Francis Marion FEW Andrew Jackson GREGORY Mary Etta GREGORY James Henry GREGORY Arthur M GREGORY Harriet Rachel GREGORY Mattie Katherine GREGORY Ethel Viola GREGORY George Francis GREGORY Martha Jane GREGORY Lester Lee GREGORY William Robert FEW Lucy Jane FEW Emma T FEW Hannah M CHILDS Mini tree diagram
Letha FEW

Letha FEW6,2,7,5,3,4,8,4

also known as Talitha FEW5

May 18541,2,3,4,4 - 31st Mar 19304

Life History

May 1854

Born in South Carolina.1,2,3,4,4

27th May 1877

Married Andrew Jackson GREGORY in Cocke County, Tennessee.5

29th Mar 1879

Birth of daughter Mary Etta GREGORY in Jefferson County, Tennessee.9,10

29th Jun 1881

Birth of son James Henry GREGORY in Dandridge Jefferson, Tennessee.11,6,12,4

11th Apr 1884

Birth of son Arthur M GREGORY in Jefferson County, Tennessee.13,6,14,15

10th Aug 1885

Birth of daughter Harriet Rachel GREGORY in Dandridge, Jefferson, Tennessee.6,8,16,17

Sep 1888

Birth of daughter Mattie Katherine GREGORY in Jefferson County, Tennessee.6,5

May 1891

Birth of daughter Ethel Viola GREGORY in Jefferson County, Tennessee.2,6,15

17th Oct 1892

Birth of son George Francis GREGORY in Jefferson County, Tennessee.6,13,18,12,4

1st Jun 1897

Birth of daughter Martha Jane GREGORY in Dandridge, Jefferson, Tennessee.2,6,16,4,15

19th May 1898

Birth of son Lester Lee GREGORY in Dandridge, Jefferson, Tennessee.6,19,13,20,17,12,21

31st Mar 1930

Died in Dandridge, Jefferson, Tennessee.4

Lobar pneumonia

1st Apr 1930

Buried in Chestnut Hill Cemetery, Chestnut Hill, Jefferson County, Tennessee..4

Notes

  • ----------------------
    Gregorys and Fews in Migration Patterns from the 1700s
    By Orville Boyd Jenkins
    Posted on Ancestry.com 16 October 2017

    One factor in reconstructing a family lineage are patterns of movement and migration.  These migration paths are helpful in finding and evaluating records in our Gregory and related Few line.  We see Gregory records in a generational pattern along the migration streams along the tidewater area or valleys southwards and westward.

    Westward
    Records are being discovered in the westward line from Philadelphia through Frederick and Hagerstown, Maryland, through what is now West Virginia, still part of Virginia in the era we are looking at, and on to Ohio and Indiana.  Brothers John, Richard and Benjamin Gregory, thought to be sons of Isaac Gregory of Pennsylvania, are mentioned several times in lists of residents of old Frederick County, Virginia, a large area at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley, also on a common east-west migration route.

    Records for a younger Richard Gregory are found in Culpeper County and Fauquier County, Virginia, on this westward path south of the Pennsylvania border.  These two counties were established in 1749, cut out of Orange County, the original huge area from which Frederick County was originally established in 1743.  These counties bordered Frederick County on the east.

    Dates and locations of various records match a line of movement from the residence of Richard's likely grandfather Benjamin Gregory of Pennsylvania, into Frederick County, and later back to eastern Virginia in Prince William County, across the Potomac from Washington, DC.  This westward line of migration connects with the great Shenandoah Valley running southwestward along the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains in what is now West Virginia.

    Records for a Lewis Gregory, who appears to be a son of Benjamin, son of Isaac, are found along this Shenadoah Valley route then across into the part of Virginia that later became Kentucky, one of the areas where Fews and Gregorys come into contact.  This matches the pattern of residence and Gregory-Few marriages in some of these areas along this southward line of migration.  Details are found in individual notes for the Fews and Gregorys.  Gregorys from this lineage moved westward a bit to the part of Virginia that is now northern Kentucky.

    Southward
    Gregorys are found along the Shenandoah Valley which runs southwestward from Hagerstown to Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee, on the border, on through Jefferson and Cocke County, which were all one area of North Carolina, then East Tennessee (current I-81 to I-40 to Knoxville) in the 1700s and early 1800s and on toward Cherokee and contiguous counties in Alabama.

    We find Gregorys that appear to be from two different lineages who followed the Shenandoah or similar route from Philadelphia-Baltimore through Virginia into Tennessee, our line through the easterly route of the named east Tennessee counties, the other a bit more westerly, with members of both lines in Kentucky.

    These two lines seem to be connected to the same line from Pennsylvania and northern Virginia.  But there are indication of one or two separate migration streams in the same areas.  Early sources are not clear on these lines, and similar names in what may be different lineages seem to have been confused in some genealogies.

    I have been through all these areas and explored these lines of migration so have these in mind as I read through records and watch for connections and clues.

    Westward Ho
    Gregorys in the line of James Henry Gregory and Rachel Lewis are found in those counties of Tennessee from Jefferson-Cocke on to Knox, McMinn (where we find both these Gregorys, with apparently no crossover), Franklin, etc, in the westward migration route.  Gregorys of our lineage also seem to have moved northwestward through the mountain passes toward Louisville.

    Fews and Gregorys are connected in the states of Virginia, Kentucky (which was originally part of Virginia colony), North Carolina and Tennessee (which was originally part of North Carolina Colony) in several generations.  The Fews in North Carolina apparently followed the westerly route over the Smokies into Tennessee into Jefferson County, Tennessee, and surrounding counties where they connected again with the Gregory lineage.  We find them in the family of Francis Marion Few from North Carolina Jefferson County, Tennessee, where his daughter Letha married Andrew Jackson Gregory, my great great grandfather's brother.

    Crossflow
    Traffic went both ways along those Midwestern routes over a period of two centuries.  Fews moved into the Louisville, Kentucky, area from Indiana (across the Ohio River.  Gregorys and Fews also moved from eastern Tennessee into Kentucky.

    Great migrations northward occurred in the 1920s and later because of extensive floods along the Mississippi, destroying much of the Delta South.  The depression added to this exodus northward.  Midwestern droughts accelerated movement to California.  Further industrialization in the next two decades and after WWII accelerated this migration northward and westward.

    The geographical indicators are not only contiguous counties, but similarly in the counties along these common natural migration routes, which also reveal patterns of the same family decade to decade and generation to generation.  These patterns match the same kinds of patterns we find in ethnic investigations all over the world.
    ----------------------

    Letha's name on her gave is Letha Few.  Her death certificate has Letha Feese. After years with only Feese as a name, finding the name Few on her gravestone on Find a Grave led to an 1860 census record that appeared to match her family.

    Two censuses report her born in South Carolina, though most say Tennessee.  In 1860 the following record in Greenville, South Carolina, appears to be for Lathy at age 6, matching the approximate birth year from her age in later census records for Letha Gregory.

    1860 Federal Census, Greenville County, South Carolina, 27 June, Greenville, P O Gowinsville, page 34, Hse #271, Fam #236
    F M Few 40 M Farmer $75 Real Estate $460 Personal born So Car
    Hannah M Few 34 F Housekeeper born No Car Cannot read or write
    Lathy Few 6 F born So Car
    William R Few 5 M born So Car
    Lucy J Few 4 F born So Car
    James Dunlap 21 M Apprentice b So Car

    Her marriage record has her maiden name as Few.  Her first name is spelled in the pronunciation of the local dialect.

    Tennessee, Marriage Records, 1780-2002
    Lethee Few
    (This document has her nickname as both Lethee and Lethey, and the JP performing the ceremony wrote it as the full form of the name Talitha.  A third short form appears here as adidtional testimony to the illiteracy or carelessness of the clerk who filled out this marriage form.  Here name often That form appears to be either Letheee or Lethere.  Her name more commonoly is known as Letha.)
    Groom Jackson Gregory
    License issued 25 May 1877
    Marriage 27 May 1877 Cocke County, Tennessee, USA
    Ceremony performed by William Phillips, Justice of the Peace

    The birth state of Letha is reported differently in 1880 (Tennessee) and 1900 (South Carolina).  1910 again reports the birth state as Tennessee.

    1880 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee, 16 June, Civil District 5, Enumeration District 177, p 34B, Hse #281, Fam #285
    Gregory, Jackson  W M  27  Head  Farmer TN TN TN
    Gregory, Letha W F  25 Wife  Keeping Hse  TN TN TN Cannot read or write
    Gregory, Mary A  W F  1  Dau  TN TN TN Cannot read or write

    1900 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee, 16 June, Civil District 17, Enumeration District 55, page 10A, Hse/Fam #171
    Gregory, Andrew J  Head W M Nov 1849  50 Married 22 yrs TN Unknown TN Farmer Owns
    Gregory, Leathy  Wife W F May 1854  46 Married 22 yrs 9 children, 9 living SC SC SC
    Gregory, Mary E  Dau W F Mar 1880  20 Single TN TN SC
    Gregory, James H Son W M Sept 1881  18 Single TN TN SC Farm Laborer
    Gregory, Author M Son W M Apr 1884  16 Single TN TN SC Farm Laborer
    Gregory, Harret B  Dau W F Aug 1885  14 Single TN TN SC
    Gregory, George F Son W M Nov 1887  12 Single TN TN SC Farm Laborer
    Gregory, Mattie B  Dau W F Sept 1888  11 Single TN TN SC
    Gregory, Marthy (?) J  Dau W F May 1890  10 Single TN TN SC
    Gregory, Ethel V  Dau W F May 1892  8 Single TN TN SC
    Gregory, Lester L Son W M May 1896  4 Single TN TN SC

    In 1910, Leathy's 9 children are all still well and in the home with them.

    1910 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee, 4 May, District 8, Enumeration District 77, page 10A, Hse/Fam #150
    Gregory, Jackson  Head M W 55 Married 28 years TN TN TN Farm Laborer Owns
    Gregory, Leathy  Wife F W 51 Married 28 years 9 children/9 living TN TN TN
    Gregory, Mary Dau F W 26 Single TN TN TN
    Gregory, James Son F W 24 Single TN TN TN Farm Laborer
    Gregory, Arthur M Son F W 22 Single TN TN TN Farm Laborer
    Gregory, Minnie Dau F W 20 Single TN TN TN
    Gregory, George Son M W 18 Single TN TN TN  Farm Laborer
    Gregory, Mattie Dau F W 16 Single TN TN TN
    Gregory, Martha J Dau F W 14 Single TN TN TN
    Gregory, Ola Dau F W 12 Single TN TN TN
    Gregory, Lester Son M W 10 Single TX TN TX

    In 1920, Letha and Jack are living near relatives Jim and Mollie Strange in the Chestnut Hill area of Jefferson County.

    1920 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee, 7 January, Civil District 8, Enumeration District 78, page 3A, Chesnut Hill Path, Hse/Fam #46
    Gregory, Jack Head Owns M W  64 AL TN TN Farmer
    Gregory, Leath Wife F W  62 SC SC SC
    Gregory, Jannie [Janie] Dau F W  23 TN AL SC
    Gregory, Viola  Dau F W  21 TN AL SC
    Gregory, Lester  Son M W  20 TN AL SC Farm Laborer
    Gregory, Tuller [Thula?] Wife [of Lester] F W  20 TN TN TN School Teacher
    Gregory, George Son M W  27 TN AL SC

    Letha died the last day of March 1930 and was buried the next day. about 2 weeks before the census was taken for Jack's household.  Her death certificate reports she was born in South Carolina.  Before finding her death certificate in May 2013, I had seen no information on her family or maiden name.  The certificate reports her father as Francis Feese rather than Few.  She named one of her sons George Francis.

    Tennessee, Death Records, 1908-1958
    Certificate #11156
    Letha Gregory [Letha Few]
    Gender Female
    Residence Dandridge, Tennessee
    Age 75, Birth abt 1855 South Carolina
    Occupation Housekeeper
    Death 31 Mar 1930 Chestnut Hill, Jefferson, Tennessee
    Cause of death Lobar pneumonia
    Father Francis Few born South Carolina
    Mother Harrett [Harriet] Childs born South Carolina
    Informant Jack Gregory, Dandridge, Tennessee
    Burial 1 April 1930 Chestnut Hill Cemetery, by John C Holder and Co of Newport [Cocke County], Tennessee

    No memorial for Letha has been found in Chestnut Hill Cemetery or the Taft Cemetery where her husband Andrew is buried. Her name does not appear on burial lists for any area cemeteries.

Sources

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