iPentimento | Genealogy and History

Roane County, Tennessee

“Polk”, as he was called by his family, was born to parents Miles and Deborah Holmes Yates in Roane County, Tennessee. Without proof, I can only cite my Great Aunt Martha’s memoir in which she says that Miles Yates was a “dandy and a fop” and had deserted his wife Debbie and their child by 1844. Gauging by Debbie’s age given in later censuses, she was likely very young when she met Miles and married him. In fact, we have not been able to prove they were married, other than their 28 August 1840 marriage record on the books for Roane County. It notes “no return”, and so we don’t really know when and if they were joined in holy matrimony. It was said that Miles came from Nashville, but there is no other mention of him, and he is my brick wall.

As with much of the United States in the early settlement of this country, the Yates family were farmers and owned land near Ten Mile, Tennessee. The Yates family still live on this land, just up the road from Ponders Gap Old Time Gospel Church., but they are no longer relying on the land for their sustenance. 

In 1850, the Federal census shows JKP Yates living with his mother and step-father, William Deatherage Morrison in Roane County, and he is listed with his younger half-siblings, Gideon and Margaret. “Polk” is listed as having the surname Morrison, but this is a mistake. Miles Yates is not found in the Roane County, TN census in any subsequent years. 

By 1860 JKP Yates is found “batching it” with his grandfather John Holmes, then age 73, his two uncles John C. and James Register Holmes, and is erroneously listed as JKP “Homes”. His name was never at any time changed though, and this is just another mistake (assumption) by the census taker. John’s Holmes (senior) wife Lydia had died some years before in 1857. 

No doubt, the topic of the impending war was a pressing subject on all the men’s minds as the citizenry always know a conflict is coming long before it is declared officially. I can imagine the discussions the Holmes young men (ages 23 and 26) had with their nephew, as well as their father. A later letter written by John Holmes in 1872 states that the Civil War “divided” his family. In Civil War records I have checked, many of our family connections joined the various units for the Confederate side. Our cousins and their spouse’s families include the surnames, Morrison, Deatherage, Edgmon, and Hendrix, to name a few. A practice that has since been abandoned, many times, all brothers would be in one unit. Polk Yates was in the Confederate Army. He was a Private in Co. D, 16th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment (CSA). He applied for a state Confederate Veteran’s pension. He is listed as J.K.P. Yates, application # S4309.

The end of the war brought healing, to the land, and to the battered minds and bodies of those who fought in the Civil War. No one came out unscathed in our family. Even Polk contracted smallpox that in later years affected his eyesight.  Work still had to be done though, and here you can see him with his cousins making sourgum. I always joked that it was a still, but that turned out to be a later generation.

JKP Yates and the Edgemons making sorghum

Soon after the war had started, JKP Yates had married on 21 July 1861 Miss Mary Kelsey and she gave birth to my great grandfather, James William Milburn Yates 27 September 1862. Always a family who cherished their religion, Polk Yates became the singing master at the Ponder’s Gap Old Time Gospel Church. The original church is no longer standing, but this c. 1870 picture has been given a place of honor in the church and shows Polk with some of his students. Going by the proximity of the boy to Polk’s left in the picture, I suspect that is his son James W. M. Yates. The original photo is much larger, and shows many more people. I have asked that my cousins in Tennessee go to the church and see if they can make a copy of the photo, or even just take a picture of it, but so far, that has not happened. This is as good as it gets for now.

James Knox Polk Yates

Polk’s first wife, Mary Kelsey, died after 1868, and by 1871 Polk had married again, this time to Elizabeth Catherine Abstan on 26 November 1871. Their first child, Thomas Theodore Yates was born in 1872. Two more sons would follow, Gideon born in 1879, and Walter J. born in 1886. Gideon was most likely named after Polk’s half brother, Gideon Morrison. It’s sad to say, Gideon Yates only lived a short time into his adulthood, as evidenced by this photo documentation.

JKP Yates and son Gideon

Polk himself lived to the ripe age of 76, most likely after suffering a stroke that left him paralyzed. His wife “Kate” had pre-deceased him and at the time of his death he was living with his son Tom near Sweetwater in Roane County.

JKP Yates with son Walter's children c. 1915

This story might seem a little stilted, and I apologize for that. I don’t have much personal knowledge of their everyday lives and can only rely on my documentation. I hope you enjoyed it for the most part.

I feel very fortunate to be the caretaker of the original photos shown here. Please do not copy or distribute them as your own.

© Carol Yates Wilkerson – 2008; all rights reserved.