William Armstrong was born 24 July 1839 near Columbia, TN, about one mile east of Zion Presbyterian Church. His parents were William Osgood Armstrong ( 27 June 1811 - 20 Aug 1885) and Mary E. Smith (28 Jan 1815 - 28 May 1859). William Osgood Armstrong's parents were Elias J. Armstrong (11 Oct 1787 - 7 Aug 1855) and Elizabeth McCauley Frierson (10 April 1794 - 12 Aug 1841), both from South Carolina and buried in Zion Church Cemetery.
Armstrong attended Stephenson Academy near Zion Church and studied medicine under Dr. Joseph E. Dixon. During the Civil War, Dr. Armstrong served as Sergeant under Gen. Gideon J. Pillow, CSA. While his unit was in Memphis in 1863, he met and fell in love with Lula Hanna. They married on Dec. 2, 1863, her sixteenth birthday. After the war ended, Dr. Armstrong returned with his wife to Maury County, where he practiced medicine until 1873. He moved his family back to Memphis that year, just before the outbreak of a Yellow Fever epidemic.
Dr. Armstrong sent his family back to safety in Maury County and stayed in Memphis to give aid to the victims. After the epidemic was over, his family returned to Memphis, where they stayed until 1878, when a more devastating Yellow Fever epidemic hit the city. He again sent his family, which now included eight children, to safety in Maury County. Staying in Memphis to use his medical skills to aid in the crisis, he worked until he became exhausted and overtaken by the fever, died there on Sept. 20, 1878, himself a victim of the epidemic from which he had saved many others.
Source: Facts extracted from Turner's History of Maury County, Tennessee
Dates taken from They Passed This Way
Elizabeth Hungerford Smith Calhoun Barnhill was the daughter of James Norman and Sarah Jenkins Smith. She was born August 9, 1814 in Maury County, Tennessee. Elizabeth was named for her maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Hungerford, daughter of Barton and Jane Warren Hungerford, descendents of emigrant ancestors Captain William Barton, Thomas Warren, William Smoot, and William Hungerford, all part of Maryland�s Seventeenth Century CHARLES COUNTY GENTRY . Elizabeth�s paternal grandmother, Constantina Ford Smith, was the daughter of Charles Allison Ford, granddaughter of Edward and Ann Chandler Ford who was the daughter of emigrant ancestor Thomas Allanson, Lord of Christian Temple Manor (1659) Charles County Maryland. Both of Elizabeth�s grandfathers � James Turner Smith of North Carolina, and Phillip Jenkins of Maryland were American Revolutionary patriots.
In 1832, Elizabeth Hungerford Smith married William Calhoun of Tipton County, Tennessee. Widowed in 1841, she moved to Texas with her four children: Samuel Daniel, William Turner, John Richard, and Lizzie. Elizabeth arrived in Texas the spring of 1842 escorted by her brother-in-law Francis Stanton Latham, Editor, Memphis Eagle Newspaper. She was also accompanied by a cadre of Tennessee volunteers calling themselves THE TEXIAN WOLF HUNTERS . The arrival is described in F.S. Latham�s writings TRAVELS IN THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS, 1842 edited and published by Gerald Pierce through Encino Press, Austin, Texas in 1971.
Amidst continued threat from Indian uprisings and the Mexican army, Elizabeth�s father, James Norman Smith had moved his family from Cuero to Mill Creek for safety. Joining her father�s family, she returned with them to the Guadalupe in 1845. Elizabeth supported her children teaching school in Clinton. In 1848, she married John D. Barnhill and had three daughters, Martha, Sallie, and Lydia. Elizabeth Barnhill died in February 1864 while her sons were in Tennessee fighting in the Civil War.
Submitted by:
BENNIE LOU HOOK ALTOM
9966 GALWAY DRIVE
DALLAS, TX 75218-2821
(214) 327-9260
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Robert Randall Craig was born in South Carolina on 15 December 1786, the son of Samuel Craig and Elizabeth (Molly) Anderson. Molly was the daughter of Samuel Anderson. Robert married Rachel Miles, who was born 8 December 1795, in 1810 in Fairfield Co., SC. They came to Tennessee in 1815, settling first in Franklin County, where Robert farmed for three years. They then moved to Maury County, where Robert continued farming.
Children of Robert and Rachel Craig were:
Robert Randall Craig, who fought in the War of 1812, died 18 Nov 1854 in Maury County. Rachel Miles Craig, a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, died on 26 Aug 1883 in Maury County. They are buried in unmarked graves at Gilliam-Rook Cemetery in Maury County.
Submitted by: Charles Allen Demastus
546 White Ash Dr.
Southaven, MS 38671-5409
(601) 342-0878
Benjamin Cutbirth, Sr was born about 1740 in either Augusta Co., VA or Pennsylvania. In 1761, he married Elizabeth Boone Wilcocksen, a niece of Daniel Boone, in the Yadkin Forks region of North Carolina, where he had located a year earlier. Daniel Boone Cutbirth, the first of their four children, was born in 1763. Ben, Jr was born about 1765, Mary in 1771 and Sarah in 1772. All the children were born in the Watauga area of North Carolina.
Cutbirth was reputed to be a longhunter with Daniel Boone, the two saving each other's lives several times. In Clark's Kentucky: A Land of Contrast, "Longhunting was not an unknown pastime for Daniel Boone. He had hunted with such seasoned woodsmen as Benjamin Cutbirth for game and land along the Watauga in Eastern Tennessee." Believed to be the one who introduced Daniel Boone to the Kentucky wilderness, only Cutbirth's illiteracy kept him from becoming as famous as Boone himself. Cutbirth and three others are considered to be the first white men to reach the Mississippi River overland in about 1767, viewing the river from the Missouri Boot Heel area. They took the pelts they had collected south to sell them in New Orleans and returned through the Indian Territory of present-day Mississippi and Alabama, only to be robbed of their earnings by a band of Indians.
Cutbirth is shown as a resident of Tennessee in 1794, in Johnson County. In 1799, he sold his lands in East Tennessee and left for Middle Tennessee, where in 1807 he was one of the signers on a petition to form Maury County. He lived briefly in the Shoal Creek area of Alabama in the Cherokee Nation and then moved back to Maury County, where he shows up on a tax list for 1811 with his son, Daniel. (The August 25, 1814 issue of The Columbia Chronicle includes his name among petitioners who were forced off the Cherokee land.) Cutbirth died about 1817 and is buried in Major Howell Cemetery in Giles County. His wife Elizabeth died in 1819 and is buried beside him.
Listed by the DAR as a Revolutionary patriot, Cutbirth was once held hostage in his own home by a band of Tories. His exploits have been honored by a marker in Kentucky, which commemorates the service of all those who helped cut the Wilderness Road. The marker reads (in part): "In testimony of the gratitude of posterity for the historic service of cutting the Transylvania Trail �the first great pathway to the West, March - April 1755, from Long Island of � Holston River, Tennessee, to � Otter Creek in Kentucky, by a gallant band of axemen, pioneers and Indian fighters, who � opened the doors of destiny to � Kentucky and the West."
(The Draper Manuscripts contain much information about the life and contributions of Benjamin Cutbirth, Jr.)
Contributor: Jim Cochran , descendant
BRACKETT DAVISON was born in Prince Edward Co., VA on November 17, 1796. He was the second son of George Davidson and Lucretia McDearmon, both of whom were born in Prince Edward County. His parents moved to Maury Co., TN sometime after his grandmother, Sarah Owen Davidson, died in 1809. (In the final settlement of Sarah's will in 1825, it was noted that she spelled the family name Davison)
George Davidson bought one hundred acres on Flat Creek for $200 on May 20, 1816 from Samuel Polk, father of President James Knox Polk. Polk, who had received 5,000 acres in a North Carolina land grant in Maury County, was a friend and neighbor of the Davidsons in Iredale Co., NC. Brackett bought several parcels of land adjoining and from Polk's grant and near the land of his father-in-law, James Hardison. Brackett married Delilah Hardison, daughter of James Hardison and Mary Roberson on August 3, 1817. In 1838, Brackett sold his land on Flat Creek and moved his family to Missouri.
Brackett and Delilah Hardison Davidson had fourteen children, the first twelve born in Maury Co., TN, the last two in Polk Co., MO. They were:
*Thomas McDearmon, b. May 16, 1818, m. Elizabeth Barclay in Polk Co., MO on March 22, 1841. He was killed during the Civil War.
*George (M.D.), b. Feb 22, 1820, m. (1) Rebecca Woolard (1819-1865) and (2) Elizabeth Woolard Edmisson in 1866, d. Jan 4, 1887, buried in Dallas Co., MO.
*Fanny Minerva, b. Oct 22, 1821, d. Oct 28, 1840, never married.
*Lucretia, b. July 28, 1823, m. Durrett Barclay on Sept 15, 1841, d. Feb 25, 1904.
*James Hardison, b. July 28, 1825, m. Lucy Barclay on Mar 24, 1844, killed during Civil War, in Dallas Co., MO.
*Milton McMacklin, b. Sept 9, 1826, m. Rosa Glover on July 24, 1845, d. June 12, 1912.
*Margaret Catherine, b. July 13, 1828, m. Joe Stuart on May 7, 1845, d. Mar 29, 1910.
*Calvin Brackett, b. Mar 1, 1830, m.(1) Matilda Jane Glover on May 10, 1849, (2) Mrs. Rachel Steinbaugh Bridges on Sept 6, 1864, d. Dec 6, 1903 in Rockwall Co., TX.
*William H(ardison?), b. Jan 5, 1832, m. Sarah Jane Davis on Feb 3, 1853, d. Aug 21, 1855.
*Sarah Elizabeth, b. Feb 6, 1834, m. John R. Glover Feb 3, 1853, d. Dec 6, 1887.
*Joshua, b. Oct 13, 1835, m.(1) Henrietta Bennet c. 1855, (2) Mary Bennett c. 1856/57, d. Apr 10, 1908.
*Mary Jane, b. July 30, 1837, m. William Kennedy Atteberry, d. May 20, 1911, buried at Charity, Dallas Co., M
*John Humphrey, b. Oct 30, 1843, m.(1) Susan _irgiria Pagsaale (Ragsdale?) on Dec 19, 1861, (2) Susan E. Turner, d. Mar 10, 1922
*Charles Isum Joel, b. Nov 1846, d. Sept 9, 1848.
Brackett and his older brother Joshua (1793-1850) served in the War of 1812. Pension records on file in the National Archives show that Brackett volunteered on September 27, 1814 in Maury County for a term of six months. He was assigned to Capt. James McMahon's Company (also referred to as Capt. Samuel Crawford's Co.) of Mounted Gunmen. His company was part of the First Regiment, commanded by Col. Dyer.
Brackett was wounded at New Orleans on December 23, 1814 and was honorably discharged at Nashville, TN on April 27, 1815, being declared "three-fourths disabled from obtaining his subsistence by manual labor." He received his small pension for the rest of his life.
(For more information on Brackett Davidson and his associated families, contact descendant William Davison at his e-mail address below.)
Submitted by: William Davison
William Nicholas Demastus was born 22 June 1836 in Lawrence Co., AL, the son of Nicholas Demasters (1788-1840) and Rebecca (1797-1851). He was the grandson of Revolutionary War soldier, John Demasters (1754-1831) and Martha Patsy Moran (1760-1850) of Nelson Co., VA. William Nicholas "Nick" Demastus went from Lawrence Co., AL to Maury Co., TN to join Capt. Bradshaw W. Porter's Company, Tennessee Volunteers, CSA, when the Civil War began. When the company subsequently became Co. B, 9th (Gantt's) Battalion Tennessee Cavalry on 28 November 1861, Nick Demastus enlisted.
After the war ended, Demastus remained in Maury County. On 22 January 1867, he married Annie Eliza Crews (Jan 1846, Maury Co.-1900, Maury Co.). Annie was the daughter of William A. Crews and Mary A. Parrish. William was born 1808 in Granville Co., NC, the son of William Littleberry Crews and Elizabeth Earl. Mary was born 1809 in Granville County, the daughter of Shadrack Parrish and Elizabeth Smith.
Children of Nick and Annie Crews Demastus (all born in Maury County) were:
Mattie (1868-1870)
Walter Sylvester (1868-1944), m. Sarah E. Harris
Cora L. (1870-1952), m. William Goodman Hight
James Tilman (1874-1938), m. Minerva Louanne Hight
Isaac Fletcher (1878-1951), m. Jesse Hester Howell
Edward Daniel Carter (1881-1966), m. Carrie Elizabeth Hight
William Alexander (22 Aug 1875-13 Aug 1943), m. on 31 Dec 1896 to
Annie Lou Rieves (22 Aug 1879-17 Aug 1965).
Annie Lou was the dau. of Civil War veteran Nathaniel Green "Devil Horse" Rieves, Co. H, 1st Tenn. Infantry (Maury Greys) and Susan Alice Crawford. Green Rieves was mentioned in Sam Watkins' book, Co. Aytch. He was the son of Thomas Jefferson Rieves and Sarah Bernetta Murphy.
Children of William and Annie Rieves were:
Mary Louise (1897-1996)
William Clyde
Alton Bernard
Elizabeth Mae (1906-1977)
Robert Ernest (1909-1965)
Lester Floyd (1913-1968)
Annie Lorena
John (b. 11 Jun 1919), m. Mary Pal Kirk
John and Mary had children: Linda Hope, Sandra Gail, and John Kirk)
Mildred Virginia (1921-1987)
James Clayton (3 Oct 1899-2 Feb 1989), m. Elizabeth Mae Jeter (8 Feb 1900 -
Nov 1992).
Elizabeth was the dau. of Samuel Wilson Jeter (1871-1925) and Frances Morgan Binkley (1874-1917). Samuel Wilson Jeter was the son of Civil War veteran John Robert Jeter (1837-1912), Co. B, 8th Tenn. Infantry, and Elizabeth Ann Wells (1838-1903). Frances Morgan Binkley was the dau. of Civil War veteran John Wesley Binkley (1835-1907), Huggins' Tennessee Light Artillery Co., and Mary Ellen Cosby (1840-1910).
William Nicholas Demastus died about 1900. He and Annie Eliza Crews Demastus are buried at Friendship Baptist Church in Culleoka, TN with many of their descendants.
Submitted by: Charles Allen Demastus
546 White Ash Dr.
Southaven, MS 38671-5409
(601) 342-0878
Adam Derryberry, the first of the Derryberry name in Maury County, married Eve Liggett about 1776, probably in North Carolina. They were appropriately named for the progenitors of the Derryberry family in this area.
Adam was born about 1745, to John and Ann Derryberry, possibly in New Jersey or Virginia. Little is known of John, other than land records and mention in a census of 1778 in Burke County, N.C. He was apparently dead by the 1790 census when Ann is listed as a widow. It is possible that John was one of the Derryberry immigrants who came into New Jersey, 1738-40. These Derryberrys, bearing the spellings of Torenberger and Durenberger, arrived from Germany through Rotterdam, Holland and settled among French Huguenots in the German Valley of New Jersey. Soon after their arrival, they began spelling the name Duraberry, Terryberry and Derryberry. (It is possible that the Derryberrys may have originally been French, because of the spelling they chose for the name shortly after settling in America and because there was an ancient village in southern France called D'Iriberry, near where a few of the name Diriberry still live). Most of the Terryberrys went north to Michigan and Canada. John Derryberry appears in North Carolina records in 1778 and perhaps was there earlier. There is mention in one deed of "the old Terryberry land" which might connect these Derryberrys with the immigrants who settled in New Jersey.
Adam had six brothers, John, Jr, Michael, Daniel, George, Jacob and Andrew Buck. He sold his land in Burke County in 1795 and moved his family through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky, where they sojourned for a few years, and then down into the Williamson Co. area around 1800. He and Jacob held land in Williamson County when Maury was formed from it. They had first settled near the Harpeth River, where the damp conditions had caused a fever epidemic that killed some of the family. Moving away from the river, they settled in the Lasea area near Flat Creek. There Adam and Jacob built the family home in 1802 in what was then Williamson County. The house is now the oldest standing edifice in Maury County.
Adam died before 1840 and was buried in the cemetery Jacob had established. Little is known of Eve Liggett. She died after 1840 and was buried next to Adam. Their graves were marked with fieldstones, which disappeared sometime in the 1950s. When the Adam Derryberry House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990, Adam's descendants erected a memorial marker to Adam and Eve in the Old Jacob Derryberry Cemetery.
Adam and Eve Derryberry had six sons, Jacob, Samuel, Daniel, John, Andrew, and Thomas, and three daughters, Caty, Christina, and Elizabeth. Most of the Derryberrys in the Maury - Middle Tennessee areas are descendants of Adam and Eve. Descendants of Adam's brother, Andrew Buck, settled in Madison Co., TN, and most of the Derryberrys in West Tennessee descend from him.
Contributor: Audrey (Derryberry) Massey
Jacob Derryberry married Margaret (Peggy) Long on January 6, 1806 in Williamson Co., TN.
Jacob, born 7 October 1779 in Burke Co., NC, was the son of Adam and Eve Liggett Derryberry. (See article on Derryberry - Liggett) Jacob was a woodcarver, cooper and farmer. He carved most of the wainscoting in the old family home built in the Lasea area in 1802. Jacob had five brothers, Samuel, Daniel, John, Andrew, and Thomas, and three sisters, Caty, Christina, and Elizabeth.
Margaret (Peggy) Long was born 8 December 1790 in South Carolina, the daughter of Rev. soldier David Long and Mary Howe. David Long was born in 1758 in Bedford Co., VA and enlisted in the Revolutionary War from Rowan Co., NC. Serving over four years in the Revolution, he was in almost every significant battle in the Southern Campaign, including the Battles of Brier Creek, Stone Ferry, Ramsour's Mill, Hanging Rock, King's Mountain, Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse, and Eutaw Springs. David died while visiting a daughter in Marshall County in 1845. His burial place is disputed, some saying he was buried in the Long Cemetery in Marshall County, some saying he was buried in the Old Jacob Derryberry Cemetery in Lasea, near his home.
Mary Howe was the daughter of Revolutionary soldier William Howe and Catherine Craig. William Howe, born 1738 in Virginia, was the son of Joseph Howe of Virginia and York District, S.C. He had five brothers, John, Joseph, Jr., Robert, David and James. His brother, Joseph, was captured by the British during the Revolution and held captive on a ship in Charleston harbor. His wife pleaded for his release with British Gen. Sir William Howe, on the basis that they were "of the same family." Gen. Howe did release Joseph, and the family reportedly erected a memorial to him somewhere near the South Carolina-Georgia line. William Howe died soon after moving from York District to Georgia and is buried in Old Bethany Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Greene Co., GA. Mary Howe had one sister, Martha.
Margaret Long Derryberry was still living during the Civil War in the house that Adam and Jacob built in 1802. A story was handed down about Margaret chasing a Yankee soldier from her upstairs bedroom all the way to the Indian trail by the house to retrieve her only quilt that he had stolen from her bed.
Jacob died 25 April 1857 and was buried in the cemetery he established near the old homeplace. The house was bought by son-in-law, William Carroll Hardison, and daughter, Emily Howe Derryberry, who had been living with Jacob since their marriage. Margaret died 18 March 1870. Jacob and Margaret had four sons, Henry W., David Long, Joseph Howe, and John Toplin, and four daughters, Elizabeth, Mary A., Esther E., and Emily Howe. (The Howe name was carried in the Derryberry family down through Jacob's great-grandson, Joseph Howe "Joe" Derryberry, born in 1877.)
Contributor: Audrey Derryberry Massey Return To Top of Page
Major H.(Harrelson?) Gabel/Gabell married Charlotte Marie Corliss about 1854 in Vermont and later lived in Lawrence and Maury Counties, Tennessee.
Major H., born 15 April 1817 in Alabama, was the son of Barnabas (1789-1865) Gabel and Sarah Ann Choate (1796-1844). Barnabas, born of German parents in Pennsylvania, married Sarah Ann, reportedly full or half-Cherokee from North Carolina, on 20 June 1816. Sarah was the daughter of Valentine Choate. Barnabas lived in Alabama and finally settled permanently in Lawrence Co., TN, near Tidwell Hollow. Major H. had four brothers, Elias P., Thomas Israel, John D., and James Edward. When Sarah died on 2 October 1844, Barnabas married Sarah Crawley. During the last months of the Civil War, Barnabas was followed from Columbia, after selling crops, by thieves who wanted the gold he had received in payment. When he reached his home, he quickly buried the money and, when he wouldn't disclose the hiding place, was tied to his horse and dragged almost to death. He never recovered consciousness and died a few months later, unable to reveal to his family where the gold was buried.
Lottie was born about 1835, probably in Vermont. Her parents (by hypothesis) were Joseph and Charlotte (York) Corliss. Lottie descended from George Corliss of Exeter, Devonshire, England, who settled in Haverhill, MA in the mid-1600s. The Hannah Dustin Memorial statue, which stands north of Concord, N.H. is dedicated to the bravery of Hannah Dustin, Mary Corliss Neff, Lottie's 3rd great-aunt and daughter of George, and a young man, Samuel Lennardson, who boldly escaped their capture by Indians three hundred years ago, on 15 March 1697.
Family legend states that Lottie was heir to Corliss Machinery fortunes and her prominent New England family was very unhappy when she chose to marry Major, a "half-breed, country bumpkin from Tennessee," 12 years her senior. Lottie had seen Major, "riding so straight and tall on his black horse" down her street and declared that "he was the man she was going to marry." She did, and was disinherited.
Major had been taught blacksmithing and steam engine repair by his father and was expected to continue in these trades and in farming his father's land, but Major was an adventurer and not content to stay at home. His travels took him all the way to Cuba and up the eastern coast by tramp steamer to Maine. His last jaunt had taken him to Vermont, where he met Lottie. When Barnabas died, Major came home, and his brothers split up their parcels of land (Major had been left out of Barnabas' will) to give him a share. He stayed in Lawrence County for some time, but by the time of his death on 2 October 1899, he was living in Kettle Mills. Censuses show him there as early as 1870.
Major and Lottie had two sons, George and John Calhoun, and three daughters, Sarah Ellen, Emma, and Mattie Brown. He and Lottie are buried in Old Well Cemetery, just over the Maury line in Hickman County..
Contributor: Audrey J. Massey Return To Top of Page
A granite obelisk and a small park just off West 7th Street in Columbia, TN, on the side of Mt. Parnassus, the highest point in Maury County, were dedicated in 1926 to honor the memory of Tennessee's most famous harness racer, Edward "Pop" Geers. Funds for the memorial, the only one in existence to a racehorse driver, and the park were donated by Geers' many friends and fellow-horsemen throughout America and abroad. Because of the great interest in the project, contributions had to be restricted to no more than $1000 from horse-owners and no more than $1 from grooms.
The "Grand Old Man of the Turf," Pop Geers, with his extraordinary racer, Napoleon Direct, an ex-plow horse, was the first to drive a horse under a two-minute mile. In 1916, the pair set the record of 1:59 � minutes, and Geers' accomplishment was immortalized.
Napoleon Direct was never expected to be a great racer. His sire was the famous Walter Direct, but his dam was only a walking saddle horse. Geers was successfully racing Hal Pointer for years, and Napoleon Direct, who was first used to plow fields, was not envisioned by his owners as a racer. In 1914 with Geers driving him, he scored 10 first places, and in 1915 he won all five starts. In 1916, he won 8 of 9 starts. In his career with Napoleon Direct, Geers established 23 firsts and 3 seconds in 28 starts.
Pop Geers, who through all his fame was a modest and shy man - the "Silent Man from Tennessee" - died on September 3, 1924. He was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Columbia, where his gravesite was in view of the white obelisk proclaiming his fame on the slopes of Mt. Parnassus.
Napoleon Direct outlived Geers by ten years, dying in 1934. When the famous old horse was laid to rest with honors on the Old Tolley Farm which became Haynes Haven (now part of the property of Saturn Corp.), the Maury County Courthouse bell tolled in his honor.
Source: Excerpted from the July 3, 1976 Bicentennial issue of The Daily Herald
Edward Hardison was born in North Carolina about 1771 and probably migrated to Maury Co., TN about 1818. The children of Edward and his wife, Margaret (Daniels) were:
Ira (1806-1875), m. Penelope Hardison
Eliza, m. Simon Daniel
Lewis W., m. Elizabeth A. Gant
Joseph Hardy M. (1819-1904), m. Mary J. (Polly) Derryberry
George Washington (1824-1897), m. Rebecca Jane Dugger
Ezra, m. Sarah Bennett
Simon T. (16 Feb 1831, Maury Co.-31 Aug 1909, TN), m. on 17 Sep 1851 to
Mary Ann Dugger (19 Apr 1832-24 Feb 1891, TN)
(Mary Ann was the dau. of Joseph H. Dugger, son of Alexander and Ann Dugger, and Elizabeth (Betsy) Bailey, dau. of Claudius and Margaret Johnston Bailey.)
The children of Simon T. and Mary Ann Dugger Hardison were:
David Allen (1853-1933)
Elizabeth E. (1856-1922), m. James Nathaniel Frank
Mildred J. (1860-?)
Ira J.
Simon (1863-1943), m. Mary Etta Dodson
Susan (1865-?), m. Sam D. Jones
Robert
Joseph Edward (27 Nov 1852, Maury Co.-8 Jun 1919, TN), m. on 30 Aug 1885
in Maury County to Ida L. Dodson (21 Nov 1867, TN-21 Sep 1937, TN)
Ida L. was the dau. of Thomas Houston Dodson and Sarah (Sallie) Peery. Both Joseph Edward and Ida Dodson Hardison are buried in Rock Springs Cemetery in Maury Co., TN.
Children of Joseph Edward and Ida L. Dodson Hardison were:
Estella (1887-1983), m. Charlie Clarence Shannon
Virgie Belle (1889-1971), m. Felix Arthur Littlejohn
Eslie Z. (1890-1968), m. Ruth Tindell
Reese (1893-1963, m. Lela Naoma (Naomi) Brown
Dodson Baxter (1895-1954), m. Zilphia Elizabeth Tindell
Edward (1897-1978), m. Ida Frances Yarbrough
Mary Ann (1899-1973), m. John Lee Jones, Jr.
Raleigh (1903-1978), m. Elise Clymore Howell
(Raleigh and Elise had a son, Joe Layne Hardison, b.14 Dec 1941)
Allene Irene (1903- ), m. William Baxter Rook
Silas Omega (1905- ), m. Margaret Henson
John Lester (1907-1986), m. Mary Belle Butler
Alpha Rebecca (1910-1986), m. Everett Freeman Shauver
Florence Louise (23 Mar 1892, Maury Co.-16 Jan 1946, Maury Co.),
. 14 Feb 1915 to Luther Burton Mayse (20 Oct 1892, Maury - 17 Aug 1958,
Maury Co.)
Luther Burton Mayse is the son of Burton B. Mayse, son of Joseph and Diannah Mayse, and Anneta Cellestie (Nettie) Rook, daughter of Samuel P. and Margaret E. Craig Rook. Luther Burton and Florence Louise Hardison Mayse are buried at Philadelphia Church of Christ at Lick Skillet in Maury Co., TN.
Submitted by: Charles Allen Demastus
546 White Ash Dr.
Southaven, MS 38671-5409
(601) 342-0878
James Hardison, born in Martin Co., NC in 1759, married Mary Smithwick, about 1804-08. James, who served as a private in the North Carolina Line in the Revolution under Captains Jones, Hardison and Evans and Colonels Eaton, Hill and Stitt, was married first to Mary Roberson, , daughter of James and Charlotte Reeves Robason/Roberson, also of Martin County, in 1789. They had eight children:
Thomas (17 Nov 1789-5 Dec 1856)
Margaret (17 May 1791-bef. 1841), m. Nathaniel Woolard
William (17 Nov 1793-26 Oct 1830)
Charles (16 Aug 1795-4 Oct 1878), m. Hannah Daniel (15 May 1802-9 Oct 1878)
Frances "Fannie," born 16 July 1798, m. ? Davidson
Joel, M.D. (5/15 Aug 1800-17 Dec 1873), m. Jane Howe Long (6 Feb 1800-11 May 1884), dau. David and Mary Howe Long , on 17 Dec 1873
Delilah , born 22 July 1802, m. BRACKETT DAVISON on 3 Aug 1817
Humphrey (18 Aug 1804-15 Oct 1874), m. Harriet Woolard (19 July 1806-11 Nov 1850)
dau. Silas and Lucretia Woolard on 6 March 1826.
Mary Smithwick was of an old North Carolina family, who were government and church leaders, beginning in Chowan County, NC in the latter part of the 17th Century. Mary's ancestor is probably Hugh Smithwick, assumed to be the progenitor of the North Carolina Smithwicks, who was said to have settled in the area of Old Albemarle County about 1643.
James and Mary Smithwick Hardison moved with their children to Maury County about 1812-14 and took up land on Flat Creek, near where Jacob Derryberry and David Long had settled earlier.
James and Mary Smithwick Hardison had children:
Ezra, born 1809, m. Serena Derryberry
Penelope (27 April 1810-9 Sept 1861), m. Ira Hardison (12 May 1806 - 30 Sept 1875).
Ira was the son of Edward and Millie Stubbs Hardison.
Asa, born 1813, m. Mary A. Dickson
Richard Bates (1816-1861), m. Nancy Catherine Sowell (11 Aug 1826 - 31 Dec 1883).
Catherine m. (2) James P. Daniel (13 Jan 1836-29 Feb 1920)
James Y. (12 July 1818-14 Dec 1916), m. Dorothea Jane "Dolly" Fonville (15 Mar 1823 - 10 Apr 1904)
Iva, m. Gabriel Long Morton.
Dorothea (Dolly) was the daughter of Asa and Dorothy Stephenson Fonville of Bedford and Marshall Counties, TN. Asa was the son of Revolutionary soldier, Francis Marion Fonville of New Bern, Craven Co., NC, and Sarah Bright, daughter of Revolutionary soldier, Simon Bright. Dorothy was the daughter of Revolutionary soldier, Silas Stephenson.
Francis, who family legend says was one of Gen. Lafayette's interpreters during the Revolution, was the son of John Fonville (II) and Elizabeth Brousse/Brice, daughter of French Huguenot Jacques Brousse of New Bern, NC. John (II) was the son of Huguenot immigrant to Mannikintowne, VA, Jean/John Fonville, and Francoise Larry of La Rochelle, France. They married in London and departed for Virginia on the ship Mary Ann in 1699. (Information on Huguenot Jean Fonville can be found in The Douglas Register and Turff and Twigg.)
James Y. and Dolly Fonville Hardison were married about 1841 in Maury Co., TN. Their children were:
Endora Desdemona, born 1842
Eugenia Frances "Fannie" (25 June 1844-8 Mar 1938), m. William Alexander
Derryberry (11 Dec 1842-15 Jan 1924)
Enzede T., born 1847
Zachary Taylor (Nov 1849-06 Mar 1930), m. Mattie (S.E.?) Holcomb, dau. of P.M. and Olivia
Wilkins Holcomb
Mary, born 1851
Parilee, born 1855
Alice, born 1857
James Y. and Dolly Hardison are buried in the James Y. Hardison Cemetery, one mile off Bear Creek Rd., on Blackburn Lane, at the edge of Ulna Harmon's front yard.
Fannie married William A. Derryberry on Christmas Eve, 1865, after he had recovered from wounds he received in the Civil War. Both of them are buried in the Old Jacob Derryberry Cemetery / Derryberry-Hardison Cemetery at the intersection of Joe Brown and New Lasea Roads in Maury County.
Submitted by: Audrey Derryberry Massey
106 Robin Lane SE
Huntsville, AL 35802
(205) 650-0044
John Mack, born in Scotland about 1740-42, married Sarah Burnett (1741 PA - 1825 Maury Co., TN) on 9 September 1766 in Prince Edward Co., VA. During the Revolutionary War, Mack served in the 1st Virginia State Regiment. Sometime between 1805 - 1810, and perhaps earlier, he came to Tennessee. By 1810, John Mack appears in early court records in Maury County. His will was written on 31 May 1813.
Children of John and Sarah Burnett Mack were:
James (1767-1852), m. Sarah Wilson
John, Jr. (1769-1855), m. Polly Garner
Robert (1772-1865), m. Sarah M. Brown
William (1775-1861), m. Mary (Polly) Blair
James Harvey (1778-1837)
Constantine, m. Nancy Burnett
Sarah Louise (Sally), m. Bird Nance
Mary "Polly" (abt 1770, Prince Edward Co., VA - 1 Jan 1862, Maury Co., TN),
m. Nathaniel G. Murphy (b. VA, d. 3 Dec 1830, Maury Co.)
(Nathaniel G. Murphy was the son of Miles Murphy, born in Ireland about 1725)
John Mack is buried in the Mack Family Cemetery at McCains in Maury Co., TN. The inscription on his large box tomb reads: "John Mack, 1740-1814, The First of his name in this state. He was born in Scotland in 1740 and died in the 74th year of his age. An honest man, the noblest work of God."
The inscription on the tombstone of his wife, Sarah, reads: "Sarah Mack, b. in Pennsylvania, d. in 83rd year of her age. The only wife of John Mack."
An Historic Marker near the cemetery, now destroyed, once read:
"First Settler. One half mile east is the grave of John Mack, who reportedly settled here in 1776 or shortly after (1776 possibly disproven by record of service in the Revolution out of VA). A blockhouse or stockade was built around the spring a few yards beyond the cemetery. Other relatives and descendants are also buried here." (Note: There are six tombstones with inscriptions and 10-12 fieldstones.)
Submitted by: Charles Allen Demastus
546 White Ash Dr.
Southaven, MS 38671-5409
(601) 342-0878
Reuben Rieves and his wife, Hannah, came to Maury Co., TN in 1803 from South Carolina. Reuben may have been a Revolutionary soldier, but no record has been found as of this date. Their children were: Joel, John C., Joshua, Purify (m. William H. Flaniken), Sally (m. William Smith), Elijah (1790-1872), m. Mary Stallings), Sidney King (1806-?), m. Sarah Caroline Nicholson), and Thomas Jefferson (1805, SC-Dec 1871, Maury Co., TN), m. 1827 in Maury County to Sarah Bernetta "Sallie" Murphy. Sallie was born 1807 in Tennessee and died 1886 in Maury County. Thomas Jefferson Rieves was a farmer and timber worker. Both he and wife Sallie, as well as some of the Rieves children and grandchildren, are buried in the Rieves Cemetery, located a short distance from the Duck River Bridge in Maury County.
Children of Thomas Jefferson and Sallie Murphy Rieves were:
Martha Elizabeth (1832-1894), m. John Griffin
Nancy America (1837-1922), m. James L. Toombs
Elija Napolean Bonaparte (1839-
1934, ), m. Mary Catherine Anthony
(E.N.B. Rieves was in Co. H. 1st Tenn Inf and Co. K, 48th Tenn Inf, CSA.)
Sara Ann (1843-1915), m. Larkin S. Lamar
Eleanor Eudora (1845-1871)
Emily J. (1848-?)
Nathaniel Green (6 Feb 1835, Maury Co.-17 Aug 1907, Maury Co.), m. on
11 Jan 1866 in Maury County to Susan Alice Crawford (16 Nov 1849, TN - 7 Nov 1916).
Susan was dau. of Charles D. and Susan E. Crawford. Green "Devil Horse" Rieves was in Co. H., 1st Tenn Inf, CSA, and is mentioned in Sam Watkins' Co. Aytch.
Children of Green and Susan Crawford Rieves were:
Grover Cleveland, m. Nona Spanivelle
Sarah May (1867-?), m. J.J. Loftin
Ellis (1868-1929)
Frank M. (1870-1933), m. Claudine Ward
Walter
Clifford, m. Ida Watson
Conner, m. Jennie Fox
J.Clayton (1877-1955), m. Annie Oliver
Marshall N. (1882-1954), m. Bertha Hamlin
Annie Lou (22 Aug 1879, Maury Co.-17 Oct 1965, FL), m. on 31 Dec 1896 to
William Alexander Demastus in Maury County.
William (22 Aug 1875, Maury Co. - 13 Aug 1943, FL) and his nephew, William Houston Demastus, ran a shop in Culleoka, TN in the 1920s. They shod horses, put wheels on wagons, sold gas from their gas pump and were automobile mechanics.
Submitted by: Charles Allen Demastus
546 White Ash Dr.
Southaven, MS 38671-5409
(601) 342-0878
Gen. Isaac Roberts was born March 1, 1761 in North Carolina. He and his wife, Mary Johnston, had nine children, including Polly who married Peter I. Voorhies, Nancy who married Samuel Hawkins, Rachel who married Hugh B. Porter, Persia, Patsy, Mark, John, Moses and William.
In March 1806, Gen. Roberts acquired a tract of 2800 acres, lying east of the (Andrew) Jackson Highway, extending from the mouth of Bear Creek to Double Branch Rd. The land had been part of a 1788 North Carolina land grant of 5,000 acres each to Elijah and Mark Robertson. Gen. Roberts built his home near Double Branch Rd. and lived there until he died on February 19, 1816. The old Roberts home burned December 2, 1950. Gen. Roberts lies buried a half mile east of the Nashville Highway in an unmarked grave, now behind a mobile home.
Gov. Sam Johnson of North Carolina appointed Isaac Roberts First Major on November 14, 1789. William Blount, territorial governor of Tennessee, appointed him First Major on December 15, 1790. Blount then appointed him Lt. Col. Commandant of the Regiment of Davidson County on October 27, 1792. Gov. John Sevier appointed him to the same position on October 4, 1796, and he was made Brigadier General, 5th Brigade in 1804.
In 1794, Roberts and Joseph Brown were part of an expedition against the Indians and to discover a suitable route to the town of Nickojack and Running Water. They participated in invading these towns on September 13, 1794, along with Capt. John Gordon and William Pillow. After the massacre at Fort Mimms on August 30, 1813, Gen. Roberts was placed in command of a brigade at Fayetteville on October 4, to march south with Gen. Jackson to fight the Indians at Talladega. A dispute with Gen. Jackson occurred over a misunderstanding of length of recruitment time, and Gen. Roberts left the army at that time.
Roberts was a member of the House of Representatives in the General Assembly of Tennesee, which convened at Knoxville on September 18, 1797. He, along with Robert Weakley, represented Davidson County, which then included what is now Maury. He was Justice of the Peace in Davidson County in 1804, after Williamson (including what became Maury) was cut away. He was elected first Chairman of the County Court when citizens met at the home of Joseph Brown to organize Maury County, December 21, 1807. A site on Roberts' land on Bear Creek was almost chosen for the building of the county seat of Columbia.
Source: William B. Turner, History of Maury County, Tennessee
JAMES NORMAN SMITH, early Texas patriot and educator, was born 14 September 1789 at Richmond County, North Carolina. James had a twin brother named CHARLES ALLISON SMITH. The twins were sons of American Revolutionary Patriot JAMES TURNER SMITH (1752 MD � 1817 NC) and CONSTANTINA FORD (1760 MD � 1812 TN). CONSTANTINA was the daughter of CHARLES ALLISON and ANN CHANDLER FORD of Charles County Maryland.
JAMES N. SMITH�s teaching career began in 1806 after the family moved to Tennessee where he met and married SARAH JENKINS 1812. SARAH was the daughter of American Revolutionary Patriot PHILIP JENKINS and ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD of Charles County Maryland. Before Sarah�s death in 1820 JAMES and SARAH JENKINS SMITH had five children: CONSTANCE FORD, ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD, JANE CATHARINE, JAMES BROWN and BENJAMIN.
In 1825, JAMES N. SMITH married his cousin, ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD MOREHEAD, they had eight children: MARY MOREHEAD, SARAH ANN, CHARLES ALLISON, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, MARTHA JENKINS, JOSEPH MOREHEAD, SUSAN STOREY and THOMAS CRUTCHER.
In addition to positions of political and social leadership in Tennessee, JAMES NORMAN SMITH farmed, taught school and engaged in commerce. With the collapse of his business in 1839, he moved to Texas. In 1840 the family settled in Gonzales on Cuero Creek and was caught in the Great Comanche Raid. JAMES N. SMITH, at age 50 fought in his first battle at Plum Creek, 1841.
When the Mexican Army invaded Texas in 1842, Smith took his family to Mill Creek for safety. There he was joined by his daughter ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD SMITH CALHOUN who had been widowed in Tennessee in 1841. In November 1845, the family returned to their land on the Guadalupe. Elizabeth supported her family by teaching. She built a school at Clinton around 1846. In 1848, at Cuero, she married JOHN BARNHILL and had three daughters, MARTHA, SARAH and LYDIA.
When DeWitt County was formed in 1846, JAMES NORMAN SMITH made the original survey. He was elected County clerk and held that office until 1865. Before he died in 1875, Smith chronicled his life in a hand-written, four-volume manuscript. His PERSONAL MEMOIRS describe how he surveyed the DeWitt County lines using the old stock lock compass his father bought for him. Smith�s PERSONAL MEMOIRS are currently in the Barker Library, Texas Archives, University of Texas at Austin. A descendant, THOMAS CALHOUN ANDERSON provided a typed copy of the MEMOIRS in 1981 which numbers 244 pages. A Texas Historical Marker in JAMES NORMAN SMITH�s honor stands today at the First Presbyterian Church Cuero, Texas.
Submitted by:
BENNIE LOU HOOK ALTOM
9966 GALWAY DRIVE
DALLAS, TX 75218-2821
(214) 327-9260
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William Calvin Steward/Stewart was born 5 June 1823 in Mississippi. His widowed mother, Margaret (1788-?), is first found on Column 180, 1830 Lincoln Co., TN Census. She and her children (perhaps 10) lived near Mimosa, north of Fayetteville. Sometime before 1845, the family moved to an area north of Gibsonville on the Giles/Maury Co. line. About 1847, William married Elizabeth Gibson (b. 6 May 1829, Allen Co., KY), dau. of John Gibson.
In the 1850 Census of Giles Co., TN, William is living near Gibsonville. In 1853, he purchased land from William P. and Eleanor Johnson. By 1856, he is living in District 6 of Maury Co., TN, near Campbell's Station. His brother, Calvin B., whose Bible records are in the Maury County, TN GENWEB site, was living near him.
In the 1860 Census of Maury Co., TN, W.C. Stewart is living in the same Campbell's Station area, probably near Evergreen Church Cemetery, which remains today. He lived very close to Andrew Jackson Campbell, for whom Campbell's Station was named. During the Civil War, W.C. served as a private in the 48th Tenn Inf, Companies F and G. He was discharged in 1862, then served under A.J. Campbell, who was caught by Union soldiers and later released.
William and Elizabeth stayed in Maury County until about 1870, when they moved to Jasper, AR. Several families moved with them, including Lovells, Wilcoxsons, Lathams, and others. After a brief stay in Arkansas, the group moved near Farmersville in Collin Co., Texas. Some descendants of these families are still there. Later, William and Elizabeth moved near Joshua in Johnson Co., Texas. Elizabeth died there on 15 October 1885. She is buried in the Bethesda Church Cemetery, adjacent to I-35, near Joshua.
William moved on with his children to what was then Indian Territory and later became Love Co., OK. On 24 July of the terribly hot summer of 1901, he passed away. (That brutal summer took about 10,000 lives nationwide). William is buried in Eastman Cemetery.
BIBLE RECORDS
W.C. Stewart - born June 5, 1823
Elizabeth (Gibson) Stewart - born May 6, 1829
Children of William and Elizabeth Stewart
. Calvin B. Stewart - born August 16, 1847
. William Jackson Stewart - born November 20, 1848
. Sarah Sovenie Stewart - born May 8, 1851
. Margaret Hannah Stewart - born December 9, 1854
. Thomas Melen Stewart - born December 9, 1856
. Melvina Isabella Stewart - born January 29, 1858
. Mary Elizabeth Stewart - born February 9, 1860
. James Hardie Stewart - born June 30, 1862
. Vianna Stewart - born November 15, 1864
. Agnes Ann Stewart - born February 20, 1866
. McAlonie Stewart - born March 6, 1868
. Louisa Jane Stewart - born May 12, 1870
This information is from the 20th Century Edition of the Self-Pronouncing Bible, which belonged to the parents of McAlonie Stewart, and was published by American Publication Society, 1701 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA.
Another Bible belonging to the parents of McAlonie Stewart was titled Literature, History and Inspiration of the Holy Bible, prepared expressly for The People's Standard Edition by James P. Boyd, L.B., A.M., entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1872 by Ziegler & McCurdy in the Office of Library of Congress at Washington, D.C.
Both Bibles are, as of 20 June 1997, in the hands of Kleo (Mrs. Olen) Loving of Ringling, OK.
I welcome comments on this information. Please also refer to the Calvin B. Stewart Bible Records through the Maury County GENWEB site. Many descendants may be living in this region. There are three early Stewart-Henson marriages in Giles and Maury Counties, as well as Stewart-Gist descendants living in Lawrence Co., TN.
Submitted by: Randy Stewart
Box 671
Temple, OK 73568
(405) 342-6787/ (405) 362-2283 (Parents)
0r
% J.D. Stewart
401 S. Maple
Newkirk, OK 74647
John Jacob Zollicoffer was born in Halifax Co., SC and migrated to Tennessee in 1807, settling on land granted to his father, Captain George Zollicoffer, for service in the Revolutionary War. George's father was Baron Jacob Christopher Zollicoffer, who migrated from Switzerland to Virginia.
John Jacob's two sons by his first wife, Martha Kirk Zollicoffer, were Frederick (1806- - 1874) and Felix Kirk, born May 19, 1812 near Bigbyville in Maury County. Martha Kirk (30 March 1793 - 11 June 1815, was the daughter of Isaac Kirk of North Carolina. Frederick, who married Elizabeth Love, became a doctor and settled in Kosciusko, MS. Felix Kirk Zollicoffer studied in the "old field" log schoolhouse, attended Jackson College in Maury County, and was apprenticed to A.O.P. Nicholson as a printer in Columbia. He worked on newspapers in Paris, TN, Knoxville, TN and Huntsville, AL, and in 1835 became State Printer of Tennessee. He was editor and owner of the Columbia Observer and the Southern Agriculturist, and in 1843 was editor of the Republican Banner, state organ of the Whig Party. He later moved to Nashville and became State Senator. Felix married Louisa Pocahontas Gordon and had six daughters who survived the union.
Felix Kirk Zollicoffer served in the Second Seminole War and was a Brigadier General in the Confederacy. He was killed at the Battle of Mill Springs on January 15, 1862, and there is a park with monument dedicated to him near the small town of Nancy. Gen. Zollicoffer is buried in the Old City Cemetery in Nashville.
John Jacob and Martha Kirk Zollicoffer had two daughters, Ann Maria, who married a Swanson, and Leanna (1804-1848), who married a Williams. Martha Kirk Zollicoffer is buried in the Zollicoffer Cemetery on the John Abernathy place, off Campbellsville Pike, in Maury County.
Sources of information: "The Zollie Tree," by Raymond E. Meyers
Submitted by: Craig Hopkins
"History of Maury County, Tennessee," by William Bruce Turner
, great-great grandson of Frederick Zollicoffer
Return to Maury County Biography Index
Return to Maury County Index Page
Frank D. "Denny" Thomas, Volunteer for Maury County
This page was last updated November 18, 1998.
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