The Gilliam brothers – William, Thomas, and Harrison – of Charlotte County, Virginia, were among the earliest settlers to arrive in Middle Tennessee. The brothers left their homes in Virginia and headed out across the wilderness for new lands, hopes, and dreams. They left Virginia after the death of their parents and an older brother, Robert. William, Thomas, and Harrison were the youngest sons of James (1733-1794) and Martha Isbell Gilliam (1740-1799).
Rutherford County, Tennessee
Rutherford County, Tennessee, was first established in late 1803. According to historians Mabel Pittard and Robert E. Corlew, III , “Among the first communities to be established in Rutherford County were those at Stewart’s Creek, Black Fox Springs, and at the confluence of the east and west forks of Stones River.”[1] It is likely that the Gilliam brothers came down the Ohio River to the Cumberland and thence to Stones River and its tributaries that run through the County.
Robert Weakley and Thomas Bedford, Rutherford County’s first realtors, mapped out the new town of Jefferson. Jefferson would soon become the first county seat. When the town lots became available, brothers William (1776-1863) and Harrison Gilliam (1780-1808) were among the early purchasers.
A deed, dated 08 July 1803, and registered in the April Session 1809 of the Rutherford County Court, was filed to transfer a “Lot in the Town of Jefferson” from “William Gilliam of Maury County, Tennessee” to Daniel Boatright. Witnesses to the deed are listed a Joel Dyer and David Abbott. The County Clerk is Joseph Herndon. The deed record is in Rutherford County, Tennessee, Deed Record F, 636.
An early map (provided below) of Jefferson, dated 1804, shows that Harrison Gilliam had purchased two (2) lots (#123 and #162). Rutherford County records a deed dated _6 December 1805 and indentured _6 December 1805 that transfers “Lots 123 & 162 Town of Jefferson” from the “Commissioners of Jefferson to Harrison Gilliam.” S. Bedford and Peter Legrand witnessed the deed. The record is n the Rutherford County, Tennessee Deed Record B, Number 102.
William Gilliam also filed another deed, dated and indentured 31 January 1807, that transferred “Lot 113 Town of Jefferson” from William Gilliam to Daniel Ferguson. John Spence and Stephen Bedford witnessed the deed. It was registered in the April Session 1807 Rutherford County Court and found in Rutherford County, Tennessee, Deed Record E, Number ____.
Maury County, Tennessee
Thomas Gilliam (1778-1844), brother to both William and Harrison, appears in the first Tax Lists of Maury County, a neighboring county to Rutherford. His name appears in 1808, 1809, and 1810 Tax Lists. William (Thomas’ brother) appears in Maury County’s 1810 Tax List.
[1] Mabel Pittard and Robert E. Corlew, III, editor, Tennessee County History Series: Rutherford County (Memphis State University Press, Memphis, Tennessee, 1984), Page 15 – REF LINK HERE
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