John
Wesley & Ellen Jane (Capps) Gentry
John
Wesley Gentry was born in
South Carolina
in the year 1838 to John Gentry and Emma
Gentry, of
Spartanburg
,
South Carolina
. His father was probably second generation Irish-American. The 1779 Colony of
South Carolina listed only two, “John
Gentry’s”. In 1820, there was a
total of nine named John Gentry.)
John Wesley migrated to
Georgia
; it is unknown whether it was with or without his family. At the age of 23
years of age (1861), the Civil War began and he enlisted in the 8th Georgia
Infantry, Company A, CSA. The unit
was based in
Rome
,
Georgia
.
After the war, he met and married a young lady, Ellen Jane Capps
(1841-1917). They were wed March 1867. Ellen was the daughter of Frank M. and
Emma Capps.
Emma
was a full-blood Cherokee from the
North Carolina
reservation, thereby, making Ellen one-half Cherokee. Ellen was born only 3
years after the “Trail of Tear”. The 1900
Hamilton County
,
TN
census indicates her birthplace was
Alabama
; Father Frank was born in NC and Mother Emma in TN. Being an Indian or
part-Indian was not the sort of information they boasted of during those days.
Mother Emma is not buried in this area but Frank lived and died here after John
Wesley and Ellen settled in the Bakewell/Sale Creek, Tennessee area. .
John Wesley and Ellen had six children: (1)
John M. was a soldier in the Spanish-American War 2. Charlie
(1872) married Nancy Gothard ,(3) James Francis (1876) (4)
Laura, who married ___ Stewart, (5)
Florence
married William (Will) Jones, (6) and William Newton, who married Rosa
Caroline Green.
John Wesley died
February 14, 1919
at the age of 81. He is buried near
his wife and son, Charlie, in the
Welsh
Cemetery
,
Sale
Creek,
Tennessee
. His grave is marked with a C.S.A.
stone, denoting his Confederate service. Although
little is know about him, we are proud of the heritage he gave us.
Note:
Information based on family history, Bible entries, census data, and personal
research.
Compiled
and Submitted by Rexford C. Alexander
rexcalex@bellsouth.net