October 15, 1956
Transcribed By
Pamela Vick
* CAL’S
COLUMN *
The
following has been sent to the editor of the Times relative to an old log house
erected in 1812 by Thomas Gregory Douglass.
Thirteen miles out of Little Rock on the Hot Springs highway is the home
of Thomas Douglass, built originally in 1812 by his grandfather, Thomas Gregory
Douglass. A few years ago it was
covered with lumber and at a glance belies its age.
The
old house was built of logs. It is two
stories high, with two rooms and a hall on each floor. The boards used in its construction, about
30 inches wide and about an inch thick, were cut by hand from large pine and
cypress trees. The nails, hand made at
a blacksmith shop, are square and only one side of the head is flagged.
Thomas Gregory Douglass, who built the house, was a descendent of the
famous “black” Douglass clan of near Dundee, Scotland, so called because of the
dark hair and light complexion of the members.
These Scotland Douglasses were known for their ability as warriors. Mr. Douglass remembers that as a boy he
heard the story of one ancestor, John Douglass, who distinguished himself in
battle, causing an enemy king to remark:
“Behold that swarthy man: with him I would have this war won.”
Several
members of the Douglass family came to the United States and settled in New
York. Mr. Douglass’ great-grandfather
moved on to Tennessee, settling at the site of the present city of Nashville.
It
was here that Thomas Gregory Douglass was born. In 1811 he went to the trading post of New Madrid, Mo. He was there at the time of the big
earthquake that year. A short time
later he traded his horse and a few belonging to an Indian for a canoe and
returned to Tennessee, to remain only a short time before starting out at the
head of an expedition that came to Arkansas.
The party camped one night on a bend in the Arkansas River just below
Little Rock. The members of the party
were impressed at the sight of a large eagle’s nest. They had traveled all day in a circle. The place was called Eagle’s Nest Bend, and is still known by
that name.
The
expedition crossed the Arkansas River at Little Rock at what is now the foot of
Rock Street. About 13 miles out of
Little Rock, Mr. Douglass was impressed with the scenery and the soil and
decided to remain and make his home. He
homesteaded three tracts of land, one at a time. The present owner has patents signed by President Madison, Monroe
and John Quincy Adams. Several years
ago he sold one of the tracts of land and had recorded for the first time a
patent signed by President Adams in 1829.
My
grandfather, says the present Mr. Douglass, died at his home in 1835.
(Editor’s Note. From Cisco’s
Historic Sumner County, we glean the following about the connection between the
Smith County Gregory family, to which the author belongs; and the family above
referred to.) From the Cisco account we
learn the following:
The
Douglass family has been prominent in Sumner County since 1785, when Edward
Douglass, with all his children, settled on Station Camp Creek, a few miles
north of Gallatin. He was born in
Fauquier County, Virginia; married about 1740, Sarah George. He was a commissioned officer in the War for
Independence, and a man of education, and a lawyer, though he had never
practiced law. He, when called upon,
gave legal advice to his friends and neighbors without fee or reward, always
counseling them not to go into the courts.
He was one of the first magistrates of Sumner County, and was active in
all public affairs. His home was near
Salem Camp Ground, on lands still in possession of his descendants.
Colonel Edward Douglass and Sarah (George) Douglass had children--John
Douglass, killed by Indians while on a mission to them from Colonel Anthony
Bledsoe; William Douglass, married
Peggy Stroud; Elizabeth Douglass, married William Cage; Elmore Douglass,
married Betsy Blakemore; Ezekiel Douglass, married May Gibson; Sally Douglass,
married Elizabeth Edwards; James Douglass, married Catherine Collier.
William Douglass, son of Colonel Edward and Sarah (George) Douglass,
married Peggy Stroud. Had
children--John Douglass, married a Gregory; moved to Arkansas; Jesse Douglass,
drowned; Elizabeth Douglass, married Matthew Scoby; moved to Ark.; Sally
Douglass, married James Mays, no information.
Polly Douglass, married Abner Donet, married a Dobson, no
information. Alfred M. Douglass,
married Cherry Ferrell.
Elizabeth Douglass, daughter of Col. Edward and Sarah (George) Douglass,
married William Cage. (See genealogy of
the Cage family).
Elmore Douglass, son of Col. Edward and Sarah (George) Douglass, married
Betsy Blakemore. Had children--John
Douglass; Celia Douglass, married John Pages; Sally Douglass, married Isaac
Hooks; Nancy Douglass, married Moses Pincton; Elizabeth Douglass, married a
Cooper; Edward Douglass, married a Green, went to Mississippi; Elmore Douglass,
Jr.; Burchet Douglass, married Patsy McGee; Ily Douglass, married a Harris;
Eunis Douglass, married a Harris; Asa Douglass, married Fannie Barksdale; Delia
Douglass, married a Brooks.
Ezekiel Douglass, son of Col. Edward and Sarah (George) Douglass,
married Mary Gibson. Had children--John
Douglass, married Polly Kellum, moved to Arkansas; James Douglass, married Rina
Hunt; Sally Douglass, married a Joselin; George Douglass, married Mrs. White; Robert G. Douglass; Tempy
Douglass.
Sally Douglass, daughter of Col. Edward and Sarah (George) Douglass,
married Thomas Blakemore. Had
children--James Blakemore, married Patsey Taylor; William Blakemore; John
Blakemore, married a Rankin; Reuben Blakemore, married a Bentley; Tourbin
Blakemore; Edward Blakemore, married a Murray; George Blakemore; Lee Blakemore,
married Charlotte Johnson; Wesley Blakemore, married Kitty Neely; Albert
Blakemore; Elizabeth Blakemore, married William Dickerson; Coena Blakemore,
married John Black; Ann blakemore, married a Taylor; Matilda Blakemore, married
Henry Hart; Fielding Blakemore, married Rebecca Johnson.
Edward Douglass, Jr., son of Col. Edward and Sarah (George) Douglass,
married Elizabeth Howard. Had
children--William Howard Douglass, married Sallie Edwards; Harry Lightfoot
Douglass, married first, P. Shelby, second, Z. Allcorn; third, J. Crabb; Patsey
S. Douglass, married John Hall; Delia Douglass, married Edward Douglass; Elmore
Douglass, married first, Eliza Fulton; second, Eliza Houston; Norval Douglass,
married Priscilla Cage; Eliza G. Douglass, married C. Grandison Sanders.
Reuben Douglass, son of Colonel Edward and Sarah (George) Douglass,
married Elizabeth Edwards. Had
children--Willie J. Douglass, married, first, Eliza Watkins; second, Lucy
Grimm; Sophia Douglass, married Charles Watkins; Peggy Douglass, married Lewis
Green; Evalina Douglass, married William Franklin; Malissa Douglass, married a
Partee, moved to West Tennessee; Emma Douglass, married William Clark.
James Douglass, son of Colonel Edward and Sarah (George) Douglass,
married Catherine Collier. Had
children--Alfred H. Douglass, married first, Lucy Bennett; second, Rebecca
Fulton; Matilda G. Douglass, married first, J. Cook; second, Joel Parrish;
Edward L. Douglass, married Delia Douglass; Isaac C. Douglass, married Eliza
Baker; James S. Douglass, married Luck Scarlock; Harry C. Douglass, married
Elizabeth Elliot; Young N. Douglass, married B. Rawlings; Robert G. Douglass,
married Elizabeth Blythe; William C. Douglass, married Lucy Seawell; Thomas C.
Douglass, married Frances Cantrell; Louisa F. Douglass, married G. W. Allen.
John Douglass, son of William and Peggy (Shroud) Douglass, married a
Gregory and moved to Pulaski County, Arkansas.
Had children--Thomas Douglass.
In
the will of the writer’s great-great-great-grandfather, Thomas Gregory, final
settlement of which was made on Feb. 22, 1827, at Carthage, in our adjoining
county of Smith, we learn the following:
That each heir’s part of the estate of Thomas Gregory, born about 1725
was $1,539.29. Each primary heir and
his or her name follows: Thomas B.
Douglass, son of William and Peggy Stroud Douglass, whose mother was the former
Sina Gregory; Isaac George, who married another daughter, Elizabeth Gregory;
Bry Gregory, born in 1784, who was our own great-great-grandfather, and died in
1847; Abraham Gregory, no further information; William Gregory and Harden
Gregory, the two last named being executors of the will which was made in 1817
or 1818. Five persons received one
share of the inheritance. They were
Richard Brown, Bazerl (Brasill?) Burch, Thomas Davis for A. J. Gregory, Gabriel
Gregory and Thomas (Big Tom) Gregory.
These were the sons and sons-in-law of one of Thomas Gregory’s sons,
Thomas by name, who died before his father.
This Thomas Gregory who preceded his father in death, was one of the
writer’s great-great-grandfathers. This
came about by “Big Tom” Gregory having married his own cousin. Thomas Gregory, who died before his father,
married Phoebe Hawkins in Virginia in 1787.
She was a relative of Alvin Hawkins who was governor of Tennessee from
1881 to 1883. We have a list of most of
the descendants of Bry Gregory, William Gregory and “Big Tom’, but we are sorry that we know next to nothing of
Abraham Gregory or Harden Gregory. We
are sorry that we do not have any record of the descendants of Richard Brown,
Bazerl Burch, A. J. Gregory or Gabriel Gregory. It is interesting to note that in the will of Thomas Gregory,
indications are that Thomas Douglass, the son of Sina Gregory, had no brothers
or sisters, for the will says that in event of his death before his
grandfather, Thomas Gregory, the other heirs were to have his part. That Thomas B. Douglass had no brothers or
sisters is evident from Cisco’s history, also.
Our
records show the name to have been Thomas B. Douglass, but the letter from
Arkansas calls him Thomas Gregory Douglass.
We have given the name as it appears at Carthage in the year 1827, as
Thomas B. Douglass. However, Sisco
gives the name of John Douglass with no initial or middle name. But we are sure that Sisco’s account is
accurate and so are the old Court records.
Sina Gregory, mother of John Douglass, was a sister of our
great-great-grandfather, Bry Gregory.
Our father’s mother was Sina Gregory.
According to our records, our grandmother, Sina was a grand-niece of the
Sina Gregory, who married John Douglass.
Our grandmother, Sina Gregory, who married Stephen Calvin Gregory, whose
name the writer bears, was born in 1833, and died in 1905.
We
appreciate very highly the information sent to us from the Arkansas Historical
Commission and we would be glad to return the favor if possible.