Henry Couch was the fourth-born child of John Couch (b: ca. 1745 d: after 1840, MS) and Ann Meredith Couch. Henry was born about 1786, and would have been born while John and Ann Couch were living along the Enoree River in South Carolina. Henry was likely named after Ann Meredith’s brother, Captain Henry Meredith. Many internet entries show Henry as “Henry Meredith Couch,” but there are absolutely no marriage records, court records, censuses, or any other record showing Henry Couch with middle name “Meredith.” Some non-Couch researchers could have gotten Henry confused with his son, Henry Meredith, or with his Uncle Thomas Couch’s son, Meredith Couch.
There are a number of cross checks to determine the approximate year of Henry Couch’s birth. Henry Couch is listed on page 14 of the 1830 Lawrence County, Alabama, census as a male between the age of 40 and 50. This would make him born between 1780 and 1790. Research concerning the birth years of the other children of John and Ann Meredith Couch would indicate that Henry was born about 1786. It should be noted that the census in the Lawrence County, Alabama, area where Henry Couch was living was taken and signed by a “John.” The census taker misspelled Henry’s last name as “Coutch.” Henry’s father, John Couch, and brother, Gabriel Couch, were living close by in Lawrence County, Alabama, and the same census taker (John) misspelled both John Couch’s and Gabriel Couch’s last names as “Coutch.” Misspelled words were common on the U. S. census, especially in the early years.
There are two marriage records for Henry Couch in Alabama, Marriage records as follows: (1) Couch, Henry to Peggy Priest, BK 1, p. 025, Lawrence Co, AL, MARRIED: 16 Jul 1810 and (2) Couch, Henry, to Caty Waters, BK 3, p. 121, MARRIED: 11 Aug 1821.
Peggy Priest’s parents were Samuel L. Priest, Jr. (b 5 Apr 1752 in York County, Pennsylvania) and Jane Padgett Priest (born about 1755 in Lee County, Virginia), according to some Priest family records. Census and other records indicate that all of Peggy Priest’s brothers, sisters, and her parents had moved from Madison County, Alabama, to Lawrence County, Alabama, by about 1817. Henry Couch and Peggy Priest Couch did not move from Madison County, Alabama, in 1817 because Henry filed for divorce from Peggy in Madison County. In the court records of Madison County, Alabama, there is a filing for divorce by Henry Couch’s attorney which reads: “He has been kind, tender, affectionate, and faithful to his said wife Peggy and had well hoped that a sense of gratitude if not of duty and charity would have induced his said wife to reciprocate fidelity at least but to the mortification of your petitioner he has detected his said wife in the violation of her matrimonial obligation which she has too often repeated. Your petitioner himself had the humiliating mortification to witness his own dishonor in detecting his said wife in the very act of defiling the marriage bed on or about the 17th day of May, 1817.” Apparently there was reconciliation between Henry and Peggy, as in October 1818, Henry Couch requested that the case be dismissed (Source: Research by Melaine McKinzie, 23 July 2003, Ancestry.com entry 43697). Henry and Peggy did move to Lawrence County, Alabama, after 1817 because their son, Henry Meredith Couch, was born there in early 1821.
Henry Couch and Margaret “Peggy” Priest Couch were married on 16 July 1810 in Madison County, Mississippi Territory, and had three children – (1) Henry Meredith Couch (born in early 1821 in Lawrence County, Alabama); (2) Susan Couch; and (3)Samuel Couch. The authors think that Peggy Priest died in 1821, after the birth of Henry Meredith Couch, because Henry Couch married Caty (Catherine) Walters on 11 August 1821 in Lawrence County, Alabama. On page 124, Book C, of the Lawrence County, Alabama Orphan’s Court records an application can be found stating: “Henry Couch, administrator of the estate of Margaret (Peggy) Couch, deceased, late the wife of said Henry Couch ordered to make final settlement. January 1, 1832.” On page 221, dated 20 June 1832, Henry claims in a final statement that all of the property of Margaret Couch is his as his individual property. The court refused to allow Henry’s claim. Henry Couch reported that he received from the administrator of the estate of Lawrence Priest, deceased, Margaret Couch’s portion of $228.00 plus $91.20 interest, for a total of $319.20, and that he used a portion of this money to pay costs of administration, $11.00 and his share of $15.95, leaving $292.35. The $292.35 was ordered as final settlement.
Susan Couch, daughter of Henry and Peggy Couch, married Hillard I. McAdams and they were living in Cass County, Texas, in the 1840’s. There is a court record that Susan McAdams sued Henry Couch in 1833 for her share of her mother’s (Peggy Priest) estate (Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, Book C, page 284, dated 20 February 1833). There was a jury trial and Hillard I. McAdams won, with the court ordering Henry Couch to pay Susan Couch McAdams $84.95 to make the final settlement (Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, Book C, page 297, 17 April 1833). Henry Couch refused to pay Susan Couch McAdams the $84.95, and the court ordered execution against Jesse Couch and Gabriel Couch, sureties and against Henry Couch (Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, Book C, page 338, 21 August 1833). Samuel Couch can be found on the Cass County census of 1850 living near his sister, Susan, and his brother-in-law, I. McAdams.
Confusion is the by-word when it comes to Couch researchers with regard to Henry Couch. Most tend to confuse him with his nephew, Meredith Couch (b: 1800), son of Thomas Couch (born 1774), who was a son of our John Couch (b: ca. 1745). Some even label Henry Couch (b: ca. 1785 in South Carolina) incorrectly as “Henry Meredith Couch.” The confusion is understandable because Henry Couch and Meredith Couch both died in the 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama. Meredith Couch and his brother, Thomas J. Couch (b: ca. 1810), were owners of a grist mill in Lawrence County, Alabama. This mill is listed as “Kitchens Mill” on modern-day maps. In the estate settlement records of Meredith Couch, he is listed only as “Meredith,” and not “Henry Meredith,” or “Henry.” Meredith Couch married Florentine Terry on 14 March 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama. Meredith Couch died shortly after marrying Florentine Terry. Estate records of Meredith Couch, recorded in the Orphan’s Court in Lawrence County, Alabama, list his heirs as his brothers. There is a court record that Florentine Terry, widow of Meredith Couch, sued to get her share of Meredith’s estate. Florentine Terry married James McGaughey after Meredith Couch’s death, and they moved to Cherokee County, Texas, and lived in the Jacksonville, Texas, area. Henry Couch died in the 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama, probably of the Cholera.
Henry Couch married Caty (Catherine) Waters/Walters after the death of Peggy Priest Couch Henry Couch in 1821. Catherine Walters/Waters (born: about 1805 in Jefferson County, Tennessee), daughter of Thomas Walters (Waters) of Jefferson County, Tennessee. Henry Couch and Catherine Walters/Waters Couch had two children – (1) Drury (born late 1823 or in 1824) and (2) a daughter (born about 1825).
There is a court record that Henry Couch’s father, John Couch (b: ca. 1745), filed to obtain guardianship of Henry and Peggy Couch’s sons, Henry Meredith Couch and Samuel Couch. On page 227, Book C, of the Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, there is an application of John Couch to be appointed guardian of “Samuel Couch, infant child of Henry Couch and his right of his mother, deceased of the estate of Samuel Priest, late of said county. Thomas Couch, Surety, and application of John Couch to be appointed guardian of Henry Meredith Couch, infant child of Henry Couch, and his right of his mother, deceased, of Samuel Priest.” The court appointed John Couch (b: ca. 1745) guardian of his two grandchildren, Samuel Couch and Henry Meredith Couch. Priest Henry Meredith Couch (b: 1821), son of Henry Couch and Peggy Priest Couch, lived in Tennessee in 1850 and in Arkansas by 1860. We have included additional information on Henry Meredith Couch in the Notes Section of this chapter.
Catherine Couch can be found on the 1840 Lawrence County, Alabama, census as head of the household (widow) with a child the age of Drury (age 15 and under 20) and a child the age of the daughter (age 15 and under 20) in the household. Catherine Couch is listed on this census as being between the age of 30 and 40. Thus, Drury was about 17 or 18 years old when the 1840 census was taken, and the daughter was about 15 to 16 years old.
Attorney Jerry Lynn Benedict of Austin, Texas, has traced Catherine Couch from Lawrence County, Alabama, to Rusk County and Cherokee County, Texas. In marriage records for Lawrence County, Alabama, there is a record of the marriage of Andrew Galey to Catherine (Caty) Couch on 16 September 1840, after the 1840 Lawrence County, Alabama census was taken. In the 1850 Rusk County, Texas, census, an Andrew Gailey (Galey) is listed with wife, Catherine, born in Tennessee. Therefore, Andrew Gailey and his wife Catherine Walters Couch Gailey moved to Texas prior to 1850. Texas did not become a state until 1846, and the Cherokee Indians occupied Rusk and Cherokee Counties, Texas (adjacent counties) prior to Texas becoming a state. So the authors conclude that Andrew and Catherine Walters Couch Gailey moved to Texas between 1846 and 1850. Andrew Gailey died prior to 1857, and Catherine Walters Couch Gailey married Silas Morris in Cherokee County, Texas, in 1857, as Catherine Gailey (sometimes seen as Galey).
Catherine Walters Couch Gailey Morris’ son, Drury Couch, and family moved to Texas to the general area where Drury’s mother and step-father, Silas Morris, were living. Attorney Jerry Lynn Benedict obtained a copy of the 1869 probate court record of Silas and Catherine Morris that was filed at the Cherokee County, Texas, courthouse, showing that Catherine’s son, Drury Couch, was the administrator of the estate of Silas and Catherine Morris and also their heir. On 31 December 1884, Drury Couch sold 61 acres of land to T. L. Smith in Cherokee County, Texas, part of the Silas Morris headright survey on the waters of Mud Creek (Deed Book Y-2, Cherokee County, Texas, page 454.) Catherine Walters Couch Gailey Morris is buried in an unmarked grave in the old McDonald Texas Historical Cemetery near New Summerfield, Texas, not far from where Drury and Mary Couch owned a farm. Thus, the paper trail ends for Catherine Walters, widow of Henry Couch (b: ca. 1785) and mother of Drury Couch (b: ca. 1823) in Cherokee County, Texas.
Henry Couch's ancestry tree is as follows:
1 – Captain THOMAS COUCH &_______ (b: abt. 1660 or earlier in England)(Merchant of London and Master of the ships, Fortune, and Palm Tree)
2 – THOMAS COUCH, Sr. (b: abt. 1685) & ELIZABETH [Lived in (Bristol Parish) Prince George County, Virginia, in the 1720's (record of son, Mathew's birth in Bristol Parish Records)
3 – THOMAS COUCH, Jr. (b: ca 1705-1714, possibly in VA. d: 1776 in Enoree, S.C.)
SPOUSE: MARY (b: ca. 1715-1720 in VA d: 1796 in Spartanburg, South Carolina)
This Thomas is known as Ole Thomas and he left a Will, dated: 12 Feb 1776)
4 – JOHN COUCH (b: ca 1745 in VA or NC d: 30 Mar 1840 in Tishomingo Co, MS)
SPOUSE: SUSANNA [ANN] MEREDITH (b: 7 Mar 1756 in MD d: ca. 1821 in AL)
5 – HENRY COUCH (b: ca 1785 in SC d: 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama)
1st SPOUSE: MARGARET "PEGGY" PRIEST
(Peggy Priest married Henry 16 July 1810 in Madison Co, Alabama)
Children: Susan; Henry Meredith (b: 1821 in Lawrence Co, AL); Samuel
2nd SPOUSE: CATHERINE WALTERS (also seen as "WATERS")
(Married Henry Couch on 11 August 1821) (Born ca. 1805 in Jefferson Co, TN. She died abt. 1869 and is buried in the old McDonald's Cemetery in Cherokee Co, TX) (Mother of DRURY.)
Children: DRURY (b: 1823) and Elizabeth (b: ca. 1825)
There are a number of cross checks to determine the approximate year of Henry Couch’s birth. Henry Couch is listed on page 14 of the 1830 Lawrence County, Alabama, census as a male between the age of 40 and 50. This would make him born between 1780 and 1790. Research concerning the birth years of the other children of John and Ann Meredith Couch would indicate that Henry was born about 1786. It should be noted that the census in the Lawrence County, Alabama, area where Henry Couch was living was taken and signed by a “John.” The census taker misspelled Henry’s last name as “Coutch.” Henry’s father, John Couch, and brother, Gabriel Couch, were living close by in Lawrence County, Alabama, and the same census taker (John) misspelled both John Couch’s and Gabriel Couch’s last names as “Coutch.” Misspelled words were common on the U. S. census, especially in the early years.
There are two marriage records for Henry Couch in Alabama, Marriage records as follows: (1) Couch, Henry to Peggy Priest, BK 1, p. 025, Lawrence Co, AL, MARRIED: 16 Jul 1810 and (2) Couch, Henry, to Caty Waters, BK 3, p. 121, MARRIED: 11 Aug 1821.
Peggy Priest’s parents were Samuel L. Priest, Jr. (b 5 Apr 1752 in York County, Pennsylvania) and Jane Padgett Priest (born about 1755 in Lee County, Virginia), according to some Priest family records. Census and other records indicate that all of Peggy Priest’s brothers, sisters, and her parents had moved from Madison County, Alabama, to Lawrence County, Alabama, by about 1817. Henry Couch and Peggy Priest Couch did not move from Madison County, Alabama, in 1817 because Henry filed for divorce from Peggy in Madison County. In the court records of Madison County, Alabama, there is a filing for divorce by Henry Couch’s attorney which reads: “He has been kind, tender, affectionate, and faithful to his said wife Peggy and had well hoped that a sense of gratitude if not of duty and charity would have induced his said wife to reciprocate fidelity at least but to the mortification of your petitioner he has detected his said wife in the violation of her matrimonial obligation which she has too often repeated. Your petitioner himself had the humiliating mortification to witness his own dishonor in detecting his said wife in the very act of defiling the marriage bed on or about the 17th day of May, 1817.” Apparently there was reconciliation between Henry and Peggy, as in October 1818, Henry Couch requested that the case be dismissed (Source: Research by Melaine McKinzie, 23 July 2003, Ancestry.com entry 43697). Henry and Peggy did move to Lawrence County, Alabama, after 1817 because their son, Henry Meredith Couch, was born there in early 1821.
Henry Couch and Margaret “Peggy” Priest Couch were married on 16 July 1810 in Madison County, Mississippi Territory, and had three children – (1) Henry Meredith Couch (born in early 1821 in Lawrence County, Alabama); (2) Susan Couch; and (3)Samuel Couch. The authors think that Peggy Priest died in 1821, after the birth of Henry Meredith Couch, because Henry Couch married Caty (Catherine) Walters on 11 August 1821 in Lawrence County, Alabama. On page 124, Book C, of the Lawrence County, Alabama Orphan’s Court records an application can be found stating: “Henry Couch, administrator of the estate of Margaret (Peggy) Couch, deceased, late the wife of said Henry Couch ordered to make final settlement. January 1, 1832.” On page 221, dated 20 June 1832, Henry claims in a final statement that all of the property of Margaret Couch is his as his individual property. The court refused to allow Henry’s claim. Henry Couch reported that he received from the administrator of the estate of Lawrence Priest, deceased, Margaret Couch’s portion of $228.00 plus $91.20 interest, for a total of $319.20, and that he used a portion of this money to pay costs of administration, $11.00 and his share of $15.95, leaving $292.35. The $292.35 was ordered as final settlement.
Susan Couch, daughter of Henry and Peggy Couch, married Hillard I. McAdams and they were living in Cass County, Texas, in the 1840’s. There is a court record that Susan McAdams sued Henry Couch in 1833 for her share of her mother’s (Peggy Priest) estate (Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, Book C, page 284, dated 20 February 1833). There was a jury trial and Hillard I. McAdams won, with the court ordering Henry Couch to pay Susan Couch McAdams $84.95 to make the final settlement (Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, Book C, page 297, 17 April 1833). Henry Couch refused to pay Susan Couch McAdams the $84.95, and the court ordered execution against Jesse Couch and Gabriel Couch, sureties and against Henry Couch (Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, Book C, page 338, 21 August 1833). Samuel Couch can be found on the Cass County census of 1850 living near his sister, Susan, and his brother-in-law, I. McAdams.
Confusion is the by-word when it comes to Couch researchers with regard to Henry Couch. Most tend to confuse him with his nephew, Meredith Couch (b: 1800), son of Thomas Couch (born 1774), who was a son of our John Couch (b: ca. 1745). Some even label Henry Couch (b: ca. 1785 in South Carolina) incorrectly as “Henry Meredith Couch.” The confusion is understandable because Henry Couch and Meredith Couch both died in the 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama. Meredith Couch and his brother, Thomas J. Couch (b: ca. 1810), were owners of a grist mill in Lawrence County, Alabama. This mill is listed as “Kitchens Mill” on modern-day maps. In the estate settlement records of Meredith Couch, he is listed only as “Meredith,” and not “Henry Meredith,” or “Henry.” Meredith Couch married Florentine Terry on 14 March 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama. Meredith Couch died shortly after marrying Florentine Terry. Estate records of Meredith Couch, recorded in the Orphan’s Court in Lawrence County, Alabama, list his heirs as his brothers. There is a court record that Florentine Terry, widow of Meredith Couch, sued to get her share of Meredith’s estate. Florentine Terry married James McGaughey after Meredith Couch’s death, and they moved to Cherokee County, Texas, and lived in the Jacksonville, Texas, area. Henry Couch died in the 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama, probably of the Cholera.
Henry Couch married Caty (Catherine) Waters/Walters after the death of Peggy Priest Couch Henry Couch in 1821. Catherine Walters/Waters (born: about 1805 in Jefferson County, Tennessee), daughter of Thomas Walters (Waters) of Jefferson County, Tennessee. Henry Couch and Catherine Walters/Waters Couch had two children – (1) Drury (born late 1823 or in 1824) and (2) a daughter (born about 1825).
There is a court record that Henry Couch’s father, John Couch (b: ca. 1745), filed to obtain guardianship of Henry and Peggy Couch’s sons, Henry Meredith Couch and Samuel Couch. On page 227, Book C, of the Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, there is an application of John Couch to be appointed guardian of “Samuel Couch, infant child of Henry Couch and his right of his mother, deceased of the estate of Samuel Priest, late of said county. Thomas Couch, Surety, and application of John Couch to be appointed guardian of Henry Meredith Couch, infant child of Henry Couch, and his right of his mother, deceased, of Samuel Priest.” The court appointed John Couch (b: ca. 1745) guardian of his two grandchildren, Samuel Couch and Henry Meredith Couch. Priest Henry Meredith Couch (b: 1821), son of Henry Couch and Peggy Priest Couch, lived in Tennessee in 1850 and in Arkansas by 1860. We have included additional information on Henry Meredith Couch in the Notes Section of this chapter.
Catherine Couch can be found on the 1840 Lawrence County, Alabama, census as head of the household (widow) with a child the age of Drury (age 15 and under 20) and a child the age of the daughter (age 15 and under 20) in the household. Catherine Couch is listed on this census as being between the age of 30 and 40. Thus, Drury was about 17 or 18 years old when the 1840 census was taken, and the daughter was about 15 to 16 years old.
Attorney Jerry Lynn Benedict of Austin, Texas, has traced Catherine Couch from Lawrence County, Alabama, to Rusk County and Cherokee County, Texas. In marriage records for Lawrence County, Alabama, there is a record of the marriage of Andrew Galey to Catherine (Caty) Couch on 16 September 1840, after the 1840 Lawrence County, Alabama census was taken. In the 1850 Rusk County, Texas, census, an Andrew Gailey (Galey) is listed with wife, Catherine, born in Tennessee. Therefore, Andrew Gailey and his wife Catherine Walters Couch Gailey moved to Texas prior to 1850. Texas did not become a state until 1846, and the Cherokee Indians occupied Rusk and Cherokee Counties, Texas (adjacent counties) prior to Texas becoming a state. So the authors conclude that Andrew and Catherine Walters Couch Gailey moved to Texas between 1846 and 1850. Andrew Gailey died prior to 1857, and Catherine Walters Couch Gailey married Silas Morris in Cherokee County, Texas, in 1857, as Catherine Gailey (sometimes seen as Galey).
Catherine Walters Couch Gailey Morris’ son, Drury Couch, and family moved to Texas to the general area where Drury’s mother and step-father, Silas Morris, were living. Attorney Jerry Lynn Benedict obtained a copy of the 1869 probate court record of Silas and Catherine Morris that was filed at the Cherokee County, Texas, courthouse, showing that Catherine’s son, Drury Couch, was the administrator of the estate of Silas and Catherine Morris and also their heir. On 31 December 1884, Drury Couch sold 61 acres of land to T. L. Smith in Cherokee County, Texas, part of the Silas Morris headright survey on the waters of Mud Creek (Deed Book Y-2, Cherokee County, Texas, page 454.) Catherine Walters Couch Gailey Morris is buried in an unmarked grave in the old McDonald Texas Historical Cemetery near New Summerfield, Texas, not far from where Drury and Mary Couch owned a farm. Thus, the paper trail ends for Catherine Walters, widow of Henry Couch (b: ca. 1785) and mother of Drury Couch (b: ca. 1823) in Cherokee County, Texas.
Henry Couch's ancestry tree is as follows:
1 – Captain THOMAS COUCH &_______ (b: abt. 1660 or earlier in England)(Merchant of London and Master of the ships, Fortune, and Palm Tree)
2 – THOMAS COUCH, Sr. (b: abt. 1685) & ELIZABETH [Lived in (Bristol Parish) Prince George County, Virginia, in the 1720's (record of son, Mathew's birth in Bristol Parish Records)
3 – THOMAS COUCH, Jr. (b: ca 1705-1714, possibly in VA. d: 1776 in Enoree, S.C.)
SPOUSE: MARY (b: ca. 1715-1720 in VA d: 1796 in Spartanburg, South Carolina)
This Thomas is known as Ole Thomas and he left a Will, dated: 12 Feb 1776)
4 – JOHN COUCH (b: ca 1745 in VA or NC d: 30 Mar 1840 in Tishomingo Co, MS)
SPOUSE: SUSANNA [ANN] MEREDITH (b: 7 Mar 1756 in MD d: ca. 1821 in AL)
5 – HENRY COUCH (b: ca 1785 in SC d: 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama)
1st SPOUSE: MARGARET "PEGGY" PRIEST
(Peggy Priest married Henry 16 July 1810 in Madison Co, Alabama)
Children: Susan; Henry Meredith (b: 1821 in Lawrence Co, AL); Samuel
2nd SPOUSE: CATHERINE WALTERS (also seen as "WATERS")
(Married Henry Couch on 11 August 1821) (Born ca. 1805 in Jefferson Co, TN. She died abt. 1869 and is buried in the old McDonald's Cemetery in Cherokee Co, TX) (Mother of DRURY.)
Children: DRURY (b: 1823) and Elizabeth (b: ca. 1825)
Henry Couch was the fourth-born child of John Couch (b: ca. 1745 d: after 1840, MS) and Ann Meredith Couch. Henry was born about 1786, and would have been born while John and Ann Couch were living along the Enoree River in South Carolina. Henry was likely named after Ann Meredith’s brother, Captain Henry Meredith. Many internet entries show Henry as “Henry Meredith Couch,” but there are absolutely no marriage records, court records, censuses, or any other record showing Henry Couch with middle name “Meredith.” Some non-Couch researchers could have gotten Henry confused with his son, Henry Meredith, or with his Uncle Thomas Couch’s son, Meredith Couch.
There are a number of cross checks to determine the approximate year of Henry Couch’s birth. Henry Couch is listed on page 14 of the 1830 Lawrence County, Alabama, census as a male between the age of 40 and 50. This would make him born between 1780 and 1790. Research concerning the birth years of the other children of John and Ann Meredith Couch would indicate that Henry was born about 1786. It should be noted that the census in the Lawrence County, Alabama, area where Henry Couch was living was taken and signed by a “John.” The census taker misspelled Henry’s last name as “Coutch.” Henry’s father, John Couch, and brother, Gabriel Couch, were living close by in Lawrence County, Alabama, and the same census taker (John) misspelled both John Couch’s and Gabriel Couch’s last names as “Coutch.” Misspelled words were common on the U. S. census, especially in the early years.
There are two marriage records for Henry Couch in Alabama, Marriage records as follows: (1) Couch, Henry to Peggy Priest, BK 1, p. 025, Lawrence Co, AL, MARRIED: 16 Jul 1810 and (2) Couch, Henry, to Caty Waters, BK 3, p. 121, MARRIED: 11 Aug 1821.
Peggy Priest’s parents were Samuel L. Priest, Jr. (b 5 Apr 1752 in York County, Pennsylvania) and Jane Padgett Priest (born about 1755 in Lee County, Virginia), according to some Priest family records. Census and other records indicate that all of Peggy Priest’s brothers, sisters, and her parents had moved from Madison County, Alabama, to Lawrence County, Alabama, by about 1817. Henry Couch and Peggy Priest Couch did not move from Madison County, Alabama, in 1817 because Henry filed for divorce from Peggy in Madison County. In the court records of Madison County, Alabama, there is a filing for divorce by Henry Couch’s attorney which reads: “He has been kind, tender, affectionate, and faithful to his said wife Peggy and had well hoped that a sense of gratitude if not of duty and charity would have induced his said wife to reciprocate fidelity at least but to the mortification of your petitioner he has detected his said wife in the violation of her matrimonial obligation which she has too often repeated. Your petitioner himself had the humiliating mortification to witness his own dishonor in detecting his said wife in the very act of defiling the marriage bed on or about the 17th day of May, 1817.” Apparently there was reconciliation between Henry and Peggy, as in October 1818, Henry Couch requested that the case be dismissed (Source: Research by Melaine McKinzie, 23 July 2003, Ancestry.com entry 43697). Henry and Peggy did move to Lawrence County, Alabama, after 1817 because their son, Henry Meredith Couch, was born there in early 1821.
Henry Couch and Margaret “Peggy” Priest Couch were married on 16 July 1810 in Madison County, Mississippi Territory, and had three children – (1) Henry Meredith Couch (born in early 1821 in Lawrence County, Alabama); (2) Susan Couch; and (3)Samuel Couch. The authors think that Peggy Priest died in 1821, after the birth of Henry Meredith Couch, because Henry Couch married Caty (Catherine) Walters on 11 August 1821 in Lawrence County, Alabama. On page 124, Book C, of the Lawrence County, Alabama Orphan’s Court records an application can be found stating: “Henry Couch, administrator of the estate of Margaret (Peggy) Couch, deceased, late the wife of said Henry Couch ordered to make final settlement. January 1, 1832.” On page 221, dated 20 June 1832, Henry claims in a final statement that all of the property of Margaret Couch is his as his individual property. The court refused to allow Henry’s claim. Henry Couch reported that he received from the administrator of the estate of Lawrence Priest, deceased, Margaret Couch’s portion of $228.00 plus $91.20 interest, for a total of $319.20, and that he used a portion of this money to pay costs of administration, $11.00 and his share of $15.95, leaving $292.35. The $292.35 was ordered as final settlement.
Susan Couch, daughter of Henry and Peggy Couch, married Hillard I. McAdams and they were living in Cass County, Texas, in the 1840’s. There is a court record that Susan McAdams sued Henry Couch in 1833 for her share of her mother’s (Peggy Priest) estate (Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, Book C, page 284, dated 20 February 1833). There was a jury trial and Hillard I. McAdams won, with the court ordering Henry Couch to pay Susan Couch McAdams $84.95 to make the final settlement (Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, Book C, page 297, 17 April 1833). Henry Couch refused to pay Susan Couch McAdams the $84.95, and the court ordered execution against Jesse Couch and Gabriel Couch, sureties and against Henry Couch (Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, Book C, page 338, 21 August 1833). Samuel Couch can be found on the Cass County census of 1850 living near his sister, Susan, and his brother-in-law, I. McAdams.
Confusion is the by-word when it comes to Couch researchers with regard to Henry Couch. Most tend to confuse him with his nephew, Meredith Couch (b: 1800), son of Thomas Couch (born 1774), who was a son of our John Couch (b: ca. 1745). Some even label Henry Couch (b: ca. 1785 in South Carolina) incorrectly as “Henry Meredith Couch.” The confusion is understandable because Henry Couch and Meredith Couch both died in the 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama. Meredith Couch and his brother, Thomas J. Couch (b: ca. 1810), were owners of a grist mill in Lawrence County, Alabama. This mill is listed as “Kitchens Mill” on modern-day maps. In the estate settlement records of Meredith Couch, he is listed only as “Meredith,” and not “Henry Meredith,” or “Henry.” Meredith Couch married Florentine Terry on 14 March 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama. Meredith Couch died shortly after marrying Florentine Terry. Estate records of Meredith Couch, recorded in the Orphan’s Court in Lawrence County, Alabama, list his heirs as his brothers. There is a court record that Florentine Terry, widow of Meredith Couch, sued to get her share of Meredith’s estate. Florentine Terry married James McGaughey after Meredith Couch’s death, and they moved to Cherokee County, Texas, and lived in the Jacksonville, Texas, area. Henry Couch died in the 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama, probably of the Cholera.
Henry Couch married Caty (Catherine) Waters/Walters after the death of Peggy Priest Couch Henry Couch in 1821. Catherine Walters/Waters (born: about 1805 in Jefferson County, Tennessee), daughter of Thomas Walters (Waters) of Jefferson County, Tennessee. Henry Couch and Catherine Walters/Waters Couch had two children – (1) Drury (born late 1823 or in 1824) and (2) a daughter (born about 1825).
There is a court record that Henry Couch’s father, John Couch (b: ca. 1745), filed to obtain guardianship of Henry and Peggy Couch’s sons, Henry Meredith Couch and Samuel Couch. On page 227, Book C, of the Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, there is an application of John Couch to be appointed guardian of “Samuel Couch, infant child of Henry Couch and his right of his mother, deceased of the estate of Samuel Priest, late of said county. Thomas Couch, Surety, and application of John Couch to be appointed guardian of Henry Meredith Couch, infant child of Henry Couch, and his right of his mother, deceased, of Samuel Priest.” The court appointed John Couch (b: ca. 1745) guardian of his two grandchildren, Samuel Couch and Henry Meredith Couch. Priest Henry Meredith Couch (b: 1821), son of Henry Couch and Peggy Priest Couch, lived in Tennessee in 1850 and in Arkansas by 1860. We have included additional information on Henry Meredith Couch in the Notes Section of this chapter.
Catherine Couch can be found on the 1840 Lawrence County, Alabama, census as head of the household (widow) with a child the age of Drury (age 15 and under 20) and a child the age of the daughter (age 15 and under 20) in the household. Catherine Couch is listed on this census as being between the age of 30 and 40. Thus, Drury was about 17 or 18 years old when the 1840 census was taken, and the daughter was about 15 to 16 years old.
Attorney Jerry Lynn Benedict of Austin, Texas, has traced Catherine Couch from Lawrence County, Alabama, to Rusk County and Cherokee County, Texas. In marriage records for Lawrence County, Alabama, there is a record of the marriage of Andrew Galey to Catherine (Caty) Couch on 16 September 1840, after the 1840 Lawrence County, Alabama census was taken. In the 1850 Rusk County, Texas, census, an Andrew Gailey (Galey) is listed with wife, Catherine, born in Tennessee. Therefore, Andrew Gailey and his wife Catherine Walters Couch Gailey moved to Texas prior to 1850. Texas did not become a state until 1846, and the Cherokee Indians occupied Rusk and Cherokee Counties, Texas (adjacent counties) prior to Texas becoming a state. So the authors conclude that Andrew and Catherine Walters Couch Gailey moved to Texas between 1846 and 1850. Andrew Gailey died prior to 1857, and Catherine Walters Couch Gailey married Silas Morris in Cherokee County, Texas, in 1857, as Catherine Gailey (sometimes seen as Galey).
Catherine Walters Couch Gailey Morris’ son, Drury Couch, and family moved to Texas to the general area where Drury’s mother and step-father, Silas Morris, were living. Attorney Jerry Lynn Benedict obtained a copy of the 1869 probate court record of Silas and Catherine Morris that was filed at the Cherokee County, Texas, courthouse, showing that Catherine’s son, Drury Couch, was the administrator of the estate of Silas and Catherine Morris and also their heir. On 31 December 1884, Drury Couch sold 61 acres of land to T. L. Smith in Cherokee County, Texas, part of the Silas Morris headright survey on the waters of Mud Creek (Deed Book Y-2, Cherokee County, Texas, page 454.) Catherine Walters Couch Gailey Morris is buried in an unmarked grave in the old McDonald Texas Historical Cemetery near New Summerfield, Texas, not far from where Drury and Mary Couch owned a farm. Thus, the paper trail ends for Catherine Walters, widow of Henry Couch (b: ca. 1785) and mother of Drury Couch (b: ca. 1823) in Cherokee County, Texas.
Henry Couch's ancestry tree is as follows:
1 – Captain THOMAS COUCH &_______ (b: abt. 1660 or earlier in England)(Merchant of London and Master of the ships, Fortune, and Palm Tree)
2 – THOMAS COUCH, Sr. (b: abt. 1685) & ELIZABETH [Lived in (Bristol Parish) Prince George County, Virginia, in the 1720's (record of son, Mathew's birth in Bristol Parish Records)
3 – THOMAS COUCH, Jr. (b: ca 1705-1714, possibly in VA. d: 1776 in Enoree, S.C.)
SPOUSE: MARY (b: ca. 1715-1720 in VA d: 1796 in Spartanburg, South Carolina)
This Thomas is known as Ole Thomas and he left a Will, dated: 12 Feb 1776)
4 – JOHN COUCH (b: ca 1745 in VA or NC d: 30 Mar 1840 in Tishomingo Co, MS)
SPOUSE: SUSANNA [ANN] MEREDITH (b: 7 Mar 1756 in MD d: ca. 1821 in AL)
5 – HENRY COUCH (b: ca 1785 in SC d: 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama)
1st SPOUSE: MARGARET "PEGGY" PRIEST
(Peggy Priest married Henry 16 July 1810 in Madison Co, Alabama)
Children: Susan; Henry Meredith (b: 1821 in Lawrence Co, AL); Samuel
2nd SPOUSE: CATHERINE WALTERS (also seen as "WATERS")
(Married Henry Couch on 11 August 1821) (Born ca. 1805 in Jefferson Co, TN. She died abt. 1869 and is buried in the old McDonald's Cemetery in Cherokee Co, TX) (Mother of DRURY.)
Children: DRURY (b: 1823) and Elizabeth (b: ca. 1825)
There are a number of cross checks to determine the approximate year of Henry Couch’s birth. Henry Couch is listed on page 14 of the 1830 Lawrence County, Alabama, census as a male between the age of 40 and 50. This would make him born between 1780 and 1790. Research concerning the birth years of the other children of John and Ann Meredith Couch would indicate that Henry was born about 1786. It should be noted that the census in the Lawrence County, Alabama, area where Henry Couch was living was taken and signed by a “John.” The census taker misspelled Henry’s last name as “Coutch.” Henry’s father, John Couch, and brother, Gabriel Couch, were living close by in Lawrence County, Alabama, and the same census taker (John) misspelled both John Couch’s and Gabriel Couch’s last names as “Coutch.” Misspelled words were common on the U. S. census, especially in the early years.
There are two marriage records for Henry Couch in Alabama, Marriage records as follows: (1) Couch, Henry to Peggy Priest, BK 1, p. 025, Lawrence Co, AL, MARRIED: 16 Jul 1810 and (2) Couch, Henry, to Caty Waters, BK 3, p. 121, MARRIED: 11 Aug 1821.
Peggy Priest’s parents were Samuel L. Priest, Jr. (b 5 Apr 1752 in York County, Pennsylvania) and Jane Padgett Priest (born about 1755 in Lee County, Virginia), according to some Priest family records. Census and other records indicate that all of Peggy Priest’s brothers, sisters, and her parents had moved from Madison County, Alabama, to Lawrence County, Alabama, by about 1817. Henry Couch and Peggy Priest Couch did not move from Madison County, Alabama, in 1817 because Henry filed for divorce from Peggy in Madison County. In the court records of Madison County, Alabama, there is a filing for divorce by Henry Couch’s attorney which reads: “He has been kind, tender, affectionate, and faithful to his said wife Peggy and had well hoped that a sense of gratitude if not of duty and charity would have induced his said wife to reciprocate fidelity at least but to the mortification of your petitioner he has detected his said wife in the violation of her matrimonial obligation which she has too often repeated. Your petitioner himself had the humiliating mortification to witness his own dishonor in detecting his said wife in the very act of defiling the marriage bed on or about the 17th day of May, 1817.” Apparently there was reconciliation between Henry and Peggy, as in October 1818, Henry Couch requested that the case be dismissed (Source: Research by Melaine McKinzie, 23 July 2003, Ancestry.com entry 43697). Henry and Peggy did move to Lawrence County, Alabama, after 1817 because their son, Henry Meredith Couch, was born there in early 1821.
Henry Couch and Margaret “Peggy” Priest Couch were married on 16 July 1810 in Madison County, Mississippi Territory, and had three children – (1) Henry Meredith Couch (born in early 1821 in Lawrence County, Alabama); (2) Susan Couch; and (3)Samuel Couch. The authors think that Peggy Priest died in 1821, after the birth of Henry Meredith Couch, because Henry Couch married Caty (Catherine) Walters on 11 August 1821 in Lawrence County, Alabama. On page 124, Book C, of the Lawrence County, Alabama Orphan’s Court records an application can be found stating: “Henry Couch, administrator of the estate of Margaret (Peggy) Couch, deceased, late the wife of said Henry Couch ordered to make final settlement. January 1, 1832.” On page 221, dated 20 June 1832, Henry claims in a final statement that all of the property of Margaret Couch is his as his individual property. The court refused to allow Henry’s claim. Henry Couch reported that he received from the administrator of the estate of Lawrence Priest, deceased, Margaret Couch’s portion of $228.00 plus $91.20 interest, for a total of $319.20, and that he used a portion of this money to pay costs of administration, $11.00 and his share of $15.95, leaving $292.35. The $292.35 was ordered as final settlement.
Susan Couch, daughter of Henry and Peggy Couch, married Hillard I. McAdams and they were living in Cass County, Texas, in the 1840’s. There is a court record that Susan McAdams sued Henry Couch in 1833 for her share of her mother’s (Peggy Priest) estate (Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, Book C, page 284, dated 20 February 1833). There was a jury trial and Hillard I. McAdams won, with the court ordering Henry Couch to pay Susan Couch McAdams $84.95 to make the final settlement (Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, Book C, page 297, 17 April 1833). Henry Couch refused to pay Susan Couch McAdams the $84.95, and the court ordered execution against Jesse Couch and Gabriel Couch, sureties and against Henry Couch (Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, Book C, page 338, 21 August 1833). Samuel Couch can be found on the Cass County census of 1850 living near his sister, Susan, and his brother-in-law, I. McAdams.
Confusion is the by-word when it comes to Couch researchers with regard to Henry Couch. Most tend to confuse him with his nephew, Meredith Couch (b: 1800), son of Thomas Couch (born 1774), who was a son of our John Couch (b: ca. 1745). Some even label Henry Couch (b: ca. 1785 in South Carolina) incorrectly as “Henry Meredith Couch.” The confusion is understandable because Henry Couch and Meredith Couch both died in the 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama. Meredith Couch and his brother, Thomas J. Couch (b: ca. 1810), were owners of a grist mill in Lawrence County, Alabama. This mill is listed as “Kitchens Mill” on modern-day maps. In the estate settlement records of Meredith Couch, he is listed only as “Meredith,” and not “Henry Meredith,” or “Henry.” Meredith Couch married Florentine Terry on 14 March 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama. Meredith Couch died shortly after marrying Florentine Terry. Estate records of Meredith Couch, recorded in the Orphan’s Court in Lawrence County, Alabama, list his heirs as his brothers. There is a court record that Florentine Terry, widow of Meredith Couch, sued to get her share of Meredith’s estate. Florentine Terry married James McGaughey after Meredith Couch’s death, and they moved to Cherokee County, Texas, and lived in the Jacksonville, Texas, area. Henry Couch died in the 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama, probably of the Cholera.
Henry Couch married Caty (Catherine) Waters/Walters after the death of Peggy Priest Couch Henry Couch in 1821. Catherine Walters/Waters (born: about 1805 in Jefferson County, Tennessee), daughter of Thomas Walters (Waters) of Jefferson County, Tennessee. Henry Couch and Catherine Walters/Waters Couch had two children – (1) Drury (born late 1823 or in 1824) and (2) a daughter (born about 1825).
There is a court record that Henry Couch’s father, John Couch (b: ca. 1745), filed to obtain guardianship of Henry and Peggy Couch’s sons, Henry Meredith Couch and Samuel Couch. On page 227, Book C, of the Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphan’s Court records, there is an application of John Couch to be appointed guardian of “Samuel Couch, infant child of Henry Couch and his right of his mother, deceased of the estate of Samuel Priest, late of said county. Thomas Couch, Surety, and application of John Couch to be appointed guardian of Henry Meredith Couch, infant child of Henry Couch, and his right of his mother, deceased, of Samuel Priest.” The court appointed John Couch (b: ca. 1745) guardian of his two grandchildren, Samuel Couch and Henry Meredith Couch. Priest Henry Meredith Couch (b: 1821), son of Henry Couch and Peggy Priest Couch, lived in Tennessee in 1850 and in Arkansas by 1860. We have included additional information on Henry Meredith Couch in the Notes Section of this chapter.
Catherine Couch can be found on the 1840 Lawrence County, Alabama, census as head of the household (widow) with a child the age of Drury (age 15 and under 20) and a child the age of the daughter (age 15 and under 20) in the household. Catherine Couch is listed on this census as being between the age of 30 and 40. Thus, Drury was about 17 or 18 years old when the 1840 census was taken, and the daughter was about 15 to 16 years old.
Attorney Jerry Lynn Benedict of Austin, Texas, has traced Catherine Couch from Lawrence County, Alabama, to Rusk County and Cherokee County, Texas. In marriage records for Lawrence County, Alabama, there is a record of the marriage of Andrew Galey to Catherine (Caty) Couch on 16 September 1840, after the 1840 Lawrence County, Alabama census was taken. In the 1850 Rusk County, Texas, census, an Andrew Gailey (Galey) is listed with wife, Catherine, born in Tennessee. Therefore, Andrew Gailey and his wife Catherine Walters Couch Gailey moved to Texas prior to 1850. Texas did not become a state until 1846, and the Cherokee Indians occupied Rusk and Cherokee Counties, Texas (adjacent counties) prior to Texas becoming a state. So the authors conclude that Andrew and Catherine Walters Couch Gailey moved to Texas between 1846 and 1850. Andrew Gailey died prior to 1857, and Catherine Walters Couch Gailey married Silas Morris in Cherokee County, Texas, in 1857, as Catherine Gailey (sometimes seen as Galey).
Catherine Walters Couch Gailey Morris’ son, Drury Couch, and family moved to Texas to the general area where Drury’s mother and step-father, Silas Morris, were living. Attorney Jerry Lynn Benedict obtained a copy of the 1869 probate court record of Silas and Catherine Morris that was filed at the Cherokee County, Texas, courthouse, showing that Catherine’s son, Drury Couch, was the administrator of the estate of Silas and Catherine Morris and also their heir. On 31 December 1884, Drury Couch sold 61 acres of land to T. L. Smith in Cherokee County, Texas, part of the Silas Morris headright survey on the waters of Mud Creek (Deed Book Y-2, Cherokee County, Texas, page 454.) Catherine Walters Couch Gailey Morris is buried in an unmarked grave in the old McDonald Texas Historical Cemetery near New Summerfield, Texas, not far from where Drury and Mary Couch owned a farm. Thus, the paper trail ends for Catherine Walters, widow of Henry Couch (b: ca. 1785) and mother of Drury Couch (b: ca. 1823) in Cherokee County, Texas.
Henry Couch's ancestry tree is as follows:
1 – Captain THOMAS COUCH &_______ (b: abt. 1660 or earlier in England)(Merchant of London and Master of the ships, Fortune, and Palm Tree)
2 – THOMAS COUCH, Sr. (b: abt. 1685) & ELIZABETH [Lived in (Bristol Parish) Prince George County, Virginia, in the 1720's (record of son, Mathew's birth in Bristol Parish Records)
3 – THOMAS COUCH, Jr. (b: ca 1705-1714, possibly in VA. d: 1776 in Enoree, S.C.)
SPOUSE: MARY (b: ca. 1715-1720 in VA d: 1796 in Spartanburg, South Carolina)
This Thomas is known as Ole Thomas and he left a Will, dated: 12 Feb 1776)
4 – JOHN COUCH (b: ca 1745 in VA or NC d: 30 Mar 1840 in Tishomingo Co, MS)
SPOUSE: SUSANNA [ANN] MEREDITH (b: 7 Mar 1756 in MD d: ca. 1821 in AL)
5 – HENRY COUCH (b: ca 1785 in SC d: 1837 in Lawrence County, Alabama)
1st SPOUSE: MARGARET "PEGGY" PRIEST
(Peggy Priest married Henry 16 July 1810 in Madison Co, Alabama)
Children: Susan; Henry Meredith (b: 1821 in Lawrence Co, AL); Samuel
2nd SPOUSE: CATHERINE WALTERS (also seen as "WATERS")
(Married Henry Couch on 11 August 1821) (Born ca. 1805 in Jefferson Co, TN. She died abt. 1869 and is buried in the old McDonald's Cemetery in Cherokee Co, TX) (Mother of DRURY.)
Children: DRURY (b: 1823) and Elizabeth (b: ca. 1825)
Family Members
Children
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