On to Marion County, Tennessee

Special thanks to Ida Smith and the Marion County Tennessee History & Genealogy website, for their research assistance in completing this post.

Hinchea Gilliam (1775-1858) was born in Sussex County, Virginia in 1775, one of the sixth generation of Gilliams in North America, and the sixth of John Gilliam’s (1745-1825) nine children. He would be the last in our line of our direct ancestors to be born in Virginia. 

As discussed in the previous blog post, Next Stop: Tennessee, Hinchea’s father, John, moved from the James River Basin in Virginia about the time he obtained his land grant in Hawkins County, Tennessee in 1791. As Hinchea would have been approximately 16 years old at the time, he likely moved to Hawkins County with his father. At the time of the move, Hawkins County would have been considered to be the frontier west of the State of North Carolina that would become a part of  the State of Tennessee in 1796. Further details about the location of the family property in Hawkins County can be found in that post.

Marriage and birth records are difficult to find, but we believe Hinchea married Mary Neelly (some genealogists spelled her surname Neally or Neely) in 1797 in Hawkins County. By our best estimate, all of their children, John (1799), William (1801), Isham (1802), Joseph (1805), Thomas (1808), Lemuel (1811), Frances (1812), Mary (1814), Wiley (1817), Hardy (1818), and Elizabeth (1822), are born in Hawkins County, Tennessee.

In 1807, Hinchea’s father, John, left Hawkins County and settled in Franklin/Coffee County, Tennessee. Hinchea’s sister Frances (with her husband John DeLoach), brother Thomas (and his wife Elizabeth) and brother Lemuel all moved to Franklin/Coffee County with John. As Tennessee Early Tax Records from 1810 lists Hinchea as a taxpayer for Hawkins County, we are confident Hinchea stayed behind.

Tennessee participated in its first federal census in 1830. Only the head of household was listed by name in that early census form; all other members of the household are identified by sex and age range. Based on the entry in the 1830 census, it is believed Hinchea’s wife Mary is five to ten years younger than Hinchea.

Hinchea and Mary are listed as residents of Hawkins County, Tennessee in the 1830 census. Because their household of four males and four females under 20 doesn’t quite match ages of Hinchea’s children in 1830, we think it is possible Hinchea and Mary may have been joined in the household by their adult daughter Frances, with her spouse and children.

The 1830 Hawkins County census also lists Hinchea’s sons John (age 31) and Joseph (age 25) and their families in separate households. By this time, their son William (age 29) has moved away as he is listed in the 1830 census for Lincoln County, Tennessee (west of Marion and Franklin Counties).

The 1830 census gives us a bit of foreshadowing of Hinchea’s move a few years later. His son Isham (approximately 28) has moved to Marion County, Tennessee. His 1830 census entry indicates he is sharing his Marion County household with one other male 20-30. According to The Story of Marion County Its People and Places, Hinchea's son Thomas (then age 22) moved to Marion County about 1829 and lived with Isham for some time, leading us to conclude he is the adult male sharing the household in the census. Hinchea’s nephew, James Klepper (son of Temperance Gilliam Klepper) is also listed in the 1830 Marion County Census, in a household consisting of his wife and 11 children. John Nixon, Hardy Gilliam’s future father-in-law, is also listed in the 1830 Marion County census.

According to Goodspeed’s Compendium of Biography, in 1832, Hinchea (at about age 57) moved to Marion County, Tennessee (located in southeastern Tennessee near Alabama-Georgia border, just west of the city of Chattanooga) and is joined by son Joseph two years later. Because Mary, Wiley, Hardy and Elizabeth were all unmarried minors, they likely moved to Marion County at that time also. We are unable to locate her death record, but believe it is possible Hinchea’s wife, Mary Neelly Gilliam died about this time, thus precipitating the move. This move occurred six or seven years after Hinchea's father, John, died in 1825 or 1826.

We believe that before the 1840 census, Hinchea married another Mary (widow Mary Enochs Glascock). Because the census lists one male and one female, both in the 60-69 age range, we believe his second wife was closer in age to Hinchea than his first wife, Mary Neelly. In addition, their census indicates their 1840 household contains one male 5-9 and one male 20-29 (possibly Hinchea's son Wiley, or Mary's son, Elijah Glascock).

That 1840 census indicates that nearly all his family has joined him in Marion County by that time. Sons Isham (in a household of one male, one female 30-40; one male 15-20; one female 10-15; one male 5-10; two females 0-5), Joseph (one male and one female 30-40; one female 10-15; one male 5-10; one male 0-5), Thomas (one male aged 80-90; one male 30-40; two males 15-20; one female 5-10; one male and one female under 5) and Lemuel (one male and one female 30-40; one male and one female 0-5) all live in separate Marion County households with their families. Hardy is also in Marion County; his separate household consists of himself and one other male 20-30 (possibly Wiley), and his wife Jane Nixon Gilliam. John Nixon, Hardy’s father-in-law, is also listed in the Marion County census, living alone. Hinchea's daughter Mary has married Chrisly Melton by this time and is also listed in the Marion County census with their two children.

By the 1850 census, Hinchea and wife, Mary, are joined in their household by thirty-year-old “Elizabeth” and her sons Francis (age 9) and William, (7). We do not know who this Elizabeth is for sure, but it is doubtful it is Hinchea’s daughter of the same name. Hinchea’s census record is dated October 28, 1850. Hinchea’s daughter Elizabeth is listed in the September 5, 1850 census for Barry County, Missouri. She had no son Francis and her son William is listed as age 4 in the Missouri census. Based on these clues, the Elizabeth in Hinchea’s household may be his grand-daughter or a daughter or daughter-in-law of Hinchea's second wife, Mary.

Additional members of Hinchea’s family are listed in the 1850 Marion County census. Hinchea’s brother Lemuel is in Marion County; his household consists of his wife, Sarah, sons Pleasant and Lemuel and daughter Mary. Hinchea’s sons Isham, Joseph, Thomas and Lemuel are all still in Marion County in separate households, as is son Hardy, whose household now includes his father-in-law John Nixon. Son William may be deceased by this time, as his youngest sons, Harry and Joseph, are listed in the Marion County household of William’s oldest son Isham. Daughter Mary remains in Marion County at this time, but would move to Jackson, Alabama by 1860.

The census records from 1850 indicate Hinchea's son John was still in Hawkins County. Daughter Frances Gilliam Tyra and her family are in Mississippi. Son Wiley had moved to Carroll County, Arkansas. Daughter Elizabeth Gilliam Ferguson had moved to Barry County, Missouri.

In the previous blog post, we were able to locate with some precision where Hinchea’s father John’s Hawkins and Franklin County farms were located based on the description in the land grants and subsequent mapping. We are not lucky enough to have those types of records to locate Hinchea’s Marion County property, but we think we can get fairly close. 

The 1850 census records Hinchea as a resident of “District 6” in Marion County. At least one census map (shown below) indicates District 6 is in the extreme southeastern corner of Marion County, west of, and across the Tennessee River from  Lookout Mountain. However, Goodspeed’s Compendium of Biography may give us better clues. 




Goodspeed’s was a “yearbook” of sorts that published short biographical pieces of prominent local residents. The piece at the link below is the Goodspeed's biography of John E. Gilliam, one of Hinchea’s grandsons.

The Goodspeed’s entry states “Hincha Gilliam moved to Tennessee and settled on the farm now occupied by our subject (Hinchea’s grandson John E. Gilliam) in the year 1832 and made that his home until his death.” Goodspeed’s also tells us “Joseph Gilliam, our subject’s father, moved to Tennessee and located on his father’s farm in 1834, a short time before our subject was born.”

Speaking now of grandson John E. Gilliam, Goodspeed’s tells us that “After his marriage, our subject lived for a few years about four miles above his present home, and then returned to the farm on which he was born and has since made that his home."

John E. Gilliam married Samantha Hise in 1857. Their census records from 1860, 1870 and 1880 all indicate they are living in District 10 of Marion County. The census map above indicates District 10 lies along Battle Creek, north of the Tennessee River. 

The screenshot below is of an 1863 Civil War map entitled "Jasper and Vicinity" created by the Union Army which depicts some of the area farms, including the "Gillem" farm identified on Battle Creek.




Current maps continue to identify the area with Gilliam landmarks, as shown in the enlargement of the US Geologic Survey map below




In the valley where Battle Creek runs, you will find Gilliam Cemetery, where John E. and Samantha are buried, as are Hinchea and Mary.  Gilliam Cemetery is found at the mouth of Gilliam Cove and just downstream from Gilliam Spring. Based on the description in Goodspeed's, the location of the Gillem farm a few years later during the Civil War, and modern maps with Gilliam landmarks, it is safe to say that these landmarks are on or near the land where Hinchea Gilliam settled in Marion County, and was the farm subsequently occupied by his son Joseph and grandson John E. for at least two more generations.

This it the Google Earth picture of the Gilliam Cemetery:



 As shown by the two points on the map below, this area is located about 30 miles south and east of where his father, John Gilliam, had settled in Franklin/Coffee County, Tennessee.





Hinchea Gilliam died in 1858 and is buried in the Gilliam Cemetery, located outside the town of Kimball, Marion County, Tennessee. He was a farmer all of his life.

                                                          Hinchea Gilliam

Hinchea’s widow Mary Enochs Glascock Gilliam appears in 1860 census living with her son, Elijah Glascock. She died in 1876 and is buried in the Gilliam Cemetery.

Son John never left Hawkins County, dying there in 1873.

Son William lived in Lincoln and Williamson Counties, TN, closer to the center of the state. 

Son Isham is listed a residing in Jackson County, Alabama in 1860 and 1870 censuses and probably died there.

Son Joseph died in 1862 and never moved from Marion County.

Son Thomas died in 1870 and never left Marion County.

Son Lemuel never left Marion County, dying there in 1876.

Daughter Frances married and moved to Mississippi, dying there in 1861.

Daughter Mary moved with her family to Jackson, Alabama before 1860 and died in Kentucky in 1894.

Son Wiley Blount Gilliam moved to Arkansas, dying there in 1884.

Son Hardy moved to Arkansas and then Texas, dying there in 1897.

Daughter Elizabeth also moved to Arkansas, dying sometime 1870-80.



In our next post, the Gilliams move to Arkansas.



SOURCES

The Story of Marion County Its People and Places, Marion County Historical Society, Curtis Media Corporation, 1990.

Goodspeed's Compendium of Biography 
This source can be found on the web at: http://sites.rootsweb.com/~tnmario2/mbios3.html

Additional details of the Gilliam Cemetery can be found here: 
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/12398/gilliam-cemetery

The Civil War Map can be found here:
https://i1.wp.com/marioncountystory.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/jasper-area-civil-war-map.jpg



Comments

  1. In the next post we will explore the Gilliams' migration from Tennessee to Arkansas. Despite our direct ancestors' move from Marion County, Tennessee, our family still has deep roots there . Much of the research in this post was provided by Ida Smith of the Marion County History & Genealogy website. Hinchea Gilliam is her third great-grandfather, too (through Hinchea’s son Thomas, and his son R. H., Ida’s great-grandfather). Ida and her family still live in Marion County to this day, just a short distance from the Gilliam Cemetery.

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