Notes on Our Genealogy

Zerobabel Gay, sometimes known as "Babel", was born around 1758 and died in 1838. He was most likely the son of Kinchen Gay, born Sep 4 1738, and he was my fourth great-grandfather. A page purportedly from the Gay family Bible noting Zerobabel's birth in 1755 and Kinchen's in 1738. But who in the family could write? Zerobabel Gay (1758-1838) married Selah Corbett (1781-1868) Their son Seaburn Gay (1821-1900) married Mary Searls (1824-1880) Their daughter Sela Gay (1847-1890) married William Ashcraft (1844-1900) Their son Charles B. Ashcraft (1878-1900) married Bertha Lee Simons (1882-1968) And their son Marshall Benton Jackson (1900-1999) was my grandfather It won't surprise you to hear that the name Zerobabel is from the Bible . The biblical Zerobabel led his people back into Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. You might think that name would be pretty distinctive, but it's something of a family name -- Ol' Babel had a son named Ze...

On July 29, 1848 Congress passed An Act for the Relief of certain surviving Widows of Officers and Soldiers of the Revolutionary Army , which entitled all widows of Revolutionary War veterans to pension equal to the pension their late husband would have been entitled to, as long as they were married before January 2, 1800, and the widow had not remarried. This must have been good news for Selah Gay, my fourth great-grandmother, whose husband Zerobabel Gay had served in the Revolutionary War, and who had died 10 years earlier (see Zerobabel Gay in the Revolutionary War ). Zerobabel Gay's pension records include documents related to his own pension, but the bulk of the file concerns Selah's claim and its restoration after the civil war. I've included all the relevant documents below along with my attempt at a transcription, but I'll summarize so you don't have to read the whole thing. In December 1850 Selah Gay swore out a statement noting the facts and providin...

In 1832 Congress passed an " Act for the relief of certain surviving officers and soldiers of the revolution " that provided a pension for Revolutionary War veterans who had served six months or more. Previous acts going all the way back to 1776 had provided pensions for particular groups, like injured soldiers or the indigent, but the 1832 act opened it up to anyone still living. Since it was offered in gratitude for their service, it was called the Gratuitous Pension . To claim his pension, my fourth great-grandfather Zerobabel Gay swore out a statement describing his service, according to instructions published by the War Department . The statement is part of his surviving pension records, shown below. I've included my attempt at a transcription. State of Tennessee Davidson County, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions October ?? 1832 This day personally appeared before us William Williams, Jesse Wharton and Enoch P. Connel justices of said court Zerobabel Gay...

Alice Simons (1861-1960) was the mother of Bertha Simons Jackson, who was the mother of Marshall Jackson, my grandfather. So she was Marshall Jackson's grandmother, and my second great-grandmother. In 1954 she went on a road trip with her sister Addie to visit their ailing sister Tommie (born Mary Thomas Morris), and the local paper wrote up a story on them. This story gives a sense, however brief, of the personality and humor of these women who often look so stern in old-time photos. This was in the The Times of Shreveport, Louisiana on October 10, 1954. THREE SISTERS whose ages total 269 years and whose spirits are the equal of any teenager's are gather together for the first time in three years. From left to right are Mrs. Addie Coleman, 86, of Memphis, Tenn.; Mrs. Tommie Knight, 90, of 831 Dudley Dr., whom the others came see upon hearing news of her illness, and Mrs. Alice Simons, 93, of Paducah, Ky., who insists she looks and feels no older than the younger memb...

John Jacob Trier was born in 1838, fought in the Civil War, and was last heard of somewhere in Europe during World War I. He led an unsettled life but was the subject of some candid and piercing portraits, of the man and of his household. John Jacob and Mary Lorena (Ames) Trier. Probably taken around 1878. Let's situate John Jacob Trier in the family tree. My grandmother Helen Greenock Jackson's mother was Flora Rebman Greenock. Her mother was Sarah Trier Rebman. John Jacob Trier was her brother, and therefore my third great uncle. Nancy Quaid had this to say about him: Jake left home when he was very young and only came home to visit for a short time now then when he was broke. Buzzie (Adolph Rebman, John Jacob Trier's nephew) didn't know if he ever married. The 1860 census, taken June 1st, finds Trier still living with his family in Northfield, Illinois. He is a 21-year-old middle child with 10 siblings, in a deeply religious household. Three months later we ...

There was a man named Charlie who was born in 1861 and died in 1951. Strictly speaking he was not related to me, but my grandfather Marshall Jackson knew him as his father. Beyond that, it gets complicated. Charles Albion Edgerly. Also Charles Henry Jackson. 1940s. Charles Albion Edgerly was born in Barnstead, New Hampshire in 1861, to Sylvester and Sarah Edgerly. Sylvester and Sarah had 10 children, and Charles was their second child by that name. The couple's oldest child Charles Henry Edgerly had died at the age of 7 in 1854. Sylvester Edgerly (1820-1887) The Edgerly family had lived and farmed in New Hampshire for generations. Sylvester's grandfather Samuel, for example, was born in New Hampshire in 1765. It's likely they go even further back, but the records are sketchy. The Marriage of Libbie McRae and Charles Edgerly, the last couple listed here. In November 1886 Charles married Elizabeth Ada McRae in Massachusetts. Libbie McRae was born in Prince ...

Joseph Greenock (1790-?), my fourth great-grandfather, had a long and distinguished military career in the Napoleonic era, the time of Richard Sharpe and Horatio Hornblower . My great-grandfather John Greenock believed that the official records somehow omitted 15 years of Joseph's service, not to mention four missing engagements that Joseph himself complained about. Quoting The Greenock Record : I never learned anything of our Great Grandfathers private life but am reasonable sure that there was a separation or as you term it a skeleton in the closet. On receiving his medal and bars he in anger returned it to the medal department saying if you cannot give me the four bars for other engagements I do not want it he never saw it again for on its return he had passed on 1848. The medal and its bars are of silver and is known as The “Victoria,” inscribed on the rim Joseph Greenock 94th Foot, time of service 1793-1814. The bars are inscribed as follows. Toulouse. Orthes. Nive. Nivel...