Volume 3 Issue 7
July 2003
July 2003
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Volume 3 Issue 7
July 2003 |
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A Scandalous Family by Willard Gentry Abstract Introduction Allen D. Gentry Allen D. moved from Halifax County, Virginia, to Surry County, North Carolina, with his father in about 1796. He was living with his father at the time of the 1800 census, then was married to his first cousin Nancy Gentry in 1810 (a marriage bond dated 2 Mar 1810, is found in Surry County records<8>). Allen and Nancy subsequently appeared in the 1810 Surry County census<4b>, then were missing from any 1820 census. In 1830 and thereafter, the family is found in the census records for Monroe County, Tennessee<4c,d>. Allen's name began appearing in the tax lists of Surry County in 1810, when he was taxed for 50 acres of land. His name is found in the tax records a half-dozen times after that until 1817, when the last entry was made<5>. Entries in Surry County deed books show Allen D. sold a portion of his land in 1819, and at the same time witnessed the sale of land by his father<6>. Although there is a deed for the sale of 254 acres of additional land in 1821 (for which he was taxed in 1817), it is probable that this sale occurred after Allen D. and Meshack moved away from Surry County. During these last few years of Allen's stay in Surry County, there is also a passing reference to him in court records in 1818 and 1819 as an administrator for the estate of Richard Gentry, an uncle of Meshack Gentry.<7> [In following the successive references to the Allen Gentrys in Surry County, care must be taken when Allen is not specifically identified as "Allen D.", to distinguish between Allen D. and an older Allen, a first cousin of Allen D.'s father Meshack, and a younger Allen, a younger brother of Allen D.'s wife Nancy.] In a Revolutionary War pension application, Meshack indicated that "A few years after the end of the war, he moved to Surry Co. NC where he lived until 1818. Then lived 2 years in Greene Co. TN, 2 years in Bledsoe Co. TN, 2 years in McMinn Co. TN, then finally moved to Monroe Co. TN where he resided until the time of his application."<9> We presume that Allen D. accompanied his father in these moves, except possibly for some delay in the first move to Greene County. Regardless, the next record of Allen was in Monroe County, where there were a number of references to both Allen and Meshack in the county deed books<11>. Both Meshack and Allen appeared in the 1830 Monroe County census records. Meshack has not been found in the 1840 census, even though he did not die until 4 Jul 1846. Allen and various members of his family appear repeatedly in Monroe County census records from 1840 onwards. Nancy Gentry The Infidelity of Allen "Her said husband abandoned her entirely and lived in adultery with one Susan Ivy whom he had placed in a house about one hundred and fifty yards distant from the cabin occupied by [Nancy]. Thus forsaken by her said husband, [she], ignorant, poor and defenseless was forced to submit to all manner of cruel treatment from her said husband who was now under the complete control of the said Susan Ivy with whom he was living in adultery. " As to the timing of this event , Nancy's memory may be a little faulty, since in the 1840 census, Susan was listed in what is apparently her own home with apparently four children (two by her former husband, and two by Allen), while Allen and Nancy and four of their eight children were listed in a separate household. Be that as it may, Nancy testified further in court that "her said husband allowed her [Nancy], to remain in a house upon his land and permitted her to come to the mill and carry off a small pittance for her support." In 1845, Allen and Susan were indicted by the Monroe County, Tennessee, Circuit Court for "lewdness", and in order to free himself of this charge, Allen "set about perpetrating frauds of almost every kind upon [Nancy] in order to fraudulently dissolve himself from the bonds of matrimony." Nancy claimed later that a letter which she received from a brother-in-law in Surry County, (telling her that her father [Abednego] had died and that she was to inherit a part of his estate), was a forgery. Nancy stated that the forgery was arranged by Allen, and was designed to get her to agree to a divorce from Allen. Further, this letter gave her to understand that she, Nancy, would inherit large sums of money herself if she were divorced from Allen, but that otherwise, as her legal husband, the money would go to Allen. Nancy was told that: "[She] would be placed upon a piece of land that she could hold in fee simple where she would not be molested if she would ... consent not to oppose her said husband from obtaining [a] divorce. [Further..] [She] distinctly charges and alleges that her consent not [to] oppose her said husband from obtaining a divorce, was given in the manner she has stated and that her signature to said petition for divorce was obtained by fraud and contrivance and that she never did ask to be divorced from her said husband at any time except in the manner she has stated." A decree of the Circuit Court was issued dated 12 Jan 1846<12>, granting Nancy a divorce from Allen, following which on 1 May 1848, "there was a false and pretended marriage between the said [Allen and Susan Ivy] ... but [Nancy charged] they were not in fact married legally ... that they reported themselves married to effect the dismissal of the ... indictment that was still pending against them in the Circuit Court." Nancy's later claim was that the alleged marriage was performed by a Philip Alexander [a next door neighbor] who was not authorized to perform such a marriage" (and thus any children of Allen and Susan were not legally entitled to inherit any of Allen's estate at his death). The letter to which Nancy referred in her court suit is among the papers filed with the other court papers in Madisonville, Monroe County, and the text of both the letter and the court brief is given in a Supplement to this article<16>. It was purported to have been written by Samuel Stock, the husband of Nancy's older sister, Mary, who was living in Surry County. [The letter provides the only evidence of the date of Abednego's death (31 Oct 1844). This date may not be correct but it must have been sufficiently close to what Nancy would be expected to know concerning her father's death, that she did not recognize the letter at the time of its receipt as a forgery.] The court papers do not report the decision of the court - whether the letter was indeed proved to be a forgery or whether or not Susan and Allen were legally married - but the fact remains that all further court proceedings and considerations of inheritance of Allen's estate involved only the children of Allen and Nancy. There is no mention of any inheritance by the children of Allen and Susan. Accordingly we must presume that the court found in Nancy's favor in entirety. Nancy and eight children (or their minor heirs in the case of one son David who had died), were named in several subsequent court actions as heirs of the estate of Allen D. Gentry (see further references in footnote 12). In December 1856, it was acknowledged in court that Susan Ivy Gentry had died. Finally, Nancy died in 1862. Both Nancy and Allen D. are buried in Hawkins Cemetery, near Madisonville, Monroe County, with no dates on their gravestones<13>. Nancy's will was proved in 1862 and her estate distributed, and the final sorry episode of the Allen - Nancy - Susan triangle came to an end. Children of Allen D. and Nancy 1. Pleasant M. Gentry
Pleasant was living with his parents in Monroe County, Tennessee, at the time of the 1830 census and is listed in his own right in the 1840 and subsequent census records<4d,13b>. From the composition of Pleasant's family as shown in the census records of 1840 and 1850, it is apparent that his marriage to Jane Cottrell must have been a second marriage for Pleasant. From the ages of their children, Pleasant and this first wife may have married shortly before 1830, and in fact Pleasant's wife probably was the unidentified female present with Allen and Nancy's family in the 1830 census. The relationships of the family living with Pleasant in the 1840 census are not clear. Our suggestions are highly speculative, and are based on a combination of census records, and marriage records<10> that can most easily be explained if the author's assumptions are right.. The oldest female present in the census (age 15-20) was much younger than the age reported in 1850 and 1860 for Jane, so either Jane's age was reported in error, or Jane was missing from the census for some unknown reason and this was another person. The young lady was too old to be Pleasant's daughter, but the author believes it may have been his sister, Malinda Jane, who appears to be missing from her parents' listing. Three of the other proposed children of Pleasant, namely Amanda, Wesley, and Mary were of an appropriate age to fit the census, and explain marriages of Gentrys who otherwise have no logical explanation. The 1850 census listing for Pleasant's family is as expected, with the exception that Margaret, who is thought to be a daughter of Pleasant, was not living with his family, but instead was living with her grandfather Allen [and a daughter Rebecca may have been living with her sister, Amanda McLemore]. The Jacob Mullins who married Pleasant's daughter Mary was a brother of the A. J. Mullins that married Pleasant's sister, Nancy. The youngest four children of Pleasant are found in the 1880 Monroe County census. The 1860 census listing includes a "Pinkny" that is believed to be not the James Pinkney who was a son of Pleasant, but instead was Pinkney Burton Gentry, a half-brother of Pleasant and a son of Allen Gentry and Susan Ivy. This is discussed in considerable detail in a footnote, as well as the circumstances surrounding the indictment of a Pinkney Gentry for murder<15>. 2. James Riley Gentry
The census records for this family are straight forward<13c>. Riley was listed with his parents in 1830, then with his own family in 1840, and succeeding Monroe County census records up to 1880. Charles, and Ellison have separate listings in the 1880. Peggy Ann is included in her parents' record in 1880, but with a married name of Jenkins and a young son. Three of the children of Riley and Catherine are included in the Monroe County marriage records. 3. John A. Gentry
In about 1848, John abandoned his wife Mary Sims and their five children and ran off with another Mary, the widow of John's younger brother David who had died shortly before. The first Mary continued to live in Monroe County, while John and the second Mary moved first to North Carolina, then back to Blount County, Tennessee. John continued his contacts with his siblings after leaving Monroe County. In 1859, he gave a power of attorney to E.C. Hawkins to receive his share of his father's estate which included some 940 acres of land. In 1866, he received from E.C. Hawkins, his share of a payment of money in lieu of land, as specified in his mother's will. The 1840 census listing for John's family includes a Revolutionary War pensioner, John Simms, age 90<4d>. This was undoubtedly Mary's grandfather. Mary's mother, Milly Simms, was probably also living with them, an estate settlement in 1858 establishing this relationship. When John and Mary Mullins Gentry, along with the latter's children, left John's family, they moved to Hamilton County, Tennessee, and were listed in the 1850 census in that county<13d>. John's abandoned wife, Mary Sims Gentry, along with the latter's children are missing from the 1850 census, but were listed in the 1860 and succeeding Monroe County censuses up to 1880. Most of the data about Mary Sims Gentry's children comes from private communications from Willie L. Gentry of Mineral, Virginia<15>, who is a descendant of this family. The experience of their desertion by their father must have left both of Mary Sims Gentry's daughters, B.J., and daughter Mary, gunshy and wary of marriage, for both had a number of children out of wedlock. In neither case is there any information as to whether a single individual was the father or whether several fathers were involved. Mary Sims Gentry's son, Pleasant, enlisted in the Union forces during the Civil War. A record of his discharge in Knoxville is dated 30 Nov 1864. His namesake and uncle, Pleasant M. served in the Civil War also, but in the Confederate forces. 4. David Gentry
The three children of David and Mary accompanied their mother when she ran off with David's brother John, and were present in the 1850 Hamilton County census with John and Mary<13d>. They were represented by their uncle Riley, who was appointed by the court as their legal guardian, in the court proceedings relating to the settlement of their grandparents' estates. It appears that Adaline and Margaret returned to Monroe County eventually, but that the youngest girl, Nancy, stayed with her mother in moving to North Carolina. 5. Malinda Jane Gentry
Jane is not listed in the 1850 census, but in a court document dated 1857, reference is made to "Malinda Jincy, dau.; wife of Richard Hawkins of Blount Co." Her mother, Nancy, also refers to Malinda Jane as the wife of Richard Hawkins in her court suit brief. The 1860 Blount Co., Tennessee, census has an entry for Richard Hawkins<13e>, but neither Richard in the family listing is likely to have been Jane's husband. The head of household, Richard, age 77, was presumably the father of Jane's husband (Jane was listed as age 33), while a younger Richard, age 23, was probably a son of Richard's by a previous marriage. The missing Richard is said to have served in Company B, 39th Confederate Mounted Infantry with Pleasant Gentry and been killed in action. His absence in 1860 may have had some relationship to the impending war. Jane was undoubtedly with Allen's family in the 1830 Monroe County census<4c>. In 1840, Jane was probably living with her brother Pleasant - the girl age 15 to 20 present with the family. This was during the early stages of family turmoil and disruption, and we can speculate that Jane may have preferred to live away from her father rather than have his mistress move into her home. 6. Nancy V. Gentry
Daughter Nancy provides a different challenge in chronicling the checkered history of Allen and the senior Nancy's family. There have been questions as to whether the Nancy V. Gentry who married William E. Gentry in 1840<10> was the same Nancy as was listed in the 1850 census<13a>, living with her mother, Nancy senior and listed as age 20? If this age was correct, Nancy would have been only ten years old when she married. However, it appears that the 1850 age was given incorrectly for in 1900, in Meigs County, Tennessee, her date of birth is given as Nov 1825. This still means she was only fourteen at the time of her marriage! Was this really the same Nancy, with a child-bride marriage?. It seems that it must have been, since her mother, Nancy, in her court suit of 1854, in listing her children for the benefit of the court, included the phrase, "Nancy who was intermarried with a man by the name of Gentry who abandoned her almost as soon as married". This may have been a situation such as we have earlier speculated for Malinda Jane. Maybe this Nancy was so eager to escape from the unwholesome atmosphere in her home in 1840, that she went to any lengths in trying to escape it, including perhaps misleading her husband, William, as to her age. The age situation may well have been part of the reason for William abandoning Nancy. Who was this William E. Gentry? No satisfactory identification has so far been determined for him. According to D'Andra Holt Smith <13c>, he was in Colorado County, Texas, in 1848 when he was listed in the voter registration rolls for the county, and in the same year he was the plaintiff in a court case in Cass County, Texas against a Nancy Gentry. This suit is believed to have been a request for a divorce, but the court information is incomplete because the Cass County courthouse burned. A divorce was presumably granted, for on 27 Jul 1849, William married Martha L. Hancock in Cass County. William and Martha were listed in the 1850 Cass County census, William being age 33, born in North Carolina. They were listed again in the 1880 Colorado County, Texas, census with William reporting the same date of birth and birthplace. In the latter census, he gives the birthplace of his father as Kentucky, and the birthplace of his mother as North Carolina. Any movement of Gentrys from Kentucky to Tennessee to Texas was very unusual for that particular period in history, and the author has not been able to suggest a reasonable family identification. It appears from the phrasing of the mother Nancy's comments, that this Gentry was not closely related to their family, and for example could not have been a son of Jordan Gentry (youngest son of Meshack) as has sometimes been suggested. Such a son would have been a nephew of Allen Gentry, and certainly known to Nancy. The children of Nancy and A.J. Mullins shown above are given in the 1880 census<13g>. Besides her children by Jackson Mullins, it is probable that Nancy had a daughter, Caroline, by her first husband, William. In the 1850 census, in the senior Nancy's household, there was an unidentified seven-year-old girl, Caroline living with the elder Nancy's two daughters, Nancy V. and Mary. The age for Caroline may have been erroneous as was Nancy's, since she was undoubtedly the Caroline Gentry who married George White in Monroe County on 28 Feb 1857. But Caroline's location in the household with Nancy V. and her approximate age is best explained by the proposal that she was Nancy's daughter 7. Benjamin Franklin Gentry
Allen and Nancy's fifth son was known variously as Franklin and as "Doctor F". In 1850, Franklin was listed in Monroe County marriage records as marrying Angaline "Gentry"<10>, but in the same year, he was listed in the census with his mother, Nancy, with an "Angaline Alexander", age 18, living with the family<13a,f>. Both of these entries for Angeline must have been coincidental clerical errors, and should have been interchanged. Angeline was probably a daughter of P.N. and Eliza Alexander who lived next door. [This family included Nancy Alexander, age 20, who was undoubtedly the Nancy who married Wesley Gentry the following year - see Pleasant's family above.] Franklin and Angeline undoubtedly had more children, but these three, from the 1860 Blount County census, are all that are definitely known. 8. Mary (Polly) Gentry
The youngest of Allen and Nancy's children was not in the 1830 census with the family, but was undoubtedly the child listed in 1840 as being born 1825-1830<4d>. Mary was living with her mother, Nancy in 1850, and was listed with her husband in the 1860 census<13h>. Polly, a "J.N." Hawkins, and a Nancy Hawkins are buried in the Hawkins family cemetery near Madisonville, Monroe County<10>. Children of Susan Ivy
Despite remembrances by Nancy Gentry that her husband Allen brought Susan into his home in 1839, the Ivy family and the Gentry family were reported separately in the 1840 Monroe County census<4d> - Nancy's memory may have been a little faulty, or Susan was living in a separate house on Allen's land. Susan is shown in 1840 without any husband, but with four children. She is included with Allen in the 1850 census<13a>. The little that is known about Susan outside of her relationship with Allen is included in the footnotes<15a,e> in comments by Meg Bookout Gentry, a descendant of Susan's son Pinkney. Two of the children living with Susan in 1840 are believed to have been fathered by Allen. After Allen and Susan's deaths, "PB Gentry" went to live with his half-brother Pleasant and was present in the 1860 census, resulting in there being two Pinkneys for a time of about the same age in the household - a confusing situation<15e>. Conclusion References 2. Richard Gentry, "The Gentry Family in America", Grafton Press, New York, 1909, p.260, lists for #211. Meshack Gentry, children: Allen D., Jourdan, Pleasant F., Francis, Susan, and Nancy. 3. Bureau of Census, "U.S. Census of 1790", (printed summary of
census returns).
5. Surry County, North Carolina, Tax Lists
6. Surry County, North Carolina, Deed Books
8. North Carolina Marriage Bonds
9. Revolutionary War Pension Application "Enlisted Nov 1779 as a Captain of mounted riflemen at Caswell Courthouse, Caswell Co, NC. Discharged 15 Nov 1781 at Hillsborough, NC. A few years after the Revolutionary War, moved to Surry Co, NC where he lived until 1818. Lived in Green Co. TN for 2 years then Bledsoe Co. for 2 years, then to McMinn Co. TN for 2 years, then to Monroe Co. TN until time of application." 10. Monroe County, Tennessee, Marriages, 1838 - 1870
11. Monroe County, Tennessee, Deed Books and Index
12. Monroe County, Tennessee, Court Records
13. Cemetery Records
14. Census Records by Family, 1850 and after
15. Miscellaneous Communications and Remarks b. Willie L. Gentry, of Mineral, VA, a descendant of John A. and Mary Gentry's daughter B.J., and (through Willie) Paul Garland, of Camden, SC, a descendant of their son Pleasant, in private communications have provided court references and much information on descendants of Allen D. and Nancy Gentry, most of which cannot be included here. c. D'Andra Holt Smith, in other private communications, has provided information concerning the William E. Gentry who married Nancy V. Gentry. This includes information about William's request for a divorce, and his subsequent marriage to Martha Hancock. D'Andra observes, "In every document that I have of William E., he states he was born 1817 in NC. [In addition], everywhere my William E. went a John Gentry was sure to follow. I have John marrying in Cass Co., TX the same year as William. They both moved through Texas together. In the 1870 Lavaca County Texas census, William's proven children, Thomas Benton, Wiliam Myles and Mahala are living with this John Gentry. Two other children -Ann & Sarah are there - I don't have proof that they are William's kids. William was not in the 1870 census but I found him on a cattle drive the same year.("Trail Drivers of Texas"). John Gentry states that he was born 1815 in Alabama in all documents. I don't know the relationship between these two men [but wonder if further information could be gained in Alabama]" d. Caroline Whitaker, at http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/atsissie1/page/ has a detailed description of the atmosphere in Monroe County, and the activities preceding the alleged murder by James Pinkney Gentry of Patrick Trotter (see 1866 Court indictment). e. Comments Concerning the Pinkney Gentrys. There has been much confusion in the past as to the two Pinkney Gentrys - which one was accused of murder, - which one was living with Pleasant Gentry in 1860 - which one married Rebecca Kimbrough. Thanks to the information unearthed by Caroline Whitaker, and information from Meg Bookout, this uncertainty to a great degree has been resolved. James Pinkney ("Pink"), son of Pleasant Gentry, during a time of intense rivalry in Monroe County just prior to and just after the Civil War, was as Union sympathizer, and served in a locally enlisted Union cavalry regiment. His father, Pleasant, and Peasant's step-brother Pinkney Burton Gentry, both appear to have been supporters of secession and enlisted in Confederate troop units (despite Pleasant's age). The divided loyalties are probably responsible for the fact that Pink was not living with his father in 1860. It also led to Pink's association with groups of marauding Union raiders and the circumstances of the murder of Patrick Trotter. After his indictment, Pink fled to Madison County, North Carolina where he lived until 1906, and was never brought to trial for the murder. His listing in the 1880 Madison County census was as follows: James (43 M)(TN), Rebecca (40 F)(TN), James (12 M), Eliza (11 F), Joseph (9 M), Mary (7 F), Venie (5 F), Nancy (2 F), and Ida B (2 mo F). This confirms James Pinkney as the husband of Rebecca Kimbrough. Pinkney Burton left Tennessee in the late 1860's and moved to Nebraska. His marriage to Elizabeth Scott in 1873 is confirmed by the 1885 state census listing for Thayer County: P. Burton Gentry (41 M)(TN), Lizzie (31 F)(IL), Myrtie (11 F), Iram (9 M), Harry (7 M), Clyde (4 M) + others. f. Comments Concerning Susan Ivy. Meg Bookout has speculated that Susan's husband (or at least the father of her oldest children) at the time of the 1840 Monroe County census was a man by the name of Eldridge who was in prison at the time of the census. Susan's daughter Catherine (in the 1850 census), appears to have been named for this proposed father, and a son James, is thought to also have been a part of this family. There is no record of whether or not Susan married Eldridge, but a DAR application by a great-granddaughter of Susan's daughter Arabecca gives Susan's name as "Susan Eldridge Gentry" (which may or may not be significant). James Ivey is said to have married in 1851, but there is no census record for a James Ivy, James Ivey, James Elridge or James Eldridge in the 1850 or 1860 census record. Meg Bookout has found a reference to where Susan Ivey was the major beneficiary of her father, Burrell Ivey, but has not found when he died, or what happened to the estate. g. Comments Concerning Rebecca Gentry McLemore. Delores McLemore, whose husband is a great-grandson of William McLemore has provided information on that family's knowledge of Rebecca Gentry (their ancestor). After Rebecca married William, she raised the son of William and his first wife, Amanda Gentry, as if her own. She is buried in the Mullins cemetery near Venore, Tennessee. [added 1/19/2007] 16. 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7/14/2003 (added data, 1/19/2007)
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