John Gilliland was probably born before 1765. He was the son of James Gilliland and Hannah Laird.2 (This is based on the 1810 Federal census for Rutherford County, Tennessee where a John Gilliland was listed. See below). John Gilliland married Sarah Berry, daughter of John Berry and Jane Campbell, on 27 December 1787.3,4
According to a letter written in 1876 by Hugh C. Berry, nephew of Sarah Berry, and transcribed in the book William Allen Berry and Ollie Marie Butler Their Ancestors and Descendants, John and Sarah, along with Thomas Berry, James McFerrin, and James Berry, and their families, moved to Tennessee early in their lives to the Stones River or Cumberland country. Stones River is in Rutherford County, Tennessee. The following information probably pertains to John.
1810 Federal Census:
Gilliland, John - with a household of one male under 10, three males 16-25, one male 45+, two females under 10, two females 10-15, and one female 26-44
1812 Tax List
Gilliland, John, Sr.
Gilliland, John, Jr. (possibly John Berry Gilliland?).5,6
Children of John Gilliland and Sarah Berry
◦John Berry Gilliland+7 b. c Jan 1790, d. 1857
◦James Gilliland+ b. bt 1791 - 1800, d. b 19 Jun 1835
◦Jane Gilliland b. c 1797, d. 3 Sep 1858
◦Samuel B. Gilliland+8 b. 12 Dec 1804, d. 21 Dec 1856
◦Elizabeth Gilliland9 b. 27 Oct 1807, d. 22 May 1897
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~elsinger/gilliland/p49.htm#i1493
