John Delzell (ca1756-1807) and Margaret MCFAREN, Blount Co., TN
Our First well-documented Ancestor
Well, we made it! We have traveled from Scotland to Ireland to America, and now we have finally found an ancestor that we can identify for certain. We have his Marriage License, his Land Grant, his Passport onto Indian lands, his Will and even his Gravestone. His name was John Delzell, and he was my GGGgrandfather. This chapter tells as much as I know, or have been able to find out, about John and his wife Margaret McFaren.
John Delzell’s Marriage BondI believe that John Delzell was born between 1756 and 1758, but whether
he was born in America or in Northern Ireland I can’t be sure. I
do know for certain that on July 7, 1785 he married Margaret McFaren in
the city of Greeneville, in the state of Franklin, U.S.A. Amazingly, after
more than two hundred years, John Delzell and Margaret McFaren’s
marriage bond is still on file in the Greene County Court House in Greeneville,
Tennessee. It is on a small 4x6 piece of paper folded twice and beginning
to fall apart, but it is still kept in an envelop with a number of other
bonds, and available to the public. Theirs is the 24th marriage registered
in the newly-formed State of Franklin! Both John Delzell and Robert Houston
signed the marriage bond and the bond was further guaranteed on the back
of the bond by Robert and James Houston, Thomas Henry, Yorne English and
Andrew Greslid. The paper was 190 years old when Hugh Wayland Delzell discovered
it. Here is what it says:
“State of Franklin
John Delzell and Robert Houston bound to his Excellency John Sevier, Esq. and
his Commission in Office in the sum of £500 (illegible)
on Condition that there be no just cause to obstruct the marriage of John Delzell
to Margaret McFaren. Given (illegible) on their hands & seal the 7th day
of July 1785.
John Dalzell(sic) Robert Houston”
(On the reverse side of the marriage bond are the following names, presumably
they are witnesses:)
“Robert Houston, James Houston, Thomas Henry,
Yorne English, Andrew Grelid.”
One wonders why no one with the name of McFaren, other than Margaret,
signed the bond. Perhaps she had a different maiden name and was related
to one of the men who signed the marriage bond, but we don’t know. One thing is
certain, however, and that is that our ancestors were in what was to become
the State of Tennessee prior to statehood and for this we have received Certificate
number 4487 granting all of John and Margaret’s descendents membership
in the “First Families of Tennessee!”
The State of Franklin
You may be wondering about the state of Franklin mentioned above on John
and Margaret’s marriage bond, since no such state exists today. It
is a fascinating story. In brief, the Scotch-Irish pioneers who lived west
of the Great Smokie Mountains in what was then the state of North Carolina
were in serious trouble. They were harassed by the Indians, they had no
state militia, or judges, or land offices, or even a place to get a marriage
bond. They begged the state of North Carolina, in which they were located,
to help them, but North Carolina had its own concerns on the other side
of the mountains. So, in November of 1784, in the village of Greeneville
in the foothills of the Great Smokie Mountains, they established their
own state and they named it Franklin! John Sevier, a great Indian fighter,
was the first governor. The state of Franklin only existed for four years,
but it was during those four years that John and Margaret were married
in Franklin
The Constitution of the State of Franklin was quite interesting and probably
reflected the views of many of the people who lived in that area at that
time, though possibly not those of John Delzell and Margaret McFaren. Theodore
(Teddie) Roosevelt described the Constitution as follows: “Full religious
liberty was established, so far as rites of worship went, but no one was
to hold office unless he was a Christian who believed in the Bible, in
Heaven, in Hell, and in the Trinity. There were other classes prohibited
from holding office--immoral men and sabbath breakers, for instance, and
clergymen, doctors and lawyers.”
So our Delzell ancestors were right in the middle of one of America’s first attempts at self-government.
John Delzell and the Houston FamilyBecause John and Margaret’s marriage bond was signed by Robert and James Houston and because Robert Houston put up the bond, it seems likely to me that the Delzells and Houstons were associated well before John’s marriage. It is my believe that John Delzell came from the same Rockbridge County area in the Shenandoah Valley that the Houstons came from. For this reason I am including a short description of the Houston family odyssey from Ulster to America and thence down the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to East Tennessee.
A certain unnamed Houston was born in Ulster about 1690. He married in Ulster and had a son name Samuel Houston who was born in 1728. The Houston family sailed for America in 1730 with the two-year old Samuel Samuel grew up in America, married in Rockbridge County, Virginia and had a son named William in 1767. Later, Samuel moved his family down the Great Road to Blount County where he died in 1797. His son William lived in Blount County and died there in 1815. Incidentally the Samuel Houston of Texas fame did not arrive in Blount County until about 1807, the year that John Delzell died.
I suspect that the Delzell family followed a similar pattern with four Delzell brothers, and possibly their wives and children, arriving in America from Ulster in the 1730’s or 40’s. For some reason they separated and went their own way. John Delzell was born in the 1750’s to one of these brothers. I believe that John ended up in Rockbridge County, Virginia, probably near the Houston home near the Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church. What we do know is that he was married in Greeneville in the company of two Houston and that all of them settled in Blount County, Tennessee.
John Delzell was about 28 years old when he married Margaret McFarren. I have no knowledge of where she came from but it is interesting that there were McFarens in Botetourt County, Virginia which is not far from Rockbridge County and there was also a Delzell family living near Fincastle in Botetourt County, Virginia.
John Delzell came to Greeneville about 1785. Twenty years later Sam Houston and his mother moved into Blount County and the description of their move by John Hoyt Williams in “Sam Houston” will give you some idea of what that part of the county was like perhaps twenty years after John and Margaret McFaren Delzell moved into it:
“When the Houston’s headed west to Tennessee, they participated in an American epic, joining a stream of restless, hungry, visionary people seeking new lives on a raw frontier. Unlike many, however, the Houstons were hardley destitute. Elizabeth carried some $3,600 with her, a very respectable sum for that era, and she led two huge Conestoga wagons piled dangerously high with necessities, nine children and at least five slaves. Elizabeth was nearly fifty, but she was undaunted by the prospect of a new life. Land was cheap on the frontier, and there was unlimited opportunity for those willing to work. (P) In the spring of 1807, just weeks before a naval clash with Britain caused war fever to sweep the United States, the Houston caravan halted near Maryville, Tennessee, a dispersed hamlet of perhaps forty “blockhouse families,” for in 1807 much of Tennessee was still a dangerous frontier. As one authority has noted: “The Presence of the Indians and the danger they constituted shaped in very large measure” life in the Tennessee Wilderness. The most numerous of Tennessee’s Indians were the proud and warlike Cherokees, of whom it was remarked, “They never bowed to any other creature, they were not even willing to nod.” The year Sam Houston was born more than a thousand warriors had razed Knoxville and threatened other settlements as well. Even Nashville, founded by Captain John Donelson in 1779 and described as “a town as tough and raw as a fresh-cut hide” years later, remained an armed and vigilant camp.”
Exciting Times in the ColoniesJohn Delzell lived during exciting times in the Colonies. He was about twenty years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. Lord Cornwallis surrendered to the Patriots on October 19, 1781 at Yorktown. George Washington’s Army marched slowly northward through a land roaring with ovations. It wasn’t until September 3, 1783 that a final treaty was signed with the British, and from that day the thirteen Colonies became free and independent states which extended from the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi River. Unfortunately we don’t know if John Delzell fought with the Patriots. If he did, he left no record of it, although Sarah Amanda Tarr spoke about a fork that John used in the Revolutionary War. I suspect that the fork may have been used by Solomon Delzell in the Civil War because I have found no record of John Delzells service in the Revolutionary War.
John Delzell’s Land GrantIt is doubtful that John Delzell had much time to think about the aftermath
of our victory over the British. He was probably heading south from Greeneville
with his new bride shortly after they were married in 1785. He probably
had a covered wagon, some farm implements and household goods, two oxen
and perhaps a horse or two. He was heading into Indian territory in order
to stake out his land grant on the headwaters of Nine Mile Creek. They
probably traveled with other families.
I have a copy of John Delzell’s Land Grant #622., but I have not been
able to determine the conditions under which the grant was made, or why he
was able to secure a Grant on land, that by Treaty belonged to the Cherokee
Indians. Here is what the Grant said:
The State of Tennessee Number 622 Page 605
To All To Whom these presents shall come Greetings. Know ye that in consideration
of the sum of twenty eight dollars, eighty eight and an half cents in part
for the tract of Land herin named with the interest due thereon paid by John
Dilzell who the public Treasury of this state there being yet due and chargeable
on said Land the further sum of two hundred and fifty nine dollars, ninety
six and half cents there is granted unto said John Delzell a certain tract
of Land containing two hundred and eighty eight-three rood and seventeen
pole lying and being in the county of Blount and District south of French
Broad and Holston Within the limits of the tract located for the use of colleges
on the headwaters of Nine Mile Creek Beginning at an oak bush with Hammel
and Maxwell...and John Davis...with William Hanna...then with Mathew Timberman...then
with John Tedford...then with Robert Hammel...to the beginning. Surveyed
February the Eleventh Eighteen hundred and Seven With its appurtenances to
Halve and To Hold the said tract or parcel of land with its appurtenances
to the said John Delzell and his heirs and assigns forever, In witness wherof
John Sevier Governor of the State of Tennessee hath hereunto set his hand
and caused the great seal of the State to be affixed at Knoxville on the
thirteenth day of June in the Year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and nine and of American Independence the thirty third.”
How do we explain the fact that John’s grant was surveyed in 1807 the year that John Delzell died and was not made official until 1809? I suspect that John and Margaret McFaren staked out their claim about the time they were married in 1785 or even earlier, and that they cleared the land and built their cabin not long after. The problem for many of these pioneers was the fact that they had settled on land that belonged to the Cherokee Indians by the Treaty of Dumplin Creek, which was signed in 1785. The Indians agreed to open all lands south of the French Broad River down to the Little River, but inevitably the pioneers kept moving south. The land that John settled was roughly ten miles south of the Little River on the headwaters of Nine Mile Creek which drained into the Little Tennessee River.
The Treaty of Dumplin CreekAttacks by the Cherokee Indians were the main problem faced by our pioneer
ancestors who, perhaps unwittingly, had encroached on lands that were given
by the Treaty of Dumplin Creek, to the Cherokee Indians. Furthermore the
Cherokees were allied with the British and were given weapons by them before
and during the Revolutionary War.
In order to keep the Cherokees pacified, John Sevier, the governor of Franklin,
met with the Cherokees at Henry’s Station (Fort) on Dumplin Creek,
May 31, 1785, just two months before John and Margaret McFarren were married,
and signed what was called the “Treaty of Dumplin Creek.” This
Treaty was followed in the summer of 1786 by the Treaty of Coyatee which
made the agreement with the Cherokees even stronger.
In 1796 Congress passed “An Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse with the Indian Tribes, and to Preserve Peace on the Frontiers.” One section of that law established established a boundary line which excluded all settlement on lands in Blount County which drained into the Little Tennessee River. Very strict penalties were prescribed for violation and federal troops were sent to enforce the ban. All this time John and Margaret were living and raising a family on Indian land.
John Delzell’s Passport to Remove Property from Indian LandsIn 1798 John Delzell, along with James Houston, George Tedford, John McCulley and many other settles were forced to leave their land. In order to save their crops and collect their livestock and other belongs, they were granted “Passports” on April 9, 1798 to go to their homes, but not to live there. The information about Passports was found in the book titled “Passports of Southeastern Pioneers, 1770-1823.
It is difficult to comment on the rights and wrongs of the pioneers in encroaching on Indian Lands. The pioneers undoubtedly felt it was their right to settle on lands that the Indians only used for hunting, but, of course, the lands on which they settled were on lands which the Indians had been granted by Treaty.
My immediate reaction to the above statement is that John Delzell, who was associated with the Houstons on his marriage bond, could very easily have joined the Houstons as they staked out claims in Blount County in 1776 or 1779. There is no family history which suggests that John Delzell was in any kind of actions against the Cherokee Indians, but the fact that he ended up where he did suggests that he may have been. I suspect that very few men in that area had a choice about going against the Cherokees when their families and home were threatened. It is unfortunate that the Cherokee Indians affiliated themselves with the British in the Revolution, but because they did they were the enemy.
What is quite interesting to me is that John and Margaret settled on land that was just over the “dividing line between the waters drained by the Little River and the Great Tennessee.” They settled , according to Land Grant #622 on 288 acres “...south of the French Broad and Holston within the limits of the tract located for the use of colleges on the headwaters of Nine Mile Creek....” Nine Mile Creek empties into the Tennessee River not far from where the Little River joins the Great Tennessee River, and so would have been in violation of the Treaty of Dumplin Creek, although later treaties opened up this area to settlement which accounts for the fact that John did receive a Land Grant and title to his farm, but not until years later.
Heading for the Land Beyond the French BroadWe don’t know when John and Margaret traveled 90 miles down the Indian War Path from Greeneville, passed over the French Broad River, probably stopped at John Craig’s Fort on the future site of Maryville, Tennessee, and then started to build a home about five miles southeast of Maryville on the land he had somehow acquired.
Inez Burns wrote, in her wonderful book “The History of Blount County,” “It is highly possible that there were some people already in what is now Blount County before the spring of 1785; but just as soon as the bars were let down we know that people flocked down the Great War Path--McTeer, Craig, Houston, Gamble, and others who later had forts went straight to the claims they had no doubt marked in 1776 or in 1779 when they marched against the Cherokee with Col. Christian and Col. Shelby.”
Again, we don’t know that John and his new bride were among those that hitched up their wagons and “flocked down” the Great War Path toward the site of the future city of Maryville, but it seems very likely that they were. Especially since two Houston boys signed John and Margaret’s marriage bond and, as indicated above, the Houston’s were among the first to enter Blount County. We don’t know how John Delzell learned about the land he acquired or how he came by it I am aware of no evidence that he was a veteran of the Revolutionary War or that he had fought against the Indians. I would like to quote again from Hugh Wayland Delzell’s “Delzell Ties” page 16.: “There is no question but that the early Delzell men loved a peaceful life and were not given to quarreling with their neighbors whether red or white. Whether this was from inheritance or through the environment of their home life we will not debate--but if there is one characteristic of their home life which has been passed from one generation to the next, it is this love of a peaceful life.” Hugh may well be right, but it is also true that John’s son was in the War of 1812, his grandson was in the Civil War, his GGgrandson in World War I and his GGGgrandson in World War II.
If John and Margaret
left Greeneville shortly after their marriage, and went directly to their
land, they undoubtedly experienced difficult times. To quote again from
Inez Burns, “Whether the first settlers and been under fire
or not, all who were here before 1794 became veterans of Cherokee warfare.
Most of the militia officers had seen service in the Revolution. From 1792
until 1797, what is now Blount County had five companies of militia and one
of cavalry.” Again there is no family history of John’s having
to fight the Indians--perhaps he was a pacifist and recognized as such by
the Indians.
John and Margaret McFaren Delzell’s Family
John and Margaret were married in 1785 and their first child, William,
was born in 1786. Then came Robert about 1787, David May 20, 1790 and James
February 15, 1894. Finally, after four sons all of whom lived to create
large families, a girl, Margaret was born August 26, 1798. Three more sons,
John, Samuel Houston and Gideon Blackburn completed the family. The three
younger sons may not have lived long enough to raise families.
All of John and Margaret’s children were born in Blount County, Tennessee,
probably on the original family farm, but they had all left Tennessee well
before the Civil War. The map below shows that William’s family moved
to Bradley County in central Tennessee. Robert, the second son, moved to
Richland County, Ilinois. David, the third son moved to Greene County,
Missouri, and James, the fourth son moved to Carroll County, Indiana. Though
separated, the four families seemed to have kept up contact.
John Delzell as Citizen
The first official notices that John Delzell was in Blount County TN are
seven jury duty listings in Record Book #1 between 1796 and 1803. Blount
County was formed in 1795. Then in 1801 he was listed as a property tax
payer in Blount County showing that he owned 100 acres and that there was
one poll (white male over 21) and no slaves in his household.. Other taxpayers
listed along with John Delzell were Robert Ferguson, Robert McCulley, Houstons
and Tedfords--all names associated with our family. Sam Houston of Texas
fame came to Tennessee in 1807, the year that John Dalzell died, but he
is known to have had relatives in Blount County long before then. In 1805
John Delzell was given the liberty to mark his livestock with “one
crop and two slits in each ear.”
It is apparent that John Delzell and his family were respected members
of the community; hard working, self-sufficient farmers; probably founding
members of the New Providence Presbyterian Church; and people who paid
their taxes and served on juries. It is unfortunate that we have no personal
family history of these remarkable pioneers, but we can easily picture
the kind of dangerous and hard lives that they led.
The Death of John Delzell
John Delzell died in the year 1807. His Will was dated October 23, 1807 and filed on November 28, 1807. The executors were Robert Ferguson, possibly a son-in-law, and William Delzell, his oldest son. The original Will is still on file in the County Clerk’s Office in Maryville, TN. The Will in part, reads as follows with the spelling as written:
“I John Delzell of Blount County calling to mind the fretty (frailty) of man beinge in perfect mind and memory, Do make and ordain this my last will and testament. First I order all my just debts to be paid of my estate. I order and appoint my wife Peggy (a form of Margaret) Delzell all housel furniter to bee at her disposal and farming utantiols not to be removed of the premises until she see caws. She is to continue on said premises During life or untill she Chaing hir name then to be davided betwixt my sons John (Delzell) and Samul Houston (Delzell) and Gedin Blackburn Delzell and my daughter paggey to have a horse and sale out of the three younger sons peart and the Horses and Catel (---)? to bee keap for the supoort of the famely and to go to healp to enter the land, likewise sixty Doolers in John Vichols hand to go towards antring (entering) the land my son William is to live on the said land till he pays himself for clearing the land my son Robert to git a hors worth a hundred dollars in traid and Sadel and David whan he is of aige David and James the same property if they continue to work the farm and to Receive thair Shair of the saime I also disnol all other will or wills heretofore made by me and declaire this to be my last. Witness Robert Ferguson, Wm Dalzell, John Dalzell.”
The Will was signed by John himself, by his oldest son William and by Robert Ferguson. Why Robert Ferguson? Often one of the wife’s relatives signed a will to make sure the wife received her fair share. It would be interesting to find out how Robert Ferguson fit into the family picture.
The Discovery of John Delzell’s Gravestone
One of the greatest adventures of my life.. was the discovery of John
Delzell’s gravestone. In the spring of 1954 I traveled from California
to Maryville, Tennessee to learn more about my ancestors. By lucky chance,
I had written to the library in Maryville and contacted Miss Inez Burns.
I didn’t know how lucky I was! Not only was Miss Burns the author
of the primary source book on Blount County, she was a wonderfully warm
person who treated this stranger from California like an old friend. John
Delzell, and perhaps other members of this family, were buried in the Hamill/Tedford
cemetary which is located 4.9 miles, as the crow flies, southwest of the
County Court house in Maryville. It is 0.1 mile north of Carpenter’s
Grade road and 0.4 mile south of it’s intersection with Allegheny
Road.
Map Showing the Location of the Hamil/Tedfor Cemetary
On the morning after I arrived, and before she had to be at the library,
Miss Burns drove me out to meet an old gentleman who lived in the woods
and who knew a great deal about the early settlers of Blount County. We
parked the car, after driving into the woods as far as we could go, and
hiked another quarter mile on a path until we arrived at a small cabin.
Miss Burns shouted “Hello Bert!” and soon a tall man with a
white beard and a big smile came out of the cabin to greet us. Miss Burns
had to get back to the library, so she left me with Bert Garner, one of
the friendliest, most interesting men I had ever met.
We talked about the old days and Bert remarked that when he was a small
child he used to trace the name DELZELL on a gravestone in the old, abandoned
Hammil/Tedford cometary, but that I was the first living Delzell he had
ever met. This alone was exciting news, but when Bert offered to hike down
to the graveyard, maybe a mile away, I couldn’t wait to get started.
The cemetary was now part of a cow pasture. There were a few stones Standing
and several enclosures, but nothing else to indicate that it was the burial
ground of my oldest know ancestors. Bert suggested that we weren’t
likely to find anything because most of the stones had been carted off
by local farmers to be used as foundation stones. Nevertheless, we started
to search the whole area.
Before long, Bert let out a whoop and I came running to where he had located John Delzell’s gravestone! It was partially buried in the grass and mud of the cow pasture, but when we pulled it out, there was the hand-carved inscription “John Delzell, died 1807.” I think Bert was as happy as I was. I was ecstatic and awe-struck by the experience of standing here, one hundred and forty seven years after my ancestors had stood on this spot and grieved the passing of the husband and father that had opened the wilderness and started a great family. Now, as I write this in 1997, 190 years later, I still feel the joy and excitement of that wonderful moment.
The gravestone was about a foot wide, two feet long and about four inches thick. I was a naturally occurring, smooth, gray mountain stone which weighed about 75 pounds. Bert suggested that since the cometary had been abandoned, we could take better care of the stone at his cabin. It was almost too much for me to lift, but Bert threw it on his shoulder and away we went back up the hill to his cabin.
The stone is very hard. I tried to scratch it with a knife and it was difficult to do. Whoever carved John’s name and the year that he died on this very tough stone must have really cared about making a lasting memorial. So it is not only a tribute to John Delzell but to those who carved his name. Very likely it was his oldest son William.
Bert kept the stone by his cabin door where it excited a great deal of interest, but when Bert got sick, he shipped the stone to my brother in Stevens Point, Wisconsin where it was kept in the company garage. A fire there cracked the stone, but I was able to move it to Waupaca, Wisconsin where I encased it in concrete and kept it at the family cottage for many years. When the cottage was in danger of being sold, I shipped the stone to California where it now resides in my home. I tried to donate the stone to the Maryville Historical Library, but never heard from them. My hope would be that this abandoned cemetary would be cleaned up and fenced in, but this is not likely to happen.
It is wonderful to have at least this memorial of John Delzell. I hope someday that it can find a permanent home where it is properly taken care of and available to future generations of Delzells.
References:
Williams, John Hoyt (1933), Sam Houston, The Life and Times of the Liberator of Texas, an Autehntic American Hero, A Touchstone Book by Simon & Schuster.
Potter, Dorothy Williams (1982), Passports of Southeastern Pioneers, 1770-1823, Gateway Press.