Thank you very much for your message! I am a direct lineal descendant of one John TENNISON, through his daughter Anna TENNISON who married William COBB (1772-c1835). This John TENNISON wrote his will on "18 December 1708" [sic -- it must be 18 December 1807], and it was probated in the June 1808 court session in Caswell Co NC. This will does show that the testator left a widow whose name was Elizabeth. It also shows that the testator had a son named John TENNISON who was alive in December 1807. It gives no hints as to where son John TENNISON lived or whether he was married or whether he had any children. Betsey CHEATWOOD did marry one John TENNISON under a Caswell Co NC marriage bond dated 3 March 1798. Was this groom John TENNISON Junior, son of my ancestor the 1807/1808 testator John TENNISON? I had been told that this bride might have been the testator's widow Elizabeth, but now, thanks to your message, I think she must have married the son, because she married secondly a man who was 16 years younger than the son-in-law of John TENNISON Senior. What do you think? Here is what I have seen during the course of my research: In his will, the 1807/1808 testator draws a distinction between two sets of his children. He states that his five youngest children were the five children of his wife Elizabeth. I do not know how old they were. The will does not say anything to suggest that they were minors or that they still needed educating etc. IF Elizabeth the widow of John TENNISON of the 1807/1808 will was Betsey CHEATWOOD, then these five children she had with John TENNISON -- namely Azariah, Reuben, Polly Harriet, Gregory and Nancy -- have to have been born between 1798 and 1807. In this scenario, when Betsey CHEATWOOD TENNISON LYONS moved to Overton Co TN in the 1810s, all five of these children would have to have been minors still. Did Edmond LYONS and his wife Elizabeth take with them these five minor TENNISON children? If they did not, the suggestion is that Betsey CHEATWOOD may have married the son John TENNISON, whose children, if any, I know nothing about. In that case, the five named youngest children of the 1807/1808 testator, whom he had had with his last wife Elizabeth somebody-else, do not have to have been minors in 1807 or 1808 or the 1810s. The 1807/1808 testator John TENNISON named two of his daughters as Elizabeth [TENNISON] wife of Henry COBB and Anna [TENNISON] wife of William COBB. I do not have birthdates for these daughters, but I have birthdates for their husbands. William COBB was born on 20 October 1772, and his brother Henry COBB was born on 2 February 1774. I cannot find the marriage record for these two COBB-TENNISON marriages, but Anna TENNISON COBB had a son born in about 1793, so she has to have been born in the 1770s at the latest, and her father, of course, has to have been a generation older than THAT. I do not have many answers, I'm afraid, but here are some questions that I hope might help. Two years after one John TENNISON married Betsey CHEATWOOD, the 1807 testator Jno. TENESON appeared in the 1800 US Census for Caswell Co NC, on page 715 (or page 126 in the rubber-stamp numbering). He was head of a household described as 21101 / 01010 / 05 So John TENNISON's widow Elizabeth was born between 1755 and 1774. Was Elizabeth CHEATWOOD TENNISON LYONS eight or 14 or more years older than Edmond LYONS? [14 years older if Edmond LYONS was born in 1788; eight years older if he was born in about 1782, as his entry in the 1860 US Census suggests, as per Lorraine's posting] Lorraine, who was Levi DENNIS? About when and in what state was he born? John TENNISON's will devised to his widow Elizabeth 250 acres on which John TENNISON resided in 1807 in Caswell Co NC. He devised this to her for life, and then it was to descend to HER five children, who were the same as the testator's five youngest children. Does the surname LYONS figure in any of the deeds for the disposal of this land after Elizabeth CHEATWOOD TENNISON LYONS died? Or did these five TENNISON children participate in deeds in which they renounced their shares of this land so that their mother could sell it? And if she did sell it, was the grantor "Elizabeth TENNISON"? Or were the grantors "Edmond LYONS and his wife Elizabeth"? The 1807/1808 will bequeathed to wife Elizabeth two Negroes, namely a man named JACK and a girl named CLAREY. Did JACK and CLAREY go to Overton Co TN with Edmond LYONS and his wife Elizabeth? If not, is there a deed or deeds in Caswell Co NC in which JACK and CLAREY were sold? And if such a deed does exist, was the grantor "Elizabeth TENNISON"? Or were the grantors "Edmond LYONS and his wife Elizabeth"? For the record, the 1807/1808 will names four slaves: man JACK to testator's wife Elizabeth girl CLAREY to testator's wife Elizabeth boy CHARLES to testator's son James TENNISON boy CUPIT [CUPID?] to testator's daughter Coos, no surname given (but was she Catharine TENNISON wife of Asa COX? I have no proof; just guessing.) So, what do you think? Was Elizabeth CHEATWOOD TENNISON LYONS married to John TENNISON Junior or to his father John TENNISON Senior of the 1807/1808 will? Lin Van Buren Surrey, England At 08:26 25/06/2002 -0600, jadresser@earthlink.net wrote: >This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. >Surnames: Lyon, Cheatwood, Dennis >Classification: Query >Message Board URL: >http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/RSB.2ACE/1613.2.2 > >Message Board Post: >Edmond Lyon, b. 1788, married Elizabeth Cheatwood Dennis, widow of John >Dennis/Dennison/Tennison about 1808. Edmond is the grandson of Robert >Lyon, who died in Caswell County in 1804, and was not related to the John >Lyon family of Person County, NC. It is possible the two Lyon families >(Robert and John) descend from the same 1600s Maryland Lyon family, but >that is only speculation. > >Edmond and Elizabeth moved to Tennessee during the 18teens, settling in >Overton County, where they lived for the remainder of their lives. The >family name was occasionally spelled 'Lions' or 'Lion' in Tennessee >records - neither Edmond nor Elizabeth could read or write.