Introduction
Aaron was among the earlier of the Gentrys to move from Virginia and settle in Tennessee, arriving there in about 1807. He has not previously been discussed in any of the previous issues of the Journal of Gentry Genealogy and deserves being added to the descriptions of early Tennessee Gentrys. References to Aaron in printed documents and on the internet show an interesting tendency to report either his family and circumstances in Virginia or those in Tennessee, but not both. We will attempt to provide a comprehensive overall summary of this family here.

Aaron Gentry's Parentage
Before delving further into Aaron's immediate family, we will mention briefly his parents and ancestry. His father was George Gentry of Hanover, Louisa and Albemarle Counties, Virginia, (a son of James Gentry of Hanover County). His mother was named Elizabeth, her maiden name is not known. Aaron was the ninth of ten children of George, all of whom were named in his father's will. One of the best authorities on George in the country is John Reed of Pine Island, Minnesota. He published an article on the George Gentry family in this journal^<1> and has also contributed further information to the Shiflet Family Genealogy Website^<2>. The very comprehensive information which he has provided will not be repeated here.

Aaron Gentry's Family
Aaron's children illustrate a curious combination of variations in names found in different sources. Aaron is listed in Richard Gentry's "The Gentry Family in America, 1676 to 1909" (GFA)^<3> as family #188, along with eight children. The presumed children of Aaron Gentry of Knox County, Tennessee as deduced from census, marriage, land and other documents in that county, appear differently. Names of his children from the two sources are listed below along with the location where the individual was first listed in census records or listed in marriage records.

	"GFA" Names		Knox County Names
	George A (lived Greene Co., VA) Susan Jane Hardin James Garrett Joseph Fountain William		[George A] (of Orange/Greene Co., VA) John T (m. Knox Co., TN) James O (m. Knox Co., TN) Aaron G (Knox Co.,TN) Elizabeth (m. Knox Co.) Susan J (m. Knox Co.) Margaret R (m. Knox Co.) Hardin S (m. Knox Co., KY) Peter F (Knox Co., TN) Joab C (Knox Co., TN) William E (Knox Co., TN)

While there are duplications in the two lists, at first glance they seem like different families. A more detailed look, however, resolves most of the discrepancies, and we can propose the following family composition.

Aaron Gentry
-- Born about 1771, Hanover County, Virginia, -- Died 2 Aug 1852, Knox County, Tennessee.
-- Married (1), 18 Nov 1801, Albemarle County, Tennessee, Polly (Mary?) Ogg.
	(died probably in childbirth or shortly after).
-- Married (2). 13 Jan 1803, Albemarle County, Tennessee, Margaret (Peggy) Ogg
	(died 10 Jul 1832, Knox County, Tennessee).
-- Married (3), 14 Feb 1833, Knox County, Tennessee, Mrs. Elizabeth Reynolds.
	Children of Aaron and Polly (speculation):
	i.	George A. Gentry (speculation as to mother), born abt.1802, Albemarle County, Virginia; married (1) 28 Dec 1827, Madison County, Virginia, Elizabeth A. Jackson; married (2) 3 Oct 1846, Greene County, Virginia, Mahala ("Frances") Lamb.
	Children of Aaron and Peggy:
	ii.	John T. Gentry, born abt.1805, probably Albemarle County, Virginia; married 2 Mar 1824, Knox County, Tennessee, Jane McNeil.
	iii.	James Overton Gentry, born 10 Oct 1806, probably Albemarle County, Virginia, died 11 Mar 1870; married (1) 24 Jan 1826, Knox County, Tennessee, Charlotte Reynolds; married (2) 14 Jul 1841, Knox County, Tennessee, Sarah Grimmitt.
	iv.	Aaron Garrett Gentry, born abt.1807, Knox County, Tennessee, died 2 Dec 1850, Knox County; married Sarah --?--.
	v.	Elizabeth Gentry, born abt.1808, Knox County, Tennessee; married 25 Jan 1826, Knox County, George F. Reynolds Jr.
	vi.	Susan Jane Gentry, born 18 May 1811, Knox County, Tennessee; married 18 Dec 1830, Albemarle County, Virginia, William E. Jackson.
	vii.	Margaret R. Gentry, born abt.1812, Knox County, Tennessee; married 2 Oct 1833, Knox County, Pleasant Grills.
	viii.	Hardin S. Gentry, born 1814, Knox County, Tennessee, died abt.1859; married 30 Apr 1840, Monroe County, Kentucky, Lucinda Kirkpatrick.
	ix.	Peter Fountain/Fontaine Gentry, born 21 May 1816, Knox County, Tennessee, died 3 Jul 1893; married 17 May 1858, Knox County, Maria/Mariah Spradling.
	x.	Joab C. Gentry, born abt.1822, Knox County, Tennessee; married 17 Dec 1846, Knox County, Mary Ann Cox.
	xii.	William E. Gentry, born abt.1825?, Knox County, Tennessee.

As we compare these three tables of children, it is readily seen that GFA in several instances used the individual's middle name, which may have been the name commonly used by the family. Richard Gentry obtained much of the information for GFA from a son of Hardin Gentry, namely, W. A. Gentry of Black's Ferry, Kentucky. The Joseph Gentry whom he names as a son of Aaron has no counterpart in any Knox County records and probably was an erroneous reporting of Joab Gentry.

More information on Aaron's family was published by Lucy Gentry Bates, of Nashville, Tennessee in 1993 in the "Gentry Family Gazette & Genealogy Exchange"^<4a>. She is a granddaughter of the same W.A. Gentry who wrote to GFA's compiler. Lucy Bates relates:

"He was born in the Totpotomy/Pamunkey [sic] area, Hanover County, Virginia. He married Polly Ogg in 1801; she probably died in childbirth. Aaron then married Polly's sister, Peggy (Margaret) Ogg on 13 January 1803 in Orange County, Virginia. They moved to Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee where the first documentary evidence to him is when he purchased a piece of property, 485 acres, from his wife's uncle, Daniel Ogg, on 21 December 1807. He sold a slave to John Tillery on 13 December 1807.

"Aaron settled in the Powell Station section of Knox County, this area is northwest of the city of Knoxville. Polly [sic - should be Peggy] was the mother of all of Aaron's children. Their children were: George A. Gentry, John T. Gentry, James Overton Gentry, Aaron Garrett Gentry, Elizabeth Gentry, Susan Jane Gentry, Margaret Gentry, Hardin S. Gentry, Peter Fountain Gentry, Joab C. Gentry and William E. Gentry.

"Aaron was a very influential citizen; a justice of the peace, and often called for grand jury duties on important cases. He served on many appointed boards. He was commissioned to lay out and construct Emory Road (which was used by Andrew Jackson when he traveled to Washington from the Hermitage, his home in Donelson, Tennessee).

"Aaron was continuously buying and selling land; today he would be known as a real estate broker. An old court record shows that one year he paid taxes on 1500 to 2000 acres of land. He also owned land at times in Illinois, Virginia (Hanover, Orange, Louisa, and Greene counties), Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee (Knox and Roane counties). Aaron was 78 years old when his last transaction of record took place on 5 November 1849 when he sold 320 acres for $5000.

"He contributed generously to his children. There are court records of many valuable gifts (or sales for a toke price) of land, slaves, horses, etc. There is record of 20 or more slaves who changed hands from Aaron to his various children. Peggy/Margaret (Ogg) Gentry, his wife, died on 10 July 1832 and is buried in the Brown Cemetery #3 in Powell. Aaron married Mrs. Elizabeth Reynolds, widow of George F. Reynolds, Sr. on 14 February 1833. Aaron died in 1852 'owning valuable and large real estate in Knox County' according to the Chancery court records. His will was probated on 2 August 1852 but was not settled until 10 years later."

Mrs. Bates' account very succinctly summarizes Aaron Gentry's life. She writes that in the process of tracing down clues to her family heritage, "We have made trips to Knoxville, Tennessee, Washington DC, Freen Union, Rural Point, Charlottesville and Richmond in Virginia. We have climbed cliffs and crossed pastures to view old family cemeteries. We have endured the perils of curious bulls and sharp barbed wire fences as well as electric-charged fences. We have found that genealogy is a never ending quest. There are always additional places to go, more information needed, more time to dig yet deeper into the source if information."

Aaron's Children - George A. Gentry
The George A. Gentry whom Richard Gentry reports as being a son of Aaron, living in Greene County, Virginia, is an interesting study in his own right. A number of family historians credit Aaron with a son, George A. Gentry, but there is some uncertainty as to whether this George was a child of Polly Ogg (the only one), or was the oldest child of Aaron's second wife, Peggy. There is no record of a son of Aaron's by the name of George in Tennessee records, although that by itself is no indication of whether or not he was there with the family since the first census records for Knox County were not until 1830. Richard Gentry's source, W. A. Gentry, wrote that his grandfather, Aaron Gentry, "moved to Tennessee leaving his two oldest children married in Virginia". They may have been left behind, but it was as infants and any marriages took place many years later.

There is good evidence that George Gentry was Aaron's oldest son and that he indeed was left behind in Virginia, probably in the care of grandparents, when Aaron moved to Tennessee. It is very possible that George was the son of Aaron's first wife, Polly, and George's grandmother may have cared for him from birth if Polly died in childbirth. Regardless of who was his mother, when Aaron and Peggy moved to Tennessee in 1807, his care may have been too much for Peggy who may have been pregnant with another child at the time of the move. (This kind of arrangement is known to have occurred in other cases. This writer's grand-aunt was raised from early childhood by her grandparents separately from the rest of her very large family.) There is no evidence, other than the comment of W. A. Gentry in GFA, that a second child was left in Virginia. (But see below for the marriage of George's sister, Susan Jane, in Virginia.) George lived in Greene County (originally Orange County), Virginia, throughout his life. He had very close associations with Susan Ogg (possibly a younger sister of Polly and Peggy Ogg). In 1850, his children by his first wife (recently deceased) were living with Susan while George, a new wife, and their infant child were living not far away.

George Gentry was first listed in the 1830 Orange County census, then in the 1840 Greene County census (this was a change in county name, not a change in location), and again in the 1850 Greene County census (age 47). In 1830 and 1840 in particular, he was a close neighbor of John Gentry, a first cousin who was a generation older in age. One might argue that George was a son of John rather than Aaron, but the John's family can be otherwise completely accounted for in the 1820 to 1850 census records.

John Gentry
The report of a second child being left in Virginia by Aaron and Peggy Gentry when they moved to Tennessee, may or may not have been true. If so, John appears to have rejoined the family before reaching maturity. He is thought to be the John Gentry who married Jane McNeil in Knox County in 1824, although the marriage bond record shows him as John "W" rather than John "T" Gentry. (Two court references give his name as John "T", so that appears to be correct^<6>.) His last appearance in Knox County records was in 1826, and he does not appear in any Knox County census records, but may be the John Gentry who was listed in the Robertson County, Tennessee, census in 1830, and then in Davidson County in 1840. If this is the same individual, he must have set a precedent for his younger brother, Hardin, who left Knox County some time after 1840 and resettled northwestwards in Monroe County, Kentucky.

James Overton Gentry
Besides the record of his marriages and his census records, James is named a number of times in proceedings of the Knox County Court^<6>. These records, beginning in 1829, are mostly in connection with the fact that he and his mother-in-law, Elizabeth Reynolds were named as administrators of the estate of his father-in-law George Reynolds. [George's widow, Elizabeth, in time married James' father, Aaron Gentry.] There is also in the court records, a curious order of apprenticeship in 1846 in which a John L. Gentry [born 1830] was bound until age 21 to a Lewis Ragsdale. The lad's mother was in court and concurred with the order. Now this seems to be the same John Gentry who was living with James Gentry in the 1850 Knox County census and presumably the same son, born 1825-1830, who was in James household in the 1830 census. The difficulty arises in the fact that John's mother was present in court, yet James had remarried in 1841, we assume after the death of his first wife. Was this a son born out of wedlock, or was it John's step-mother that was actually in court? It is also noteworthy that with the exception of John in 1850, all of the children listed with James Gentry in 1850 and 1860 were his children by Sarah Grimmitt. No potential children of James and Charlotte Reynolds that may have been born between 1826 and 1841 were living with him, although a George Wesley Gentry, married in Knox County in 1852, may have been a son of James and Charlotte.

Susan Jane Gentry
A bride by this name was recorded in Albemarle County, Virginia, marriage bonds in a marriage with William E. Jackson in 1833. This writer is not aware of documentary or family evidence concerning this marriage, but this Susan is thought to be the Susan Jane who was a daughter of Aaron Gentry. The 1830 Knox County, Tennessee, census records suggest that she was living with her father at that time. The exact circumstances of her presence in Virginia three years later are not known. One can speculate that she went to visit her older brother, George Gentry who lived in neighboring Greene County. Since George was married to an Elizabeth Jackson, we can speculate further that Elizabeth and William were brother and sister and that Susan met her future husband at some family get-together. GFA's informant on the Aaron Gentry family, William A. Gentry, stated that two of Aaron's children were left in Virginia and married there. George and Susan's marriages must be the ones of which he was speaking.

Hardin S. Gentry
In the genealogy literature and website family trees, one can find two Hardin Gentrys with a son William A. Gentry, who are purported to be the son of Aaron Gentry. One of these Hardins lived in Arkansas, and had a son, William Arthur Gentry who died in Tillman County, Texas. Lucy Bates provides the following information on the authentic Hardin^<4b>.

"He was born in Knoxville, Knox County, TN in 1814. He moved to Kentucky prior to his marriage to Lucinda Kirkpatrick in 1842. His farm was [rich, river bottom land located on the banks of the Cumberland River] adjacent to his father-in-law's farm at Meshack. ... About 1859, Hardin left on a trip to New Orleans to sell the season's crops and never returned. The family believed that after he disposed of his goods that he was robbed and killed. Lucinda lived at the farm until her death in 1861."

This Hardin had a son William Aaron Gentry who was born 1843 in Kentucky and spent his entire life on his father's farm, dying in Monroe County in 1919. He was Richard Gentry's informant for the Aaron Gentry family as listed in GFA, and was Lucy Bates' grandfather.

Other Children
There is little about which to comment concerning Aaron's other children. The middle name of his son Peter is a point of some small difference. It is given here as "Fountain" and derives apparently from family or friends of Aaron in Virginia, for the name is found there with other Gentrys. Some sources give a spelling of "Fontaine" for Peter's middle name.

There is a lack of information concerning a son, William E. Gentry. Both GFA and Lucy Bates include such a son (presumably through their common source, Hardin's son, William A. Gentry). There are no marriage or census records for this William E. Gentry, but his name is found in Will Book 10, p.118 (1849) in Knox County.

Three unidentified children are found in the 1830 Knox County census, living with Aaron. The youngest, a girl age 0-5 could have been a so-far unidentified youngest daughter of Aaron and Peggy who did not survive to 1840. The other two, a girl age 10-15 and a boy age 5-10 do not fit other census records as being children of Aaron, but could have been grandchildren living with him temporarily. None of the three match children in the 1840 census.

Conclusion
We hope that this article has helped to pull together loose strings connecting Aaron Gentry to his family. As always, there are still gaps in our knowledge and more to be done to clarify uncertain points, but in the meantime this will serve as a comprehensive survey of Aaron, his wives and his children.

References
1. Reed, John W, "George Gentry of Virginia", Journal of Gentry Genealogy, vol 1, #11 (Nov 2001), posted at URL: http://www.gentryjournal.org/archives/jgg0111.htm.

2. Reed, John, "George & Elizabeth Gentry of Hanover", Shiflet Family Genealogy Site, posted at URL: http://www.shifletfamily.org/RFC/gentryfc.html.

3. Gentry, Richard, "The Gentry Family in America 1676 to 1909", The Grafton Press, New York, 1909, p.245.
#188, AARON GENTRY (George III, James II)
"Born in Hanover Co., VA., about 1771. After part of his family became grown he moved with the rest of his family to Tennessee. He executed a bond for his marriage to Polly Ogg, Nov. 18, 1801 and on Jan 13, 1803, he married Peggy Ogg, as shown by the records of Orange Co., VA
      [List of children appended, see above]
W. A. Gentry of Black's Ferry, KY, a son of Hardin Gentry writes that his grandfather, Aaron Gentry, moved to Tennessee, leaving his two oldest children married in Virginia. The others were reared in Tennessee."

4. Bates, Lucy Gentry, (a) "16--Aaron (O?) Gentry, 1771-1852" [Ahnentafel listing for Mrs. Bates of Nashville, TN], Gentry Family Gazette and Genealogy Exchange", vol ix, p.38 (Jun 1993), published by Richard H. Gentry, McLean, VA;
(b) "08--Hardin S. Gentry, 1814-c.1859", ibid, p.38. [In the same article, Lucy Bates provides information on her grandfather, William Aaron Gentry, son of Hardin Gentry.]

5. Lucas, Silas Emmett Jr. and Sheffield, Ella Lee, "35,000 Tennessee Marriage Records & Bonds 1783-1870", Southern Historical Press, Easley, SC, 1981, vol 2 [Extracted marriage bonds and marriage records found in index card file at Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, TN, supplemented by:]
Roscoe Carlisle d'Armand and Viginia Carlisle d'Armand, "Knox County, Tennessee Marriage Records 1792 - 1900", 1970.

Knox County Marriage Bonds

Date		Groom	Bride	Father
1806	Sep 3	Gentry, William	Elizabeth McPherrin	Jesse Gentry
1807	Nov 14	Gentry, John	Elizabeth Newman	Jesse
1812	Oct 20	Taylor, Ezekial	Betsy Gentry	Jesse
1817	Oct 6	Gentry, Martin	Sally Mitchell	Jesse
1818	Sep 20	Gentry, Isaac	Elizabeth Lewis	Jesse
1820	Mar 6	Mitchell, Jesse	Rachel Gentry	Jesse
1823	Sep 12	McPherrin, Sam'l	Eleanor Gentry	Jesse (?)
1824	Mar 2	Gentry, John W.	Jane McNeil	Aaron
1826	Jan 24	Gentry, James Overton	Charlotte Reynolds	Aaron
1826	Jan 25	Reynolds, Geo.F. Jr	Elizabeth Gentry	Aaron
1833	Feb 13	Gentry, Aaron [Sr]	Elizabeth Reynolds	George
1833	Oct 2	Grill, Pleasant R	Margaret R. Gentry	Aaron
1840	Jan 14	Gentry, Alfred	Sarah Nelson	Isaac (son of Jesse)
1841	Jul 14	Gentry, James A [O?]	Sarah Grimmitt	Aaron
1842	Apr 24	Branson, Enoch	Altamirah Gentry	Isaac
1846	Dec 17	Gentry, Joab C	Mary Ann Cox	Aaron
1852	Jan 4	Gentry, George Wesley	Jane Ayres	James O. ??
1858	May 17	Gentry, Peter F	Maria C. Spradling	Aaron

Note. The early records of Knox County, including marriage bonds, reflect the presence of Jesse Gentry and his family. Jesse was one of the earliest Gentrys to leave Virginia, joining his father Robert Gentry and his brother Charles Gentry in settling Washington County of what was then North Carolina by 1778. He moved to Jefferson County, Tennessee, then to Knox County in 1797. He died there between 1830 and 1840. A summary of his life and family has been reported in Journal of Gentry Genealogy, vol 1, #6 (Jun 2001), posted at URL: http://www.gentryjournal.org/archives/jgg0106.htm

6. WPA Transcripts of Knox County, Tennessee County Court Minutes (through 1850).

5 Jul 1826		Bk(13-512)
	John T. Gentry vs Jesse Ayres.
3 Oct 1826		Bk(14-12)
	John T. Gentry vs Jesse Ayres.
6 Oct 1829		Bk(14-370)
	James O. Gentry & Elizabeth Reynolds, admrs vs John Boyd, Wm Boyd & James Alldridge.
9 Jan 1830		Bk(14-418)
	James O. Gentry, etc. Case continued.
7 Apr 1830		Bk(14-438)
	James O. Gentry and Elizabeth Reynolds, admrs of Geo. F. Reynolds Dec'd, etc.
5 Dec 1842		Bk(17-167)
	James O. Gentry appointed guardian to Wesly Reynolds a minor, whereupon the said James O. Gentry entered into bond with Aaron Gentry and Pumroy Carmichael as security in the sum of $1500 as the law directs.
2 Feb 1846		Bk(17-392)
	Pumroy Carmichael vs James O. Gentry. Petition to compel James O. Gentry, surviving administrator of the estate of George F. Reynolds, deceased, to appear in court and give security for his administration of said estate or surrender to the court the negroes and assets belonging to the late George F. Reynolds now in the possession of said surviving administrator and his father Aaron Gentry.
6 Jul 1846		Bk(18-35)
	Pumroy Carmichael vs. James O. Gentry, admr. etc. James O. Gentry presented to the court R. H. Reynolds as his co-security for the administration of the George F. Reynolds estate.
2 Feb 1846		Bk(17-393)
	The court orders bound to Lewis F. Ragsdale a child by the name of John L. Gentry, aged fifteen years and five months until he attains the age of twenty-one years, the mother of said child appearing in open court and concurring with the court in said binding.

7. Federal Census Records Relating to Aaron Gentry and Family
Birthyear Ranges are given for the years 1830 and 1840. With the exception of James O. Gentry, the separate listing of family members not in Aaron's household has been restricted to the individual and spouse and are included in parentheses. All counties are Tennessee unless otherwise noted.

Sex		1830	1840	1850	1860
M F F F	Aaron Gentry    -sp1 Polly Ogg (d.1802)    -sp2 Peggy Ogg    -sp3 Elizabeth Reynolds	Knox 1770-1780   1780-1790	Knox 1770-1780      (d.1832) 1780-1790	Knox age 75, VA        (d.1848)	(d.1852)
M F   F	- George A Gentry    -sp1 Elizabeth Jackson         (m.1827)    -sp2 Mahala (Frances)          Lamb (m.1846)	(Orange, VA) (1800-1810) (1810-1815)	(Greene, VA) (1800-1810)       ---	(Greene, VA) (age 47)     (age 25)	(Greene, VA) (age 58)     (age 35)
M F	- John T Gentry    -sp Jane McNeil (m.1824)	(Robertson?) (1800-1810) (1800-1810)	(Davidson?) (1800-1810) (1800-1810)	---	(d.1852?)
M F   F M M F	- James O Gentry    -sp1 Charlotte Reynolds       (m.1826)    -sp2 Sarah Grimmitt       - George Wesley?       - John L?          -sp Caroline	(Knox) (1800-1810) (1800-1810)     (1825-1830) (1825-1830)	---        (m.1841)	(Knox) (age 47, TN)       ---   (age 33, TN)   (m.1852?) (age 20, TN)	(Knox) (age 53, TN)     (age 44, TN) (Knox) (age 30, TN) (age 22, TN)
M F	- Aaron G Gentry    -sp Sarah	1810-1815	(Knox) (1800-1810) (1810-1820)	(Knox) (age 43, TN) (age 32, TN)	(Knox) (d.Dec 1850) (age 38)
F	- Elizabeth (Reynolds)	(m.1826)
F	- Susan J (Jackson)	1810-1815	(m.1830, VA?)	---
F	- Margaret R (Grills)	1810-1815	(m.1833)	---
M F	- Hardin S Gentry    -sp Lucinda Kirkpatrick	1815-1820	1810-1820 (m.1842, KY)	(Monroe, KY) (age 33, TN) (age 27, KY)	(Monroe, KY) --- (age 39, KY)
M F	- Peter F Gentry    -sp Mariah Spradling	1815-1820    (m.1858)	1810-1820	(Knox) (age 40, TN)	(Knox) (age 40, TN) (age 20, TN)
M F	- Joab C Gentry    -sp Mary Ann Cox	1820-1825    (m.1846)	1825-1830	(Knox) (age 28, TN) (age 18, TN)	---
M	- William E Gentry (?)	1825-1830	1825-1830	---
F	- Daughter?	1825-1830	---
F M	- ??? - ???	1815-1820 1820-1825	---       ---

April 29, 2005