The Gollehon Cousin's In Tennessee

     My Gollehon line was of special interest to me when I began 
researching my family surnames in about 1984.  As a child I remember 
my grandmother, Emily Virginia Missouri Suits Williams, telling me my 
red-tinted hair, green eyes, and freckles were a gift from the 
Gollehon’s.  Her mother was James Hattie Gollehon, daughter of 
Andrew Frances Gollehon and Sarah Virginia Cassell.  My research 
was assisted by Mary Dixon, a Wymer researcher (also one of my lines) 
and then tremendously helped when Kenneth L. Sturgill published 
A History of the Gollehon Family in 1986 answering some of my 
unanswered questions.
     My earliest known Gollehon was Robert Gollehon born in 1780 
and believed to be a native of Ireland.  The Goodspeed Biography of 
Col. Robert Dungan states this and my grandmother was told this as 
well, although I have no definite proof.  Robert married Anne Tilson 
born January 29, 1791 and they resided in Smyth County, Virginia. 
Their children were:
1) Mary (Polly) b 11/15/1806 Married Joseph Parks Bonham, son of 
Hezekiah Bonham and Esther Scott of Grayson County, VA.
2) Rachel R. b 6/5/1804 Married John Stalcup son of Peter & Mary Stalcup
3) George b 10/26/1808 Married Mary Gaskins Dungan daughter of John 
Robert Dungan and Rebecca Gaskins.
4) John L. b 5/26/1811 Married Maiah Bonahm daughter of Hezekiah 
Bonham and Esther Scott.
5) Sarah Ann b 1/3/1813 Married James Dungan son of John Robert Dungan 
and Rebecca Gaskins.
6) Eliza b 8/15/1815 Married James C Tilson son of Thomas Tilson and 
Eunice Hubbel.
7) Thomas b 3/13/1818 Married 1) Sarah Johnson Dungan daughter of John 
Robert Dungan and Rebecca Gaskins. 2) Susan Wassum Neff daughter of 
Andrew Wassum and Alcia Williams.
8) James b 7/14/1820 Married 1) Margaret Ann Scott daughter of Bettsie 
Scott (my line) 2) America Emily Copenhaver daughter of Mildred and 
Robert M Copenhaver.  First husband was Levi Perry Bishop.
     It seems some surnames just seem to be more interesting than 
others and the Gollehon name has been one of those.  For one reason, 
intertwining with names such as Dungan and St.John has fed my love for
history.  As you can see from just the above information, like many 
families during this time period, things seemed to stay “all in the 
family”.
     The Bonham family, which originates from Grayson County, Virginia 
is connected to one of my other lines as well, the Anderson’s of 
Grayson.
     Imagine my thrill to learn the famous St.John’s Mill, which is 
not 12 miles from my current home in Elizabethton, Tennessee, has 
Smyth County roots.  G.W. St.John, born in Smyth County July 29, 1832 
to Berry St.John and Hannah Dungan owned this mill.  Hannah was the 
daughter of John Robert Dungan and Rebecca Gaskins.  Her sister Sarah 
married Thomas Gollehon.  
     Berry St.John was born in Campbell County, Virginia December 18, 
1793 and the son of George St.John of Scotch-Irish decent.  G.W. 
St.John married Mattie A. Blair, daughter of John Blair of Louden, 
Tennessee.
     St.John’s Mill, as it is still called and is still in operation, 
is located in what is now Watauga, Carter County, Tennessee.  The
original owner of the mill was Jeremiah Dungan.
     Sarah Ann (Sallie) Gollehon, daughter of Robert Gollehon and 
Anne Tilson, married James Dungan, sister to Hannah and Sarah Dungan 
mentioned above. Their son, Col. Robert H. Dungan was known to be the 
highest-ranking officer in the Civil War to come from Smyth County, 
Virginia.  He was born September 18, 1834 in Smyth County.  He married 
Sue Baker, born in Smyth County as well and the daughter of Eli and 
Leah Baker.
       Robert attended Liberty Academy and Emory and Henry College 
before enlisting in the Confederate Army on April 9, 1861, Company D 
or the forty-eighth Regiment.  He was wounded at Cedar Run, the Battle 
of the Wilderness, and at Chancellorsville.  He was present at the 
surrender at Appomattox Courthouse and Gettysburg.  After the war, 
Robert taught school in Virginia and then moved to Jonesborough, 
Tennessee where he purchased the Baptist Female Institute and later 
established the Holston Male Academy.
       John Robert Dungan remarried to Rebecca Wilson after his wife 
Rebecca Gaskins died at the age of 33 in 1809.  One of their children 
was William Patton Dungan who married Martha Elizabeth Jones.  It was 
recently while going through some old area newspapers that I learned
of their son, William Patton Dungan, Jr. whose home is about three
miles from my own here in Carter County.
       William Patton Dungan, Jr. was born in Smyth County, VA April 4,
1851 and married Alice Mariah Sexton, daughter of William Currant 
Sexton and Rachel Roberts on May 12, 1880.  Their children were:
Sexton W., William P., Walter P., Alice E., John R., and Frank E. 
Dungan.
       William Patton Dungan came to Carter County, Tennesse sometime 
about 1880.  He seemed to be a out of his territory as he was a 
Democrat and a Confederate in a pro-Union and Republican area.  This
fact did not hinder him as he went on to be a mayor of Elizabethton,
elected judge of the court, and organized the first bank in 
Elizabethton.  He was well known in business and community affairs.
      Judge Dungan donated the land for the Dungan's Chapel Baptist
Church in Stoney Creek, Carter County, Tennessee.  He also built one
of the first homes west of the Doe River.  This house is located in
Elizabethton on Hattie Avenue.  It was the first to have a
public telephone, electric lights, and a private water system in 
Elizabethton.
     My Gollehon line continues with James Gollehon and Margaret Ann 
Scott’s son, Andrew Francis Gollehon.  Andrew, born February 13, 1850, 
married Sarah Virginia Cassell, daughter of S.A. and Jane Cassell.  
Their children were:
1) Maggie Jane b Nov 28, 1876 Married William Franklin Bridgeman, son 
of D.J. Bridgeman.
2) James Hattie (female) b March 6, 1882 Married George Washington 
Suits son of Robert Lee Suits and Missiouri Roland.  This is my 
grandmother, who is mentioned above’s parents.
3) Grace Frances b Nov 6 Married William Franklin Hale, son of Freland 
Alexander Hale and Elizabeth Taylor.
     After Sarah’s death, Andrew or “Andy”, as he was called, married 
Margaret Ellen Bennett.  They had one child, John William Gollehon b 
Dec 29, 1891.  He married Viola Emeline Hale, daughter of Levi Hale 
and Nan Sexton.
     These few words barely touch the surface of the extent of one 
family’s influence on not just a community but an entire territory, 
but perhaps they will give those of you who aren’t genealogy lovers 
(yet) a taste of what makes it such a rewarding past time.     


Information above not obtained by my personal research was supplied by:

Mary Dixon
Kenneth Sturgill and The History of the Gollehon Family
Goodspeed’s Biographies of Washington County, Tennessee
"Ancestry of Jeremy Clarke of Rhode Island and Dungan Genealogy"