Category: Maternal Family Lines

Parent for all Maternal Family Lines

Our JACKSON Forebears in Europe

December 29, 2017 Dennis Ayers

Our first Jackson ancestor who adventured to America was William Jackson in 1679. With Jackson being a very common name, tracing his line further back in England is not simple. However, researchers in England and others have successfully traced back several generations to Thomas Jackson born about 1550 in Nottinghamshire, England. (Note this is around the time and place where Robin Hood, the heroic outlaw of Sherwood Forest in English folklore, became legendary.) Tracing further back from Thomas becomes even more difficult.

That being said, there is good reason to believe the Jacksons were actually descendants of the ancient Lascelles family from France. I’ll explain. Picot de Lascelles was a Baron who apparently come over from northern France in 1066 with a contingent of William the Conqueror’s army. He helped secure a strategic part of England around Cambridge by building a castle on a hill overlooking the river, and became the High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire. His son, Roger, was his successor. After that, history mentions several generations of de Lascelles mostly in the Yorkshire area. Then around the late 13th century, Sir John de Lascelles began using the alias of “Jackson”. This apparently continued until eventually their descendants simply became known only by the name, Jackson. Since these Jacksons came from the same general area of Northeast England as our line is highly likely that they are our forebears.

The JACKSON Branch of Our Tree

December 29, 2017 Dennis Ayers

Myrtle JACKSON was Helen Derrie’s mother. So, the JACKSON branch of our tree follows her line of male Ancestors. JACKSON is a famous English surname, and throughout history has had various spellings such as Jacson, Jagson and Jaxon. It is a patronymic surname formed from the personal names Jaques or John, both originating from the ancient Hebrew “Yochanan”. The name was first introduced by returning Crusaders from the Holy Land in the 12th century, and quickly gained popularity in England.

Now, JACKSON is also a very common surname in the United States. As of the 2010 census there were slightly over 700,000 people with the name ranking it 19th of all surnames in the US. The name is most common in the Southeastern states, as well as being especially popular in the District of Columbia. It is least common in the midwestern states. There are actually more African-Americans named Jackson than Caucasians in the US.

Amongst the many interesting name bearers was Andrew Jackson (1767 – 1845). He was the seventh president of the United States of America, from 1828 – 1836, but earlier he became a national hero when he successfully defended New Orleans against the British in 1815. Even though he lived in Tennessee, our family has no relationship to Andrew Jackson. However, we do have a very distant relationship to another famous Jackson, entertainer Michael Jackson.

Our branch of Jacksons in America is an interesting story which begins with the arrival of our immigrant Jackson ancestor from England as an indentured servant in the late 1600s. Over the next two hundred years his descendants became prosperous land and slave owners in the South before losing all their prosperity again by the time of the Civil War. Read on to discover how their story unfolded.

Helen Derrie Ayers, Woman of Faith and Determination

March 18, 2012 Dennis Ayers 2 comments

Some things in life you just cannot clearly see or understand while they are happening, but can only fully appreciate in hindsight. This is the case with my mother, Helen Derrie Ayers. Growing up I knew her as a loving and nurturing mother. As an adult I knew her as a God loving and supportive mother and grandmother to my children. Only now looking back on her life, can I better appreciate the depth of her religious faith and her fierce determination to overcome any adversity.

Mom was raised in poverty as the ninth of eleven births, and she saw only a bleak world around her. During the 1930s Depression, she had to drop out of school in the eighth grade because she had no shoes to wear. Even though she was only 14 years old, she worked up the courage to get a job at a new shirt factory in town by telling them she was 16. Luckily, they needed women operators. Most of the money she earned doing piecework went to support her father and mother, but she got a first glimpse at how she could earn a better life with a good work ethic. It was about that time also that she first found her faith in God, after being drawn into a church when she heard wonderful music. From that time on she was determined to find a way to escape her unhealthy home environment and even leave her small town of LaFollette, TN.

In Jan 1942, Mom married Ira Ayers, Dad, when he returned to LaFollette for Christmas from Baltimore, Maryland where he had gone to find employment. She then moved back to Baltimore with him for a few months. However, he was soon drafted into WW II leaving her back in LaFollette with an unborn baby (me), while he spent the next 4 years overseas. Knowing that Dad would someday take her away again, Mom began saving some of money that he sent home. She had faith that it would help them find a better life. After the war, they again moved to Baltimore where Dad returned to his job with the B&O Railroad. They also took on the responsibility of supervising two large apartment houses which allowed them to continue saving. Mom was always embarrassed and ashamed of her family background and was determined to provide a solid foundation and better life for her own family. She found a new church in the city, became a born again Christian, and became a Sunday School teacher.

In 1947 and again in 1948, she tragically lost babies at birth because her blood type was RH negative and the babies died because her body had developed antibodies against the fetuses. Determined to overcome this medical adversity, she allowed the doctors to experiment with a new drug to counteract the antibodies, and as a result my two sisters, Carol and Annette, survived when they were born. And that experimentation in which she participated, helped cure the RH factor problem for today and future generations.

In 1950 Mom and Dad bought a small farm in the country about 20 miles west of Baltimore City. Dad continued working for the railroad, but because of the extra commuting expenses, finances were very tight. Mom often went to God in prayer seeking guidance. The family went to church and tithed faithfully. Her deep faith helped her to remain optimistic. By the mid 1950s they began selling chickens, eggs, strawberries and vegetables produced on the farm. By 1960, their small business had grown to selling 300 dozen eggs per week year round, along with hundreds of bushels of strawberries, tomatoes and corn in the summertime. Between working for the railroad and on the farm, Dad worked 16 hours a day and was always very stressed. However, Mom also did her part as she spent countless hours picking, cleaning, crating and delivering their products by car along a home delivery route they established. This was extremely hard work that produced little profit in return. Mom knew that she had to find a job off the farm for the family to move ahead, but she had no high school diploma.

Again, she was very determined and while continuing to work the farm, she started home schooling herself and eventually received a GED diploma. This led to her getting a job in 1965 at a state mental institution where she did on-the-job training and classwork to become a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). Continuing to push ahead, by 1970 she obtained an Industrial Therapist job at another state mental institution where she helped patients train for job skills before they were released back into the community. She found her niche in helping others, and took great pride in her work before retiring in 1983.

Growing up under unfortunate circumstances, Mom always had great empathy for others less fortunate. She applied this empathy in all parts of her lifelong work for the church and her personal life. She often visited, comforted and prayed for sick people. On two separate occasions in the 1950s and 60s, there were large neighboring families who lived in similar households like she had experienced, where the father made bleak living conditions worse by excessive drinking. She reached out and befriended those families and did everything she could for the wives and children. In addition, she and Dad would gather up as many children as would fit in their old car and take them to Sunday School. She was determined to show them that there was a path of hope that eventually could lead them to future security.

Mom always looked out for her own family as well. She supported and strengthened Dad whenever his resolve seemed to weaken, or whenever stress caused him to erupt at some family member. She provided constant encouragement and guidance to my sisters and me. She was the bedrock of our family. Thankfully, she motivated me to go to college, although no one knew where the money would come from. But she had faith the answer would be found, and it was found outside the home with a scholarship. She died in 2005, and even though she is no longer with us, Mom will always be our inspiration. Helen Derrie Ayers was indeed a strong woman of faith and determination.

Marshall Whistleman Survives German POW Camp

March 16, 2012 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

Veatta Derrie was married to Marshall Whistleman in 1958. Although he never spoke of it, Marshall was a WW II veteran with horrible memories. Born in Staunton, VA, he was living in Baltimore Maryland when he enlisted in the Army in 1943 at the age of 18. It was during the middle of the war, and Marshall was assigned to the infantry and sent to the European Theater. There he saw action in France and Germany, earning three Bronze stars which are for “heroic or meritorious achievement or service”.

He was taken prisoner by the Germans near Strasburg, France on Nov 25, 1944. He was first taken to the Stalag 12A POW transition camp near Weisbaden and later transferred to the Stalag 9B work camp near Bad Orb. Thankfully, Marshall was freed May 8, 1945 when the Germans surrendered. The living conditions were especially awful at Stalag 12A and on the transfer trains. About half of all POWs died, but Marshall was one of the lucky ones.

After the war ended, he completed his service in the Army at Fort Myer, VA, where he served as a guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. He left the Army in 1947 at the rank of Corporal.

Derrie Sisters and Brother

March 13, 2012 Dennis No comments exist

Tom and Myrtle Derrie only had five of eleven children who reached adulthood. There were four sisters and one brother. I’ve never seen a picture with all of them together. The picture below from 1963 only shows the sisters who are youngest from left to right: Veatta, Helen, Alma, Lillie. Brother Bud was not present at the small reunion in Knoxville. Lillie and Alma were born in Greene County, TN while Helen, Veatta and Bud were born in Campbell County.

The family never lived on a farm, and always lived in or close to town. Due to poverty living conditions when they were young, it cannot be said that the children grew up in a normal household. They had few possessions, and none of today’s conveniences. With money for daily necessities very scarce, attending school was difficult and attending church almost never. There’s even a story that the oldest sister, Lillie, had to share a single dress with her mother when she went to school. Despite the hardships, the offspring stood together to weather their situation. However, all left home as early as possible to seek better lives. Unfortunately, none of them remain alive today. Below is an introduction and short summary of how each of the brothers and sisters’ lives evolved from the oldest to the youngest, with some old pictures thrown in for fun. All facts may not be totally correct, so readers please let me know when I need to make corrections. Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them.

Lillian Mae Derrie McNutt (1905 – 1976)

Lillian, or Lillie as most people called her, was born in 1905. She was serious and determined as first-born children tend to be. She may have been the only one in her family to finish school. In fact, she taught school in Campbell County for about a year after graduating. Soon though, Lillie set off for Knoxville which is about 40 miles from LaFollette where she put herself through business school. In 1929 at age 24, she married S.F.C McNutt whose initials stood for Samuel Franklin Casenberg, the name of the doctor who delivered him as a baby. As a youngster he apparently was called Casey, but later everyone just called him Mac. He always called his wife Lillian and not Lillie. Mac was a jovial

person and liked to listen to baseball games on the radio. In 1934 they had their only child, a daughter named Shirley. Lillie was a strong Christian and always worried about the well-being and spiritual health of her siblings. In 1940, Lillie and Mac took in her youngest sister, Veatta, to live with them for about a year when she was still in school. Then in 1943, they generously took in her sister, Helen, (Mom) and me as a baby to live with them for a year to escape the living conditions back home in LaFollette. Mac worked many years for the Southern Railroad in knoxville. Lillie worked initially in business offices, but later in life she worked as a real estate agent and broker. Her reserved and proper nature probably served her well in that profession. She also taught Sunday School for about 50 years. A lifelong smoker, she died of cancer in 1976 at age 70. Mac lived a little longer and died in 1981 at age 76.

Alma Bernice Derrie Wilson (1909 – 1986)

Alma & Otney Wilson ca 1970s — **Alma and Ott 1970s**

Alma, born in 1909, married Otney Wilson in 1927. They lived their entire lives in LaFollette with many years in the beginning next door to her parents, Tom and Myrtle. Unfortunately, this led to excessive drinking in their household as well. Alma and Ott, as he was called, had seven straight sons between 1927 and 1941, but finally had a daughter in 1949. Their sons’ names were James (called JL), Phillip, Carl, Chester, John (called Nookie), Don, and Alvin. Sadly, Chester died when only 1-year-old, and Nookie was killed at age 16 when he stepped on a downed power line while walking in the woods. All the sons are now deceased. Their daughter born last was named Veatta after her Aunt so they always called her “Little Veatta”. After she was born, Alma and Ott turned their lives around. Ott got a job with the LaFollette Fire Department and over the years worked his way up to become the Fire Chief before he retired. They moved to a house in LaFollette proper, became Christians and attended church regularly. Alma was a sweet and gentle woman who was always a homemaker. She died of cancer in 1986 at age 76 and Ott died just a few months later at age 84. They are buried with most of their children in the Cumberland View Cemetery in LaFollette.

James Alvin (Bud) Derrie (1919 – 1979)

James Alvin was called Bud almost from the day he was born in 1919, but always used Alvin for official purposes. He grew up as the only boy in a poverty-stricken, dysfunctional household. As a consequence, he always took the brunt of his father’s bitter harsh ways. Bud only finished the 6th grade and finally got away from home by first joining the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCCs) and then when he was 20 years old, he enlisted in the Army in 1939 in Punta Gorda, Florida for duty in Panama. However, in 1940 he was stationed at Ft. Benning, Georgia and was soon dragged into WW II. It is believed he served mostly in an Engineer Aviation Battalion which built and repaired runways throughout the war. There is a story that he participated in the D-Day invasion of the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944, in the second wave when the US brought vehicles ashore, some of which were to help build temporary airfields. He was released from duty after the war in 1945, and his family thought he returned as an emotionally handicapped person. It was probably what today is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, which affects some war veterans. He developed the same heavy drinking pattern of his father and never found a smooth road. Bud re-enlisted in 1947 for a second tour in the Army, but was always in trouble for going AWOL and was released again just prior to the Korean War. He was married to Ruth Norman in 1953, but then was divorced a short time later. In 1964 he married Cora Lloyd, a woman 23 years older than him, but she died in 1965. Bud never really found any happiness in life and eventually died in 1979 at age 60 while in the Mountain Home VA hospital in Johnson City, TN. He is buried next to his mother and father in the Jacksboro Cemetery.

Helen Louise Derrie Ayers (1923 – 2005)

Helen 17 Years Old — **Helen at about 17**

Helen, born in 1923, married Ira Ayers in 1942, and they moved to Baltimore, MD in 1946. Ira worked for the B&O railroad while Helen was a homemaker and farm woman until the 1960s when she began working outside the home, first as a Licensed Practical Nurse, and then as an Industrial Therapist. She and Ira had three children: Dennis, Carol, and Annette. Helen had an outgoing personality and loved to talk to anyone. She was a loving mother and a devout Christian. She died in 2005 at age 81 and Ira died in 2003 at age 90. They are buried in the Crestlawn Memorial Cemetery in Ellicott City, MD. See more details about her life in the post dated May 9, 2011, and in a following post.

Veatta Belle Derrie Whistleman (1925 – 1998)

Veatta born in 1925, was married several times before her final marriage to Marshall Whistleman in 1958. Before that, she lived for a few years in Baltimore, MD where they apparently met. However, they were actually married in Lockport, NY where Marshall had taken a job. They later lived in Newfane, NY where they both worked at Harrison Radiators, a division of

General Motors. The location was only 25 miles from Niagara Falls. Marshall was a soft-spoken, gentle guy, while Veatta had a strong and sometimes gruff personality. They never had any children, but later in life Veatta stayed home and took in foster children raising them as her own. She loved to go play bingo and grow roses. She and Marshall both loved their little poodle dogs, and they liked to travel in their mini motorhome with the dogs beside them. A lifelong smoker, Veatta had various cancer problems starting in the 1980s and finally died from a brain tumor in 1998 at age 72. Marshall died from a heart attack in 2001 at age 76. They are buried in the Hartland Central Cemetery in Gasport, NY.

Thomas Washington Derrie

March 6, 2012 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

As mentioned earlier, Robert and Sarah Derryberry/Derrie had three daughters and four sons. Their oldest son was my grandfather,Thomas Washington Derrie, who I knew only briefly before his death. Sadly, Thomas never knew either of his two grandfathers. Both were killed in the Civil War fighting for the South before he was born. The death of his father’s father, James Derryberry, at age 25 in the battle of Atlanta was described in an earlier post. The death of his mother’s father, George Washington Clowers, at age 34 in the battle of Winchester, VA, will be described in a future post when I discuss the Clowers. I wonder how many other children have lost both grandfather’s to the devastation of war?

Thomas Derrie was born in 1883 in Greene County, TN. Tom, as everyone called him, grew up working on his father’s farm near Warrensburg. He only attended school until the second grade and by age 18 he could not yet read or write. In 1903 he lost his own father, Robert, and in 1904 at the age of 22 he married Myrtle Jackson. Myrtle was born in Washington County, TN, in 1888 but her family had moved to neighboring Greene County. Coming from a large and poor family she was turned out at a very early age to be a live-in servant to a local merchant. Tom must have met her when he went to the store where she lived. They married when Myrtle, with black hair and light blue eyes, was only 15 years old. She must have wanted to get away, because she later said that the family she had worked for treated her poorly and didn’t feed her very much. By 1910 Tom and Myrtle had started their family and moved to Jacksboro in Campbell County, TN, perhaps because Myrtle’s father and mother had earlier relocated there.

Tom Derrie was of medium height and a somewhat stout man. He had brown hair and brown eyes. In his early 30’s, he worked in the nearby Caryville coal mines until around 1915 when his left lower leg was severely mangled while operating a coal crushing machine. The story is that after the other miners freed him from the machine, they took him to his house where the doctor cut off his leg just below the knee while he laid on the kitchen table. How painful that must have been, but there were no hospitals in the county. He must have received a cash settlement from the coal mines, because in 1917 he and Myrtle purchased a house in Jacksboro for $300. However, continuing to make a living with only one good leg became extremely difficult.

Altogether, Tom and Myrtle had eleven children between 1905 and 1927. Unfortunately, only five of them grew to adulthood: Lillian, Alma, Alvin (Bud), Helen and Veatta. Most of the others died at birth or at a very early age, but nine-year old Dorothy died after the doctor lanced her tonsils and she bled to death. There is also the story that they lost two young ones during the great Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918-1919 which cost millions of lives around the world. Tom had to dig the graves while he too suffered from the flu. There was always sorrow in their household from the many lost children.

In an attempt to support his family after losing his leg, Tom bought an old Model T touring car with button-down side window curtains, and became a taxi driver. Fixing constant flat tires and making frequent repairs on that old car trained him to be especially good at fixing autos. As a result, he eventually gave up the taxi and became an auto mechanic. Perhaps seeking more work around 1923, he moved the family five miles down the road to LaFollette to a house on Tennessee Ave, which they rented for $10 per month. By 1937, the family moved into a house about a mile outside of town on Highway 25W at Coke Oven Hill which they rented for $5 per month. This house was unpainted and very drafty. In 1945, they were somehow able to purchase the house and property which had 160 ft of road frontage for $150. Tom then built a good-sized garage next to the house to repair cars. Unfortunately, business was not very good, and due to various reasons the years in LaFollette were not kind to the family as they often lived in great poverty with few clothes and barely enough food to eat.

Tom suffered continuously with his amputated leg, and his crude, wooden artificial leg never fit well, always causing sores on the stub. That together with his inability to make a decent income and his family sorrows, caused him to become a bitter man and a heavy drinker over the years. His drinking problems also eventually dragged down Myrtle, and others close to him into the same sad and deplorable situation. The heavy drinking only made their financial condition worse. Finally, in 1949, Tom suffered a ruptured appendix and after three days in the hospital died from complications at age 65. He was taken to a mortuary on the second floor above a furniture store. His oldest daughter, Lillian, had heard there were rats in the building and stayed with his body all night for protection. Tom is buried in the Jacksboro Cemetery.

Myrtle remarried in 1951 to Henry White, sold the house at Coke Oven Hill, and moved into his small house in LaFollette proper. It was a marriage of companionship and they lived comfortably for a few years. In 1956, she apparently developed breast cancer, but before treatment she died from a heart attack at age 66. She is buried next to Tom in the Jacksboro Cemetery.

Robert Derryberry’s Family Shortens the Name

February 7, 2012 Dennis No comments exist

Greene County, TN, was the birthplace of the legendary Davy Crockett in 1786. It was also the home of our 17th president, Andrew Johnson, who took over after President Lincoln was assassinated. After the Civil War, the Derryberrys remaining in Greene County, TN, began feeling the need to shorten their surname. Perhaps the first to do so was Thomas Derryberry who by 1870 was using the name Dayberry. Then by 1880 his father William was also using this new spelling. Both William and Thomas and their families moved to Sevier County, TN, sometime before 1880 and lived there until the end of their lives. William died in 1890 and Thomas died in 1908.

Meanwhile, recall from the previous post that James Derryberry had married a second time to Elizabeth Hansel, in 1859. Well, later that year they had a son named Robert, and before James rode off to join the southern campaign in 1862 they had a daughter named Mary. When James didn’t return after the war, his widow and two small children must have had a very difficult time surviving. Finally, in 1870, Elizabeth who sometimes went by her first name Susan, at age 33 remarried an older gentleman named Samuel Easterly who was 64. Together they had a daughter named Cenia. Unfortunately, by 1880 Elizabeth was widowed once again.

By 1880, 21 year old Robert Derryberry, had moved away from home and was called “Ball Dery”. Perhaps Ball was a nickname, but it is obvious that he was also trying on a shorter surname. That same year he married Sarah Jane Clowers who was six years older. He possibly met Sarah when when she was visiting relatives next door to where Robert was living. However, Robert and Sarah were married using his old Derryberry surname.

Over the next 15 years, Robert and Sarah proceeded to have three daughters and four sons. They lived and farmed near Warrensburg, TN for the rest of their lives. The Nolichucky River runs right through this area. In 1900, the family was still using the Derryberry name, but shortly after began spelling their name differently. Most of the family members dropped the “berry” syllable and began using just “Derry”. Robert died of pneumonia in 1903 at only 44 years old. Sarah lived for another 20 years and died in 1923. They are both buried in the Methodist Church cemetery in Warrensburg, TN. Interestingly, as can be clearly seen, the name is spelled Derrie on their headstone. Only one of their offspring adopted that particular spelling variation and that was their oldest son, our ancestor, Thomas Washington Derrie.

Jim Derry who lives in the northwest corner of Georgia, not far from Chattanooga, TN is a great-great grandson of Robert Derryberry/Derrie. Jim had a DNA test run in 2010 that matches him with the Durrenbergers of Switzerland, proving that the Derrys/Derries of East Tennessee are in fact descendants of that line. Jim and I are second cousins, but once removed since he is one generation younger than I.

James Derryberry Dies in the Civil War

January 29, 2012 Dennis No comments exist

Most people have read or heard stories about the American Civil War causing brothers to fight on opposite sides for the North and the South, and about soldiers fighting first on one side and then the other. Well, all this actually happened in our Derryberry family history. Read on to find out the complicated circumstances.

William Derreberry was a farmer and a shoemaker. When William and his wife Mary (Polly) migrated to Greene County, TN in the 1850s, their two oldest offspring, Susan and Barnabas, were already married and stayed behind in North Carolina. Jefferson, aka Jesse, was also married but chose to travel with the family as did their three youngest sons, James, John and Thomas. After arriving in Tennessee, James, who is our ancestor, and his brother John married two Garmon sisters in August 1857, one week apart. The marriages took place down the river in neighboring Jefferson County, TN. Then due to an untimely death or some other unknown reason, James got married a second time just a year and a half later to Elizabeth Hansel also in Jefferson County.

In the Spring of 1861, seven southern states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. This triggered the War Between the North and the South or the American Civil War. East Tennessee was very divided by the war with people only choosing sides when compelled. William Derreberry and his sons must have had very mixed emotions about the war and perhaps disagreements between family members. None immediately jumped at the chance to go fight. At first the Confederacy relied on volunteer soldiers, but within a year they began conscripting all males between 18 and 35 years of age. This probably caused John Derryberry to be the first in the family to side with the South. In July of 1862, at age 21, he enlisted as a private in the 64th North Carolina Infantry Regiment when it formed in Madison County, NC. Then a month later James Derryberry, at age 23, also enlisted as a private in the 64th when the regiment had reached Sevier County, TN. Since he had learned the shoe making trade from his father, James was put to work making and repairing shoes. Thomas Derryberry was too young to be conscripted.

Poor food, boredom, unhealthy camp conditions, fear of death, and homesickness caused desertion to be a frequent occurrence on both sides. Soldiers close to their homes were especially sensitive to conditions there, and bad news consequently contributed to desertion, particularly among Confederate soldiers. Being not far from home in Eastern TN, John Derryberry developed a history of desertion. He first deserted in November 1862, then returned to duty in February 1863 only to desert again in Knoxville in July 1863. Then John totally switched sides and together with his brother, Jesse, joined the Union Army in Greenville, TN. Why did he jump to the side of the Union? Obviously, he didn’t care for the conditions on the Confederate side, and perhaps his brother Jesse talked him into it. Regardless, they both enlisted on the same day in August 1863 in the 8th Tennessee Cavalry.

John enlisted as a private and went to work as a Blacksmith, and Jesse enlisted as a Corporal, perhaps because at 25 he was older and more mature. Both were described as 5 ft 8 in tall, with John having a dark complexion, dark eyes and hair, and Jesse having a fair complexion with blue eyes and brown hair. They both fought with the 8th Cavalry until the end of the war, and according to records they were mustered out in Sept 1865. However, after the war, John and Jesse completely disappear from all records. It is highly probable that they both died near the end of the war and their muster out records were incorrectly completed.

Meanwhile, our ancestor, James Derryberry, served for the South with the 64th North Carolina Infantry until Sept 1863. Unfortunately, during his time with that unit, the 64th was involved in one of the greatest atrocities of the war which took place in a remote Appalachian valley of Madison County, North Carolina called Shelton Laurel. In January 1863, under orders from their commander, soldiers from the 64th shot and killed 13 Union sympathizers without any trial or hearing whatsoever. There were many factors that lead up to the Shelton Laurel massacre with grievous errors in judgement on both sides. To learn more, I recommend reading the book Victims A True Story of the Civil War by Phillip Shaw Paludan, which also gives a good depiction of the horrific guerrilla fighting conditions in the mountains. It is unknown whether James Derryberry took part in the actual killings, but probably not as shoe makers typically stayed behind in camp to apply their trade and didn’t normally participate in raids or skirmishes.

By the Fall of 1863, James was detailed to Atlanta to help make and repair shoes at a central location for the Confederacy. Muster Roll and Pay receipts show that he was “bottoming shoes” and receiving 35 cents per pair. He was then transferred to Major Bridewell’s unit in July 1864. Major Bridewell was the quartermaster for the Confederate clothing depot, which was located outside of Atlanta. General Sherman’s successful siege of Atlanta and march to the sea by Union Forces occurred in late Summer and Fall of 1864. Since there are no further records of James Derryberrry after July 1864, it is strongly believed that he met his death at the hands of Sherman’s troops sometime during that period. He was only 25 years old!

Derryberrys Migrate to Tennessee

January 7, 2012 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

By the early 1800s, most of the Derryberrys of Burke County, had chosen to leave North Carolina for the still newer frontiers to the west in Tennessee. Why? Well, in 1790, North Carolina had ceded its western land from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River to the new state of Tennessee. New counties formed almost immediately in eastern Tennessee, but the rest of the state remained Indian lands for awhile. Eventually, by the early 1800s, treaties with the Indians allowed additional counties to form in the middle of the state. The allure of cheap land in Tennessee and Kentucky lead many in the eastern states to simply pack up their families and all their belongings and set off into the wild. Some Revolutionary War soldiers were also collecting their warrant land grants provided by the NC government for war services. In some cases, others bought the land grants from soldiers and moved west.

Before railroads and highways, river travel was often the best way short of struggling over mountains and through dense forests. The most basic and affordable watercraft to employ was the boxy and awkward flatboat. It was so named because of its flat underside and shallow draft, which gave the hull the balance and strength to hold a large deck, but which made the vessel difficult to steer. At anywhere from 8 to 20 feet wide and sometimes up to 100 feet long however, the flatboat was considerably larger than any previous riverboats.

The Derryberrys most likely traveled westward on such flatboats navigating various large rivers in Tennessee which, beyond the Appalachians, are mostly flatwater. The Nolichucky River begins about 50 miles west of Morganton, NC and flows through the Smokey Mountains, where it is sometimes white water, into Tennessee where it joins the French Broad River.

The Derryberrys undoubtedly traveled through gaps in the mountains by wagon before finding the flatwater of the Nolichucky in Green County Tennessee. After embarking on flatboats they continued down the Nolichcky to the French Broad River and then on to the Tennessee River at present day Knoxville. Some travelers at that point apparently disembarked and continued westward by wagon following Avery’s Trace, one of the earliest routes to Nashville. At present day Crossville, they branched off to the southwest to Middle Tennessee. By 1820, there were 12 Derryberry families living in Warren and Maury Counties in Middle Tennessee.

However, there were some Derreberrys who stayed behind in North Carolina, and all are believed to have been descendants of John Derreberry Jr., who had died about 1789 and his wife Hannah. Their three sons, George William, Michael (Micah) and John all farmed their entire lives in North Carolina. Of special interest is Micah who was indeed a robust farmer until the end. In an old Derreberry family bible the following is found:

“Micah Derreberry in 1875, at age of 96, cut 90 Doz. wheat”.

Although it is unclear how much wheat this represents, it still must have been quite an accomplishment for a man his age.

George William Derryberry, our ancestor, and his wife Edey also had three sons plus a daughter, Margaret, before Edey died in her 30s. Little is known about Margaret or the oldest son John who also died early in his 30s. Meanwhile, for reasons unknown, sometime in the 1850s their two youngest sons caught the migration bug. Samuel Derryberry went as far as Arkansas by following the Tennessee River all the way to the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Samuel purchased land in Benton County Arkansas which is where he died in 1878. George and Edey’s youngest son, William, who is our ancestor, also moved his family in the 1850s, but only as far as Greene County, Tennessee. Perhaps they intended also to venture further into Middle Tennessee or even to Arkansas, but for some unknown reason once the family got through the mountains their journey ended earlier than planned. Greene County has gently rolling hills and wide flat farmlands in the river valleys. Could it have been the beautiful farmland in Greene County, which enticed them to stop there or was it some unknown necessity? The actual reason is lost to history.