Peters Family History

Prepared for the Peters Family Reunion

20 October 2002

The Peters family reunion is being held at the Fountain City United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. The reunion brings together descendants of Alva Edward Peters and Sallie Jane Cole. With rare exception, everyone who attends the Peters family reunion is either descended from Alva Edward Peters and Sallie Jane Cole or else is married to somebody who is.

Alva Edward Peters and Sallie Jane Cole are generally referred to as Grandma and Grandpa Peters, even by those of us who may be their great grandchildren or their great great grandchildren. Both of them were born in 1870. Both of them died in 1942. They are buried at the Mt. Vernon Cemetery in Anderson County.

I have generally heard Alva and Sallie's children referred to as "the brothers and sisters", and their grandchildren referred to as "the cousins". The brothers and sisters were Lester, Elzie, Ella, Birchel, Jonnie, Bob, and Arthur. Jonnie died as an infant, and he was a twin of Birchel. The rest of the brothers and sisters married and had children of their own.

Some of us knew Grandma and Grandpa Peters and remember them well. Others of us are too young to remember them.

Many of us knew the brothers and sisters and remember them well. In my case, Lester was my grandfather. I remember him as Papaw Peters. I remember the rest of the brothers and sisters as Aunt Elzie, Aunt Ella, Uncle Birchel, Uncle Bob, and Uncle Arthur. No doubt the rest of you all have similar names and memories, depending on what your particular relationship to the various family members was.

None of the brothers and sisters are still living. Our two oldest family members at the reunion are Aunt Jo who is Birchel Peters' widow and Aunt Mary who is Bob Peters' widow. The reunion is now primarily a reunion of the cousins and their children and grandchildren.

Alva Peters was from Anderson County. His parents were married in 1865 in Anderson County, and Alva was raised in Anderson County. Sallie Jane Cole was from Anderson County. Her parents were married in 1865 in Anderson County, and Sallie was raised in Anderson County. However, there is evidence that she was born in Knox County and lived there for a while before moving back to Anderson County.

The brothers and sisters all lived in East Tennessee. Several of them ended up in Knox County, but they all started out in Anderson County. Most of the cousins stayed in East Tennessee, although a few of the cousins moved elsewhere. With each succeeding generation after that, there were more and more of the family members who spread out throughout the country, but there is a very strong contingent of our Peters family who are still in East Tennessee.

Much of the Peters family history comes from the Peters family bible. Unfortunately, the location of the bible is not known. It was loaned out, but nobody remembers to whom. If anyone knows where it is, please let me know. We need to make copies of the family history pages from the bible for everybody.

Please let me know if there are any errors or omissions in this history, and I will make the corrections. I know we do not have all the younger generations listed for all the families. Where we do have people listed, we often have a birth date but not a birth place, or we have a date of death but not a location where someone is buried. Any such information would be a valuable addition to the data base.

Jerry Bryan

c24m48@hotmail.com

Our Peters Pedigree

I am going to include some narrative about the ancestors of Grandma and Grandpa Peters. But as they say, you can't tell the players without a program. So here's a little pedigree chart to make the narrative a little easier to follow.

As you can see, we have three different Peters lines. Grandpa Peters had two grandparents who were Peters. Grandma Peters had one grandparent who was a Peters. William Cole is what genealogists call a brick wall. I have not been able to find his parents.

I have not been able to find out for sure if our three Peters lines are related. They probably are. Indeed, there is considerable evidence that John W. Peters, Zipporah Peters, and Jane Peters were brothers and sisters. If they were, then Grandma and Grandpa Peters were second cousins, and Grandpa Peters' parents were first cousins who married.

Going back a couple more generations, the first two Peters into Anderson County were Tobias Peters Sr. and Henry Peters Sr. Tobias and Henry moved from Greenbrier County, Virginia to Anderson County, Tennessee in 1797. Strictly speaking, they moved to Knox County because Anderson County was not created until 1801. But they moved to the part of Knox County that became Anderson County when Anderson County was created. Tobias Peters and Henry Peters both show up on the taxpayer list for the first Anderson County tax in 1802.

Just to complicate things further, the part of Greenbrier County where the Peters lived in Virginia later became Monroe County when Greenbrier County was split up, and both Greenbrier County and Monroe County became part of West Virginia during the Civil War. So if you want to find the Rehoboth Church where Tobias Peters Sr. was married (it is still standing - it is the oldest church west of the Alleghenies), you have to go to Monroe County, West Virginia. Monroe County, West Virginia is in a very rural and very mountainous part of West Virginia, up against the Virginia-West Virginia border.

Most Peters researchers believe that Tobias and Henry were brothers, but nobody has been able to prove it so far. Tobias was married to Elizabeth Rachel Scarborough and Henry was married to Mary Wiatt. The Peters moved to Tennessee along with the Scarbrough family, and the community where they settled became known as the Scarbrough community. The name is spelled variously as Scarbrough, Scarborough, Scarbro, and Scarboro, but it's always pronounced as Scarbro. There were many, many Peters-Scarbrough marriages, and I have had to spend just about as much time researching the Scarbroughs as researching the Peters in order to sort out who is whom.

The Scarbroughs were Quakers back in Virginia, but they were Methodists by the time they got to Tennessee. I don't know what the Peters were in Virginia, but they were nearly all Methodists in Tennessee. The Rehoboth Church in Virginia where Tobias Peters married Elizabeth Rachel Scarborough was founded by the Methodist circuit rider, Bishop Francis Asbury.

Tobias was a Methodist exhorter, and many of his sons and grandsons were Methodist ministers in the Holston Conference. Tobias and Henry were trustees when the Methodists bought some Anderson County land for the Bethel Meeting House in 1821.

Remember from the pedigree chart that Grandpa Peters was the grandson of John W. Peters and also the grandson of Zipporah Peters. Also remember that Grandma Peters was the granddaughter of Jane Peters. There is evidence that all three of these people -- John W. Peters, Zipporah Peters, and Jane Peters -- were children of Thomas Peters and were grandchildren of Henry Peters Sr. The only one I have been able to prove so far is Zipporah, but I think the other two were children of Thomas Peters as well.

Here is Zipporah Peters' pedigree. She was named for her Grandma England who was Vesta Zipporah Choate. Vesta Zipporah Choate was known by her middle name of Zipporah. Using middle names is a very old tradition in our family. So I suspect that Zipporah Peters' name was really Vesta Zipporah Peters, but I have not been able to prove it.

If Jane Peters who married John England was Zipporah's sister, then Jane's pedigree would look just like Zipporah's. If Jane really was Zipporah's sister, then it would be the case that Jane named her daughter Vesta Clay England after Jane's Grandma England who was Vesta Zipporah Choate. And if this is true, then Vesta named her daughter Sallie Jane Cole after Vesta's Grandma Peters who was Sarah (Sallie) England, and after Vesta's mother who was Jane Peters.

Family of Grandma Peters (Sallie Jane Cole)

Sallie Jane Cole was one of four sisters. They were Ida, Cordie, Sallie, and Mollie. Ida and Cordie were twins.

Ida Cole married Phillip Wells. Some of you all remember Ida as Ida Wells or as Aunt Ida. Children of Phillip Wells and Ida Cole were Lucy Clay Wells, William H. (Bill) Wells, Bessie M. Wells, George Edgar Wells, Ernest Clifton Wells, and Robert C. Wells. The only one of these children for whom I have any information is Bill Wells. Bill married Ann Burton, and they had daughters Wilma Wells and Irma Wells. Ida and Phillip Wells are buried at the New Grey Cemetery in Knoxville.

Cordie Cole married Ross Scarbrough. Some of you all remember Cordie as Cordie Scarbrough or as Aunt Cordie. Children of Ross Scarbrough and Cordie Cole were Flossie N. Scarbrough who married George Victor (Vick) Foster, Cassie Scarbrough who married George Stratton, and Roy Earl Scarbrough who married Julia Ann (Julie) Long. Cordie and Ross Scarbrough are buried at the Scarbrough Cemetery in Anderson County.

Mollie Cole married Robert A. Peters. Some of you all remember Mollie as Mollie Peters or as Aunt Mollie. Children of Robert A. Peters and Mollie Cole were Elmer Peters who married Audrey, Genette (Nettie) Peters who married Lester Lane, and Reese Peters who married Guy Jones. Lester Lane and Nettie Peters had a son named Elmer Lane. I don't have any other generations for this family. Robert A. Peters died at the age of 33, and Mollie was a widow for many years thereafter. But about 20 years after her first husband died, Mollie married again, this time to Joseph E. (Joe) Fraley.

Robert A. Peters was a younger brother of Alva Peters. So the children of Robert A. Peters and Mollie Cole were double first cousins of the children of Alva Peters and Sallie Cole. I suspect that our Bob Peters was named for his Uncle Robert. Robert A. Peters is buried at the Scarbrough Cemetery in Anderson County, and Mollie is buried at the Lynnhurst Cemetery in Knoxville.

A couple of Ida's children have names that are very interesting. One name that is particularly interesting is Lucy Clay Wells. The mother of the four Cole sisters was Vesta Clay England. Lucy's middle name came from her grandmother Vesta Clay England, and Vesta was the daughter of John England and Jane Peters. There were a lot of Peters-Clay marriages back in Virginia before our Peters family moved to Anderson County, and I am convinced that we are descended from the Clay family. But I have not yet been able to find our Clay connection.

One of the things you normally do in researching your family is to find them in the census. Sallie Jane Cole was born in 1870. I have just recently found her family in the 1870 census.

Dist. 19, Knox County, TN, 20 Jun 1870, Beaver Ridge PO p.339b, House Number 70 Family Number 71

Coal William 23 m w farmer $300 $100 TN

Vesta 30 f w keeping house TN

Ida 1 f w TN

Corda 1 f w TN

Many old censuses have spelling errors, and in 1870 William Cole's surname was spelled as "Coal" rather than as "Cole". But we know now that the correct spelling is "Cole".

At the time of the 1870 census, Ida and Cordie were not yet two years old, and Sallie was not yet born. But Sallie was born on 29 June, shortly after the census was taken. Ida and Cordie turned two on 3 July, just a few days later.

But the important thing is that the family was living in the Beaver Ridge community in Knox County just nine days before Sallie was born, so that is surely where she was born. There is evidence that Ida and Cordie were born in the Concord community. If so, then the family must have moved from Concord to Beaver Ridge between 1868 and 1870.

I have found a deed for William Cole's property in the Beaver Ridge community. The property was where the name of the road changes from Middlebrook Pike to Byington-Solway Road. If you are driving out of town on Middlebrook Pike, Ball Camp Pike goes off to your right and Lovell Road goes off to your left. Lovell Road goes through a gap in Beaver Ridge at that point, as does a creek called Plum Creek. William Cole's deed says that his property adjoined Beaver Ridge, Plum Creek, and Ball Camp.

William Cole died before 1880. Vesta must have had no money after her husband died, because she was not able to keep her family together. The girls were scattered every which way. Sallie and Ida lived as servants in Anderson County, and Vesta lived with Cordie and Mollie in the Concord area of Knox County.

Here is Sallie living in the home of Preston Shannon in Anderson County in the 1880 census. Her name was listed as Sarah Cole.

Dist. 9, p.16, dwelling number 158

Shannon Preston 59 self m m w farmer TN TN TN

Susan 51 wife f m w keeping house TN TN TN

Oliver Douglas 19 sson m s w farmer TN TN TN

Scarbrough Polena 18 f s w servant TN TN TN

Cole Sarah 10 f s w servant TN TN TN

In the 1870 to 1880 time frame, Sallie was a very common nickname for Sarah. But there is no evidence that Grandma Peters was a Sarah. All the evidence is that she was just Sallie.

I think what happened was that the census taker knocked on the door and asked who was living there. When he was told that Sallie Cole was living there, he just assumed that her name was really Sarah, the same way you might assume that somebody's name was really Robert if you were told that their name was Bob. So he wrote down Sarah instead of Sallie.

Here is Ida living in the home of John Scarbrough in Anderson County in the 1880 census.

Dist. 9, Anderson County, Tennessee, p.9 dwelling number 88

Scarbrough John 54 self m m w farmer TN TN TN

Mary 55 wife f m w keeping house TN TN TN

Charles 27 son m s w (crippled) TN TN TN

Arminte 18 dau f s w TN TN TN

Peters Sarah 92 motherL f w w TN -- VA

Cole Ida 11 f s w servant TN -- TN

John Scarbrough's mother-in-law was Sarah Peters, widow of Thomas Peters. So Mary Scarbrough was Mary Peters before she was married. I am getting ahead of my story, but I think that Mary Peters Scarbrough was Ida's grandaunt.

Here is Vesta living with her other two daughters Cordie and Mollie in Knox County in the 1880 census.

Knox County, Dist. 10, 17th Jun 1880

dwelling number 259 family number 264

Cole Vesta C. 37 widow keeping house TN TN TN

Cordie R. 11 dau at home TN TN TN

Mary I. 7 dau TN TN TN

Mollie was a nickname for Mary back in 1880, the same way Sallie was a nickname for Sarah. But there is no evidence that Mollie was a Mary. All the evidence is that she was just Mollie. District 10 of Knox County was the Concord community in 1880.

In summary, William Cole and Vesta Clay England were married in 1865 in Anderson County, Ida and Cordie were born in 1868 in Knox County (probably in Concord), Sallie was born in 1870 in Knox County (probably where Ball Camp Pike hits Middlebrook Pike), Mollie was born in 1873, and by 1880 William Cole had died. Vesta was not able to keep her little family together. By 1880, Cordie and Mollie were living with their mother in Knox County, and Ida and Sallie had been farmed out to families in Anderson Count.

Cordie had not been farmed out to another family at the time of the 1880 census. But Cordie's granddaughter Ann Perrine tells me that Cordie also lived in Anderson County as a servant at some point, possibly with a Johnson family. Ann Perrine is the daughter of Roy Scarbrough and Julie Long.

To tell you the truth, I doubt that Ida and Sallie were living as servants in the same sense that we think of servants today. Vesta must have needed some help, and her family must have helped her.

I already pointed out that John Scarbrough's wife was Mary Peters, and they were taking care of Ida Cole. I didn't point it out yet, but Preston Shannon's wife was Susan Peters, and they were taking care of Sallie Cole. Mary Peters and Susan Peters were sisters, and they were both daughters of Thomas Peters. This is the same Thomas Peters who was the father of Zipporah Peters. Finally, I already pointed out that Vesta's mother was Jane Peters. It seems extremely likely that Jane Peters was a sister of Mary Peters, Susan Peters, and Zipporah Peters. So it looks as if the Peters sisters pitched in to take care of Jane's four Cole granddaughters when Jane's son-in-law William Cole died.

To complete the story on Jane Peters, she and John England were married in 1839 in Anderson County. Their daughter Vesta Clay England was born in 1840, the first of twelve children. Jane Peters England died in 1881. John remarried in 1882, had a two more children with his second wife, and died in 1902 in Roane County.

If we jump ahead about twenty years, we have the 1900 census entry for Alva Peters and Sallie Cole. (In case you are wondering why we jump ahead twenty years instead of just ten, the 1890 census was destroyed by fire.)

Dist. 9, Anderson County, Tennessee, 14 Jun 1900

p.129a, dwelling number 7, family number 7, owns farm, had mortgage

Peters Alva E. head Oct 1870 29 m6 TN TN TN farmer

Sallie J. wife Jun 1870 29 m6 TN TN TN

Earnest L. son Feb 1895 5 s TN TN TN

Elsie C. dau Dec 1898 1 s TN TN TN

Hulda A. mother Dec 1845 54 w TN TN TN

John W. bro Mar 1877 23 s TN TN TN

Martha E. sis Jan 1888 12 s TN TN TN

Henry H. bro Mar 1890 10 s TN TN TN

(Sallie had 2 children, 2 living. Hulda had 14 children, 6 living.)

Earnest L. Peters is Lester Peters (the census taker misspelled his first name) and Elsie C. Peters is Elzie Peters. Alva is the head of household in a house where his mother and three of his brothers and sisters still lived. I am getting ahead of my story again, but Alva's parents were John Henry Peters and Hulda Asberine Cross. John Henry Peters had died in 1890, well before the 1900 census, but Hulda was still living and was living with her son and daughter-in-law whom we knew as Grandma and Grandpa Peters.

In the very next house, we have the following.

Dist. 9, Anderson County, Tennessee, 14 Jun 1900

p.129a, dwelling number 8, family number 8, owns farm, had mortgage

Wells Phillip H. head w m Sep 1859 40 m9 TN TN TN farmer

Ida R. wife w f Jul 1868 41 m9 TN TN TN

Arthur C. son w m Jun 1887 13 s TN TN TN

Luther B. son w m Aug 1889 10 s TN TN TN

Lucy C. dau w f Sep 1892 7 s TN TN TN

William H. son w m Mar 1895 5 s TN TN TN

Bussie M. dau w f Aug 1897 2 s TN TN TN

George E. son w m Dec 1899 5/12 s TN TN TN

Scarbrough Vesty motherL w f Apr 1840 w TN TN TN

(Ida had 4 children, 4 living. Vestie had 5 children, 4 living.)

This is Sallie Cole's sister Ida and Ida's husband Phillip Wells. It was very common back then for family members to live next door to each other in this fashion. Vesty Scarbrough was Ida's mother. So Grandma and Grandpa Peters were living right next door to Grandma's mother Vestie and to Grandma's sister Ida. The two oldest Wells children were Phillip's children from a previous marriage.

The census record above shows that sometime between 1880 and 1900, Vesta had remarried, and this time to a Mr. Scarbrough. Vesta was a widow again in the 1900 census, so her Mr. Scarbrough died before 1900. The marriage book at the Anderson County Court House is a little hard to decipher, but it shows that Vesta married Chesley J. Scarbrough on 24 Oct 1885. Chesley died 1 Dec 1899. The 1890 census was destroyed by fire, so there is no surviving census data that shows Chesley and Vesta while they were married.

Some of you all remember Vestie. In talking to you, you have told me that she was known as Aunt Vestie or as Grandma Vestie or as Grandma Scarbrough. You have also told me that she looked just like Grandma Peters, which sort of makes sense because she was Grandma's mother. Both of them were short, both of them always wore an apron, and both of them wore their hair up in a bun.

Here is a census entry from the 1910 Anderson County census.

Dist. 9, Anderson County, p. 8

Peters Mollie head f 36 TN TN TN widow farmer

Elmer son m 16 TN TN TN farm labor

Genette dau f 13 TN TN TN

Reese dau f 9 TN TN TN

Scarborough Vesta mother f 70 TN TN TN widow

This census entry is for another of the Cole sisters, Mollie Cole. She was a widow by 1910 because Robert A. Peters died very young in 1905. Genette was known as Nettie, but she was listed as Genette in the census. But notice that Vesta was living with yet another of her daughters in 1910.

I cannot find Vesta Clay England Cole Scarbrough in the 1920 census. But I have discovered that she is buried in the New Grey Cemetery in Knoxville (along with Ida and Phillip Wells), and that her tombstone says that she died in 1924.

Family of Grandpa Peters (Alva Edward Peters)

We know from the Peters family bible that Alva was the son of John Henry Peters and Hulda Asberine Cross. Alva was one of 14 children. Most of the children died young. Some died as infants, some as young children, some as teenagers, and some as young adults.

The only ones who married were Alva who married Sallie Cole, Robert who married Mollie Cole, and Will who married Delia Weaver.

Even though he married and had children, Robert died fairly young himself. He was only 33 years old when he died in 1905, and none of you would remember him.

William Daily Peters died in 1937, and some of you all remember him as Uncle Will. He and his wife Delia Weaver are buried in the New Grey Cemetery in Knoxville.

Some of you may remember a brother of Alva named Hutzel. Henry Hutzel Peters never married, but he was 30 years old when he died in 1920 of typhoid fever. It is said that Lester looked just like his Uncle Hutzel, and that they could have passed as twins. Hutzel had a fiddle that was passed down to Lester, and Lester played it at dances. Hutzel is buried at the Scarbrough Cemetery in Anderson County.

John Henry Peters was a Civil War Soldier who fought in the 5^th Tennessee Infantry on the Union side. There was also a 5^th Tennessee Infantry unit on the Confederate side, but many East Tennessee men fought on the Union side. He was described in his Civil War pension application as: height, 5 feet 8 inches; complexion, dark; hair, auburn; eyes, gray.

John Henry Peters and Hulda Asberine Cross were married in 1865, just after the war was over. There were many 1865 marriages where Civil War soldiers came home from the war and got married. In fact, I have wondered if William Cole was a Civil War soldier since he and Vesta Clay England were married in 1865. I have found records for a lot of William Coles who served in the Civil War. One of them is probably our William Cole, but so far I haven't been able to find enough information to prove which one is ours.

There was a post-war baby boom after the Civil War just as there was a post-war baby boom after the soldiers came home from WWII. Grandma Peters and Grandpa Peters were both Civil War baby boomers.

John Henry Peters died in 1890 at the age of 46, and Hulda received a widow's pension in 1891 for John's war service. After John's death, Hulda lived with Alva and Sallie until her own death in 1916. John and Hulda Peters are buried in the Scarbrough Cemetery in Anderson County.

John's early death was due to his war service. He contracted disease of the spine from exposure and hard marching near Wilmington, North Carolina. At Marietta, Georgia, August 1864 he contracted fever and ague from exposure. He was partially disabled thereafter, and was not always able to work.

John Henry Peters was the son of John W. Peters and Ruby Smith. Hulda Asberine Cross was the daughter of Alfred Carter Cross and Zipporah Peters. From the point of view of Alva Peters, he had a Grandpa Peters who was John W. Peters and he had a Grandma Cross who was Zipporah Peters. The evidence is very strong that John W. Peters and Zipporah Peters were brothers and sisters, both of them being children of Thomas Peters. If this evidence holds up, then we would know that John Henry Peters and Hulda Asberine Cross were first cousins who married.

John W. Peters and Ruby Smith were married in 1840 in Anderson County. They appeared in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, but both of them had died by 1870. John W. Peters was a Civil War soldier who died in London, Kentucky in 1861. He served in on the Union side in Co. G, First Regiment of the East Tennessee Infantry. He died of fever while still in training, and he didn't even serve long enough to draw his first paycheck. Ruby Smith died in 1867 in Anderson County. After Ruby died, the younger children were taken in and cared for by their older, married siblings.

A number of men from our Peters family served in the Civil War in addition to John Henry Peters and his father John W. Peters. All the Civil War soldiers from the Peters family that I have found so far served on the Union side. I am not going to try to list all the ones who served, but there is one I especially want to mention.

John Henry Peters had a twin brother named William E. Peters. So William E. Peters was Alva's uncle. I don't know for sure what William's middle name was, but I suspect it was Edward so that his full name was William Edward Peters. If so, then Alva Edward Peters was probably named for his uncle William Edward Peters.

John Henry Peters would have been doubly motivated to name a son Edward. First, William E. Peters was his twin brother. Second, William E. Peters was killed in action in the Civil War, and it would be natural to honor such a brother by naming a son after him.

I only found the record of his military service recently. William E. Peters was killed on 6 August 1864 at Utio Creek, near Atlanta, Georgia. The battle at Utio Creek was part of General Sherman's campaign to capture Atlanta, and Atlanta itself fell on 1 September 1864.

I want to finish this narrative with yet one more census entry, this one from Anderson County in 1880.

Dist. 9, Anderson County, Tennessee

p.16, dwelling number 157

Peters John self m m w 35 farmer TN TN TN

Hulda wife f m w 34 keeping house TN TN TN

William son m s w 14 farmer TN TN TN

Alva son m s w 9 TN TN TN

Robert son m s w 7 TN TN TN

Alza dau f s w 5 TN TN TN

John son m s w 3 TN TN TN

Samuel son m s w 2 TN TN TN

Elizabeth dau f s w 1/12 (b. April) TN TN TN

Keith Joseph nephew m s w 4 TN TN TN

Albert nephew m s w 3 TN TN TN

Alva Peters was 9 years old in the 1880 census, and Sallie Cole was 10 years old. Really, they were both born in 1870 and she was from June to October older than he was. But the census was taken in June, so he was not yet 10 years old when the census was taken.

You can't tell just from looking at the census entry above, but John and Hulda Peters were living next door to Preston and Susan Shannon in 1880. Alva Peters was the son of John and Hulda, and Sallie Cole was living with Preston and Susan Shannon. So Grandma and Grandpa Peters lived next door to each other as children.

The nephews Joseph and Albert Keith illustrate how families took care of each other back then. Hulda's sister Annie Cross married Calvin Keith in 1874, and these nephews were the children of Calvin and Annie. Annie died about 1879, so Hulda was keeping Annie's children in 1880. Calvin Keith married M.E. Scarbrough in 1881, and he took his sons back at that time. Because of the missing 1890 census, by the next time we see Alva in a census in 1900, he was married and had two children.

Our Cross Family

Alva's mother was Hulda Asberine Cross. I have seen her name listed as Hulday, as Huldie, and as Huldy. But I have also seen her name listed as Asberine and as Asby. Given the strong propensity in our family to go by middle names, I suspect that a lot of people called her Asby.

Hulda's parents were Alfred Carter Cross and Jane Peters. I discussed Jane Peters earlier. She was probably the daughter of Thomas Peters and Sarah (Sallie) England. Hence, she was probably the sister of John W. Peters and Zipporah Peters. Since we are all descended from Jane Peters, John W. Peters, and Zipporah Peters, there were definitely some cousin marriages in later generations.

Until fairly recently, I did not know who Alfred Carter Cross's parents were. It turns out that he was the son of a William Cross who is a very interesting character. William was born in 1762 in Baltimore County, Maryland. William's father died in 1770 when William was eight years old. Quite a few members of the Cross family moved to western North Carolina between 1770 and 1776, Tennessee did not yet exist in 1776, but the part of western North Carolina where the family moved is now Sullivan County, Tennessee. Sullivan County is up against the Virginia line, and includes Bristol and Kingsport.

In 1776, William Cross served as a drummer in the Revolutionary War. He was only 14 years old at the time. William served in a unit that defended the frontier against Indians and Tories. They were posted along the Holston River across the state line in Virginia.

In 1817, William moved from Sullivan County to Knox County where he lived for a year. He moved to Anderson County in 1818. So our Cross family has not been in Anderson County as long as our Peters family.

William Cross lived in Anderson County until his death in late 1844. William owned 174 acres in District 8 of Anderson County. The best I can tell from old maps, District 8 was Bear Creek Valley. The ownership of the land was not clearly settled after his death, and the issue was not resolved for over 40 years. In 1888, there was a lawsuit between members of the Cross family over the land. The result of the lawsuit was that the land was sold at auction at the courthouse door in Clinton, and the family members split the proceeds of the sale. One of the family members who received a share of the proceeds was Hulda Asberine Cross.

William Cross's land was purchased at auction in 1888 by Joseph L. Pyatt. In and of itself, that name is not especially interesting. But it turns out that Joseph L. Pyatt was the grandfather of our very own Aunt Jo Peters.