The Massengill family has received a great deal of genealogical attention and there is good published sources. The main source is Samuel Evan Massengill�s 1931 book, The Massengills, Massengale & Variants, published in Bristol, Tennessee. Massengill started his researching 1898 and collected oral family history from elderly Cobb and Massengill family member at that time. Additionally, he had access to some interesting family papers including a biographical sketch written by Henry Massengill Sr. on the 01st of June 1779. And an account of Henry�s children written by his son Henry �Hal� Massengill and dated the 04th of July 1790. It is assumed that these records are genuine and that the oral histories are likely to be fairly accurate. Henry Massengill was an early settler of the Watagua region in Eastern Tennessee and lived among a group of settlers known as the Watagua Settlement. This settlement was initially an illegal settlement on Cherokee land that was later legitimized and made into Washington County, North Carolina. It later became Knox County when the State of Tennessee was formed.
Despite the abundance in early Massengill records, Patience "Patty" Massengill's precise connection to the Massengills is not established by Samuel E. Massengill�s book. It is likely Patty was born in North Carolina and perhaps was a niece of Henry Massengill. Henry Massengill came to the Watagua River settlement in 1769. In his own hand he writes that in January of 1772 he was taken ill for twelve months. In 1775, he was elected a member of the Watagua Association, but was unable to attend until September 1776 due to his illness. In April of 1777, Rev. Charles Cummings came among the settlers and Henry supplied him with land and building materials for a chapel to be used by the slaves, which number 151 at that time. The building was completed in July of 1777 and called �Massengill House of Worship.� The building was destroyed two years later by Tories who looted his plantation while he was away fighting a war against the Indians. Henry served on the Committee of Safety in 1778, was Sheriff of Watagua for two years and fought with Shelby against the Indians in 1779. Henry married twice, first Mary Cobb who bore him a large family and they were divorced in 1811. Henry�s son Henry Jr. �Hal� states that Henry and Mary had six children sons: Michael, Hal, and Solomon, and daughters: Alisey, Mary �Polly Ann� and Elizabeth. These children would have been contemporaries with Patty and Massengill�s book is able to trace their families enough to indicate none of these women could have been Patty. As Hal wrote this list of children in 1790, it seems rather decisive that Patty is not the child of Henry and Mary (Cobb) Massengill. However, Patty�s kinship to these people is clear. Not only do we have record of her maiden name as Massengill, her first husband John Chisholm purchases land bordering South of Henry�s farm on the Watagua River near Boone Creek. John Chisholm also posted security to ensure Michael Massengill�s appearance in court in the matter The State v. Arthur Cobb, William Cox, Robert Bean and Michael Massengill over assault charges. It is likely her mother or one of her grandmothers was a Cobb. Her birth must have occurred after 1759, as her son Ignatius is said t have been born in 1775. Her marriage may have pre-dated her arrival in the Watagua Settlement.
Patience Massengill "Patty"
Patience Massengill is the first wife of John Chisholm. Her relationship to the well known Massengill family of Eastern Tennessee is undocumented; however, intermarriage of her children with the Massengills and the Chisholm family's residency next to Hal Massengill makes her connection to his family likely.
The earliest references to Patty are as John Chisholm's wife and as a tavern keeper in Knoxville. However, Patty is not named specifically in the records until she files and is granted a divorce from John Chisholm in 1799 [ref: Acts of Tennessee, Serial No. 8, Chapter 19, Section 11]. The following year, she marries William Brent in Knox County. About this time Brent signs a petition, but almost no other record has been found of him or his kin. Patience's name appears in a law suit as "Patty Chisholm" over the ownership of slaves up to 1806. About 1802, she is granted a passport to travel with two of her children into Mississippi Territory and is certainly a resident of either Natchez or Feliciana Parish, Louisiana by 1804 [ref: D.W. Potter, Passports of Souther Pioneers 1770-1823, Baltimore: Gateway press, 1982 pg. 392-3]. Patty and William Brent appear to have established a tavern in Feliciana Parish, as "Mr. Brent's Tavern" and " Ferry" are referenced in a deposition given by Matthew O'Fallon in 1805 [ref: Vol. 9, pg. 59]. In 1806, the couple began to purchase land on Thompson's Creek, which they and Patty's children by John Chisholm farm.
One of keys to unlocking Patty's identity are the marriage records of her children in Louisiana Territory. Before the Louisiana Purchase, the region of Nachez was governed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge under Spanish control, which recorded and authorized all marriages some in Spanish. Her daughter Deborah (recorded as Debora Maria) was married in Natchez in 1804 and states her mother as "Elisabeth Massengill" and her father is listed as "Juan Chisholm" [ref: SJOBR-82,22]. In 1805, her son John's marriage to Anna Egan is recorded naming his mother as "Patience Massengill" [ref: ibid]. In 1807, her son Joseph's marriage to Franney Christmas calls his parents "Juan and Ysabella Chisholm" omitting his mother's maiden name. These records tell us that Patty was a "Massengill;" however, the variation in her name may indicate a middlename or a substitution as the name "Patience" would not have had a Spainish equivilent.
In 1819, the procession of Patsy Brent's estate is initiated in Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. These valuable records have been overlooked by most researchers of John Chisholm. As Feliciana was govern by French based laws, the property of a married couple was treated much like community property in modern courts. The laws ensured that the wife owned half of the property accumulated during the marriage and that the heirs of her body would share equally in her share of the common property as well as the property she brought to the marriage. The detailed procession of her estate indicates she had no issue by William Brent and that Brent agreed to the division of their considerable estate allowing her children to partake in her property before Brent's death. These records specifically name all her children, which proves to be the only comprehensive record of John D. Chisholm's children.
Elizabteh Chisholm born c1776 ; died born Tennessee; died Nashville?, Tennessee married: John Somerville marriage bond dated children:
Ignatius Chisholm born c1775; died after 1848 born Tennessee; died Indian Territory married: marriage bond dated children: John, Jesse, William, Martha, George
Dennis M. Chisholm born ; died born ; died married: marriage bond dated children:
Deborah Maria Chisholm born ; died 00 Nov 1786/7 born ; died Washington Co., Tennessee married: William Massengill marriage bond dated 1804; Nachez, Mississippi children:
Mary Ann Chisholm "Polly" born c1792; died after 1850 born ; died prob. Fayette Co., Tennessee married: Phineas Thomas marriage bond dated children:
John R. Chisholm born c1784; died 1820 born Tennessee; died East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana married: Anna Egan marriage bond dated children: Virginia Martha Brent
Joseph D. Chisholm born c1786; died 26 Nov 1827 born Tennessee; died East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana married: Frances Christmas "Fanney" marriage bond dated children: John R.; Martha C.; Deborah; Joseph B.; Ellen; Winfield Scott
Titus Ogden Chisholm born ; died born ; died married: Penelope Brand marriage bond dated children:
