I'm a little puzzled about the existence of these documents. The Sullivan County courthouse was destroyed by a cannonball in the Civil War. These documents must not have been in the courthouse at the time of its destruction.
Sullivan County Deed Book 16, pp.72-73, 8 Aug 1846, between Elijah Cross Jr., Jesse Cross, Abraham Cross & David L. Cross all of the county of Sullivan... whereas our father Elijah Cross Senr died seized and possessed of a certain tract of land in said county and by Will was to be divided Equally between three of his said sons & the other Son to be made equal in money out of the estate. ...Elijah Cross Jr. agree to take $450 which is equal to the valiation of the land... Signed by all 4 bros. Witt: Wm K. Cross Samuel L. Cross
Elijah Cross Sr. was the son of my fifth great grandparents William Cross (maybe William Brittain Cross) and Alice Cole. As such, he was the brother of of my fourth great grandfather William Cross the Revolutionary War drummer boy.
The names get confusing. Elijah Cross Sr. had sons Elijah Cross Jr., Jesse Cross, Abraham Cross, and David Looney Cross. Elijah Sr. also had a son Zachariah Cross who left Sullivan County and who might not have been living in 1846. William Cross the drummer boy had sons Elijah Cross, Jesse Cross, and David L. Cross. So there were a bunch of first cousins with the same names. Also, Elijah Cross Sr. and William Cross the drummer boy had brothers named Abraham and Zachariah.
The witness William King Cross was the grandson of Elijah Cross Sr., and was the son of Elijah Cross Jr. and Catherine Cook. The witness Samuel L. Cross was the grandson of Elijah Cross Sr., and was the son of Jesse Cross and Susannah Hicks.
William Cross from Elijah Cross, 1795 William Cross to Edward Cox, 1796
William Cross the Revolutionary War drummer boy and Elijah Cross Sr. were brothers, sons of William Cross (maybe William Brittain Cross) and Alice Cole. Edward Cox was William the drummer's sergeant in the Revolutionary War.
The following is not "deeds" exactly, but I couldn't figure out where else to put it. And in the bitter end, there is a reference to a deed.
As early as 1773, Thomas Choate from Pittsylvania County, Virginia settled in Blountsville, Sullivan County, Tennessee according to Williams in The Dawn of Tennessee Valley. When Dunmore's War took place in 1774, Thomas Shoate signed a deposition warning of Indian raids (Documentary History of Dunmore's War by Twaites and Kellog, 1905).
Volunteers came from Fincastle County, Virginia. Among them were Emmanuel Shott and Gabriel Shoat (List of Capt. Shelbys Co. Volunteers from Fincastle) 1774. In 1775 Richard Shoate from Pittsylvania County, Virginia settled on head of Hickory Creek in Sullivan County (Deed Book I, Sullivan County, Tennessee).
Southern Choate Famly Association Bulletin
East Tennessee Happenings
This page last edited on 23 Jul 2006.