Hello, 2025

      ©  Kathy Duncan, 2025

Happy New Year! 

I did a lot of research last year, but only managed thirteen blog posts. Five of those posts were about James S. Piper. I still need to finish that series of posts. I've brought him to the brink of the Civil War when his story really starts to heat up, so I need to get back to that project. 

There were 63,414 page views this year, bringing the total to 268,456. However, there were a lot of bots trolling the internet last year, so that number is probably not reflective of human readers.

The three most popular posts were as follows:

1. The Dendys and the Fatal Accident. This post explores the idea that my great-great-grandparents were in a horrific accident that killed one of their daughters. Because she was born and died between census years, her name is unknown. I believe this is the event that prompted the Dendys move from Wood County, Texas to Bowie County, Texas.

2. Capt. James S. Piper, 1846. This is the first post in the James S. Piper series. Yes, I'm feeling guilty for not getting all of the posts in the series written and posted. 

3. John Deloss Brown, Candidate for Sheriff. Through newspaper articles, I have been able to flesh out many of the details of John D. Brown's life.

While popular, these are not the posts that represented breakthroughs in my research. Those posts are as follows:

1. Solomon Nevill Sr's Last Years. My research turned up information that proved Solomon Nevill Sr. had a wife after Barbara Walton and that a divorce occurred between Solomon and Barbara. Solomon spent his last years with his second wife and then with his son E.W. Nevill. He died in Gibson County, Tennessee, not Montgomery County, Tennessee. There were a lot of surprises and family drama in this information.

2. Lodowick and Nathaniel Thompson - Greenville Co., Virginia. This post is a bit skimpy, but it links Lodowick Thompson to another adult Thompson, who may be a family member. 

3. Spencer P. Lewis, son of John and Susan Lewis. I don't get a lot of credit for this "discovery." I was able to confirm my hunch that Spencer P. Lewis of Anderson County, Texas was the son of John D. Lewis. Another researcher's contributions to Family Search provided proof of Spencer's birthdate, birthplace, and parentage. This is a key piece of information in the quest to identify John D. Lewis's own origins and information about his wife or wives. 

Spencer P. Lewis, son of John and Susan Lewis

      ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

Preface: If you are researching John D. Lewis of Jackson County, Alabama and McNairy County, Tennessee, read this post through to the end. It contains references to the best documentation that we have so far as to who the mother of John D. Lewis's elder children was. 

My quest to identify and group together all of the children of John Lewis has many goals: to establish all of the locations where John Lewis lived and thereby to "discover" additional records, to uncover the mother(s) of his children, and to identify his own parents. It's been a long journey, and it's not over yet.

John D. Lewis's son Spencer P. Lewis has provided more obstacles than you would think a person with such a distinct name might produce. More than one Spencer P. Lewis can be located in the records. The problem has been establishing whether it's the same Spencer P. Lewis or multiple Spencer P. Lewises. To sort them out, I have been looking for any documented connections to other Lewis family members. I have ruled out the Lewis man who married Martha McWhorter in Knox County, Kentucky in 1811. He turned out to be Stephen Lewis and not Spencer Polk Lewis. 

Spencer P. Lewis is named in his father John Lewis's will dated 14 January 1840 and originally filed in McNairy County, Tennessee. Additional copies were filed in various courthouses. The copy in Tishomingo County, Mississippi survives. In 1844, Joel D. Lewis filed a request in Tishomingo County, Mississippi to sell land owned by John D. Lewis's estate. The heirs are named, with the notation that Spencer "D." Lewis was in Arkansas. The question is whether Spencer was actually in Arkansas or did Joel have good reason to believe that's where he was?

In sifting through what appears to be multiple Spencer P. Lewises, I finally narrowed my focus to Spencer P. Lewis of Anderson County, Texas. According to the 1870 census, he was born c. 1813 in Tennessee. That places him in the right timeframe to be John D. Lewis's son and in a state where John D. Lewis is believed to have lived prior to his residence in Alabama. 

Spencer P. Lewis of Anderson County, Texas married Malissa Jane Watkins, widow of James E. Watkins in Anderson County, Texas on 2 June 1861. Malissa Jane Osborne married James E. Watkins in Coosa County, Alabama on 10 February 1850.  Her parentage is unknown. James E. Watkins was the son of Jonathan Watkins and Agnes Daniel. The children of James E. and Malissa J. (Osborne) Watkins were Anges Watkins, Fatly Watkins, Georgie H. Watkins, and James K. Polk Watkins. 

Spencer P. and Malissa (Osborne) Lewis had three children: Emma Susan Lewis, John Breckenridge Lewis, and Forest Lewis. They can be found together on the 1870 Anderson County, Texas census. Spencer P. Lewis appeared on the Anderson County tax rolls from 1862 through 1870. He was also on the 1871 voter roll for Anderson County. Then he disappeared from Anderson County. Malissa Lewis was still in Anderson County on the 1880 census, where she was listed as a widow.

No will or probate references for Spencer P. Lewis appear in Anderson County between 1871 and 1880. However, there is a probate record for Spencer P. Lewis in Collin County, Texas, dated 1874. This Spencer P. Lewis had very little property: a horse, a saddle, a rifle, a six-shooter, and a knife make up the bulk of his possessions. However, he died indebted to several individuals in the community - his landlord, the doctor, and the coffin maker, among others. Significantly missing from this probate is any reference to Malissa and her Lewis children. Does this indicate that there is no connection? I don't think so. An 1887 land deed from Emma (Lewis) Costlow to her mother Malissa J. Lewis stated that the land was part of the estate of James E. Watkins that had been conveyed by his administrator to Spencer P. Lewis and from Spencer P. Lewis to Emma Lewis. I believe that any property of significance that Spencer had was disposed of before his death although it is a mystery why it was conveyed to Emma instead of to one of her older half-siblings who would have been children of James E. Watkins'. My suspicion is that Spencer P. Lewis and wife Malissa had separated before his death - whether it was mutual or whether he abandoned her is unknown. 

There is one significant reference to a family member in Spencer's probate packet - a sister living in Hunt County, Texas. 

 

The estate administrator B.S. King charged the estate $5 for spending "1 1/2 days going to Hunt County & Back for decs'd Sister at his request."  That sister would have been Jane (Lewis) Wardlow who was the only Lewis sister still living and who was also living in Hunt County, Texas at the time of Spencer P. Lewis's death in 1874. 

On Family Search, an additional wife has been attached to Spencer P. Lewis. She was Nancy Hickman, the widow of William Hickman. Her maiden name was Loftin. Spencer P. Lewis and Nancy Hickman married in Montgomery County, Alabama on 14 January 1837. It is plausible that Spencer P. Lewis, son of John D. Lewis had at least one other marriage before he married Malissa J. (Osborne) Watkins in Texas. 

In 1838, Spencer P. Lewis sold land in Coosa County, Alabama, and his wife Nancy Lewis signed a release of her dower rights. They were still living in Coosa County on the 1840 census. By the early 1840s, Spencer P. Lewis was administrating William Hickman's estate from Montgomery County, Alabama. On 23 June 1846, the Orphans Court of Montgomery County, Alabama replaced Spencer P. Lewis as administrator because he was no longer in the jurisdiction of the court. They probably moved to McNairy County, Tennessee, where they were residing when they sold land in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, on 1 September 1846. The Tishomingo County property needs to be researched, but it is more than likely property that had been owned by his father John D. Lewis, who died in McNairy County, Tennessee in 1842. His estate was sold there at an auction that seems to have occurred over a two-day period. It may be that Spencer P. Lewis purchased the land at that sale, or he may have received it previously as a deed of gift. This deed record indicates that at this time Spencer P. Lewis of McNairy County, Tennessee, had a wife named Nancy. My conclusion is that the Spencer P. Lewis who married Nancy (Loftin) Hickman is also John D. Lewis's son and that he had at least two wives. 

Spencer P. Lewis and Nancy Loftin had three children: Henry Carmen Lewis, Anna E. Lewis, and Florence Lincoln Lewis.

Spencer and Nancy seem to have divorced, or perhaps he abandoned her. She was still alive and living with her daughter Florence Lincoln (Lewis) Stiefer in Smith County, Texas in 1860. Generally speaking, divorce records are difficult to locate. They were filed in the area where the divorcing spouse lived. If that divorce originated in McNairy County, Tennessee, which sustained a heavy loss of records, it may not be possible to find it. There may, however, be a newspaper notice somewhere. 

Finally, a Bible record for Spencer P. Lewis has been attached to him on Family Search through the generosity of researcher Nancy Kampe. You will find this image in the "memories" for Spencer P. Lewis. The Bible belonged to Spencer and Nancy (Loftin) Lewis's daughter Florence Lincoln (Lewis) Stiefer. All of the entries are in the handwriting of the same person, who I think was Florence, so the older entries were made well after the fact and should be regarded as secondary, but that does not negate their importance. The first entry on  the page is for Spencer P. Lewis: "Spencer P. Lewis son of John & Susan Lewis born in Lincoln Co. Tenn Jany 1st 1813." Be still my heart - that's a wealth of information. This is the only documentation that indicates John Lewis had a wife named Susan that I have seen. It places them in Lincoln Co., Tennessee by 1813. This, of course, does not establish that Susan was a Daniel or that she was the mother of all the elder Lewis children. It also does not establish that Spencer's middle name was Polk. 

Then there are entries for the children of Spencer and Nancy: Henry Carmon Lewis son of S.P. and Nancy Lewi born in Weteumpee Ala May13th 1838. Then the births of Anna E. Lewis and Florence Lincoln Lewis are listed. There is not a separate entry that provides more information about wife Nancy. There are two more births of importance: Emma Lewis daughter of J. Lewis born 8 Aug 1863 and John Lewis son of Spencer and J. Lewis born 17 July 1869. These are references to the children that John Lewis had with Malissa Jane Osborne, which means that Florence was aware of her father's subsequent marriage to Malissa and the family that he had with her. There is also the possibility that she was acquainted with her younger half-siblings. 

And what of the idea that Spencer P. Lewis was living in Arkansas in 1844? Did Spencer have any connection to Arkansas at all? Possibly. In 1850, Spencer P. Lewis was granted bounty land in Crittenden County, Arkansas for services rendered during the Florida War. He was a corporal in Captain Campbell's First Regiment of Alabama Volunteers. On 10 May 1836, the Mobile Daily Commercial Register and Patriot printed a list of the killed and wounded among the Alabama Volunteers. S.P. Lewis of Capt Campbell's Company was "badly wounded" at the Battle of Clonoto Lassa [published in the Alabama Genealogical Quarterly, Spring-Summer 1981]. In 1852, Spencer P. Lewis of Memphis, Tennessee sold his bounty land in Arkansas. It is unknown if he ever lived in Crittenden County although his two brothers, Wiley and Daniel A. Lewis did. 

If you are not using Family Search because anyone can add to the shared family tree, you are missing out on a wealth of information. 

Martha McWhorter Married a Lewis, 1811

      ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

In the early 2000s, I was working from an undocumented list of Lewis siblings that I found on a Family Tree Maker site. They were supposedly the children of  John and Susan Lewis. That list included an older son named Spencer Polk Lewis, aka Polk Lewis, who was born in Lincoln County, Kentucky, and who married Martha McWhorter in Knox County, Kentucky on 11 May 1811. If Spencer P. Lewis was old enough to marry in 1811, then he'd need to be at least 21 and born by 1790. I was never able to locate a Spencer P. Lewis or an S.P. Lewis of that age on the 1850 census. 

Searching for this marriage record for Spencer P. Lewis in Knox County, Kentucky failed to turn up the record. However, Martha McWhorter did get married in Knox County, Kentucky in 1811, but she did not marry Spencer P. Lewis. She married Stephen Lewis!!

While this record proves that Spencer P. Lewis did not marry Martha McWhorter, it is not disappointing because it opens the possibility that Spencer P. Lewis was perhaps a younger man with a different middle name and a different wife or wives, and that he might turn up in later records. And he did! That will be the next post. 

Rutherford Porter Cawthon Receives Mail

     ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

In July 1850, Rutherford Porter Cawthon had a letter waiting for him at the post office in Jefferson, Texas.

This list of letters does not look like much, but it tells me a few things. First, he knew one or two people who were writing letters to him. Where was that person? Back in Tennessee where he was from? Had something happened, and they were trying to reach him? Second, sometimes his surname was spelled Cauthon. Third, the entry for Parter Cauthon tells me that he also went by his middle name - Porter. Fourth, he may have been living near Jefferson at the time of the 1850 census, which is a year in which I cannot find him on the census. 

Lodowick and Nathaniel Thompson - Greensville Co., Virginia

    ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

I took a little brain break while chasing the Nevill and Patterson families, which was in itself a brain break from compiling James Piper's documents. Oops.

What I found indicates that documents continue to be added to the full text search feature on Family Search because the information that I found for Lodowick Thompson was not there the last time I searched, which was not that long ago.

On 24 May 1793, Lodowick was in court in Greensville County, Virginia, seeking payment from Nathaniel Thompson for three trips that Lodowick made for Nathaniel to represent him in court in his suit against Betty Atherton:

No relationship between Lodowick and Nathaniel is stated, but this seems like the sort of thing that would happen between family members. One person promises to pay a relative to perform a service for him. Then promises to pay him later - and later gets postponed and postponed until they finally end up in court. What is important here, is that Nathaniel Thompson is the first Thompson who I can link to Lodowick for any reason - after searching for decades.

A cursory look at Nathaniel Thompson reveals that he was administering the estates of his father James Thompson and his brother James Thompson Jr. at the same time. Enter Solomon Thompson, who also took Nathaniel to court for payment of services rendered. At one point Nathaniel and Solomon were joint defendants in a lawsuit. No relationship between Nathaniel and Solomon has bubbled to the surface. Sterling Thompson also factors into the Greensville County records. In adjacent records, there are members of the Rives family mentioned. These families seem to have been in the area since it was Brunswick County. Since Lodowick Thompson named two of his sons Solomon and Sterling/Starling, this all seems promising.

Lodowick Thompson married Delilah Womack in Greensville County, Virginia on 18 March 1793. His appearance in court two months later, on 24 May 1793, to collect payment from Nathaniel suggests a  young man in need of funds to support his new and growing family. 

Lodowick and Delilah Thompson had a son named Harris within the first year of their marriage. Delilah's father Thomas Womack left a legacy to Harris Thompson in his will which was written in early 1794 and which suggests that Delilah may have died in childbirth. 

A widower with a tiny infant would have been highly motivated to remarry. With so many members of the Rives family in the area it is possible that Priscilla Rives was a near neighbor. Priscilla is a name that is repeated frequently in the Rives family. It's also possible that there was another wife between Delilah and Priscilla. 

I'll be brainbreaking with the Thompsons off and on for a while. 

 

Nancy (Morgan) Patterson's Inheritance

   ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

Once I realized that Solomon Nevill Sr. had been divorced from his first wife Susannah Walton and that he had married Mrs. Nancy Patterson in Carroll County, Tennessee in 1840, it was time to find out more about Nancy Patterson. To pinpoint who she was, I used the shared family tree in Family Search and focused on the most distinct name in Patterson family - Walter A. Patterson. I searched for a Walter A. Patterson with a sister Mary S. Patterson and a mother named Nancy and a connection to Carroll County, Tennessee. That's when Nancy Morgan and husband Chesley Page Patterson bubbled to the surface. Their marriage in Orange County, North Carolina - the same county where Solomon C. Nevill had married Susannah Walton - led me to think that I had identified the correct Nancy. Further examination of the family tree for Chesley and Nancy Patterson revealed that they had a son-in-law named Christopher Barbee. I recalled that Barbees were intermarried with Nevills. Sure enough, Solomon Nevill Sr's sister Elizabeth Nevill was married to Francis Barbee, and Christopher Barbee was their son, so Solomon Nevill's nephew married Nancy (Morgan) Patterson's daughter. Solomon Nevill Sr. and wife Susannah had surely known Chesley P. and Nancy Patterson while they were all living in Orange County, North Carolina.

Both couples married in Orange County, North Carolina in 1795. The Nevills had removed to Montgomery County, Tennessee by 1816. The widow Nancy Patterson did not remove to Carroll County, Tennessee until the mid to late 1830s. The Nevills and extended family members who were left behind in Orange County would have known where Solomon and his family settled in Tennessee. It's not hard to imagine that the Pattersons stopped by to visit the Nevills on their way to Carroll County. Nancy Patterson was probably always aware of where the Nevills lived in Tennessee. It would be interesting to know at what point Solomon and Nancy's relationship grew to more than a friendship. Before the Nevill divorce? After the Nevill divorce?

Records in Orange County, North Carolina solidify the notion that the Nancy Patterson who married Solomon Nevill Sr. in Carroll County, Tennessee is the same Nancy Morgan who married Chesley P. Patterson in Orange County, North Carolina. 

In 1797, just two years after Nancy Morgan married Chesley P. Patterson, her father Hardy Morgan died in Orange County, North Carolina. Thirty years later, in 1827, Nancy Patterson joined with her siblings to request a partition of the slaves in Hardy Morgan's estate. This signals that Hardy Morgan's wife had died while still widow and the children were able to make a final settlement of the estate. 

The division was made in 1828. Nancy Patterson's portion included Hulda, Margaret, Hudson, George, Rubin, and Denny.

Old Hulday, Margaret, Hudson, and George were all included in the deed of gift that Solomon Nevill Sr. made to his wife Nancy's children: Walter A. Patterson and Mary S. Patterson in 1840.

In 1833, Nancy Patterson of Orange County, North Carolina entered into a bond with William Trice for $1,000 to ensure that when Walter A. Patterson and Mary S. Patterson came of age they would warranty their interest in their father Chesley P. Patterson's estate [Deed Bk 25, p. 506]. As part of the bond agreement, Nancy sold slaves to her son, Chesley M. Patterson, and son-in-law, Christopher Barbee. Those slaves were Huldy, Hannah, Margaret, Hudson, Emily, Isham, and Huldy, a child. If Walter and Mary followed through with the warranty, then the bond was null and void. Walter and Mary Patterson evidently fulfilled their part of the agreement because these are the same slaves that Solomon Nevill Sr. named in the 1840 deed of gift that he drew up for them.

On 10 November 1846 in Madison County, Tennessee, Solomon Nevill Sr. sold his life interest in the slaves, who were gifted to Mary S. Patterson, to her husband Henry W. Mooring for $300. Those slaves were Margaret and her two children - Haywood and Alfred - and old Huldy. This indicates that by 10 November 1846, Solomon was the sole survivor and Nancy (Morgan) Patterson Nevill was deceased. Since they were living in Madison County, Tennessee, I would guess that she died in Madison County, Tennessee and was buried there. 

Susannah (Walton) Nevill Surprises Her Descendants

Solomon Nevill Sr's Last Years

Solomon Nevill Sr's Last Years

  ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

Several years ago, I came across a record for Susannah (Walton) Nevill that indicated she had a deed of separate maintenance from Solomon Nevill Sr. dated 20 April 1838. At the time, I was unable to determine if they were separated or divorced. Last night I came across additional documents that indicate they were divorced. 

These "new" documents were found by using the Family Search full text search experiment. Let me just say, they were startling and tipped my genealogy world on its axis. I am always telling myself that there is so much more to be found and know, but then when a new revelation emerges, I am always surprised. In this case, it is because the Nevills have been researched ad nauseum by generations of researchers. How could something that new emerge at this late date? And yet it has!

What I found was a series of lawsuits between two sons of Solomon and Susannah Nevill that were filed in Madison County, Tennessee in the late 1840s. For one thing, there was never a previous indication that the Nevills had any ties to Madison County, so there was no reason to randomly search there. 

In these lawsuits, Solomon C. Nevill, of Hickman County, Kentucky, was suing brother Edwin W. Nevill, of Gibson County, Tennessee. These suits are several pages long and will take a while to digest. The takeaway is that the brothers had bailed their father Solomon Nevill out of debt to the tune of $1,000. A considerable amount of money in the early 1840s. Their suits state the following relationships - in reference to each other: "my brother"; in reference to Solomon Nevill: "my father"; in reference to Nancy Nevill: "his wife [Solomon Nevill Sr's]." Nancy Nevill?! Where'd she come from? And who on earth was she?? The only thing the lawsuits reveal was that she was deceased prior to Solomon Nevill Sr.

The story that the lawsuits reveal is that in the early 1840s, Solomon Nevill Sr. was in embarrassed circumstances, so the two brothers loaned him $1,000. A couple of years later, it happened again. Solomon C. Nevill stated that he has already wasted $500 on the old man, and he "washed his hands of him." Brother Edwin W. Nevill, however, stepped in to rescue the old man. Then after the death of "his wife Nancy Nevill," Solomon Nevill Sr. was taken in by Edwin and lived with him in Gibson County, Tennessee. At first, Edwin entered into a support agreement for the old man, allowing him a horse and bridle and a $10 a year allowance. Clearly, he was not going to trust the old man with a larger sum of money. In Solomon Nevill Sr's last couple of years or months, two or three "stout servants" were required to care for him. 

But wait, there is also a reference to Solomon Nevill Sr.'s last will. Where is that? Gibson County?

More digging revealed that Solomon Nevill Sr. married Nancy Patterson on 12 October 1840 in Carroll, Tennessee. Since Susannah (Walton) Nevill did not die until 1841, this can only mean that there was divorce. 

Solomon Nevill Sr. was in Montgomery County, Tennessee on the 1840 census so this represents some travel on his part. In December of 1840, he had this deed of gift to Nancy's two children Walter A. Patterson and Mary S. Patterson recorded in Carroll County, Tennessee:

Transcript:

"State of Tennessee Carroll County

Know all men by these presents that whereas I have lately married Mrs Nancy Patterson now Nancy Nevill who  was possessed of the following Slaves to Wit, Hudson old Hulday, George, Hannah, Belfield, Emily, Margarett, & young Hulday and being desirous of executing in good faith my intentions before my marriage with the said Nancy, now in consideration of the love and affection I bear to her two children Walter A Patterson & Mary S. Patterson and for the further consideration of one dollar each paid to me by the said Walter & Mary I hereby give to them the following named Negroes under the following of considerations that is to say to Walter A. Patterson I give George and Hannah and their increase to take effect and to go into his possession on the death of me and my wife Nancy or on the death of the survivors only and Mary S. Patterson I give the following Negroes Margaret and old Hulday and their increase to take effect and go into her possession on or me and my wife Nancy or on the death of the survivor only it is hereby distinctly understood and expressed that Negroes above named and their increase in both cases are in no event whatever to go out of my possession or of my wife Nancy during out lives or during the life of the survivor of us and in case either the said Walter A. or Mary S. Patterson should die before they have an heir it is the distinct design of this deed of Gift that the Negroes and their increase given to the said Walter A. and Mary S. Patterson shall go to and be the property of the survivor of them and in case both of the Children of Walter A & Mary S. Patterson should die before either of them has an heir in that event the Negroes & their increase conditionally given to the said Walter A. and Mary S. Patterson shall be equally divided the surviving children of my wife Nancy Nevill for now and in consideration aforesaid I hereby make and declare this deed of Gift to the said Walter A. and Mary S. Patterson with all of the conditions aforesaid and as above annexed and specified binding on me and my heirs and irrevocable by me Given under my hand and seal this 25th day of December 1840.

S. Nevill seal

State of Tennessee Carroll County) Personally appeared before me Yancy [?] W. Allen Clerk of the County Court of the said County Solomon Nevill Sr. with whom I am personally acquainted & who acknowleged that he signed the within deed of Gift for the purpose herein set forth & on the day bears date Given under my hand at office this 3d day of June A.D. 1841 Y.W. Allen, Clerk"

Tentative Conclusions:

There is so much to unpack here and so many new directions to research in.

1. Solomon and Susannah (Walton) Nevill obviously divorced in 1838. Where is that record? I think it should be at the state level in Tennessee, but might have been at a county level.

2. Solomon Nevill Sr. married the widow Mrs. Nancy Patterson in Carroll County, Tennessee in 1840. Preliminary research indicates that she was Nancy Morgan, the widow of Chesley Page Patterson who died in Orange County, North Carolina in 1820. She had married Page Patterson in Orange County in 1795, just a couple of months after Solomon Nevill married Susannah Walton there. It's reasonable to think that they knew each other in their youth. How did he become aware that she was in Carroll County, Tennessee? When did they reconnect? When did Nancy (Morgan) Patterson come to Tennessee? 

3. Mrs. Nancy Patterson had two known children: Walter A. Patterson and Mary S. Patterson. From the deed of gift it is clear that she had additional children.

4. I think I have already pinpointed Mary S. Patterson, wife of Henry Mooring. She is buried just 25 minutes from where I live. A little road trip is in order. 

5. Solomon Nevill Sr. left a will. Where is it? Is there a probate there, too? Gibson County and Obion County, Tennessee are where I will concentrate my search.  

6. This deed of gift raises a few questions for me. Were these slaves that Nancy Patterson acquired from her husband or her father? Aside from the fact that slavery itself is cruel, it seem heartless that her two children had to wait until Solomon Nevill Sr. was deceased to claim their inheritance. Plus, they paid $1 for a gift? 

7. It seems like the disagreement over their father's support probably led to a permanent rift between the brothers Solomon C. Nevill and Edwin W. Nevill.

8. Grandison D. Nevill is not mentioned in any of these documents. In the early to mid-1840s when Solomon C. and Edwin W. Nevill were bailing their father out of his financial problems, Grandison D. Nevill was living with his first wife Minerva (Peterson) Nevill and probably just eking out an existence in Montgomery County, Tennessee. 

Susannah (Walton) Nevill Surprises Her Descendants

Nancy (Morgan) Patterson's Inheritance