Wilson County Tennessee
Part of the American History and Genealogy Project

First Settlements of Wilson County

 

The first settlement of Wilson County was made in the year 1797 at Drake's Lick, near the mouth of Spencer Lick Creek on Cumberland River, which was afterward the northeast corner of Davidson County, by William McClain and John Foster.

Two years later John Foster, William Donnell and Alexander Barkley made a settlement on Spring Creek, seven miles southeast of the present town of Lebanon.

During the same year settlements were made on Hickory Ridge, five miles west of Lebanon, by John K. Wynn and Charles Kavanaugh, both of whom came from North Carolina, and on the waters of Round Lick Creek, by William Harris and William McSpadden, of North Carolina, and James Wrather and Samuel King, of Virginia, and also on the waters of Spring Creek, about eight miles south of Lebanon, by John Doak, John Foster, David Magathey, Alexander Braden, the Donnells, and probably others. At the time of these settlements the land was covered with vast forests and thick canebrakes, and game of every specie from the bear, panther and deer down to the squirrel and rabbit existed in abundance. Several years before, however, the Indians as a tribe had been driven back, and only friendly ones as a class were met with by the settlers.

From 1799 the settlement of the county was rapid. The lands lying on the waters of the various creeks being the richer and easier of cultivation were naturally the first settled, and hence in giving the following list of names of the early settlers, they have been grouped into creek neighborhoods.

Barton Creek

John Allcorn
Charles Blaylock
John Cage
Alexander Chance
Thomas Congers
William Eddings
William Elkins
Benjamin Esken
John Goldston
Snowdon Hickman
Levi Holloway
John Lane
Thomas Mass
James Mayes
Josiah Martin
James Menees
William Peace
Eleazer Provine
Henry Reed
Henry Shannon
Jeremiah Still
George Swingler
Thomas Sypert
William Thomas
Elijah Trewitt
Byrd Wall
Samuel Wilson
Benjamin Wineford
George Wynn

Spring Creek

George Alexander
William Bartlett
James Cannon
James Chappell
Walter Carrouth
Henry Chandler
Daniel Cherry
Arthur Dew
Samuel Elliott
John Forbes
Bartlett Graves
Adam Harpole
Richard Hawkins
Purnell Hearn
Gregory Johnson
John Jones
Soloman Marshall
Hugh Morris
Benjamin Mottley
Joseph Moxley
William Sherrill
Josiah Smith
William Steele
John Steinbridge
Martin Talley
Spencer Talley
Alligood Wallard
John Walsh
Thomas Williams

Cedar Creek

Alex Aston
David Billings
Samuel Calhoun
Nathan Cartwright
Lewis Chambers
Mathew Figures
John L. Davis
William Harris
John Provine
Hooker Reeves
Hugh Roane
Andrew Swan
Perry Taylor
Irwin Tomlinson
Joseph Trout
Joseph Weir
William Wilson

Spencer Creek

Brittain Drake
Richard Drake
Joel Echols
William Gray
Jere Hendricks
Lewis Kirby
Philip Koonce
James McFarland
Robert Mitchell
Moore Stevenson
John Walker
William White

Cedar Lick Creek

Theophilus Bass
James H. Davis
Thomas Davis
James Everett
John Everett
John Gleaves
Harmon Hays
Clement Jennings
Joshua Kelley
William Ross
Reuben Searcy
George Smith
Daniel Spicer
Edmund Vaughn
Howell Wren

Cumberland River

Bartholomew Brett
W. T. Cole
Henry Davis
Daniel Glenn
James Hunter
William Johnson
Ransom King
Joseph Kirkpatrick
Henry Locke
Edward Mitchell
Elijah Moore
William Putway
Thomas Ray
William Sanders
Reuben Slaughter
Caleb Taylor
Sterling Tarpley
James Tipton
Josiah Woods

Stoner Lick Creek

Zebulon Baird
James Cathom
Ezekial Clampet
Ezekial Cloyd
Thomas Gleaves
Benjamin Graves
John Graves
James Kendall
Blake Rutland
Anderson Tate
Henry Thompson
Thomas Watson
John Williamson
Andrew Wilson
John Wilson
Jacob Woodrum

Suggs Creek

Green Barr
Joseph Castlemen
John Curry
Peter Devault
Benjamin Dobson
Thomas Drennon
Hugh Gwynn
Joseph Hamilton
James Hannah
Benjamin Hooker
William Rice
John Roach
Acquilla Suggs
Jenkin Sullivan
Hugh Telford
William Warnick

Pond Lick Creek

Lee Harralson
John Ozment
John Rice
Robin Shannon
John Spinks

Sinking Creek

William Bacchus
Seldon Baird
John Billingsley
Thompson Clemmons
David Fields
Dawson Hancock
Robert Jarmon
Lewis Merritt
Jonathan Ozment
William Paisley
James Richmond
Frank Ricketts
Fletcher Sullivan
Jesse Sullivan
John Winsett

Hurricane Creek

Jacob Bennett
Elisha Bond
Charles Cummings
George Cummings
John Edwards
Robert Edwards
John Gibson
Gideon Harrison
Bradford Howard
William Hudson
Absalom Knight
Peter Leath
John Merritt
Thomas Miles
Henry Mosier
Nicholas Quesenbury
Joseph Stacey
William Teague
Charles Warren
John Woolen
Frank Young

Fall Creek

William Allison
John Alsup
Joseph Carson
Walter Clapton
Samuel Copeland
Hugh Cummings
Adney Donnell
John Donnell
Aaron Edwards
Charles Gillem
Arthur Harris
Jacob Jennings
William Lester
Absalom Losater
Burrell Patterson
Hardy Penuel
Frank Puckett
James Quarles
Roger Quarles
Lard Sellars
Joseph Sharp
Mathew Sims
Charles Smith
James Smith
Sampson Smith
Shadrack Smith
William Smith
William Warren,
Joseph Williams
Isaac Winston
William Wortham

Smith Fork

John Adams
Abner Alexander
John Allen
John Armstrong
James Ayers
William Beagle
Abner Bone
Thomas Bone
Richard Braddock
Reason Byrne
Thomas Flood
Solomon George
James Godfrey
Elisha Hodge
David Ireland
William Jennings
James Johnson
Dennis Kelley
John Knox
William Knox
James McAdoo
Samuel McAdoo
William Oakley
Henry Payne
Edward Pickett
Charles Rich
William Richards
George L. Smith
Samuel Stewart
James Thomas
James Thompson
John Ward
David Wasson
James Williams
Isaac Witherspoon
Thomas Word

Round Lick Creek, including Jennings Fork

Joseph Barbee
Samuel Barton
Jordan Bass
Soloman Bass
Alexander Beard
John Bradley
John Bradley
Robert Branch
Jerre Brown
Thomas Byles
John Caplinger
Joseph Carlin
George Clarke
William Coe
James Edwards
Joseph Foust
Isaac Grandstaff
John Green
Park Goodall
William Haines
Arthur Hankins
William Harris
George Hearn
James Hill
James Hobbs
William Howard
John Lawrence
Edward G. Jacobs
Edmund Jennings
Duncan Johnson
Samuel King
William Neal
William New
James Newbry
William McSpadden
William Palmer
John Patton
John W. Peyton
Benjamin Phillips
John Phillips
Thomas B. Reece
James Scaby
James Shelton
Daniel Smith
Abner Spring
John Swan
Joshua Taylor
Evans Tracy
Jacob Vantrase
Shelah Waters
John White
James Wrather

 Wilson County | AHGP Tennessee

Source: History of Tennessee, Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1886

 

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