John Wesley Crockett, U.S. Congressman

Find-a-Grave #6910423

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John Wesley Crockett (1807 - 1852) was an American politician who represented Tennessee's twelfth district in the United States House of Representatives. It was the same district his father, David "Davy" Crockett, had represented earlier.

Crockett was born in East Tennessee on July 10, 1807 to David (Davy) Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, (1836) and his first wife, Mary (Polly) Finley (1788–1815). He had one brother named William Finley Crockett and one sister named Margaret Finley (Polly) Crockett. He was educated in the public school system, studied law, and then was admitted to the bar. He began his law practice in Paris, Tennessee. He married Martha Hamilton and they had fourteen children.

Crockett held numerous local and state offices before being elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses; he succeeded Adam Huntsman, the man who had defeated his father in the 1835 election. He served from March 4, 1837 to 10 years later on the same day. Crockett was next elected by the Tennessee General Assembly to be the attorney general for the ninth district of Tennessee, and served from 1841 to 1843. In 1843, Crockett moved to New Orleans and became a commission merchant. He was also a newspaper editor, publishing the National from May 22, 1848 and establishing the Crescent around 1847.

After moving to Memphis, Tennessee, Crockett died there the same year on November 24, 1852 at the age of 45 years, 137 days. He is interred at Old City Cemetery (aka Paris City Cemetery) in Paris, Henry County, Tennessee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley_Crockett

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John A Crockett in 1840 Rutherford TN census, with one male, 20-30; one female 15-20. (Rutherford is the last recorded home of Davy Crockett. Note: eldest, Louisa Jane, was born in June of 1840 so probably after the census was taken. All the dates on this line up because this is the only family with both right location, # of children and ages of parents lining up correctly. And it's close to Martin TN.)

There is NO mention of this family in the 1850 census at all, not in TN or anywhere else. Caroline (Tempty) has yet to be born, so we are looking for any combination of John, Elizabeth and the children already listed. Could they have moved to an area past the census limits during that time?

The family is next mentioned in the 1860 Weakley County census, near a few families of Gardners.

John and wife Elizabeth (Gardner) are mentioned in the death records of Tempty C. Crockett. This is all we can find as far as a definite paper trail for John Crockett. Everything else is speculation. His wife Eliza has quite a substantial obituary, listing all the children and that they moved away and she returned back to TN after he died, but neither he nor his parents are mentioned in it. And there is no apparent death record on Familysearch.org. So this seems to be a brick wall for now on the Crockett's side. Other researchers may have other hard paper data to share and for that we would be appreciative!

(Side note: there is a John Crockett, buried: Browns Chapel Cemetery, Paragould, Greene County, Arkansas, USA, Plot: 15, row 41 No idea if this is the same John Crockett in our line since there are no dates on the stone. There is another John Crockett, buried Fairview Cemetery, also Paragould, Green County, Arkansas. No stone photographed, no plot information.)

A note from another family tree cites an additional source for John Crockett and his death near Little Rock, AR: Note Line in Record @I3723@ (RIN 3894) from GEDCOM file not recognized: CAUS Pneumonia Line in Record @I3723@ (RIN 3894) from GEDCOM file not recognized: SUBM In Arkansas, near Little Rock Line in Record @I3723@ (RIN 3894) from GEDCOM file not recognized: SUBM In Arkansas, near Little Rock Farming Line in Record @I3723@ (RIN 3894) from GEDCOM file not recognized: SURN He is one of five(5) sons of Nathan Crockett. Line in Record @I3723@ (RIN 3894) from GEDCOM file not recognized: TEMP Died of pneumonia on or about the move to Arkansas. Line in Record @I3723@ (RIN 3894) from GEDCOM file not recognized: TEXT See Notes

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Line in Record @I3723@ (RIN 3894) from GEDCOM file not recognized: TEXT See Notes

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Left Weakley County for wilderness of Arkansas [Brderbund WFT Vol. 1, Ed. 1, Tree #4865, Date of Import: Aug 22, 1996] Source of family information on the Crockett lineage is "The Nathan Crockett Genealogy of His Son, John", by June Simmons. June Pitts Simmons (Mrs. Robert W. Simmons) Box 65 Sharon, TN 38255
U.S. Congressman. Born the son of Alamo Defender and U.S. Congressman David Crockett, he studied law, was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Paris, Tennessee. He held numerous local and state offices before being elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses serving (1837-41). After his term, he was the State Legislature Attorney General for the ninth district of Tennessee, (1841-43). Retiring from politics, he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, engaged in business as a commission merchant, was editor of the National News, in 1848 and established the Crescent News, in 1850. Returning to Tennessee, in 1852, he died shortly after at age 45.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Aug 29 2022, 16:54:03 UTC