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Wilson County, Tennessee

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Map of Wilson County[1]
See below for additional links to Map of US.org maps.

The Tennessee Project is a subproject of the United States Project. It covers from 1790 to the present. Other projects cover the area prior to 1790: see the US Southern Colonies Project (pre-USA), the North Carolina Project (from 4 July 1776),[2] and the Native Americans Project.

The County pages for the Tennessee Project were initially created as being subprojects themselves, but they function more as a reference and resource for information about the county. If you would like to join the Tennessee Project, see the "How to Join" section (below or on the Tennessee Project page).

If you would like to actively participate in the Tennessee Project by focusing on Wilson County, please post a comment on this page to let me know (or add your name to Team Members, below).

To help out - as a Team Member or not - check out the "Task List" (also below).

Thanks! ~ Liz Shifflett, coordinator for the Wilson County space page, 14 April 2022

Contents

Page Purpose

... ... ... is proud to have roots in Wilson County, Tennessee.

The purpose of this page is to provide a central location for information (or links to information) for all things relating to Wilson County, Tennessee.

Whether you are a Tennessee Project member or not, you are welcome to add information to this page - either by editing the page directly or posting a comment with the information (or a link to the information posted by an established website, such as Wikipedia). The intent is not to duplicate Wikipedia's article on Wikipedia: Wilson County, Tennessee, but to provide a similar type of comprehensive look at information useful to genealogical research in the county.

Profiles managed by the project display the project box (seen above). See the Templates section (below) for information about the project box and available stickers (such as the customized Tennessee Sticker displayed in this section). See the Categories section for categories relevant to the Tennessee Project and Wilson County.

Wilson County

Wilson County, part of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area in Middle Tennessee, was created in 1799 from a portion of Sumner County and named for Major David Wilson, a Revolutionary War veteran and statesman. Its county seat is Lebanon. ~ Category: Wilson County, Tennessee, citing Wikipedia (accessed 16 April 2022)

For Wilson County's demographics from the 2020 Census, see this section of Wikipedia's Wilson County article.[3]

Wilson County History

Tennessee was the 16th state admitted to the Union, in 1796 (see this WikiTree page for a timeline of Tennessee history).

Sellars Indian Mound

On 26 October 1799, the Tennessee General Assembly created Wilson County from a portion of Sumner County. "Its prehistoric heritage is rich. The Sellars temple mound on Spring Creek, for example, yielded an outstanding piece of pre-Columbian sculpture that has been the emblem of the Tennessee Archaeological Society. Europeans explored the land long before settlement: French trappers arrived as early as 1760, and the hunting party of Henry Scraggins passed through the area in 1765. John B. Walker led the first permanent settlers to Hickory Ridge, west of the present site of Lebanon, in 1794."
~ Tennessee Encyclopedia: "Wilson County", written by Frank Burns[4]

Wilson County was named for David Wilson, "a member of the legislatures of North Carolina and the Southwest Territory."[5] Wilson, "a major in the American Revolution, a member of the North Carolina General Assembly, and Speaker of the House of the Territory South of the Ohio River (what became Tennessee in 1796)," built a home in Sumner County before 1800.[6][7] He died in 1804.[8]

"The county remained predominantly agrarian throughout the 19th century. The arrival of the railroad after the Civil War boosted the county's timber sector, and several large factories were constructed in the county during the early 20th century."
~ Wikipedia, citing Frank Burns' article on "Wilson County" posted by the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture (accessed 14 April 2022)[3]

Burns' article contains much more history and is well worth reading.[4] Burns also authored the book on Wilson County for the Tennessee County History Series published in 1983 by the Memphis University Press.[9]

Wilson County history can be found in other sections on this page, including People and Education. And the geography of a place is intertwined with its history.

Wilson County: Following is information about the land that became or was Wilson County (1783-1870), from Tennessee Formation Maps (accessed 14 April 2022):
  • 1783: Davidson County, NC, formed from Washington
  • 1787: Sumner County, NC, formed from Davidson
  • 1789 (22 December): North Carolina passes legislation ceding Western Region to the Federal Government
  • 1790 (26 May): North Carolina's cession of Western Region to the Federal Government executed and the United States Congress establishes a territorial government called "Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio"
  • 1796 (1 June): Tennessee admitted as a state
  • 1799: Wilson formed from Sumner
  • 1836: Cannon formed from Rutherford, Warren, & Wilson
  • 1870: Trousdale formed from Macon, Smith, & Wilson
Note: Same-named North Carolina and Tennessee counties can cause confusion.
  • Davidson: North Carolina's Davidson County, from which Sumner County was formed in 1787 and which is now Davidson County, Tennessee, should not be confused with North Carolina's current Davidson County, which was formed from Rowan County, NC in 1822. "This new Davidson County [NC] is a long way from the original, which was west of present-day North Carolina."[10]
  • Washington: Davidson County was created from "the original Washington District/Washington County that became Tennessee", which should not be confused with the Washington County, NC created from Tyrrell County in 1799, which is "way over toward the coast. The original, of course, was west of present-day North Carolina."[10]
  • Wilson: Created in 1883,[10] and with no "original" to be confused with, North Carolina's Wilson County does not cause the problems that the sets of Davidson Counties and Washington Counties do.
See the WikiTree space page 1776 Petition of the Inhabitants of Washington District for more information about "pre-Tennessee".

Geography

This map of Wilson County is a very detailed "General Highway Map" prepared in 2006 by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. In addition to highways (and lesser roads), it shows county lines and state lines, cities, schools, churches, cemeteries, and more.[1]
The Cumberland River is the border between Wilson County and Sumner County, as can be seen in this 1836 map, and which has a detailed view of "Environs of Nashville" that shows Lebanon (the county seat). Tennessee's waterways are easily seen in this 1795 map. Both maps posted by Map of US (accessed 14 April 2022). See also these Map of US pages:
See also Historical Atlases, which has links to historic maps, such as this 1804 map of Tennessee. WikiTree has Southwest Territory.png (map image) attached to its Southwest Territory space page.
The TNGenWeb Project's Counties page has links to maps also, and the Wilson County page has a map from 1826.
The Tennessee county formation information in the previous section (Wilson County History) is from Tennessee Formation Maps,[11] which also informed the following (modifying the list posted in Wikipedia's article on Wilson County).[3]

Adjacent Counties

Northwest
Sumner County		 North
Cumberland River[12]
Sumner County &
Trousdale County		 Northeast
Trousdale County &
Smith County
North arrow
West
Davidson County		 West arrow Wilson County
Image:US_State_Flag_Images-46.png
Tennessee		 East arrow East
Smith County &
DeKalb County
South arrow
Southwest
Rutherford County		 South
Cannon County &
Rutherford County		 Southeast
DeKalb County &
Cannon County

Cities

For a listing of cities in Wilson County, see Wikipedia's article on Wilson County.[3] For a list of Wilson County cities that have a WikiTree category, see Category: Wilson County, Tennessee.
As of 15 April 2022, Wikipedia's list of Tennessee municipalities included three cities in Wilson County (none of which have a space page in WikiTree), with their incorporation dates:[13]

Protected Areas

Things to Do/See

"Touristy" things
  • See "Protected Areas" above.

People

Judy White's "First Settlements of Wilson County", posted by the American History & Genealogy Project, includes the names of the settlers.[14]

Hickory Ridge was the site of the "first county court, or court of pleas and quarter sessions with probate powers, [which] was organized and held at the house of Capt. John Harpole, on Hickory Ridge, about five miles west of the site of Lebanon, on Monday, December 23, 1799. The house stood near the large spring on the John B. Walker farm, more recently known as the Dr. Thomas Norman place, and now the property of Col. James Hamilton. The following named gentlemen were commissioned magistrates, to-wit: Charles Kavanaugh, John Alcorn, John Lancaster, Elmore Douglas, John Doak, Matthew Figures, Henry Ross, William Gray, Andrew Donelson and William McClain. Charles Kavanaugh was elected chairman; Robert Foster, clerk; Samuel Roseborough, Sheriff; John Alcorn, register; John W. Peyton, trustee; William Gray, ranger; Henry Ross, coroner; and William Quesenberry, surveyor. Benjamin Seawell, Esq., was elected the county solicitor.[15]

The following table lists people mentioned in the preceding paragraph.

Last Name, Given Name Born Died Wilson County Connection
Alcorn, John 17671829 (about)1799,[16] commissioned magistrate, register[15]
Doak, John 17xx18xx1799,[16] commissioned magistrate[15]
Donelson, Andrew[17] 176018061799,[16] commissioned magistrate[15]
Douglas, Elmore[18] 175318191799,[16] commissioned magistrate[15]
Figures, Matthew 17xx18xx1799,[16] commissioned magistrate[15]
Foster, Robert[19]17xx18xx1799,[16] clerk[15]
Gray, William 17xx18xx1799,[16] commissioned magistrate, named ranger[15]
Harpole, Capt. John 175918201799, his Hickory Ridge home hosted the 1st County Court[15][20][21]
Hamilton, Col. Jamesxxxxxxxx1879, owner of Harpole's home[15]
Kavanaugh, Charles17xx18xx1799,[16] commissioned magistrate & elected chairman[15][22]
Lancaster, John 172918001799,[16] commissioned magistrate[15]
McClain, William 17xx18xx1799,[16] commissioned magistrate[15]
Norman, Dr. Thomas[23] 1801, 7 March1873, 15 Oct.1800s, an owner of Harpole's home (before 1879)[15]
Peyton, John W.175518331799,[16] trustee[15]
Quesenberry, William 17xx18xx1799,[16] surveyor[15]
Roseborough, Samuel17xx18xx 1799,[16] sheriff[15]
Ross, Henry 174418271799,[16] commissioned magistrate, named coroner[15][24]
Scraggins, Henry 17xx17xx1765, passed through the area[15]
Seawell, Benjamin Esq.17xx18xx 1799[16] elected the county solicitor[15]
Walker, John B. 17xx18xx1794, settled Hickory Ridge[15]
Wilson, David Carroll[25]1730 (before)[7]
1742[25]		1804[8]1799, Wilson County named for him[26]

Sheriffs

"Sheriffs of Wilson County (1799-1880)"[15]
  1. Samuel Roseborough, two years, 1799-1802[15]
  2. William Wilson, three months, 1802[15]
  3. Nathaniel Perry, two years, 1802-1804[15]
  4. George Hallum, one year, 1804-1805[15]
  5. John V. Tulloch, one year, 1804-1805[15]
  6. Thomas Bradley, 13 years, 1806-1819[15]
  7. James Williams, two years, 1819-1821[15]
  8. Thomas Bradley, four years, 1821-1825[15]
  9. John Hearn, six years, 1825-1831[15]
  10. Paulding Anderson, five years, 1831-1836[15]
  11. Benjamin S. Mabry, three years, 1836-1839[15]
  12. Wilborn R. Winter, one year, 1839-1840[15]
  13. Henry D. Lester, four years, 1840-1844[15]
  14. John C. Lash, three years, 1844-1847[15]
  15. Robert Hallum, one year, 1847-1848[15]
  16. John C. Crittenden, six years, 1848-1854[15]
  17. Jonathan Etherly, five years, 1854-1859[15]
  18. Nathan W. McCullough, 1859-1866[15]
  19. William E. Foust, four years, 1866-1870[15]
  20. Andrew McGregor, four years, 1870-1874[15]
  21. David W. Granstaff, two years, 1874-1876[15]
  22. William P. Bandy, four years, 1876-1880[15]

Wilson County Notables

See the Task List below for ongoing work related to Category: Notables.
Easy check - if a person has a Wikipedia article, then the person probably meets WikiTree's definition of a Notable. The Notables Project's "Qualifications for Profiles" is a bit more refined: "We use Wikipedia's standards for notability. Note, though, that many notable people do not yet have a page on Wikipedia. Feel free to ask Project Leaders about whether someone meets the guidelines, or read through them yourself and use your best judgment. Many, many important people are not on WikiTree yet!"
Burns' article includes notable politicians and other "[n]oteworthy citizens of Wilson County who left their mark on the state and the nation".[4]

Notable People Profiles

As of 15 April 2022, it seems that there were no noteworthy citizens from Wilson County categorized as such.[27] As of 16 April, there are two. Until we're overwhelmed by profiles representing Wilson County's notables, list them here.

Education

To quote again from the Burns article on Wilson County: "The county emerged as a center of education in 1842, when the Cumberland Presbyterian Church established Cumberland University. The four-year institution now includes a school of nursing and a graduate school. Friendship Christian School is an expanding secondary school. In the early twentieth century, Lebanon became known as the “Little Athens of the South” because of the location there of Cumberland University, Castle Heights Military Academy, and Lebanon College for Young Ladies. From 1873 to 1939 the city was particularly well known for the one-year law course offered by Cumberland University which attracted students of law from every state and many foreign countries."[4]

Wilson County Schools

See Category: Wilson County, Tennessee, Schools

Sources and Resources

Every fact needs a reference - use ref tags to identify which source supports which fact in a profile. See Help: Sources for more information. Although Tennessee Project profiles are not "pre-1700" (so do not have the warning about Reliable Sources), every profile in WikiTree deserves to be supported by reliable sources - and primary sources when possible. This section is intended to help you find such sources. See also Space: United States Project Reliable Sources.

Government Offices

County website
See also Family Search's Wilson County page, which lists addresses and phone numbers for the County Courthouse, County Clerk, and County Archives.[26]
"The county has had five courthouses; the building of 1848-81 was designed by the noted architect William Strickland", which burned in 1881.[4][28]

County Records

Note: Wilson County lost records in the 1881 Courthouse fire (this does not mean that all records were lost).[11]
Tennessee State Library and Archives (lots of information but few links to the sources):

Census Records

See Category: Tennessee, Census Records. Existing Wilson County census categories, as of 14 April 2022, were
Category: 1860 US Census, Wilson County, Tennessee, Civil District 11 had 8 people profiles and one space page: 1860 US Census, Wilson County, Tennessee, Civil District 11.

Cemeteries

See Category: Wilson County, Tennessee, Cemeteries (check in subcategories listed there too).
See also

Wilson County Research Aids

See this US Southern Colonies Project page (includes links for resources related to the Carolinas and North Carolina, which preceded Tennessee). One of the links there is for this page, which includes a section of resources for "multiple colonies" as well as one on North Carolina resources, where you may find useful references (such as A Key to Southern Pedigrees, which includes Tennessee, and is listed below).

(Source List)

List other genealogical resources and sources here. See the preceding sections and also "Footnotes" (below). Note that guidelines for pre-1700 reliable sources do not consider Wikipedia articles to be reliable - cite the source given in the article instead. See the Help page for Pre-1700 Profiles and Category: Reliable Sources for Pre-1700 Profiles for details. See also the Reliable Sources page posted by the Tennessee Project's parent project:
United States Project Reliable Sources
TNGenWeb Project: Wilson County
USGenWeb Archives: Wilson County
Family Search: Wilson County, Tennessee Genealogy
WikiTree links
Tennessee State Library and Archives (lots of information but few links to the sources):

Templates

Both the United States Project and the Tennessee Project have a project box. The United States project box is customizable to a specific state, but the Tennessee Project does not need to use it, as it has its own project box: Template: Tennessee. It also has a customizable sticker: Template: Tennessee Sticker.

The project box displayed at the top of this page should be included on profiles that are managed by the Tennessee Project. Profiles managed by the Tennessee Project should have the Project Account, WikiTree-42, as a manager and the following coding for the project box added to the profile (below categories but above == Biography ==).

{{Tennessee}}

Stickers go below == Biography ==

{{Tennessee Sticker}}

On a "people profile" the ellipses are replaced by the name of the person represented by the profile (pulling the information from the Name fields).

... ... ... was born in Wilson County.

The coding for the "born in Wilson County" sticker displayed on this page is

{{Tennessee Sticker|born in Wilson County}}

The coding for the "proud" sticker above:

{{Tennessee Sticker|living=y|proud to have roots in Wilson County, Tennessee}}

See details about customizing the Tennessee Sticker on its template page.

If you need the Tennessee State Flag for use on the Migrating Ancestor or Nonmigrating Ancestor sticker, use the file name: US_State_Flag_Images-46.png (you can also use {{US Flag|Tennessee}} within either template). For details about their parameters, see their template pages (here and here).

Categories

Tennessee Project | Tennessee Project-Managed
Tennessee | Wilson County, Tennessee

Only the project box adds a category automatically (Category: Tennessee Project-Managed). The Tennessee Project does not currently use the project box to add "needs" categories (maintenance categories). See more about maintenance categories below.

Category: Tennessee Project-Managed is a quick-check for profiles managed by the Tennessee Project (24, as of 16 April 2022).

Project categories are useful for project management of profiles and Location categories are useful in finding or following families and neighbors. Guidance on Tennessee location categories is provided on the Tennessee category page (accessed 14 April 2022):

To add an individual profile to Tennessee, please add them to the correct county or city category instead of the main category. Example: Category:Davidson County, Tennessee or Category:Nashville, Tennessee. If the county/city is unknown, please add Category:Unknown Place, Tennessee to the profile.

Here are categories that are relevant to the Tennessee Project and to Wilson County.

Category: Tennessee Project
Category: Tennessee
Category: Tennessee, Notables[27]
Category: Tennessee, Politicians[27]
Navigate for Category: Wilson County, Tennessee on 14 April 2022 revealed the following Level 1 subcategories, and the need for some categorization work (e.g., cemetery category should be in the Cemetery category hierarchy, with only Category: Wilson County, Tennessee, Cemeteries under Category: Wilson County, Tennessee).

Maintenance Categories

Category: Tennessee Project Maintenance Categories: Included under that category are "Tennessee" maintenance categories that are managed by the Tennessee Project, as well as those not managed by the project, most notably, Category: Tennessee, Unsourced Profiles. The Unsourced template with "|Tennessee" adds the profile to both that category and Category: Unsourced Profiles.

{{Unsourced|Tennessee}}
Note - If you source a profile with that specific template (i.e., just one unnamed parameter), delete the entire template, not just "Unsourced", leaving {{Tennessee}} (which creates the project box, which will generate a Database Error, or DBE, if the profile is not managed by WikiTree-42, the project account). If the template has another parameter that still applies, delete just |Tennessee (e.g., {{Unsourced|Tennessee|North Carolina}} to {{Unsourced|North Carolina}})

See Category: Tennessee Project Maintenance Categories for more maintenance categories.

Note that one of the maintenance categories - Category: Unknown Place, Tennessee - should be used when a more specific location is not known, but the profile manager wishes to categorize the profile to Tennessee (Category: Tennessee is a top-level category, meaning no people profiles).

How to Join the Tennessee Project

  1. Coordinator of this county: Liz Shifflett
  2. See the main project page (here) for instructions on how to join the United States Project.
  3. Add Tennessee to your G2G tag feed.
If your focus is on Wilson County, please add your name to the list of Team Members & check out the "Task List" for things to do. Take a look also at the Edit view of this page, where unused headings have been hidden.

Wilson County Team Members

Coordinator: Liz Shifflett (questions? post a comment to this page or send me a private message)
Member: focus area

Task List

Looking for a volunteer (or two or three or...)
Things Needing Done
  1. The 1860 census space page has a table with people listed who are not linked to a profile. Look into finding their profiles and/or creating profiles for them. A link to the census page in FamilySearch would be good too. (See Census Records, above.)
  2. Check that Category: Wilson_County,_Tennessee,_Slavery is the correct category name (the hierarchy was recently reorganized). A person to coordinate with the USBH Project would be good.
  3. Create a category for Early Settlers and work on categorizing those listed on Judy White's "First Settlements of Wilson County".[14] (I think just the one category, instead of breaking them out by settlement. ~ Noland-165)
  4. Work on categorizing notables to Category: Tennessee, Notables - search for Tennessee on Category: Notables & check that the profile has either [[Category: Tennessee, Notables]] or the unnamed parameter "|Tennessee, Notables" in the template (which adds the category automatically): {{Notables Sticker|Tennessee, Notables}}.
    1. A-D ~ Noland-165 (I've gotten through the A's as of 16 April 2022)
    2. E-H ~
    3. I-L ~
    4. M-P ~
    5. Q-T ~
    6. U-W ~ done, 18 April 2022
    7. Y ~
    8. Z ~ done (and all the foreign alphabet pages after the Zs), 18 April 2022
  5. Look for profiles of Wilson County-connected politicians & add them the appropriate Category: Tennessee, Politicians sub-category.
    1. Check for a Wikipedia article & add the Notables Sticker if they have one.
  6. Look for Wikipedia articles for the people listed in the "people table" (in the People section, above). If they have one, they can be categorized as a Notable.
  7. Develop guidelines about people on Wilson County land prior to its creation (e.g., "Early Settlements of Wilson County" are not Wilson County before it was created at the end of 1799, even though those who settled there might appropriately be categorized to Wilson County, Tennessee if they were living there on 23 December 1799 or later).
  8. Create a Profile Improvement section (referencing US Project, PIP & other project's checklists/editing guidelines) for use with Wilson County profiles. Include advise about "Early Settlers".
  9. Look at the Library links (under #County Records above). Maybe create a brief timeline of available records? (e.g., if someone lived in Wilson County on land that later became Trousdale County, would their records be found in Wilson County or Trousdale County?)
Ongoing Tasks
Inherited Tasks (the following list came with the originally created sub-project page)
a. Contributing to the main project page as needed
b. Church records of christenings, marriages and burials
c. Voter or citizenship rolls
d. Records of wills and deceased estates
e. Land tenure records
f. Tax lists
g. Muster lists for militia service
h. Census records, indexed and uploaded
Empty headings have been hidden on this page. They are:
  • Church records
  • Voter/Citizenship Records
  • Estate/Probate Records
  • Land/Homestead Records
  • Tax Lists
  • Military Service Records
If you have sources that fit under one of those headings, we can "unhide" it.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Map of US.org (Wayback Machine capture, accessed 14 April 2022). Prepared by the Tennessee Department of Transportation in 2006, it may have been removed from the site because it is an "advanced print subject to correction", but it is incredibly useful.
  2. ↑ Note that 4 July 1776 is used for WikiTree purposes, such as categorization and database scrubs (e.g., "USA too early"). From 4 July 1776 to 1790, Tennessee was actually North Carolina. In 1790, North Carolina ceded seven counties to the Federal Government, which it named "The Territory South of the Ohio River", and the area that would become Tennessee when admitted to the Union on 1 June 1796 was actually a Territory (not part of any state). See this interactive formation map for North Carolina (accessed 14 April 2022). See the following WikiTree pages:
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Wikipedia: Wilson County, Tennessee (accessed 14 April 2022).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Tennessee Encyclopedia: "Wilson County", written by Frank Burns, posted in 2017 (accessed 14 April 2022).
  5. ↑ Family Search: Wilson County, Tennessee Genealogy (accessed 15 April 2022), citing Wikipedia's List of Tennessee counties.
  6. ↑ Flickr: Major David Wilson's Home, posted by Brian (accessed 15 April 2022).
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 DAR has records for three David Wilsons with service in North Carolina, which appear to have conflated information.
    • David Wilson, died in Sumner County, TN after 19 December 1803 (Patriotic & Civil Service): #A127316.
    • David Wilson, died in Claiborne County, TN in 1847 (flag= must prove service): #A127317.
    • David Wilson, died in Tennessee on 10 April 1840 (Captain): #A127315. Flag on his record includes the note that the David Wilson m Jane Carruthers (listed on his record) was the son of the "David who died 1803".
    WikiTree identifies David Carroll Wilson (1742-1803) as Wilson County's namesake (dates/bio as of 7 March 2024).
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Grand Inheritance, David Wilson's home (accessed 15 April 2022).
  9. ↑ Tennessee County History Series, Wilson County, by Frank Burns, Robert W. Corlew, ed., 154 pages (Memphis State University Press : 1983).
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 North Carolina Formation Maps (accessed 14 April 2022).
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Tennessee Formation Maps (accessed 14 April 2022)
  12. ↑ Wikipedia: Cumberland River (accessed 14 April 2022).
  13. ↑ List of municipalities in Tennessee (accessed 15 April 2022).
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "First Settlements of Wilson County", by Judy White, citing History of Tennessee (Goodspeed Publishing Company : 1886), posted by the American History & Genealogy Project, accessed 15 April 2022.
  15. ↑ 15.00 15.01 15.02 15.03 15.04 15.05 15.06 15.07 15.08 15.09 15.10 15.11 15.12 15.13 15.14 15.15 15.16 15.17 15.18 15.19 15.20 15.21 15.22 15.23 15.24 15.25 15.26 15.27 15.28 15.29 15.30 15.31 15.32 15.33 15.34 15.35 15.36 15.37 15.38 15.39 15.40 15.41 15.42 15.43 A Historical Sketch of Wilson County, Tennessee. From Its First Settlement to the Present Time, by J. V. Drake (published for the author by Tavel, Eastman & Howell : 1879, Nashville).
  16. ↑ 16.00 16.01 16.02 16.03 16.04 16.05 16.06 16.07 16.08 16.09 16.10 16.11 16.12 16.13 16.14 Assuming these actions occured in the 1st County Court held 23 December 1799.
  17. ↑ Not certain that Donelson-221 is the right one, but his children are born in Lebanon & he died there, so I think so. The dates need sources, as his profile is not sourced (as of 16 April 2022).
  18. ↑ Elmore Douglas, DAR Patriot Ancestor #A071603, civil service (accessed 16 April 2022).
  19. ↑ Foster-12686 is probably the right Robert Foster - his son's bio says the family settled "near" Nashville... Lebanon is very near.
  20. ↑ The FindAGrave memorial #191633381 is perhaps a relative, but Capt. John Harpole would have been born well before 1792. ~ Find A Grave: Memorial #191633381 for John Harpole (1792-1861), accessed 18 April 2022.
  21. ↑ "Captain John Harpole, born New [sic] Hampshire County, Va. (now W. Va.) 1755, to Wilson Co. Tenn. in 1787 and to Arkansas, Hempstead Co. 1814-15.... Notes: The following is from "Annals of Tennessee" Ramsey reprint 1925, page 707. Also in "Early Times in Tenn." John Carr, and in "Good Pasture" p. 245. "The first court of Wilson County was held at the Capt. John Harpole, Oct. 26, 1799." The following is from the "History of Wilson Co. Tenn. Goodpasture 1880" Tenn. State Capitol Library, page 850: extending back to the Continental War of 1776 for "Wilson County has a war record among the pioneers of the county were quite a number of patriots of that War among whom were John Harpole (and four other names not copied), the first four were commissioned officers. Hence Captain John Harpole. John Harpole made a will which is on record in the Wilson County, Tenn. Clerk’s office. Book for 1819-20, page 90. Will recorded Nov. 10, 1820. Note by T. F.: Too long to insert in this family history." ~ "Bowie County, Texas, Texarkana Pioneers - Page 2", Texas Genealogy Trails, accessed 28 June 2023.
    • The above is following "Sarah (Sally) Harpole (middle name Rachael) had sisters: Mary “Polly” Harpole who married Thomas Carr; Elizabeth “Betsy” Harpole who married: 1st, Oneal who was killed by the Indians, 2nd, Moses; Nancy W. Harpole who married George Hill, parents of Mary Harpole Hill; Margaret “Peggy” D. Harpole, who married William Crabtree. Daniel was 2nd husband of Sarah “Sally” Rachael Harpole, who was the daughter of Captain John Harpole..." [Sarah's 2nd husband was Daniel Props (m 1802 in Wilson County); her 1st husband isn't mentioned.]
  22. ↑ Maybe Charles Kavanaugh (abt.1764-abt.1821) - his profile says he moved toTennessee before 1804 and were living in Rutherford County by 1814 (accessed 26 October 2022).
  23. ↑ Information from Find A Grave: Memorial #5771668 for Thomas Norman (with tombstone image, accessed 18 April 2022).
  24. ↑ Biography on his FindAGrave memorial says that "Gov. John Sevier appointed Ross to act as Wilson County’s justice of the peace with Andrew Donelson" in 1799. ~ FindAGrave memorial #61799099 for Henry Ross (accessed 14 June 2022).
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Find A Grave: Memorial #205902215 for David Carroll Wilson. Image of memorial plaque is for Major David Wilson (1742-1804); accessed 18 April 2022.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Family Search: Wilson County, Tennessee Genealogy (accessed 15 April 2022).
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 Category: Tennessee, Notables does not include anyone whose profile shows "Wilson" in what's displayed on the category page (same for Category: Tennessee, Politicians). I went through the main and subcategories on 15 April 2022. ~ Noland-165
  28. ↑ Tennessee Encyclopedia William F. Strickland, by James A Hoobler (accessed 15 April 2022).






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Cruise-394 Cheryl Cruise
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wilson-8908 The man the county is named after. Very sparse profile...
posted by Cheryl Cruise
Noland-165 Liz (Noland) Shifflett
Thanks Cheryl! I thought I had looked at all the profiles for David Wilsons in the right time/place. I obviously missed one!

Cheers, Liz

posted by Liz (Noland) Shifflett
Cruise-394 Cheryl Cruise
Hi Liz! Please do double check it to be sure he is the right David Wilson. He seemed right, but it was the last thing I did last night, and I would feel better with another pair of eyes checking my late night work! :)

Cheryl

posted by Cheryl Cruise
[Living Moore]
I came across some history of the county when researching Samuel Rosebrough, so I added it.
posted by [Living Moore]

Categories: Wilson County, Tennessee