JAMES A. HATHCOCK108

One of the older sons of Peyton and Cherry Morris Hathcock was James A. Hathcock. According to the census records, he was born about 1825 in Alabama. I have not searched the Alabama records for him but he was probably married in Alabama before 1850. By the time of the 1860 census was taken he had moved to Haywood County, Tennessee. He is listed with his wife, Mary, and children William L. age 11, Sarah age 7, Martin L. age 5, James age 4, Mildred E. age 2 and Nancy age 4/12. All of the children are shown as being born in Alabama, however some of the younger ones are shown as born in Tennessee on the 1870 census.

The reason that I am sure that James A. was the son of Peyton and Cherry Morris Hathcock is that by the time of the 1870 census Cherry had also moved to Tennessee and was living with James A. James A. Hathcock was listed on the 1870 census in District #8 of Haywood county, Tennessee as 46 years of age. His wife, Mary, was 36. Their children are shown as James 15, Nanne 11, John 7 and Edward 5. All the children are stated to have been born in Tennessee but the two older ones may have been born in Alabama. Listed in the same household was Cherry Hathcock age 71 and Raun (Roma) 36. Raun was the youngest daughter of Peyton and Cherry Hathcock.

There are many records showing James A. Hathcock in Haywood County between 1860 and 1879. In April 1860 he was shown in District #2 on the delinquent tax list. In October 1861 he was appointed a minute man in District #7 (Brownsville). He was appointed a County Guard in District #7 in December 1861. In 1865 he was a witness in a lawsuit and was also on a jury. He is probably the James H. Heathcock who was in the Civil War in 31st Tennessee Infantry, Company E. His half brother, John T. Hathcock, was also in Company D of the 31st Infantry. He is shown on tax lists in District #8 in 1865, 1866 and 1867. The tax lists are not complete or he would probably have been listed on others. During this period he is shown as a buyer at several estate sales. He was indicted for an affray in 1871. At an estate sale in 1879 there is listed a note on James Hathcock, deceased. The handwriting is bad and the name of James has been written over, but I believe it to be James. I did not find James anywhere in Tennessee on the 1880 census so more than likely he did die about 1879. I have searched the census records for any of his children after 1870 and have been unable to locate any of them for sure. Even though the census records do not show James having a son named Robert, I believe that Robert Jackson Hathcock, born in Brownsville in 1864, was the son of James A. Hathcock.

James and Mary Hathcock apparently moved from Madison Co AL to Brownsville, Haywood Co TN, in 1860, since they were listed in the 1860 census in Haywood Co (recorded 14 July 1860). All of the children through Nancy were listed as having been born in AL in the 1860 census, but in the 1870 census (see following), James and Nancy are said to have been born in TN.

The family is also recorded in the 1870 census of Haywood Co TN; Cherry Hathcock, James’s mother, and Roma, his younger sister Roma, also lived with them at that time.

1870 Census of District 8, Haywood Co TN

Name Age
Janes Heathcock 46
Mary Heathcock 36
James Heathcock 13
Nannie Heathcock 11
Jno Heathcock 7 (this may be Robert Jackson Hathcock, who went by “Jack”)
Edward Heathcock 5
Chery Heathcock 70
Roein Heathcock 36