| PART 3. TENNESSEE CONT. |
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| 3.1 Grainger County, Tennessee, About 1800 Cont. When they were finished, they had a sturdy, comfortable and warm house for the family. They probably did not dream that their house would still be a favorite gathering place for dances and other social functions more than 100 years later and still be standing 190 years later; long after all other structures of the period had gone. Tobacco was in demand, and it became the main crop for the farm. They built a log barn nearby to dry the tobacco leaves as well as to store the feed for the horses and cattle. John II died some time after 1810. The family hauled his body up the sides of a steep hill on the northwest corner of the farm and started a small family cemetery under giant oak trees on the narrow ridge. 3.2 Grainger County, Tennessee, January 2, 1822 Twenty four year old George Booker, son of John II, married eighteen-year-old Sarah (Sally) Bond. He was born in Virginia in 1798. She was born in North Carolina in 1803. Sarah’s father, Isaac Bond moved to the area from North Carolina before 1810. Isaac’s father, George Bond had immigrated to Virginia from England. George had lived on the Booker farm along Flat Creek for as long as he could remember. He inherited the Booker house and much of the farm when his father, John II, died, sometime between 1810 and 1820. Some of George’s brothers were working parts of the farm. George Booker and his young bride continued operation of the Booker farm. Within the first few years of their marriage, George cut out more giant yellow poplar logs and doubled the size of the Booker house by adding two more rooms of about the same size. They built another fireplace in the east end. The house was so tight and easy to heat that it was still a favorite place for country-dances during the Great Depression over 100 years later. They raised a large family. Their first son John III came in October, that same year. The children to follow were Amelia in August, 1824, James in 1827, William in 1829, Mary Ann in 1831, Nicholas in 1833, twins George Washington “Wash” and Benjamin Franklin “Frank” in 1836, Pryor in February, 1839, Elizabeth in 1842, a boy (name not know) in 1845, and Sarah C. in 1848. The family had 12 children, the youngest of which was born when George was 50 and Sarah was 45 years old. The county lines were changed at least twice, so the Booker farm was included in Knox County by 1850. It was later to become part of Union County. The value placed on the farm in the 1850 census, $450.The available marriage and census documents suggest that both parents and the children were educated. 3.3 Knox County, Tennessee, September 6, 1831 Twenty four year old Sanders Webster and eighteen-year-old Sarah Stanton were married before Rev. M. B. Carter. Their marriage license had been obtained the day before in Knoxville from Isaiah Wilson, Bondsman. (Sarah’s name was spelled Staunton on the license). Sanders Webster was born in North Carolina in 1807. His father, Bartlett Webster, was born in North Carolina in 1770, and brought his family to Tennessee. Sarah was born in Tennessee to John Stanton in 1813. |
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