Jonathan Benjamin Massey Sr. (1780 - abt. 1829)

Born 27 Aug 1780 in Greenville, South Carolina, USA

Descendants

Died about 21 Nov 1829 at about age 49 in Jefferson County, Alabama, USA

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Robin McRae [send private message], Brandi Dilling [send private message], Anon Murphy [send private message], and Alan Murphy [send private message]

Biography

"Jonathan Benjamin Massey (son of John (by hypothesis) Massey and Susannah Massey)1 was born 27 August 1780 in NC1, and died 21 November 1829 in Jefferson Co., Al. b. Green-Massey Cemetery1. Includes NotesNotes for Jonathan Benjamin Massey: Jonathan Benjamin Massey was born 27 August 1780 in North Carolina, and died 21 November 1829 in Jefferson County, Alabama. He married Lauriett Motlow, born 9 June 1791, Greenville County, South Carolina. She was the daughter of John Motlow (1757-1812) and Agnes McElhaney Motlow (1760-1825) The Motlows reared their family on the North Saluda River in Greenville County. After John died, the family moved to Lynchburg, Tennessee. Jonathan Benjamin married in Greenville in 1813. Jonathan and Lauriett moved to what is now known as Pinson Valley and began raising their family. Jonathan died in 1829 and Lauriett later. Both are buried in the Green-Massey Cemetery near Green Station in Pinson Valley. Neither grave has a marker. In Mary Gordon Duffee’s "Sketches of Alabama" she wrote: "Ten miles northeast of Elyton, upon the Huntsville road, in the midst of a majestic grove of oak trees upon a grassy lawn, surrounded by gardens, orchards and an extensive plantation, stood a neat dwelling-house known far and wide as the hospitable home of one of the loveliest, most refined and honorable families of the valley; for here dwelt Mrs. Laura Massey, a venerable and charming old lady. Without a single exception they were all people of a lofty type of honor, grace of manners, kindliness of heart and untiring friends of the poor; were thrifty and industrious and equally as liberal in the use of their means; indeed, to be once a guest at their home was to cherish ever afterwards the sweetest recollections of such a sojourn. It was an old-time typical southern family in an old time home, with many well-fed, happy slaves, and well-tilled acres to maintain them. The men were manly, brave and educated; the girls gentle and modest, the mother just such a dear, sweet old soul as we love to meet and go to for counsel and comfort." Their oldest son was General John B. Massey born 8 January 1814 and was later married to Catherine E. Green on 17 January 1858. She was the daughter of George L. Green. Moses Kelly served as Brigadier General of the Alabama State Militia until 1853, when he resigned his commission. John was elected by receiving the greatest number of votes polled in the counties of Jefferson and St. Clair. His commission was issued September 3, 1853. The militia mustered once a year at Massey Springs on the Huntsville Trail. People from all over the county came and stayed a week. The young men would drill; the old men talked crops and politics; the young women cooked and played games; the old women would knit and gossip. There would be a dance every night, an old-fashioned square dance. Some old Negro slaves, with wing collar, long-tailed coat, and pants as tight as their skin would call the dance while the Negro fiddlers played ‘Cotton Eye Joe,’ ‘Turkey in the Straw,’‘The Devil’s Dream,’ and other old time pieces. (As remembered by Julius C. Green in“Reminiscence of Julius C. Green.) Jonathan and Lauriett’s second child was (2) Elizabeth Massey, born 1816 and married 3 May 1832 Joseph H. Cole. They had Fletcher, b. 1833;Mary, b. 1836; John, b. 1839; Emily, b. 1841 and Jane, b. 1846. (3) Emily Massey, born 2 March 1818 and she married Orrin S. Burwell 31 March 1839. He was from Connecticut, educated at Amherst College, and a neighbor of Samuel Colt, inventor of the Colt firearm. While at Amherst, he was a classmate of Henry Ward Beecher, whose sister, Harriet, came south to visit a plantation and wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” She later married Calvin E. Stowe. Emily and Orrin were the parents of (a) Laura, b. 1840 who married John F. Hanby: (b) Orville, b. 1841 and died while a cadet at the University of Alabama in 1862: (c) Martha married Samuel Truss, son of John and Margaret Worthington Truss and grandson of Warren and Nancy Truss; (d) Thomas O. Burwell, b. 7 May 1853 married Bettie Pearce Grace 20 October 1876, daughter of Francis and Mary Borden Grace. Thomas and Bettie had: Orrin S., Mary D., Mattie Grace, Lizzie Roberta, Earl G. and Rosa W. Burwell. (4) James Massey was born 24 January 1821 and married Minerva S. Brown on 15 December 1845. They were the parents of: Benjamin F. Massey, b. 1847; John Massey, b. 1848; William Massey, b. 1851; Mary Massey, b. 1852; George Massey, b. 1856; Oren Massey, b. 1858 and Theodore Massey, b. 1860. (5) Benjamin Franklin Massey was born 21 December 1823 and married Martha Jane Ayers on 17 December 1846. She was the daughter of John and Sarah Nash Ayers. They were the parents of: Thomas Milton Massey, b. 1848, d. 27 July 1901 in OK; Sarah Laberta Massey, b. 26 March 1850; John Bolling A. Massey, b. 1852 and Margaret Elizabeth Massey, b. 28 June 1856. (6) Thomas Milton Massey was born 6 October 1827 and married Mary Jane Green and had George L. Massey, Robert Nathan Massey, Samuel E. Massey and Evva Massey. Mary died and he married Frances Baird and they had Thomas Franklin, Harriet ‘Hattie’ and Laura Jane Massey. Thomas was a well known cotton planter and built his antebellum home in Hagood’s Crossroads on what is now Tapawingo Road. His daughter, Harriet married Joseph Peyton Hickman. Thomas donated land and furnished lumber to build Marvin’s Chapel Methodist Church where he is buried. [Emassey.ftw] Lauriett Motlow's brother Zadock married Mary Goodlett and their son Felix (1838-1917) married Finettie J. Daniel who was the sister of Jasper Newton (Jack) Daniel.By the time Jack Daniel was 14 years of age in 1860, he was buying whiskey for $1 a gallon jug. He would load it in his high-bodied two mule wagon and head south toward Huntsville, Alabama. On the way he would stop and buy sides of meat from the farmers and would cover his whiskey jugs with the meat and lay straw and hay on top. In Huntsville he would sell his whiskey and meat at a nice profit. By the time Jack Daniel died in 1911, Lem Motlow, Jack’s nephew and Lauriett Massey’s great nephew, was the actual manager of the distillery. By 1913 one branch of the Motlow family distillery had reopened in Birmingham, Alabama. The headquarters for Motlow’s corn and Jack Daniel’s No. 7 Lincoln County whiskies sign can still be seen on the East side of the brick store building on the Southwest corner of Second Avenue and Twenty Fourth Street North in Birmingham.

The following is an inventory of the Estate of Jonathan Benjamin Massey, deceased November 2, 1829, as found in the Probate Court, Jefferson County. Orphans Court Book 1824-1830 p.419:

Bed and Furniture45.00screws5.00 Bed and Furniture40.00hooks7.50 Bed and Furniture37.00lot coppers ware2.87 1/2 Bed and Furniture35.001 pot rack & waffle iron3.00 2 Barrels flour12.001 lot spinning wheel cards2.25 1 lot shorts1.50l loom and tackling8.00 1 keg vinegar1.001 coffee mill0.75 1 flax wheel2.00l flesh fork & skillet0.37 1 cutting knife2.001 lot of bee stands18.00 1 lot of tools2.001 lot bacon 10 cents lb.120.00 1 pair steelyards2.001 lot lard @ 10 cents a lb.10.00 1 saddle and blanket10.001 lot of 1/2 bushel barrels1.00 1 trunk1.5025 head of cattle90.00 1 folding leaf table12.001 lot of potatoes @ 37 1/2 cents a bushel 1 Bureau18.001 wagon and gear35.00 1 clock20.00l lot of sows and pigs24.00 1 lot of Windsor chairs9.00l lot yearling hogs & shoats38.50 1 lot common chairs1.50l lot fattening hogs5.00 1 looking glass4.00l lot corn 160 bbls @ 1.50240.00 1 lot earthen ware7.151 lot fodder20.00 1 lot glass ware & waiter4.501 horse40.00 1 lot knives & forks2.001 bay horse65.00 1 lot spoons1.251 bay mare60.00 2 candlesticks1.501 gray colt50.00 1 lot of stove ware3.37 1/21 lot clevis’0.75 1 lot of tin ware3.001 negro man, Lawson500.00 5 dogs, tongs & shovel2.751 negro man named Dick500.00 2 smoothing irons1.001 negro man, Stephen300.00 saw, square, chisel4.751 negro woman, Easthe200.00 1 lot of books1.501 negro woman, Betty350.00 1 trunk1.501 negro child, Fredrick125.00 1 rifle gun & shot bag18.001 negro child, Harriet125.00 tin cannister0.501 negro woman, Lydid350.00 1 mattock3.001 negro child, Augustine150.00 1 lot of weeding hoes1.25l negro child, George110.00 1 lot of axes5.00l lot of cow hides4.00 1 spade1.00l lot of peas6.50 Scythe and cradle5.001 lot of feathers3.37 1/2 1 lot of bells0.75One note due on John Massey -20 Sept. 1818 30.00 One note H. L. Muaelney (sp.) 20 Sept 1826 32.16 One note Willis Honeycutt 182713.00 Estate of John Crump7.00 The $30.00 note on John Massey was most likely his brother who was living in Ashville.

Marriage: 1813, Greenville Co., S. C..

Children of Jonathan Benjamin Massey are:

1. John B. Massey, General, b. 8 January 1814, SC1, d. date unknown.
2. Elizabeth Massey, b. 1816, SC1, d. date unknown.
3. Emily Massey, b. 2 March 1818, SC1, d. date unknown.
4. James Massey, b. 24 January 1821, Jefferson Co., AL1, d. 7 October 1902, Bruno, AR.
5. Benjamin Franklin Massey, b. 21 December 1823, AL1, d. 22 June 1858, Jefferson Co., Al. b. Green-Massey Cemetery1.
6. Thomas Milton Massey, b. 6 October 1827, AL1, d. 21 January 18831."

Sources

• http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/m/a/s/Claude-E-Massey/index.html- no inofrmaiton just question

• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2SM-8LC5 : accessed 1 May 2016), Jonathan Benjamin Massey, 1829; Burial, Pinson, Jefferson, Alabama, United States of America, Green Cemetery; citing record ID 154210234, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

↑ Massey-2139 was created by Robin McRae through the import of McRae Family Tree_2014-08-23.ged on Aug 23, 2014. This comment and citation can be deleted after the biography has been edited and primary sources are included