Good Day to Everyone!
Here’s hoping all is well with you and your New Year is getting off to a great start.
The United States has had a variety of cold and stormy weather in the past few months. I do hope you have been spared the worst of that weather.
Winter in Tipton, Iowa got off to a rough start with a blizzard just before Christmas.
Tipton is a thriving, small city in eastern Iowa forty miles west of Davenport and the Mississippi River; The University of Iowa is thirty-six miles to the west. At the intersection of State Hiways 38 & 130, Tipton is a few miles north of Interstate 80.
According to Sandy Harmel, Museum Coordinator for the Cedar County Historical Society,
“Cedar County’s first residents arrived in 1836 settling in Rochester which is located on the Cedar River. Rochester was the first county government site. By 1839 the county had grown enough that settlers were complaining that the county seat should be more centralized. The
Iowa Territorial Legislature, in December 1839, named three commissioners to find a new location for the county seat. Among the three was Henry W. Higgins, Scott County.
After touring and deliberating they chose the present site for the location of the county seat. It is in the geographical center of the county. One of the commissioners, Higgins, would only agree to the site if it would be named to honor his friend, General John Tipton of Indiana”.
Samuel Tipton, Jr. (1806-1865) lived in Iowa about this time.
Robert Tipton Nave writes
“Samuel Tipton Jr. moved to Keokuk, Iowa in the 1850’s with two of his sons but he returned to Carter County when the Civil War broke out to protect his property. He was too old to fight but he served as a recruiting officer for the Union Army during the war and was forced to hide out in the mountains when the Confederates occupied Carter County. He died of exposure in 1865.His son John W Tipton was a Captain in the Union Army and moved to Kansas after the war. I think his son Joseph P Tipton remained in Keokuk. His son Samuel A Tipton remained in Carter County and his three daughters also stayed in Carter County. I descend from his daughter Martha who married Leander A. Hatcher.
Nancy Lacey Tipton, widow of Samuel, drew a pension from the federal government until her death in 1900.”
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The first recorded use of the family name Tipton is believed to be Thomas Tipton who was christened in 1549 in Pontesbury, Shropshire, England during the reign of King Edward, VI. The use of a family name and a Christian name developed in the sixteenth century in England.
Since 2009; The TFAA, founded in 1987, has experienced rapid growth in its membership and newsletter subscribers. From about 50 recipients, now three hundred or so Tiptons, Tipton descendants and people interested in the heritage of our family are receiving the newsletter.
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Arrangements are made for the TFAA 2013 meeting to be held in Burnsville, North Carolina on 12 October at the Yancey County Public Library, 321 School Circle in Burnsville. I appreciate the gracious help from Melanie Stallings, Main Librarian, in making the arrangements. Details of the meeting will be forwarded as the year progresses.
We have also heard from the Yancey History Association which has offered their help and cooperation to make our meeting a success.
As always, the meeting will be free and welcome all Tiptons, Tipton descendants and anyone interested in the history and genealogy of the Tipton family.
If you trace your family back to Major Jonathan Tipton and the Tiptons who crossed the Unaka Mountains and settled in North Carolina in the late eighteenth century, the following publication could be of great help to you in finding out more about your Tipton family.
The Heritage of The Toe River Valley; Edited by Lloyd Richard Bailey, Sr. 4122 Deep Wood Circle, Durham, 27707.
Lloyd@duke.edu; www.toerivervalleyheritage.com
Ten Volumes from 1994 to 2011
Tipton Crest coffee mugs are available for $ 6.00 by emailing parrish968@aol.com
Research resources are available from the TFAA or other sources as noted:
Dale Reed’s book John Tipton, John Sevier, and The State of Franklin $ 17.00
John Parrish’s book The Life of Colonel John Tipton $ 10.00
Copy of Spoden Map, Courtesy Sycamore Shoals State Park $ 1.00
Copy of Keesee Map $ 2.00
The Watauga Land Purchases by Troy R. Keesee is available from the Sycamore Shoals State Park Bookstore.
History of East Tennessee 1740-1800 by George and Juanita Fox can be ordered from the authors at brm887@bellsouth.net. Very informative
There is a new book on the State of Franklin, the Lost State of Franklin by Kevin T. Barksdale which is available through bookstores.
Tiptons: The First Five Generations by Charles D. Tipton can be purchased on CD from the Tipton-Haynes Historic Site Bookstore.
The embroidered Tipton family crest shown in the pictures above is available to all if you wish to have something embroidered. The set up fee has been paid by the TFAA so your cost will be the article you have embroidered and the charges from:
Doe Valley Printing, 1282 Riverview Drive, Elizabethton, Tennessee 37643. You can place orders by mail or contact Anita Remme at doevalley@comcast.net. or call (423) 542-4616
Please share this newsletter with everyone you know that could be interested in our family’s history and association. If you are receiving this newsletter by snail mail, please let me know your email address so you can get the newsletter electronically and in color. My email is parrrish968@aol.com.
Previous newsletters are archived on the TFAA website.
The TFAA and President thank the many TFAA members and friends who support our Association financially. That support makes our family’s association prosper and achieve its goal to preserve Tipton family history in the present!
Please support the Tipton Family Association by making your membership donation to the Tipton Family Association of America on the TFAA website: www.tiptonfamilyassociationofamerica.com
Many Thanks to All Who Make Their Membership Donations to
The Tipton Family Association of America
Tipton Family Membership donations make the TFAA able to accomplish the goals of the membership. In recent years, the TFAA has re-established meetings and newsletters, made the book We Tipton and Our Kin available on CD, provided a plaque in honor of William “Fightin’ Billy” Tipton in Savannah, assisted research in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia on the farmland of Colonel John Tipton and the successful quest to find the burial place of Major Jonathan Tipton. With your financial support, we can continue to succeed and do more!