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March 2016 The newsletter of the Cheatham County Historical and Genealogical Association

History shapes people’s understanding of who they are as individuals and as members of a civilization. One of the CCHGA’s goals for 2016 is to participate in more educational outreach events to discuss Cheatham County History, especially since it is our 160th Anniversary. Without the help of members and volunteers, we could never accomplish this goal! Year-round, we have many great programs, events and projects and can always use volunteer assistance. Whether you have just a few hours per month or a lot of time to dedicate, we’d really like to talk with you about our current volunteer opportunities. Listed below are some of those outreach opportunities with contact information. April

• April 8th, Colonial Days at West Cheatham Elem. Contact Lisa Walker 615.202.5369 • April 14, 2016 – Spring Social - 6:30 pm @ Ashland City Church of Christ Family Life Center .

Contact Lisa Walker 615.202.5369 • April 26, 2016 - Ashland City Senior Citizens would like to have a speaker on Ashland City or

Museum items etc. Contact Lisa Walker 615.202.5369 • April 30, 2016 - Ashland City Farmers Market Opening – River and Roots Festival 10:00 – 3:00

Contact RD Huffines rdhuffines@charter.net May

• May 5, 2016 - 6:00 – 7:00 Cheatham County 160th Anniversary Celebration / Courthouse: Contact Lisa Walker 615.202.5369

• May 12, 2016 – Business Meeting: Contact RD Huffines rdhuffines@charter.net June

• June 6 – 11 – Ashland City Summerfest Contact RD Huffines rdhuffines@charter.net • June 9, 2016 – Business Meeting: Contact Lisa Walker 615.202.5369

July • July 2, 2016 – Pegram 4th of July Parade: Contact RD Huffines rdhuffines@charter.net • July 14, 2016 – Program Meeting – Night Riders w/Rick Gregory Contact Lisa Walker 615.202.5369

April 14, 2016 CCHGA Spring Social Program Meeting 6:30 p.m.

Ashland City Church of Christ Family Life Center “Painting Cheatham County History”

featuring Harold R. Lovell and Anita Lunn H.R. Lovell was born and raised in Cheatham County, Tennessee. Having lived all of his life in the middle Tennessee area, Lovell developed an awareness of his surroundings long before he picked up his first paint brush. His meticulous attention to detail, as well as his obvious eye for light and shadows, are apparent in all of his works.

CCHGA member Anita Goldtrap Lunn painted with Elsa Lockert from 1985 – 1990. She also studied at Nashville Tech under the late Joy Gardner, a noted portrait painter, for 6 years . She has painted the Cumberland River Bridge, Sydney’s Bluff and Big Bluff Creek Bridge.

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ABNER GUPTON (1761-1859) Copied from a newspaper article in the Ashland City, Times by Edna Zornes Cabler

Submitted by Sarah Andrews The Montgomery County 1850 census gives Abner Gupton's age as 89 years. He was born about 1761. His great great grandfather was William Gupton, Senior who came to what is now Richmond County VA as early as 1662. Abner was the son of James and Sarah Gupton. James and his brother, Stephen Gupton, Jr. were Revolutionary War Patriots in Bute County, North Carolina. They took the oath of allegiance to the State of N. C. in Bute County which is now Franklin County, N. C. In the 1775-76 Bute County Committee of Safety Minutes their names are on the list of persons in William Alston's District. Abner Gupton grew up during the Revolutionary War and when he was old enough joined the fight. He was wounded at the Battle of Guilford Court House, N. C. on March 15, 1781. He married Judith Hunt daughter of James Hunt, Sr. and Mary Rackley Hunt in Franklin County on Aug. 30, 1796. They had four children: Mary "Polly", James H., Sarah "Sally", and Abner Gupton, Jr. in North Carolina. On 29 Dec. 1807 Abner Gupton sold 617 acres of land to Michael Eley for the sum of 3,000 silver dollars. Shortly thereafter he moved his family to Montgomery County, TN. On July 21 1808 he purchased a tract of land from William Ward and his wife Prudence (Drake) Ward for $900. This property was on Half Pone Creek at the mouth of Raccoon Creek at Joseph Cartwright's north west corner and was originally land granted to Jonathan Drake by the state of North Carolina (Grant # 1014). Abner added to the first tract by buying 320 acres from Darcus Gray on Sept. 4 1808 for $640. This land was conveyed to her by Frederick Davis. This second tract was on the lower side of the Raccoon fork of Half Pone Creek and was a part of a 640 acre survey granted originally to Joseph Cartwright a soldier of the Continental Army by the State of North Carolina Patent number 525. This is where Abner and Judith lived and where three more children were born. Their names were Judith, Robert Thomas, and Elizabeth Gupton. The settlement was known as Gupton's Crossroads but is now Henrietta, TN. Family tradition has it that the community was named for Abner's granddaughter, Henrietta Gupton Duke. She was the daughter of Robert Thomas and Martha Henrietta (Power) Gupton. Judith Hunt Gupton died on April 14, 1841. On Oct. 5 1841 Abner married Martha A. (Ward) Power mother-in-law of Robert Thomas Gupton and widow of Samuel D. Power, Sr. The children of Abner and Judith (Hunt) Gupton lived to maturity and married. Mary "Polly" Gupton married Thomas Hunter (ancestors of Sarah Harris Andrews), Sarah "Sally" Gupton married John Pardue, James H. Gupton married (1) Sarah Hale (2) Martha Moke (3) Margaret Dowling and had children by his 1st and 3rd wives. Abner Gupton, Jr. married Jane Batts, Judith Gupton married Enoch Dozier, Robert Thomas married Martha Henrietta Power, Elizabeth Gupton married Matthew T. Hale. Abner Gupton died Aug. 20, 1859 when he was about 98 years old. He is buried in the Old Quarter Cemetery. On June 17, 1979, the grave of Abner Gupton was marked by placing a Revolutionary War headstone on his grave. To read more about Abner Gupton see the article by Edna Cabler "Abner Gupton the Revolutionary War Soldier" in the Montgomery County Tennessee Genealogy Journal Volume III #4 pages 81-86.

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THE LINK SCHOOL Submitted by Sarah Andrews

The Link School stood on a hill across the old Clarksville Pike from the hill on which Mallory's Church stands. The site of the school was part of the farm of William Booker "Buck" Link and his wife Amanda. The Link family had come to this farm in 1857. Their son, Professor Samuel Albert Link began the Link School in 1900. This was the first institution to offer a secondary school program in Cheatham County. English, Latin, Greek, History, Geography, Algebra, Geometry, Mental Arithmetic and Physiology were taught. Speech or Elocution and Music were also offered. School hours were from 8 a. m. until 4 p.m. The term ran from Sept. until May. Professor Link's assistant was Sterling Brewer, son of Rev. Sterling C. Brewer, a Circuit Rider for the Methodist Church. Sterling Brewer, Jr. was married to Professor Link's sister, Maizie Link. Sisters, Kate and Cornelia Link, also taught in the school. Other teachers at the Link School were Virginia Yates, Maude Bruce, Stella Nichols, May Suddeth and Fanny Stewart. Students at the school between 1900 and 1907 when it closed were Beacher,Cruseman, and John Baggett, Bob and Nanny (Mrs. John Murphy) Balthrop, Grady Basford, Charlie Bell, Jim and Learline (Mrs. Jerome Hunter) Biggers, Hugh Binkley, Elsie (Mrs. Mays) Bobbitt, Angie (Mrs. Julian Walton), Glen, Grace (Mrs. J. James) Brewer, Hugh Price Brewer, Mollie Bell (Mrs. Gus Holm) Brewer, and Wm. F. Brewer, Minnie (Mrs. Dock Farmer) B rown, Jodie Cagle, Charity and Lucy Crow, Dalton (Mrs. Russell) Draughn, Harlan Duke, Atha (Mrs George Head) Elliott, and Ben and Ed and G. Herman, and Henry Elliott, Ed Ellis, Clevie Everitt, Ann (Mrs. Lawrence Weakley) Fambrough and Herbert Fambrough, H. G. (Dee), John and Rowena (Mrs. Charlie Shearon) Fox, Ernest and Turner T. and Volley Frazier, Georgia (Mrs. J. E. Shelton) Frey, John and Lula (Mrs. Ewing Stroud), and Nannie (Mrs. Vesta Dunn), and Willie (Mrs. Porter) Frey, Edgar Gibbs, Mabel and Myrtle Gilbert, Claude and Ina (Mrs. Herman Orgain), and Irma Gossett, Minnie (Mrs. Dick Felts) Gower, Johnnie and Lena (Mrs. Finis Frazier) Gupton, Lula and Marvin and Millard and Virginia (Mrs. James Bates) Harris, Beulah (Mrs. Howard Eckerly), and Herbert Head, Bessie Hewitt, Willard Hicks, James Humphreys, Mary ( Mrs. Tipton) Hunt, Eva (Mrs. Geo. Walker), and Morris and Ola Hunter, Maggie (Mrs. Dickson) Hyde , Billy Jackson, Mary (Mrs. Julian Jarrell), and Rettie (Mrs. J. Shearon) Jacob, Lena (Mrs. Tom Rosson) King, Mary Krantz, Edna (Mrs. Herbert Head) and Eula (Mrs. S. C. Ownsby) and Sallie Lawrence, Millie (Mrs. Henry Reagan) and Ora Lee, Elsie (Mrs. J. M. Bourne) and Lois (Mrs. Dolph Barker) Link, Tommy Lipscomb, Harry Mallory, Waller Maxey, Cora (Mrs. Gibbs) Mayo, Nannie and Sidney Morris, Floyd (Mrs. Swann) Murphy, Bates and Jordan Nichols, Eula (Mrs.Rhinehart), and George, Ira, John, Mazie, Nancy (Mrs. Aaron Smith), and Ramah Nicholson, Clarence Owen, Altus, and Effie Lee (Mrs. Will Gower), and Eura (Mrs. Jerome Pennington), and Everitt, and Houston, and Mina Lee (Mrs. Henry Frech), and Norris, and Ruby Pace, Charlie and Irene Page, Homer and Kate (Mrs. Grant Landis) Pascall, Annie May (Mrs. John Nicholson) Patton, John O. Pickering, Fannie (Mrs. Langford) Poole, Shelton Rosson, Constance (Mrs. Clarence Brown) and Maude Rudolph, Alma, Finis, Forest, Jesse, and Susie (Mrs. Bates Nichols) Shearon, Henry Simpkins, Roy Sisler, Sammie Smith (Mrs. James Shearon), Lula (Mrs. J. M. Harris) Stewart, Flora (Mrs. Melville Walker), Mary (Mrs. Jack Williams),and Ruth (Mrs. Tom King) Suell, Ellen (Mrs. Henry Simpkins), and Frank and Naomi Teasley, George, Melville, and Saber Walker, Jessie A. and Lawrence Weakley , Alex, and Charlie (Mrs. Sterling Hunt) and Cora (Mrs. George Nicholson) and Lucy "Topsy" (Mrs. Henry Bell), and Rebecca Williams , Blanche (Mrs. Dunnison) and Paul and Sam and Tom Wilson and Tom Winters.

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Copied from "The Link School " by Nancy Duke Murphy In 1908 The Link School became a County Elementary School. It was a two teacher school and went through the eighth grade. Sterling Brewer,Jr. and his daughter, Grace James, were the first teachers. Other teachers at the Thomasville Elementary School were: Kate Link, Mary Suell Williams, Ruth Suell King, Blanche Lenox McKnight, Judge Samuel L. Felts, Mary Jacob, Mina Simpson, Belle Link, Edna Fambrough Hewitt, Edna Hicks, Walter Basford, Irene Hagewood, Bess Harper, Edith Mayo, Madolyn Basford, Annie Harris Dozier, Elise Hewitt, Novella Walker, Fred Gupton, Pauline Hagewood, Dr. Flintoff Adkinson, Ollie Hunt, Sally Hale, Ruth Shelton, Frances Ellis and Elizabeth Jarrell. After 1937 the attendance dropped and it became a one teacher school until it was closed in 1946. The Modern Woodmen of America and the Oddfellows Organizations used the school building for a meeting place until the 1940s.

Elected 2/11/2016 CCHGA officers President: R. D. Huffines

Vice-President: Gary Chance Treasurer: Betty Cannon

Assistant Treasurer: Lisa Walker Secretary: Judy Mayo

Assistant Secretary: May Lingner Member at Large: Sarah Andrews

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Adam Binkley - Request for Pension Submitted by R. David Lee

Adam Binkley appeared on the 4th day of August, 1832 before the Davidson County, TN court and made this declaration being 93 years of age and a resident of Davidson County, TN. He entered the service of the United States in the days of the revolution in the year 1778 as he resided in the state of North Carolina, Surry County. At that time there was a signup for volunteers to go against the British at Kings Mountain, as lieutenant in Capt Henry Smith’s company of volunteers which belonged to the regiment commanded by Col Joseph Williams which Joseph Winston was major. One General Joseph Williams was Commander in Chief and Col Campbell and Col Clevely were also in the expedition. He said that on the occasion he marched from Surry county to Kings Mountain and was in the Battle of Kings Mountain in which Major Ferguson, the commander of the British was killed. He was in the service sometime on this occasion, the precise time he cannot easily remember. His next term of service was in going from Surry county, NC to Savannah, Ga with the NC troops under Gen Rutherford with my wagon and team, driving the same team to Savannah and back. His next term of service was about the time of the battle of Guilford when he was out about two months and was in the battle of Guilford Courthouse on which occasion he commanded a company of volunteers under Col Macayah Lewis, first major and John Goode was major and one Paisley was Col. Gen Green was commander in chief. Besides this term of service, I frequently served a few weeks or days at a time both against the British and the Tories, having gone out every time there was a requisition for troops and always as a volunteer, never having been drafted. He states that all of his tours put together would amount to more than two years. Being now very old and in my 94th year and not knowing that my service would ever be any value, he states that he now has no documentary evidence which can be produced on this subject as he does not believe he can produce testimony of any of his officers, believing them all dead. Come hear Harold Lovell and Anita Lunn speak about their art work on April 14, 2016! Refreshments will be served!

Visit CCHGA on Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/cheathamcountyhistory

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Deed Book B, Page 735 Braxton Lee grant for Forest Hills Church and Cemetery

Please bring items on April 14 to the meeting for CCHGA’s Spring Social door prizes!

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CCHGA members and friends toured and researched at the Tennessee State Library & Archives on Saturday, March 5, 2016. From left to right: Lisa Walker, Gordon Belt, Director of Public Services, Rachel Ellis, Neva Beck, Patrick Smith, Ed Beck, Rosemary Klein. Sitting: May Lingner, Sarah Andrews. Not pictured, Franklin, Michelle and Amelia Grace Wilkinson.

Cheatham County: Celebrating 160 Years

May 5, 2016 Cheatham County Courthouse Lawn

6:00 p.m. Please join Mayor David McCullough and others at this free event celebrating

Cheatham County’s 160 years of history. Bring your blanket to sit on & listen to music and enjoy free cake & ice cream!

Questions? Contact Cheatham County Historian Lisa Walker lisaewalker@bellsouth.net

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Harris Market in Thomasville, TN The Nashville Tennessean Magazine, 1946 (from Betty Freeman’s article) This photo shows William R. Harris’ one room market. In 1946, he stated he had been in business for 53 years as Thomasville’s only general merchant. He started “storekeeping” June 19th, 1893. Advertisements and calendars hung on the walls, on counters, on string lines from wall to wall and on the balcony railings. The post office was also located in this building for 48 years and Mr. Harris served as postmaster. Thomasville’s 58

citizens regularly visited him 6 days a week (and sometimes on Sunday) for merchandise and to use the telephone.

CCHGA BYTES Cheatham County Historical and Genealogical Association P. O. Box 703, Ashland City, TN 37015 Phone 615-792-3623 cchga007@bellsouth.net http://www.rootsweb.com/~tncchga/