Mary Ann "Polly" (Manning) Cantrell married John Aquilla Cantrell about 1840 in Warren Co., Tennessee. Mary came to Texas with her son John Milton Cantrell and his wife Martha Davidson Cantrell in the late 1870's. Mary had four sons with John Aquilla Cantrell: Robert Cantrell, John Milton Cantrell, Benjamin J. "Ben" Cantrell, and Thomas H. Cantrell.
Just for the record Mary Ann "Polly" (Manning) Cantrell was my ggg grandmother, Imagraver. 2018_02_10.
For those of you that are related to Mary Ann "Polly" Manning Cantrell, on the 1840 Census John Aquilla Cantrell is listed just before a "Samuel Manning". Samuel could have been a brother to Mary. See John Aquilla Cantrell's memorial page.
The following is from from Carl D. Cantrell who is a descendant of John Aquilla and Mary Ann Polly Manning Cantrell:
Greg,
I received your questionnaire concerning John Aquilla Cantrell yesterday. I was into genealogy heavy a few years ago but have gone on to other things so some of the details I'm about to relate may be a little fuzzy.
First, I can tell you John Aquilla Cantrell was my great-great-grandfather. My line is John Aquilla Cantrell, Thomas H. Cantrell, John Thomas H. Cantrell, Clarence Cantrell, then me.
John Aquilla (called Quillar in the 1860 census in Marion County, Tennessee) is somewhat of a mystery. I place him being born in 1797 in Orange County, NC, married to Mary Ann Manning abt 1840. I do not have a burial place or date although descendants in Marion County say he spent the last years of his life in his oldest son's (Robert Cantrell) home.
I feel pretty certain that he was the son of William W. Cantrell and Elizabeth Paige. Without dragging out all of my papers, etc., William had a son called John whose age corresponds to John Aquilla's age. The only stretch is proving beyond any doubt that John in Warren county, TN and John Aquilla in Marion county, TN are the same person. However, ages and facts all point in that direction.
If so:
John Aquilla was married the first time to _____ Evans, the daughter of Charlie C. Evans and Sara Blackburn in Warren County, Tennessee.
John Aquilla and _____ Evans had five children, all born in Warren county, TN.
The oldest girl, born abt 1823, married a Shipley.
The second girl, Nancy, was born abt 1825.
The third girl was born abt 1827.
The fourth boy, William, was born 1836, married Mary Christian Feb 28, 1856
The fifth boy, David Buford, was born 1838, married between 1862 and 1865 to Jane Sherly, daughter of Luke and Margaret Sherly and they had four children, William Benjamin, Lillian, Frances, Emeline.
Then:
John Aquilla married Mary Ann Manning abt 1840 in Warren county, TN.
I have no information about Mary Ann Manning except that she was listed in the 1860 census in Marion county, TN along with her sons. Anyhow, she went to Texas with two of her sons (John Milton and Benjamin) (I don't know where John Aquilla was) and their families in the fall of 1876 and settled near Bowie, Texas. She died in 1896 and was buried in the Mount Tabre Cemetery in Montague county, Texas. I have visited her grave. She has a nice tombstone. Her granddaughter that I interviewed back in 1994 at the age of 100 remembered her as a small woman and said she was French. Mary Ann Manning was literate because I have copies of letters that she wrote. She had nice handwriting.
John Aquilla and Mary Ann Manning had four children, all born TN.
The oldest boy, Robert Cantrell, was born Oct 4, 1840, died Dec 4, 1886 in Marion county, TN. He married Mary Ann Spangler and they have a whole line of descendants in Marion county, TN, today. Robert is listed in the 1860 census in Marion County, Tennessee, in the same house as John A., Mary Polly, John, and Benjamin. In the 1870 census he is listed as head of household, married to Mary A, with Nancy, 2 years of age, and Peter as 7/12 months. He is listed as a farm laborer. Later, I think he mined coal for a living as well as farm. In his letters, he speaks quite frequently of the coal mines. He fought for the south during the Civil War under Captain Peter T. Rankin, mustered into service at Camp Cheatham, Jan. 1, 1862. They became Company "H", 4th (Starnes's) Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. Robert planned to follow his brothers to Texas, according to some of his letters, dated in the late 1870s but he never did, for he lived the rest of his life in Marion county, Tennessee. He was a very religious man for he spoke frequently in his letters to his brother, Thomas, of religion. He must have been in poor health for he also spoke frequently of his weight. He died quite young, at the age of 46, on December 4, 1886. Mary and her children, William, Sallie, and James, are listed in the same house in the 1900 census. Mary Mollie died July 26, 1919, and they are both buried in the Red Hill Cemetery on Old Dunlap Highway, north of Whitwell, Tennessee. Robert and Mary Mollie had nine children.
The second son, John Milton Cantrell, was born Jan 1, 1843, died Oct 27, 1925, Montague county, Texas (probably Lake Valley, near Sunset, Wise Co., Texas). He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Bowie, Texas. He married Martha Davidson April 5, 1866. John Milton Cantrell was born Jan. 1, 1843, in Warren county, Tennessee. In 1860, he was recorded in the home of his parents in Marion county, Tennessee. He enlisted Aug. 4, 1862, in Company "C" 1st Regiment, Vidette's Alabama and Tennessee Cav., Federal Troops, Southern Division. He fought
for the North until June 13, 1864 and was discharged in Stevenson, AL. He filed for a pension in 1897 from Wise county, Texas. (I also found a John Cantrell who had enlisted in Company "I" 43th Tennessee from the Marion county area that fought for the South. This may have been his dad although there is no tradition in the family as such.) John's brother, Benjamin, also received a pension from the North, but their older brother, Robert, fought for the South. John married Martha Davidson March 3, 1866, in Marion county, Tennessee. She was born June 10, 1850, in Marion county and was a daughter of John Hiram and Lettie A. Johnson Davidson. In 1870, they were recorded in the 5th Civil District in Marion county and he was a farm laborer and had personal property valued at $350.00. In the fall of 1876, he and brother Benjamin and their mother set out for Texas. I'm told at that time the United States government was giving 160 acre tracts in Texas to anyone who would homestead it. A lot of people were leaving Marion county for Texas at this time. In several letters written from brother Robert in Marion county to Thomas in Jackson county, Tennessee Robert relates how a lot of their acquaintances are
leaving, going west. In 1880, he is recorded in Cooke county, Texas, and there are in existence several letters written by him from there in the late 1870s. Later, he moved his family to Wise county, Texas, where they were living when the 1890 census were taken. This census records his service in
the Federal forces. In 1900, they were again recorded in Wise county. The six youngest children were at home. For some unknown reason they are not located in the soundex census of 1910. We know that they moved from Wise county to Lake Valley, Montague county, where John died Oct. 27, 1925 and Martha died less than one month later, Nov. 21, 1925. They are both
buried at the Elmwood Cemetery in Bowie, Texas.
The third son, Benjamin J. Cantrell, was born May 8, 1848 and died Feb 4, 1926. He was buried in Tage cemetery, Bowie, Texas. Benjamin J. Cantrell was born May 8, 1848, according to what he wrote to his nephew John N. Cantrell in Jackson county in a letter dated July 21, 1921. He married Jane Johnson on December 24, 1874, in Dunlap, Sequatchie county, Tennessee with his brother, T.H. Cantrell, as his "sucurity." After they went to Texas in the fall of 1876, Jane's parents moved from Marion County out there also. Jane was born in Oct. 1849 in Tennessee and was a daughter of John W. and Fannie Johnson. Ben and Jane moved to Texas and settled first in Cooke county and then moved to Montague county, where he farmed. They had moved to Marshfield, Missouri by 1914 because of Ben's health. They lived there until they died. When Jane died October 11, 1923, Ben remarried after that at 76 years of age. His new wife was 65 at the time. Ben and his nephew, John N. Cantrell in Jackson county Tennessee, wrote letters to each other in the late 1910's and early 1920's. Those letters are still in
existence. Benjamin died February 4, 1926, at 79 years of age. Benjamin was brought back to Texas and buried in the Tage Cemetery just outside east of Bowie, Texas. I think Jane was probably buried in Marshfield, Missouri, for that is where they were living at the time. Ben's grave is by itself. He and Jane never had any children although I'm told they adopted one boy. Although, as yet I have found no record of Benjamin serving in the Civil War, according to his niece, he received a pension of over $100.00 a month for fighting for the Union. He has also been described as a "big man" who was kind of "prissy" and who wasn't real partial to work by his niece.
The fourth son, Thomas H. Cantrell, was born June 13, 1850, in Tennessee. In 1870, he was recorded in the 5th District P.O. Jasper, Marion county, Tennessee. May 18, 1876, finds him in Jackson county, Tennessee, for there is a letter written from his brother Robert addressed to Thomas in Jackson county with that date. It has been thought that the reason he went to Jackson county was because he might have had some kin there. We know there was an Elizabeth Manning born in Dec. 1853, married to a John N. Cantrell in 1875 and lived in Jackson county in 1880. But in one of Robert's letters to Thomas, this is discussed and is discounted by Robert and his mother. The probable reason was that it was simply to find work. We know that Thomas went to work for the John Pharris family. They had been rather well off before the Civil War and had a lot of land. They also owned quite a few slaves. I'm told that when Susan Williamson married John Pharris, her dowry was five slaves. After the war, they were hard put for help for all their slaves had been freed, although I am told some of them stayed on.
During this time, tobacco was bought down from the Jackson county area to Jasper, for in one of Robert's letters to Thomas, he speaks of meeting someone at the tobacco sales from Jackson county. Through the tobacco sales, Thomas probably heard there was work to be had in Jackson county. Thomas married Elizabeth Pharris, one of John Pharris's daughters on Oct. 22, 1876. She was forty at the time and Thomas was twenty-five. Elizabeth was born Oct. 27, 1835, in Jackson
county. Her parents were John and Susan Williamson Pharris. Thomas and Elizabeth built a little cabin back of the Pharris house on the Pharris place and a year later had a son, John Newton. John Thomas Newton Cantrell was born Nov. 8, 1877. Elizabeth was forty-one years old. Thomas left for Texas alone in March, 1880. According to tradition, Thomas gathered up his tools to have them worked on down at the local Blacksmith's shop and wrote back to Elizabeth from Texas. At least some of the letters that Thomas wrote back to Elizabeth are still in existence. Elizabeth's dad, John Pharris, died April 9, 1879, and there seems to have been some problems over the property. Thomas wrote back that he thought that the Pharris family were "trying to make a slave out of him." He wrote that Elizabeth's brother Alec and his wife got to use the Pharris land for nothing while he had to pay rent for its use.
He wrote that she would listen to everyone else but him and in one letter said Mrs. Pharris was the blame for him being in Texas. Elizabeth did something in Tennessee that he didn't like for in the last letter I have that he wrote back, he asks her, "Do you think that I am under any obligations to you under the circumstances if you do?" He wanted to come back and get little Johnny. He was concerned about Johnny's education and said Ben's wife could help take care of him in one letter. There is no doubt that Thomas was a hard worker for he wrote Elizabeth on May 28, 1882, that although he came to Texas with "just enough money to get my clothes," he had acquired a "nice span of young mules as I know." He also had three head of cattle, "a crop picked of 20 acres, 7 or 8 in corn and 12 or 13 in cotton." He said that the "Corn was waist high and laid by last Wednesday." I find no record of Thomas and Elizabeth divorcing but Thomas married 2nd Mary J. Sexton in Montague county, Texas, on Sept. 29, 1884, with
Judge P.H. Thompkinsbee presiding. Mary J. was born Sept. 1860, in Texas. Thomas's son, Walter, said that his dad did get a formal divorce in Texas from Elizabeth. In 1900, Thomas and Mary were recorded on a farm, near his brother Benjamin in Pct. #1, Montague county, Texas. Four children had been born to this 2nd marriage. His first wife, Elizabeth, was recorded in the 5th Civil District, Jackson county, Tennessee, and she was a farmer. Her household included her twenty-two year old son, John Newton, two sisters, Polly and Susan Pharris, and Susan's nineteen year old son, Wash Pharris. In 1910, Thomas and Mary were again recorded in Montague county, Texas, and Elizabeth and her sister, Susan, were recorded in Jackson county, Tennessee. Elizabeth died Sept. 5, 1916, and is buried in the Pharris Cemetery on the old Pharris place in Jackson County, Tennessee. Thomas died
January 17, 1923, and Mary died Nov. 18, 1945 in Montague county, Texas. Thomas and Mary Sexton Cantrell are buried in the Elmwood cemetery in Bowie, Texas.
John Aquilla Cantrell was a "character" according to some of his descendants in Marion county, Tennessee. Others say tradition is that he was "just a little bit crazy." According to tradition, he would spend a lot of time away from home. The reason for his disappearances, according to him, was that he was going back to Ireland to see his folks. According to him, he was born in Ireland, graduated from the University of Dublin, came to America to keep from being impressed into the King's navy, went into the drug store business in New York, was cleaned out by his partner. He then migrated down into the Carolina's before coming over into Tennessee. According to descendants, during the periods that he was gone from home, they would sometimes find deer meat hanging in the trees outside but not see him for weeks at a time.
I have checked shipboard lists from that time and one descendant wrote the University of Dublin asking for records. So far, no one has turn up any record of him in Ireland or on any ship.
The more likely explanation is that he was indeed the son of William and Elizabeth Paige Cantrell of Warren county, TN. Apparently his first wife died, he remarried to someone of "darker complexion" and moved to Marion county, TN. I surmised that he was visiting his first family when he was gone for long periods of time from his second family. The families would have been about 45 miles apart.
Greg, I hope that I have helped. I have some of David Buford Cantrell's line (first marriage son) mapped but not much. However, I have much of the second marriage mapped. My guess is that you are a descendant of Will Harber (I have Harbor) and Ennis Nichols. Ennis Nichols was the daughter of Frank Nichols and Mattie Lee Cantrell. Mattie, born Dec 16, 1880 in Cooke county, Texas, was the daughter of John Milton and Martha Davidson Cantrell. Then, of course, John Milton is the second son of John Aquilla. How close am I?
I'll be glad to share anything I have with you. I have moved from Tennessee in the last year. My new address is:
Carl D. Cantrell
John Aquilla Cantrell was a very interesting character from all research. There are conflicting stories. First, his own and some of the tales of some of his descendants. Quiller Cantrial (as spelled in the 1860 census in Marion County, TN), was born in Ireland in 1798. Limerick may have been his birthplace. He came to America and landed in North Carolina. He traveled into Virginia where he married Mary Polly Manning who was born in 1807. He was very religious for he misplaced his prayer book somewhere in Virginia. He loved to hunt and would stay gone from home weeks at a time. According to tradition, he told his family that he was born in Ireland and that he graduated from the University of Dublin. He then left Ireland because he did not want to do as his dad wished and become a British Officer in the Royal Navy. After reaching America, he taught school in New York, went into the Drug Store business and was "cleaned out" by his partner prior to coming to Tennessee. It was passed down that there is still an estate of some worth in Ireland to be claimed by Quiller's heirs, but that was a common story sold by hucksters to more than one family around the turn of the century. Its said that John, Quiller's son, started for Ireland once and got as far as New York but decided to turn back. Jenny Norris, one of Quiller's descendants who lives in Texas, checked with the University of Dublin and they have no record of him ever going there. But, according to
tradition, he would leave his family for long periods of time and when he returned, he would claim that he had made a journey to Ireland or had been on a long hunting trip. According to descendants in Texas, the four boys were born in Knoxville. But of course, a Texan could mean anywhere within a two hundred mile radius of Knoxville when speaking of Tennessee while in Texas.
John Aquilla was probably born in 1797 in South Carolina, to William Cantrell (spelled Cantrill in some documents) and Elizabeth Page. He was an infant when his family moved to North Carolina and under ten when his parents moved to Eastern Tennessee. His given name was John Aquilla Cantrell and he married ____ Evans of Cannon County and had three daughters and two boys by her. John Aquilla may have been first located in the 1830 census in Warren county, Tennessee, where he had married
Miss Evans. She was listed as 20-30 years of age and the family consisted of three daughters, two five to ten and one under five. In 1840, an Aquilla Cantrell was recorded in Warren county. There were five children at home. His wife was deceased. Her parents, Charles C. and Sarah Blackburn Evans, were appointed guardians of their youngest son, David Bluford, and raised him. It is probable that John then married 2nd Mary Ann "Polly" Manning in Warren county. She was probably born in 1810 in Virginia
And may have been a sister to Thomas C. Manning, who also lived in Warren county. In 1850, Mary was listed in the home of Thomas L. Wiggins in Coffee county, Tennessee. John A. was not listed. The children of the first marriage were located with other relatives in Cannon and Warren counties.
What is beyond dispute is that in 1860, Quiller (as he is listed in the census), Mary Polly, and three sons, Robert, John, and Benjamin are listed in Marion county, Tennessee. In this census, he listed his
Place of birth as Ireland and his age as sixty. In the fall of 1876, two of his sons, John Milton and Benjamin J., and their mother, Mary Polly, went to Texas without him. They were joined by the youngest son, Thomas, in 1880. According to descendants of his son, Robert, who stayed in Tennessee, Quiller returned from one of his disappearances and spent the rest of his life in Marion county, Tennessee, in Robert's home. In these disappearances, Quiller would stay gone from home weeks at a time and
claim that he was either hunting or gone back to Ireland to visit his family. In 1880, the three sons in Texas listed their father's birthstate as North Carolina and their mother's as Tennessee. The son, Robert, in
Tennessee listed his father as well as his mother as born in Tennessee. But, on son Thomas's death certificate, his dad's name is listed as A. Cantrell and his birth-place is listed as Ireland. But if Quiller was
really from Ireland, it seems someone would have found shipboard documentation by now from the many trips to and from Ireland. They haven't. In the 1860 census, Mary and three of the boys, Robert, John,
and Benjamin are listed with "mu" beside their name. "Mu" stood for mulatto with the strict definition as half-black and half-white but it has also been used at different times to denote anyone of darker skin. Mary
was, according to her 100 year old granddaughter Elizabeth Cantrell Cunningham remembering her in 1992, as a small woman of dark complexion of French ancestry. She said they had to cut off the legs of a chair once so she could sit comfortably. She, along with her sons, were literate for they wrote letters back to Tennessee that are still in existence. It has been passed down to some in the family that Quiller would get the whole family up in the middle of the night and make them go out and cut wood. The family would sometimes find meat hanging outside in the trees in the mornings when Quiller was off on his hunting trips. It is said that he was "crazy when he got back to Marion county" and from others, its said that Quiller was "one more character." John Aquilla or Quiller Cantrell's date of death and his place
of burial have not been found. He may be buried in the Pickett Cemetery or Brock Cemetery in Marion county, Tennessee, according to descendants of his son Robert.. Mary Polly died in Texas in 1896 and was buried in the Mount Tabre Cemetery near Bowie, Texas. On her tombstone, E. Cantrell is noted as her husband. The E. probably stood for Equiller.
Just for the record Mary Ann "Polly" (Manning) Cantrell was my ggg grandmother, Imagraver. 2018_02_10.
For those of you that are related to Mary Ann "Polly" Manning Cantrell, on the 1840 Census John Aquilla Cantrell is listed just before a "Samuel Manning". Samuel could have been a brother to Mary. See John Aquilla Cantrell's memorial page.
The following is from from Carl D. Cantrell who is a descendant of John Aquilla and Mary Ann Polly Manning Cantrell:
Greg,
I received your questionnaire concerning John Aquilla Cantrell yesterday. I was into genealogy heavy a few years ago but have gone on to other things so some of the details I'm about to relate may be a little fuzzy.
First, I can tell you John Aquilla Cantrell was my great-great-grandfather. My line is John Aquilla Cantrell, Thomas H. Cantrell, John Thomas H. Cantrell, Clarence Cantrell, then me.
John Aquilla (called Quillar in the 1860 census in Marion County, Tennessee) is somewhat of a mystery. I place him being born in 1797 in Orange County, NC, married to Mary Ann Manning abt 1840. I do not have a burial place or date although descendants in Marion County say he spent the last years of his life in his oldest son's (Robert Cantrell) home.
I feel pretty certain that he was the son of William W. Cantrell and Elizabeth Paige. Without dragging out all of my papers, etc., William had a son called John whose age corresponds to John Aquilla's age. The only stretch is proving beyond any doubt that John in Warren county, TN and John Aquilla in Marion county, TN are the same person. However, ages and facts all point in that direction.
If so:
John Aquilla was married the first time to _____ Evans, the daughter of Charlie C. Evans and Sara Blackburn in Warren County, Tennessee.
John Aquilla and _____ Evans had five children, all born in Warren county, TN.
The oldest girl, born abt 1823, married a Shipley.
The second girl, Nancy, was born abt 1825.
The third girl was born abt 1827.
The fourth boy, William, was born 1836, married Mary Christian Feb 28, 1856
The fifth boy, David Buford, was born 1838, married between 1862 and 1865 to Jane Sherly, daughter of Luke and Margaret Sherly and they had four children, William Benjamin, Lillian, Frances, Emeline.
Then:
John Aquilla married Mary Ann Manning abt 1840 in Warren county, TN.
I have no information about Mary Ann Manning except that she was listed in the 1860 census in Marion county, TN along with her sons. Anyhow, she went to Texas with two of her sons (John Milton and Benjamin) (I don't know where John Aquilla was) and their families in the fall of 1876 and settled near Bowie, Texas. She died in 1896 and was buried in the Mount Tabre Cemetery in Montague county, Texas. I have visited her grave. She has a nice tombstone. Her granddaughter that I interviewed back in 1994 at the age of 100 remembered her as a small woman and said she was French. Mary Ann Manning was literate because I have copies of letters that she wrote. She had nice handwriting.
John Aquilla and Mary Ann Manning had four children, all born TN.
The oldest boy, Robert Cantrell, was born Oct 4, 1840, died Dec 4, 1886 in Marion county, TN. He married Mary Ann Spangler and they have a whole line of descendants in Marion county, TN, today. Robert is listed in the 1860 census in Marion County, Tennessee, in the same house as John A., Mary Polly, John, and Benjamin. In the 1870 census he is listed as head of household, married to Mary A, with Nancy, 2 years of age, and Peter as 7/12 months. He is listed as a farm laborer. Later, I think he mined coal for a living as well as farm. In his letters, he speaks quite frequently of the coal mines. He fought for the south during the Civil War under Captain Peter T. Rankin, mustered into service at Camp Cheatham, Jan. 1, 1862. They became Company "H", 4th (Starnes's) Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. Robert planned to follow his brothers to Texas, according to some of his letters, dated in the late 1870s but he never did, for he lived the rest of his life in Marion county, Tennessee. He was a very religious man for he spoke frequently in his letters to his brother, Thomas, of religion. He must have been in poor health for he also spoke frequently of his weight. He died quite young, at the age of 46, on December 4, 1886. Mary and her children, William, Sallie, and James, are listed in the same house in the 1900 census. Mary Mollie died July 26, 1919, and they are both buried in the Red Hill Cemetery on Old Dunlap Highway, north of Whitwell, Tennessee. Robert and Mary Mollie had nine children.
The second son, John Milton Cantrell, was born Jan 1, 1843, died Oct 27, 1925, Montague county, Texas (probably Lake Valley, near Sunset, Wise Co., Texas). He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Bowie, Texas. He married Martha Davidson April 5, 1866. John Milton Cantrell was born Jan. 1, 1843, in Warren county, Tennessee. In 1860, he was recorded in the home of his parents in Marion county, Tennessee. He enlisted Aug. 4, 1862, in Company "C" 1st Regiment, Vidette's Alabama and Tennessee Cav., Federal Troops, Southern Division. He fought
for the North until June 13, 1864 and was discharged in Stevenson, AL. He filed for a pension in 1897 from Wise county, Texas. (I also found a John Cantrell who had enlisted in Company "I" 43th Tennessee from the Marion county area that fought for the South. This may have been his dad although there is no tradition in the family as such.) John's brother, Benjamin, also received a pension from the North, but their older brother, Robert, fought for the South. John married Martha Davidson March 3, 1866, in Marion county, Tennessee. She was born June 10, 1850, in Marion county and was a daughter of John Hiram and Lettie A. Johnson Davidson. In 1870, they were recorded in the 5th Civil District in Marion county and he was a farm laborer and had personal property valued at $350.00. In the fall of 1876, he and brother Benjamin and their mother set out for Texas. I'm told at that time the United States government was giving 160 acre tracts in Texas to anyone who would homestead it. A lot of people were leaving Marion county for Texas at this time. In several letters written from brother Robert in Marion county to Thomas in Jackson county, Tennessee Robert relates how a lot of their acquaintances are
leaving, going west. In 1880, he is recorded in Cooke county, Texas, and there are in existence several letters written by him from there in the late 1870s. Later, he moved his family to Wise county, Texas, where they were living when the 1890 census were taken. This census records his service in
the Federal forces. In 1900, they were again recorded in Wise county. The six youngest children were at home. For some unknown reason they are not located in the soundex census of 1910. We know that they moved from Wise county to Lake Valley, Montague county, where John died Oct. 27, 1925 and Martha died less than one month later, Nov. 21, 1925. They are both
buried at the Elmwood Cemetery in Bowie, Texas.
The third son, Benjamin J. Cantrell, was born May 8, 1848 and died Feb 4, 1926. He was buried in Tage cemetery, Bowie, Texas. Benjamin J. Cantrell was born May 8, 1848, according to what he wrote to his nephew John N. Cantrell in Jackson county in a letter dated July 21, 1921. He married Jane Johnson on December 24, 1874, in Dunlap, Sequatchie county, Tennessee with his brother, T.H. Cantrell, as his "sucurity." After they went to Texas in the fall of 1876, Jane's parents moved from Marion County out there also. Jane was born in Oct. 1849 in Tennessee and was a daughter of John W. and Fannie Johnson. Ben and Jane moved to Texas and settled first in Cooke county and then moved to Montague county, where he farmed. They had moved to Marshfield, Missouri by 1914 because of Ben's health. They lived there until they died. When Jane died October 11, 1923, Ben remarried after that at 76 years of age. His new wife was 65 at the time. Ben and his nephew, John N. Cantrell in Jackson county Tennessee, wrote letters to each other in the late 1910's and early 1920's. Those letters are still in
existence. Benjamin died February 4, 1926, at 79 years of age. Benjamin was brought back to Texas and buried in the Tage Cemetery just outside east of Bowie, Texas. I think Jane was probably buried in Marshfield, Missouri, for that is where they were living at the time. Ben's grave is by itself. He and Jane never had any children although I'm told they adopted one boy. Although, as yet I have found no record of Benjamin serving in the Civil War, according to his niece, he received a pension of over $100.00 a month for fighting for the Union. He has also been described as a "big man" who was kind of "prissy" and who wasn't real partial to work by his niece.
The fourth son, Thomas H. Cantrell, was born June 13, 1850, in Tennessee. In 1870, he was recorded in the 5th District P.O. Jasper, Marion county, Tennessee. May 18, 1876, finds him in Jackson county, Tennessee, for there is a letter written from his brother Robert addressed to Thomas in Jackson county with that date. It has been thought that the reason he went to Jackson county was because he might have had some kin there. We know there was an Elizabeth Manning born in Dec. 1853, married to a John N. Cantrell in 1875 and lived in Jackson county in 1880. But in one of Robert's letters to Thomas, this is discussed and is discounted by Robert and his mother. The probable reason was that it was simply to find work. We know that Thomas went to work for the John Pharris family. They had been rather well off before the Civil War and had a lot of land. They also owned quite a few slaves. I'm told that when Susan Williamson married John Pharris, her dowry was five slaves. After the war, they were hard put for help for all their slaves had been freed, although I am told some of them stayed on.
During this time, tobacco was bought down from the Jackson county area to Jasper, for in one of Robert's letters to Thomas, he speaks of meeting someone at the tobacco sales from Jackson county. Through the tobacco sales, Thomas probably heard there was work to be had in Jackson county. Thomas married Elizabeth Pharris, one of John Pharris's daughters on Oct. 22, 1876. She was forty at the time and Thomas was twenty-five. Elizabeth was born Oct. 27, 1835, in Jackson
county. Her parents were John and Susan Williamson Pharris. Thomas and Elizabeth built a little cabin back of the Pharris house on the Pharris place and a year later had a son, John Newton. John Thomas Newton Cantrell was born Nov. 8, 1877. Elizabeth was forty-one years old. Thomas left for Texas alone in March, 1880. According to tradition, Thomas gathered up his tools to have them worked on down at the local Blacksmith's shop and wrote back to Elizabeth from Texas. At least some of the letters that Thomas wrote back to Elizabeth are still in existence. Elizabeth's dad, John Pharris, died April 9, 1879, and there seems to have been some problems over the property. Thomas wrote back that he thought that the Pharris family were "trying to make a slave out of him." He wrote that Elizabeth's brother Alec and his wife got to use the Pharris land for nothing while he had to pay rent for its use.
He wrote that she would listen to everyone else but him and in one letter said Mrs. Pharris was the blame for him being in Texas. Elizabeth did something in Tennessee that he didn't like for in the last letter I have that he wrote back, he asks her, "Do you think that I am under any obligations to you under the circumstances if you do?" He wanted to come back and get little Johnny. He was concerned about Johnny's education and said Ben's wife could help take care of him in one letter. There is no doubt that Thomas was a hard worker for he wrote Elizabeth on May 28, 1882, that although he came to Texas with "just enough money to get my clothes," he had acquired a "nice span of young mules as I know." He also had three head of cattle, "a crop picked of 20 acres, 7 or 8 in corn and 12 or 13 in cotton." He said that the "Corn was waist high and laid by last Wednesday." I find no record of Thomas and Elizabeth divorcing but Thomas married 2nd Mary J. Sexton in Montague county, Texas, on Sept. 29, 1884, with
Judge P.H. Thompkinsbee presiding. Mary J. was born Sept. 1860, in Texas. Thomas's son, Walter, said that his dad did get a formal divorce in Texas from Elizabeth. In 1900, Thomas and Mary were recorded on a farm, near his brother Benjamin in Pct. #1, Montague county, Texas. Four children had been born to this 2nd marriage. His first wife, Elizabeth, was recorded in the 5th Civil District, Jackson county, Tennessee, and she was a farmer. Her household included her twenty-two year old son, John Newton, two sisters, Polly and Susan Pharris, and Susan's nineteen year old son, Wash Pharris. In 1910, Thomas and Mary were again recorded in Montague county, Texas, and Elizabeth and her sister, Susan, were recorded in Jackson county, Tennessee. Elizabeth died Sept. 5, 1916, and is buried in the Pharris Cemetery on the old Pharris place in Jackson County, Tennessee. Thomas died
January 17, 1923, and Mary died Nov. 18, 1945 in Montague county, Texas. Thomas and Mary Sexton Cantrell are buried in the Elmwood cemetery in Bowie, Texas.
John Aquilla Cantrell was a "character" according to some of his descendants in Marion county, Tennessee. Others say tradition is that he was "just a little bit crazy." According to tradition, he would spend a lot of time away from home. The reason for his disappearances, according to him, was that he was going back to Ireland to see his folks. According to him, he was born in Ireland, graduated from the University of Dublin, came to America to keep from being impressed into the King's navy, went into the drug store business in New York, was cleaned out by his partner. He then migrated down into the Carolina's before coming over into Tennessee. According to descendants, during the periods that he was gone from home, they would sometimes find deer meat hanging in the trees outside but not see him for weeks at a time.
I have checked shipboard lists from that time and one descendant wrote the University of Dublin asking for records. So far, no one has turn up any record of him in Ireland or on any ship.
The more likely explanation is that he was indeed the son of William and Elizabeth Paige Cantrell of Warren county, TN. Apparently his first wife died, he remarried to someone of "darker complexion" and moved to Marion county, TN. I surmised that he was visiting his first family when he was gone for long periods of time from his second family. The families would have been about 45 miles apart.
Greg, I hope that I have helped. I have some of David Buford Cantrell's line (first marriage son) mapped but not much. However, I have much of the second marriage mapped. My guess is that you are a descendant of Will Harber (I have Harbor) and Ennis Nichols. Ennis Nichols was the daughter of Frank Nichols and Mattie Lee Cantrell. Mattie, born Dec 16, 1880 in Cooke county, Texas, was the daughter of John Milton and Martha Davidson Cantrell. Then, of course, John Milton is the second son of John Aquilla. How close am I?
I'll be glad to share anything I have with you. I have moved from Tennessee in the last year. My new address is:
Carl D. Cantrell
John Aquilla Cantrell was a very interesting character from all research. There are conflicting stories. First, his own and some of the tales of some of his descendants. Quiller Cantrial (as spelled in the 1860 census in Marion County, TN), was born in Ireland in 1798. Limerick may have been his birthplace. He came to America and landed in North Carolina. He traveled into Virginia where he married Mary Polly Manning who was born in 1807. He was very religious for he misplaced his prayer book somewhere in Virginia. He loved to hunt and would stay gone from home weeks at a time. According to tradition, he told his family that he was born in Ireland and that he graduated from the University of Dublin. He then left Ireland because he did not want to do as his dad wished and become a British Officer in the Royal Navy. After reaching America, he taught school in New York, went into the Drug Store business and was "cleaned out" by his partner prior to coming to Tennessee. It was passed down that there is still an estate of some worth in Ireland to be claimed by Quiller's heirs, but that was a common story sold by hucksters to more than one family around the turn of the century. Its said that John, Quiller's son, started for Ireland once and got as far as New York but decided to turn back. Jenny Norris, one of Quiller's descendants who lives in Texas, checked with the University of Dublin and they have no record of him ever going there. But, according to
tradition, he would leave his family for long periods of time and when he returned, he would claim that he had made a journey to Ireland or had been on a long hunting trip. According to descendants in Texas, the four boys were born in Knoxville. But of course, a Texan could mean anywhere within a two hundred mile radius of Knoxville when speaking of Tennessee while in Texas.
John Aquilla was probably born in 1797 in South Carolina, to William Cantrell (spelled Cantrill in some documents) and Elizabeth Page. He was an infant when his family moved to North Carolina and under ten when his parents moved to Eastern Tennessee. His given name was John Aquilla Cantrell and he married ____ Evans of Cannon County and had three daughters and two boys by her. John Aquilla may have been first located in the 1830 census in Warren county, Tennessee, where he had married
Miss Evans. She was listed as 20-30 years of age and the family consisted of three daughters, two five to ten and one under five. In 1840, an Aquilla Cantrell was recorded in Warren county. There were five children at home. His wife was deceased. Her parents, Charles C. and Sarah Blackburn Evans, were appointed guardians of their youngest son, David Bluford, and raised him. It is probable that John then married 2nd Mary Ann "Polly" Manning in Warren county. She was probably born in 1810 in Virginia
And may have been a sister to Thomas C. Manning, who also lived in Warren county. In 1850, Mary was listed in the home of Thomas L. Wiggins in Coffee county, Tennessee. John A. was not listed. The children of the first marriage were located with other relatives in Cannon and Warren counties.
What is beyond dispute is that in 1860, Quiller (as he is listed in the census), Mary Polly, and three sons, Robert, John, and Benjamin are listed in Marion county, Tennessee. In this census, he listed his
Place of birth as Ireland and his age as sixty. In the fall of 1876, two of his sons, John Milton and Benjamin J., and their mother, Mary Polly, went to Texas without him. They were joined by the youngest son, Thomas, in 1880. According to descendants of his son, Robert, who stayed in Tennessee, Quiller returned from one of his disappearances and spent the rest of his life in Marion county, Tennessee, in Robert's home. In these disappearances, Quiller would stay gone from home weeks at a time and
claim that he was either hunting or gone back to Ireland to visit his family. In 1880, the three sons in Texas listed their father's birthstate as North Carolina and their mother's as Tennessee. The son, Robert, in
Tennessee listed his father as well as his mother as born in Tennessee. But, on son Thomas's death certificate, his dad's name is listed as A. Cantrell and his birth-place is listed as Ireland. But if Quiller was
really from Ireland, it seems someone would have found shipboard documentation by now from the many trips to and from Ireland. They haven't. In the 1860 census, Mary and three of the boys, Robert, John,
and Benjamin are listed with "mu" beside their name. "Mu" stood for mulatto with the strict definition as half-black and half-white but it has also been used at different times to denote anyone of darker skin. Mary
was, according to her 100 year old granddaughter Elizabeth Cantrell Cunningham remembering her in 1992, as a small woman of dark complexion of French ancestry. She said they had to cut off the legs of a chair once so she could sit comfortably. She, along with her sons, were literate for they wrote letters back to Tennessee that are still in existence. It has been passed down to some in the family that Quiller would get the whole family up in the middle of the night and make them go out and cut wood. The family would sometimes find meat hanging outside in the trees in the mornings when Quiller was off on his hunting trips. It is said that he was "crazy when he got back to Marion county" and from others, its said that Quiller was "one more character." John Aquilla or Quiller Cantrell's date of death and his place
of burial have not been found. He may be buried in the Pickett Cemetery or Brock Cemetery in Marion county, Tennessee, according to descendants of his son Robert.. Mary Polly died in Texas in 1896 and was buried in the Mount Tabre Cemetery near Bowie, Texas. On her tombstone, E. Cantrell is noted as her husband. The E. probably stood for Equiller.
Mary Ann "Polly" (Manning) Cantrell married John Aquilla Cantrell about 1840 in Warren Co., Tennessee. Mary came to Texas with her son John Milton Cantrell and his wife Martha Davidson Cantrell in the late 1870's. Mary had four sons with John Aquilla Cantrell: Robert Cantrell, John Milton Cantrell, Benjamin J. "Ben" Cantrell, and Thomas H. Cantrell.
Just for the record Mary Ann "Polly" (Manning) Cantrell was my ggg grandmother, Imagraver. 2018_02_10.
For those of you that are related to Mary Ann "Polly" Manning Cantrell, on the 1840 Census John Aquilla Cantrell is listed just before a "Samuel Manning". Samuel could have been a brother to Mary. See John Aquilla Cantrell's memorial page.
The following is from from Carl D. Cantrell who is a descendant of John Aquilla and Mary Ann Polly Manning Cantrell:
Greg,
I received your questionnaire concerning John Aquilla Cantrell yesterday. I was into genealogy heavy a few years ago but have gone on to other things so some of the details I'm about to relate may be a little fuzzy.
First, I can tell you John Aquilla Cantrell was my great-great-grandfather. My line is John Aquilla Cantrell, Thomas H. Cantrell, John Thomas H. Cantrell, Clarence Cantrell, then me.
John Aquilla (called Quillar in the 1860 census in Marion County, Tennessee) is somewhat of a mystery. I place him being born in 1797 in Orange County, NC, married to Mary Ann Manning abt 1840. I do not have a burial place or date although descendants in Marion County say he spent the last years of his life in his oldest son's (Robert Cantrell) home.
I feel pretty certain that he was the son of William W. Cantrell and Elizabeth Paige. Without dragging out all of my papers, etc., William had a son called John whose age corresponds to John Aquilla's age. The only stretch is proving beyond any doubt that John in Warren county, TN and John Aquilla in Marion county, TN are the same person. However, ages and facts all point in that direction.
If so:
John Aquilla was married the first time to _____ Evans, the daughter of Charlie C. Evans and Sara Blackburn in Warren County, Tennessee.
John Aquilla and _____ Evans had five children, all born in Warren county, TN.
The oldest girl, born abt 1823, married a Shipley.
The second girl, Nancy, was born abt 1825.
The third girl was born abt 1827.
The fourth boy, William, was born 1836, married Mary Christian Feb 28, 1856
The fifth boy, David Buford, was born 1838, married between 1862 and 1865 to Jane Sherly, daughter of Luke and Margaret Sherly and they had four children, William Benjamin, Lillian, Frances, Emeline.
Then:
John Aquilla married Mary Ann Manning abt 1840 in Warren county, TN.
I have no information about Mary Ann Manning except that she was listed in the 1860 census in Marion county, TN along with her sons. Anyhow, she went to Texas with two of her sons (John Milton and Benjamin) (I don't know where John Aquilla was) and their families in the fall of 1876 and settled near Bowie, Texas. She died in 1896 and was buried in the Mount Tabre Cemetery in Montague county, Texas. I have visited her grave. She has a nice tombstone. Her granddaughter that I interviewed back in 1994 at the age of 100 remembered her as a small woman and said she was French. Mary Ann Manning was literate because I have copies of letters that she wrote. She had nice handwriting.
John Aquilla and Mary Ann Manning had four children, all born TN.
The oldest boy, Robert Cantrell, was born Oct 4, 1840, died Dec 4, 1886 in Marion county, TN. He married Mary Ann Spangler and they have a whole line of descendants in Marion county, TN, today. Robert is listed in the 1860 census in Marion County, Tennessee, in the same house as John A., Mary Polly, John, and Benjamin. In the 1870 census he is listed as head of household, married to Mary A, with Nancy, 2 years of age, and Peter as 7/12 months. He is listed as a farm laborer. Later, I think he mined coal for a living as well as farm. In his letters, he speaks quite frequently of the coal mines. He fought for the south during the Civil War under Captain Peter T. Rankin, mustered into service at Camp Cheatham, Jan. 1, 1862. They became Company "H", 4th (Starnes's) Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. Robert planned to follow his brothers to Texas, according to some of his letters, dated in the late 1870s but he never did, for he lived the rest of his life in Marion county, Tennessee. He was a very religious man for he spoke frequently in his letters to his brother, Thomas, of religion. He must have been in poor health for he also spoke frequently of his weight. He died quite young, at the age of 46, on December 4, 1886. Mary and her children, William, Sallie, and James, are listed in the same house in the 1900 census. Mary Mollie died July 26, 1919, and they are both buried in the Red Hill Cemetery on Old Dunlap Highway, north of Whitwell, Tennessee. Robert and Mary Mollie had nine children.
The second son, John Milton Cantrell, was born Jan 1, 1843, died Oct 27, 1925, Montague county, Texas (probably Lake Valley, near Sunset, Wise Co., Texas). He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Bowie, Texas. He married Martha Davidson April 5, 1866. John Milton Cantrell was born Jan. 1, 1843, in Warren county, Tennessee. In 1860, he was recorded in the home of his parents in Marion county, Tennessee. He enlisted Aug. 4, 1862, in Company "C" 1st Regiment, Vidette's Alabama and Tennessee Cav., Federal Troops, Southern Division. He fought
for the North until June 13, 1864 and was discharged in Stevenson, AL. He filed for a pension in 1897 from Wise county, Texas. (I also found a John Cantrell who had enlisted in Company "I" 43th Tennessee from the Marion county area that fought for the South. This may have been his dad although there is no tradition in the family as such.) John's brother, Benjamin, also received a pension from the North, but their older brother, Robert, fought for the South. John married Martha Davidson March 3, 1866, in Marion county, Tennessee. She was born June 10, 1850, in Marion county and was a daughter of John Hiram and Lettie A. Johnson Davidson. In 1870, they were recorded in the 5th Civil District in Marion county and he was a farm laborer and had personal property valued at $350.00. In the fall of 1876, he and brother Benjamin and their mother set out for Texas. I'm told at that time the United States government was giving 160 acre tracts in Texas to anyone who would homestead it. A lot of people were leaving Marion county for Texas at this time. In several letters written from brother Robert in Marion county to Thomas in Jackson county, Tennessee Robert relates how a lot of their acquaintances are
leaving, going west. In 1880, he is recorded in Cooke county, Texas, and there are in existence several letters written by him from there in the late 1870s. Later, he moved his family to Wise county, Texas, where they were living when the 1890 census were taken. This census records his service in
the Federal forces. In 1900, they were again recorded in Wise county. The six youngest children were at home. For some unknown reason they are not located in the soundex census of 1910. We know that they moved from Wise county to Lake Valley, Montague county, where John died Oct. 27, 1925 and Martha died less than one month later, Nov. 21, 1925. They are both
buried at the Elmwood Cemetery in Bowie, Texas.
The third son, Benjamin J. Cantrell, was born May 8, 1848 and died Feb 4, 1926. He was buried in Tage cemetery, Bowie, Texas. Benjamin J. Cantrell was born May 8, 1848, according to what he wrote to his nephew John N. Cantrell in Jackson county in a letter dated July 21, 1921. He married Jane Johnson on December 24, 1874, in Dunlap, Sequatchie county, Tennessee with his brother, T.H. Cantrell, as his "sucurity." After they went to Texas in the fall of 1876, Jane's parents moved from Marion County out there also. Jane was born in Oct. 1849 in Tennessee and was a daughter of John W. and Fannie Johnson. Ben and Jane moved to Texas and settled first in Cooke county and then moved to Montague county, where he farmed. They had moved to Marshfield, Missouri by 1914 because of Ben's health. They lived there until they died. When Jane died October 11, 1923, Ben remarried after that at 76 years of age. His new wife was 65 at the time. Ben and his nephew, John N. Cantrell in Jackson county Tennessee, wrote letters to each other in the late 1910's and early 1920's. Those letters are still in
existence. Benjamin died February 4, 1926, at 79 years of age. Benjamin was brought back to Texas and buried in the Tage Cemetery just outside east of Bowie, Texas. I think Jane was probably buried in Marshfield, Missouri, for that is where they were living at the time. Ben's grave is by itself. He and Jane never had any children although I'm told they adopted one boy. Although, as yet I have found no record of Benjamin serving in the Civil War, according to his niece, he received a pension of over $100.00 a month for fighting for the Union. He has also been described as a "big man" who was kind of "prissy" and who wasn't real partial to work by his niece.
The fourth son, Thomas H. Cantrell, was born June 13, 1850, in Tennessee. In 1870, he was recorded in the 5th District P.O. Jasper, Marion county, Tennessee. May 18, 1876, finds him in Jackson county, Tennessee, for there is a letter written from his brother Robert addressed to Thomas in Jackson county with that date. It has been thought that the reason he went to Jackson county was because he might have had some kin there. We know there was an Elizabeth Manning born in Dec. 1853, married to a John N. Cantrell in 1875 and lived in Jackson county in 1880. But in one of Robert's letters to Thomas, this is discussed and is discounted by Robert and his mother. The probable reason was that it was simply to find work. We know that Thomas went to work for the John Pharris family. They had been rather well off before the Civil War and had a lot of land. They also owned quite a few slaves. I'm told that when Susan Williamson married John Pharris, her dowry was five slaves. After the war, they were hard put for help for all their slaves had been freed, although I am told some of them stayed on.
During this time, tobacco was bought down from the Jackson county area to Jasper, for in one of Robert's letters to Thomas, he speaks of meeting someone at the tobacco sales from Jackson county. Through the tobacco sales, Thomas probably heard there was work to be had in Jackson county. Thomas married Elizabeth Pharris, one of John Pharris's daughters on Oct. 22, 1876. She was forty at the time and Thomas was twenty-five. Elizabeth was born Oct. 27, 1835, in Jackson
county. Her parents were John and Susan Williamson Pharris. Thomas and Elizabeth built a little cabin back of the Pharris house on the Pharris place and a year later had a son, John Newton. John Thomas Newton Cantrell was born Nov. 8, 1877. Elizabeth was forty-one years old. Thomas left for Texas alone in March, 1880. According to tradition, Thomas gathered up his tools to have them worked on down at the local Blacksmith's shop and wrote back to Elizabeth from Texas. At least some of the letters that Thomas wrote back to Elizabeth are still in existence. Elizabeth's dad, John Pharris, died April 9, 1879, and there seems to have been some problems over the property. Thomas wrote back that he thought that the Pharris family were "trying to make a slave out of him." He wrote that Elizabeth's brother Alec and his wife got to use the Pharris land for nothing while he had to pay rent for its use.
He wrote that she would listen to everyone else but him and in one letter said Mrs. Pharris was the blame for him being in Texas. Elizabeth did something in Tennessee that he didn't like for in the last letter I have that he wrote back, he asks her, "Do you think that I am under any obligations to you under the circumstances if you do?" He wanted to come back and get little Johnny. He was concerned about Johnny's education and said Ben's wife could help take care of him in one letter. There is no doubt that Thomas was a hard worker for he wrote Elizabeth on May 28, 1882, that although he came to Texas with "just enough money to get my clothes," he had acquired a "nice span of young mules as I know." He also had three head of cattle, "a crop picked of 20 acres, 7 or 8 in corn and 12 or 13 in cotton." He said that the "Corn was waist high and laid by last Wednesday." I find no record of Thomas and Elizabeth divorcing but Thomas married 2nd Mary J. Sexton in Montague county, Texas, on Sept. 29, 1884, with
Judge P.H. Thompkinsbee presiding. Mary J. was born Sept. 1860, in Texas. Thomas's son, Walter, said that his dad did get a formal divorce in Texas from Elizabeth. In 1900, Thomas and Mary were recorded on a farm, near his brother Benjamin in Pct. #1, Montague county, Texas. Four children had been born to this 2nd marriage. His first wife, Elizabeth, was recorded in the 5th Civil District, Jackson county, Tennessee, and she was a farmer. Her household included her twenty-two year old son, John Newton, two sisters, Polly and Susan Pharris, and Susan's nineteen year old son, Wash Pharris. In 1910, Thomas and Mary were again recorded in Montague county, Texas, and Elizabeth and her sister, Susan, were recorded in Jackson county, Tennessee. Elizabeth died Sept. 5, 1916, and is buried in the Pharris Cemetery on the old Pharris place in Jackson County, Tennessee. Thomas died
January 17, 1923, and Mary died Nov. 18, 1945 in Montague county, Texas. Thomas and Mary Sexton Cantrell are buried in the Elmwood cemetery in Bowie, Texas.
John Aquilla Cantrell was a "character" according to some of his descendants in Marion county, Tennessee. Others say tradition is that he was "just a little bit crazy." According to tradition, he would spend a lot of time away from home. The reason for his disappearances, according to him, was that he was going back to Ireland to see his folks. According to him, he was born in Ireland, graduated from the University of Dublin, came to America to keep from being impressed into the King's navy, went into the drug store business in New York, was cleaned out by his partner. He then migrated down into the Carolina's before coming over into Tennessee. According to descendants, during the periods that he was gone from home, they would sometimes find deer meat hanging in the trees outside but not see him for weeks at a time.
I have checked shipboard lists from that time and one descendant wrote the University of Dublin asking for records. So far, no one has turn up any record of him in Ireland or on any ship.
The more likely explanation is that he was indeed the son of William and Elizabeth Paige Cantrell of Warren county, TN. Apparently his first wife died, he remarried to someone of "darker complexion" and moved to Marion county, TN. I surmised that he was visiting his first family when he was gone for long periods of time from his second family. The families would have been about 45 miles apart.
Greg, I hope that I have helped. I have some of David Buford Cantrell's line (first marriage son) mapped but not much. However, I have much of the second marriage mapped. My guess is that you are a descendant of Will Harber (I have Harbor) and Ennis Nichols. Ennis Nichols was the daughter of Frank Nichols and Mattie Lee Cantrell. Mattie, born Dec 16, 1880 in Cooke county, Texas, was the daughter of John Milton and Martha Davidson Cantrell. Then, of course, John Milton is the second son of John Aquilla. How close am I?
I'll be glad to share anything I have with you. I have moved from Tennessee in the last year. My new address is:
Carl D. Cantrell
John Aquilla Cantrell was a very interesting character from all research. There are conflicting stories. First, his own and some of the tales of some of his descendants. Quiller Cantrial (as spelled in the 1860 census in Marion County, TN), was born in Ireland in 1798. Limerick may have been his birthplace. He came to America and landed in North Carolina. He traveled into Virginia where he married Mary Polly Manning who was born in 1807. He was very religious for he misplaced his prayer book somewhere in Virginia. He loved to hunt and would stay gone from home weeks at a time. According to tradition, he told his family that he was born in Ireland and that he graduated from the University of Dublin. He then left Ireland because he did not want to do as his dad wished and become a British Officer in the Royal Navy. After reaching America, he taught school in New York, went into the Drug Store business and was "cleaned out" by his partner prior to coming to Tennessee. It was passed down that there is still an estate of some worth in Ireland to be claimed by Quiller's heirs, but that was a common story sold by hucksters to more than one family around the turn of the century. Its said that John, Quiller's son, started for Ireland once and got as far as New York but decided to turn back. Jenny Norris, one of Quiller's descendants who lives in Texas, checked with the University of Dublin and they have no record of him ever going there. But, according to
tradition, he would leave his family for long periods of time and when he returned, he would claim that he had made a journey to Ireland or had been on a long hunting trip. According to descendants in Texas, the four boys were born in Knoxville. But of course, a Texan could mean anywhere within a two hundred mile radius of Knoxville when speaking of Tennessee while in Texas.
John Aquilla was probably born in 1797 in South Carolina, to William Cantrell (spelled Cantrill in some documents) and Elizabeth Page. He was an infant when his family moved to North Carolina and under ten when his parents moved to Eastern Tennessee. His given name was John Aquilla Cantrell and he married ____ Evans of Cannon County and had three daughters and two boys by her. John Aquilla may have been first located in the 1830 census in Warren county, Tennessee, where he had married
Miss Evans. She was listed as 20-30 years of age and the family consisted of three daughters, two five to ten and one under five. In 1840, an Aquilla Cantrell was recorded in Warren county. There were five children at home. His wife was deceased. Her parents, Charles C. and Sarah Blackburn Evans, were appointed guardians of their youngest son, David Bluford, and raised him. It is probable that John then married 2nd Mary Ann "Polly" Manning in Warren county. She was probably born in 1810 in Virginia
And may have been a sister to Thomas C. Manning, who also lived in Warren county. In 1850, Mary was listed in the home of Thomas L. Wiggins in Coffee county, Tennessee. John A. was not listed. The children of the first marriage were located with other relatives in Cannon and Warren counties.
What is beyond dispute is that in 1860, Quiller (as he is listed in the census), Mary Polly, and three sons, Robert, John, and Benjamin are listed in Marion county, Tennessee. In this census, he listed his
Place of birth as Ireland and his age as sixty. In the fall of 1876, two of his sons, John Milton and Benjamin J., and their mother, Mary Polly, went to Texas without him. They were joined by the youngest son, Thomas, in 1880. According to descendants of his son, Robert, who stayed in Tennessee, Quiller returned from one of his disappearances and spent the rest of his life in Marion county, Tennessee, in Robert's home. In these disappearances, Quiller would stay gone from home weeks at a time and
claim that he was either hunting or gone back to Ireland to visit his family. In 1880, the three sons in Texas listed their father's birthstate as North Carolina and their mother's as Tennessee. The son, Robert, in
Tennessee listed his father as well as his mother as born in Tennessee. But, on son Thomas's death certificate, his dad's name is listed as A. Cantrell and his birth-place is listed as Ireland. But if Quiller was
really from Ireland, it seems someone would have found shipboard documentation by now from the many trips to and from Ireland. They haven't. In the 1860 census, Mary and three of the boys, Robert, John,
and Benjamin are listed with "mu" beside their name. "Mu" stood for mulatto with the strict definition as half-black and half-white but it has also been used at different times to denote anyone of darker skin. Mary
was, according to her 100 year old granddaughter Elizabeth Cantrell Cunningham remembering her in 1992, as a small woman of dark complexion of French ancestry. She said they had to cut off the legs of a chair once so she could sit comfortably. She, along with her sons, were literate for they wrote letters back to Tennessee that are still in existence. It has been passed down to some in the family that Quiller would get the whole family up in the middle of the night and make them go out and cut wood. The family would sometimes find meat hanging outside in the trees in the mornings when Quiller was off on his hunting trips. It is said that he was "crazy when he got back to Marion county" and from others, its said that Quiller was "one more character." John Aquilla or Quiller Cantrell's date of death and his place
of burial have not been found. He may be buried in the Pickett Cemetery or Brock Cemetery in Marion county, Tennessee, according to descendants of his son Robert.. Mary Polly died in Texas in 1896 and was buried in the Mount Tabre Cemetery near Bowie, Texas. On her tombstone, E. Cantrell is noted as her husband. The E. probably stood for Equiller.
Just for the record Mary Ann "Polly" (Manning) Cantrell was my ggg grandmother, Imagraver. 2018_02_10.
For those of you that are related to Mary Ann "Polly" Manning Cantrell, on the 1840 Census John Aquilla Cantrell is listed just before a "Samuel Manning". Samuel could have been a brother to Mary. See John Aquilla Cantrell's memorial page.
The following is from from Carl D. Cantrell who is a descendant of John Aquilla and Mary Ann Polly Manning Cantrell:
Greg,
I received your questionnaire concerning John Aquilla Cantrell yesterday. I was into genealogy heavy a few years ago but have gone on to other things so some of the details I'm about to relate may be a little fuzzy.
First, I can tell you John Aquilla Cantrell was my great-great-grandfather. My line is John Aquilla Cantrell, Thomas H. Cantrell, John Thomas H. Cantrell, Clarence Cantrell, then me.
John Aquilla (called Quillar in the 1860 census in Marion County, Tennessee) is somewhat of a mystery. I place him being born in 1797 in Orange County, NC, married to Mary Ann Manning abt 1840. I do not have a burial place or date although descendants in Marion County say he spent the last years of his life in his oldest son's (Robert Cantrell) home.
I feel pretty certain that he was the son of William W. Cantrell and Elizabeth Paige. Without dragging out all of my papers, etc., William had a son called John whose age corresponds to John Aquilla's age. The only stretch is proving beyond any doubt that John in Warren county, TN and John Aquilla in Marion county, TN are the same person. However, ages and facts all point in that direction.
If so:
John Aquilla was married the first time to _____ Evans, the daughter of Charlie C. Evans and Sara Blackburn in Warren County, Tennessee.
John Aquilla and _____ Evans had five children, all born in Warren county, TN.
The oldest girl, born abt 1823, married a Shipley.
The second girl, Nancy, was born abt 1825.
The third girl was born abt 1827.
The fourth boy, William, was born 1836, married Mary Christian Feb 28, 1856
The fifth boy, David Buford, was born 1838, married between 1862 and 1865 to Jane Sherly, daughter of Luke and Margaret Sherly and they had four children, William Benjamin, Lillian, Frances, Emeline.
Then:
John Aquilla married Mary Ann Manning abt 1840 in Warren county, TN.
I have no information about Mary Ann Manning except that she was listed in the 1860 census in Marion county, TN along with her sons. Anyhow, she went to Texas with two of her sons (John Milton and Benjamin) (I don't know where John Aquilla was) and their families in the fall of 1876 and settled near Bowie, Texas. She died in 1896 and was buried in the Mount Tabre Cemetery in Montague county, Texas. I have visited her grave. She has a nice tombstone. Her granddaughter that I interviewed back in 1994 at the age of 100 remembered her as a small woman and said she was French. Mary Ann Manning was literate because I have copies of letters that she wrote. She had nice handwriting.
John Aquilla and Mary Ann Manning had four children, all born TN.
The oldest boy, Robert Cantrell, was born Oct 4, 1840, died Dec 4, 1886 in Marion county, TN. He married Mary Ann Spangler and they have a whole line of descendants in Marion county, TN, today. Robert is listed in the 1860 census in Marion County, Tennessee, in the same house as John A., Mary Polly, John, and Benjamin. In the 1870 census he is listed as head of household, married to Mary A, with Nancy, 2 years of age, and Peter as 7/12 months. He is listed as a farm laborer. Later, I think he mined coal for a living as well as farm. In his letters, he speaks quite frequently of the coal mines. He fought for the south during the Civil War under Captain Peter T. Rankin, mustered into service at Camp Cheatham, Jan. 1, 1862. They became Company "H", 4th (Starnes's) Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. Robert planned to follow his brothers to Texas, according to some of his letters, dated in the late 1870s but he never did, for he lived the rest of his life in Marion county, Tennessee. He was a very religious man for he spoke frequently in his letters to his brother, Thomas, of religion. He must have been in poor health for he also spoke frequently of his weight. He died quite young, at the age of 46, on December 4, 1886. Mary and her children, William, Sallie, and James, are listed in the same house in the 1900 census. Mary Mollie died July 26, 1919, and they are both buried in the Red Hill Cemetery on Old Dunlap Highway, north of Whitwell, Tennessee. Robert and Mary Mollie had nine children.
The second son, John Milton Cantrell, was born Jan 1, 1843, died Oct 27, 1925, Montague county, Texas (probably Lake Valley, near Sunset, Wise Co., Texas). He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Bowie, Texas. He married Martha Davidson April 5, 1866. John Milton Cantrell was born Jan. 1, 1843, in Warren county, Tennessee. In 1860, he was recorded in the home of his parents in Marion county, Tennessee. He enlisted Aug. 4, 1862, in Company "C" 1st Regiment, Vidette's Alabama and Tennessee Cav., Federal Troops, Southern Division. He fought
for the North until June 13, 1864 and was discharged in Stevenson, AL. He filed for a pension in 1897 from Wise county, Texas. (I also found a John Cantrell who had enlisted in Company "I" 43th Tennessee from the Marion county area that fought for the South. This may have been his dad although there is no tradition in the family as such.) John's brother, Benjamin, also received a pension from the North, but their older brother, Robert, fought for the South. John married Martha Davidson March 3, 1866, in Marion county, Tennessee. She was born June 10, 1850, in Marion county and was a daughter of John Hiram and Lettie A. Johnson Davidson. In 1870, they were recorded in the 5th Civil District in Marion county and he was a farm laborer and had personal property valued at $350.00. In the fall of 1876, he and brother Benjamin and their mother set out for Texas. I'm told at that time the United States government was giving 160 acre tracts in Texas to anyone who would homestead it. A lot of people were leaving Marion county for Texas at this time. In several letters written from brother Robert in Marion county to Thomas in Jackson county, Tennessee Robert relates how a lot of their acquaintances are
leaving, going west. In 1880, he is recorded in Cooke county, Texas, and there are in existence several letters written by him from there in the late 1870s. Later, he moved his family to Wise county, Texas, where they were living when the 1890 census were taken. This census records his service in
the Federal forces. In 1900, they were again recorded in Wise county. The six youngest children were at home. For some unknown reason they are not located in the soundex census of 1910. We know that they moved from Wise county to Lake Valley, Montague county, where John died Oct. 27, 1925 and Martha died less than one month later, Nov. 21, 1925. They are both
buried at the Elmwood Cemetery in Bowie, Texas.
The third son, Benjamin J. Cantrell, was born May 8, 1848 and died Feb 4, 1926. He was buried in Tage cemetery, Bowie, Texas. Benjamin J. Cantrell was born May 8, 1848, according to what he wrote to his nephew John N. Cantrell in Jackson county in a letter dated July 21, 1921. He married Jane Johnson on December 24, 1874, in Dunlap, Sequatchie county, Tennessee with his brother, T.H. Cantrell, as his "sucurity." After they went to Texas in the fall of 1876, Jane's parents moved from Marion County out there also. Jane was born in Oct. 1849 in Tennessee and was a daughter of John W. and Fannie Johnson. Ben and Jane moved to Texas and settled first in Cooke county and then moved to Montague county, where he farmed. They had moved to Marshfield, Missouri by 1914 because of Ben's health. They lived there until they died. When Jane died October 11, 1923, Ben remarried after that at 76 years of age. His new wife was 65 at the time. Ben and his nephew, John N. Cantrell in Jackson county Tennessee, wrote letters to each other in the late 1910's and early 1920's. Those letters are still in
existence. Benjamin died February 4, 1926, at 79 years of age. Benjamin was brought back to Texas and buried in the Tage Cemetery just outside east of Bowie, Texas. I think Jane was probably buried in Marshfield, Missouri, for that is where they were living at the time. Ben's grave is by itself. He and Jane never had any children although I'm told they adopted one boy. Although, as yet I have found no record of Benjamin serving in the Civil War, according to his niece, he received a pension of over $100.00 a month for fighting for the Union. He has also been described as a "big man" who was kind of "prissy" and who wasn't real partial to work by his niece.
The fourth son, Thomas H. Cantrell, was born June 13, 1850, in Tennessee. In 1870, he was recorded in the 5th District P.O. Jasper, Marion county, Tennessee. May 18, 1876, finds him in Jackson county, Tennessee, for there is a letter written from his brother Robert addressed to Thomas in Jackson county with that date. It has been thought that the reason he went to Jackson county was because he might have had some kin there. We know there was an Elizabeth Manning born in Dec. 1853, married to a John N. Cantrell in 1875 and lived in Jackson county in 1880. But in one of Robert's letters to Thomas, this is discussed and is discounted by Robert and his mother. The probable reason was that it was simply to find work. We know that Thomas went to work for the John Pharris family. They had been rather well off before the Civil War and had a lot of land. They also owned quite a few slaves. I'm told that when Susan Williamson married John Pharris, her dowry was five slaves. After the war, they were hard put for help for all their slaves had been freed, although I am told some of them stayed on.
During this time, tobacco was bought down from the Jackson county area to Jasper, for in one of Robert's letters to Thomas, he speaks of meeting someone at the tobacco sales from Jackson county. Through the tobacco sales, Thomas probably heard there was work to be had in Jackson county. Thomas married Elizabeth Pharris, one of John Pharris's daughters on Oct. 22, 1876. She was forty at the time and Thomas was twenty-five. Elizabeth was born Oct. 27, 1835, in Jackson
county. Her parents were John and Susan Williamson Pharris. Thomas and Elizabeth built a little cabin back of the Pharris house on the Pharris place and a year later had a son, John Newton. John Thomas Newton Cantrell was born Nov. 8, 1877. Elizabeth was forty-one years old. Thomas left for Texas alone in March, 1880. According to tradition, Thomas gathered up his tools to have them worked on down at the local Blacksmith's shop and wrote back to Elizabeth from Texas. At least some of the letters that Thomas wrote back to Elizabeth are still in existence. Elizabeth's dad, John Pharris, died April 9, 1879, and there seems to have been some problems over the property. Thomas wrote back that he thought that the Pharris family were "trying to make a slave out of him." He wrote that Elizabeth's brother Alec and his wife got to use the Pharris land for nothing while he had to pay rent for its use.
He wrote that she would listen to everyone else but him and in one letter said Mrs. Pharris was the blame for him being in Texas. Elizabeth did something in Tennessee that he didn't like for in the last letter I have that he wrote back, he asks her, "Do you think that I am under any obligations to you under the circumstances if you do?" He wanted to come back and get little Johnny. He was concerned about Johnny's education and said Ben's wife could help take care of him in one letter. There is no doubt that Thomas was a hard worker for he wrote Elizabeth on May 28, 1882, that although he came to Texas with "just enough money to get my clothes," he had acquired a "nice span of young mules as I know." He also had three head of cattle, "a crop picked of 20 acres, 7 or 8 in corn and 12 or 13 in cotton." He said that the "Corn was waist high and laid by last Wednesday." I find no record of Thomas and Elizabeth divorcing but Thomas married 2nd Mary J. Sexton in Montague county, Texas, on Sept. 29, 1884, with
Judge P.H. Thompkinsbee presiding. Mary J. was born Sept. 1860, in Texas. Thomas's son, Walter, said that his dad did get a formal divorce in Texas from Elizabeth. In 1900, Thomas and Mary were recorded on a farm, near his brother Benjamin in Pct. #1, Montague county, Texas. Four children had been born to this 2nd marriage. His first wife, Elizabeth, was recorded in the 5th Civil District, Jackson county, Tennessee, and she was a farmer. Her household included her twenty-two year old son, John Newton, two sisters, Polly and Susan Pharris, and Susan's nineteen year old son, Wash Pharris. In 1910, Thomas and Mary were again recorded in Montague county, Texas, and Elizabeth and her sister, Susan, were recorded in Jackson county, Tennessee. Elizabeth died Sept. 5, 1916, and is buried in the Pharris Cemetery on the old Pharris place in Jackson County, Tennessee. Thomas died
January 17, 1923, and Mary died Nov. 18, 1945 in Montague county, Texas. Thomas and Mary Sexton Cantrell are buried in the Elmwood cemetery in Bowie, Texas.
John Aquilla Cantrell was a "character" according to some of his descendants in Marion county, Tennessee. Others say tradition is that he was "just a little bit crazy." According to tradition, he would spend a lot of time away from home. The reason for his disappearances, according to him, was that he was going back to Ireland to see his folks. According to him, he was born in Ireland, graduated from the University of Dublin, came to America to keep from being impressed into the King's navy, went into the drug store business in New York, was cleaned out by his partner. He then migrated down into the Carolina's before coming over into Tennessee. According to descendants, during the periods that he was gone from home, they would sometimes find deer meat hanging in the trees outside but not see him for weeks at a time.
I have checked shipboard lists from that time and one descendant wrote the University of Dublin asking for records. So far, no one has turn up any record of him in Ireland or on any ship.
The more likely explanation is that he was indeed the son of William and Elizabeth Paige Cantrell of Warren county, TN. Apparently his first wife died, he remarried to someone of "darker complexion" and moved to Marion county, TN. I surmised that he was visiting his first family when he was gone for long periods of time from his second family. The families would have been about 45 miles apart.
Greg, I hope that I have helped. I have some of David Buford Cantrell's line (first marriage son) mapped but not much. However, I have much of the second marriage mapped. My guess is that you are a descendant of Will Harber (I have Harbor) and Ennis Nichols. Ennis Nichols was the daughter of Frank Nichols and Mattie Lee Cantrell. Mattie, born Dec 16, 1880 in Cooke county, Texas, was the daughter of John Milton and Martha Davidson Cantrell. Then, of course, John Milton is the second son of John Aquilla. How close am I?
I'll be glad to share anything I have with you. I have moved from Tennessee in the last year. My new address is:
Carl D. Cantrell
John Aquilla Cantrell was a very interesting character from all research. There are conflicting stories. First, his own and some of the tales of some of his descendants. Quiller Cantrial (as spelled in the 1860 census in Marion County, TN), was born in Ireland in 1798. Limerick may have been his birthplace. He came to America and landed in North Carolina. He traveled into Virginia where he married Mary Polly Manning who was born in 1807. He was very religious for he misplaced his prayer book somewhere in Virginia. He loved to hunt and would stay gone from home weeks at a time. According to tradition, he told his family that he was born in Ireland and that he graduated from the University of Dublin. He then left Ireland because he did not want to do as his dad wished and become a British Officer in the Royal Navy. After reaching America, he taught school in New York, went into the Drug Store business and was "cleaned out" by his partner prior to coming to Tennessee. It was passed down that there is still an estate of some worth in Ireland to be claimed by Quiller's heirs, but that was a common story sold by hucksters to more than one family around the turn of the century. Its said that John, Quiller's son, started for Ireland once and got as far as New York but decided to turn back. Jenny Norris, one of Quiller's descendants who lives in Texas, checked with the University of Dublin and they have no record of him ever going there. But, according to
tradition, he would leave his family for long periods of time and when he returned, he would claim that he had made a journey to Ireland or had been on a long hunting trip. According to descendants in Texas, the four boys were born in Knoxville. But of course, a Texan could mean anywhere within a two hundred mile radius of Knoxville when speaking of Tennessee while in Texas.
John Aquilla was probably born in 1797 in South Carolina, to William Cantrell (spelled Cantrill in some documents) and Elizabeth Page. He was an infant when his family moved to North Carolina and under ten when his parents moved to Eastern Tennessee. His given name was John Aquilla Cantrell and he married ____ Evans of Cannon County and had three daughters and two boys by her. John Aquilla may have been first located in the 1830 census in Warren county, Tennessee, where he had married
Miss Evans. She was listed as 20-30 years of age and the family consisted of three daughters, two five to ten and one under five. In 1840, an Aquilla Cantrell was recorded in Warren county. There were five children at home. His wife was deceased. Her parents, Charles C. and Sarah Blackburn Evans, were appointed guardians of their youngest son, David Bluford, and raised him. It is probable that John then married 2nd Mary Ann "Polly" Manning in Warren county. She was probably born in 1810 in Virginia
And may have been a sister to Thomas C. Manning, who also lived in Warren county. In 1850, Mary was listed in the home of Thomas L. Wiggins in Coffee county, Tennessee. John A. was not listed. The children of the first marriage were located with other relatives in Cannon and Warren counties.
What is beyond dispute is that in 1860, Quiller (as he is listed in the census), Mary Polly, and three sons, Robert, John, and Benjamin are listed in Marion county, Tennessee. In this census, he listed his
Place of birth as Ireland and his age as sixty. In the fall of 1876, two of his sons, John Milton and Benjamin J., and their mother, Mary Polly, went to Texas without him. They were joined by the youngest son, Thomas, in 1880. According to descendants of his son, Robert, who stayed in Tennessee, Quiller returned from one of his disappearances and spent the rest of his life in Marion county, Tennessee, in Robert's home. In these disappearances, Quiller would stay gone from home weeks at a time and
claim that he was either hunting or gone back to Ireland to visit his family. In 1880, the three sons in Texas listed their father's birthstate as North Carolina and their mother's as Tennessee. The son, Robert, in
Tennessee listed his father as well as his mother as born in Tennessee. But, on son Thomas's death certificate, his dad's name is listed as A. Cantrell and his birth-place is listed as Ireland. But if Quiller was
really from Ireland, it seems someone would have found shipboard documentation by now from the many trips to and from Ireland. They haven't. In the 1860 census, Mary and three of the boys, Robert, John,
and Benjamin are listed with "mu" beside their name. "Mu" stood for mulatto with the strict definition as half-black and half-white but it has also been used at different times to denote anyone of darker skin. Mary
was, according to her 100 year old granddaughter Elizabeth Cantrell Cunningham remembering her in 1992, as a small woman of dark complexion of French ancestry. She said they had to cut off the legs of a chair once so she could sit comfortably. She, along with her sons, were literate for they wrote letters back to Tennessee that are still in existence. It has been passed down to some in the family that Quiller would get the whole family up in the middle of the night and make them go out and cut wood. The family would sometimes find meat hanging outside in the trees in the mornings when Quiller was off on his hunting trips. It is said that he was "crazy when he got back to Marion county" and from others, its said that Quiller was "one more character." John Aquilla or Quiller Cantrell's date of death and his place
of burial have not been found. He may be buried in the Pickett Cemetery or Brock Cemetery in Marion county, Tennessee, according to descendants of his son Robert.. Mary Polly died in Texas in 1896 and was buried in the Mount Tabre Cemetery near Bowie, Texas. On her tombstone, E. Cantrell is noted as her husband. The E. probably stood for Equiller.
Inscription
Mary wife of E. Cantrell born 1810 died 1896
