Those Places Thursday: Clover Bottom

Clover Bottom consists of 309 1/4 acres of land in Davidson County, Tennessee, including three acres on the north side of Stone's River.

Nashville Whig, 31 August 1813, page 3

Stone's River

The area was named "Clover Bottom" because of the amount of growth of white clover in the area. John Donelson was one of the settlers who came to the area in 1780.

"Col. John Donelson Was Leader Among Men." Nashville Tennesseean and Nashville American, 15 July 1917, page 25.

James Robertson and my Gower and Lucas ancestors were among the other settlers in the area. My 7th-great-grandfather Abel Gower, Sr., my 6th-great-grandfather Abel Gower, Jr., and James Robertson's brother John Robertson were killed at Clover Bottom in 1780, after they were attacked by Chickamaugas.

Haywood, John. The Civil and Political History of the State of Tennessee from its Earliest Settlement up to the Year 1796, Including the Boundaries of the State. Nashville,TN: Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1891. Originally published in 1823 by W. H. Haywood. Page 128. Available from Internet Archive.

In 1858, Dr. James Hoggatt built a mansion at Clover Bottom. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Wordless Wednesday: Statue of James Robertson and John Donelson, Nashville, Tennessee

Amanuensis Monday: Deed, James Robertson to Elisha Garland, 100 Acres on Big Harpeth

Davidson County, Tennessee Deed Book G, page 156

Elisha Garland                                            June 10th 1807
This indenture made upon the Eighth day of April one Thousand Seven hundred and ninety nine Between James Robertson of the State of Tennessee and County of Davidson of the one part & Elisha Garland of the State & County Aforesaid of the Other part Witnesseth that for and in consideration of the sum of  Pounds Virginia Currency the Receipt thereof he doth hereby Acknowledge hath Granted Bargained Sold Alliened Enfeeof Convey and Confirm unto the said Elisha Garland his heirs and Assigns forever a Certain Tract or Parcel of Land lying and being in the State and County Aforesaid Containing one hundred Acres on the South side of Cumberland River Begining at a Birch on the North Bank of Harpeth Running Down the River North forty five Degrees to the West fifty four poles then North fifty five Degrees to the West one hundred and forty poles to a Sugartree and Red Oak under the foot of a Bluff then North fifty two poles to a Small Sugartree  and two Elms thence East one hundred and Twenty poles to a Hickory on the East boundery line of the Original Survey thence South with the same two hundred poles to the River Bank About two poles Above the Begining being part of six acres of land granted unto Ebennezer Alexander Assignee Originally of the heirs of William Mathews April 17th day 1793, To have and to hold the  Aforesaid Land and Premises to him the said Elisha Garland his heirs and Assigns forever with all and Singular the Rights Privilages or Emoluments belonging or in anywise Appertaining thereto And I the said James Robertson my heirs & do hereby Release and Relinquish all my Right in the said Tract & do Vest the Same to said Elisha Garland and for him to have hold Enjoy Possess and Occupy the Aforesaid Tract of Land And the said James Robertson do Covenant and Agree for myself my heirs Executors and Administrators with the said Garland to warrant and forever Defend the Aforesaid Land from all manner of Persons Claiming the Same through by or under me my heirs etc –– In testimony thereof the said James Robertson hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the year and Day first Above Written
Witness __ __ _ _____                           Jas Robertson         LS
State of Tennessee [ ] Best Remembered that on the 14th day of August one Thousand Seven hundred and ninety nine Personally Came James Robertson who has Subscribed the within Indenture before me Andrew Jackson one of the Judges of the Superior Courts of Law & Equity for the State Aforesaid and Acknowledged the Signing Sealing and Delivery of the written for Deed for the uses and Purposes therein Contained and mentioned and Requested that the same might be Registered
                                                                                         Andrew Jackson
Let the same be Registered upon the Legal fees being paid

Those Places Thursday: Fort Nashborough

In 1780, James Robertson, John Donelson, and their party of settlers (including my ancestors Abel Gower Sr., Obedience Blakely Gower, Abel Gower Jr., Nancy Gower, and Andrew Lucas) built a settlement at the French Lick along the Cumberland River. They named it Fort Nashborough after General Francis Nash. It was the first settlement in what became Nashville, Tennessee.

Fort Nashborough was reconstructed in 1930 and rebuilt in 1962.The reconstruction was funded by the local Daughters of the American Revolution. In July 2011, the fort was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Fort Nashborough is currently closed for renovations. It is scheduled to reopen in 2015, and will be an open plaza rather than an enclosed structure.

I visited Fort Nashborough in 2007. The photos were taken on that trip.

 

References
Fort Nashborough
Fort Nashborough
Fort Nashborough History
Revamped Fort Nashborough set to open in 2015

52 Ancestors: #30 Charlotte Garland

My 5th-great-grandmother Charlotte Garland was born on 1 July 1782. She is listed in the Garland family Bible under Elisha and Lucy Garland and before the children born after Elisha and Lucy's marriage.

Garland Family Bible. Available from Tennessee Bible Records. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Based on the composition of Elisha Garland's household in 1790 (1 free white male over 16, 6 free white females), Charlotte appears to be in Elisha's household.

Elisha Garlin household. 1790 United States Census, Pendleton, South Carolina. Series M637, roll 11, page 4, image 17. Family History Library Film 0568151. Ancestry.com. 1790 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

However, when Elisha Garland's widow, Lucy (Reeves) Garland, applied for a Revolutionary War widow's pension, she stated that they married on 14 December 1783 in what became East Tennessee.

Declaration of Lucy Garland, widow of Elisha Garland, pension application. Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (NARA microfilm publication M804). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

She also named her children with Elisha. She stated that their first child, Sally, was born in 1784. Charlotte was not mentioned.

Declaration of Lucy Garland, widow of Elisha Garland, pension application. Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (NARA microfilm publication M804). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Who were Charlotte's biological parents? Elisha and Lucy (Reeves) Garland seem to be the parents that raised her. But were they both her biological parents?

Charlotte may have been an illegitimate child. Lucy Reeves was probably her biological mother. Lucy had a sister named Charlotte (the wife of James Robertson, "Father of Middle Tennessee"). Charlotte has sometimes been referred to as Charlotte Reeves.

Woodward, J. E. History of the Gower Family. Nashville: Harry V. L. Gower, 1920.

Lucy also could have been previously married, and Charlotte could be a child from that marriage. Or perhaps Elisha Garland had been previously married to a relative of Lucy's, maybe a sister. I had the Family Finder test done with Family Tree DNA and matched with a Reeves descendant, so I know I am related to the Reeves family. Or perhaps Lucy did not want to acknowledge that she had given birth to an illegitimate child, so she omitted Charlotte. 

Charlotte married William Gower in Davidson County, Tennessee in 1802.

Marriage record, William Gower and Charlotte Garland, 1802. Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives.

In 1850, Charlotte, her husband William Gower, and their daughter Cynthia lived in Davidson County, Tennessee, near their son Lorenzo, his wife Nancy (Gatlin), and their children. Their daughter Margaret ("Peggy"), my 4th-great-grandmother, married Nancy's brother John Gatlin.

Charlotte died in 1860. Her estate inventory was dated 11 April 1860 and recorded on 31 July 1860.

According to the 1860 United States Census mortality schedule, Charlotte died of old age in May 1860 in Davidson County, Tennessee. The informant probably could not recall the exact date of her death.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Federal Mortality Census Schedules, 1850-1880, and Related Indexes, 1850-1880; Archive Collection: T655; Archive Roll Number: 27; Census Year: 1860; Census Place: District 10, Davidson, Tennessee; Page: 71. Ancestry.com. U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Charlotte was buried in Gower Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. According to her gravestone, she died on 16 April 1860.