AN RV, AN ARCHIVE, AND A LITTLE LUCK – FINDING LAREW FAMILY RECORDS IN TENNESSEE

         Every October for the past few years, Craig, our pooch Char, and I have taken off in our fifth-wheel trailer.  In the past, we’ve attended a Civil War Battlefield tour sponsored by the Civil War Museum in Kenosha, where I worked for about 7 years (previously, I worked at the Kenosha Public Museum for 8 years before the CWM was built).  Unfortunately, in 2020, COVID-19 prevented any such tour from taking place, but we still hit the road in our RV.  We decided to head to Kentucky and Tennessee. We toured the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter, Mammoth Cave National Park (a disappointment), Crystal Onyx Cave (a real treat), the Corvette Museum (where in 2014 a sinkhole swallowed 8 cars), and Lincoln’s birthplace and boyhood home, all in Kentucky.  We then went on to Tennessee.  

         We really enjoyed Tennessee – the fall colors, Gatlinburg, Smoky Mountains National Park, Jack Daniels whiskey distillery tour and tasting, as well as moonshine tasting all made for a great getaway.  For me, one of the highlights was doing genealogical research and finding some great family records.  In all, I visited four locations, and got great information at each one.  We rented a car for me for two days so I could visit the different locations without leaving Craig without a vehicle, and I didn’t have to call him every time I was done at one location and ready to go to the next. 

NEWPORT, TENNESSEE

         Dutch Bottoms Baptist Church Cemetery

I knew that George LAREW (1773-1856) was buried here (you will notice from these records that the surname spelling fluctuated back and forth between LAREW and LARUE (and with or without capital R); I had written the church several years ago inquiring about the graves and received not only photos of several LAREW graves along with transcriptions, but also a video made by one of two sisters who did the research and took the photos; she gave me information on the Tennessee Valley Authority who moved the graves in the 1940s when they created the dams for electricity production.  I’m not sure what would be left of a pine box and human remains from the early- to mid-1800s, so I have to wonder how many remains were actually moved versus just the headstones relocated.  The TVA has done a great job of making their grave location records available to the public.  At their website I found the graves were originally in the LAREW Cemetery (I assume on a family farm) and the relocation to Union Cemetery, later named Dutch Bottoms, the names are:

Listed chronologically by death date

JOHN LAREW         d-1827 (son of George & Sophia)

MARTHA E             d-1846 (granddaughter of George & Sophia; daughter of their son James [1814-1888 & Elizabeth (INMAN)])

FRANCIS LAREW    d-1847 (daughter of George & Sophia)

SOPHIA LAREW      d-1849 (matriarch of the family)

GEORGE LAREW     d-1856 (patriarch of the family)

W.H.F. McGINTY      d-1858 (son-in-law of George & Sophia)

MARTHA OGDEN     d-1867 (daughter of George & Sophia)

 

Graves of George and Sophia (CHILTON) LAREW

 

Cocke County Public Library

The library has an extensive genealogical section.  While I was there, the Regent of the local Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) chapter was there doing research and she was very helpful to me telling me to check this book or that microfilm.  I was able to print out records from microfilm and take photographs of book pages that contained information on my family. 

 

Cocke County Register of Deeds

Since I knew names of relatives and years they lived in Cocke County, I could email the recorder of deeds regarding their records.  Sometimes records are so old and fragile, they are not accessible to the public.  Fortunately, that is not the case in Cocke County.  I was able to take photographs of the deed records of my ancestors.  It was interesting to see who owned how much land and when as well as who was listed in the deed, either as grantor (seller) or grantee (buyer).  Often land was deeded to their sons or sons-in-law.  Occasionally, a woman was the either grantor or grantee of property.  I found the 1866 deeds of land to George W. LaRUE from his sister, Martha LaRUE OGDEN and from his brother, James LaRUE; they were apparently selling land to their brother that had been willed to them by their father, George LaRUE. 

DEED: 22 Dec 1866, James C. LaRUE, Grantor, to his brother George W. LaRUE, Grantee

What is so exciting about this document is it answers the question posed after reading the TVA list of reburials from Larue Cemetery.  The last paragraph reads:  "I acknowledge this deed by accepting one quarter of an acre where the Graveyard now stands."

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE

Knoxville Archive & Library – books, folders

Even after doing genealogy for all of these years, there are still places that overwhelm me to the point I feel I’m wasting my time in trying to figure out where to look first!  I think I need to be more willing to ask for help from the knowledgeable staff to help my prioritize my search.  

DANDRIDGE, TENNESSEE

Jefferson County Archive –

This archive was the proverbial honey hole!  What helped was the knowledgeable volunteers and staff; they found the marriage record from 1802 for George LAREW and Sophia CHILTON as well as other marriage records, several wills or probate records, and a rendering of the Union Church Cemetery, precursor to Dutch Bottoms Baptist Church Cemetery. 

 

Marriage certificate for George LaRUE and Sophia CHILTON

 

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

         We had been in Nashville before, after the 2016 Civil War tour, and really enjoyed our stay there.  We played tourist again, but I spent one day in the State Archive & Library in Nashville; Craig dropped me off and I spent the day searching microfilm and found more family documents.

 

Will of Isaac VANHOOSER, 1831

 

         Genealogy is so much simpler now with the Internet and websites like Ancestry.com, but sometimes a genealogist needs to go to where the records are.  Not all records have been digitized and put online.  Not all repositories will make copies and mail or email them to the researcher.  And sometimes, the researcher can discover hidden nuggets that they weren’t even looking for, but found by perusing a record book.  As long as we are able to enjoy travel, I will continue to tack on county records and other repositories into our itinerary.  Thankfully, Craig is understanding when I want to spend a day or so in an archive!

 

 

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