1776-80 - 1847
Alternate Names: Jeff, Jeffery, Jeffy, Jeptha, Jephthue, Dishmon
Jefferson Dishman was the son of Kizzie Dishman and an unknown father, possibly Thomas Dishman. According to census records, he was born sometime between 1776 and 1780 in Iredell county, North Carolina. By 1810, he was married and had started a family with wife Lydia Upchurch.
Read more about Jefferson's likely father, Thomas Dishman, and the Dishman Cherokee claims under Kizzie Dishman's article.
In 1800, Jefferson was presumably still living with his mother Kizzie and his two brothers, Lewis and James. But by 1810, Jefferson was married with at least 5 children.
Jefferson and his wife, Lydia, were presumed to be married circa 1802.
Sometime between 1810 and 1820, Jefferson and his wife Lydia had relocated their family west to Wayne County, Kentucky’s Cumberland region. In the 1820 census, 9 children were listed.
The 1830 census records the Dishman family living in Morgan county, Tennessee, a few miles south of Wayne. A few years later, Jefferson would be the recipient of multiple land purchases and grants bringing him back to Wayne county. By the 1840 census, Jefferson and Lydia were still living in Wayne county and had only 1 adult child still living with them.
Jefferson’s first land purchase was for 126 acres on Otter Creek in Wayne county in 1833. Thomas Jones fronted Jefferson the $150 needed to purchase the land from sellers John and Cynthia Slagle.
At some point before 1836, Jefferson had also acquired 50 acres in Morgan county, Tennessee.
In 1836, he purchased 50 more acres for $100 adjacent to his Wayne county property. Jefferson bought this land from neighbor Abraham Vanwinkle, and it was situated on both sides of Sandy Valley Fork on Otter Creek. That same year, Jefferson was granted a Kentucky Land Warrant for another 50 acres also located on Otter Creek.
In 1842, Jefferson sold some of his Otter Creek property to one of his sons, Moses.
In 1845, Jefferson acquired 75 additional acres on the headwaters of Otter Creek from Thomas Jones. The following year, this property was sold on the Monticello courthouse steps to Thomas Jones due to an unpaid loan for a previous land purchase. Jones then sold the land to Micajah Phillips, who then sold it to Jefferson and Lydia’s son, Moses. Moses eventually sold the land to his uncle, John Upchurch, for the sum of $134.10. In 1847, Jefferson and Lydia officially relinquished their rights the disputed property.
According to family friend Sam Abbott, Sam would go hunting with Jefferson and "Joel" (possibly Jefferson's son Joseph). Jefferson was described as having a lighter complexion than his mother, Kizzie.
Family legends also suggest the Dishman household was known to host large square dances in their Wayne county homes.
In 1847 Lydia relinquished her dower rights to a plot of land sold to her son, Moses, in 1842. These documents suggest Jefferson had died a few months prior. He is reportedly buried in Dishman Cemetery in an unmarked grave.