| James Emison is a son of J. and Margaret (Bowles) Emison, and is one of seven surviving members of a family of twelve children, and was born in Moore County, N. C., in 1821. The father was born in Ireland about 1802, and came to the United States with an aunt when he was about seven years of age. He was reared in a sparsely settled portion of North Carolina, and received a very limited education. He was married in 1820, and about 1823 came to Tennessee, and settled near Cotton Grove. He came to Crockett County in 1832, and here remained until his death in 1844. His wife was born in North Carolina in 1799, and died in 1874. James Emison was reared under the paternal roof and was educated in the common school of the neighborhood. In December, 1846, he married Sarah Bowlton, of Haywood County (now Crockett), and by her became the father of eight children, five living: William R., Thomas J., John S., J. Henry and J. Hardy. Mr. Emison has been a resident of his present place for nearly forty years and has resided in the neighborhood since about eleven years old. He is now a leading farmer of the Third District, and at one time owned about 350 acres of land. He assisted his children in procuring homes, and still owns 108 acres. He is a Democrat and Mason, and he and Mrs. Emison are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Mrs. Emison was born in North Carolina in 1828. |
