Isham G. Gideon, fourth
child of James Isham Gideon and Martha "Patty"
Mills, was born 15 Oct 1795 in Wilkes Co, NC and died in
1860 and was buried on his farm in Wright Co, MO. He
married in 1820/1821 Nancy Miller, born about 1800. About
1810 Isham moved to Hawkins Co, TN with his parents. Soon
thereafter he is listed in the 17th Rgt of Ky (The
Cornstalk Militia) created to protect the frontier from
Indians. The 1830 census shows him living in Grainger Co,
TN with his wife, 2 sons and 2 daughters under 10. He
purchased land in 1840 in Laurel Co, KY which he sold in
1848 preparing to move on west.
In 1852 Isham with his two sons, two daughters and their
families migrated to Taney Co, MO where his brother,
William, had moved in 1836. They came in a wagon train
drawn by oxen, taking six weeks to make the trip of some
600 miles. In the spring of 1853 Isham and his sons' and
daughters' families took up 600 acres each south of
Hartville in Wright Co, some 60 miles NE of Ozark. All
their farms joined and to this day is known as
"Gideon Valley". They helped each other clear
the land, build log houses, rail fences and to organize a
school for their children, a beginning of a prosperous
community.
When the war broke out in 1861, the bushwackers and
outlaws descended upon the defenseless families; stealing
livestock, crops and threatening women and children, so
the remaining families went to franklin Co, near St.
Louis for the duration. When they returned they found
their buildings and fences destroyed and they had to
begin all over again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Little is known about
Nancy Miller, wife of Isham G. Gideon. The tradition is
that her mother was Cherokee, and since there have been
so many queries about this, we pass along the traddition
that has come down in the family. Much credit is due Mrs.
Myrtle (Weaver) Felts, of Corbin KY for her research
among the relatives in Kentucky and Tennessee and for
interviews with White Owl, a pominent historian of the
Cherokees.
This story centers around Fort Loudon in East Tennessee.
In the 1890's hundreds of families came over the
mountains to the beautiful valley of the Holston River.
The normally peaceful Cherokees, alarmed by the
"encroachment of the paleface", made continual
raids upon the settlement. For protection of this
frontier settlement, Fort Loudon was established in what
is now Loudon Co, TN. One Major Miller, of English
descent, was put in charge of the fort. In a skirmish
with the Cherokees, 25 Indians were slain and their chief
vowed to take the lives of an equal number of soldiers.
Soon he carried out this vow and took Major Miller a
prisoner.
Miller, however, made friends with his captor and later
married his daughter. The couple went to live on a
plantation in Alabama owned by the Miller family. Here
the daughter, Nancy, was born about 1801-1804. (The 1850
census of Laurel Co says she was 49; the 1860 census of
Wright Co, MO states she was 55). Nancy's mother died
when she was about 2 years of age; she continued to live
in the Miller home and was taught by a governess,
according to tradition. (The teacher may have been a
relative living in the home.) However, Nancy was
considered "well educated" by her neighbors in
Missouri who came to her to read and write their letters
and she was a great reader of the Bible.
When Nancy was about 16 years old she decided to visit
her mother's people in Tennessee, but when she got there
none of them could be loacted. She was told that they had
gone to join other tribes of Cherokees in Kentucky and
the west. It was about this time that Nancy and Isham
were married.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
Children:
James G. Gideon b. 1822 m.
Martha Elizabeth Parman
William W. Gideon b. 1824
m. Hiley Ann Watkins
Rebecca Gideon b. May 31,
1826 m. William Mayberry
Eliza (Barthena) Gideon b.
May 31, 1826 m. James Alexander Comstock
Emily Jane Gideon b. May
21, 1828 m. James Hopkins Watkins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
