Meshack was born in Kentucky, just over the border from Tennessee, to John and Mary. He was one of 13 children, all of whom survived into adulthood - a rare occurrence during that time.
As the 1850s turned into the 1860s, tensions were rising between the states. Several states threatened to secede from the Union, and South Carolina was the first to do so, forming the Confederate States of America. Tennessee was the last state to secede from the Union, in 1861.
On June 8, 1861, the people of Scott County voted against secession. However, the County Court later voted to approve a resolution announcing Scott County's decision to secede from Tennessee and become the Independent State of Scott.
In 1861, he enlisted as a Private in G Company, 2nd Regiment East Tennessee Volunteers, to serve for three years. But in 1863, he was medically discharged. Meshack applied for a Disability pension from Scott County, Tennessee, in 1866, due to an accident caused by a barrel of salt striking his side during his enlistment in the Union Army during the Civil War in 1862.
Meshack was a farmer in Scott County, married to Kissiah, (Martha Carroll - my 3rd Great Grandmother) and together they had eleven children.
A LOVE Triangle
Meshack had two wives. His first wife, Martha, divorced him on August 1, 1873. Later, on October 16, 1873, he married Ibey Smith age 23 - in Whitley Co., KY. Meshack was 61 years old. The divorce papers filed by Martha stated that Meshack had committed adultery with Ibey Smith. Martha's maiden name was Carroll, which she resumed after the divorce. The court took Meshack's land and granted it to Martha as a life interest. Ibey passed away on June 4, 1884, at age 35 - around seven months before Meshack's death.
Meshack had six children with his second wife.
I was pleasantly surprised that my grandmother was able to reclaim her maiden name and receive property during a time when women usually had unfavorable outcomes in divorces. Go, Grandma Kissie!
William Alexander and wife
In January 1885, Meshack passed away, leaving behind three minor children without any means of support. Unfortunately, their mother had also passed away in 1884. William Alexander, Meshack's adult son from his first marriage, was appointed as the children's guardian. On September 22, 1890, William applied for a pension to support the three children aged 10, 8, and 4 years old. It's inspiring to see the sacrifice of William and his wife (Meshack and Kissie's adult son) who took in the little ones to raise them when they already had children of their own.
The 3 Minors were:
Mary Jane - lived to be 56 having had 8 children.
Kissiah died at age 15.
and Jimmy...
Jimmy lived a long life of 85 years. He served in World War I before entering the Ministry in 1930. Later, he moved his family to Atoka, Oklahoma, where he pastored several churches in Eastern Oklahoma.
Did you send for his pension file and find lots of information? None of my enslaved Tennesseean (McMinn County) ancestors joined the Colored Troops, but quite a few from the same plantation did and I learned so much from their pension files!
ReplyDeleteMy paternal grandmother's uncle did join. Unfortunately for his pension file, he had moved far from his original home in Kentucky so the people who testified for him had not known him in his youth so, although there was some good information, it wasn't quite so full as the Cleage files were.
Your family history is so interesting.
DeleteAt least he was honest. One of my second great grandfather's lied on his first wife. He stated she was promiscuous and his proof was a man who supposedly was going to have a liason with her but decided not to because she said she had the clap. The other proof was she was treated for having a yeast infection the previous year. Irony of Irony, he married an 18 year old when he was 47 and most definitely not the father ot her children. None of the offspring are related to me through DNA.
ReplyDeleteWow. That’s as crazy as my family! 😊
DeleteThough our black sheep may embarrass some in our families, I find that black sheep are to be welcomed because of the increased amount of documentation they usually generate -- newspaper coverage, court documents, police reports, arrest records, prison records, and more.
ReplyDeleteWell they sure do spice up the family tree!
DeleteI am inspired that the first family helped the orphaned children of the second family.
ReplyDeleteI, too, cheer for Grandma Kissie! You go girl!
ReplyDeleteOh what a devil. Lol...The old guys do like them young. Back then, women didn't have much choice. I admire his first wife for divorcing and getting his land. My grandfather remarried after my grandmother died in childbirth in 1919. She was sent to take care of the kids, my dad being one of them, when she was 16. He married her in 1921 when she was 18 and he was 47. Ughhh
ReplyDelete