Thomas Billingsley 1782-1850's #52Ancestors #39

It's possible I'm barking up the wrong Billingsley tree. The Billingsleys were quite fond of the name Thomas (and William, James, and Samuel). I do know that Nancy Billingsley married John Yielding November 23, 1819 in Blount County, Alabama. Thomas Billingsley is found in the 1850 census with them, so it's a good bet that he is her father. Nancy was born about 1802 in Tennessee from all her census records.

So who was Thomas Billingsley? My main suspect for Nancy's father:
Thomas Billingsley was born December 30, 1782 in Onslow, North Carolina. He was the son of Revolutionary War Soldier Samuel Billingsley and his wife Mary Griffin.

The family moved to Sullivan County, Tennessee at some point. Thomas supposedly married Nancy Courtney Allen there in May, 1801.

Thomas and family moved around east Tennessee, and for a while lived in Cumberland County, Kentucky. Before 1822 they moved to Blount County, Alabama. November 30, 1825 Thomas purchased land in Blount County, Alabama.


The 1800 census for Tennessee was burned by the British in the War of 1812.
The 1810 and 1820 Tennessee census records I need were lost, as well as 1820 Blount, Alabama, so I have no census records to confirm the above, although the birthplaces of most of their children are in Tennessee, with one in Kentucky, and the youngest in Alabama.

Children were:

Nancy, was born February 1802 in Sullivan County, Tennessee.

Samuel was born September 21, 1803 in Sullivan County, Tennessee.
James was born September 21, 1803 in Sullivan County, Tennessee. (twins)
Thomas was born 1805 in Sullivan County, Tennessee.
Edward Council was born April 4, 1811 in Cumberland County, Kentucky. (have also seen Jan 1809)
Sarah was born 1812 in Sullivan County, Tennessee.
Mary Eliza was born 1813 in Sullivan County, Tennessee.
Barton was born May 1815 in Sullivan County, Tennessee.
Elizabeth was born August 1816 in Sullivan County, Tennessee.
Catherine was born 1818 in Sullivan County, Tennessee.
Rebecca Courtney was born March 1820 in Sullivan County, Tennessee.
William G was born April 19, 1822 in Blount County, Alabama.

Much of this info comes from the book The Billingsley Family in America.

There were four Thomas Billingsleys found in the 1830 Blount Alabama census. There were three Thomas Jrs, all born 1800-1810. The Thomas I was looking for was found on page 13A, line 7:

Billingsley Thomas (age 50-60) 1770-1780

1 male 15-20, 1 male 20-30, 1 male 56-60, 2 females 5-10, 2 females 10-15, 1 female 15-20, 1 female 40-50, 1 female 80-90. I'm curious if this was Thomas' mother living in the household. It is said that she died in 1838. The ages of the children are puzzling. Perhaps William G was enumerated as a girl? The four oldest children were already married. It's possible that some of the others were visiting them. 

There are also a Samuel (age 20-30) and William (age 40-50)

In 1840 Thomas had moved to Morgan County, Alabama.

Billingsly, Ths. 010110001 000  (age 60-70, no females in household)
1 male 5-10
1 male 15-20
1 male 20-30

1 male 60-70

I assume his wife had died before the 1840 census, unless she is staying with one of their children. She is not found in their son James' household nearby.

In The Billingsley Family in America, Nancy died in 1843 in Morgan County, and Thomas was said to have moved to Pontotoc County, Mississippi with his son William, and died there in 1849.  I found a Thomas Billingsley in 1850 living with Nancy Billingsley Yielding and family in Blount County, Alabama.

In the above record, found on familysearch here, the place of birth is indexed as Virginia, although it may be something else, possibly Georgia? I have not found another Thomas Billingsley born in either state born between 1760 and 1775.

In Pontotoc, Mississippi in 1850 there are LOTS of Billingsleys, and three that were easy to pick out from the list of children above.

Page 115    Line 40 BILLINGSLY COUNSEL 40 KY
Page 115B Line 10 BILLINGSLY JAMES 46 TN
Page 107    Line  3 BILLINGSLY WILLIAM 28 AL

So am I barking up the Wrong Billingsley tree? If he's not the Thomas born in Onslow, NC, then who is he? I'm still not sure yet. I'd love to hear what you think.