I don't know who the Elizabeth Fann is who
showed up in Polk County, TN in the 1850
census. I believe that is the county where
Mackey shows up, so maybe she is connected
to him somehow. She most assuredly is NOT the
Elizabeth Fann who was married to John Fann
and lived in Orange County as his widow.
The widow was appointed a guardian by the
court. Initially it was the same man named
as the executor of John Fann's will. But she
outlived him, so the court appointed her
another one. This second one proceeded to
systematically rip her off for every cent
that was in the estate. He kept her up while
she was alive, and no one suspected anything.
But when she died and it was suddenly time
for a reckoning, he was nowhere to be found.
It appears from the files that his strategy
was to buy up all the children's shares and
then he would be entitled to it all. There
was just one problem- he wasn't able to buy
them all. So, there had to be an accounting.
When he could not be found anywhere, his
bondsmen were hauled into court and forced
to pay the $10,000 bond they had agreed to
when he was appointed guardian.
His house was searched and some of the
account books were found.
This amount of a bond is indicative of a
sizeable estate and indicates that John Fann
was NOT a poor man. It may have been
Elizabeth's desire to have control of the
estate, but it does not appear that she did.
The probate files include a copy of John's
will, the previously mentioned account books,
suits from chancery court where the loss of
the complete estate came to light, etc.
In the chancery court file it refers to
Elizabeth being the widow of John Fann, and
states plainly that she died in 1837.
Since Judith was the only child left in the
county by that time, it makes perfect sense
that she stayed only until her mother died,
and then she left also. She had sold her
share to the guardian and therefore had no
reason to stick around any longer. There is a
mention in the files of those children who
were no longer in the state at a certain
time in the chancery court suit, and Judith
is one of them .
The suits name all the surviving children,
and also the heirs of those who had left
some heirs when they died themselves. There
was a debate about one of the sons having
survived his mother and there is testimony
from some men in AL who state when they last
saw him alive.
If you want your book to be accurate, then
perhaps more research in Orange County would
help to straighten out the families.
Perhaps there is an Elizabeth Fann who married
two times after John Fann died, but she wasn't
his widow.
The loose probate files were quite thick and
you can obtain them by requesting them from
the NC State Archives. Tell them you want ALL
the FANN probate files from Orange County and
ask them what it will cost to get them copied
and sent to you.
There were loose probate files for almost all
the NC counties. I looked at a lot of them
but did not copy them all due to the cost.
However, since you are writing a book, and I
assume you want it to be as complete as
possible, getting copies of those files from
all the counties where there are Fanns might
be something you want to consider.
I don't know if they have been microfilmed by
the Mormons or not. At the time I looked at
them they had not been, but that was in
1987/88 and things could have changed since
then.
By using the names in the will and the names
in the loose files, you can get a good list
of children of John Fann. The only question
is whether there were other children older
than Judith and Mackey. I tend to believe
that John Fann married later in life and that
there were none. If there had been some older
ones and they had survived Elizabeth, or had
heirs to claim a share, then they would have
been mentioned in the chancery court case.
Since they were not, they probably don't exist.
For example, Judith who was the widow of John
Walker, is NOT mentioned in the will, but she is
named in the court case, and even referred to as
John Walker's widow. This was the case with
all the girls who were widowed by the time
of the court case.
I believe the Fanns who left Richmond County
may have not all have been brothers. Some may
have been, but there is a John, son of Jesse,
who was born at exactly the right time to be
the one who eventually shows up in Warren
County.
I feel that there are too many gaps in the
records in Richmond County, and in southern
VA to establish definite relationships between
these four men.
As for the gentleman who provided you with
some of the info you have- unless he can
provide references that can be verified, and
that fit into the picture both timewise and
placewise, I wouldn't use that information
for anything more than a possible place to
start looking myself for information.
I have seen too much of that type of research
to believe that it is even worth the paper it
is printed on. Publishing it yet again does
nothing more than continue to propagate
misinformation.
I have recently moved and most, if not all,
the papers I got from the NC files are in
storage. It will be some time before it will
be where I can get to it. You will get the
copies that you need much faster by
requesting it from the NC Archives.