ROBERT JACKSON HATHCOCK108

Robert Jackson Hathcock, called "Jack," was born 16 October 1864 in Brownsville, Haywood County, Tennessee, according to his death certificate. This same document states that his father was John Hathcock and that his mother's maiden name was unknown. I believe the father's name to be in error. Robert Jackson Hathcock died in District #2 in Lauderdale County, Tennessee on 12 January 1940. District #2 is just across the line from Haywood County, Tennessee where Hathcocks had lived around Woodville and Nutbush. Robert Jackson is buried in the Trinity Cemetery at Nutbush, Haywood County.

Telephone conversations with his descendents had proved beyond any reasonable doubt that Robert Jackson Hathcock was a grandson of Peyton Hathcock. One of Peyton's sons by his second wife was William H. Hathcock, known as "Boce" Hathcock. He lived all his life in Haywood County, Tennessee and died of a heart attack on the streets of Ripley, Lauderdale County, Tennessee. He is buried in the Trinity Cemetery at Nutbush, the same place that Robert Jackson Hathcock is buried. The descendents of Robert Jackson said that "Boce" Hathcock was the uncle of Robert Jackson. They had other information on "Boce" and on his brothers and sisters that convinced me that this relationship is correct.

If "Boce" Hathcock was the uncle of Robert J. Hathcock, then the father of Robert Jackson had to be a brother or half brother of "Boce." William H. "Boce" Hathcock did have a brother named John, i.e. John Thomas Hathcock. I have collected information on John T. Hathcock and have a fairly complete record of his descendents. Living descendents of John T. Hathcock state positively that John T. did not have a son named Robert Jackson. Since John T. was the only brother of "Boce" Hathcock, that means the father of Robert Jackson Hathcock had to be one of the half brothers. We have the names of two half brothers, James A. and William. There may have been one more. James A. Hathcock is the only one of these men who ever showed up on the records of Haywood County. James A. did live at one time in District #7 which includes Brownsville. The only way I can explain the absence (if he was indeed the son of James A.) is this: Robert Jackson was always called "Jack." Jack is known to be a nickname for John. Perhaps when the census taker was told the child was "Jack," he listed him as John, thinking that was his correct name. The descendents of "Jack" Hathcock only remembered one brother named Eddie. The youngest child of James A. Hathcock was Edward. This is not positive proof, but in examining all the available records, it seems likely that Robert Jackson Hathcock was certainly the son of James A. Hathcock. Robert Jackson was definitely a grandson of Peyton Hathcock.

I was unable to locate Robert Jackson Hathcock on the 1880 census. If this could be found it would answer a lot of these questions. There is no census for 1890. By 1900 Robert Jackson was married to Mary J. Kirkess and was living in District #2 in Lauderdale County, Tennessee. He is listed at age 35, born October 1864 in Tennessee and both parents born in Alabama. He had been married 16 years. His wife, Mary J., was 37, born in August 1862. She had had 7 children and 4 of them were then living. The children were Eddie L. (female) born November 1884, William L. born February 1887, Robert H. born May 1890 and Ida L. born March 1899. Listed in the same household was Sarah A. Kirkess, born in March 1842, widowed, had 4 children 3 of whom were then living. She was the mother-in-law of Robert Jackson Hathcock.

Time has not permitted my obtaining a complete record of the descendents of Robert Jackson Hathcock. I know that he was married a second time to Lannie Morris. Eddie Lee Hathcock married Henry Cashum. William L. Hathcock was born in 1887 and died in 1962. He is buried at Mary's Hill Chapel Cemetery in Ripley, Tennessee. His wife is Elmer Mill Hathcock and she is now living with their son, Tucker Hathcock. Robert H. Hathcock married a Jackson and had a son, William Raymond Hathcock.

William Raymond had 5 children, Thelma Louise Perry who works in Dyersburg, James Don Hathcock who lives in Knoxville, Raymond George Hathcock of Galina, Ohio and Robert Eugene Hathcock and David Hathcock. Ida Lee Hathcock married J. O. Binkley and is living with her daughter, Lora Cross in Henning, Tennessee. I spoke with Ida Lee and her daughter on 15 January 1983 and they confirmed much of the information on the relationship of Robert Jackson Hathcock to "Boce" Hathcock. Tucker Hathcock, mentioned above, told me that Robert Jackson Hathcock's brother, Eddie Hathcock, had children named Ernest and Roxy. This family is said to have gone to Texas.

Note added by Clayton Heathcock, 3 October 2009 and elaborated 15 November 2016:

I was bothered by the fact that Robert Jackson Hathcock did not show up with the family of James Andrew Hathcock in the 1870 census. I found the following entry in the 1870 census where there is a Jackson Hathcock, right age, with a father named John:

1870 Census of Franklin Co AL

Name Age
John Hathcock 36 b AL (as are all in family)
Sarah Hathcock 35
Manerva Hathcock 16
John Hathcock 14
William Hathcock 10
Sarah Hathcock 12
James Hathcock 8
Jackson Hathcock 7
Biddy Hathcock 5
Caroline Hathcock 2

Adjacent listings are families of the likely brother and father of John Hathcock:

Thomas Hathcock 68 b GA
Liddy Hathcock 60 b GA
Lucy Hathcock 26 b AL

James Hathcock 28 b AL
Malinda Hathcock 18 b AL
Biddy Hathcock 1 f, b AL

Franklin Co AL is in the NW corner and is near Madison Co, where John Hathcock Sr. settled when he moved from Elbert Co GA in about 1810. These census records indicate that the family, postulated to be Thomas Hathcock and his wife Liddy, born in Georgia in 1802 and 1810, moved to Alabama by no later than 1834 when son John was born in Alabama.

However, the Jackson Hathcock, son of John Hathcock, appears to have been named Andrew Jackson Hathcock, as shown by the 1880 census. Putting this togehter with the fact that both the 1870 and 1880 census give the birth state for Jackson Hathcock as Alabama, whereas the death certificate for Robert Jackson Hathcock gives his birth state as Tennessee, shows that these two Jackson Hathcocks were not the same.

Name Age
John Heathcock 50
Sarah Heathcock 50
Menerva Heathcock 24
John Willis Heathcock 23
Wm. Thos Heathcock 19
James R. Heathcock 17
Andrew J. Heathcock 15
Biddy J. Heathcock 13
Mary C. Heathcock 11
Mandy L. Heathcock 9
Carrol W. Heathcock 7


Robert Jackson Hathcock married Mary Kirkess and the family is enumerated in the 1900 Census of Ripley, Lauderdale Co TN

Name Age
Robert J Hethcock 35 b TN
Mary J Hethcock 37
Eddie L Hethcock 15
William L Hethcock 13
Robert H Hethcock 10
Ida L Hethcock 1
Sarah A Kirkess 58 mother-in-law