Luke Tippitt 1768-1826 (52 Ancestor's #46)

This week’s theme is “Changes”.  I have been doing some research on the Luke Tippitt family and thought that he would make a good subject for this topic.  He had three wives and lived/moved to three states.  That seems like a lot of changes to me!

Luke Tippitt was born about 1768 in North Carolina.  It is believed that his parents were John and Susannah Tippitt, but I have not seen proof of that.  When he was about twenty-four years old, Luke married Mary Vincent in 1792 in Granville County, North Carolina.  The 1800 census from Granville County indicates that they had five children at that time: three daughters and two sons. Mary died around 1807.

Sometime between 1800 and 1808, Luke moved to Tennessee.  I would assume that whatever living children he had would have gone with him as none of them would be over fifteen years old.  In 1808, Luke married Jenny Cooksey in Wilson County, Tennessee.  Sadly she died the following year.

Luke married Nancy Adamson around 1810 in Tennessee.  By then Luke was about forty-three years old, and Nancy was about twenty-one years old. Luke Tippitt was listed in the 1812 Warren County, Tennessee Tax List.  There is also a William Tippitt on this Tax List who is listed next to “Aron Adamson”.  Luke and Nancy’s daughter Malinda was born in 1812 in Wilson County, Tennessee.  Their son William Tippitt was born in 1815 in Tennessee and their son Matthew Lovell Tippitt was also born in Tennessee in 1817.

By 1820, Luke Tippitt was living in Edwards County, Illinois.  He is listed there with his wife (Nancy) and four children under the age of ten.  Another child was born before the 1825 Edwards County, Illinois census where Luke is found listed. 

From the “History of Richland County” it is stated that Luke’s son, Matthew Lovell Tippitt, was four or five years old when his father died.  Since Luke Tippitt was listed in the 1825 census, I am guessing that he must have died about 1826.  Luke would have been around fifty-eight years old at the time of his death.  He left his wife Nancy and five children when he died.

It’s unknown what became of Luke’s wife, Nancy.  One source states that she moved to Richland County, Illinois after Luke died.  I have been unable to locate any records on her.  I suspect that she remarried (she was about thirty-six years old when Luke died).  Luke and Nancy’s daughter Malinda (Milly) married in 1829 in Edwards County, Illinois.  Malinda and her husband are listed in Lawrence County, Illinois in 1830. Son Matthew Lovell Tippitt and his family were listed in Lawrence County, Illinois in 1840.  Son William Tippitt settled in Morgan County, Illinois where, interestingly, is where Luke Tippitt’s son Elijah (by Mary Vincent) also settled.

Speculation on Aaron Adamson-child of Simon and Mary Adamson?

I am behind a week, but hoping to catch up this week.  Last week's challenge was "Free", meaning we were free to write about whatever we wanted.  I decided to put out my speculation about my wondering if perhaps Enos and Mary Love Adamson were not the parents of all the children who are credited to them.  I found a couple of records that make me wonder if perhaps there was an Aaron Adamson who was also the son of Simon and Mary Adamson, and father to my great-great-great grandfather, William Adamson.


My great-great-great grandfather was William Adamson born in about 1790.  William married Mary “Polly” Wilson in Wilson County, Tennessee in about 1806.  Their oldest child was Aaron Adamson, born about 1808 in Tennessee. This was my first clue that William’s father may have been named Aaron.

Over the years, researching the family, no evidence was ever found to link William to any of the other Adamson families.  A few years ago, my father did a DNA test and the results showed that he was indeed related to the John and Ann Skuce Adamson family.  Of course, that brought up more questions…so who was William’s father?  It was generally agreed among myself and other researchers that William must have been the son of Enos and Mary Love Adamson, although no evidence or proof of that has been found.

I have found an “Aron Adamson” listed in the 1782 Surry County, North Carolina Tax List.  Then in 1812, there is an Aaron Adamson listed in the Warren County, Tennessee Tax List.

Could this Aaron be another son of Simon Adamson, Sr.?

Could this Aaron be the father of William A. Adamson, Nancy Adamson Tippitt, and Simon Adamson?  Simon was born about 1785, William and Nancy around 1790. (Nancy Adamson married Luke Tippitt, who was also listed in the 1812 Warren County, Tennessee Tax List.  Aaron Adamson is listed next to William Tippitt) William Adamson married Mary Polly Wilson in 1806 in Wilson County, Tennessee.

Simon Adamson married Susanna Hopkins in 1808 in Wilson County, Tennessee.

Nancy Adamson married Luke Tippitt around 1810 in Tennessee. In 1808, Luke had married Jenny Cooksey in Wilson County, Tennessee. He and Nancy's first child, Malinda, was born in 1812 in Wilson County, Tennessee.

All of the other known children of Enos' were married in Randolph County, North Carolina around the same times as the above listed married in Tennessee.

Luke and Nancy Adamson Tippitt were listed in Edwards County, Illinois in both the 1820 and 1825 censuses.  William Adamson and his family were listed there in the1835 census.

 As stated earlier, William Adamson's first son was named Aaron W. Adamson (b.1808).  He was listed in the household of Susannah Hopkins Adamson in the 1850 Harrison County, Indiana Census.  This adds credence that William and Simon Adamson may have been brothers.

More proof of Aaron Adamson’s existence needs to still be discovered.  Just the two records cited above are not enough proof for me, but they certainly are tantalizing!  As usual, my research is a waiting game…hoping for new records to emerge!