The name of Preston W. Shannon keeps popping up in my research of Anderson County, Tennessee. My main Anderson County families are Peters (three lines), Scarbrough (no lines, but tons of cousins), and England (two lines). The Peters and the Scarbroughs migrated from Greenbrier (now Monroe) County, Virginia (now West Virginia) to Knox (now Anderson) County, Tennessee in 1797. Anderson County was created in 1801. I haven't yet figured when and how the Englands got here. For some time now, my data base has listed four wives for Preston W. Shannon -- Elizabeth Wiatte, Sarah Adaline C. (Adaline) Wiatte (sister of Elizabeth), Sarah Emily Peters, and Susan (surname unknown). I had Sarah Emily Peters listed as the daughter of Henry Peters, Jr. and Jane England. This listing for Sarah Emily Peters was based more on what I found listed by other researchers than by my own research. I have not researched these Wiatte sisters, but I assume that they are of the 1797 Peters/Scarbrough migration (the wife of Henry Peters, Sr. was Mary Wiatt). I now believe that Sarah Emily Peters and Susan were the same person, and that the name should be listed as Susan Emily Peters. I also believe that Susan Emily Peters was the daughter of Thomas Peters and Sarah England rather than of Henry Peters, Jr. and Jane England. (Off the main subject here, but Thomas Peters and Henry Peters, Jr. were brothers. Does anybody know if their respective wives Sarah England and Jane England were sisters?) Henry Peters, Jr. and Thomas Peters both had daughters named Susan, and the two Susan Peters were first cousins. Here are the entries from the 1850 Anderson County, TN census. HN 144 PETERS Henry 55 m wagon maker $250 TN Jane 50 f TN Francis 19 m farmer TN Mandy Ann 17 f TN Arthur 16 m farmer TN Susan 12 f TN HN 150 PETERS Thomas 60 farmer VA Sarah 60 VA Susan E. 22 TN So Susan Peters the daughter of Henry, Jr. was born about 1838, and Susan E. Peters the daughter of Thomas was born about 1828. In the 1880 Anderson County census, we have the following entry. p.100 Shannon Preston 59 (T T VA) Susan 51 (T T VA) Oliver Douglas 19 stepson Scarbrough Polena 18 servant Cole Sarah 10 servant Here was have Susan, born about 1829. I believe that she is Susan E. Peters, daughter of Thomas, and that she m.(1) Alva A. Oliver. Douglas Oliver was her son from her first marriage. I don't know who Polena Scarbrough was, except that there were tons of Peters/Scarbrough connections in Anderson County. I very much know who Sarah Cole was (see below). A minor glitch in this census entry is that Thomas Peters was born in Virginia. The entry for Susan should, I think, say (T VA VA). Additional data I have: A.A. Oliver m. Emily Peters 16 Jul 1855 in Anderson County. Susan E. Oliver m. P.W. Shannon 14 Oct 1867 in Anderson County. So I think she was Susan Emily Peters and she was probably known as Emily. I can't find a Sarah Emily Peters who works for any of this, but I often see her listed as a daughter of Henry, Jr. I think such references to Sarah Emily must be a mistaken reference to one of the two Susan Peters cousins, or maybe one of the Susans was also known as Sarah?? This is not just of academic interest to me. My g grandmother Sarah Cole age 10 was living with Preston Shannon in 1880. Sarah's sister Ida Cole age 11 was living with John Scarbrough in Anderson County in 1880. John Scarbrough's wife was Mary Peters, daughter of Thomas Peters and Sarah England. So the sisters Susan E. Peters and Mary Peters were taking care of the sisters Sarah Cole and Ida Cole, respectively, in 1880. There is a "rest of the story". Sarah and Ida Cole's mother (Vesta Clay England m. William Cole) had been widowed between 1873 and 1880, and was living with her other two daughters Cordie age 11 and Mollie age 7 in Knox County in 1880 (Ida and Cordie were twins). But Vesta had farmed out Sarah and Ida to families in Anderson County, and I think they must have been relatives. Vesta's mother was Jane Peters. I do not have proven ancestry for this Jane Peters. So I am wondering if Jane was a sister to Susan Emily Peters and to Mary Peters, or if she was a cousin to them, or what. If she was a sister, then Sarah and Ida Cole were staying with their aunts. Since Sarah Cole was my g grandmother, Vesta Clay England was my gg grandmother and Jane Peters was my ggg grandmother. So I would dearly love to figure out if Jane ties back in to the other Peters/Scarbroughs of the 1797 migration. I have living family members of my mother's and my grandfather's generations who remember some of these ancestors. Sarah Cole was known as Sallie, never as Sarah, and married Alva Peters. They became my mother's Grandma and Grandpa Peters. Mollie Cole married Alva's brother Robert Peters, hence Aunt Mollie and Uncle Robert. Cordie Cole married Ross Scarbrough, hence Aunt Cordie and Uncle Ross. Ida Cole screwed up the Peters/Scarbrough/England thing by marrying Phillip Wells. Vesta (known as Vestie) married a second time to a Mr. Scarbrough, but I haven't yet figured out which Scarbrough. She is remembered variously as Aunt Vestie, Grandma Vestie, or Grandma Scarbrough. She died in 1924. But the real brick wall for me right now is Vesta's mother Jane Peters. The story I have just told argues strongly that she probably was of the Peters/Scarbrough migration of 1797. I don't think she would have farmed out her daughters to non-family members. If she was of the 1797 migration, she would have been a granddaughter either of Tobias Peters, Sr. or of Henry Peters, Sr. But I can't place her as a daughter of any of the sons of Tobias or Henry. The 1850/60/70 censuses say that Jane Peters was born in Tennessee, which would suggest she was a granddaughter of Tobias Peters, Sr. or of Henry Peters, Sr. But those census entries are ones that list everybody in the family as being born in Tennessee, and sometimes that just represents sloppiness on the part of the census taker. The 1880 census lists Jane and both her parents as being born in North Carolina, with the rest of the family (her husband John England and all their children) as being born in Tennessee. So the listing of Jane as being born in North Carolina "feels" credible to me in the 1880 census. But if Jane wasn't of the migration from Virginia, why would she have farmed out her daughters to Mary Peters and Susan Emily Peters who most definitely were of the migration from Virginia? I have long suspected that Jane was the daughter of a John Peters and Sallie Clay -- the birth date works out right and it explains why Jane's first daughter was named Vesta Clay England. But then, I would like to find a connection between this John Peters on the one hand, and Tobias and Henry on the other. But I can't find one (John was in Virginia, but not the same county as Tobias and Henry), Jane Peters daughter of John Peters and Sallie Clay was born in Virginia instead of North Carolina, and it all falls apart. So who was my Jane Peters? I think resolving the Susan E. Peters who married Preston W. Shannon issue was major progress, but I still have a long way to go. For any of you who actually read this far, thanks for listening. And if any of you have any clues, I would love to hear them. Thanks in advance. Jerry Bryan ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com