Week 5 #52Ancestors: At the Library

Now that I am retired, I have the time to go to the library when I hope to solve a mystery in the family tree.  In fact, up until one year ago, I could easily combine my online search and have microfilm sent to the local Family History Library.  Familysearch.org no longer offers this option since the bulk of their collection has been digitized.  I was happy to see several rolls in their collection for Hancock County, TN. This is a burned county so not many records can be obtained or so I thought.  I ordered a roll that included the 1870’s as I hoped to find probate records for my 2x’s great-grandfather, James Sutton.  I was ecstatic when I received the notice that the microfilm had arrived so off I went to the library.

Microfilm records can be quite a challenge since they don’t allow you to easily search for a name. Luckily, this roll did have folders for each case that had been filmed.  There were many names I recognized from census records but I was not finding James.  What did I find on this roll? There were two files that I would save -- the probate paperwork for Peter Wolfe’s estate and the petition for the divorce of Nathan Sutton and Nancy Virginia Sutton.  Suttons!  I had previously received information, from another researcher, about the divorce and was also informed that their home and property were actually acquired through Nancy’s legacy.  Reading this folder appeared to validate the information I received. Nathan and Nancy are my third great-uncle and aunt and there seems to be much tragedy in their line.

Research of this branch of Suttons began years ago when my father was contacted by a group of Sutton researchers.  One gentleman, Charlie Clint Sutton, was hoping to write a book about his Sutton ancestors and include all the lines. Charlie lived in Kansas and engaged the help of another researcher named Jim Lawson who most likely lived near Sneedville.  Charlie's parents were Bishop Sutton and Mary Jane Jones.  Bishop's father was George Washington Sutton who married Rachel Emily Ball.  George was the son of Thomas Sutton and Hannah Lawson's youngest son, Thomas who married Matilda Brown.  This project turned out to be a huge undertaking so he revised his publication plan.  It provided a summary of some research found on Thomas Sr. (a will and his land records), the story of the murder of Henley Sutton, and the story of supposed Native American ancestry.  The information proved to be helpful but left my father wanting more.  I think we can all relate to that feeling.  He made a plan and traveled to Sneedville where he was given a few people to contact but eventually lost interest in genealogy.

Years later I picked up the paper trail and began to find online newspaper articles that were not so kind to the Suttons of Hancock County.  Here is an example of one of the articles that I found:

Who was the young Barnet and did a son really get in on the fracas?  Other articles gave incorrect first names (perhaps to protect the innocent - sarcasm) but mentioned that a son-in-law was involved.  I began to review my tree as I have a Barnard line that is often referred to as Barnetts and wondered if he was related. This is why my Ancestry tree is so big.  I am constantly researching a collateral line in hopes of busting through a brick wall.  I discovered that Nathan’s daughter, Aisley or Elsie, married Henderson “Hence” Barnard.  Digging a little further I discovered that Aisley was widowed on the 1880 census.  How sad!  Why would Nathan do this?  Also, if I have traced Hence's line correctly then he is the grandson of Jonathan Barnard and Biddy Barnet.  Many of us descend from this line.  His parents were Samuel Barnard and Elizabeth Sanders.  He would be my first cousin 4x's removed.

Back to my discovery.  Nancy Virginia Sutton (nee Dodson) filed the petition for divorce on April 15, 1872.  They had married on November 12, 1840 in Claiborne County, TN so this union had lasted 32 years.  Apparently two years prior to this date, Nathan had abandoned his wife and children, two were still minors, and he was accused of “living in adultery with a mean lewd woman.”  Wow, this sounds very much like something you would see in today’s divorce proceedings.  In reading through the divorce there is the discussion of separation of assets and property.  Nathan was apparently in debt and deals were made with individuals such as F. M. Fulkerson and Henley Sutton, his son, to pay off notes.  There is mention of a gun and horse that were taken from the home and Nathan later makes a statement that these items were sold to Mack Berry.  Now this particular reference could have led to the killing in 1873.  The following newspaper article mentions a writ of replevin.  Apparently, that would have been issued to recover property wrongly taken. This article was obtained through Newspapers.com and published in the Memphis Daily Appeal on March 5, 1873.

My takeaway from this article and the divorce paperwork is that horse was still an issue and Hence and Henley were trying to recover it.  I know Henley occasionally worked for the sheriff’s office from newspaper articles that were published about him.  Was he accompanying Hence on behalf of the sheriff’s office or as a family member?  Henley did end up owning the house that, I assume, was considered his mother's legacy.  Ironically, in the 1889 newspaper coverage of his own murder, he would be referred to as a “desperate man who shot his own father.”  

How did Nathan get through the months of legal action just to commit the senseless killing of a son-in-law who was a father of four?  Did he also attack Henley who in turn defended himself against the assault by shooting him? Were charges filed against Henley? We will never know unless one of us discovers more court documents regarding this assault.  That makes me wonder…

Week 4 #52Ancestors: I‘d Like to Meet…

My 2x’s great-grandmother, Melissa Jane Sutton (nee Wolfe but really Bray). Thanks to my third cousin, Betty Turner, for sharing this photo with me. I remember the first time I saw a slightly different version of this photo. It was hanging in my great-uncle Jack Sutton’s old farmhouse in Telephone, Texas.  My dad loved to load us up in the car to make the 4-hour drive from Oklahoma City to Telephone so we could visit his uncle.  I loved to prowl through his house looking at the old photos hanging on the wall that were framed in lovely antique wood. When I asked Jack who she was he didn’t seem to know.  For years I thought she was Martha Epperson since a photo of James Nelson Epperson hung next to her.  He was my 2x’s great-grandfather and father of my great-grandmother Allie Jane Sutton (nee Epperson).  I was fortunate to connect with a second cousin, Susie Clarke (nee Kelley), through Ancestry.com who knew her identity and has shared many family photos with me.  I love seeing my ancestors.

Why, you may ask, would I like to meet Melissa?  She was born and raised in east Tennessee near Sneedville.  It is the county seat of Hancock County that was formed in the 1840s from parts of Hawkins and Claiborne counties.  At the time of her birth in 1827, this area was still Hawkins County and the state of Tennessee was only 31 years old! She grew up in the Appalachian Mountains near the Clinch River.  It is a beautiful area that is filled with churches and lush with greenery, mystery, violence, and moonshiners.  Oh the stories I have found in my family tree.  

What is so mysterious? Well, these parts are known for a group of people called the Melungeons who are supposedly a mix of European, African, and Native American heritage and much has been written about them and DNA studies have also tried to confirm their ethnic composition.  Was Melissa a Melungeon?  No, I do not believe she was as I have already identified some of her ancestors in my previous blogs and they don’t seem to be one of surnames often mentioned in Melungeon studies.  At any rate, I love this photo of Melissa as you can see dark hair and eyes that many of her descendants have inherited.  I also notice a long neck, and those hands!  I have these hands with the long slender fingers.  I study her face and wonder how she handled the many challenges of life during this time?  Her home would have no running water and would be heated with a wood stove. Luckily, these items were in abundance on the farm where she lived.  She would have also been responsible to cook and clean for a large family. 

She married James Sutton on March 2, 1847.  This union was blessed with 10 children so they had many farm hands to help out on the 200 acres on which they lived.  I am quite sure she was of the Baptist religion as many of my east Tennessee ancestors were members of this denomination.  Hopefully, she enjoyed life for the most part and dealt with strife as a peacemaker because East Tennessee would become divided during the Civil War and many years thereafter.  None of Melissa’s children were old enough to serve but she had at least two brothers who fought for the Union. Yet her own husband, James, entered the Confederate army but never served due to illness.  I believe this fueled some of the family feuds that are well known in the area.

Moving forward, I look at her face and wonder when was this photo taken. I believe it is several years after her husband died.  She is nearing the end of her life and was widowed around 1872.  I know this because she was listed as a widow in Peter Wolfe’s probate paperwork.  The probate paperwork also reveals that her mother had recently died.  A dark time for her but it appears that her son, McHenry Sutton, became the head of the household by 1880.  The household includes Melissa and his wife, Sarah Sutton (nee Wilburn), brothers – Peter, James, and Noah (my great-grandfather) – and his sister, Margaret.  I am hopeful that she was well taken care of toward the end of her life.  She was buried in the Wolfe Cemetery located in Hancock County near the Providence Baptist Church in the year 1888 (according to her Find A Grave memorial).  Perhaps she died before my great-grandfather’s friend and neighbor, John Barnard, shot Henley Sutton in 1889.  Henley lived nearby and was a nephew.  John Barnard was a cousin to my great-grandmother, Allie Epperson.  Oh, yes, I do have more stories to share and can’t wait until I travel to east Tennessee again so I can visit Melissa's grave. 

Week 3 #52Ancestors: Who is Peter Wolfe?

Who is Peter Wolfe? The one thing I know for sure is he isn’t related to the lead vocalist of the J. Geils Band – inside joke directed to my cousin, Greg Clark.  Besides having a cool name, he is one of the few east Tennessee ancestors that provided valuable documents that have helped in what I like to call the puzzle I am hoping to complete.  We aren’t talking a New York Times best seller but I will take what I can get -- a will dated February 20, 1867, an application for his service in the War of 1812 dated June 13, 1871, and probate records filed in Hancock county, court on December 7, 1872.

I love to dig into old documents as they paint a picture of our ancestors’ lives.  What can we glean from his documents?  In reading Peter’s pension application, we learn he married Margaret McDaniel and he was about 85 years old when he applied.  He served in Captain Joseph Rich’s company, 4^thRegiment of East Tennessee Militia, from November 13, 1814 to January 13, 1815.  Peter was awarded a pension of eight dollars per month. I wonder how much that would be equal to in this day and age? 

Tom Kanon of the Tennessee State Library and Archives created this summary on the regiment’s history:

This regiment, along with Colonel William Johnson's Third Regiment and Colonel Edwin Booth's Fifth Regiment, defended the lower section of the Mississippi Territory, particularly the vicinity of Mobile. They protected the region from possible Indian incursions and any British invasion. These regiments were under the command of Major General William Carroll. They manned the various forts that were located throughout the territory: Fort Claiborne, Fort Decatur, and Fort Montgomery, for example. Sickness was rampant in this regiment and the desertion rate was high. The regiment mustered in at Knoxville and was dismissed at Mobile.

Age seems to be a tough thing to nail down with some of the ancestors.  I say this because Peter’s census records indicate that he was born about 1786 in Virginia and that is 10 years younger than what is stated in his pension documents.  Another thing I learned from old tax documents is he was in Hawkins County, Tennessee as early as 1810 so I am leaning toward 1786 as being the correct birth year.  What else can we learn from the census records?  Well, Peter was a farmer that owned 50 acres of improved land and 150 acres of unimproved woodland.  I was thinking my one-acre is a lot to manage!  The farm had horses, oxen, milch cows, other cows, sheep and swine.  He raised Indian corn, oats, potatoes, and orchard products.  On the censuses from 1850 to 1870, Peter’s son named Philip is noted as “idiotic” by the enumerator.  You will learn more about Philip later.  The last census for Peter and Margaret is 1870. One thing about Margaret is she was only correctly identified on the 1870 census.  She is listed as Mary on 1850 and Martha on 1860.  Why would that be?  It could be that the enumerator for those years got his information from another source or a member of the household gave incorrect information.  Hopefully, Peter knew his wife’s name- ha! Yes, there are mistakes in these records. 

Onto an extract of Peter’s will:

“I direct that my funeral expenses and all my debts be paid as soon after my death as possible out of my moneys that I may die possessed of or may just come in to the hands of my executor.  Secondly, I give and bequeath to wife Margaret Wolfe and my son Philip Wolfe all the proceeds arising from all the lands that I die possessed of for their decent supports during the natural life of my wife.  Thirdly I bequeath to my son Philip Wolfe a decent support out of the proceeds arising from the lands that I may die possessed of after the death of my wife during his natural life.  Fourthly, I bequeath that at the death of my wife my son Philip have a good bed, and as bed clothing sufficient to make him comfortable.  Fifthly, I bequeath all my farming utensils my wagon, an ox cart, and all my personal property kept in the hands and out a doss be kept on the farm for the benefit of my wife during her natural life.  Sixly, I bequeath that Malissa Sutton and Barbary Caroline Jackson to have all equal parts with all of my lawful children.  Seventhly, my will and decree is that at the death of my wife, I want a reserve made of plenty of my land for the decent support of my son Philip and all the rest of my real estate and all my personal property sold and the moneys arising there from be equally divided between all my lawful children together with Malissa Sutton and Barbary Caroline Jackson.“ 

This was such a great discovery yet so frustrating to learn that Melissa was not Peter’s daughter. Another thing we learned is Philip Wolfe can’t possibly be the Phillip Wolfe who died in Ramona, California as some family trees indicate.  I’m still not quite sure who the parents of Barbary Caroline Jackson were but I believe she was a granddaughter to Peter and Margaret.

Moving forward to the probate documents that provide a wealth of information regarding Peter’s children:  Margaret Allen, a widow; Rosa Mills, a widow; Susan Haze, wife of William P. Haze; Nathaniel Wolfe; Elizabeth Mills, a widow; Mary Ann Mills, a widow; Catharine Jackson, wife of John Jackson; Jacob Wolfe; Philip Wolfe; Caroline Blake, wife of William Blake; Barbery Allen, wife of Thomas J. Allen; and Hannah Dalton, wife of C. C. Dalton.  The documents also indicate that Mary Mills and Jacob Wolfe are deceased so their proceeds will go to their heirs.  The legatees Malissa Sutton is widowed and Barbary Caroline Jackson is a minor without a general guardian.  

Some of the content in the depositions is entertaining.  There is mention of a horse to be given to Philip and whether they identified the correct horse.  It seemed to be a pretty serious focus for the court’s consideration.  Philip was also assigned a guardian since he was incapable of handling his business affairs.  A stepdaughter, Elizabeth Dalton, also asked to be reimbursed from the estate as she never received the sleigh she loaned to him for the benefit of her mother.  

Who was Elizabeth Dalton?  I believe she is the wife of Thomas Dalton.  They lived in Grainger County, Tennessee.  Despite having about 10 children, I can only find one death certificate for her daughter, Mary.  Mary’s death certificate lists her father as Thomas Dalton and mother as Bray.  Score!  This is a piece of the puzzle in proving my theory that Henry Bray, who died in 1827, is Melissa’s father.  Another takeaway from the probate documents is the mention of McHenry Bray.  He is heavily involved in the probate and eventually becomes Philip Wolfe’s guardian.   He may have been a part-time attorney but his occupation on the Hancock County, censuses is farmer.  I believe he is Melissa’s older brother so Elizabeth would be her sister.

That ends Peter’s story.  One thing I can say about this man is he had a generous heart.  He made sure to provide for the care of his intellectually disabled son and to provide something to his unlawful legatees who were entrusted to his care.

John McDonald/McDaniel Revolutionary War Soldier

Have you ever documented a line and published it on Ancestry for years only to one day discover newly published documents that upend your tree?  That's what happened to me when documents appeared on Fold3 for the Guion Miller Roll, 1906 - 1911.  My Sutton line has passed down stories that our line who settled in Claiborne county, Tennessee in the early 1800's were of Native American descent.  So when I saw that these documents were on Fold3, I started entering family names to see what would pop up.  My great-grandfather Noah's brother, John Greenlee Sutton, had applied along with some of my Lawson line.  I was intrigued so started reading through the pages and what did I see but that John named the parents of his mother, Melissa Sutton nee Wolfe, as Peter Wolfe and Margaret McDaniel.  Groan!  All that work on George Stumpy Wolfe and Margaret McCoy is now history.

Now my plan was to start researching Peter and learned that he was George's older brother.  Peter was not well researched so I began looking at the census records and old messages on the discussion forums.  I learned that his wife, Margaret McDaniel was most likely the daughter of John McDaniel (surname was actually McDonald) and Margaret Watkins.  Ha!  My mother's maiden name is Watkins.  I also learned that John had served in the Revolutionary War in North Carolina.  Although some trees show that John was born in Scotland, he states in his pension application that he was born in Virginia in the year 1741.

My cousin, David Brogan, summarized John's service from the application as follows:

On 12 Jun 1776 joined the Guilford County NC Regiment of Militia, the company of Capt. Arthur Forbes (Forbis) regiment of Col. James Martin brigade of Gen. Griffith Rutherford at Guilford Courthouse.  Was in the Cherokee Expedition of Aug to Nov 1776.  Burned thirty-five Indian towns and was in two or three Indian fights.  About 22 Oct 1776 was discharged.  Drafted again Aug 1780, under Capt. Arthur Forbes (Forbis) in the regiment of Col. John Paisley in the brigade of Gen. Davidson, later Gen. Greene and fought in the battle of Guilford Courthouse.  Mustered out Mar 1781.  Served in the neighborhood of Guilford until Sep 1781 guarding against Tories and Indians, with one encounter where four Tories were killed and two wounded.  After six months, his last service was with Capt. Conate?, Capt. Forbes (killed at the battle of Guilford 15 Mar 1781).  Was discharged by Col. Martin, perhaps in Nov 1781.

Could it be that my 2x's great-grandmother was the granddaughter to John?  Well, it did appear so because John's pension application is very long since he died during the application process on April 27, 1833.  His wife, Margaret, then began her application for a widow's pension so more information was provided including information about their marriage in Botetourt county, VA in 1788.  Unfortunately, Margaret also died during the application process on August 7, 1849.  Did the family throw in the towel?  No!  His son, James McDaniel, applied for the pension owed to his father and mother on behalf of the surviving children.  Paperwork continued to build in the file and named the surviving children as Mary Louderback, Nancy Jackson, Margaret Wolfe, and James McDaniel.  James also named his deceased siblings: John, David, Avery, Thomas, Edward, Elizabeth Coffee, and Katherine Taylor.  Finally a bill was sent to the House of Representatives on April 13, 1860 authorizing payment to the surviving children of John McDaniel in the sum of $452.

Now was this the end of my search on Peter Wolfe and Margaret McDaniel? Apparently not as I continued to dig into documents.  I ordered microfilm of probate records for Hancock county, Tennessee hoping to find documents on the death of my 2x's great-grandfather, James Sutton.  Instead I found Peter Wolfe's will and probate.  Another surprise for me.  Peter names his legatees and states that he wants Melissa Sutton and Barbary Caroline Jackson "to have all equal parts with all of my lawful children." What???

I began to dig again and what I have found was Peter and Margaret both had married after their spouses had died.  Although Peter's pension application for the War of 1812 states he married Margaret McDaniel on January 4, 1841, I know that it was most likely much earlier than that.  More research indicates that Margaret was most likely married to Henry Bray who died soon after his will was signed on May 11, 1827 (my 2x's great-grandmother was born on May 30, 1827 according to family records).  Henry Bray names his wife as Margaret but does not name his children. Sigh!  No proof but many clues are found.  For instance, Peter Wolfe's 1830 census in Hawkins county, TN shows 17 free white persons in the household of various ages.  Could be that two families were combined.  When looking at the census page, I see that John McDonough (aka McDaniel) is listed underneath Peter and John is followed by Benjamin Bray.  Benjamin Bray signed Henry Bray's will.  My 2x's great-grandmother named a son McHenry and there is a older McHenry Bray born in 1823 who is most likely a son to Henry and brother to Melissa.  Melissa also names a daughter Margaret.  I also have DNA matches to McDaniels, Brays, and Wolfes.  Why would I have DNA matches to Wolfes?  Because Peter Wolfe and Margaret McDaniel had several children during their marriage.

That ends my story on John McDonald/McDaniel so far.  I am in the process of applying to the DAR in hopes of honoring this line of my family.  It is not an easy process and if it doesn't get approved then I will grumble but know that I am 99% sure I have the right line this time.

Researching My East Tennessee Ancestors

This year I have decided to get really serious about genealogy and start the year with an application to the Daughers of the American Revolution (DAR).  My application will be for a Revolutionary War soldier is on my paternal line named John McDonald (aka McDaniel) who is my fourth great-grandfather.

My favorite phrase to say about my paternal line is, "the ancestors have been in the USA since dirt."  I get some perplexed looks when I say this (always with a laugh).  So to explain, watching the Ancestry DNA commercials with all the Ellis Island references doesn't apply to me.  I haven't even begun to jump the pond! What have I learned? It is important to validate the research of others and to blaze your own paper trail.  I have contributed to the errors which are now in many other trees by republishing information that I did not verify.  How can I remedy these errors?  Start a blog!

My grandfather, Lewis Sutton, died young in an oilfield accident in the Seminole oilfields of Oklahoma.  My father was ten years old at the time and didn't live near his grandparents who resided in Fannin county, Texas.  He always yearned to learn more about his Sutton line.  As a young man he asked his aunts for information and probably learned that some of the stories were not to be passed onto future generations.  He made a trip to Sneedville, Tennessee when he was older but only learned that this area wasn't tourist friendly as there was only one small motel and that he brought the wrong vehicle to try and drive on those back country roads.  During the 90's, a group of Sutton researchers contacted Dad about his connections to Hancock county, Tennessee and there was talk of publishing a book that would include each line but then this group fizzled.  Unfortunately, my dad became disenchanted with the challenges of genealogy research so I began to pick up the pieces with the knowledge that east Tennessee was home to his father's line.

After gathering some death certificates, writing a letter to my great-aunt, visiting a Family History Center, and reviewing Dad's information from his Sutton group research, I decided that this would have to be put on hiatus until I had some serious time to devote to this hobby and money!  Little did I know that the World Wide Web would launch a whole new world and that I could make all kinds of discoveries. I ran amok in this new digital world.  Soon I would join Ancestry.com and learn how to build a tree and collect and digitize documents.  I was in heaven.

People began to say that I should get serious and become a certified genealogist.  I began to wonder if that would be something I should consider.  I began to read about the requirements and understand that I needed to do much more than gather all these documents and republish information that I found on the web.  I needed to verify my research.  Groan!

So here I am, back to ordering microfilm and looking through unindexed digitized microfilm hoping to verify my east Tennessee ancestors.  What a tangled mess I see!