Grandson of Abraham
Jacob Pennington settled on the banks of the Big Buffalo River in Lawrence County, Tennessee around 1816. Also settling in Lawrence County at that time were Jacob's adult sons Moses, Abraham, William, Isaac, and David.
Jacob Pennington's story begins in South Carolina as his family is listed in the 1790 census of the Ninety Six District, Spartanburg County. The listing gives "Jacob Penengton" as head of household consisting of 1 free white male over 16 years of age (this would be Jacob), 6 free white males under 16 years of age, and 3 females.
Jacob later moved to Georgia, as he received headright bounty land grants in Franklin Co., GA in 1795 and 1801. He migrated yet again, being listed on the Giles County, TN list in 1812 before settling in Lawrence County, TN after the Big Buffalo region was opened to white settlement by a treaty with the Chickasaw Indians. In the 1820 Lawrence County census, Jacob and his wife were listed as being over 45 years old. His five sons, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, William, and David were all heads of their own households, each being listed as 26-45 years old.
Jacob apparently died during or before 1827 as his estate was settled on 22 November of that year. The settlement lists his five sons among the heirs and also lists Elizabeth Matthews, Mary Burns, Leroy Burns, John Pennington, and B.S. Burns. Elizabeth and Mary are believed to be have been a daughters who married T.J. Matthews and Leroy Burns, respectively. The identity of John Pennington is uncertain, but he may be the John Pennington (born in the 1770s) who owned land in the Maple Swamp Creek area in SC and who, like Jacob, had a close association with the Burns family. Ruth Dickey, the foremost genealogist of Jacob's line, believes John Pennington to be a son of Jacob, probably one of the 6 free white males listed in Jacob's household in the 1790 census. Robert Walden Coggeshall, whose wife was a descendant of John Pennington of Greenville, Co., SC, wrote a book "Ancestors and Kin" which contains much info and speculation on the John Pennington and his probable connection to Jacob Pennington of Lawrence Co., TN.
Many researchers including Mrs. Dickey believe Jacob of Lawrence County, TN to be the same Jacob listed as a son in the 1760 Berkeley County, SC will of the elder Isaac Pennington. If so, he would have to have been born around 1739 and would thus have been around 78 years old at the time he migrated to Lawrence County. Other researchers argue that the Jacob of Isaac's will is Jacob Pennington who died in Logan County, KY around 1801. According to these researchers, Jacob of Lawrence County, TN was most likely the son of Isaac's brother, the elder Jacob Pennington. Jacob, son of Jacob, would have been born after the writing of the elder Jacob's will in 1762, but early enough to have reached adulthood by 1789 when the elder Jacob's affairs related to his three youngest children (Ruth, Naomi, and Jacob) were finalized. This scenario would place the younger Jacob's age at the time of the Lawrence County settlement as around 51.
In the book "Ancestors and Kin", Robert Walden Coggeshall wrote extensively on a John Pennington of Greenville Co., SC, who he believed to be a son of Jacob. Because of the year of John's birth (1777, as given on his tombstone), Coggeshall argued that Jacob of Lawrence Co., TN must have been too old to be the son of the elder Jacob (if Jacob had a son in 1777, he himself was probably born before 1762). Plus, Coggeshall felt that a close reading of the various South Carolina deeds and records mentioning Jacob Pennington revealed evidence of an additional Jacob who could probably be assigned as the son of the elder Jacob. Coggeshall believed that Jacob of Lawrence Co., TN was the son of Abraham Pennington's sons John or Abraham-2.
Although none of theories is entirely satisfactory, my own view is that Jacob is most likely the son of the elder Jacob. More research is clearly needed!!! However, under each scenario mentioned above, Jacob of Lawrence County, TN can be placed as a grandson of Abraham Pennington, progenitor of Group 8.
Jacob's descendants probably number in the tens of thousands. For instance, my great grandfather Buck Pennington (1856-1892) has somewhere around 1,000 descendants. Yet Buck was only one of Jacob's numerous great grandchildren. Large concentrations of Jacob's descendants may be found in the following locations (please contact me if you are aware of others):
The following descendants of Jacob settled near Arkadelphia (each given with his connection to Jacob):