of the guerillas. Ewing jailed some in a dilapidated three story building in Kansas City. On August 14, the building collapsed, killing four of the women and seriously injuring others. Four days later, Ewing ordered that the wives and children of known guerillas were “to remove out of this district and out of the State of Missouri forthwith.”

Seeking revenge, Quantrill and 450 men set out on August 19 for the abolitionist stronghold of Lawrence, Kans. They stormed into the town with blazing guns at daybreak on August 21. For three hours they committed an orgy of burning, pillaging, and massacring its citizens. The victims were shot down in front of their families or burned up in their houses. At 9:00 A.M. the raiders departed, leaving 80 new widows, 250 fatherless children, and a smoldering ruin of a town. Fewer than 20 of Quantrill’s 150 victims were soldiers. No women were physically harmed.

Quantrill had lived in Lawrence for a short time before the war and had a vengeance list of persons to be disposed of. He got them all except for the one on the top of the list, Sen. Jim Lane, the leader of a band of Union guerrillas that had been making raids into Missouri. On the morning of Quantrill’s raid, Lane had heard the horses coming and hid in a cornfield in his nightshirt until the raiders left.

Fascinating Fact: Four of Quantrill’s raiders at Lawrence were Cole, James, John, and Robert Younger. Known as the Younger Brothers after the war, they teamed up with Frank and Jesse James to rob banks, trains, and stagecoaches (3).

 They returned to Newton County, Missouri after the war was over. About a year after his wife’s death, Joel married Sarah Elizabeth Copple (1842-1932) in Jasper County, Missouri.

The children of Joel Spence and Martha Jane Hood follow:

1. Myra L. Spence (1855-1857). Myra was born April 16, 1855 in Jasper County, Missouri, and she died July 12, 1857 in Jasper County, Missouri. She is buried in the Moss Springs Cemetery.
2. Permilia Jane Spence (1856-1879). Permilia was born December 5, 1856 in Jasper County, Missouri, and she died August 28, 1879 in Jasper County, Missouri. She is buried in the Moss Springs Cemetery.
3. Daniel Wayne “Tucker” Spence (1859-1940).  Daniel was born June 21, 1859 in Newton County, Missouri, and he died August 14, 1940 in Marion, Newton, Missouri. His wife was Mattie Alberta Benschotter (1871-1955). Their children were
   1.  Lynwood Alton Spence (1894-1962);
   2. Una Elberta Spence (1907-1976) (4).
4. Nance Elizabeth “Lizzie” Spence (1862-1926). Nance was born May 25, 1862 in Lawrence, Douglas, Kansas, and she died August 10, 1926 in East Benton, Newton, Kansas. Her husband was Henry H. Burr (1859-1920). Their children were:
   1. Ralph R. Burr (1882-1955);
   2. Bradley Benton Burr (1884-1961);
   3. Pearl Coella Burr (1886-1962);
   4. Oscar E. Burr (1888-1975);
   5. Homer T. Burr (1895-1987);
   6. Claude J. Burr (1898-1985);
   7. Earl L. Burr (1901-1982) (5).
5. John William Spence (1864-1935). John was born March 27, 1864 in Lawrence, Douglas, Kansas, and he died January 23, 1935 in Union Twp., Jasper County, Missouri.  His wife was Myrta Alzina Moss (1877-1953)(6). She was the daughter of  Samuel Taylor Moss (1846-1921) and Georgia Ann Elliott (1858-1940) and granddaughter of Dr. David Franklin Moss (1815-1908) and Margaret A. Daugherty (1816-1898). The Moss family originally settled in Rappahannock, Virginia. From there they moved to Rowan County, North Carolina. They were in Putnam County, Indiana prior to their removal to Jasper County, Missouri. Their children were:
   1. Hobart Franklin Spence (1897-1975)
   2. Chester Howard Spence (1898-1900)
   3. Clifford Walter Spence (1902-1976)
   4. Martha Georgia Spence (1907-1985)
   5. Claryce Myrtle Spence (1911-1985)
6. Ida L. Spence (1866-1935). Ida was born in Newton County, Missouri in 1866, and she died in August 1935 in Sapulpa, Creek, Oklahoma. Her husband was William Bannister Hickey (1860-1948). Their son was:
   1. John Brice Hickey (1898-1983)(7).

 

Samuel J Spence (1833-1901)

Samuel was born in December 1833 in Davidson County, Tennessee, and he died in 1902 in Baldwin City, Douglas, Kansas. His wife was Sarah Elizabeth Bryant (1842-1932)(8).  The Bryant family connects with the Spence family in a number of ways, and I will be dealing with them more fully in a separate article. Sarah Elizabeth was a daughter of David Bryant (1812-1880) and Rachel Spencer (1808-1880). David Bryant was the brother of Daniel Bryant (1804-1858)–the father of Adeline Elizabeth Bryant (1833-1931)–wife of Lazarus Spence (1825-1902). They were the sons of John Bryant (1760-1830) and Ruth Maynor O’Briant (b. 1770). Rachel Spencer was the daughter of John Spencer (b. 1788) and his first wife Rachel (1790-1808). John’s second wife was Rachel Key (b. 1805). Rachel Key was the sister of Lucy Key (1810-1903)–the wife of Daniel Bryant. The Key sisters were the daughters of William Wesley Key (1783-1860) and Susanna Akers (1787-1819). John Spencer’s half-brother, William H. Spencer (1817-1888), was a major figure in the John Bass Jones murder trial which will be portrayed in a later article. The Spencers and Bryants all settled in Franklin County, Virginia. From there they moved to Putnam County, Indiana. And from there, they relocated to Jasper County, Missouri.  Samuel J Spence and his family fled to Kansas during the Civil War. Their children follow:

1. William David Spence (1861-1886). William David was born August 31, 1861 in Jasper County, Missouri, and he died November 17, 1886 in Baldwin City, Douglas, Kansas.
2. Nellie C. Spence (1865-1934). Nellie was born in 1865 in Palmyra, Douglas, Kansas, and she died April 22, 1934 in Baldwin, Douglas, Kansas.
3. Samuel Alfred Spence (1866-1886). Samuel was born May 25, 1866 in Baldwin City, Douglas County, Kansas, and he died November 18, 1886 in Baldwin City, Douglas County, Kansas.
4. Myra Belle Spence (1869-1944). Myra Belle was born in June 1869 in Palmyra, Douglas, Kansas, and she died in July, 1944 in Palmyra, Douglas, Kansas. Her husband was Hewitt Taylor (1859-1944). Their children were:
   1. William A. Taylor, born 1889.
   2. Lucy E. Taylor, born 1895.
   3. Charles H. Taylor, born 1899.

Rhoda Spence (1833-1879)

Rhoda Spence (1833-1879). Rhoda was born in December 1833 in Davidson County, Tennessee, and she died in 1879 in Osage City, Labette, Kansas. Her husband was James G. Penix (1830-1917) (9). Their children were:

1. Samuel Lafayette Penix (1854-1905). Samuel was born September 13, 1854 in Jasper County, Missouri, and he died July 3, 1905. His first wife was Matilda Shinn (1857-1903). Their children were:
   1. Delia Mae Penix (born 1878)
   2. Charles Lafayette Penix (born 1883-1963)
   3. Robert A. Penix (1885-1909)
   4. Nora B. Penix (1890-1978)
   5. Emma Penix (1893-1897)

His second wife was Minnie Lee Giles (1878-1956). Their children were:

1. Charles (Charley) L. Penix (b. 1883)
2. Robert A. Penix (b. 1885)
3. Silvia Z Penix (1887-1969)
4. Nora B. Penix (b. 1890)
5. Travis Jack Penix (1899-1983)
6. Samuel Lee Penix (1901-1975)
7. Mearl Penix (1902-1982)

1. Mary J. Penix (Ellis) (1856-1936). Mary was born in April 1856 in Jackson Twp., Jasper, Missouri, and she died April 12, 1936 in Tacoma, Pierce, Washington. Her husband was Luther Ellis (born 1853). Their children were:
   1. Charles F. Ellis (b. 1884)
   2. Laura R. Ellis (b. 1888)
   3. Inez N. Ellis (b. 1892)
2. Eliza E. Penix (1859-1860). Eliza was born in 1859 in Jackson Twp., Jasper County, Missouri, and she died after 1860 in Jackson Twp., Jasper County, Missouri
3. Milly E. Penix (1861-1865). Milly was born in Missouri in 1861, and she died after May 1865 in Wakarusa, Douglas, Kansas.
4. Minnie E. Penix (1861-1875) Minnie was born about 1861 in Missouri, and she died after March 1875 in Mound Valley, Labette, Kansas.
5. George S. Penix (1864-1880). George was born in Kansas in 1864, and he died after 1880 in Mound Valley, Labette, Kansas.
6. Anna E. Penix (1866-1880). Anna was born in in Kansas about 1866, and she died after 1880 in Mound Valley, Labette, Kansas.
7. Mattie Penix (1869-1880). Mattie was born about 1869 in Kansas, and she died after 1880 in Mound Valley, Labette, Kansas.

James Penix’s second wife was Mahala “Mollie” (surname unknown). Their children were:

1. Bessie Penix, born 1885.  Bessie was born in January 1885 in Kansas. She married a Schareta. Her last residence was listed as Oakland, Alameda, California in 1920
2. Earl Penix (1888-1905).  Earl was born May 9, 1888 in Labette, Kansas. In 1900, he lived in Cherryvale, Montgomery, Kansas. He died in 1905 and is buried in the Griffith Cemetery, Labette County, Kansas.
3. Verne P. Penix (1890-1940)  Verne was born January 17, 1890 in Cherryvale, Montgomery, Kansas, and she died after 1940 in Kansas City, Wyandotte, Kansas. Her husband was Stratton D. Walker (1882-1940).

Susanna (Susan) Spence (1835-1906)

Susanna (Susan) Spence (1835-1906). Susanna was born in Tennessee June 23, 1835, and she died March 28, 1906 in Jasper County, Missouri. Her husband was Samuel Jackson “Sam” Hood (1834-1877) (10). He was a son of  Joel Owensby Hood (1803-1891) and Nancy Haskins (1807-1876)–my third great grandparents mentioned previously. Their children were:

1. Joel Newton Hood (1856-1910). Joel was born in November 1856 in Jasper County, Missouri, and he died before 1910 in Jasper County, Missouri. His wife was Lucy M. Craig (b. 1866). Their children were:
   1. Arthur Ernest Hood (1883-1942)
   2. Gertrude M. Hood (b. 1886)
2. Charles Marion Hood (1859-1940). Charles was born in June 1859 in Jasper County, Missouri, and he died June 25, 1940 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota. His wife was Annis Gertrude Gregory (1860-1936). Their children were:
   1. Edith M. Hood (b. 1889)
   2. Carl W. Hood (b. 1891)
   3. Joseph S. Hood (b. 1894)
   4. Lucille G. Hood (b. 1898)
3. Margaret Elizabeth Hood (1862-1900). Margaret was born in Jasper County, Missouri in 1862, and she died before 1900 in Jasper County, Missouri.
4. Ezra Phillip Hood (1864-1940). Ezra was born April 28, 1864 in Lowell, Cherokee, Kansas, and he died June 25, 1940 in Webb City, Jasper, Missouri. His wife was Mary “Polly” Crabtree (1869-1952). Their children were:
   1. Nina Alma Hood (b. 1889)
   2. Carl Clayton Hood (1892-1975)
   3. Harry E. Hood (b. 1896)
   4. Ethel Hood (1901-1901)
   5. Edna P. Hood (b. 1902)
   6. John Richard Hood (b. 1903)
   7. Florence Ivie Hood (1904-1989)
   8. Joseph Westly Hood (1907-1988)
   9. Joe Hood (b. 1908)
   10. Walter Hood (1909-1909
5. Samuel J. Hood (1865-1900). Samuel was born in Kansas in August 1865, and he died before 1900 in Jasper County, Missouri.
6. Nancy M. Hood (1870-1872). Nancy was born August 27, 1870 in Jasper County, Missouri, and she died October 27, 1872 in Jasper County, Missouri.
7. John F. Hood (1877-1878). John was born August 5, 1877 in Jasper County, Missouri, and he died March 12, 1878 in Jasper County, Missouri.

 

Larkin Spence (1839-1860)

Larkin Spence (1839-1860). Larkin was born in Jasper County, Missouri in 1839, and he died before 1860 in Jasper County, Missouri (11).

John D. Spence (1843-1893)

John D. Spence (1843-1893). John was born March 18, 1843 in Jasper County, Missouri, and he died October 19, 1893 in Jasper County, Missouri. His first wife was Margaret C. Copple (1844-1875) (12). She was a sister of Sarah Elizabeth Copple (1842-1932)–the second wife of Joel Spence. Their parents were Jacob Copple (1805-1871) and Margaret Blaylock (1810-1892). Their children were:

1. Anna J. Spence (1867-1933). Anna was born September 6, 1867 in Newton County, Missouri, and she died May 23, 1933 in Joplin, Jasper, Missouri. Her husband was John Paul Howard (1859-1933). Their children were:
   1. Perry Franklin Howard (1888-1970).
   2. Cora Howard (b. 1891).  [Married a Jordan]
2. Alice M. “Alice” Spence (1868-1870). Alice was born in Newton County, Missouri in 1868, and she died in Newton County about 1870.

John’s second wife was Mary Alice Mitchell (1852-1922). Their children were:

1. Claude Roscoe Spence (1886-1965). Claude was born October 4, 1886 in Newton County, Missouri, and he died March 9, 1965. His wife was Mary Mabel Redden (1889-1968). Their children were:
   1. Beulah May Spence (1914-1919)
   2. Nadine Loretta Spence (1916-2002)
   3. Wylie W. Spence (b. 1921)
2. Vernie Burton Spence (1891-1977). Vernie was born October 1, 1891 in Jasper County, Missouri, and he died April 17, 1977 in Jasper County, Missouri. His wife was Miriam Eliza Randall (1893-1976). Their children were:
   1. Burton Randall Spence (1918-1969)
   2. Hollis Howard Spence (1919-1925)
   3. Alice May Spence (1924-1970)
   4. Laura Gale Spence (b. 1928)
   5. Dorothy Marie Spence (b. 1932).

[Note: A Randall married one of my great grandmother ‘s sisters in Jasper County, Missouri.  My great grandmother was Josephine Virginia Kessler (Spence). I have an idea that Miriam Eliza Randall is connected with the same family.]

William L. Spence (1845-1902)

 William L. Spence (1845-1902). William was born October 30, 1845 in Jasper County, Missouri, and he died November 15, 1902 in Jasper County, Missouri. His wife was Martha Josephine Williams (1859-1946) (13). Their children were:

1. Carrie Ada Spence (1881-1901).  Carrie was born March 21, 1881, and she died in 1901. I have no additional information about her.
2. Charles Lewis Spence (1883-1966). Charles was born May 12, 1883 in Quapau, Ottawa, Oklahoma, and he died June 28, 1966 in Miami, Ottawa, Oklahoma. His wife was Lavena Annie Beager (1887-1916). Their children were:
   1. Floyd Eugene Spence (1908-1998)
   2. Beth Spence (b. 1911)
   3. Lois Spence (b. 1912)
   4. Mable Midge Lucille Spence (1913-1991)
   5. Virginia Ruth Spence (1915-2006)
3. Ethel C. Spence (1885-1958).  Ethel was born February 14, 1885 in Oklahoma, and she died in 1958 in Miami, Ottawa, Oklahoma. Her husband was Guy Collins (b. 1884). Their children were:
   1. Leona M. Collins (b. 1909)
   2. Edith Faye Collins (b. 1911)
4. James Franklin Spence (1887-1969). James was born June 16, 1887 in Missouri, and he died in 1969 in Miami, Ottawa, Oklahoma. He is buried in the Ottawa Indian Cemetery.
5. Mary Edna Spence (born 1890).  [She is also listed as Edna Mary Spence] she was born February 17, 1890 in Kansas, and she died July 27, 1975 in Orange County, California. Her husband was Claude Dile Umphenour (1887-1975). Their children were:
   1. Arthur Umphenour (1911-1975).
   2. Clarence Lee Umphenour (1926-2003)
6. Gary Worren Spence (1892-1985). Guy was born October 20, 1892 in Kansas, and he died July 30, 1985 in LaGrande, Union, Oregon. His wife was Gertrude Wilson (b. 1898). Their children were:
   1. Inez M. Spence (b. 1919).
   2. Lucille Spence (b. 1922)
7. Nellie Mae Spence (1895-1936). Nellie was born March 3, 1895 in Oklahoma. (Some references state Missouri City, Fort Bend, Texas)–and she died May 11, 1936 in Miami, Ottawa, Oklahoma. Their daughter was Juanita Mae Sutton (1923-2000).
8. William Carl Spence (1899-1900). William was born June 16, 1899, and he died February 14, 1900 in Cherokee County, Kansas.
9. Betha Spence (born, 1901).  Bertha was born March 8, 1901 in Oklahoma. I have no additional information concerning her. She last appears on the 1920 Census for Ottawa, Oklahoma in her mother’s house.

Mary Jane Spence (born 1848)

Mary Jane Spence was born about 1848 in Missouri. She last appears on the 1865 Census for Wakarusa, Douglas, Kansas (14).

Parmelia (Amelia) Ann Spence (born 1848)

Parmelia was born in 1848 in Missouri. She last appears on the 1860 Census for Jackson Twp., Jasper, Missouri (15)

 

References

(1) Tennessee Marriage Records about Daniel Spence and Mary “Polly” Pewitt, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(2)Missouri Marriage Records about Joel Spence and Martha Jane Hood. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(3) “Lawrence Massacre: August 21, 1863”. Civil War Article Website. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.us-civilwar.com/massacre.htm

(4) Missouri Marriage Records about Daniel Spence and Mattie Alberta Benschotter, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(5) Missouri Marriage Records about Henry Burr and Nance Spence, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online http://www.ancestry.com

(6)  Missouri Marriage Records about John William Spence and Myrta Alzina Moss. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(7) 1900 Census, Sapulpa, Creek Nation, Oklahoma about Ida Spence and William Bannister Hickey. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(8) Missouri Marriage Records about Samuel J. Spence and Sarah Elizabeth Bryant. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(9) Missouri Marriage Records about Rhoda Spence and James Penix, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(10) Missouri Marriage Records about Susan Spence and Sam Hood, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(11) 1850 Census for Jasper County, Missouri about Larkin Spence, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(12) Missouri Marriage Records for John D. Spence and Martha Copple, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(13) Missouri Marriage Records for William Spence and Martha J. Williams, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(14) 1865 Census, Wakarusa, Douglas, Kansas for Mary Jane Spence, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sep 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com

(15) 1860 Census, Jackson Twp., Jasper, Missouri for Amelia Spence. Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah. Date Accessed: 3 Sept 2015. Available online at http://www.ancestry.com