A GENEALOGICAL MISCELLANY, MADISON COUNTY, TENNESSEE
By Jonathan K. T. Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 1996
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WINCHESTER NOTE
DAVID WINCHESTER (1789-1844) and his family moved to Madison County, Tennessee, settling in old Civil District 2 about .3 of a mile west of the village of Medon, where he had bought land in August 1840.[1] The Winchesters had lived briefly in Pennsylvania, having moved there from Baltimore County, Maryland, where he was born and where he and family were living in 1830.[2] He was commissioned as a justice of the peace, a member of the Madison County court, qualifying as such April 1, 1844.[3] On a visit in Memphis, Tenn., he died in the home of his sister and brother-in-law. "Died. Suddenly last evening at the residence of David Armour, Esq., David Winchester of Madison. He fell from his chair and expired while sitting by the fire, having been ill only a day or two with chills, which it is supposed terminated in apoplexy, from congregation /pneumonia/.[4] His body was returned for burial on his homeplace near Medon. His son, Charles B. Winchester, qualified as administrator on his father's estate, February 1845.[5]
David Winchester married SARAH (Sally) FORNEY (1795-1872), in Maryland, November 6, 1817. They had children: CHARLES BURRILL WINCHESTER, whose estate his brother, W. D. Winchester, administered, February 1848 [6]; SARAH F. WINCHESTER (1821-1872), never married; WILLIAM D. WINCHESTER (Sept. 5, 1825- Dec. 21, 1871), who married Mary Ann Currie, February 6, 1858 and had two daughters, MARGARET ELLA WINCHESTER, born about 1859 and SARAH FRANCES (Fanny) WINCHESTER, born about 1863.[7] In his will, he left his estate to his wife but if she remarried, the estate was to have been divided among her and their two daughters.[8] GEORGE L. WINCHESTER, born 1834 in Pennsylvania.[9]
David Winchester was the tenth child of WILLIAM WINCHESTER (December 1, 1750-April 24, 1812), a leading merchant in Baltimore, Maryland, a sometime delegate to the Maryland Assembly. He was married to MARY PARKS (1753-1821), October 30, 1771. He was a child of WILLIAM WINCHESTER (December 22, 1710-1790), who had arrived in Annapolis, Maryland in 1729 and his wife, LYDIA (1729-1809). Another of their sons was General James Winchester (1752- 1826) of Cragfont, Sumner County, Tennessee, father of Marcus Brutus Winchester (1796-1856), first mayor of Memphis, Tennessee.[10]
The family graveyard of David Winchester, near Medon, is perilously located on a bluff overlooking Collins Road. Only three graves appear to be marked with tombstones, copied by Jonathan Smith in December 1995:
|
|
Sacred |
|
(top portion missing WIN____ (This is the tombstone of SARAH S. WINCHESTER) |
MRS. SARAH |
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WILLIAM DAVID WINCHESTER (1825-1871) is buried in the old MT. TABOR CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CEMETERY located about a mile south of Pope Road, north of Medon, where the writer read Winchester's broken, fallen tombstone, January 9, 1996. This old-time congregation was organized in 1835 in the log house of Harvey McCord south of Medon and "later built a shelter" in that village. It was named for Mt. Tabor Church on Broad River in Union District, South Carolina, suggested by one of the earliest members, Eunice (Black) Stribling, who had come from that district. The first elders were William Stribling, William Burns, Elisha Lowrance (sometimes spelled Lorance), Thomas Blair, John Black and Harvey McCord. In 1848 the congregation merged with the Mt. Pleasant congregation and moved to a place on the Benton farm off a main stage road, Jackson to Bolivar, now three miles north of Medon on the west side of Riverside Drive Extended.[11] In 1884 the old meetinghouse was given to the black congregation, ostensibly the nearby Mt. Tabor C. P. Church .1 mile north of the white church on the same side of the road.[12] In August 1884 J. O. Benton, member of the family that had actual ownership of the church site for many years, conveyed two acres to the Mt. Tabor congregation [13] and erected on the same site as the old meetinghouse a large, one room frame church-house, with several "long" windows, graced with shutters and a high-gable roof. There the congregation worshipped for many years with occasional religious-social events being held on the grounds and presbytery meetings (Madison Presbytery) held in the church. Membership dwindled so that religious services were last held in this old building late in 1951, after which a commission was appointed by the Presbytery to arrange for the formal closing of the church, the membership being transferred to First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Jackson; the pews and pulpit were donated to the nearby black Mt. Tabor Church and the church organ was sent to a lady in Texas.[14]
Madison Presbytery sold the Mt. Tabor church and land in July 1954 to Ethel (Mayo) Bond, "being also the lot upon which for many years was located the Mount Tabor Cumberland Presbyterian Church near Medon, Tennessee, but said church has disbanded. . . ."[15] The church roof was removed, replaced with one lower and it was occupied as a residence until it was demolished in the mid-1990s. In August 1869 William Stribling, an elder of the church, deeded to its trustees John A. Dunaway, T. N. Buchanan, John Black and Jesse Curry (Currie) two and a half acres including the "graveyard" on his 200 acre farm, with access to this burial ground, east and west, over a lane from the main local road, a short distance north of the church itself.[16] The church faithful were buried there for many years, although it is no longer used for burial purposes and is somewhat difficult of access.
References
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