ATKINSON BROTHERS IN ROANE COUNTY, TN
From, Roots of Roane County, TN, by Snyder E. Roberts, page 67
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Matthew Atkinson’s wife was Mary Massingill, born 1766 in NC, the daughter of Henry Massingill. They married in 1792 in Lincoln County, NC, and came to Jonesboro, TN, where William and Matthew had a shop. Mary supposedly was not a silversmith; however, Mary, the mother of William and Matthew, a widow who had brought her three small sons from France, was an accomplished silversmith and followed the profession most of her life.
One, or both, of the Atkinson brothers lived in Kingston at least from 1799 to 1807 and possibly longer. The proof is in the Roane official records, and in 32 documents. It is possible that the Atkinson brothers actually made the Great Seal in Roane County and delivered it to the Governor in Knoxville. Although the spelling of "Atkinson" varies and Matthew’s name is usually "Matt A." Atkinson (some places look like "Martha"), there can be no doubt about the brothers being in Roane because they were silversmiths, had their tools in Kingston, and in one case in 1802, Matt A. gave as an excuse for not answering a summons to Court "that he was engaged in necessary business and could not attend."
Roane County records show Matt Atkinson on the 1799 ineffective petition to form Roane county. May 30, 1799, William Atkinson and Edward Owens were commissioned as Ensigns in Regiment of Knox County. Matt A. is listed on the effective 1801 petition to erect Roane County. The Roane 1805 Tax List shows both Matt A. and William Atkinson, and a David Adkinson. In 1806, a tax was collected on a case styled William Atkinson vs John Johnson. In 1807, Book C, William Atkinson was excused from paying taxes. In 1815, a William Adkinson, Jr., was called for jury duty.
William and, especially, Matthew Atkinson were involved in a series of Roane Cases from 1802 through 1807.
In 1804, Samuel Eblin obtained an $82 judgment against Matt A, and at a Sheriff’s sale, Matt’s 3-acre tract was sold to Dr. Thomas J. Van Dyke. In the same year, Humes and Henderson received judgment against Matt A. for $25. One itemized bill may offer a clue to Matt A.’s financial troubles. A bottle of wine and a bottle of whiskey occurred at about the same frequency as butter, coffee, etc. Evidently Matt A. need his old drinking buddy, John Sevier’s, or someone’s help because at another Sheriff’s sale, his house was sold to Nathaniel Cox.
John Smith T. and William Barnett who had been on Matt A.’s security withdrew their bond, and Matt A. suffered the ignominious penalty of being sent to a debtor’s prison, or more properly to the Roane "prison bounds." His troubles were not over; his creditors were still after him. Matt A. made the following affidavit in Court, "That he hath not the worth of 40 shillings Sterling, over and above his working tools and muster clothes, and since his imprisonment, he had not sold, assigned, or disposed of any of his assets in an effort to defraud his creditors." William Atkinson probably left descendants in Roane, but Matt A. seems to have disappeared from the records by 1807. Thus, a mystery lingers.