Abstract
The Gentrys who appeared in a variety of East Tennessee records from 1778 to 1820 have been organized by proposed family relationship and tied to a chronological listing of those records by county.

Introduction
Scattered references to a dozen or more Gentry families can be found in a variety of references in the early years of Eastern Tennessee. Census records for almost all of this area are not available until 1830 because of the loss of 1810 and 1820 records. The records that do survive are a relatively few land records (deeds and grants), scattered tax lists, a rather surprising number of records of marriages and a few other miscellaneous records. These records are complicated by the fairly rapid formation of new counties during the period from 1790 to say 1820 which requires one to watch for changes in county organization in the frequent case where one family may have remained in one location and lived under two or three different county administrations.

The Gentrys that came to Tennessee in the early days were a widely diverse group, coming from Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The purpose of the present article is to organize most of the available documentary evidence by family groups and by geographical location. This is with the hope that this summary will make it easier for those researching Gentry family histories to keep track of which families relate to the various references. To keep the project within manageable bounds, the time period covered is from the beginning of Tennessee settlement up until 1820, and we will define Eastern Tennessee for this purpose as being east of a line joining Jackson County in the north and Franklin County in the south.

The first permanent settler in Tennessee was William Bean, in 1769, in defiance of the Line of Demarkation established by the British Crown in 1765. This line, roughly along the ridges of the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains, established a boundary west of which settlement was banned In spite of this, by 1772, there were enough settlers, that they banded together to organize an autonomous government called the Watauga Association. This was superceded in 1775, prompted by the American Rebellion, by the formation of Washington District which in turn, two years later, became Washington County, a part of North Carolina, with boundaries co-extensive with the present State of Tennessee. In 1784, North Carolina ceded its western lands to the Federal government, but almost immediately rescinded the act. In spite of this, the Tennesseans, under the leadership of John Sevier, banded together to form the State of Franklin, meeting in Greenville to adopt a new constitution. During the period from 1784 to 1788, when the new state collapsed, both North Carolina and Franklin claimed jurisdiction. Finally, in 1790, Congress passed an act for government of the "Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio," including Tennessee. In 1796, Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the sixteenth state.

A. Robert³ Gentry (Nicholas², Nicholas¹) and Family
Robert Gentry, born in what was then Hanover County, Virginia in about 1726, left Albemarle County, Virginia, in about 1776 with younger members of his family. His older sons Charles and Jesse left at about the same time. Robert and Charles appear in the earliest references to Gentrys in Washington County in a tax list of 1778. Robert settled on the French Broad River near the community of Dandridge which became part of Greene County in 1783 and then part of Jefferson County in 1792. He appears in land grants and deeds, tax lists, and marriage records in each of these counties in turn (see Chronology below). Married first to Judith Joyner of Albemarle County, Virginia, Robert married a second time in Jefferson County, to Rachel West. Robert remained in Jefferson County for the rest of his life; his will was signed in 1811, naming his sons Charles, Jesse, Bartlett, and Martin and the children of his daughters Elizabeth, Sarah and Mary as heirs^<1>.

A1. Charles⁴ Gentry (Robert³)
The oldest of Robert's sons, Charles was born in about 1750 in Virginia and was married there to Elizabeth Joyner, his first cousin. He appears to have moved from Virginia to Tennessee at the same time as his father, and he is in the same Washington County 1778 tax list. He began to diverge from the path followed by his father when he was granted land on Big Limestone Creek in 1782 on the border between Greene and Washington Counties (where he was a neighbor of Davy Crockett's father, John Crockett). Almost nothing is known of Charles' family aside from his wife Elizabeth Joyner (his first cousin). He probably had at least two sons, David and William (see discussion on unidentified Gentrys below). Although Charles was named in his father's will, there are no records to his whereabouts after 1802 until 1820. The few references to Charles include the following.

County	Organized	Year	Reference
Washington	1777	1778,1782 1778 1782	Charles in tax lists Served on first grand jury Granted two plots of 250 ac each on Big Limestone Creek
Sullivan	1779	1784	Granted 510 ac on Kendricks Creek
		1787	Sells 500 ac after moving to Greene Co.
Greene	1783	1791	Granted 400 ac on French Broad River
Jackson	1801	1802	Tax list

The Charles Gentry in the 1820 Overton County census must surely have been this Charles. William Gentry in the same census was probably a son of Charles, the only possible alternative is William, the son of Jesse. The Overton County William had a son born between 1802 and 1804, while Jesse's son was not married until 1806, making it very unlikely that the William in the census was Jesse's son. This William appeared again in the 1830 Fentress County census, and in 1840, his son, Jesse (another of the many Jesses) along with William's apparent widow were listed -- William himself was missing. The author has seen unconfirmed comments that William died in about 1837 to 1838. Another son of William, William Jr., is probably the younger William listed in both the 1840 and the 1850 Fentress County census.

A2. Jesse⁴ Gentry (Robert³)
Jesse was Robert's second son, born in about 1757. He is known to have been in Washington County by 1781, but did not sell the land which he had inherited from his grandfather, Philip Joyner, in Albemarle County, Virginia, until 1783. Consequently he may have arrived in Tennessee a few years after his father and his brother Charles. He lived along the French Broad River near his father until 1797 when he bought land in Knox County. Thereafter, he spent the rest of his life in that county, dying some time in the interval between 1830 and 1833. Jesse appears in minor references in Washington County in 1781, 1782, and 1783, then briefly between 1794 and 1797 in Greene County. Jesse bought land in Knox County in 1797 and spent the rest of his life there, appearing in many references there between 1797 and 1830. Presumed members of his family, namely William, Silas, Martin, Isaac and Rachel appear in a variety of Knox County references as well. Jesse is believed to have died between 1830 (when he appeared in the Knox County census) and 1833 (when his widow Sarah, daughter Rachel, and son Isaac and wife transferred membership from the Hines Creek Church to Mt. Hebron Church. While Silas died early, Jesse's sons Martin and Isaac continued to live with their families in Knox and neighboring Anderson County long after their father's death. William dropped from sight but he may have been the William Gentry listed in a Roane County tax list in 1820 and may have been the older William Gentry found in the1850 Fentress County census (born in Virginia in about 1777).

A3. Bartlett⁴ Gentry (Robert³)
Robert's third son was Bartlett, born in about 1761. The first reference to Bartlett was in 1790 in Greene County when he married Elizabeth Whitman (his father served as bondsman for the marriage bond). We can assume from this that he was living with his father during the years previous to that, and presumably he came to Tennessee in 1778 with the rest of the family. He is mentioned in one tax list in 1800 in Jefferson County with his father and brother Martin. Although direct references are lacking, Bartlett is believed to have moved west to White County (organized 1806) where several of his children are said to have been born. From there, Bartlett moved to Jackson County, Tennessee, (organized 1801) and then to Jackson County, Alabama (just south of the Tennessee border, along the middle Tennessee River). There are several references in Jackson County, Tennessee, in the period between 1811 and 1817, involving land ownership. Bartlett's children included Robert, Joyner (or Joiner), John, Bartlett Jr., and Jesse. There are brief references to Robert and to Joiner in Jackson County, Tennessee. Bartlett's son, Jesse, can be distinguished from his uncle by the fact that the elder Jesse spent all of the later years of his life in Knox County, while the younger Jesse lived in Jackson County, then in Smith County, Tennessee. John and Bartlett Jr. moved on eventually to Missouri.

A4. Martin⁴ Gentry (Robert³)
The youngest of Robert's sons, Martin was born about 1764. He must have been living with his father at the time of the latter's death as he was given the Gentry homestead near Dandridge as well as other property in Robert's will, and his descendants still owned the property in 1908, when "The Gentry Family in America" book was published. His sons were John, Charles and another Martin. They all continued to live in Jefferson County, which allows one to distinguish this Martin Jr. from his cousin Martin Jr who lived in Knox County. Martin's son, Charles, can be distinguished from his uncle, Charles, both by his age and by the fact that Martin's Charles also continued to live in Jefferson County. Aside from his listing in his father's will, the only early reference to Martin Sr. was in an 1800 tax last in Jefferson County. His son, John, married Priscilla Graham in Jefferson County in 1812; Charles married Rhoda Carson in 1824, Martin Jr married Betsey Rinehart in 1834.

Joseph Gentry of 1778 and 1787 Washington County
A Joseph Gentry was listed in the same 1778 Washington County tax list as Robert and Charles Gentry, sharing with them honors (if it can be called that) for first mention of Gentrys in Tennessee records. A Joseph was listed again in 1787, still in Washington County. The next mention of a Joseph in eastern Tennessee was in 1794 in Carter County. We will discuss possible identifications of this (or these) Joseph(s) shortly.

B. Nicholas⁴ Gentry (David³, Samuel², Nicholas¹)
We can only infer from supplementary clues that Nicholas' family was the next to arrive in Tennessee, coming in an unlikely (for that period in time) direction from South Carolina. Nicholas was part of a group of South Carolinians (and other prospective settlers) who left Sullivan County in 1779 and 1780 to boat down the Tennessee River (and back upstream along the Cumberland River) or go overland to Fort Nashboro (which became Nashborough, then later Nashville), in Davidson County. Most of the story of Nicholas' family does not concern us here because they spent their early years farther west than the focus of this article. Suffice it to say that Nicholas was killed by Indians in 1780 and was among a group of early settlers who were given land grants by the North Carolina Legislature in gratitude for their establishment and defense of Fort Nashboro.

Where Nicholas comes into our present study is the fact that he apparently possessed land in Sullivan County before heading west. A grant by the State of North Carolina to Nicholas' son John in Sullivan County makes reference to "land adjoining that where Nicholas Gentry, dec'd, formerly lived". Another state grant was made to Nicholas' son, Nicholas Jr. in the same area. Neither of these sons remained in eastern Tennessee. John sold his property in 1796, while Nicholas Jr. sold his property in 1803. Both continued to live in Davidson County, then Williamson County during this time. John was killed by Indians along the Cumberland River in 1797. His sale of property in 1796 appears to have required legal ratification, for his surviving brothers, George, Samuel and Nicholas signed a document in Sullivan County in 1804 relinquishing claim to John's former property.

Joseph Gentry of 1778 and 1787 Washington County (continued)
We return now to the question of identifying the Joseph who appeared in Washington County tax lists in 1778 and in 1787. Our first observation is that he must have been born before 1757 for him to have been liable for a poll tax. We can conclude also that he must have come from Virginia, since the only non-Virginia Joseph Gentry at that time in history was Samuel-II's son Joseph who lived in Surry County, North Carolina, long before and long after this 1778-1787 period. By far the most logical candidate was Joseph, son of Joseph-III, grandson of Joseph-II, all of Hanover County, Virginia. We will describe him in more detail below.

C. Joseph⁴ Gentry (Joseph³, Joseph², Nicholas¹)
This Joseph is believed to have been born about 1748 in Hanover County, Virginia. He appeared in a number of tax lists for the county that survive for the period from 1782 onward and signed a petition there in 1784. The tax list record is ambiguous, not distinguishing clearly between this Joseph and his father, Joseph Sr, nor from the estate of his deceased father beginning in 1789. The last reference to any Joseph in those records was in 1795. We have then a possible conflict between records in Virginia and in Tennessee.

The Tennessee tax record for 1778 did not involve any land, only a tithe as a taxable individual. We can speculate that the Hanover County Joseph was indeed present in Washington County at the time of tax collection in 1778, but he may have been there on a scouting mission, to prospect for a possible place to which to move, and then returned to Virginia after his sightseeing mission. There is precedence for this in North Carolina, where Hezekiah Gentry, both alone and again with members of his family, went to Surry County to presumably look for available land, but did not stay and moved to South Carolina instead.

The tax record for 1787 involves taxation for 100 acres of land, so it was serious business this time, not just a case of looking. We know of other cases, for example Jesse Gentry in section A above, who settled on land in Tennessee while still owning land in Virginia. This must have been the case here, as there is really no other rational identification of the Washington County Joseph other than as described here.

After the 1787 reference in Washington County, Joseph appeared a number of times between 1794 and 1811 in Carter County, formed from Washington County in 1796. (The 1794 reference was as a witness to a will which physically took place in 1794, but then was recorded in Carter County records after the latter county was organized. Joseph owned several neighboring plots of land in Carter County along Roans Creek and Rogers Creek, tributaries of the Holston River. He is said to have been buried in an unmarked grave near the present community of Laurel Bloomery, now a part of Johnson County. His alleged wife, Winifred Oliver, was also buried there. Joseph's descendants estimate his date of death as approximately 1835. His one appearance in a census record was in 1830 in Carter County.

Three of Joseph's sons appeared briefly in early Carter County records. In 1811, Joseph sold land to William and Benjamin. Another son, John, is mentioned briefly in 1811, 1813, and 1815. William left Carter County between 1818 (when he sold his land) and 1819 (when he is cited as being "late of Carter County"). There is disagreement as to what might have happened to William (he may have moved to Kentucky like his brother Joseph Oliver, settling in Pulaski County), but his brothers Benjamin, and a fourth son of Joseph, David, remained in Carter and its successor county, Johnson.

Proposals for the family of Joseph posted on the internet, for example in Ancestry.Com Worldtree, have discrepancies that are hard to reconcile with facts consistent with what is known about Joseph-IV of Hanover County, Virginia. This article is more concerned with the antecedents of Joseph than the descendants and will not attempt to resolve them. He is said to have married Winifred Oliver, but if we can believe the Virginia records, this marriage must have taken place in Virginia, not in Tennessee. His son, John, gives his place and date of birth in the 1850 Johnson County, Tennessee census as 1777, Tennessee! Either the date or the place may have been reported wrong. A proposed son, Richard, in one family group report, has been confused with a Richard Gentry who lived in Ashe County, North Carolina (a son of Nicholas-IV Gentry of Surry and Ashe County, North Carolina). Given his name, a Joseph Oliver Gentry would appear to be a son of this Joseph even though all of his references are in Green County, Kentucky rather then Tennessee.

D. William⁴ Gentry (??James³, Joseph², Nicholas¹) and Family
We come now to a series of proposals that are highly speculative. We know that there was a William Gentry and wife who were buried in Crumley Cemetery in Sullivan County. This is a cemetery that was founded in 1791 and is still in existence. There is a tombstone there for William and his wife on which the date is not legible except for the first two digits "17--". The stone must refer to a time of burial somewhere between 1791 and 1799. Nothing is known in any Tennessee history of this William. We must go back to Virginia and North Carolina to hazard a guess as to his identity. The family of Richard Gentry, who left Louisa County, Virginia, and moved to Stokes County, North Carolina in the early years of the 19th century, had a tradition that Richard's father was a William Gentry who had five or six children, lived along the Roanoke River in Virginia for a time, then moved "West". In a previous Journal article (JGG, vol 1, #12), possible relationships and arguments for the identification of several contemporaneous William Gentrys in Hanover County, Virginia, have been presented. It is our present proposal that the William who died in Sullivan County was the father of Richard Gentry of Stokes County, North Carolina, and the son of James Gentry of Hanover County, Virginia.

In continuation of this speculation, we propose further that two young Gentrys, William and John, who were killed in the Indian massacre of the John Brown boating party along the Tennessee River in 1787, were sons of the elder William. We further suggest that an Ayers Gentry who was taxed for land in Jefferson County in 1800 was a third son. (It is perhaps significant that Richard Gentry, Ayers' proposed brother, named one of his sons, Joel Ayers Gentry.) There is no further record of Ayers although we will refer to him again briefly in discussing some unidentified Gentrys below. Based on inferences from circumstances relating to the presumed children that William left in Virginia, we suggest that he and these three sons came to Tennessee not long before the death of William and John and a few years thereafter.

E. Family of John³ Gentry (Joseph², Nicholas¹) of Botetourt County, Virginia
John Gentry who died in Botetourt County, Virginia, in 1779, is considered by many to have been a son of Joseph, the oldest son of Nicholas the Immigrant. John left a will, bequeathing his estate to, among others, "his sons" (without naming them). Hugh Gentry, believed to have been named for John's father-in-law, Hugh Green, and Joseph Gentry, are commonly thought to be sons of this John. (In furtherance of this supposition, Hugh named one of his sons Hugh Green and Joseph named a son Joseph Green.) Other sons have not been specifically identified in the genealogy literature, although it is probable that the James Gentry who appeared in the 1810 census for Augusta County, Virginia (adjoining Botetourt County), was also a son. The author proposes that another son was John Gentry, described here, who like Hugh and Joseph, moved to Tennessee from Virginia in the late 1700's.

E1. Hugh⁴ Gentry (John³)
Hugh was probably the oldest of the sons of John of Botetourt and is said to have been born in 1769. He appears to have been a very mobile individual, moving from Virginia to Tennessee, to Kentucky, back to Tennessee, and then to Alabama. The first reference to him in Tennessee was in 1787 when he signed a petition to the North Carolina Legislature asking for an independent government in what was then western North Carolina. The next reference to him in Tennessee was not until 1812, in Franklin County. Family historians indicate that Hugh went to Shelby County, Kentucky, during this interval, and married there. His four oldest children are said to have been born in Kentucky. This writer does not have available records to confirm or deny this. It seems unusual for Hugh to go to Shelby County, which is quite far north in Kentucky, and then turn around and move down to the southernmost part of Tennessee, but there seems to be no question that Hugh was in Shelby County for he is on record as being the bondsman for a marriage recorded there in 1797.

Hugh did not appear in any Tennessee census records, the returns for 1820 having been lost for Franklin County, and by 1830 he had moved to the other side of the Tennessee border to Jackson County, Alabama. Of Hugh's sons, only Hugh Jr (Hugh Green), is found in Franklin County census records for 1830. All the rest of the rest of the family moved to Jackson County, Alabama (where Hugh Sr died in 1840), and even Hugh Jr. had moved there by 1840.

E2. John⁴ Gentry (??John³)
A John Gentry who died in Montgomery County, Ohio in 1807 had at least three sons, Ephraim, Samuel, and John who were born in Tennessee and who eventually moved to Madison and Wayne Counties, Indiana, according to the 1850 census. John is also said to have had an older son, David, for whom information is lacking. This John married a widow, Hannah Cox, who at the time of her second marriage had a son, Absalom Cox, born 1789 as a result of her first marriage. John moved to Ohio in about 1805 (his daughter Abigail, born about 1806, gives Ohio as her place of birth in the 1850 census), and died there. There have been many enquires as to the origin of this John. Was he the John Gentry who was mentioned in a 1787 land grant and in court records in 1798 in Greene County and again in the 1805 Greene County tax lists. Descendants of John's son Samuel have provided information about his family and described his will which was received for probate in Dayton, Ohio, in 1807^<2>. Hannah was still living in Montgomery County, Ohio, in 1820 along with the younger members of her family, but she had died by 1830 and her family had mostly moved on to Indiana.

To identify this John, we first should determine whether it is possible that he was the son of one of the Gentrys who had come to Tennessee earlier. John is thought to have married in about 1793, thus he probably was born around 1770, and his father probably was born before 1750. This means that only Robert (family A), Nicholas (family B), Joseph of Hanover County (family C) and William (family D) of the families present in Tennessee at the time of John's marriage, were old enough to have been a father of John. Of these, we know Robert did not have a son John, Nicholas and William had other sons John who coincidentally were both killed by Indians, and Joseph of Hanover County, appears to have had a son John who was married to Sarah Brown and who was still living in Carter County in 1815.

Of those Gentrys who did not go to Tennessee, John of Botetourt County was almost the only possibility for being the father of this Ohio John.. We can eliminate Nicholas-II as a parent. He had no sons by the name of John, and those of his children who had sons John, can be eliminated because these Johns can be accounted for in different ways -- moving to Kentucky, staying in Virginia, too young, etc. Samuel-II had one son John who died in 1761 or before. By arguments that need not be included here, we can also eliminate sons of Samuel. Samuel's sons, David-III and Nicholas-III, who had sons of their own old enough to qualify by reason of age, can be discarded as possible fathers of this John for various reasons.

We are left with John being a descendant of the Joseph-II Gentry family, most of whom remained in Virginia. As we look at his sons, in order of age, William-III is believed to have been the father of John Gentry of Louisa County who had a son John Jr who married Barbara Haggard and remained in Louisa County. James-III is not known to have had a son John, but it is unlikely that such a son would have escaped notice and not been recorded in tax lists and other records. Moreover, James died in about 1764, and all of his known children were born much earlier. As to one of these children being John's father, James' son William was the William whom we have discussed above in section D. Of James' sons James Jr., George, and David who survived to have families listed in Virginia records, none had a son John.

Joseph-III had a son John, whom we refer to as John of Hanover County, a contemporary of John of Louisa County. This John remained in Hanover County all of his life, as did his son John Jr. Joseph's son, Joseph Jr. is the Joseph described in section C above, with another John identified as a son. In conclusion, after this long and perhaps tedious discourse, we are left with no firm evidence that John of Dayton, Ohio, was the son of John of Botetourt County, but the likelihood is greater there than any other obvious choice.

E3. Joseph⁴ Gentry (John³)
John of Botetourt County's son, Joseph, is thought to have been born about 1775, so was younger than Hugh and our proposed John. The first Tennessee record for him was probably in Grainger County where in 1803 a Joseph Gentry witnessed a deed, and in 1805, Joseph's land was sold by the county for delinquent taxes. He next appeared in the same tax list in 1812 in Franklin County in which Hugh's name is found. The 1820 census records are missing for Franklin County, but Joseph and most of his family are included in the 1830 census. Franklin County was divided in 1836 with the creation of Coffee County, and Joseph's name appears again in the 1840 Coffee County census. He died there in 1847. Joseph is said to have married Bell Brandon about 1795. After she died and was buried near Hillboro in present Coffee County, Joseph married Mary (Roach) Mash in 1826 in Franklin County. Three of Joseph's older children, John, Catherine, and William, are said to have moved to Jackson County, Alabama (with High Gentry's family), and then moved in about 1828 to Williamson and Jackson Counties, Illinois. The younger members of Joseph's family, including sons Joseph Green, Jarret and Hugh, remained in Coffee County.

F. David Gentry, Revolutionary War Veteran
The lineage of David Gentry, who enlisted in the Virginia militia from Bedford County, Virginia, during the Revolutionary War and eventually died in Overton County, Tennessee, is a mystery. This Journal has devoted an entire article to an in-depth discussion of this man (JGG, vol 2, #4). Several LDS Ancestral File submissions claim that his first wife was Elizabeth Smith and that she died in 1801 in Overton County, Tennessee (despite the fact that this county was not organized until 1806). David's second wife, in testifying on behalf of her deceased husband in petitions for a veteran's pension, provided conflicting information concerning her name -- Sarah Roberts or Sarah Johnson -- the place where she was married -- Anson County, North Carolina, or Bedford County, North Carolina (non-existent, although she might have meant Bedford County, Tennessee). and her age.

David's presence in Tennessee before his second marriage seems very probable, as he must have been the David who appeared in 1802 tax lists for Jackson County. We suggested in the previous Journal article that David had at least two sons by his first marriage, Jesse, Thomas and perhaps a third, John, who settled in Tennessee. Jesse's marriage to Elizabeth Gallion was recorded in Grainger County in 1807. In 1812, Jesse and his brother-in-law, Thomax Gallion, sold land in Jackson County, and in 1813, Jesse and Thomas Gallion signed a petition in Overton County attempting to organize a militia for defense against Creek Indians. A John Gentry enlisted in the War of 1812 from Jackson County, then disappeared from view. It is very likely that he was a brother of Jesse and Thomas who died at an early age, and whose son James lived with Thomas in later years. Jesse was in the 1820 Jackson County census, but sold his land there that year moving to Todd County, Kentucky briefly. He and Thomas moved briefly to Vermillion County, Illinois where both appeared in the 1830 census. Both then returned to Tennessee and settled again in Jackson County. This makes at least five Jesse Gentrys that need to be carefully distinguished in Tennessee records -- one in Knox County (the son of Robert), one who lived briefly in Jackson County then moved to Smith County (son of Bartlett and a grandson of Robert), one in Carter County (a son of Benjamin Gentry and grandson of Joseph), one in Fentress County (a son of William Gentry and grandson of Charles), and this Jesse in Jackson County.

David's children by his second wife are unknown except for a son David Jr and a possible daughter, Rebecca, who married Thomas Gore (an ancestor of Vice President Albert Gore). The 1820 census for Jackson County reports a David Gentry with apparently two sons and three daughters living with him, but without his wife Sarah. David Sr. died in 1846 or 1847 in Overton County. In 1850, his widow, Sarah, was living in Jackson County with her son David Jr. Her presumed stepson, Thomas Gentry, was living next door to Sarah, and on the other side of Thomas, lived Elizabeth Gentry, widow of Thomas' brother, Jesse.

G. Tyre (or Tyree)⁴ Gentry (??Nathaniel³, Samuel², Nicholas¹)
Tyre is another Gentry for whom the antecedents have been controversial and uncertain. His life has been discussed at some length in still another previous Journal article (JGG, vol 2, #11). Tyre came to Tennessee from South Carolina by way of Georgia. There are a few brief references to him in Jackson County in 1811 and 1812, in which he apparently disposed of some claims to land that he had occupied with the intention of securing a land grant. Another land transaction in 1811 in Stewart County, appears to have involved Tyre's son, William. The latter also appears in the rolls of the War of 1812 veterans, being mustered into service at Nashville, and discharged from service in Stewart County in 1815. Tyre's family are known to have moved to Arkansas in about 1817, and appeared in the 1820 census. It is presumed that Tyre went with them, although direct records of his presence are not found until later.

H. Family of Richard³ Gentry (Samuel², Nicholas¹)
Two sons of Richard Gentry moved from Surry County, North Carolina, to Tennessee. Both settled initially in Greene County, and both are conspicuously lacking in documentary references.

H1. Simon⁴ Gentry (Richard³)
From North Carolina records, Simon (who was born in about 1770), appears to have left Surry County in about 1800, but the first Tennessee records for him are in 1809 in Greene County when his name appeared in tax records. He was listed there each succeeding year to and including 1815, being taxed for land along the Long Fork branch of Limestone Creek. His name is also on a deed for the purchase in 1817 of land on Long Fork branch. Simon was included in the first extant census of Greene County (in 1830), then in 1832 there is a brief reference to a "Simeon" Gentry and wife joining the Mill Creek Baptist Church in Monroe County, Kentucky. From there, his name drops from view, and we have no record of his later life or where or when he died. Simon's daughter Rhoda (Rhody), was married in Green County in 1813, and while beyond the time frame of this article, Simon's son, Richard, is included in a Greene County tax list in 1830 as well as being in the census for that year.

H2. William⁴ Gentry (Richard³)
There is even less evidence of the presence of Simon's brother, William in Tennessee. He was born about 1775, and had married twice by the time he left North Carolina. He left Surry County considerably later than did Simon, probably in about 1813. William's name is included in the 1814 tax list for Greene County along with Simon. Family tradition has been that William died in Chattanooga, and indeed the William Gentry who appears in the 1840 Hamilton County census is fully consistent with this being our subject William. One can rationalize the lack of records in intervening years if he lived in the vicinity of Chattanooga during most of that time, because this was Indian Territory. While the portion of Hamilton County west of the Tennessee River was organized in 1816, all the area to the east of the river, namely the remainder of Hamilton County and the neighboring counties of Bradley and Polk were not organized until 1836 and 1839. There is no record of the Hamilton County William beyond 1840. Most of William's family scattered widely, but one son, William, is presumed to have settled in Williamson County, Tennessee by 1830, and another son Philip, was in Johnson County, Tennessee in 1850.

References to Unidentified Gentrys
In the early records of Greene, Jefferson, and Blount Counties, there are a scattering of references to Gentrys that have never been previously identified. We will suggest possibilities for their family relationship based on the outline developed above. The references follow.

1.	Greene County
	1803	William Gentry served as bondsman for Charles West - Sarah Phillips marriage.
	1803	David Gentry married Delphy Bridgewater.

These two events took place within a week's time, and only a single marriage bond intervened in sequence between them. David was probably in his early to mid-twenties when he married, hence born in roughly 1780. William was probably somewhat older to be considered as an acceptable bondsman. It is likely that these two Gentrys were brothers, living as they did in the same area. Based on age, the only logical parent would have to be Charles Gentry, unless there was some unlikely visit to the area by an unknown Gentry. This assignment is reinforced by the fact that Charles' one-time (Charles owned land in Jackson County by this time) home on the French Broad River, while no longer in Greene County, was very close to the county geographically.

2.	Knox County
	1807	John Gentry married Elizabeth Newman.

We can estimate John's date of birth as between 1780 and perhaps 1785. We are inclined to say that he was probably a part of Jesse's family, since only that family is represented in other Knox County references of the time. If so, he was probably of nearly the same age as William who was married a year earlier, and he represents a son of Jesse who is not otherwise documented. At least there was no other known son of Jesse named John.

3.	Blount County
	1804	Jude Gentry, an orphan age thirteen (born 1790), bound to Robert Pearce
	1808	Philip Gentry married Sally Frazier [black].
	1810	Bessy Gentry married William Iriar (Irion?).

These three Gentrys appear to be roughly the same age (Jude being the youngest), born between about 1785 and 1790. The author offers the suggestion -- purely speculation -- that these were children of the Ayers Gentry who was in Jefferson County in 1800, and of whom nothing more is known. It should be noted by the reader, that the term "orphan" for Jude Gentry, in that time might mean both parents were dead, or the father was dead and the mother was left without immediate support, or it might mean a deserted child. If they were children of Ayers, in any case we can conclude that he had probably died in the interval between 1800 and 1804. The Sally Frazier whom Philip married, despite being labeled "black", could quite possibly have been half-Indian. Since Blount County bordered on Indian Territory, all three of these Gentrys may have disappeared from view among the Indians.

4.	Hawkins County (adjoins Greene, Sullivan and Jefferson)
	1813	Patsy (nickname for "Martha"?) Gentry married George Smith.
	Grainger County (adjoins Hawkins, Jefferson and Knox))
	1816	Nancy Gentry married James Shelton.

Despite being married in different counties, these two Gentrys could easily have been sisters, since the areas where they were married were close together, with relatively easy access along the Holston River. Patsy was probably born about 1795 and Nancy could have been born perhaps as late as 1800. There is no record of other Gentrys still living in those counties at the time of the marriages, so it is probable that they were short-time residents, or their families lived in one of the adjoining counties. There also is no record of any Nancy or of a Martha or Patsy being daughters of any of the existing Gentrys. The author suggests that these two girls may have been daughters of Bartlett Gentry (A3), whose sons are known, but whose possible daughters have not been identified. The ages of his children are certainly most consistent with the ages of Patsy and Nancy.

Other Gentrys
We have arbitrarily set a cutoff date of 1820 for our study of early Gentrys in East Tennessee. This has eliminated consideration of a number of other Gentrys who began showing up in Tennessee records in the 1820's. These include references in Rhea, Roane and McMinn Counties. It has also eliminated the Gentrys of Monroe County and the family of Meshack Gentry who arrived there in about 1825 after passing through Greene, Bledsoe, and McMinn Counties. Most of these Gentrys, with the exception of Meshack, came from South Carolina, either directly or by way of Georgia. To follow and identify them is a major study in its own right. Like the Gentrys we have been discussing above, such a study is handicapped by the lack of census records until 1830, and by the lack of any references if any of them happened to settle inside the fringes of Indian Territory.

Conclusion
This comprehensive, coordinated description of the information concerning early Gentrys in eastern Tennessee hopefully will prove of assistance to those seeking to identify ancestral roots than may have been planted in this area. To repeat the caution in previous articles in the Journal, however, some of the material presented has been speculation based on probabilities and lack firm foundations. These are the responsibility of the author alone and readers should use judgment in accepting or rejecting statements herein.

Chronology of References
Citations of Gentry references have been arranged below in chronological order by county. In the cases where there are multiple references to an individual, not all of the possible references have been listed. For each citation, the relationship of the individual has been keyed back to the families described above.

	Washington County (organized 1777 by State of North Carolina)		Key	Refr.
	1778	Joseph Gentry assessed for 1 poll	C	8
		Charles Gentry assessed for land and 1 poll	A1	1,8
		Robert Gentry assessed for land and 1 poll	A	1,8
		Charles Gentry served on first grand jury	A1	1
	1781	Jesse Gentry witnessed in court	A2	1
	1782	Charles Gentry taxed for 500 ac on branches of Big Limestone Creek	A1	5
		Jesse Gentry served as constable	A2	1
	1783	Robert Gentry taxed for 375 ac on Little Limestone Creek	A	5
		Jesse Gentry living along French Broad River	A2	1
	1787	Joseph Gentry assessed for 100 ac, 1 poll	C	8
		Hugh Gentry signed petition	E1	1
	Sullivan County (from Washington Co, 1779)
	1784	Charles Gentry taxed for 510 ac	A1	5
	1787	Charles Gentry of Greene Co., sells 500 ac in Sullivan Co	A1	10a
	1788	William Gentry and John Gentry, enroute from Sullivan Co., killed by Indians on Tennessee River near Nickajack	D	21
	1791	John Gentry taxed for 240 ac adjoining Nicholas Gentry land	B	5
		Nicholas Gentry taxed for 200 ac	B	5
	1791	Grant from State of North Carolina to John Gentry, 240 ac adjoining that where Nicholas Gentry, dec'd, formerly lived	B	10a
	1791	Grant from State of North Carolina of 200 ac to Nicholas Gentry [Jr.]	B	10a
	1796	John Gentry sold 240 ac of land grant property	B	10b
	179x	William Gentry and wife buried in Crumley Cemetery	D	23
	1803	Nicholas Gentry sold 138 ac	B	10b
	Greene County (from Washington Co., 1783)
	1783	Warrant to Robert Gentry for survey and grant of state land	A	20
	1783	Warrant to "Bartly" Gentry for survey and grant of land	A3	20
	1787	Robert Gentry granted 475 ac by State of North Carolina on Holleys Mill Creek (warrant for survey dated 1783)	A	5,20
		"John Gentry cabin" referenced in description of land grant	E2 ?	6
	1788	Robert Gentry claim for land grant resurveyed	A	20
	1790	"Bartelet" Gentry married Elizabeth Whitman; witness Robert Gentry	A3	7,14,22
		Charles Gentry land on French Broad River referenced in grant	A1	6
	1791	Charles Gentry taxed for 400 ac on French Broad River	A1	5
		Robert Gentry land on French Broad River referenced in grant	A	6
	Greene County (after separation of Knox, Jefferson and Blount Counties)
	1794	Jesse Gentry buys 300 ac land on Lick Creek	A2	18
	1796	Jesse Gentry sells 300 ac land on Lick Creek	A2	18
	1798	William Gentry appointed to road crew	A2	13
		John Gentry awarded costs for travel to court	E2	13
	1803	William Gentry bondsman for Charles West - Sarah Phillips marriage	A1 ?	7
		David Gentry married Delphy Bridgewater	A1 ?	7,22
	1805	John Gentry "free taxable inhabitant"	E2	25
	1809	Simon Gentry assessed for 1 poll	H1	17
	1810	Simon Gentry assessed for 1 poll	H1	17
	1811	Simon Gentry taxed for 100 ac, 1 white poll	H1	17
	1812	Simon Gentry assessed for 1 white poll	H1	17,25
	1813	Rhody Gentry married Lewis Wheeler	H1	7,22
	1814	Simon Gentry taxed for 100 ac, 1 white poll	H1	17
		William Gentry assessed for 1 white poll	H2	17
	1815	Simon Gentry taxed for 100 ac, 1 white poll	H1	17
	1817	Simon Gentry bought 87 ac on Long Fork of Lick Creek	H1	18
	Hawkins County (from Sullivan Co., 1786)
	1800	Joseph Gentry witnessed deed for land on Holston River	C	19
	1801	Joseph Gentry witnessed deed for land on Holston River	C	19
	1813	Patsy Gentry married George Smith	A3 ?	22
	Jefferson County (from Greene & Hawkins Co., 1792)
	1783	Duke Kimbrough married Mary Gentry, dau of Robert	A	4
	1800	Ayers Gentry assessed for 0 ac, 1 white poll	D	8,25
		Martin Gentry assessed for tax	A4	8,25
		Robert Gentry assessed for tax	A	8,25
		Bartlet Gentry assessed for tax	A3	8
	1804	Robert Gentry married Rachel West of Jefferson Co.	A	1,22
	1811	Robert Gentry signed will naming children as beneficiaries	A	1
	1812	John Gentry married Priscilla Graham	A4	1,22
	1814	Silas Gentry married Piety Witt	A2	22
	Knox County (from Greene & Hawkins Co., 1792)
	1797	Jesse Gentry bought land	A2	1
	1799	Jesse Gentry commissioned as captain in militia	A2	1
	1802	William Gentry, Silas Gentry witnessed deed for Jesse Gentry	A2	1
	1806	Jesse Gentry served as road overseer	A2	1
		William Gentry married Elizabeth McPherrin	A2	1,22
		Silas and Jesse Gentry worked on road on Black Oak Ridge	A2	1
	1807	John Gentry married Elizabeth Newman	A2 ?	22
	1808	William Gentry, wife Elizabeth, Martin Gentry witnessed for Jesse Gentry	A2	1
	1810	Jesse Gentry sold land	A2	1
		William Gentry appointed constable	A2	1
	1814	Jesse and Isaac Gentry witnessed deed	A2	1
		Jesse Gentry, William Gentry witnessed deeds	A2	1
	1815	Jesse, William, Isaac and Martin Gentry signed petition	A2	1
	1817	Jesse Gentry sold land	A2	1
		Martin Gentry married Sally Mitchell	A2	1,14,22
	1818	Isaac Gentry married Elizabeth Lewis	A2	14,22
	1819	Jesse Gentry administrator of Silas Gentry estate	A2	1
	Blount County (from Knox Co., 1795)
	1804	Jude Gentry, 13-year-old orphan [born 1790] bound to Robert Pearce	D ?	11
	1808	Philip Gentry married Sally Frazier [black]	D ?	11
	1810	Bessy Jentry married William Iriar	D ?	22
	Grainger County (from Knox & Hawkins Co., 1796)
	1803	Joseph Gentry witnessed deed for land on Flat Creek	E3
	1805	Land of Joseph Gentry (640 ac) sold for delinquent taxes	E3
	1807	Jesse Jentry married Elizabeth "Gallian"	F	22
	1816	Nancy Gentry married James Shelton	A3 ?	22
	Carter County (from Washington Co., 1796)
	1794	Joseph Gentry witnessed will	C	9
	1796	Joseph Gentry assessed for 100 ac, 1 white poll	C	8,25
	1798	Joseph Gentry present in tax list	C	25
	1805	Joseph Gentry adjoining Roans Crk, Laurel Fork of Holston River	C	15
		Joseph Gentry sells 126 ac on Roans Crk, Wilsons Mill Fork	C	15
	1811	Joseph Gentry sells to Benjamin Gentry 126 ac on Rogers Crk	C	15
		Joseph Gentry sells to William Gentry 181 ac beg at original survey	C	15
		John Gentry witnessed deed by Benjamin Brown	C	15
	1813	Benjamin Brown to John and Sarah Gentry 182 ac Beaver Dam Crk	C	15
		John Gentry witnessed deed to land on Beaver Dam Crk	C	15
	1815	John Gentry witnessed deed	C	15
	1818	William Gentry sells 181 ac adjoining Joseph Gentry	C	15
	1819	William Gentry (late of Carter Co.) sells iron ore rights	C	15
	Jackson County (from Smith Co., 1801)
	1802	Charles Gentry assessed for tax	A1	25
	1802	David Gentry assessed for tax	F	25
	1809	Bartlett Gentry filing for 200 ac grant transferred to Smith Hutchins	A3	3
	1811	Bartlett Gentry filing for 100 ac grant transferred to Smith Hutchins	A3	3
		Tyre Gentry claimed 30 ac and 10 ac land prior to filing for grant	G	3
	1812	Tyre Gentry assigned land claims for 10 and 14 ac	G	3
		Salt petre cave and 10 ac land sold by Jesse Gentry resold	F	3
	1813	Reference made to improvements made by Robert Gentry	A3	3
	1814	Bartlett Gentry bought 10 ac land	A3	3
	1816	Reference made to improvements made by Joiner Gentry	A3	3
	1817	Reference made to land of Bartlett Gentry	A3	3
	Overton County (from Jackson, 1806)
	1807	Jesse Gentry buys land on Lick Creek branch of Wolf River	F	16
	1813	Jesse Gentry signed petition	F	26
	1820	Jesse Gentry [now] of Todd Co. KY sells land in Overton Co.	F	26
	Franklin County (from Bedford & Warren Co., 1807)
	1812	Hugh Gentry assessed for tax	E1	25
		Joseph Gentry assessed for tax	E3	25
	Indian Territory
		David Gentry married Mary Buffington	--	12
		David Gentry married Diana ("Tiana") Rogers	--	12

Bibliography
1. Amos Leo Gentry, "A Collection of Research Notes on the Descendants of Robert Gentry", Gentry Family Gazette and Genealogy Exchange, vol. vi, p.180-196 (Sep 1987), published by Richard Hayden Gentry, McLean, Virginia, reprinted with additions, Journal of Gentry Genealogy, vol 1, #6 (June 2001), online at:
http://gentryjournal.org/archives/jgg0106.htm

[Amos Gentry gives a near-verbatim version of Robert's will in the original article as well as a very complete inventory of Robert's estate. The will can be summarized as follows:]

"I, Robert Gentry, of the State of Tenn., and County of Jefferson... give and devise to my beloved wife Rachel Gentry...to my son, Martin Gentry...to my granddaughter Molly Shelton...to my sons Charles Gentry, Jesse Gentry, Bartlett Gentry and Martin Gentry, the three daughters and two sons of my daughter Elizabeth Murror...the children of my daughter Sarah McGork...my grandson Robert Drake and his two sisters, Sarah and Prudence... And I do hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my beloved wife Rachel Gentry, Thomas Galbraith and John Seaborne, executrix and executors of this my last will and testament." (Signed 9 May 1811, Witnessed by William Moon, John Parrott).

2. Herbert Myron Gentry, "The Gentrys from Dayton", Gentry Family Gazette & Genealogy Exchange, vol x, p.34ff (May 1995), published by Richard Hayden Gentry, McLean, Virginia
[A number of sources speak of a John Gentry who married Hannah Cox (a widow) and died in Dayton, Ohio in 1807. A brief synopsis of key points in this article by a direct descendent of the family follows.]

Herbert Gentry has combined the research he has done as a descendent of Samuel Gentry, son of John and Hannah Gentry, with research by Alfred Cox, a descendent of Ephraim Gentry, another son of John and Hannah. He includes comments on the will and probate papers for John in the Montgomery, Ohio courthouse. John died in 1807 leaving a wife, five children under the age of thirteen and a stepson of eighteen. Census records for the older children (born before 1805) indicate they were born in Tennessee. John and Hannah appear to have married in about 1793. Hannah was living in Montgomery County, Ohio, at the time of the 1820 census. Her sons Ephraim, Samuel and John, and her daughter Abigail moved to Indiana, and settled in Wayne and Madison Counties. All four of these children married members of the same Foland family.

3. Betty Huff Bryant, "Building Neighborhoods, Jackson County, Tennessee Prior to 1820", (Abstractions from Record Group 50, Early Land Records, Tennessee State Library and Archives), 1992.

4. J. J. Burnett, "Sketches of Tennessee's Pioneer Baptist Preachers", Press of Marshall & Bruce Co., Nashville, TN, 1919

5. Goldene Fillers Burgner, "North Carolina Land Grants in Tennessee, 1778 - 1791", Southern Historical Press, Greenville, SC 1981

6. Goldene Fillers Burgner, "North Carolina Land Grants Recorded in Greene County, Tennessee", Southern Historical Press, Easley, SC 1981.

7. Goldene Fillers Burgner, "Greene County, Tennessee Marriages, 1783-1868", Southern Historical Press, Easley, SC, 1981

8. Pollyanna Creekmore, "Early East Tennessee Taxpayers", Southern Historical Press, Easley, SC, 1980

9. James L. Douthat, "Carter Co. TN. Wills & Inventories 1794-1847", Mountain Press, Signal Mountain, TN, 1985

10. (a) Shelby Ireson Edwards, Sullivan County, Tennessee Deed Books 1 & 2", 1985
      (b) ibid, "Deed Books 3 and 4, 1795-1807"

11. Marjorie Hood Fischer, "Tennessee Tidbits, 1778-1914" Vol I, Southern Historical Press, Easley, SC, 1986, p.139 (Blount TN, Co Ct Min, A/498)

12. J.J. Hill, "Old Cherokee Families, Old Families and their Genealogy", reprinted from "History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folk Lore" by Emmet Starr, 1921, reprinted Norman, OK, 1968.

13. Sandra Kelton Houston, "Greene County, Tennessee Minutes of the Court of Common Pleas 1797-1807", Southern Historical Press, Easley, SC 1981.

14. Silas Emmett Lucas Jr. and Ella Lee Sheffield, "35,000 Tennessee Marriage Records & Bonds 1783-1870", Southern Historical Press, Easley, SC, 1981, vol 2

15. Mary McIver, "Abstracts of the Deeds of Carter County, Tennessee 1796-1825", McIver, Elizabethton, TN 1985

16. Mrs. John Trotwood Moore, sponsor, "Records of Overton County Record Book A, 1792-1808, Deeds", copied by WPA, 1936.

17. Joyce Martin Murray, "Greene County Tennessee Tax Digests 1809-1817", Southern Historical Press, Easley, SC 1986

18. Joyce Martin Murray, "Greene County, Tennessee Deed Abstracts, 1785-1810", Dallas TX, 1996

19. Joyce Martin Murray, "Hawkins County, Tennessee Deed Abstracts 1801-1819", Murray, 1998

20. Bruce Pruitt, "Some Land Grant Alterations", The North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal, vol xvi, #2 (May 1990).

21. J.G.M. Ramsey, "The Annals of Tennessee to the end of the Eighteenth Century"

22. Liahona Research, "Tennessee Marriages to 1825", LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT compiled from entries in Vital Records section of Family History Library; online at www.idreamof.com/marriage/tn.html

23. Karen L. Sherman, "Sullivan County, Tennessee, Cemeteries", Heritage Books, 1991.

24. Byron & Barbara Sistler, "Early East Tennessee Marriages, vol I, Grooms", Nashville, TN, 1987

25. Byron and Barbara Sistler, "Index to Early Tennessee Tax Lists", Evanston, IL, 1977

26. Edythe Rucker Whitley, "Overton County, Tennessee Genealogical Records", Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD 1997

9/29/03