JOHN DEEN FAMILY: (from "The Dean Family," by Gloria Borgsmiller & Lucy Kehmeier)
JOHN DEEN was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1778 or 1779; d 7 Jun 1859 in Jimtown, Smith, TX. He married Mary Ruth Nash in 1798, b in TN 1780; d between 1831-1834; however, there are some references to indicate Mary Ruth's maiden name was possibly "Mash." Her father was recorded in the Franklin County, Tennessee deed records as John "Mash."
John and Mary Ruth Deen arrived in Franklin County, Tennessee, around the year 1808 as John Deen received Land Grant #132 from The State of Tennessee, for two hundred acres, on 20 April 1808. The land grant was signed by Governor John Sevier, himself a Tennessee pioneer. This 200 acres of land "lying in White County, 2nd District, 9th Range, 4th Section, on the waters of ELK River, etc." and on 17 February 1809, he sold 106 acres of the land he received in the Land Grant, to Strother and Anderson for the sum of $250.00. This deed was recorded on 25 April 1809 in Deed Book "A" page 25 of the Franklin County, Tennessee, Deed Records. On 13 May 1816, John Dean is recorded in Deed Book "J" page 187 of the Franklin County, Tennessee Deed Records, as selling to his brother, Jacob Dean, twenty acres for the sum of fifty dollars. This deed was recorded in December 1816.
Just about this time counties were being organized pretty fast in that section of Tennessee, which would probably explain the apparent discrepancies in the locations. We have always heard our forefathers came from Coffee County, but that county was not organized until 1836 and some of our family began to migrate about that time. The waters of Elk River were probably part of Franklin County which in 1836 was incorporated into Coffee County, which could explain our Coffee County history.
John Deen became quite active in Real Estate Transactions in Franklin County, the Deed Records indicating he purchased and sold numerous tracts of land during the early 1800's. He is recorded as early as 1809, as the seller of some of the original land he received from The State of Tennessee in Land Grant #132.
John Deen could neither read nor write, as evidenced by the early deed records of Franklin County, Tennessee. Several times he simply made his mark, and "X" on the Deeds of Trust he executed.
THE FARMER GIRL:
While his wife Mary Ruth was bearing him ten children between 1801 and 1829, he was indulging in a little extracurricular activity with either three Farmer sisters or just one Farmer girl, Marilda.
There are many different opinions regarding the Farmer sisters or the one Farmer girl.
One opinion is there were three Farmer sisters, who bore him one, two and three children, respectively. Another opinion is there was only one Farmer girl, Marilda, who bore five of John's children. With the DNA testing, we know that one of Marilda's sons in question (Burdine) is, in fact, John's biological son.
There is no indication that John ever denied paternity of any of these children. He seems to have given them every advantage that he gave his own (legitimate) children and they apparently had the respect of the entire family.
After Mary Ruth's death, John married Marilla (Marilda) Farmer in 1834 and they had one more son, Aushum Franklin "Frank" Deen. The location of Mary Ruth's burial in TN is unknown. Marilda is buried at Zion's Rest Cemetery in Navarro County, TX.
Apparently John and family followed his son Caloway to East Texas. About 1839 John, Marilla, and family moved from Coffee County, TN to San Augustine County, TX. He is reported to be buried in Jimtown, Smith County, Texas, where he died in 1856.
A TWENTIETH CENTURY HISTORY AND BIOGRAHICAL RECORD OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS:
Capt. B. B. Paddock, editor, published in 1906
The parental grandparents of Caloway Dean were John and Mary (Mash) Dean, and the great grandfather, Joshua Dean, a native of England, served throughout the Revolutionary War, after which he settled in North Carolina. Subsequently, he removed to Kentucky, where his remaining days were passed. His son, John Dean, was reared in the Blue Grass state and later went to Tennessee, where he took up his abode and reared his family, living there until about 1845, when he came to Texas. His death occurred in this state in 1858, when he had reached the ripe old age of ninety. Throughout his life he followed the occupation of farming and was a man true to every obligation that devolved upon him.
His children were as follows: William, James, Alford, Caloway, Mary, Jack, Riley (who was killed in the Mexican War in 1846), O.H.P., Asberry, Russell and Frank.
PROBATE RECORDS:
Smith County, TX. Estate of John Deen, deceased. June 7, 1859. P. 905
Asbury M. Dean and Marilda Dean vs. A.P. Farmer and B. Farmer
"Come the plaintiff by attorney and the defendants being called came not but made default; and it appearing to the court that the defendants had been legally served with process, it is therefore considered by the court that the Plaintiffs, A.M. Dean and M. Dean do have and recover of the defendants A.P. Farmer and B. Farmer the sum of One Hundred and Four Dollars and Seventy Cents principal and interest, together with all cost in this behalf expended for which let Execution issue."
EXPLANATION OF SUIT:
Following the death of John Deen, his widow, Marilda Deen was made co-administer with her step-son, Asbury M. Deen, of his estate. Marilda's two sons, Burdine and Alexander P. Farmer, evidently owed John Deen money (now owing to his estate). Being a good mother and backed by the exalted title of "Administrator" of her husband's estate, Marilda felt perfectly justified in forgiving the debt. However, the step-son and co-administrator, Asbury M. Deen, did not agree and filed suit on the part of the estate to recover this debt from his step-brothers.
NOTE: found in Estate Packet of John Deen, deceased:
"Received of A.P. Farmer and B. Farmer on the 23rd day of May, 1859, payment in full of the principal and interest of the note given by them to A.M. and M. Dean, for the sum of one hundred and one dollars and eighteen and a half cents this the 27 June A.D. 1859./s/ Marilda Dean, Admrs.
The descendants of John Deen can be traced from Tennessee to Benton County, Arkansas and Van Zandt County, Texas. The most frequently used spellings are Deen and Dean. Some of his descendants are still living in Benton County, Arkansas and the town of Wills Point, Texas, some sixty miles east of Dallas. It seems that the name was spelled Dean in AR when Alfred changed it upon arriving. As for Alfred's siblings, some kept the spelling of Deen, while others changed the spelling to Dean, also.
While living in Franklin County, Tennessee, John and Mary Ruth Deen became the parents of several known children:
JIMTOWN/JAMESTOWN/BERRIEN VIEWS:
Jimtown is also known as Jamestown and Berrien was founded in 1854, as a community along the Dallas-Sheveport Road. The community was granted a post office in November of 1856 and was in operation until 1903. Jimtown had a Male Academy, Smith County School District #28 that consolidated with the Chapel Hill School. There were two churches, a Masonic Lodge and cemetery. There were two general stores, three blacksmiths, two wagon makers, and a cabinet maker in the community. When the International-Great Northern Railroad built through Overton six miles east of Jimtown, the community faded away in a couple years. All that remains of the community today is the cemetery in a patch of woods north of County Road 244. Submitted by: Glenn Howard for www.ghosttowns.com
www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnj03 mentions in 1853 David & Elizabeth Steber began selling lots and laying out streets.
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jwheat/jimtown.html tells us Jim Bumpas had a store & obtained a post office in 1878 & was even called "Jimtown" himself.
Another story is: Alfred's brothers "Jim" (James L) & Asberry and their father John settled in early Smith County. Shortly thereafter, "Jim" opened a small Grocery store, and as the community grew, it soon became known as "Jimtown."
John Deen is buried in Jimtown Cemetery in Jimtown, Texas. Jimtown is now a ghost town and the cemetery has been abandoned. I located a listing of the grave sites of this cemetery at the Smith County Historical Society and John Dean/Deen name was not on the list. This list and "inventory" was taken in 1986. The list did say however that there are several unmarked sites there; perhaps one of them is John.
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi- bin/igm.cgi?op=REG&db=2792844&id=I35559