Winter 2017 Newsletter #28

Ya’ll come to Tipton County, Tennessee

Covington, Tennessee

Covington, Tennessee

The date is set. Plans and arrangements have been made!
Our 2017 meeting is taking place on 7th October in the Tipton County Public Library, Building C on the campus of the Dyersburg Community College at 3149 Highway 51 South in Covington.
With the assistance of Susan Cheairs, Director of the Library, and a welcome from Dr. Karen Bowyer, President of the College, the meeting place is reserved.

The Tipton County Courthouse in Covington

The Tipton County Courthouse in Covington

The Tipton County Courthouse in Covington

The Tipton Family Association of America invites all TFAA members to come to Covington.

Tipton County borders Shelby County, Tennessee on the north. Memphis is in Shelby County making a major US airport convenient to the meeting place. Meeting in Covington also makes it convenient for TFAA members in Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana, and states west of the Mississippi River who might come by auto as well as those to the east.

Driving from Interstate 40 in Memphis to Covington takes approximately one hour. From Memphis International Airport, the drive is about one and one half hours.

For information about travel accommodations or other matters when visiting Covington,
Contact the Covington-Tipton County Chamber of Commerce at Post Office Box 683, Covington, Tn. 38019 or by phone at (901) 476-9727 on online at
www.covington-tiptoncochamber.com

More information and details about our meeting will be in future newsletters during the year. The detailed schedule of the day’s events will be published in late August or early September.

Reservations have been made for our group to eat lunch together at the nearby Bald Butcher Restaurant.

On Friday night, there will be a ‘meet and greet’ dinner. The location will be arranged and announced in a subsequent newsletter.

Everyone interested in our Tipton Family and its history is welcome!


Jacob Tipton founds Shelby and Tipton Counties in West Tennessee

Jacob Tipton (1790-1839) organized Shelby County for the State of Tennessee on 6 December 1819 by holding the county’s first Court and swearing in the County Justices. Jacob was officiating in his capacity as Surveyor General of the 11th District of Tennessee, a position he was named to on 30 November 1819. He was the ranking Tennessee official in this portion of the newly created territory of West Tennessee. During this time, Jacob was also serving as a clerk of the House of Representatives in the Tennessee General Assembly.

In 1818, Andrew Jackson and Kentucky Governor Isaac Shelby negotiated the purchase of the land west of the Tennessee River to the Mississippi River in the states of Tennessee and Kentucky from the Chickasaw Indian Tribe. This land transaction has become known to history as The Jackson Purchase.

On 1 December 1823, Jacob Tipton presided over the first courts held in Tipton County at the home of Nathan Hartfield which was near the future site of the county seat of Covington. Tipton County was named in honor of Jacob’s father, Captain Jacob Tipton (1765-1791), who died gallantly at the battle of St. Clair’s Defeat on the Wabash River during the wars between the fledgling United States and the proud Indian tribes defending their lands in the Northwest Territory.

The town of Covington was named in honor of General Leonard Covington who was mortally wounded on 11 November 1813 during the War of 1812 battle of Chrysler’s Farm. Ensign (later Lieutenant) Jacob Tipton was in the US Regiment of Riflemen which took part in the campaign in Canada culminating in the battle. Lt. Jacob Tipton had a distinguished career in this elite regiment and received commendation.

On 13 January 1818, Colonel Jacob Tipton married Lorina Taylor, the daughter of General Nathaniel Taylor (1772-1816) and Mary Patton Carter Taylor of Elizabethton, Carter County, Tennessee. The General and Mrs. Taylor were very prominent citizens and large landowners. Lorina had seven siblings several of whom went to West Tennessee with Jacob and her. Due to his service in the War of 1812, General Taylor had thousands of acres of land grants in Tipton and Shelby Counties. By 1822 Jacob and Lorina, with son Nathaniel Taylor Tipton, were residing in Tipton County. They resided in Tipton County the remainder of their lives.

Jacob and Lorina’s Story will be continued in the next Newsletter.


Ruby Tipton Rudy passed away on September 24, 2015.

One of the most meaningful and fulfilling periods of her life was when she served as the second President of the Tipton Family Association of America from 1988 to 1990.” Frank Rudy, Ruby’s son.

Ruby Tipton Rudy

Ruby Tipton Rudy

TFAA

TFAA

Pictured above, left to right, are first TFAA President Polly Tipton Wilson, Ruby Tipton Rudy’s daughter Donna Gehring, Treasurer Susan Rudy Bangert, Public Relations Director Karen Tancil, Vice President Sandra Helms, Secretary Elisabeth Tipton Golden, President Ruby Tipton Rudy and Faith Stahl, one of the TFAA’s founding members.

This picture was taken after the meeting in which Ruby Tipton Rudy was elected President.

Thanks to Susan Bangert, Ruby’s daughter, and her son Frank Rudy for furnishing these pictures and information. Ruby Tipton Rudy will be missed by all!


Investigation into organizing this trip is underway!

Tentative dates will be in September, 2018. This timeframe is being selected because the Canal Boat Rally and Festival takes place in Tipton at this time; the Canal Boat event would be unique and interesting. It showcases Tipton’s history of canals for industrial transportation and canal boat touring which is a popular leisure pastime in today’s England.

Very preliminarily, the Group Visit would be for ten days and eleven nights beginning with getting together at a London hotel followed by two days of sightseeing before heading on by chartered bus to Tipton. During three nights and two days in Tipton, we would have programs and social time with the citizens of Tipton organized by the Tipton Library and its Friends Group. We would also visit the local Black Country Museum, enjoy the Canal Boat Festival and see other local sites. Next would be travel to Stratford-On-Avon to experience Shakespeare and a very lovely English village. It is likely another locale would be in the tour and then we would return to London for one night. The next day everyone would follow their own itinerary whether it be more time in England or their trip home.

I do need your feedback on this endeavor! Would you consider making this trip? Does the itinerary sound interesting to you?

Obviously cost is an item imperative to any decision to make the trip but for the moment we need to establish interest and get some idea of how many would go? Numbers do affect cost.

Speaking of Tipton, England

The Tipton Library’s Wedding Day Celebration and Tipton Brides Photo Exhibit is on display in the Library now. Several of our TFAA members submitted their family wedding pictures for inclusion in the photo exhibit.


The following items are available from the TFAA Store.

Mail your order to the TFAA at the above address or order and pay with PayPal at
www.tiptonfamilyassociationofamerica.com

Tipton Family Crest coffee mug $   8.00
We Tipton and Our Kin by Ervin Charles Tipton on CD $ 17.00
Dale Reed’s book John Tipton, John Sevier, and The State of Franklin $ 18.00
John Parrish’s concise bio 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
Voices of Cades Cove, Part 1 by Kate Marshall Graphics $ 20.00
Voices of Cades Cove, Part 3 by Kate Marshall Graphics $ 20.00
Tipton: The First Five American Generations by Charles D. Tipton on CD $ 14.00
Tipton Family Chart from Shropshire, England Archives: 15 pages $ 10.00
Tipton Family Crest Polo Shirts $ 18.00
Plus packaging and postage: $ 6.95

The following books are very helpful with history on 18th century Tipton ancestors who settled on the East Tennessee frontier.

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.


Tipton Cousin Cheryl Brown asks: My little family needs our big Tipton Family’s help locating the Oklahoma relatives of Barbara Jean Tipton Bright. She was born Nov. 28th, 1930 in Tulsa, OK and her family descent is Jonathan, Col John, Thomas, Geo Washington, David, John Langley, John Clifford. If you know Barbara, please get word to her Oklahoma Family that she passed away June 29th, 2016 in Kingsport, Tn. Barbara died content and quietly after very long illness. My Mother would want her only Sister to know of her final peace. Thank you for any help you can offer.

 


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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!

Visit Us at www.tiptonfamilyassociationofamerica.com

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About TFAA President

John Parrish served as president for many years and stepped down at the October 2018 meeting. We thank John for the fine work he has done and thank you all for the opportunity to serve as your TFAA president. I’m Kathryn (Kathy) Hoffmann, I was born in Savannah Ga and raised by my Tipton grandparents in North Florida and around my teenage years I moved to Naples and Fort Myers Florida where I raised my family and worked for the State of Florida Division of Forestry as their public information and education specialist until budget cuts and I was laid off, but God blessed me with a career at Fort Myers Police Department where I became a Crime Prevention Practitioner thru the Florida Attorney General’s office. During my career I’ve served on many boards: President of Southwest Florida fire prevention association, Fire Marshals association, Regional Director of Fire Prevention, SW Florida Crime Prevention Association, Crime Stoppers board member, State of Florida Crime Prevention Regional Director. I am looking forward to serving as your TFAA president/coordinator. Please feel free to call, text or email me. peachyrose56@gmail.com Let’s move forward! Tipton Teamwork