Pennington Families in Johnson Co., TN

The Pennington surname is a common name around Johnson Co., TN and the neighboring counties (i.e. Ashe Co., NC, Washington Co., VA, Smyth Co., VA).  It is too simple to say that they are probably all related.  The truth is that we know they are related by DNA, but we can’t make an absolute connection between these families.  The Pennington Research Association has divided these Penningtons up by their oldest known ancestors and has labeled these groups by numbers.  Within Johnson Co., TN there are Penningtons from Group 7, 12, and 30 primarily…so the question is – who are these Penningtons.

There are two Andrew Penningtons that play a meaningful role in these Johnson Co., TN Penningtons.  Andrew Pennington (m. Mary Elizabeth Pope) b. 1813 is a member of Group 7 and is descended from Ephraim Pennington b. 1769. (He was thought to be a descendant of Micajah Pennington but we know now that isn’t the case).  Many of the Penningtons living around the Shingletown area are related to him and I would bet that that a large portion of those buried in Wesley Chapel Cemetery are somehow related to him including the Sexton family that donated the land built the Wesley Chapel Church. (Robert C Sexton was married to Mary E Pennington, daughter of Andrew Pennington.  Their descendants donated the land for the church.) 

Wesley Methodist Cemetery aka Shingletown Cemetery - Johnson Co., TN

Here is a list of the children of Andrew Pennington and Mary Elizabeth Pope: 

·         Mary E. Pennington b. 1836 d. 1916 m. Robert C. Sexton 

·         Levi Pennington b. 1837 d. bef 1860

·         John H. Pennington b. 1840 d. aft 1860

·         Ephraim Pennington b. 1842 d. 1904 m. Louisa Katherine Hall m. Margarett R Richardson

·         Martha Jane b. 1848 d. 1928 m. Madison M. McCracken

·         Margaret C. Pennington b. 1851 d. 1914 m. Pleasant Alexander Dixon

·         Nancy Laurinda Pennington b. 1853 d. 1930 m. Creed F Davidson

·         Adelaza Pennington b. 1856 d. aft 1860

There were also Penningtons in Shady Valley who were sons of Andrew Pennington’s nephew, Levi Daniel Pennington (Levi Wilson Pennington and Solomon Stansberry Pennington) My own Pennington line comes from the same family.  My 3^rd great grandmother was Elizabeth Pennington (Levi Daniel Pennington’s sister, daughter of Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson) and she was married to Alexander Monroe Dollar and their granddaughter, Sophia Dollar Friddle was my great grandmother.

The home that my great grandmother grew up in - near Shingletown!

The second Andrew Pennington (m. Hester Ann Blevins)  was born about 1809 in Ashe Co., NC and is a descendant of Group 30 (Father is most likely Abram Pennington) and was married to Hester Ann Blevins.  Andrew was buried in Smyth Co., VA but many of his descendants can be found either in or near Johnson Co., TN.  His son Andrew Jackson Pennington (m. Eliza Jane Gentry) is buried at Stateline Cemetery in Laurel Bloomery as well has his descendants.

Here are the children of Andrew Pennington and Hester Ann Blevins:

·         Abel Abram Pennington b. 1836 d. 1920 m. Emily Blevins m. Sarah V Able 

·         William Caolloway Pennington b. 1838 d. 1904 m. Nancy D Privett

·         Eli Pennington b. 1840 d. aft 1910 m. Catherine Emeline Allen

·         Mary Matilda Pennington b. 1842 d. 1920 m. Calvin Calhoun Davis

·         Naomi Pennington b. 1843 d. 1902 m. Andrew Jackson Davis – Child by Lee Blevins 

·         Hiram H. Pennington b. 1845 d. 1914 m. Margaret Huffman

·         Samuel Pennington b. 1845 d. 1932 m. Sarah Ann Huffman (Hiram & Samuel aren’t twins – one was born in January and the other in September)

·         Andrew Jackson Pennington b. 1850 d. 1913 m. Eliza Jane Gentry (This is the first line I would check for Johnson Co., TN descendants) 

·         Rebecca Pennington b. 1852 d. 1914 m. Andrew John Hart

·         Asa Ira Pennington b. 1853 d. 1904 m. Martha Emaline Sherwood

·         Eda Eveline Pennington b. 1856 d. aft 1920 m. David Pennington (Son of Lorenzo Dow Pennington – brother of Andrew)

The third group represented in Johnson Co., TN was the descendants of Malissa Ellen Pennington who married George Washington Hines and James Sluder.  Her father was Elisha “Dock” Pennington who died close to the Johnson Co., TN border but was in Ashe Co., NC.    Here are Malissa’s descendants…this info mostly comes from the census records and I haven’t filled out the families as well as I would like!

Malissa Ellen Pennington b. 1861 d. 1952 m. George Washington Hines b. 1856 d. 1911 m. James Melvin Sluder b. 1871 d. 1850

·         Roby Hines b. 1881
·         James Hines b. 1884 d. 1918 m. Rosa McGrady
·         Dock Hines b. 1885 d. 1918
·         Marvin Hines b. 1887
·         Wiley G. Hines b. 1889
·         Otis Hines b. 1891
·         Rosie Hines b. 1895
·         Lidy J Hines b. 1898
·         Dolly Hines b. 1902

So, if you are trying to research the Pennington family in Johnson Co., TN, they most likely came originally from Ashe Co., NC from the early 1800’s as both the Andrew Pennington b. 1809 (Group 30) and Andrew Pennington b. 1813 (Group 7) were both born in Ashe Co., NC and the Group 12 Pennington (Desc. Of Samuel Pennington) also come from Ashe Co., NC in the early 1800’s.  So most Johnson Co., TN Penningtons likely have connections coming from Ashe Co., NC.  These families are good starting points in your Pennington research.