Gist, Guess and Guest of Lawrence County, Alabama

Gist, Guess and Guest of Lawrence County, Alabama

 

Please know there were other Gist's in Lawrence County, Alabama at the same time. But according to DNA evidence, we are NOT related to them.

The following is via Don Sticher, a Gist/Guess/Guest family researcher. Some of what he has recorded, especially those things directly pertaining to my family, were things I shared with him. However, he has independently verified them.His research in turn, has greatly aided mine.

When I showed Don a rough draft of my coming book he replied with the following:

Hello Vance,

Looks like you have been really busy.  I'm glad someone is taking the effort to document this story.  This is a difficult story to tell, and harder to document in an easily understood manner.  The sources always seemed to be two or three times removed from each other, and most of the connecting of the dots comes from the process of elimination.  Still, once everything is collected together, and presented in an orderly fashion, you can make sense of it.  I think you have pulled everything together quite effectively. 

You have my permission to use anything I have ever sent, and do anything you like with it - - edit it, change it, or use any parts you see fit. 

I have recently updated the Group 1 Y-DNA test report and a copy is attached.  The biggest difference is that I added an additional test subject for Group 1- - that being Harold Wallan Gist, a known descendant of Nathaniel Gist (1807) and Mary Howard.  The version you were working with (Mar 2011) was a hasty draft.  I'm not sure if the new version really changes anything you wrote, but there does seem to be some rather compelling DNA evidence the NW AL Gists (and east KY/TN Gists) were descendants of Nathaniel Gist and Mary Howard. 

Good work Vance!

Don Sticher

Don mentioned a report he had prepared on the y-chromosome DNA test for the Guest/Gist/Guess/Gess surname. It is too long to include, but excerpts are below.

Gist/Gest/Gues(s)(t) Y-DNA Project, Group 1       19 Oct 2012        Donald Sticher

An analysis of the test results for those of Group 1 of the FamilyTreeDNA Gist/Gest/Gues(s)(t) Y-DNA Project.

Y-DNA test lab            http://www.familytreedna.com

As of October 2012, the Gist/Gest/Gues(s)(t) Y-DNA Project has 63 members, 6 of whom are in Group 1.  A complete list of all the Project Y-DNA test results can be found online at:

http://www.familytreedna.com/public/gistgestguessguest

The test results (2006-2012) show all seven subjects are very closely related.  It's also interesting to note this group of Gist families (Group 1) have their own unique Y-DNA pattern, and are a total mismatch to all the other 57 Guess/Guest/Gist Y-DNA Project participants, including those of the Maryland Gist families.

All seven test subjects of Group 1 descend from three major GIST family groups:

1.  Northwest Alabama Gists - - a group of families who first show up in the area northwest of Birmingham, AL between 1818 and 1850 (Lawrence, Winston, Walker and Marion Counties).  Included in this group were:

    a.  Christopher McNutt GIST, born about 1804 in TN, married Mary McNutt

         31 Mar 1824 in Lawrence County, AL.

    b.  Aaron Gist and wife Nancy - - Aaron Gist was born about 1807 in KY, and

        was probably a brother of Christopher Gist (b.1804).  Aaron Gist and Nancy

        were probably the parents of the following three men:

            Thomas O. GIST, born about 1830 in KY.  Married Sarah Gist, daughter

        of Christopher Gist, about 1858.

            James Harvey GIST, born Feb 1836 in Wayne County, KY according to

        his Civil War records.

           Elijah GIST, born about 1837 in KY. 

2.  Major Thomas GIST and wife Martha - - Major Thomas Gist was born estimated 1750-1765 in Union District, SC.  Lived in Knox County, TN in 1797.  Helped establish the town of Smithland in Livingston County, KY in 1798.  Sheriff of Livingston County, KY when he died in early 1807.  Origins unknown, but perhaps a son of Nathaniel Gist (b.1707) and Mary Howard.

3.  Nathaniel GIST and wife Mary Howard - - Nathaniel Gist, born 1707, was a son of Richard Gist and Zipporah Murray of the Maryland Gist families.

. . .

Nathaniel Gist (b.1707) is a known member of the historic Maryland Gist families.  There are other Y-DNA test subjects from the Maryland Gist families who have a widely different Y-DNA pattern than found here in Group 1.  The other Maryland Gist test subjects fall into Group 2 of the FTDNA Gist/Guest DNA Project.   

The big question is:  Exactly how are these seven test subjects related?  Christopher Gist (b. abt 1804) and Aaron Gist (b. abt 1807) were about the same age and lived near each other, and were probably brothers.  Thomas O. Gist, James Harvey Gist and Elijah Gist appear to be brothers, and also appear to be sons of Aaron Gist (b.1807) and his wife Nancy.  Thus the close Y-DNA match of the five descendants of the NW Alabama Gists was anticipated.  That leaves Major Thomas Gist (b. est. 1750-1765) and Nathaniel Gist (b.1707), whose family connections to each other and the five NW Alabama families are unproven at this time. 

 

. . .

There are two records that place members of the NW Alabama group of families in Whitley and Wayne County, KY prior to their move to Alabama.  Whitley and Wayne County are adjacent counties in southeastern Kentucky.

1.  Aaron Gist "and his wife Nancy" sold two parcels of land in Whitley County, KY in May 1849.  This information is found in Whitley County, KY Deed Book 3, pages 233 and 237.

2.  James Harvey Gist stated he was born 15 Feb 1836 in Wayne County, KY when he applied for a Civil War pension.

In the area around Pulaski, Wayne and Whitley County, KY in the early 1800s you find references to:

1.  A long hunter named Gist who had a hunting camp in Wayne/Pulaski County, KY in 1775-1777.  The camp was located across the Cumberland River from the mouth of Pitman Creek, about 5 miles due south of Somerset, KY on the Wayne County side of the Cumberland River.

2.  A Nathaniel Gist in Pulaski and Wayne County, KY, born about 1775, who had several children, including a daughter named Dinah who married Allen Bond 27 Feb 1827 in Pulaski County, KY.   This Nathaniel Gist disappears from the records after the 1830 census.

3.  Vanhook families from Russell County, VA.  These were the same Vanhook families the Dorseys showed interacting and intermarrying with members of the Nathaniel Gist (b.1707) families.  See Dorsey page 60 for more information about the Vanhook families.

4.   David Smith, whose parents were Robert Smith and Mary Gist.  Mary Gist was a daughter of Nathaniel Gist (b.1707) and Mary Howard.

5.  James Havens, whose daughter Rachel married a Gist about 1812 and was widowed before 1820.  The James Havens family was later found in NW Alabama with the Gist families.  Charlotte Havens, another daughter of James Havens, married David Smith (#4 above) in Lawrence County, AL in 1829.

The NW Alabama Gist families in Group 1 used the same given names common to the Maryland Gists (Christopher, Nathaniel, Thomas), but do not share the same Y-DNA pattern as the Maryland Gists, who are found in FTDNA Group 2.  The NW Alabama families seem to belong to a "lost" branch of the Maryland Gist families.  In particular, they seem to be descendants of Nathaniel (b.1736)  and/or Richard Gist (b.1742), both of whom were sons of Nathaniel Gist (b.1707) and Mary Howard, and both of whom died at King’s Mountain in October 1780.  The Nathaniel Gist who died at King’s Mountain (b.1736) had a wife named Dinah (probably Dinah Fulkerson).  The Nathaniel Gist (b.c1775) who lived in Pulaski County, KY had a daughter named Dinah.  It is very probable that  Nathaniel Gist (b.1736) and Richard Gist (b.1742) of Russell County, VA were the long-hunters who used the camp in Pulaski County, KY in 1775-1777.

The close Y-DNA match of Harold Wallon Gist presents an interesting conflict.  Harold Wallon Gist is a well documented  descendant of Nathaniel Gist (1707) and Mary Howard.  However, other test subjects from the Maryland Gist families have a different Y-DNA signature than those of Group 1, including Harold Wallon Gist.  All the other Maryland Gist test subjects are found in Group 2 of the Y-DNA Project.  This seems to indicate Nathaniel Gist (b.1707) did not share the same Y-DNA as the other Gists from Maryland.  Further testing of additional test subjects from different branches of the Maryland Gist families may provide more insight into how the families are related.

The close Y-DNA match of Harold Wallon Gist to the others of Group 1 may provide the link between the Gist families of Group 1 and the Gist families of Group 2 (Maryland Gists).  The NW Alabama Gists are thought to be a “Lost” branch of sons of Nathaniel Gist (1707) and Mary Howard.  Harold Wallon Gist is well documented to be an actual descendant of Joseph Gist (b.1748), who was a son of Nathaniel Gist (1707) and Mary Howard.  Thus we have a Y-DNA match between test subjects “thought” to descend from Nathaniel Gist (1707) and Mary Howard (the NW Alabama Gists), and another test subject “known” to descend from Nathaniel Gist (1707) and Mary Howard (Harold Wallon Gist, 1932-2010). 

From another of Donald’s writings:

[Christopher McNutt Gist (1804), Thomas Gist (1799), Richard Gist (1800), David Smith (1790) and Ruth Gist (est 1770)]

A number of Guest-Gist names are found in the early records of Lawrence County, AL.  They are all thought to be related, with origins in east Kentucky and/or east Tennessee.  The descendants of these families have a unique Y-DNA signature that does not match any of the other Guest-Gist Y-DNA test subjects.  Based on the evidence to date, it appears these Guest-Gist families are probably a “lost” branch of the Maryland Gists.  They are thought to descend from Nathaniel Gist (b.1736) and/or his brother Richard Gist (b.1742), both of whom died at King’s Mountain in 1780.

Most of those found on the early Lawrence County, AL records were living in other surrounding counties after 1830;  Marion, Walker, Winston, or even in other states.   The names of those found in early Lawrence County are as follows:

Thomas Gest/Gist, born about 1800, married Nancy Roney in 1818.

Thomas Gest can be found in Lawrence County, AL for the 1820 census, married but not yet 21 years old in 1820.  Thomas Guest deserted Nancy Roney before 1830, and Nancy was granted a divorce by the AL State Legislature in 1831.  Nancy was on the 1830 Walker County, AL census, living near Richard Guest and Christopher Guest.  Thomas may have gone to MS with Richard Gist (his brother?) around 1836.  Only the names of Thomas and Nancy and the date of the marriage are found in the Marriage Book.

Rachel Guess/Gist, born about 1797, married Thomas Tolbert in 1820. [Vance's note: this is MY family]

Rachel Guess was a widow with 4 children when she married Thomas Tolbert in 1820. The marriage bond was signed by James Havins (Rachel’s father) and Thomas Tolbert.   Rachel was a daughter of James Havins and Sarah Miller and Rachel Havins had previously been married to an unknown Mr. Gist (married about 1812).  Rachel’s first husband was probably the James Gess found in Wayne County, KY in 1808.  Evidently Mr. Gist died before 1820 and Rachel married 2nd Thomas Tolbert in 1820.  Thomas Tolbert died within the year and Rachel married 3rd Emanuel McNutt in 1822.

Richard Gest/Gist, born about 1800, married Jane McKinney in 1821.

Richard Gist and David Madling/Madlin posted the marriage bond.  Both signed their name with “His Mark”.   Richard Gest was in Walker County, AL for the 1830 census, living near Christopher Guest and Thomas Guest's deserted wife Nancy.  Richard moved across the state border into Mississippi around 1836, and can be found in Itawamba County, MS for the 1840 census, and in Pontotoc County, MS for the 1850 census.  Both of these Mississippi counties are just west of Walker County, AL.  Richard’s sons James and David moved further west, and were in AR for the 1860 census.

Rachel Talbot married Emanuel McNutt in 1822.

Rachel Talbot was the same person as the Rachel Guess who married Thomas Talbot in 1820.  Rachel Havins married 1st a Mr. Gist about 1812, married 2nd Thomas Talbot in 1822, and married 3rd Emanuel McNutt in 1822.  Rachel’s marriage to Emanuel McNutt is found only on the Gandrud Marriage List, which gives only the name of the bride and groom and the date of the marriage.  There are no original records for this marriage.

Christopher McNutt Guest/Gist, born about 1804, married Polly McNutt in 1824.

This marriage is not recorded in the Lawrence County marriage books.  The only record that exists at the Lawrence County Archives is a loose, original marriage bond. Christopher’s middle name (McNutt) is given on the marriage bond.  Christopher McNutt Guest and William McNutt signed the marriage bond, and both signed with “His Mark”. William McNutt was probably Polly’s father.  Christopher married after he moved to AL.  Christopher next shows up in Walker County, AL for the 1830 census.  Christopher was probably a brother of the above Richard Gist and Thomas Gist.  All seem to have arrived in Alabama around 1818.  Descendants of Christopher Gist claim Christopher’s parents were Thomas Gist and Sallie McNutt. 

David Smith, born 1777 (or 1790?), married Charlotte Havens in 1829.

David Smith was the orphaned son of Robert Smith and wife Mary Gist.  Charlotte Havens (b.1800) was a daughter of James Havins, and was a sister of the widow Rachel Havins Guess who married Thomas Tolbert in 1820.  David Smith was from east TN/KY, and is also associated with the Gist families of Pulaski and Wayne County, KY.

Early Lawrence County, AL marriages, 1818-1825

There were several Gist/Guess/Guest marriages in Lawrence County, AL between 1818 and 1825.  Lawrence County, AL has an on-line listing of all the marriage records, available at the Lawrence County Archives.

http://www.lawrencecoarchives.com                                      

Lawrence County, AL marriage records found at the on-line Lawrence County, AL Archives website. 

Note:  The entries listed as “Gandrud” refer to a list of marriages compiled by Pauline Jones Gandrud.  In 1942 an Aldridge descendant found that part of Marriage Book 1 was falling apart and copied all of the marriages in the book (1816-1823).  That particular marriage book has disappeared, and the 1942 “Gandrud list” is the only record of what was in that particular marriage book.  However, even though the Marriage Book itself is lost, there are still marriage bonds and licenses to be found for some of the marriages.

Groom             Groom             Bride       Bride

Surname          Name               Name     Surname       Date                  Book & page

Gest                 Thomas            Nancy     Raney          11/6/1818         Book 1

Talbert             Thomas            Rachel     Guess          12/7/1820         Book 1  57

Talbot              Thomas            Rachel     Guess           12/7/1820        Original

Gest                 Richard            Jane         McKinney    9/13/1821        Gandrud 14

Gest                 Richard            Jane         McKinney    9/13/1821        Original

McNutt            Emanuel          Rachel     Talbot          12/31/1822      Gandrud 25

Guest               Christopher      Polly        McNutt        3/31/1824        Original

Smith               David               Lotty        Havens        04/27/1829      Moulton, AL

Copies of all the above records were obtained in August 2011.  The original documents are in poor condition and the copies received from the Lawrence County Archives were very poor, but can be made out.

Gist-Guest who bought GLO land in Lawrence County, Alabama

 

The only Gist, Guess or Guest name found in the GLO records for Lawrence County was “Ruth Gist”, who was an intermediate owner of property patented to David Smith in 1828.  David Smith was the assignee of Ruth Gist, who was the assignee of Samuel Ackley.

The identity of Ruth Gist is unknown at this time.  This is the only place her name has been found to date.  However, David Smith, and neighbor James Havins, are closely associated with the Gist families who lived in the area of east Kentucky around Pulaski and Wayne County.  

A biography of Dr. John Randolph Smith, who was born 1836 in Wayne County, KY,  states Dr. John R. Smith was the son of David Smith and Charlotte Havins (b.1800), a daughter of James Havins.  According to the biography, David Smith was born 1777 and was the son of Robert Smith and Mary Gist (of the Maryland Gist families).  Also according to the biography, David Smith was orphaned at a young age.  However, the biography does not give the name of the family who raised David after his parents died. 

Perhaps David Smith was taken in by a Gist family since his mother was a Gist.  David Smith was the “Assignee” of Ruth Gist when he received his Land Patent in Lawrence County, thus David had obtained the land from Ruth Gist in some manner.  One possibility is that Ruth Gist was part of the foster family that raised David Smith after David was orphaned.  It is possible that David Smith moved to Lawrence County, AL about 1818 with a Gist foster family and the Gists died shortly thereafter.  

David Smith was in Wayne County, KY in 1814 when he bought land from Henry Beeson, a neighbor of a Nathaniel Gist (b. abt 1775) who lived in Wayne/Pulaski County, KY.  David Smith was in Lawrence County, AL by Aug 1822 when he was appointed executor (along with widow Sarah Havins) of the estate of James Havins who died in Lawrence County, AL in Dec 1821.  David Smith married Charlotte Havins in Lawrence County, AL in 1829 and moved back to Wayne County, KY at that time.

James Havins had another daughter named Rachel who married an unknown Mr. Gist about 1812.  This unknown Mr. Gist may be the James Gess found on the 1808 Wayne County, KY Tax List, and then disappears from the records.  Rachel’s husband Mr. Gist died about 1818-1820 and the widow Rachel Guest married 2nd Thomas Tolbert in 1820.  Thomas Tolbert was a neighbor of James Havins in Lawrence County, and Thomas Tolbert had previously been married to Cynthia Havins.  Cynthia was another daughter of James Havins and apparently died at a young age (during childbirth perhaps?).

Thomas Tolbert married 1st Cynthia Havins, a daughter of James Havins, about 1815.

Cynthia died young and Thomas Tolbert married 2nd Rachel Havins Guest, a widowed daughter of James Havins, 7 Dec 1820.  Rachel Havins had previously been married to an unknown Guest or Gist who died about 1819.

David Smith married Charlotte Havins, a daughter of James Havins, 27 Apr 1829.

Other Records relating to the Guess/Guest families of Lawrence County, AL

1820 Alabama “State” Census

The 1820 federal census for Alabama is completely destroyed.   However, there was also an 1820 “State” census, of which only 6 of the 30 counties have survived, those being: Baldwin, Conecuh, Dallas, Franklin, Limestone, Shelby, St. Clair and Wilcox.

In addition to these surviving  “State Census” records, a portion of the 1820 Lawrence County “State Census” has also survived.  At Ancestry.com the partial census of Lawrence County is included as part of the Franklin County records.   However, there are numerous on-line sources that have split out the partial Lawrence County census from the Franklin County records, and show only the Lawrence County records.

1820 Lawrence County, AL State Census
males                     females
over 21, under 21, over 21, under 21

Page 11 line 21    Thomas Tolburt       1000

Page 12 line 05    David Smythe          1210

Page 12 line 18    James Havens          1224

Page 24 line 15    Thomas Guist          0111

Thomas Tolbert, living alone for this census in 1820, had been married to Cynthia Havins (b.1795), an older daughter of James Havins.  Thomas Tolbert married Cynthia Havins after 1815, and apparently Cynthia died before the 1820 census.  Shortly after this census Thomas Tolbert married the widow Rachel Havins Guest (7 Dec 1820).  Thomas Tolbert died within a year and Rachel Havins Guest Tolbert married 3rd Emanuel McNutt (31 Dec 1822).

David Smythe or Smith was the son of Robert Smith and Mary Gist.  David Smith was orphaned as a young child and was raised by a family unknown at this time (perhaps a Gist family).  David Smith apparently came to Alabama about 1818 from the area around Pulaski, Wayne and Whitley County, KY.  He may have come to Alabama with Christopher, Richard and Thomas Gist.  David Smith was made Executor of the estate of James Havins (along with the widow Sarah Havins) after James Havins died in Jan 1822.  David Smith married Charlotte Havins, a daughter of James Havins, in Lawrence County, AL in December 1829.

Thomas Guist on page 24 is probably the Thomas Gest (Gist?) who married Nancy Roney 6 Nov 1818  in Lawrence County, AL.  Interesting that Thomas was not yet 21 in 1820, indicating he was only about 18-20 years old when he married Nancy Roney.

1830 NW Alabama Census, Heads of Household

Legend (same for males and females)

            5          10        15        20        30        40        50        60        70        8

<          to          to        to          to        to        to        to        to        to        to       

5          9          14        19        29        39        49        59        69        79        89

1830 Lawrence County, AL census, page 270

Emanuel McNutt          0 0 2 0 1       1 1 0 2 0 1      Married about 7 1/2 years

1 male 20-29   (Emanuel about 29)

1 female 30-39  (Rachel about 33)

2 females 15-19  (2 female Guests, one is probably Harriet)

2 Males 10-14   (2 male Guests, one is probably James, b.1819)

1 female 5-9    (McNutt daughter born about 1824)

1 female 0-4    (McNutt daughter born about 1827)

This is Rachel Havins and 3rd husband Emanuel McNutt, who married 31 Dec 1822 in Lawrence County, AL.  Rachel married 1st an unknown Mr. Gist/Guest about 1812  (probably the James Gess on the 1808 Wayne County, KY Tax List).  Mr. Gist died about 1819 leaving Rachel with four Gist children, two boys and two girls.  Rachel married 2nd Thomas Tolbert 7 Dec 1820 and he died within a year.  Rachel married 3rd Emanuel McNutt 31 Dec 1822.  Rachel and Emanuel McNutt had been married about 7 1/2 years at the time of this census, and the four older children in the household are Gists.  Two of these Gist children have been tentatively identified as Harriet Guest/Gist (b. about 1818) and James Gist (b. about 1819).  See the separate paper James & Harriet Gist for more detailed information about this family.  

This family moved to Shelby County, TN before 1840 and can be found in Shelby County, TN for the 1840 census.  Neither Emanuel McNutt nor Rachel can be found after the 1840 Shelby County, TN census.  Harriet Guest/Gist married David Brown 25 Aug 1841 in Shelby County, TN, and they can be found in Lawrence County, AR for the 1850 and later censuses.  James Gist married Elizabeth Frazier 14 Oct 1848 in Shelby County, TN, and they can found in Dade County, MO for the 1850 and 1860 censuses. 

After 1820 many of the families found in early Lawrence County can be found in other nearby counties, or even in other states.

Additional records for the early Lawrence County, Gist-Guest families, after 1820.

1830 Walker County, AL, pages 258, 270, 271, 272

GUEST, Richard          20-29   page 258          2 1 0 0 1 0 0 - 2 0 0 0 0 1 0

NUT, William              60-69   page 270-6       0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

RONEY, Lewis            30-39   page 270-14     4 2 1 0 0 1 - 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 1

GUEST, Nancy           30-39   page 270-15      0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 1 0 0 1 0

McNUTT, Henry         40-49   page 271-12     0 1 1 0 1 1 - 1 1 0 0 1

NUT, William              30-39   page 271-23     0 1 1 0 1 1 - 0 1 1 0 1 0 1       

BROWN, William        60-69   page 272-2      0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1- 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

GUEST, Christopher    20-29  page 272-4       1 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 1 1 0 0 1 0 0

BROWN, John             60-69   page 272-7       1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 2 1 1 2 0 0 1 [Vance's note: my direct line, also]

This group of Guest and related families appears to have origins in Lawrence County, AL, which is just north of Walker County.   Richard Gest married Jane McKinney in Lawrence County 13 Sep 1821.  Thomas Gest married Nancy Roney in Lawrence County 6 Nov 1818.   Christopher Guest married Polly McNutt in Lawrence County 31 Mar 1824.

Nancy Guest was Nancy Roney who married Thomas Gest in 1818.  Thomas Guest had deserted Nancy Roney before 1830, and Nancy was granted a divorce by the AL State Legislature in 1831.  Lewis Roney, who lived next door to Nancy Guest for this census (1830), is thought to be Nancy’s brother.  In Nancy’s household for this census was a daughter 10-14 years old and a son 5-9 years old.  The daughter has been identified as Elizabeth Guess/Guest who married John Rackley in Gibson County, TN in 1839.  The son has not been identified as of this date.  Lewis Roney and Nancy Guest moved to Gibson County, TN before 1839 and can be found there for the 1840 census.  These families moved further west after 1840, and were in Mississippi County, AR by 1850-1860.  See the separate paper Thomas Guest & Nancy Roney for more detailed information about this family.  [Vance's note:  Carla Davenport, the wife of my great aunt's grandson, dicovered this family's wanderings. She forwarded it to me and I to Donald, and he verified it.] 

Richard Guest, married to Jane McKinney, moved across the border into Mississippi around 1836 and can be found in Itawamba County, MS for the 1840 census, and in Pontotoc County, MS for the 1850 census.  Both of these Mississippi counties are just west of Walker County, AL.  Richard’s sons James and David moved further west and were in AR for the 1860 census.

There is no trace of David Smith in the 1830 Alabama census.  Perhaps David was living in some other household in 1830.  David Smith married Charlotte Havins 27 Apr 1829 in Lawrence County, AL and apparently moved to Wayne County, KY shortly thereafter.

1840 Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky, heads of household

legend (same for males and females)

            5          10        15        20        30        40        50        60        70        80

<          to          to        to        to          to         to        to         to          to        to       

5          9          14        19        29        39        49        59        69        79        89

1840 Marion County, AL, page 059   

GUESS, Christopher  30-39                 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 - 0 0 0 0 1 0 0    

wife                             20-29

1 male                          10-14

1 male                            5-9

1 male                            0-4

This is Christopher Gist, who had been living in Walker County, AL for the 1830 census.  Marion County, AL is the next county NW of Walker County.  Richard Guest, who was in 1830 Walker County, AL with Christopher, had moved west into Mississippi about 1836 and Richard is found in Mississippi for this 1840 census. 

Christopher Gist cannot be found for the 1850 Federal census.  However, Christopher is found in Marion County, AL for the 1850 “State” census.

Christopher can be found on the Federal censuses in 1860 and later, living in Winston County, AL, the county just east of Marion County, and between Lawrence County and Walker County.  In 1880, Christopher Gist was living in Winston County, in the household of James H. Hand.  Christopher was listed as ”grandfather”, 76 years old and born in TN.  (Christopher was the grandfather of James Hand’s wife, Wealthy Gist)

 

1840 Itawamba County, MS, page 147 (On MS border NW of Walker County, AL) 

GESS, Richard 40-49               0 1 1 1 0 1 1 - 1 3 2 0 0 0 1

wife                             40-49

1 male                          30-39   (Is this Thomas Gist, who deserted Nancy Roney?)

1 male                          15-19

1 male, 2 females        10-14

1 male, 3 females          5-9

1 female                        0-9

This is the Richard Guest (b. abt 1800) who had been living in Walker County, AL for the 1830 census.  The number of children and approximate ages of everyone in the household matches the 1830 Alabama family.  There were two adult men in the household for this census, one 40-49 years old and one 30-39 years old.  Which one was Richard, who was about 40 years old?  And who was the second man?  Could the second man be Thomas Guest, the one who had deserted his wife Nancy Roney before 1830?

Richard Guest married Jane McKinney 13 Sep 1821 in Lawrence County, AL.  Richard kept moving west and can be found in Pontotoc County, MS for the 1850 census (next county west of Itawamba).

1840 Gibson Co, TENNESSEE census, stamped page 177, line 27

Lewis Roney     0022001, 0001001

1M                   40-49   Lewis

1F                    40-49   Wife Elma

2M, 1F             15-19

2M                   10-14

This is the same Lewis Roney who was in Walker County, AL in 1830.  Also in Gibson County for the 1840 census was John Rackley, who had married Elizabeth Guess in Gibson County in 1839. 

1840 Gibson Co, TENNESSEE census, stamped page 191

John Rackley -- 10101, 0001001

1M                   20-29   (John Rackley)

1F                    15-19   (Elizabeth Guess)

1M                   10-14   (Elizabeth’s younger brother?)

1F                    40-49   (Nancy Roney Guest?  Elizabeth’s mother?)

This is the John Rackley who had recently married Elizabeth Guess in Gibson County, TN (3 Jan 1839).  Elizabeth is almost certainly the daughter of Nancy Roney and Thomas Guest.  Later records give further proof of this.  The identity of the 10-14 year old boy in the household has not been identified as of this date.  He is most likely the younger (Guest/Gist)  brother of Elizabeth, who was also in the Nancy Guest household in 1830. 

The records of 1850 and 1860 Gibson County, TN, Lauderdale County, TN and Mississippi County, AR were searched for a male named Gist, Gest, Guest Guess, born 1820-1830, but none were found who were thought to be the above boy.