Family:Claiborne Hall and Elizabeth Herod (1)

Claiborne HALL was born about 1787 or 1788 in Virginia. Different census records in later life provide a slightly different age but the birthdate can be narrowed to one of these two years. His origins in Virginia are still being researched at this time but it is believed he came to Smith County, Tennessee before 1810.

The first record found for Claiborne is a notice concerning a dead letter left at the Carthage, Tennessee post office as of 31 March 1811. The letter was addressed to both Nathan and Claiborne HALL. Another dead letter was left at the post office addressed to "Nathan or Claiborne HALL." Carmack KEY, late historian of Smith County, stated that Nathan and Claiborne were brothers. Indeed the 1850 and 1860 census records of Smith County do indicate that Nathan HALL was born in Virginia around 1792. Claiborne and Nathan HALL married sisters Elizabeth and Frances HEROD, the daughters of William HEROD, Senior, a Revolutionary War soldier who removed from Spotsylvania County, Virginia to Smith County in 1808. Elizabeth HEROD was born about 1789 or 1791 in Stafford County, Virginia and had removed to Spotsylvania County with her parents and siblings in 1792. The HEROD family came to Smith County in 1808.

On 25 March 1812 Claiborne HALL purchased a tract of land in Smith County on the waters of Taylors branch. This tract is described as 37 acres. Witnesses to the deed were William HEROD and Daniel M. LANE, father-in-law and brother-in-law of Claiborne. LANE was married to Mary Ann HEROD. Claiborne’s land is also described as a 25 acre tract in a deed of John WALTERS to his daughter Jean. The date on this second deed was 7 February 1812 so it is believed that Claiborne had intended to purchase perhaps 25 acres but when deed was made in March, the total acreage was 37 acres. The wording on the WALTERS to WALTERS deed states that 25 acres had been previously conveyed to Claibourn HALL, however the deed from WALTERS to HALL was not actually made until 25 March.

The land which Claiborne purchased on Taylors branch is located in the First District of Smith County north of the present-day city of Carthage and south of present-day Monoville near the Tanglewood community. Taylors Branch was a branch of Peyton’s Creek. The area in which Claiborne lived was known as Hall’s Hill, a name by which it is still called to this day. Some present-day maps use this designation when referring to this area.

The community of Tanglewood in which Claiborne HALL lived was a large valley located on the Cumberland River. It is described as a place of abundant streams, rolling hills, and jagged bluffs. The soil is described as the most fertile between Burnside in Kentucky and where the Cumberland River empties into the Mississippi. It was in this valley on one of those rolling hills that Claiborne HALL settled and raised his family. The hill on which he lived reminds one of a little mountain - it goes almost straight up.

Other early Smith County land transactions point to a possible early family connection for Claiborne HALL. On 11 March 1815, Thomas HALL, assignee of John C. MCLEMORE, received a land grant from the state of Tennessee for 30 acres on the waters of Peytons Creek. This land bordered that of William HEROD. This 30 acre tract was sold on 4 April 1815 to William HEROD, Senior. Thomas HALL entered another six acre tract of 3 March 1815. This land was described as being in the First District on the waters of Peyton’s Creek in Smith County.

The census enumerator for Smith County in 1820 decided to helpfully arrange the census in semi-alphabetical order. Thus, all the surnames beginning with “H” are listed together. By doing this, of course, one loses the “flavor” of the neighborhood so crucial to genealogical research. In any case, another significant clue to a possible relationship is found in this census. Thomas HALL is listed immediately after Claiborne HALL in the 1820 census.

Nathan HALL appears to have lived in Smith County during this time as well though no entry is found for him in the 1820 census. One possibility is that he is the male of 26 years and under 45 years found in the household of Thomas HALL. Nathan served in Captain Anthony H. METCALFE’s company from Smith County in the War of 1812, however, his service record is silent on an exact place of birth. Nathan HALL served as a juror on 15 February 1815. An additional reference to him is found as a witness to a deed dated 28 July 1817 from Joel DYER to Daniel M. LANE. The land was on Paytons Creek and is said to be the plantation on “which Big Joel DYER now lives, being a tract of land granted to the heirs of John DYER.”

Before 1820, only two references are found to Claiborne HALL in Smith County court records. On 8 May 1815, he and others were permitted to return to the county court a list of their taxables for the year 1815. On 9 November 1818, he was appointed as a road overseer. Claiborne was again appointed as road overseer from Anold? Tanyard to a 4 mile post on 29 November 1824. This record indicated he was to have the same hands that worked under John BAKER, former overseer.

By 1820, Claiborne’s family was rapidly growing. The census that year found him with one daughter of 10 and under 16 years of age and 5 daughters under the age of 10. The daughter age 10 and under 16 has not been identified but is believed to have lived until at least 1830. The 5 daughters under 10 are believed to be Sally, Emmaline, Mary Ann, Susan, and Roxey. By the 1830 census, Claiborne’s family had grown even larger and all his known children are believed to have been living in his household at that time. The census that year reflected his household as 1 male under 5 (Archibald W.), 1 male 30 and under 40 (Claiborne himself though his age doesn’t match exactly with later records), 1 female under 5, (Martha), 2 females 5 and under 10 (Rebecca and Eliza), 2 females 10 and under 15 (Susan and Roxey), 4 females 15 and under 20 (Sally, Emmaline, Mary Ann, and the unidentified daughter who was age 10 and under 16 in the 1820 census).

In 1836 Elizabeth’s father died and a dispute over the contents of his will took Claiborne and Elizabeth all the way to the Tennessee Supreme Court. William HEROD made out two wills - one dated 14 April 1830 and another dated 17 May 1830. Further information on this dispute will be found in the section of this book on the HEROD family, but it is significant to note that Claiborne HALL’s bond on this appeal to the Supreme Court was signed by four individuals: John BAKER, Don C. DIXON, Timothy WALTON, and Archibald W. OVERTON. It is believed that Claiborne’s only son Archibald W. HALL was named for Archibald Waller OVERTON, a prominent lawyer in the Carthage community and a native of Louisa County, Virginia. OVERTON was born in 1789, the son of Waller OVERTON and Martha RAGLAND. A possible family connection with the HALLs is suspected.

In 1837 Claiborne was found in dire straits. His family at this time was quite large and included two grandchildren born to his unmarried daughter Susan. On 20 October 1837 he mortgaged his farm as well as a six year old gray mare, a roan filly one year old, one barn of tobacco, and his stock of cattle to a neighbor John BAKER. The firm of GREEN & SLOAN had recovered a judgment for $75.87 against Claiborne but the judgment was stayed by BAKER as security. Further financial trouble is indicated by the court minutes of Thursday, 28 December 1837 in which Elijah TONEY, James R. TONEY, and Allen G. WATKINS sue Claiborne HALL for a debt of $31.76. Summons was issued to him and judgment was made by confession in favor of the plaintiffs. The court record states that no good or chattels of the defendant in the county are to be found and a levy was placed on his real estate. Claiborne’s creditors appear to have been patient, however, as a deed dated 14 June 1840 is found in which James R. TONEY conveys the land back to him for the amount of the judgment plus the costs of the suit. The land is described at this time as 37 ½ acres and bounded by the lands of Thomas WEATHERFORD, Samuel HIGH, and the heirs of John BAKER. BAKER was a neighbor.

By 1840 most of Claiborne’s older daughters had married and established households of their own in the county. The census taker that year found him with 1 male under 5 (grandson Eusibius P. HALL), 3 males of 5 and under 10 (believed to be grandsons William C. and John HALL and son Archibald W.), 1 male 40 and under 50 (Claiborne), 1 female of 10 and under 15 (Martha), 2 females of 15 and under 20 (Rebecca and Eliza), 1 female of 20 and under 30 (Susan), and 1 female of 50 and under 60 (his wife Elizabeth). Eusibius P., William C., and John HALL were sons of Claiborne’s unmarried daughter Susan.

By 1850 the burden of caring for these grandchildren was indeed heavier as Susan had two additional children - Sarah, born about 1840 and Martha J., born 1843. All were found living with Claiborne. All of Claiborne’s own children except Susan had by this time married and established their own homes. Sally married Adam C. PERKINS and resided in Smith County. Emmaline married David C. CANADAY and moved to Obion County, Tennessee where her death occurred between 1843 and 1848. Mary Ann married Joshua B. COX and resided in Wayne County, Kentucky. Roxey married John BOSTON, Rebecca married Allen PIPER, and Eliza married Bethel Jabe GREGORY. These three daughters resided in Smith County. The two youngest children had removed to Independence County, Arkansas. Martha had married James M. BOSTON and headed to Arkansas after a brief stint in Kentucky. Archibald W., the only son, married Harriet EVITTS and left for Arkansas with her father Moses. It is interesting to note the next door neighbor of Claiborne HALL in the 1850 census was William C. CAMPBELL, future governor of Tennessee.

During the late 1850s as the older grandchildren of Susan’s were beginning to marry and establish their own homes, Claiborne and Elizabeth took in three other grandchildren. William Archibald B., Rebecca, and Elizabeth BOSTON, orphans of John and Roxey BOSTON, were raised by Claiborne and Elizabeth HALL. By 1860, their household consisted of Claiborne, age 72 farmer, born in Virginia, Betsy, age 71, born in Virginia, Sarah HALL, age 18, born Tennessee, Archibald BOSTON, age 14, born Tennessee, Rebecca B., age 12, born Tennessee, and Betsy J., age 10, born Tennessee. An apparent farmhand Wiley DAVIS, age 24, born North Carolina, completed the picture. Claiborne and Elizabeth were listed as unable to read and write. Claiborne’s real estate was valued at $600 and his personal estate at $1,500. Living near them were grandsons William C. HALL and John HALL and their families.

An old ledger book in the Smith County Archives with no name (appears to be that of a blacksmith and repair shop) provides an entry for Claiborne HALL for the year 1856 - On page 15 of the book, Claiborne HALL is listed with "1 links in log chain - .20.

The Civil War period must have been one of the most difficult of Claiborne’s life. Sometime during the 1860s, Elizabeth HEROD HALL died. She had remained by her husband’s side for over 50 years and no doubt her death left a huge void in the household. Several of his grandsons served on both sides of the civil conflict that engulfed the nation during these years. The three boys of his daughter Susan who had grown up in his household all fought in the conflict (William C. and Eusibius P. had moved to Illinois and served in the Union army; John joined the Confederacy, was captured at Gettysburg, and died in prison). Claiborne’s son Archibald W. was briefly a Confederate soldier in Arkansas. His son-in-law James M. BOSTON died enlisted in the Confederate army and died early in the conflict. Other grandsons fought on both sides in the war.

By the time of the 1870 census, the family was listed as Claiborne HALL, age 82, Rebecky BOSTON, age 22, occupation - Keeping house, and Bettie J., age 19, at home. Claiborne’s real estate that year was valued at $400 and his personal estate at $500.

Throughout the latter part of his life, Claiborne’s name appeared in few official records. He was listed on the county tax rolls, paying taxes on his same plot of land on Hall’s Hill north of Carthage in Civil District One. In December 1870, his two granddaughters married brothers, William E. and Marion Mitchell PAYNE, thus leaving Claiborne to live alone for the first and only time. In 1873, he was, however, subjected to what may have been considered a final indignity. That year, he was served with a summons and named as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by the grandchildren he had raised (the children of John and Roxey HALL BOSTON). Claiborne had signed as security for his son-in-law Allen PIPER as guardian of the BOSTON children after their father’s death. The children were now suing PIPER and also Claiborne HALL for control of the real estate of their father. No doubt Claiborne’s heart sank when the sheriff’s deputy climbed the hill to serve the 85 year old with the summons. There is no evidence that Claiborne actually took any part in the court proceedings.

Claiborne HALL’s death appears to have occurred in late November or early December 1874. Smith County historian Carmack KEY stated that he was buried in the Woodard Cemetery near his home. The grave and that of his wife there are unmarked. A visit by the author to this cemetery failed to uncover any headstone for either of them. William WOODARD, for whom the cemetery was named, was a neighbor of Claiborne.

A request for letters of administration on the estate of Claiborne HALL was filed in Smith County Circuit Court by J. H. NICKSON on 7 December 1874. A request for administration was usually filed about two weeks after a decedent’s death. The court minutes for that date state that Claiborne HALL had departed this life intestate in Smith County, Tennessee, leaving an estate.

The administrator on 4 January 1875 filed his inventory of the estate as follows:

Claiborn HALL’s Estate Inventory

Sold at public sale upon notice given

       A.M. BOSTON		one bed stead & clothing			$12.50 
       A.M. BOSTON		one spinning wheel			$  4.00

Adam PERKINS 1 shot gun Paid $ 1.00 Adam PERKINS 1 saddle $ 1.00 James OLDHAM 1 Bay Mare $34.00 James OLDHAM 1 Bridal $ 0.30

By the terms of said sales, twelve month credit was given on all sums over five dollars and A. M. BOSTON gave his note for $16.50 with A. W. NUNLEY security and James OLDHAM gave his note for $34.30 with A. PERKINS & P. G. DILLARD securities which notes are believed to be full good.

I have also to report as coming into my hands as Adm. of Claiborn HALL, deceased, the following notes: 1 note on Wm. DOWNS with Wm. WOODARD security for twenty dollars payable one day after date dated May 1st, 1874 with a credit of $6.00 entered __? July 1874. 1 note on Wm. DOWNS with Wm. WOODARD security for forty dollars due 1st of January 1875.

State of Tennessee Smith County This day personally appeared before me S. ALLISON, Clerk of said County, Hamp NIXON and made oath that the within inventory of the estate of Claiborne HALL, decd. is true to the best of his knowledge and belief. This January the 4th, 1875.

S. ALLISON, CLERK J. H. NIXON, Adm.

By 12 January 1875, there was a partition suit styled as Adam C. PERKINS, etal vs. Mary ETHERIDGE etals upon the books concerning Claiborne’s estate. This type of suit was usually a “friendly” suit filed by the resident heirs against the non-resident heirs to settle an estate and provide for a distribution of the same. By 1 February 1875 the court was seeking to appoint a guardian for Arthula E. PAYNE, a great-grandchild of Claiborne HALL. This young infant was left motherless by the death of Rebecca E. BOSTON PAYNE. W. W. FERGUSSON was appointed guardian ad litem for the minor child.

In the minutes for the session of court on 8 February 1875, the names of all defendants in the case were listed.

Minutes Qorom Term, Eighth day of February 1875

Adam C. PERKINS & others vs. County County (sp) Court February Term 1875 Mary ETHERIDGE & others

In this cause, it appearing to the Court that Mary ETHERIDGE, Susan HALL, Martha BOSTON, Archabald HALL, J. B. GREGORY and his wife Eliza GREGORY, Emily Jane CANIDAY, A. E. PAYNE, and J. H. NICKSON have all been served with process, and are properly before the Court, A. E. PAYNE, and J. H. NICKSON, residents defendants, by subpoena to answer and copy of bill regularly served upon them more than five days before the present term of this Court; and all the other aforesaid defendants being nonresidents of Tennessee, publication was duly made according to law more than thirty days before the present term hereof requiring them to appear and make defense to complainant’s Bill; and that said defendants Mary ETHERIDGE, Susan HALL, Martha BOSTON, Archabald HALL, J. B. GREGORY, Eliza GREGORY, and Emily Jane CANIDAY having failed to appear and make defense to complainant’s Bill, it therefore ordered that said bill be taken for confess, and the cause set for hearing ex parte as to them.

Basically as was normal in such cases, the court served summons on the defendants who were residents of the state and all others were considered to have been notified by a publication in the local newspaper. The case was set for hearing without the answer of the defendants.

On the same date (8 February 1875), the following is found in the minutes:

Be it remembered that this cause came on to be heard before the Worshipful County Court presiding at Carthage, Smith County, Tennessee on this the 8th day of February 1875, upon the pleadings, Bill, and answers and the orders for confesses: When it appeared to the Court that all the parties are properly before the Court. It further appeared that Claiborne HALL died intestate in Smith County on --- day of --- 1874, leaving no widow, and the complainants and defendants in this cause are all (except J. H. NICKSON) the only surviving heirs, and distributees of said deceased. The personal estate is now being wound up by the said NICKSON, the administrator, that said deceased owned at his death, the lands described in the pleadings in this cause. And it appearing to the Court that this is a proper case for a reference. It is therefore refered to the Clerk to hear and take proof and report instant if practable, if not, then to the next term of this court, whether said tract of land is suceptible of advantageous partition and whether the same of such a description that it would be manifestly to the interest of all concerned that it should be sold for partition instead of being partitioned in kind. What said lands is worth per acre on a credit of 6 and 12 months and 12 and 24 months.

The land was eventually sold to S. M. PHELPS and the money was distributed to Claiborne’s heirs. Some of the receipts for this money are found in Smith County, Tennessee Administrator’s Receipts books. Each child received approximately $37.07. The heirs of Claiborne’s deceased children received a prorated share of their parent’s portion.

Claiborne HALL lived for about 86 years. The few documents surviving today do not indicate much about him. His origins are quite obscure. His exact date of birth, marriage, and death are unknown. He lived over 63 years on the top of a hill named for him north of Carthage. He did not deal in land speculation, he owned no slaves, nor did he ever serve in the military. While others of his generation had the wanderlust and moved from place to place, he appears to have been content with life farming his hill. His marriage to Elizabeth HEROD produced nine daughters and one son who have descendants scattered across the United States, but Claiborne HALL died alone as an old man on his hilltop.