Some of the history of Logan's Chapel, Blount County, "Haggard Place" TN

James Lucian McCamy was Ida Mullendore's husband (I spoke about her yesterday.)

On the listing for his burial in 1915, his occupation is given as postman.  Ida continued to list herself as his widow in several city Directories, including children.

This quote contains "Parts of Memorial Day Talk made by James Lucian McCamy at Logan's Chapel May 20, 1911" (edited to include ancestors and McCamy information)

Logan's Chapel, Haggard Place, Tennessee (Posted to Ancestry by "MMD1969" on Jan 11, 2008

"Today we want to turn the pages of time back one hudred years and see who lived in and went to make up this neighborhood. But who were they? Who lived here? Well there were the Logans, the Kennedys, the Stones, the Kinnamans, the Duncans, the McCamys, the Cavins, the Greens, the Hafleys, the Shavers, the Davis's, the Kidds, the Newmans, the Julians, the Brakebills, the Dupe's, the Mayes's, the Martins, the Adneys, the Reeders, the Plumlees, the Porters, the Wolfs, the Wheelers, the Vineyards, the Covingtons, at Haggard Place.

"George and Rebecca Julian lived where Jas. McCamy now lives . They reared a family there; Isham, the eldest son became a Methodist Minister and lived at the old Allen Strick or Garner place just across the river from where Andy Davis now lives; leaving there he settled in Bradley County where he lived and preached until he became so old and feeble he would have to sit down and preach; finally dyng at the advance age of 88. His father and mother died just 15 days apart. George on Feb. 5 1845, and Rebecca on Feb. 20 1845, with a disease called Black Tongue. Their remains rest just back of this church in that little stone house. The date of their birth could not be obtained and does not appear on the slab at their heads. Neither do we know just when they came here, but it was as far back as 1820 and perhaps further. Their descendants are all gone except the great grand children descending from the marriage of their daughter Sallie to James McCamy, but Bradley County is full of them."

"We do not know when the Martins came from Virginia here, but they were among the first settlers of this country. Warner Martin and his wife Martha, or Patty as she was called, first settled at the Wm. Hall place or where Jno. Adney now lives. He built the first mill in this whole country, and it ground only corn. It stood just below the ford of the branch at his home. Some of the old beams with their logs castings were there as late as 1865. There they reared a family of four boys that we know of. They were Peter, Joshua, John and Leonard. These boys were sent to West Point to college and educated, three of them made lawyers and Jno. made a farmer and miller. The lawyers went early in life to Alabama where they plied their profession and where they dies. One being a judge who dropped dead on the bench after pronouncing the sentence of death on a fellow man but a murderer. John, with his father entered the entire valley around them, making in all 1410 acres of land which was very fertile and which had a very fine growth of timber on it. John married Sarah Swan whose mother was a Buckingham, and he built down the creek where Willie DeLozier now lives. This house was built half at a time, the first half about the year 1806. Their first child Warner was born 1808. William in 1810 then Henry and Leonard and John Frank, Lucian, seven boys and four girls Maria, Martha, Lizzie and Sarah; of these only Jno., Jr. made a farmer. Wm. Henry and Leonard read Law, while Frank made a wanderer. Lucian died at the age of 21. John married Isabella Porter, daughter of Capt. Jas. Porter and had two girls, Florence and Frankie; the latter died when only a child while Florence married Wm. A. Coulter but dies without any children. Warner Sr. died and was buried at Eusebia because that was the only church and burying ground in this country. His widow lived at the old home alone with her 30 odd negroes until she was old. Then went to her sons in Alabama where she died. That branch, I suppose, is still called the old Patty Martin branch. Patty was a member of the Eusebia church, and used to take her little granddaughter, John's Martha, behind her on a horse and ride to church every preaching Sunday, a distance of five miles. That little Martha was my mother (Elijah Roger McCamy's grandmother) and would have been 93 years old had she lived until now, being born in 1818. But she died in 1899. She wasburied here where she had lived nearly all her life. John built a modern mill a few hundred yards above where the present Sanderson Mill now stands. This mill ground wheat as well as corn, and also had a saw mill attached. Of course it was a sash saw which worked up and down, the circular saw being of modern times. John Sr. died about the time the last half of his house was built which was about 1835. His widow remained there until the close of the Civil War when she sold to Thos. Sanderson in 1866 and went to Alabama where several of her children had preceded her. There she died and was buried. The only representatives of that large family left in this neighborhood is Mrs. Sallie McBath, and the only ones in Tenn. aside from Mrs. McBath is her nrother Jas. L. McCamy (father of Elijah Rogers McCamy) and Mrs. Jno. E. Hood of Knoxville, who was a granddaughter of William. Jno. Jr. and his family are buried here, and Tho. Sr. at Eusebia. After Jno. Jr. died, which was in 1861, his widow married Geo. W. Henry, and reared three boys, Chas. Geo. R. and Willie. Chas. & Wille died just as they were reaching manhood, leaving only Geo. R. or Tobe as he is called, to represent the Porters and the Henrys. Tobe owns both Homesteads. That is, the Jno. C. Martin place and the Capt. Jas. Porter place, but lives in Maryville.

Thos. Sanderson was an Englishman and reared four children. Edward who is in the West.Barbara married Jno. Cunningham and dies  in Kansas recently. Annie married Geo. Brakebille and is the only one left in this neighborhood. Nellie married Lee McCampbell and lives in Knoxville. Mr. Sanderson and his wife died at Little River Station on the K. & A. R. R. and are buried in Knoxville. He sold the mill property to Mr. Beeson who diesd there as did his wife, and both are buried here. Their children have all gone.....

Wm. and Mary McCamy kept a public house and stock lot at what is now the Roex or Barbson ford of Little River. People traveled by wagon and on horse-back; they also drove horses and mules south and hence the necessity of stopping places. They settled there about the year 1820, reared a family of 7 boys and 1 girl. The boys were John, Tim, Jas., Robt, Sam Arthur, and Major. Jane was the girl. Jas. (Elijah Rogers McCamy's great grandad) married Sarah Julian and Robt. married her twin sister Martha. Jas. became owner of the old home and reared a family of 4 boys and 6 girls. The boys were Wm. Samuel (E.R's Grandady) Robt., and Jas. H. The girls were Rebecca, Martha, Sarah Ann, Neoma and Sophronia, twins, and Narcissa.  Wm. and Robt. still live in Murray Co. Ga., Wm. being 87 years old. Martha, Mrs. Dr. Morton and Narcissa live in Knoxville while Sophronia lives in Texas. All the others are dead. John married Elizabeth Shaver and made his home at the old Julian place where his eldest son Jas. still lives. All the other children, numbering in all, 6, are dead except Wm. who lives near Chattanooga, and Lizzie has been an inmate in Lyon's View asylum for 23 years. All the other McCamy's went south, maily to Georgia and there are only left in this neighborhood Jas (E.R's father) son of Samuel, and Mrs. Sallie McBath to represent those several large families. Rebecca married Josias Gamble and left three boys and four girls, all living in or near Maryville. The boys are Alex, Dr. Andy and Hon. Moses. Mrs. Dr. McTeer of Maryville is a daughter of Martha Morton. Samuel (E.R's grandaddy) married Martha Martin and lived on a part of the old Martin Farm where Has. Harris now lives until he dies in 1864 leaving a widow and 2 children, Jas. (E.R's dad) of Knoxville and Mrs. Sallie McBath of Bank.

If you know of anyone who came from these roots, they might like to know what Mr. McCamy had to say about them...though of course it's not documented proof that these are correct.

I am amused that I said these are not documented proof, because when I look at the parents of James Lucian, the Ancestry trees have a couple of choices.  The Samuel and Martha that are mentioned in the last paragraph by J. L. at the 1911 Memorial Day service at Logan's Chapel abovve, are not in agreement with other trees.  

But I'm not going to go chasing further on this quest.  I want to go back to (Elijah) Rogers McCamy, who had 2 children in Dallas Texas just around the same time I was born.  So there are some dangling ancestors here.  After all, J.L. was the husband of my 2nd cousin, 3 times removed! 

 I tend to think there are some discrepancies in the account given above, but perhaps it's because J. L speaks of himself in the last line as one of two children (E.R.'s dad) left with widow of Samuel when he died in 1864.  But why would he speak of anyone incorrectly?

The whole speech and article are also included now in my Ancestry tree.  http://www.tngenweb.org/blount/1911-history-of-logan%e2%80%99s-chapel/

 

Some of the Mullendores and "Rogers" McCamy

Ida Winfield Mullendore McCamy  1869–1951

Birth 20 SEP 1869 • Tennessee, United States

Death 15 FEB 1951 • Potter, Texas,  My 2nd cousin 3 times removed.

I'm struck by this photo that was included in her Ancestry site.

 

Annie Mullendore (never married), Ida Mullendore McCamy, (Elijah) Rogers McCamy. Annie did list herself as a dressmaker in one cite, and it seems she really did look as if she could make beautiful clothes.

 I've greatly enjoyed reading about these cousins on Ancestry.  Elijah went by the name of "Rogers" and he and his wife wrote letters to his mother, Ida.  There are many of them posted on the site of their family, and I just took the time to read through them.  They are so poignant and intimate, that I was sorry when there were no more.  It is a great look at 10 years of correspondence telling about their lives.  

I'm tempted to focus upon just the facts, the bare bones of a person's life.  But when there is love shining forth, I tend to want to share that. 

Ida M will be my focus for today.

She was the 4th of 7 children born to my first cousin 3 times removed, Dr.  Elijah Leonidas Mullendore (1835-1907) and his wife, Anne Elizabeth Trundle Mullendore (1842-1891). 

Dr. Elijah was the son of Dialtha Perry Rogers Mullendore (1810-1884). Dialtha was my great times 4 aunt, sister of Micajah Clack Rogers (1795-1873), my great times 3 grandfather.  (Isn't it fun that she's a 4 times great and he's only 3? That's because grandfathers are the same level as great aunts!)

OK, I'll get serious again.

She was born in Sevier County, TN, lived in Blount County TN, and Knox County TN, all of whilch are in east Tennessee.  She also lived in Maryland for a while, and Texas.  But when she died at 81 in Texas while living with her youngest son, she was buried back in Knox County, TN.

She married at 18, in 1888 to James Lucian McCamy (1857-1915). And they had 6 children, one of whom was stilborn and one who died at age 8. Their youngest, Elijah Rogers McCamy was just 5 when his mother became a widow. 

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!

Joe "J. A." Sharp has a family again

Continuing on the trail to find cousin Sharp, among the first generation of 13 children, they mostly married and had children...fortunately not quite as many as their parents.  But I'm looking for Dialtha Rogers Mullendore's grandson J. A. Sharp, so now I have to check each of the children's children.  I've been hours plugging away.

1. Oldest Mullendore son, Abraham had 8 children, but only 4 were girls, and none married anyone named Sharp.  I'm skipping much of the information that Ancestry provided...after all, I want to find this today!

2. Mary Amanda Mullendore Brown had 3 children, the oldest daughter never married, and her second daughter has only a birth and death date without any census records even in her 80 years...strange.

3. Dr. Elijah Leonidas Mullendore had 7 offspring, 5 of whom were female.  and none married a person named Sharp.

4. Robert Bruce Mullendore, unmarried.

5. Suzanne (Kate) Katherine Mullendore Montgomery, who had 9 children, but only 3 were female.  So I'll check them out to see if anyone married a person named Sharp.  I must admit I'm miffed at this point because Ancestry is doing some kind of upgrade, which means I can't get the information on other people's trees about my ancestors to download.  I called them, and the assistant did not do anything, but it started to work on my 5th try.  Then a couple of people later, and when I wanted to add children to a person's site, it started asking me for their emails instead of their date of death.  I kid you not!  So with a grain of patience, I'll continue to look for J. A. Sharp's parents.

Her first daughter Mary Amanda Montgomery married an Enloe.
But her second daughter, Alice Dialtha Montgomery married Walter Alexander Sharp.

See that didn't take a lifetime, after all!  There were all those more Mullendore children which I now don't have to check out!  When I spoke to the Ancestry representative, I told her I was just trying to find out where a cousin was connected to my line.  I also emphasized that I am on Ancestry at least 5 hours a day (probably closer to 8) and have been adding cousins daily, through the hint process.  It was to clarify that I knew what I was doing.  Then I thought, I guess I add about 20 new relatives an hour...so that's close to a hundred a day.  Whew.

J. A. was also Joseph Alexander Sharp, with a nickname of Joe.  Born "about 1904 in Tennessee" (that's actually what it says on Ancestry about a man who did genealogy research!) and died 26 June 1971 in Sevierville, TN.

That makes me think that he wasn't a serious genealogist, but did claim to have various papers that would be of interest to family members who were serious genealogists! But wait, he was known as a Sevier County historian! So maybe he intentionally hid his origins from Ancestry! I've had that mood many a time when dealing with them!

From a story (submitted to Ancestry):

Born Aug. 9, 1903, in the Pine Grove Community, Joseph Alexander “Joe” Sharp was one of three children of Walter Alexander Sharp and Alice Montgomery Sharp. Along with his sister, Katherine, and his brother, Grady, he attended Pine Grove School and graduated from Murphy College.

[he was]...officially appointed Sevier County historian in 1950...He served a term as president of the East Tennessee Historical Society, served as chairman of the Sevier County Democratic Party, and served as secretary of the Shiloh Memorial Cemetery Association.

The historical markers situated at roadsides and in fields throughout Sevier County are the work of Joe Sharp. He was commissioned by the state of Tennessee to research and direct in placing the markers.

The Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection at the East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville and the Rel and Wilma Maples History Center at the King Family Library in Sevierville both contain a valuable collection of articles written by Joe Sharp, which are available for research. His collection at the King Family Library contains 18 roles of microfilm.

In June 1932, he married Dorothy Weatherly, whom he met while they were attending Maryville College. They moved to Covington, Tenn., where he was teaching history.

Their children, David and Mary Jean, attended Sevierville Elementary School and Sevier County High School...[and went on to obtain higher degrees as well.]  

Since David and Mary Jean Sharp are still alive, their details aren't public knowledge on Ancestry.

 On Saturday morning, June 26, 1971, Joe Sharp died suddenly as a result of a heart attack. He was 67. His unexpected death brought an abrupt end to an unparalleled research effort on the history of Sevier County and its citizens.

Authored by:
Carroll Mcmahon, the special projects facilitator for the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce and Sevier County historian.  


So that gives me a better sense of a man who taught history for many years, then after retiring he spent a lot of time weaving the events of ancestors to the place where he lived.  I take back my impression that he might not have known what a legitimate researcher would know.

He actually had a "delayed birth certificate" made in 1954, based on his father's statement and the Family Bible. I wonder if any of the other Sharps had written records of their births.  These were mountain people, and to hear that he went to college says that education was more important to his family than to many other people in the 1930s.  He also worked to put himself through college.

I am glad to have some cousins that are related to this man.

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.

The answer to my quest

Who was the McCroskey who married a Rogers?  Or maybe someone who was a descendant of a Rogers?

I just looked at the names of 37 McCrosekeys on my Ancestry tree...none married to Rogers. I do add the married name for women as well as their maiden names, whenever I can.  That way at least I know where they went in their lives.  It doesn't work that way for men, so I can look to see if any of these men married a Rogers descendant.  That won't take too long.  (You've heard that before, haven't you?)

OK, my first task was including the 5 people whose names were spelled wrong, with a space between the "Mc" and the "Croskey".  While doing that I added about 20 more people.  I have no idea why these people were added several (maybe 5 times) because most of them were siblings with the same parents.  I just was focused on the Rogers connection.

And the fifth Mc (space) Croskey was Elizabeth Clack.  That's a great clue, because Spencer Clack was a Rogers ancestor.  So I went over the the Rogers list, and sure enough Elizabeth Clack Rogers married David McCroskey.  Yay me.

A portrait found attached to Elizabeth Clack Rodgers on Ancestry (many people's names were spelled several ways at that time)

Time frame?
Elizabeth Clack Rogers (1805-1860) b. in Sevier County, TN
m. 1828
to David McCroskey (1805-1885)

And who were Elizabeth Rogers McCroskey's parents?

Same ones as Micajah Clack Rogers...namely,
Rev. Elijah Rogers (1774-1841)
m. 1794
to Catharine Clack Rogers (1778-1850)

The McCroskey family called her Beulah "Aunt Katy" Rogers...how that came from Catharine Clack Rogers, I don't really understand, but that's what they've put on the markers about her.  The Rogers Family Bible doesn't have Beulah Aunt Katy as part of her name.

But now I know why I knew of that name!  And my next project will be to reduce the numbers of McCroskeys on my tree by merging the duplicates.  It's a good thing its a rainy night in North Carolina while I do this.  I also have a lot of photos to scan, so I don't want to take too long doing this!

The laugh's on me, and Ancestry of course

You have heard the phrase ROTFL? It's rolling on the floor laughing.  I only learned a few of these acronyms that are used in texting.
Today I had to roll (virtually) all over the floor, just tickled to the n'th degree.

I was looking at some cousins that were descendents of the Cannon siblings.  I had not checked to see how a McCrosky might connect to the Rogers (which I vaguely remembered) because that family already lived in the Sevier County TN area.  To find the name on a tree with the Cannons wasn't too surprising.

But there were all these other family names also, Houston for one.  First I traced back a few generations, not paying much attention to the Houstons.  I was looking for Rogers, after all.  Then I found a Rev. Houston and his wife Mary McCroskey Houston, who said they were the parents of not only Major. Samuel Houston, but also General Samuel Houston who died in Huntsville Texas.

I happen to know about General Sam because he's buried in the same cemetery as Cyntha Cannon Rogers and Micajah Rogers in Huntsville TX, as well as having been President of the Republic of Texas.  But then I looked a bit closer at his dates.

If those Houstons were his parents, his mother would have been 65 years old.  A good laugh there.

And then there were 2 sons of the same name, one of whom had been born within the mother's normal age to bear children.  So I check out Sam number one, and he was indeed the father of General Sam Houston of Texas fame.

But it got even funnier (or sadder if you wanted to be related to him) in that General Sam's father's parents weren't the same ones I'd started with in the first place.

So I'm tickled...and not worried.  And will start with the McCroskeys of Sevier County and go forward from there...and see if they connect to my Rogers roots that way rather than the other way.

And maybe I'll find out we really are cousins with the General.  Or not...