MAURY COUNTY TENNESSEE

CARTERS CREEK SCHOOL RECORDS DOCUMENTATION 1831-1835

It is not an absolute proven fact that this list students was from the Carters Creek School in Maury County where Thomas Rountree taught. In the interest of the truth I present to you the evidence that was presented to me regarding this matter and believe it is the best conclusion to date. From this each can conclude for yourself or research the question as you see fit. If anyone can prove this school to be other than the Carters Creek School of Maury County then we will get the school listed on the proper channels. 

*Advance to information sheet for Student List of Scholars*

Wayne, thank you posting this great list of scholars. It has been particularly helpful in establishing the middle names of numerous individuals only previously known by initials. I can confirm that each of the Sparkmans, Wrenns and children of Mary Walker, and certain other individuals listed, never lived in Greene County, MO (although a handful migrated to western Polk and Cedar Cos., MO, after 1850), but did live in the vicinity of the Carter Creek community in Maury County, TN. However, I do question the estimated dates of the matriculation of the students as being between 1833-1835 or even 1831-1835.
I first noticed Louisa Rountree, daughter of John Rountree. Louisa was born ca. 1810 and married James Colden Sparkman in October, 1832, and the couple resided in Williamson County. It would thus be unlikely that a married 21-23 year old would be a student at the school, particularly when common school education ended at the time at age 16. Likewise, of some of the oldest scholars I am able to identify, James Green Sparkman, son of Jesse Sparkman, was born November 23, 1811 (also noting that Jesse Sparkman had several children born prior to 1810 who are not reflected in the list other than as parents); Jane Rountree, daughter of Andrew Rountree, was born March 01, 1808 (Andrew also having older children not reflected); and Junius Meredith Rountree, son of Joseph Rountree, was born in 1810.
The convincing evidence rests with the children of Joseph Rountree. Joseph Rountree was the second emigrant from Maury to permanently relocate to Greene after John Polk Campbell. He also accompanied John Campbell to Greene in the 1829-1830 period to scout out the Missouri territory. Joseph himself diaried the move of his entire family in December, 1830, and his sons Marzavan and Lucius (reflected in the list of scholars) reminisced in their lifetimes about relocating to Greene at such time, and the documentation further establishes the marriage of Joseph's son Junius (listed on the list of scholars) as the first marriage in Campbell Township (Springfield) in 1831, and that Joseph's daughter Louisa (also on the list of scholars) was married in MO in June, 1832.

http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/message/an/surnames.rountree/170

http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/history/pictorial/roundtrm.html

http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/history/pictorial/roundtrl.html

http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/history/holcombe/grch33.html

(Search for Rountree - Lucius' marriage and Joseph's bio are included.)

http://www.slavens.net/bios/zl_slavens.htm
 
I believe the foregoing, and the fact that Joseph Rountree established the first school in Greene (with his children as a sizeable percentage of the students) not long after his arrival, clearly establishes that we are looking at a list including students prior to December, 1830, and consideration must also be given to the common school age factor. That factor and the number of initial students so neatly penned and grouped irrelevant of their age differences in their family groups in 1833 (by the date of the page), as compared with the relative fewer number of students subsequently added to the list, leads me to speculate that the list is a subsequent transcription of all students who had attended the school under the tutorage of Thomas Rountree (b. ca. 1801), and it may reflect students who studied at the school as early as 1825-26. While it may not be pertinent if the list was created in 1833, to the extent the list may have been retranscribed from a prior that year, it may also be noteworthy that of the widows reflected as heads of households, Winifred Wrenn was widowed prior to June, 1826, and Mary Walker was widowed February 11, 1827.

I have a microfilm copy from original of Thomas Rountree's "Cataloge of Scholars" from 1833-1835 for his school on Carter's Creek. It lists @ 200 students, arranged by family, with name of father or guardian. It is really an amazing document. Please contact me if you would like a copy, or info on how to order the microfilm from Univ. of MO. His entire lesson book (400+
fascinating pages) has been microfilmed (original is held by descendant in MO, where Rountree moved c. 1835). I left a copy of the scholar list with Barbara Garrett at the Maury Co. Archives last week. I did not copy the entire lesson book, but it is quite a treasure. If you want to discuss, please e-mail me privately. I am a professional genealogist in Nashville.