The Early Years

These two granite stones lie in the Alfred Bartlett family portion of the Brown's Mill Cemetery.

Joshua Bartlett
Born 1768 in NC
Died 22 April 1831 in White County,TN

Winnie Williams Bartlett
Born 1769 in NC
Died 11 May 1852 in White County, TN

The following information came from "A History of Caney Fork Baptist Church" sponsered by Lola Belle Brown McCormick (22 March, 1914 - 28 May, 2004)

"Joshua Bartlett and his wife Winnie Williams Bartlett moved their family from Boonesborough, KY to the south banks of the Falling Water River in 1806. They built a fort on the south side of the Falling Water River. The fort was designed to protect them from attacks by indians and wild animals. within the fort they built a log cabin where the family lived.

Soon afterward other families moved into the fort and other cabins were built. It is believed that Joshua Bartlett invited other families to join his family at their first cabin for worship services. This is believed to be the actual beginning of the Caney Fork Church according to history handed down for generations from older people.

A little later Joshua Bartlett moved his family to a larger log house. For awhile the original log cabin was used exclusively for church and possibly a school.

Hester Bartlett, born in 1812, was the daughter of Joshua and Winnie Williams Bartlett. She was the second wife of Hyrum Brown. It was her third marriage. I also found the below information in a book on Putnam County History. It may refer to a different Hester Bartlett, but I'm not sure.

Church services were then held in the new home of the Bartletts. This was the second home for the church. This house was later owned by Dudley Farley and his family."

A picture of the second Joshua Bartlett house is shown on the left.

Nathan Bartlett, Joshua's brother and the father of of James Bartlett, was one of the earliest settlers in the Dry Valley, his grants being a little older than those of his nearest neighbor, Joseph HUNTER.

James Bartlett's wife Elizabeth raised Alfred Bartlett who was born in 1879. James died in 1885.

The information below came from A Pictorial History of Putnam County Book.

The following information came from "A History of Caney Fork Baptist Church" sponsered by Lola Belle Brown McCormick (22 March, 1914 - 28 May, 2004).

"Founding Families of Caney Fork Church...
Information was found on at least some of the possible founding families and early settlers of this area. We regret that some may be left out even though several announcements were made and information sheets were handed out, still no one came forward with the information. In no certain order, the following are the families on which information was found.

William Bohannon
William Bohannon came to this area from Virginia in 1807, the same year that Joshua Bartlett came here from Kentucky. William entered land in the area of the Falling Water River in 1807. The Bohannon children by William’s first wife are Frances Bohannon, born 1753; John Bohannon, born 1755; Joshua Bohannon, born 1757 and married Rhoda Cook; William Bohannon, born 1760; Anna Bohannon, born 1763; Henry Bohannon, born 1767; Elizabeth Bohannon, born 1769; Lucy Bohannon, born 1771 and married John Mullins; Judith Bohannon, born 1774 and married Isaac Welch; James Bohannon, born 1777; Alice Bohannon, born 1779 and married Thomas Barnes. Dates of birth of the last four children are unknown. They were Susannah, Holla, Lewis and Elijah Bohannon.

Thomas Barnes
Thomas Barnes, who came to this area with the William Bohannon family, eventually married Alice Bohannon, a daughter of William. Thomas became a successful farmer and large landowner in the area of the old City Lake, east of Cookeville. The children of Thomas and Alice Bohannon Barnes were Elizabeth, born 1798 and married John C. Huddleston; Sarah, born 1800 and married James Bohannon; John Barnes, born 1802 and married Margaret Welch; Lewis, born 1804 and married Sela Stone; Nancy Barnes, born 1806 and married a York; William Hopkind, born 1809 and married Letta Frances; Polly, born in 1811 and married James Buck of Missouri; Susannah, born 1814; Rebecca Rice, born 1817 and married David Buck, also of Missouri; and Thomas Barnes Jr., born 1819.

After Alice Bohannon Barnes died in 1819, Thomas Barnes married Mary “Polly” Strien the daughter of J.S. and Eleanor Strien. Their children were Ridley Barnes, born 1822; Louisa, born 1824 and married Kennedy Poteet; Rhoda, born in 1825; Jesse, born 1828 and married Lucinda Pippin; James Marion, born 1830 and married Sarah Buck. James Marion was a captain in the Civil War and lived in Nashville; Amanda, born 1832 and married Thomas Poteet; Lydia, born in 1834 and married Amos Pippin; Eleanor, unknown date of birth and married first to John D. Brown and then to a Birdsong; Infant child, date unknown; and Martha, date unknown and married Gabriel Marion Cooper.

Thomas Welch
Thomas Welch was born in Lancaster, PA in 1749. He was almost 97 years old when he died in 1846. It is said that Thomas Welch was married twice and his second wife was Mary Ann Fleming. Their children were John Welch, born 1774; and George Welch, born 1777. He was a teacher and his wife was Elizabeth; James Welch, birth date unknown; Isaac Welch married Judith Bohannon, daughter of William Bohannon; Taylor, birth date unknown; Mary Ann Welch, born in 1796; Nancy, born in 1805; and Thomas Welch Jr., born in 1814.

Jacob Hyder
Jacob Hyder was born in North Carolina about 1776 and died in 1854. He came to the Caney Fork area in 1810, carrying his household goods and other possessions on his shoulders. He settled at a spot in the wilderness at the head of the Falling Water River. He married Hanna Rockwell, who was born in 1780 and died in 1862. They were the parents of Katherine, born 1798 and married H. Cullum; Triphena, born 1800; Ruth, born 1803 and married William Hawes Quarles; Elizabeth, born 1809; Joseph D., born 1820 and married I. Bilbrey; and John L., born in 1817. Joseph D. Hyder was appointed conmiissioner by the state legislature to lay the county site of Putnam county on Feb. 11, 1854, and was a member of the first county court to assemble in the county on Jan. 7, 1856.

Hiram Allison Brown
Hiram Allison Brown was the son of Hyrum Brown and Mary Allison. He was born in 1834 and died in 1889. He was married to Elizabeth “Bettie” Bartlett who was born in 1842 and died in 1933. She was the daughter of Jesse Graham and Hester Bartlett. Jesse died young and Hester remarried so Bettie must have taken her mother's maiden name.

Hiram and Bettie were the parents of:

Belle Brown, born 1867 married Dr. William A. Farley. William was the son of David Farley who was born in 1844 and had enlisted in the Confederate Army in August, 1862, serving with Co. H. 8th TN Cay.

Charles, born in 1870 and never married.

Pansy E. Brown, born 1874 and died in 1893. Pansy was a school teacher at Brown’s Mill School. She took sick on a Sunday morning and died immediately at the young age of 19.

Claude S. Brown, born 1878 married Maggie Holman.

Hiram Allison Brown, born in 1834 and a son of Hyrum and Mary Allison Brown, with his wife, Elizabeth Bartlett, and children Charlie and Belle Brown.

George Washington Mansell

George Washington Mansell, son of David and Catherine Henry Mansell, was born in 1858 and died in 1932. His wife was Lydia Brown, the daughter of Gideon and Eunice Suttles Brown. She was born in 1859 and died in 1934. Lydia was the granddaughter of Hyrum and Mary Allison Brown. George Washington and Lydia were married in 1883. They were the parents of 10 children. George Washington was elected as a messenger to the Stone Association in 1909. Lydia’s full name was Mary Derassia Lurinda Lydia Jane Brown. Their children were William Haskell Mansell, born in 1884 and married Rosa Ann Asolete Carey; Lonzo Gideon, born 1885 and married Josephine Clementine West; Johnie Lee Mansell, born 1886 and married Ophie Mae Peek; Myrtle Minnie Mansell, born 1889 and married first to William Noah Daniels and then to George J. Whitaker; baby girl, born 1890; David Petway, born 1892 and married Ollie Mertie Whitaker; George Edward, born 1894 and married Lizzie Mertie Whitaker; George Edward, born 1894 and married Lizzie Jane Eller; baby boy, born 1901; and Harvey Napoleon, born 1903 and married first to Ruby Lee Ellen Whitaker and second to Flora Winfree.

Thomas Alexander Farley

Thomas Alexander Farley was born in 1828 in North Carolina. It is not known when he moved to this area. His wife was Anna Satterfield, who was born in 1839. They were the parents of William Anthony Farley, born in 1857 and married Belle Brown, a daughter of Hiram and Elizabeth “Bettie”

Bartlett Brown; Eliza Ann Farley, born in 1859 and married A. G. Keisling; George E. Farley, born in 1866; Mattie J. Farley, born 1868; and Mary Alice Farley, born in 1870 and married Elliot Copeland."

Joshua Bartlett

JOSHUA BARTLETT was likely born just prior to the Revolutionary War. He died in 1828. He married 1798 in Madison County, Kentucky to WINNIE WILLIAMS (Hearn) Winnie’s 1^st spouse John Hearn (Ahearn). She died 7 Jun 1852 in White County, Tennessee.

All of Joshua's sons moved out of Tennessee. None of the Bartlett's living in Putnam County in the twenth century are direct descendants of Joshua.

Birth: Abt 1768 in North Carolina

Death: 22 Apr 1828 in White County,Tennessee

Burial: Joshua Bartlett Farm,South of Falling Water,Putnam County,Tennessee

Event: Will Proved Unknown 14 Jul 1828 White County,Tennessee

Event: Will Dated Unknown 23 Sep 1823

Event: Military Service Unknown Bet. 1792 - 1794 Fennikens Co .,Knox County Regiment,Hamilton Dist. Militia,Territory South of the Ohio

Event: Military Service Unknown 1793 9 (Trotter's) Battalion,Kentucky Militia

Note:

From the Early History of Putnam County, Tennessee , by W. S. Mcclain, 1925:

Joshua BARTLETT and wife (Winnie, nee WILLIAMS) moved from Boonesborough, KY with their eight children about the year 1808 and built a cabin on the south bank of Falling Water, near the location of the concrete bridge on the new highway through there.

Later Mr. BARTLETT erected a larger and better residence (now occupied by Dudley FARLEY) near the original cabin, which was then used for several years as a church and school house, but was finally abandoned for a new building on the north bank of Falling River, the site of the present Brown's Mill Church. The BARTLETT children were named Daniel, Nathan, Joseph, Edith, Rebecca, Dorcas, Nancy and Penelope.

Another daughter, Hester, was born in their new home in 1812, and was the grandmother of Claude BROWN, who gave us this information. Mr. BROWN's mother, widow of the late Hyram BROWN, now in her 87th year, remembers clearly the details of the capture of Daniel BOONE's daughters by the Indians, in a raid on Boonesborough, as related by her mother.

The original entry of land by Mr. BARTLETT embraced 360 acres on Falling Water, the bottom land thickly covered by tall cane.

[Ref: (1). White Co, TN Wills and Settlements. (2). War of 1812 Pensioners - Joshua, Winney, no pension, srv Capt. HOLLOWMAN's TN Mil, BLW#88729-40-50. Reference Number for service record is 154162 and Bounty Land Warrant No. is 88729 issued in Sep of 1850 to his widow Winnie Williams BARTLETT.]

Bartlett Obituary, published on the MS Tippah Page indicates that Joshua Bartlett was the son of Robert Bartlett:Joshua Bartlett, son of Robert Bartlett, m. Winnie Williams / their son, Joseph Bartlett, was born in Kentucky in 1796 and died in Tippah County, March 14, 1876 / Joseph had ten children by his first wife, all born in White and Overton counties in Tennessee. They were James Bartlett, born Nov. 9, 1836;

Joshua Bartlett, born 1838; Nancy Bartlett, born 1840; Mary Bartlett, born 1842; Daniel T. Bartlett, born 1844; Mandy Bartlett, born March 26, 1846, and living in 1936; Felix Bartlett, born 1848; C.C. Bartlett, born March 31, 1851; John C. Bartlett, born Aug. 28, 1853; and George T. Bartlett, born 1858 in Tippah County (NOTE: all these were by Joseph's second wife, Martha Thomas, who was born March 6, 1816, daughter of George and Mary (Pryor) Thomas, and died Oct. 4, 1866)

Joseph's children by his first wife were William Bartlett, Elizabeth Bartlett, Nathan Bartlett,Hester Bartlett, and an infant / one of his children by the second wife was killed in the Battle of Seven Pines during the Civil War.

THE WILL OF JOSHUA BARTLETT, DATED Sep. 23, 1823, PROVEN JULY, 1828, WHITE COUNTY, TENNESSEE

Wills and Settlements - Microfilm Roll #153, Page 335-337

In the name of god amen I John (crossed out with Joshua written above it) BARTLETT of the county of White and State of Tennessee being sick and weak of boddy but of sound mind and disposition moving for which I thought good and calling to mind the uncertainty of life and for being desirous to dispose of all such worldly substances as it hath pleased goo to bless me with I give and bequeath the same in the following that is to say I give and bequeath unto my oldest son Joseph BARTLETT the part of land he now lives on and Daniel BARTLETT my next Oldest son is to have that part of land that joins the dry valley and Nathan BARTLETT my youngest son is to have the part of land where my house is at present and the land to be equally divided between the three sons so that every part should be alike and my wife Winney BARTLETT is to have support from off the land and possession of the dwelling house and Cittion during of her widdow hood and my daughters Winney BARTLETT and Hettey BARTLETT is be supported from off the land with their mother tell they come of age or is maIn the name of God amen I Joshua BARTLETT of the County of White and state of Tennessee Being weak of boddy but of sound mind and disposition moving for which I thought good and calling to mind the uncertainty of life and being desirous to dispose of all such worldly substance as it hath pleased God to bless me with I give and bequeath the same in the following that is to say I give and bequeath unto my eldest son Joseph BARTLETT the part of land he now lives on and Daniel BARTLETT my Oldest son is to have that part of land that joins the dry vally and Nathan BARTLETT my youngest son is to have the part of land where my house is at present the land to be equally divided Between the three sons so that every part shall be alike and my wife Winny BARTLETT is to have support from off the land and possession of the dwelling house and cittion (?) during of her widowhood and my daughters Nancy BARTLETT and Hetty BARTLETT is to be supported from off the land with their mother till the come of age or is married and my daughters that is to say Cady RANDOLPH and Pruna BOHANNON & Nancy BARTLETT and Hetty BARTLETT to have a good fifty dollar horse each of them as soon as it can be raised and my two sons Daniel and Nathan BARTLETT is to have each one their colt and to have possession of all the balance of the stock but is not to trade or convert it to their own use further than to pay off the other heirs that is here named and the Balance of the property is to be for the use of supporting their mother and two youngest sisters on the land and the are to rise William WHITAKERS two childring till of age and school them otherwise if he sees can take his children himself and rase them then the two children is to have fifty dollars in property Divided Betwixt them when of age and concerning Thomas RANDOLPH I have given him an equal share to the rest of the heirs my three sons excepted and I don't allow him any more of my estate and the stock that is raised on the land to be their own that they make by their own industry I do hereby constitute and appoint my wife Winny BARTLETT and my son Joseph BARTLETT Executors of this my last will and testament hereby revoking all previous wills or testaments heretofore made. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty third day of September in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty three.

his Joshua X Bartlett mark

William PRYOR)

George WOOD)

Copy certified by Mrs. D.K. Mitchell, Clerk of Court