SCRAMBLED  ALLEN  GENTRYS

of Georgia, Tennessee and Missouri
Too Many Eggs in One Pan?

by
Willard Gentry
Revised April 2012, August 2014

Introduction
Within four generations of descent from Samuel-II and David-II Gentry, one can count at least twenty Gentrys with Allen as a part of their name. Most of these can be traced easily from father to son, but there are a half-dozen that have been a source of confusion and controversy for many years. In fact, a form of sub-culture of genealogists has grown up around this handful of Allens, all of whose families originated in South Carolina, who then went on to Georgia, Tennessee and Missouri. In this article, the author proposes a pattern of relationships that he believes best answers the questions concerning their line of descent from Samuel and David. It is to be understood that the material presented is supported by very little direct documentary evidence, rather most of it is based upon logical deductions gained from the scanty evidence on hand. The original article that was published in May 2005 was revised in April 2012 with multiple corrections and additions reflecting changes since the earlier date, in the author's interpretation of the structure of the early Nicholas Gentry family. There were also significant changes in proposals for the relationship between the various Allens. The present article is a second revision with only minor changes and addition of a map.

Methodology
The evidence used for this study consists mostly of census records. Where they exist, these are valuable, but in early Georgia and Tennessee, for example, census records have been lost, and even when such records still exist, the families we are studying, in several cases were not included in the census. The census evidence has been supplemented by fragmentary marriage records, tax lists, military service records, court records and such. Beyond that, the author has had to depend on reason and judgment.

A chart of Allen Gentrys is shown below. It is in condensed form, including only those lines of descent from Samuel-II Gentry and from David-II Gentry that contained an Allen Gentry. It has been restricted to a maximum of four generations after the parent Gentry. As a means of positively identifying which Allen is which within this confusing mass, we are using the "Henry" enumeration system. This assigns one digit for each generation of descent, indicating the order of birth for that individual in his family. Similar to the Soundex system, we have prefixed the letter "G" to these numbers to indicate "Gentry". To explain further, we can take Samuel-III as an example. He is the youngest or next to youngest of the children of Samuel (who being probably the fourth child of Nicholas-I Gentry, is numbered "G4"), is assigned the number "G49". All of his children are assigned numbers by adding another digit depending upon their relative order. Thus his son Allen becomes "G491" since he was the oldest child of Samuel. Each new generation builds in this way upon the last. In those cases where there are ten or more children, the Henry system uses alphabetical characters in the manner of the hexadecimal system used in mathematics and computer sciences. Ten is represented by "A", eleven becomes "B", and so on. In the not infrequent cases where Gentry cousins married and the mother was a Gentry, the numbering proceeds from the father. This provides unique identification that is valid within this article. The Henry numbers used here are not reliable in an outside context, however. The absolute value of the number may change when used in other contexts due to addition, deletion, or re-ordering of children within a family which then affects not only the numbers of all of the following descendants, but also those of any siblings.

As indicated above, most of the Allens in the chart pose no problem or relatively minor problems for genealogists. We will concentrate on just five problem Allens shown in bold type in the chart below and indicated further as "Allen-A" to "Allen-E". They will be considered in that order, which was the order discussed in the original article.

Chart of Allen Gentry Descendants of Samuel-II Gentry and David-II Gentry

Successive Generations					Location (County/District) in 1850 or at time of death
Family of Samuel-II Gentry (G4)
Nicholas (G41)
	Samuel (G412)				d. Spartanburg, SC
		Richard (G4126)	>	Allen (G41266)	Spartanburg, SC (1850)
	Allen (G413)				d. Wilkes, NC
		Jonathan (G4131)	>	Allen (G41317)	Wilkes, NC (1850)
	Arthur (G414)
		Allen (G4148)			Pickens, AL (1850)
Allen (G43)					d. Halifax, VA?
	Shadrack (G431)		>	Allen (G4318)	d. Person, NC
	Meshack (G432)		>	Allen D (G4322)	d. Monroe, TN
	Abednego (G435)		>	Allen (G4358)	Nodaway, MO (1850)
Samuel (G49)
	Allen-A (G491)				d. Roane, TN?
		Allen-B (G4912)			d. McMinn, TN?
	Samuel (G494)		>	Allen (G4941)	Warwick, IN (1850)
Nathaniel (G4A)
	Matthew (G4A2)(spec)		>	Allen (G4A29)(spec)	Posey, IN (1850)
Family of David-II Gentry (G8)
David (G82)
	John (G821)		>	Allen-E (G8212)	Bledsoe, TN (1850)
	Joel (G822)		>	Allen (G8224)	d. Laurens, SC ?
	Major (G823)		>	Allen-C (G8231)	d. Taney, MO
John (G83)
	John (G831)		>	Allen-D (G8312)	d. Hall, GA?
[Allen] Cain (G84)					d. Edgefield, SC
	Cain [Allen] (G845)				d. Montgomery, AL?
Simon (G85)
	Allen (G855)				d. Tishmingo, MS ?
		Allen (G8555)			Tishmingo, MS (1850)
	Lewis (G85A)		>	Allen (G86A5)	Choctaw, MS (1850)?

1. Allen-A Gentry (G491)

The only fourth-generation Gentry included in this study, this Allen appears in only three census records, namely 1790 and 1800 Spartanburg District, South Carolina, and the 1840 census for Roane County, Tennessee. His relationship to his father, Samuel-III,can be positively determined by a deed in 1801 in Surry County, North Carolina, where he and his three brothers sold land inherited from their recently deceased father. Allen's wife and family are found in the 1810 Spartanburg census listed under "Sally Gentry" as the head of the household, but Allen, two sons, and a daughter are missing. We can presume that the daughter, being of marriageable age, had left home to be married. We will be charitable and hypothesize that the absence of the two sons who were in their teens, and the absence of their father was a case of Allen preceding his wife and younger children to a prospective new home in Georgia or Tennessee, rather than Allen abandoning his wife and younger children. It can be seen from the chart that one of these missing sons is proposed to be Allen-B Gentry who will be discussed further below.

The next appearance of Allen we propose to be in the Roane County, Tennessee census of 1840. In this, he is listed as having been born between 1760 and 1770. If this age is at all accurate, there is no other Allen that could possibly fit that description. The rest of the household listed with him fit the proposition they are the widow and children of a deceased son of Allen, whom we suggest was Allen-B. A chart of the census records is given below, showing the year-of-birth range for each individual. The county or district of census enumeration is for South Carolina if not otherwise noted.

Family of Allen-A Gentry

Name		1790	1800	1810	- - -	1840
(G491) Allen-A Gentry	M	Spartanburg bef. 1774	Spartanburg 1755-1774	Spartanburg (missing)		Roane, TN 1760-1770
– sp. Sally	F	present	1755-1774	1765-1784
– daughter	F	present	1784-1790	---
(G4912) – son [Allen-B]	M		1790-1800	---		[see below]
– son Samuel    — sp Naomi    — son    — son	M F M M		1790-1800	---		McMinn, TN 1780-1790 1800-1810 1820-1825 1820-1825
– daughter	F		1790-1800	1794-1800
– daughter	F			1794-1800
– son	M			1800-1810
– son	M			1800-1810

2. Allen-B Gentry (G4912)

The parentage of this Allen is very much a matter of judgment. Based upon his age, and apparent absence from any 1810 South Carolina census, we propose that this was the Allen Gentry whom we find in the military records for the War of 1812, and who served in the militia of Roane County, Tennessee from October 1813 to January 1814 (when he would have been in his early twenties). We find further that an Allen Gentry appeared in court in 1820 in Roane county to receive a bounty for killing a wolf. McMinn County (see map below) was created from Indian lands in 1819, and we suggest that Allen moved into this newly-available land and that he was the "Allen Gentry Sr." included in the 1830 McMinn County census. By 1840 Allen is believed to have died and his family scattered, eventually mostly ending up in Paulding County, Georgia. In 1840, three proposed sons of Allen, namely Raleigh (also known as "Rolly"), John and Samuel had already moved to Paulding County (created in 1832, with cheap land available formerly held by the Indians) and were listed in the 1840 census. The remainder of the family has been reconstructed in a separate Journal article, namely that for June 2005, in which a proposed widow, Cheruby Gentry, living in 1850 in Paulding County, Georgia, is discussed. These members of Allen's family included his widow, Cheruby, and a number of younger children. Their ages and sex all match the individuals that were listed with Allen-A Gentry in the Roane County, Tennessee census of 1840 and all were born in Tennessee. Our conclusion is that these children of Allen and their mother, moved in with their grandfather after their father died, and then when Grandfather Allen also died, they moved to Georgia to join their older brothers. Allen-B's youngest child was fourteen in 1850, so Allen must have died about 1832 to 1835, probably in McMinn County.

Figure 1. Central Tennessee Counties, 1820

A Samuel Gentry with wife and two sons were listed in the 1840 census for McMinn County and were present in 1850 also. Samuel's age (59) fits the presumption that this was the brother of Allen-B that accompanied their father from South Carolina to Tennessee shortly before 1810. Samuel is included in War of 1812 veteran records having a wife named Naomi. Samuel must have enlisted in the militia at about the same time as his brother Allen. Samuel's sons, Samuel Jr. and William Jefferson were both married in McMinn County in 1842 and 1847 with their marriages a matter of record. The 1850 record for Samuel Sr. has two minor discrepancies. His birthplace is given as Tennessee rather than South Carolina (his son Jefferson in 1880 listed his parents' birthplaces as "Unknown"). Secondly, his wife's name is given as "Minerva" although Naomi's name is given correctly in the 1860 census in which she was also listed.

In addition to Samuel, there were a William Gentry and an Owen Gentry present in Roane County at the same time as Allen, both of them continued to reside in Roane County after Allen left for McMinn County or was divided from Roane County. They are not a part of Allen and Samuel's immediate family. Owen Gentry had moved to Tennessee from Virginia and was a son of John Gentry of Louisa County. He was married in Roane County, then moved north from Roane County, and was living in White County, Tennessee in 1850. William was mentioned in a number of Roane County Court references from 1820 until 1831, when there was a notation in the court record that he had left the state. He moved from Tennessee to Walker County, Georgia and was living there in 1850. His identity has not been completely established but he was probably a son of John Gentry of Edgefield District, South Carolina. (See also a different William living in Rhea County in 1820, as discussed with Allen-E Gentry below).

Family of Allen-B Gentry

Name		1800	1810 - 1820	1830	1840	1850
(G4912) Allen-B Gentry	M	(with Allen-A) (1790-1800)		McMinn, TN 1780-1790	---
– sp(1) Unknown – sp(2) Cheruby	F F			--- 1780-1790	(Roane, TN) (with Allen-A) (1790-1800)	Paulding, GA   age 70, SC
– son	M			1800-1810	---
– Raleigh    — sp Elsie	M F	(Gravitt)		1800-1810 m.1830	Paulding, GA "Rolly" 1800-1810 1810-1820	Henderson,TX "Rolley" age 37, SC age 36, TN
– Samuel    — sp Nancy	M F			1810-1815	Paulding, GA 1810-1820 1810-1820	Paulding, GA age 37, SC age 41, TN
– Nancy?    — sp John	F M	(McGinty)		1810-1815	(with Allen-A) (1810-1820) m.1842
– John    — sp Jane	M F	(Franklin ?)		1815-1820 m.1838?	Paulding, GA 1810-1820 1810-1820	Paulding, GA age 36, TN age 32, TN;
– son	M			1815-1820	(with Samuel) (1810-1820	---
– son    — sp Dianne	M F			1820-1825	(with Allen-A) (1820-1825)	(with Cheruby) --- age 22, TN;
– Elizabeth	F			1825-1830	(with Allen-A) (1825-1830)	Paulding, GA age 24, TN
– Jefferson    — sp Elizabeth	M F				(with Allen-A) (1835-1840)	Paulding, GA age 19, TN age 19, GA
– Betsy Ann	F					(w/step-dau) age 14, TN
– Cheruby    (dau of Cheruby)    — sp Alexander	F   M	(Dugger)		1815-1820		Paulding, GA age 34, SC + Betsy Ann ---

3. Allen-C Gentry (G8231)

An Allen Gentry who was born in South Carolina, who passed through Tennessee, and who eventually settled in Taney County, Missouri, presents a major challenge in terms of identification. The situation is not helped by cemetery and census dates that are missing or conflict. Allen himself appears to have been included in only one census record, that for Taney County in 1840. Taney County historical records relate that Allen came from Tennessee, but do not give the county. He died in 1848 in Taney County and was buried with the notation that he was age 56, giving a date of birth as about 1792. The gravestone of his oldest son, Allen Jr. gives a date of birth as 1819, however, census records for 1840 and 1850 in Taney County assert that both Allen Jr and his brother David were born between 1825 and 1830 and were born in Tennessee. On the other hand, the 1850 census, which gives Allen Jr.'s age as 23, shows four children for him, the oldest being eight, which is more in line with the birth date on his tombstone.

There are a series of tax records for an Allen Gentry in McMinn County, Tennessee between 1828 and 1831 that may apply to Allen-C or to Allen-B or both. An entry in 1830 for Allen Gentry and David Gentry on the same page probably applies to Allen-C and possibly a brother of his. This is the only occasion that a David Gentry has been found in McMinn, Rhea, or Roane County records and the fact that Allen-C named his two sons Allen and David lends strength to the proposition that Allen-C had a brother David that accompanied him from South Carolina to Tennessee. This David's entry included tax for 200 acres of land. Neither he nor his brother are included in the census for 1830. He disappears from the Tennessee records after 1830 and has not been found in 1840 census records in neighboring states. We can only speculate that he may have died from accident or disease.

The proposal that Allen-C had a brother named David, suggests strongly that they were both sons of David-III. The first thought that comes to mind is that they were sons of the John Gentry who first appeared in census records in Abbeville District, South Carolina, in 1810 and who is considered to be a son of David-III (see Journal article, vol. 3, #5, May 2003 for elaboration of this theory). However, that family included an Allen, whom we discuss further below as Allen-D, who settled in Hall County, Georgia and apparently died there. This has led the author to propose a new, here-to-fore unidentified son of David-III. The latter is on record in 1795 as selling his farm animals and furniture to a "Major Gentry", who has not appeared further in official records. Immediately one wonders whether the "Major" was a military title or a first name. There is no evidence to point to any of the South Carolina Gentrys being of sufficient prominence to be a high-ranking (for that time) military officer, but there are a dozen or more cases in the 1790, 1800, and 1810 South Carolina census records of individuals having a first name, Major. We therefore propose that this Major Gentry was a son of David-III who took over his father's homestead which was closed, perhaps in anticipation of death. We suggest that Allen-C and David were sons of this Major Gentry and that Allen's family was as shown below.

Family of Allen-C Gentry

Name			- - -	1830	1840	1850
(G8231) Allen-C Gentry	M	(gravestone: born abt. 1792)		(McMinn, TN) taxed 1830?	Taney, MO 1790-1800	---
– sp. Margaret	F				1800-1810	---
– Allen Jr.    — sp Sarah	M F		(gravestone: born 1819)		1825-1830	Taney, MO "A" age 23, TN age 22, TN + 4 children
– David.    — sp Elizabeth	M F				1825-1830	Taney, MO "D" age 22, TN age 21, TN + 1 child
– daughter	F				1830-1835	---
– Millie	F					(with David) age 7, MO

4. Allen-D Gentry (G8312)

The Allen Gentry of whom we speak now has the least known about him of any of the Allens. Time and again, his appearance in the Hall County, Georgia, census of 1820 is suggested as representing an earlier stage in the life of one of the other Allens who show up in later census records. This is especially true of the Allen just described above who moved on to Missouri. The author's conclusion, on the other hand, is that he is a dead-end, and that he must have died there before 1830. One thing is almost certain, that he was part of a family of Gentrys who moved together to Hall County very shortly before 1820. Allen and his presumed brother, John, are the only Gentrys that show up in the 1820 census, but we have records in Hall County for the following marriages:

	1823	Jan 30	Roland Gentry married Nancy Mattocks
	1823	Apr 6	Serena Gentry married William Hammond
	1824	Mar 28	Moses Gentry married Milly Hammond
	1825	Dec 11	Rachel Gentry married Thomas Lewis
	1830	Nov 3	Rollie [Raleigh] Gentry married Elsie Gravett (part of the family of Allen-B Gentry)

In addition there is a "poor [in money] student" school report for 1830 and 1832 in which William Gentry (born 1817) was among the students educated in Hall County. Most of these Hall County Gentrys can be traced on to other locations in later years. Roland was in the 1840 Pulaski County, Arkansas census. Rachel Lewis had moved to Miller County, Arkansas by 1832. Serena Williams was in the 1850 Chatooga County, Georgia, census along with her seventy-year-old mother, Sarah Gentry. William was in Floyd County, Georgia in 1840 and in Chatooga County, Georgia in 1850. Allen's widow is thought to be the Mary Gentry who had moved to Gwinnett County, Georgia, either before or after Allen's death, and is in the 1830 census for that county. John was in Carroll County, Georgia, at the time of the 1830 census, and his name is among the list of winners of the 1832 Georgia land lottery, living at the time in Carroll County. There is no record of what happened to Moses. The Raleigh who was married in 1830 is believed to have been part of the family of Allen-B Gentry, living at the time in McMinn County, Tennessee. He must have been well-acquainted with the Gentry family and/or the Gravitt family and must have come to Hall County specifically to marry Elsie. He was in the 1840 Paulding County, Georgia census and had moved to Henderson County, Texas by 1850.

It is very much a leap of faith and an exercise in conjecture to tie this family to specific South Carolina Gentrys (most of them do indeed report their place of birth as South Carolina). The John Gentry family which was listed in 1810 in the Abbeville District, South Carolina census matches the Hall County family perfectly. This family has been discussed in an earlier Gentry Journal article (vol 3, #5, May 2003) but the basic information relative to it is repeated here. The census record for the family is given below. The family is missing from any South Carolina census in 1790 and 1800, and the author proposes that they were one of several families that moved from South Carolina across the Savannah River to Georgia, and then returned. Or they simply may have been missed by the South Carolina census enumerators. John himself, is missing from the Hall County records as were so many of the family, but his widow was probably the older lady living with John Jr. in the 1820 census. Sarah lived for many years after, and was living with her daughter Serena in Chatooga County, Georgia, in 1850.

Family of John Gentry of Abbeville and Allen-D Gentry

Name		1790 / 1800	1810	1820	1830	1840
(G831) John Gentry	M	---	Abbeville 1765-1784	---
– sp Sarah	F		1765-1784	(w/son John) (1774-1794)
– John Jr.    — spouse	M F		1800-1810	Hall, GA 1794-1804 1794-1804	Carroll, GA 1790-1800 1790-1800
(G8312) – Allen-D      — sp Mary?    — daughter	M   F F		1794-1800	Hall, GA 1794-1804   1794-1804 1810-1820	Gwinnett, GA --- "Mary" 1800-1810 + 3 dau
– Roland    — sp Nancy	M F	(Mattocks)	1794-1800	(in Hall, GA) (m. 1823)		Pulaski, AR 1790-1800 1800-1810
– Moses    — sp Milly	M F	(Hammond)	1800-1810	(in Hall, GA) (m. 1824)	---
– Serena    — sp William	F M	(Hammond)	1800-1810	(in Hall, GA) (m. 1823)	Hall, GA 1790-1800 1790-1800
– Rachel    — sp Thomas	F M	(Lewis)	1800-1810	(with Allen?) (1804-1810) (m. 1825)	Henry, GA 1790-1800 1780-1790	Butts, GA 1790-1800 1780-1790
– son	M		1800-1810	---
– William    — sp Lucinda	M F	(Gravitt)	(b. 1817)	(in Hall, GA)	(in Hall, GA) (m. 1835)

5. Allen-E Gentry (G8212)

Finally, in our series of Allens, we come to the only one who was born in Georgia rather than South Carolina. If true, because the age he reported to the census in 1850 was 59, his birth in about 1791 restricts the choice of potential fathers to those that may have been in Georgia at that time. This almost certainly meant he was descended from David-II Gentry. Moreover, his age indicates that like Allens-B to -D, his father's generation was that of a grandson of David. The most likely father is the John Gentry who was away from South Carolina in 1790 and 1800 but returned to Edgefield District in time for the 1810 census. Indeed, this family had a son living with them during the 1810 census who was of the right age to be Allen-E. This John (of Edgefield) has been discussed earlier in the same Gentry Journal article (vol3, #5, May 2003) as the John of Abbeville proposed above as the father of Allen-D. There is much conjecture as to whether this 1810 family is the same one as appeared in Spartanburg District, South Carolina in 1820 with Susan Gentry as the head of household. Whether or not it was the same family, Allen was not present in 1820 and we can guess that he went from South Carolina to Tennessee in that period of time whereas several other members of the family moved instead to northern Georgia. In connection with these moves it is interesting to note that the family passed through Jackson County, Georgia, where three of John's daughters married members of the same Hammond and Gravitt extended families that later married Gentrys in Hall County.

Allen-E appears to be the Allen Gentry who beginning in 1820 was present in Rhea County, Tennessee, with several of his cousins. Allen was taxed at intervals in that county from 1820 to 1828, being listed on the tax rolls with Cain Gentry and Micajah Gentry (sons of Elisha Gentry) and also with a William Gentry and a Naomi Gentry. All of these had been listed previously in Georgia tax lists, Cain's reference being the last of a series when he was taxed in 1817 in Morgan County. Allen, Cain and Micajah were taxed for one white poll each. William was taxed only for one black poll, this apparently being a case where he was not liable himself for a tax (because of age?) but owned a slave who was taxed. In 1821 and through 1824, William was replaced by Naomi, still with no liability for a white poll but owing tax for a black poll. One explanation for this is that William may have died in 1820 and been replaced on the tax rolls by his widow, Naomi. It should be noted that this William was not the same as the William who was present in Roane County from at least 1820 onward (see discussion of Allen-B above). This is neither the time nor the place to pursue William's family, but as of this writing, his origin has not been fully resolved other than to speculate that he had moved to Tennessee from Georgia as had Cain and Micajah.

There are further references to the Gentrys in Rhea County in addition to the tax record. There are a dozen or so court references to Allen in the 1820's, the last being in 1827. In 1823, Cain was married to Patsy (Martha) Philpot. In 1825, Allen married Sarah King. From later census records, it appears clear that Allen and Sarah were the couple who were present later in Bledsoe County, Tennessee for the 1840 and 1850 census and that this was a second marriage for Allen. A further marriage, also in 1825 was for John Gentry and Elizabeth Hays. This could not have been the John Gentry who was present in Bledsoe County in 1850, since the latter would have been only ten years old at the time of the marriage and his wife Elizabeth would have been only three years old. Rather it is probable that the John who was married was a brother of Allen-E (see census chart below)

Coinciding with the ending of records for Allen in Rhea County in 1827, beginning in 1828 and 1829, there were tax records for an Allen Gentry in neighboring McMinn County along with Shederick Gentry (a presumed brother of Allen). Allen-E is very probably the younger Allen Gentry that was in the McMinn County census for 1830. By 1840 he had moved to Bledsoe County and his family is listed in that county in the 1840 and 1850 census.. (As a side note, it should be noted that there was a second John Gentry living in Bledsoe County besides Allen's son John). He was John A. Gentry, son of Elijah Gentry of Rutherford County, Tennessee. Several tax and court records for a John Gentry in Bledsoe County from 1837 to 1850 were probably for this other John.) The census record for Allen and for his proposed father John Gentry is shown below.

Family of John Gentry of Edgefield and Allen-E Gentry

Name		1810	1820	1830	1840	1850
(G821) John Gentry	M	Edgefield bef.1765 (in GA, 1790 and 1800)	---
– sp. Susan	F	1765-1784	Spartanburg bef.1775	---
– Ranneys	M	1784-1794	Spartanburg
(G8212) – Allen-E	M	1784-1794	(Rhea, TN?)	McMinn, TN 1800-1810	Bledsoe, TN 1790-1800	Bledsoe, TN age 59, GA
– John    — sp Elizabeth	M F	1784-1794	(Rhea, TN) m. 1825?	---
– daughter – daughter – daughter	F F F	1784-1794 1784-1794 1784-1794	--- --- 1794-1804	---
– Chestley ?	M	1794-1804	---
– son	M	1794-1804	---
– Margaret    — sp Mark	F M	1794-1800 (Hammond)	(Jackson, GA) m. 1817	---
– Cornelius    — sp(1) Unk.    — sp(2) Mary	M F F	1800-1810   (Johnson?)	1802-1804	Franklin, GA 1800-1810 1800-1810	Madison, AL 1800-1810 ---	Tishmingo,MS (d.1842)   age 48, SC
– Acenith    — sp Elijah	F M	1800-1810 (Hammond)	(Jackson, GA) m. 1819
– Eliza    — sp John	F M	1800-1810 (Gravitt)	1794-1804	(Jackson, GA) m. 1822
– son ? – daughter ?	M F	1800-1810 1800-1810	1804-1810 ---	---
Census record for family of Allen-E Gentry
(G8212) Allen-E Gentry	M	(Edgefield) 1784-1794	(Rhea, TN) m. 1825	McMinn, TN1800-1810	Bledsoe, TN 1790-1800	Bledsoe, TN age 59 (1791)
– sp(1) Unk – sp(2) Sarah	F F		(King)	--- 1800-1810	??	age 48, GA
– John    — sp Elizabeth	M F			1815-1820	1810-1820	Bledsoe, TN age 35, TN age 28, TN
– Nancy?	F			1815-1820	1810-1820	Bleds Mort Sch d.1849 age 33, TN
– Son	M			1820-1825	(sex error?)	---
– Serena	F			(sex error?)	1820-1825	(with John) age 21, TN
– Zelzy	F				??	age 24, TN
– Thomas H    — sp Eunis	M F				1825-1830	Bledsoe, TN age 22, TN age 20, TN
– Amy – Sarah E – daughter ? – Elijah L – Joshua C – James K – Frances M	F F F M M M M				1830-1835 1835-1840 1835-1840 1835-1840 1835-1840	age 20, TN age 17, TN --- age 14, TN age 12, TN age 9, TN age 5, TN

Conclusion
The above suggestions for untangling the snarled lines of Allen Gentrys provide logical resolutions of confusing pieces of information scattered through the documentary evidence, particularly of Tennessee. As stated above, none of this can be proved, at least with our current state of knowledge, and it may well be that some family member will come forward with a piece of evidence that would disprove some portion of the above. Barring that, the author feels the proposals provide a sound basis for further research.

References
Tennessee Marriage Bond Records
1. Byron & Barbara Sistler, "Early Middle Tennessee Marriages", Nashville, TN, 1988.

Rhea Co.
1823	Jan 14	Gentry, Cain	Patsey Philpot	(m. 16 Jan 1823 by Thomas Cox JP)
1825	Jul 5	Gentry, Allen	Sarah King	(m. 14 Jul 1825 by Thomas Cox JP)
1825	Dec 13	Gentry, John	Elizabeth Hays	(m. by James McDonald JP)
Roane Co.
1823	May 24	Gentry, Shedrick	Rebecca Ballard	George Moor, bond
1828	Feb 1	Gentry, Owin	Martha J Breazeale	Lewis Anthony, bond
1838	Nov 15	Bowman, Robert	Matilda Gentry	Alexander Dugger, bond (m.by Brasher Roberts JP)

Tax Records
2. Byron and Barbara Sistler, "Index to Early Tennessee Tax Lists", Evanston, IL, 1977.

4. McMinn County Tax List film 266, Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Court Records

	5. Bettye J. Broyles, "County Court of Rhea County Tennessee (Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions) May 1823 - November 1828", Rhea County Historical and Genealogical Society, 1992 (original page numbers in parentheses)
May Term 1824		p.87  (28)
	Allen Gentry appointed juror
Feb Term 1826		p.250   (78-9)
	Allen Gentry among group appointed Jury of View to lay off and mark a road.
May Term 1826		p.275   (84)
	Allen Gentry among group appointed to work under Thomas Harp, overseer of new road.
Aug Term 1826		p.287   (88))
	Allen Gentry among group appointed to work under John Knight, overseer of road.
Nov Term 1826		p.317   (96)
	Allen Gentry appointed as juror.
Feb Term 1827		p.332   (101)
	Allen Gentry among jurors summoned to appear. Allen was elected to a Grand Jury.
		p.335   (102)
	Jury which included Allen Gentry found for the plaintiff.
Aug Term 1827		p.381   (114)
	Allen Gentry among group appointed a Jury of View to lay off a road.
Nov Term 1827		p.399   (119))
	Allen Gentry among group appointed a Jury of View to lay off a road [same as Aug Term].
6. Robert L. Bailey, "Roane County, Tennessee County Court Minutes (1830-1832)", 2000
25 Apr 1831
	H.K. Hotchkiss proved in open court a deed from Allen S. Bacon to Jared Hotchkiss for 250 ac, and made oath that the other witness, Wm Gentry subscribed the same in his presence as a concurring evidence and that he has since that time removed beyond the limits of the state and is now out of the State.
7. WPA Transcription of Minutes of the County Court of Roane County, Tennessee, Book H (1819-1821)
20 Jul 1820
	Allen Gentry produced in court the scalp of a wolf under four months old and the Court being satisfied from the oath of the said Allen that he killed the said wolf in the County of Roane within 12 months last past and it is ordered that the same be certified to the Treasurer of East Tennessee.
26 Apr 1820		Bk(H-211)
	William Gentry among jurors for a case of Edward Garrett vs Samuel Brown.
27 Apr 1820		Bk(H-220)
	William Gentry among jurors for a case of Simeon Geren Assee vs William McClellan.
27 Apr 1820		Bk(H-224)
	William Gentry among jurors for a case of Roland Frost vs Samuel Brown.
Military Records
	8. "Index to War of 1812 Pensions Files", Vol II: G-M, transcribed by Virgil D. White, The National Historical Publishing Co., Waynesboro, TN, 1989, p.802
	Tennessee
	Gentry, William, no pension, srv Capt Gray's TN Mil, BLW #s 38728-80-50 & 38851-80-55. Jentry, Samuel, Neomey, WO-44366, srv Capt. D. Mason's Co TN Cav as a pvt.
9.	Roane Co.
	Muster Roll of Capt. James Preston's Company, enlisted 5 Oct 1813 to 5 Jan 1814. Includes Allen Gentry as private. [Note. These troops served in the United States Army during a national emergency and were under the command of Colonel John Brown of Roane County. The appearance of a name on this list does not necessarily signify that the soldier resided in Roane County.]
	1821 Militia Rolls, Captain Arnold's Company. Includes William Gentry.

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Revised April 2012,  August 2014

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