Thomas HARPER was the son of Josiah HARPER (1759-1838) and Sarah PARROTT (1761-1839) of Virginia and Tennessee. Very little is known of Thomas' early life. He was first married possibly in Smith Co., TN, where he was named in a lawsuit in 1835. By the 1840 U.S. census, he had settled in nearby Warren County [p. 341]. His daughter Sarah (see #1 below) married there in 1842 but moved to northwest Alabama before the birth of her first child in 1843. The HARPERs almost certainly arrived in Alabama at this same time.
The 1850 U.S. census finds the HARPER and McWHIRTER families living side by side in Marion Co., AL [p. 118]. Thomas clearly had remarried since the previous census, considering that his current wife (Mary E.) was only 8 years older than his daughter Sarah. Together, he and Mary had at least one child (see #11 below) and perhaps as many as four. The previous year, Thomas had acquired from the federal government approximately 40 acres of land in Section 10, Township 13S, Range 11W — an area now bordered by Glen Allen to the west, Walker County to the east and Fayette County to the south.
The HARPERs attended Hopewell Baptist Church (located in present Fayette County), which Thomas represented as a delegate to the North River Baptist Association from 1855 to 1860. During this same time period, he acquired several more federal land patents to the north and south of the church. Thomas reported owning real property valued at $5,000 and personal property worth $1,500 on the 1860 census of Marion County [p. 615]. He then disappeared from the records and is supposed to have died before 1870.
If Thomas outlived the Civil War, his final years were plagued by tragedy and grief. Seven of his sons were old enough to have served in the conflict: three are known to have enlisted in the Union army, and at least two joined the Confederate army. Of these seven brothers, four died from illness or wounds received during the war, and one was hanged as a Union sympathizer. No military service records have been found for the other two brothers. Then again, they left no records at all after the 1860 census, suggesting that they too were lost during the deadly decade. Three of Thomas' sons-in-law also served in the war, and only two of them survived.
Children
by Unknown Wife:
| 1. | Sarah HARPER b. Jun 24, 1825, TN, m.
Jun 7, 1842, in Warren Co., TN, Andrew Ferrier
McWHIRTER, b. Nov 9, 1824, TN, d. Oct 23, 1862, Nashville,
TN. Sarah died Dec 28, 1883, AL, bur. O'Mary Cemetery, Marion
Co., AL. [1] |
| 2. | Robert HARPER b. abt 1826, TN, d.
1862, Corinth, MS. [2] |
| 3. | James W. HARPER b. abt 1829, TN, m.
abt 1848, in
AL, Sarah Drucilla BYARS,
b. abt 1834, AL. James died Oct 3, 1868, Galilee,
Marion Co., AL. [3] |
| 4. | Mary Elizabeth HARPER b. abt 1832,
TN, m./d. before 1860 [census]. |
| 5. |
Josiah Houston HARPER b. Mar 12,
1833, TN, m. Nancy Jane
BERRYHILL, b. abt 1857, AL. Josiah died Jul 22, 1864, bur.
Hopewell Cemetery, Fayette
Co., AL. [4] |
| 6. |
Rebecca Jane HARPER b. abt 1836, TN,
m. Daniel Webster
TUCKER, b. May 26, 1825, AL, d. Dec 15, 1901, Union Parish,
LA. Rebecca died
Feb 1, 1902, Union Parish, LA, bur. Zion Hill Cemetery. [5] |
| 7. |
Thomas W. HARPER b. abt 1839, TN, m.
Mary E. --?--.
Thomas died Sep 15, 1862, Knoxville, TN, bur. Bethel (Confederate)
Cemetery. [6] |
Children
by Unknown Wife or Mary E. --?--:
| 8. |
Elisha Denton HARPER b. abt 1841, TN, date and place of death/burial unknown. |
| 9. |
Tennessee Polk HARPER b. abt 1843,
AL, d. 1864, bur. National
Cemetery, Nashville, TN (grave #7159). [7] |
| 10. |
George M.D. HARPER b. abt 1845, AL, date and place of death/burial unknown. |
Child
by Mary E. --?-- (may be others):
| 11. |
Jasper GREEN HARPER b. Jun 1850, Marion Co., AL, m. (1) Dec 17, 1874, Mary Elizabeth HYDER, b. 1855, AL, d. 1898, bur. Hyder Cemetery, Fayette Co., AL, m. (2) Nov 4, 1899, Mattie GILREATH, d. 1903. Green died 1925, AL, bur. New River Cemetery (unmarked). |
Children
by Mary Jane Griggs:
| 12. |
Martha Ann HARPER b. Sep 14, 1854,
Marion Co., AL, m. Kimber
Foster
TUCKER, b.
Jul 14, 1847, AL, d. Jun 30, 1922, OK Martha
died Sept 13, 1914, OK, bur. Talahina Cemetery, Leflore Co., OK. [8] |
| 13. |
Nancy HARPER b. 1855, AL, m./d. before 1870 [census]. |
| 14. |
Malyssa (Melissa) A. HARPER b. Jun 1857, Marion Co., AL, m. Jun 28, 1888, in AL, Eligha J. WHITE (a.k.a. Lige White or E.J. White), b. July 1855, AL. Melissa died in AR, date unknown. |
| 15. |
Jesse HARPER b. 1860, Marion Co., AL, m. Sept 3, 1882, Sarah (Sallie) WHITEHEAD, b. 1862, Fayette Co., AL, d. 1959. Jesse died 1942, AL, bur. Griggs Cemetery, Marion Co., AL. [9] |
NOTES:
1) Sarah Harper was married at her father's home, according to her application for pension. Andrew McWhirter served in the First Alabama Cavalry, Co. K, USA, and died of measles in a Union hospital.
2) Robert Harper served in the First Alabama Cavalry, Co. B, USA, and died of wounds received in battle.
3) James W. Harper served in the First Alabama Cavalry, Co. G, CSA. He was wounded in battle and "sent home to die," which he did three years after the war ended. James was survived by his wife and eight children born between 1849-1865. Src: Widow's pension application. Sarah Drucilla's maiden name, Byars, is proved by the death certificate of her daughter, Elizah [Harper] Love, who was born at Old Pikeville, Marion Co., AL.
4) Josiah H. Harper enlisted in the First Alabama Cavalry, Co. B, USA. On a return visit to his home, he was captured and killed by the Confederate Home Guards. He left a wife and four children. Src: Southern Claims Commission, John Lyons, Case No. 20850, Marion Co., AL.
5) Daniel W. Tucker served in the Civil War Confederacy in Texas.
6) Thomas W. Harper, a soldier in the 43rd Alabama Infantry, Co. H, CSA, was killed in the Battle of Knoxville. His widow's pension application states that they had no children.
7) Tennessee P. Harper served in the First Alabama Cavalry, Co. K, USA.
8) Kimber F. Tucker served for the Confederacy in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).
9) Jesse and Sallie Harper had 15 children.