1860 Census, Knox County, Tennessee

John Henry (Henry) Peters appears not to have been one of mine.  His wife was Virginia Jane (Jane) Compton.

Nathaniel Peters age 48 was the son of John Peters and Fannie Adams.  John and Fannie were from North Carolina, and I do not believe they had any connection with my Peters family from Anderson County.  My Peters family moved to Tennessee from Virginia, and they were from Pennsylvania prior to that.

I do not know who Elizabeth Peters nor John Peters were.  This census entry is a little strange.  John appears immediately below Elizabeth without his surname being listed, just as I have shown.  This would normally indicate that they were members of the same family, suggesting for example that John was Elizabeth's son.  But John had a separate house number (dwelling number 843) and family number (family number 802) listed by his name.  Perhaps he was living in an out building of some sort on the same property.

Also, the enumerator was very sloppy in that neither "white" nor "born in Tennessee" was listed for everybody.  Rather, it was listed for the first person on the page and I think we are to assume that the same data applies to everybody on the page.  The enumerator didn't even make ditto marks down the page.  The point being, I think we have to be a little suspicious of whether Elizabeth and John were really born in Tennessee or not.

Elizabeth Jane (Jane) Messamore was the daughter either of James Messamore and Sarah (Sary) Heath, or the daughter of John Messamore and Elizabeth (Betsy) Minton.  James Messamore and John Messamore were brothers.  I think it's more likely that she was the daughter of John.  George D. Messamore who was living next door was either her brother (if she was the daughter of James) or her first cousin (if she was the daughter of John).  In any case, Jane was the niece of my third great grandmother Anna F. Messamore.

George D. Messamore was the son of James Messamore and Sarah (Sary) Heath.  As such, George was the nephew of my third great grandmother Anna F. Messamore.

Nancy M. Bradley was the daughter of Stephen Bradley and Margaret Taylor.  Stephen Messamore appears to have been named for his grandfather Stephen Bradley.

I don't know who this James Cole was, nor whether he was connected to the Caswell McBee family or was just a boarder.

Caswell McBee was the son of Samuel McBee and Anna Hamilton.  Caswell's wife was Mary A. Peck/Peak.  They were from Claiborne or Grainger County, Tennessee, and they eventually moved to Cooke County, Texas.

Mary W. Shinpaugh age 47 was the widow of Daniel (Dan) Letsinger.  Dan and Mary were the common ancestor of all the Letsingers who ended up in Anderson County, Tennessee.

I have a number of Letsinger second cousins.  My grandfather's sister Elza Cordelia Peters (Aunt Elzie) married Samuel Mabry (Sam) Letsinger, known to me as Uncle Sam.

John E. Cross age 29 was the son of Jesse C. Cross and Amelia (Milly) England.  Nancy A. Letsinger age 24 was the daughter of Daniel (Dan) Letsinger and Mary W. Shinpaugh.  Daniel had died before 1860, but Mary W. Shinpaugh was living next door in dwelling number 29.  John E. Cross and Nancy A. Letsinger were probably living on land owned by Mary W. Shinpaugh.

Jesse C. Cross was the son of my fourth great grandparents William Cross the Revolutionary War drummer boy and Mary.  As such, Jesse was the brother of my third great grandfather Alfred Carter Cross.

Amelia (Milly) England was the daughter of my fifth great grandparents John England and Vesta Zipporah Choate.  As such, Milly was the sister of my fourth great grandfather Titus England and also the sister of my fourth great grandmother Sarah (Sallie) England.

John Jackson Letsinger 68 was the son of Phillip Letsinger and Nancy Ann Pettit.  John's brother Daniel (Dan) Letsinger was the great grandfather of Samuel Mabry (Sam) Letsinger.  Uncle Sam married Elza Cordelia (Elzie) Peters who was the sister of my grandfather Ernest Lester (Lester) Peters Sr.  As a result, my mother had Letsinger first cousins, and I have Letsinger second cousins.

Elizabeth Edmiston age 53 was John's first wife.  John's third wife was Mary Jane Peters, daughter of my fourth great grandparents Henry Peters Jr. and Jane England.

Martha M. Key age 30 married first Warren J. Hyden in 1853 in Blount County.  Warren reportedly was killed in 1866 by a bushwhacker.  To the extent that this story is true, Warren's death was probably part of violence in the immediate post Civil War period.  Martha married second William Cole in 1867 in Knox County.  William appears to have died about 1869.  Martha married third Joseph Yarnell in 1872 in Knox County.

I believe that Martha's second husband William Cole was the first cousin of my second great grandfather William Cole.  Martha purchased a 25 acre parcel of land in Knox County and a man named William Cole purchased a 50 acre parcel of land next to Martha's.  I believe that the William Cole who purchased the 50 acres was Martha's second husband.  My second great grandfather William Cole appears to have lived on the land for a short period and to have paid taxes on 30 acres of it.  That's where my second great grandfather William Cole was enumerated in the 1870 census.

Both parcels of land were sold in 1905 by Martha's four daughters.  The parcels were sold as a unit, and each time they have been bought and sold since then they were bought and sold as a unit.

Elizabeth age 67 was my fourth great grandmother.  I do not know her maiden surname, but I know that she was the widow of my fourth great grandfather Titus England who died between 1840 and 1850.

The last two people are a great puzzle.  They don't include an age, sex, and race as are normally listed.  The "by tenant" designation appears more or less as I have transcribed it, where the age etc. ought to be.

James Calvin (Calvin) Giles age 16 later married my third great grandmother Dica Ann (Dicy) Smith.  It was Dicy's second marriage.  Her first husband was my third great grandfather Jacob England.  Jacob died in the Civil War, and Dicy married Calvin Giles in 1865.

Dicy and Jacob were married in Burke County, North Carolina in 1848.  They were living in Anderson County, Tennessee in 1850 and returned to Burke County by 1852.  They were still living in Burke County at the time of the Civil War.

Calvin Giles was from Tennessee.  At some point, he moved to Burke County because he and Dicy were married in Burke County.  Not long afterward, Calvin Giles and his new family returned to Tennessee.

Phillip Hancher Wells age 10/12 later married Ida Rhoda Cole.  Aunt Ida was the daughter of my second great grandparents William Cole and Vesta Clay England.  As such, Aunt Ida was the sister of my great grandmother Sallie Jane Cole.

Phillip Hancher Wells was the son of Jesse Jackson Wells and Susan Magdaline Johnson.

William Roddy age 11 married Charlotte J. (Sharlley or Lottie) Shannon in 1889.  It was the second marriage for both of them.  William's first wife was Martha Elizabeth (Elizabeth) Thomas.

Charlotte's first husband was Thomas J. (Tom) Peters, son of my third great grandparents John W. Peters and Ruby Smith.  As such, Tom was the brother of my second great grandfather John Henry Peters.

William was the son of Samuel Roddy and Lucinda Davis.

Mary E. May was the daughter of James Madison May and Frances F. (Fanny) Smith who were living next door in dwelling number 45.

James Madison (Madison) May was the son of Michael May Sr. and Catherine Detemer, and the grandson of my fifth great grandparents Thomas May Sr. and Maria Catherine Emerich.  As such, Madison was the nephew of my fourth great grandmother Margarethe Elizabeth (Peggy) May.

Madison's wife was Frances F. (Fannie) Smith.

Abraham May was the son of Michael May Sr. and Catherine Detemer, and the grandson of my fifth great grandparents Thomas May Sr. and Maria Catherine Emerich.  As such, Abraham was the nephew of my fourth great grandmother Margarethe Elizabeth (Peggy) May.

Abraham's wife was Gilley Munday.