Posted By:	Carl
	Email:
	Subject:	Eeek! Take a breath!
	Post Date:	October 25, 2008 at 08:04:08
	Message URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/tn/sevier/messages/1258.html
	Forum:	Sevier County, TN Genealogy Forum
	Forum URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/tn/sevier/

Where do I start? You've got the Cunninghams AND the Irwins VERY messed up. Let's start with the Irwins. David Irwin/Erwin was indeed born ca 1838 (as you note). That made it a trifle difficult for him to father -- as an eight year old – a child who would be born in 1847 (as you have) or in 1846 (as my notes show). And Robert M. Irwins's mother Sarah Irwin was an older sister of David Irwin, not his wife. Oops. Time for a major fact check. Robert M. Irwin was the illegitimate son of Sarah Irwin and Henry Frazier (as established by a bastardy case in Knox Co., TN). His mom Sarah Irwin (daughter and eldest child of William Irwin and Polly Ann Hines) then married (on 15 Oct 1848 [Knox] and as his second or third wife – I suspect second) John Cunningham. The list of children you have for John Cunningham and Sarah Irwin is incorrect. You've combined some of the children of the correct Sarah with some children of a widow Sarah Cunningham in the 1870 census of Blount (who was NOT the Sarah in question) and come up with a bizarre mix of the two. The correct list is: Dartes [also Dardes] Cunningham (born circa 1849 - died 8 December 1920, buried in the Oakland United Methodist Church Cemetery, Blount County, Tennessee) who married Sarah Long. Wiley H. Cunningham (born 15 March 1851 - died 29 August 1930, buried in the Pine Grove Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Loudon County, Tennessee) who married Melsenea Susan [also H.] Murphy. Thomas Franklin Cunningham (born circa October 1854 - died between 1930 and 1935, buried in Seven Islands, no tombstone) who married on 13 January 1881 (Blount County) to Susan Ann Griffen. James Cunningham (born circa 1858 - living in Sevier County in 1860 with his parents), nothing further. George Washington Cunningham (born circa 1861 - died 17 July 1931, buried in the Lynnhurst Cemetery, Knox County) who married on 21 June 1879 to Zilphia A. Cunningham. Margaret M. Cunningham (born circa June 1864 - died 9 December 1930, buried in the Asbury Cemetery, Knox County) who married on 24 April 1880 to George W. Sweat. Della Cunningham (born 18 October 1865 - died 9 July 1928, buried in the Valley Grove Baptist Church Cemetery, Knox County) who married on 16 January 1879 to William Thomas Galyon. As for John Cunningham, everything suggests he was NOT the son of Miles Cunningham (who, if I recall, did have a son named John). The biggest backbreaker for the Miles Cunningham identification is that the John Cunninham who married Sarah Irwin had a brother named Jesse Cunningham. Yup. Jesse Cunningham. If you check Miles Cunningham, you will see he had no son Jesse. And how do we know that the John Cunningham in question had a brother named Jesse? Because Jesse said so himself -- in a deposition for a mid-1840's Chancery case in Sevier Co. Burned records, you say? Aha! John Cunningham appealed the case to the Tennessee Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals -- and a full replication of the Sevier paperwork is there. Exclamation point! Seriously, there needs to be some sort of explanatory preface when information that has not been thoroughly vetted is put out. A simple one would do. "We have been given this from a variety of researchers and have not checked its accuracy ourselves -- use it with caution and test all conclusions." As for the other two Cunningham boys: McKinsey Love Cunningham (born circa January 1841 - died 21 February 1901, buried in the New Gray Cemetery, Knox County) who married first on 16 May 1858 to Nancy Robinson and second on 16 March 1879 (Bradley County, Tennessee) to Catherine Richey. James Hosea "Hosey" Cunningham (born circa 1843 - died between 1905 and 1910, buried in the Flint Springs Cemetery, Bradley County, Tennessee) who married first on 12 August 1863 to Sarah J. Nichols and second to Clementine "Tine" (___), perhaps in James County, Tennessee, circa 1895. They were two of the several kids of John Cunningham by an earlier marriage. The names are highly suggestive that their mother might have been a daughter of Hosea Rose of Sevier. There's lots more, but this is the most crucial stuff. --Carl