Taxpayers for 1887, District 8, Anderson County, Tennessee

My primary interest in the 1887 tax records for Anderson County, Tennessee is the entry for 170 acres where the taxes were paid by A.M. and Elijah Cross. The land had been owned by my fourth great grandfather William Cross who had died in 1844. A.M. Cross was Amanda Melvina Cross who almost certainly was William's last surviving child. This is the last year that taxes were paid on the land by Cross family members. The land was sold at auction at the courthouse door in 1888 and the proceeds of the sell were distributed to various Cross family member at that time.

District 8 of Anderson County encompassed what would more or less be described today as downtown Oak Ridge. For example, the intersection of modern day Scarbrough Road and Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge was part of William's farm.

William Cross left a will that was proved in court and ordered to be recorded. However, it was never recorded. Based on what happened with the land after William's death, it appears that the will declared that three women named Elizabeth Cross, Mary Cross, and the aforementioned Amanda Melvina Cross were to be allowed to reside on the land in their lifetimes. The land thereafter was to be sold with the proceeds distributed to William's heirs at that time. Therefore, it seems likely that Amanda Melvina died in either 1887 or 1888 and that the land was then sold in fulfillment of the will, even though the will had never been recorded.

The Elijah Cross who also was listed on the tax list jointly with Amanda Melvina was William's grandson, the son of William's son David L. Cross of Sullivan County. Elijah lived at various times both in Sullivan County and in Anderson County. It seems likely that when Elijah was living in Anderson County, he was both residing at the William Cross farm and working the farm. David L. Cross's will of 1879 left David's interest in William's land to Elijah. Therefore, Amanda Melvina and Elijah were respectively each other's aunt and nephew.

Also of interest is that my second great grandfather John H. Peters was listed in the 1887 tax list in District 8. For the most part, my Peters family members in Anderson County lived in District 9 which can be identified with the Scarbrough community. However, John H. Peters spent most of his adult life in ill health due to disease he suffered during his Civil War service. He never owned any land and often was not able to work. So he was a tenant farmer and the family was very poor. They must at times have relied on help from friends, neighbors, and family. John H. Peters died in 1890 at the age of 46, just three years after this tax list was created.

The 1887 tax book for Anderson County has never been microfilmed or transcribed, and is not generally available for public use. I photographed the pages I needed with a handheld digital camera with the permission of the Anderson County archivist. I transcribed the entirety of District 8 even though I only needed the entry for A. M. and Elijah Cross.