1840 Census, Sevier County, Tennessee

This was the family of Benjamin Catlett, but Benjamin had died in 1834.  Benjamin was almost certainly my fourth great grandfather.  However, there is some uncertainty as to which of his sons was my third great grandfather.

Benjamin was the son of Reuben Catlett.  Nancy Loveday was Benjamin's widow.  The oldest son and head of household after his father's death was William S. (Will) Catlett.

One mystery is the third male age 20-29.  He might have been James B. Wells who married Clarissa Catlett in about 1838.  James was not enumerated in his own right in the 1840 census in Sevier County, so it makes sense to guess that he was living with his in-laws.  The problem with that theory is that Benjamin's daughter Clarissa who was born about 1820 appears not to have been living with the family in 1840.  So maybe we need to look for her and her husband James B. Wells somewhere else.  For example, they were enumerated in Blount County, Tennessee in 1850.

Sarah F. (Sally) Nichols was my third great grandmother.  She had three children with a Catlett man.  But there was a Nichols-Catlett feud, there was a Nichols-Catlett lawsuit, Sally and her children kept the Nichols surname, and a courthouse fire destroyed all the records.

Circumstantial evidence suggests very strongly that the father of Sally's children was a son of Benjamin Catlett.  Of Benjamin's sons, James P. Catlett seems most likely to have been the father of Sally's children.  There are two pieces of evidence supporting the suggestion that it was James P. Catlett rather than one of his brothers who was the father of Sally's children.

One piece of evidence is the death certificate of John H. Nichols, which lists his parents as James C. Nichols and Sarah F. Nichols.  There was no James C. Nichols, and the reference to James C. Nichols was probably a reference to James Catlett Nichols who was really James Catlett.

The other piece of evidence is a Sevier County warrant sworn out on 2 Aug 1851 by Sarah Nichols against James P. Catlett.  1851 was shortly after Sally Nichols and her Catlett man were broken up by the Nichols-Catlett feud.  That is, Sally's youngest child was born in 1849, and in the 1850 census Sally and her three children were living with her parents and using the surname Nichols.  I do not yet know why the record of the 1851 warrant was not destroyed in the 1856 courthouse fire.

John Catlett was the son of Reuben Catlett.  As such, he was the brother of Benjamin Catlett.  I believe that Benjamin Catlett was my fourth great grandfather and that Reuben Catlett was my fifth great grandfather.

I cannot identify the male age 20-29.  It appears as if he might have been John's son George, except that George was married by 1840 and was enumerated as head of household in his own right, two houses away from John.

I had to fudge the ages of the daughters a tiny bit to get them to fit.  Jane was supposedly born in 1822, Manerva in 1826, and Martha in 1826.  But census ages are notoriously inexact in any case, and none of the daughters was married before 1840.

George W. Catlett was the son of John Catlett and Mary from two houses away.  George W. Catlett and Lavinia Hodges were married in 1837, so it seems unlikely that the female age 05-09 was their child.

I do not know who this George Reneau was.

Sarah F. (Sally) Nichols age 15-19 was my third great grandmother.  She was the daughter of John J. Nichols III and Margaret (Peggy) Scantling age 30-39.

John J. Nichols III died in 1836, so the widowed Peggy Scantling was the head of household at the time of the 1840 census.  Peggy Scantling's parents are not known and almost surely will never be known.  She was found orphaned by Judge Scantling, and was raised in Judge Scantling's household.  Peggy's parents were killed by Black Tongue, a disease which also killed numerous deer about 1800.  There are conflicting stories about whether Margaret was found out in the woods by Indians, or was found out in the woods by Judge Scantling himself.  But in either case, Margaret's parents are not known.

Allen S. Bryan Jr. was the son of Allen S. Bryan Sr. and Elizabeth Hubbard.  As such, he was the nephew of my fifth great grandfather Peter Bryan.

Allen's wife Elizabeth Underwood was the daughter of John Underwood and Elizabeth Manifold.  John Underwood was my fifth great grandfather, but my fifth great grandmother was John Underwood's first wife Mary Kirby.  So Allen Bryan's wife Elizabeth Underwood was the half-sister of my fourth great grandmother Nancy Underwood who married her first cousin Enoch Underwood.

Eliza Aramantha Caroline (Caroline or Carrie) Huffaker age 15-19 married William M. Bryan in 1843 in Sevier County.  William was the son of Allen S. Bryan Sr. and Elizabeth McSpadden.  As such, William was the nephew of my fifth great grandfather Peter Bryan and the first cousin of my fourth great grandfather Thomas C. Bryan Sr.

Samuel Catlett was the son of my fifth great grandparents Reuben Catlett and unknown.  As such, Samuel was the brother of my fourth great grandfather Benjamin Catlett.

The surname of Samuel's wife Hannah is unknown.

Franklin Bryan was born in North Carolina about 1812.  I do not know who his parents were.  I suspect that Franklin was related to David Anderson Bryan who also was born in North Carolina.  However, I do not know who David Anderson Bryan's parents were, nor do I have proof that the two men were related.

In any case, it seems extremely unlikely that either Franklin Bryan or David Anderson Bryan were related to my Bryan family in Sevier County.

William Enyard Bryan was the son of my fourth great grandparents Thomas C. Bryan Sr. and Nancy Cate.  As such, William was the brother of my third great grandfather Peter H. Bryan.

Amanda Keener was the daughter of George T. Keener and Margaret (Peggy) Harris.

Joshua Cate and Elizabeth (Betsy) Wilhite were my fourth great grandparents.  Their daughter Mary Ann (Polly Ann) Cate was my third great grandmother.  Polly Ann later married Peter H. Bryan.

Joshua Cate was the son of John Cate Sr. and Mary.  Elizabeth (Betsy) Wilhite was the daughter of Adam Wilhite and Missy/Patsey Batey.

I do not believe that this census entry indicates that my Joshua Cate had a son named Joshua Cate Jr.  Rather, my Joshua Cate was living next door to his nephew Joshua Cate.  The census enumerator apparently labeled them Sen. and Jr. to distinguish their respective ages, not to indicate that they were father and son.

Thomas C. Bryan Sr. and Nancy Cate were my fourth great grandparents.  Thomas was the son of Peter Bryan and Betty Hubbard.  Nancy was the daughter of William P. Cate and Mary Enyard.

The brothers Thomas Bryan and William Bryan married the sisters Nancy Cate and Lucinda (Lucy) Cate, respectively.  The respective children were double first cousins.

Margaret E. Bryan was the daughter of Allen S. Bryan Sr. and Elizabeth Hubbard.  As such, Margaret was the niece of my fifth great grandfather Peter Bryan.

In 1840, Margaret was the widow of Samuel Henry.  Samuel was the son of Major Hugh Henry and Mary Long.

There is a certain amount of guesswork associated with the rest of the family members in the 1840 census.  Margaret's daughter Mary Ann Henry married her first cousin Albert Gallatin Henry in 1838.  The census entry seems to make little sense unless it is assumed that Mary Ann and Albert were living in the household with Margaret.  Albert certainly was not enumerated as head of household in his own right.  The remaining household members make sense and they were Margaret's children.

Ahaz Bryan Sr. was the son of Thomas Bryan Jr.  As such, he was the nephew of my fifth great grandfather Peter Bryan.  Thomas Bryan Jr. and Peter Bryan were both sons of my sixth great grandfather Thomas Bryan Sr.

I don't think Thomas Bryan Jr. ever moved from Virginia to Tennessee, just his son Ahaz.  Of the sons of Thomas Bryan Sr., I think the only two who moved from Virginia to Tennessee were Peter Bryan and Allen S. Bryan Sr.

Ahaz Bryan Sr. was born 29 Jan 1793 in Rockingham County, Virginia.  He died 29 Aug 1852 in Mercer County, Missouri.  He married Mary J. (Polly) Webb about 1815/1817 in Tennessee.  Polly Webb was born 29 March 1797 in Maryland.

I do not know exactly when Ahaz moved from Virginia to Tennessee.  It was probably sometime after his father died in 1800 and sometime before he was married in about 1815/1817.  He moved moved from Tennessee to Missouri between 1840 and 1850.

Sarah Ann Keener married Benjamin Allen Bryan in 1845 in Sevier County.  Sarah was the daughter of William P. Keener and Elizabeth White.  William died between 1830 and 1840, leaving Elizabeth White as the widowed head of household at the time of the 1840 census.

Benjamin Allen Bryan was the son of Ahaz Bryan Sr. and Mary J. (Polly) Webb.  Ahaz Bryan Sr. was the nephew of my fifth great grandfather Peter Bryan and the first cousin of my fourth great grandfather Thomas C. Bryan Sr.

Samuel Newton Douglass Jr. age 00-04 married Margaret Eleanor Newman on 19 Dec 1861.  Margaret was the daughter of Jared Campbell Newman and Mary (Polly) Bryan.  Polly was the daughter of my fourth great grandparents Thomas C. Bryan Sr. and Nancy Cate.  As such, Polly was the sister of my third great grandfather Peter H. Bryan.

Samuel was the son of Samuel Newton Douglass Sr. and Mary S. Sellers.

In 1840, Elizabeth McSpadden was the widow of Allen S. Bryan Sr.  Elizabeth was the daughter of Samuel McSpadden and Sarah Key.  Elizabeth was born 10 May 1786.  Ahas Bryan age 40-50 was living nearby.  Ahaz was Allen's nephew.