Pamelia C Harpole b. 20 Mar 1827 Obion County, Tennessee d. 19 Jul 1903 Alma, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory: Strong McLemore Ancestry

1827 - 1903 (76 years)

Name	Pamelia C Harpole [1, 2]
Birth	20 Mar 1827	Obion County, Tennessee [1, 2]
Gender	Female
Death	19 Jul 1903	Alma, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory [1, 2]
Burial	Alma Cemetery, Alma, Stephens County, Oklahoma [2]
Notes	The following biographical details were compiled by Ken Harvey: 1827-Pamelia was born in March, possibly in Obion County, although her mother may have returned to the family home in Rutherford County for the birth of her first child. No record has been found of the event. The Obion County organization was created in 1832, and it is possible that early records were lost or never created in the first place. Pamelia's birthdate is recorded on her tombstone. The following is in HARPOLE COUSINS "Permelia E. Harpole (dau. of John and Elizabeth Swingley Harpole, page 368) b. March 20, 1820; d. May 13, 1847 m July 18, 1846 to James H. Chandler, Madison County, Tennessee." The date of birth appears to be incorrect, seven years to the day too early, and Pamela was born following the death of Elizabeth Swingley. Additionally, it was her first husband, James Chandler who probably died circa 1847. Lynell Cordell wrote to the authors of "Harpole Cousins" to ask about this and they could not tell her where they obtained the original information.The birth date in the book and the birth date on Pamelia's grave stone both show March 20, so they could very well be the same person, but that still leaves the year in doubt. The 1830 and 1840 census records for the John Harpole family: 1830 census, Obion Co. TN pg. 159 Schedule: Male-Females, 0-5, 5-10, 10-15, 15-20, then in increments of 10. Harpole, John, 012001-0100001 (The youngest female was 5-10 years old, born between 1820 and 1825) 1840 census, Obion Co. TN Schedule: Given and Surname of head of household and number of male/female. Males: 0-5, 5-10, 10-15, 15-20, 20-30, 30-40, 40-50, etc until 13th number, which is over 100. Females are the 2nd group of numbers. 133. John Harpole, 0101201-00001001 (Youngest female was between 20-30, born between 1820 and 1830) 1846 - James H. Chandler married Permilia (sic) Harpool on July 19, 1846, Obion Co., Tennessee. Bond: J. H. Chandler and Thomas G. Jenkins. Officiant: Cage Hale, J.P. The marriage license was issued the previous day. [Gary, Grace D. & Stricklin, Carolyn W. (1978) OBION COUNTY TENNESSEE MARRIAGE RECORDS 1824-1877]. "Our" Pamelia would have been aged 19 at this time. It is probable that her husband James died a short time afterwards without children and Pamelia remarried soon after. James H. Chandler died in 1849, and his estate sold the following items to Albert C. Harpole, Pamelia's brother: "table cloth, 2 peased quilts & linens, chest, bedstead & cord, 3 bed quilts, cover lid, and blanket," for a total amount of $27.25. These items may have been bough for Pamelia. At that time, if there was no will, the wife did not inherit even the necessities. According to the book, Harpole Cousins, Albert's sister Permelia was already dead by this time. Sometime prior to 1849, Pamelia married John Melton Gentry. The marriage was probably conducted by John's father, the Baptist preacher and J.P., William Gentry. He may well have forgotten to record the ceremony in the Obion Courthouse. No marriage record for John M. Gentry and Pamelia Harpool, or Chandler, has every been found. The early death of Pamelia's full brother, William Harpole, would not have helped in perpetuating her memory with the Harpole family who remained in Tennessee after Pamelia moved to Texas with the Gentry's. 1850-Pamelia was living in the Gentry household with John and his mother, Polly, and his siblings. Pamelia and John are both shown as age 23. The rest of the census records in Texas and Indian Territory shows Pamelia only 2 to 3 years older than John, or the same age. Lynell contends that the supposition that Pamela is the daughter of John Harpole and Mary Ann McMimany is still far from proven. Her contention is that we are ignoring some things in "Harpole Cousins," such as the books dates for John and Elizabeth McSwigley Harpole's daughter, Permelia and yet take as a fact that our Pamelia is the daughter of John Harpole. And until the date of birth can be proven or disproven, we don't know whether her mother is Elizabeth Swigley or Mary Ann McMinamy. 1860 - It is very noticable that there are no Harpoles in this census of Tennessee. There are however quite a lot of Harpools. Had the name undergone further anglisation? None of the 1850 Harpoles can be identified in 1860. 1903 - Transcription of Pamela's Tombstone: MRS P. C. GENTRY/ WIFE OF /J. M. /GENTRY/ BORN MAR.20.1827/ DIED/ JULY 18. 1903 The name was pronounced Pa-meal-ya but spelled like Pamela or Pamelia. RECORDED SPELLINGS Pamilia Harpole Pamelia C Gentry Permelia C. Gentry E. Gentry Pamela Harpool Permelia Gentry P. C. Gentry Could the middle initial "C", used in the census and tombstone inscription, have, in fact, been a poorly written "G" for Gertrude? A granddaughter of Pamelia was named Permelia Gertrude in 1877; presumably named after her. The strong argument against this is that the "C" does occur three times. Puzzlingly, Permelia name was represented by the initial "E." in the 1870 census of Johnson County, Texas. Was this simply an enumerator's error? It certainly looks like it. Ruth Pearl Gentry had (1980) a picture of Pamelia C. Harpole which is presumably now [1996] in the possession of one of her children. Scott Philip Hall is thought to have inherited the family photographs including the portrait of Pamelia Harpole. He left Pampa, Texas, and is living (1997) in either New Mexico or Arizona. Lynell Gentry has a large portrait of Pamelia with her husband. In 1900 Permelia recorded on the census that she had had seven children of whom two were now dead. The children who did not survive were presumably Ellen and Sallie. They may have died without issue but we cannot be certain of this. 1903-Photographed in a family group photo in her home in Alma with her husband John and two children. Fay Payne Yeager thinks that our Pamelia [Harpole] was Cherokee Indian but I (Kenneth Harvey) have never asked her why she thinks so. This is certainly not correct.
Person ID	I163	Strong Family Tree
Last Modified	6 Dec 2014

Father	John Harpole, b. 14 Jan 1792, Virginia d. 12 Feb 1861, Obion County, Tennessee (Age 69 years)
Mother	Mary Ann McMinamy, b. 20 Jun 1788 d. Bef 1850 (Age 61 years)
Marriage	21 Sep 1826	Rutherford County, Tennessee
	1826-John Harpole marries for the second time, in Rutherford County, Tennessee. This county is next door to Wilson County on the southside. His wife, Mary Ann, is probably in ther late thirties based on the 1830 census. She is identified as Mary Ann McMinamy. She is not described as a widow. (Lucas, Silas Emmett-compiler (1981) 35,000 Tennessee Marriage Records and Bonds 1783-1870)
Family ID	F165	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family John Melton Gentry, b. 19 Dec 1827, Kentucky d. 3 Mar 1904, Alma, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory (Age 76 years)

Marriage Abt 1850 Tennessee

Fay Payne Yeager reports they had another daughter, named Mary. "She is not on a census but family history tells that John and Pamelia had a daughter named Mary that died young. An old saying was, "If a person is sitting by a window and a bird comes and sits on the window sill, that person is going to die." This happened to Mary." Ken Harvey is adament their is not daughter Mary. It was thought that a gravestone in the Oakland Cemetery in Johnson Co. TX that reads: "Sacred to the Memory of M. Mary Gentry Jan. ?, 18?5 (1865?) -- 1869" might be hers. However, an earlier transcription of the cemetery proves that this headstone was for the wife of Preacher William Gentry, whose date of birth was 1805, and who died in 1869.

Children

	1. William Miller Gentry, b. 23 May 1851, Tennessee d. 23 Sep 1929, Duncan, Stephens County, Oklahoma (Age 78 years)
	2. Ellen J Gentry, b. Abt 1855, Missouri d. Bef 1900 (Age ~ 44 years)
	3. Sallie A Gentry, b. 29 Jul 1856, Missouri d. 14 Sep 1876, Johnson County, Texas (Age 20 years)
	4. Virginia E. "Jennie" Gentry, b. Jun 1859, Missouri d. Aft 1930, Oklahoma (Age ~ 71 years)
	5. John Price Gentry, b. 29 Mar 1862, Johnson County, Texas d. 14 Apr 1946, Wichita Falls, Wichita County, Texas (Age 84 years)
	6. Lou Emma Gentry, b. 20 Jun 1866, Johnson County, Texas d. 10 Dec 1939, Wise County, Texas (Age 73 years)
	7. James Edwin Gentry, b. 25 Mar 1869, Johnson County, Texas d. 16 Jan 1950, Duncan, Stephens County, Oklahoma (Age 80 years)

Family ID F164 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 26 Feb 2007

Event Map

	Birth - 20 Mar 1827 - Obion County, Tennessee
	Marriage - Abt 1850 - Tennessee
	Death - 19 Jul 1903 - Alma, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory
	Burial - - Alma Cemetery, Alma, Stephens County, Oklahoma

= Link to Google Earth

Photos		_Harpole, Pamelia Wife of John M. Gentry B. 20 Mar 1827 Tennessee D. 19 Jul 1903 Indian Territory
Photos		Gentry, John Melton and wife Pamelia (nee Harpole) This sketch of John and Pamelia Gentry most likely dates prior to 1900. The original was badly damaged, and this sketch has been restored by Ken Harvey.

Headstones

Gentry, Pamelia C (Harpole)

Sources

[S532] Cordell, Lynell Gentry-Family Researcher P.O. Box 1992 Duncan OK 73534-1992 Correspondence, Gedcom, Family Group Sheets, Email.
[S873] Find A Grave [database online]; http://www.findagrave.com/, (Thousands of contributors submit new listings, updates, corrections, photographs and virtual flowers every hour to the FIND A GRAVE website. When it comes to administrating, building and maintaining the site, Find A Grave is largely operated by its founder, Jim Tipton.), # 6598252 (Reliability: 3).