James Jennings (1802 - 1878)

Born 23 Sep 1802 in Camp Creek, Greene, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (McAfee) Jennings — married 24 Jan 1825 in Greene, Tennessee, United States

Descendants

Died 1878 at about age 75 in Camp Creek, Greene, Tennessee, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Sherry Jennings [send private message] and Kristin Flemming [send private message]

Biography

James Jennings was born September 23, 1802, in Camp Creek, Greene county Tennessee, a son of William Jennings, 1766-1840. On January 24, 1825, in Greene county, Tennessee, James married Elizabeth McAffee. ^[1]

Researchers Notes

From https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/163543332/james-jennings:

"The following appeared in an article in the Greeneville Sun Newspaper, Greeneville, Tennessee on October 2, 1943 written by Mr. D. D. Alexander, when he talks about his boyhood he would be talking about the 1860's and 1870's.

• Jennings Creek was some two miles east of Davis Creek. This creek took its name from old Jimmy Jennings, who was the first settler in that place. He built and operated an old forge making bar iron, etc. He was also a cooper by trade and made barrels and big hogsheads that were used to scald hogs in. He had a fine orchard and always had plenty of milum apples for sale. He would fill his ox wagon full of barrels he had made piled high with apples and start out selling.
• Mr. Jennings was a good friend of my father, and always managed to spend a night with us. Next morning father would take a team of horses and take his wagon across the ford at the river. You know that oxen can't pull in deep water as the yoke holds their heads too close to the ground.
• In 1876 I was out with my father and we stopped at Mr. Jimmy's home. On the day we were there, George Howell, a negro was to be hanged in Greeneville. He said to my father "Tommy" I wish I could blow the blast that would blow that negro out of the country.

On June 5 1861 James Jennings was granted a Tennessee Land Grant for three thousand four hundred and seventy-five acres of land which lay on Jennings Creek in the present Cherokee National Forest. The land included a large amount of the side of the mountain down which Little Jennings Creek and Jennings Creek flow encompassing the old Forge Campground on Jennings Creek and reaching almost to the Horse Creek Campground. In the early 1900’s, this area was the site of an iron forge. Iron ore was smelted and made into materials for the railroad operation that harvested timber in the area. When the lumber company went into that area they are supposed to have found a big old anvil. It seems reasonable that old Jimmie Jennings would have picked the most favorable spot for a forge and that the lumber company would probably pick the same location but no proof seems to exist pro or con.

Like most Greene Co., Tennessee families, old Jimmy Jennings family was divided by the Civil War. He had sons serving on both sides of the conflict.

Sources

1. ↑ *"Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZWL-W28 : 18 October 2017), James Jennings and Elizabeth Mcafee, 24 Jan 1825; citing Greene, Tennessee, United States, Marriage, p. 386, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville and county clerk offices from various counties; FHL microfilm 944,386

• Homesteads of the Great Smokies by Hazel Payne Jennings
• "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHYL-2ZB : 18 August 2017), James Jennings, Greene, Tennessee, United States; citing p. 13, NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 525; FHL microfilm 24,546.
• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDD9-8Y4 : 14 June 2019), James Jenings, 1870.