Angleas of Sumner County

Submitted by Robert Anglea
For more information see his book
A Band of Angleas: A History of the Anglea, Angel, Angle, etc Family
Gregath Pub. 1991

Family legend says there were four brothers that migrated to Sumner County, Tennessee some time prior to 1820. This is also indicated by the 1820 Census of Sumner County, Tennessee, which lists, Walthell, John and Andrew Angel and another male family member about the same age (probably James) in the household of Walthell Angle. Sumner County Courthouse Records of this period have these four names recorded quite often with the surname spelled "Anglea", "Angel" and "Angle". Andrew, James, John and Walthol Anglea are listed in an 1824 Tax List of Sumner County. There were other Anglea/Angel/Angle families in the surrounding communities of Sumner.

Davidson County, North Carolina (later Tennessee) records indicated that a Captain John Ingles, a Revolutionary War Veteran was granted 3840 acres of land in Davidson County on the waters of Bledsoe's Creek on April 4, 1785. This area later became Sumner County, Tennessee. On March 21, 1796, the year that Tennessee became a state, the Deed Books of Sumner County record a sale of 4480 acres of land on Bledsoe Creek by John Ingles, of Buncombe County, North Carolina to General James Winchester for $2000.

Early records of Sumner County (ca. 1800) mentions children by the name of John Angel, an orphan 16 years of age or older, who chose Henry D. Parmer as his guardian. Also, a Patsy Angel orphan of John Angle, having attained the age of 14, chose Jess Hainey for her guardian. The 1840 Census of Sumner County listed a Hartwell Angel (Anglea), which research indicates was a cousin of the four Anglea/Angel brothers.

Information gleaned from Sumner County, Tennessee Courthouse records and Census records, indicate that Anglea/Angel families moved into the area just North of Cairo, Tennessee near Rocky Creek before 1820. Cairo was a "river port" community on the banks of the Cumberland River and the center of trade for Sumner and Wilson Counties in the early 1800s. A John Anglea purchased a land lot in the town of Cairo in the year 1820 and sold it in February of 1827. Andrew Anglea/Angel purchased land near Rocky Creek from a Mr. Humphrey Bate in 1822. There were also Anglea/Angle/Angel family surnames in early Census records (1810-1850) of the East Tennessee counties of Carter, Grainger, Fentress, Overton and White. Some of these families contained familiar family names.

According to the U.S. Census Records, the Anglea brothers (Walter/Walthell, Andrew, John and James) were born in Virginia. There are several records of Andrew Anglea found in Cumberland County, Virginia in the early 1800's. There is a voting record of Andrew's in Cumberland County, Virginia election of 1813. Andrew and his brothers probably migrated to Sumner County, Tennessee with the Charlton family some time between 1815 and 1820. Samuel Charlton's Will was probated in Sumner County, Tennessee in 1819, listing Andrew and his wife, Fanny, as heirs.

There is an Anglea community in Sumner County, Tennessee just South of the road between Oak Grove and Westmoreland, Tennessee. The 1948 Hammond New World Atlas lists a town in that area as Anglea, Tennessee. In later years the Atlas and Geological Maps lists the community as Angeltown, Tennessee. It is believed that the Anglea community was named in the late 1800's or early 1900's after a store owner by the name of Anglea.

Families of the four (4) Anglea brothers are today, spread all over the United States. From the time of Andrew, John, Walter, and James Anglea/Angel their descendants have migrated to Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California and probably other states. Some of their descendants are still living in Sumner County, Tennessee and the immediate area around Sumner County.

Little is known about the family of John Anglea/Angel (one of the four brothers). He married Polly (Mary) Shaver in Sumner County, Tennessee on December 13, 1819. As mentioned before, he was listed in the 1820 Census of Sumner County. The 1830 Census of Sumner lists a John Angle with the family count as; (Males: 2 - less than 5 years old, 1 - 5 to 10 yrs. old and 1 - 30 to 40 yrs. old); (Females: 1 - less than 5 years old, 1- 5 to 10 yrs. Old and 1 - 20 to 30 yrs old). John is buried in the Shaver Cemetery near Castalian Springs. His grave marker gives the dates: Nov. 14, 1798 - Aug. 18, 1837, Age 37 yrs.



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