Isaac Gore and Families

His parents: Thomas L. Gore Sr and Elizabeth Darnell
Sarah "Sally" Alexander's parents: James C. Alexander and Judith Siddle/Siddall(1)
Sarah Caroline Stagner's parents: Talbert Stagner and Malinda Mathis(1)
Sarah Ann Margaret Wall's parents: Andrew Jackson Wall and Martha B. Alexander(3)
Martha Alexander's parents: not 100% certain but very likely James C. Alexander and Judith Siddle(4)

The family bible, identified herein as the T. L. Gore Bible, has two entries about Isaac's birth, and one and perhaps both entries were made by his young sons, Ran and Horace. On page 678, an entry states, "Isaac D Gore was born 8 of January 1820," and another entry on page 680 states, "Isaac Darnell Gore born January 8 1818 (written over to be 1819) 1819."

Isaac's first marriage to Sarah "Sally" Alexander took place 14 June 1838 in Henry County. Although I believe the evidence supports James C Alexander as her father, I can't rule out a William Alexander, and, if he existed and was her father, he was a brother of James C. and John M. I have found no records of such a brother, but James C.'s and John M's father was named William, and he and wife Esther probably had more children. Sally and Isaac had six children before her death in 1848 although one of them, Jonathan, died as a child. An entry in Isaac's bible states, "Sarah Gore deceast December the 25 1848."

William Thomas was born 12 April 1839 and died between 1860 and 1863 and was probably a victim of the Civil War. His birth date comes from an entry in Isaac's bible, but there is no entry for his death. The death must have been before 21 March 1863 since Isaac and his third wife named another son born on that date William Lee. Lee Gore's birth is not listed in Isaac's bible but comes instead from his gravestone in the Foundry Hill Community of Christ Cemetery (formerly the Foundry Hill Reorganized Latter Day Saints Cemetery or FHCLDS Cemetery), Henry County, TN. Although gravestone dates cannot be completely trusted, I believe this one is correct or nearly correct.

Jonathan P. was born 13 May 1843, and he died before 1850 when he was not listed on the census. Isaac's bible lists a death for Jonathan Gore as occuring 14 November 1843, but this appears to have been the death date of Isaac's brother Jonathan.

Isaac married Caroline Stagner 3 July 1849. Caroline was the daughter of Talbert Stagner and Malinda Mathis. Caroline and Isaac were parents of six children, one of whom, Sarah Caroline, twin to Isaac Newton, died as a baby. According to her tombstone in the Mill Creek Cemetery (Henry County), Caroline died 3 September 1858.

Isaac's daughters Louisa Isabella, Mary Elizabeth(5), and Emma Victoria married Alexander brothers. The first two were daughters of Caroline Stagner, and the third was the daughter of Margaret Wall. Information about their families can be found in my Alexander history, mostly in Chapter 2, Chapter 6, and Appendix G.

Isaac's third marriage was to Margaret Wall 24 March 1859. She was the only mother known by the younger children of Caroline Stagner, Mary and Francis, and Louisa apparently considered her mother also. Margaret and Isaac had six children.

Cora Samantha married Peter B. Seaton. I normally would not link to a wikitree database, but Terri Hoch-Davis has done a careful evaluation of the source material on her pages for the Seaton family. Her pages have many more facts and relationships for Cora than I had collected when we made contact. Although I have not checked all her references, I found no disagreements and consider her work to be excellent.

Since I have been unable to find a great deal of certain information on Ewing Randolph, his page will be mostly a rambling explanation of the few definite facts and much that is speculative.

Margaret's and Isaac's youngest child, Horace, was born 21 March 1875 (grave stone); Isaac's bible in Horace's handwriting states only, ". . . . This is my bible. I was born on March. I am nine old this March 1884." I have found no record of any marriage for him, and my uncle, Benford D. Alexander, who knew him, believed he remained unmarried throughout life. Horace is buried beside his mother in the FHC-LDS Cemetery and shares a gravestone with her.

Federal Censuses

1840HenryTNp458 (stamped): Isaac D. Gore 20-29; wife 20-29, 1 male <5

1850HenryTNp357A: Isaac D Gore 30 SC, Sarah 19 KY, Wm T 12, Jas M 10, Eliza 6, R J 4, B F 3, Joshua 3 mo all children TN (Sarah is Sarah Caroline called Caroline.)

1860HenryTNp227 (445 stamped): Isaac D. Gore 41 SC, Sarah M. 23, William T. 21, James M. 19, Eliza J. 16, Richard J. 14, Benjamin F. 12, Joshua T. 10, Isaac N. 8, Louisa I. 7 Mary E. 6, Francis M. 2 (Sarah is Sarah Ann Margaret called Margaret.)

1870HenryTNp387B,388A (stamped) 134,135 (penned): I. D. Gore 52, Margt 33, B. F. 23, J. T. 20, I. N. 18, Isabel 16, Mary E. 15, Francis 12, A. J. 9, Wm 7, Samantha 5, Emma 3, Randolph 2

1880HenryTNp176B (stamped) 6 (penned): Sarah A. M. Gore (wid) 43, Jefferson D. 19, Wm Lee 17, Cora A. S. 14, Emma V. 13, Ewing R. 11, Horrace 5, Francis M. 21

Henry Co, Tennessee, Marriages, 1838-1852, Marriage Book A, transcribed by W. O. Inman, Paris, TN, 1974
page Isaac D. Gore to Sarah Alexander, June 14, 1838, by Robert Martin JP

Henry Co, Tennessee, Marriages, 1838-1852, Marriage Book A, transcribed by W. O. Inman, Paris, TN, 1974
page 28 Isaac D. Gore to Caroline Stagner, July 3, 1839, by Robert Lemonds JP NOTE: the year was actually 1849.

Henry Co, Tennessee, Marriages, 1853-1867, Marriage Book B, transcribed by W. O. Inman, Paris, TN, 1974
page 29 Isaac D. Gore to Margaret Walls, March 24, 1859, by W. J. Atkins JP

(Note 1): Although I have found no official document that provides the names of Sally's parents, my correspondence with a descendant of Amy (Gore) Riggs, who provided pages written by Amy, which combined with other records seemed adequate evidence for me. Amy's notes appear here, and I have addressed the subject further in my Alexander history.

(Note 2): Talbert and Malinda appeared in Henry County, TN, along with Malinda's family before 1840. They began having children while very young and continued into Malinda's forties. She lived to an old age, outliving Talbert and several of her children. Of interest to me is the bit of trivia that, although a significant portion of Henry Countians who had ancestors in Henry County before 1850 can trace back to Malinda and Talbert, I could not find even one Stagner living in the county around 2010. There are several Mathises still there, and they had many marriages with the Alexanders there and also in Missouri where members of both families moved.

Isaac probably also fathered a child, born 11 January 1849, with Martha Alexander, who was likely the sister of his wife Sally. I do not know whether the child was male or female or whether he or she survived infancy. A bastardy warrant was served against Isaac.
July 6, 1849: Abraham Martin, JP, took Martha Alexander's oath about bastard child fathered by Isaac D. Gore.
July 9, 1849: Abraham Martin took additional testimony from Martha Alexander that birth was January 11, 1849.
July 18, 1849: Abraham Martin issued warrant for apprehension of Isaac D. Gore for questioning on the bastardy issue. B. P. (Berry Parks) Alexander is listed on the warrant as the one to serve it.

(Note 5): Mary was my last Gore ancestor, the grandmother of my father Nolan. According to some of her children, she encouraged them to leave home as soon as they could. According to Nolan, she was a wonderful grandmother, but he and one of her Gore granddaughters were the only grandchildren she could tolerate. I doubt that they were better behaved than some of the others, but that was Nolan's claim. I suspect they just "buttered her up."