Diana Nelms Reagan

Notes:

----------
Reference:
"Smoky Mountain Clans", Donald B. Reagan, 1978, p 11.
"The Book of Ragan/Reagan", Donald B. Reagan, 1993, p 49, 50.
LaFaye Sutkin GEDCOM, 18 December 1995.

Diana married William E. Donley 15 Mar 1881. William was born 1860; died 6 Jul 1935. [Group Sheet]

1. Nealy Donley
2. Molly Donley
3. Emma Donley
4. Edwina Donley
5. Stockton P. Donley
6. Reagan Donley
7. Richard Donley
8. Longmire Donley

Notes:

John H. left Tennessee in 1839 for Texas, then a Republic, and settled in the eastern portion of the state where he resided until his death. Without a doubt, John H. Reagan is still Gatlinburg's most illustrious son.

A brief summary of his accomplishments includes: surveyor of public lands in Texas; lawyer, admitted to the bar in 1846; state representative 1847-1849; district judge, 1852-1857; Representative to U. S. Congress, 1857-1861; delegate to Secession Convention of Texas in 1861; Postmaster General of Confederacy; acting Secretary of Confederacy. In 1875 he was a member of the State Constitutional Convention; U.S. Representative, 1875-1887; U. S. Senator from Texas, 1887-1891; a member of State Railroad Comission, served as chairman 1897-1903.

John was imprisoned after the Civil War presumably for his high post in the Confederacy.

John H. returned to his birth place only once, 22 August 1900, after sixty-three years absence. He and his wife received a heartwarming reception in Sevierville where he spoke at the Courthouse and received friends at a reception later. He spent two days visiting with his cousins in Gatlinburg.

John H. Reagan reared his first wife's two sons.
----------
Reference:
"Smoky Mountain Clans", Donald B. Reagan, 1978, p 8, 10.
"Smoky Mountain Family Album," Gladys Trentham Russell, 1984, p 9.
"The Book of Ragan/Reagan", Donald B. Reagan, 1993, p 46, 47-49.
LaFaye Sutkin GEDCOM, 18 December 1995.

John married Edwina Moss Nelms 23 Dec 1852, Anderson, Grimes, Texas. Edwina (daughter of Edwin Nelms, Colonel and Diana Moss) was born 12 Dec 1832, Northumberland County, Virginia; died 21 Jul 1863, Richmond, Henrico County, Virginia; was buried Texas. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Remains were returned to the family plot.
----------
Reference:
"Smoky Mountain Clans", Donald B. Reagan, 1978, p 8, 10.
"The Book of Ragan/Reagan", Donald B. Reagan, 1993, p 47, 48.
LaFaye Sutkin GEDCOM, 18 December 1995.

Notes:

Timothy Richard died while on his way to join his son in Texas. This Timothy
Reagan and his wife, Elizabeth Lusk, were the parents of John H. Reagan of
Texas and Civil War fame.

John H. Reagan described his father as being very mechanically inclined and
good at many trades - being a good blacksmith, boot and shoe maker, tanner,
saddle maker, gunsmith, silversmith, very adept at woodworking, and able to
repair most any kind of clock or watch. John H. also said, "He was a
man of exemplary piety and of benevolent disposition, and was a member
of the Methodist church from his youth to the end of his life".

Probably because of his ability in these trades Timothy Richard moved from
Gatlinburg to the Sevierville area where the demand for his services would be
greater. Sometime after 1838 he moved to Knox County, Tennessee where he lived
for a few years.

Timothy with Elizabeth and their family appear in the 1830 Federal Census of
Sevier County, Tennessee.

Also found in the Knox County 1840 Federal Census is a listing for him.
----------
Reference:
"Smoky Mountain Clans", Donald B. Reagan, 1978, p 6a, 8.
"Smoky Mountain Clans, Volume 2", Donald B. Reagan, 1983, p 51.
"The Book of Ragan/Reagan", Donald B. Reagan, 1993, p 36.

Timothy married Elizabeth Lusk Abt 1817, , Sevier County, Tennessee. Elizabeth (daughter of Joseph Lusk and Sarah "Sally" Roberts) was born 1799, Rutherford County, North Carolina; died 1831, Sevier County, Tennessee; was buried Church in the Forks Baptist Cemetery, Sevier County, Tennessee. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Elizabeth was of English and Welsh origin, her being of the Roberts family. She
died while giving birth to Sara Reagan.
----------
Reference:
"Smoky Mountain Clans", Donald B. Reagan, 1978, p 6a, 8.
"Smoky Mountain Clans, Volume 2", Donald B. Reagan, 1983, p 51.
"The Book of Ragan/Reagan", Donald B. Reagan, 1993, p 36, 45.

Notes:

----------
Reference:
"The Book of Ragan/Reagan", Donald B. Reagan, 1993, p 48.

Edwin — Diana Moss. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

----------
Reference:
"The Book of Ragan/Reagan", Donald B. Reagan, 1993, p 48.

Other Events:

• AFN: BQLJ-VD

Notes:

The eldest son of Timothy and Elizabeth Reagan, Richard was born in Maryland or Virginia. He moved with his parents to Virginia, North Carolina, and then to Sevier County, Tennessee. Here he married circa 1796, Julia Ann Shults. Richard Reagan was one of the early settlers in the Emert's Cove, moving either with or very soon after Frederick Emert settled there circa 1800. They moved from there to White Oak Flats (now Gatlinburg) circa 1806.

It has been often stated that Richard's son, Daniel Wesley Reagan, was the first white child born in White Oak Flats but this seems to be an error. A granddaughter said that Daniel Wesley was about four years old when the family moved to the Mill Creek site in White Oak Flats. The land records indicate this to be correct. Daniel Wesley was born in 1802 in Emert's Cove area and this makes the date of the family settling in White Oaks about 1806.

Most of Richard's adult life was spent in Sevier County, Tennessee and since the early records of the county have been lost only a few official records for him have been found. There are four land grant records in the Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee. The first of these four land grants, dated 1808 reads:

"...being in the county of Sevier and District South of French Broad and Holston on the East fork of Little Pigeon.... corner to Frederick Emmett....running with meanders of said river.... Then with the land of John Roberts on said river bank."

Richard paid 12 1/2 cents per acre for this land and although by the date of this grant it is known he had moved to the Mill Creek site in White Oaks, he retained this land and made the final payment in 1819.

The second grant in 1813 is for ten acres, part of an entry that had been assigned to Robert Wear. This was "in the county of Sevier in the White Oak Flats." This land ran up the river, crossed the same, and joined other lands of Richard Reagan, which indicates earlier land entries that have been lost.

The third land grant in 1813 was for fifty acres "...in the county aforesaid in the White Oak Flats on Stoney Creek..." From courses and directions in this grant, Stoney Creek must have been the name used for Mill Creek in the earlier days. It is now called LeConte Creek. The first is a very appropriate name.

The fourth land grant in 1828 reads: "...containing twenty-five acres, lying in the County aforesaid, on Mill Creek in the White Oak Flats." This land joined the land of Isaac Ogle, and Daniel W. Reagan as well as Richard's own lands.

In 1837 Daniel Wesley Reagan, Richard's son, had a grant surveyed for the purpose of joining the lands surveyed in Richard Reagan's name. It is apparent from this record that several of Richard's early records are missing. This grant for 100 acres included a narrow strip of land on both sides of the river from Mill Creek to Baskins Creek. (The grant is in a very legible handwriting and it is spelled BASKINS) At a line running along the upper side of the cemetery from Baskins Creek to "the lane" (Reagan Drive now) his land joined Thomas J. Ogle. From the lane to a point near Mill Creek, he joined lands of William and Isaac Ogle. Their land included what was once called the Airport Field.

Here on this farm in the heart of Gatlinburg, Richard's grandson, John H. Reagan, of Texas fame, was born in 1818. In the letter to his children written in 1865 while he was imprisoned after the Civil War, he said that his grandfather, Richard Reagan was of "....medium stature and good appearance, a very religious man, and member of the Methodist Episcopal church from his youth until his death...." He also said that Richard "owned the neighborhood mill and blacksmith shop; was justice of the peace for his precinct...." Richard was the class leader of the Methodist Society which met in his home before there was a meeting house built. He also kept the post office for the community. His grandson might have been writing his epithet when he said of Richard, "He was an upright good man....a contented and happy man, whose faith was in God and whose hope was in Heaven.."

Family records say that Richard died of a fractured skull in 1829. A family story handed down through the generations tells that "Richard Reagan died when as he was taking his horses from pasture to the barn, a limb flew off a beech tree and struck him in the head." Another family story tells the same thing at the same time - "A few days before the accident, a bird flew into the porch where he was sitting, smoking his pipe, and lit on his head. He sprang from his chair, declaring it was his 'death sign' and was greatly disturbed. Whether or not it was a warning, he thought it was. The accident happened and he died a few days after that."

Most sources say that Richard and Julia Ann Reagan had three sons and four daughters - it is possible there were others. One is thought to have been a son, Aaron Reagan, and a daughter named Barbara who died as a young girl. The other two daughters are unknown.
----------
Reference:
"Smoky Mountain Clans", Donald B. Reagan, 1978, p 2a, 5-6.
"Smoky Mountain Clans, Volume 2", Donald B. Reagan, 1983, p 6, 51.
"The Book of Ragan/Reagan", Donald B. Reagan, 1993, p 31-44.

Richard married Julia Ann Shults 1796, Sevier County, Tennessee. Julia (daughter of Johan Martin "Martin" Shults and Juliana Stentz) was born 1775, Tryon County, North Carolina; died 23 Apr 1845, Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennessee; was buried White Oak Flats Cemetery, Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennessee. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• AFN: BQLJ-WK

Notes:

Julia Ann Shultz came with her mother, Juliana Shultz, and her brothers and sisters to Sevier County, Tennessee circa 1794/1795 from Sullivan County, Tennessee.

It is said that Julia Ann used a German Bible and hymn book and spoke German as easily as she did English.

Julia Ann was living with her son, Daniel Wesley, at the time of her death. It was thought that she had recovered from a spring cold but when she didn't arise as usual on the morning of April 23, 1845, the family found that she had passed away in her sleep.
----------
Reference:
"Smoky Mountain Clans", Donald B. Reagan, 1978, p 2a, 6.
"Smoky Mountain Clans, Volume 2", Donald B. Reagan, 1983, p 6, 51.
"The Book of Ragan/Reagan", Donald B. Reagan, 1993, p 407.

Notes:

----------
Reference:
"The Book of Ragan/Reagan", Donald B. Reagan, 1993, p 45.

Joseph — Sarah "Sally" Roberts. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

----------
Reference:
"The Book of Ragan/Reagan", Donald B. Reagan, 1993, p 45.