Title: Susie Gentry Papers

Date/Date Range :   circa 1908-1985 (bulk circa 1908-1916)

Extent: 0.2 linear feet

Abstract:

The Susie Gentry Papers, ca. 1908-1985, is a series of letters and genealogical records about Tennessee soldiers of the War of 1812 (and of the Revolutionary War) and their descendents. It contains 38 items, mostly from the 1910's, including letters, a ledger, and family lines.

Call number: MS-2367

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

Collection was purchased by Special Collections in June of 2002.

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], Susie Gentry Papers, MS-2367. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of two folders divided into two series: Correspondence to Gentry and Ledger and Ledger Items.

Susie Gentry (1860-1944) was a civic leader and historian in Franklin, TN. She began the first Tennessee Chapter of the Daughters of 1812, and belonged to the Daughters of the American Revolution.

After the British violated maritime laws and impressed American seamen, the United States declared war on them in June 1812 (Americans being very hopeful about gaining British and Spanish owned lands). At about the same time, Native Americans, mainly Creeks, became fairly aggressive against Americans. The Creek War began in 1813 after an attack at Fort Mims, Alabama. Major General Andrew Jackson of the TN Militia led Tennesseans into the Creek Nation and thus began a series fights, culminating in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in March 1814 and finally a treaty in August that year. Jackson was promoted to Major General of the Army and took troops through Florida and on to New Orleans, where he defeated the British in January 1815. By February 1815, the peace treaty with Britain was signed, and the United States came out on top.

The Susie Gentry Papers, ca. 1908-1985, is a series of letters and genealogical records about Tennessee soldiers of the War of 1812 (and of the Revolutionary War) and their descendents. It contains 38 items, mostly from the 1910's, including letters, a ledger, and family lines.

This collection is divided into two series. The first, entitled Correspondence to Gentry, ca. 1908-1916, consists of 31 letters and family genealogies to Gentry about soldiers from the War of 1812 or the Revolutionary War. She had placed articles and advertisements in local newspapers about her project, collecting War of 1812 Tennessee soldiers' names and locating their graves in Tennessee counties; many of the letters refer to these newspaper items (one 1911 letter includes a copy of clippings). Five of the letters pertain to the Tennessee chapter of the Daughters of 1812, and how the writers are eligible to join. As to the dates of the letters, twelve are from 1911 six from 1909, and one to three are from each of the other years from 1908 to 1916; there are no items from 1910 and two have no dates.

Ledger and Ledger Items, 1964-1985, is the second series and includes the ledger Gentry kept with the lines of many families from the 17th through 19th centuries. There are also loose items that were taken out of the ledger, but kept in the same order, in this collection. These consist of a copy of a newspaper-printed prayer, an article copied from the Tennessean about Al Gore, Jr., and several items pertaining to families in the ledger. Of the 7 items, only two have dates. One is from 1964, and the Gore article is from 1985.

• Gentry, Susie, 1860-1944.
• United States -- History -- War of 1812.
• United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783.