Person:James Doran (5)

About Maj. James Doran

Maj. James Doran was supposedly married twice; first, to a daughter of Cherokee Indian Chief John Wood, and second to Linnea "Linnie" Russell, daughter of Matthew Russell and Verlinda Lamar. There is little information regarding the dates of either marriage or children by either. Additional information (with sources) would be welcome.

Information on Maj. James Doran

From National Park Service:

Russell Cave, Alabama - History

The actual history of Russell Cave extends back over 10,000 years. There was evidence of all prehistoric cultures of the Southeast being represented from Paleo people (before 12,000 B.C. - 7,000 B.C.), to Archaic people (7,000 B.C. - 1,000 B.C.), to Woodland (1,000 B.C. - 800 A.D.), and even includes Mississippian (800 A.D. - 1500 A.D.).

Although researchers have managed to figure this much out, the connections between the ancient people who occupied Russell Cave and modern day tribes is still unknown. Something drove the early Mississippians out of the area and speculations have been made concerning some type of agriculture disaster around 1500 A.D.

The first recorded person to own the cave was a man named John Woods. He was a veteran of the Revolutionary War and was one of the natives granted a reservation. The land he owned included all of Russell Cave, and the stone house he built there has survived to this day to be the oldest home still inhabited in Jackson County.

Eventually, a man named Major James Doran came to live on the reservation with Woods. Traces of John Woods disappeared, but Doran sold part of the reservation to a family member named Colonel Thomas Russell. It remained in the Russell family until 1928. The area is known as Doran’s Cove and the cave is known as Russell Cave, after the two men who inhabited the land. The cave was officially discovered in 1951 when the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) surveyed the area for the purpose of putting up power lines.

The site has since been excavated and many tell-tale artifacts have been discovered as a result. During these excavations the National Geographic Society purchased the site and offered it to the public as a national monument. President John F. Kennedy established the Russell Cave National Monument on May 11, 1961.

From "History of Jackson County, Alabama", by John Robert Kennamer:

About 1814 Paint Rock Valley was getting her first settlers. Captain James DORAN settled in Doran's Cove; Henry DERRICK came to Old Woodville in 1815, from East Tennessee; Hans KENNAMER and sons, Jacob, Samuel, Stephen and Abram were living in Kennamer Cove. John GROSS and family came down the Tennessee River in 1817.

Notes

http://pages.cthome.net/ktgone/pafg26.htm#790

Maj. James Doran was born in 1764 in VA. He died on Oct 28 1840 in Jackson Co., AL. He married Linnea Russell.

James and brother, Alexander, were in Battle of Kings Mtn. The original (and oldest house in AL) house that was lived in and built by James Doran (who married Linnea Russell - Thomas H. Russell's sister that came with him to AL) is still located in Doran's Cove, AL down the road from Russell Cave. James Doran and Andrew Jackson were friends. Jackson stayed in this home many times. There is a room called the president's room. In the older section of the house (which has been added to) there are the original holes for rifles to fit so they could shoot at the indians!

Linnea Russell "Linney" was born in 1789. She died on Feb 6 1852. She was buried in Goshen Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Franklin County, TN. She married Maj. James Doran.

Other marriages:

Brazleton, William

1.   .

   James Doran was born to James and Margaret Gordon Doran of Washington County, Virginia in 1764. As he got older with a raging war knocking on America's doorstep, James followed the footsteps of his father and older brother and joined the War of 1812, where he moved up in rank to Major. After the war, James Doran moved to Boxes Cove in the Northeast Corner of Alabama. He was the first white man to settle in this cove. It is believed that James Doran married the daughter of Captain John Woods, a Revolutionary War Veteran and Cherokee, who owned 640 acres of land in the cove that he obtained either by the Cherokee Treaty or Treaty of Washington. Apparently, an agreement was established between Captain John Woods and James Doran that James could have the property as long as John could have a home and the head seat at the table for the rest of his life. This cove was later renamed Doran's Cove in honor of James Doran.
   
   In the early 1800s, the James Doran and John Woods house was built in the cove. The first part of the house was built out of logs. The addition to the house was built of limestone blocks with walls sixteen inches thick. At the back of the stone portion of the house were small openings in a large X design. According to a curator at the Winchester museum house, "he advises visitors that the openings were made by leaving out bricks in the X pattern in order to allow the smoke to escape from the early smokehouse." This is the oldest house on record in Jackson County, Alabama, and is still occupied today. A small log house was built over a nearby spring for a refrigeration system for food.
   
   Across the road from Russell Cave, James Doran set aside land for a church that became the first church in the vicinity. It also became the area school.For students that came from far away a dormitory was built just back of the church. The land for a cemetery was to the right of the church. This is where James Doran's wife is buried.
   
   In 1830, James Doran began selling parcels of the 640 acres of land. On September 15, 1830, James Doran sold one of these parcels of land to Thomas Russell whose significance will be explained later. Around this time, James Doran married his 2nd wife Linney Russell, stepsister of Thomas Russell.
   
   On October 28, 1840 James Doran died and was buried in the Doran's Cove Cemetery. Linney remarried shortly after his death. She passed away on February 6, 1852 and was buried in Goshen Presbyterian Cemetery between Winchester and Cowan, Tennessee. John Woods also died in 1840 and rumor has it that he is buried in front of the Doran and Wood house. The land James Doran sold to Thomas Russell later becomes known as Russell Cave National Monument.
   
   https://www.nps.gov/ruca/learn/historyculture/john-woods-and-james-doran.htm

2.   Genealogy.com.

   From issue of the Jackson County Chronicles which has an article on John Wood: Friend of James Doran of Doran's Cove, written by Ann B. Chambless. The article is in Vol 9, Number 2, Issn-1071-2348, April 1997. The below information is taken from that article. John Wood and James Doran signed a covenant on June 16, 1817 in Franklin Co, TN. This is the same James Doran who built the stone section of the Doran House located in Doran's Cove near Russel Cove in the NE corner of Jackson Co. John Wood is a particially documented legend whose Cherokee heritage is proven by the 640 acre reservation granted him as a result of the US Treaty of July 8, 1817. Captain John Woods, Cherokee Native, was called Toochester by his fellow Cherokees. Bureau of Indian Affairs records prove that he was granted Cherokee Reserve No 34 located in Boxes Cove on July 10, 1817, exactly 24 days after the Doran-Wood agreement was signed in Franklin Co, TN. ....John Woods' reserve was surveyed in a boot-shaped plot...The 1817 agreement between John Wood and James Doran was signed in the presence of Thomas Russel, Sr (Russel Cave named after him)and Thomas Russel..(Wood deeded his reservation should he get one to Russell and Russel would treat him in the same friendly manner as he had done since Wood had lived with him)... The Doran house was most likely completed by 1819..as Doran sold his Franklin Co Tn land on Jan 20, 1821...1830 James Doran sold part of his Wood reservation to Thomas Russel Sr. Deed Book E, p.206...later Doran sold pat of the 640 acre reservation to Wm Jenkins in 1831 Deed Book E, p 42...Legend has it that John Wood lived with James Doran the rest of his life and was buried in a plot across the road from the Doran house..howerver, the Cherokee Emigration Roll Dec. 2, 1829 makes it appear that Old Mr. Wood and one or more of his sons voluntarily emigrated to AR Country...the actual roll shows Wm Wood, 1 in family, John Wood, 1 in family, Charles Wood, 1 in family, Old Mr. Wood, 1 in family, and Peggy Wilkinson and family, 13 in her family..All of the above showed their residence as Nickajack...closest Cherokee holding to Doran's Cove...Another very interesting legal document relative to the John Wood-James Doran reserve is found in Jackson County, Al Deed Book D, pages 267-270..Charles Wood alias Wilkerson of the Cherokee Nation of Indians of AR madea a deed to James Elliott of Cherokee Nation-State of Alabama whereby Charles Wood conveyed "a certain tract parcel of land situated, lying and being in Jackson County, Al known by name of John Wood Reservation in Doran's Cove"... The metes and bounds in Charles Wood's deed to James Elliott are exactly the same as in survey for John Wood and James Doran...The Charles Wood deed also states that Charles Wood alias Wilinson is "heir at law of the said John Wood"...Charles Wood signed the 1832 deed in Washington Co, AR...Although the deed from Charles Wood to James Elliott was recorded in Jackson Co, Al, probate office, it is obvious that James Eliott never gained possession...James Doran lived on this property until his death in 1840. When his wife died in 1852, the property was sold by heirs. End of summary of Ann's article..Note: Thomas Russell Sr and a son, Lorenzo Russell owned part of the reservation..Lorenzo Russell was the father of Col. Alfred A Russell, 4th Al Cav. Regiment, who left Al to reside in Brazil after the war..rather than take an oath! Also, James Elliot was also on the 1817 Emigration Roll. I don't know what kin he was to Joseph Elliot (Ellet) who also received a reservation at old Woodville, Jackson Co, Al and to Peggy Elliott-wife of Sutton Stephens, who also received a reservation in old Woodville area..and to Catharine Elliott-wife of Richard Cheek..Catharine left for AR Territory under command of Lieut. Harris..Raymond, you might want to contact Ann Chambless-Jackson County Historical Association, Post Office Box 1494, Scottsboro, Al 35768. Perhaps you can obtain back issues of the Jackson County Chronicles..Ann is the greatest when it comes to Jackson Co History!
   
   https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/wilkerson/3071/

3.   Find A Grave.

   Maj James Doran
   Birth 1764
   Death 28 Oct 1840 (aged 75–76)
   Burial
   Dorans Cove Cemetery
   Jackson County, Alabama, USA
   
   Inscription:
   
   IN MEMORY OF MAJ. JAMES DORAN WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE OCTOBER 28TH 1840 IN THE 76TH YEAR OF HIS AGE. HE LEFT AN AFFECTIONATE WIFE AND A NUMEROUS CIRCLE OF FRIENDS TO MOURN HIS DEATH HIS WHOLE LIFE WAS ONE CONTINUED SCENE OF PHILANTHROPIC BENEVOLENCE IN HIS DEATH THE POOR HAVE LOST A REAL FRIEND AND A USEFUL ONE. HE IS GONE BUT HIS FRIENDS SHOULD NOT SORROW AS THOSE THAT HAVE NO HOPE, FOR HE LEFT THIS WORLD IN TRIUMPH OF A LIVING FAITH AND OF A HAPPY MORTALITY. HE TAUGHT US HOW TO LIVE AND OH TOO HIGH THE PRICE OF KNOWLEDGE TAUGHT US HOW TO DIE.
   
   https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20668849