In 1819, when Hamilton County was in its infancy, Daniel Sivley arrived at Ross's Landing by flatboat from Sevier County with his wife and the Cunningham brothers, Hugh, David and James. Daniel Sivley took up residence in the Mountain Creek area at the foot of Walden's Ridge - not far from the riverbank home of Samuel Williams. He bought 118 acres for $400in 1820, and later made several other purchases,including 5,000 acres on Walden's Ridge. He paid from a penny per acre to a little over $3 per acre. His holdings also included the present communities of Mountain Creek, Glendale andSignal Hill, as well as land at King's Point. Daniel Sivley lived in a log house where Lake Park Apartments on Mountain Creek Road is now located. Another Sivley log home was at the present Komatsu Dresser property on Signal Mountain Road. He had nine slaves at the time of the 1860 census.
The wife who accompanied Daniel Sivley on the flatboat was Elizabeth McGuire, whom he had married in Jefferson County in 1817.
Their children included Ruth, George Washington, Mary Ann, Elizabeth, Absalom, Thomas Jefferson, Rebecca who died in 1849 at 17, Priscilla,Mahala, Daniel C. and Martha Jane. Ruth married her cousin, Peter Sivley, and they lived at King's Point. Mary Ann married Augustus G. Evans, and they had nine children. They lived at Mountain Creek, then at Lone Oak on Walden's Ridge. Elizabeth married Fielding Freeman and moved to Arkansas.
Absalom, son of Daniel Sivley, was born in 1827 at Mountain Creek. He hauled much farm produce to Ross's Landing during the Indian removal. He would cross the river by ferry to deliver the produce.
Thomas Jefferson Sivley married Eliza Hixson, daughter of Houston and Rebecca Grayson Hixson. They had a son, James Monroe Sivley. Thomas Jefferson Sivley died in 1863 and his widow then married Aaron Jones, a Union veteran, in 1865. The Jones couple went west in a covered wagon soon after the war. James Monroe Sivley married Gertrude Myers and lived at Leeds, Kan. Priscilla Sivley married Houston Grayson. They had 11 children and lived in Sequatchie Valley. Mahala married John Demarcus and later his brother, Joseph Demarcus, and lived in Anderson County. Daniel C. married Caroline Merriman. Their children were Elizabeth Adeline who married James Slaughter, Alabama B. who married James N. Liles, Floyd Columbus who married Crocia Ann Fields, Mary Florence who married John M. Brown, William Daniel who married Ida Ann Thompson, Allen Baxter who married Martha Annie Dale, and Sarah Ella who married Thomas Ashton and then James Owen Merriman. Martha Jane married John L. Moss, who returned to North Carolina. Martha and her seven children resettled from Mountain Creek to King's Point.
After the death of his first wife, Daniel Sivley Sr. married Margaret Walker, daughter of his neighbors, David and Mary Walker. She was 21 years younger than Daniel. They had three children, including Sarah Isabella, who died as achild, William LaFayette and John Granville. LaFayette married Martha Jane Staten and they had 12 children. Granville married Ida Alice Brown and they had eight children. These two brothers obtained part of their father's estate at Mountain Creek. Margaret Walker Sivley lived until 1899.
Children of LaFayette Sivley were Margaret Anna "Maggie'' who married James Franklin Merriman, Mary Isabell, John Granville who married Mary Minerva Thompson, Daniel Augustus who married Rose Maggie Lee Brown, Jennie Narcissi who married William Pinkney Boling, Carrie Lucresy, William David who married Frances Ruth Liner, Harry Arthur who married Lennus Noncie Hickman, Luther Boliver who married Mattie Lena Henry, Grover Young, Thomas Jefferson and Bessie Catherine who married Johnny Wilbur Cox.
Children of Granville Sivley were Blevins Franklin who married Carrie Standifer and then Blanche M. Burger, Minnie Mae who married Byron Louis Standifer, Emma Bell who married Roy Samuel Ford, Lawrence Holt, Cora Irene who married Victor McKinley Corder, Russell Milo who married Ethel Durham, William Lester who married Georgia Lenora Minor,and Ray.
The Sivley family mainly sympathized with the Confederate cause and three of Daniel's sons joined the Southern army. George Washington Sivley, who was born in 1821, enlisted Sept. 1, 1861, at Knoxville in Co. D of the 37th Tennessee Infantry. He became a second lieutenant. He was wounded at Perryville, Ky., on Oct. 8, 1862. The record says that on Nov. 10,1862, G.W. Sivley "did in company with two other officers and several citizens go to a house of ill fame and there get drunk, and was engaged in a riot in which loaded and empty pistols and brickbats, etc., were used until suppressed by police.'' G.W. Sivley was acquitted of the charge, but he resigned May 15, 1863. It was the opinion of Col. Moses White that G.W. Sivley ""is not only worthless as an officer, but is a positive nuisance in the regiment.''
John Madison Sivley, a son of G.W. Sivley, later recalled that he favored the Union, while his father and brother, Daniel H., were Confederates. John M. and Daniel H. Sivley were arrested ""with other supposed Rebels'' and were due to be sent to Rock Island, Ill. They were kept for three days in the old Western and Atlantic Railroad freight depot near the Crutchfield House. They were given nothing to eat during this time and had to beg for water. At Nashville, they saw Chattanoogan Elbert James and through him the Sivley brothers were able to gain their release. James also provided a month's board for them in Nashville. It was a fortunate thing for them because ""300 Chattanooga men were on the train (to Rock Island)and none returned here. Practically all died from some strange malady that broke out in the prison.'' After the battle at Missionary Ridge,John M. Sivley helped dig a hole in which 21slain soldiers were buried.
Absalom Sivley (son of Daniel Sivley) was in Co. A of the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry. He rose to the rank of second lieutenant. At the battle of Fishing Creek in which the Confederates lost a number of cavalry horses, he came into possession of a fine mare formerly owned by Lewis Shepherd. He was able to make it across the Cumberland River on this horse, though many other horses that tried to cross either drowned or were forced to turn back. Absalom Sivley was one of the first to make it back to Chattanooga with the news of Fishing Creek. He earlier had served in the Mexican War between 1845 and 1847. Absalom Sivley farmed the remainder of his years at King's Point. He was a member of the County Court and a leader at Chickamauga Baptist Church. He had eight children by Mary Lyon and nine by Mary Milliken. The first set of children were Margaret Elizabeth who married Little Page Sims Benton, Daniel Risley who married Martha Americus Tatum Lindsey, Laura Ruth who married James E. Milliken, Belvadora Ann, William H., David Malcolm who married Martha Louisa Jane Hutto, Absalom Miles who married Mary Ellen Jones, and Robert King who married Mary Emma Young. His second set of children were Mary Abbie, James E., Tomlinson Fort who married Virginia Ida DeSha, Martha Jane Roselean, Carrie Adelphia who married John M. Webb, Alexander William, George Washington who married Nancy Ella Goode,Ruth who married David Irven Wooten and then William M. Bernhardt, and Tennessee Monroe.
There was once a Sivley post office at King's Point with Absalom Sivley as postmaster. It was established in December of 1878. The name was changed to Toqua in 1880. Absalom Sivley died at his residence at King's Point on Jan. 18, 1912, and was buried at the King's Point Cemetery. Daniel Sivley Jr. was in Co. D of the 12th Georgia Cavalry. He enlisted Oct. 4, 1862, and was promoted to sergeant on March 26, 1863. He was later listed as absent without leave. While Daniel Sivley Jr. was away serving in the cavalry, Yankee soldiers harassed his wife, Caroline, by firing their rifles over the Sivley homeplace at Mountain Creek. Later, Federal soldiers came to the house to get her only hog, which was all the food she had except for some buried sweet potatoes. She grabbed an axe and threatened to attack the first soldier who touched the hog. A Federal officer then ordered the soldiers to leave the hog alone.
In the fall of 1863, just after the death of Daniel Sivley Sr., Federal soldiers raided the widow Sivley's entire corn crop. A long string of pontoon boats was moved by the Federal soldiers past the Daniel Sivley place. Thomas Jefferson Sivley was a constable during the war years and was loyal to the Union.
There were reports that his death in May of 1863 was due to a shooting. T.J. Sivley had operated a 200-acre farm at North Chickamauga Creek, and he was a partner in a threshing operation. Several months after his death, Federal soldiers came foraging through that vicinity to find food for the starving soldiers in town. At the Sivley place the soldiers drove their wagons into the fields and helped themselves to corn, oats and fodder. They also dug up the family's potatoes and took hogs, cattle, sheep and a horse. They also cut timber on the Sivley place and made it into boards the following spring for use in building houses and commissaries in town. Henry G. Hixson, administrator of the T.J. Sivley estate, was later paid $689 for the confiscated items. George W. Sivley lived in Chattanooga after the war. He married Sarah Boswell, who was born in Kentucky. Her parents, Harrison and Rebecca Boswell, were originally from Maryland. They lived their latter days with the G.W.Sivleys in Chattanooga on Williams Street.George Sivley was a hauler of wood, which then sold for $1 per cord. He worked for the firm of Baldwin and Williams that was operated by Isaac Baldwin and George Williams. The G.W.Sivley children, in addition to Daniel H. and John Madison, included Mary A., Amanda who married George M. Day, Elizabeth who married William Henry Mylius, Julia Ann, Joseph G.,George W. Jr. who married Margaret Louella Talley, and Sarah Ellen who married Tom W. Jones. Daniel H. married Louisa Stevens, then Roxy King. The son, John M. Sivley, at one time noticed a swarm of bees in a large tree at the site on East Ninth Street where the Volunteer State Life Insurance Company was later built. At this time Ninth Street was merely a forest trail. George Sivley bought the tree for a quarter and felled it. He obtained a hive at a nearby carpenter shop and captured the bees that were in the tree. He also garnered two gallons of honey.
In addition, the tree yielded four cords of wood. John M. Sivley for 32 years was a member of the city fire department, working mainly as a driver. He married Candis M. Riddle. Julia Ann married Madison Freeman in 1866. George W. Sivley died in April of 1873.
ABSALOM Sivley, older brother of Daniel Sivley, came to Hamilton County also. This Absalom Sivley was born in 1795. First he lived at Limestone and Madison counties in Alabama, and some of his children were born there. Absalom Sivley settled on 400 acres at King's Point on South Chickamauga Creek. He resided in a two-story log house that was "well-sealed and weatherboarded'' and included six rooms.
There were three slaves - a male and two females. Absalom Sivley and his wife, Rebecca Canterbury, had 12 children. Rebecca died in 1847, then he married Mary Johnson. After herdeath in 1858, he married Cynthia Childers, wholived until 1885.
The Absalom Sivley children were Peter, Elizabeth, William R. who married Obedience,Louisa who married John Anderson Black, Lawrence M. who married Mary Ann, Martha Jane who married Lewis J. Tyner, Daniel H., John D.who married Hilley J. and then M. Luman in Arkansas, Francis Marion, Ransom Henry who married Rebecca Elizabeth Carl, Parthena who married George C. Geren, and Richard who died in 1843 before his second birthday.
Peter married his cousin, Ruth Sivley. Their children were James Alexander who married Melissa Ann Hasseltine Judson Reese, Elizabeth, Franzina, Mary Adaline who married James Beavers, William M., Daniel M. "Mac,''Thomas Jefferson who married Sarah A. Riddle, Rebecca J. who married James A. Elmore, Francis Marion, John D., Joseph R., Parthena Jane and George LaFayette.
Peter enlisted with the Confederate forces Aug. 15, 1862, and served with the company of Sappers and Miners. William M. was in the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry. He was captured Aug. 31, 1862, in Kentucky and was exchanged. He was captured again in September 1863 and was sent to Nashville to be released upon taking the oath of allegiance.
Thomas J. Sivley enlisted with Co. H. of the 37th Tennessee Infantry at age 15. He was captured near Chattanooga Sept. 11, 1863, then later joined the Federal army, rising to the rank of sergeant.
Francis Marion married Levinney Swinney in 1861 and later was married for a short time to Cynthia Childers Sivley, his widowed stepmother. Daniel H. was born in 1828 and he grew up at King's Point. At the outbreak of the Mexican War, he was made lieutenant of the first company of volunteers organized in East Tennessee.
He saw service at Buena Vista and was in the storming of Mexico City. In the Civil War, he was in Co. A of the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry. He suffered no wounds in either war. He married Mary Ann Fryar, a daughter of John Fryar.
Their children were Margaret R. who married William Hixson, John H. who married Ellen P. Hambrick, Theodosia who married Cofful Marshall and then Lazarus Gross, Mary Elizabeth who married John Frederick Ficken, Thomas, Ransom Alvin, and Mollie who married J.B.Long, then Arthur T. Fair, then Wallace Jennings. Daniel H. Sivley died in 1891 and was buried in the family cemetery at King's Point.
Ranson H. enlisted Oct. 17, 1861, at Ooltewah in Co.K of the 43rd Tennessee Infantry. He deserted the following Feb. 1 and later fought with the Federal army.
John Benton Allen, a foster son of Absalom Sivley, enlisted Oct. 31, 1861, at Ooltewah in Co. E of the 37th Tennessee Infantry. He later transferred to Co. H of the Second Tennessee Cavalry. His parents were John Allen of Bradley County and Mary Ann White, daughter of Thomas White of Hamilton County. John Allen was the son of Benton Allen of New Market,Tenn. John Allen died when John Benton Allen was four, and he later came to live at the Absalom Sivley place at King's Point.
Elizabeth was born Feb. 13, 1816. She married Elisha Leroy Cummings, a son of Thomas Cummings, on Dec. 12, 1833. They later moved from Hamilton County to Alabama and then to Arkansas. Also moving to Arkansas were William R., Lawrence M. and John D. Sivley as well as the families of Louisa Sivley Black and Martha Jane Tyner. John D. Sivley and Leroy Cummings were in the Federal Army, while John Anderson Black fought for the South./P>
Both Daniel and Absalom Sivley died during the Civil War era. Daniel is buried at the Sivley Cemetery at Mountain Creek, while Absalom lies at the King's Point Cemetery south of Chickamauga Dam. It was found after Daniel Sivley's death that he had always paid his debts and owed no one. Samuel Williams noted that he "kept his business very closely wound up.''
Many of the descendants of Daniel and Absalom Sivley still reside in the Chattanooga area.
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