Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: User Home Page Genealogy Report: Descendants of John Matthew Gleghorn

[ Home Page | First Page | Previous Page | Next Page | Last Page ]

Descendants of John Matthew Gleghorn

Generation No. 1

1. JOHN MATTHEW¹ GLEGHORN¹ was born Bet. 1770 - 1775 in Ireland^1,^2,³, and died Bet. 1830 - 1840 in Lincoln County, Tennessee. He married ELIZABETH GRAHAM⁴ 1794 in Chester County, South Carolina, daughter of ANDREW GRAHAM and MARGARET COULTER. She was born Bet. 1775 - 1777 in Chester County, South Carolina, and died Bet. 1830 - 1840 in Lincoln County, Tennessee.

Notes for JOHN MATTHEW GLEGHORN:
All of the following information came from the book written by Katharine Tolle Kell and Philip James Graham, "David Graham of Chester County, South Carolina and his Descendants 1772 - 1989" This book was printed in 1990. All information on each child will be taken from this book and the updates sent to me by Philip Graham in June 1999, with his permission to use any and all of the information as I see fit. Mrs Kell passed away and the information she had was passed on to Philip Graham. I will add my personal family updates to this information along with information from Cheryl Harris, Sandra Konczak, June Gleghorn, Sandra Maddox.

Altho John did not apply for citizenship until 7 April 1814, he had actually migrated to America many years earlier...August 1790... and soon made his way to Chester County, South Carolina.

A tradition among some of his descendants is that he was a blacksmith, and, if so, he may first have worked for Elizabeth's father, Andrew Graham, who was a blacksmith.

In any case, John prospered and by 9 May 1799 was able to buy almost 125 acres in two separate deeds, In the first deed, he bought 24.5 acres from John Stedman for 40 sterling.

The land was described as "situated in Chester County on the head branches of Rocky Creek adjoining a tract of one hundred acres originally granted to John Watson and hath such form and marks as appear by a plat thereof to the original grant. . . ." This deed was witnessed by John's father-in-law, Andrew Graham, and brothers-in-law Mathew Graham and Adam Mills. On 1 November "1`806," (probably 1805) Andrew Graham proved the deed although it was not recorded until 17 October 1825 (Book W, p.3).

The second deed, dated 9 May 1799, was from John Watson to John Gleghorn. In this deed Watson sold Gleghorn 100 acres also for 40 Sterling, and this land was described as "situated in Chester County on the head branches of Rocky Creek bounded on all sides by vacant land when surveyed and hath such shape form and marks as appears by plat thereof to the original grant . . . ." This deed was witnessed by Andrew Graham, Jeremiah Walker, and William Joyner, and Andrew also proved it on 1 November "1806" (probably 1805....recorded 17 October 1825, Book W, pp. 4-5) The reason it is thought that the correct date was 1805 is that Andrew probably moved to Kentucky late that year.

On 8 October 1801, John bought fifty adjacent acres in Chester County from John Bell for $100.00 The tract was described as "being in Chester District on the waters of Rocky Creek bounded to the S.E. by John Gleghorn N.E. by John Bell and N.W. John Bell and Hugh Brown being on the S.E. Side of a tract of land belonging to the said John Bell." This deed was witnessed by Robert Strong, Alexander Boyd, and James Strong (recorded 17 October 1825, Book W, p. 4).

Among Elizabeth's and John's neighbors were Matthew and Jennie (McKay) Elder and their ten children. One of the children, Matthew Elder, Jr. (1813-1892), later told his "autobiography" to his daughter Mary J. Elder who transcribed it. Her transcription included a rare account of daily lives in Chester County in 1823 and was probably a close reflection of the lives led by Elizabeth and John, themselves:

No labor saving machines were then in operation, granering (sic) hundred(s) of bushels of grin in a few hours. In close hot suffocating barns, the grain was taken off the straw with flails or the feet of horses straw was then taken off by hand and by rakes and the grain separated from the chaff by running it through a course and fine riddle kept constantly in motion before a domestic fan turned by hand. Putting a crop of 150 bushels through this process occupied, perhaps eight or ten days.

The peaches and apples from large orchards were taken to the distillery, put into large troughs and by the application of mauls, pounded into fragments. In this changed condition they were thrown into barrels and when sufficiently rotten by a process of (dis)tillationconverted into brandy. Almost every family had more or less of this firey stuff.

The surplus produced was all hauled to Charleston, Columbia or Camden in wagons and all the merchandise and grocers used in the up country brought back in the same vehicle, a trip to Charleston occupying three weeks and to Columbia or Camden each a week. The price of hauling to Charleston per hundred was two dollars "down" and from one dollar fifty, to one dollar seventy-five "up." A wagoner never slept half the night keeping up his fire, cooking his meals, greasing his wagon, feeding cudding and brushing his horses occupying more than half his time, and when he lay down on the cold wet ground, how much would he....could he sleep?...Item 3, third generation, page 518 Graham Book, "Autobiography of Matthew Elder, Jr.," as told to his daughter, Mary J. Elder, Branching Out from St. Clair County, Illinois, XIII, 1, 4-5.

Matthew also gave a brief sketch of domestic life as it existed in his parents household:

He had two brothers younger than himself, and no domestic event ever produced a deeper or more lasting impression on his boyish intellect than the care manifested by his good mother, in training these diminutive mortals. At a certain hour every night, the (spinning) wheel and cards were put aside, the thread carefully reeled from the spools, the hanks suspended on the wall, the floor nicely swept, the three children called to her side where they repeated the Lord's Prayer, and answered a few questions from Brown's Catechisms for children. The paternal head of the family then sung a Psalm or part of one, read a portion of scripture and offered a prayer. In a short while everything in the miniature Temple of Industry was silent as thought,except the tick-tick of the old Seth Thomas that occupied a position on the wall.

During the winter everything was moving early. The fires were made, the feeding done and worship over before the dawn of day. In summer, the first ray of light that appeared in the East was the signal for leaving the bed. Item 4, third generation, page 518 Graham Book. Ibid pp. 2-3

John Gleghorn was listed in the 1820 Federal Population Schedule. Township 330201 10210 pg. 50 Chester County, SC.

In 1825 John and Elizabeth decided to leave South Carolina, and in Chester County deed dated 18 October 1825 John sold 159 - 9/10 acres for $1,060.00 to Robert Boyd (Book W, p. 59). The following winter, 1825-26, he and Elizabeth moved with all their children to Lincoln County, Tennessee. Since it is known that their oldest son, Samuel, settled on Cold Water Creek in the western part of Lincoln County ( Item 5, third generation Graham Book, Mabel Abbott Tucker and Jane Warren Waller, comps., Lincoln County, Tennessee Bible Records, 6 Vols. (Batavia IL: Lincoln County Tennessee Pioneers, 1971), II, 101). It is assumed that John and Elizabeth also settled there. They probably lived out their lives in Lincoln County, Tennessee.

Elizabeth had twelve children, several of them twins, and all born in Chester County, South Carolina:

A. Samuel Gleghorn, b.19 November 1795
B. Andrew Gleghorn, b. c. 1798
C. Margaret (?) Gleghorn, b. 1795 - 1804
D. Jane (?) Gleghorn, b. 1800-1804
E. Mathew Gleghorn, b. c. 1802
F. John Gleghorn, b. c. 1810 (twin to James)
G. James Gleghorn, b. c. 1810 (twin to John)
H. David Gleghorn, b. 1810-1815
I. Sarah Gleghorn, b. c. 1814 (twin to Robert)
J. Robert Gleghorn, b. c. 1814 (twin to Sarah)
K. Elijah Gleghorn, b. c. 1818
L. William Gleghorn, b c. 1820

While in Lincoln County, Tennessee, many of these children plus one grandchild married members of the Gault family, grandchildren of William Gault (1735-1803) and Rebecca Coffee,Coffey, and various spellings, of Viginia. The Gaults and their allied families had moved to Tennessee probably in the 1810's. In the following chart below, the three Gault siblings named....Thomas, Grace, and Nancy....were among the thirteen children of William Gault and Rebecca Coffee, Coffey, etc. Item 6, third generation Graham Book. Pressley Brown Gault and Elizabeth Pinkerton Leighty, The William Gault Family History, 1735-1948 (Sparta IL, n.d.), passin....An unpub. ms. in Sparta, IL, Public Library; bound copies are also at the Library of Congress and at the DAR library, Washington D.C.)

Thomas Gault (1)
m.
Sarah Apeling

Children of Thomas and Sarah:

William Gault
m.
Sarah Gleghorn (3-11 Graham Book)

Henry Calvin Gault
m.
Mary Ann Gleghorn (3-1A2 Graham Book)

Grace Gault (2)
m.
(1) James Johnson
(2) John Wilson

Children of Grace and (1) James Johnson:

Rebecca Johnson
m.
Andrew Gleghorn (3-1B Graham Book)

Mary Johnson
m.
James Gleghorn (3-1G Graham Book)

Children of Grace and (2) John Wilson

Ursula Wilson
m.
Robert Gleghorn (3-1J Graham Book)

Susan C. Wilson
m.
Elijah Gleghorn (3-1K Graham Book)

Eliza L. Wilson
m.
William Gleghorn (3-1L Graham Book)

Nancy Gault (3)
m.
John Clark Taylor

Children of Nancy and John:

Hulda Taylor
m.
David Gleghorn (1) (3-1H Graham Book)

In the Early 1850's , most of the Gleghorn descendants moved to Arkansas. The only ones who remained in Tennessee were 3-1A Samuel and his family, plus one daughter of 3-1B Andrew who had married one of Samuel's sons. In the late 1860's, several Gleghorns then moved from Arkansas to Texas.

The following information came from updated information from Philip James Graham in 1999:

On 22 October 1831

John Matthew Gleghorn sold 86 acres in Lincoln County, to Robert Meek for $530.00 (Book 1, p. 234). The tract was on Cold Water Creek and bordered property owned by William Smith among others. William Smith was the father-in-law of John's and Elizabeth's son 2-5 Matthew. John signed this deed with his mark. It was witnessed by William Smith and by John's and Elizabeth's sons 2-2 Andrew Gleghorn and 2-9 David Gleghorn.

Several children of John and Elizabeth (Graham) Gleghorn were members of either Prosperity Associates Reform Presbyterian Church, Bethel Associate Reform Presbyterian Church of the Hephzibah/Swann Creek Reformed Presbertian Church all in Lincoln County, Tennessee.

The first families of Associate Reform Presbyterians were reported to have moved from the area of Abbville, Chester, and Fairfield Counties, South Carolina to Lincoln County, Tennessee around 1827.Some of these families settled ten miles south of Fayetteville and organized the Prosperity congregation, while other families settled about six miles west of Fayetteville and organized the Bethel congregation. Early history of the Prosperity congregation is from The Centennial History of the Associates Reform Church.

Prosperity had three houses of worship. The first was a log house built in 1828 and used for sometime with only the dirt floor. During a protracted meeting one summer this log house was too small for the accommodation of the congregation, and they went to a grove in the graveyard. While they were preaching in the graveyard some young people got together and danced in the log church without a floor. When they got through dancing the boys decided to have some fun at Dr. Bryon's expense, and sent for him to come in the church to talk with a young man (pretending to be) under conviction of sin seeking for light. Dr. Bryson came and found the young man crying and feigning deep penitence. At once divining the situation he ordered the boys all to their knees and to prayer. Having done this Dr. Bryson began the prayer by asking God to convert the young man if his penitence was sincere, but if not sincere to strike him dead at once. The young man jumped up in great fright and got away. A few days later he came to Dr. Bryson, saying in ernest he was converted and joined the church.

Bethel Associate Reform Presbyterian congregation was organized also under Rev. Henry Bryson. The Bethel Church was consolidated with New Hope ARP Church (organized in 1850) in 1895 to form Elk Valley Associate Reform Presbyterian Church.

Hephzibah Reform Presbyterian Church was situated along the elk Creek River, near Fayetteville. The congregation was organized 12 June 1812 as the Elk Congregation by Rev. John Reilly. The church changed names several times as it was also called Swan Creek Reformed Presbyterian Church during the 1830s.

As mentioned in the genealogy, the Gleghorns were closely associated with the families of Thomas Gault, Grace Gault-Johnson-Wilson, and Nancy Gault-Taylor, all children of William Gault and Rebecca Coffey. Pressley Brown Gault recounts some of his hand stories of these families during the 1800s as the author of the first part of The William Gault Family History. He was a grandson of William and Rebecca (Coffey) Gault and nephew of John and Grace (Gault) Wilson. Pressley was born in _____ and died in 1890 Sparta, IL.

William Gault was born in Pennsylvania about 1735 and settled in the Waxhaw area of North Carolina in the 1760s. He married Rebecca Rebecca Coffey who was born in Virginia and they had 13 children. Soon after William Gault died, about 1803, Rebecca Coffey Gault moved to Williamson County Tennessee with some of her family. After a few years members of the family moved again to Lincoln County, Tennessee and settled five miles west of Fayettesville

According to Presley Brown Gault, his Uncle John Wilson and Aunt Grace moved with three of their Gleghorn sons-in-law from Lincoln County, Tennessee to Sparta, Randolph County, Illinois in the spring of 1841. They stayed there in Sparta through the summer and moved back to Lincoln County, Tennessee in the fall. The next spring , all five of the Gleghorn sons-in-law moved with John and Grace (Gault) Wilson to Arkansas.

A different account of the move west by the Gleghorns was collected by Johnnie Karr Hairfield, who has done primary research in Arkansas. A Nolan Gleghorn of Izard County, Arkansas tells the following story about how the Gleghorns came to settle near Franklin in that County.

A wagon train which included three Gleghorn cousins from Nashville, Tennessee, reached the Mississippi River. Most turned back but the Gleghorns persevered and built rafts to cross the torrent. When across. according to the story, they settled near Franklin.

A relative of this Nolan Gleghorn is a man named Devon, son of 5-96 Walter V. and Vesta B. Gleghorn. Devon was with Nolan when he repeated the story to Johnnie Hairfield's informant, and said the story was correct but that it was about four Gleghorn brothers, not three Gleghorn cousins, and two cousins named Harvey accompanied them.

More About JOHN MATTHEW GLEGHORN:
Emigration: August 1790, USA⁵
Naturalization recorded: April 07, 1814, John Matthew had been in the US since August 179_, Book A, Pg. 184 Naturalization Records, Chester District, SC

Notes for ELIZABETH GRAHAM:
In the Graham book the children are listed from A to L.

More About JOHN GLEGHORN and ELIZABETH GRAHAM:
Marriage: 1794, Chester County, South Carolina

Children of JOHN GLEGHORN and ELIZABETH GRAHAM are:

2.	i.	SAMUEL² GLEGHORN, b. November 19, 1795, Chester County, South Carolina; d. December 03, 1883, Lincoln County, Tennessee.
	ii.	MARGARET GLEGHORN, b. Bet. 1795 - 1804.
3.	iii.	ANDREW GLEGHORN, b. 1798, Chester County South Carolina; d. Abt. August 17, 1850, Lincoln County, Tennessee.
	iv.	JANE GLEGHORN, b. Bet. 1800 - 1804.
4.	v.	MATHEW GLEGHORN, b. 1802, Chester County South Carolina; d. September 14, 1869, Hope, Hempstead County, Arkansas.
5.	vi.	JAMES GLEGHORN, b. 1810, Chester County South Carolina; d. Aft. March 21, 1859, Arkansas.
6.	vii.	JOHN GLEGHORN, b. 1810, Chester County South Carolina; d. April 1866, Gainsville, Greene County, Arkansas.
7.	viii.	DAVID GLEGHORN, b. Bet. 1810 - 1815, Chester County South Carolina; d. Bef. 1839, Linclon County, Tennseess.
8.	ix.	ROBERT GLEGHORN, b. May 08, 1812, Chester County, South Carolina; d. October 26, 1905, Wrightsboro, Gonzales County, Texas.
9.	x.	SARAH SALLIE) GLEGHORN, b. 1814, South Carolina; d. Bef. 1880.
10.	xi.	ELIJAH GLEGHORN, b. 1818, Chester County South Carolina; d. Bef. 1860.
11.	xii.	WILLIAM GLEGHORN, b. 1820, Chester County South Carolina; d. Bef. 1880, Izard County, Arkansas.

[ Home Page | First Page | Previous Page | Next Page | Last Page ]