Washington County, Tennessee (was Virginia) Carter County, Tennessee Sullivan County, Tennessee
East Tennessee is part of Appalachia. At the end of the French and Indian War, colonists began drifting into the area. In 1769, they first settled along the Watauga River. During the Revolution, the Overmountain Men defeated British loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain. The State of Franklin was formed in the 1780s, but never admitted to the Union.
John married in 1839 in Washington County, Tennessee.
Sullivan County is in far northeast corner of Tennessee between North Carolina and Virginia and was originally part of those states. It was formed in 1779 when it was divided from Washington County.
Washington County, Virginia was formed from Fincastle County in 1777. It originally contained Sullivan County, Tennessee.
Carter County, Tennessee was organized from Washington County on April 9, 1796. Elizabethton is the county seat.
The Massengills, Massengales and Variants, 1472-1931 by Samuel Evans Massengill, M.D. The King Printing Company, Bristol, Tennessee, 1931.
David Humphreys' wife was named Betsy, but her surname is not positively recalled. However, her maiden name is throught to have been Betsy Hart. His daughter Catherine (Humphreys) Smith, was know to have been closely related to William Hart and her youngest child was known to have been named William Hart Smith.
Some of the Humphreys descendants lived on Muddy Creek in Sullivan County, Tenn. Catherine knew a great many people on Garland's Branch near Watauga, [Carter County] Tenn., and it is likely that she was akin to the Humphreys who are mentioned frequently on the early records of Washington County, Tenn.
