“12” is the topic this week so naturally this led me to my 3x’s great-grandfather, Thomas Sutton. What is his connection with 12? Thomas was born on March 12, 1799 and died on April 12, 1891 according to the Cemetery entry published in Hancock County Tennessee and Its People, Volume II, 1994. He has a solid paper trail beginning in Claiborne County, Tennessee in 1824 where 100 acres were purchased at the rate of twelve and a half cents per acre. The surveyor’s record, previously discovered by Jim Lawson, shows that Drury and Reuben Lawson were the chain carriers for his land that was located on both sides of the Powell River. Drury was the father of Thomas’ wife, Hannah, and Reuben was her brother.
Copy provided to my father by Charlie Sutton's research in the 90's in conjunction with Jim Lawson
Thomas purchased another 100 acres from his brother-in-law, Thomas Lawson, on March 27, 1851, and he and Hannah would live out the rest of their lives in Claiborne County. Their religious affiliation was Baptist as they are found in the church minutes of the Thompson Settlement Church located in Lee County, Virginia in 1838 and then in 1845 on the membership list of the Rob Camp Baptist Church in Claiborne County, Tennessee. Not much is known about Thomas and I have not discovered a picture of him but he was always enumerated on census records as being born in North Carolina. Contrary to popular belief, I believe it was Caswell County, North Carolina rather than a Cherokee reservation. I will hold off on the North Carolina connection for another story.
A deed was filed on May 12, 1870 for the transfer of his land to his daughters Matilda and Hannah, upon his death. I have often wondered what happened to the land. Matilda would marry Hugh Montgomery and move to Saline County, Missouri by 1880 and Hannah’s paper trail disappears after 1870. Thomas and his wife would outlive at six or more of their 10 children.
Just last week I stumbled upon another document that appeared in the Court Minutes for Claiborne County on October 6, 1884. I couldn’t believe what I was reading because Thomas was appointed as the “overseer of the Jonesville Road from Powells River to Hancock line.” I assume this is Jonesville in Lee County, Virginia and there is that connection once again to Lee County. I would love to see a map for 1884 of that road. Amazing given that he would be 85 years old and not in the best of health as the 1880 census indicates he is deaf and crippled.
I can’t complete this without discussing Native American stories that abound in the Sutton and Lawson lines. My father often said my Sutton ancestors were Cherokee and after doing a huge amount of research I see there is always some truth to the stories. The origin to this widely shared belief for my paternal line probably began when the U.S. Court of Claims ruled in favor of the Eastern Cherokee tribe against the U.S. government on May 18, 1905. This resulted in $1 million being appropriated to eligible individuals and families. Here is a notice that appeared in many newspapers:
Published in The Topeka Daily Capital (Topeka, Kansas) on September 3, 1906
About four years ago, I stumbled across the applications of several family members, who descend from Drury Lawson’s line, and they were all denied. These family members paid a fee to agents so they could apply for a share of this money. I am sure many individuals didn’t understand this was intended for Cherokees who could prove they were part of or descended from the “Ross Party” who were in the forced removal to Indian Territory (this would later become the present state of Oklahoma) that began in 1838 and was known as the “Trail of Tears.” In order to verify tribal enrollment and receive distribution of the funds, a list known as the Guion Miller Roll was created. A few descendents of Thomas Sutton’s line and Drury Lawson’s line did leave east Tennessee for Arkansas and Oklahoma much later than 1838 but they weren’t forcibly removed. We also have Native American cousins through a line that moved to Oklahoma. This was through my second great-uncle James Marshall Sutton who eventually moved to Park Hill, Oklahoma. This town was the center of Cherokee culture for many years. James’ son, Hubert, married Ada Rosser who was 1/4thCherokee and she appears on the Cherokee rolls beginning in 1898. So there you have it. We do have connections to Cherokees. By the way, I loved stumbling on the Eastern Cherokee application made by Thomas’ grandson, John, as he listed his mother’s parents so, even though the application was denied, it was a fantastic discovery that opened many doors in the family tree.
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division
Old Thomas, as many like to call him, is buried in Hancock county, Tennessee in the Sutton-Manning Cemetery. I visited this cemetery early one morning on my trip to Sneedville in 2013 to meet my Barnard kin and discuss the Sutton-Barnard family feud. You could hear the creaking of trees and the chatter of animals and birds. As I stood in awe on a narrow two-lane road, I decided to photograph the cemetery and was almost mowed over by a semi-truck! I amused myself thinking it was a Barnard relative who was after another Sutton.
Sutton-Manning Cemetery in Hancock County, Tennessee
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