Favorite Name

“You know,“ said my 3rd cousin Gordon Reed, “Wilson is one of the oldest names in the valley.” He told me this about 5 years ago, as we drove over a small stream called Wilson’s Branch, while driving up and down the mountains in the Sequatchie Valley. It was the first time I had heard the Wilson name in this area, but for some reason I tucked it away in my memory.

A couple years after that, I was “doing genealogy” for my dad’s Tennessee heritage, and I came across the name Greenberry Wilson. What a Name! Greenberry! I had never heard that first name before. Don’t you love it? I went on to discover that he is one of my 4th great grandfathers. I had no idea. The creek we drove across a few years before was named for him over 200 years ago.

Revolutionary War patriot

        Greenberry Wilson was most likely born in Buncombe county North Carolina around 1755. It’s believed his heritage was Irish.  He might have been married twice, but the records are not clear. His second wife was Temperance “Tempie” Bradshaw, with whom they raised 8 children. Greenberry and Tempie came to the Cumberland County TN area around 1797, as one of the first settlers. With the help of other newcomers to the valley, their house was built. It is still standing today, and is owned and occupied by their descendents.

Built in 1797, this is the original home of Greenberry and Temperance Wilson

Last year Gordon drove me to the Wilson Cemetery, which is on the original  homestead. Fittingly, it is on Wilson Cemetery Road. It is a beautiful and picturesque setting, with the cemetery on a hillside, and the homestead, with its stream and rock walls, below in the valley. 

Looking down in the valley to the Wilson homestead

The entrance to Wilson Cemetery, with the farm and home below

Greenberry and Tempie’s first child, Sarah Margaret Wilson, was my 3rd great grandmother. As I said, there aren’t many records to document whether Tempie was her biological mother or not. But regardless, Tempie raised her, along with their 7 other children. Sarah went on to marry Samuel Oxsheer (Auxier, Oxier alt spellings), another name that I adore. 

Greenberry and Tempie's headstone with their children's names

Greenberry and Tempie - every time is see their names, I just smile. I don’t know why.