Person:Andrew Davenport (1)

Family tradition says that Andrew moved from Whitley County, Kentucky to the Big Greenbrier Cove section of Sevier County, Tennessee (now in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, on the East Prong of the Pigeon River) around 1869 with his first wife Charlotte and their children. However, they appeared in the 1870 Sevier County census in Gatlinburg or its environs. Perhaps they later moved to Big Greenbrier. Sometime between 1870 and 1871, Charlotte must have died, because Andrew remarried on July 20, 1872 and had a child by his second wife Mary Ann (Whaley) in 1873. Mary Ann was the daughter of Perry Whaley who in 1870 was living in Big Greenbrier. According to oral history passed down by the Whaley side of the family, Andrew and Mary Ann died close together around 1896 "when Andrew, Jr. was 4" and "they died of TB" which was common in those days. The children of Andrew and Mary Ann were taken in as orphans by other families in Sevier County. The older boys by the first wife went back to Kentucky, except Simeon, who remained in Sevier County.

Andrew served on the Union side in the Civil War, #973577 Co. E 32nd Ky Infantry. In 1890, Andrew applied for a war pension, but it was denied. Officials claim that he deserted, but he said that he completed his enlistment. In 1891, he appealed, but lost again. His claim states that he was "lame in back and hip."

It may be significant that Andrew moved from the Wolf Creek community in Kentucky to Sevier County, Tennessee by the summer of 1870, around the same time that his father Daniel moved from Wolf Creek to the Marsh Creek community (now in McCreary County, Kentucky) by August 1870 (Bethel Church records). It may have had something to do with lingering Civil War tensions.

On April 3, 2003, I received the following from Vicki Davenport Haun of Sevier County (a distant cousin): "I have some information on Andrew Russell Davenport that I don't think you have. This was told to me by my grandfather Mack Daniel Davenport. Andrew was "Conscripted" into the Union Army from his field where he was working. While he was in the Civil War, he was run over by a wagon and had some disability though what it was is not clear (see above). When he returned to his family, the neighbors had burned down his house because he was fighting for "the wrong side." He found Charlotte and the children living in the corn crib. That is why he moved to Tennessee. Charlotte never recovered her health and died after the move. That is when Andrew married my great grandmother, Mary Ann "Polly" Whaley. They died in a influenza epidemic in the area. They were treated by Dr. Bruce Montgomery, whose wife was a relative of Polly. Mack lived with an aunt for some time, then was taken by Dr. Montgomery. When he was 13, Mack went to work for Little River Lumber Company. By the time he was 16, he was foreman over much older men. He worked in Elkmont, Smokemont, Fish Camp, and later in Hazel Creek, North Carolina. One of Mack's cousins, Nell, is still alive in Middlesboro. She sent me a wooden rolling pin that was hand made by Andy, as well as pictures of John Davenport, Mack's brother who was murdered, and one of her father, Marion."

Neither Andrew, Charlotte, nor Mary Ann have marked graves in Sevier County. By the time of Andrew's death, the male children by his first wife were grown and had gone back to Kentucky, except for Simeon. If Andrew and Mary Ann indeed had died of TB, then the local people would have hastened their burial, and with no kin around that can explain the lack of a headstone.

So far as this writer knows, Andrew was the first permanent Davenport resident of Sevier County, and is the ancestor via the second family of all the Davenports at Seymour, Tennessee and many of those at South Knoxville, Tennessee. His son Simeon by his first wife is the ancestor of the Davenports who lived around Sevierville and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Andrew was probably prompted to move from Whitley County, Kentucky because of Civil War conflicts with his surrounding community. He may have been prompted to move to the Big Greenbrier area of Sevier County, Tennessee because he may have had preceding relatives there. A John Davenport was one of the earliest settlers of that area, but I cannot tie him to Andrew.

Andrew's father Daniel moved out of Whitley County into McCreary County in August 1870, not long after Andrew left for Tennessee. There may have been some family estrangement from the community where they lived.

1. ↑ .

   Family oral history

2. ↑ .

   Second wife's family oral history. He and second wife are said to have died close together "of TB, when Andrew was 4". In 1900, their youngest children, Mack D. and Andrew R, Jr., were in the home of James E. Russell in Sevier County (1900 census).