In case anyone is interested in more info about the African American Porter and Cook family, I did some lookups in some Davidson Co. TN genealogy books I own. RE: 1. MARRIAGE RECORDS of Porters and Cook 2. Emancipation papers of George Porter 3. Census records -------------------------------------------------------------- Remember - only the marriages of "free persons of color", never slaves, were recorded in county records. -------------------------------------------------------------- >From the book, "Marriages of Davidson Co. TN, 1789-1847", by Edythe Rucker Whitley: 1. GEORGE PORTER married LYDIA PORTER January 27, 1814 with George W. Clinger and Tim Myers as bondsman 2. HUBBARD COOK was married to LYDIA PORTER April 27, 1821 by Rev Wm. Hume, VDM, with Colin S. Hobbs as bondsman 3. MILLEY PORTER married George LAWSON June 2, 1826 with HERBERT COOK as bondsman. 4. SOLOMON PORTER married Hannah Finley August 19, 1830 with Andrew Tait as bondsman. NOTE - the names of the bondsman were found in the Davidson Co. TN Marriage Records for 1788-1831 found online at the Metro Archives web site at: freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~nashvillearchives/records.html ---------------------------------------------------------- EMANCIPATION >From the book, "Davidson Co. TN Wills and Inventories", Volume I, 1783-1816, by Tim and Helen Marsh, 1990, Southern Historical Press Greenville, South Carolina. ISBN 0-89308-644-9 (note ISBN for Volume II, 1816-1830 is 0-89308-665-7) Page 110 of Will Book 3, October 1806 EMANCIPATION OF NEGRO - GEORGE, Logan Co. Kentucky At a Court held in Logan County, Kentucky, on 19 November 1802. On motion of REES PORTER for the emancipation of a Negro man named George, the property of the said Rees Porter and having complied with the laws of the State in each cases. The Negro man George be emancipated and set at liberty this 20 November 1804. Comment - George must have arrived in Davidson Co. approx 2 years after his emancipation in KY and as a free man had to file his emancipation papers with the Davidson Co. Court. (note - there was a Rees Porter who married Sally Whitsitts 21 May 1804 in Logan Co. KY) -------------------------------------------------------------------- CENSUS The 1820 Census of Davidson Co. TN lists many households for "free persons of color". The household for George and Lydia Porter lists: 2 males under age 14, 1 male over age 45, 1 female age 20 to 45 Kathleen Hill in CA ----- Original Message ----- From: "jj" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2006 4:54 PM Subject: [TNDAVIDS] COOK, PORTER > Davidson Co. TN Deed Book V, pp. 305-307, 314, 330 - > Registered 1833 - > Abstract: Several transactions transferring town lots near the S.W. corner > of Broad/College to various colored PORTER individuals (Solomon, Sophia, > Henry, Milly, Celia), and containing a life estate for Lydia Cook, wife of > Hubbard/Herbert Cook, formerly Lydia Porter. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Thank you, Kathie! It's nice to get back to genealogy on the list. I too searched a bit for George PORTER. It is a long story. My ancestor leased some property on College street from Andrew J. GORDON and I've been searching deeds and comparing the lot descriptions on College street in an effort to identify the exact location of my ancestor's lease. This was an extension of an earlier lease that may have been leased from Richard CROSS before his death. After my ancestor obtained his extension from Andrew J. GORDON, he turned around and subleased the property to an "Anch or Arch Casper/Carper" for a tidy profit. Most of Lots 29 & 30 of the town of Nashville's original lots (fronting College and Market streets) were divided up in 1826 so that the heirs of Richard C. Cross could have equal shares EXCEPT for the southwest corner of College and Broad. The court records include the commissioner's map (the commission was a group of men assigned by the court to divide the lots) and "Black George" is penned on the map, along with the different heirs' parcels on different portions. I wondered, is "Black George" an African-American or was this intended to mean George Black (surname Black). Perhaps I just couldn't see the comma separating the surname from the first name on this copy. I found my answer when I came across these PORTER deeds and began searching for information on George PORTER. He was a free "coloured" man. I don't know when he bought his property from Richard C. CROSS, but it was prior to the division in 1826. If anyone is interested in learning more about the owners of Lot. 29 & 30 of College street, I'd be happy to share the fruits of my research. I'm also looking for owners of portions of Lot 28 of College street but haven't run across any yet in the deed books that I am viewing. Surnames of property owners that I have found: GORDON (Richard, Andew J., William, Dolly, John, Louisa, Powhatten), PORTER (Solomon, Sophia, Henry, Milly, Celia, Lydia), Reuben WHITE, Meredith & Anne HELM, James WOODS, Wm. McNEILL, Michael & Able HOOVER. These deeds are dated in the late 1820's to the mid-1830's. Jeanne Johnson