Thomas Stephens was at Valley Forge

My ancestor, Thomas Stephens, who lived in Fentress County, Tennessee, was a Corporal in the Virginia Continental Line during the American Revolution. He served at Valley Forge and is noted on their muster roll.

Valley Forge was the location of the 1777-1778 winter encampment of the Continental Army under General George Washington. The British were occupying Philadelphia and Valley Forge was only a day’s march away and it was where the Army could train and recoup from the year’s battles and keep an eye on the British and prevent them from foraging in the countryside for the food they needed. On the down side, while the winter weather stopped the fighting, it proved to be a great trial for the 11,000 American soldiers stationed there.

As Washington's men camped in crude log cabins and endured the cold conditions, the Redcoats warmed themselves in colonial homes. There were shortages of everything from food to clothing to medicine. Hundreds died from scurvy, smallpox and dysentery.

It was written that one out of every six soldiers that marched into Valley Forge in December did not march back out in June, but the suffering troops that remained were held together by loyalty to the Patriot cause and to General Washington, who refused to leave his men.

That winter camp provided the foundation for what would later become the modern United States Army. While no battle was fought there, it was considered the turning point of the Revolutionary War. By June of 1778, the weary troops emerged with a rejuvenated spirit and confidence as a well-trained fighting force.

Thomas Stephens was my 5th great-grandfather through his daughter, Jennetta, wife of Jesse Cobb. Then through his grandson, David Smith, his daughter, Deborah, wife of George Boles, then Hige and on down to me. Thomas was born between 1745 and 1750, possibly in Richmond County, VA. By 1833, he was living in Fentress County, where he died in 1850, He and his wife, Sarah, are buried at Albertson Cemetery near where Glenoby Road and Livingston Highway meet in Fentress County, Tennessee. Note the Revolutionary War medallion on his grave marker.

I Come From A Long Line Of Musicians

Anthony Bassano, a 16th century musician who is buried in the churchyard at All Hallows by the Tower, the oldest church in the city of London, was born in Italy but later moved to England to serve in the court of Henry VIII. Five of his sons also served as musicians there, while his daughter, Lucreece, married the french-born courtier and artist, and my ancestor,  known as Nicholas Lanier, the Elder.

Nicholas, who was born in Rouen, France in 1542, served as a court musician to Henry II. After fleeing to England to escape Catholic persecution in 1561, he began serving the court of Queen Elizabeth I.


Nicholas and Elena's grandson, also named Nicholas Lanier (see photo), became the first person to hold the title of Master of the King’s Music while serving as court musician, composer, performer and groom of the chamber to King Charles I and Charles II. He was a singer who also played the flute as well as the viola.


I am descended from Nicholas Lanier, the Elder's son, Clement, my 11th great-grandfather, who served as Gentleman of the King’s Chamber to both James I and Charles I. Clement's son, and my ancestor, John Lanier, Sr., known as The Immigrant, migrated to Virginia in the late 1600's. His great, great-grandson, George Washington Lanier, later moved to the North side of Obeds Creek in Overton County, TN, then Jackson County. George's  granddaughter, Nancy Asburn, married John Speck. They are my 4th great-grandparents. I wonder if Nancy knew she descended from aristocrats who were distinguished and educated musicians for kings and queens of France and England for three generations?

Another of Clement Lanier descendants, his third great-grandson, Lloyd Addison Lanier, came up the Cumberland River from Nashville and operated a general merchandise store near Mill Springs in Wayne County. His brother-in-law, Thompson Brown, owned a twelve hundred acre farm there, which he eventually purchased. When the Battle of Mill Springs was fought, Confederate General Felix Zollicoffer used the home as his headquarters. Today, the Brown-Lanier house and grounds, which includes the mill there, are part of Mill Springs National Park.

Wop Plants A Tree

On Dec. 11, 1901, the Adair County News wrote that William Oliver Perry McWhorter, who lived at Cartwright, Kentucky, attended the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition. On his way home, he visited the tomb of George Washington at Mount Vernon, Virginia, and while he was there, picked up a walnut that had fallen from a tree, which cast its shadow over the tomb. A story in the Dec. 11, 1901 edition of the Louisville Courier-Journal said that, when he arrived back home in Clinton County, Wop (as he was known) planted the nut, which grew into a fifty foot high tree.

No doubt it was a popular attraction for folks near and far, and I am guessing that Wop probably told the story of how the tree came to be hundreds of times. What a grand thing for the community of Cartwright, Kentucky, and if you are wondering, when I first published this story on March 13, 2018, a family member said that all of the trees around Wop's home were cut for a new road. It could be that this tree he planted was one of those trees.

In 2021, when a certain house and property at Cartwright was being sold, historian David Cross wrote that Wop had lived there for several years. Known by some as the “Doctor Cartwright house," he said, it was located on Cartwright Loop, just up and across the road from Stony Point Baptist Church and just down the hill from Cartwright Cemetery. Could this be where Wop planted the tree? David said Wop was the second postmaster at Cartwright. The first one was John W. Long. Wop also operated a general store there,

William Oliver Perry McWhorter was born in 1834 to John Foster and Elizabeth Beckett McWhorter. He was married to Emeline Ragsdil McWhorter (1863–1947). Wop died in 1919. He and his wife and three daughters, Minnie, Cora and Flora, are buried at Cartwright Cemetery.

A Prayer For America

President Ronald Reagan said the image of George Washington kneeling in the snow praying at Valley Forge "personified a people who knew it was not enough to depend on their own courage and goodness; they must also seek help from God, their Father and their Preserver."

Folks, if ever there was a time America needed the intervention of God, it is now. But, in order to change our nation, we, as individuals, must be willing to change.

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

Oh that we might have a fresh spiritual awakening in America!

William Wood....Man of Honor

Samuel Wood came to America by way of England in 1755. Though only eighteen, he soon enlisted in the Virginia Militia, a company commanded by Col. George Washington, and was with Braddock when he met defeat at Ft. Duquesne in the French and Indian War. During the Revolutionary War, Samuel Wood did his part to aid his adopted country in its fight for freedom.

His son, William, who was born on June 13, 1773 near the Great Falls of the Potomac River in Loudon County, Virginia, was seven years old when the family moved across the mountains into western North Carolina and settled along Little Limestone Creek, in an area later known as Washington County, Tennessee. When he turned 18, William also joined the State Militia and fought in the American Revolutionary War. In 1791, he obtained the rank of Lieutenant.

Four years later, the 24-year-old Lt. Wood was the third settler to arrive at Stockton Valley, taking up 200 acres on Lick Branch of Spring Creek. At Stockton Valley, William would wear many hats. For instance, he surveyed virtually all of the land of the earliest settlers. Later, Surveyor Wood served as Sheriff and Justice of the Peace. In 1808, Sheriff Wood was elected as State Representative to the Kentucky Legislature from the 38th District, and five years later, State Representative Wood was elected State Senator. He went on to serve a total of 24 years in state government.

Senator Wood was promoted to the rank of Captain of a company of mounted volunteer riflemen in Governor Shelby's campaign to Canada during the War of 1812. The rank of Brevet Major was bestowed to Captain Wood during the advance through Ohio as the group of mostly Stockton Valley men rode to join General Harrison's forces in the vicinity of Detroit. He was reportedly present when Tecumseh was killed. From the War of 1812, Major Wood rode on to the Battle of New Orleans.

Major Wood was known as a formidable competitor in a race before the people because of his good practical sense, proverbial honesty and plain blunt manner; and although he made no pretensions to the character of orator, his influence was always felt and appreciated. He was remembered as a man of no mean qualifications, of great moral worth and strict integrity. Amid the frontier hardships and limitations, Major Wood was a man of honor and influence in the growing settlement at Stockton Valley, and quickly assumed a position of leadership. Not only was William Wood a founding member of Clear Fork Baptist Church, but he also served 47 years, until his death, as the church clerk.

Even though he was a man who wore a lot of different hats - Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Surveyor, Sheriff, Justice of the Peace, State Representative, State Senator -I would venture to say the title he was most proud of was Christian. And, the second most title he was probably proud of was - member of the Church of Jesus Christ at Clear Fork Creek, Clear Fork Baptist Church.

William Wood died January 11, 1851, at the age of 78. He and his wife, Elinor Ryan Wood, are buried in the Clear Fork Burying Ground.

As we celebrate america's freedom this Independence Day, I hope you will join me in saluting William Wood, who's entire life was about freedom. He helped fight for it and he helped win it, and then he bravely put that newfound freedom to the test by moving into a strange new world, where one of the first things he did was help establish a Church, which he served faithfully, and freely, the rest of his days.