With commentary written by Professor
Stephen Dow Beckham.
I am a descendant of William Lancaster (born 18 July 1762,
Virginia; died prior to November, 1820, Caney Fork, Smith County, TN.; will
probated on 19 January 1821, Smith County, TN.). William Lancaster was
the son of John and Anne (Williams) Lancaster of Henrico County, VA.
William Lancaster married Rhoda Smith. My lineage is through one of
his sons, John Lancaster (1792-21 March 1855) who married (1) Mary Anne Tubb (born
15 October 1795) and (2) Clarissa Decker (born 24 January 1802-1863, Round
Bottom on White River, Izard County/Stone County, AR.). I am the g.g.g.
grandson of John and Clarissa (Decker) Lancaster who lived their early years in
Smith County, TN., prior to removal to Izard/Stone County, AR., by flatboat
down the Cumberland and Mississippi rivers to White River which they ascended
to Round Bottom on White River in the Ozarks in 1843.
In 1970 I wrote the account, "The Lancasters in the Ozarks: A Preliminary
Study." This narrative was subsequently published in HERITAGE OF STONE by
the Stone County, Arkansas, Historical Society. My antecedents in Smith County
include the following families: Lancaster, Decker, Earnest, Smith.
Ann Lancaster/Lankester, a daughter of John and Ann Lancaster who were among
the early settlers on Caney Fork, married Lewis Ford, a veteran of the
Revolutionary War. Decades after his service, Ann (Lancaster) Ford, then
living in Independence County, AR., applied for a pension because of her
husband's military service. When Ann sought her pension, she tore from
her parents' Bible the record of family history to prove her birth. This
record is preserved in the National Archives I, Washington, D.C. Because
there are probably several thousand descendants today of John and Ann
Lancaster, I thought this record might be of interest to post in the Smith
County, Tennessee, Bible records.
John Lankester/Lancaster married Ann about 1753. The Lancasters settled
in the early 1790s in the vicinity of Lancaster, Tennessee, on Caney Fork,
where John had acquired extensive lands through speculation in Revolutionary
War bounty grants to veterans. The Sumner County deed books record 2,560
acres as of December 10, 1790, four additional sections of 640 acres each on
May 20, 1793, and 640 acres in Tennessee County, also on May 20, 1793.
The Bible of John and Ann Lankester/Lancaster reads as follows [with Prof.
Beckham's annotations in brackets]:
"Mary Lankester was born February the 27th 1755." [Note: Mary
married Daniel Jackson]
"John Lankester was born January the 24th 1757."
"Judith Lankester was born May 27 1759." [Note: Judith or Judah
Lancaster married Jesse Smith]
"William Lankester was born the 18th day 1762" [Note: William
married Rhoda Smith; his will was probated 19 January 1821, Smith County, TN.]
"Martha Lankester was born Nov. the 2d day 1756" [Note: Martha
marrried Henry Turney on 13 December 1788, Davidson County, TN.]
"Rich[ar]d Lankester was born June the 29th day 1768" [Note:
Richard died 9 January 1835; he married Jane Vernon on 25 April 1795 in
Davidson County, TN.]
"Anney Lankester was born May the Second day 1771" [Note: Ann
Lancaster married 17 February 1789 in Davidson County, TN., to Lewis Ford; she
died 7 August 1852/3 in Independence County, AR.]
"Elizabeth Lankester was born March the 1, 1774" [Note:
Elizabeth married on 26 July 1796 to Daniel Hilton/Hylton in Davidson County,
TN.; her sons later lived in Izard County, AR.]
"Tho[ma]s Lankester was born February the 15th day 1778" [Note:
Thomas Lancaster married 13 December 1797 to Anna Walker in Davidson County,
TN.]
"Susanny Lankester was born the 11 day 1780"
"Robert Lankester was born July the 9 day 1784"
Beyond the Bible record, several of these brothers and sisters removed to
Independence, Izard, and Stone counties, Arkansas in the 1830s and the
1840s. Among theese was John Lancaster (1792, Caney Fork, Smith County,
TN.-12 March 1855, Round Bottom on White River, Stone County, AR.) . John
Lancaster married (1) Mary Anne Tubb (15 October 1795-?). Their children
were:
1. Cynthia Lancaster (b. 1815, Smith County, TN.) who married Richard B.
Decker.
2. Linnie Lancaster who married ? Tubb.
John Lancaster, who served in the War of 1812 under Andrew Jackson in the
conflict with the Creek Indians at Horseshoe Bend, next married Clarissa Decker
(14 January 1802, North Carolina-1863, Round Bottom on White River, Stone
County, AR.). Eight of their nine children were born on Caney Fork, Smith
County, TN.:
1. William Ewing Lancaster (13 May 1824-16 October 1870) who married Amanda
Wilson
2. Mary A. Lancaster (1826-prior to 1870) who married William G. Nolllner
3. Frederick S. Lancaster (1828-1874) who married Mary Elizabeth Pryor
4. Jonn Richard Buckner Lancaster (20 February 1831-8 December 1905) who
married Eliza Grogan Harper
5. Rhoda Ann Lancaster (1835-?) who married (1) ? Harris, and (2) ? Campbell
6. Leroy E. Lancaster (1837-?) who married Lucinda McGinnis
7. Lemuel L. Lancaster (1843-?) who married Lou Jeffrey
8. Margaret M. Lancaster (1845, Izard County, AR.-?) who married ? Campbell