John Hasten of Smith County, TN

Information on John Hasten from Roger Hastings. rogerhastings@att.net

Wayne,

I'm a descendant of John Hasten of Smith County, Tennessee. I saw John's name on your site as a possible son of Daniel Haston.

The censuses almost consistently indicate that John was born in Virginia. My educated guess is that he was born about 1793, derived from censuses. I believe he arrived in Smith County, Tennessee around 1818 or 1819. Sumner County, Tennessee has an 1819 marriage for a John Hastings (or spelling variation) in the index but the marriage doesn't show up in the records. My line is from John's son Robert, born about 1820.

It is entirely possible that John might have been born in Virginia but moved to Tennessee with his parents before 1820. John shows up in Smith County in the 1820 census. Unfortunately the 1810 Tennessee is lost. There are four counties in 1810 Virginia that have males of John's age. I've eliminated two but the other two could be Frederick County, Virginia or Berkeley County, Virginia.

John may also be John Abraham Hastings. John had a son Martin. Martin's second marriage record in Smith County, Tennessee notes that his father was Abraham and his mother was Mary Gidions.

I have another slant on figuring out John's Tennessee relatives. My direct line moved to Pemiscot County, Missouri around the early 1920's. Other Hastings families moved there as well, but came directly from Tennessee. I don't know who those Tennessee Hastings are yet but guess that they must be related. I intend to back track them to Tennessee and research their ancestors in an effort to find a common link. Who knows, maybe the road will lead to Daniel Haston...

I'm wondering if you've further pursued John Hastings/Hasten as a son of Daniel Haston or if you've eliminated him. Can you tell me how you believe John might be connected to Daniel?

Regards and thanks,

Roger Hastings

Chicago

**Wayne's Response**
We have no strong evidence to indicate that John Hasten of Smith County, TN was a son of the Daniel Haston to whom this website is dedicated. There is some circumstantial evidence to indicate that this is a possibility. The John Hasten of Smith County, TN would have been about the same age as Daniel Haston's younger children (Isaac & Jesse). It was not uncommon for the "Hasten" spelling of John's surname to be used with members of Daniel's family. The county seat (Carthage) of Smith County, TN is only approximately 50 miles from where Daniel Haston lived in southern White County, TN. John Hasten lived in Smith County, TN at the same time that Daniel Haston and some of his children were living in White County, TN. It has been reported that Daniel Haston had 13 children. If that was true, there are still several children that no recent Haston researcher has identified.

Sure, you can post it on your site, no problem there. If you'd like additional info to clarify or spur interest I have data on John's children and descendants 8 generations up to current. I'm not ready to publish the whole file yet but let me know if you'd like to see the current report.

I'm going to review the reconstructed 1810 Tennessee census this weekend. I'm curious about it's contents.

Roger

Something else that I should have mentioned: many members of the John Hastings line who lived in Smith County Tennessee moved to Williamson County, Illinois just prior to 1860. John's son William stayed in Tennessee until about 1872 then moved to Muhlenberg County, Kentucky with his family. I haven't been able to track a couple of John's children past 1860 yet but am working on it.

It is important to note that the Hastings clan that moved to Williamson County, Illinois from Smith County, Tennessee lived in Marion and Crab Orchard in Williamson County. A portion of the family split off around 1920, moving to Pemiscot County, Missouri. It is from the 1910 and 1920 censuses that I see unfamiliar Hastings families moving to Pemiscot County directly from Tennessee. I hope to discover the origins of those Tennessee Hastings who moved to Pemiscot.

Roger

A new curve on the roots of my Williamson County, Illinois Hastings family: I found a Hasten family who settled in Williamson County in time for the 1860 census who were from Monroe County, Kentucky. John H. Hasten or Hastend was among the group. I tracked him back to Daniel and Abraham as an apparent relative.

The earliest members of my family to arrive in Williamson County were my 3rd great grandfather Robert Hastings and his family. Robert, his wife Susan and his family made an apparent stop-off in Kentucky prior to settling in Williamson County. Their daughter Tennessee was born in Kentucky in about 1856 according to the 1860 census. It would seem that the Kentucky Haste's and the Tennessee Hastings who moved to Williamson County, Illinois might have known each other. My family used the surname Hasten when in Smith County.

Roger

This is the info from the 1860 Williamson County census:

Robt Hasting Township 9 Range 3 E, Williamson, IL 39 abt 1821 Tennessee Male

Susan Hasting Township 9 Range 3 E, Williamson, IL 37 abt 1823 Tennessee Female
Wm Hasting Township 9 Range 3 E, Williamson, IL 15 abt 1845 Tennessee Male
Jno H Hasting Township 9 Range 3 E, Williamson, IL 14 abt 1846 Tennessee Male
Robt Hasting Township 9 Range 3 E, Williamson, IL 11 abt 1849 Tennessee Male
Jas Hasting Township 9 Range 3 E, Williamson, IL 10 abt 1850 Tennessee Male
Elizabeth Hasting Township 9 Range 3 E, Williamson, IL 8 abt 1852 Tennessee Female
Tilman Hasting Township 9 Range 3 E, Williamson, IL 6 abt 1854 Tennessee Male
Tennessee Hasting Township 9 Range 3 E, Williamson, IL 4 abt 1856 Kentucky Female
Martin A Hasten Township 9 S Range 1 E, Williamson, IL 34 abt 1826 Tennessee Male
Cynthia A Hasten Township 9 S Range 1 E, Williamson, IL 24 abt 1836 Illinois Female
Sylvester N Hasten Township 9 S Range 1 E, Williamson, IL 4 abt 1856 Illinois Male
Jno Hastin Township 8 S Range 1 E, Williamson, IL 52 abt 1808 Kentucky Male
Sally Hastin Township 8 S Range 1 E, Williamson, IL 37 abt 1823 Kentucky Female
Jno H Hastin Township 8 S Range 1 E, Williamson, IL 19 abt 1841 Kentucky Male
Tabitha Hastin Township 8 S Range 1 E, Williamson, IL 17 abt 1843 Kentucky Female
Geo Hastin Township 8 S Range 1 E, Williamson, IL 6 abt 1854 Illinois Male
Elizabeth Hastin Township 8 S Range 1 E, Williamson, IL 5 abt 1855 Illinois

Roger

Thanks Wayne. I've visited the links you sent. Very nice site by the way. More investigative work has to be done, but it looks interesting that Monroe County Hestands apparently moved to Williamson County, Illinois. I'll double check my info as well.

I'm not sure if my family is related to the White County Daniel Haston family either. Right now I can only guess that there are relations going to Monroe County, thus back to Abraham. I'm curious about the John Hestand born 1794 in Washington County, Tennessee. Has anyone tracked his descendants?

I found an interesting item for one of John Hasten's (Smith County, TN) descendants who was born in Williamson County around 1900. This person was Delmos Guy Hastings. His gravestone has his last name spelled Hastand. He died in 1938. The Illinois vitals index online also uses that spelling.

Roger

**Wayne's Response**
I know about this 1780s John Haston who lived in Washington County, NC\TN but do not know who he was or how he fits into the genealogical puzzle.

Thanks Wayne. It seems good to include the question of whether John Hasten of Smith County, Tennessee is a descendant of Daniel, along with information on how some of John's descendants moved around.

This morning I mentioned that I'm having second thoughts on John's middle name of Abraham. LDS.org FamilySearch.org, Submission Search: 2406298-0615105165229 listed a Martin or Nathaniel Hasten as the son of John and Mary of Smith County, Tennessee. Separately, I found that Martin and his first wife Cyntha Hogg were living in Williamson County, Illinois in 1860 and 1870, along with many of my ancestors, some of whom were born in Smith County, Tennessee.

I later found the record for Martin Nathaniel's second marriage in Williamson County, Illinois. I thought this was good. The second marriage record said that Martin Nathaniel's father was Abraham Hasten and his mother Mary Gidions.

Recently, I found an Abraham and Mary Hestand who were living in 1850 Jackson County, Illinois with their son Martin. Abraham and Mary are shown with Tennessee as their place of birth. Unless this is a great coincidence, I would say that these are not the same people as John Hasten and his wife Mary of Smith County, Tennessee. The problem is that my ancestors John Hasten and his wife Mary, were living in Smith County, Tennessee in 1850.

There was another family of Hasten's in Jackson County, Illinois 1860 who were from Tennessee. I haven't tracked them yet.

Something else that I found recently was a Thomas Hale born about 1843 who was living with his wife and family in Smith County in 1880. In the household were Martha Jane Hastings, born about 1864, and her brother Robert Washington Hastings, born in 1865, - noted as second cousins to Thomas Hale. I started tracking the Hales. Thomas says his parents were from Virginia. As second cousins they would share one of Martha Jane and Robert Washington Hastings' great grandparents. Martha and Robert were grandchildren of John and Mary Hasten. Martha Jane and Thomas Hale married in 1886 in Smith County. I don't know yet if Thomas' first wife Sarah J. Denton died or if they divorced. Point of all of this is that I'm hoping the common great grandparents might have a tie to the Hasten family in Virginia.

Roger