|
|
| Birth |
2 Jul 1764 |
Halifax County, Virginia [2] |
| Sex |
Male |
| Died |
4 Feb 1845 |
Davidson Co., Tennessee |
| Person ID |
I1593 |
Default Tree |
| Last Modified |
17 Jul 2007 |
| |
| Father |
ROBERT WEAKLEY, II, b. Abt 1728, Wales or Ireland |
| Mother |
ELINOR STEWART, b. Abt 1726 |
| Group Sheet |
F0623 |
Default Tree |
| |
| Family 1 |
Jane Locke, b. 11 Jul 1769, Rowan County, North Carolina |
| Married |
11 Aug 1791 |
Rowan County, North Carolina |
| Children |
| | 1. Mary 'Polly' Weakley, b. 12 Jul 1792, Davidson Co., Tennessee |
| | 2. Narcissa Weakley, b. 4 Jun 1798, Davidson Co., Tennessee |
| | 3. Robert Locke Weakley, b. 16 May 1801, Davidson Co., Tennessee |
| | 4. Jane Baird Weakley, b. 21 Mar 1805, Davidson Co., Tennessee |
|
| Group Sheet |
F0624 |
Default Tree |
| |
| Notes |
- http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=saw&id=I22
The Southern Virginia Weakley Families and Their Descendants
Entries: 6765 Updated: 2007-06-02 21:09:04 UTC (Sat) Contact: Elaine Oakes
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book by Samuel Anderson Weakley
Name: Robert WEAKLEY
Surname: Weakley
Given Name: Robert
Sex: M
Birth: 2 Jul 1764 in Halifax Co, Virginia 1
Death: 4 Feb 1845 in Davidson Co, Tennessee
Burial: 1845 Family Vault in Lockeland
Reference Number: B 7
_UID: 6B632B01C9DAD511A18C865B7F8083314413
Occupation: Indian Fighter Earned His H Colonel's Commission. Gen. Robertson Divided the Honors of Leadership With Him in Some of T
Occupation: Justice of the Peace, Davidson Co., Tn
Occupation: School Teacher at Tulon Station near Nashville, Tn.
Occupation: BET. 1782 - 1784 Surveyor With General Rutherford (Uncle or Grandfather) in North Carolina.
Occupation: 1787 At Age 22, Elected to Nc Convention That Ratified the Federal Constitution of 1787
Occupation: 1792 Surveyor, Davidson Co., Tn
Residence: 1800 Whites Creek, Then Bought a Place East of Nashville, Tn, And Named It After His Wife's Family "Lockeland".
Occupation: 1801 Member Tennessee House of Representitives
Occupation: Jan 1809 Elected to Congress Representing the Miro District, Tn, In Washington D.C.
Residence: 1810 Lockeland, Brick 4 Room, Federal Style Home.
Occupation: 1811 Senator For Tennessee
Occupation: BET. 1819 - 1821 Speaker of the State Senate, Tn
Occupation: BET. 1823 - 1825 Speaker of the State Senate, Tn
Event: Political Affiliation Democrat
Religion: Methodist
Occupation: 1834 Judge For the Quorum Court
Event: Weakley Ref. #
Event: LDS Batch & Sheet
Occupation: 1834 Mmenber of the Constitutional Convention.
Residence: 1939 "Lockeland" Home Became Lockeland School.
Note:
There are few references to Robert Weakley Jr. in the Halifax Co Va records prior to the time when he went to Rowan Co. N.C. on April 18, 1782 to study surveying with his kinsman Griffith Rutherford. In the year 1781 he was in the army and fought in the battles of Alamance and Guilford Court House. There is no official record to show his services; papers herein bear directly on the subject. References to his military service in the Revolutionary Army have appeared often in private papers and in news accounts, before and at the time of his death. (The Battle of Guilford Court House was on March 15, 1781)...
While in Rowan Co. N.C. Robert Weakley registered 150 Acres of land on Bryant's Mill Creek, on Oct 4, 1783.
During the winter of 1783-84 Robert Weakley came to the Cumberland settlement, by way of Cumberland Gap and the old Wilderness Road, through Kentucky. This was no easy journey for a few years earlier, in 1775, these comments were made in the journal of Wm. Calk: "Crossed Cumberland Gap, get to cumberland River and mde camp. Monday, rained; crossed river and traveled 10 miles through turrabel cain brakes; came to Richland Cr., then to Loral (by SAW: Laurel) River and was surprised by a wolf, traveled through place called Brush and crossed Rockcass (by SAW: Rockcastle) River, get to waters of Caintuck" (by SAW: Kentucky). This is from the files of the Filson Club, Louisville, Ky. One route continued north to Harrodsburg, the other, which was followed by Weakley went West across Green River past Pruitts Knob. (in Barren Co. 2 miles S.W. of Cave City Ky) thence through the Barrens, crossing Big Barren River near Bowling Green and up the valley of Drake's Creek to its headwaters, thence across the divide and in to (present) Tennesse and to the French Lick; Nashborough.
After Robert Weakley came to the Cumb. country he continued to visit Halifax Co. Va. as shown by records there and especially to Nor. Car. where he had to go in connection with the registering of his surveying work, on land grants.
The first surveying work done by Robert Weakley, after he came to the Cumberland, is shown on next page. It was done in Feb. 1784. Just think, he was only a boy, 19 years of age. You will see as you read about him, that he was a most remarkable person, through-out his life. [Map shows a grant of David Wilson, in Bedford Co TN near the Duck River.]
Weakley Co., TN named after him.
Robert Weakley was born in Halifax County, Virginia on July, 1764; At the age of sixteen and he joined the Revolutionary army and served until the close of the Revolutionary war. He was a soldier in the Continental Line ,in Capt. Thomas Posey's company of Col. Daniel Morgan's rifle regiment,seeing action at the battles of Alamance, Edgehill, and Guildford. He moved in 1785 to that part of North Carolina which later became the State of Tennessee and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He became a member ofthe North Carolina convention that ratified the Constitution of the United States in 1789.
"Soon after his marriage in 1791, he started with his new bride (Jane Locke) for Tennessee, making the entire journey on horseback, the anima lwhich brought him and his wife to their new home, being with one dollarand a quarter in money, his sole capital.
Locating in Davidson County, he worked with untiring energy and patience until he had saved a sufficient sum to warrant him buying land, his first purchase having been a small tract of heavily timbered woodland. Very well educated for his time, he not only tilled the land, but as a civi lengineer surveyed much of the country round about, becoming a large landowner, and a leading agriculturist of the county. He likewise attained great prominence in public life, serving ably in the StateLegislature, and representing his district in the United States Congress.He was a Democrat in politics, firmly supporting the principals of that party from the time of casting his first presidential vote until his death, at the venerable age of 85 years.
He was a staunch Methodist in religion, and his wife was an equally faithful member of the Presbyterian church, to which he used to carry her on Sunday mornings when on his way to his own place of worship. On one Sunday morning, it is related, he said as he drove away from the Presbyterian church after leaving his wife, "That is the fiddle and dance church." The remark having been brought forth by the fact that it was then the only church in Nashville that had instrumental music at its services."
(Excerpt from "A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans")
Colonel Weakley became a member of the first State house of representatives in 1796. He was elected as a Republican to the Eleventh United States Congress representing the Nero District and served from March 4, 1809 to March 3, 1811. He rode horseback with a body servant to Washington D.C. Following his term in Congress he was appointed UnitedStates commissioner to assist in the development of a treaty with the Chickasaw Indians in 1819. From 1823 to 1824, Weakley served as a member of the Tennessee State Senate and presided as President of the Senate in 1823. In his later years, he served as a member of the State constitutional convention of 1834. Colonel Robert Weakley died near Nashville on February 4, 1845. He is interred in the family vault at"Lockeland," on his former estate in the suburbs of Nashville.
During his time in Washington D.C. he ordered the beautiful set of china from Paris for his wife. Pieces of which are still in the possession of his great-great-grandson Judge Litton Hickman.
A man of fiery temperament, he had his tender moments. At great expense he had his wife's cherished square piano brought over the mountains from North Carolina. For this sentimentality the board of the local Methodist Church, of which he was a member, rose up in righteous indignation saying that the piano was a "contraption of the devil". Either he would put the evil thing out of his house or get out of the church himself. In an eloquent speech he informed his critics that he had been in the Methodist Church longer than they and that both he and his wife's piano would stay where they were.
ABOUT WEAKLEY COUNTY:
Sponsored by the Weakley County State Bicentennial Committee
Weakley County is located on the Plateau Slope of West Tennessee. It is bounded on the north by the State of Kentucky, on the east by Henry County, on the south by Carroll and Gibson Counties, and on the west by Obion County. The county is 26 miles from north to south, and 24 miles east to west. Presently, it covers an area of 576 square miles. There are four chartered cities in Weakley County. They are: Dresden, the county seat; Martin, the largest city in the county; Greenfield and Gleason.There are also several small towns and communities in the county. Theyare: Sharon, Latham, Dukedom, Mount Pelia, Ore Springs, Gardner, Palmersville, and Ralston.
The cultural and social history of Weakley County began around ten to fifteen thousand years ago (Paleo-Indian Period) when nomadic hunters gradually ventured into this area while following herds of migrating animals. From the year 5,000 to 1,500 B.C. (Archaic Period) these nomadic hunters began to permanently reside in the county as they evolved into more agricultural based society. The Woodland Period from 1500 to 500B.C. brought forth many advances in crop cultivation and the domestication of animals. The unique phenomenon of burial mounds began during this era and is evident in counties surrounding Weakley County.The early ancestors of the Chickasaw
Indians temporally resided in the county between 500 A.D. and 1700 A.D.and built temple mounds for ceremonies and worship. A few such mounds can be found within the boundaries of the county.
European exploration of the Americas led to land claims by Spain, France and England respectively. By 1663, most of West Tennessee fell under the jurisdiction of the English government, specifically the westernmost precinct of Albemarle County in the province of Carolina. Between 1693 and 1712 Carolina gradually split into North and South and West Tennessee came under the legal authority of North Carolina. In 1776 the North Carolina Constitution created the Washington District which encompassed what presently is the State of Tennessee. Following the American Revolution the Washington District was divided and West Tennessee became Green County, North
Carolina. On April 2, 1790 the Second Session Act ceded the lands "south of the River Ohio" to the United States government. Six years later, on June 1, 1796, the State of Tennessee was officially established.
The Chickasaw still held claims to the lands west of the Tennessee Rive runtil 1818, when General Andrew Jackson and Isaac Shelby purchased the land for $300,000. The relinquishment of the Chickasaw claims to WesternTennessee and Kentucky later became known as the Jackson Purchase. The following year the purchase area of Tennessee was divided into surveyo rdistricts. Weakley County made up parts of the 12th and 13th districts.In 1821, the State Legislature passed an act to form and establish new counties west of the Tennessee River.
On October 21, 1823, the 15th General Assembly of the State of Tennessee officially established Weakley County (State Act creating WeakleyCounty). It was named in honor of Colonel Robert Weakley, who was then the Speaker of the Tennessee State Senate.
When the county was first organized in 1823 it was rectangular in shape and contained an area of over 700 square miles. The southern boundary was altered in 1837 in a land exchange with Gibson County. This was done so that settlers living on the land adjacent to the south fork of the Obion River could get to a county seat without having to cross the unbridged stream. The western boundary was changed in 1870 when the Obion County seat was transferred from Troy to Union City. At that time the state law required the county seats to be near the center of the county, thus the north-eastward relocation of the Obion County seat called for the northwestern boundary of Weakley County to be changed. The last change in Weakley County was in 1889 when J. W. Boyd and Company arranged for his business to be situated in Obion County instead of Weakley. With the political support of S. H. Hall and C. C. Adams in the State Legislature the final boundary change was approved. (1836 Map of Weakley County)
Prior to the organization of the county daring settlers migrated intothis unchartered land. The first recorded settlers were Ruben Edmonston and John Bradshaw who both arrived in Weakley County in the fall of 1819. They originally settled about six miles west of Dresden and around three miles south of Martin. Bradshaw would be the first settler to raise corn in the county. Other settlers would soon follow. One of the more famous settlers was David Crockett who arrived a year before the county was officially organized in 1822. He would build a log cabin in the southwestern part of the county along the South Fork of the Obion River.He and his family resided in this cabin until
his ill fated trip to Texas in 1835. In 1837, the property once owned by the Crockett's was ceded during the restructuring of the county and now lies in Gibson County near Rutherford, Tennessee.
In the Antebellum era, Weakley County economically prospered and gradually progressed into the industrial age. Mills to grind the harvested corn and wheat were the county's first localized industries.Small community businesses and industries, such as blacksmiths,
wheelwrights, tanners, tailors, shoemakers, etc., soon followed the growing number of settlers. By the 1850's, tobacco warehouses, cotton gins and other agriculturally based industries evolved and thrived. By the early 1850's, the citizens of the county sought a railroad connection to nearby Hickman and Obion Railroad which ran north to south through Union City toward Hickman, Kentucky. After some financial and politica lsetbacks the railroad was eventually completed in early 1861. Later that same year, with the United States at the brink of war, Weakley Countians voted against the secession of Tennessee from the Union. Their Unionist convictions were in vain as
Tennessee followed other southern states in seeking independence.
The Civil War had a devastating effect upon the population of Weakley County. The severing of the county into two armed factions not only ripped apart individual communities but also embittered families fo rgenerations to come. The majority of Weakley Countians seemed to have supported the rebellion as about 1100 men volunteered for service in the Confederate military while around 400 men chose to fight for the Union .One of those Confederate soldiers was Martin Van Buren Oldham who fought with the 9th Tennessee Infantry from 1862 to 1864.
The war hit home in early May of 1862, when a detachment of Union cavalry was surprised by two regiments of Confederate cavalry at Lockridge's Mil ljust north of Dresden. The Union forces were easily routed and driven northward into Kentucky. The county fell into a state of anarchy between 1863 until the conclusion of the war. Guerrilla bands and outlaws roamed the county pillaging communities and destroying homes and farms. Like most communities in West Tennessee it would take decades to reconstruct the damage inflicted from the war.
At present, Weakley County has a population of 31,972 (1990) and continues to have an agricultural based economy with few industrial businesses. Around 40% of the county's population lives in rural areas.The prevailing climate is temperate, with pronounced seasonal variations in both temperature and precipitation. Snowfall is variable from year to year. Most winters have little or no snow, but there are seasons when snowfall can accumulate up to 15 or 20 inches. The average annual temperature is 62 degrees and the annual precipitation is around 50 inches. The people of Weakley County, much like the climate, are warm and hospitable. We encourage all to visit our
historic communities and parks.
© 1996.
Created, compiled, and thrown together by Dieter C. Ullrich. Specia lthanks go to Dr. Glenn S. Everett and the Faculty Multimedia Center forthe use of their expertise and
equipment.
Original Handwritten Act placed before the Tennessee State LegislatureOctober 21, 1823
Transcription of the Document
Section 1. Be it enacted, by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, that a new county to be called and known, by the name of Weakley County, shall be and is hereby established west of Henry County .Beginning at the northwest corner of Henry County, running west with the state line to a point four miles west of the northwest corner of Range 3, fractional section 10, in the 13th District, thence south to the fourth sectional line in said District, running parallel with the Range line, thence east with the fourth sectional line to the second Range line inthe Twelfth Surveyor's District, thence north with said Range line to the beginning.
Section 2. Be it enacted, that for the administration of justice, the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions and Circuit Courts of said county, until otherwise provided for by law, shall be holden at the House of John Tyrrell under the same regulations and restrictions, and shall have and exercise the same powers and jurisdiction as are or shall hereafter be prescribed for the several counties of this State.
Section 3. Be it enacted, that it shall be the duty of the Sheriff o fsaid County, to hold an election at the place of holding courts in said county, on the first Thursday and Friday in February next for the purpose of electing Field Officers for said County, which shall be conducted under the same rules and regulations as are prescribed by law in similar cases, and the militia of said County shall compose the ------ Regiment and be attached to the ------ Brigade.
Section 4. Be it enacted, that the election of company officers for said County, shall be held at such places as the commandant of the militia of said County may think proper to appoint, which said election shall be held on the ------ Monday in ------ next under the same rules,regulations, and restrictions, as are prescribed in like cases.
Section 5. Be it enacted, that the Sheriff of said County on the days prescribed by law, shall hold an election at the place of holding court,for the purpose of electing a Governor, members of the State Legislature, members of Congress and electors, to elect a President and Vice Presidentof the United States, under the same rules and regulations as are prescribed by law.
(Signed) James Fentress Speaker of the House of Representatives
(Signed) T.(Thomas) Weakley Speaker of the Senate
Passed October 21st 1823.
From "Geneological Abstracts from Tennessee Newspapers 1803-1812", Sharidak Eddleman, Heritage Books, 1989, page 192: Sept. 24, 1811, Vol.III, No.CXC The imported stud horse Dragon will be sold on the third ofOctober at the Nashville Turf. R. Weakley.
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1. [S03668] AUS.FTW
"Date of Import: Nov 19, 2004"
2. [S03668] AUS.FTW
"Date of Import: Nov 19, 2004"
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