MISC INFORMATION FOR THOMAS SHIRLEY BRANCH #39

While living in Marion Co. TN, Thomas Shirley and his sons ran a Trading Post. One morning some Indians came into the post and among other things purchased a hunting knife. something happened to raise the Indians ire and they left. some time later in the day they returned, pulled a knife and slew William Shirley. Tradition tells us if Thomas Jr. had not been such a very large and strong young man and if a huge  poker had not been nearby at the fireplace, he would have been slain also.   _______________________________________________________________________________
On January 21, 1785, the state of South Carolina granted Thomas Shirley 640 acres of land on 18 Mile Creek in the 96th District, SC. _______________________________________________________________________________

In the 1790 census: Thomas Shirley...3m  under 16, 2m over 16 and... 5 females
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In 1792, Thomas Shirley sold the above listed land to Bennett Combs (of St. Marys Co. MD moved to Rutherford Co. North Carolina. He appears in the 1800 census of Rutherford Co. with: 1m 26-45, 2m under 10, 1f 26-45, 1f under 10.
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By November 11, 1811 (Deed Bk D p. 88-89), Thomas Shirley had moved his family to White Co. TN and there he and John Shirley were living in the 1820 census.   _______________________________________________________________________________

Hamilton Co. TN was organized Oct 25, 1819 and we find Thomas Shirley trading in real estate there. He is listed as one of the first settlers of the new county. He spent the rest of his life in Hamilton County except for a time when he refuged to South Georgia during the Civil War. 
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In 1825, Thomas Shirley Sr. and wife, Margaret,  of Marion Co. TN appointed Thomas Shirley Jr. as Power of Attorney to settle accounts for them in Guilford and Orange Co. in North Carolina. ______________________________________________________________________________

In 1831 John Cummings, surveyor and Thomas Shirley purchased 434 acres, including Williams Island, at Chattanooga, TN for 1 cent per acre.
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In 1919 a court house fire in Marion County TN destroyed all marriage, will, probate records.
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A part of Hamilton County was cut off and formed into James County in 1871 but was returned to Hamilton Co. in `1919.
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email from Carol Baker
cbaker@2ndcoa.courts.state.tx.us

Hello, I am descended from Thomas Shirley Sr.'s granddaughter, Cordelia Shirley Cates.
Cordelia m. George Oliver Cates in Hamilton Co., TN. 1 son  George Oliver Cates, Jr., m. Sarah Elizabeth (Sally) Chastain in Ringgold, Catoosa County, GA then immigrated to Texas.  George & Sally died in Altoga, Collin County, TX & are buried in the Altoga Cemetery.

George, Senior remarried a widow, Mary Davis, & had many other children. George is buried in the Mitchell Cemetery in Hamilton County: Cate, George O - May 3, 1828 - July 27, 1892

Cordelia died either in childbirth, or soon thereafter.  She is buried in (I think) a Shirley family cemetery.  The cemetery was surveyed as one that might have to be moved because of the TVA project, but it was reported as NOT moved.

I'm writing this at work, and don't have my notes with me.  I'm still new to genealogy.  I don't have any info on Cordelia's family, except that her father was named Thomas. There was some sort of controversy with the Cates family around the turn of the 19th - 20th century.  The George Cates in Texas that I come from literally scraped the "s" off the end of their name and insisted their name was "Cate" without the "s."   My grandmother who was born in 1898 and died last year, remembers when Mrs. Cates changed the family name.  No one knows why.  Family tradition is that the Cates in Tennessee were Union loyalists and were suspected in some acts of sabotage against the Confederacy.