John Irwin Dorris was born on 22 October 1773 in Dorchester, Maryland, Colonial America and died on 01 August 1822 in Nashville, Tennessee. He and his family had moved to Nashville a few months earlier and he was buried in Nashville's Old City Cemetery.

Parents: Reverend Joseph Dorris and Mary Griffin.

Married:

1. Elizabeth Menees (1775-1844) daughter of Benjamin Menees (d. Jan 1811); she is named in his will.

Children:

1. William Dawson Dorris
2. Nancy Irwin Dorris married John Henry Stoltz in 1821
3. Mary Griffin Dorris married Daniel Nave in 1819
4. Elizabeth Dorris married John Douglas, famed as a civil engineer

John Irwin Dorris (1773-1822) Indian Fighter and Cumberland Pioneer

"My father John Irwin Dorris was born on the eastern shores of Maryland 22 Oct. 1733. My father's mother was a Scotch Lady, Mary Griffin. My father was her first son. The Dorris's were Greeks. He came to Cumberland in 1793 (Nashville) when there were but few cabins and a block house, and was called French Lick Station. ... Father and family moved to Nashville A.D. 1820. Father became acquainted with all the old settlers, cultivated the soil and helped to conquer the Indians.

On the 14th of Sept. 1794, his last battle was at Nickejack Deerhead, and Running Water Towns, he swam the Tennessee River going and coming. Those who could not swim made rafts and rawhide skiffs, and carried over the guns and ammunition. Peace with the Cherokee was made permanent, and the people were prosperous and happy in their new homes." [1]

Sources

1. John Irwin Dorris (1773-1822): Indian Fighter and Cumberland Pioneer in Dorris-Net - 30 June 2009 - Volume 15, Issue 2 - Gene DORRIS, Editor. See PDF document, attached.
2. Allen, Marguerite H.. A record of the ancestry and descendants of Henry & Sarah (Thompson) Hendricks of Monmouth Co., New Jersey : Henry Hendricks genealogy (1730-) : with notes on related families including Dorris, Frost, Parsell, Hinton, Schenck, Couwenhoven, Van Pelt and Wyckoff. unknown: Hendricks Family Organization, 1963. p 551 (see PDF document, attached).