From "Genealogical History of the Families of McConnells, Martins, Barbers, Wilsons, Bairds, McCalls and Morris", by Newton W. McConnell, 1913

 

Pages 143 to 163:

 

{Also see related website “Descendants of John Martin”}

The Baird Family.

My great grandfather, James Martin, married Sarah Baird. Robert Baird, a nephew of Sarah Baird Martin, married Sarah Martin, the sister of William Martin my grandfather. William Dinwiddie Baird, a nephew of my great grandmother, Sarah Baird Martin, married Abagal Martin, the oldest daughter of Josiah Martin, my mother's great-uncle, and thus, there has been such an interlocking of the Baird family, with the Martins that this book would be very incomplete without a his­tory of the Baird family, out of which these Martin unions were formed.

 

The Wilsons are similarly interlocked with the same Baird family. This makes it necessary to give the genealogy of this family to the extent of its union with the Baird family. It is not my purpose nor is it within the scope of this work, to go outside of those related to my own family by consanguinity. I feel that I have a right to speak wherever I find any of my blood or that of my wife coursing the veins of those I address, be it ever so small in amount.

 

This family is Scotch. It furnished its share of the emigrants who settled the Ulster "Plantation." It fur­nished a number of members of the Scotch Parliament. They are as follows: Andrew Baird who served twice, first from 1628-1633, and second from 1639-1640.

 

James Baird of Auchmeddin, Banniffshire also serv­ed twice, first in 1665 and second from 1669-1672.

 

James Baird, the younger, of Auchmeddin, Banniffshire, in 1678.

 

Sir John Baird of Ambuith, Aberdeenshire, from 1665-1667.

 

John Baird of Cullen from 1669-1672.

 

In order to show that under the settlement of the Province of Ulster by King James I, the Bairds were among the settlers, I give the following, showing that a large number of the descendants of the Baird family still live in Ulster:

 

Among the list showing the surnames in Ulster, having four entrees and upwards, in the birth indexes of 1890, together with the number and the registration counties in which these names are principally found, we have the following, "Baird, 39-34, Antrim and Down." The first number, "39," gives the number of entrees for 1890 in the whole of Ireland and the second number, "34", gives the number for the Province of Ulster. The estimated number of persons of each surname in the population can be ascertained by multiplying the number of entrees by the average birth rate which for the year 1890 was 1 to 44 8-10 persons. This gives 1523 Bairds living in Antrim and Down, Ulster Province, in the year 1890. The above is taken from the second volume of Hanna's work, pages 518-19.

 

The following wills of John Baird and his wife Frances Baird, shed light upon the pedigree of Sarah Baird Martin. The will of John Baird, executed Feb­ruary 10th, 1782, is as follows, to-wit:

 

"In the name of God, Amen, the 20th day of February in the year of our Lord, one thousand, seven hundred and eighty-two.

 

I, John Baird, of Lincoln County and State of North Carolina, being weak of body, but of perfect mind, acid memory, thanks be given to God, therefor, calling to mind the mortality of my body and that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain, this my last will and testament. That is, to say, principally and first of all, I give and recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God, that gave it, and my body, I recom­mend unto the earth to be buried in a Christian like and decent manner at the discretion of my executors and as touching such worldly estate where unto it hath pleased God to bless me in this life, I give and devise and dispose of the same in the following manner and form, to-wit:

 

First, I allow all of my just debts and funeral charges to be paid.

 

I give and bequeath unto Francis Baird, my dearly and well beloved wife, a negro wench named Jane, and her youngest child, named Tom, her riding saddle, one black horse about six years old with her choice of bed and furniture and fifty pounds hard money at two and one-half dollars per pound to be raised and levied out of my estate.

 

Item I give and bequeath to my well beloved daugh­ter Jean Wallace, fifty shillings hard money at two and a half dollars per pound.

 

Item I give and bequeath unto my well beloved son, William Baird, fifty shillings hard money at two and a half dollars per pound.

 

Item I give and bequeath unto my well beloved son, John Baird, five pounds hard money at two and a half dollars per pound.

 

Item I give and bequeath to my well beloved daughter, Anne Brown, fifty shillings hard money at two and a half dollars per pound.

 

Item I give and bequeath to my well beloved son, James Baird, all the tract of plantation of land on which I now live containing three hundred acres to him his heirs and assigns forever provided my well beloved wife Frances Baird is to have the use of my dwelling and as much of the land as she shall think necessary for her use during life; but if she shall think proper to remove to any other place then it is my will that my son James Baird pay to her the sum of ten pounds hard money at two and a half dollars per pound per annum during life.

 

Item I give and bequeath to my well beloved daughter Eleanor Witherspoon all that tract or parcel of land on both sides of Little Catawba Creek including part of the meadow below the old mill, containing two hundred and thirty-three acres, also a certain negro woman named Nell to her and the heirs of her body or their heirs and assigns forever.

 

Item I give and bequeath to my well beloved son, Adam Baird, one tract of land on two small branches of little Catawba containing one hundred acres, also one negro named Gilley to him his heirs and assigns forever.

 

I give and bequeath to my well beloved daughter, Sarah Martin one negro boy named Harry, to her and the heirs of her body their assigns forever.

 

Item I give and bequeath to my well beloved daugh­ter Frances Gilleland, one negro man named Harry, to her and the heirs of her body or their assigns forever.

 

Item I give and bequeath to my well beloved daugh­ter, Anne Brown, above mentioned, one negro boy named Jack; to her and the heirs of her body or their assigns forever.

 

Item I give and bequeath to my well beloved grand­son, Hugh Houston, ten pounds hard money at two and a half dollars per pound.

 

And all of the rest and residue of my estate I order to be sold at public vendue and whatever remains after paying off the legacies herein mentioned is to be equally divided amongst my three sons, John Baird, James Baird and Adam Baird.

 

Lastly I constitute, make and ordain my well beloved sons, John Baird, James Baird and Adam Baird, execu­tors- of this my last will and testament and do hereby utterly disannul, revoke and disallow all and every for­mer will and testament legacies, bequests and executors by me in any wise before this time named, willed and bequeathed, ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament. In witness thereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year first above written.

 

JOHN BEARD-Seal.

 

This will was duly attested.

 

 

THE WILL OF FRANCES BAIRD.

 

"In the name of God Amen, I, Frances Baird of the State of North Carolina and the County of Lincoln, be­ing far advanced in years and frail in body, yet of sound mind and perfect memory (thanks be to God for same) I do make and ordain this my last will and testament, recommending my soul to God who gave it and my body, to the earth to be buried a decent Christian burial at the discretion of my executors hereinafter named and as touching such worldly estate as it hath pleased God to bestow upon me I give, bequeath and dispose of it in the following manner, that is to say:

 

Imprimis, I give and bequeath unto my son, Will­iam Baird, the sum of five shillings sterling.

 

Item I bequeath unto my daughter Jane, married to James Wallace, two pewter plates and one small basin.

 

Item I bequeath to my daughter, Anne, marred to Berry N. Brown, two pewter plates, one Dutch oven, one pinnipr, one brown quilt.

 

Item I bequeath unto my son, John Baird, the sum of five shillings sterling.

 

Item I bequeath unto my son, James Baird, the sum of five shillings sterling.

 

Item I bequeath unto my daughter Eleanor, mar­ried to James Witherspoon two pewter plates, one pot, one small basin, one small dish, and fire tongs.

 

Item I bequeath unto my son Adam Baird the sum of five shillings sterling.

 

Item I bequeath unto my daughter, Sarah, married to James Martin, two pewter plates, one coffee pot and one porringer and a trunk.

 

Item I bequeath unto my daughter Frances, mar­ried to Alexander Gilleland a negro wench named Jane to her and to her heirs and assigns forever, also a cow, a bed and bed clothes, a chest of drawers, a table and three plates, two beasons, one dish, one tea kettle, and one tea pot and all the rest of my household furniture not mentioned nor disposed of before.

 

And the residue of my estate not mentioned nor dis­posed of before consisting of money Bond upon Alexan­der Killeland, I order to be divided into eight shares and my daughter Anne and Eleanor to have each of them two shares and my son, William, and my daughters, Jane, Sarah and Frances each one share.

 

And I do appoint and constitute my son, Adam Baird, and my son-in-law Alexander Gilleland, executors of this my last will and testament and I do ratify and confirm this and this only as my last will and testament.

 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal the sixth day of January, one thou­sand seven hundred and eighty-six.

 

FRANCES BAIRD.      Seal."

 

 

The witnesses of this will are John Barber, Patrick Park, John Wilson.

 

 

The John Barber mentioned above as witness to the will of Frances Baird was probably the John Barber who married Sarah Martin.

 

It will be noticed that John Baird spells his name "Beard." I have no doubt "Beard" and "Baird" are different ways of spelling the same name. John Baird, the son of John Beard and Frances Baird made a will, dated the 26th of October, 1807, in which he named as his children John, Samuel, William, James, Adam and Fannie.

 

James Baird also made a will dated October 9th, 1808, and names as his children, William, John, Adam and James Baird. (William is the William Dinwiddie Baird who married Abigal Martin in 1803.)

 

Adam Baird made a will bearing date 1808 in which he names his children as follows: Annie, Ruth, Adam, John, Elizabeth and Robert. Robert is named incidentally as his son whom he appoints executor jointly with his son-in-law, John Wilson.

 

In the wills of John Baird and Adam Baird they do not say that the children named were all their children. In point of fact they were not.

 

The Clerk also sends me a list of marriage licenses none of which have any apparent relevancy except that the record shows that William Baird married Abigal Martin in 1803. This Abigal Martin was the oldest child of Josiah Martin.

 

From the foregoing wills it is apparent that Adam Baird, the brother of Sarah Baird Martin, was the father of Robert Baird. Robert Baird married his cousin, Sarah Martin who was the sister of my grandfather, William Martin. Zenas Baird married Jane Black who we shall see further on was of Baird descent through her father.

 

These wills show conclusively that Sarah Baird Martin and Adam Baird were the children of John and Frances Baird. While examining the records of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, at Chambersburg, Dr. L. C. Glenn, noted that a tract of land adjoining another tract of land which belonged to John Wilson, his great great grandfather, belonged to William Beard.  He expressed the opinion that this William Beard was probably the father of John Beard, the husband of Frances and whose wills we have given. This is probably true.

 

The name as it appeared upon the Franklin County record, was William Beard. John signed his name the same way. While he was ordinarily called Baird, and all his children were so named, his wife's name as at­tached to her will is spelled Baird, and the name as given in the body of the will of John was spelled either Baird, or Beaird, I am of the opinion that the reason he signed his name Beard to his will, was because he knew that his father had used his name similarly in that deed.  The names undoubtedly were at one time spelled the same way. It is unimportant as to which way it was first spelled.

 

The wills of John and Frances Baird do not name all their children. I am fully satisfied that one, a daugh­ter, married a man by the name of Black, who had a son, William Black, who married Mary Erwin, and moved to Tennessee and settled near Cornersville. I will give the history of this family later.

 

The will of John Baird was probated in 1784, he must have died about that time; the will of his wife, Frances, was probated in 1787, hence, she must have died about that time. From the size of their family and the ages of some of their children at the time of their death, John and Frances must have been born near the commencement of the 18th century.

 

Of their union there were born the following child­ren: Jane, William, John, Ann, James, Eleanor, Adam, Sarah and Frances, Baird.

 

Jane married James Wallace. John married, and of the union thus formed there were born, Fannie, (Berry) John, Samuel, William, James, and Adam.

 

Ann married a man named Brown, and James Baird married, and had four sons, William Dinwiddie, John, Adam, and James. Sarah married, James Martin. Her genealogy has been given in connection with the Martin family; William Dinwiddie's has been given in connec­tion with the genealogy of the Josiah Martin family.

 

Adam Baird, in whom we have the greatest interest, because it was he who fought with the gun shown in this book, at the Battle of Kings Mountain. He was the brother of my great grandmother, Sarah Baird Mar­tin. He was born in the year 1745, and died November 17, 1811, age sixty-six years. He married Mary Adams, who was born in the year 1749, and died July 10, 1810, age sixty-one years. Of this union there were born the following children:

 

Anne, Ruth, Mary (Polly), Adam, Jr., Fannie, John,. Elizabeth (Bettie), Robert, Hannah, and Sarah, Baird. They had ten children. This seems not to have been, uncommon in those days. .

Anne Baird never married and died at her brother­-in-law, John White's in Gaston County, N. C.

 

Ruth married Sam Jingles; they lived on Catawba Creek; there were no children of this marriage.

 

Mary Baird married John White, who lived on Long Creek, and of this union there were three children Rixine, Mary, and Sallie, White.

 

Adam Baird, Jr., went to Ohio, and married there­.

 

Fannie Baird married James Gilleland; they moved: to Ohio.

 

John Baird married Parmela Patrick, the daughter of Robert Patrick. He moved to Arkansas. His wife went unwillingly. He did not stay there long, and was lost sight of.

 

Elizabeth Baird married James (Jimmie) Adams. They moved to Tennessee, and settled in Bond County. Robert Baird, born December 27, 1777, died May 26, 1871, ninety-four years old, married Sarah Martin, his cousin, and sister of William Martin, my grandfather; who was born in November, 1778, and died March 16, 1867.

 

Hannah Baird married John Wilson, and Sarah Baird, married William Joseph Wilson. These two sis­ters married two brothers. John Wilson lived at Mrs. Love's place near the place of Ezra Wilson. Their oldest son, was Adam Wilson, who went to Ohio, look­ed out a home, and in a year or two his father moved there. This Adam married well in Ohio and lived at Greenfield in that state. Ebenezer, another son, and the rest of the family, went to Ohio and remained there.

 

Sarah Baird married William Joseph Wilson. Her history is given in the history of the Wilson family.

 

Of the union between Robert and Sarah Martin Baird there were born Erixene, May 9, 1802, died December 6, 1838, married Isom Ford, and of this union there were born six children, all of whom are dead. Two grandchildren are mentioned in the will of Robert Baird.

 

Sarah Baird, the third child of Robert and Sarah, was born June 26, 1809, married Abe Stowe, and died May 14, 1830, leaving an infant daughter.

 

Zenas Baird, the second child, born September 24, 18o4, married Jane Black, and died March 1, 1874.­

 

Of this union there was born one son, William Emberry Baird, who married Martha Elizabeth Gordon. William Emberry Baird was born on October 5, 1830, Martha Elizabeth Gordon was born on January 6, 1838.  They were married January 8, 1856.

 

Of this union there were born seven children, to-wit: Horace Ney, March 24, 1857; Willie Eugene, February 24, 1859, Robert Jordan, May 7, 1861; Ella May, September 16, 1863; Anne Pointer, November 5, 1865, Sarah Jane, April 22, 1871, and William Edward, Baird. Octo­ber 7, 1876.

 

William Emberry Baird died April 7, 1897, and his wife, Martha Elizabeth Gordon Baird, May 24, 1908.

 

Horace Ney Baird died July 28, 1863, Robert, Jordan, Baird, August 2, 1863, and Willie Eugene Baird, August 6, 1863. These three boys died of diphtheria. They were taken sick with this dreaded disease, and died and were buried within nine days.

 

Ella May Baird, married James Henry McGrew of Shelbyville, Tenn., who was born July 17, 1853, April 23, 1884.

 

Of this union there were born the following children, Annie May, February 15, 1885; Joseph Henry, Octo­ber 24, 1889, Margaret Letitia, March 17, 1892, Edward Baird, November 8, 1893, Sarah Elizabeth, July 5, 1898, Samuel Jason, July 5, 1898, (twins.)

 

Joseph Henry McGrew died April 27, 1892. Alone May McGrew married Walton Bose Buchanan, who was born March 14, 1883, February 13, 1913.

 

Ann Pointer Baird married Henry Allen McLemore September 9, 1886. Of this union there were born William Baird, March 15, 1888, Lady Anne, June 23, 1890, and Henry Allen McLemore, Jr., November 15, 1893. Henry Allen McLemore, died July 9, 1881, and his wife Ann Pointer Baird McLemore, November 22, 1903.

 

William Edward Baird married Anna Seelen, of Moberly, Mo., April 22, 1909.

 

William Edward Baird is the only living member of the Adam Baird family who bears the name. He graduated at the Vanderbilt University, June 1898, and from the law school of Columbia University, New York, in 1902. He commenced the practice of law in St. Louis, in the fall of the same year.  He is now counselor for the City of St. Louis.

 

James Henry McGrew has been engaged in the drug business in Shelbyville, for thirty-five years The style of his firm at the present time is J. H. McGrew & Son.

 

John Wilson Weatherly is the son of Wilson Har­din and Clementine Parks, Weatherly. He was born April 29, 1859, in Bradley County, Tenn. His early years were spent on his father's farm; he attended the public school. When thirteen years old, he entered his father's store at Red Clay, Georgia, as a clerk. He re­mained there four years. He then filled the position of traveling salesman for nearly seventeen years, first for J. & L., Whorley, Wholesale Tobacco Dealers at Nash­ville, and then for O'Bryan Bros., Wholesale Dry Goods and Notions, merchants at Nashville.

 

In 1893, he entered the wholesale dry goods business as a junior member of the firm of Warren, Neeley & Co., of Nashville.

 

In 1901 he withdrew from this firm and established a wholesale business of his own under the name of Weatherly, Armstead, McKennie, Co., the leading dry goods house of the City of Nashville. This is a corpora­tion. Mr. Weatherly owns a controlling interest and is president. It is capitalized at $250,000.00, is reported in R. G. Dun Co., as B. I, and prompt pay. Its annual sales amount to nearly one million dollars.

 

On November 6, 1889, he married Sarah (Sallie) Jane Baird, youngest daughter of William Emberry and Martha Gordon Baird, of Cornersville, Marshall County, Tenn. Of this union there were born four children, Martha, Elizabeth, John Wilson Jr., William Emberry, and James Edward, Weatherly. The latter died of scar­let fever when thirteen months old.

 

Mary Baird, the fourth child, of Robert and Sarah Martin, Baird, married Manuel Ford. Of this union there were born two daughters, Martha Jane and Sarah Ford. Sarah Ford married Huffstetter. She is now a­ widow, lived with and cared for her grandfather, Robert Baird, for some years before he died, and is now living in the house which her grandfather built in 1800.

            -

A Mr. Black, whose first name is not known to me married a sister of Sarah Baird Martin. They resided in North Carolina, probably in Lincoln County. Of this union there was born William Black. He married Mary Erwin and removed to Tennessee and settled in what was then Giles, now Marshall County near Cornersville. Of this union there were born Cassandra, Eleanor, Martha, Amzi, Sarah, Jane and Margaret, Black.

 

Cassandra married Reuben Nance. Eleanor married Joseph Nance. Martha married Ashley Moore. Amzi married Amy Moore. Sarah married Robert Glenn. Jane married Zenas Baird who was the son of Robert Baird. Margaret married Milton McClure. Of this last union, among other children who are now dead, there were born John H. McClure and Bell McClure who now live in Nashville, Tennessee. Of the union between Amzi Black and Amy Moore there were born Samuel N. Black and Mary, Black. This family removed from Tennessee to Illinois in 1837.

 

Zenas Baird, first cousin to my mother, his mother being Sarah Martin the sister of William Martin, who was my mother's father. William Black lived for many years about nine miles from the home of my mother. She always called him cousin, and in a conversation I had with her about three years before she died in 1886, I asked her how the kinship between her and William Black arose. She said that William Black's mother was a Baird, the sister of Sarah Baird Martin, her grandmother.            In 1908 when I was in Marshall County and had the conversation with Margaret Ann Martin Darnell, I. asked her the specific question as to how the kinship between William Black and the Martins came about, and she said "William Black (commonly called Billie Black) was related to Grandfather Martin; Black's mother and William Martin's mother were sisters." I wrote this down at the time in her language.  I haven't a doubt of the truth of her statements.

 

Of the union between Joseph Nance and Eleanor Black there were born William Henry, James Washing­ton, Martha Fredonia, Mary Ann, Andrew Jackson, Tabitha Jane, Thomas Jefferson, and Samuel Joseph, Nance. Tabitha Jane Nance married Samuel J. Wadley.

 

Of this union: there were born Effie A., Samuel B., Mary Bascom, and Julia Nance, Wadley.

 

Samuel Blevins Wadley married Mary (Marie) Phoebe McGinley.

 

Of this union there were born three children, Samuel Blevins, Jr., Mary Elizabeth, and Hazel Witt, Wadley. Samuel B. Wadley now resides with his family, at l06 28th St., North, Nashville, Tenn., and his sister Effie A., lives with him. Samuel B. is the auditor of the Phillips Buttorf Manufacturing Company.

 

Mary Bascom Wadley married Mr. Lee. Of this union there was born one son, Arthur W. Lee, who re­sides in Kansas City, Mo. Mary Bascom is now a widow and resides in Kansas City, Missouri.

 

Julia Nance Wadley married Joseph B. Rebman, of Courtland, Alabama. Of this union there was born one child, Marguerite Ruth Rebman. They reside at the present time at Haydensville, Okla.; Marguerite Ruth is attending school at Belmont College, Nashville.

 

Tabitha Jane Wadley, long since a widow, makes her home with her children as she pleases. She is now with her daughter, Mary, in Kansas City. She passed her eighty-fifth birthday a few weeks ago, but she is still in the possession, without the least apparent im­pairment from age, of all her mental faculties.

 

Of the union between Amzi Black and Amy Moore there were born Samuel N., and Mary, Black.

 

Samuel N. Black married Sallie E. Crippen. Of this union there were born William L., Ivan, Mary Caro­line, Rosa M., Black. Three sons died in infancy.

 

William L. Black married Mary Willie Adkins. They have no children. William L. is a successful wholesale produce merchant in Kansas City, Mo., and resides with his family at 3232 Wabash Avenue.

 

Mary Black married James Becket. They reside at Golden, Ill. Ivan Black married Rosa Burdoff, and re­sides at Black Station, Ill.   Samuel N. Black died at his home in Illinois in May, 1912.  Rosa M. Black married C. J. Hollock.

 

James Washington Nance married twice. His first wife was Jane Hund, of Maury County.

 

Of this union there were born the following child­ren, William Henry, Jonathan, James W., and Turner W. Nance.

 

The second wife of James Washington Nance was Mary F. Amos, also of Maury County. Of this union there were born the following children: Eloise, Lewis J., Lily, Walter Buckner, Mabel, and Ruth, Nance. All of the children of the last marriage are dead except Lewis J. and Walter Buckner, Nance.

 

The latter was born April 16, 1868; graduated at Vanderbilt University with the degree of Bachelor of Arts; in 1893, and with a degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1894. He belonged to the fraternal societies, Delta Kappa Epsilon, and Phi Beta Kappa. He joined the Tennessee Conference and was transferred to China, October, 1895. He was married September 28, 1898, to Florence Reah Keiser.

 

Of this union there were born three children, Will­iam Keiser, Dana Wilson, and Frances Dean, Nance. Mrs. Florence Reah Keiser Nance has written and published a book entitled "The Love Story of a Maiden of Kathay," which gives a fine picture of the home life of Chinese girls and women, especially as affected by the new learning from the west.

 

The Reverend Mr. Nance is a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He is a Professor of" Philosophy in the Mission School located at Soochow, styled the Soochow University. He re­cently spent a year vacation in America. I ad­dressed him a note, asking for an expression from him of the prospects of Christianity in China and the effect of the new revolution which has converted the oldest and most arbitrary kingdom upon the earth into a modern republic. In his reply he referred me to certain articles which he had given to the press while in Amer­ica and which he ordered sent to me. These I have received, but will be content with the short statement which he makes in his letter, which is as follows:

 

"May just add that the outlook for Mission work, is, as you suggest, much better as a result of the Revolu­tion. Christian men were never so prominent among the leaders, the whole movement was so obviously a working of leaven (largely Christian) from the West, that the Church has gained great prestige. Yes, Dr. Sun Yat Sin is a Christian, and so is Li Yuan Heng, Vice-President, and the military leader of the Revolu­tion at the outbreak, at Wu Chang and Hand Chow.  More than half of the members of Sun Yat Sin's cabinet were Christian men and a large minority of the present cabinet of Juan Shi Kai are Christians. There is a wide­spread spirit of co-operation among the Missions, and a disposition to reproduce as little as possible of denomina­tional differences from the West. All the Presbyterian Missions, for instance, have united in the organization of a single Chinese Presbyterian Church. This is regarded as only a step towards one Christian Church for China, which, however, will be a development and cannot be forced now."

 

Lewis J. Nance is a merchant in Lewisburg, Tenn. Thomas Jefferson Nance married Louisiana Holden. Of this marriage there were several children born, and among them was a daughter, Belle Nance. Her mother died, and afterwards her father married Bettie Bell, and after that he died and his widow married a man named West.

 

Belle Nance came to my house and made her home with us as a member of the family in March, 1873, and was married November 25, of the same year to Arnett Hall, who belonged to a prominent family in Trousdale County.

 

Of this union there were born the following child­ren: Brice Odell, April 17, 1876; Robert Herschel, Sep­tember 19, 1878, and Ernest McConnell, Hall, July 11, 1889.

 

Brice Odell Hall married Elizabeth Cunningham, September 12, 1907. Of this union there were born the following children, Sarah Eloise, and Brice Odell, Jr., Hall. This family all reside in Hartsville, Tenn., ex­cept Robert and Ernest McConnell, Hall, who are in business in Nashville.

 

There was born of the marriage between Thomas Jefferson Nance and Bettie Bell Nance, one daughter, Jennie, who married a man named McMakin. This family reside in Denver, Colorado.

 

It has not been my fortune to be personally ac­quainted with many of the members of the Baird fam­ily, whose history appears in this book. I knew Zenas Baird very well. He lived at Cornersville, about nine miles from my home, near Moresville, in Marshall County, Tenn. He was a merchant doing business in Cornersville. He was a quiet, unobtrusive citizen. He was a business man of the highest character for integ­rity and square dealing with his fellow men in every way. He was a strict Presbyterian and lived an orderly moral upright life as required by the doctrines and rules of his faith. He reared his son, William Emberry, in such manner that he followed strictly in the foot steps of his father.

 

William Black, who was a Baird on his mother's side, lived on a farm a short distance from Cornersville. He carried on farming and the manufacture of wagons and a blacksmith shop. He was an orchardist, and rais­ed the best of fruits. In all that he did, he did it well. He kiln-dried all the timbers used in the manufacture of wagons. He was a Presbyterian, lived strictly up to the requirements of his church, raised his son, Amzi, and his six daughters in the same faith, and with the same high ideals. He was one of the foremost citizens of the community in which he lived.

 

Amzi Black was a man of unusual education for the times in which he lived. He was. a school teacher and the school house in which I first went to school was called Black's School House, named after him. He was my father's teacher. His name was a household word in our family.

 

The Bairds of western North Carolina were promi­nent people during the Revolutionary Period. They were prominent in Scotland long before they emigrated to America. Some time about the year 1884 or 1885 I held Court in Lewisburg, and while holding Court there, I visited Cornersville, and called at the house of my cousin, William Emberry Baird. I met his wife and his daughter, then a young girl, but now during the last six months one of my most enthusiastic and valued corres­pondents in the work of getting up the genealogy of the families to which she belongs.

 

Her mother played and sang for me and I found her a most accomplished musician.

I spent the night at the home of James Washington Nance, whose name appears in this book. He is the father of Walter Buckner Nance, who is a Professor in the Soochow University of the Southern Methodist Church in China. He is connected with one of the most wonderful works in existence at this time, looking to the disenthrallment of the Chinese from centuries of idolatry, and their christianization.

 

Mrs. Sarah Jane Baird Weatherly received her earliest education under private tutors at home. Later she attended Columbia Female Institute for three years, and then attended for one year Sayre Female Institute at Lexington, Kentucky. She specialized in Art and Music.

 

Cousin Belle Nance Hall, who belongs in part, to this Baird family of whom we have been writing, and who made her home in my, family for nearly a year, has the same characteristics. I heard a prominent citi­zen of Hartsville say of her once, speaking of her good qualities that she was worth "her weight in gold."