A GENEALOGICAL MISCELLANY II,
MADISON COUNTY, TENNESSEE
By Jonathan K. T. Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 1996

(Page 51)

POMPEY LANIER, PATER FAMILIAS,
OF A BLACK FAMILY
IN OLD CIVIL DISTRICT TWELVE

The origins of Pompey (Pomp) Lanier are obscure but he was married to Angie Terry in Madison County, December 30, 1875. (Madison County marriage book E, page 390)Settled in Civil District 12, in the northeastern section of the county, he bought 40 acres there for $300 on November 30, 1885. (Madison County Deed Book 42, page 612; deed registered December 1, 1885) He and his family farmed on this land for many years. Not far away was Lanier's Chapel, a black Methodist congregation, with its burial ground, being the final "resting place" of Pomp Lanier and others of his family as well as others of that area. Angeline Lanier has a tombstone there, giving her as wife of Pomp Lanier and her death date, May 17, 1916.

The death certificate of Pomp Lanier indicates that he was born in Tennessee, January 2, 1840 and died there May 21, 1928; a son of Joe and Susan Lanier. He may have been a servant-in-bondage in the family of Dr. John Hicks Lanier who lived north of Claybrook in Madison County, who came from Virginia.

The U.S. Census, June 1, 1900, Civil District 12, Madison County, Tennessee, page 157A, has a birth year at variance with that given on his death certificate. The family entry for that year's census:

Pomp Lanier, born January 1853, Tennessee (parents born in Va.), farmer
Angie Lanier, wife, born May 1855, Tennessee; married 28 years; had eleven children, nine of whom were still living
Joe Lanier, son, born October 1881, Tennessee
Perse Lanier, son, born December 1883, Tennessee /1882?/
Sam Lanier, son, born February 1884, Tennessee
Kate Lanier, daughter, born March 1886, Tennessee
Parelee Lanier, daughter, born January 1887, Tennessee
Lula Lanier, daughter, born December 1890, Tennessee
Bulah Lanier, daughter, born July 1892, Tennessee
Lidge /Elijah/ Lanier, son, born May 1894, Tennessee
Harve Lanier, son, born March 1896, Tennessee
Alice Lanier, step-mother, born August 1825, Tennessee (parents born in North Carolina)

The 1910 census indicates the birth of another child, Curtice, age 10, in that year.

The death certificate of Angeline Lanier, wife of Pomp Lanier, #417, states that she was born in Madison Co., Tenn., 1862; died there, Civil Dist. 12, May 17, 1916; cancer. Daughter of Dan Terry. Burial in Lanier's Chapel.

1870 U.S. Census, July 27, Civil District 5 (McLemoresville), Carroll Co., Tenn.:
Daniel Terry, age 48, born Virginia; Catherine Terry, age 50, born Virginia; Henry Terry, age 12, born Tenn.; Angeline Terry, age 11, born Tenn.; Annie Terry, age 10, born Tenn.; Moses Terry, age 7, born Tenn. He worked on a farm.

1920 U.S. Census, Madison Co., Tenn., living along Spring Creek-Claybrook Rd.:
Pomp Lanier, age 62, born Tenn.; widower; children: Pierce, age 37; Kate, age 30; Parelee, age 28; Lula, age 26; Beulah, age 24; Eligh, age 23; Curtis, age 18.

 

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