John Christmas McLemore

1790 - 1864  (74 years)

• Name	John Christmas McLemore  [1, 2, 3, 4]
  Birth	1 Jan 1790	Orange County, North Carolina   [1, 3, 4]
  Gender	Male
  Death	20 May 1864	Carroll County, Tennessee   [1, 3, 4]
  Burial	Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee   [4]
  Notes	866. Smith and Owsley, eds., "The Papers of Andrew Jackson" , vol. I: 1770-1803, p..125. .. (Courtesy of Robert McLemore Butler) William Christmas's double-nephew, John Christmas McLemore became a clerk in his office in 1806 at the age of sixteen. On the death of his Uncle (1811?), McLemore succeeded to his office which he held for many years. It was said McLemore had more Tennessee land "on the books" than any individual person at any time. In the course of his wheeling and dealing, many towns were named by him, including a town on the north side of the South fork of Obion river, at or near the place called "McLemore's Bluff," on the land of John C. McLemore, and the said town to be known by the name of Christmasville. One can readily see that the town was named by him in honor of his family, as was the nearby West Tennessee town of McLemoresville. File: McLemore, John C. .. Andrew Jackson Papers.1770-1803.docRMB West Tennessee land speculator John C. McLemore was born January 1, 1790, in Orange County, North Carolina. In 1809 he moved to Nashville, where he became a surveyor's clerk. Five years later, he succeeded his uncle William Christmas as surveyor general of the Tennessee Military Tract. His name appeared in most county land books as a grant or land locator or as an official. Because of his character, generosity, and business acumen, contemporaries considered McLemore a potential gubernatorial or senatorial candidate, but he never ran for either office. Both Nashville and Memphis named an early street in his honor, an indication of his community status. In addition to his popularity and impressive good looks, McLemore's rise to prominence benefited from his marriage to Elizabeth Donelson, daughter of John Donelson, a longtime friend of Andrew Jackson. Before 1820 Jackson and McLemore cooperated in land development in northern Alabama with fellow brother-in-law and Jackson favorite General John Coffee. McLemore invested heavily in West Tennessee's development. Evidently he lent his name to McLemoresville and Christmasville in Carroll County. More importantly, the Jackson-McLemore tie resulted in the latter's early interest in Memphis and made him the fourth founding father of the city, along with Jackson, John Overton, and James Winchester. In competition with Overton and Winchester, McLemore speculated in risky ventures, namely Fort Pickering and the LaGrange and Memphis Railroad. Nearly bankrupt, he tried to recoup his losses in California's gold boom of 1850. Within a decade, McLemore returned to Memphis, where he died May 20, 1864. The following bio by Mary and Kent, was copied from his FindAGrave memorial page, created by Marjorie Gurley: Land Surveyor and Speculator. Though not as well known as his counterparts, McLemore was one of the original founders of Memphis playing a large if not larger role than John Overton, Andrew Jackson and James Winchester. At the age of 16 he moved to Nashville and began clerking as a land surveyor. Five years later he was appointed surveyor general of the military district by the Tennessee state legislature, a job formerly held by his uncle, William Christmas. In 1815 McLemore married Elizabeth Donelson, a niece of Andrew Jackson. Jackson and McLemore partnered together and enjoyed great success in land deals in Alabama and Tennessee. The two owned quite a bit of land in Memphis and when Jackson ran for president he traded his 625 Memphis acres to McLemore in exchange for land in Madison County making McLemore one of the largest land holders in Memphis. In addition he had land holdings throughout the state, mostly in West Tennessee, and at least two towns were named for him, McLemoresville and Christmasville. McLemore moved to Memphis in order to promote the town, sell lots and make money. He placed his name on the 1828 deed giving public access to the Memphis river front including Court Square, Market Square, Auction Square and the riverfront promenade. Through his land deals McLemore became extremely wealthy but his gamble on the failed Memphis and LaGrange railroad cost him most of his wealth. The project was an abject failure and a financial panic in 1837 decimated his holdings further. In an attempt to make a financial comeback McLemore went to California in the 1849 gold rush. He stayed there for about 12 years returning to Memphis before his death. Of all four founders of the City of Memphis, John Christmas McLemore is the only one buried in Memphis.
  Person ID	I22051	Strong Family Tree
  Last Modified	18 Sep 2014

  
  

  Father	Nathaniel McLemore,   b. Abt 1762, Granville County, North Carolina d. 4 Jan 1824, Davidson County, Tennessee (Age ~ 62 years)
  Mother	Ann Christmas,   b. 28 Jan 1766, North Carolina d. Abt 1809, Davidson County, Tennessee (Age 42 years)
  Marriage	27 Aug 1786	Orange County, North Carolina   [3]
  	Their marriage is listed, on Ancestry.com as "McLemore, Nathaniel & Anne Peeler Christmas, 22 Aug 1786, John Taylor, bondsman. The book MARRIAGES ORANGE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 1779-1868 is the source of this information. Ginger Christmas writes that "Ann P. Christmas and her husband Nathaniel McLemore were with the group who went to the new territory of Tennessee to settle and make a new home. Nathaniel McLemore was very active with the Militia and fought in the Battle near Guilford Courthouse."
  Family ID	F7700	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Elizabeth Donelson,   b. 22 Nov 1796, Davidson County, Tennessee d. 2 Jul 1836, LaGrange, Fayette County, Tennessee (Age 39 years)
  Marriage	6 Apr 1815	Tennessee   [3, 5]
  	MaryLynn Santa shows the location of their marriage as Davidson, Tennessee. Rootsweb shows a Davidson in both Fentress and Pickett counties.
  Children	1. Mary Ann McLemore,   b. 16 Feb 1816, Tennessee d. Yes, date unknown   2. John Coffee McLemore,   b. 3 Apr 1818, Tennessee d. 21 Oct 1882, Forest Hill, Shelby County, Tennessee (Age 64 years)   3. Andrew Jackson McLemore,   b. 17 Feb 1820, Tennessee d. 9 Oct 1861, Richmond (Independent City), Virginia (Age 41 years)   4. Catherine Donelson McLemore,   b. 28 Feb 1822, Tennessee d. 3 Jul 1848, Davidson County, Tennessee (Age 26 years)   5. Emily Donelson McLemore,   b. 21 Jun 1824, Tennessee d. Yes, date unknown   6. William Christmas McLemore,   b. 2 Jun 1828, Tennessee d. Yes, date unknown   7. Alexander Donelson McLemore,   b. 10 Jun 1830, Tennessee d. Yes, date unknown   8. Willoughby William McLemore,   b. 29 Oct 1835, Tennessee d. 15 Jan 1873 (Age 37 years)
  Family ID	F7701	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	20 Aug 2011

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 1 Jan 1790 - Orange County, North Carolina Marriage - 6 Apr 1815 - Tennessee Death - 20 May 1864 - Carroll County, Tennessee Burial - - Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S321] Freeman, Mark (mwfgenealogy@verizon.net) "Mostly Southern" http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=markfreeman ; Ver. 2008-09-19 17:51:13. [S371] Butler, Robert McLemore--Family Researcher Fuquay Varina, NC 27526 (deceased). [S1094] Carroll County Homecoming '86 Historical Book Committee "History of Carroll County, Tennessee" (Turner Publishing Company, Paducah, KY) First Printing 1986, Second Printing 1998, p. 257 (Reliability: 3). [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.), # 5085159 (Reliability: 3). [S318] Santa, MaryLynn (mltomsan@aol.com) "Linked Families" Ver 2005-05-17 01:39:02 ; http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=mltomsan5.