Mary (King) Gentry

Ancestors

Wife of Joseph Bates — married 8 Jan 1798 in Washington, Virginia, United States

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Biography

Mary King Gentry married Joseph Bates on January 8, 1798 in Washington County, Virginia. What we can document of Mary to date begins with her marriage to Joseph. Joseph Bates was born May 6, 1777 in Washington County, Virginia, the son of William Bates (1737-1811) and Margaret Young Bates. Joseph Bates father William Bates, was also a signer of the undated Watauga Petition to the North Carolina Council, endorsed August 22, 1776 by North Carolina. The signatures at the end of the petition are among those of many pioneer settlers to what is now Tennessee. Joseph lived most of his adult life and died in Overton County, Tennessee about 2 miles east of Livingston. Joseph Bates was a prominent citizen of Overton County. Joseph Bates and Mary King Gentry Bates lived in Bates Cove, Overton County, Tennessee. Joseph Bates married Mary King Gentry January 8, 1798 in Washington County, Virginia at the age of 20. Mary had possibly been married previously to a Mr. Gentry. They moved to Cumberland County, Kentucky shortly after their marriage. He was among the earliest settlers in Overton County, Tennessee, and it is known that he was in Overton County, Tennessee when the county was formed in 1806 because he was a trustee of Pleasant Forest Academy there, which was the third school established by the Acts of 1806. (From History of Overton County, Tennessee by Robert and Mary Eldridge, 1976) Joseph served as a Private in the First Regiment of Col. Edward Bradley's Tennessee Volunteer Militia, Infantry, Capt. John Kennedy's Company. It was in service, raised at Monroe, TN, from October 4, 1813 to December 28, 1813.

Children born to Joseph Bates and Mary King Gentry Bates, all in Overton County, Tennessee, included: 1. WILLIAM MITCHELL BATES, b. Dec. 1808; d. Feb. 28, 1828, Overton County, Tennessee. Married Nancy Cummins McDonnold 2. MINERVA KING BATES, b. 1810; d. 1837. Married Robert Lynn Mitchell 3. ELIZABETH BATES, b. 1814; d. 1814, Overton County, Tennessee 4. GEORGE W. BATES, b. 1817; d. 1833, Overton County, Tennessee 5. THOMAS FLETCHER BATES, b. Aug. 21, 1822; d. May 23, 1897, Shelbyville, Bedford County, Tennessee. Married Louisa Hollingsworth Brock. Minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 6. TENNESSEE DILLARD BATES, b. 1824; d. July 27, 1847, Jackson County, Alabama. Married Alexander C. Alley 7. JOSEPH BENSON BATES, b. 1827; d. 1849

Six of the children of Mary and Joseph Bates died before the age of 30.

Sources

[1]

Census records; 1820, Overton Tennessee [2] 1830, Overton, Tennessee [3]

[Identification of Item], Joseph Bates Documents, MS.3078. University of Tennessee Libraries, Knoxville, Special Collections. https://scout.lib.utk.edu/repositories/2/resources/1791 Accessed January 05, 2022.

The above " collection consists of two documents recording transactions involving Joseph Bates and witnessed by Overton county clerk John Daugherty. The first document, dated November 5, 1838, records Bates' loaning of an enslaved woman of forty named Tiller and a boy of 10 named Thomas to Robert Mitchell. The second, dated August 4, 1845 concerns land sold to Bates by Martin Cox, detailing the exact boundaries of the tract."

Footnotes

While Mary's marriage to Joseph Bates of Overton Tennessee and their children are well documented in various recorded writings, I have found no source to prove the parents listed for Mary are correct and the dated information attached to the listed parents would make their being Mary's parents unlikely. Would appreciate any help in documenting Mary Gentry Kings ancestry.

Further research needed

(http://piedmontvahistory.org/archives14/items/show/276) Gentry, King and other related families record references from early 1700's through 1900.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Theresa Ellenwood for creating WikiTree profile Gentry-758 through the import of LucindaElizaBatesAncestors.ged on Mar 5, 2013.

Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Theresa and others.