The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1884-05-03
any. BETSY TR4STnAS.
Her Age li9 Years at the Time of Her
nesth.

q
Fayetteville, Tenn, April Il, 'S4.
In your issue Of the 10th inst a5
pears an article copied from the
American Almanac, Published in
Boston, iu regard to Mrs. Betsy Tran
than, 10 which it i. stated that she
lived to the age Of 154 years, and
that she bad but one child Both of
the statements are incorrect. She
was but 149 years old and was the
mother Of "a large family of children,
whose descendants are scattered
throughout the Southern and West>
ern states, and the woods of William
son, Wilson and Davidson counties,
in Tennessee, are full Of them, with
few here in Lincoln county.
L am not one Of the oldest inhabi,
tants, but my father, William Peach,
of this place, who is a grost-grand son
of Mrs. Trantham, is, and the facts
here stated he obtained from his an
cestors and from her own lips, and
may be relic upon as correct.
Bette Trantham WAS born in Ger
many and emigrated to America when
16 years Of age, settling first in Vir-
ginia in 1902. She was soon after.
wards married to man by the name
of Eppinger, by whom she had eight
children. After the death of Eppin-
ger, she moved to South Carolina
where she married Martin Trantham>
by whom she had quite = number Of
children.
One Of her daughters by this mar.
riage became the wife of one Stead
man, who, with his family, were mas.
sacred by the Indians at Fort Mimms,
with the exception of two sons, who
fought their way through the Indians
aud made their escape. This was in
1911. Another daughter, Rachel,
married Lawrence or Larry Burns,
and another, Parmelia, married Char
lie Gray. One daughter, Sally, of
Charles Gray, married a man by the
name of McCallum and settled at an
early day in Indiana. Elizabeth
married Luke Harp, of New Orleans.
A son, Robert, died in Arkansas.
Another son, Charles, died in Ala
bama. All of the Peaches that are
defendants of John Peach in William
son, Wilson and Davidson counties.
and many of the Burnes and Grays,
are descendants of Mrs. Betsy Tran
than, through her daughters, Parme.
liza and Rachel. Mrs. Trantham died
in the year 1885. My father saw her
las. in 1882. She was then lying on
one feather bed with another one
over her to keep her warm. Jack
Peach, an older brother of my faith
er, knew her well and rsmem bers
many incidents in her life as detailed
by her. He is now eighty years of
age. He has, as relic of her, steel
thimble, which is probably 175 years
old.
The Rev. Mark Gray, now deceas-
ed, who was well known in William
son and Murray counties, was great
grandson of Betsey Trantham. Mar,
tin Trantham, her husband, was the
devil raised by Lorenzo Dow from
the pile Of tow, as narrated by that
eccentric divine, which those familiar
with his book will remember.
In addition to the daughters named,
she had son, Martin, who figured
conspicuously in the Revolutionary
war He was with Marion in South
Carolina, and it is told of him that at
one time large force Of Tories held
a barn, which they had fortified SO
strongly that the Wings could not
dislodge them. Martin allowed him.
self to be captured by them and
feigned idiocy to such good purpose
that they put no restraint Upon him,
and he soon made his escape, not,
however, until he had obtained all
the information in regard to their
strength and means of deIense his
commander desired; and Weems in
his life Of Marion, tells how a cannon
was improvised from a pine log and
the barn captured without firing
gun.
My father has seen many erroneous
statements in regard to Mrs, Tran
than since her death, and is anxious
that the few facts here given should
be published. LEWIS PEACH.
1t lis stated upon good authority that