Person:James Gillespie (20)

Children

James (Smoking Jimmy) Gillespy b. 1772, Augusta Co., VA, m. Eleanor "Ellen" Cowan and had the following children:

1. John Finley GILLESPY b. abt 1793, Blount Co., TN; d. (per Dan Welch) 19 Jan 1848 in Nashville, TN (in Hotel Fire, while attending a session of the Legislature)
   
2. William Cowan GILLESPY, MD b: 24 Mar 1797 in Blount Co., TN; d: 28 Mar 1860 in Blount Co., TN
   m. Narcissa ______ "Nancy" SHARP (b: 21 Jul 1802 in Maryville, Blount Co., TN; d: 21 Jan 1884) on 06 Sep 1821 in Blount Co., TN
3. James Houston GILLESPY, MD b: 04 Feb 1799 in Blount Co., TN; d: 18 Oct 1881 in Miller's Cove/Walland, Blount Co., TN
   m. Elizabeth Baldridge TUCKER b. 1791: d: 19 Dec 1844
4. Jane Walker GILLESPY 03 Nov 1800 in TN; d: 26 Jun 1882 in Canonsburg, PA
   m. David ______ CARSON, Rev. b: 25 Oct 1799 in Fayette Co., PA; d: 25 Sep 1834 in Canonsburg, PA
5. Campbell _____ GILLESPY b: 09 Sep 1802; d: 20 Nov 1886 in TN
   m.#1 Hannah C_____ WALLACE b. 1811; d: 1853
   m.#2 Ann ______ HOLIDAY b: 04 May 1833; d: 03 Mar 1890 in Little River, Blount Co., TN

Documentation

• 1840 census -- unknown --

There is a James Gillespie in the 1840 Blount County census; however, he is way too young to be Smoking Jimmy because he's between the ages of 30-39 ... and if James was born in 1772, then he was 68 in 1840.

So, the 1840 Blount Co. James Gillespy/Gillespie is not Smoking Jimmy.

There is speculation Smoking Jimmy moved with the Carsons to Pennsylvania in 1834; and, thus, would not be in the 1840 Blount Co. census. However, he is not found elsewhere in the 1840 census. (See 1840 census note below.)

• 1850 census, PA, Washington Co., Canonsburg, shows James Gillaspie (78, VA) in his daughter’s household (Jane W Carson).

• 1860 census, PA, Beaver Co., Racoon Township, M653_1071, 07/25/1860, p. 662 shows James Gillespie (87, VA) in his grandson’s household … daughter, Jane Walker (Gillespy) Carson, is also in Rev. David Carson’s household (her son).

(David has not married as of the 1840 census.)

Oral tradition (legend) was that James Gillespy died while visiting his daughter, Jane Walker (Gillespy) Carson; however, from the census information above, he clearly moved to PA sometime prior to the 1850 census, as he is enumerated there in both the 1850 and 1860 census. Giving further credence to his removal from TN to PA is the following excerpt from the United Presbyterian Church History:

A History for the 225th Anniversary of the Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church

Chapter 3: The United Presbyterian Church at Canonsburg (Greenside Church, formerly the Speer Spring Congregation)

"When the Carsons had moved to Canonsburg from Tennessee, Mrs. Carson’s family, the Gillespies [emphasis added], came with them. The Gillespie family brought two emancipated slaves with them to Canonsburg. From these two former slaves came the black Gillespie and Caldwell families — highly respected citizens and members of this congregation for many years."

[From this information, one can conclude that the two "free persons of color" (1 male and 1 female) in Jane Walker (Gillespy) Carson's household in the 1840 census were these two manumuted slaves ... and that Smoking Jimmy moved with the Carson family.]

1840 Census Note:

• David Carson (Jane Walker Gillespy's husband) died in Canonsburg, PA in 1834 (shortly after the family arrived there).

Thus, in 1840, Jane Walker (Gillespy) Carson is head of houshold -- Cannonsburg, Washington, Pennsylvania; Roll: 499; Page: 216;

• Of interest with this census is that Jane is not enumerated with her children ... yet, she should be, as a female 30-39.
• This census shows ONLY ... 2 males 5-9 and 1 female under 5 ... and 1 free male (person of color) and 1 free female(person of color).

(Shows NO adults in the household. It is highly unlikely that three children under age 10 were living alone.)

• Since Jane was very obviously omitted from the census, speculation is that Smoking Jimmy (who moved with the Carson family in 1834) was also omitted!

Surname Variations

The GillespY surname has several spelling variations -- e.g., GillespIE, Gillespy, Gillaspy, Gillsapie, Gilaspy, Gilaspie, Gillispy/Gillispie, etc. -- found in various documents and, sometimes, multiple spellings within the same document.

It seems likely that in the 18th century settlement the differences in spelling represented individual idiosyncracies in how different record takers chose to spell the name, and not necessarily the spelling chosen by a specific individual. Thus, as has been discovered by this research, the surname for a single individual may differ between census, may appear one way on a marriage license, may appear differently on a will, land record, tax record, pension record, military record, etc. ... or have multiple spellings even within the same document. How the surname was spelled may have been due to whether the person involved in the transaction knew how to read/write or the document was being written for him/her, whether the person giving the census info was the family member/neighbor, etc. To further muddy the waters, are indexes and transcriptions where the person had trouble reading the old handwriting.

For example, the Cowan Bible records has Rosanna Gillaspie, her Blount Co. marriage license has Gillaspy and Gillespy on the inside and Gillespie on the front, and her pension application for her husband's Indian Wars service has Gillespie. To disregard these spelling variations would cause a researcher to overlook and/or disregard important documents and clues about relevant family data without investigation and analysis of their applicability to a specific family member.

Thus, one cannot reject the GillespIE spelling for individuals (particularly in 18th and early 19th century documents) as not being related to James GillespY and Eleanor Cowan. In following the descendants of "Smoking Jimmie" and Eleanor Cowan through to the present day, the bulk of the GillespY descendants at some point elected to use the GillespIE spelling – even though this may not be their original ancestor's spelling.

In recent years some family lines may have permanently adopted a specific spelling, which may or may not have been the spelling of their ancestor. Some researchers, however, are of the opinion that the differences in spelling reflect real differences in heritage. This seems to be a minority opinion, but one strongly held by some researchers. Perhaps, the choice of spelling reflected political separation, strongly differing viewpoints on other matters, a family feud/rift, or just personal choice, etc. -- for example, a story about two branches of the Wellborn family is that they held differing Revolutionary War loyalties which resulted in one branch spelling the name WELLBORN and the other deliberately changing the vowels and electing a spelling of WILLBURN.

1. ↑ Http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pamonval/bios/biocarsondw.htm.

   [Jane Carson] was the daughter of James and Eleanor (Walker) Gillispie, of Blount county, Tennessee. Her father followed the vocation of farming and was a man of high standing in the community. He was a democrat in his political affiliation and served as a member of the legislature, being also a friend of President James K. Polk. He had gone to Tennessee from Virginia, where he was born, and his death occurred in Beaver county, Pennsylvania. His wife was a native of Tennessee and died in Maryville, that state.

2.   Http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cascgs/finley/aqwg03.htm.
3.   Http://www.canonsburgup.org/History/02greenside.html.

   A History for the 225th Anniversary of the Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church
   Chapter 3: The United Presbyterian Church at Canonsburg (Greenside Church, formerly the Speer Spring Congregation)
   
   "When the Carsons had moved to Canonsburg from Tennessee, Mrs. Carson’s family, the Gillespies [emphasis added], came with them. The Gillespie family brought two emancipated slaves with them to Canonsburg. From these two former slaves came the black Gillespie and Caldwell families — highly respected citizens and members of this congregation for many years."
   
   [From this information, one can conclude that the two "free persons of color" (1 male and 1 female) in Jane Walker (Gillespy) Carson's household in the 1840 census were these two manumuted slaves ... and that Smoking Jimmy moved with the Carson family.]

4.   Http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12443997.

   Photo of James "Smoking Jimmy" Gillespy's tombstone at Oak Spring Cemetery, Canonsburg, Beaver Co., PA