Obituary: David E Luna Age 83(1948)

This is the obituary of my great-grandfather.  He was Mom's paternal grandfather.  David was living with his son Will & family at the time of his death.  My Mom(Will's youngest daughter) was 8 years old when her grandfather died.  He was the only grandparent she ever knew.  Her maternal grandparents both died the year before she was born and her paternal grandmother died in 1899.

David E Luna

Age: 83
Died: 28 Oct 1948 at his son, Will's home near Taft.
Funeral: 5th St. Baptist Church Saturday, 30th Oct 1948
Burial: Charity Cemetery near Hazel Green AL

Survivors:
2 Daughters:
Mrs. Eugene Jaco
Mrs. Jim Roberts
Both of McMinnville, TN

Sons:
Will and Lee of Taft.
Robert, Andrew & Dougie of Huntsville, AL
Several Grandchildren, great-grandchildren and nephews.

Source:
"Rites Held In Huntsville For David E. Luna, 83," Lincoln County News(Fayetteville TN), Vol 44, 4 November 1948, p 1, col 5: FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHK-Q3T3-KS4S : accessed 13 February 2025) IGN 8992150, Image 623 of 1052.

Bounty Land for Elisha Luna's War of 1812 Service

The following is my transcription of a portion of the Bounty Land Application file of Mary Luna, Widow of Elisha Luna(Deceased a soldier of the War of 1812)  Mary did not file a pension claim but did file for bounty lands after the 1850 Act and the 1855 Act. Red Text is used to indicate the location of the transcribed information within the image files as most of the images contained multiple papers.

I've also included my notes and some images after the transcription

US, War of 1812 Pension and Bounty Land Warrant
Mary Looney Widow of Soldier Elisha Looney
https://www.fold3.com/image/316048215/looney-elisha-page-1-us-war-of-1812-pension-files-1812-1815
National Archives
Records of the Dept of Veterans Affairs
Record Group 15 NARA Catalog ID 564415

Image 1 Index Card

War of 1812 Soldier Elisha Looney or Luney
Widow Mary
No Claim for Pension
Bounty Land Wt 8469-80-50
Bounty Land Wt 20086-80-55

Service Pvt under Capt Tubbs Tenn Mil

Image 8(Top  left portion)  

Mary Looney Widow
of Elisha Looney Dec'd
Private Capt Tubbs Co.
Tennessee militia commanded
by Lieut Hammonds
War of 1812

121.179

M & G G Dibrell
Sparta Ten

Image 8(Top  Right Portion)

State of Tennessee
White County

On this 23d day of April A D 1855
personally appeared before me a justice of
the peace within and for the county and state aforesaid
Mary Looney aged Sixty four years a resident of
White County Tennessee formerly a resident of Dekalb county
who being duly sworn according to law declares that she
is the widow of elisha Looney deceased who was a private
in the company commanded by Captain James Tubb in
the regiment of Tennessee Militia command by Col Hammond
in the war with Great Britain declared 05th June 1812
that her said husband volunteered or was drafted
in Smith County Tennessee about the 20th day of Sept 1814
for the term of six months and continued in actual service
for more than 14 days and was honorably discharged
at Wilson Springs Miss. Territory about the 10th day of April 1815
she further declares that she was married to the said
Elisha Looney in Sumner County Tennessee about the ___
day of ______1805 by one________
a justice of the Peace and that her name before her
marriage was Nary Ann P? Enix that her said husband
died in Dekalb County Tennessee about the year 1842 on
the 27th day of April and that she is now a widow, she
further declares hat she has heretofore made application
for bounty land under the act of 28 Sept 1850 and
obtained a land warrant for 80 acres No 8469
which she has legally disposed of and cannot now

(Continued on Image 8 Bottom Left Portion )

be returned she makes this declaration for the
purpose of obtaining the bounty land to which she
may be entitled under the act approved 3d March
1855 and has never applied for any other. 

 Mary X (her mark) Loonery

We William Adcock and Leonard Adcock residents
of Dekalb County Tennessee upon our oaths declare
that the foregoing declaration was signed and ack-
nowledged by Mary Looney in our presence and
that we believe from her appearance and the
statements of the applicant that she is the identical
person she represents herself to be, thus her
husband Elisha Looney is dead and she is still a
widow.

Leonard Adcock
William Adcock

The foregoing declaration and affidavit were sworn
to and subscribed before me on the day and year
above written and I certify that I know the affiants
to be credible persons that the claimant is
the person she represent herself to be and that
I have no interest in this claim

Elijah W Denton
Justice of the Peace

Image 8 Bottom Right Portion

State of Tennessee
White County


I George G Dibrell Clerk of White County Court
Hereby certify that Elijah W Denton Esq whose
genuine signature appears to the within affidavidts is now
and was th the time of signing the same an acting Justice of
the Peace in and for said county duly commissioned and
qualified that all of his official acts as such are entitled
to full faith and credit in Testimony whereof I have hereunto
set my hand and affixed the seal of said court
at office in Sparta the 28th day of April A
D 1855

G G Dibrell Clerk
of White County Court

Image 9 Left Portion

State of Tennessee Dekalb county
I W J Isbell clerk of the county court of
Dekalb County do certify that Isaac H Hayse, Esqr and
William H. Magness Esqr before whom the within declarations
and affidavits purport to have been made were both of
them acting Justices of the peace within and for the county
of Dekalb in the state aforesaid at the time the Same
purports to bear date and that they were duly commissioned
and sworn and that the signatures purporting to be theirs
is genuine and that I have attached or made fast the
certificate of the clerk of the county court of Sumner County
stating the loss of the records of Marriages in said county
and that the same is a attached with the seal of Dekalb County
In testimony where of I have hereunto set
my hand and affixed my seal of office
at office in Smithville this the 21st day
of November 1850 W J Isbell Clk
of Dekalb County Court

Image 9 Right Portion

Declaration of Mary Luna
Widow of Elisha Luna Deceased
State of Tennessee
Dekalb County

On this the the(sic) ninth day of November
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and fifty personally appeared before me Isaac H.
Hayse an acting justice of the peace within and for
the county of Dekalb in the state aforesaid Mary
Luna, aged about sixty two years a resident of Dekalb
County in the state aforesaid(Tennessee) who being
duly sworn according to law, declares that she is the
widow of Elisha Luna, deceased, who was a private
in the company commanded by Captain James Tubb
in the 2nd Regiment West Tennessee Militia commanded
by Col Laury and Lieutenant Col Hammonds
in the war with great Britain declared by the
United States on the 18th day of June A D 1812
and that her said Husband was drafted and
mustered in to the service of the United States at
Fayetteville Tennessee on the 20th day of September
1814, for the term of Six Months, and that her said
husband the said Elisha Luna continued in actual
service in said war for the term of upwards of
six months, and was honorable discharged at
Wilsons Springs, Madison County Mississippi Territory
on the 10th day of April A D 1815 as will
appear from the muster rolls, and the proof of
the said Captain James Tubb.

She further states that she was married to the
said Elisha Luna, the in the County of Sumner in the
state of Tennessee on the 18th day of January 1802
or 1803, by virtue of a marriage license, issued
from the proper authority and married by a justice
of the peace of said county, whose name is not recollected
at this time, and that her name before her said marriage


Image 10 left Portion

Was Mary Enox, and that her said husband died
at home in Dekalb County Tennessee on the 27th
Day of April 1841, and that she is still a widow
and have not been married since she was married to
the said Elisha Luna
She makes this declaration for the purpose of obtaining
the bounty land to which she may be entitled under the
act passed 28th September 1850 and that she knows 

nothing of her said husbands discharge

                                                Mary (Her Mark) Luney
Attest B L Johnson

Sworn to and subscribed before me the day and Date
first above written
Isaac H Hayes J P
for Dekalb County

State of Tennessee Dekalb County.
Personally appeared before me Wm H
Magness an acting justice of the peace within and
for the county of Dekalb in the State aforesaid James
Tubb, former Captain in the Second Regiment
West Tennessee Militia Commanded by Lieutenant
Col Leroy Hammons, and who being duly sworn
according to law declares that the within named
Elisha Luna was a private in his company in
the second regiment as above stated, and that
the said Elisha Luna was mustered in to the
service of the United States at Fayetteville, Tennessee
on or about the 20th day of September A D 1814
for the term of six months and that he the said
Luna was in actual service for upwards of
six months in my company, and was honorable
discharged on the 10th day of April 1814 as appears
from the muster rolls now in my possession
sworn to and subscribed before me this the
14th day of November 1850

James Tubb Former Capt.
former Captain
in 2 Regiment W T M

Wm H Magness J P
for Dekalb County

Image 10 Right Portion

State of Tennessee Dekalb County

Personally appeared before me William H
Magness an acting justice of the peace within and for
Dekalb County in the sate aforesaid Joseph Atnip
who is entitled to full credit and who being duly
sworn according to law declares that he was personally
acquainted witht he within named Elisha Luna and
that him and the within named Mary Luna
lived together as husband and wife in the holy state
of wedlock all the time that I was acquainted with
them which was many years before the death of the
said Elisha Luna and that they raised a large family
which are all of lawful age and that the said Mary
Luna, widow as aforesaid is yet a widow and the lawful
Widow of the said Elisha Luna, deceased, and has not
been married since she was married to the said Elisha
Luna deceased and that she is at this time and has
been a member of the Baptist Church, for long before the
death of her said husband, in good standing and that
I the witness am in no wise interested in this matter,
Joseph Atnip (Seal)
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 21st day of November A D 1850
Wm H Magness J P
For Dekalb County

State of Tennessee
Sumner County

I John L Bugg Clk of the
County Court of Sumner County Certify
that I have made diligent research in my
office for the marriage license of Elisha
Luna and Mary Enix said to have been married
in this county in 1803 or 1804 and the
same cannot be found. The records of
marriage of this date having been lost
or destroyed than being now on file in
my office witness my hand and seal
of office at Gallatin this
the 13th day of November 1850

John T Bugg Clk
By H W Bugg D C

Notes:  

The documents are somewhat intermixed in the file and within how they were digitized.   The notation from the index card summary notes that no pension was filed for Elisha's service.  Mary filed for bounty land under the 1850 act and the 1855 act and received warrants both times for a total of 160 acres.

There is some discrepancy in the marriage date and the date of Elisha's death but that is not unusual as there is also a number of spellings differences for Mary's maiden name and also for her married surname.  She got the month right for her marriage but missed the year and maybe the date by a few days.  Also she gives a conflicing answer on the year of Elisha's death but gives 27th of April as the day and month consistently.   Elisha and mary lived in the area of Dekalb Co TN near the county line adjacent to White County.  The Adcocks and the Lunas lived close.  My maternal grandfather who is my Luna descendant also is a descendant of the Adcocks of that area.

In her 1855 Bounty Land Application. Mary mentions that she has disposed of the land she received in 1850.   The GLO website site shows her as the original land owner.  Interestingly it's in Lawrence County Arkansas, the same county where I am also researching a Cook land entry.  Mary Luney is listed in the Registered Land Sale Book for Lawrence Co AR(see source below) I have not yet found out what became of the land from this 1850 warrant.

Lawrence County, Arkansas, Register of Land Purchase and Sale Record, page 175; filmed by Genealogical Society of Utah, 1980; digitized by FamilySearch, [URL: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTJ-6SX8-L?i=599&cat=147338]; catalog listing at FamilySearch, "Register of Land Entries, Lawrence Co AR," DGS #8340198, item 5, image 600 of 611.

Christopher Warner ended up with the 1855 Warrant(20086) and used it on land in Richardson Co. Nebraska.

Mary Ann "Polly" Enoch Luna, daughter of Andrew Enoch(Caswell Co NC)

For any one who is a descendant of Peter Luna(d. 1851--Marshall Co. TN) thru his son Elisha Luna please note that the evidence to support the claim that Mary Ann "Polly",  Elisha's wife's surname of was Enoch and not Lenox/Lennox can be found in image 4 of the 62 images that are the contents of the Estate File of Andrew Enoch of Caswell County, North Carolina dated 1797. Andrew Enoch died about 1791 but the receipt is dated 7 Nov 1808 which is about 4 years after Elisha & Polly married.  The majority of these are receipt files.  I need to look further and see what is recorded in the books for this case. 

This had long been my hypothesis because I was continually seeing the Enoch named used by descendants of Elisha & Polly but never the Lenox/Lennox name.  I was not aware of, nor had I found any evidence to support that until seeing where another researcher had posted about it on the FamilySearch tree.  I began researching in 1990 and at that time there were transcriptions and indexing done that all had Elisha's wife's surname as Lenox or Lennox.  I believe that came from their Sumner Co TN marriage record and from there spread like wildfire. Now if only the correct surname with documentation would spread like wildfire.  

Below is my best shot at a transcription of the receipt from image 4

Rec'd 7th of November 1808 of John Yancy
Two Hundred and seventy seven dollars and
thirty cents It being in full of the legacy 
due from him to Elisha Loony in right
of his wife Polley one of the orphans of 
Andrew Enochs dec'd which I receive by virtue
of a power of attorney from said Loony
It being in full of the legacy due him
in right of his wife one of the heirs of
said dec'd
  
Samuel ( X )Coplinger
Test:
Alex Murphey

Source & Notes:
"North Carolina Estate Files, 1663-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V121-4Q6 : 8 March 2021), Andrew Enoch, 1797; citing Caswell, North Carolina, United States, State Archives, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 1,711,174. 

The surname of Peter Luna was originally Looney/Loony.  The majority of the Lunas who aren't of Mexican or Spanish descent in the SE USA are from the line of Peter Luna although there are a few who do use the old spelling.

FamilySearch links may require log in but registration is free.  

Finding work and more in the cotton mills

My Acuff and Luna family were like many others who left the Upper Cumberland Plateau counties to find work after WWI.  My folks ended up in Madison Co Alabama working for the Dallas Mill(Dallas Manufacturing Company.) The Dallas Mill was located north of Huntsville.  If you read thru the census records for the Dallas community in the 1920s and 1930s you can see what a big part it played in the community and the different jobs that those employed there held.  An article from the Huntsville Times in August of 1923 estimated that there were about 800 employed at the Dallas Mill.  I'd imagine it was similar to the company towns but perhaps on a lesser scale.  

If you have ever worked for a larger company you also know that they have their own social network.  Not in the way we think of social networks today.  Likes, Dislikes, Friends list and blocking someone were done in different ways than they are on today's social platforms. My grandmother's 1st cousin, Josephine Acuff Woodlee and I used to exchange letters and she had told me about some of her memories as a child.  She would hear the grownups in the kitchen discussing the "happenings" of the day.  If you are using DNA in your research(and you should be) keep in mind a person's place of employment may play a role in how two "parties" met. My mother DNA tested in hopes of finding descendants of an older rumored paternal half-sibling conceived during this time period(no suprises so far.)  I'm sure that this is just one of many DNA discoveries that could potentially be made among the families of the mill workers.  Some of the family remained in the Huntsville area and others moved back to the farm in Van Buren Co. around the time of the depression.

Sources:

"Huntsville's Large Industrial Plants That Employ Thousands," The Huntsville Times(Huntsville, Alabama), 05 Aug 1923, p. 11, col. 1-3; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 May 2022).

Woodlee, Sarah Josephine Acuff.  Letter to Marie Cooke Beckman(Granddaughter of 1st Cousin) postmarked 3 September 2002, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Personal Correspondence Collection of Marie Cooke Beckman. Letters from Sarah Josephine Woodlee spanning the years 2001-2004. In my possession. 

Bone Cave, Tennessee about 1951--Granny Minnie is shot

The David E Luna Family
Wm R Luna(son of D E Luna by 1st wife) is standing
first from right.  Minnie Acuff Luna is seated holding her son
Bert on her lap in this picture from about 1920 Huntsville AL

 A Facebook thread about a near miss from a bullet brought to mind a story my Mom had told me about my Grandmother, Minnie Acuff Luna.  I'd heard the story many times but called Mom for an interview of sorts.  Mom's parents(Wm Richard Luna & wife Minnie) were living in Bone Cave, TN on C.P Moore's place about 1951 where they were sharecropping.  The house they lived in had a rail fencing around the yard.  My grandmother was in the yard and my mother and her younger brother, Wayne were playing nearby chasing each other around a chair.  Mom's older brother, Ernest Luna and Douglas Deaton(Mom called him "Douger") were down the road talking near a tree that had fallen.  They heard the shot and then Granny told Grandpa she thought she'd been shot.  As far as Mom could remember they thought it was someone hunting on C P Moore property without his knowledge that was responsible for the stray bullet.  Grandpa went to get Florence(C.P. Moore's wife) so that they could get Granny Minnie to the hospital in McMinnville.  The bullet had went in her right leg missing the bone but hadn't exited.  Granny Minnie recovered but passed about 6 years later.  

Source:  This story is from the information I gathered from my Mom when I asked her about what she remembered from the incident.  If anyone else had ever heard about this I'd love to hear from them with any corrections if they have any.  My Mom would have been around 11 years old at the time this took place.  

Why I have not tested my mtDNA path

After reading Roberta Estes' blog post about mtDNA The Forgotten Test, I thought about the reasons why I haven't mtDNA tested.  Let's face it....I'm cheap.  I repurpose many fabrics and mend clothes til they are thread bare.  I save seeds and divide plants and bulbs every chance I get.  So my reason would be a financial one in that I can't justify the amount of money spent on a mtDNA test because it doesn't answer as many questions for me as an autosomal test.  If I did do the mtDNA testing I would want to do more than the minimal test and I don't have that kind of extra money available. The atDNA testing is all I have had and all I have bought for several others while they were on sale.  Thinking about this also made me want to recognize the ancestors who are responsible for passing me my mtDNA

Until then I remain a mtDNA carrying descendant of:
Beatrice Luna Cooke
Minnie Acuff Luna
Emma Frances Hale Acuff
Nancy Arminda Hitchcock Hale
Charlotta "Lottie" Fleming Hitchcock
Nancy Combs Fleming
Wife of Mason Combs Jr.

Visual representation of Chromosome mapping

This is my daughter Brittany's Chromosome map. She and I both have done the autosomal test as have her maternal grandmother and paternal grandmother.

In addition to her grandmothers testing she has a maternal aunt and a paternal uncle who have also tested as well as several Paternal Great Aunts & a Great Uncle.  This will help to sort thru her matches.

MGF--Cooke/King  & Jakes/Frizzell
MGM- Acuff/Hale & Luna/Pittman
PGF- Beckman/Folley & Harper/Mattox
PGM-Mosley/Hogland & Demonia/Brantley

This segment map is a screenshot from the GenomeMate Pro program which I use to help track my matches for kits I manage.

Nice DNA surprises...2nd cousin 1 removed uploads to GEDmatch

What a difference it makes to have a closer known cousin upload to GEDmatch.  I had asked one of my maternal cousins(a 2nd cousin once removed) if he would consider uploading and sent him a link to a how-to.  We both had our tests done at Ancestry.com.  Since I am not a subscriber outside of having my test done there I really don't get much use from the circles because you can't see who is in those circles with you.  I had actually been so caught up in things around here that I had not looked at my research for the last several days which is unusual for me.  Now that this cousin, has uploaded I am able to compare a known to unknowns.  So my plans for the day are to compare segments that he and I have in common to others who match along those segments.  We share DNA on 7 different chromosomes with two segments on one of those chromosomes.  Our largest segment match is 69.5cM and our total shared over all is 198.9 cM, which falls within the high range  of 2C1R using this chart.  Gedmatch estimated us to be 3.1 generations away from the MRCA.  The Most Recent Common Ancestors are my Gr Grandparents, David Enoch Luna & Nancy Pitman Luna.  They are his GG Grandparents.

Path to the  MRCA
Me----->Mom ----->Mom's Dad --------->MRCA Luna & Pitman
Him---->His Dad--> His Dad's Mom --->Her Mom--->MRCA Luna & Pitman

A Genealogist's Holiday Wish list

The holidays are drawing near and about this time every year people are wondering what to get the genealogist on their list. I've read articles on this subject which have suggested

• Subscription to Family Tree Magazine, Heritage Quest or another genealogy related magazine
• Database Subscriptions(Footnote.com, Ancestry.com, WorldVitalRecords etc.)
• Week long trip to the FHL in SLC
• A Genealogy Conference
  

All of those are wonderful ideas. I love my subscription to Family Tree Magazine as well as my Footnote.com subscription.

Now if Santa is wondering what I'd like for Christmas:
(Cue the "Santa Baby" music)

• William Clifford Cook's parents' names(he married in Williamson Co TN and lived in Bedford Co. TN)
• Census Entries for the Wm. Taylor Hale family in 1860 & 1870(minus Wm.) they should be in Van Buren Co. TN
• Thomas Adcock's parents' names--(Warren Co TN area)
• Records from Annie Pitman Dunham's visit to Talequah in 1866
• Pictures of the six GG Grandparents( I have pics of 2 sets): Wm C. & Elizabeth Putman Cook, George & Catherine Morrow Jakes, David & Rebecca Manley Frizzell, Elisha & Keziah Rigsby Luna, David and Mary Adcock Pitman, Wm P. & Nancy Arminda Hitchcock Hale.

These should all be fairly easy for Santa. After all, at one time he had to know where these people were in order to deliver Christmas goodies(or perhaps their lump of coal).

My 16 GG Grandparents(better late than never)

I've been meaning to make this post ever since Randy Seaver's Sat. Night Genealogy Fun idea to
Post your 16 GG Grandparents

Just now finding time. I've not attempted to determine exact percentages for my ancestral ethnicity mainly because I have very few of them back to their immigration date. Most of them were in what would become the US by 1770s and some of them earlier than that. I'd say that I'm probably over 90% a combo of English Scottish and Irish.

Paternal Lines(1-8)
Maternal Lines(9-16)

1. William Clifford Cook: born 4th April 1811 in NC, USA; married 27th of Sept 1831 in Williamson Co., TN, USA; died 1 Jan 1882 in Bedford Co., TN, USA.
2. Elizabeth Putman: born 1814 in Union Co., SC, USA; died 5th Sept. 1880 in Bedford Co., TN, USA.
3. William Benton King: born Feb 1819 in Bedford Co., TN, USA; married 30 Sept. 1841 in Williamson Co., TN, USA; died 1901 in Gainesville, Cooke Co., TX, USA.
4. Eliza Jane Manire: born 1818 in Williamson Co., TN, USA; died April 1896 in Gainsville, Cooke Co., TX, USA.
5. George Jakes: born abt. 1820 in Franklin Co.,VA, USA; married abt 1845 in Tennessee; died after 1880 census in TN, USA.
6. Catherine Morrow: born abt. 1830; died after 1880 census in TN, USA.
7. David Frizzell: born 23rd Oct. 1808 in Bedford Co., TN, USA ; married 15th Nov 1834 in ; died 27th Dec 1870 in Bedford Co., TN, USA
8. Rebecca Manley: born 1818 in Bedford Co., TN, USA ; died 1862 in Bedford Co., TN, USA.
9. Elisha Luna: born 5th Nov. 1825 in Smith Co., TN, USA; married 11th Dec 1851 in Dekalb Co., TN, USA; died 19th June 1889 in Dekalb Co., TN, USA.
10. Keziah Rigsby: born 1832 in White Co., TN, USA ; died 1909 in Dekalb Co., TN, USA.
11. David Pittman: born April 1838 in Jackson Co., AL, USA; married 22th Dec 1859 in Dekalb Co., TN, USA; died 11th Feb 1922 in Dekalb Co., TN, USA.
12. Mary D. Frances Adcock: born 20th of May 1842 in Dekalb Co., TN, USA; died 30th of Dec. 1902 in Dekalb Co., TN, USA
13. William Leon Acuff: born 25th of Jan. 1842 in Bledsoe Co., TN, USA; married 5th Jan. 1871 in Van Buren Co., TN, USA; died 3 Feb. 1898 in Van Buren Co., TN, USA.
14. Sarah McElroy: born 28th Nov 1847 in Van Buren Co., TN, USA; died 2nd July 1925 in Dallas, Madison Co., AL, USA.
15. William P. Hale: born 1849 in Van Buren Co., TN, USA; married abt 1871 prob. in Bledsoe Co., TN, USA ; died bet. 1920-1930 in Warren Co., TN, USA.
16. Nancy Arminda Hitchcock: born 6th Sept 1840 in Warren Co., TN; died before 1887 in TN(prob. Van Buren Co.), USA