The Family of William Taylor Hale(1820-1861) of Bledsoe, Warren and Van Buren Counties, Tennessee

I found an entry for a case listed as State of TN vs. John Bishop in the Warren Co Tennessee Minute Book(June 1860-Feb 1867) The pages are numbered in the book(viewed on FamilySearch which has digitized the microfilmed records) and this entry begins on page 476 and carries over to the next page.  There are no dates mentioned in this listing itself that would tell when it was recorded.  However, it is recorded in between pages that are headed as Feb 6 1866 and Feb 12 1866 which would put it as some time in early February of 1866.  

By that time, my Wm Taylor Hale had died from drowning.  His daughter, Caroline Lucinda Hale had married John Bishop August 8th 1865 in Van Buren Co TN and was at the time of this document, about 4 months pregnant with their son, James Monroe Bishop(born June 1866)

Information on the Hale family is hard to find for the period 1860-1880,  If I am being honest, it doesn't get much easier during the 1880 to 1930 timeframe either as there are many same names to sort thru. For this article I will focus on the 1860 to 1880 time period.

William Taylor Hale Family Timeline

1820 BIRTH: of Wm Taylor Hale

1825 BIRTH:  of brother Frances A. Hale.

1832 DEATH:  of father, John Nathaniel Hale, in Warren County, Tennessee.

1841 TAX: (Dist. 8), Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1842 TAX: (Dist. 8) as "Taylor Hails", Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1843 MARRIAGE: Wm T Hale and Adaline Elzie in Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1843 TAX: (Dist. 8) as "William T Hail", Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1844 BIRTH: Lucinda C  Hale, in Van Buren County, Tennessee.(April)

1844 TAX: (Dist. 8) as "Taylor Hails", Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1845 TAX: (Dist. 8) as "William T Hail", Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1846 TAX: NOT LISTED in the Van Buren County Tax List (Dist. 8), his brother Francis was listed.

1847 TAX: (Dist. 8) alongside Francis Hale, Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1848 BIRTH: of son, James A. Hale, in Tennessee.(July)

1848 TAX: (Dist. 8) alongside Francis Hail, Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1849 BIRTH: of son, William P. Hale, in Van Buren County, Tennessee.(May)

1849 TAX: (Dist. 8) alongside Francis Hale, Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1850 CENSUS: Van Buren Co TN Dist. 6 HH #239 Wm T, Adaline & 3 oldest children

1850 CENSUS:  Van Buren Co TN Dist. 8 HH #344 Francis Hale, wife, infant dau & Mom Catherine

1850 TAX:  (Dist. 8), Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1851 TAX: (Dist. 6), Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1852 TAX: (Dist. 6), Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1853 TAX: (Dist. 6), Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1854 TAX: (Dist. 6), Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1855 BIRTH: of daughter, Mary Hale, in Tennessee.

1855 TAX: (Dist. 10), Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1856 TAX: (Dist. 10), Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1857 TAX: (Dist. 6), Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1858 TAX: (Dist. 6), Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1859 TAX: (Dist. 6), Van Buren County, Tennessee.

1860 CENSUS: (None of the Hale Family Located)

1861 DEATH:  drowned in Collins River, Warren Co., TN (Spring)

1861 BURIED:  at Shellsford Cemetery in McMinnville, TN.

Continuation of the Timeline of the Hale Family up to their reappearance in Census Records

1861  BIRTH: of son, John Nathaniel Hale.(July)

1865  MARRIAGE: of Lucinda C Hale to John Bishop(Van Buren Co. TN Aug 8)

1866 COURT: State of TN vs John Bishop assault w/ intent to commit robbery(bond Francis Hale)

1866  BIRTH: of Lucinda & John's son--James Monroe Bishop

1870  CENSUS: None of the Wm T Hale Family located on Census

1870  CENSUS:  Francis Hale Family Warren Co TN Dist 4 Dwelling & Family 37 

1874  MARRIAGE:  of James A Hale to Mary Polly Hillis

1876  BIRTH: of Lucinda & Mr. Davis' son--Luther Davis

1880  CENSUS: Adaline & Lucinda living same household (Van Buren Co. TN Dist. 8) 

1880  CENSUS: James A. Hale & Family(Van Buren Co. TN Dist. 8)

1880  CENSUS: Wm P. Hale & Family(Bledsoe Co. TN Dist. 1)

1880  CENSUS: Mary Hale Johnson & Family(Bledsoe Co. TN Dist. 1)

Transcription of the Warren Co TN Court Minutes:

page 476

State of Tennessee vs. John Bishop
No 167 Assault to commit Robbery  Rile B Thomas? prosecutor

came the defendant and Francis Hale
and Hardy Patterson into open court and acknowledged
themselfs to owe and stand indebted to the state of Tennessee in the
sum of One thousand five hundred dollars that is to say the
the defendants in the sum of one thousand dollars and the
said Francis Hale and Hardy Patterson in the sum of Five
hundred dollars jointly and severally to be levied of them respective
good and Chattels lands and tenements to the use of the state but
to be void on condition that the said Defendant makes his person
al appearance before the judge of our next circuit court to be held
for the county of Warren in the court house in the town of McMinnville

Page 477
On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June Next
to answer the state of TN on a charge of assault to commit
Robery(sic) and does not depart without leave of the court
Circuit Court Clerks Office Warren Co TN

This appears to be Wm T Hale's brother Francis putting up a security for John Bishop, husband of his niece Lucinda Hale Bishop.  There is another court entry dated June 5th of 1866 that shows that John Bishop did not show, nor did Francis Hale or Hardy Patterson.  

Ten years later Lucinda gives birth to another son that carries the surname Davis though I have never been able to find that marriage or a divorce from John Bishop. 

Oddly enough I found a divorce that was filed by a female Frances Hale(maiden name Clark) against a Wm T Hale.  This was June 1st of 1886 in Warren Co TN.  Name is the same but the people are not.

I've not found much on this family until recent years and I've yet to find an account of Wm Taylor Hale's drowning.  The main sources I have for this family outside of the 1850 census and marriage is a letter written by Phoebe Hale McCormick(younger daughter of the youngest son of Wm Taylor Hale) to my cousin  Margie Hale, a Hale and Acuff researcher.  I'm writing more about that and examining it in another blog post. Lots of work yet to be done on this line.

Source
Warren County TN Minute book June 1860-Feb 1867, p 476 & 477, State of Tennessee vs John Bishop; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39N-N954-R : accessed 30 September 2026), IGN 8478322, Image 242 of 344

In Memoriam: Laura Heath Bumpus (1874 - 1921)

 

Laura Heath Bumpus

Born:  July 13, 1874

Died:  March 16, 1921

United with Mt Pleasant Baptist Church in 1902

Married William Alexander Bumpus

After marriage attended Union Ridge Baptist.

Parents William Heath & Mary A Patterson Heath

Predeceased by Father William Heath

Survivors:

Husband--William Alexander Bumpus

Mother Mary A Patterson Heath

Half Brother--Sanford Monroe Crick

I've been unable to find her burial place.  Her death record says burial in family cemetery.

That may be the Heath Cemetery in Rockvale where her brother Charles Benjamin Heath is buried according to his death record.

Sources:

Baptist and Reflector, May 19, 1921, p  13, col 2; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/baptist-and-reflector-obituary-for-laura/206852538/ : accessed September 27, 2026), clip page for Obituary for Laura Heath Bumpus.

"Tennessee, Deaths, 1914–1966," digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-69D9-S7K : accessed 29 September 2026), Mrs. Laura Heath Bumpus death certificate, no. 258 (1921), Bedford County, vol. 1; citing Tennessee State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Nashville.

The Rent of One Pepper Corn on Lady Day Next

While searching for my Harger, Jakes and Richards family in Franklin County Virginia, and surrounding areas using FamilySearch's Full Text Search, I came across a term that I didn't fully understand.  I asked Gemini (Browser extension) and also ChatGPT for assistance.  

I asked each of them to explain the meaning of "rent of one Pepper Corn on Lady Day next."

Gemini In Chrome browser answered:

This phrase comes from an English legal tradition common in historical land deeds, known as a peppercorn rent lease.

Here is what the components of that phrase mean:

• "One Pepper Corn" (Peppercorn Rent): A nominal or token payment. Under English common law, a binding contract or lease required "consideration" (something of value given in exchange). Rather than requiring actual money, a land owner would charge a single peppercorn to satisfy the legal requirement of a payment without imposing a real financial burden on the lessee. It essentially made the lease legally binding for free or for a purely symbolic fee.

• "Lady Day": March 25th, traditional Feast of the Annunciation. In early modern England and colonial America, Lady Day was one of the four traditional "quarter days" of the calendar year when land rents, leases, and financial obligations were due.

• "Next": The upcoming Lady Day (March 25th) following the date the lease was drawn up.

Context in the Deed

In the context of the 18th-century deed on your page (a typical Lease and Release transaction), the grantors (John and Agness Harger) leased the property to the grantee for a nominal term (often 1 year) for "one peppercorn" so the grantee could legally take actual possession of the land. Once in legal possession, a full release/grant of ownership (the second part of the transaction) could take place.

ChatGPT answered:

In an old deed or lease, “the rent of one Pepper Corn on Lady Day next” is essentially a nominal rent clause. It does not mean that someone literally expected a meaningful payment of pepper.

Breaking it down

“one pepper corn”
A peppercorn was commonly used as a token or nominal rent—something of virtually no monetary value. Its purpose was to make the arrangement technically a lease or conveyance for rent, while indicating that no substantial rent was actually expected.

“Lady Day”
Lady Day is 25 March, the Feast of the Annunciation. It was one of the traditional quarter days in Britain and was commonly used as a date for rents, leases, and other payments.

“next”
“Next” means the next occurrence of 25 March after the date of the document.

So, for example, if a deed dated 10 October 1815 said:

“yielding and paying therefore the rent of one Pepper Corn on Lady Day next”

it would mean:

The tenant/recipient is to pay a purely nominal rent of one peppercorn on 25 March 1816.

Why would a deed say this?

This language is particularly interesting in genealogy because it can tell you something about the legal nature of the transaction.

A lease might establish possession of the property for a nominal rent, while a second document—often a release—would complete the transfer of the property. In English and colonial/early American conveyancing, the traditional “lease and release” method frequently used this kind of nominal rent.

So if you've encountered this wording in an old land deed, I would want to see the surrounding paragraph before interpreting the transaction. The exact wording—especially terms such as “lease,” “release,” “indenture,” “consideration,” “yearly rent,” “quit rent,” or “peppercorn”—can help determine whether you're looking at an actual rental arrangement or a conveyance using nominal consideration.

There were two records which mentioned the Peppercorn rent term
One with the Hargers (of Amelia Co VA) and Andrew Brown ( of Augusta Co VA)
One with the Hargers and Christian Godfrey Miliron ( of Augusta Co VA).

I gave ChatGPT a snippet of the image which contained the phrase from the Andrew Brown entry and it added the additional info

ChatGPT's response after I gave it a screenshot of the paragraph containing the term.

This is not simply a landlord charging someone a token annual rent. It appears to be the lease portion of a traditional “lease and release” conveyance, where the one-peppercorn rent was essentially a legal formality used to put the grantee into legal possession before the release transferred the full title.

What your document is saying
The relevant portion reads approximately:

“…yielding and paying therefore the Rent of one Pepper Corn on Lady Day next if the same shall be lawfully demanded…”

Then it continues with language referring to:

“…the Statute for Transferring Uses into Possession…”

and says that Andrew Brown [the surname is somewhat difficult to read] may thereby be considered to be in actual possession of the premises and able to receive the grant and release of the land.

That is the giveaway.
So what does the peppercorn mean here?
It is nominal rent, not a meaningful rental payment.

The parties were creating a lease for a very short/nominal term, commonly one year, as part of the legal machinery for transferring the land.

The basic sequence was:
1. Lease
John Hargar and Agness Hargar → Andrew Brown
Andrew receives a leasehold interest and is legally treated as being in possession of the land.

2. Release
The Hargars then execute a release transferring the inheritance/freehold interest in the property to Andrew Brown and his heirs.

The peppercorn is the nominal rent associated with that first step.

Why “Lady Day”?

Lady Day = 25 March.

So the clause says, in effect:

The rent shall be one peppercorn, payable on the next 25th of March, if it is legally demanded.

The words “if the same shall be lawfully demanded” are also significant. Nobody necessarily expected Andrew to actually hand over a peppercorn. The clause established the formal landlord/tenant relationship required by the conveyancing mechanism.

And the language immediately after it is particularly important

Your document says, in substance:

“…by virtue of the Statute for Transferring Uses into Possession…”

This refers to the Statute of Uses (1535), which became part of the legal foundation for this type of conveyance.

The document then says that Andrew Brown would be considered to be:

“in actual possession of the premises”

so that he could accept the subsequent “Grant and Release” of the land.
That is classic lease-and-release language.
What this means genealogically

If you're using this document to establish who owned land, I would not interpret the one-peppercorn clause as evidence that Andrew Brown was merely renting the property from John and Agness Hargar.

Quite the opposite: the document is apparently part of a transaction intended to transfer ownership/freehold interest from the Hargars to Brown.

The really important document to find is therefore the companion “Release.”

It may be recorded immediately before or after this document, sometimes on the following page or under a separate entry. The release should contain the substantive conveyance of the property and may identify:

the consideration paid;
the precise acreage and boundaries;
the names of the grantors and grantee;
the heirs or legal successors;
and potentially the prior source of the Hargars' title.

One thing I would correct from my first answer

My first answer described the possibility of a conventional rental arrangement too broadly. Now that I can see your actual document, the “lease and release” interpretation is much stronger. The combination of the peppercorn, the “actual possession” language, and especially the reference to the Statute for Transferring Uses into Possession makes the legal purpose much clearer.

ChatGPT then offered to 

"transcribe the entire page line by line and explain what each part means, including identifying the witnesses and the court acknowledgment at the bottom. That could be especially useful for determining exactly what land changed hands and whether this establishes Andrew Brown's ownership."

Using Google Search I found some links about the terms

From the Tarlton Law Library  Peppercorn Rent

Also since I really had no idea what Lady Day I searched for that and found a page at Britannica.

I think I prefer to Google the terms and then visit the sites and evaluate them myself rather than rely on Gemini, ChatGPT etc. to summarize or explain them.  A bit of a rabbit hole but a fun learning experience.

In Memoriam: Lula Cooper Blanton (1861 - 1920)

 

Lula Cooper Blanton

Born:  November 19, 1861

Died:  March 6, 1920

Buried in Simpson Cemetery

Married W. T. Blanton November 4, 1886

She was a member of M. E. Church but united with

Union Ridge Baptist after her marriage.

Died of Tuberculosis

Predeceased by Father John B Cooper (d. 1915)

Survivors:

Husband-- William Thomas Blanton (m. November 4, 1886)

Mother-- Rebecca F Landers Cooper

Siblings

Washington Cicero Cooper

Ella Cooper Fuqua

Maggie Cooper Condra

Algie Bell Cooper Craig

American Lillian Cooper Boyd

Johnnie Anna Cooper Pickle

William Emmett Cooper

Children

Willie Elmer Blanton

Mary Ella Blanton

Sam B Blanton

Nora B Blanton Taylor

Georgia L Blanton Simpson

Sources:

Baptist and Reflector, April 29, 1920, p  23, col 2 & 3; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/baptist-and-reflector-lula-cooper-blanto/206819632/ : accessed September 27, 2026), clip page for Lula Cooper Blanton- Obituary.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/66488903/lula-blanton: accessed 27 Sep 2026), memorial page for Lula Cooper Blanton (19 Nov 1861–6 Mar 1920), Memorial ID 66488903, citing Simpson Cemetery, Bedford County, Tennessee, USA.

In Memoriam: Eris Kimmons Simpson (1900 - 1923)

 

Eris Kimmons Simpson

Born:  October 17, 1900

Died:  May 3, 1923

Contracted Typhoid while working in Akron Ohio.

Survivors:

Parents:  Benjamin Isaiah Simpson and Edna Angeline Kimmons Simpson

Siblings:

Naomi E. Simpson Davis

Alta Dugan Simpson Clay 

Robert Webb Simpson

Thomas Edgar Simpson

Benjamin Frederic Simpson

Roy Jennings Simpson

Sources:

Baptist and Reflector, August 16, 1923, p  13, col 2; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/baptist-and-reflector-eris-simpson-obit/206720933/ : accessed September 25, 2026), clip page for Eris Simpson--obit.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/131422937/eris_kimmins-simpson: accessed 25 Sep 2026), memorial page for Eris Kimmins Simpson (17 Oct 1900–3 May 1923), Memorial ID 131422937, citing Simpson Cemetery, Bedford County, Tennessee, USA,

In Memoriam: Tennie Elmore Allison (1857 - 1949)

 

Born:  January 27, 1857

Died:  May 26, 1949

Member of Rover Baptist.

Predeceased by Parents James Hugh Elmore & Nancy Tillman Gault Elmore

Husband, David Crockett Allison.

Survivors

Daughters:

Mrs. C. Bradley of Nashville (Willie Allison)

Mrs. Ernest Gobel of Nashville (Jessie K Allison)

Mrs. R. R. Heath of Inglewood, California (Ola Allison)

Mrs. F. M. Rehmund of St Louis MO (Martha Allison)

Son:  

Charles Savage Allison of Jacksonville, Florida

Sister:  Miss Elizabeth Elmore of Nashville

Brother:  Granville Sandusky Elmore of Rover, Tennessee

11 Grandchildren

16  Great Grandchildren

Sources:

Nashville Banner, May 27, 1949, p  10, col 3; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/nashville-banner-obituary-for-tennie-elm/206717689/ : accessed September 25, 2026), clip page for Obituary for Tennie Elmore Allison.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/167655844/tennie-allison: accessed 25 Sep 2026), memorial page for Tennie Elmore Allison (27 Jan 1857–26 May 1949), Find a Grave Memorial ID 167655844, citing Spring Hill Cemetery, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA.