Jonathon Ferguson

(c1760? – 1814)

His background is a mystery. He may have been the John Ferguson listed on the 1798 tax list of Montgomery County, Tennessee (1 white poll)[1] but the birthplaces of his children suggest he was in South Carolina at the time. He was surely the "Jonathan Ferguson” listed on the 1812 tax list of neighboring Robertson County, Tennessee along with a Henry Ferguson. I found no records of his buying and selling land in either Montgomery or Robertson Counties.

He apparently lived in South Carolina from roughly 1790 through about 1805 – all his children gave South Carolina as their birth state in 1850 and later censuses. While there are no Jonathon Fergusons in South Carolina censuses, there are seven John or “J.” Fergusons in the1800 census, none of whom appear to be this man.

He was apparently in Robertson County by 1808. According to Goodspeed’s history, one of the four original residents of the town of Springfield in 1808 was “Jonathon W. Ferguson”.[2] Two of the other three residents were bondsmen for his estate.

He died intestate in Robertson County in 1813 or 1814. There are clearly probate records for him in the missing 60 pages of Will Book 2.[3] A supplemental account of sale of the estate of "Jonathan" Ferguson appears in the subsequent pages of that book in 1814[4] and a supplemental accounting of the estate of "Jonathan" Ferguson in 1815.[5] In both cases Elizabeth Ferguson was the administratrix. The remaining estate amounted to $77.44 according to the latter record. The court records contain additional references to the estate in November 1814[6] and February 1815[7], both giving Elizabeth Ferguson as the administratrix but giving the deceased’s name as "John" Ferguson. There are no deed records in Robertson County which appear to refer to this estate.

Elizabeth, the widow, was in the Robertson County 1820 census as head of a household that appears to consist of the entire family, clearly living in the town of Springfield.[8] In 1830 she is the elder female in the household of her son John W. Ferguson.[9] In 1840 she is again in her own household, living next to her son in Springfield.[10] These census records suggest she was born in the 1760s. She was dead by November 1846 when her grandson George W. Baird was appointed administrator of her estate.[11] He submitted a final settlement of the estate in August 1849.[12]

Several records identify the children. In 1878, Alzeda Persise (a daughter) sued her siblings over the estate of an unmarried sister. The heirs were named as the widow and children of George W. Baird (deceased son of her sister) and Joseph J. Ferguson (surviving child of her brother John W. Ferguson). The suit declares that these were “the only heirs” of Alzeda’s sisters Mary and Nancy Ferguson. The other siblings were either unmarried or had no other surviving children.

These and other court records, plus the letters from Mary and Nancy Ferguson to George W. Baird written in the 1850s (see BAIRD pages for copies), identify five of the children.[13] They also make it clear that Elizabeth Ferguson and her two maiden daughters raised George W. Baird, who was the son of a deceased daughter. There appear to be additional sons, whose identities are guessed at. Given her apparent age, Elizabeth was likely the mother of all the children:

1.     John W. Ferguson (c1790/1 – 7/8 February 1855). The 1850 census gives his birth state as South Carolina. He may be the John Ferguson who received several grants in 1815 and 1816 in Montgomery County (see Other Fergusons page for details). According to Goodspeed’s history, he served in the War of 1812 from Robertson County.[14] On 2 September 1817, as "John W. Ferguson" he bought land in Robertson County near Springfield jointly with Isaac Baird; they sold the land on 4 September 1820.[15] Both men were hatters, and Goodspeed states that John W. Ferguson later operated a hattery in Springfield.[16] Two months later he bought a town lot in Springfield.[17] John W. Ferguson probably supported his mother and younger sisters after his father’s death, and it appears that George W. Baird (his nephew) was in his household as well. In 1820 he and his family seem to have been in the household of his mother Elizabeth Ferguson. From 1827 through 1830 he and his presumed brother Moses K. Ferguson jointly bought and sold land in and around Springfield (see below) and John bought an additional two town lots on which he seems to have lived.[18] He was one of the commissioners in 1825 when Springfield was incorporated and served as its first postmaster for two decades.[19] From 1830 through 1850 he appears as head of his own household. The 1850 census gives his age as 59 and birth place as South Carolina; his second wife and two younger children are in the household. His first wife and the mother of his children is unknown; her name never appears in any records. She was apparently alive when the 1840 census was taken, but died shortly thereafter. He then married Elizabeth Binkley, the widow of Darby Izor, about 1844 according to subsequent court records. The will of her father, Jacob Binkley, left $5 to his daughter Elizabeth Ferguson in 1846.[20] She petitioned for divorce in 1852, citing emotional mistreatment, but the divorce was never granted.[21] After John W. Ferguson’s death nearly three years later, Elizabeth sued his children over the estate, and apparently settled the suit when she was awarded a year’s provisions.[22]

He was declared a “lunatic” by early 1854, when Joakim Green was appointed his guardian[23], and died intestate on either 7 or 8 February 1855 (court records give both dates[24]) with Joakim Green his administrator.[25] Court records identify the four children shown below, and clarify that his widow, Elizabeth, was not the mother of these children.[26] At his death, John W. Ferguson owned a livery stable in Springfield, some slaves, three town lots, and two plots of 60 acres and 128 acres. The stable and slaves were sold in his estate sale. His children were:

1.1.  John W. Ferguson Jr. (c1825 ‑ 1868). The 1850 census lists him as age 25 (born in Tennessee), and a hatter, in his father's household. He married Martha W. Persise, daughter of his aunt Alzeda Ferguson and John B. Persise, in Robertson County on 9 January 1853.[27] By 1855 he was "of Alabama"[28] but evidently returned to Robertson County by 1859.[29] His wife must have predeceased him as she was not mentioned in any of his estate records. He died in Robertson County in 1868; Daniel P. Braden was appointed his administrator, and returned an inventory and sale in December 1868.[30] His debts exceeded his assets; the estate was declared insolvent in early 1870 and creditors were paid roughly two-thirds of their claims.[31] He evidently had no children alive in 1878 when Alzeda filed her suit.

1.2.  Joseph J. Ferguson (c1827 ‑ aft1878). He was age 23, a shoemaker, in the household of N. M. Langsford in 1850, listed two households away from his father. He was "of Davidson County", Tennessee in the administration records of his father's estate in 1855, but apparently returned to Robertson County in time to administer his brother James Ferguson’s estate in 1857.[32] He was "of Louisiana" in Alzeda Persise’s suit filed in 1878.[33] I have not further traced him.

1.3.  James Ferguson (c1829 ‑ 1857). He was age 21 in the 1850 census. He died unmarried in 1857. Joseph J. Ferguson was appointed his administrator in November 1857.[34]

1.4.  Mary E. Ferguson (c1834 ‑ 1856). She was age 16 in the 1850 census. She died unmarried in 1856. Her brother John W. Ferguson Jr. was appointed her administrator in November 1856.[35]

2.     Moses K. Ferguson (c1803 - ?) Although there is no proof he was a son of Jonathon Ferguson, he was clearly related in some way. He and John W. Ferguson jointly bought 25 acres near Springfield in early 1827[36] then jointly bought two town lots the following year.[37] A third deed referenced later was apparently a purchase of 60 aces. In 1830, Moses K. Ferguson sold his half interest in all three purchases.[38] He does not appear again in Robertson County records, nor can I find him elsewhere. He was apparently the male aged 16-18 in Elizabeth Ferguson’s 1820 household and perhaps one of the males aged 20-30 in John W. Ferguson’s 1830 household. Whatever happened to him, he apparently died childless before 1846, since he is not mentioned as an heir of Elizabeth Ferguson. Nor is he mentioned in Alzeda Ferguson Persise’s 1878 suit as an heir of his sisters.

3.     (Female) Ferguson (1790s? ‑ 1820s?). She was the wife of Isaac Baird. Letters from Mary and Nancy Ferguson to George W. Baird, as well as several court records in Robertson County, make it clear that he was the son of Isaac Baird and one of their sisters.[39] Several Robertson County court records also identify George W. Baird as an heir of Elizabeth Ferguson and a nephew of Mary and Nancy Ferguson. [40] I would guess this daughter was born before 1800, since she was married before 1820. She apparently died before 1830, perhaps at the time of George W. Baird’s birth in 1821. (See BAIRD pages for additional details.)

4.     Alzeda Ferguson (c1797 ‑ aft1878). She married John B. Persise before 1820, since she is apparently the female in his 1820 census household.[41] The 1850 census gives her age as 53 and the 1860 census as 62. She gave the place as South Carolina in both censuses. John B. Persise’s will is dated 26 January 1846, and was proved ten years later in March 1856.[42] It names their children as Elizabeth B. Epps, Emily Ingle, Martha W. Ferguson (wife of John W. Ferguson Jr.), John W. Persise, Susan Persise, and James M. Persise. The will left Alzeda the entire estate except the home place, in which she had a lifetime interest and which was be distributed equally among the children after her death. Alzeda appeared by herself in the 1860 census. She was still alive in 1878 when she sued George Baird's widow and children, W. C. Brown and wife Emma Brown, and Joseph Ferguson over the estates of her sisters Mary Ferguson and Nancy Ferguson. The suit claimed Alzeda and the defendants were the only heirs of her sisters. As a sidenote, an 1849 letter from Mary and Nancy Ferguson to George W. Baird (see BAIRD pages) says that “uncle John B. Persise has moved to Batesville, Arkansas” though he must have moved back almost immediately.

5.     Mary Ferguson (c1800 ‑ c1876). She was born in South Carolina according to the 1850 census, when she and her sister Nancy were living together in Springfield. Both Mary and Nancy were spinsters, part of the households headed by their mother (1820 and 1840) and brother (1830) in earlier censuses. On 19 September 1839 she bought a town lot in Springfield next to her brother, “reserving fifty feet sold to John W. Ferguson”, where the two sisters were apparently living in 1850. George W. Baird sold her the adjoining lot in 1849 when he moved to Texas.[43] Mary later sold both lots to her sister Nancy, and then again to George Baird’s wife.[44] This precipitated the suite by Alzeda Ferguson Persise in 1878, who claimed that the lots were the property of Nancy Ferguson and should be distributed to her brothers and sisters.[45] She was unmarried and , according to the Persise suit, had no children. She died in 1876 according to that suit. If anything, she was likely to have been older than the 1850 census suggests.

6.     Nancy Ferguson (c1807 ‑ 1855). She was born in South Carolina according to the 1850 census. As with Mary, I suspect she may have been older than the 42 suggested by the census. She died in 1855 according to the Persise suit.

It is possible there were additional children (see "Associated Fergusons" for some possibilities). Elizabeth Ferguson's household in 1820 included one male 26‑45 (who must have been John W. Ferguson), two males 16‑26, and one male 16‑18. In 1830, when John W. Ferguson was head of household, the household included four young males (John W.'s three sons and George W. Baird) plus three "extra" males, one aged 30‑40 and two aged 20‑30. In 1840 George W. Baird was clearly in Elizabeth's household, and John W. Ferguson's household included one "extra" male age 30‑40.

While there is no evidence any of these "extra" makes were family members, this all suggests at least one, and perhaps two, other sons of John/Jonathon Ferguson and Elizabeth; one born ca 1794‑1800 and one born ca 1802‑4. Note that this would nicely fit the gaps in the apparent birth years of the known children. Whoever they were, they evidently died without heirs by the time of the settlement of Elizabeth Ferguson's estate in 1849.