Just last week I likened my microfilm reader to a slot machine minus the quarters. You turn the wheel and hope the next image is a winner. Most of the time you come up empty-handed. But I hit the jackpot big time yesterday. And I mean BIG TIME. Genealogical gold.

It happened like this: I decided to take a break from scanning court records from Lawrence County, Tennessee hoping to find evidence of my Boren and Pearce ancestors and switched to Williamson County, Tennessee hoping to find some mention of my Trantham ancestors. Thus, I randomly chose a roll of microfilm from Williamson County that I have not scanned. The roll I selected covers court records from 1826 to 1828; there are two volumes on it: Record Books #3 and #4. I scanned the index of Book #3 and found no entries for the Tranthams. That never deters me because many plaintiffs and defendants go unnamed in indexes and show up as “others”. So I started turning the wheel of my low-tech “slot machine” and perused the cases one by one. BOR-RING. About 45 minutes into it I decided I had better things to do and started rewinding the film. I had almost finished when I remembered that there was second volume (i.e., Book #4) on the same roll. I reversed course and quickly found my way to the index of said Book #4.

And there it was, the unfortunate lawsuit of my dreams: Pearce vs. Hackney.

This case involved some very ungrateful grandchildren who decided to sue their maternal grandmother and maternal uncle. To help you understand why this lawsuit is so genealogically important I have underlined the names of new family members who were revealed in these proceedings. The ungrateful grandchildren were Daniel Pearce (my 4th great grandfather) and his siblings: Joseph, Jesse, Elizabeth, Lucinda and George Pearce; AND Spencer Pearce (also my 4th great grandfather) and his siblings: Parisia, Mahala and Leroy Pearce. Also mentioned in the case were Daniel’s father, Robert Pearce, and Spencer’s father, Charles Pearce – a new 5th great grandfather! At issue were slaves bequeathed by Daniel Hackney (a new 6th great grandfather!) to his daughters Lavina Pearce and Betsey Pearce (two new 5th great grandmothers!) upon the death of their mother, Jemima (a new 6th great grandmother!). As Lavina and Betsey Pearce – the wives of Robert and Charles, respectively – were deceased by 1824, their children (the aforementioned ungrateful grandchildren) moved to the head of the line as the heirs of Daniel Hackney. The problem facing them was that their 80-year-old “infirm” Granny Jemima was still living and their irresponsible uncle, William Hackney, had control of her affairs – or so they claimed. Fearful that Uncle Bill might squander away their inheritance, the grandchildren decided to sue him and Granny Jemima.

But Jemima was anything but feeble at 80. She denied her grandchildren’s claims and stated emphatically that she – and not William – was in control of her fortune. Except, of course, that time when William got drunk and sent one of the slaves down river unaccompanied. (I hope he stayed free!) Spencer Pearce must have had a change of heart as he switched sides after the lawsuit was initially filed and asked to be removed as a complainant. (Good for him!) The judge subpoenaed him to get to the bottom of it but sadly, by that time, Spencer had passed away. His co-complainants did not inform the judge of his passing, I suspect, to keep Spencer’s heirs from getting his portion should they prevail. The grandchildren ultimately lost the case as it lacked merit and credible evidence.

In case your head isn’t already spinning, the revelation that Spencer Pearce and Daniel Pearce were 1st cousins means my 2nd great grandparents, John S. Boren and Mary Emma Goodger – grandchildren of Spencer Pearce and Daniel Pearce, respectively – were 3rd cousins.

My genealogical insufferable-ness continues.

This post is dedicated to my 1st cousin, 1x time removed-in-law Nancy (Almy) Ballard. I once told her that I doubted I would ever find any new information about my ancestors that my mother had not already uncovered. Nancy told me not give up and that I’d eventually find it. She was right.

Kenfolk: Trantham
Relationship: 6th grandmother
Common ancestors: Jemima’s parents are the next great brick walls