_Job HUGUELY ________
| (.... - 1811)
_Abraham HUGUELY ____|
| (1775 - 1856) m 1799|
| |_Tabitha ____________
| (1757 - 1849)
_George W. HEWGLEY __|
| (1799 - 1860) m 1823|
| | _____________________
| | |
| |_Sarah B. ___________|
| (1781 - 1844) m 1799|
| |_____________________
|
|
|--William HEWGLEY
| (1826 - ....)
| _John DRENNAN _______+
| | (1740 - 1816)
| _Thomas S. DRENNAN __|
| | (1768 - 1835) m 1792|
| | |_Unknown ? __________
| |
|_Rachel DRENNAN _____|
(1801 - ....) m 1823|
| _____________________
| |
|_Anny _______________|
m 1792 |
|_____________________
[263]
Determining who William's father is has been difficult. Census records prior to 1850 did not show the names of children living in a household, just the ages of children. By the 1850 census, William is married and has his own household. A clue can be found in that census, however: in that census, William is living next door to George Hewgley. This often indicates a relationship between two people, and often a child would marry and build a house on their parent's property. The ages of William (23) and George (50) certainly make it possible that George is William's father.
Several other researchers, mostly ones researching the Drennan family, have identified George and Rachel as William's parents. I've been told by one that this is from interviews with Drennan family members.
Marjorie Northern Hewgley has provided a letter that gives strong support to this hypothesis. The letter is dated March 24 1854 and was written by Charity Ricks Wright, a contemporary of George and William Hewgley who lived in the same district of Wilson County. In the letter, she talks about "Aunt Anna Drennan", stating that "she is well and living with William" (most likely William Drennan, her son). She goes on to say that "George Hughley and his son William and David Drennen [husband of Elvira Hewgley] started last week to Missura".
In the 1850 census William is living in Wilson Co, TN with wife Hannah and children James and Thomas. In 1860, Hannah and the children are listed, but no William. In 1870 the whole family is missing. In 1880, Hannah and her children are back in the Wilson County area. William does not appear in any census record we've found after 1850. We can only guess what happened to William. The letter mentioned above says that William went with his father George to Missouri in 1854. Perhaps William left his family behind in Tennessee until he got settled, and that is why they appear in the 1860 census without him. Perhaps they went with him, and he died after they got there, and they returned to Tennessee. One interesting thing to note, however, is that two Hewgley children in Hannah's home in 1880 were born about 1864, so it would seem that either he died after that date or their father was someone other than William.
[264]
[S19]
U.S. Census - 1850
[2346]
[S24]
Marriages of Wilson County TN 1802-1850
© 2005 John Scott , 305 Murphy Court , Macon , GA 31216 , jsscott@tennesseeheritage.com. Permission is granted to copy portions of this document for personal use only. May not be published in paper form, electronically, or by any other means without permission.