William Cross Research Log - Details of David L. Cross data

David L. Cross (1798 - 1879) was the son of my fourth great grandfather William Cross the Revolutionary War drummer boy. The evidence for this conclusion is two-fold.

• David's will mentions his interest in land in Anderson County, Tennessee that he had inherited from his father. The will does not mention William by name, but William was the only Cross man living in Anderson County who was old enough to have been David's father.
• David's will mentions his son Elijah Cross who was living in Anderson County, Tennessee. Elijah was the plaintiff in a lawsuit in Anderson County in 1888 between and among members of the Cross family. The subject of the lawsuit was said land that William owned at the time of his death in 1844 and for which David had bequeathed his interest to Elijah. At the time of the lawsuit, Elijah was paying taxes on said land in Anderson County.

Additionally, it was at David's "insistence & request" that Abraham Cross and Edward Cox filed an affidavit in support of William's application for a Revolutionary war pension. David's "insistence & request" may or may not really be evidence that David was William's son, but it is certainly consistent with David having been William's son.

There was another David L. Cross in Sullivan County who was about the same age as our David L. Cross. The other David L. Cross was the son of Elijah Cross Sr. and Nancy Ann Lane. I don't think it's proven or even provable, but I think that Elijah Cross Sr. was another of William's brothers along with Abraham Cross. If so, then the two David L. Crosses were first cousins.

David L. Cross son of Elijah was David Looney Cross. For this reason, many family histories on the Internet list our David as David Looney Cross even though the middle name of our David L. Cross is not known. Similarly, many family histories on the Internet conflate the two David Crosses and list our David L. Cross as the son of Elijah Cross Sr. Finally, many family histories on the Internet list our David L. Cross as the son of Abraham. I'm not sure what evidence researchers might have used to come to this conclusion, but I'm not aware of any evidence whatsoever that suggests that Abraham had a son named David.

The remainder of this document will provide detailed data about our David L. Cross, including information about his will. We will present information about the 1888 lawsuit in its own separate document.

Image of marriage record not available.

At the present time I do not have any primary evidence supporting Mary's surname or the date of the marriage. Courthouse records from 1816 are not extant for Sullivan County because the courthouse was destroyed by a cannonball during the Civil War. I suspect that the specific date of 10 May 1816 for the marriage originated with a family bible. But if so, I have not been able to find any record of the family bible.

The "other" David L. Cross married first Catherine Boy and married second Ellen Smalling. I do have census entries for our David L. Cross from 1850, 1860, and 1870 as well as the wills of our David L. Cross and his wife to show that her name was Mary or Polly. The 1878 will describes the land owned by David and Mary in Sullivan County as the "George Himes" tract, which is consistent with Mary having been the daughter of George Himes.

David L. Cross age 30-39 was the son of my fourth great grandfather William Cross the Revolutionary War drummer boy. A problem in figuring this out is that there were two men in Sullivan County named David L. Cross. The two men were first cousins, and they were about the same age. In the 1830 census, you have to figure out which was which by looking at the ages of the children. David's wife was Mary Adeline (Polly) Himes age 30-39. The specific names of the children in my transcription of the 1830 census are guesses based on David's known children and their known birth dates.

David L. Cross age 40-49 was the son of my fourth great grandfather William Cross the Revolutionary War drummer boy and Mary. David L. Cross and David Looney Cross were first cousins, about the same age, and living very near each other. In the 1840 census, you have to figure out which was which by looking at the ages of the children. David's wife was Mary Adeline (Polly) Himes age 30-39. The specific names of the children in my transcription of the 1840 census are guesses based on David's known children and their known birth dates.

David L. Cross age 52 was the son of my fourth great grandfather William Cross the Revolutionary War drummer boy. As such, David was the brother of my third great grandfather Alfred Carter Cross. Alfred moved with his father to Anderson County at some point, probably in 1818. But David married Mary (Polly) Himes in 1816 and never left Sullivan County.

Mary (Polly) Himes age 50 was the daughter of George Himes. Marshal age 15 was David Marshal Cross whose name was usually listed as David M. Cross.

David L. Cross age 61 was the son of my fourth great grandfather William Cross the Revolutionary War drummer boy. As such, David was the brother of my third great grandfather Alfred Carter Cross. Alfred moved with his father to Anderson County at some point, probably in 1818. But David married Mary (Polly) Himes in 1816 and never left Sullivan County.

Mary (Polly) Himes age 55 was the daughter of George Himes.

David L. Cross age 71 was the son of my fourth great grandfather William Cross the Revolutionary War drummer boy. As such, David was the brother of my third great grandfather Alfred Carter Cross. Alfred moved with his father to Anderson County at some point, probably in 1818. But David married Mary (Polly) Himes in 1816 and never left Sullivan County.

Mary (Polly) Himes age 61 was the daughter of George Himes.

The 1878 will was a joint will for David L. Cross and his wife Mary (Polly) Himes Cross. Mary died first and the will was proved at the time of her death. The 1879 will was a will for David L. Cross alone. The provisions of the two wills were substantially the same, but they need to be read together.

For our purposes, the most important provisions in the wills are the mention of David L. Cross's interest in his father's land in Anderson County which is to be given to their son Elijah Cross, and the statement that Elijah resided in Anderson County. These statements along with data from Anderson County provide evidence that David was the son of William Cross the Revolutionary War drummer boy.

These statements provide evidence for the following reasons:

• William Cross was the only Cross man who owned land in Anderson County and who was of an age appropriate to have been David's father.
• Elijah Cross was one of the plaintiffs in an 1888 lawsuit in Anderson County between and among members of the Cross family. The lawsuit was over land that had been owned by William Cross at the time of his death in 1844, and Elijah was paying taxes on the land prior to the lawsuit.

At this point in the will of 1878, Elijah Cross is identified as David's son who is living in Anderson County and Elijah is bequeathed a share of land belonging to David as an inheritance from his father's estate. The land from his father's estate is not yet identified in the will as lying in Anderson County. The will goes into great detail as to work that Elijah has performed that deserves extra compensation as a part of his inheritance.

On this page of the 1878 will, there is finally a mention of David's interest in land in Anderson County.  The sentences do not parse or scan very well.  The will seems to jump from a discussion of the land that David and Mary own in Sullivan County to a discussion of David's interest in his father's land in Anderson County, and then without warning the discussion jumps right back to a discussion of the 212 acres in Sullivan County.

The best way to understand that David and Mary intended Elijah to have the land in Anderson County that David inherited from his father is to read the 1878 and the 1879 wills together.

The will of 1879 is very brief, the land of David L. Cross and his wife Mary having been disposed of at the time of Mary's death in 1878.  For our purposes, the salient feature of the will of 1879 is that David reiterates that his interest in his land in Anderson County is to be granted to his son Elijah Cross who resides in Anderson County.

The will of 1879 does not repeat that David inherited his interest in the land in Anderson County from his father.  We rely on the 1878 will for that information.  The 1879 will simply reinforces that the interest is to be granted to his son Elijah and that Elijah is living in Anderson County.