Before we get further into the subject of Bennett's parents, let's make a list of his age from various records:
1850 census - no luck finding him.
1860 Jackson Co., TN census - listed as age 27 [1833] and born in MS/MO. He was in District #7 while W. C. (Wiley) Arterberry was in District #14.
1862 military record - listed as age 31 [1831], 6' 5" tall with black hair, gray eyes and dark complexion. Born in Jackson Co.
1863 military record - listed same information as 1862, but with brown hair and brown eyes.
1863 military census, Franklin Co., IL - Bennet (age 30 [circa 1833]) with Wiley (age 40) and Charles (35).
1870 Perry Co., IL census - listed as age 40 [circa 1830] and born in TN.
1880 Cooke Co., TX census - listed as age 49 [circa 1831] and born in TN. Father's birthplace listed as blank and mother's as TN.
1891 pension - listed as age 62 [circa 1829].
1893 pension - listed as age 63 [circa 1830] and 6' 4-1/2" tall with dark complexion, black hair and brown eyes.
1897 pension - listed as age 66 [circa 1831].
1900 Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory (OK) census - listed as age 69, born in Jan 1831 in TN. Parents both born in TN.
While his age is not consistent on the above sources, they all are still close. It is very likely he was born early 1831 or late 1830 so I've used January 1831 as his possible birth date. Only one source listed him as born in Mississippi or Missouri but everything else says TN or Jackson Co., TN. He could have been born in MS or MO but grew up in TN to consider it as his birthplace. I personally think he was born in TN. Notice in the 1900 census he stated that both of his parents were born in TN. We know Moses was not born in TN but in Chester Co., SC. Of course the census data can not be depended on to be 100% correct.
If he was born January 1831, he would not be on the 1830 census. I am pretty sure he was not. So I will not include information from the 1830 census except to say that the 1830 census for Jackson Co., TN listed the following Arterberrys:
James - who had one male child age 0-4.
Moses - who did not have a male child age 0-4.
Sarah - who did not have a male child age 0-4.
Thomas [Thompson] - who did have one male child age 0-4.
George - who did have one male child age 0-4.
If Bennett was born in 1830 and on the census, he would be several months old, not yet 1 year old. Only James, Thompson and George had a male child of that age.
The 1840 census definitely will list our Bennett who would be around 9 years old. The census for Jackson Co., TN listed only two Arterberrys:
Thompson - who had 3 males age 5-9.
Moses - who did not have a male age 5-9.
Bennett would be about 19 years old in 1850 but unfortunately I have not been able to locate him on this census. If you do have this record, PLEASE let me know.
Now could Bennett be a son of Moses or one of the other Arterberrys? That's what we need to find out and need to prove.
George Washington Arterberry and wife Joanna Olive were in Polk Co., MO on 1840 census and in Dallas Co., MO on 1850 census. Could George be Bennett's father if the birthplace on the 1860 census was accurate? Did Bennett return to Jackson Co., Tennessee early 1850s? The 1850 census showed George with a 19 year old son John B., but Sharon Atteberry, descendant of George W. Arterberry, said that Bennett was not his son. I will have to dig up our old correspondences to see what she has on her John B. One source did list our Bennett as a John Bennett Arterberry, but this source was dated many years after Bennett's death and is probably an error. No other records had another name for our Bennett.
This leaves Thompson and James. Thompson Arterberry was married by 1830 to Elizabeth Johns and moved to Monroe Co., KY. According to researchers, Bennett does not fit in as a son of Thompson. I do not have the sources on hand for Thompson's family but do remember researching them to find that Bennett does not belong to Thompson as a son.
Now to James...I believe he is the same one who went to Hamilton Co., IL where he was on 1850 census. His wife was Jane and their oldest child on the census was a John C., age 17, born in IL but Wayne Atteberry said this John was born in TN, not IL. If this is our James, then there should be an older children (per 1830 census), either married, deceased or on their own by 1840. One of James' younger sons was named Newton Jasper. Bennett later would have a son named Hiram Newton. It would not hurt to dig further into this family to make sure Bennett was or was not a son of James.
For years many researchers say Bennett was son of Moses. I believe strongly that Bennett is from Moses but as son or grandson is what we need to prove. 1840 census does not help us with this problem as Moses did not have in his household a young male Bennett's age. BUT what if Moses' (second) wife, still living in 1830, had a child (Bennett) in January 1831 and died shortly afterwards. So Moses probably was not able to take care of the baby who was then taken in by another family to be raised. Perhaps this is why we could not find Bennett on the 1840 census. He could be with any of these families. We probably will never find out. If Jackson Co., TN court records were not destroyed, our answers might be in these records. Unfortunately we have to look elsewhere. And where was Bennett in 1850?!
Wiley C. Arterberry, being about 6 years older than Bennett, was definitely related. Was he an older brother, an uncle or a cousin? I believe he was an older brother who was old enough to take care of himself and still be at home with his father on 1840 census. He was on the 1850 census with his wife and their children in Jackson Co. but unfortunately no Bennett with him or nearby. Both would find themselves in the middle of the war in the same company and as prisoners. Both would swear their allegiance to the Union and remove their families to Illinois. Wiley remained behind in Illinois when Bennett and his family decided to move to Texas and Oklahoma (Indian Territory).
Sometimes the names of children gives us a clue to the parents' names, especially if a naming pattern was used. Bennett's children were:
James Franklin
Nancy Jane
Catherine B.
Alexander L.
Joseph S.
Bennett
Hiram Newton
Wiley Thomas
Barnch Howard
John S.
Surprisedly Bennett did not name a son Moses. Also, he did not name a son Oliver after his wife's father, Oliver P. Hudson. It seems that they did not follow a naming pattern. I do not think Alexander was for Moses' (first) wife who might be a Mary Alexander as I am sure Alexander was just a name they wanted to name their son. It would have been nice to have proof for the middle names of Catherine, Alexander, Joseph and John, in case they may offer us some clues.
As always your input is welcome. This is a work in progress and has been since the 1980s. Please do not copy this article and post it elsewhere. You are welcome to link to this page. Thank you.
Nova Lemons
