Archibald Reagh

Archibald was likely born during the 1720s. He, by name of Archibald Jr, purchased Robert Reagh's 118 acres along Hays Creek by deed of 2 May 1758. His name appears several times in the Chaulkley Volumes as petitioner (1753), witness, administrator of estates, appraiser, collector for the Vestry (State Church) etc. According to various deed records he acquired and sold several tracts of land in Rockbridge, Augusta, Nelson and Amherst Counties. He sold the 300 acre home farm on Hays Creek in Rockbridge to John Rice, husband of daughter Isabella, by deed of 2 Jul 1783. Archibald likely moved to Augusta Co by 1784 where he resided when deeding 74 acres in Rockbridge to heirs of David Wilson. On 1788 Augusta Co Tax list. By 1800 he was on the tax list in Amherst Co. his will, dated 25 Sep 1803, was entered for probate on 15 Oct 1804 in Amherst. It named his wife, Jean, and daughter Mary -- then five sons named below - then four daughters - then children of Isabella. One guardian of minor children (unnamed) was Andrew McCauslin. In 1811 John McCausland, Bath Co, devised to daughter Jane (Jean) Rhea and to her sons: John, Robert, and Andrew. The foregoing suggests that Jean McCausland was a second wife, being married about 1775. Children may not be listed in order of birth as reckoned by writer.

http://www.twrps.com/ancestry/augusta.htm

Notes found in Lauderdale Family Bible

William Lauderdale came to Lincoln co.
some time prior to 1806 from Hamilton Co.
in East Tenn. and settled near Fayetteville
on Elk River on what is known as the
Tillman farm. He had a ferry on the river
and the ford was known as Lauderdale ford.
He married Bettie Willis of the same
community and their children were
William, Samuel, Lewis, and Eliza.
William moved to Missouri in early
manhood and no further knowledge is
known of him. Samuel who helped with the
ferry when William Leigh, changed to Lay
as he didn't care for so many letters in it,
came to Lincoln Co. from near Rome, Ga. He had
some fine fat cattle that Samuel wanted
and one of the daughters was the loveliest girl
he had ever seen. He said he intended to
marry her and did. I don't know about the
cattle. Wm Lay settled in the same
neighborhood and the family burial plot
------------
is below Harms in the side of a hill now
known as DeFord hill.

Samuel Lauderdale and Elizabeth had one
son William Thomas who married Margaret Fullerton. Sarah Jane oldest daughter married Andrew Wright. Their children were Sue who died young.
Sarah "Sallie" Thomas who married James H. McDaniel,
their children were Mattie Sue (Mrs. Chas. Luker)
one dau. Roberta (Eming)
Charles Carlton and James Harold.
Maggie married P. G. Hamilton
Jennie married John A. Barnes, their children
Wallace-Minnie, Albert, Stella, Edith, and Joe.
Mary Lauderdale married Charles Wilson.
Their children Charles Jr. Beulah and Gussie.
Beulah married William Woodard and had
two sons, Frank and Albert.
Gussie married Tom Wallace and had one
son Nathaniel.
Charles married Agnes Whitaker of Mulberry
and had one son Alvin.
----------------------
Eliza Lauderdale married Barnet McWhorter
all that family are dead.
The William Lauderdale who married
Betty Willis had a brother James and
sister Agnes in East Tenn.
(Great grandfather)
----------------------
Margaret Lauderdale married William Turley
and had one son William Lay Turley.
He married Lilly Poindexter Gleghorn and
they had three sons, George, William, and
Lawrence.
Lewis Lauderdale brother of Samuel
married Polly Lay, sister of Elizabeth Lay
who came from Oglethorpe Co. Ga.
Their children were John William
who first married Anne Turley, (sister of William)
who died and he then married Willie Branson.
They had five children Sarah Martin,
Lewis, Robert, Annie, and James William.
Sarah Martin - Roy G. Swindell and had
three sons James William, Roy Gardner
and John Lauderdale. Lewis died in infancy.
Robert married Ruth Cashion of Knoxville
they had two children, Annie Martin
and Robert Arnis Jr. Arnie never married,
James William (Bill) married Bess Swafford
--------------
of Pikeville, Tenn., in Sequatchie Valley.
?
Samuel Lauderdale married a Miss Patterson
and had one childe Mary Ann who married
a Mr. Burton.
Fannie Lauderdale married William McDaniel
and their children are Coleman, Mollie,
Ellis, John and Lucy. Coleman never married.
Mollie married Hugh Eddins and had four
children, Lucile, Ruth, McDaniel and
Mildred. Lucille and McDaniel are dead.
Hugh and Mollie are dead.
Ellis married Will Clark and had six
children. Two died in infancy Laura McDaniel,
Willa and Rachel.
John married Alice Waite, they had four
children, Charles, Joe, Evelyn and Edith.
Lucy married Robert Barnie, they have three
sons, Gordon, Lewis and Ray moved.

Copied handwritten notes on folded page in family Bible.

William T. Lauderdale

William T. Lauderdale was born near Fayetteville, Tennessee, April 29,1829, and spent his entire life in this locality, save when he was a member of Forrest's Battery. He united with Cave Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church, under the ministry of Rev. J. B. Tigert about 1885, afterward transferring to Fayetteville. He was industrious, frugal, peace-loving, unassuming, pure, patient in suffering and a friend to the needy. In his death, which occurred February 7, 1900, the church lost an excellent member, and the community one of its best citizens. His wife and daughter survive him.l To them he left a sufficiency of property and the better heritage of the memory of his affection and devotion as a husband and father.
J. R. LAMB, Pastor

From a clipping in the Lauderdale Family Bible

Edmund Winchester Rucker

We found the photo below in a trunk of papers from Adele Wynne that included newspaper clippings from the early 1900's listing members of Forrest's Cavalry from Lincoln County, Tennessee, but we could not identify him after trying cross reference it with the newspaper clippings. Today, quite by accident, we learned that the clippings and the photo are unrelated.

While visiting Cragfont, the home of James Winchester, we were surprised to see the same photo hanging on the wall there. The guide identified the man as Edmund Winchester Rucker, and some research on that name easily confirmed it. General Rucker was the grandson of James Winchester, and a hero of the South in the Civil War. He apparently lost his arm in the Battle of Nashville, after being injured and captured while leading a brigade under General John Hood during his invasion of Tennessee. Yankee doctors removed the arm which had been badly injured in the fighting. Though he was never formally commissioned General, he is rerred to as a Brigadier General because of his command of multiple brigades.

Edmund Winchester Rucker would have been Adele Wynne's first cousin, once removed. Rucker's mother Louisa, and Adele Wynne's grandmother Almira, were sisters. Rucker was four years older than his first cousin, Andrew Jackson Wynne, Adele's father. Both had grown up in middle Tennessee, about 35 miles apart -- Rucker in Murfreesboro and AJ Wynne in Castalian Springs. Both men settled in Alabama after the war -- Rucker in Birmingham and AJ Wynne 100 miles southwest in Dayton. It is very likely that Adele Wynne knew Rucker, and probably knew him well, which would explain why her papers would have included the photo.

For more on Edmund Winchester Rucker, see this article about the General Edmund Winchester Rucker Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Enterprise, Alabama.

William M. McCready

W. M. McCREADY, Superintendent of Operations, is known to everybody and generally called just "Bill." The most complete knowledge of the plant and its many operations known to any human being lies locked up under his thin blonde locks and behind those clear blue eyes. What he doesn't know about the works has yet to be found out.

Born at McCready's Gap, three miles up the river from the plant. He began with the company as a water boy when work was first started in 1894. It is said that not a brick was laid or a joint of pipe connected that he didn't see it and that no brick has ever been removed or pipe disconnected that he didn't know what became of it.

When the plant was put into operation "Bill" went to work first on the lime kilns, and then in the vat house, first on one job and then on another, vat man, mud stiller, still man, tower man and through the whole circle of "the wet side." When a vacancy occurred in the place of shift foreman, "Bill" got the job, then he became assistant superintendent of operations, and later superintendent. He knows the plant from the ground up as no other man ever did. He has worked at almost every job in it and is past master of them all.

Some of the biggest improvements in the works have resulted from Bill's suggestions and experiments. if you ask him about them he will say his men worked them out, but that is Bill's way -- to always give the other fellow credit.

An incident characteristic of his modesty occurred some months ago when after a moment's steady aim, from the side of the plant he killed a wood chuck coming down the hill across the river. Those who saw the shot marvelled at the feat and boasted of the distance between "Bill" and his mark. Some estimated it at five hundred feet, several placed it at four hundred and all agreed it was no less than three hundred. Finally they put it up to Bill and asked him how far it was. "Oh," he said casually, "about a hundred feet, I guess."

A natural mechanic, a close observer, always trying to learn, Bill is a true example of what ability backed by willingness can amount to. More bashful and modest than most girls we know, he doesn't talk -- he gets results. he knows his men, he likes them, and they like him. his long legs carry a competent man around. We wish there more Bill McCreadys in the world.

From The Alkalite.

A Letter from Adele Wynne Barry to Joe (Wynne)

Ensley Ala.

3 . 11 . 1912

My dear Joe,

Hall handed me your letter tonight to show you how very much it interests me, I am replying immediately. Am always glad to hear from you & your little family, enjoyed so much meeting them, on their visits to our old home at Dayton.
_____________________________
For years I have been grieving over "lost opportunities" in many ways, or am still worrying. In my younger days (was 69 a few days ago) there was a Bible at home, she ______ of long ago with the family record, and it amused me wonderfully then, the strange mix up of F's & T's.

Your question I think I can answer. Our grandfather's name was David Prowell, married Rachel [Morris] had four children two sons & two
_____________________________
I have told you what I know of the Prowell name. Hall has an Encyclopedia Twentieth Century in Vol X, I find the name of the Prowell with whom you are in correspondence, famous educator, journalist - or many other titles, Gen. R. Prowell of [York] Penn. he seems only interested in living prominent people. It is up to you to fill the niche in our branch of the family.

Uncle James had so many children that I have not mentioned them: he has a son, [ ] filling the Sheriff's Office in his County, several years ago the same one I believe filled the same office. His daughters were
_____________________________
superior women. Virginia married Dr. Ryland, she lives in the County and I wish you could get her address as she is the oldest child & lived with Grandmother Prowell who lived to a good old age, died after the Civil War, she could perhaps give you more authoritative information than anyone else. I mean by the County that her home is not in Columbus Miss but another place several miles away. You remember Rachel Lenoir the pretty girl who visited at your father's. She was the daughter of Eliza [ ] lives or did live in N.O. several years ago. Married
_____________________________
Mr. Montgomery who owned stock yards there or dealt in cattle or stock generally.

While we are on family names, it may interest you to know something of the Pickerings. Pauline Askew, who married Mr. Winslow of Cleveland, Ohio, in order to be in the "social swim", had the ancestry traced, if I wanted it, she would give me the Washington address where by paying $5.00 I could secure the genealogy of the Pickerings. She said had been traced to the time of Wm the Conqueror 14th Century I believe. I am not good on dates.
_____________________________
I suppose you remember in your classroom at West Point the Picture of Timothy Pickering & you thought, "you are my kinfolk" & it gave you fresh inspiration to reach the top of the ladder as he had done; in looking over Worlds Almanac, I find he was member of the Cabinet, three times Secretary of State, Postmaster Gen. & Sec of War. Look in McCauley's history of the Lies of the Queens of England & you will find Sir Timothy Pickering a suitor of Queen Elizabeth.

From family papers: a handwritten letter. Adele Wynne Barry is presumed to be the author based on references to "Hall", her son, and the discussion of the Prowells, her mother's family. Some pages may be missing -- there was no signature page -- and the pages shown may be owut of order as they were not numbered and did not follow logically along folds.

Obituary of Anna Belle Medearis

MRS. BELLE MEDEARIS HOLMAN, for twenty-seven years an active member and worker in the Russell Street Church of Christ, died at a Nashville hospital Thursday afternoon at 5 o'clock. She had been a member of the Christian Church for thirty-nine years, joining the denomination in Fayetteville, Tenn., her birthplace, when she was 14 years old. In 1889 she was married to MR. W. F. HOLMAN, a real estate man, and moved to Nashville. She is survived by her mother, MRS. J. H. MEDEARIS, nine sisters and three brothers, one son and three daughters. Buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. (Nashville Banner)

The Shelbyville Gazette, September 28, 1916, as copied by the Chestnut Ridge Cousins.

Captain Medearis Loans Government $75,000

Man of Wealth

Captain John Medearis was a man of great wealth, consisting of lands, money, and Negroes. He loaned the United States Government, through his Commander and personal friend, General Washington, the sum of $75,000 to help defray the expenses of the war. When Independence was established, he would never present a claim, saying that heritage of Freedom to his descendants was much more than riches, H was gratified to have been of double service to his beloved Country. Thus ends the Official record of Captain John Medearis, who was born on the 22d of February, 1734.

Captain John Medearis was also given a Land Grant in Hamilton County, Tennessee of more than three thousand acres. The city of Chattanooga is on this grant. The Land Grant was not renewed; so in time reverted to the United States Government.

He married a widow, Mrs. Bell, and to them two children were born (date of marriage and births of children, not known) Mary, and George Washington.

I believe this information was compiled by Mary Medearis, the great-granddaughter of Captain John Medearis. This text was transcribed into this blog from a photocopy of a type written document that provided to me by Charles Ham, the great-grandson of Mary's sister, Frances Dean Medearis.

Documentary References for Captain John Medearis

Following is a list of references by volume and page of the Documentary and other authority on which the Record of Captain John Medearis is established;

First: On file in the records of the North Carolina Society of the order of the Cincinnati, at Baltimore, Maryland. Also in the Roster of the Tennessee Regiments of North Carolina Continental Troops, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Second: Bureau of Pensions, Washington, D.C. 2823 Revolutionary War.

Third: Land Register's Office, Nashville, Tennessee, Book No. 1, page 3, Warrant 19.

Fourth: Secretary of State's Office, Raleigh, North Carolina, (No. 1771).

Fifth: Private letter (sworn Notary) written by General George Washington to Captain John Medearis, ordering him to Raleigh, North Carolina, to pay off troops. This letter, with other papers, Continental money, seals of the United States Government, etc., were kept in an old trunk during his life, but have been lost in recent years.

Sixth: North Carolina Troops in Continental Line. Published by direction of Secretary of State.

Seventh: Book in D.A.R. Library, Washington, D.C.

I believe this information was compiled by Mary Medearis, the great-granddaughter of Captain John Medearis. This text was transcribed into this blog from a photocopy of a type written document that provided to me by Charles Ham, the great-grandson of Mary's sister, Frances Dean Medearis.

Brief History of Revolutionary Soldier, Captain John Medearis

John T. Medearis who came to America from England prior to the war of the Revolution, and settled in Virginia is the first of the name of whom we have authentic account. He married Miss Rachel Davis, and to them were born three children -- Benjamin, Martha, and John. Benjamin married Miss Grady of Virginia; Martha, Mr. Phillips of Mississippi; of them, we have no further knowledge. John, from whom we trace our line of descent, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and shall be designated in this paper as Captain John Medearis, as a soldier and officer of the war of the American Revolution, and of services rendered by him in assisting to establish American Independence.

First: John Medearis was Lieutenant in Eaton's Company of the Third North Carolina Infantry, April 15th, 1777. Was promoted to Captain, December 23rd, of same year, in same Company. Was transferred to the First Regiment of North Carolina Continental Infantry, February 6th, 1782.

Second: Captain John Medearis was pensioned as Captain North Carolina Troops at $480.00 per annum. As his application is not on file, his services cannot be more definitely stated; on application of his daughter, Mary Medearis Smith, of Bedford County, Tennessee, March 31st, 1823, the pension was increased to $600.00 per annum as Assistant Deputy Quartermaster General for services of two years.

Third: Military Grant for services as an American soldier in the war of the Revolution, and for actual services rendered as a soldier in the Continental Army, for gallantry, bravery, and loyalty, Captain John Medearis of Fifth Regiment North Carolina Troops, was granted by United States Government, 3,290 acres of land in Marshall County, Tennessee, a record of this land grant appears on page three, of Warrant Number 19, Book Number One, Land Register office, Nashville, Tennessee. The following is a copy of a letter, which is self explanatory:

To the Commissioners of Specific Tax, in
Benton and Newburn Districts, North Carolina:
Halifax, N.S.,
March 13th, 1782

Gentlemen:

Captain John Medearis attends to receive
the Specific supplies ordered by his Excellency, Governor
Burke, for the use of defraying charges in the Quartermaster's
Department. He bears the several orders for that purpose,
which you will receive and take his receipt for the quantity
he may receive, and oblige,

Your Humble Servant,
Nicholas Long, D.H.

I believe this information was compiled by Mary Medearis, the great-granddaughter of Captain John Medearis. This text was transcribed into this blog from a photocopy of a type written document that provided to me by Charles Ham, the great-grandson of Mary's sister, Frances Dean Medearis.

Documentary References

Brief Note on Captain John Medearis

Captain John Medearis was a veteran of the American Revolution who settled on a land grant of 3,290 acres in Marshall County, Tennessee. Captain Medearis named his holding "Liberty Valley." He was born in Essex County, Virginia in 1744, served as Deputy Quartermaster General of the North Carolina Continental Army and died at Liberty Valley in 1834.

Elizabeth Sharpe Woodward Medearis Yowell

Elizabeth Sharpe Woodward was born in Amelia County, Virginia, in 1783. When she moved to Tennessee, she travelled with Andrew and Rachel Jackson, who were returning from Washington, DC, where Jackson was a member of Congress. She married George Washington Davis Medearis in 1809. Washington Medearis died in 1838, and she married Joel Yowell of Marshall County, Tennessee. Yowell was the father of her son-in-law, William Yowell. During the Civil War she died while visiting her daughter in, Sarah Medearis Lloyd of Cheneyville, Louisiana.

By the time of the Medearis Trip to Texas, she was apparently twice a widow, and known as Grandmother Yowell, even to her Medearis granchildren.

From Miss Moore's article on "The Medearis Trip to Texas" in The Volunteer, Spring 1991.

John T. Medearis - A Biographical Note on the Trip to Texas

In September of 1859, John T. Medearis initiated the fateful trip to Texas with his brother, Wiley, their families, and their worldly possessions including a few slaves. John's wife, Frances, and Wiley's wife, Mary (who was also the niece of Frances) died on the trip of "brain fever", (typhoid). Frances fell ill over a period of days, accelerating over a weekend, and the trip came to a halt because of her illness on a Sunday. They stopped in Sevier County, Arkansas, just outside Brownstown, a few miles short of the Texas border. Mary fell ill on Monday. Frances died the following Sunday, and Mary the following Monday.

John had several children on the trip, and after consulting with them decided to return to Tennessee. After returning to the Mississippi River with John and his family, Wiley decided to turn back again, and continue on to Texas, sending his infant son, John, on back to Tennessee to live with his deceased wife's family until Wiley got settled in Texas.

John apparently had prospered financially before the trip, and renewed his prosperity over the next few years, buying a tan-yard in Fayetteville, Tennessee. He supplied leather goods to the Confederate Army. As was the case with many in the post-war South, John's prosperity apparently did not survive reconstruction. Accounts indicate that some partners from the north were somehow foisted upon him, and their involvement sapped the business of capital; and John, of his prosperity.

This summary is prepared from a detailed retelling by the grandaughter of Lucy Katherine Medearis's first-hand account of the Medearis Trip to Texas, available at this blog entry.

The Medearis Trip to Texas - Lucy Katherine Medearis Neeld's Account

The following is written by Miss Moore, voiced as it was related to her by her grandmother, Lucy Catherine Medearis Neeld. Lucy would have been about 7 years old in the fall of 1859, when the trip occurred. From The Volunteer Spring 1991.

Early in the year 1859, my father, John T. Medearis, decided to move his family to Texas. he had sold his farm at New Harmon, Bedford County, in Middle Tennessee, "to pay his brother Pinckney out of trouble." Texas was a new state opening up possibilities for a new beginning, and the fact that my mother's brother had earlier moved to Dallas was an added incentive. The move had special appeal to my father "who always had wanderlust in his blood." He persuaded his younger brother, Wiley, who lived near Lewisburg, Tennessee, to join the expedition. To of his friends, a Mr. Phelps, and a Mr. Mann of Franklin, Tennessee, asked to join the party.

For months we were very busy with our plans and preparations for the overland trip. First, arrangements had to be made for our Negroes. (Granny never used the word "slaves" in speaking of them. They were always "our Negroes." her father would not sell any of his Negroes, nor would he separate families. It was decided that one family, Jim and Huldy and their children, would accompany the family. The other Negroes were transferred to a relative where they were reunited with their own families.)

In September 1859, our preparations were finally completed and we were ready to set out. Our outfit consisted of a huge prairie schooner drawn by four mules, a wagon for our Negroes drawn by two mules, and two two-seated carriages. There were several horses to draw the carriages, and for the men to ride, including our pet mare, Old Jane, whom my mother sometimes rode.

The schooner carried to large tents which were homemade of tent cloth. One was for the use of the family; the other for our Negroes. The loaded schooner also carried eight feather beds, four for each tent. These were rolled up in carpets. In addition to these items, we carried clothing, food supplies, and other necessary articles.

When we left our home our party consisted of my father, John T. Medearis, my mother, Frances Dean Medearis, and five children: Mary, age 9; myself, age 7; Harvey, age 5; Wash (short for Washington), age 3; and Frances, age 11 months. There were also our Negroes, Jim and Huldy, and their children. (I am not sure how many children, but I think four or five. Huldy's youngest child was less than six months old.) Mr. Phelps and Mr. Mann and his body servant completed our party.

Our first stop was near Petersburg, Tennessee, where we were joined by Uncle Wiley Medearis; his wife, Mary Lipscomb Medearis; and their son, John, age 6 months; and my paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Medearis Yowell. (Mary was the daughter of Frances' sister; thus was Frances' niece. Elizabeth Yowell was the mother of John T. and Wiley.) Baby John was carried on a pillow and a small trunk contained many things necessary for his care.

Our next stop was at Lewisburg in Marshall County. "When we got within sight of the town, Wash saw the sun shining on the spires of the courthouse and cried "Yonder's Texas!" We spent one night in Lewisburg with Cousin Will Cowden.

On the following day, we made our real start on the westward journey. Near the end of each day's travel, Uncle Wiley and Mr. Mann would ride on ahead to choose a camping place and get feed for the stock. After we arrived at the camp site, the tents were put up and hay was spread on the ground underneath them. Then the carpets were unrolled laid over the hay. The feather beds were put in place in the corners of the tents. (I still marvel at Granny's retentive memory. She was able to describe in detail the arrangement of the feather beds and exactly who slept where. She was also able to relate where each person road in the carriages and who drove them.)

Some days later, we reached the Tennessee River, which we crossed in a ferry pulled by ropes. our first camp after crossing the river was at Black Fish Lake.

Finally we reached the home of another cousin named Caldwell "who lived somewhere in West Tennessee." My mother was not well and the Caldwells insisted that we stay there until she felt better. But she would not be persuaded because she wanted to complete the journey. My mother worried a great deal and was apprehensive. She worried about her father's heart condition and feared she would never see him again. She worried about my father's health and feared he would die in Texas and leave her a widow with five small children in unknown surroundings.

We continued our journey through West Tennessee. One day Sister Mary and I, being tired of riding, were allowed to walk. "We fooled along the road" and fell behind the carriage/wagon train. "A big black dog scared me and I cried." We came to a fork in the road and did not know which way to go. Sister Mary said dogs could follow a trail by scent, so she crawled on her hands and knees sniffing the ground. Fortunately we chose the right road and finally caught up with the train which had stopped and was waiting for us. We found my mother crying and begging my father to ride back to find us. He had refused saying, "that we needed to be taught a lesson." He was right. We learned our lesson and after that, we never walked again.

We crossed the Mississippi River at Memphis by steamer ferry. On the Arkansas side, we found houses and roads that were built up on poles. The roads were narrow with occasional wide places for passing. Further on, the roads were what was called corduroy. They were made of heaps of dirt with trees and branches laid crosswise. Always the roads were bad and dangerous. One time we had trouble keeping one of the carriages from turning over. The bridges had no banisters. Old Jane was skittish and was afraid of the cracks in the corduroy roads and the bridges.

We traveled on for many days through Arkansas, always heading in a southwesterly direction. My mother was ailing and feeling worse every day. One Sunday night she became very sick and the men decided we could not go on. The only place we could find to stop was near a cotton field. We found only one house where people were living, but they were very poor and could not take us in. Finally the men located a cabin with a dirt floor in the cotton patch, so we sopped there. Planks were nailed in into two corners of the cabin and slats were laid across them to make beds. The next day, Monday, Aunt Mary also became very sick. She and my mother were put on beds and the rest of us slept in our tents. The nearest town was Brownstown. (Brownstown is in the extreme southwest corner of Arkansas. It is near the Red River which forms part of the boundary line between Arkansas and Texas. Actually the travelers lacked only a short distance from reaching Texas.)

The men rode into Brownstown and located a doctor who returned to the cabin with them. "He said my mother and Aunt Mary had brain fever." (In all probability it was typhoid.) There was nothing we could do for them except try to make them as comfortable as possible. I would brush my mother's hair because she said it made her feel better.

We stayed in the cabin for one week. My mother died the following Sunday, exactly one week after she became so sick. Aunt Mary died the next day, Monday. After their deaths, there were to neighborhood families who were kind to us children and took us into their homes. A Mrs. Merrill was especially nice.

My father and Uncle Wiley tried to buy a double coffin. Failing this, they bought two single ones. The Negroes wagon was unloaded and the coffins were taken to Brownstown where they were buried in a single grave. "None of us children ever saw our mother's grave." Years later when I grew up, I ordered a tombstone to be sent to mark her resting place. But these were the troubled days of the Reconstruction Era, and I never knew if it got there.

After the burial, we had a family council to decide what to do. My father asked us children what we wanted to do and we all said we wanted to go back home. Grandmother Yowell, who knew she would have the care of all of us, said 'she was too old to bring up young children in a strange land and she wanted to return home. My father also thought we should go back to Middle Tennessee.

Uncle Wiley, Mr. Phelps, and Mr. Mann, however, decided to continue on to Dallas. Uncle Wiley asked us to bring Baby John back with us and take him to his maternal grandmother, Aunt Lou Noblett, to raise.

We stayed at the cabin only long enough to get our belongings together. Then "we headed back in a straight line to the Mississippi River." We reached the river at Gaines Landing which was about a hundred miles below Memphis. My father and Uncle Wiley divided the possessions, uncle Wiley taking the schooner and team, part of the bedding, and one male Negro. From this point, our party went separate ways, Uncle Wiley taking his group to Texas, and my father bringing the rest of us back to Tennessee.

At Gaines Landing, my father loaded us and all our belongings on a riverboat heading for Memphis. Everyone wanted to get home as quickly as possible. After we boarded the riverboat and got under way, we discovered that our boat was racing another one and our captain refused to stop at Memphis. We finally landed many miles up-stream and had to take another boat, the Lucy Hawkins, back down the river. We were on this boat for two nights. During this trip down to Memphis it was hard to get food for the babies, (there were three under one year of age) and our Negro women sat up all night caring for them. One plantation owner gave us children some warm light bread.

We finally reached Memphis where we spent the night at a boarding house and then took a train home the next day. My father had all our belongings shipped to the home of my maternal Grandmother Dean in Bedford County.

Knowing of Grandfather Dean's heart trouble, my father was fearful that the shock of learning of the deaths of his daughter and granddaughter would prove too much for him. He had written a letter to Grandfather in an effort to break the news to him as gently as possible before our arrival. When we got near Grandfather's house, we ran into Uncle Mannon Dean, my mother's brother, and discovered that he had the unopened letter in his pocket. He had forgotten to give it to his father. It was decided that he would ride on ahead and tell Grandfather the sad news before we got there.

"We lived at Grandfather Dean's house until my father married again -- which wasn't very long" (I can still see the wry expression on Granny's face as she said this! And indeed it was not very long. In 1860, he married Harriett Jane Noblett and fathered eleven more children. With a bow to his classical leanings, he named the tenth Nellie Decima!)

Uncle Wiley also married again in Texas and returned home only one time. This was to get his son, John, from Aunt Lou Noblett. He took John with him to Texas and "never came back."

After our return to Middle Tennessee and after the outbreak of the war in 1861, two of our Negroes, Myra and Pete, stole Old Jane and a grind horse and ran away to the Yankees. They could not get through the Yankee lines at Tullahoma, so they turned the horses loose, probably figuring their chances were better on foot. The horses wandered about and were discovered by a Negro boy near the home of a Mrs. Pearson, whom Sister Mary and I used to visit. She recognized the horses and sent them home to us the next day. There was general family rejoicing at Old Jane's return.

The remainder of my notes do not properly belong to the telling of the Texas story, but I'll mention briefly that Granny's father became a tanner. In 1864 he moved to Fayetteville, Tennessee, where he bought a tan-yard. He was very successful and his business prospered and expanded. Because of his trade, he was exempted from military service during the war. The government sent soldiers to work in the tan-yard making shoes for the Confederate Army. In a further expansion after the War, he built a woolen mill. With machines imported from the North, he carded, spun, and wove fine woolens. His prosperity was short-lived. In the War's bitter aftermath, the Reconstruction Period, he lost everything he had.)

Dr. Redmond D. Barry

Redmond D. Barry was a native of County Kildare, Ireland; was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, with degrees of A.M. and M.D. he was a classmate of General Packingham [sic], commander-in-chief of the British forces at the Battle of New Orleans, and was killed. Dr. Barry practiced medicine in Liverpool for some time and was distinguished for his skill in surgery. Wile there, he attracted the attention of Fox, who secured for him an appointment as surgeon in the British navy, but his party feeling was so intense that he soon resigned and came to America. He first Settled in North Carolina, then went to Kentucky and read law under John C. Breckinridge. He came to Sumner County, where he married Miss Jane Alexander, who was known as the "Cumberland Beauty." She was a member of the family of Alexanders, six of whom were signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. After coming to America Dr. Barry studied law and was for many years regarded as one of the greatest lawyers in Tennessee. he accumulated a large fortune and left many descendants, some of them now living in Sumner County.

To Dr. Barry is given the honor of introducing blue grass in to Sumner County in 1800, but not much of it was grown until in 1836, when General Joseph Miller introduced it into general cultivation. Dr. Barry may be said to have been the pioneer in raising blooded stock in Sumner County, or in Tennessee. In 1804, he brought from Virginia the first thoroughbred stallion that appeared the Valley of the Cumberland -- Gray Medley. For more than a century the Barry family has been one of the most prominent in the county.

From Jay Guy Cisco, Historic Sumner County, Folk-Keelin Printing Company (Nashville 1909).

Colonel Edward Douglass

The Douglass family has been prominent in Sumner County since 1785, when Edward Douglass, with all his children, settled on Station Camp Creek a few miles north of Gallatin. He was born in Farquier County, Virginia; married about 1740, Sarah George. He was commissioned officer in the War for Independence, and a man of education, and lawyer, though he had never practiced law. He, when called upon, gave legal advice to his friends and neighbors without fee or reward, always counseling them not to go into the courts. He was one of the first magistrates of Sumner County, and was active in all public affairs. His home was near Salem Camp Ground, on lands still in possession of his descendants.

From Jay Guy Cisco, Historic Sumner County, Folk-Keelin Printing Company (Nashville 1909).

William Cage

William Cage, the head of the Sumner County Cages, was born in Virginia in 1745; served in the Revolutionary War with the rank of Major. Married, first, Elizabeth Douglass, daughter of Colonel Edward Douglass; second, Ann Morgan. Removed to Sumner County, Tennessee, in 1785, and settled at Cage's Bend. When the Territorial Government was organized, in 1790, he was appointed by Governor Blount, Sheriff of Sumner County, and by successive appointments served to 1796, when he was succeeded by his son, Reuben Cage, who served to 1800, when he was in turn succeeded b James Cage., William Cage died at his home in Cage's Bend, March 12, 1811. His tombstone bears this inscription: "William Cage, a major in the Revolutionary War. Died March 12, 1811.

From Jay Guy Cisco, Historic Sumner County, Folk-Keelin Printing Company (Nashville 1909).

Dr. Redmond Dillon Barry summary of life and work

Surgeon, Lawyer, Horse Breeder and Farmer

Note: This article is from a photocopy of an unsourced article found among the papers of Benjamin Franklin Barry.

On the bluff, south of the Nashville Pike where it crosses upper Station Camp Creek, Dr. Redmond D. Barry once lived. This residence, a two story brick, was recently torn down and a brick cottage built on its site. Dr. Barry was a native of Ireland, a descendant of the nobility, and a schoolmate and friend of Gen. Packenham at Dublin University. Through the influence of Charles James Fox, he secured a position as a surgeon in the British Navy, but his sympathies being with the colonies, he resigned, settled in North Carolina, practiced medicine and made a fortune. He then studied law in the office of John Breckenridge (Attorney-General in Jefferson's cabinet) in Louisville, removed to Gallatin, married Jane Alexander, of the Mecklenburg (N.C.) Alexanders, and became a successful lawyer. But he was best known to local fame as the man who brought the first thoroughbred stallion, Gray Medley, and the first bluegrass seed into the country west of the Cumberland Mountains.

Dr. Barry's horse, "Polly Medley" and General Andrew Jackson's "Indian Queen" ran the first race of note in Gallatin, in which Polly Medley won. The grandstand was where the L&N depot now is and the track was between Blythe and Water Streets, running north from the depot.

His reputation as a farmer, race horse breeder and lawyer firmly established, Dr. Barry was not without opportunity to show his skill as a surgeon in this section. Going to Nashville in response t a message brought by a rider whose horse fell dead of exhaustion at his gate, Dr. Barry trepanned the skull of a prominent citizen -- the first time this operation had been performed in Tennessee. None of the Nashville lawyers would attempt it.*

Opie Reid pictured the Barry home in The Tennessee Judge.

*According to The Historic Blue Grass Line, published by the Nashville-Gallatin Interurban Railway, Nashville, Tenn., 1913.

The Birth Date's of David Chenault Barry and David Franklin Barry

The Chenault book lists David Chenault Barry's birth date as October 3, 1875, but papers from Benjamin Franklin Barry, his son, include typewritten notes on the back of a photocopies article about Redmond Dillon Barry's descendant's show the date as October 30, 1875. Logical assumptions derived from knowing Ben Barry and his wife,, Frances Dean Smith Barry, allow that the record was typed by her at his instruction. Since that record's source is closer to the subject individual, it seems more likely that the 30th is the correct date.

Likewise, the Chenault book lists David Franklin Barry's birth date as January 8, 1846. The typewritten notes refer to his birth date as 1845, which favors the 1845 date.

The "Chenault book" is Chenault, Belle Montgomery, Descendants of Estienne Chenault, 1991 Ed. Gregath Publishing, (Cullman, AL 1992).

Estienne Chenault

Estienne (or "Stephen") Chenault arrived in March 1701 at the mouth of the James River near Yorktown, Virginia, and settled in Essex County where he died after 1740.

From Chenault, Belle Montgomery, Descendants of Estienne Chenault, 1991 Ed. Gregath Publishing, (Cullman, AL 1992).

William Chenault

William Chenault was a Revolutionary soldier in Captain Henry Terrill's company of Col. Josiah Parker's 5th Regiment of Virginia Continental Line. He spent the winter at Valley Forge, was in Washington's march in pursuit of the British in 1778 through New Jersey to New York. He was in the battles of Stillwater, Brandywine, and Saratoga.

He emigrated to Kentucky in 1786 and settled in Madison County, Kentucky, on a farm purchased from Josiah Phelps. Phelps in turn bought it from George Boone, Daniel Boone's brother.

Chenault was a signer, in 1779, of the Albemarle Declaration of Independence.

He and his wife, Elizabeth Mullins Chenault, are listed on a monument at Fort Boonesboro State Park, KY as being among those who were with Daniel Boone at the old fort and fought the Indians. William Chenault died in 1813 of "The Cold Plague" (tuberculosis).

He and Elizabeth had 11 children.

From Chenault, Belle Montgomery, Descendants of Estienne Chenault, 1991 Ed. Gregath Publishing, (Cullman, AL 1992).

Amer Via

Amer Via was one of the early Huguenots, born before 1664 in France. He probably died in New Kent County, Virignia.

From Chenault, Belle Montgomery, Descendants of Estienne Chenault, 1991 Ed. Gregath Publishing, (Cullman, AL 1992).

Rev. David Chenault

Rev. David Chenault, called "Kentucky David" to distinguish him from his son "Tennessee David" joined the Baptist Church at Mt. Nebo in Madison County, Kentucky on a prong of Otter Creek, northeast of Richmond. He was ordained in 1800 and about 1831 became the pastor of Unity Baptist Church, previously served by his wife's father, Andrew Tribble, and by her uncle, James Quisenberry.

Rev. Chenault had only a common school education, but had good judgment and strong intellect. He was for 20 years the justice of the peace, an extensive farmer, and accumulated a considerable fortune.

From Chenault, Belle Montgomery, Descendants of Estienne Chenault, 1991 Ed. Gregath Publishing, (Cullman, AL 1992).

Andrew Tribble

Rev. Andrew Tribble was a prominent Baptist preacher in Clark County, Kentucky, and is said to have organized and been the first pastor of Unity Church, located in the eastern part of Clark County. (History of Kentucky Baptists, Vol 1, pg 207).

From Chenault, Belle Montgomery, Descendants of Estienne Chenault, 1991 Ed. Gregath Publishing, (Cullman, AL 1992).

David J. Chenault & Louisa Quisenberry

David J. Chenault is sometimes called "Tennessee David" to distinguish him from his father, "Kentucky David". Tennessee David married Louisa Quisenberry in 1827, and in 1836, settled in Sumner County, Tennessee, near Castalian Springs. In 1840, they built the home known as "Greenfield" on 800 acres of land bought from the Bledsoes at $20 per acre. The brick for the house was made from materials on the premises. There are eight rooms in the house. Four of them are 20 feet sqaure.

Before the beginning of the Civil War, David J. Chenault owned more than 2,000 acres of land.

From Chenault, Belle Montgomery, Descendants of Estienne Chenault, 1991 Ed. Gregath Publishing, (Cullman, AL 1992).

Lee Cheatam Harsh

Born at Rose Cottage near Nashville, Tennessee, and later moved to Sumner County near Gallatin, TN. He tried farming in middle Tennessee for a few years, then moved to Ponca City, OK where he brought up his family. He married Fannie Tyree Barry.

From Chenault, Belle Montgomery, Descendants of Estienne Chenault, 1991 Ed. Gregath Publishing, (Cullman, AL 1992).

Fannie Tyree Barry

Fannie Harsh, her married name, wrote poetry.

From Chenault, Belle Montgomery, Descendants of Estienne Chenault, 1991 Ed. Gregath Publishing, (Cullman, AL 1992).

Frances Dean Barry College Address

Frances Dean Smith lived at 120 24th Ave S in Nashville during college. I saw the address under her name in the front of a copy of one of her English textbooks. She was an English major at Vanderbilt University, Class of 1935. She was a "Tri-Delt".

David Franklin Barry

David Franklin Barry enlisted in the Confederate Army when he was 16 years and 8 months old, and served for almost three years, until the War was over. The family home was burned by Union soldiers, but David and his widowed mother rebuilt the home, to which he brought his bride, Lutie Chenault, in 1869.

From Chenault, Belle Montgomery, Descendants of Estienne Chenault, 1991 Ed. Gregath Publishing, (Cullman, AL 1992).

Dates for his birth and death, and the year of his marriage are from typewritten notes from papers from Benjamin Franklin Barry.