The Family In Tennessee

Tennessee is a long, narrow state placed between Kentucky and Virginia on the north; Missouri and Arkansas on the west; North Carolina on the east; and on the south, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. Austells have moved around, in and out of all these states over the years. Jefferson Co., Tenn., is in the eastern part of the state.

Tennessee was one of the earlier states - the 16th, receiving statehood in 1796, Until about l800, the state was largely occupied by hostile Indian tribes.

Families early began to come into Tennessee from North Carolina and possibly Austells were among these groups. Seemingly, the new state was not very popular. In 1776 North Carolina accepted as a gift what was the district of Washington County, which eventually covered all of what is now Tennessee. North Carolina for some reason turned over this land to the federal government in Washington; apparently this gift was ignored for four or five years. Finally, some of the settlers organized the state of Franklin, but this name later disappeared.

A county history has been written of Coffee and of Jefferson Counties. These old histories may usually be found in the state or county libraries or historical societies; they often give invaluable sources of information on early settlers.

Mrs. Mary Shields Shore believes that her ancestor, William Austell, jr. (b. March 1777, d. 20 Dec. 1840 in Jeff. Co., Tenn.) was the son of William Austell, sr., who died in 1781. Descendants of these men continued to live in Tennessee. The nine children of William Austell, jr. and Jane Wilkins Austell were all born in Jefferson Co., Tennessee.

Mrs. Shore is the great-granddaughter of William Austell, jr. (who married Jane Wilkins, 1807). She believes that her great-grandfather inherited the early home of William Austell, sr. (d. 1781) and she remembers when, as a small girl, she was taken to see an old log cabin type home on a creek. She believes her great-grandfather was renting out this place and had gone there to collect rent.

She says it was a log house and very old; the remembers the kitchen had a large fireplace (the type in which one cooked) and a beat-earth floor. There was a ladder which went up from the kitchen to the upper floor. The ground in the kitchen was like a polished floor from much use. Mrs. Shore states that although she was quite young at the time, she remembers the kitchen vividly. The property now is under water as a lake was created not far away. Mrs. Shore believes that her mother (b. 1880) may have been born in this log cabin. Mrs. Shore's grandmother was Nancy Austell, daughter of William Austell, jr.

It is Mrs. Shore's recollection that her grandfather, Dr. Thomas A. Hill and his wife Nancy Austell, lived in the old log cabin while he built a new log house nearby.

There exists, or did exist, an Austell family bible, which Mrs. Shore knows at one time was in the possession of her grandfather, Alfred Oliver Perry Hill, son of Dr. Thomas A. Hill and Nancy Austell. As best she can discover, however, this bible was borrowed by a relative, and now its location is not known. She did, however obtain from this bible many birth, death and marriage dates for many Austells.