Tombstone of Adam Peck, Sr.: now Jefferson City, Tennessee. The township was Mossy Creek at his death.
Adam Peck, Sr.: Ensign, Revolutionary War. He served in the Virginia Militia., see Federal Archive Record. He was listed as in the Maryland Line in early records, apparently served briefly here. However, he is recorded in the Federal Archives, Washington DC as in the Virginia Militia as an oficer, an Ensign.
The Smoky Mountains, on the Virginia-Tennessee Border. This is the Blue Ridge Parkway. Vin stands here on our trip to research the Peck-Bewley-Dodd-Richburg-Sharkey-Looney-Fox-West lines through the Appalachian Mountains.l Stunning scenery!
The author published a book, The Peck Clan in America"which is a perfect bound full color, 189 page book on the Peck family from its European origins to today. This book goes back to the Peck/Beck family in Wurtemberg,Germany in 1516 and forward to today. They were founders of this nation, living here when the United States was founded and fighting for their independance from European rulers.
Write [email protected] for more information.
A second book was published, Adam The Younger and the War of 1812. It is about the young USA in its infancy, and the life story of Adam Peck the Jr. and his family. Adam joined the military at the start of the War of 1812, was imprisoned by the British in Canada, later was a Ranger (like special forces today) and was with General Adrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. Adam fought under General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans.
Write [email protected] for more information.
A third book, ELIZA, a Blue Blooded Southern Belle Who Became a Pioneer Woman, take the Gayle family of Elizabeth Gayle, called "Eliza" from her childhood in South Carolina, to Louisiana near the Mississippi River then to Mossy Creek, Tennessee and finally, to the Gold Mines of Dahlonega Georgia, and to her husband, Adam's death in 1867, just at the close of the civil war. Eliza's family goes back to English royalty, via the Gayle, Richbourg, Fox, West family to the neice of Queen Elizabeth I, Eliza's ancestor.
Write [email protected] for more information, or [email protected] (sm zero six three four). Books are perfect bound four color interior with many photos and original documents reproduced.
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[1][2] A Sketch of the American Peck Family
by Susan Moore Teller: [email protected]
Our American Peck family began with the immigration of Jacob Beck, a German Protestant, from Ebingen, Wurtemberg, Germany about 1740, that is "over seven years" earlier than the date of 1747, written in his own hand, when he become a naturalized Virginian on May 5, 1747.
Hans Jacob Beck of Ebingen, Wurtemberg, Germany, as Jacob Peck a Revolutionary Patriot*[3] in Virginia
Jacob Beck, born Hans Jacob Beck, called Jacob Peck in the colonies, was born the 7th of July, 1723 to Hans Jacob Beck and Anna Marie Hummel, his third wife, whom he married on the 8th of November, 1718. He listed as a Revolutionary War Patriot, for Patriotic Service. For a time, Jacob's file was closed, due to the documentation submitted in earlier years being unacceptable, but later reopened when a new descendants application met the document standards the DAR currently requires.
Jacob's family first appeared in Ebingen sometime early in the 16th century. His 3G Grandfather Hans Beck I, and his 3G Grandmother, Anna, came from "another town", and were members of the Evangelical Reformed Church in Ebingen, where the family records are still on file. This author has a facsimile copy of those bible records from Ebingen, Wurtemberg in her library, obtained while on a visit, at her request by her first cousin, Jane Peck Reis. Jane and her husband made a special trip from Tutligen, where they were vacationing, to Ebingen carrying a pedigree and family history sent by Susan Moore Teller with them. They were told such old records would need to have research done by the retired archivist, the father of the current archivists, and to go to the town restaurant where they would be welcomed and entertained until he could arrive. They did so. They were welcomed as returning citizens of the town, entertained with music and presented with a lovely meal. They returned to the the Evangelical Reformed Church (Protestant) and were given copies of all the records of their Beck/Peck family generations from the early 1500's until the time when Jacob left for Virginia about 1740. This complete record from the church clarified many old misconceptions. Jacob had no living brothers and was not the Jacob Peck who arrived earlier by the ship Lydia: the earliest record of him in this country is when he applies for naturalization as a Virginian in 1747, having lived there "over seven years." There were letters from kin in Ebingen to Virginia, and mention of his residence is in the church records in Ebingen. There is no question that this is our Jacob, who was styled Hans Jacob Beck in Wurtemburg and Jacob Peck in Virginia.
In those records, we find that Jacob's great-grandfather Martin Beck (in 1634) and Michael Beck (in 1635) died of the Black Plague. Jacob's name is noted at his baptism there, and another notation, made years later in a different hand, tells that he is living in Maryland. In America Jacob was called "Peck", said to be closer to the way the name was pronounced at that time in the area where Jacob lived in the heart of the Black Forest region, in the tiny mountain hamlet of Ebingen. It is possible it also may have been "anglisized" as well, to sound more English. This was commonly done by Germanic folk immigrating to the English Colony of Virginia in the early days.
Jacob and Lydia Borden, a "Colonial Dame" of English Descent
Jacob was in the American Colonies at seventeen. We find the first clear trace of him in Virginia, where he met and fell in love with the young and very lovely Lydia Borden, daughter of Benjamin Borden, Gentleman, a wealthy English Colonial. Lydia was a fourth generation American colonial, whose family descended from Richard and Joan Borden, English Quakers, who settled in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in May, 1638. They followed Roger Williams from Massachusetts to Rhode Island, and were among founders of that state.
The Borden's were from Kent, England. They were English back to the era of William the Conqueror, and came from France prior to 1066. Catholic long past the time when it was really wise in England, they became Quakers, and fled to the colonies to escape the fiery fate of most Quakers in England in that period.
Benjamin Borden's son-in-law, Jacob Peck, and grandson, Adam Peck I are listed in the DAR Patriot Index, and my own DAR National Number is listed under Jacob Peck,* Adam Peck, Josiah Gayle and Christopher Gayle, as well as Obadiah Moore, Henry Weidner/Whitner and Henry Summerour, my father’s ancestors. In the future I hope to file supplemental applications for Patrick Sharkey, Lester Morris, Lewis Brown and William Abernathy,-all on my maternal Peck family line. This writer and Cynthia Allison Teller, my husband's daughter, became members of the newly formed Ohlone Chapter NS DAR in Fremont, where our records were filed at the time. We are both organizing members of this bi-centennial chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, formed in September, 1990. Cynthia filed under patriot John Teller of New York. However, after retirement in Arizona, I joined, as a founding member, in 2002, the Asthon Sosi Chapter NS DAR of Peoria, AZ and became Regent in September 2008 through June 2012, at which point I became Vice Regent for 2012-2013.
A story passed down for generations of the Peck family tells a story of the strikingly handsome, very tall, Jacob and his Lydia., and Lydia's father, Benjamin Borden. It seems the young couple were in love, but this had escaped the attention of the old gentlemen. Jacob was chatting with old Mr. Borden one day, and told him of his love for a young woman, and that he feared her father would not approve the match. "Well, run off with her then," said the old gentlemen. "But is against the law for a man to run off with a girl!" responded young Jacob. "Well, there is no law that says a girl cannot run away with a man!" replied old Ben Borden. The next night, they say, Lydia took a strong, fast horse from her father's barn, mounted up, rode over to her Jacob's house and swung him up behind her, galloping away to be wed in secret. She was perhaps sixteen, and her Jacob about twenty. Ben Borden divided his vast estate equally between his many children, but it was in the care of his eldest son, who delayed in court endlessly to avoid relinquishing his father's fortune. Litigation went on for 106 years. Lydia (Borden) Peck received a "pittance" in her dotage, and both her signature and that of Jacob Peck are on the documents.
Lydia and Jacob's son Adam Peck[4]
weds Elizabeth Sharkey, an Ulster Scott
Lydia's descendants are said to have received land in Tennessee, which her son Adam Peck I settled when it was an Indian infested wilderness, .."so dangerous "we could not go for water without cover (by gun) for fear of Indians"..." It is located not far from Knoxville, Tennessee, and was originally named Mossy Creek. Later, it was called Jefferson City. Jacob and Lydia lived out their life in Virginia and Maryland. They owned over 2,000 acres, now covered, for the most part, by the TVA dam and Cherokee Lake.
Female descendants of Lydia (Borden) Peck are eligible to apply for membership in the Society of Colonial Dames. Descendants of Benjamin Borden are eligible to apply for membership in the Society of the Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims.
Patrick Sharkey, Elizabeth's father, came from Ulster Ireland, was Presbyterian, and was a Revolutionary Patriot in Virginia.
Adam Peck, Lydia's son, is celebrated in plays by high school students today in Jefferson City, Tennessee, as the founder of the area, along with his noted wife, Elizabeth (Sharkey) Peck, daughter of Patrick Sharkey. A nearby city is named Elizabeth in her honor. She is credited for teaching the slaves who accompanied them down the Holston River by flatboat from Virginia to Tennessee to read and write in an era when that was illegal. That tells us several things about Elizabeth uncommon for her era: she was strong minded, of a liberal bent, and educated. Her parents were Patrick and Anne Sharkey, Scotch/Irish Presbyterians who came originally from an area "near Dublin" which is in Leister Province, Ireland. This area was founded by Vikings. Elizabeth was born in Botetourt County, Virginia. Ann was born Ann Luney or Looney, believed to be the daughter of Robert Luney/Looney.
The Ulster Scott are Orange Irish, meaning Scot citizens, primarily Presbyterian, who came to Ireland after lands were taken from the Green Irish, who were Catholic, by the English who ruled them. Most "English Planters" were not English, except for a thin upper level of aristocrats were ruled Ireland at the time. Most settlers brought in were Scotsmen from just across the channel to Ireland. To this day, battles rage between these two peoples. While many Scotsmen , especially in the highlands, are Celtic, many of those from the lowlands are primarily Saxons who moved over from England as Scotland was invaded by the English.
Most of those migrating to Ireland as "English Planters" after Ireland's defeat by English were lowland Scots, a mixture of Saxon and highland Celts, but mostly Saxon. They were vehemently Protestant, as opposed to the Green Irish, who were vehemently Catholic. The Catholic Green Irish were removed to poor lands to the south of Ireland, and their lands given to people resettled there by the English. These "English Planters" lived at first in forts distinctly like those used in America later, and for the same reason - to protect themselves from the hostile natives.
They lived on "plantations" with 99 year leases. Land cannot be purchased in the British Isles, but is instead leased for 99 years from the nobility. When the leases were up, distant English landlords found it more profitable to use the land for grazing sheep, as wool had become a valuable commodity. They evicted the Irish Ulster-Scots, as they had come to be called, by raising rents up to ten times the former rate and then confiscating all building, houses, and improvements built over four generations of use. The Irish Ulster-Scots were bitter - accused of being more Irish than the Irish themselves by the English. They moved in the early 1700's in great numbers to the American Colonies which was a haven for Protestants from all over the world, whether French, German, or Scot. Catholic and Jewish immigrants were few and tended to become assimilated into population, becoming Protestant within a generation or two as a result of marrying local colonials, and settling into Protestant communities.
The Ulster-Scot , or Scotch-Irish as they were called in America, carried a deep seated distrust of English rule for generations. They were the first to ride to the aid of George Washington, carrying their firearms, and riding their own horses, to serve without pay for 90 days or more while their Scottish brothers and English cousins pondered the right and wrong of the revolution. Historians claim the revolution could not have been won without the early and consistent aid of the Scotch Irish to the cause.
Few Irish Catholic came to the American Colonies. Most Irish migration occurred after 1840, during the Irish famine, and well after the American revolution. There were exceptions. 20,000 Irishmen who fought at Drogheda were captured and transported as slaves, in the same type of ship used for the unfortunate Africans taken from the Gold Coast, to Virginia to work the plantations. They proved unprofitable slaves because they spoke English in addition to their native Celtic language in most cases, looked like other colonists, and could slink off to into the forests and disappear without a trace. Another 20,000 from the same battle were impressed into foreign service in various armies. They often eventually migrated to America to seek a new life. Many were named Moore, as this was the ruling clan which led the battle at Drogheda. They say none suffered more at the hands of the English than the Moores in Ireland. Most Irishmen in the colonies married colonials and became Protestant as well as American Colonials. [5]
Adam and Moses Looney fought alongside Patrick Sharkey in the revolutionary cause, and evidence points to their being Anne's brothers, but no conclusive proof can be found.
Elizabeth & Adam become Methodists under the influence of the noted Rev. Asbury
A bi-centennial history of Mossy Creek/Jefferson City has an article about Adam and Elizabeth Sharkey Peck, who became Methodists shortly prior to their removal to Tennessee, under the influence of the famous evangelist, the Rev. Asbury, thus bringing religion with them in the earliest days of Mossy Creek's history. Many of their descendants live in that area to this day, including Lydia Peck, an elderly educator who lives on Peck Street in an attractive brick house. She is listed as a member of the Mossy Creek DAR Chapter in the Jefferson City Bi-Centennial History. The Mossy Creek Chapter NS DAR disbanded about 1988.
Adam I and Elizabeth's son, (and our direct ancestor) Adam Peck II was born on the 14th of May, 1791 in Mossy Creek. He and his brothers, Patrick and Moses Looney Peck fought together in the War of 1812 under General Andrew Jackson.
There is a tale of Patrick Peck during his term in the War of 1812, which fills in a picture of the man. Said to be more than 6 ft. 6 , he was chosen as the "bully" of his unit to settle the friction between the lanky, buckskin clad men from Tennessee and the Louisiana dandies from New Orleans.
A circle was drawn, and the men were to fight in hand to hand combat, and the winner would settle which outfit was best. Patrick came roaring up, six foot six inches of brawny muscle, stripped to the waist and rubbed with grease, screaming like panther and popping together both fists. The fellow from New Orleans took one look and said, "He looks more like a man eater than a man fighter to me!" and refused to enter the ring, forfeiting the fight.
Adam Peck and the Revolutionary War
Adam Peck served in the Revolutionary War in the Virginia Militia, and was appointed Ensign in Captain Patrick Lockhart's Company. Lockhart’s company was at the Battle of Kings Mountain, and Adam Peck is listed as having served there in early books. Information submitted by Susan G. Stiner and Mary Alice Peck Miller, New Market, TN, 37829. Adam Peck is listed in the Memorial Virtual Cemetery of Kings Mountains Veterans at Find-A-Grave.
"The original deed still on file at Dandridge Courthouse gave Ensign Adam Peck 5,000 acres. (In fact, one of the borders was listed as the Mississippi River).
Adam Peck was a member of the First Tennessee Assembly and a drafter of the State Constitution. He is buried in Old Methodist Cemetery with his wife Elizabeth. They are surrounded by a number of other Pecks including Brigadier General William R. Peck, CSA. An inscription of Adam Peck's tomb indicates that he and his wife came to Tennessee from Virginia in 1788. A bronze plaque/marker has been placed as well honoring Adam Peck’s service in the War for Independence by the Daughters of the Revolution. It states he served in the Maryland Militia, for which this author has found only one confusing documentation: one Regiment was listed as both representing both Maryland and Virginia. This may be the source of that statement. However, he is listed in the Federal Archives as serving under Captain Patrick Lockhart, Virginia Militia, and is so listed in the NS DAR records. The documents that this author found state he was in the Virginia Militia in the sources below:
a) VIRGINIA MILITIA IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
MCALLISTER PUBLISHING Co., Hot Springs, Virginia
PART III
Virginia's Share in the Military Movements of the Revolution
Section 256 Botetourt
Peck, Adam, En., A. Jan. 12, 1781 under P. Lockhart
b) In the Federal Archives, see pension for James Patrick, who at the time of his pension application had removed to Kentucky, who names service under "Captain". Adam, Peck during his service in the revolutionary war where he joined from Botetourt County, Virginia. . He submits detailed information on battles under the leadership of Adam Peck. Men in the militia often called officers “Cap’n” even if the title was Ensign or Lt. or something else. James Patrick describes extensive soirees into the wilderness to combat Cherokee allies of the British. In order to subdue the “rebels” in the American colonies, British leaders encouraged local Indian Nation Allies to war against the Colonial American rebel pioneer settlers. They supplied rifles, gun powder and paid $50 a scalp, whether taken from man, woman or child to the Cherokee, who fell upon isolated, unsuspecting pioneer farmsteads and slaughtered the families there. They scalped and slayed adult men, women and small children, sometimes kidnapping young boys and girls old enough to march as slaves.[2] In certain cases, captives were later adopted into the Cherokee Nation. Those who resisted, or could not keep up with the march back to the home village were scalped and slain. This caused a tremendous uproar in the frontier settlements, and armies were raised to quell the Cherokee and end the attacks. Gen. Wm. Christian, who led the Cherokee Expedition to end this problem was called Gen. Christy by his men.
In the records held in the Federal Archives. Adam is Peck mentioned as officer in Revolutionary War, serving in General Christies (William Christian) Cherokee Expedition of 1776. Peck is also named one of officers James Patrick served, found in James Patrick pension file in Floyd County, Kentucky, quoted below: .
The National Archives
Publication Number: M804
Publication Title: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files
Publisher: NARA
National Archives Catalog ID: 300022
c) DAR Patriot Index: Peck, Adam Spouse: [1] Eliza Gayle. Service: Virginia Rank: Ensign. Birth: 1753 Frederick, Maryland. Death: 13 Feb 1817 Mossy Creek, Jefferson Co. Tennessee. Service Description: 1) Botetourt Co. Militia, Capt. P Lockhart. Buried: Westview Cemetery (Old Section), Westview St. & Hwy 11, Jefferson City, Jefferson, Tenn.
[1] Information submitted by Susan G. Stiner and Mary Alice Peck Miller, New Market, TN, 37829:
"The original deed still on file at Dandridge Courthouse gave Ensign Adam Peck 5,000 acres. (In fact, one of the borders was listed as the Mississippi River). Adam Peck was one of eight children born to Jacob Von Beck: [is actually Hans Jakob Beck -] and Lydia Borden. [smt:I have bible records from the Evangelical Reform Church in Ebingen, Wurtemberg, stating his name was Hans Jakob Beck – the old records in Tennessee have the name in error. “Von” means Sir, and he did not have that title. He was not the man who came over on the Lydia as some older records indicate, but was younger. His naturalization papers for Virginia are on file, and church records in Ebingen, Wurtemberg record letters to this man to America. He is clearly the same man.]
Two of Adam I & Elizabeth (Sharkey)Peck's sons marry Eliza Gayle of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
Patrick had moved to Louisiana before the War of 1812, where he lived with his young wife, Elizabeth "Eliza" (Gayle) Peck, the daughter of plantation owner Christopher Gayle, from Stateberg, not far from Columbia, South Carolina, near the Gayle plantation.
Josiah Gayle and three of his sons, including our ancestor, Christopher, father of Eliza were Revolutionary Patriots in South Carolina and are listed in the NS DAR Patriot Index.
Josiah Gayle, Elizabeth’s grandfather, signed in 1775, “Revolutionary Papers for the Public Defence..of South Carolina” pledging his life, fortune and sacred honor until “hostilities between Britain and American cease”. These papers were included in Susan’s application to the NS DAR for Josiah Gayle, and are held in the Federal Archives in Washington, D.C. Three Josiah’s sons,including our own ancestor Christopher Gayle, also Josiah’s sons Caleb and Josiah Gayle II, were in the South Carolina Militia. Josiah II was captured by the British, jailed in Camden, SC, and drug out of jail by a Tory mob and hung on the spot. Our Christopher survived, and moved to West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, where he was living during the War of 1812.
Christopher Gayle was an English Colonial from South Carolina; his wife, Unity Richbourg, half French Huguenot and half English Cavalier through her mother, Unity Fox. The Fox family leads back to John West and George Percy, and were "Olde Planters" in Jamestown at it's beginning. Unity’s French blood was from the Rev. Claudius Richbourg, who was one of the founders of the French Huguenot settlement, Mannikin Town, in Virginia They had moved to Craven County, South Carolina, in the high Santee. The Gayles had removed from Virginia to South Carolina to Craven County, also.
South Carolinians had been encouraged by the Spanish to migrate, along with their skilled (black) labor force to the part of Louisiana that did not go along with the Louisiana Purchase, near St. Francisville, in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. The Spanish may have lived to regret it, since the English Planters there fomented a revolution and became part of the United States of America. Andrew Jackson was a frequent visitor in that region. It is lush, and beautiful, the place where Audubon painted many of his famous masterpieces of birds.
In Saint Francisville, I held in my hand the original documents recording the wills of Patrick Peck, and his father-in-law Christopher Gayle. Copies and photos of these documents were included in this writer’s application for Christopher Gayle to the NS DAR, under National Number 708639.
Patrick Peck, Moses Looney Peck, and Adam Peck II all served under General Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812, fighting in the Battle of New Orleans. There Patrick died. Adam later married his widow, Eliza, who was left with three toddlers, and took her from her home in Louisiana, back to Mossy Creek, where he ran a mill owned by his father, Adam Peck I. He was also a surveyor, like his grandfather, Ben Borden. Moses Looney Peck returned to Mossy Creek, and lived his entire life there, leaving many descendants who live in that region today.
Our ancestor, Adam Peck, wrote a letter dated 18 April 1775 to Secretary of War William Eustis thanking him for the honor of being appointed to the office of Ensign. His letter read:
USA Federal Archives, Washington, DC
Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General 1805-1821
Folder: Adam Peck
Page 1)
Tennessee
Dandridge, Apr 8, 1812
Page 2)
The Honorable W. Eustis, Secretary of War
Sir,
I was favored with the notification of my appointment for Ensign of Infantry a few days ago. I will accept with pleasure the office and will wait at this place for your future orders.
I serve my country with pleasure - and if I fail when called it will not be for the want of integrity and good will - for the above assurance of these I hold myself responsible.
With Respect
Adam Peck Jr.
…………………………………………………………………
Adam Peck Jr. signs with an orante and beautiful signature, about 5 inches wide by 1 inch high, with flourishes and spirals below his name.
The letter was addressed to:
Secretary of War Wm (…William…) Eustis
The office of Ensign was the initial officer appointment. in the Infantry, for the Virginia Infantry in Adam’s case, until 1862, when it was reserved for the USA Navy exclusively, and another title issued in the USA Army for new entry level officers.
This man is termed Adam Peck II by this writer by request of the DAR, who reserves the terms Sr. and Jr. for fathers and sons who both served in the Revolutionary War, like Josiah Gayle Sr. and Josiah Gayle Jr. For that reason this writer often refers to him as Adam Peck II, although he signed his name Adam Peck Jr.
Adam and Eliza "removed" to Dahlonega, Georgia to search for gold-and about 25 years later were to endure the "War of the Rebellion” 50 miles from Atlanta. At the wars close, they were greatly reduced in financial circumstances, and had suffered the loss of several children.
In early middle age, Adam Peck II, his wife Eliza, and their children, the three fathered by Patrick, and their own, including our own GG Grandfather, James Henry Peck (at about four years of age) moved to Georgia, settling in Dahlonega as word of the nation's first gold strike reached them. The name of Adam Peck is well known there today, as far away as Atlanta, as a founder of the region. Adam worked there as a surveyor for the county for 20 years, and was a successful goldminer on a modest scale. (See book published Nov. 2018, article in Dahlonega Nugget on Adam Peck's gold mining activities which were successfu. Earlier family stories implied he was not. Apparently he kept the amount of gold he mined to himself. Later, some of that gold was used to fund his family's wagon trip "west" after his death.
In Dahlonega, a Cherokee word for "leaves of gold", Adam Peck (II) and Eliza were caught up in the Civil War. Dahlonega, high in the north Georgia mountains, looks directly down on the city of Atlanta, only fifty miles away. In May of 1985 I traveled to Dahlonega. There I was sent to the local authority on history, a Mrs. Kidd, a teacher in the local high school, by clerks in the local historical museum.
She was, it turned out, Ruth (Peck) Kidd, and a third cousin, also a descendent of Adam and Eliza via their son Jacob Y. Peck and his wife Jane (Abercrombie) Peck. Jacob became terribly ill during the battle of Lookout Mountain, and Jane received word he was in a hospital in Atlanta. She and a kinsman went 50 miles by wagon, in those terrible and dangerous times, to get him and bring him home to nurse him to health, but he was already dead and buried in Atlanta when she got there. She raised their children alone and never remarried.
A daughter of Adam and Eliza, Catherine Peck, married Jane's cousin, John Abercrombie, Jr. They moved to Lake County, Florida. There, John joined the CSA, and died in battle. Catherine died shortly after, in 1864, of cholera. The Peck's went after the couple's small children, and raised them in Dahlonega, where Abercrombie’s related to our family live today.
Eliza's son by Adam II, James Henry Peck, weds Mary Elizabeth Dodd and serves in the Confederate Army of Georgia four years
Our Great-grandfather, James Henry Peck, husband of Mary Elizabeth (Dodd) Peck, also served in the Georgia CSA, fighting all through four years. He was hospitalized for a long time, and also was AWOL for a time, when he returned home at his wife's request to see his ill young son, James Harry Peck, who died. He asked for permission to leave, they say, which was denied. He then went AWOL, and later served 30 days in the guardhouse for his offense, before returning to duty to fight on to the end.
Ruth introduced me to a local author and historian, Jimmy E. Anderson, publisher of the North Georgia Journal. Jimmy said he was "a relative of a relative". He was a descendant of the Sinyards, who married into the Peck line via the marriage of Martha Sinyard to Adam and Eliza's son, John Gayle Peck, who also served in the CSA all through the war.
"Jimmy, what were the Peck's really like?" I asked one morning over a McDonald's breakfast. It was a modern, very pleasant branch of the familiar McDonald’s franchise, but the location was a far from typical It was set like a jewel in the cleft of a mountain road high in the Appalachian mountains above Atlanta. "Well, " Jimmy replied, "they were said to be very tall and very good looking. They came here with more money than most, and were better educated than most that passed through these hills. Old Adam died shortly after the civil war ended, and some of his children went west. They say Jim Peck and his family went up the Carolinas, where they had kinfolk, and then on west after that. None of the local folks had much after the war. Times were hard. The only folks with money were the newcomers from the north [6], who bought land and settled here for a time."
The Peck's Head West after the Civil War
Our Peck's did go west, after going to Kentucky and North Carolina. They went to Kentucky to see Martha Jane (Peck) Patterson, Jim's sister, the wife of Benjamin Patterson. In North Carolina, they visited Jim and Mary's grown daughters, Martha Catherine (Peck) Clounts, wife of John Clounts; and Elizabeth (Peck) Reid, wife of Henderson Reid. Was Jim Peck, a surveyor by trade was trying to get to California's gold fields. Jim married before the civil war in Georgia, to Mary Elizabeth Dodd on the 30th of October, 1853. Adam II died in 1866, and Eliza went to live with Jim and Mary (Dodd) Peck. Several years later, early in the 1870's, Jim traveled with is wife, children and mother, Eliza (Gayle) Peck to Kentucky, to his sister Mattie (Peck) Patterson in Russell Springs, Russell County, Kentucky. There Eliza died on the 23 of July, 1874.
Jim and Mary headed for North Carolina, where grown, married daughters lived. Their son, Patrick Henry Peck, was born in on the first day of November, 1874 in North Carolina, probably in Cherokee County. From there they went to Pope County, Arkansas.
Our great-grandfather Adam Sharkey Peck lived in Arkansas for over a decade, marrying at twenty the seventeen year old Ledora Lee Bewley, daughter of the Rev. Robert Sanders Bewley and his third wife, Elizabeth Jane (Davis) Bewley, the widow of his nephew Mahlon Bewley.
The Bewley's were founders of the region. Many are buried today in the old cemeteries in the hills above Russellville, Arkansas. David Bewley, and his kinswoman, Louise (Bewley) Almond took me on an unforgettable tour of the region, and there we climbed a tall mountain deep in the Ozarks to view the grave of Rev. Mahlon Bewley, born in 1776 in Virginia. The native stone crypt was exactly like the one I had seen in Georgia near Peck's Chapel, said to cover the body of Adam Peck I.
Jim and Mary Peck, and many of the Peck Clan, head further west by wagon train- California Bound!
Jim and Mary (Dodd) Peck, and Adam and Dora (Bewley) Peck and their young children, including their oldest son, Jim (James Madison Peck) struck out on a wagon train headed for California in 1890-91. They stopped in Southwest Indian Territory, later Stephens County, Oklahoma, and settled there.
Southwest Indian Territory
1888 to 1907
My mother was born in an adventurous time of great change in society, in the last month of 1907, the same year and shortly after her native Oklahoma became one of these United States.
She was born to a pioneer family who were among the founders of the region of her birth. Her family's journey when her father was eight years old on a wagon train bound westward ended in Indian Territory in 1890 for the Pecks, who decided not to continue on further.
Tillman H. Peck’s obit states he came to Indian Territory at the age of six months, in other words, in June of 1890. This was the best source for their arrival in what is now Stephens County, Oklahoma until an article by Adam Sharkey Peck was discovered.
It reads:
I Remember Back When
By A.S.Peck
We arrived at Tucker September 3, 1891 and moved into a dugout. You couldn't put a bed in it, so we cut some poles, made them into walls, and made beds. On January 1, 1892, I bought a claim, it had a double log cabin on it, and a fire place. It looked like a mansion to us. In1893 the Rock Island came through. I sold my claim and bought property in Duncan. Old timers then were Robert March, Frank Fuqua and R. J.Allen, all good friends of mine. We had what we called a "Homeseekersunion" and got a lot of fun out of it.
In 1902 I bought several hundred acres of land in Velma and dealt in cattle with John O'Neal, Oscar White, and several others. We would drive the cattle into Duncan and ship them to Kansas City. The women would usually go ahead in the wagon and take dinner to the boys driving the cattle. We would usually get about half way by noon. The cattle sure looked rough by the time we got them to Kansas City. John O'Neal built the first brick house in Duncan. I sold and bought land west of Comanche. I kept books for the Harley Gin, and later owned and operated a cotton yard, then farmed my land west of Comanche and was known as "Watermelon Peck"
Now, at the age of 91, I am retired and living with my daughter and son-in-law , Mr. and Mrs. E.L. Hokit.
(This is copied from a newspaper article - Ron Peck has a copy of the article as it appeared in the newspaper)
In Russellville, Arkansas, I found Bewley descendants who told me only two wagon trains ever left there headed for California. If and when this data is located, and my friend Louise (Bewley) Almond has seen it in print, the exact date they departed will be known. However, the article above states when they arrived: it was September 3, 1891. In all likelihood, they would have left in the spring or summer of 1891.
My mother was born about sixteen years later, not many miles from the place that wagon train stopped, in the new state of Oklahoma. Her sister was born 14 months earlier in Southwest Indian Territory.
Stephens County, Oklahoma
1907 to 1942
My grandparents gave me the grateful memory of their tales of days gone by to an enchanted little girl. These colored my childhood vividly. Some stories were about travel from the south to the new lands further west. There were tales of the Civil War, and its brave soldiers; stories of our family traveling ever westward by wagon train and the hardships and challenges of the pioneer days.
I lived in an era that enabled me to visit my maternal grandparents on a farm still so remote it could not be reached by electricity, and watched my grandparents continue life much as it had generations before.
Food was cooked on a huge wood range, from "scratch" recipes so different from those I was ever to use they seem black magic yet.
Clothes were ironed with metal irons heated on the stove, with removable wood handles; soap made from lye and fat and other secret ingredients boiled, as were clothes on wash day, in an iron vat over leaping flames in the yard, cows milked daily to produce milk, butter, cream; cattle, hogs, chickens and turkeys kept to supply meat and eggs.
There was a "little garden" which my grandmother, Mattie, maintained in her "spare time" larger than the entire grounds of many houses of today. Mattie was the daughter of Tennessee born Alec Sawyer, (1846-1933). He was, according to his granddaughter Minnie Bee, "German Dutch, some Scotch, English-and I believe he said Irish, too". Alec lived out his last years with Minnie Bee's family. His Eliza has gone on before him years earlier.
Southern Fried Chicken dinners, the platters heaped with golden brown chicken, creamed corn sliced from fresh ears and made with thick, fresh cream and country butter, long green beans still hanging on the vine that dawn, huge golden biscuits moments before still in the oven, spread with wild plum jam from plums put up each spring, began hours before with an instruction to me, as a child of eight or less to "run catch a chicken and wring it's neck, so I can cook it for dinner" from my grandmother.
Then I was told to go pick fresh corn, tomatoes, green beans and boysenberries from the garden. This would be followed by a trip to the cellar, an earthen cavern that made a small artificial hill of the rust red earth not far from the house, with a cellar-like door down musty wooden steps, hung with spider webs, where Grandma kept a prudent five year supply of stored food in rows of quart jars full of winter food and summer delicacies like pickles, relish, jams and so forth.
I still have vivid dreams in which I am again a child, on a long summer visit with my Grandma and Grandpa Peck, and wake with the taste of fresh boysenberries, incredibly sweet from the hot summer sun, picked less than three hours before, covered with "clotted cream", cream skimmed from the first rising so thick it was like a soft butter in consistency, rich and delicious beyond anything in imagination available today, in my mouth; and the sound of my Grandmother's soft Tennessee-to-Texas drawl in my ear.
I ran along, skipping to keep up, after Grandpa Peck. He was born James Madison Peck in a community near Russellville, Arkansas, in 1882. Grandpa would let me go along on his rounds on his farm, half walking, half running to keep up, or sometimes atop an old plow horse so I would not become exhausted during the long day's rounds. I would watch him pick off a long eared rabbit, imprudently nibbling young corn plants in neat acre long rows, a block away with deadly aim; always directly through the head with one shot only. I saw wolf tracks in the yard, glimpsed the magnificent beast loping in the woods far down the road; hid motionless for hours, on a tiny "island" in a deep ravine and watched the vividly colored birds build nests in the spring and later feed their young, the huge bears atop the tiny fragile bodies poking up from intricate, beautifully fashioned nests made of grasses, feathers and woven with a skill that seemed incredible in a bird to a small child.
I went on fishing trips to catch catfish; delicious when prepared by the skilled hand of Grandma. I watched the currents of the Beaver River eddy around logs, and water moccasins make figure eights in the water swimming swiftly, then lurk still as a stick in the shallows near the bank for their prey.
Stories of my forefathers life and times in response to the endless questions of a curious and fascinated little girl filled my days, and went on into the night, around the table after "supper" which is what we called the evening meal then, by the soft flame of the glass chimneys lamp elegantly patterned in etched glass around the base, in the years before I was yet nine.
Grandpa Peck's family had migrated further west when he was nine, old enough to ride horseback alongside the wagons beside his father. The Pecks began the long journey bound for California, on a wagon train leaving from Russellville, Arkansas, not far from their home in the mountains to the north of the Arkansas River, in Pope County where he had been had been born. They forded the Arkansas River at flood, young Jim plunging in with his horse, bravely leading with the men at the head of the wagon train. His grandmother, fearful he would certainly drown, screamed again and again across the raging waters that he must turn back, and not cross on horseback. He finally heard her on the opposite shore and, obedient grandson that he was, plunged in once more without hesitation, re-fording the wide, turbulent river to see what it was his grandmother wanted to tell him!
Jim Peck, (1882-1969) the youth who at barely nine forded the raging, flooded Arkansas River, was often in later years to talk of the journey. His family camped over a week, the men earnestly discussing at length the perils of the future journey with members of a wagon train returning eastward, who had given up the trek west as too hazardous, far too high in risk, far more dangerous than they had thought when starting out.
The Pecks and several other families, after forty-two days of very difficult travel stopped for two generations to come in Southwest Indian Territory, and founded the little community of Tucker, and later nearby Comanche, in 1891. Oklahoma became a state in 1907, sixteen years later. Jim Peck rode the Cimmaron Trail to Texas many times to market cattle his family raised.
In the "old cemetery", now Fair Lawn, near Comanche, Oklahoma, the city which Adam Sharkey Peck, my great-grandfather (1858-1952) helped found after settling in Indian Territory, the Pecks who made that journey are buried.
Another Jim Peck lies there, James Henry Peck, (1830-1897). This Jim Peck was a confederate soldier in Georgia Regiment C during the Civil war. In the year of his birth, 1830, fifty-five years after the American Revolution in which several of his forefathers fought, he was already the eighth generation pioneer to be born on American soil. He was the Tennessee born and Georgia bred son of a millwright-gold miner-surveyor father, Adam Peck II. (1791-1866).
Jim (H.) Peck's father Adam Peck II, carried the blood of German Protestants from the mountains of the Black Forest, and that of English Quakers from Kent in southeastern England, and of Ulster Scots who fled Ireland in his veins.
Jim (H.) Peck's mother Eliza was born Elizabeth Gayle, the daughter of plantation owner Christopher Gayle. He and his father, Josiah Gayle, along with some neighbors, founded the Holy Cross Episcopalian Church in Stateberg, South Carolina, (near Columbia) in 1788. It stands today, and is a national historical monument. Josiah Gayle went from Virginia to the High Santee in South Carolina, and there he signed, in 1775 "The Revolutionary Papers for Public Defence" - in the region of South Carolina, "pledging his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor until the hostilities between Britain and America cease." When I filed an application with the NS DAR on Josiah Gayle, I submitted a copy of the original papers with the other required documents. It was approved in 2012. The Episcopal Chapel they founded was said to be located "on the edge of the Gayle Plantation" marking the exact place Eliza was born. Eliza was a true southern belle born to comfort in South Carolina, whose family "removed" to a Louisiana Plantation near the Mississippi River, in St. Francisville, West Feliciana Parish. Eliza's history included an early marriage to her husband Adam's brother Patrick, who was died in the War of 1812, fighting alongside his brothers Adam and Moses under General Andrew Jackson, until he contracted a fatal malady and dying, begged his brothers to promise to always take care of his young wife and three toddlers. Adam later said the only way he could figure out how to take care of her "forever" was to marry her, so he did! The Peck brothers of that era were said to be giants, topping six feet by inches.
Eliza's family heritage carried a documented descent from the West family, Virginian English Cavaliers dating back through English Kings and French Kings to Charlemagne; and of the Richbourgs, noble French Huguenots who fled their home province of Berri, southwest of Paris to escape the death of those who were followers of John Calvin in the carnage of the reformation in France to establish Colonial Mannikin Town, and then settled finally in South Carolina; and of Protestant Baptist Scotch, so long Virginia born we are left with only the word "Scotch" to trace the path they trod to Colonial America from the British Isles.
Mary Elizabeth (Dodd) Peck, (1832-l9OO) lies beside her husband, Jim (1830-1897). The small, slight framed, brown haired Mary was the poverty stricken Georgia born child of a widowed mother, Martha "Patsy" (Barnes) Dodd, from North Carolina. Her grandmother, a Mrs. Nancy Jones, whose husbands first name and her own maiden name are lost in the mists of time, was a Georgia mid-wife born in South Carolina. Mary's soldier father, Martin Dodd (1814-1849), was lost during the Indian Wars in Georgia, and her grandfather had been lost the generation before in the War of 1812. She was to lose two brothers in the civil war and see another disabled for life, but her husband, James, came home without harm.
Mary' s son, Adam Sharkey, is nearby, in the old cemetery in Comanche. Adam Sharkey Peck (1858-1952) was born in Georgia, went with his family at fifteen to Arkansas, and moved on westward in his prime, carrying the name of two revolutionary war veterans in every signature.
One was Adam's great-grandfather, the half German, half English Adam Peck (1753-1817); the other, his great-great grandfather, Patrick Sharkey, the Ulster Scot born in Tyrone County, in northern Ireland, who migrated to Virginia in the American Colonies about 1740. Both of these men were veterans of the Revolutionary War, and are shown in the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Patriot Index.
Adam Sharkey Peck's descent from Lydia (Borden) Peck, wife of Adam (1753-1817) established his female descendants as eligible to apply for membership to the Society of Colonial Dames. Lydia's father was the wealthy English Colonial Benjamin Borden, whose land holdings were called "Borden's Great Tract". The Borden heritage includes many illustrious Americans, among them a collateral relationship to President Grover Cleveland, the common ancestor to both, Benjamin Borden.
Adam Sharkey Peck's wife is in the same cemetery next to Adam. "Dora" or sometimes "Ledory"-Ledora Lee (Bewley) Peck-(1863-1931) was the tiny, strong willed descendent of a long line of pioneer abolitionist Methodist Ministers, whose Quaker forefathers had left Kent, England to escape religious persecution two generations before the American Revolution-already half German, one quarter English and one quarter English and Welsh hopelessly intertwined before they touched the shores of Colonial America- to settle in New York.
In one generation they went from New York to Virginia, and were ever afterward following a southern route westward; from Quakers they became Methodists, and reared generations of sons, who became, in groups of as many as five brothers, Methodist Ministers. Our Bewley forefathers traveled through the wilds of Tennessee to Arkansas bringing the word of God to much of what is now the southeastern part of our nation, and was then the western frontier. They crisscrossed from state to state, founding churches and schools, settling the land, raising huge families and battling Indians all along the way.
Six generations by the time of Dora Bewley's birth on American soil added Reed, Davis, Phillips, Morrey, Kimble, Benefield, Henderson, Waldrop and Trevillian lines to Bewley, and this gave Dora a heritage thoroughly "American." It included English, Welsh, French descents, and a line of Ulster Scots from North Ireland which included Dora's Revolutionary War veteran ancestor Samuel Henderson (1737- 1821).
Samuel Henderson's kin Richard Henderson (1735-1785), a back-country judge in Colonial South Carolina, tried to "made off with half of Kentucky" in a land speculation scheme, was chief promoter of the Transylvania company and friend of Daniel Boone.
Another of Dora (Bewley) Peck's kin, one of the few male Bewley's not to become a Methodist Minister, was Jacob Bewley, brother to our direct ancestor Rev. Mahlon Bewley (1776-1831). Jacob was a prominent politician and author in Tennessee, the sole brother of six to choose politics rather than religion, and a veteran of the War of 1812.
My mother's father, James Madison Peck, rests in that Comanche, Oklahoma cemetery as well, where he lived from nine years of age to the end of his life; and beside him is his wife; Martha Jane (Sawyer) Peck, daughter of a Confederate soldier from Tennessee who fought in every battle from Shiloh through Lookout Mountain and more before he had seen twenty summers.
~~The End~~
Addendum:
USA Federal Archives, Washington, DC
Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General 1805-1821
Folder Transcription: Adam Peck
Page 1)
Tennessee
Dandridge, Apr 8, 1812
Page 2)
…………………………………………………………………
The Honorable W. Eustis, Secretary of War
Sir,
I was favored with the notification of my appointment for Ensign of Infantry a few days ago. I will accept with pleasure the office and will wait at this place for your future orders.
I serve my country with pleasure - and if I fail when called it will not be for the want of integrity and good will - for the above assurance of these I hold myself responsible.
With Respect
Adam Peck Jr.
Adam Peck Jr. signs with an orante and beautiful signature, about 5 inches wide by 1 inch igh, with flourishes and spirals below is name.
......................................................
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About his father Adam Peck Sr. in the Revolutionary War
Adam Peck Sr., at Battle of Kings Mountain in Revolutionary War. Evidence of Adam Peck Sr. fighting under William Campbell at the Battle of the Kings Mountain in research done by 4th great granddaughter Susan Moore Teller. I have recently downloaded a very old book, The Men of Kings Mountain, by White and found this information:
Kings Mountain Men by White:
Personal Sketches of Soldiers
page 202:
Looney: for record of John, Robert and Major David, see DAR Lineage Book 4. David was wounded in battle. Moses, a Lieutenant, is listed by Summers. Absolom, son of Major David, married Nancy Long and settled in Knox County, Tennessee. (Ann Looney married Patrick Sharkey, Rev. Patriot of VA, whose daughter, Ann Sharkey married Adam Peck I. Adam and Ann lived in Botetourt Co. VA and in Mossy Creek (now Jefferson City) Tennessee.
page 217:
Peck: Adam came from Botetourt and was one of the first pioneers on Mossy Creek (...now Jefferson City, Jefferson County, Tennessee north of Knoxville…)
He served under (...William...) Campbell and was pensioned in Jefferson (...County...)
*Note from smt: author must mean "retired" as there is no record of pension of Adam Peck, and he was not indigent, necessary to qualify for a govt. pension
Of his (i.e. Adam Peck's) 12 children, Jacob, the eldest became a lawyer and settled in Missouri. M. L. (...Moses Looney...) who remained on the homestead (...and was left the Mill run by Moses and Adam Jr. in Adam Sr. will..) was a pensioner (…again, retired from military service…) of the War of 1812. He (...Moses Looney Peck...) married Susan daughter of a man prominent in the early history of Tennessee. The homestead is yet in the family.
Most of the Peck land, over 2000 acres at one time, is now under water in the huge Cherokee Lake, formed to power the TVA dam.
......................................
[1] Contact Susan Moore Teller at [email protected] in regard to DAR application for prospective members. I will be happy to sponsor any member descending from the James Madison Peck family line.
[2] A granddaughter of Jewel Peck Mitchell, the daughter of James Madison Peck and his wife, Martha Jane (Sawyer)Peck) applied in the spring of 2008, with this writer doing the research for the application, and signing her application papers for submission in 2007. Upon submission, she and was asked to reapply under Jacob Peck’s son Adam, an Ensign in the Virginia Militia in good standing with sound proofs on file with the NS DAR, as the line down Jacob Peck was closed to new applications, due to need for additonal proofs of patriotic service. She did so, and was immediately accepted by the NS DAR and issued National #862673. The book, Kegley's Frontiers, citing his patriotic service was no longer accepted: court documents from the time are now required, as a rule, for each patriot upon application by prospective members. Later, another descendant coming down a daughter of Jacob Peck filed a court record documenting his service, and he was re-established as a pariot via this record, see later citation below.
[3]Jacob Peck’s documentation with the Daughters of the American Revolution was closed to new applications by the professional genealogists employed by the NS DAR in 2007 as being inadequate to prove his service, despite many, many years of accepting applicants in his name as a patriot. Future applicants to the DAR under Jacob were advised they would need additional proofs of service, but prior applicants remain in good standing. This was accomplished by another descendant, as mentioned in ref. # 2.
Update: 24 August 2013: Jacob Peck's patriot line was closed for a several years, at least 2007 to 2013, as the NS DAR Genealogists felt the evidence originally filed to establiish Jacob's service to the new nation, printed in Kegly's Frontier, was not sufficient to prove his patriotic service to the new nation. Later, another member of the NS DAR filed on Jacob as a supplemental patriot application, under the line of his daughter, Mary, who married Jacob Carper, furnishing proof of Patriotic Service (PS) VA. Proof Source: Library of Virginia, 1783 Botetourt County Personal Property Tax List, Reel#38, Henings Statues, Vol XI, pp 112-129. This writer had earlier submitted data, but it was not sufficient for re-establishing proof. However, the application for Jacob and Lydia's son Adam Peck from this writer WAS accepted. As of a letter received 24 August 2013 informing this writer of the rejection of her own proofs in regard to the patriotic service of Jacob Peck Sr., and also informing her of the acceptance of another DAR members proofs for the same man, Jacob Peck of Botetourt County, Virginia. Now, both father and son's records are again accepted by the NS DAR licensed, professional geneaologists. They are employed by the NS DAR in Washington, D.C. , not members.
[4] Adam Peck, born 13 Feb 1753, MD is (one of the) correct patriot for prospective DAR members to apply under at this time. His wife was Elizabeth Sharkey, daughter of Patrick Sharkey, also a DAR patriot. This writer also filed for our ancestor Sgt. Christopher Gayle, South Carolina; Elizabeth Gayle Peck’s father. She married first, Patrick Peck and second, his brother Adam Peck II; Susan also filed an application for Josiah Gayle, who she discovered had signed in 1775, “Revolutionary Papers for the Public Defence..of South Carolina” pledging his life, fortune and sacred honor until “hostilities between Britain and American cease”. Three of his sons, our own ancestor Christopher Gayle, also Josiah’s sons Caleb and Josiah Gayle II, were in the South Carolina Militia. Josiah II was captured by the British, jailed in Camden, SC, and drug out of jail by a Tory mob and hung on the spot. Our Christopher survived, and moved to West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, where he was living during the War of 1812.
[5] However, my “Moore” family came from an area near London, England, styled the name More, This family lived in an area called Princess Anne Co., VA on the Chesapeake Bay, at the birth of Obediah More II, who later was styled Obadiah Moore. Today, this area is called Virginia Beach County. The Moore family lived near Lynn Haven Bay.
[6] Termed Carpetbaggers, those who came from the north with a “carpetbag” suitcase to profit from Southerner’s loss of land, due to the worthlessness of Confederate money and high taxes required after the war by the new northern Government. Most southern families, required by law to trade gold for (now worthless) Confederate notes, went under financially. Those not ruined were greatly reduced in their circumstances. No other country to lose a war to the USA would ever suffer as much as the CSA: they were over a hundred years in recovering. The north feared the south would “rise again” and took drastic steps continuing for many decades to prevent this. Heading "west" to escape the Reconstruction south was expensive, requiring the equivalent today of $28,000 to outfit a wagon to travel west with a family. Both my own southern Peck and Moore family's left Georgia and Alabama to go to Texas or California. The Peck line stopped at Southwest Indian Territory after 40 days of travel, already suffering the loss of Elizabeth Gayle Peck, the widow of Adam Peck Jr. and a child of Adam Sharkey Peck, her grandson and his wife Ledora Lee Bewley Peck. The Moore line from Alabama, going west through Arkansas where they settled for a few years settled in northern Texas, in Grayson and Wise County. The southerners suffered, no matter which side they fought on. The Moore line descended from Enoch Moore, a soldier and scout in the USA army. The Peck line included both CSA veteran Adam Peck Jr., James Henry Peck, and Methodist Bewley ancestors hung in Texas for their abolitionist views. Then as now, politics varied.
by Susan Moore Teller: [email protected]
Our American Peck family began with the immigration of Jacob Beck, a German Protestant, from Ebingen, Wurtemberg, Germany about 1740, that is "over seven years" earlier than the date of 1747, written in his own hand, when he become a naturalized Virginian on May 5, 1747.
Hans Jacob Beck of Ebingen, Wurtemberg, Germany, as Jacob Peck a Revolutionary Patriot*[3] in Virginia
Jacob Beck, born Hans Jacob Beck, called Jacob Peck in the colonies, was born the 7th of July, 1723 to Hans Jacob Beck and Anna Marie Hummel, his third wife, whom he married on the 8th of November, 1718. He listed as a Revolutionary War Patriot, for Patriotic Service. For a time, Jacob's file was closed, due to the documentation submitted in earlier years being unacceptable, but later reopened when a new descendants application met the document standards the DAR currently requires.
Jacob's family first appeared in Ebingen sometime early in the 16th century. His 3G Grandfather Hans Beck I, and his 3G Grandmother, Anna, came from "another town", and were members of the Evangelical Reformed Church in Ebingen, where the family records are still on file. This author has a facsimile copy of those bible records from Ebingen, Wurtemberg in her library, obtained while on a visit, at her request by her first cousin, Jane Peck Reis. Jane and her husband made a special trip from Tutligen, where they were vacationing, to Ebingen carrying a pedigree and family history sent by Susan Moore Teller with them. They were told such old records would need to have research done by the retired archivist, the father of the current archivists, and to go to the town restaurant where they would be welcomed and entertained until he could arrive. They did so. They were welcomed as returning citizens of the town, entertained with music and presented with a lovely meal. They returned to the the Evangelical Reformed Church (Protestant) and were given copies of all the records of their Beck/Peck family generations from the early 1500's until the time when Jacob left for Virginia about 1740. This complete record from the church clarified many old misconceptions. Jacob had no living brothers and was not the Jacob Peck who arrived earlier by the ship Lydia: the earliest record of him in this country is when he applies for naturalization as a Virginian in 1747, having lived there "over seven years." There were letters from kin in Ebingen to Virginia, and mention of his residence is in the church records in Ebingen. There is no question that this is our Jacob, who was styled Hans Jacob Beck in Wurtemburg and Jacob Peck in Virginia.
In those records, we find that Jacob's great-grandfather Martin Beck (in 1634) and Michael Beck (in 1635) died of the Black Plague. Jacob's name is noted at his baptism there, and another notation, made years later in a different hand, tells that he is living in Maryland. In America Jacob was called "Peck", said to be closer to the way the name was pronounced at that time in the area where Jacob lived in the heart of the Black Forest region, in the tiny mountain hamlet of Ebingen. It is possible it also may have been "anglisized" as well, to sound more English. This was commonly done by Germanic folk immigrating to the English Colony of Virginia in the early days.
Jacob and Lydia Borden, a "Colonial Dame" of English Descent
Jacob was in the American Colonies at seventeen. We find the first clear trace of him in Virginia, where he met and fell in love with the young and very lovely Lydia Borden, daughter of Benjamin Borden, Gentleman, a wealthy English Colonial. Lydia was a fourth generation American colonial, whose family descended from Richard and Joan Borden, English Quakers, who settled in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in May, 1638. They followed Roger Williams from Massachusetts to Rhode Island, and were among founders of that state.
The Borden's were from Kent, England. They were English back to the era of William the Conqueror, and came from France prior to 1066. Catholic long past the time when it was really wise in England, they became Quakers, and fled to the colonies to escape the fiery fate of most Quakers in England in that period.
Benjamin Borden's son-in-law, Jacob Peck, and grandson, Adam Peck I are listed in the DAR Patriot Index, and my own DAR National Number is listed under Jacob Peck,* Adam Peck, Josiah Gayle and Christopher Gayle, as well as Obadiah Moore, Henry Weidner/Whitner and Henry Summerour, my father’s ancestors. In the future I hope to file supplemental applications for Patrick Sharkey, Lester Morris, Lewis Brown and William Abernathy,-all on my maternal Peck family line. This writer and Cynthia Allison Teller, my husband's daughter, became members of the newly formed Ohlone Chapter NS DAR in Fremont, where our records were filed at the time. We are both organizing members of this bi-centennial chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, formed in September, 1990. Cynthia filed under patriot John Teller of New York. However, after retirement in Arizona, I joined, as a founding member, in 2002, the Asthon Sosi Chapter NS DAR of Peoria, AZ and became Regent in September 2008 through June 2012, at which point I became Vice Regent for 2012-2013.
A story passed down for generations of the Peck family tells a story of the strikingly handsome, very tall, Jacob and his Lydia., and Lydia's father, Benjamin Borden. It seems the young couple were in love, but this had escaped the attention of the old gentlemen. Jacob was chatting with old Mr. Borden one day, and told him of his love for a young woman, and that he feared her father would not approve the match. "Well, run off with her then," said the old gentlemen. "But is against the law for a man to run off with a girl!" responded young Jacob. "Well, there is no law that says a girl cannot run away with a man!" replied old Ben Borden. The next night, they say, Lydia took a strong, fast horse from her father's barn, mounted up, rode over to her Jacob's house and swung him up behind her, galloping away to be wed in secret. She was perhaps sixteen, and her Jacob about twenty. Ben Borden divided his vast estate equally between his many children, but it was in the care of his eldest son, who delayed in court endlessly to avoid relinquishing his father's fortune. Litigation went on for 106 years. Lydia (Borden) Peck received a "pittance" in her dotage, and both her signature and that of Jacob Peck are on the documents.
Lydia and Jacob's son Adam Peck[4]
weds Elizabeth Sharkey, an Ulster Scott
Lydia's descendants are said to have received land in Tennessee, which her son Adam Peck I settled when it was an Indian infested wilderness, .."so dangerous "we could not go for water without cover (by gun) for fear of Indians"..." It is located not far from Knoxville, Tennessee, and was originally named Mossy Creek. Later, it was called Jefferson City. Jacob and Lydia lived out their life in Virginia and Maryland. They owned over 2,000 acres, now covered, for the most part, by the TVA dam and Cherokee Lake.
Female descendants of Lydia (Borden) Peck are eligible to apply for membership in the Society of Colonial Dames. Descendants of Benjamin Borden are eligible to apply for membership in the Society of the Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims.
Patrick Sharkey, Elizabeth's father, came from Ulster Ireland, was Presbyterian, and was a Revolutionary Patriot in Virginia.
Adam Peck, Lydia's son, is celebrated in plays by high school students today in Jefferson City, Tennessee, as the founder of the area, along with his noted wife, Elizabeth (Sharkey) Peck, daughter of Patrick Sharkey. A nearby city is named Elizabeth in her honor. She is credited for teaching the slaves who accompanied them down the Holston River by flatboat from Virginia to Tennessee to read and write in an era when that was illegal. That tells us several things about Elizabeth uncommon for her era: she was strong minded, of a liberal bent, and educated. Her parents were Patrick and Anne Sharkey, Scotch/Irish Presbyterians who came originally from an area "near Dublin" which is in Leister Province, Ireland. This area was founded by Vikings. Elizabeth was born in Botetourt County, Virginia. Ann was born Ann Luney or Looney, believed to be the daughter of Robert Luney/Looney.
The Ulster Scott are Orange Irish, meaning Scot citizens, primarily Presbyterian, who came to Ireland after lands were taken from the Green Irish, who were Catholic, by the English who ruled them. Most "English Planters" were not English, except for a thin upper level of aristocrats were ruled Ireland at the time. Most settlers brought in were Scotsmen from just across the channel to Ireland. To this day, battles rage between these two peoples. While many Scotsmen , especially in the highlands, are Celtic, many of those from the lowlands are primarily Saxons who moved over from England as Scotland was invaded by the English.
Most of those migrating to Ireland as "English Planters" after Ireland's defeat by English were lowland Scots, a mixture of Saxon and highland Celts, but mostly Saxon. They were vehemently Protestant, as opposed to the Green Irish, who were vehemently Catholic. The Catholic Green Irish were removed to poor lands to the south of Ireland, and their lands given to people resettled there by the English. These "English Planters" lived at first in forts distinctly like those used in America later, and for the same reason - to protect themselves from the hostile natives.
They lived on "plantations" with 99 year leases. Land cannot be purchased in the British Isles, but is instead leased for 99 years from the nobility. When the leases were up, distant English landlords found it more profitable to use the land for grazing sheep, as wool had become a valuable commodity. They evicted the Irish Ulster-Scots, as they had come to be called, by raising rents up to ten times the former rate and then confiscating all building, houses, and improvements built over four generations of use. The Irish Ulster-Scots were bitter - accused of being more Irish than the Irish themselves by the English. They moved in the early 1700's in great numbers to the American Colonies which was a haven for Protestants from all over the world, whether French, German, or Scot. Catholic and Jewish immigrants were few and tended to become assimilated into population, becoming Protestant within a generation or two as a result of marrying local colonials, and settling into Protestant communities.
The Ulster-Scot , or Scotch-Irish as they were called in America, carried a deep seated distrust of English rule for generations. They were the first to ride to the aid of George Washington, carrying their firearms, and riding their own horses, to serve without pay for 90 days or more while their Scottish brothers and English cousins pondered the right and wrong of the revolution. Historians claim the revolution could not have been won without the early and consistent aid of the Scotch Irish to the cause.
Few Irish Catholic came to the American Colonies. Most Irish migration occurred after 1840, during the Irish famine, and well after the American revolution. There were exceptions. 20,000 Irishmen who fought at Drogheda were captured and transported as slaves, in the same type of ship used for the unfortunate Africans taken from the Gold Coast, to Virginia to work the plantations. They proved unprofitable slaves because they spoke English in addition to their native Celtic language in most cases, looked like other colonists, and could slink off to into the forests and disappear without a trace. Another 20,000 from the same battle were impressed into foreign service in various armies. They often eventually migrated to America to seek a new life. Many were named Moore, as this was the ruling clan which led the battle at Drogheda. They say none suffered more at the hands of the English than the Moores in Ireland. Most Irishmen in the colonies married colonials and became Protestant as well as American Colonials. [5]
Adam and Moses Looney fought alongside Patrick Sharkey in the revolutionary cause, and evidence points to their being Anne's brothers, but no conclusive proof can be found.
Elizabeth & Adam become Methodists under the influence of the noted Rev. Asbury
A bi-centennial history of Mossy Creek/Jefferson City has an article about Adam and Elizabeth Sharkey Peck, who became Methodists shortly prior to their removal to Tennessee, under the influence of the famous evangelist, the Rev. Asbury, thus bringing religion with them in the earliest days of Mossy Creek's history. Many of their descendants live in that area to this day, including Lydia Peck, an elderly educator who lives on Peck Street in an attractive brick house. She is listed as a member of the Mossy Creek DAR Chapter in the Jefferson City Bi-Centennial History. The Mossy Creek Chapter NS DAR disbanded about 1988.
Adam I and Elizabeth's son, (and our direct ancestor) Adam Peck II was born on the 14th of May, 1791 in Mossy Creek. He and his brothers, Patrick and Moses Looney Peck fought together in the War of 1812 under General Andrew Jackson.
There is a tale of Patrick Peck during his term in the War of 1812, which fills in a picture of the man. Said to be more than 6 ft. 6 , he was chosen as the "bully" of his unit to settle the friction between the lanky, buckskin clad men from Tennessee and the Louisiana dandies from New Orleans.
A circle was drawn, and the men were to fight in hand to hand combat, and the winner would settle which outfit was best. Patrick came roaring up, six foot six inches of brawny muscle, stripped to the waist and rubbed with grease, screaming like panther and popping together both fists. The fellow from New Orleans took one look and said, "He looks more like a man eater than a man fighter to me!" and refused to enter the ring, forfeiting the fight.
Adam Peck and the Revolutionary War
Adam Peck served in the Revolutionary War in the Virginia Militia, and was appointed Ensign in Captain Patrick Lockhart's Company. Lockhart’s company was at the Battle of Kings Mountain, and Adam Peck is listed as having served there in early books. Information submitted by Susan G. Stiner and Mary Alice Peck Miller, New Market, TN, 37829. Adam Peck is listed in the Memorial Virtual Cemetery of Kings Mountains Veterans at Find-A-Grave.
"The original deed still on file at Dandridge Courthouse gave Ensign Adam Peck 5,000 acres. (In fact, one of the borders was listed as the Mississippi River).
Adam Peck was a member of the First Tennessee Assembly and a drafter of the State Constitution. He is buried in Old Methodist Cemetery with his wife Elizabeth. They are surrounded by a number of other Pecks including Brigadier General William R. Peck, CSA. An inscription of Adam Peck's tomb indicates that he and his wife came to Tennessee from Virginia in 1788. A bronze plaque/marker has been placed as well honoring Adam Peck’s service in the War for Independence by the Daughters of the Revolution. It states he served in the Maryland Militia, for which this author has found only one confusing documentation: one Regiment was listed as both representing both Maryland and Virginia. This may be the source of that statement. However, he is listed in the Federal Archives as serving under Captain Patrick Lockhart, Virginia Militia, and is so listed in the NS DAR records. The documents that this author found state he was in the Virginia Militia in the sources below:
a) VIRGINIA MILITIA IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
MCALLISTER PUBLISHING Co., Hot Springs, Virginia
PART III
Virginia's Share in the Military Movements of the Revolution
Section 256 Botetourt
Peck, Adam, En., A. Jan. 12, 1781 under P. Lockhart
b) In the Federal Archives, see pension for James Patrick, who at the time of his pension application had removed to Kentucky, who names service under "Captain". Adam, Peck during his service in the revolutionary war where he joined from Botetourt County, Virginia. . He submits detailed information on battles under the leadership of Adam Peck. Men in the militia often called officers “Cap’n” even if the title was Ensign or Lt. or something else. James Patrick describes extensive soirees into the wilderness to combat Cherokee allies of the British. In order to subdue the “rebels” in the American colonies, British leaders encouraged local Indian Nation Allies to war against the Colonial American rebel pioneer settlers. They supplied rifles, gun powder and paid $50 a scalp, whether taken from man, woman or child to the Cherokee, who fell upon isolated, unsuspecting pioneer farmsteads and slaughtered the families there. They scalped and slayed adult men, women and small children, sometimes kidnapping young boys and girls old enough to march as slaves.[2] In certain cases, captives were later adopted into the Cherokee Nation. Those who resisted, or could not keep up with the march back to the home village were scalped and slain. This caused a tremendous uproar in the frontier settlements, and armies were raised to quell the Cherokee and end the attacks. Gen. Wm. Christian, who led the Cherokee Expedition to end this problem was called Gen. Christy by his men.
In the records held in the Federal Archives. Adam is Peck mentioned as officer in Revolutionary War, serving in General Christies (William Christian) Cherokee Expedition of 1776. Peck is also named one of officers James Patrick served, found in James Patrick pension file in Floyd County, Kentucky, quoted below: .
The National Archives
Publication Number: M804
Publication Title: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files
Publisher: NARA
National Archives Catalog ID: 300022
c) DAR Patriot Index: Peck, Adam Spouse: [1] Eliza Gayle. Service: Virginia Rank: Ensign. Birth: 1753 Frederick, Maryland. Death: 13 Feb 1817 Mossy Creek, Jefferson Co. Tennessee. Service Description: 1) Botetourt Co. Militia, Capt. P Lockhart. Buried: Westview Cemetery (Old Section), Westview St. & Hwy 11, Jefferson City, Jefferson, Tenn.
[1] Information submitted by Susan G. Stiner and Mary Alice Peck Miller, New Market, TN, 37829:
"The original deed still on file at Dandridge Courthouse gave Ensign Adam Peck 5,000 acres. (In fact, one of the borders was listed as the Mississippi River). Adam Peck was one of eight children born to Jacob Von Beck: [is actually Hans Jakob Beck -] and Lydia Borden. [smt:I have bible records from the Evangelical Reform Church in Ebingen, Wurtemberg, stating his name was Hans Jakob Beck – the old records in Tennessee have the name in error. “Von” means Sir, and he did not have that title. He was not the man who came over on the Lydia as some older records indicate, but was younger. His naturalization papers for Virginia are on file, and church records in Ebingen, Wurtemberg record letters to this man to America. He is clearly the same man.]
Two of Adam I & Elizabeth (Sharkey)Peck's sons marry Eliza Gayle of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
Patrick had moved to Louisiana before the War of 1812, where he lived with his young wife, Elizabeth "Eliza" (Gayle) Peck, the daughter of plantation owner Christopher Gayle, from Stateberg, not far from Columbia, South Carolina, near the Gayle plantation.
Josiah Gayle and three of his sons, including our ancestor, Christopher, father of Eliza were Revolutionary Patriots in South Carolina and are listed in the NS DAR Patriot Index.
Josiah Gayle, Elizabeth’s grandfather, signed in 1775, “Revolutionary Papers for the Public Defence..of South Carolina” pledging his life, fortune and sacred honor until “hostilities between Britain and American cease”. These papers were included in Susan’s application to the NS DAR for Josiah Gayle, and are held in the Federal Archives in Washington, D.C. Three Josiah’s sons,including our own ancestor Christopher Gayle, also Josiah’s sons Caleb and Josiah Gayle II, were in the South Carolina Militia. Josiah II was captured by the British, jailed in Camden, SC, and drug out of jail by a Tory mob and hung on the spot. Our Christopher survived, and moved to West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, where he was living during the War of 1812.
Christopher Gayle was an English Colonial from South Carolina; his wife, Unity Richbourg, half French Huguenot and half English Cavalier through her mother, Unity Fox. The Fox family leads back to John West and George Percy, and were "Olde Planters" in Jamestown at it's beginning. Unity’s French blood was from the Rev. Claudius Richbourg, who was one of the founders of the French Huguenot settlement, Mannikin Town, in Virginia They had moved to Craven County, South Carolina, in the high Santee. The Gayles had removed from Virginia to South Carolina to Craven County, also.
South Carolinians had been encouraged by the Spanish to migrate, along with their skilled (black) labor force to the part of Louisiana that did not go along with the Louisiana Purchase, near St. Francisville, in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. The Spanish may have lived to regret it, since the English Planters there fomented a revolution and became part of the United States of America. Andrew Jackson was a frequent visitor in that region. It is lush, and beautiful, the place where Audubon painted many of his famous masterpieces of birds.
In Saint Francisville, I held in my hand the original documents recording the wills of Patrick Peck, and his father-in-law Christopher Gayle. Copies and photos of these documents were included in this writer’s application for Christopher Gayle to the NS DAR, under National Number 708639.
Patrick Peck, Moses Looney Peck, and Adam Peck II all served under General Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812, fighting in the Battle of New Orleans. There Patrick died. Adam later married his widow, Eliza, who was left with three toddlers, and took her from her home in Louisiana, back to Mossy Creek, where he ran a mill owned by his father, Adam Peck I. He was also a surveyor, like his grandfather, Ben Borden. Moses Looney Peck returned to Mossy Creek, and lived his entire life there, leaving many descendants who live in that region today.
Our ancestor, Adam Peck, wrote a letter dated 18 April 1775 to Secretary of War William Eustis thanking him for the honor of being appointed to the office of Ensign. His letter read:
USA Federal Archives, Washington, DC
Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General 1805-1821
Folder: Adam Peck
Page 1)
Tennessee
Dandridge, Apr 8, 1812
Page 2)
The Honorable W. Eustis, Secretary of War
Sir,
I was favored with the notification of my appointment for Ensign of Infantry a few days ago. I will accept with pleasure the office and will wait at this place for your future orders.
I serve my country with pleasure - and if I fail when called it will not be for the want of integrity and good will - for the above assurance of these I hold myself responsible.
With Respect
Adam Peck Jr.
…………………………………………………………………
Adam Peck Jr. signs with an orante and beautiful signature, about 5 inches wide by 1 inch high, with flourishes and spirals below his name.
The letter was addressed to:
Secretary of War Wm (…William…) Eustis
The office of Ensign was the initial officer appointment. in the Infantry, for the Virginia Infantry in Adam’s case, until 1862, when it was reserved for the USA Navy exclusively, and another title issued in the USA Army for new entry level officers.
This man is termed Adam Peck II by this writer by request of the DAR, who reserves the terms Sr. and Jr. for fathers and sons who both served in the Revolutionary War, like Josiah Gayle Sr. and Josiah Gayle Jr. For that reason this writer often refers to him as Adam Peck II, although he signed his name Adam Peck Jr.
Adam and Eliza "removed" to Dahlonega, Georgia to search for gold-and about 25 years later were to endure the "War of the Rebellion” 50 miles from Atlanta. At the wars close, they were greatly reduced in financial circumstances, and had suffered the loss of several children.
In early middle age, Adam Peck II, his wife Eliza, and their children, the three fathered by Patrick, and their own, including our own GG Grandfather, James Henry Peck (at about four years of age) moved to Georgia, settling in Dahlonega as word of the nation's first gold strike reached them. The name of Adam Peck is well known there today, as far away as Atlanta, as a founder of the region. Adam worked there as a surveyor for the county for 20 years, and was a successful goldminer on a modest scale. (See book published Nov. 2018, article in Dahlonega Nugget on Adam Peck's gold mining activities which were successfu. Earlier family stories implied he was not. Apparently he kept the amount of gold he mined to himself. Later, some of that gold was used to fund his family's wagon trip "west" after his death.
In Dahlonega, a Cherokee word for "leaves of gold", Adam Peck (II) and Eliza were caught up in the Civil War. Dahlonega, high in the north Georgia mountains, looks directly down on the city of Atlanta, only fifty miles away. In May of 1985 I traveled to Dahlonega. There I was sent to the local authority on history, a Mrs. Kidd, a teacher in the local high school, by clerks in the local historical museum.
She was, it turned out, Ruth (Peck) Kidd, and a third cousin, also a descendent of Adam and Eliza via their son Jacob Y. Peck and his wife Jane (Abercrombie) Peck. Jacob became terribly ill during the battle of Lookout Mountain, and Jane received word he was in a hospital in Atlanta. She and a kinsman went 50 miles by wagon, in those terrible and dangerous times, to get him and bring him home to nurse him to health, but he was already dead and buried in Atlanta when she got there. She raised their children alone and never remarried.
A daughter of Adam and Eliza, Catherine Peck, married Jane's cousin, John Abercrombie, Jr. They moved to Lake County, Florida. There, John joined the CSA, and died in battle. Catherine died shortly after, in 1864, of cholera. The Peck's went after the couple's small children, and raised them in Dahlonega, where Abercrombie’s related to our family live today.
Eliza's son by Adam II, James Henry Peck, weds Mary Elizabeth Dodd and serves in the Confederate Army of Georgia four years
Our Great-grandfather, James Henry Peck, husband of Mary Elizabeth (Dodd) Peck, also served in the Georgia CSA, fighting all through four years. He was hospitalized for a long time, and also was AWOL for a time, when he returned home at his wife's request to see his ill young son, James Harry Peck, who died. He asked for permission to leave, they say, which was denied. He then went AWOL, and later served 30 days in the guardhouse for his offense, before returning to duty to fight on to the end.
Ruth introduced me to a local author and historian, Jimmy E. Anderson, publisher of the North Georgia Journal. Jimmy said he was "a relative of a relative". He was a descendant of the Sinyards, who married into the Peck line via the marriage of Martha Sinyard to Adam and Eliza's son, John Gayle Peck, who also served in the CSA all through the war.
"Jimmy, what were the Peck's really like?" I asked one morning over a McDonald's breakfast. It was a modern, very pleasant branch of the familiar McDonald’s franchise, but the location was a far from typical It was set like a jewel in the cleft of a mountain road high in the Appalachian mountains above Atlanta. "Well, " Jimmy replied, "they were said to be very tall and very good looking. They came here with more money than most, and were better educated than most that passed through these hills. Old Adam died shortly after the civil war ended, and some of his children went west. They say Jim Peck and his family went up the Carolinas, where they had kinfolk, and then on west after that. None of the local folks had much after the war. Times were hard. The only folks with money were the newcomers from the north [6], who bought land and settled here for a time."
The Peck's Head West after the Civil War
Our Peck's did go west, after going to Kentucky and North Carolina. They went to Kentucky to see Martha Jane (Peck) Patterson, Jim's sister, the wife of Benjamin Patterson. In North Carolina, they visited Jim and Mary's grown daughters, Martha Catherine (Peck) Clounts, wife of John Clounts; and Elizabeth (Peck) Reid, wife of Henderson Reid. Was Jim Peck, a surveyor by trade was trying to get to California's gold fields. Jim married before the civil war in Georgia, to Mary Elizabeth Dodd on the 30th of October, 1853. Adam II died in 1866, and Eliza went to live with Jim and Mary (Dodd) Peck. Several years later, early in the 1870's, Jim traveled with is wife, children and mother, Eliza (Gayle) Peck to Kentucky, to his sister Mattie (Peck) Patterson in Russell Springs, Russell County, Kentucky. There Eliza died on the 23 of July, 1874.
Jim and Mary headed for North Carolina, where grown, married daughters lived. Their son, Patrick Henry Peck, was born in on the first day of November, 1874 in North Carolina, probably in Cherokee County. From there they went to Pope County, Arkansas.
Our great-grandfather Adam Sharkey Peck lived in Arkansas for over a decade, marrying at twenty the seventeen year old Ledora Lee Bewley, daughter of the Rev. Robert Sanders Bewley and his third wife, Elizabeth Jane (Davis) Bewley, the widow of his nephew Mahlon Bewley.
The Bewley's were founders of the region. Many are buried today in the old cemeteries in the hills above Russellville, Arkansas. David Bewley, and his kinswoman, Louise (Bewley) Almond took me on an unforgettable tour of the region, and there we climbed a tall mountain deep in the Ozarks to view the grave of Rev. Mahlon Bewley, born in 1776 in Virginia. The native stone crypt was exactly like the one I had seen in Georgia near Peck's Chapel, said to cover the body of Adam Peck I.
Jim and Mary Peck, and many of the Peck Clan, head further west by wagon train- California Bound!
Jim and Mary (Dodd) Peck, and Adam and Dora (Bewley) Peck and their young children, including their oldest son, Jim (James Madison Peck) struck out on a wagon train headed for California in 1890-91. They stopped in Southwest Indian Territory, later Stephens County, Oklahoma, and settled there.
Southwest Indian Territory
1888 to 1907
My mother was born in an adventurous time of great change in society, in the last month of 1907, the same year and shortly after her native Oklahoma became one of these United States.
She was born to a pioneer family who were among the founders of the region of her birth. Her family's journey when her father was eight years old on a wagon train bound westward ended in Indian Territory in 1890 for the Pecks, who decided not to continue on further.
Tillman H. Peck’s obit states he came to Indian Territory at the age of six months, in other words, in June of 1890. This was the best source for their arrival in what is now Stephens County, Oklahoma until an article by Adam Sharkey Peck was discovered.
It reads:
I Remember Back When
By A.S.Peck
We arrived at Tucker September 3, 1891 and moved into a dugout. You couldn't put a bed in it, so we cut some poles, made them into walls, and made beds. On January 1, 1892, I bought a claim, it had a double log cabin on it, and a fire place. It looked like a mansion to us. In1893 the Rock Island came through. I sold my claim and bought property in Duncan. Old timers then were Robert March, Frank Fuqua and R. J.Allen, all good friends of mine. We had what we called a "Homeseekersunion" and got a lot of fun out of it.
In 1902 I bought several hundred acres of land in Velma and dealt in cattle with John O'Neal, Oscar White, and several others. We would drive the cattle into Duncan and ship them to Kansas City. The women would usually go ahead in the wagon and take dinner to the boys driving the cattle. We would usually get about half way by noon. The cattle sure looked rough by the time we got them to Kansas City. John O'Neal built the first brick house in Duncan. I sold and bought land west of Comanche. I kept books for the Harley Gin, and later owned and operated a cotton yard, then farmed my land west of Comanche and was known as "Watermelon Peck"
Now, at the age of 91, I am retired and living with my daughter and son-in-law , Mr. and Mrs. E.L. Hokit.
(This is copied from a newspaper article - Ron Peck has a copy of the article as it appeared in the newspaper)
In Russellville, Arkansas, I found Bewley descendants who told me only two wagon trains ever left there headed for California. If and when this data is located, and my friend Louise (Bewley) Almond has seen it in print, the exact date they departed will be known. However, the article above states when they arrived: it was September 3, 1891. In all likelihood, they would have left in the spring or summer of 1891.
My mother was born about sixteen years later, not many miles from the place that wagon train stopped, in the new state of Oklahoma. Her sister was born 14 months earlier in Southwest Indian Territory.
Stephens County, Oklahoma
1907 to 1942
My grandparents gave me the grateful memory of their tales of days gone by to an enchanted little girl. These colored my childhood vividly. Some stories were about travel from the south to the new lands further west. There were tales of the Civil War, and its brave soldiers; stories of our family traveling ever westward by wagon train and the hardships and challenges of the pioneer days.
I lived in an era that enabled me to visit my maternal grandparents on a farm still so remote it could not be reached by electricity, and watched my grandparents continue life much as it had generations before.
Food was cooked on a huge wood range, from "scratch" recipes so different from those I was ever to use they seem black magic yet.
Clothes were ironed with metal irons heated on the stove, with removable wood handles; soap made from lye and fat and other secret ingredients boiled, as were clothes on wash day, in an iron vat over leaping flames in the yard, cows milked daily to produce milk, butter, cream; cattle, hogs, chickens and turkeys kept to supply meat and eggs.
There was a "little garden" which my grandmother, Mattie, maintained in her "spare time" larger than the entire grounds of many houses of today. Mattie was the daughter of Tennessee born Alec Sawyer, (1846-1933). He was, according to his granddaughter Minnie Bee, "German Dutch, some Scotch, English-and I believe he said Irish, too". Alec lived out his last years with Minnie Bee's family. His Eliza has gone on before him years earlier.
Southern Fried Chicken dinners, the platters heaped with golden brown chicken, creamed corn sliced from fresh ears and made with thick, fresh cream and country butter, long green beans still hanging on the vine that dawn, huge golden biscuits moments before still in the oven, spread with wild plum jam from plums put up each spring, began hours before with an instruction to me, as a child of eight or less to "run catch a chicken and wring it's neck, so I can cook it for dinner" from my grandmother.
Then I was told to go pick fresh corn, tomatoes, green beans and boysenberries from the garden. This would be followed by a trip to the cellar, an earthen cavern that made a small artificial hill of the rust red earth not far from the house, with a cellar-like door down musty wooden steps, hung with spider webs, where Grandma kept a prudent five year supply of stored food in rows of quart jars full of winter food and summer delicacies like pickles, relish, jams and so forth.
I still have vivid dreams in which I am again a child, on a long summer visit with my Grandma and Grandpa Peck, and wake with the taste of fresh boysenberries, incredibly sweet from the hot summer sun, picked less than three hours before, covered with "clotted cream", cream skimmed from the first rising so thick it was like a soft butter in consistency, rich and delicious beyond anything in imagination available today, in my mouth; and the sound of my Grandmother's soft Tennessee-to-Texas drawl in my ear.
I ran along, skipping to keep up, after Grandpa Peck. He was born James Madison Peck in a community near Russellville, Arkansas, in 1882. Grandpa would let me go along on his rounds on his farm, half walking, half running to keep up, or sometimes atop an old plow horse so I would not become exhausted during the long day's rounds. I would watch him pick off a long eared rabbit, imprudently nibbling young corn plants in neat acre long rows, a block away with deadly aim; always directly through the head with one shot only. I saw wolf tracks in the yard, glimpsed the magnificent beast loping in the woods far down the road; hid motionless for hours, on a tiny "island" in a deep ravine and watched the vividly colored birds build nests in the spring and later feed their young, the huge bears atop the tiny fragile bodies poking up from intricate, beautifully fashioned nests made of grasses, feathers and woven with a skill that seemed incredible in a bird to a small child.
I went on fishing trips to catch catfish; delicious when prepared by the skilled hand of Grandma. I watched the currents of the Beaver River eddy around logs, and water moccasins make figure eights in the water swimming swiftly, then lurk still as a stick in the shallows near the bank for their prey.
Stories of my forefathers life and times in response to the endless questions of a curious and fascinated little girl filled my days, and went on into the night, around the table after "supper" which is what we called the evening meal then, by the soft flame of the glass chimneys lamp elegantly patterned in etched glass around the base, in the years before I was yet nine.
Grandpa Peck's family had migrated further west when he was nine, old enough to ride horseback alongside the wagons beside his father. The Pecks began the long journey bound for California, on a wagon train leaving from Russellville, Arkansas, not far from their home in the mountains to the north of the Arkansas River, in Pope County where he had been had been born. They forded the Arkansas River at flood, young Jim plunging in with his horse, bravely leading with the men at the head of the wagon train. His grandmother, fearful he would certainly drown, screamed again and again across the raging waters that he must turn back, and not cross on horseback. He finally heard her on the opposite shore and, obedient grandson that he was, plunged in once more without hesitation, re-fording the wide, turbulent river to see what it was his grandmother wanted to tell him!
Jim Peck, (1882-1969) the youth who at barely nine forded the raging, flooded Arkansas River, was often in later years to talk of the journey. His family camped over a week, the men earnestly discussing at length the perils of the future journey with members of a wagon train returning eastward, who had given up the trek west as too hazardous, far too high in risk, far more dangerous than they had thought when starting out.
The Pecks and several other families, after forty-two days of very difficult travel stopped for two generations to come in Southwest Indian Territory, and founded the little community of Tucker, and later nearby Comanche, in 1891. Oklahoma became a state in 1907, sixteen years later. Jim Peck rode the Cimmaron Trail to Texas many times to market cattle his family raised.
In the "old cemetery", now Fair Lawn, near Comanche, Oklahoma, the city which Adam Sharkey Peck, my great-grandfather (1858-1952) helped found after settling in Indian Territory, the Pecks who made that journey are buried.
Another Jim Peck lies there, James Henry Peck, (1830-1897). This Jim Peck was a confederate soldier in Georgia Regiment C during the Civil war. In the year of his birth, 1830, fifty-five years after the American Revolution in which several of his forefathers fought, he was already the eighth generation pioneer to be born on American soil. He was the Tennessee born and Georgia bred son of a millwright-gold miner-surveyor father, Adam Peck II. (1791-1866).
Jim (H.) Peck's father Adam Peck II, carried the blood of German Protestants from the mountains of the Black Forest, and that of English Quakers from Kent in southeastern England, and of Ulster Scots who fled Ireland in his veins.
Jim (H.) Peck's mother Eliza was born Elizabeth Gayle, the daughter of plantation owner Christopher Gayle. He and his father, Josiah Gayle, along with some neighbors, founded the Holy Cross Episcopalian Church in Stateberg, South Carolina, (near Columbia) in 1788. It stands today, and is a national historical monument. Josiah Gayle went from Virginia to the High Santee in South Carolina, and there he signed, in 1775 "The Revolutionary Papers for Public Defence" - in the region of South Carolina, "pledging his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor until the hostilities between Britain and America cease." When I filed an application with the NS DAR on Josiah Gayle, I submitted a copy of the original papers with the other required documents. It was approved in 2012. The Episcopal Chapel they founded was said to be located "on the edge of the Gayle Plantation" marking the exact place Eliza was born. Eliza was a true southern belle born to comfort in South Carolina, whose family "removed" to a Louisiana Plantation near the Mississippi River, in St. Francisville, West Feliciana Parish. Eliza's history included an early marriage to her husband Adam's brother Patrick, who was died in the War of 1812, fighting alongside his brothers Adam and Moses under General Andrew Jackson, until he contracted a fatal malady and dying, begged his brothers to promise to always take care of his young wife and three toddlers. Adam later said the only way he could figure out how to take care of her "forever" was to marry her, so he did! The Peck brothers of that era were said to be giants, topping six feet by inches.
Eliza's family heritage carried a documented descent from the West family, Virginian English Cavaliers dating back through English Kings and French Kings to Charlemagne; and of the Richbourgs, noble French Huguenots who fled their home province of Berri, southwest of Paris to escape the death of those who were followers of John Calvin in the carnage of the reformation in France to establish Colonial Mannikin Town, and then settled finally in South Carolina; and of Protestant Baptist Scotch, so long Virginia born we are left with only the word "Scotch" to trace the path they trod to Colonial America from the British Isles.
Mary Elizabeth (Dodd) Peck, (1832-l9OO) lies beside her husband, Jim (1830-1897). The small, slight framed, brown haired Mary was the poverty stricken Georgia born child of a widowed mother, Martha "Patsy" (Barnes) Dodd, from North Carolina. Her grandmother, a Mrs. Nancy Jones, whose husbands first name and her own maiden name are lost in the mists of time, was a Georgia mid-wife born in South Carolina. Mary's soldier father, Martin Dodd (1814-1849), was lost during the Indian Wars in Georgia, and her grandfather had been lost the generation before in the War of 1812. She was to lose two brothers in the civil war and see another disabled for life, but her husband, James, came home without harm.
Mary' s son, Adam Sharkey, is nearby, in the old cemetery in Comanche. Adam Sharkey Peck (1858-1952) was born in Georgia, went with his family at fifteen to Arkansas, and moved on westward in his prime, carrying the name of two revolutionary war veterans in every signature.
One was Adam's great-grandfather, the half German, half English Adam Peck (1753-1817); the other, his great-great grandfather, Patrick Sharkey, the Ulster Scot born in Tyrone County, in northern Ireland, who migrated to Virginia in the American Colonies about 1740. Both of these men were veterans of the Revolutionary War, and are shown in the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Patriot Index.
Adam Sharkey Peck's descent from Lydia (Borden) Peck, wife of Adam (1753-1817) established his female descendants as eligible to apply for membership to the Society of Colonial Dames. Lydia's father was the wealthy English Colonial Benjamin Borden, whose land holdings were called "Borden's Great Tract". The Borden heritage includes many illustrious Americans, among them a collateral relationship to President Grover Cleveland, the common ancestor to both, Benjamin Borden.
Adam Sharkey Peck's wife is in the same cemetery next to Adam. "Dora" or sometimes "Ledory"-Ledora Lee (Bewley) Peck-(1863-1931) was the tiny, strong willed descendent of a long line of pioneer abolitionist Methodist Ministers, whose Quaker forefathers had left Kent, England to escape religious persecution two generations before the American Revolution-already half German, one quarter English and one quarter English and Welsh hopelessly intertwined before they touched the shores of Colonial America- to settle in New York.
In one generation they went from New York to Virginia, and were ever afterward following a southern route westward; from Quakers they became Methodists, and reared generations of sons, who became, in groups of as many as five brothers, Methodist Ministers. Our Bewley forefathers traveled through the wilds of Tennessee to Arkansas bringing the word of God to much of what is now the southeastern part of our nation, and was then the western frontier. They crisscrossed from state to state, founding churches and schools, settling the land, raising huge families and battling Indians all along the way.
Six generations by the time of Dora Bewley's birth on American soil added Reed, Davis, Phillips, Morrey, Kimble, Benefield, Henderson, Waldrop and Trevillian lines to Bewley, and this gave Dora a heritage thoroughly "American." It included English, Welsh, French descents, and a line of Ulster Scots from North Ireland which included Dora's Revolutionary War veteran ancestor Samuel Henderson (1737- 1821).
Samuel Henderson's kin Richard Henderson (1735-1785), a back-country judge in Colonial South Carolina, tried to "made off with half of Kentucky" in a land speculation scheme, was chief promoter of the Transylvania company and friend of Daniel Boone.
Another of Dora (Bewley) Peck's kin, one of the few male Bewley's not to become a Methodist Minister, was Jacob Bewley, brother to our direct ancestor Rev. Mahlon Bewley (1776-1831). Jacob was a prominent politician and author in Tennessee, the sole brother of six to choose politics rather than religion, and a veteran of the War of 1812.
My mother's father, James Madison Peck, rests in that Comanche, Oklahoma cemetery as well, where he lived from nine years of age to the end of his life; and beside him is his wife; Martha Jane (Sawyer) Peck, daughter of a Confederate soldier from Tennessee who fought in every battle from Shiloh through Lookout Mountain and more before he had seen twenty summers.
~~The End~~
Addendum:
USA Federal Archives, Washington, DC
Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General 1805-1821
Folder Transcription: Adam Peck
Page 1)
Tennessee
Dandridge, Apr 8, 1812
Page 2)
…………………………………………………………………
The Honorable W. Eustis, Secretary of War
Sir,
I was favored with the notification of my appointment for Ensign of Infantry a few days ago. I will accept with pleasure the office and will wait at this place for your future orders.
I serve my country with pleasure - and if I fail when called it will not be for the want of integrity and good will - for the above assurance of these I hold myself responsible.
With Respect
Adam Peck Jr.
Adam Peck Jr. signs with an orante and beautiful signature, about 5 inches wide by 1 inch igh, with flourishes and spirals below is name.
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About his father Adam Peck Sr. in the Revolutionary War
Adam Peck Sr., at Battle of Kings Mountain in Revolutionary War. Evidence of Adam Peck Sr. fighting under William Campbell at the Battle of the Kings Mountain in research done by 4th great granddaughter Susan Moore Teller. I have recently downloaded a very old book, The Men of Kings Mountain, by White and found this information:
Kings Mountain Men by White:
Personal Sketches of Soldiers
page 202:
Looney: for record of John, Robert and Major David, see DAR Lineage Book 4. David was wounded in battle. Moses, a Lieutenant, is listed by Summers. Absolom, son of Major David, married Nancy Long and settled in Knox County, Tennessee. (Ann Looney married Patrick Sharkey, Rev. Patriot of VA, whose daughter, Ann Sharkey married Adam Peck I. Adam and Ann lived in Botetourt Co. VA and in Mossy Creek (now Jefferson City) Tennessee.
page 217:
Peck: Adam came from Botetourt and was one of the first pioneers on Mossy Creek (...now Jefferson City, Jefferson County, Tennessee north of Knoxville…)
He served under (...William...) Campbell and was pensioned in Jefferson (...County...)
*Note from smt: author must mean "retired" as there is no record of pension of Adam Peck, and he was not indigent, necessary to qualify for a govt. pension
Of his (i.e. Adam Peck's) 12 children, Jacob, the eldest became a lawyer and settled in Missouri. M. L. (...Moses Looney...) who remained on the homestead (...and was left the Mill run by Moses and Adam Jr. in Adam Sr. will..) was a pensioner (…again, retired from military service…) of the War of 1812. He (...Moses Looney Peck...) married Susan daughter of a man prominent in the early history of Tennessee. The homestead is yet in the family.
Most of the Peck land, over 2000 acres at one time, is now under water in the huge Cherokee Lake, formed to power the TVA dam.
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[1] Contact Susan Moore Teller at [email protected] in regard to DAR application for prospective members. I will be happy to sponsor any member descending from the James Madison Peck family line.
[2] A granddaughter of Jewel Peck Mitchell, the daughter of James Madison Peck and his wife, Martha Jane (Sawyer)Peck) applied in the spring of 2008, with this writer doing the research for the application, and signing her application papers for submission in 2007. Upon submission, she and was asked to reapply under Jacob Peck’s son Adam, an Ensign in the Virginia Militia in good standing with sound proofs on file with the NS DAR, as the line down Jacob Peck was closed to new applications, due to need for additonal proofs of patriotic service. She did so, and was immediately accepted by the NS DAR and issued National #862673. The book, Kegley's Frontiers, citing his patriotic service was no longer accepted: court documents from the time are now required, as a rule, for each patriot upon application by prospective members. Later, another descendant coming down a daughter of Jacob Peck filed a court record documenting his service, and he was re-established as a pariot via this record, see later citation below.
[3]Jacob Peck’s documentation with the Daughters of the American Revolution was closed to new applications by the professional genealogists employed by the NS DAR in 2007 as being inadequate to prove his service, despite many, many years of accepting applicants in his name as a patriot. Future applicants to the DAR under Jacob were advised they would need additional proofs of service, but prior applicants remain in good standing. This was accomplished by another descendant, as mentioned in ref. # 2.
Update: 24 August 2013: Jacob Peck's patriot line was closed for a several years, at least 2007 to 2013, as the NS DAR Genealogists felt the evidence originally filed to establiish Jacob's service to the new nation, printed in Kegly's Frontier, was not sufficient to prove his patriotic service to the new nation. Later, another member of the NS DAR filed on Jacob as a supplemental patriot application, under the line of his daughter, Mary, who married Jacob Carper, furnishing proof of Patriotic Service (PS) VA. Proof Source: Library of Virginia, 1783 Botetourt County Personal Property Tax List, Reel#38, Henings Statues, Vol XI, pp 112-129. This writer had earlier submitted data, but it was not sufficient for re-establishing proof. However, the application for Jacob and Lydia's son Adam Peck from this writer WAS accepted. As of a letter received 24 August 2013 informing this writer of the rejection of her own proofs in regard to the patriotic service of Jacob Peck Sr., and also informing her of the acceptance of another DAR members proofs for the same man, Jacob Peck of Botetourt County, Virginia. Now, both father and son's records are again accepted by the NS DAR licensed, professional geneaologists. They are employed by the NS DAR in Washington, D.C. , not members.
[4] Adam Peck, born 13 Feb 1753, MD is (one of the) correct patriot for prospective DAR members to apply under at this time. His wife was Elizabeth Sharkey, daughter of Patrick Sharkey, also a DAR patriot. This writer also filed for our ancestor Sgt. Christopher Gayle, South Carolina; Elizabeth Gayle Peck’s father. She married first, Patrick Peck and second, his brother Adam Peck II; Susan also filed an application for Josiah Gayle, who she discovered had signed in 1775, “Revolutionary Papers for the Public Defence..of South Carolina” pledging his life, fortune and sacred honor until “hostilities between Britain and American cease”. Three of his sons, our own ancestor Christopher Gayle, also Josiah’s sons Caleb and Josiah Gayle II, were in the South Carolina Militia. Josiah II was captured by the British, jailed in Camden, SC, and drug out of jail by a Tory mob and hung on the spot. Our Christopher survived, and moved to West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, where he was living during the War of 1812.
[5] However, my “Moore” family came from an area near London, England, styled the name More, This family lived in an area called Princess Anne Co., VA on the Chesapeake Bay, at the birth of Obediah More II, who later was styled Obadiah Moore. Today, this area is called Virginia Beach County. The Moore family lived near Lynn Haven Bay.
[6] Termed Carpetbaggers, those who came from the north with a “carpetbag” suitcase to profit from Southerner’s loss of land, due to the worthlessness of Confederate money and high taxes required after the war by the new northern Government. Most southern families, required by law to trade gold for (now worthless) Confederate notes, went under financially. Those not ruined were greatly reduced in their circumstances. No other country to lose a war to the USA would ever suffer as much as the CSA: they were over a hundred years in recovering. The north feared the south would “rise again” and took drastic steps continuing for many decades to prevent this. Heading "west" to escape the Reconstruction south was expensive, requiring the equivalent today of $28,000 to outfit a wagon to travel west with a family. Both my own southern Peck and Moore family's left Georgia and Alabama to go to Texas or California. The Peck line stopped at Southwest Indian Territory after 40 days of travel, already suffering the loss of Elizabeth Gayle Peck, the widow of Adam Peck Jr. and a child of Adam Sharkey Peck, her grandson and his wife Ledora Lee Bewley Peck. The Moore line from Alabama, going west through Arkansas where they settled for a few years settled in northern Texas, in Grayson and Wise County. The southerners suffered, no matter which side they fought on. The Moore line descended from Enoch Moore, a soldier and scout in the USA army. The Peck line included both CSA veteran Adam Peck Jr., James Henry Peck, and Methodist Bewley ancestors hung in Texas for their abolitionist views. Then as now, politics varied.
Adam Peck II letter to Secretary of War in War of 1812, thanking him for is appointment as an officer, an Ensign, which was used in early days. Later, that became to be termed a Lt. Date 18 April, 1812.