Fifth Generation  

16. Mathias Dorr,² son of Jean Pierre Dorr and Catherine Elizabeth Weber, was born on 7 Jul 1782 in Varsberg (57, Moselle), France and died on 30 Aug 1814 in Morhange (57 Moselle), France, at age 32.

Mathias Dorr hid his origins in the town of Morhange (Moselle). The Municipal records list his occupation as cloth maker and apparently he was a wealthy man. It is not clear at this time how many children Mathias had. According to the municipal records he had three children, Victor, Rosine, and Louis, all by his first wife Marie-Marguerite. After she died he married a younger woman with children of her own. A French genealogy web site shows him with seven children by his first wife. When he died there was a dispute over his inheritance which continued until 1876. The settlement was delayed due to Napoleon's defeat. It ended up that most of the inheritance was lost to an unscrupulous lawyer.

Mathias married Marie-Marguerite Closset on 31 Aug 1801 in Morhange, France. Marie-Marguerite was born on 26 Sep 1773 in Morhange (57 Moselle), France and died on 20 Jun 1828 in Morhange (57 Moselle), France, at age 54.

Children from this marriage were:

8         i.  Louis Adolphe Dorr (born on 12 Sep 1816 in Morhange, France - died on 6 Jun 1883 in Panola Co., MS). Louis married Francoise "Fannie" Benal, daughter of ? Benal, on 7 Jun 1841 in Mobile Co., AL.⁴ Francoise was born on 5 Jun 1821 in France and died on 10 Jan 1901 in Panola Co., MS, at age 79.

         ii.  Victor Dorr was born on 2 Mar 1808 in Morhange, France. Victor married Elisabeth Schoumert.

        iii.  Rosine Dorr was born on 9 Mar 1806 in Morhange, France. Rosine married Joseph Hector Klein in 1830. Joseph was born in 1807.

         iv.  Cecile Dorr was born on 4 Jan 1804 in Morhange (57 Moselle), France. Cecile married Henry Berger in 1829.

          v.  Marie Anne Dorr was born in 1810 and died in 1810.

         vi.  Jean Michile Dorr was born in 1811.

        vii.  Mathias Dorr was born on 24 Feb 1814 in Morhange (57 Moselle), France and died on 8 Apr 1866 in Morhange (57 Moselle), France, at age 52. Mathias married Marie Victoire Thedore.

17. Marie-Marguerite Closset was born on 26 Sep 1773 in Morhange (57 Moselle), France and died on 20 Jun 1828 in Morhange (57 Moselle), France, at age 54.

Marie-Marguerite married Mathias Dorr,² son of Jean Pierre Dorr and Catherine Elizabeth Weber, on 31 Aug 1801 in Morhange, France. Mathias was born on 7 Jul 1782 in Varsberg (57, Moselle), France and died on 30 Aug 1814 in Morhange (57 Moselle), France, at age 32.

18. ? Benal .

? married someone.

His children were:

9         i.  Francoise "Fannie" Benal (born on 5 Jun 1821 in France - died on 10 Jan 1901 in Panola Co., MS). Francoise married Louis Adolphe Dorr, son of Mathias Dorr ² and Marie-Marguerite Closset, on 7 Jun 1841 in Mobile Co., AL.⁴ Louis was born on 12 Sep 1816 in Morhange, France and died on 6 Jun 1883 in Panola Co., MS, at age 66.

         ii.  Marie Benal died on 23 Dec 1887 in New Orleans, LA. Marie married Louis Heric. Louis died on 12 Mar 1884 in New Orleans, LA.

22. William Burton, son of Hutchins Burton.

William married someone.

His child was:

11        i.  Mary Burton (born on 16 Mar 1817 in Halifax Co., VA). Mary married Josiah Richard Wilkins on 4 Jan 1841. Josiah died in 1853.

24. Thomas Boswell, son of Edward Boswell and Craven ?, was born on 27 Sep 1779 in Prince William County, VA and died on 6 Oct 1822 in Hend. County, TN, at age 43.

Thomas Boswell was born in Prince William County, Virginia. He was married to Mary Sims, daughter of Edward Sims, in 1802 in Caswell County, North Carolina. He bought 100 acres of land there from his father, Edward Boswell, in 1809.

He left North Carolina and traveled to Henderson County, Kentucky, where his brother Craven had settled. His daughter Susannah was born while they were there. The Chickasaw Cession with the Chickasaw Indians, signed in 1818, allowed settlers to legally settle in West Tennessee and spared them wars with the Indians. By 1819 and 1820 settlers were entering the Henderson County area regularly. Thomas moved to Henderson County, Tennessee about 1820 and died there in October of 1822. There were a number of other family members who came to Henderson County, Tennessee about this same time, possibly with Thomas and his family - his brothers Matthew and Edward Boswell, his nephews Brown Boswell and James Iverson Boswell and most likely the Graves and Fielder families.

The early settlers of Henderson County, Tennessee taught their children at home until schools were established. The first schools were subscription schools, financed by payments made monthly by parents. They operated from sixty days to six months a year. In 1822 there were schools at Mifflin and Jack's Creek. In 1823 a school was started in Lexington.

Life in Henderson County was simple. They slept on crude beds of straw or bear hide on dirt floors. Cooking was done in a fireplace. The eating utensils were usually wood. The oxen, mules, horses and other livestock had to be guarded from wild beasts. The soil was rich and they grew corn, vegetables and some cotton. Wild honey was used as a sweetener. The first mill was built in 1821 and the first cotton gin in 1823.

Cumberland Presbyterians were the first to have ministers in Henderson County. The Methodists soon followed. Thomas' son, Craven Carlyle, became a Cumberland Presbyterian minister and his son, Thomas Leachman, became a Methodist minister.

Thomas Leachman Boswell notes in the front of his father's Bible that "He was my father and was very kind to me, and though a little boy I remember seeing him reading in this blessed book."

The Henderson County court house burned so there are few records about this family available there.

After Thomas died his wife Mary continued to live there and was listed with their son Edward and his wife Barzilla in the 1850 census. She moved to Madison County, Tennessee sometime after this because that is where their three daughters had settled with their husbands. She died there in 1858. Her son, Reverend Thomas L. Boswell, wrote in his Bible:

"Mary Boswell, my mother, died in peace in Madison County, Tennessee on the
23rd of May, A.D. 1858 'Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.'"

Thomas married Mary Sims, daughter of Zebiah Rice, on 10 Dec 1802 in Caswell, County, NC. Mary was born on 9 Feb 1787 in NC and died on 23 May 1858 in Med. County, TN, at age 71.

Children from this marriage were:

12        i.  Thomas Leachmam Boswell (born on 9 May 1816 in Orange County, NC - died on 12 Apr 1898 in Macon, Fayette Co., TN). Thomas married Charlotte Jones on 6 Oct 1837 in Gibson County, TN. Charlotte was born on 19 Jul 1821 in Maury, TN and died on 30 Jul 1904 in Macon, Fayette Co., TN, at age 83.

         ii.  Lillinda Boswell was born in Jan 1810 in Orange County, NC and died on 27 Nov 1884 in Henderson County, TN, at age 74. Lillinda married Levi Warren in 1827 in Henderson County, TN.

25. Mary Sims, daughter of Zebiah Rice, was born on 9 Feb 1787 in NC and died on 23 May 1858 in Med. County, TN, at age 71.

Mary married Thomas Boswell, son of Edward Boswell and Craven ?, on 10 Dec 1802 in Caswell, County, NC. Thomas was born on 27 Sep 1779 in Prince William County, VA and died on 6 Oct 1822 in Hend. County, TN, at age 43.