Sterling J. McLemore

1822 - 1896  (73 years)

• Name	Sterling J. McLemore  [1, 2, 3]
  Birth	29 Dec 1822	Lincoln County, Tennessee   [1, 2, 3]
  Gender	Male
  Death	20 Jun 1896	Coffee County, Tennessee   [2]
  Notes	S. J. McLemore, a pioneer of Tullahoma, was born in Lincoln County, Tenn., December 29, 1822, and is the son of S. J. (sic) and Martha (Whitaker) McLemore, natives of North Carolina. The father died in 1825 and the mother in 1880. Our subject reared on the farm, remained there until his marriage to Margaret J. Ward in 1841, when he removed to Nashville and entered the produce business. In 1851 he came to Tullahoma. He sold goods until the civil war and after the close of the same entered the livery business. In 1876 he began merchandising, continuing at that until January, 1886. His wife died in 1881. In 1883 he married Ruthea J. Gross, a native of McMinnville. By his first wife our subject has six children: William H., John C., S. J., Lamyra, Henrietta and Laura. Our subject is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and his wife of the Christian Church. He is a member of Tullahoma Lodge, No. 101, I. O. O. F., of which he is the only surviving charter member. He has served several times as mayor and alderman of Tullahoma. He is a Democrat. From the Biographical Appendix to Goodspeed's 1887 History of Coffee County (Tennessee), transcribed by Jan McFarlin in 1999 http://bellsouthpwp.net/C/a/CanCofHist/coffee/goodbib.htm Melba Gene McLemore notes that: "FILE FOLDER # 1072, COFFEE CO , TN COURT ARCHIVES ACTUALLY LISTS THE HEIRS OF STERLING J MCLEMORE WHO DIED IN 1896." (Research):Census Listings: 1850 Federal Census Tennessee, Davidson County Enumerated 1 October 1850 428-438 Sterling McLemore 28 M Grocer Ten Margaret McLemore 25 F Ten William McLemore 7 M Ten Christopher McLemore 3 M Ten 1860 Federal Census Tennessee, Coffee County, Tullahoma Enumerated 12 July 1860 Page 126 899-899 SJ McLemore 37 M Merchant $1950 $3000 Tenn Margarett McLemore 36 F Domestic Tenn William McLemore 17 M Student Tenn Christopher McLemore 12 M Tenn Florence McLemore 10 F Tenn Lamira McLemore 8 F Tenn Lauria McLemore 6 F Tenn Henrietta McLemore 4 F Tenn Unnamed McLemore 1 M Tenn 1870 Census Enumeration Tennessee, Coffee County, 118-120 McLemore, J.S. 49 M W Keeping Livery Stable $4000 $2000 Tenn McLemore, Margaret 43 F W Keeping House Tenn McLemore, Columbus 22 M W Trades in Stock Tenn McLemore, Florence 18 F W Tenn McLemore, Laura 15 F W Tenn McLemore, Henrytta 13 F W Tenn McLemore, John 11 M W Tenn McLemore, Stereling 3 M W Tenn 1880 Census Tennessee, Coffee County, Tullahoma Enumerate 7 and 8 of June, 1880 Page 20, SD 2, ED 19, Stamped D. McLemore, Sterling W M 58 Ret Grocer Tenn McLemore, Margaret W F 57 Wf Keepign House McLemore, John W M 21 Son Clerk in Store McLemore, Sterling W M 12 Son At Home
  Person ID	I28467	Strong Family Tree
  Last Modified	17 Aug 2014

  
  

  Father	Sterling C. McLemore,   b. Abt 1790, North Carolina d. 23 Dec 1823, Lincoln County, Tennessee (Age ~ 33 years)
  Mother	Martha C. "Patsy" Whitaker,   b. Abt 1794, Fayette County, Kentucky d. 16 Apr 1877, Lincoln County, Tennessee (Age ~ 83 years)
  Marriage	5 Oct 1811	Fayette County, Kentucky   [1]
  	Melba Gene McLemore notes this is actually the bond date, not marriage date. Foide Williams, in a post to The McLemore Family Genealogy Forum, writes that "The 1820 census of Lincoln Co, Tn (pg 14) shows Sterling C. McLemore and (pg 30) Signer Allen (who married Rebecca McLemore), Benjamin Wright (who married Hannah McLemore), James R. Brown (who married Martha McLemore), and Joel McLemore. These are all from Fayette Co, KY and apparently traveled together to Lincoln Co, TN. Sterling C. McLemore appears in Lincoln Co court records numerous times and he died there and his estate is there dated March 1825. All of this matches the Goodspeeds story for the family of Sterling J. McLemore (Sr) except the father's name should have been S. C. The heirs of Sterling J. McLemore (Sr) can be found in Partition Case #1072 in Coffee County, TN County Court loose papers." http://www.jenforum.org/mclemore/messages/768.html
  Family ID	F9226	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Margaret J. Ward,   b. Abt 1827, Tennessee d. Abt 1881, Coffee County, Tennessee (Age ~ 54 years)
  Marriage	26 Oct 1841	Lincoln County, Tennessee   [2, 3]
  	"Lincoln County Tennessee Official Marriage Records 1838-1880", by Helen C. Marsh & Timothy R. Marsh, pub. 1974 McLEMORE Sterling McLemore to Margaret Ward, 26 Oct. 1841 (Courtesy of Noveda Metzger) Goodspeed's 1887 Coffee County, Tennessee Biographical Index indicates that Sterling and Margaret had six children: William H.,, John C., S.J., Lamyra, Henrietta and Laura. Will Johnson lists two additonal children, Cokumbus and Florence. These two children can be found on several census enumerations as well, so perhaps they were simply missed in the biography.
  Children	1. William McLemore,   b. Abt 1843, Tennessee d. Yes, date unknown   2. Christopher Columbus McLemore,   b. Abt 1848, Tennessee d. Yes, date unknown   3. Florence McLemore,   b. Abt 1850, Davidson County, Tennessee d. Yes, date unknown   4. Lamyra McLemore,   b. Abt 1852, Tullahoma, Coffee County, Tennessee d. Yes, date unknown   5. Laura McLemore,   b. Abt 1853, Tullahoma, Coffee County, Tennessee d. Yes, date unknown   6. Henrietta McLemore,   b. Abt 1857, Tullahoma, Coffee County, Tennessee d. Yes, date unknown   7. John McLemore,   b. Abt 1859, Tullahoma, Coffee County, Tennessee d. Yes, date unknown   8. Sterling J. McLemore,   b. Abt 1867, Tullahoma, Coffee County, Tennessee d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F9257	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	8 Aug 2008

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 29 Dec 1822 - Lincoln County, Tennessee Marriage - 26 Oct 1841 - Lincoln County, Tennessee Death - 20 Jun 1896 - Coffee County, Tennessee  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S569] Wright, Douglas (pdwright@bresnan.net) Ver. 2007-12-30 ; http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=douglaswright44. [S325] Johnson, Will (wjhonson@aol.com) "Research of Will Johnson, professional genealogist" Ver. 2008-11-12 ; http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=wjhonson. [S649] Goodspeed's 1887 History of Coffee County (Tennessee), Jan McFarlin, transcriber, 1999, (http://bellsouthpwp.net/C/a/CanCofHist/coffee/goodcoff.htm).