Spencer Clack memorials by the Little Pigeon River - Sevierville Part 2

I drove west from Asheville NC to Tennessee, which is the other side of some old Appalachian Mountains...to Sevierville, and Knoxville.  Part of the trip was to meet my son and his family as they traveled perpendicular to my journey (Ohio to Florida) for their vacation on the beach.

So I had some time while they were held up in traffic in Kentucky and I stopped in Sevierville and drove around a bit.

There's I-40 at the top of the map, going south to north at this point, but I mainly traveled east to west.

I stopped at the Sevierville Visitor Center.  What a smart gal I am, and got some good maps showing where maybe Spencer Clack's grave was.  The clerk didn't know anything about the little park where the original log church had been and the grave marker for Spencer Clack still was.  But she knew there was a small park that was located by the river and a highway by-pass.  That sounded right to me, because I'd been zooming along that bypass and saw a sign about a cemetery when I went through the town about 25 years ago. It was on the left however!

Newer sign designating the Cemetery park on the by-pass.

And on Ancestry, Spencer Clack has 2 memorial sites with pictures.  So I hoped to see for myself!

Though there was a LOT of traffic, it kept moving and each stop light was given a number.  So I was going to light Number 15.6, turn up Main St. and pass the by-pass...and the pink area was the probably place of the park.  But it was still on the left side of a 5 lane highway.  So I played around with several more right and left turns in circles, and eventually was coming back down Main St. to turn right onto a little no-name street, and there it was!

 Bridge over the Little Pigeon River on other side of manicured park.

 I see the 4 markers at first...

And then notice more markers, this is a real cemetery!

Spencer Clack's marker, as it is in 2018.

The cemetery has been kept up, and someone has used Round Up around each marker to kill all the grass...but it's probably safer than using a weed-eater.  We just won't think of the run off into the river just yards away!

This shot is posted on Ancestry, supposedly a carving of Spencer Clack's face on the tombstone.  When I looked at the shards of the stone behind the broken vertical piece, they seemed to have various layers, as if it had been repaired with concrete and then broke apart.  But the face is definitely gone now.

The marker at the base was added by Joe Sharp, who requested it from the US Government to honor a Revolutionary War Hero.  (Joe Sharp was an active genealogist in Sevierville.) And  now I understand that Spencer Clack was in the Virginia Militia, rather than the Continental Army.

I don't know any dates he served in the military, and perhaps nobody does.  But he came across the mountains without benefit of the highway I just traveled, from Virginia into this area when it was wilderness. It is known that he was part of the group trying to form the State of Franklin out of the western wilds of North Carolina, but it didn't succeed, and eventually the western part of NC became Tennessee.  Spencer took part in that also.

This little pocket park tries to give a bit of memorial, though I couldn't read any of the other old stone's inscriptions, except 2 newer ones flat on the ground.  But there were good markers around the park to let me know what was there and why.

Spencer Clack was my 5 times great grandfather.  His daughter Catharine married Rev. Elijah Rogers, and their son Micajah moved his family to Texas in the early 1800s.

But back to the park...according to Ancestry, Mary Beavers Clack, Spencer's wife, is also buried in this cemetery.  But I didn't find a stone marker that was near him with her name, but it could have been any of them since names were illegible.

 Broken marker in foreground is Spencer Clack's.  The other marker doesn't say whose it is.

 Upon the park's rededication in 2009 more amenities and signs were added (by the Spencer Clack Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, and others)

A central flag pole with a circle of benches was added with dedication and appreciation of those who contributed to it.  Among the names, at the bottom is Joseph Sharp, who had worked to get Spencer Clack's newer marker installed.

I'll finish describing this little park in another post...it wasn't mobbed with people coming to see it...and with Pigeon Forge, Dollywood, and Gatlinburg right up the road, I wasn't surprised!

Sevierville, TN, Rogers family roots Part 1

I found the place where I think the Rogers family originally settled in Sevier County, Tennessee, before it even became a state.  Of course anyone who lives in Sevierville that's also a descendant of the Rev. Elijah Rogers family, may know much better than what I'm piecing together today.

The original Rogers land was at the junction of the French Broad River and the Little Pigeon River, in what is now Sevierville TN.

The Litte Pigeon River has several forks, so I used a Google map to find the island which had a cousin's name, McCroskey.  In the 1950s Joe Sharp (genealogist) let my grandfather, George Rogers, know that the original property was currently where a cousin McCroskey lived.

Google maps showed me McCroskey Island, and McCroskey Island Rd, but didn't say what was on the island.  A small mobile home park is on a loop of homes, but as I crossed the bridge to the island (above) I found bunch of industrial buildings.  There was a wide open gate, and no signs about not to enter, so I did.

 I drove past some guys standing in garage doorways, and I probably wasn't welcome here, but I just pretended to be a lost tourist, got to the French Broad River, took it's picture, and left.

And as I left McCroskey Island, I noticed two things, the pipe going across the bridge, and the smell. This was probably a sewage treatment plant!  What a laugh I had, at thinking this was the ancestral home.

I looked up on a hill and saw a large plantation style home, and will hope that this is where the McCroskeys and the Rogers lived...rather than the flood-prone island.  Of course with the dams that the TVA built, there are probably few floods these days.

Then I went searching for the graves...I'll continue this story soon.

More about Joe Sharp

I was telling a friend about my fun pursuit of finding the relationship of J. A. (Joe) Sharp to my grandfather, George Elmore Rogers, Sr.  They wrote a bit of correspondence (including Poppy's cousin Hayden Ross) in 1954.

But I forgot to see what his relationship with me would be.

I figured if Poppy and Joe had great grandparents in common, that would make them 3rd cousins...but where would I be?  Fortunately Ancestry gives a description of how people are my relations.  OK, first to mention that Joe was a generation level later than my grandfather, so there's that.

He's my 3rd cousin, twice (or 2x) removed. That's what they say.

I just spent a bit of time looking at his wife's family, which gets into mother-in-laws and step fathers...there were a couple of divorces and remarriages there.  Oh my, stretching the definitions of relationships on Ancestry!.  I wouldn't have done that if some of them hadn't lived in my current neighborhood of Asheville, NC, or where I'd lived back in the 90s in Knoxville TN.  So a couple of these relations of Joe Sharp's wife until the close to the same time I was there as a resident.

I think Mrs. Joe Sharp, (1911-1999) Dorothy Weatherly Sharp, was interesting.  Her father John Bruce Weatherly was listed as a physician (1886-1926).

Then as of 1920 the census has four daughters in the Weatherly family.  However by 1922 apparently Dr. Weatherly married another person in Pennsylvania.  And by 1925 Dorothy's mother married another man...so on the 1930 census the Weatherly girls have a step father.  But not only that, their father has died in North Carolina and then been buried in the Deep River Friends Cemetery in High Point NC, in 1926 at age 39.  His own father lived a year longer than he did.

Dorothy's mother lived to within a few months of 90 years old before dying in 1981 in Knoxville, TN.  But her mother's second husband is the one who lived in Asheville, named James Carlton English, (1890-1950) who was listed in the Asheville NC directory of 1929 as a salesman. He had fought in WW I, but moved around between Tennessee and various counties in North Carolina.  His death certificate said "No Permanent Address" in a government facility in Mountain Home, NC where he had resided for over 9 months in 1950.  Mountain Home is in Henderson County, just next to Buncombe County where I now live.

OK, I'm beginning to feel like a voyeur, looking at a mother-in-law of a third cousin twice removed!

I think I'll go back to look a bit closer at some of the Sevier County people (Mullendores, McCroskeys) which have been sitting on my tree for ages.  When I was searching for Joe I saw an interesting woman who had lots of photos of her and her family.  My voyeurism is alive and well!

Incidentally I looked up Voyeur...
Miriam Webster said this:

Definition of voyeur

1 : one obtaining sexual gratification from observing unsuspecting individuals who are partly undressed, naked, or engaged in sexual acts; broadly : one who habitually seeks sexual stimulation by visual means

2 : a prying observer who is usually seeking the sordid or the scandalous

So I guess I'm ok,  because I don't seek sexual titilation nor sordid or scandalous details. Whew!

How is a Sharp related to the Rogers?

Again searching for a connection to someone I know I'm related to.  This is getting to be a daily pursuit.  J. A. Sharp wrote my grandfather (and somewhere I have a copy of his letter), saying they were related through Mullendore and Rogers marriages.

And I do remember we just found a James Sharp married to one of Cynthia Cannon Rogers' sisters, Rebecca (see yesterday's post).

So I've looked at all the 13 children (well only the daughters actually) of Dialtha Rogers Mullendore and her husband John, to see if any married a Sharp.  Silly me, I will now go hunt up the letter.  I found nary a Sharp among them.

Mr. J. A. Sharp of Sevierville was interested in ancestry and history, so I should start with him.

OK, here's his letter to my grandfather's cousin, J. Hayden Ross of Houston in 1954.

All the hand-writing on this letter looks the same, so I think it was part of the original letter from J. A. Sharp.

My grandfather had been part of a Ross household at times as a boy, since he'd been orphaned at 2 years of age.  So his cousin Hayden Ross was someone who knew the history of the Rogers family, and whose mother had also been a Rogers, (sister to my grandfather's father, W. Sam Rogers.)

James Hayden Ross, 1880-1961

So the answer to my original question is that J. A. Sharp says he was a grandchild of the Mullendores branch of the Rogers lineage.  And that means I need to check each of the 13 children...having already looked at the 5 daughters, but not having looked to see which of any of the13 Mullendores had a daughter married a person named Sharp, in order to have J. A. as their child.  Oh my goodness, isn't genealogy fun?

I find it interesting that J. A. apparently didn't know about Rebecca, because he says he doesn't have any lineage including the Cannon family. But then a cousin who didn't live in the same community might have been totally unknown to him.

And since a genealogist of the 50's may not be around any more, I want to see if Mr. Sharp had children as well.

I'm off to see what I can see, hi ho, hi ho.

Mary Beavers Clack and her children

Mary Beavers Clack

1745–1840

BIRTH 12 JAN 1745 • Loudoun, Virginia

DEATH 14 AUG 1840 • Sevierville, Sevier, Tenn

There are always fewer documents about the early women ancestors.  It's just the way it was in a patriarchal society. Men made the documents which regarded legal doings, religious records, and even wars.

But it was always the women who gave birth to the next generations.  I've spoken of this before, so will just remind you now.

Marker at Forks of Little Pigeon cemetery, where Mary Beavers Clack was buried

Easy to miss park setting for Forks of Little Pigeon cemetery by the highway

Mrs. Clack's father came from a family which wasn't English or Scottish, and could have been French at one time, but was also probably from German areas as well.  They may have settled first in New Jersey, but some of them came to Virginia, the colony, and married some of the settlers there.  

They were calling themselves the Beavers family.  They may have been Biebers while in Germany, and deBeauviellers while in France.  But this seems a pretty shaky tree.

Her mother, Martha Cargill, was from a family from England however.

A few years ago I posted about Mary and her husband Spencer Clack HERE.

I mentioned yesterday that my Ancestry Tree has 14 children of Spencer and Mary Clack.  Someone (probably in the DAR) has said that there were definitely 7, and possibly 9 or 10.

So I've culled my list of aunts and uncles (great times 5) and kept them listed, but put parentheses around them with a "maybe son" or "maybe daughter" by their names.

How muddy the tree is (to mix metaphors a bit!) with added people that may not have even existed, or if there is any documentation, they've been shifted from their real family into another one.

Their oldest daughter, Martha "Patty" Clack Rogers, 1768–1867, married Josiah Rogers, 1766–1834.  Josiah Rogers was the brother of my 4th great grandfather, Rev. Elijah Rogers.

So she was my great aunt two directions...since Rev. Elijah married her sister, Catharine. (More in a minute, let's stay chronological with these children)

The next in order (who is confirmed as a Clack son) is Raleigh Robert "Rolly" Clack, 1772–1842. He married twice, having 12 children with his first wife, and 4 with his second (according to Ancestry)

Next is Sarah Clack Henderson, 1773-1859, who was mentioned in a land purchase, and this is the only reason we know she existed (but not who her parents were).  "1789, one Sarah Clack (b. c1773) married William Henderson in the "Forks of Little Pigeon," as shown by bounty land papers in the National Archives; they migrated to St. Louis County, Missouri, about 1840." 

Rhoda E. Clack Randles, 1776- 1850, was the next daughter born to the Clacks. She married James Randles.


Next is my 4th great grandmother, Catharine (Aunt Katy) Clack Rogers
1778–1850.  I have no idea who added all these extra names for her...probably descendent nephews and nieces! She married Rev. Elijah Rogers in 1794 in Sevierville, TN.

Micajah Clack is listed usually as having been born in 1780 and dying in 1781.  One tree says he was born in 1778. There's nothing to prove either way. "However, there is a well established tradition that there was a son, Micajah Clack, who was 'killed by lighting.'" 

Next comes Frances Clack Mynatt Gist, 1783–1855 who died in Knox County, TN. She married twice, and had children with her second husband.]

Next is Mary Sterling "Polly" Clack Miller, 1785-1860, who married William B. Miller (1781-?)

And youngest was Melvina/Levina Clack Beavers, 1788–1864 who married Major (his first name) Clack Beavers who was born on 24 JULY 1781 in Sevier County, Tennessee, and they both died in Talladega County, Ala.  I couldn't find the exact connection but her husband must have been in the same Beavers clan, probably a second cousin to his wife, Melvina Clack (who's mother was Mary Beavers Clack.)

Spencer Clack, Sevierville, TN founding father, Revolutionary veteran

Lt. Spencer Clack
See a post several years ago, which contains lots of quoted documentation about him Mary Beavers Clack, his wife, and his family. HERE.

The Spencer Clack Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution was organized May 23, 1928.  The origin of our chapter goes back to 1927 when plans were formulated by Mrs. Helen (Mack) Maples to organize a D.A.R. chapter in Sevierville, Tennessee.  Mrs. Maples succeeded in bringing together the first twelve women to form our chapter.  They all were direct descendants of Lt. Spencer Clack, the great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Maples.   The twelve organizing members were: Mrs. Sallie Massey,  Mrs. Beulah Pack, Mrs. Juanita Paine, Mrs. Annie McMahan, Mrs. Sallie Houk, Mrs. Ola Hatcher, Mrs. Robbit Blair, Mrs. Rose Emert, Mrs. Grace Long Bowers, Miss Carrie B. McBee, Miss Joyce Bowers, and Mrs. Helen Maples.  

Lieutenant Spencer Clack was a revolutionary soldier from the state of Virginia.  After the war, he relocated and settled in what is now known as the city of Sevierville, in Sevier County, Tennessee.  He played a prominent role in the history and development of Sevier County and the State of Tennessee.  He served in the first constitutional convention of Tennessee.   He also served in the lower house of the first Tennessee State General Assembly and served one term in the State Senate.  He helped organize and was very active in the first Baptist church to be established in Sevierville and he gave the land for the first cemetery in the town.  He and other prominent citizens of pioneer Sevierville were  buried in that cemetery.  Only a small portion of the cemetery remains today.  It was established as Cemetery Park in 1976. 

Spencer Clack died in Sevier County on July 9, 1832, at the age of 86 years. 

Source: http://www.tndar.org/~spencerclack/spencerclackhistory.html

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This monument is on the grounds of the Sevier County Courthouse in Sevierville, TN. It reads:

 

1740-1832

Hon. Lieut. Spencer Clack

Pioneer Settler of Sevier Co.

Named Sevier Co. for his friend

the Great

John Sevier

Member Convention 1793

Member Legislature 1801

Served under Gen. Washington

in Revolutionary War

Erected by the Spencer Clack Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1931

Unveiling of Spencer Clack memorial plaque 1931, Court House grounds, Sevierville, TN, by DAR

---------------------------

Occupation: Carpenter and Mill Owner 

Occupation: BET 1796 AND 1802 Served several terms in Legislature 

Spencer Clack was prominent in the affairs of the Forks-of-Little Pigeon (Sevierville) Baptist Church from the time of its formation in 1789 until his death. For many years he served as church clerk. In addition to his church activities he was interested in education and politics. He was an early trustee of Nancy Academy, Sevier County’s first school and gave money for its support. He was one of the five Sevier County delegates to the Knoxville convention of 1796, which drafted and adopted Tennessee’s first constitution and he was a signer of that document. He also represented Sevier County in the lower house of the first three Tennessee legislatures, 1796-1802, and in 1801 he served on the legislative committee “to prepare a device and motto” for the Great Seal of Tennessee.

Source: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=chistory&id=I06012

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CONVENTION OF TENNESSEE MEETS AT KNOXVILLE.

From the County of Sevier—Peter Bryan, Samuel Wear, Spencer Clack, Jack Clack, Thomas Buckingham. 

January 1796

Knoxville, Tennessee

One of a delegation of "five members" elected to represent his county in a convention called by Governor Blount to formulate the first constitution for the government of the new State of Tennessee.

Ramsey's Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century (1853)[Ramsey's Annals Home]  -  Chapter VIII: The State of Tennessee - Page 651

651

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Spencer Clack was the oldest of 7 children who lived their youth in Brunswick County, VA.  They apparently all lived to adulthood.  

He married Mary Beavers on Nov. 2, 1766 when he was 20 and she was 21, in Loudoun County, VA.  They were my 5th great grandparents.

He died in Sevier County, TN, in 1830 or 32, age 84 or 86, and was buried by the little Baptist church called the Forks of The Little Pigeon River.  There is a park there now, beside a highway.  The church is long gone, and the descendants of those who were buried there have made memorial plaques for those that they know of.

Mary Beavers Clack received widows' pensions from his (Sterling Clack's) fighting in the Revolutionary War (payments from 1836-1848.)  She lived until 1840 herself, dying at about 95 years of age. She was buried original beside Spencer, but her headstone has been lost through the years.

The Clacks had at least 14 children by the current Ancestry records.  But according to early DAR records, there were only 9 at most.  So I'm agreeing (for now) that several of these people weren't their children.

Their daughter Katharine Clack married Elijah Rogers, and they were my 4th great grandparents on the George Rogers Family Tree.  Some other descendants have added Beulah to her name, making it Beulah Catherine Clack.  The spelling of "Katharine" is how it appeared in the Rogers Family Bible as transcribed by my grandfather, George Rogers.

J. A. Sharp's request for a headstone for Spencer Clack from the government in 1958

The new marker which is situated right in front of the remains of the original marker.

Grave Markers in the Forks of The River Cemetery in 1950s then in 1980s. Publication "Clack and Kindred Souls, As the Crow Flies," by Rawleigh Clack

Carved likeness of Spencer Clack in his original headstone.

Broken headstone and newer marker for Spencer Clack.

The third First Baptist church building that replaced earlier log ones,  built 1876

When the First Baptist church of Sevierville moved into a new home in 1926, this building was demolished and the brick used for a home,