Family Group Sheet
NameThomas ELDRIDGE
Birth1738, Prince George Co, MD [1023]
Deathaft 1821, Knox Co, TN [1023]
ReligionQuaker [1023]
FatherJohn Eldridge (1688-1750)
MotherElinor (---?---) (-1761)
Marriagebef 1758, Guilford, NC or Frederick, VA [1023]
SpouseCatherine TAYLOR
Birthabt 1733, Nottingham, PA [2]
ReligionQuaker [1023]
FatherSimeon TAYLOR (1704-1774)
MotherEsther DICKS (~1710->1774)
Children
1 MSimeon Eldridge (Revolution)
Birth1758, Virginia
Death11 Jun 1851, Tennessee
SpouseMary Britain
2 MJesse Eldridge
Birth1762
Death1864, of Roane Co, TN
3 MNathaniel Eldridge
Birth1764 [1023]
4 FMary Eldridge
Birth1766 [1023]
SpouseSarah Gilliland
Marriage2 Dec 1796, Knox Co, TN [467]
6 MZachariah Eldridge
Birth1775 [1023]
SpouseFanny Simmons
Marriage20 Aug 1805, Roane Co, TN [466]
8 FElizabeth Eldridge
Birthbef 1790 [1023]
SpouseMason Luttrell
Marriage24 Jan 1810, Roane Co, TN [466]
Notes for Thomas ELDRIDGE
From Charles Eldridge’s book:
Thomas was known to have traveled with his in-laws Simeon Taylor and Esther Dicks. His name does not appear in Quaker records anywhere, but neither does Cathran’s name appear having “married out of unity.”
The family eventually moved to Guilford County, North Carolina, perhaps in the early 1760s (their second son Jesse was b. in NC 1762 and Thomas witnessed a land deed in North Carolina on July 31, 1764). In March 1778, Thomas was back in Maryland as he and his two brothers, Jacob and John, took an oath of allegiance to the State of Maryland. Thomas seems to have remained in Maryland for only a few weeks because on July 20, 1778, he enlisted in the 10th Regiment of the North Carolina Line and served for nine months in Quinn's Company. Thomas and his brother John then enlisted in the Georgia Continental Line. In 1780 Thomas enlisted in the small Georgia Refugee Regiment and could have been with that unit during some of its various engagements.
Thomas is listed on the Greene County, North Carolina, tax list of 1783, but they soon moved to rural Tennessee. In 1799 Thomas and all of his sons signed a petition in Knox County, Tennessee, requesting that Knox County be divided and a new county be formed. This petition was granted and Roane County, Tennessee, was formed in about 1801. Thomas' name appears on a list of early Roane County pioneers compiled in 1805 and appears on the tax list for the years 1802-1805, 1808 and 1814. The first spelling of the name as E-l-d-r-i-d-g-e is recorded during this time, and it stuck. It had been spelled all different ways during most of his life.
It appears that Thomas was a slave owner for most of his life, starting with the one slave whom he inherited from his father in 1750 and the slaves he inherited from his mother in 1761. Although he moved around the southeast quite a bit, he still owned slaves. On January 22, 1819, Thomas paid $450.00 to James Johnson for a negro slave girl named Lucy, about 13 years of age. On July 14, 1820, Thomas paid $575.00 to Elijah Billingsby for a negro slave woman, about 20 years of age, and her four-month- old baby. Near the end of his life Thomas sold or gave away to his family just about all of his possessions. In his final years he lived with his daughter Elizabeth Luttrell in Knox County, Tennessee, and died in her home sometime after November 1, 1820.
Thomas was known to have traveled with his in-laws Simeon Taylor and Esther Dicks. His name does not appear in Quaker records anywhere, but neither does Cathran’s name appear having “married out of unity.”
The family eventually moved to Guilford County, North Carolina, perhaps in the early 1760s (their second son Jesse was b. in NC 1762 and Thomas witnessed a land deed in North Carolina on July 31, 1764). In March 1778, Thomas was back in Maryland as he and his two brothers, Jacob and John, took an oath of allegiance to the State of Maryland. Thomas seems to have remained in Maryland for only a few weeks because on July 20, 1778, he enlisted in the 10th Regiment of the North Carolina Line and served for nine months in Quinn's Company. Thomas and his brother John then enlisted in the Georgia Continental Line. In 1780 Thomas enlisted in the small Georgia Refugee Regiment and could have been with that unit during some of its various engagements.
Thomas is listed on the Greene County, North Carolina, tax list of 1783, but they soon moved to rural Tennessee. In 1799 Thomas and all of his sons signed a petition in Knox County, Tennessee, requesting that Knox County be divided and a new county be formed. This petition was granted and Roane County, Tennessee, was formed in about 1801. Thomas' name appears on a list of early Roane County pioneers compiled in 1805 and appears on the tax list for the years 1802-1805, 1808 and 1814. The first spelling of the name as E-l-d-r-i-d-g-e is recorded during this time, and it stuck. It had been spelled all different ways during most of his life.
It appears that Thomas was a slave owner for most of his life, starting with the one slave whom he inherited from his father in 1750 and the slaves he inherited from his mother in 1761. Although he moved around the southeast quite a bit, he still owned slaves. On January 22, 1819, Thomas paid $450.00 to James Johnson for a negro slave girl named Lucy, about 13 years of age. On July 14, 1820, Thomas paid $575.00 to Elijah Billingsby for a negro slave woman, about 20 years of age, and her four-month- old baby. Near the end of his life Thomas sold or gave away to his family just about all of his possessions. In his final years he lived with his daughter Elizabeth Luttrell in Knox County, Tennessee, and died in her home sometime after November 1, 1820.
