Submitted by:
James
D. Scrape was born about 1790 in England and came to America during the War of
1812 as a member of the King’s Royal Navy. During this time of war many
Englishmen chose not to fight against their kinsmen and James was one of these.
James
married Sarah D. Elder in Rutherford County, TN about 1816. Sarah was the
daughter of William Elder IV and Nancy Marie “Mary” Towler. Sarah was born
in Virginia about 1800. Mary was the daughter of Benjamin Towler and Martha
Darby. Benjamin served as a private on the Virginia Line during the American
Revolution and was at Yorktown, Virginia when Lord Cornwallis surrendered to
General George Washington in 1781. James Scrape was a sign maker and painter, as
well as a wagon maker. James and Sarah had they following children William Henry
Scrape, James Scrape, Eliza Eleanor Scrape wife of Richard Bartley McGee, Susan
M. Scrape wife of Samuel Watkins Hatchett, Fanny W. Scrape who died an infant,
Sarah E. Scrape wife of William Carroll McGee and W. W. Harrison and Amanda A.
Scrape wife of Franklin Elder. James D. Scrape died in Gibson County, TN in 1843
and Sarah D. Elder Scrape died in 1847. Sarah’s brothers were Thomas
Elder who moved back to Dinwiddie County, Virginia, Amanda Elder who married
John Tomlin, George Elder, Benjamin Elder who married Eliza Wade, Mary J.
“Polly” Elder who married William C. Crisp, William Elder Jr. who married
Sarah “Lucy” Ramsey, James Elder the Memphis bank president who married
Elizabeth H. Niles, Robert T. Elder who married Isabella Niles, Monroe B. Elder
who married Lucy A. Barber, John Wesley Elder the Trenton Bank President who
married Martha Gillespie Houston and Henry Lucas Elder who married Harriet N.
Houston
Colonel
William Henry Scrape Sr. was the son of James D. Scrape of England and Sarah D.
Elder of Virginia. William was born in May 1818 in Rutherford County, Tennessee
near Murfreesboro. About 1837 William along with his parents and siblings
moved to Gibson County, Tennessee where he lived until about 1873. William was
in the Dry goods and grocery business in Trenton, TN with his partner Richard
Bartley McGee who was also his brother-in-law. William was in the Insurance
business and was an elected
Notary Public for four years July 6,1846 in Trenton, TN. In my family’s
history it is noted that William served as Colonel during the Civil War as well
as two of his son serving in the 7th Tennessee Calvary. They
were James Weston Scrape and George Alexander Scrape. William married Frances
Elizabeth Wysong of Franklin County, Virginia on October 24, 1844 in Trenton, TN
and they had the following children: James Weston Scrape, George Alexander
Scrape, William Henry Scrape Jr. who was a Postmaster in Estelleville, Memphis,
TN and a druggist, Mary Ou’tessie Scrape known as Tessie who married James
Campbell, Lee Herbert Scrape and Frances E. Scrape who married known as Fannie
and married William Thomas Pittman.
About 1861 Frances Wysong Scrape passed away. William married his second
wife Eliza M. Baber on October 9, 1862 in Trenton, TN and they had they
following children. Francis “Frank” Scrape, Isabelle Virginia Scrape known
as Belle who married Dr. James M. Hanna and moved to Grady County, OK and Annie
Scrape.
Col.
Scrape was formerly a resident of this city, having moved here in 1837, and
remained a citizen of Trenton and vicinity until 1870,when he removed to
Arkansas. He was in the dry goods business here in the firm of Scrape &
McGee.
William’s father James D. Scrape had started building a plantation home in Trenton in 1839 but died before the home was finished. William finished the building of the home and he and his family lived there until 1865 when William sold it to a relative William E. Elder, just after the Civil War. The Old Scrape Home Place still stands to this day on High Street in Trenton. Local history in Trenton tells of how General Robert E. Lee spent a few nights in the home during the Civil War.
James D. Scrape was my third great grandfather, and William Henry Scrape Sr. was my second great grandfather and it has been a great pleasure for me to find his grave and to learn about him and my ancestors. It is my sincere hope that by telling this story that I may help someone make a connection to there past.