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We currently spend quite a bit of time in Nashville.
My eldest went to college here where she met her husband.
Our son moved here in 2007 and never left. He is now settled in a suburb of the city with his wife and two boys.
Our youngest moved here in 2015 and remained in close proximity to other family members.
And my one and only sibling moved here over two decades ago.
At the time, no one knew our Coleman family roots originated less than an hour away. Cheatham County is a mere 50 miles from my ancestors' farmland.
Coleman Family Tree
With a fair degree of certainty, I have traced my paternal roots to the late 1700s. A probable list of my Coleman leniage looks something like this:
Joseph (born 1770 - Amelia County, VA)
—-> Daniel (born 1794 - Amelia County, VA)
—-> —-> Joseph C (born 1824 - Rutherford County, TN)
—> —> —> James P (born 1853 - Rutherford County, TN)
—> —> —> —> William L (born 1877 - Rutherford County, TN)
—> —> —> —> —> Walter A (born 1909 - Oklahoma City, OK)
—> —> —> —> —> —> Gleason W (born 1928 - San Antonio, TX)
It is quite likely that Joseph, the father of Daniel, is a direct-line ancestor and therefore a good place to begin the family story.
Joseph Coleman (1770-1857)
Daniel was born in 1794 in Virginia (likely Amelia County). Daniel was the eldest of eight children born to Joseph Coleman (born 1770 in Amelia County, VA) and possibly Temperance Rogers (born 1780 in NC). I am skeptical of Joseph's relationship with Temperance, however, since she was only fourteen years old at the time Daniel was born. A more likely scenario is Joseph was married to another woman prior to Temperance, and this woman was the mother of his first six children.
Joseph, his wife (possibly Temperance), and their two children moved from Virginia to Tennessee sometime after the birth of their second child in 1803, a daughter named Rebecca. By 1808 the family of four was living in Rutherford County, TN when their third child, William Field Tanner was born. The remaining five children were also born in Rutherford County.
Interestingly, the TN marriage records for 1780-2002 show Joseph Coleman and Temperance Rogers married in June 1824 — well after the birth of Joseph’s six children. This corroborates my suspicion that Joseph was previously married and Temperance is not Daniel’s birth mother.
“Other Colemans”
Grief T Coleman
Before delving into our direct-line ancestors, I’d like to introduce a few of Daniel’s siblings. I believe this gives scope to the number of relatives, as well as the varied socio-economic status, of the Coleman family name.
Daniel’s sister Rebecca married Grief T Coleman in July 1824 — just one month after Joseph and Temperance married. But that is not the only unusual coincidence. Rebecca’s maiden name and married name are one and the same. Which begs to question: did she marry a cousin?
While researching the Coleman families in and around Rutherford County, TN during the mid-1800s, I was amazed to find so many living in close proximity to one another. How many were close relations? Extended family? Or not related at all?
I have not conducted a thorough search of all the Coleman surnames, but the marriage of Grief and Rebecca definitely brought two lines together.
Grief was born around 1780 to Joseph Coleman Jr (born 1744) and Jane Tally Tanner (born 1745). Jane and Grief were both born in Amelia County, VA — the same area where Daniel Coleman and his father, also Joseph Coleman, were born (is this confusing enough??) This leads me to believe there is some connection between these two families.
In addition, Grief had an older brother — Fielden Tanner Coleman born in Kentucky in 1778. Rebecca had a younger brother — William Field Tanner Coleman born in Rutherford County, TN in 1808. Since Field Tanner is a highly unusual name, I wonder if these two boys were named after a common ancestor. And could that ancestor be from Jane Tally Tanner’s family line (?)
Fielden Tanner Coleman (no relation to us) eventually moved to Alabama where he died around 1856. Interestingly, he fathered eleven children. The youngest, Fielden T Coleman, fought in the 3rd regiment of the Confederate calvary. He eventually settled in Arkansas.
William Field Tanner Coleman
William Field Tanner Coleman (possibly my 4x great-granduncle) never fought in the Civil War but most definitely supported the Confederate side.
The agriculture non-population census records from 1850-1880 show his land holdings continually increase over the years. In 1850 the cash value of the 120 acres of developed farmland was approximately $1,550. By 1880 the land holdings increased in value to over $10,000.
In addition, his livestock and crops also increased. By 1880 the farm animals included 14 sheep, 44 swine, 8 lambs, plus 10 milk cows and 9 new calves. The crops yielded approximately 550 pounds of butter, over 1,000 dozen eggs, 60 bushels of wheat, nearly 1200 bushels of Indian corn, 30 bushels of sweet potatoes, and 120 apple trees producing 20 bushels of fresh-picked fruit.
But Cotton was king in those days, at least prior to the Civil War, and William’s farm excelled in that area too. In 1850 the farm produced two 400-lb bales of ginned cotton. By 1880, however, cotton production increased to 40 acres yielding twelve 400-lb bales.
The proportionate size of his farm is evident in this 1878 Rutherford County Enumeration Map:
By zooming in on the 1:00 area of District 9 (on the southernmost tip of District 5) we find WFT Coleman’s land.
Also, notice how close his property is to the Cotton Gin.
It takes a lot of manual labor to work a farm of this size, and much to my extreme embarrassment and regret, the Slave schedules of 1850 and 1860 reveal a truth I’d rather not admit. In 1850 William F T Coleman stated he had six slaves working on his farm:
- 35-year-old male
- 24-year-old female
- 3 young girls (ages 12, 5, and 4)
- 1 young boy (age 3)
By 1860 that number grew to 13 slaves:
- 43-year-old male
- 36-year-old female
- 16-year-old female
- 14-year-old female
- 12-year-old male
- two 10-year-old males
- 7-year-old male
- 4-year-old male and female
- 25-year-old female
- 2-year-old female
- 4-month-old female
While there are no records indicating William F T Coleman participated in the Civil War, the Stones River battle was fought less than ten miles from his home. An estimated 13,000 casualties resulted for the Union side and another 10,000 casualties for the Confederates. I’m certain all Coleman relatives living in Rutherford County were somehow affected by this battle and the post-war reformation.
My next post will focus more on my direct-line ancestors, starting with my great-great-great grandfather, James P Coleman.
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