Charlotte & James Hitchcock Divorce and Land Division in Bledsoe Co. TN (1883)

In the process of looking for more information about my 2 great grandparents Wm  P Hale & Arminda Hitchcock Hale, I found two divorces, neither of which I'd ever heard about.  One for Wm P Hale's sister and her 2nd husband which I blogged about in an earlier post and this document, the divorce of Arminda's parents, James P Hitchcock & Charlotte Hitchcock who were in their 70s.

Included here are is a summary of the entries I found along with a partial transcription from the proceedings which granted the divorce.  There was also a drawing of the land included.

To see the full entries please visit the links given in the sources listed at the end of this post.

Summary

p 158  Image 111

Charlotte Hitchcock complainant

James Hitchcock defendant

James was subpoenaed and failed to come forward and offer a defense.  

Hearing date set.

p  175 Image 119[FamilySearch IGN 8478557]

it appears to the satisfaction of the Court, that the Petitioner Charlotte Hitchcock is entitled to the relief sought. It is therefore ordered, adjudged & decreed by the Court that the bonds of matrimony heretofore subsisting between the petitioner Charlotte Hitchcock and defendant James Hitchcock be and is dissolved and this petitioner Charlotte Hitchcock be restored to all the rights and powers of a single woman And it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that defendant is the owner of a lot of personal property, set out in the petition in this cause a portion of which is in the possession of petitioner and the Court being of opinion that the Petitioner is entitled to a personal property, as alimony he is pleased to adjudge & decree that Petitioner keep & retain as her absolute property, the personal property shown in her petition to be in her possession, which about one half said property and if further appearing to the Court that the Deft is the owner of the following described real estate, in Bledsoe Co. Term situated in the 1st Civil district in said County, One Two Thousand Tract of land granted by the State of Tenn to James Hitchcock per grant No 11233 Registered in the register 's office Mountain District Book X pages 376 & 377 and Survey is dated 18th day of February 1854.

p 176 Image 120 [FamilySearch IGN 8478557]

Nov 12, 1883

County Surveyor and Commissioners ordered to divide the land

p. 191-193 Images 127-128 [FamilySearch IGN 8478557]

Contains a description of the division and this drawing

Sources:
Bledsoe Co TN Minute Books, Civil & Criminal Oct 1881-Nov 1889, p. 158, Charlotte Hitchcock vs James Hitchcock; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39J-CQG9-5 : accessed October 6, 2026), IGN 8478557, Image 111 of 622.

Bledsoe Co TN Minute Books, Civil & Criminal Oct 1881-Nov 1889,p. 175, Charlotte Hitchcock vs James Hitchcock; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39J-CQL1-8 : accessed October 6, 2026), IGN 8478557, Image 119-120 of 622.

Bledsoe Co TN Minute Books, Civil & Criminal Oct 1881-Nov 1889, p. 191-193, Charlotte Hitchcock vs James Hitchcock; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39J-CQGS-N : accessed October 6, 2026), IGN 8478557, Image 127-128 of 622.

William M Davis vs. Lucinda C Davis-Bledsoe Co. TN(1884)

While exploring a lead on my Hale / Hitchcock line I ended up finding more about Wm P Hale's sister, Lucinda C Hale Bishop Davis.

While I have never been able to find her marriage to William Davis, I did find their divorce.

Image 111

The court claims the default judgement since Lucinda didn't show up after being subpoenaed.

Image 128  

Hearing Date:   10 March 1884

appearing to the court that Deft. Lucinda Davis had been guilty of

dwelling since her intermarriage with the complainant, with divers persons in violation of her marriage vows and it further appearing to the court that complt is a man of good character.  It is therefore ordered and decreed by the court that the bonds of matrimony subsisting between complainant & defendant be and hereby dissolved, decread & declared null and void for nothing held and that they be and are hereby divorced dvincul And it is further adjudged by the court that Deft recover of complainant all court cost in this case except state and co. tax for which execution will issue.

More clues about my Hale family. 

Sources:

Bledsoe Co TN Minute Books, Civil & Criminal Oct 1881-Nov 1889

p. 158, William Davis vs. Lucinda C Davis; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39J-CQG9-5 : accessed October 6, 2026), IGN 8478557, Image 111 of 622.

Bledsoe Co TN Minute Books, Civil & Criminal Oct 1881-Nov 1889

p. 193, William Davis vs. Lucinda C Davis; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39J-CQL1-P : accessed October 6, 2026), IGN 8478557, Image 128 of 622.

George & Kate Solifelt's Divorce-Dauphin Co. Penn.(1869)

I found a Proclamation in Divorce to George T Solifelt several years back but I've finally found a newspaper personal that shows it was granted to his wife listed as Catherine A Solifelt. The Proclamation was published in the newspaper on December 9th  of 1868.  

Information from the proclamation

"Whereas Catharine A Solifelt, by her next friend David Pruner, plaintiff, did on the 23d day of June 1868, prefer  her petition to the Judges of our Court of Common Pleas of the County of Dauphin, praying for the causes therein set forth, that she might be divorced from the bonds of matrimony entered into with Gorge T. Solifelt:"

This was before the Honorable John J Pearson, President of our said Court at Harrisburg on the 27th of November, A.D. 1868

Below is my transcription of the newspaper personal which tells about the outcome of the case.

Image created using ChatGPT

Personal

Catharine A Solifelt vs. George T. Solifelt.--No. 223, August Term, 1868--Divorce--February 4, 1868--On motion of F.K. Boas, attorney for libellant, Court decree a Divorce in the above stated case, and order George T. Solifelt to pay the costs. Feb61t*

[Note: I believe there is an error in the February 4, 1868 date(above) and that it should be 1869.]

You can find out more about the lives of George Solifelt & Kate by searching on the name, SOLIFELT on the blog's search function in the upper left corner.

Sources:
"Personal Catharine A Solifelt vs George T. Solifelt," Harrisburg Telegraph(PA), 6 Feb 1869, p 2, c 7; digital images, Newspapers.com(https://www.newspapers.com/article/harrisburg-telegraph-divorce-catharine-a/189501437/: accessed 21 Jan 2026).

"Proclamation in Divorce to George T Solifelt," Harrisburg Telegraph, December 9, 1868, p 3, c 7; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/harrisburg-telegraph-proclamation-in-div/96980881/ : accessed January 21, 2026).

When a Presumed 1st Marriage is Actually a 2nd Marriage--Henry F Hill

 I knew thru my earlier research of Tennie Ferguson HIll that she had been married prior to her marriage to Henry F Hill.  What I didn't know was that Henry had been previously married as well.  Today I finally found his 1880 Census entry.  While Henry Hill is a fairly common name, the Mother's birth place and his occupation give me a high degree of confidence that this is the Henry Hill who later married Tennie.

1880 U.S. Federal Census, Jasper County, Missouri, population schedule, Sarcoxie, enumeration district (ED) 62, p. 404B, dwelling 197, family 202; Henry Hill; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 February 2024); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 694.

And his wife Isabella is 12 years his senior(according to the census entry) has also been married before and has several adult children.  I was able to find their marriage record from Muskingum County, OH.  The marriage record giving his name as Henry F Hill offered further evidence for the argument that this is indeed the same Henry who later married Tennie.

"Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZCW-DJL : accessed 3 February 2024), Entry for Henry F. Hill and Isabelle Johnson, 26 Apr 1874.

Using her given name from the census & her childrens' surname, I went looking for Isabella's first marriage, I looked for an Isabella that married a Johnson male and was able to find her 1st husband Payton Johnson who was considerably older than Isabella.  Prior to her marriage. her name was Isabella Blake  I found Isabella and her 1st husband in the 1870 Census. So now that I have an idea of how those marriages map out, I'd like to find either a divorce or a an obituary or death record for Isabella Blake Johnson Hill some time between 1880 and 1884.  Jasper Co MO is about 150 miles north of Fort Smith Arkansas.  

I have been researching the children from Isabella's first marriage and where they ended up and believe that Isabella and Henry's marriage ended in divorce or at least separation since I found her buried in KS in the same cemetery as her daughter and under her previous surname.  So I've been compiling a list of what locations to check.  In Missouri that would be Jasper, Newton, Berry, and Lawrence Counties.  If Henry filed after he got to Arkansas then the counties to checkn are Madison, Newton, Franklin, Sebastian, and Logan Counties 

In the Henry F Hill investigation file, some of the documents in the case are dated 1883 and the information on those give the impression that Henry Hill has been in the Huntsville Madison Co. Arkansas area for a year or more.  That would narrow down the time of the end of Henry's first marriage to about a 2-3 year period--say between June 1st 1880 -1882. 

Things to consider:

• Either party could have filed for divorce.
• It's possible there was just a separation which would make Henry's marriage to Tennie problematic.
• It's also possible that the divorce could have been later up to about early1886.
• If Isabella did get her previous name back after the split rather than the children just burying her with that name or her going back to it once she and Henry were no longer together then it might follow that she likely initiated the divorce.

The search goes on....

Divorce: Emma Sanders vs Dallas Sanders--Madison Co. Alabama 1946

Image 1

Image of Folder 

Image 2 

Divorce Decree. The State of Alabama, Madison County. Circuit Court of Madison County, in Equity 23rd Judicial Circuit

No 8833  June 20th 1946  Emma Sanders(Plaintiff)  vs. Dallas Sanders(Defendant) 

Granted-Plaintiff’s pleadings were taken pro confesso since the defendant did not appear despite having been served a summons. 

Image 3 

Wrapper of Decree

Image 4 

Summons

May 18th 1946 Summons for Dallas Sander to be delivered by sheriff.

Image 5 

Outer Wrapper of Summons

Signed by register and execute on same day.

Filed May 20th 1946

Rec Bk 37 pg 594

Image 6
Plaintiff's pleadings ask for a vinculo matrimonii(absolute divorce)

Image 7

Wrapper of Plaintiff's pleadings

Image 8

Acknowledgement of served summons on defendant and defendants failure to answer.

Image 9

Decree Pro Confesso 

Order Bk  6 pg. 210

Image 10

June 23rd 1946 Complainant's submission for final decree

Image 11

Notice of Register's Submission

Image 12

Certificate of Commissioner regarding Oral Depositions

Image 13

Outer Wrapper Commission to take Oral Depositions

Image 14

Deposition of Emma Sanders witness sworn and examined under and by virtue of a commission issued out of the Circuit Court of Madison County in equity in a certain cause therein pending wherein they said Emma Sanders is Complainant and Dallas Sanders is Defendant. The said witness, being duly sworn to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, deposes and says as follows:

My name is Emma Sanders. I am the Complainant in this cause and I am of full age and of sound mind. I am bona fide a resident of Madison County, Alabama having bona fide resided in the state for more than one year next before the filing of my bill for divorce. The Defendant also is of full age of sound mind and he resided at the time of the filing of my bill for divorce at 407 Rison Avenue, Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama and still lives in Madison County, Alabama. He and I were married on the 4th day of March 1933 by license regularly issued out of the probate court of Madison County Alabama and lived together thereafter as men and wife until the 12th day of May, 1946, at which time we separated while living in Madison County, Alabama, and we have not lived together since. During the time that we cohabited the Defendant drank to excess and was extremely quarrelsome when intoxicated. He has on more than one occasion struck me and has threatened my life. I was afraid that he might carry out his threats and separated from him at the time mentioned above and have not since cohabited with him.

Emma Sanders

"Alabama, Madison County Chancery and Circuit Court Records, 1829-1968," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-897T-TXHD?cc=1978142&wc=9L3B-6MF%3A1080063303%2C1080497701%2C1080551102 : accessed 23 March 2023), Divorces and Disputed Estates > 1946 > Case no 8833 Sanders, Emma vs Sanders, Dallas > image 1 of 14; citing Madison County Record Center, Huntsville.

Emma Lou Acuff Sanders
1908-1994

Pondering the 1822 Cook Divorce Petition(Rutherford Co TN)

The TN State Act granting Sally's divorce.
TN State Library and Archives
Acts of Tennessee, 1822 Chapter 203 Section 3

The divorce petition from Sally Cook that I posted about in my previous post left me with a number of questions. It was granted as shown in the image above. Who were John F Cooke's people?. With a Cook "brickwall" in this area and time period I need to know so that I can sort through the families.

The Francis Cook marriage to Sally Mosby in Mercer Co KY has to be John F Cook and Sally Mosby/Mosley as the date of the bond is the day before their marriage date which she mentions in the divorce petition.

Where is Sally in the 1820 Census. My guess is that she is in the household of family there in Rutherford Co TN because I do not see her listed in a household by herself. The signed statement about John F Cooke going off to parts unknown is made in July 1820. In May of 1820 John F Cooke is a witness to an indenture that was made in Sept of 1815 Between John Mosbey and James Will. (Mosbey is given as Mosley in Marsh's Land Deed Genealogy of Rutherford Co TN Vol 3 (1819-1823) pg 87 (Pg 426 Doc 331 of Rutherford Deed book)

The land that Sally mentions that she inherited was land she received as an heir of Samuel Mosby/Mosley(see link below to valuations of all of the lots 1805) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKX-K3ND-C?cat=255153

Others mentioned in addition to Sally Mosbey are Keltry? Mosby, Luckett Davis, Robert Mosby, William Mosbey, John Mosbey, Robert Lewis, Polly McDaniel, June Mosbey

John F Cooke made an indenture to Thomas A Harris in Feb of 1818. Thomas A Harris registers this deed in 3 Oct of 1820
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKH-CLVP?i=654&cat=358486 (Another deed book entry concerning bill of sale names Sally and more of the Moseby/Mosley bunch)

John F Cooke and Sally are witness to a deed for land between Robert Mosbey and John Mosbey(Sally's brothers) which was made 26th Aug 1815 and registered 16th June 1817 in Rutherford Co TN( Rutherford Deed Book K Pg 490 Doc 499---From Marsh's Land Deed Genealogy of Rutherford Co TN Vol 2 pg 131)

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4H-D4KJ?i=481&cat=358486

Who are two children mentioned by Sally in the divorce petition?
I found a few other researchers who had Sally and John in their tree and an interest but they did not have the divorce in their records.

There were some clues that Sally likely went back to Mercer Co KY. Also a note that John Francis Cook died in 1826. It calls him John Francis Whiting Cooke and names the children as

• William Alexander Cooke(1819-1873) married Sarah Grant
• Norbourne Berkley Cooke(1817-1854)

Also in Mercer Co KY a Buckner Miller and Robert Mosbey make bond 18 Dec 1826 for a marriage between Buckner Miller and a Sarah Cook.  I believe that those who have researched this Sarah Sally Mosby Cook do not know about the divorce and are using the date of her marriage to Buckner to estimate a time of death on John Francis Cooke.
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/boone/grant.jf.txt

Most of the trees are "Frankenstein" in nature but it appears that John Francis Cooke might have been a son of John Esten/Ester Cooke and perhaps a grandson of Mordecai Cooke 1708-1757) There are SAR files using the lineage of William A Cooke---John and Sally and John's father John Esten Cooke.

I'll likely add to this post as I make more discoveries.

Early TN Cook Divorce--Rutherford Co. TN (1822)

I'd sent off for a copy of this 1822 TN Divorce Petition not only because it is near the area where my Cook(e)s were but because of my interest in Hardy Pope who signs the statement for the petitioner.  There is a Hardy Pope among purchasers at the estate sale of Joseph S Cook(an estate over which my known 2nd Great Grandfather Wm Clifford Cook was appointed administrator)  TSLA sent the images files to me yesterday.  At this time there is no proof what relationship W C Cook was to Joseph S Cook. I can't tell from this document if there is any connection with either Joseph S Cook or Wm C Cook. Below is my attempt at transcribing the files of the petition.  There was pretty much no punctuation and I kept the line breaks of the original documents.

Daisy Cook vs. Clarence Cook--Rutherford Co TN--Feb. 1935

I've had copies of the Rutherford Co TN Court Minutes pages concerning the divorce of my Great Uncle Clarence Cook and his 2nd wife Daisy for awhile but just recently went searching for the case file.  The full documents are on FamilySearch in the Rutherford Co. Tennessee Chancery Court Record Files and was filed in February of 1935.  They contain a lot of details and a major typo in the marriage date that gets carried throughout the entire record.  I have no idea how the error could have gone unnoticed as it causes the marriage date to be AFTER the separation date.(see dates marked with 🌞in snippet below)  Their correct marriage year is 1925 and not 1930. I have a copy of their marriage record.  No time traveling required.  Just an example of why it's important to collect every document you can about an event.

Source:  Rutherford County, Tennessee chancery court records, ca. 1817-1940, Cody, Isham vs. Trigg, John H. - Cooper, Wise A. vs. Sims, Levi [Roll #12]   Cook, Daisy vs Cook, Clarence; Snipped from image(2506 of 3156) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C37K-6SX5-W?i=2505&cat=1156784

Who are you and how do you know my Grandmother? --Part 1

The Holidays
As the holidays approached  I found myself as I do every year looking through my wrapping paper, gift bags & cards and trying to determine what I need to buy more of in order to get thru the current season.  Inevitably, I also find the box which contains cards I have received over the years as well as some older cards that people sent to my paternal Grandmother.  One from her sister, Kitty Jakes Bell, another from Cora Jakes Gibson(another of her sisters)...one from her niece Olive Bell Shriver and her husband Sam.  One of the cards was from someone I couldn't place in her family and I thought it might be a neighbor or someone she has rented a house from as they lived in East Nashville rentals a bunch after moving from Old Hickory and before she moved to Dickson.  I looked inside to get the name which I believe I had done before and just  figured that the card was from family.  In addition to the name I also noticed faded ink across the entire card.  At first it looked like a letter had been in the card and faded, but on further examination I can see that the sender, a lady I'll call Flora had written a letter on the folded inside of the card.  The letter told of some hardships she and her family were going thru and made me further curious about how they knew each other.  My curiosity was peaked even further when she asked about my Uncle Morris and sent her regards.

Clues from the Letter
Flora and her husband live in Akron Ohio on Austin Avenue.  She gave vague details of the health problems she and her husband had been facing.  Flora's son was in the hospital in Chillicothe (OH?) and apparently it isn't a minor hospital stay as she mentioned not having written to him in awhile.  This leads me to believe that it may have been a Veteran's hospital so I want to check the census records for this family and see what I can find. Flora's daughter is also having a hard time. Her husband has left her and her children(Flora's Grandchildren) at the holidays.  What little information I do know is pulling at my heartstrings and I want to know how it turned out for these people....and yes...how they know my grandmother.  I note all of the clues to her identity in the letter so that I can use it in my research.

1940 Akron Ohio but not at the address on the card.

• Flora was born about 1902 which puts her at about 11 years younger than my grandmother.
• Her husband works at a Rubber Plant( Goodyear or Firestone?)
• Living at home is a daughter age 17 and a son age 15
• Living at the same house in 1935 (Stanford Ave, Akron, Ohio)

A check of the 1930 reveals a bit more

• Flora and her husband have a son age 11 who isn't in their household in 1940
• Flora's husband was working at the Rubber Shop(maybe the plant hadn't expanded at that time)
• All are Born in Ohio and there parents were also according to this census.
• Flora was 15 when she married and her husband 21.

Checking some of the suggested records that pop up when I view the census records at Ancestry.com lead me to find Flora's marriage record as well as marriage records for her daughter.  The older son was in the Navy as I find his death noted with U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File as well as a FindAGrave listing which shows his Navy marker..  I wonder if this is how the family would know my Uncle Morris.  He was in the Navy briefly in 1945.  Was the older son the one who was in the hospital

More clues....and more questions.

I want to look for a divorce record for the daughter.  That will give me an idea of what time period the letter was written which will tell me how far back their friendship goes.  I wonder if Ohio has the divorce court records and rulings at Ancestry like Michigan does.  

Lots to think about.