SOUTHERN KITH AND KIN VoL.4 A Record of My Children's Ancestors, Family Potpourri By JEWEL DAVIS SCARBOROUGH Copyright 1958 by JEWEL DAVIS SCARBOROUGH Abilene, Texas BOOKS BY JEWEL DAVIS SCARBOROUGH Southern Kith and Kin, Vol. 1: The Locketts. Southern Kith and Kin, Vol. 2: The Davises and Their Con­ nections. Southern Kith and Kin, Vol. 3: Major James Scarborough, His Ancestors and Descendants. Southern Kith and Kin, Vol. 4: Family Potpourri. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. The Aldredges. Chapter 2. Georgia and Her Land Grants, Bounty Grants, and Lotteries. Chapter 3. Nathan Aldredge and His Descendants. Chapter 4. Samuel Hanson, Georgia Revolutionary Sol­ dier. Chapter '5. William and Nathan Sims. Chapter 6. Richard Bullock, Third, and His Descendants. Chapter 7. Reubin Aldridge and His Descendants. Chapter 8. Isaac Aldridge, Texas Revolutionary Soldier. Chapter 9. John Aldridge. Chapter 10. Kinsmen in the Texas Revolution. Chapter 11. More About the Davises. Chapter 12. Major William Russell, Patriot, Soldier, Pio­ neer. Chapter 13. The Stovall Family. Chapter 14. The Tatom Family. DALLAS SCARBOROUGH To DALLAS SCARBOROUGH, My Deceased Husband Patriot, Scholar, Lawyer, Christian Gentleman, whose splendid example is an inspiration to his descendants and a constant source of affection and pride for his family and whose very active life served as a benedic­ tion to us all, this book is lovingly dedicated. ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND THANKS Writing a family history is a fascinating jolb, though frustrating at times, for it is never finished. There are so many bypaths of history and romance that beckon the un­ suspecting historian that the months and the years go by and the cause is lost to mere collecting. When the time finally arrives when the actual writing must be done at last, the family skeletons safely closeted, if there are any, the family pictures faithfully identified, the family charts given a quick once over, and the mountainous data checked for the hundredth time, the author gives an exhausted sigh, and wonders vaguely just why the whole thing was undertaken. Then she remembers the many wonderful people whom she has met, the joy she has experienced when a faded Bilble Record has been discovered, and the satisfaction she has known when she has been able to convince a "doubting Thomas" in the Court House that the basement floor in a dim, musty vault is no place for records of the pioneers who made this country, her spirits soar, and she decides that her efforts have not been in vain after all. ilt is impossible to mention the dozens of people who have assisted in gathering the records in this book, and I wish that I h;i.d the adequate adjectives to express my appre­ ciation, 'hut t~ all who have cooperated in even a small way, I am eternally grateful, and perhaps your great grandchil­ dren will call you blessed. I am especially indebted to my friend, Mrs. J. B. Jordan, ,who has accompanied me on the thousands of miles I have travelled over the South in my search for ancestors, with patience and cheerifulness, and helped with the tedious chore of dedphering the old manu­ scripts, and charmed the Cour,t House Officials into special consideration, when I was too tired and frustrated to be politic; to my dear cousin, Mrs. Horace L. MaSwain, who has never failed me; to Miss Ruby Aldredge, another cousin, who has helped to prod ,the kin into action; to my faitiliful friend, Mrs. W. L. Hobbs, who has shared many of my adventures, as well as several catastrophes; to Mr. F. R. Aldridge, an indefatigable researcher who stimulated me when my interest was lagging; to Mr. J. A. Crawford, whose wonder­ ful collection of Tatom and Stovall records ihas helped me lift the curtain on the past; fo Miss Kathleen Al/bea, Mrs. James Thomas Sale and Mrs. Lucile Pierson, whose splendid research has uncovered many seemingly blank walls; to my husband's cousin, Mrs. Felix Mitchell, who secured many family pictures for me; and last but not least to Mr. William H. Dumont, that gifted genealogist, who has been a constant inspiration to me in my work, and Mr. Hugh B. Johnston, Jr., genealogist and historian, who has aided me with helpful data and advice, and Dr. Lewis T. Bullock, of Los Angeles I give a heartfelt "Thank you". My children have grumbled sometimes, saying that I am wearing myself out, but then I was comforted recently when a friend said "DO you ever expect to get Old?" Since I felt as old as my oldest ancestor, I decided that searching the pages of history was not so bad after all, but . that with this book, I was albsolutely going to stop my research ... but ... "Did you say your ancestor was from Virginia?" and I am o£f again. JEWEL DAVIS SCARBOROUGH. Abilene, Texas, September 24, 1958 FOREWORD ·This Volume 4, of Southern Kith and Kin, is concerned with a number of families, which the author has ibeen labor­ ing over for more than forty years, and though i,t is incom­ plete, it will ,furnish many valuable clues fo future family historians. The families treated are: Aldredge, and their connections-Hanson, Sims, and Bullock; Russell and con­ necting familie~Stovall and Tatom; and addenda to the Davis records described in Volume 2. · The Aldredge records have been very frustrating, be­ cause of the many people of the same given name, and the various spelling of the family name. The name of Nathan has been variously spelled as Nathaniel, though my research has convinced me that Nathan and Nathaniel were two dif­ ferent men, even though the Census Bureau in Washington has listed Nathan Aldredge, of Russell and Lee counties, Alabama, as Nathaniel, thinking that Nathan ;was an abbre­ viation of Nathaniel, when we know from family records and the names of ,wives and children listed that this man is our Nathan. The records have been fur,ther complicated by the fact that Nathan Aldredge's record in the War of 1812 has spelled his name as ALDREASE. Several genealogists of North Carolina families have insisted that Aldredge (Aldridge) and AUred were one and the same, though after extensive resea:r,ch, I am of the opinion that they were different families, as many county records of the same year have listed both Allred and Al­ dredge names, and in some instances there was a marriage record of an Allred to an Aldredge. Nathan Aldredge, of Russell and Lee counties in Ala­ bama, always spelled his name ALDREDGE, though the record of his will in Russell county, Alaibama, lists the spelling as Aldridge. This confusion arose, I am sure, be­ cause of the fact that Nathan's brother, Reubin, and his descendants, spelled the name Aldridge. The Russell records are primarily concerned w:ith the descendants of !Major William Russell, of Giles and Franklin counties, in Tennessee, and Franklin county, Alaibama, iWho was a soldier in the War of 1812, and directly under the command of General Andrew Jackson. Among his connec­ tions were the Stovalls and Tatoms. Mr. William H. Dumont, of Washington, D. C., has been working for many years on the Stovall family, hence my report is mainly concerned with the Stovalls, who married into rthe Tatom family, with a brief report on the earliest Stovalls, to show the connec- tion with the emigrant to America. The Tatom records are more e~tensive. Many new facts have been unearthed concerning the Davis families since the publication of my histories and several mistakes discovered, hence it seemed desiraible to publish these new findings. Personal research in the various counties in Georgia, assisted by Mrs. Horace L. Mc18:wain, of Macon, Geovgia, has uncovered these facts. Mrs. Mc1Srwain has kindly consented to write ithe record of the Davises for me, which is an authentic account from official records. · In order to bring all of the aibove records down to date, as near as possi:ble, the author made a five thousand mile "jaunt" or "Safari" through the Southern States in April and May of 1958, doing research in eight Southern States, and if there are any more "footprints on the sands of time" in those states, they are locked securely in county vaults, or REALLY covered rwith the sands of time on dusty shelves and lost to the researcher. The War Betrween the States did not destroy half as many records as some Court Officials would have you believe, and persistent work may make them accessilhle before they have disintegrated. The hardy, liberty loving pioneers descrilbed in my book, settled mostly in Virginia, emigrated ito the Carolinas, fought the Indians in Alabama, Georgia and Mississtppi Territory, and followed General Andrew Jackson in the Creek fodian Wars and in the Battle of New Orleans. Their descendants were a tower of strength in Texas' fight for Independence from Mexico, fought for the Lost Cause in the Confederacy, and in modern times have been aoti:ve partrcipants in our two world Wars, and the War in Korea. Descendants of North Carolinians can be justly proud of ,the sturdy patriots of North Carolina, who, in the Battle of Alamance, struck the first blow for freedom for the Amer­ ican Colonies; ,who in the Mecklenburg Declaration voiced the first Declaration of Independence from England; and fol­ lowed with wholehearted loyalty to the Colonies in joining the Continental troops, in spite of the large num!bers of Scotchmen and Germans who ,were Loyalis,ts, and the Quak­ ers in their midst, who would not take up arms to defend their rights. 1It is nearly a1ways necessary to get a :perspective before history can be accurately judged, and nowhere has this been more clearly demonstrated than in the case of the Regu­ lators of North and South Carolina.