The Genealogy

of

John Sutton, Sr. '-

of

Cocke County, Tennessee

and

Iron County, Missouri

by

Russell & Mary Jo Sutton

~ 1997 ~

Number .;l 7 of 40 Copies

Brady Press, Inc. 742 Brady Street

Davenport, Iowa 52803

,

1. Introduction

Table of Contents

Chapters

2. Colonial Sutton Families .......... ........................................................ .

3. Our Cherokee Indians .. ........ ... ... ... ........................ .... .....••••..............

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6

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4. One Hundred Twenty Years in Iron Co., MO ....................................... 42

5. The Suttons of Marble Creek ......... ................ .. .... ............. ........ ... ...... 89

6. The Arkansas Excursion ................. ...................... ............................ 107

7. Mountaineers of Taum Sauk .............................................................. 119

8. Epilogue .. .. ...................... ....... ......... .. .............................. ................ 138

The Bibliography of the Charts .......................................................... 210

Index ............................................................................................... 231

Maps

East Tennessee ... ........................ .................. ............. .................... 2

Iron County, Missouri ... ........ ................................... ........... ............... 2

The Homestead of John Sutton, Sr., and Elizabeth Huff ..................... 45

The Homestead of John Sutton, Jr., and Elizabeth Strickland .............. 52

The Lands of Josiah Sutton ............................................................... 60

The Land of William Sutton and Stacy Catherine Ruble ........................ 68

The Lands of Nathan Columbus Sutton and James W. Stevenson ........ 76.77

The Land of John W. Sutton ............................................................... 76

The Land of Clarence Sutton and Laura Dinkins ................................... 79

The Land of Sherman Sutton and Edna Ruble ..................................... 80

The Lands of Joseph Sutton and Sarah Baughman .............................. 90

The Lands of Abijah Sutton and Robert C. Sutton ................................ 93

Lands of J. Baughman, Isaac T., Nathan, Peter, Daniel, & Tipton Sutton .102

The Lands of Leonard Sutton and Elizabeth Huff ................................. 121

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Table of Charts

1. Colonial Suttons ................................................................................. 154-155

2. The Family of John Sutton, Sr., and Elizabeth Huff ................•............... 156

3. Children & Grandchildren of John Sutton, Sr., & Elizabeth Huff ....... .... ... 157-159

4. The Family of John Sutton, Jr., and Elizabeth Strickland ....... ..... ....... .... .. 160

5. Children & Grandchildren of John Sutton, Jr., & Elizabeth Strickland ....... 161-162

6. The Family of William Sutton & Stacy Catherine Ruble ............................. 163

7. Children & Grandchildren of Clarence & Sherman Sutton ........................ 164

8. The Children & Grandchildren of Paul and Mapel Sutton ........ ... .............. 165

9. The Family and Grandchildren of Russell & Mary Jo Sutton .. .................... 166

10. Descendants of Guy W illiam Sutton and Mary Louise Dunn ....... ............. 167

11. The Youngest of the Suttons .................................... .... .... ............. ....... 168-169

12. Descendants of John Henry & Lydia Caroline Sutton ..................... ......... 170-171

13. The Descendants of James Joseph Sutton ..... ............. .............. ..... ....... 172-173

14. Descendants of Sarah Elizabeth Sutton & John W. Alcorn ... ............... ..... 174-177

15. Descendants of Mamie Mann, Granddaughter of S. E. Sutton .......... ....... 178

16. The Myers Family .............. ........................................... ............ ............. 179 ,

17. The Families of Josiah Sutton & Margaret Sutton Bollinger ....................... 180-181 .

18. The Family of Jacob Sutton ....... .... ........ .................... ............ ....... ... ....... 182-183

19. The Children & Descendants of Joseph Sutton & Sarah Baughman ....... ... 184-189

20. The Children & Descendants of Nathan Sutton & Cynthia Amanda Brown .. 190-191

21 . The Children & Descendants of Tipton Sutton & Sarah (Sally) _? _ ......... 192-196

22. The Children & Descendants of Leonard Sutton & Elizabeth Huff .............. 197-198

23. The Children & Descendants 01 Daniel Sutton & Nancy Abigail Huff ........... . 199-202

24. The Children & Descendants of Peter Sutton & Martha (Patsy) Moore ... ...... 203

25. Related Families: Sharp, Brown, Ruble, Huff, Baughman, Wood, Strickland .204-206

26. The Dinkins Ancestors ..... .................. ...... ........... ......... .... ...... ...... .. ... ... .... 207

27. The Radford Ancestors ....... ... __ •..................... ... •.•.............. ............ .......... 208-209

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Chapter 3

Our Cherokee Indians

The Great Smoky Mountains are the ancestral home of the Cherokee Indians, one of the largest and best known of the many tribes. The Cherokee of today have produced a vast literature and and they have a large place in history texts. J. Ross Baughmanl has written an excellent and lively history of the Cherokee that is centered around our Sutton family. Since so much information about the Cherokee is easily available, only a brief summary of crucial events is given here.

The Cherokee population numbered about 30,000 maximum between about 1780 and 1830 and they were the dominant tribe in the

_ area where Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina; and Virgillia come together today. When White settlers began to move into the area about 1785, the Cherokee fought bitterly to retain their land, while at the same time, they began to adopt white civilization. They set up their own legislature, schools, courts, saw mills, grist mills, -cotton gins, etc., and in other words, everything which served a need was assimilated. They were slave owners and they absorbed as much of the White population as they possibly could. The children of mixed White and Cherokee parents were reared as Cherokee - and the White parent also became a member of the tribe. Anyone with Cherokee blood, sometimes as little as one-eighth, was considered Cherokee. Many of their chiefs, such as John Joseph Vann and John Ross, had little or no Cherokee blood. At the end of the 1700s, "147 White men and 73 White women had married into the Cherokee Nation. "2

Sequoyah is probably the most famous Cherokee because he IS

the only person III all of the history of the world who was able single-handedly to invent an alphabet for his people. Consequently, the Cherokee had their own -newspapers and other publications as early as 1821 and the alphabet is still in use today.

The Cherokee Nation prospered through the 1820s but the 1830s brought grief. President Andrew Jackson & his successor used the Army of the United States in 1838 to forcibly gather and remove the Cherokee to Northeastern Oklahoma. Events leading to the movement were declared "unconstituti6nal" by the Supreme Court which led to

1 J Ross Baughman, "Harvest Time," 1994, pp 135-155, Shenandoah History, Box 98, Edinburg, V A 22824. Copy in our possession. 2 Ibid, P 137.

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the famous quotation of Jackson's: "Well, John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." The forced move came to be known as ''The Trail of Tears" because 4000 3 of the Cherokee lost their lives under very harsh conditions and the evidence available indicates that our Betsey Sutton was one who did not survive the trip.

One branch of the "Trail of Tears" crossed the Mississippi near Cape Girardeau, MO, passed through Fredericktown, Ironton, Potosi, and continued on through Rolla, M04. At the time, : the family of our John Sutton, Sr., was well settled near Ironton which means that he saw his Cherokee people being moved by his homes.

When the Cherokee were moved in 1838, about 1'000 of them took refuge deep within the Great Smoky Mountains and their descendants remain there today where about 5000 are living on a Reservation of about 50 ,000 acres centered around their town of Cherokee, NC. Elijah Sutton was one who escaped the move but his descendants were moved to Oklahoma along with the family of Henry Sutton. Robert E. Sutton and his family may have migrated to Oklahoma on their own. Of course, our John Sutton, Sr., and Elizabeth Huff avoided the "Trail of Tears" by migrating to Missouri in 1819.

Actually, movement west began earlier and by 1838 nearly one-. third of the Cherokee Nation was already living in Oklahoma. This

movement began as early as the 1790s when some moved into Southeastern, MO, but were compelled to move on to Northwestern Arkansas by flooding and by the Great Earthquake of 1812. Early treaties in 1817 and 1819 gave the Cherokee two choices: they could enroll to move to Northwestern Arkansas or each could file for a reservation of 640 acres in their Great Smoky Mountains which was to revert to the State upon their death 6 The Cherokee land in Arkansas was ceded to the United States by treaty in 1828 for land in Northeastern Oklahoma.

Emmet Starr was a Cherokee Indian and an historian who, during the 1800S, meticulously wrote out and published the genealogies of the Cherokee Indian families of his time and his work does include part of our Sutton family. In addition, the Cherokee

3 Ibid, piSS. 4 Several routes were used in order to provide more grazing, hunting, and other living needs. Ironton did not yet exist as a town in 1838. S T. P. Russell visited with the moving Cherokee at their encampment located near his home and that of John Sutton, Sf. See "A Connecticutt Yankee in the Frontier Ozarks ," p 114-116, reprinted 1988, Univ. of MO Press, Columbia, MO. Copy in our possession. 6 Bob Blankenship, "Cherokee Roots, Vol. 1" 1992, P 9, Pub. by author, Box 525, Cherokee, NC 28719. Copy in Public Library, Reynolds Co., Ellington, MO.

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were one of the most frequently counted people on earth.7 The censuses are termed "Rolls" such as the "Henderson Roll" of 1835 8

which listed all of the 16,000 Cherokee who were to be moved to Oklahoma over "The Trail of Tears." Consequently, it is the records of the Cherokee Nation that yield much of the information available to us today about our John Sutton, Sf.

The Parents of Our John Sutton, Sr. - - As seen in Chapter 2, they were _?_ Sutton & Betsey (full blooded Cherokee) of Ooltewah Creek in Tennessee9. "Betsey Sutton" is specifically listed by the Henderson Roll of 1835, for forced movement to Oklahoma, but her name is absent on the later Rolls compiled in Oklahoma. She lived there on Ooltewah Creek with ninelo half-blooded Cherokee; one was

. a farmer, one was a weaver, and three were. spinners which means that the five, at least, were mature people. One of the family could read the Cherokee language.! I Two nei-ghboring families were those of Charles and Ben Timberlake (half-bloods); Their forced movement over the "Trail of Tears" has been documented for the family of Charles l2 which surely does mean that his neighbors, Betsey and her

- family group, were also swept up by the soldiers. Her age in 1835 · would have been about 73; therefore, it is difficult to believe that she

. survived the "Trail of Tears". One is tempted to conclude that the nine half-bloods were

siblings of our John Sutton, Sr., but the most that can be claimed, with any certainty, is that · some of them were his brothers and/or . sisters.

7 In 1835, the Federal Government meticulously located, counted, and recorded every Cherokee Indian. A short time later, the Army was given the listing and ordered to move the Cherokee to Oklahoma. Those among us today who favor gun registration, etc., should notice the consequence of allowing ' the Government to form lists of people in order to "protect the public". , 8 Bob Blankenship, "Cherokee Roots, Vol. 1" 1992, P 36, Pub. by author, Box 525, Cherokee, NC 28719. Copy in Public Library, Reynolds Co., Ellington, MO. 9 Today (1995) the town of Ooltewah is located in Bradley County in the Southeastern corner of Tennessee and is surely the area of interest. lOIn Chapter 2 the no. of half-bloods was listed as "8" by another source; therefore, I do not know which is correct but no real problem is generated by the uncertainty. II James W. Tyner, "Those Who Cried, the 16000," 1974, P 175, Pub. by Chi-ga-u. Copy in the Public Library of Cherokee, NC. The half-bloods were also indicated to be "mixed Catawbas," a small tribe associated with the Cherokee. 12 Joan Gilbert, "The Trail of Tears Across Missouri," p 76, 1996, Univ. of MO Press, Columbia, MO. Copy in our possession.

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The husband of Betsey, _?_ Sutton, disappeared from all records but there was the John Sutton on the Jefferson Co., TN,I3 tax list of 1800 who would have been a mature head-of-household and he may have been her spouse and the father of our John Sutton, Sr. The husband of Betsey surely preceded her in death;. he would have been at least 73 in 1835. 14

Close examination of all of the vital statistics of the "Four White Traders" proves that _?_ Sutton (probably the John Sutton of Jefferson Co.) was much olderls than the other three l6 which makes it .highly probable that Henry, Elijah, and Robert were not brothers of _?_ Sutton. It is clear that _?_ Sutton was White -- not mixed blood -­because our John Sutton, Sr., was half-blooded. While Emmet Starr describes the four traders as "White," he and others present evidence elsewhere that Robert E. Sutton was half-blooded.

In Chapter 8, the paternal lineage of John Sutton, Sr., is developed extensively.

Henry Sutton - - Henry was one of the "four White traders." The name of "Henry H. Sutton of Georgia" appears on the Henderson Roll of 1835 and "Henry Sutton" was listed in 1908 as the great great grandfather of John H. Bradshaw of Pryor Creek, OK.17 Thus, Henry Sutton was listed for removal to Oklahoma in 1835 but he . never appears again on the Rolls while alive. Only his great great grandson is found, much later, in Oklahoma.

13 Jefferson Co., TN, lies on the Western edge of Cocke Co. and the latter was formed out of Jefferson Co. in 1797. See Byron & Barbara Sistler, "Index 'to ' Early . TN Tax Lists ," 1977, p 192, Byron Sistler & Assoc. , 1626 Washington St., Evanston, IL. Copy in Stokely Memorial Lib., 283 E. Broadway, Newpori, TN . . 14 The usual fate of the male. IS Our. John Sutton, Sr., was born in 1782; therefore, his father was surely born before 1763 and was nearly 40 when Elijah & Henry were born; Robert was youngest of all. See Chap. 8. 16 John Sutton, Sr., married Elizabeth Huff at nearly the same dates when Henry and Elijah were born.; Robert was born even later. See Chapter 8. 17 Jerry Wright Jordan, "Cherokee by Blood, Vol. 2," 1987, P 347, No.3669, Heritage Books, 3602 Maureen Lane, Bowie, MD 20715. The Dawes/Guion Miller Roll of 1898-1914 refers to Henry Sutton. Copy in Public Library, Reynolds Co., . Ellington, MO.

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According to Starr, Henry was married 18 about 1800 to Lucinda Collins (Quarter-blood Cherokee); 19 however, there is a record2o of the marriage of Henry H. Sutton and Lucinda Collins Oct. 7, 1834, in Forsyth Co., GA. Here we have proof that Henry Sutton and Henry H. Sutton . are the same person reported by two different sources to be the husband of the same Lucinda Collins. The marriage date of 1800, gIven by Starr, is surely the birth date of Henry as will be shown.

In 1908 the great great grandson of Henry was living in Oklahoma, as we have seen, where he, John H. Bradshaw, justified his claim to being Cherokee by simply stating: "Henry Sutton is my great great grandfather" and his land claim was allowed)l We might have here evidence that Henry was of mixed-blood like our John Sutton, . Sr., but Starr insists that he was White. The lineage of Henry, given In

Chapter 8, supports Starr. Elijah Sutton - - The first listing of · Elijah is found on the

"Emigration Roll" of 181722 which means that he filed for one of the 640 acre reservations in The Great Smoky Mountains rather than go to Arkansas circa 1818 . When the soldiers of President Jackson arrived in 1838, Elijah managed to escape the troops and evade the round-up.23 We know this to be true because he is listed by the Mullay Roll in 1848 which was a census of 1517 Cherokee remaining in North Carolina after the removal of 1838. The U.S. manuscript census of 1840 for Polk Co.,24 TN, also lists Elijah but he is missing from the Federal census of 1850. The Census of 184025 shows Elijah to be 40-50

18 Emmet Starr, "Old Families & Their Genealogy," 2nd edition, p 391; Reprinted in 1972, Univ. of Oklahoma Foundation, Norman, OK. Copy in the Library of the E. TN His!. Soc., Clinch & Market Sts., Knoxville, TN. 19 J. Ross Baughman, "Harvest Time," 1994, p 152, Shenandoah History, Box 98, Edinburg, V A 22824. Copy in our possession. 20 International Genealogical Index of the Mormon Church, Georgia, March 1992, p 11,364. 21 Bob Blankenship, "Cherokee by Blood, Vol 2." 1987, P 347, No. 3669, Heritage Books, 3602 Maureen Lane, Bowie, MD 20715, Copy in the Reynolds Co. Library, Ellington, MO. Those who could prove Cherokee . ancestry were given land by the Government when the Cherokee Reservation was abolished in Oklahoma. 22 Bob Blankenship, "Cherokee Roots, Vol. I" 1992, P 23, Pub. by author, Box 525, Cherokee, NC 28719. Copy in Public Library, Reynolds Co., Ellington, MO. 23 J. Ross Baughman, "Harvest Time," 1994, p ISS, Shenandoah History, Box 98, Edinburg, VA 22824. Copy in our possession. 24 Located in the Southeastern corner of Tennessee on the eastern edge of Bradley Co. and Ooltewah, TN 25 William R. Snell, "1840 Federal Census of Polk Co., TN,", 1982, P 16. Lee College Print Shop. Copy in the Library of the E. TN His!. Soc., Clinch & Market SIS., Knoxville, TN.

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years old living with a female age 20-30_ a male child less than 5, and three other females, one less than 5, one 5-10 , and another 10-15.

Elijah married Elizabeth Ward26 (half-blood Cherokee) and they had a son named John W. Sutton who married Mary Copeland -- she was White.27 Two sons were then born to John W. and Mary C. Sutton: William H. Sutton, born Aug. 29, 1855, in Delaware Co., OK,28 and Alexander Sutton, born Dec. 22, 1862, in Goingsnake District of the Cherokee Nation 29 The children of William H. Sutton in 190830 were: Edward, age 20 ; John A., 18; Hattie M., 12; Claud, 9; and Bertha, 6. One grandson, Otis W. Sutton, age 7, was also living with William in 1908 at Grove, OK. William himself was age 51.

The descendants of Elijah (Chart 1-2) appear in the Dawes/Guion Miller Roll of 1898-1914 which is a list of Cherokee eligible for land grants in Oklahoma. The applicants had to prove to the government of the U.S. that they were Cherokee and the supporting statement of William H. Sutton is given in the smaller type that follows: 3 !

"My name is William H. Sutton. I was born in 1855 in Cherokee Nation. I claim my Indian blood through my father, . whose name was John W. Sutton. My father was born in Cherokee Nation. I don't know when he was born. He died in 1865 and was about 40 or 42 years old. His nick name was Jack. He· had a half-brother and four or five sisters. In 1851 he was living here in Cherokee Nation. I think in Goingsnake District. He was married in 1852. My father had a half-brother who was younger than my father. His name was George Morris. My father had a siSler named CorNIa Sutton, who marTie·d a Youngbird.

My father John Sutton sometimes went by the name of Jack Cox. 3 2

26 Emmet Starr, "Old Families and Their Genealogy," 2nd edition, p 345, Reprinted in 1972, Univ. of Oklahoma Foundation, Norman Oklahoma. Copy in the Library of the E. TN His!. Soc., Clinch & Market Sts., Knoxville, TN. Elizabeth was probably related to Nancy Ward who was a . heroine of the Cherokee Nation. around 1800. Biographies of Nancy Ward are found in any library holding Indian collections. . 27 J. Ross Baughman, "Harvest Time," 1994, p 152, Shenandoah History, Box 98, Edinburg, VA 22824. ' Copy in our possession. 28 . International Genealogical Index of the Mormon Church, Oklahoma, March · 1992, p 1,969. 29 International Genealogical Index of the Mormon Church, Oklahoma, March 1992, p 1,968. 30 Jerry Wright Jordan, "Cherokee by Blood, Vol. 2," 1987, P 106, No.4920, Heritage Books, 3602 Maureen Lane, Bowie, MD 20715. See also p 238, no. 2888. Copy in Public Library, Reynolds Co., Ellington, MO. 3! Ibid.

32 Elizabeth Ward Sutton remarried John Cox which explains why John W. Sutton chose Jack Cox for an alias . See Emmet Starr, "Old Families & Their Genealogy," 2nd edition, Reprinted in 1972, p 382, Copy in the Library of the E. TN His!. Soc., Clinch & Market Sts., Knoxville, TN. Apparently, Elizabeth Ward Sutton Cox remarried a third time to _?_ Morris.

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. Catherine Sutton was a sister of my father. Catherine Sutton did not have any children · as I know of My grandmother's name was Elizabeth . ..

The grandmother Elizabeth could only have been Elizabeth Ward. the spouse of Elijah Sutton.

William H. Sutton did not need to prove to the Cherokee that he was a member of the tribe but he was certainly required to prove his Cherokee blood to the U .S. government to obtain his land grant.

The 1840 census (above) proves that Elijah was born sometime between 1790 and 1800. As we saw above, Elijah appeared on the Mullay Rollin 1848.

Robert E. Sutton - - Robert was also identified as one of the "four White traders" and he married33 Bettie Blair, quarter-blood Cherokee. Bettie was the daughter and . fifteenth child -- the youngest -- of George Blair and Nancy Blythe (half-blooded Cherokee). Grand parents of Bettie were Quatie, a full-blood · Cherokee woman, and Jonathan Blythe. Bettie appears with her children living iIi Hanson, OK, in the Dawes Roll of 1898, age 40,34 and the Guion Miller Roll of 1909, age 44.3 5 There can be no doubt what-sa-ever about her identity because she is specifically identified, while in Oklahoma,36 as the daughter of George and Nancy Blair and the sister of Thomas Blair (another of the IS children). The astonishing thing here is her birth date; ca 1858!

. The same reference (31) that lists the complete family of Bettie Blair (including 14 siblings. parents and grandparents) also lists · her husband, "Robert E. Sutton!" Yet another reference37 lists a son of Bettie, Willis J. Sutton of Hanson, OK, with the notation that his grandfather was George Blair. The intent of this repetitious detail is to drive home the point that this Bettie Blair is the same person described as the spouse of Robert E. Sutton, one of the "four White traders." The children of Robert, and Bettie herself, are listed as

33 Emmet Starr, "Old Families & Their Genealogy," 2nd edition, 1972, p 458. Univ. of Oklaboma Foundation, Norman, OK. Copy in the Library of the E.TN Hist. Soc., Clinch & Market Sts., Knoxville, TN. 34 Bob Blankenship, "Dawes Role, Plus," p 182, A Cherokee Roots Pub., Copy in the Public Library of Cherokee, NC. 35 Bob Blankenship, "Guion Miller Roll, Plus," p ISS. A Cherokee Roots Pub. Copy in the Public Library of Cherokee, NC. This Roll was actually compiled over a span of several years which accounts for her age 40 in 1898 versus only 44 in a 1909 listing. 36 Jerry Wright Jordan, "Cherokee By Blood,"1987, Vol. I, P 344, No. 3669, Vol. 6, P 69, No. 13773, Heritage Books, 3602 Maureen Lane, Bowie, MD 20715. Copy in Reynolds Co. Pub. Library, Ellington, MO 37 Ibid, Vol. 6, P 35.

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Suttons by references 32 & 33 all living in Hanson, OK in 1898-1909. The children are shown in Chart 1-2 and they were all born about 1892.

Robert E. Sutton may have been well over 5038 when he married Bettie Blair, which was not at all unusual for marriages between White men and Indian women. Furthermore, the marriage probably took place in Oklahoma after each had migrated there from Tennessee. The only two written records of Robert are those of Emmet Starr;39 he never appears in the Cherokee Rolls which is consistent with the theory that he migrated to Oklahoma early, maybe before 1835 . Perhaps he died about 1898 or 1900.

One more fact is available to us today. The children of Bettie Blair and Robert E. Sutton (Chart 1-2) were 3/8 blood Cherokee and Bettie was only 114 Cherokee which proves that Robert was 112 Cherokee!

Robert was surely born some time between 1830 and circa 1850 which means that he was much too young to be a brother of our John Sutton, Sr., or of the other three "White traders," yet he was listed as one of the "four. "

Conclusions -- John Sutton, Sr., was born in 178240 while Henry Sutton, and Elijah Sutton were each born circa 1800. _?_ Sutton was born much earlier, circa 1760, or before then, while Robert E. Sutton was born after 1830.

Betsey Sutton, full-blooded Cherokee ancestor of our Sutton clan, died on the "Trail of Tears. "

"Elijah, Henry, and _?_ Sutton were White while John Sutton and Robert E. Sutton were mixed-blood.

We Suttons of Iron Co., MO, are descendants of John Sutton, Sr" half-blooded Cherokee, and the other SuttGns among the Cherokee who were moved to Oklahoma, are our cousins and descendants of Elijah, Henry, and Robert.

38 This poses a problem. Even if he were age 70 in the very late 1800s, he was too young to have been the brother of our .John Sutton, Sr. I am going to leave it here because I can't solve the problem and because it really makes no difference to our lineage. None can doubt that Robert was closely related, in some way, to our John Sutton, Sr. 39 J. Ross Baughman, "Harvest Time,"1994, p 152; Shenandoah History Publishers, P.O. Box 98, Edinburg, VA 22824. Emmet Starr, "Old Families" History of the Cherokee Indians, p 391, is the reference cited by Baughman under his no. 376 on p 306. The 2nd reference is Emmet Starr, "Old Families & Their Genealogy," 2nd edition, 1972, p 458, Univ. of Oklahoma Foundation, Norman, OK. 40 We have seen that the census of 1850 for st. Francois Co., MO, inadvertently interchanged the birth places of John Sutton, Sr., and spouse Elizabeth Huff; hence, it follows that their ages were possibly interchanged. This means that John, Sr., was born in 1777 and Elizabeth 1782 which would correct the awkward fact (awkward circa 1780) of Elizabeth being the older.

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Henry Sutton is another who may not have survived the "Trail of Tears."

_7_ Sutton may have been John Sutton who was living in Jefferson Co., TN, in 1800. Chapter 8 elaborates.

Chapter 8 will show that Elijah and Henry were brothers and probably grand nephews of _ 7_ Sutton. The relationship of Robert E. Sutton to the others is unknown.

In 1908, there were 20 Suttons living among the Cherokee according to the Dawes/Guion Miller Rol1.41 J . Ross Baughman uncovered the fact in some of "Turnbo's Tales of the Ozarks" that a

. "Suttons Store" existed in Fayetteville, Arkansas, during the 1840s42 , and in 1848 it was owned by Jim and Senaca43 Sutton44 . We now know that descendants of Elijah, Henry, and Robert were moved to Arkansas and Oklahoma and they might well have entered into a mercantile business. '

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The treaties of 1817 and 1819 coincide with the date when John Sutton, Sr., and Elizabeth Huff moved their family to Madison Co., MO, and those treaties were surely 'a factor in their decision .

On To Missouri -- In 1818, John Sutton, Sr. , in the prime of. life at the age of 36, with wife Elizabeth Huff, were parents of a growing family and they faced a growing problem at their home in Cocke Co, TN45 . Their oldest children were approaching the age where they would marry; therefore, this meant that they needed land . . They were probably trader-merchants but we know they wanted land because the records of Iron Co., MO, demonstrate that they were a land oriented people. There was little or no unsettled, arable land , available in Tennessee in 1818 because all of the suitable land had been settled or it was still controlled temporarily by the Cherokee Indians. John Sutton, Sr., was Cherokee which may have rendered his prospects of holding land in Tennessee very uncertain .

41 Bob Blankenship, "Cherokee Roots, Vol. 1" 1992, P 264, Pub. by author, Box 525 , Cherokee, NC 28719. Copy . in Public Library, Reynolds Co. , Ellington, MO. 42 Silas Claborn Turnbo, "19th Century Oral Histories of the Ozarks. Schools, Indians, Hard Times and More Stories," p 80. See also Turnbo's "Biographical Stories," p 57. Copy at Greene Co. Library, Box 737, 397 E. Central, Springfield, MO 65801. 43 The will of "Seneca" Sutton, dated 1858, is found in Book AB, p 50; in the Courthouse of Washington Co., Fayette, AR, but we have not seen the document. 44 Curiously, this unusual name is found in the manuscript U.S . census of 1840 for Boone Co., MO. see also, Sutton Searchers. Issue No. IS, Oct. 1994, p 16, 1921 Baldy Lane, Evergreen, CO 80439-9444 45 Fragmentary records and tradition give their home as "in Newport, TN," or "near Newport", or "in Cocke Co., TN,"

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Other reasons to move are not hard to find. The years during and after the war of 1812 had been prosperous but trouble was approaching. The rather desperate "Financial Panic of 1819" was near, and in my opinion, John Sutton, Sr., sensed the coming of the "Panic" and took it as an opportunity to move.46 It is known that he arrived in Missouri with capital to buy land which probably means that he sold his property in Tennessee before the "Panic" struck. A petition dated Sept. 1821 is on file in the Stokely Memorial Library, Newport, TN, and it reads, "distressing situation of the citizens from the decline of commerce and the consequent almost total disappearance of a circulating medium ... the people of the Eastern. part of the state are more severely affected than their western fellow citizens ... ask that demands be reduced as many of the land claims have become liable. "47

The White citizens of Cocke Co. also had knowledge of the land . in Missouri because relatively large numbers of them had moved to

this new Territory, so many, in fact, that Cocke Co. became known as the "mother of Ray Co., Missouri," organized in 1821 and "made up

. mainly of East Tennessee people. "48 As we saw above, the family of Joseph Sutton and Diannah Beck moved to Lincoln Co., MO, shortly before this time.49 Ray Co. and Lincoln Co. are located in Missouri along the Missouri River.

We need nothing more than the above facts of history to explain why John Sutton, Sr., and Elizabeth Huff first moved, with their family, to the Missouri River Valley in 1819! They sought new land for a growing family in an area wheJe their friends and relatives had located, partly because of economic distress in Cocke Co., TN, and because of growing pressure on the Cherokee. Yet, I am convinced beyond doubt that there was another reason. They were pIOneers, as were their families before them,50 and surely they had

46 See texts of American History for documentation. 47 It is quite certain that all property owners remaining in Cocke Co, TN, s.igned this petition which . bears 121 signatures. The · only Suttons to sign were John and Cornelius as discussed in part 1 of chapter 2. 48 Ruth Webb O'Dell, "Over the Misty Blue Hills", 1982 reprint, p 23, Southern Historical Press, P.O. Box 738, Easley, SC 29640. Copy in Stokely Memorial Library, 383 E. Broadway, Newport, TN. 49 Russel L. Gerlach, "Settlement Patterns in Missouri', 1986, Univ. of MO Press, Columbia, MO, shows that the settlers in mid Missouri along the Missouri River, who were from Kentucky, out-numbered those from other states . The Kentucky settlers tended to be slave owners. 50 This is a paraphrase of the words of a daughter of Elias Bragg in Microfilm reel 41, "Portrait & Biographical Album of Knox Co., IL", 1886, P 197. Copy in Public Library, Galesburg, IL 61401.

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grown uncomfortable in the settled lands of East Tennessee. The frontier had passed them by and they probably yearned to resume the life of the pioneer that they had known earlier. John Sutton, Sr., was White as well as being Cherokee. The reasons for the move are multiple, complex, and rational, adjectives which characterize most of human activity.51

The birth of Sina Sutton52 in Cocke Co., TN, July 9, 1818, and that of Daniel Sutton in Missouri in .182053 definitely fix 1819 as the year of the move to the area of Boonville, Missouri, in Cooper Co.54 on the Missouri River. 55 No documentation exists that places the family of John Sutton, Sr. , and Elizabeth Huff first in Cooper Co.; however, famiJy tradition is quite positive on this point. The documented movement of settlers into the general area of Cooper County, MO, from Cocke Co., TN, does infer that the tradition is accurate ..

Much speculation has centered about why they first moved to Boonville, MO. History tells us that they probably traveled by flat­boat down the Tennessee River to the Ohio and then to the Mississippi. This historic route was then followed by many settlers up the Mississippi to the Missouri River. There · it is likely · that John · . Sutton, Sr., temporarily settled his family among relatives56 or

51 Contrast this with Eileen Bone, "Shirt-tail Kin", p 59, "The clue as to why John and Elizabeth moved to Boonville, Mo ., is in salt ... and (they) left Tennessee seeking a fortune in the salt trade, perhaps." Copy found in Ozark Regional Library, Ironton, MO. No evidence or source is given by Bone for the , statement. 52 The name "Sina" might be a truncation of "Lucinda"; although she is always listed as Siney, Sinia, etc.; anothe"r name that no ' one could spell. 53 U.S. Census, 1850, Madison Co., Missouri. 54 Eileen Bone, "Shirt-tail Kin", p 112, writes, "Daniel Sutton 'was born circa 1816, in Missouri" and then contradicts this date on p 59 where one reads, . "about 1817 ... they moved to Boonville, Cooper Co., Mo." from Cocke Co., TN. Copy in Ozark Regional Library, Ironton, MO. '55 Eileen Bone, "Shirt-tail Kin", p 59, correctly places Boonville in Cooper Co., but writes in the very next paragraph, "in Howard County, Mo. where Boonville is the county sear." Copy in Ozark Regional Library, Ironton, MO. 56 Joseph Sutton living in Cooper Co., MO Territory, bought the Southwest quarter, Section 15, Township 54, RI7W with Land Warrant 4219-160-12 issued Feb. 20, 1819, to him for the War of 1812; a copy was obtained from Bureau of Land Management, Eastern States, 7450 Boston Blvd., Springfield, VA 22153. The only information in the Warrant application states that Joseph enlisted Nov. 18, 1814, in the 15th Reg. of Infantry, that he was then about age 36, and that he was a carpenter b'om in Middlesex, Co., .NJ. He was discharged at Trenton, NJ, March 16, 1815. This from General Reference Branch (NNRG), National Archives & Records Ad., 7th & Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20408. His relationship to John, Sr., is unknown.

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acquaintances 57 . living in the Boonville area while he with his older sons traveled on to the wilderness of Madison Co., MO, where they prepared the way for the family. Very likely, they built a house, cleared some land -- they also bought land -- and made things comfortable before bringing in the family from Boonville.58 Dale Sutton has pointed out that John Sutton and Elizabeth Huff kept their children alive which means that they planned carefully to maintain health. Infant death was one of the terrible consequences of life on the frontier.

Those among us who were born and reared in the freedom that exists among the clear streams, forest land, and rugged scenery of the thinly populated Ozark Mountains do not find it strange that our ancestors quickly moved on to Madison County from the flat-lands along the Missouri River. In fact, we would be bewildered, among the other more serious consequences, had they stayed on the Missouri River. The date of the move into Madison County59 is unknown, but probably, they remained on the Missouri River a relatively short tiIne.

, The genealogy of the Sharp family of Botetourt Co., VA, should be introduced here.6o Anthony Sharp, Sr., was born about 1762 in Virginia. The will of his parents, Edward Sharp and Jane McClelland, was found in Botetourt Co., VA, dated 1770. The will was finally settled in Washington Co., VA, in 1787. Anthony married Rachel Ellison March 6, 1794, in Shelby County., KY. Between 1807 and 1810

57 A William Sutton and a James Sutton were living in Boone Co. at this time. William became a large land owner as shown by microfilmed "Tax Lists for Boone Co., 1821-1842," S-20, Box 1, RG6; and Walter Williams, Jr., "His!. of N.E. MO, Vol. 3," 1912, P 1573, Lewis Pub. Co., Chicago. Copies at MO State Archives, Jefferson City, MO. Possibly William lived earlier at New Madrid, MO, but he left there leaving unpaid taxes as shown by a microfilmed "Independent Patriot,:' Jackson, MO, Vol. IV, No.5, Dec. 8, 1821; copy in MO State Hist. Soc., Columbia, MO. The relationship of this James & William Sutton to John Sutton, Sr., is unknown. However, Boonville, MO, is located in Cooper Co. on the south bank of the MO River just west of Boone Co. on the north bank. Descendants of Joseph Sitton & Diannah Beck lived then in Callaway Co. & Lincoln Co. to the east & the Sittons were relatives of our John Sutton, Sr., as shown in Chapters 2 & 8. 58 History is our only guide here; there is no documentation that can be cited for the reason to move to Boonville. We know that many, if not most, settlers made their moves as described. 59 They moved into a part of Madison Co., near Ironton, MO, that finally became part of Iron Co. in 1857. 60 This summary of the Sharp genealogy was taken from Ann (Sharp) Pulizos, R 1, Box 286, Dow, IL, 62022, & Barbara (Sharp) Braner, R.R. 2, Pleasant Plains, IL 62677, "The Sharp Family History", April 1986. Copy in Botetourt Co. Library, P.O. Box 129, Fincastle, VA.

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Anthony moved his family to Christian Co. , KY, and finally, they moved to Madison Co., MO, 1815-16. The route followed into Kentucky is not specifically spelled out by Pulizos and Braner but the court records they describe do suggest that in Virginia and Tennessee it paralleled the path of the William Sutton family. Anthony Sharp died ca 1837 in Madison Co., MO. The children of Anthony and Rachel:

1. Frances Selina Sharp, married James Brown, Dec. 15, 1812, in Christian Co., KY.

2. John Sharp, born before. 1800 in KY. 3. Robert Looney Sharp, born circa 1798 in KY, married Isabel

Henderson before 1822, died circa 1886 in MO. One of their 9 children was Robert Ellison Sharp born aliout . 1830 iIi MO. Another was John Quincy Adams Sharp born circa 1826 in MO.

4. Spencer Sharp, born 1800-1810 in KY. 5. Esther Sharp, married Robert Henderson, died before 1837. 6. Anthony Sharp, Jr. , married Charlotte Walker Aug. 17, 1825, in

Madison Co.; MO. Moved to Texas. . 7. James Allison/Ellison Sharp, lived in Texas in 1837. 8. William M. Sharp, born circa 1806 in KY, married Mary Ann

Chambers, March 23, 1848, in Madison Co., MO. They lived in Madison & Dent Co., MO.

9. Mary Ann Sharp, born Feb. 24, 1810, in KY, married William Polk, Jr., Aug. 25, 1831 in Madison Co., MO,-'died Jan. 20, 1882, in California .

Goodspeed maintains that a short time after Ephriam Stout was the first to settle in Arcadia Valley in 1805 "Looney Sharp and his sons, Ellison and John, and James Brown came into the Valley . ... Ellison Sharp61 made an opening where Leonard Sutton now lives, but in 1824 sold his claim to John Sutton and went to Texas."62 John Sutton was our John Sutton, Sr., and Leonard Sutton was his son. The Rubles are known to have moved into Madison Co., MO, from Washington Co., TN, in 1823;63 and since they may have traveled with John Sutton, Sr, Elizabeth Huff, and family64, everyone was definitely In Madison Co. by 1823 or 1824. The actual date when they made the

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61 Most certainly, Goodspeed should have written "Anthony Sharp, Sr., and his .. sons came into the valley ... and it was James A. Sharp who sold the land to John Sutton, Sr., & then went · to Texas ." Ellison· Sharp was really James Allison/Ellison Sharp according to Mrs. Jo Ann Pulizos. 62 "Goodspeed's History of Southeast Missouri", 1964 reprint, p 255, Ramfire Press, Cape Girardeau, MO. Copy in Ozark Regional Library, Ironton, MO. Reference contributed by Dale Sutton. Se also Mrs. 10 Ann Pulizos, R I, Box 286, Dow, IL 62022, Letter, Ian 31, 1994. 63 Russell & Mary 10 Sutton, "Bragg Sutton," 1993, p 96, Pip Printing Co., 415 Highland Ave., Iowa City, lA, 52240. Copy in Ozark Regional Library, Ironton, MO. 64 Russell & Mary 10 Sutton, "Bragg Sutton", p 27, 1993, Pip Printing Co., 415 Highland Ave., Iowa City, IA 52240. Copy in Ozark Regional Library, Ironton, MO.

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move from Cooper Co. is unknown; but most likely, it was earlier than 1823, most probably as early as 1820 .

Early Sutton genealogy and the ' quotation from Goodspeed can now be examined in the light of the genealogy of the Sharps. James Brown became the husband of Selina Sharp Dec. 15, 1812, in Christian Co., KY. Selina Sharp was the daughter of Anthony Sharp, Sr., and Rachel Ellison. Cynthia Amanda Brown was born in Kentucky, the daughter and only child of James Brown and Selina Sharp65. Nathan Sutton and Cynthia Amanda Brown were married Aug. 25, 1829, in Madison Co., M066 and they named one of their daughters "Selina". Nathan was a son of John Sutton, Sr., and Elizabeth Huff.

James Brown and Selina Sharp homesteaded the exact spot where Col. Ulysses S. Grant briefly maintained his military headquarters at the south edge of present-day Ironton. The site, along Stout's Creek, has been known over the years as Sylvan Lake andlor . the Emerson estate though in 1994 it retains, sadly, mere vestiges of the broad lawns of an estate. Here, James Brown, in his later years -- the 1840s -- became a close friend of Theodore Pease

1 Russell who named and portrayed him as "Old Tutor" in Russell's book.67 Russell wrote, "The house -- of James Brown -- was of large hewed logs, with a brick chimney, which showed the owner to be an "aristocrat," a man of importance." Their common interest was a deep love of the grand sport of hunting that creates a way of life with a spiritual quality68. Jame.s Brown died circa 1844.

When James Brown died, all of his property passed to daughter and only child Cynthia Amanda Brown Sutton69 who was married to Nathan Sutton. On Feb. 7, 1848, Nathan and Cynthia sold all of Section 5, Township 33, R4E, to Cyrus Russell and J. C. Berryman for $1200.70 In 1849, the Section 5 was surveyed for establishment of the village of Arcadia. The land lay at the southern edge of the Brown homestead,

65 Mrs. Jo Ann Pulizos, R 1, Box 286, Dow,IL 62022, Letter, Jan 31, 1994. 66 Russell & Mary Jo Sutton, "Bragg Sutton," 1993, Appendix 15, Pip Printing Co., 415 Highland Ave., Iowa City, IA, 52240. Copy in Ozark Regional Library, Ironton, MO . 67 Theodore Pease Russell, "A Connecticu t Yankee in 'the Frontier Ozarks ", pp 123, 189-193, University of Missouri, Press, Columbia, MO. Edited by James F. Keefe & Lynn Morrow. The editors were unaware of Reference 70. 68 Hunters know what I mean; others never. 69 Mrs. Jo Ann Pulizos, R 1, Box 286, Dow IL 62022, Letter, Jan. 31, 1994. Also there was an adopted daughter; see p 149-149 in reference 67. 70 Madison Co. Record, p 193, Feb. 7, 1848, Courthouse, Iron Co:, Ironton, MO.

located around Arcadia, and was surely part of the inheritance of Cynthia and Nathan. 71

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John Quincy Adams Sharp and Elizabeth Jane Sutton were married March 29, 1848, in Madison Co., MO. Elizabeth was a daughter of Nathan Sutton and Cynthia Amanda Brown and granddaughter of John Sutton, Sr., and Elizabeth Huff. Therefore, Elizabeth Jane Sutton and John Quincy Adams Sharp72 were first cousins once removed. Their third child, Thomas B. Sharp, later became prominent as an official and sheriff of Madison Co., M0.7 3

The second marriage of Sina Sutton, daughter of John Sutton, Sr., was to JamesM. Brown, Feb. 23, 1842, but little is known, at the present time, about how James M. Brown was most certainly related to the Brown family.

Three families could not have been closer and more intimately related than the Sutton, Brown, and Sharp families of Madison Co" MO, in the early 1800s 74. How could anyone doubt that, at the very least, they also knew each other in Tennessee and Virginia?75 Most likely, they also intermarried in Virginia and/or Tennessee. This

.. strengthens the belief that we . are related to William and ·.,susanna Sutton of Botetourt Co., VA, and Greene Co., TN.

Finally, it seems clear that one major reason why John Sutton,. Sr., and Elizabeth Sutton quickly left Boonville for Madison Co. was due to their friends, the Sharps and Browns, who were already located in Madison Co. Similar friendships brought along the Baughmans, Huffs, and Rubles. Madison Co. was closer to the Cherokee Indian population of Northwest Arkansas and there IS

evidence that the Cherokee, and other Indians, were living in Southeast Missouri around present-day Ironton.

71 We are indebted to Jo Ann Pulizos & Barbara Braner, authors of the Sharp genealogy, for this information. The gift was unknown to us in 1993 when "Bragg Sutton" was written. 72 Eileen Bone, "Shirt-Tail Kin", p 94, incorrectly writes "John J. L. Sharp" for his name. 73 Robert Sidney Douglass, "History of Southeast Missouri", 1912, p 699, Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, IL. Copy in Ozark Regional Library, Ironton, Missouri. 74 Of course, we must not forget the Huff, Ruble, and Baughman families. Theodore Pease Russell states that there were no more than five families in the Arcadia Valley, circa 1838. So here are five: Sutton, Baughman, Sharp, Brown, Huff, all documented. The Rubles, some of the Huffs, and the one family of John Sutton, Jr., and Elizabeth Strickland lived in Big Creek Valley, to the south. See p. 180 of TPR. 75 The sOjourn in Kentucky by the Sharps is the only move that was not tracked by the Suttons.

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