FAMILY HISTORY

Written by Tullya Mann Smith: 1923

MANN

[What follows does not match other Mann or Robertson family histories. Mary Judith Robertson is the daughter of David Robertson, not Captain Matthew Roberson.]

Captain Matthew Roberson, with his wife and three children, came to this country from Ireland in 1770, and settled in Virginia, when the original Thirteen Colonies were preparing to throw off the British yoke. Coming to America to make his future home, he was in sympathy with the weak, struggling Colonists. So when the great Revolutionary War came up, he enlisted and fought in the great war for freedom. He was honored for his bravery by being made Captain. He lost a leg in the battle of Moores Creek Bridge. After he lost his limb, he was sent home to his family who were then living in Albemarle County, Virginia. He was a man of large stature and fine physique. His complexion was fair, his hair light, and he had large blue eyes. He wore silver buckles on his hat, knee pants, and slippers.

Soon after America was freed, he bought himself a home in Albemarle County, Virginia. He raised tobacco in large quantities and sold it. Soon after the Revolutionary War closed, Francis Turner came over from Cork, Ireland. He worked his way down into Virginia, and Turner, being an Irishman, Captain Roberson took him in and gave him employment. He was very industrious and worked on for quite a while. In the meantime, his son John fell in love with Mary Judith, Captain Roberson's oldest daughter. When Mary's father found out young Turner was in love with his daughter, he drove him from his home. But too late, for Cupid had shot his arrow straight into Mary's heart and on the first chance they ran away and were married at the courthouse of Albemarle County on January 10, 1793.

Captain Roberson was very angry and drove them from his door with nothing -- not even his blessings. John Turner went into the mountains of Virginia and built his house, which was made of logs and covered with chestnut bark. Here they went to housekeeping. Their first winter was a hard one. Snow laid on the ground most all winter. They tried hard to keep fire as there were no matches, but one night the fire went out so Turner had to go to the valley to borrow some fire, and returning home he lost his way and didn't reach home until the next day. His good wife stayed alone and the solves howled around her cabin door. Turner told his wife as soon as spring opened up, they would leave such a wilderness, and this they did.

They left Virginia afoot and walked to Mann's Ford Bridge, Franklin County, Tennessee. They carried all they had on their backs. They drove their cow all the way from Virginia to Tennessee. Often they baked cornbread in their oven by the side of the road, and this and milk they got from their cow was their supper.

When he settled in Franklin County, he had to work hard to keep the wolf from the door. He cleared up land in the day time and piled logs and burnt brush at night. Houses were few and far between, so he had to go to work and build one. He built a one-room house which had a dirt floor and a stick and dirt chimney and he covered it with clapboards. He was a gritty Irishman who knew no such word as 'fail.' He worked hard, entered some land and bought some. Here he raised five children to be grown, and three died in their infancy.

From the one-room house, he moved into a double log house with a wide hall. He as a very successful man in all his business dealings, and as time rolled on he had accumulated land, money, and some negroes.

Just before the Civil War broke out, he built a fine brick house near Winchester [Tennessee] which is still standing, and is now owned by Mr. Joe Shadows.

Mary Judith Turner went blind and her greatest pastime pleasure was repeating chapters from the Bible. She had learned forty-two chapters by memory before she went blind. She would repeat these verses to the darkies, who always took, great delight in hearing "old Mistus" tell what she knew. When the Civil War came up, Turner and his good wife had saved up a heaped up half bushel of silver. Mary Judith never saw her father after leaving Virginia, but she had her daughter Elizabeth write him to come and live with her, telling him that if the silver buckles on his clothes had tarnished, she could buy him some more.

Their oldest daughter, Elizabeth, was a very industrious person. She would spin cotton or flax all day, and sweep her big yard at night. Some days she rode horseback all day as overseer of her father's negroes, and when night came she would stick her switches in the ground and they grew to be large trees. The curiosity of Mother Eve prompted her to unveil the future. When she tried her fortune by boiling an egg hard, removing the yolk, filling the whites with salt, then eating it, and afterwards the first gentleman that gave her a drink would be her future husband. So, as fate would have it, an Irish "Mann" in homespun butternut jeans came just where she dreamed he would and dipped the water from her own spring and handed it to her at a picnic. And his name was Mathew Mann.

They learned to love each other and were married March 25, 1823. To this union, eleven children were born, namely:

Elizabeth Turner Mann was a very brave woman which accounted for her going at midnight to rescue her favorite horse from the Yankees while her husband was in Dixie with his negroes.

Sir Mathew [Mann] was a jolly good fellow with wool cards and a cabinet workman's skill at furniture making. (Note: Tullya Mann Smith has a chest of drawers her great grandfather Mathew Mann made -- solid cherry. A cousin in Winchester has a beautiful bed he made.) He loved politics and was Magistrate for a number of years, and the only fee he ever charged was to kiss the bridge, and this he never failed to do unless the bride was a negro. Grandmother thought it was quitting his machinery that caused his lack of interest in his business, but it was for the lack of laborers for his broad acres that paralyzed his efforts. His negroes were all freed -- 75.

The strenuous services of a large family caused grandmother Elizabeth a spell. She dreamed of a remedy that would get her up after fifteen years. But this dream never came true, but instead these long years of suffering found her with hardened arteries and a prisoner for five long years with paralysis. She was a very large woman and had to have a chair made for her to sit in, and when she rode in the old spring wagon, she had to have a seat all to herself.

Mathew Mann's parents came from Ireland when he was a small boy. He and one sister landed here in beautiful America motherless. Their mother died of cholera on the way over and was buried at sea. His only sister, Lillie, married a Slater. Slater was an Englishman and quite a genius. When he came south, he realized how the efforts of the people were paralyzed in not being able to produce cloth from their cotton. So he went back to England, made a pattern of the loom, came back to America and put his home people to weaving -- 1812. After the gin and loom were patented, the South became famous for cotton and negroes.

When the Civil War broke out, Mathew Mann owned a large farm, a factory and gin in Owl Hollow. Also several negroes. Seventy-five negroes were freed.

His son Newton was boss of his factory and gin in Owl Hollow until the spring of 1850. He then went to Falls Mill and was boss of Hunt's factory for several years. He and Azariah David bought out Hunt and Criddle and began to enlarge their place of business by building larger houses and dams. They completed their brick factory, mill and stone dam in 1863.

After he [Newton] married Nannie Lipscomb, he lived in a double log house on the bluff, among the cedars above the stone dam until in 1859, he bought the big brick on the hill from Dr. Criddle and lived there the remainder of his life.

His [Mathew's] brother John was a fine wood workman. He made all the doors and windows to the brick on the hill. He joined the Confederate Army and served four years. He was severely wounded and a pretty Virginia girl nursed him. They fell in love with each other and he told her if he lived until the struggle was over, he would come back and claim her, so he did this. To this union, four girls were born. He finally went to Texas and was killed in a cotton gin.

Mathew Mann, Jr. was in the war three years and died with smallpox in Ford Delaware Prison.

Newton Mann loved the hum of machinery and worked at it as long as he lived. He at one time owned a great deal of property, but some bad trades and his partner almost broke him up. All of his property except his farm fell into Newt Lucas' hands. Grandfather ran the wool cards and helped at the gin up until within three days of his death. He took pneumonia on Thursday and died on Sunday night, November 23, 1903.

NOTES: John Turner and Mary Judith Roberson were married January 10, 1793. Francis Turner, father of John Turner, was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1750. John Turner was born March 23, 1772. Mary Judith Roberson was born November 13, 1771. John Mann went to Springfield, Illinois.

LIPSCOMB

The Lipscomb family is an ancient family of English birth. The Lipscombs came from Wiltshire County, England, in 1690. When France was fighting England, one of the noble fighting leaders was Sir Joel Lipscomb, who had a thousand horses in armor and plumes. The men also wore armor. The Lipscomb Coat of Arms was a wolf and dagger. Sir Joel and his men were proficient archers and swordsmen. This company of brave men who were fighting for their country were out with the Duke of Lancaster.

The Lipscomb children played among the hedge rows of old England among the Albion hills. When they came to America they settled in Virginia. They came to Franklin County in an ox wagon in 1820 and settled near Beans Creek, Tennessee. William Lipscomb and his wife, Ann Day Cook, had ten children, namely:

They bought near Beans Creek where the old Collins Brick now stands. They bought 468 acres for $3,740 in 1828.

John Lipscomb's wife, Jane Miller, came here from Kentucky. Her parents, Garland and Mourning Miller, came from Kentucky with only two children. John Lipscomb and Jane miller were married in 1829. To this union, two children were born, namely:

His wife [Jane] died at Milan, Alabama, and is buried there. Some few years afterward, he married Lucy Dean and two children were born to them:

John Lipscomb died and his widow married Thomas F. Moseley. After Grandfather Lipscomb's death, his daughter Nannie made her home with Ann Day Lipscomb, her grandmother (who was Aunt Tappie Hunt's mother). Garland lived with his Uncle Granville until he became of age. He then went to Texas, married, and died there.

Nancy Jane Lipscomb and Robert Newton Mann were married October 30, 1851. To this union, nine children were born, namely:

All lived to be grown except Garland. They all grew to manhood and womanhood at Falls Mill.

When Newton Mann married, Grandpa Mathew Mann gave him two negroes -- Billie Mann, who was the nurse; and Aunt Bet, the cook. Uncle Billie loved "Miss Nancy" and was always willing to do anything she suggested doing -- except give up his old Baptist religion. He as an old Baptist preacher of note among the darkies. He loved "old Mistus" and her children so much that when he married and had a family of his own, he called them Nannie, Sallie, John, and Horace. He was an old darkie, who had many friends and lived to a ripe old age. He lived near Winchester and died in 1917.

Grandpa and Grandma believed in an education, but circumstances were such that they couldn't do as much for them as they had hoped. John, their oldest, was sent to the University of Tennessee, where he received military training. Mathew was sent to the Deaf and Dumb School at Knoxville at the age of eleven. Here he stayed until he finished and then he began teaching and is there now teaching in 1923. Emma went to old Prof. N. B. Smith at Locust Hill. She was a woman of much refinement. Mollie died at the age of twenty in June 1882. Sallie Ann went to the Winchester Normal where she made many friends. She was successful as a teacher for she was very intelligent. Horace, Turner, and Trall's education was more limited.

John Lipscomb Mann, born August 24, 1852, and Ella Moseley, born January 24, 1854, were married November 28, 1876 by Elder Granville Lipscomb. To this union eight children were born:

All lived to be grown except Horace.

John L. Mann and his good wife believed in an education and made a great sacrifice to send their children to school. Herbert, Tom, John and Tullia were sent to Burritt College. Eloise was afflicted from infancy. Dixie was first sent to Burritt and then to DeCherd as the famous old Burritt College was burned on March 6, 1906 while Tullia and Dixie were then in school. Arie Virginia finished at the high school course at Huntland and afterwards went to Middle Tennessee College at Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Herbert, the oldest, was a jolly good fellow and was a favorite with all classes. He was a drummer and traveling auditor for a number of years. Tom loved the hum of an engine. He learned the trade of saw filing, but had to give it up on account of his eyes. He loved home and stayed there more closely than the other boys.

John Augustus Mann was as modest as a lady and none knew him but to love him. He as a bookkeeper for Chess, Wymond and Company at Tutwiler, Mississippi, when the Death Angel called him on August 31, 1905 at 11:30 o'clock on Thursday A.M.

The three girls taught in the public schools of Franklin, Bedford, and Moore counties.

Baptisms

Deaths

Robert Newton and Nannie Mann's Family

SIMMONS

The Simmons family is an ancient family of royal birth. They came from London, England. Peter Simmons' ancestors were members of the House of Tudor, who pulled off from the King of England and brought about the great reformation of religion and civil government., The House of Tudor was a dynasty of England and occupied the throne 118 years. The reason this change took place was the King did not regard the laws passed by Parliament concerning the Church. The Simmons family came over to America that they might worship God as they believed. And as the Simmons ancestors were instrumental in throwing off Catholicism we see that Peter Simmons' family were the first in our country to denounce denominations and unite with the Church of Christ and worship God as it is written.

Grandmother Simmons was a first cousin to General Winfield Scott. The Simmons family setled in Virginia when they came from England. Peter Simmons' father died in Virginia. His widow came up to Tennessee and settled in Franklin County in 1812. She brought seven children with her, namely:

The Simmons' all owned large plantations and good homes. Peter Simmons built the first large brick house in Salem, Tennessee. It was known as the "Red Tavern." Here travelers often stopped for a night's lodging and something to eat on their way south with stock or negroes.

He had one beautiful and refined daughter, whom he named Arie Virginia for the state he loved so well. Who her mother was is not generally known. When his daughter was old enough, he put her in Nashville's best schools and kept her there until she finished in 1836. He gave her music and when she finished school, he gave her a piano and it was hauled from Nashville to Salem in a wagon. This was the first piano brought to this County and people came far and near to hear Miss Arie play. She rode to Nashville on horseback to go to school, but came home in a carriage. After she came home from school, she kept house for her father and was a great favorite with the darkies who belonged to "Marse Peter."

Thomas F. Moseley was overseer of Peter Simmons' plantation and he fell in love with Arie Virginia and they were married December 12, 1839. To this union, eleven were born:

Seven grew to womanhood and manhood.

Peter Simmons died January 22, 1865, just before the close of the Civil War. Leaving his daughter and grandchildren a nice home and several negroes who were soon freed.

The Simmons' grandchildren imbibed that spirit of patriotism which was so characteristic of them for past generations, so when the great war broke out between the states, Pete Moseley, who was then only seventeen years old, shouldered arms and went in defense of our Southland. He enlisted under Captain Beckley and was in the 1st Kentucky regiment sent out of Louisville. He was the only Tennessee boy in this regiment and was a great favorite with the boys in gray. He left home about dark and the same night he was captured. The Yankees took his horse and put him up behind one of their cavalry men. Before day, the rebels recaptured him, shooting the Yankee who was in the saddle. He was in service almost four years.

Annie, the oldest girl, was noted for her bravery. She went alone one night to the old Salem graveyard to carry a letter to send to Pete by an unknown soldier who was hiding there and had been fed by the Moseley family. He carried the letter across the line, for they got an answer form it which was the last they heard from him until he rode up to the back gate some months after the close of the war. They mourned him dead for two long years. Annie could play the piano and she said often times, the Yankees would make her play Yankee Doodle until she almost gave out, but said she always showed her patriotism by playing Dixie on the wind up.

Thomas F. Moseley and wife believed in an education and gave their children good advantages. Annie was first sent to Nashville, then to Mississippi. Pete was in the Army the four best years of his life, yet he had a fine business head on him and he was successful in business. George, Ella, and Nancy were sent to Locust Hill to Professor N. B. Smith. Gus and Dixie were sent to Burritt College, Spencer, Tennessee. They were there in school when their mother died on July 4, 1879.

Some few years after Grandmother died, Grandfather married Lucy Dean Lipscomb, widow of Great Grandfather John Lipscomb. No children were born to them.

MOSELEY

George Moseley and wife came to Tennessee from South Carolina in 1800. They brought four children with them. They were:

George Moseley and wife were both Scotch Irish. Couldn't either one speak English plain when they came to this state. They came from South Carolina in a covered wagon drawn by two large oxen. When they came here, Tennessee was then almost a wilderness. They had to build a house right in the forests and their meat for the first winter was mostly wild game. The boys took great delight in killing the deer, wild turkeys, and other game.

George, the second, was a fine shot with the rifle and most all the time won at shooting matches. He married Nancy Wakefield, the oldest daughter of Thomas Wakefield. In his family were seven children:

Nancy Wakefield Moseley died leaving five children: After her death he married Christian Wakefield, a sister to his first wife. She as called Aunt Christian by all the grandchildren. They were tenderly cared for in their old age by Thomas and his family. They didn't want to live in the big brick, so their son Tom had them a little house built in the yard. Here they read their Bible and smoked their pipes of clay which they filled with homegrown tobacco and sumac leaves. They gave Rachel Hall, now Mrs. John Church of Lexie, a Bible for gathering sumac leaves for them to mix with their tobacco to keep it from being too strong. Aunt Christian's greatest pasttime was knitting.

Thomas F. Moseley hired out and began to plow at nine years of age. He worked the first two years for what he ate and wore. At the age of twelve he got his food and clothes and one dollar a month. He always tried to do whatever he was called upon to do. The task was never too great for him to try. This great ambition followed him to the grave. He had no patience with a lazy, indifferent person. But he never failed to help those in need if he saw they were putting forth some effort. He was often called the poor man's friend.

Thomas Moseley's chances for an education were very poor. The free schools only lasted form six weeks to two months and part of this time he was hired out. But where there is a will, there is a way, so every available chance he had he studied his books. He studied reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography. He married an educated lady who taught him lots, and he being a man of fine sense, was considered one of the leaders in his community in business, politics, and religion. He was an elder in the Salem congregation for a number of years. He was a great reader of the Bible. He and Aunty Lucy Vanzant were the only ones of the old Moseley family to unite with the Church of Christ. They were rocked in a Methodist cradle.

Grandpa Tom was hoeing corn the day his good wife was to be baptized by a Christian only, so he left the field with his hoe on his shoulder and when the faithful few met at the old mill race for baptism, he was there. And when the invitation song was sung, he went forward, made the good confession, and was baptized. With his faithful wife, Arie Virginia, he was true to his convictions and was an elder of the old Salem congregation as long as he lived. He gave the lot and helped build the Salem Church which was completed in 1875. This house was built by R. G. Henson and Jim Crawley and measured 50'x33'x14' and cost $1,500. Their first place of worship was on Beans Creed on T. F. Moseley's farm.

Births

Marriages