A GENEALOGICAL SCRAPBOOK OF THE WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER,
PARIS, TENNESSEE 1866-1881
By Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 2004
ADDENDA
(Page 50)
ADDENDUM I.
From the few issues of the WEST TENNESSEAN extant some gleanings have been taken. This newspaper was first under the editorship of William W. Gates and Philip C. McCowat, the latter assuming the role alone by March 1839.
October 26, 1838
Hon. BALIE PEYTON passed through Paris, Tenn. on Oct. 21, 1838 on his way "to the South." [Peyton was a distinguished Whig politician. From HISTORIC SUMNER COUNTY, TENNESSEE, by Jay Guy Cisco, Nashville, 1909, pages 290-291:
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BALIE PEYTON, CONGRESSMAN. Balie Peyton was born in Sumner County November 26, 1803. He received a limited education; studied law and commenced practice at Gallatin in 1824. In 1833 he was elected to Congress as a Jackson Democrat; was re-elected in 1835. In 1837 he moved to New Orleans, where he practiced his profession. Among his first cases was the famous suit of Mrs. Myra Gaines against New Orleans, which was not terminated until after the death of Peyton. In 1840 he stumped the State of Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana in favor of General Harrison. After the election of Harrison to the Presidency he appointed Mr. Peyton, United States District Attorney at New Orleans. When the Mexican War broke out he recruited a regiment of six months men, but before seeing any service the regiment was recalled, but Mr. Peyton remained with the army as chief of General Worth's staff. In 1848 he canvassed Louisiana for the Taylor and Filmore ticket, and received as a reward the appointment of Minister to Chili. In 1852 he went to San Francisco, where he practiced law until 1855, when he returned to Gallatin. In 1862 he was elector for the State at large on the Bell and Everett ticket. His last public service was in 1869-70, when he represented Sumner and Smith Counties in the State Legislature. He died August 18, 1878. |
(Page 51)
October 26, 1838 continued
JAMES T. DUNLAP married JANE THARPE, October 25, 1838.
The Reverend HARVEY BALL, M. A., would open the Paris Female Seminary in the Presbyterian Church, in Paris, Tennessee, November 5, 1838; he would supervise this school.
R. A. NEWPORT, living on the Waidsboro Road, twelve miles north of Paris, Tenn., had taken up an estray [stray] mule, four to five years old.
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State of Tennessee AT Rules held in the office of the Clerk & Master, of the Court of Chancery at Huntingdon, in the Western Division of the State of Tennessee, on the first Monday in September, A. D. 1839 (ink smeared) Original Bill and Bill ??? On motion of Complainant by her solicitor, and it appearing to the satisfaction of the Clerk & Master from affidavit filed, that the aforesaid defendants, who are heirs of Matthew L. Dixon, dec'd, are non residents of the State of Tennessee. It is ordered that publication be made in the West Tennessean, a newspaper published in the town of Paris, for three successive weeks, commanding said non-residents by their guardian ad litem Thomas K. Porter, to appear herein and on or before the next Term of this Court to be holden at the Court house in the town of Huntingdon, on the first Monday in February next, and plead, answer or demur to said Bill, otherwise the same will be taken for confessed as to them, and set for hearing exparte. A Copy Test ALLEGATIONS IN THE BILL. The Bill, among other things, charges that on the 17th September, 1825 [difficult to read—L. B.], Matthew L. Dixon executed his mortgage to the Nashville Bank for the interest in a tract containing 5000 acres of land by survey, bearing date 4th June, 1821, lying in the 12th district, on the waters of the South fork of Obion river, in range 16, section 4, with condition reciting that said Matthew Dixon was indebted to said Bank in the sum of $1500, by his two several notes of $750 each, bearing date 7th Sept. 1825, carry interest from the date, the one due in two, and the other in three years after date, and if said Dixon paid said debts when they became due, said conveyance or mortgage was to be void, else to remain in full force — that the defendant, Wm. C. Dunlap sets up a pretended claim to said land by virtue of a tax sale deed — that said Dixon altogether failed to pay said debts, and since the filing of the original bill has departed this life, insolvent and intestate, leaving the said Samuel A. Dixon and others, his children and heirs at law. The Bill prays that said pretended title of said Dunlap be delivered up and cancelled, that said mortgage be foreclosed, the land sold for the satisfaction of said debt and for general relief. TOTTEN, Sol. For Compl. |
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CHANCERY SALE. Elizabeth Gibson, Harper Kirkland, Mary Kirkland, Burrell Kirkland, Nancy Kirkland, William Granger, Sally Granger, and Archibald Gibson, heirs of George Gibson, dec'd, ex parte. By virtue of an interlocutory decree of the Circuit Court of Equity, for Henry County, at September Term, 1838, I will offer for sale, at the Court house door in the town of Paris, on Saturday the 8th day of December next, upon a credit of twelve months, the following tracts of land, to wit: one tract containing sixty-six acres, in the 8th section and 6th range, conveyed by Joseph Skaggs to said George Gibson; Also one other tract containing seven acres, in the 8th section and 6th range, conveyed by Joseph Skaggs to said George Gibson; Also one tract of land containing thirty-two and one half acres, held by said George Gibson by title bond from James Skaggs. The above tracts will be sold, subject to the widow's dower. Bond and security will be required from the purchaser and a lien retained upon the premises until the purchase money is paid. B. C. BROWN, C. & M. |
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CHANCERY SALE. William Norwood, Elizabeth Norwood, Jno. Harrison, George C. Harrison, Thomas Cate, Mary Cate, Hugh M. Harrison and Andrew Malone, Guardian of the heirs of Mary Harrison, dec'd ex parte. BY virtue of an interlocutory decree of the Circuit Court of Equity, for Henry county, at September Term, 1838, I will offer for sale, at the Court house door, in the town of Paris, on Saturday the 8th day of December next, upon a credit of twelve months, the following tract of land, containing 115 acres, situate in Henry county, beginning at the north east corner of Entry No. 105; thence south 126 poles; thence east 136 poles; thence north 136; thence west to the beginning, conveyed by Simeon Walton to Mary Harrison. Also one tract of Occupant land containing 51 acres, adjoining the above, entered by William Bailey, assignee of William Rial, by Entry No. 907, and transferred by said Bailey to Mary Harrison. Bond and security will be required of the purchaser and a lien retained until the money is paid. B. C. BROWN, C. & M. |
(Page 52)
August 28, 1840
R. E. DUNLAP married ANN E. EVANS, Gallatin, Tennessee last Friday evening [August 22, 1840] [RIPLEY E. DUNLAP took out a marriage bond to marry Evans in Sumner County, Tennessee, August 21, 1840. His birth and death dates inscribed on the Hugh-Susanna (Gilliam) Dunlap monument in the Paris city cemetery: January 21, 1817-January 30, 1881.]
ADDENDUM II.
In a missing issue of the INTELLIGENCER, the death of AMOS JAMES would most likely have been noted. An elderly citizen, the Henry County quarterly court exempted James from paying real estate taxes in January 1874. His tombstone in the Paris city cemetery reads: AMOS JAMES Born Dec. 19, 1794 Died Jan. 3, 1878.
ADDENDUM III.
In a missing issue of the INTELLIGENCER, the death of Dr. SIDNEY BENNETT ADEN would have been noted. His tombstone in the Paris city cemetery, shared with his wife, DELILAH, whom he married in Williamson Co., Tenn., in June 1829, reads: Dr. SIDNEY B. ADEN Born near Charleston, S.C., Oct. 1, 1796 Located in Paris, Tenn. in 1830 where he died Oct. 3, 1879. According to the ADEN GENEALOGY written by Robert F. Aden, no date (copy in the Rhea Library, Paris), Dr. Aden moved to Warren Co., Ky., 1810; to Williamson Co., Tenn., 1827; to Paris, Tenn., 1830. He was a brother of DORINDA PEDEN, wife of Cornelius Peden and of HARVEY ELAM ADEN, both Henry Countians.
(Page 53)
ADDENDUM IV.
In a missing issue of the INTELLIGENCER the death of General JOHN HENRY DUNLAP would most certainly have been noted. His tombstone in the Paris city cemetery reads: JOHN H. DUNLAP Born in Knox. Co., Tenn., Nov. 17, 1801 Died Dec. 24, 1874 A Citizen of Paris for 51 years. In A GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF THE DUNLAPS OF TENNESSEE, by K. A. Dunlap, Michigan, 1996, pages 11-12, General Dunlap was mentioned as a Paris attorney and merchant; a Confederate officer; husband of Marietta Beauchamp Dunlap, 1814-1893j father of six children.
ADDENDUM V.
In the family lot of JOHN P. IRION (February 16, 1776-April 24, 1857), in the Paris city cemetery, is an interesting small tombstone, broken and scattered in two pieces, that of Irion's son-in-law and husband of TABITHA IRION SALLEE: Sacred to the memory of SAMUEL K. SALLEE Born Dec. 5, 1799 Died July 25, 1852 Aged 52 yrs. 7 mos. & 20 ds. And here my body must remain Till Christ shall call it forth again.
On the north side of the Paris city cemetery is buried a little girl whose tombstone reads: ANNA BELLE Daughter of J. & A. D. ARTHUR Born Feb. 13, 1862 Died Jan. 16, 1873.
ADDENDUM VI.
For many, many years during the nineteenth century the family of BRYANT BRUCE BUNCH was prominent in Paris and Henry County. A native of North Carolina, he was born about 1799. Bunch was at one time a successful merchant in Paris. After the death of his first wife, JANE, he was remarried to MARY, widow of William Coleman, in Stewart County, Tennessee, September 29, 1858.
On June 2, 1874 B. B. BUNCH executed his last will-testament, its preamble a keenly personal statement, "I BRYANT B. BUNCH . . . far advanced in life and suffering not only from infirmities common to old age but from sickness and will health and being admonished that I have but a short time to remain here and being still in entire possession of reason and all those mental faculties which God my Maker has been pleased to endow me through a long life do hereby make my last will and testament. . . ." (Henry County Will Book J, page 522) He died soon afterwards (before July 7, 1874 when his son paid for his funeral. Henry County administrators Book J, page 194) and his will was probated, with his designated executor, B. B. BUNCH, JR. approved by the county court to so serve.
(Page 54)
B. B. BUNCH, SR. devised the William Coleman farm in Stewart County, Tennessee to his widow, Mary, along with $500. At her death this farm was devised to her son, Dr. Robert S. Coleman. As several of BUNCH's children had died, he stipulated that except for his books, guns and certain furniture to his executor-son, B. B. BUNCH, JR., his remaining possessions were to be sold and the resulting funds be kept intact, drawing interest, until his grandson, FRANK M. THOMPSON should reach age twenty-one, when that grandson and two other grandsons, WILLIAM H. B. THOMPSON and THOMAS HENRY BUNCH should receive this accumulated trust in equal portions. (Will ibid.)
BRYANT B. BUNCH, SR. is likely buried in the family lot in the Paris city cemetery in an unmarked grave.
Sixty-eight years ago, in June 1936, W.P.A workers read the inscriptions on the tombstones of three members of the Bunch family in the Paris city cemetery, which inscriptions have now become exceedingly worn. The present writer has brushed and wash-cleaned these inscriptions and reading what he could of them, afterwards, believes that those workers faithfully reported the data on these tombstones, largely reflected here under snapshots taken of the individual 'stones:
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JANE |
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UNIS |
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[The HTML editor's opinion: Sept 24, 1844-July 17, 1845]
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SARAH A. |
The full death date, June 7, 1856, of JANE BUNCH is still legible and confirms the 1936 reading. The birth-date is too problematical to read but there is no reason to question the April 21, 1803 reading, more especially as the "03" seems evident with careful cleaning.
The inscription on SARAH A. BUNCH's tombstone is almost "gone," the 11, 1826 in her July 11, 1826 birth-date still discernible and 28, 1841 in her Sept. 28, 1841 death date being the same.
(Page 55)
The inscription of UNIS BUNCH's tombstone is inscribed more difficultly, making it appear that her birth-date is Sept. 21, 1814 and her death date as July 17, 1815. The dates and the fact of her parentage are still distinctly legible. Her mother, JANE's name reduced to a "J" on her and SARAH's tombstones almost resembles an "I."
In the 1850 (Sept. 11) U.S. Census, Civil District 16, Henry Co., Tenn., page 397, in the household of BRYAN B. BUNCH, his age is given as 51 years; JANE's age, 46 years (which closely matches the 1936 reading of the birth year on her tombstone); listed, quite evidently, are their children then at home: FRANCIS, age 23, a doctor; BRYAN B., JR., age 19, medical student; JULIA, age 17; ELLEN, age 12.
In the summer 1830 U.S. Census of Henry Co., Tenn., page 4, in B. B. BUNCH's household were a male, aged 20-30 (himself); a male, aged under 5 years (FRANCIS, c 1827); a female, aged 20-30 (JANE); a female, aged under 5 years (SARAH A., 1826); a female, aged 5-10 (KAREN H. or Karrenhappuck, a Biblical name, c 1823). BRYANT and JANE BUNCH would not have had a daughter born when he was fourteen and she eleven years of age. Considering further, in the 1840 U.S. Census, Henry Co., Tenn., page 281, in this family's household were a male, aged 40-50 (B. B., SR.); a male, aged 10-15 (FRANCIS, c 1827); a male, aged 5-10 (B. B., JR.) a female, aged 30-40 (JANE); a female, one under 5 years (ELLEN, c 1838); a female, aged 5-10 (JULIA, c 1833); a female, aged 10-15 (Sarah A., 1826); a female, aged 15-20 (KAREN, c 1823). There were then nine slaves in the Bunch listing.
Based on his long experience in reading tombstone inscriptions in the 19th century and keeping in mind the vital statistics suggested in extant public records, the writer believes UNIS BUNCH was born in 1841 and died in 1845. The numerals for the third digits in her year dates are, like JANE's "J" a misleading "4." Often the numeral "4" was given a weak < for the 4 making the number appear when worn as a one when in fact it was an intended 4. Deed records reveal that B. B. BUNCH bought lots in Paris in the early 'forties and this was where the family was living in 1850. In any event, the 1810s is too early for anyone to have buried in a Paris cemetery; west Tennessee did not begin with settlement until 1819 and formally not until a year later! UNIS could have had a cenotaph but this is not likely. As other people may hold to different theories, the writer has listed UNIS' years as given in the 1936 W.P.A. reading.
According to Henry County marriage records, KAREN BUNCH (died August 28, 1876) married E. J. McFARLAND, January 8, 1846; JULIA BUNCH married JOHN P. McCORMICK, June 7, 1853 (and he is buried next to SARAH A. BUNCH with a tombstone bearing the dates July 16, 1820-August 28, 1851); ELLEN BUNCH married SAMUEL W. THOMPSON, September 4, 1857 (evidently the only daughter with children); B. B. BUNCH, JR. married ANNA ELIZABETH WILLIAMS, October 14, 1866 (and they had sons, THOMAS HENRY and ED A. BUNCH).
Years after their deaths, a tombstone was erected at the adjoining graves, in the BUNCH lot, of B. B., JR. and his wife, ANNA E. His birth year is decidedly incorrectly inscribed, 1826. The census entries over the years indicate that he was born in 1831. (He died in 1891.) A major in the Confederate army, B. B. BUNCH, JR. was captain of Company A, 5th Tenn. Inf., CSA, when it was organized at Mt. Vista, near his homeplace, in Henry County, May 20, 1861. (CONFEDERATE MAGAZINE, Nashville, volume 21, number 1, January 1913, page 57) In the 1860 U.S. Census, Henry County, page 267, KAREN McFARLAND, JULIA THOMPSON and B. B. BUNCH, JR. and several Thompsons were all residing in the same household near Mt. Vista in Henry County. B. B. BUNCH, JR. was postmaster at Mt. Vista for some time.
(Page 56)
ADDENDUM VII.
A "business" description of PARIS, TENNESSEE for the period covering the newspaper gleanings in this publication, appears in RESOURCES OF TENNESSEE, by J. B. Killebrew, Nashville, 1874, pages 1115-1116:
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TOWNS AND VILLAGES Paris was laid off about 1825* and is built on the "ridge," near the center of the county, in a remarkably healthy location, as an evidence of which, with a population of some 2,000, it has only five physicians. There are sixteen lawyers, six ministers, nine dry-good stores, six family groceries, five whisky shops, two shoe and hat stores, two milliner's stores, two cotton and tobacco factories, two merchant tailors, three drug stores, two each of baker, silversmith, gunsmith, barber, shoe, saddle and harness, buggy and carriage, undertakers and furniture shops, three hotels and the Paris Intelligencer, one of the best country papers in the south. It is blest by having an intelligent and industrious population, with but few loafers. The agricultural and mechanical female college is located at this place. The odd fellows' male and female college is an institution of sterling worth and is in a prosperous condition. Besides this, there are several other schools that are doing well. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South has just completed a fine and commodious house of worship. The Presbyterians, Baptists and Christians have houses of worship and a large number of communicants. |
*"Paris, the seat of justice of Henry County. It was laid off in a thick forest in the year 1823, on the dividing ground between the waters of Obion and Sandy rivers, near the Baily [sic] Fork of the latter." TENNESSEE GAZETTEER by Easton Morris, 1832, page 232.
ADDENDUM VIII.
From the TENNESSEE STATE GAZETTEER, 1876-1877, published by the R. L. Polk Company, Nashville, 1876, pages 330, 332: (copy in the History-Genealogy Department, Memphis Public Library, Hist. Ref. 917. 68, P76, 1876-1877)
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PARIS. The county seat of Henry county, is a flourishing incorporated village of 2, 500 inhabitants, it has an elevated situation in the central part of the county, on the line of the Memphis division of the L. & N. and G. S. R. R., by which it is 68 miles west of Clarksville, and 18 northeast of McKenzie, the point of crossing of the L. & N. and G. S. and the N., C. & St. L. Ry. It is 120 miles west of Nashville. Bailey's Fork, of West Sandy river, flows through the town, affording good water power. The manufacturing interests of Paris include 3 flouring mills, 3 cotton yarn factories; 1 saw mill, 2 carriage shops, 1 brick yard and 1 tobacco factory, a weekly newspaper, (the Intelligencer), is published. There are 3 select schools and churches, representing the Presbyterian, Methodist Baptist and Christian denominations, with Methodist and Baptist, colored. The surrounding country is level or moderately undulating, and produces corn, wheat, rye, oats, grasses and tobacco, cotton and hemp being grown to some extent. There are offices of the W. U. Telegraph and Southern Express Companies, and mail is received from all points daily. James B. Guthrie, postmaster. Business Directory. Aden, S. B., Physician, Harrell's block, Poplar. (See adv). |
(Page 57)
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Johnson, Rev. J. W., (Methodist). |
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Dr. Aden's Medicines can be had wholesale and retail of DR. S. B. ADEN & SON, Paris, Tenn., or of our wholesale agents, Berry, Demoville & Co., Nashville, Tenn., G. W. Jones & Co., Memphis, Tenn., Sweatman & Milam, Paducah, Ky. |
ADDENDUM IX.
From the TENNESSEE STATE GAZETTEER, 1887, by the R. L. Polk Company, Nashville, 1887, volume 5, page 639: (Memphis Public Library, Hist. Ref. 917.68, P76, 1887)
WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER, Established 1865.
PARIS POST, Established 1871.
Consolidated Oct. 17, 1884. Official Organ of Henry County.
THE POST-INTELLIGENCER.
JNO. R. RISON, Editor and Propr.
Largest Weekly Circulation In West Tennessee. Subscription $1.50.
JOB PRINTING EXECUTED UPON SHORT NOTICE,
PARIS, TENN.
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