William B. Forrest (1801 - 1837)

Born 6 Jul 1801 in Orange, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Miriam (Beck) Luxton — married 1820 in Tennessee

Descendants

Died 1837 at about age 35 in Salem, Tippah, Mississippi, United States

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Biography

William Forrest [Nathan, Shadrack, William, James] was born 6 Jul 1801 in Orange County, North Carolina When he was eight years old, the family moved north of the Cumberland River not far from Gallatin and two years later in 1808 settled in Duck River in what was then Bedford, now Marshall County, Tennessee.

William was a blacksmith by trade and married pretty Miss Miriam Beck who is described as 6 feet tall, 180 pounds. (obviously a hunk of woman) Miriam was of Scottish extraction, her parents having relocated from South Carolina and settled in 1796 near what is now Caney Springs, near Duck River in middle Tennessee.

Of the eleven children of William and Miriam, the first was named Nathan Bedford Forrest. He moved his family to Tippah County, Mississippi in 1834. In 1837 William died leaving Nathan the head of the family of his mother, 6 brothers and 3 sisters. Four months after William's death, Jeffrey, a posthumous child was born. Four years later all three of his daughters and two of his sons died from Typhoid fever. His widow, Miriam, married Joseph Luxton in December of that same year.

Children of William Forrest and Miriam Beck are:

1. Nathan Bedford Forrest 13 Jul 1821- 29 Oct 1877
2. Frances Forrest b. 13 Jul 1821 d. 1841
3. John Forrest b. 1822 d. 1876 Dresden, Marshall Co., TN
4. Capt. William Hezekiah Forrest b. 1825 d. 1871
5. Capt. Aaron Forrest b. 1828 Bedford Co. TN d. 1864 Dresden, TN
6. Lt. Col. Jeffrey E. Forrest b. Salem, MS 1837 d. 22 Feb 1864 Okolona, Mississippi m. Mary Dyche. Jeffrey was an owner or sales agent of slaves in Memphis.
7. Lt. Col. Jesse Anderson Forrest b. 8 Apr 1829 d. 14 Dec 1890 m. Sarah Mayberry (parents of Sally Forrest b. 14 Mar 1876) Jesse was an owner or sales agents of slaves in Memphis.
8. Isaac Forrest, b. 1834 died young
9. Bedford Forrest b. 1834
10. Mary Forrest, b. 1826 died young >1837
11. Milly Forrest b. 1831 died young > 1837

Blacksmith for the John Emasy Beck Plantation in Bedford County, Tennessee. Married Miriam Beck at Chapel Hill in 1820.

On land that was originally a Revolutionary War land grant. William and Mariam Beck Forrest purchased a two story log cabin and 180 acres one half mile east. The Forrest family moved to Mississippi in 1833. In 1861 their oldest son, Nathan Bedford, joined the army of Confederate States of America. In four year's of war, this middle-aged man rose from the rank of private to lieutenant general and re-wrote the book on warfare. General Nathan Bedford Forrest's tactics and campaigns are studied throughout the world today.

Sources

See also:

• http://msgw.org/tippah/Taxlist1837.htm#FERGUSON

• https://civilwartalk.com/threads/the-brothers-forrest.7475/

• Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 02 October 2020), memorial page for William B. Forrest (6 Jul 1801–1837), Find A Grave: Memorial #130456207, citing Beck Cemetery, Benton County, Mississippi, USA ; Maintained by Vicki Hittson (contributor 47380664) .

• Biography by Brian Steel Wills, "A Battle from the Start".