Friday, October 25, 2019

Notes: My Lewis family in pre-statehood Tennessee.

In page 6 of Pat Alderman's "Greasy Cove in Unicoi County: Authentic Folklore" there is a paragraph mentioning the William Lewis massacre of 1793 which gives the location of the Lewis family home.  According to the description it should be in the area I've noted on the map. 



I've read several articles that were written about the Indian raid on the Lewis family in my 29 years of research but this is the first one I've read that mentions that the Indians thought they were attacking John Sevier's family.  William Lewis was away at the time of the attack.  A son and daughter survived the attack.  The daughter was taken by the Indians and ransomed for a rifle.  That daughter is my 3rd Great Grandmother Mary Lewis who would later marry Canada/Kennedy Rigsby in Carter Co TN.  The marriage license/bond is dated 9th of February 1809.  Their bondsman was Benjamin Kelly.  I've included a screenshot of part of the document below.  Note that the governor at that time was none other than John Sevier.



Sources:

Google Maps.  Temple Hill Tennessee 37650  accessed 25 October 2019 https://goo.gl/maps/HkJpnBXRUt7z2A2h9.

Alderman, P. (1975). Greasy Cove in Unicoi County: Authentic folklore. Johnson City, Tenn: Overmountain Press.

"Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6PTS-8QD?cc=1619127&wc=Q6SB-LSV%3A1589264475%2C1589372908 : 22 December 2016), Carter > Marriage licenses, 1796-1950, Wilson & Olliver-Zimmerman & Summers > image 699 of 933; citing Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville and county clerk offices from various counties.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Marie,

    Thanks for this post and the map! Mary "Polly" Lewis is my husband's 4th great-grandmother. His mother was a Rigsby. We live in East Tennessee and we hope to go Greasy Cove in the near future to look around.

    Shelia Nelson

    ReplyDelete