Hello, I was wondering if you might be familiar with the children of Thomas Plemons born 1836 in Monroe Co, TN. I believe his fathers name was Jacob and mothers name was Adaline Harden. I found Thomas on the 1880 census Monroe Co, under Flemmons. There was a son named James N age 14. That would fit my James. James married Eva Zoe Oury in Roane Co, 1887. I found him on the 1900 and 1920 census. Many postings on ancestry seem to have the families of James and Mary Irons confused with Jacob Plemons. There is one problem I have with Thomas being the son of Jacob. All postings I’ve seen have Thomas born 1836, yet Jacob and Adaline Harden didn’t marry until 1840. Please email me anytime if you might be able to set me in the right direction. I wrote Janet Webb and never got a response. Thank you so much, Ronnie

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Hello Ronnie: Yes - you are searching in my line. Thomas is Thomas Jacob Plemons, son of Jacob and Adaline Harden. My grandfather, James Benjamin Plemons, and Thomas were brothers. Thomas was married twice - once to Mary Ann Little and also to Polly Ann Davis. I have the children and some other info about this family. I have a picture of Thomas as a young man and also his Civil War discharge (copy). Thomas is buried in Laurel Bluff Baptist Church cemetery in Roane County, Tennessee. I will be glad to share what info I have. Also, I have a lot of questions for you if you are willing. I enjoy running into someone doing research on the same line that I am in. Looking forward to your reply. - Warren

P.S. Also, you are correct in the dates of marriage of Jacob and Adaline (February 20, 1840) - and correct on the birth date of Thomas Jacob (April 23, 1836).

Adaline and her mother were involved in the formation of a church in Loudon County and another in Monroe County, which eventually became the Church of God, headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee. I have also seen early minutes of the Christiansburg Baptist Church (near Madisonville, Tennessee) where she was asked to vacate for "leeing with a yung man and saying he wus her husband when he wus not". I think that Granny must have been a character.
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Thank you Warren so much for replying. I am the grandson of Ada Plemons. Her father was Millard Plemons. His father was James Newton Plemons. My problem in finding Thomas was a bit confusing.. The 1860 census Monroe Co. has the family named Flemmons. That’s no biggie, I’ve been searching census for a couple of years now in other lines and know what kind of craziness can be in the spelling of names. I’m not sure if you seen the 1860 census in Monroe Co. I found it online. My problem was that Thomas on the census was 18. A few years off I figured to be born 1836. Then in 1870 I found a Thomas that seemed to fit the 18 yr old and had children that didn’t seem to match at all for the children of Thomas 1880.

1870
Monroe Co Dist. 2 # 31
PLEMIONS / Plemons, Thom. 30
Mary 23, James 6, Sarah 4, Mary 2
# 32
PLEMIONS. Albert 19,
Adaline 50, (probably the mother )
Martha 21, Elizabeth 4 (probably child of Martha's)

I know while searching Monroe Co there was the family of John James Plemons. I’m thinking this Thomas may belong to him???? These 1860 and 1870 ages were what were holding me up to make the leap for Thomas to be the son of Jacob. I just recently started looking for the Plemons. I found several postings online at Ancestry. Com. I’m never one to take the info for all its worth. I have learned to check all the facts. A lot of wrong postings online. This is what I gathered from online postings and census. Between 1856 and 1860 Jacob must have died. Jacob isn’t present on the 1860 census. A posting on Ancestry also has James Newton dying Mar 7, 1957 and is buried along with his wife in Laurel Bluff Baptist Cemetery. Actually it said Laurel Grave Cemetery. The postings also named McMinn Co as
birthplaces for the Plemons and death places for Thomas. Like I said I was new to this line so I ordered James death record and Thomas military record. Neither has come back yet. My grandmother’s family still lives in the Kingston area of TN. If you don’t mind I would like to ask you a few questions. Had you heard of my g’g’grandfather James Newton from your family? He had a large family and lived in Roane Co for 70 or so years? If I gather what you are saying Thomas was born between a union of Adaline Harden and Jacob Plemons before they were married? Were you able to find Jacob on the 1850 or 1840 census? I’ve searched all soundex names and can’t find him. Was wondering if Thomas was present 1850 and what was his age? If you have a county I can look it up. I don’t want to seem to take all your info I know you must have worked hard for it. Were you able to find Thomas on the 1900 census? I have a death date of Feb 28, 1906. Thank you for the second marriage of Thomas I didn’t have that. I only have his children by the 1880 census. I was unable to find much or anything on Adaline Harden. If you need me to search in that area and help, I would be more than happy to. I hope I’m not taking up a lot of your time. I’m just so excited that someone actually wrote me back regarding the Plemons. I wrote numerous people, never wanting to take all their info or anything, just a simple yes if they had heard of James Newton. Not one reply. I noticed all the posting on ancestry had dead addresses. That’s why I started writing test, before I wrote out letters. Please ask me any question you might like to. I have an older cousin in TN who is trying to help me. Her mother was born 1916 and remembers much. She is the daughter of Millard Plemons (James’ son). I will be available for anything you might want to know or need help with, anytime. Thanks so much. Ronnie Mulligan PS There is a Plemons Family Reunion in TN this Sat. My cousin was going to go and see what info she could gather.

Ronnie: You are welcome to any information that I have. I have never understood those who search in "secret". Part of the enjoyment for me is to be able to share the info that I find with others who are interested.

James (James Benjamin) age 3 in the 1860 census is my grandfather. I was born in 1937; my father, Walter Benjamin, was born in 1886; and his father, James Benjamin was born March 17, 1857. Siblings are Thomas Jacob – April 1836 - February 28, 1906; Sarah Ann (December 18, 1849 - September 11, 1919); Martha J. (March 1860 - ?); William L. (1851 - May 28, 1926); Albert H. (April 1852 - ?) (married Sarah Ann Little – possibly the sister of Mary Ann Little - Thomas' first wife??); then James Benjamin.

I have questions about Albert's line, specifically his first son shown in the census as S.M. I have been told that this is Spencer Mack, also buried in Laurel Bluff (Katy and Mack). Katy is Katie Parks.

I have a lot of stories to tell you about these families. If you live close by, visit Laurel Bluff Cemetery and notice a tombstone inscribed "Died of Poison Administered by His Wife". A good long story there and I can give you a link to the whole thing which is online if you are interested.

Thomas Jacob's children were: Sarah Ann (no dates); James Newton (July 30, 1866 - March 7, 1957); Mose Little (March 31, 1868 - April 6, 1950); Bettie A. (May 27, 1872 - April 13, 1953); L. Martin (June 7, 1873 - May 10, 1902); Madison (1874 - Bef. 1910); Nancy (March 8, 1877 - August 26, 1960).

I have the spouses of most of T. J.'s children. When he remarried to Polly Ann Davis, they had only one child, Jake (July 20, 1880 - April 22, 1966). Jake married Arabelle Moore in Loudon County. They had a farm on the river just west of Loudon. I can remember visiting them when I was small.

I can also remember being visited by Uncle Mose for dinner. He was a character. I liked him. I remember he hated cars; said that they were taking over the roads. He once decided to stand his ground and got run over for his choice. He came to our house all bruised and skinned. I communicate with one of his granddaughter's in Oklahoma. She has some equally wild stories about him.

The things that I am missing are the later births - deaths - marriages - etc. The 1930 census has just been released and I can catch up on part of it but there is a lot of stuff that you can't get from record books. And, I also have learned to take what the books say with a dose of skepticism. Often, what you had was people who could neither read nor write telling someone who could barely read and write how to spell and name their children. And, I suspect, a lot of information was given by neighbors. For instance, in Laurel Bluff Cemetery, you have three different spellings - Plemons, Plemmons, Plemens. And they are all related. You will see it as Fleming, Pleming, Flemmons, etc.

John James Plemmons and Jacob Plemons were brothers. Their father was Thomas (1789 - ?). Thomas' father was John (1750 - 1815); and John's father was Thomas Plemin (what- another spelling) (1728 - 1785). Most of John James' line are in McMinn County Tennessee. You may see his name as John J. or John Jay. He married Mary Adaline Irons in 1839 and had six children. This was one of my first major hang-ups. I knew that there was a connection between the two but it took a long time to find it. Eventually Janet Webb made the link-up. – Warren

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Between this census and the mysterious 1870 census I sent, I wasn’t sure if Thomas was Jacobs son born 1836. This is what had me off, along with the birthdates(1836) before the marriage(1840). 1860 Census Monroe Co, TN

FLEMMONS, Adaline 39 F W P131-24 pg0120
FLEMMONS, Albert J. 8 M W P131-24 pg0120
FLEMMONS, James 3 M W P131-24 pg0120
FLEMMONS, Martha J. 14 F W P131-24 pg0120
FLEMMONS, Sarah 11 F W P131-24 pg0120
FLEMMONS, Thomas 18 M W P131-24 pg0120
FLEMMONS, Wm. K. 9 M W P131-24
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Hi Ronnie, I have found that the best source of information is actually the people who know. The records can be confusing or sometime just plain wrong.

Here is what I have on the children of Millard C. Plemons (September 16, 1888 - September 7, 1929). Married in 1912 in Tennessee to Mary E. Loving (1890 - ?).

Children: Ruth R. (January 15, 1913 - February 8, 1930), George D. (1915 - ?), Julia E. (January 1917 - ?), John April (1919 - ?)

And that is it! No grandchildren - nothing further. I would certainly appreciate any corrections/additions to this line. I suspect that we will be able to exchange some valuable information. Oh yes - go to this web site and see a picture of Uncle Mose. And follow the link to "History Mystery". It is kind of interesting. And then check out the "Another Mystery" link.

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Ronnie - You're right that there is not a lot of contact with the James Newton branch. That is why I bombarded you with questions when you first told me who you were related to. And the pictures - as soon as possible PLEASE get with your G'mother and identify as many as possible. You won't regret it later. I now have a box of old family photos and no way of finding out who they are. I don't even have a photo of my grandfather, James Benjamin. I have one photo of my Dad and two of his brothers along with two other men. From the looks of my Dad, he is about eighteen to twenty and I think that one of the others is his Dad, but I can't be sure. There is no one left to identify him.

My Dad ran a flour mill in Sweetwater for many years and talked of running into Plemons' in Loudon County, but we were always told that we were not related. Now we know better.

I have never tried to go back on Adaline Hardin's line. I was very frustrated trying to find Jacob and learn where he came from. But it would be challenging to try.

I will attach the photo of Thomas Jacob to another message. If you get that one okay, I will attach his Civil War discharge to another. The original is in the hands of David Hall in Sweetwater. He is the son of Elsie Plemons Hall, who is the daughter of Jake, who is the son of Thomas Jacob and Polly Ann Davis (T.J.'s second marriage).

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Thank you Warren for the good info. I was wondering if it wouldn’t be too much to ask if you might be able to download a picture of Thomas Jacob or maybe you have a link that already exist for that. My grandma was greatly excited when I told her I believe you had a picture of him as a small boy. I have my Grandma going through a box of old pictures today. We have a lot that aren’t named or have no idea who they are. They are all of her family. I was hoping maybe she connects to some of them now with the extra info I have from you. Was wondering if you ever found out who Adaline Hardin’s father was? Or her mothers maiden name? Was wondering if it was possible to join the Plemons newsletter and what contribution would be needed. I would like to help anyway I could. I would greatly appreciate a disc of your info that you might want to share. I had previously contacted a relative of Mose Plemons, before I contacted you. The ladies name is Laura. I had written her before I made the connection of my James Newton to Mose. Since then I told her, with your help, I was related to her Mose and gave her your email address so that she could contact you. I hope that was OK? I am looking at a couple of things past Jacob. I started hunting for Mary Little's people. I didn’t see any in the counties in or around Monroe. Will let you know everything I find. I noticed by going thru the old letters and stuff from your website, that there doesn't seem to be many people from James Newton's family mentioned. Looks like a lot of the Plemons are from the GA or TX line. Thanks as always. PS the stories you mentioned sure are great. My grandma and family really enjoy them. Ronnie

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Thanks Warren, I was just on the phone to my cousin Micki. Come to find out she wasn’t on vacation. She has been sick and was in the hospital. I told her I had found you on the computer and the stuff you shared. She started crying. She said she knew there were relatives in Sweetwater, but for some reason they had never met. Probably like you said, people just didn’t know how they were related. I’m sending her a questionnaire to take to her mom and see if we can get all the stuff on Newts family together. It was weird because she said she just talked to someone and was told a story about a relative having on his tombstone "poisoned by wife". I said, "I’ll be darn, that was one of the stories you just told me." It is a small world. I told her you may have a picture of Thomas Jacob. Thanks again, Ronnie

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Dear Warren – I forgot to look up those Plemons when we were in Illinois. Here are two that I found when we were at our Daughter’s in Ocala, Florida

I really liked your story you wrote. Thought I would try my hand at it. Don’t bother printing it if you don’t think it is too good. I have to copy it over so will be a while before I send it. Sincerely, Karen

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Claude's thoughts Wednesday Oct 30, 2002
Where has time gone. This Sunday was a great day. We had a good number of folks out and shared so willingly. I told them that Sunday week, I was going to sing a solo. They quickly thought we should organize a choir. Isn't it neat how God works things around. Wish I had thought about the choir idea. Monday was spent over at Tabor visiting with
ladies from all over the SW area. There are some really nice folks. They are really proud of their ancestors activities in freeing slaves. I did not share that Dr. John Alexander Westerfield had slaves. His wife's father gave them to her. The union troops were heading into the Conway, Russellville area of Ark. So he loaded up his slaves, and went to Texas. Spent most of the year growing a crop. Then came back to Russellville. When he got there, the union soldiers were there. So the slaves were freed. He made a deal with his slaves to stay and work. They must have like him and Sarah Jane, because they stayed there for a long time. Dr. John was the executor of the mans will when he died. So they must have had a pretty good relationship. The ladies had brought quilts from all over. They had made these by hand, and our church gets the honor of sending them where they will do the most good. We don't decide, but we are part of the funnel that makes it all work. No one person or group could do what is done. These quilts
go all over and are given to babies who would never get one any other way. Crack babies, Aids babies, and worn torn or poverty babies. If they had this program 60-70 years ago, I might have even got one. I was born in April, and by cotton picking time I was old enough to go along. I would ride on the back of the cotton sack, or lay under the wagon. I was always glad to see mama, come back. I got to sleep in the same bed with mama and daddy until my little brother was born. Then I was put into the world of realty that no one ever takes care of you like mama. I was put in the bed with my five older brothers. I had to sleep at the foot of the bed.
A few months later I was up on the streets selling newspapers. My uncle told me one time that he bought a paper from me, read it, then gave it back to me. I put my hand in my pocket and started to give him his money back. I had a hard time understanding that once a paper is sold is sold. But being three years old, folks did give me a tip or buy me an ice cream cone once in a while. In the summer time I would stretch a blanket over the clothes line and sleep outside. By that time a couple of my brothers were gone. James to the army, Roy to the army air corps. He wanted to go and fight. But they said he was too good a trainer to send. He taught the guys how to use the guns in the airplanes. Lindy went in later, but he was part of the Manhattan project. He died of cancer in 1961. But lets go back to Tabor. We got busy loading the blankets and left an object at the church that we should have brought home. I called back and left a note on the machine of the pastor. Then I remembered a friend there. I called her. She sent her husband over to get it and took it to their house. He brought it over the next morning. The pastor called
back later in the evening. I had forgot to call back and leave a note that it had been taken care of. I felt bad that I had done that. I read some place that as we get older we can think of many things and do many things, just as long as we do one thing at a time. I am starting to learn that.
Tuesday, I went over and gave blood. They are getting stricter and stricter on who can give blood. One of my friends was not allowed to give blood because of his high blood pressure. If you can, do. Well I guess, I better shut down. I still get in the mode that folks want to read what I write. I know that most of you read because you are such nice folks. I know one thing for sure. If I had known I was going to live so long, I would have taken better care of myself. To that one person out there, that is really hurting, I give you my prayers. God said turn it over to Jesus, it will lighten the load. If you don't feel bad, or at least too bad, then give your prayers to someone else. You will feel better. If you are in the Farragut area this Sunday, around 9AM come on in. That is unless you are the perfect Christian. We got too many faults to take on a perfect Christian. But we are trying. May God Bless - Claude

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Hello Karen, I remember when I was small that I told myself that if I ever got $ 5 saved up, I was going to run away from home. I had been into it with my mother and was going to leave and start a life of my own. That afternoon, my Dad, in a rare moment of generosity, gave me $ 5 for some work that I had done with him on the farm. The Lord has a funny way of calling your bluff sometimes. It is like He says, "Put up or shut up!". I thought of this because I had sent the following note to Joe just the day before I got your letter.

"Hello Joe, I have made up a little note that I think that I will include in the next newsletter. Let me know what you think.

And then, Karen, I got your letter. You can't know what it meant to me to have someone else interested enough to share some of their experiences for publication. I have always said that it is not MY newsletter - it is OUR newsletter. That was part of my frustration - it had turned into something that was too much MINE - and I didn't want that to happen. Anyway, thanks for re-charging the battery and I look forward to receiving your story. Say Hello to Harold for me. I sure miss seeing you folks, and my wife and I certainly enjoyed the get-togethers that we had when the reunion was in Hartselle. Your Tennessee kin - Warren