Life History

Notes

• Henry Gregory's family has not been located prior to his enumeration in the 1850 census.  It seems likely that Henry's father was one of the Gregorys that migrated from Virginia, but no certain date has been determined, and no definite connection to other Gregorys has been confirmed.  See at the end an overview of Gregory movement from Pennsylvania-Northern Virginia southward and westward.
  
  Naming patterns in various Gregory lineages, as well as migration of his children between other counties in eastern Tennessee and northern Alabama, indicate he is related to other documented Gregorys from Virginia, and distributed through North Carolina and Tennessee into Alabama and points west.
  
  A likely connection appeared only in November 2016.  A sparsely detailed genealogy seemed to be presenting information from family memory, and one child of the family had full death and burial information.  The father Richard Gregory, was from Fauquier County, Virginia, and one son was Phillip, born in Virginia and died in Bell County, Texas.  Born in 1818, he was just a few years older than James Henry Gregory, who was born in Jefferson County, Tennessee.
  
  One of Phillip's brothers was named James, according to the Cooper genealogy.  No date of birth was known for any child except Phillip.  Two brothers bore names also common in James Henry's Gregory family, William and George. This family was added to the genealogy to facilitate searching and location of other records for these individuals.
  
  Richard Gregory, No vital details
  Parents:
  George Washington Gregory 1790-
  Mary Hawkins
  Marriage 25 Aug 1817 Fauquier County, VA to Dorcas Fishback (1781-)
  Birth of Son Phillip Gregory 09-09-1818 Virginia
  Other Children, no dates or details:
  Miranda Gregory
  James Gregory
  George Gregory
  William Gregory
  Death of Son Phillip Gregory October 1895 Bell County, Texas
  --  Carolyn Cooper, Ancestry, http://person.ancestry.com/tree/82712569/person/48465427962/facts?ftm=1
  
  Because the details are missing from so many of these, this genealogy has to be considered a low credibility source.  The names proposed do, however, provide clues to possibilities, but could not be clearly identified.  Other connections for Phillip were pursued by another Gregory researcher, Steve Squier.  Steve contacted me with some other Gregory families he had found living in areas of Cherokee County, Alabama, and Jefferson County, Tennessee, where James Henry Gregory and Rachel Lewis had lived.
  
  Some possibilities, but no clear connections had been found in Jefferson County, but had been found earlier.  But Cherokee County had not been systematically explored yet for other Gregorys.  The families Steve had found and the circumstances of their families and ages seemed to indicate these were the proper siblings, and the father of all these seemed to Few Gregory.
  
  Checking the other Gregory families Steve had found in Cherokee County, Alabama, I found them close to James Henry Gregory.  Henry Gregory and the other families were enumerated on a range of about 5 census pages of the 1850 census.  Few Gregory and some of the likely children migrated to Washington County, Arkansas.  While James Henry Gregory remained in Jefferson County, Tennessee, some of his children moved on to Alabama and westward to Texas and Indian Territory.
  
  Carolyn Cooper's son named William above could be the unidentified son in the 1810 and 1830 censuses for Richard Gregory.  He would not easily fit at a later birth date, given that all the other children reported in the 1840 census for Richard's family are accounted for by other known names.  Other records found later seem to support this.  Steve Squier also came to this conclusion as we were separately working in parallel on this family after Steve first contacted me.
  
  Our thanks to Steve Squier for his analysis of the early censuses.  James Henry is accounted for from the 1830 censuses for the household of Richard Gregory.
  
  1830 Jefferson Co., TN
  male 40-49 = Richard Gregory
  female 40-49 = Dorcas Fishback
  [note that Sarah Ann is out of the household, having been married the previous February]
  male 20-29 = unidentified son (b. 1801-1810) [William]
  male 15-19 = Few H. Gregory (b. ~1813 VA)
  male 10-14 = Phillip Gregory (b. ~1817 VA)
  female 10-14 = Lucretia Gregory (b. ~1819 TN)
  female 5-9 = Mary Jane Gregory (b. ~1820 TN)
  female 5-9 = Susan Gregory (b. ~1821 TN)
  male 5-9 = James Henry Gregory (b. Apr 1826 TN)
  male 60-69 = an elderly relative
  female 60-69 = an elderly relative
  
  1840 Jefferson Co., TN
  male 50-59 = Richard Gregory
  female 50-59 = Dorcas Fishback
  [the unidentified son and Few are now out of the household, Few having been married in 1834]
  male 20-29 = Phillip Gregory (b. ~1817 VA)
  female 20-29 = Lucretia Gregory (b. ~1819 TN)
  female 20-29 = Mary Jane Gregory (b. ~1820 TN)
  female 15-19 = Susan Gregory (b. ~1821 TN)
  male 15-19 = James Henry Gregory (b. Apr 1826 TN)
  female 5-9 = Cynthia Gregory (b. ~1831/32 TN)
  --  Steve Squier, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 23 August 2017
  
  The place of marriage for Henry Gregory and Rachel Lewis was originally reported as Tennessee based on circumstantial information associating the Gregory family with Jefferson County, their Tennessee birth and the fact that Henry and Rachel moved back there in about 1869.  They were followed some time later by their son Dock Patrick.  The associated Strange families are also seated in Jefferson County since the 1830 census.
  
  Rachel's maiden name was unknown until May 2013, when I found Rachel/Rachael's son Andrew Jackson's death certificate.  This reported his mother's maiden name as Lewis.  This also tells us Henry's first name was James.  Here her name is spelled Rachel.  Some records and family genealogies spelled it Rachael.
  
  Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002
  Rachel Lewis
  Spouse James H Gregory
  Marriage 20 Nov 1847 Jefferson County
  
  Jefferson County was part of the State of Franklin a few years before Henry and Rachel were born.  The area was part of North Carolina until North Carolina ceded it to the United States in 1789.  Now known as Eastern Tennessee, it was organized in 1784 as the State of Franklin, but the effort faded by around 1790, and the entity was never recognized by the United States.
  
  -----------------------
  [Jefferson County]  East Tennessee county established in 1792. From 1784 to 1788, this land was claimed by the abortive, and short-lived State of Franklin.  Jefferson County was named after Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) who became President in 1797.
  
  The land of Jefferson County was first organized by the State of Franklin in March 1786 from part of Greene County under the name Caswell County. However, the Franklin statehood effort faded by 1789. Caswell county existed only briefly, its legality is questionable, and little trace remains. ...
  
  In the 1780s, this county's land fell within the bounds of the State of Franklin.
  
  In 1789 North Carolina ceded its westernmost counties to the United States which used them to form the Southwest Territory. North Carolina and the Southwest Territory did not recognize Franklin's Caswell County or Sevier County. In 1789 the residents South of the French Broad (which included Jefferson County) petitioned North Carolina for relief from the Indian problems. This petition contains names of some Jefferson County residents.
  
  In 1792 the Southwest Territory using land from its Greene and Hawkins counties erected a new county on much of the old Caswell County land, and named it Jefferson County. Sevier County was reconstituted in 1794 by the Southwest Territory from part of Jefferson County.
  --  Jefferson County, Tennessee Genealogy," Wikipedia, https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Jefferson_County,_Tennessee_Genealogy
  -----------------------
  
  -----------------
  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, or 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.
  
  I have traveled 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.
  
  Also thought to belong to this line of Gregorys is one Few Hall Gregory.  Few was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, in 1781 and established himself as a physician and farmer in Monroe County, Tennessee.  It is thought by some Gregory family sources that his mother was a Few, perhaps named Susannah, but records are lacking.
  
  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.
  
  The Fews in NC apparently followed the westerly route over the Smokies into Tennessee into Jefferson and surrounding counties where they connected again with the Gregory lineage.  We find them in the family of Francis Marion Few from North Carolina in Jefferson County, Tennessee, where his daughter Letha married Andrew Jackson Gregory, brother of my great great grandfather Dock Patrick Gregory.
  
  Crossflow
  Traffic went both ways along those Midwestern routes over a period of two centuries.  Great migrations northward occurred int eh 1920s and later because of extensive floods along the Mississippi, destroying much of the Delta South.  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.
  -----------------
  
  In 1850 through 1870, Henry and his wife Rachel are found living in Cherokee County, Alabama.  This census reports them both born in Tennessee.
  
  1850 Federal Census, Cherokee  County, Alabama, 7 February 1851 [sic], District 26, page 118, Hse/Fam 821
  Henry Gregory  25 M  Farmer  born Tenn  Cannot read and write
  Rachel Gregory 21 F born Tenn  Cannot read and write
  Julia Gregory 1 F born Ala
  
  Henry and Rachel married in Tennessee in late 1847, moved soon afterwards to Cherokee County, Alabama, where their first child Julia was born in 1849 (age 1 in 1850 Cherokee County, Alabama, census).
  
  Given the other names in the following court case summary, the James Gregory mentioned is probably this James Henry Gregory, thought to be the brother of Phillip Gregory and son of Richard Gregory, mentioned in the case.
  
  -------------------------------
  1853
  Theodore I. Bradford & William Evans v. A. S. Mason, et al.
  
  Jefferson County, Tennessee
  
  Estate Dispute/Settlement
  
  William Gregory [son of Richard Gregory and Lucretia Jones of Virginia], died intestate, his estate settled [?]. Richard Gregory [father of William] was made admr of the estate, then he died.
  
  Isaac Rhinehart [husband of Susan Gregory, William's sister] was then made executor of the Gregory estate, which was insolvent.
  Bradford & Evans were security on the estate, sued to settle the estate.
  
  Mentioned: Sarah Gregory [Sarah Ann Gregory, daughter of Richard and his first wife Lucretia Jones], Isaac Rhinehart [husband of Susan Gregory], D. A. Gregory [Darthula A Gregory, daughter of William Gregory and Mary Ann (Bragg)], M. I. Gregory [probably MJ, for Mary Jane, daughter of Richard], Susan Gregory Rhinehart [daughter of Richard Gregory and Dorcas Fishback of Jefferson County, Tennessee], Philip Gregory [son of Richard Gregory], James Webb [husband of Lucretia Gregory], Lucretia [Gregory, Richard's daughter] Webb, James Gregory [James Henry Gregory of Jefferson County, Tennessee, brother of William and son of Richard].
  
  East Range 5, Section A, Shelf 3, Box Number 8a, p 117
  
  --  Tennessee Supreme Court Cases, Tennessee State Library and Archives, https://supreme-court-cases.tennsos.org/search?search=1&search_fields%5B%5D=case_name%2Ccause%2Cnotes&search_fields%5B%5D=case_name&search_fields%5B%5D=cause&search_fields%5B%5D=notes&county=Jefferson&start_year=&end_year=&search_keywords=Gregory
  -------------------------------
  
  1860 Federal Census, Cherokee County, Alabama, 11 June, District 3, PO Ringgold, page 7, Hse/Fam #37
  Gregory, Henry 35 M Farmer born Tenn
  Gregory, Reachael 30 M Domestic born Tenn
  Gregory, Julia 11 F born Tenn
  Gregory, Andrew G 10 M born Tenn
  Gregory, Henrietta 7 F  born Ala
  Gregory, Patrick 4 M  born Ala
  Gregory, Sarah A 1 F  born Ala
  
  If the birth state reports for the chidlren in the 1870 census are correct, then Henry and Rachel moved back to Jefferson County, Tennessee, some time in 1869 after the birth of Cora, who was reported as only 1 yeaer old in the 1870 census.  Note that the 1860 census reported that Julia and Andrew were born in Tennessee, while Henrietta, Patrick and Sarah were born in Alabama.  But the 1870 census reports all the children as born in Alabama.
  
  1870 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee, 16 August, District 5, PO Trion, page 10, Hse/Fam #71
  Henry Gregory M 50 M W Wagon Maker $767 Personal Estate b Tennessee Cannot read or write
  Rachel Gregory 43 F W  Keeps House  b Tennessee [b abt 1827]
  Julia A Gregory 21 F W b Alabama [b abt 1849] Cannot read or write
  Jackson Gregory 19 M W b Alabama [b abt 1851] Cannot read or write
  Henrietta Gregory 17 F W b Alabama [b abt 1853] Cannot read or write
  Patrick E Gregory 15 M W b Alabama [b abt 1853] Cannot read or write
  Sarah E Gregory 11 F W b Alabama [b abt 1859] Cannot read or write
  Mahala Gregory 9 F W b Alabama [b abt 1861] Cannot read or write
  George Gregory 4 M W b Alabama [b abt 1866] Cannot read or write
  Cora F Gregory 1 F W b Alabama [b abt 1869] Cannot read or write
  
  Ancestry transcribes the family name  in the 1880 census as Gregary.  This spelling is found at various times for families in New York.  Actually, it is a cramped and scrawled handwriting and written with a wide-nib pen, with most of the Es and Os closed.  So it could just as easily be Gregory.  The 1880 census is unaware that any of the children were born in Alabama.
  
  1880 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee, 16 June, Civil District 5, Enumeration District 177, p 34B, Hse #280, Fam #284
  Gregory, Henry   W M  60  Farmer TN TN TN
  Gregory, Rachel  W F   58  Wife  Keep Hse  TN TN TN Cannot read or write
  Gregory, Henrietter W F  24  Dau  At Home  TN TN TN Cannot read or write
  Gregory, Malinda W F  22   Dau  At Home TN TN TN Cannot read or write
  Gregory, George W M   15 Son   Farm Hand TN TN TN Cannot read or write
  Gregory, Cora W F  12 Dau  TN TN TN Cannot read or write
  Gregory, William R  W M  8  Son   TN TN TN Cannot read or write
  
  Henry and Rachel's son Jackson is living next door to them.
  
  As with many of the census reports, there is some discrepancy in the birth year of Henry:
  1850 Cherokee County, Alabama, Federal Census indicates 25 years old (thus born in 1825).
  1860 Cherokee County, Alabama, Federal Census indicates 35 years old (thus born in 1825).
  1870 Jefferson County, Tennessee, Federal Census indicates 50 years old (thus born in 1820).
  1880 Jefferson County, Tennessee, Federal Census indicates 60 years old (thus born in 1820).
  1900 Jefferson County, Tennessee, Federal Census indicates 74 years old (thus born in 1826).
  
  The entry for the nearby household of Jackson Gregary, son of Henry, is also spelled GREGARY in 1880 census, while name of his brother (Dock) Patrick and his household was spelled Gregory.
  
  An entry in an 1891 Voter Roll seems to be for James Henry.
  
  Tennessee, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1810-1891
  Henry Gregory
  Jefferson County, TN, Dist. 17, Male Voters
  TN 1891 Voters List, Page 27
  
  In 1900 Henry and Rachel are in one household (Hse #162/Fam #169) with married son William R (Hse #162/Fam #170) and wife Darthula (reported in the 1900 census as Thula) and 8-month old George R Gregory.
  
  1900 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee, 20 June, 5th Civil District, Enumeration District 45, page 10A, Hse #162, Fam #169
  Gregory, Henry  Head  W M  Apr 1826   74  Married 53 years TN TN TN Farmer Rents
  Gregory, Rachel  Wife  W F  Jun 1830  69 Married 53 years  10 children/8 living TN TN TN
  - Hse #162, Fam #170 -
  Gregory, William  Head W M  Sept 1871 28  Married 2 years  TN TN TN Farmer
  Gregory, Thula  Wife  W F  Oct 1881  18  Married 2 years  1 child/1 living TN TN TN
  Gregory, George R Son W M  Sept 1899  8mos  TN TN TN
  
  Cora did not marry until 1903, but she is not in her parents' household here, and no 1900 census record has been found for her.  She married J W Oliver in Cherokee County, Alabama, where she had been born.
  
  I cannot find Henry or Rachel in the 1910 census.  I conclude from this that they died at some time between the 1900 and 1910 censuses.  I have also been unable to find burial information.  But as far as we know otherwise, Henry and Rachel never moved away from Jefferson County, Tennessee.
  
  In the 1920 census report for Henry's son Dock (Elmore, Oklahoma), the birthplace of Dock's father is reported as Virginia, instead of Tennessee.
  1920 Gregory Patrick  Head  M W  67  AL VA TN Farmer
  1930 Gregory Doc G  Head  M W  78  AL VA TN Farmer
  
  In all the previous reports the birthplace of Dock's father has been reported as Tennessee.  Likewise in the reports on Henry himself, the birthplace has been reported as Tennessee.
  
  There are several indications that Henry's parents came from Virginia.  But indications are also that Henry Gregory was born in Tennessee, not Virginia.  We have some tentative links but comment on the strength or weakness of the various evidences and possible indicators.
  
  The Gregorys and Lewises orignally came from Virginia. They lived some while also in Cherokee County, Alabama, where Malinda was born.  Other members of this Gregory family in two or three generations were back and forth between these two counties. Some moved on westward.
  
  Henry and Rachel's burials have not been found, but they are thought to have been buried on the Gregory farm near Dandridge:

Sources

• 1. 1900 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 20 June, 5th Civil District, Enumeration District 45, page 10A, Hse #162, Fam #169
• 2. 1850 Federal Census, Cherokee County, Alabama
  • 7 February 1851 [sic], 26th District, Page 61A , Hse #821
• 3. 1880 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 16 June, Civil District 5, Enumeration District 177, p 34B, Hse #280, Fam #284
• 4. Mary Ellen Parker Genealogy Research
  • Email of 4 May 2000 to Alfred and Pam Gregory
• 5. 1860 Federal Census, Cherokee County, Alabama
  • 11 June, District 3, PO Ringgold, page 7, Hse/Fam #37
• 6. 1830 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
• 7. 1850 Federal Census, Cherokee County, Alabama
  • 7 February, 26th District, Page 61A , Hse #821
• 8. 1870 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 16 August, District 5, PO Trion, page 10, Hse/Fam #71
• 9. Tennessee, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1810-1891
• 10. 1840 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
• 11. 1850 Federal Census, Cherokee County, Alabama
  • 7 February 1851 [sic], District 26, page 118, Hse/Fam 821
• 12. Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002
• 13. Mary Ellen Parker Genealogy Research
  • Email 4 May 2000 to Alfred and Pam Gregory
• 14. Ancestry Trees
• 15. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
• 16. Tennessee, Deaths and Burials Index, 1874-1955
• 17. 1850 Federal Census, Cherokee County, Alabama
  • 7 February 1851 [sic], District 26, page 118, Hse/Fam 821
• 18. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
  • Memorial #63718379, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=63718379
• 19. Tennessee Death Certificates
• 20. 1880 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 16 June, Civil District 5, Enumeration District 177, p 34B, Hse #281, Fam #285
• 21. 1900 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 16 June, Civil District 17, Enumeration District 55, page 10A, Hse/Fam #171
• 22. 1920 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 7 January, Civil District 8, Enumeration District 78, page 3A, Chesnut Hill Path, Hse/Fam #46
• 23. Tennessee, Death Records, 1908-1958
• 24. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 25. Loretta Gregory Gay Genealogical Research
• 26. 1930 Federal Census, Garvin County, Oklahoma
  • 18 April, Elmore Twnshp, District 25-8, page 10B, Hse #183, Fam #192
• 27. 1920 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 19 January, District 73, page 7B, Dandridge Rd, Hse/Fam #159
• 28. 1900 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 20 June, 5th Civil District, Enumeration District 45, page 10A, Hse #162, Fam #170
• 29. One World Tree (sm)
  • http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/person.aspx?pid=97316671&st=1
• 30. 1930 Federal Census, Cocke County, Tennessee
  • 28 April, District 6, page 20A, District 15, State Hwy 9, Hse #393, Fam #387
• 31. 1910 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 26 April, Civil District 5, page 3B, District 71, Hse #53, Fam #54
• 32. RootsWeb Trees