He was the law in Hancock County, Tennessee. He laid out roads, settled disputes, collected taxes, and owned 830 acres of East Tennessee farmland. He married three times, fathered children with each wife, and when he died around August of 1860, they buried him in the family cemetery in Sneedville.
This is my 4th great-grandfather — Zachariah Green Trent. And if Matilda, his third wife, is the mystery of my mother’s line, Zachariah is the anchor. He left a paper trail a mile long, and today I’m walking every inch of it with you.
The chain, so you can follow it home: me → my mom, Nancy Lee Gilbert → my grandma Mildred Marie Scheetz → Viola Beatrice Nickerson → Nancy Pratt → Caroline Trent Pratt → Matilda, Zachariah’s wife. Every step mother to daughter, and Zachariah stands right there beside Matilda at the far end of it.
The Offices He Held
Zachariah wasn’t just a farmer who happened to live in Tennessee. The records show a man his community trusted with real authority.
Justice of the Peace — appointed June 11, 1832, in Hawkins County, Tennessee. In frontier Tennessee, a justice of the peace wasn’t a ceremonial title. He married people, settled small disputes, witnessed documents, and kept the peace in a county that was still rough around the edges. When your neighbors pick you for that job, it says something about who you were.
3rd Sheriff of Hancock County, Tennessee — serving 1849–1850. The third man to hold that office in a young county. He would have served papers, collected taxes, kept order, and ridden out to wherever he was needed. Hancock County in 1849 was mountain country — Sneedville, the Clinch River valley, farms carved out of ridges. Being sheriff there meant knowing every hollow and every family.
Now, I want to address something directly, because that’s how we do this. There’s a family story that Zachariah was killed in the line of duty as sheriff. I love that story — what genealogist wouldn’t? But his sheriff service ended in 1850, and he died around 1860. Ten years later. I have no record, no newspaper account, no county document confirming how he died. Until I find proof, it stays out of the fact column. It might even be a different ancestor entirely. Facts only. Always the facts.
The Land
On April 30, 1830, Zachariah acquired 830 acres from Samuel Nicholson. Then on March 18, 1833, he acquired additional land from William D. Trent and Alexander Trent.
Eight hundred and thirty acres. Let that number sit with you for a minute. In 1830 East Tennessee, that wasn’t a farm — that was an estate. That was a man building something meant to last, meant to pass down.
He shows up in the Hawkins County court minutes too: on juries laying out roads in 1831, 1836, and 1837. Present at court in August 1831. Involved in a writ for money owed in July 1838. On the 1836 Hawkins County tax list and the early Tennessee tax records. This is a man woven into the civic fabric of his county — not passing through, but planted.
The Census Trail — Every Decade I Can Find Him
Here’s Zachariah walking through the federal census, decade by decade:
1830 — Hawkins, Tennessee. Seven people in the household. He’s a young man building a family. (NARA Series M19, Roll 178, Page 83.)
1840 — Knox, Kentucky. Just two in the household this time. The family was in transition — and if you’ve followed my Brick Wall Wednesday on Matilda, you know these were complicated years. (NARA M704, Roll 116, Page 315.)
1850 — Sneedville, Hancock County, Tennessee. He’s here with Matilda now, listed as his wife. (Subdivision 32, Roll M432_881, Page 25B.)
1860 — Sneedville, Hancock County, Tennessee. Age 59, farming, with Matilda. And here’s the part that makes every genealogist smile: the enumerator mangled the surname as “Z G Lunt.” Lunt! If you’re searching for this family and can’t find them, try the mangled versions. Enumerators, bless them.
That 1860 census is the last time anyone sees Zachariah on paper. He died about August 1860, in Sneedville. He’s buried in the Trent Cemetery there — Find a Grave Memorial #130592796.
About His Name
You’ll find him as Zachary, Zachariah, and Zechariah Green Trent — and in the records themselves as Zachari, Little Zack, Zak, Zackie, “Z G Trent,” even “Zackasi Trent” and “Fackariah Trent.” I’m mentioning it once so you can find him when you search. That’s just genealogy — names shift like sand, and his is no exception.
Three Marriages
Zachariah was married three times that I can document. Here’s each one, honestly laid out:
1. Naomi Taylor Greene — married 1818, Hawkins, Tennessee. Naomi was born January 7, 1801, in Rowan County, North Carolina, daughter of Jeremiah and Anne (Hartley) Greene. Her maiden name was Taylor — she’d married a Greene first, and was known as Naomi Greene when she married Zachariah. She died December 26, 1877, in Morristown, Hamblen County, Tennessee, and she’s buried in the old city cemetery there.
Seven children I can document: Nancy Trent, John Hicks Trent, James William Trent, Stokely Donaldson Trent, Manila Trent, Cinthea Greene Trent, and Mary Jane Trent. Manila married Jefferson Baker, and their descendants carry this line forward.
2. Myra Singleton — “partners” about 1832, Hawkins, Tennessee. I want to be careful here: the record doesn’t call this a marriage. It says “partners.” Myra (also recorded as Mira, Miriah, Miry) Singleton was born between 1812 and 1814 in Lee Valley, Hawkins, Tennessee. Their children carried “Singleton” as a middle name: Frances “Frankie” Singleton Trent and Lucinda Singleton Trent. There may have been a third girl, Rhoda. Myra later appears as Myra Lawson — she married a Lawson after Zachariah. The records give me “partners, 1832,” and that’s what I’m reporting.
3. Matilda — wife by the 1850 census. My Matilda. She appears as Zachariah’s wife in the 1850 and 1860 censuses. I have no confirmed marriage date for them. Four children I can document: Sarah Jane Trent, Caroline M. Trent, Nancy Trent, and Daniel Lewis Trent.
Now here’s a confusion I want to flag for fellow researchers, because it will trip you up: Zachariah had two daughters named Nancy — one by Naomi (the elder) and one by Matilda. As descendant Caroline Tassey wrote to me: “the two Nancy Trents has caused much confusion.” She’s right. When you’re researching this family, always check which Nancy.
Caroline’s Obituary — The Daughter Who Carried the Line
Caroline Trent Pratt — Zachariah and Matilda’s daughter, my 3rd great-grandmother — got a beautiful sendoff in The Argos Reflector on November 13, 1919. Born June 12, 1845, in Hancock County, Tennessee, she married William Harrison Pratt in 1865, and the paper called their marriage “one long happy and harmonious experience.” Ten children, twenty-nine grandchildren living, four great-grandchildren. She died November 5, 1919, at 74, a faithful member of the Church of Christ at Francesville, Indiana. Through Caroline, Zachariah’s blood runs straight down to my mother, my grandmother, and me.
Her death notice ran in the Weekly Republican the same week (November 13, 1919, p. 5) — and it spells her name “Tratt.” Another variant for the search files. It notes she died Wednesday at 2:45 at her daughter Mrs. Jesse Tomlinson’s home in Argos, suffered a stroke the Saturday before, and her body was shipped Friday to Francesville, Indiana for funeral services.
Pictured left to right: William Harrison Pratt (my 3rd great-grandfather), Orville Nickerson (center), and Caroline Trent Pratt (my 3rd great-grandmother, Zachariah and Matilda’s daughter). The identifications are handwritten on the back of the original — it’s a real photo postcard from the early 1900s, the kind families mailed to each other.
The DNA Backs the Paper
My files carry a research note: “3 Trent lines and their DNA.” A Family Tree DNA Trent Project participant descends from William D. Trent Sr. and Charity Burton — and also from Zachariah G. Trent and Naomi Greene. The Y-DNA results show the William D. Trent line matches the Trent lines of Campbell County, Virginia, including the lines of Alexander Trent.
Zachariah was the son of Alexander Trent, who served in the War of 1812 — and Zachariah was Alexander’s heir, with a War Bounty Land Warrant in his name as Alexander’s heir. The Trent Y-DNA results fall into three distinct groups, and the East Tennessee/Campbell County group — which includes Zachariah’s line — all match each other.
What that means: the DNA supports the paper trail connecting Zachariah to Alexander Trent to the Campbell County, Virginia Trents. The paternal side is solid.
A Same-Name Warning
Fellow researchers, heed this one. In my files there are two Confederate Civil War records for a “Zachariah Trent” — a private in Capt. Patteson’s Company, Virginia Heavy Artillery (Campbell Battery), enlisted March 5, 1862.
That is not our Zachariah. He died about August 1860 — two years before that young man enlisted. This is a different, younger Zachariah Trent, and it’s exactly the kind of same-name trap that can send your research sideways for months. As Caroline Tassey warned me: “there were two Zachariah Trents at that time.” Always check the dates. Always.
What I Still Don’t Know (The Honest List)
How he died. The killed-in-service story is unproven — no record, no newspaper, nothing. It stays out of the fact column until I find proof.
Whether the Native ancestry claim holds. Family tradition says Zachariah was reported to have Native ancestry, and the Bolin line connects to Saponi tradition. But it’s a family/research claim, not a proven fact. I’m still digging.
His exact birth year and place. Between 1801 and 1803, Grayson County, Virginia — though one source says Hawkins, Tennessee. Census ages wander, as we all know.
Why He Matters
Zachariah Green Trent is my 4th great-grandfather, and he’s the reason the Trent line has a paper trail at all. Matilda may be the mystery — but Zachariah is the proof that the family was real, rooted, and respected. A justice of the peace. A sheriff. A landowner. A man whose name shows up in court minutes, tax lists, land deeds, and census rolls across three decades.
And through his daughter Caroline — my 3rd great-grandmother, who married William Harrison Pratt and carried the family from Tennessee to Kentucky to Indiana — his blood runs straight down to my mother, my grandmother, and me.
He left a paper trail a mile long. I just walked it with you.
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Sources
- Justice of the Peace appointment, June 11, 1832, Hawkins County, Tennessee
- Justice of the Peace appointment — National Banner and Nashville Whig (Nashville, TN), November 7, 1829, p. 3 (Newspapers.com)
- 3rd Sheriff of Hancock County, Tennessee, 1849–1850
- Land acquisition: 830 acres from Samuel Nicholson, April 30, 1830; additional land from William D. Trent and Alexander Trent, March 18, 1833
- Hawkins County court minutes: road juries (1831, 1836, 1837); present at court (August 1831); writ for money owed (July 1838)
- 1836 Hawkins County tax list; Tennessee early tax records
- U.S. Federal Census: 1830 Hawkins, TN (NARA M19, Roll 178, Page 83); 1840 Knox, KY (NARA M704, Roll 116, Page 315); 1850 Hancock, TN (Roll M432_881, Page 25B); 1860 Hancock, TN (NARA M653, Page 462 — enumerated as “Z G Lunt”)
- US Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850–1880 — Zachariah G. Trent
- War Bounty Land Warrant — Zachariah Green Trent, heir of Alexander Trent (War of 1812)
- Find a Grave Memorial #130592796 — Zachariah Green Trent, Trent Cemetery, Sneedville, Hancock County, Tennessee
- Tennessee State Marriages, 1780–2002 — Caroline M. Trent marriage record
- Obituary of Mrs. Caroline Pratt, The Argos Reflector, November 13, 1919, p. 1 (courtesy Marshall County Historical Society, Plymouth, Indiana — researched by Judy McCollough, Historical Archive Manager, April 2003)
- Death notice of Mrs. Caroline Tratt, Weekly Republican, November 13, 1919, p. 5 (courtesy Marshall County Historical Society, Plymouth, Indiana)
- Caroline Trent Pratt death certificate, Marshall County, Indiana, Certificate #307 (father “Zachari Trent”)
- Family Tree DNA Trent Project — Y-DNA results, East Tennessee/Campbell County group
- Brick Wall Wednesday #1: Matilda — Who Was She Before She Married Zachariah Green Trent? (conidubois.com) — companion piece on Matilda
- Personal correspondence: Douglas Trent to Rhonda Yamauchi, June 2003; Caroline Tassey to Coni Dubois, May and September 2013
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