ELIZA SIMS AND TWO LIBRARIES

By Clinton F. Cross

8. Eliza’s First Marriage

As has already been mentioned, Elijah Harlan married Elizabeth Sims in 1811. Elizabeth’s father was William Sims. Elizabeth’s mother was Judith Cross Sims (daughter of Joseph Cross and Elizabeth Burke).
Elijah and Elizabeth had a number of children, including Eliza Harlan, born in 1814.

In 1827 (John Quincy Adams was President) Joseph Oliver Cross, the son of Oliver Cross (also Judith Cross’ nephew) married Eliza Harlan. Joseph Oliver Cross was twenty-seven years old when he married Eliza. Eliza was only thirteen.

It is possible that Eliza’s elders “encouraged” Eliza to marry her second cousin, Joseph Oliver Cross. Many Virginians owned an English marriage manual which commented, “Children are so much the goods, the possessions of their parents, that they cannot without a kind of theft, give away themselves without the allowance of those that have the right in them” (Fischer 284).

In addition, it was not unusual in Virginia for first or second cousins to marry. Many an Anglican lady “changed her condition, but not her name.” The custom was common in Virginia, and important to the cohesion of the tidewater elite (Fischer 284).

Joseph Oliver Cross and Eliza had five children, Sarah Ann, born in 1828 (Eliza was fourteen); James Fleming Cross, born in 1830 (Eliza was sixteen); Jehu Cross, born in 1832 (Eliza was eighteen); Isabella, born in 1835 (Eliza was twenty-one); and Elizabeth Cross, born in 1838 (Eliza was twenty-four).

Eliza Harlan Cross

Presentation based on portrait made shortly after Eliza's marriage to Joseph Oliver Cross

9. What’s Going On?

What was going on in the United States at this time?

In 1837, Martin Van Buren succeeded Andrew Jackson as President of the United States. Jackson supported Van Buren for the nomination partly as a result of Van Buren’s friendship with Peggy Eaton, a tavern keeper's daughter (Widmer 80). John C. Calhoun, Vice President under Jackson, ultimately resigned his office over tariff disputes and perhaps to some extent because his wife refused to speak to Peggy Eaton because of her low social status (Remini 239).

Tennessee was probably at the heart of the nation's politics. Andrew Jackson, who hailed from there, had recently served two terms as president of the United States. James K. Polk had just been elected governor of Tennessee. In a few years Polk would be President of the United States. The Cross and Polk families knew each other.

Although the nation had suffered a severe “Panic” in 1837 (indeed, it was the worst financial catastrophe in American history until the Crash of 1929)(Widmer 94), Joseph Oliver Cross was, and he continued to be, a successful farmer. In 1838, he owned cattle, sheep, real property, and about twenty-five slaves.
But there were risks at that time that today we can hardly imagine. Women sometimes died in childbirth; there was the omnipresent risk of bad water; epidemics struck without warning; health care services were often poor, certainly by today’s standards.

At the time, Joseph and Eliza and their children were living in Mt. Pleasant, Maury County, Tennessee. Eliza’s mother, Elizabeth Sims, and her grandmother, Judith Cross, also lived there.
In 1839 an epidemic struck Mt. Pleasant.

First, Joseph Oliver Cross, Eliza’s husband, died.

Grave of Joseph Oliver Cross, Eliza's First Husband
 

On the 21st day of August 1839 Elizabeth Sims Harlan, Eliza’s mother, wrote her will. Four days later, she died.

Grave of Elizabeth Sims Tinsley Harlan (Eliza's Mother)

All of Eliza’s children were sick. There was no known cure for the mysterious disease (perhaps small pox, typhoid fever, or cholera.) Finally one of Eliza’s daughters, Elizabeth, also died.

Eliza was left with four living children: Sarah Anne Cross, James Fleming Cross, Jehu Cross and Isabella Cross. She had no husband, no job.

Shortly after Joseph Oliver Cross’ death, Eliza moved to Eutaw, Alabama, probably following her brothers, Jehu and William Harlan.

When in Eutaw she met William Tannehill.

The probate of Joseph Oliver Cross' estate indicates that William Tannehill charged the Cross estate for the board of Eliza's children. William was from a prominent family in Alabama. His brother was Ninian Tannehill, who owned the famous Tannehill Ironworks that later produced most of the iron for the Confederacy (Bennett).