Martha (Mattie) Ezzel

Martha married Jackson Lee Shannon on 18 Dec 1883 in Greenfield, Weakley County, Tennessee. Jackson (son of George Shannon and Mary Baird) was born on 26 Sep 1862; died on 20 May 1929 in Wilson County, Tennessee. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Harry Shannon was born on 25 Apr 1886 in Greenfield, Weakley County, Tennessee; died in 1961 in Lebanon, Wilson County, Tennessee.
2. Nell Shannon was born on 19 Jul 1888; died in 1961.
3. Homer Shannon was born on 29 Aug 1892 in Greenfield, Weakley County, Tennessee; died in 1967 in Lebanon, Wilson County, Tennessee.
4. James Jackson Sr. Shannon was born on 30 Dec 1896 in Greenfield, Weakley County, Tennessee; died on 13 Dec 1976 in Richmond, Madison County, Kentucky.
5. Mary Shannon was born on 19 May 1902; died in UNKNOWN.

Notes:

Notes for MASON "MACE" EZZELL:
[Westbrook.FTW]

--See picture of him and his wife.
Loose newspaper clipping found in Civil War diary of Lt. James C. Harrell:
--Oldest Mason in Tennessee Passes to the Great Beyond at the age of 93 years.
Sixty-six years a Mason. Lived ninety years of his life in Weakley Co. Came of French stock. A Confederate Soldier.
--Special dispatch to the Democrat Greenfield, Tenn, Nov 21, 1912
Mason Ezzell, one of the oldest citizens of Weakley Co, died at his residence here this morning at 4 o'clock, in the ninety-fourth year of his age. He had been a resident of this county for ninety years and for nearly fourty years had resided in Greenfield. He enjoyed the distinction of being the oldest Mason in Tennessee.
--Mason Ezzell's grandfather was a Frenchman, and came to this country from France with Lafayette during the Revolutionary War, his name being also Mason Ezzell. He settled in South Carolina, where four sons were born. Mason Ezzell and his son Harrison, (father of the subject of this sketch), moved to Livingston Co Ky, where Mason Ezzell was born, on April 22,1819. In 1822, the father,Harrison and Mason removed to Weakley Co and settled in the 12th Civil District, near McKenzie. Since 1854, he had lived in the 9th Civil District, and in 1873, moved to Greenfield. He had lived in Weakley Co ninety years. At the breaking out of the war, he inlisted in Capt. Joe Thompson's Company of the Fifty-second Tenn Infantry, Col. Ben Lee, and was mustered out as Second Lieutenant.
Mr. Ezzell had been married twice. July 27,1854, he was married to Miss Sophia Mosley. Harry Ezzell of Jackson, TN., now fifty-four years of age, being the result of that union. He was again married, on Dec. 27,1863, to Miss Mary J. Dolahite, four children being born to them, Mrs Mattie Shannon of Lebanon, James B. Ezzell of Newsom, Robert A. Ezzell of Greenfield and Clyde Ezzell of Newsom.
Mr. Ezzell during his life was a farmer and a real estate dealer and had always enjoyed good health. He had in the past to some extent dabbled in politics, and had always been a staunch Democrat. He voted for James K. Polk for President the first time he voted for president, and on Nov. 5 voted for Woodrow Wilson. Mason Ezzell's Masonic record is doubtless without a parallel in Tenn, if not in the US. The fact that he had been a member of the fraternity for over 66, and in all that time belonged to only two lodges, and they in the same county, seems almost incredible, yet such is the case.
Mr. Ezzell was initiated in the Caledonia Lodge, No. 96, at McKenzie, March 13,1844, passed Aug. 7,1844, and raised Nov. 6,1844. Allen Bowden being Worshipful Master of the the Lodge. He later demitted from Caledonia Lodge and affliated with Washington Lodge. During all these years he had been a Mason, he was a regular attendant of the lodge meetings until about three years ago, when his advanced age and failing eyesight prevented him from visiting with his brethren. For about twenty years he was treasurer of Washington Lodge, and only gave it up about 5 years ago.

More About MASON "MACE" EZZELL:
Burial: Weakley County, TN Highland Cemetery

Notes for SOPHIA L. MOSELEY:
Sophia (family tale) died in childbirth in 1863.
My files are a collection from many sources and many are not documented by me. Most relate to Weakley Co., TN in some way. Included are many Confederate and Union Veterans of the Civil War. Everything I have on each entry is included in these files except those shown as living.

More About SOPHIA L. MOSELEY:
Burial: Highland Cemetery Greenfield, Weakley County, TN
Notes for MARY JANE DOLLAHITE:
[Westbrook.FTW]
Letter: Greenfield, Tenn, December 18, 1899
I am very glad you are writing up the Fowler family, for I know very little about my mother's relatives. I have heard her say with evident pride that she never knew one of the Fowler names to be dissipated, or to do anything to bring reproach on the name. My mother had five brothers and they were all moral in every respect. This pride of hers in her own family is quite pardonable, I think, when we see dissipation running mad riot in so many good families. Honesty and morality are homely virtues, therefore wear well. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.
I have been trying to gain some information of Uncle Bullard Fowler's descendants for the record, but so far I have failed. There are two grandsons of Bullard and Bathsheba Crudup Fowler in business here in Greenfield, but they are unable to tell me much. They request me to wait until they can write to Dr. Joseph Fowler's son for full data. They remember that their grandmother was left a widow with eight children (note - there were 9), six girls and two (3) boys.
Godfrey Fowler, a son a Bullard, married in Alabama and reared a family in that state. Josiah Fowler, the other son, lived and died in Carroll Co, Tn, leaving a son and a daughter. The son, Joseph Godfrey, is living at the old Fowler homestead; is married and has several children. There is not a surviving child of Bullard Fowler and there are a few grandchildren in this state. I do not know where the other descendants are, if living.
I have my grandfather's (William Fowler) old family bible, with all the births, marriages, and deaths of himself, wife and all of his twelve children, if you should wish any of these dates, please let me know.
Wishing you success in your labor of love, sincerely, your relative, Mary J. Ezzell

Mason married Mary Jane Dollahite on 27 Dec 1863 in Weakley County, Tennessee. Mary (daughter of Nathaniel Dollahites and Martha Fowler) was born on 24 Jun 1838 in Tennessee; died on 12 May 1918. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Notes for HARRISON EZZELL:
[Westbrook.FTW]
1830 Census Weakley Co, pg 336, line 16 Ezell, Harrison
2 free white males under 5 (born 1825-1830)
1 free white male 5-10 (born 1820-1825)
1 free white male 10-15 (born 1815-1820)
1 free white male 40-50 (born 1780-1790)
2 free white females under 5 (born 1825-1830)
1 free white female 5-10 (born 1820-1825)
2 free white female 15-20 (born 1810-1815)
1 free white female 30-40 (born 1790-1800

1840 Census Weakley Co, page 269, line 13 Ezell, Harison
2 white males 10-15 (born 1825-1830)
1 white male 15-20 (born 1820-1825)
1 white male 20-30 (born 1810-1820)
1 white male 50-60 (born 1780-1790)
1 white female under 5 (born 1835-1840)
1 white female 5-10 (born 1830-1835)
2 white females 15-20 (born 1820-1825)
1 white female 40-50 (born 1790-1800)

1. Jackson Co. GA Marriages 1806-1860 P71
2. Livingston Co., KY tax Roll 1815-1826
1820 Harrison had one son and three daughters under 10
1822 Harrison had 320 ac on Crooked Creek, 3 children in school dist #5 and 1 horse
3. Neighbors in Weakley Co. TN 1327-1833 NSDAC
4. Census:
Kentucky 1810,20,30
Tennessee 1830 Weakley Co., TN
1850 p233 (Vol 2)
1850 Weakley Co., TN p 24, #76

5. 27 May 1942 - Letter from Malissa (Lissa)Azzallee Ezzell Williams b 1872 to M.K. Gilbert Jr., Louisville, KY. Has chart of family of Harrison and Nancy Gilbert Ezzell. She states that Harrison died during 1866 and Nancy about 1856 or 57 an that they are buried at Blooming Grove Church Cemetery in Weakley County TN

6. Family of Harrison and Nancy Gilbert Ezzell by Grace Elizabeth Ezzell b June 6, 1876

Harrison married Nancy McKenzie GilbertJackson County, Georgia. Nancy (daughter of Benjamin Franklin Jr. Gilbert and Emilly (Milly) McKenzie) was born about 1801; died in 1857 in Weakley County, Tennessee. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Nathaniel + Martha Fowler. Martha died in UNKNOWN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Benjamin Gilbert is listed on the Georgia Tax Index 1789-1799 in Hancock County, Georgia. Emilly McKenzie Gilbert's father, Aaron McKenzie was living in Hancock County, Georgia in 1794. He left a Will dated 28 Dec 1796, a copy of which is on the McKenzies of Early Maryland web site tagged to Aaron McKenzie, Emilly's father.

Subject: Benjamin Gilbert affidavit
War, Rev, Pension, JOHN MCKENZIE W1049
12th of January 1832
State Tennessee
County of Carroll
Personally came Capt. BENJAMIN GILBERT of Weakley County and State aforesaid & being duly sworn on the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God deposeth and saith that he, this deponent, was at a general muster in Campbell County in the State of Virginia some time in the old Revolutionary War and then and there saw Col. JOHN MCKENZIE, whom I had no acquaintance with nor had ever seen him before. I understood he was a recruiting officer from the South and on the recruiting service and appeared very [illegible] on that subject and was dressed in a military uniform and wore a sword, I recollect, and bore the title of Capt. There he met with some gentlemen of his acquaintance that was from Portsmouth, or some place in that quarter where our Army lay, and they appeared to meet with great satisfaction and had formerly been in the Army together and report said that MCKENZIE been in the service of his
country most all the Revolutionary War. I heard my brother Capt. MICHAEL GILBERT say after the Battle at Guilford that he saw Capt. MCKENZIE in that Battle And that he had got badly [illegible] there in the battle and lost his Negro boy and portmanteau and all his clothes & horse worth thousand dollars, he said. Then I recollect when the war was over this deponent removed to the state of Georgia and resided in the same County where Col. MCKENZIE lived, who was a member to the General Assembly and acted in the Commission of the peace and as Col. of a regiment of militia, and then a judge of a County Court, and a man of worth and of good property, and of late, it is said, by his being security he has got nearly broke but, the great length of time and not ever expecting to be called on in a case where I am in no wise interested has obliterated from my recollection a number of circumstances that might be more pertinent to the case. And this Deponent further saith not.
Sworn to before me the day and date above.
BENJAMIN GILBERT EDMUND W. GEE, JP


Notes for BENJAMIN GILBERT:
BENJAMIN GILBERT, JR
By: M.K. Gilbert Jr.
Benjamin Gilbert was a Revolutionary War soldier from Bedford County, Virginia, who served in the Southern theater of the war. From his sworn declaration, which is in the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and a copy of which is in the library of the Carroll County Historical Society, in McKenzie, Tennessee, we know that he was at a general muster in Campbell County, Virginia and that he was at the Battle of Guilford County House, North Carolina, as also were his brother, Michael Gilbert, and Benjamin's future brother-in-law John McKenzie.
At the close of the war Benjamin married Emilly McKenzie in Campbell County, Virginia in 1783, and they moved to the State of Georgia, near the present town of Sparta. Emilly's brother, John McKenzie, also a Virginian, also settled in the same locality in Georgia and there in 1792 he married Martha (Patsy)Bonner who was also from Virginia.
Benjamin and Emilly Gilbert resided in Georgia for nearly thirty years and raised a family of five sons and six daughters. Then about the year 1815 they took up residence in Kentucky near the present town of Mattoon in Crittenden County. In the 1820's some of them, including Benjamin and Emilly, moved southward and were among the earliest settlers of present Weakley and Carroll counties, Tennessee. John and Patsy McKenzie also left Georgia, in 1816 or 1817, and after residing in Maury County, Tennessee for about eleven years, they also moved to the Weakley - Carroll area of Tennessee, arriving there in 1828. Later the town of McKenzie was named for a member of their family.
Benjamin and Emilly Glbert lived out their lives in Weakley and Carroll Counties. He died about 1832 and she died about 1845. Some of their sons and daughters married and raised families in the area, and some present-day residents may recognize themselves or their neighbors as descendants.
The sons of Benjamin and Emilly Gilbert married as follows; Robert married Matilda Fowler, Jonathan married Frances Busey, Molton married Nancy Cain, Martin married Elizabeth Boyd, Randle returned to Georgia, and we do not know his wife's name.
The daughters of Benjamin and Emilly Gilbert married as follows; Betty married Barney C. Kyle, Sally married Byas Hogard, Annie married Ryland Heath, Nancy married Harrison Ezzell, Jemima Exa married William H. McLeskey, Martha married Mr. Bomar.
Through the marriages of their daughters and granddaughters, Benjamin and Emilly Gilbert have had descendants who family names included the following: Abernathy, Allen, Bomar, Bowman, Brantley, Bristow, Brooks, Brown, Burnett, Carnahan, Collier, Cooper, Costen, Covington, Cowan, Cox, Crider, Davis, Duvall, Everett, Ezzell, Fisk, Forbis, Ford, Fritts, Gilkey, Grady, Granade, Halliburton, Harris, Haynes, Heath, Henderson, Hendrix, Herron, Hobbs, Hogard, Holland, Hughes, Hunter, Holloman, Howerton, Ikard, Kneiss, Kyle, Lowery, Maxwell, May, McChesney, McClanahan, McDonald, McLeskey, McNelley, McRae, Meade, Munday, Peebles, Perdue, Phillips, Quaid, Randle, Rosenkranz, Ross, Seele, Shannon, Simonton, Slayton, Smith, Snead, Stolts, Stroish, Thomas, Truitt, Vaughan, Weldon, Wilborn, Wiley, William, Yarno, and others.

Benjamin married Emilly (Milly) McKenzie on 20 Oct 1783 in Campbell County, Virginia. Emilly (daughter of Aaron McKenzie and Jemimah Something) was born about 1765 in Virginia; died about 1845 in Weakley County, Tennessee. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Emily Gilbert’s deposition
War, Rev, Pension, JOHN MCKENZIE W1049
State of Tennessee
County of Carroll
On this 3rd day of October 1843 personally appeared before me the worshipful chord County Court of said County in open court EMILLY GILBERT a resident of the county of weakly and said State age 78 years of being first duly sworn according to law deposit and say that she is the sister of JOHN MCKENZIE late of the county of Carroll deceased and that he had been for some years previous to his death which took place on the 5th day of November 1842 a pensioner of the United States at a rate of $480 per annum. That MARTHA MCKENZIE who has this day appeared before said court and made the foregoing declaration in order to obtain the benefit love the provision made by the act of Congress July 7th 1838 entitled an act granting half pay and pensions to certain widows has been reputed to be his wife about since the 20th day of December 1792.
She further states that she was at the house of the said JOHN MCKENZIE in her brother at the time of his reputed marriage with the said MARTHA and at his request superintended the arrangements for about for the affair which took place on the 21st day of December 1792 and this circumstance presents prevents her from being at the wedding there who were several persons at the affair proposed to have been at the wedding and she has never heard the fact or validity of their marriage denied from that day to this.
And she further States that notwithstanding she but she states that her brother the said JOHN MCKENZIE brought the said MARTHA home with him on the day of their reputed marriage and introduced her as his bride there were several persons at the affair who proposed professed to have been at the wedding and she has never heard the fact or validity of their marriage denied from that day to this.
And she further states that notwithstanding she does not witness the marriage of the said JOHN MCKENZIE with the said MARTHA from all the circumstances she has fully believes they were lawfully married at the time of War said as if she had seen it.
She further States but they have always live together as man and wife from the date of the reputed marriage until his death and that they reared a large and reputable family of children.
EMILLY GILBERT
Sworn to and subscribed in open court today and you're above written
C. S. WOODS, JP, CP G. W. HOLLADAY, JP JOHN L. SCOTT, JP
presiding justices of Carroll County Court