New information was last added to this website on 3/2/07.
Welcome to my website on the Peardon family in Tennessee (and beyond).
A note about how information is presented on the pages:
My pages are set up so that the same, stock information is provided for everyone, where it is known. If you see a blank beside any category (e.g. "Death: "), the blank means that I don't currently have any information regarding this category. If you can supply some dates and/or places where I have none, I would appreciate it.
I try, to the best of my knowledge, to list all children and siblings in order of age, with the eldest first and then so on. On the individual pages, I will insert a person's name into his list of siblings so that you may see where he or she ranked in the birth order. (E.g., Albert's siblings: Martha, Marion, (Albert), Thomas, Grace, etc.) Each Peardon's individual page will also list their spouse, and any family connections that are known for the spouse.
Every person's page has a notes section which tells you what information I gleaned from census(es) or other records, versus what is "family legend", or speculation on my part. Please take family legends with a grain of salt. For that matter, take census records, especially prior to 1900, with a grain of salt. If you can offer different information, it will be posted alongside what I have. If you can offer documented proof, it will replace what I have, except in the case where it contradicts other documents that I have, and so will be placed alongside my information.
To be perfectly honest, I have gathered information on living Peardons from an unknown source. Sometime back when I first started this mission, about 8 years ago, I printed off a list of information on all the Peardons who had descended from William and Elizabeth Morgan Peardon. These records usually contain at least part of a name, plus, frequently, dates and places of birth, spouses, and children. My printout of these records contains no web address, so I have no idea where I found it all those years ago. From what it lists of my family, it's fairly accurate, so I have used its information to expand the family tree. If you find that I have a wrong name, birth order, am missing people or have too many people in your section of the family, pelase let me know.
I have recently discovered that in England, the census takers recorded everyone who had spent the night before in the house. This may explain why I find people's children in other people's homes; a visit to Grandma's or Auntie's during census time may be why children are forever linked to a household that they may have not lived in permanently.
NEW! Due to new information presented by a long-lost distant cousin, I have revised the parentage of William Peardon. We have finally located William's brother, Thomas, and I am in the process of adding Dan Peardon's information on Thomas and his descendants. We are still searching to see if they had a sister which they left behind in England, who was possibly married to a "Shephard".
Known Peardons of the United States (and Their English Ancestors)
I would like to thank Patsy Wooten for the research work she has done for us, and the help she continues to give. I would also like to thank Dan Peardon for providing me with all of Thomas Peardon's information, and that of his descendants, as well as information on William's and Thomas's parents.
How do I read this crazy tree?
The #1 man on the tree is the progenitor of our line, our most distant ancestor. Of course he had parents and grandparents and so on, but I haven’t been able to find them yet, so he’s as far back as we can go.
The #2 men and women on the tree are #1 man’s children. The #3’s are the children of the #2 people. This makes them the grandchildren of #1. Then you just go further down the line, adding “greats”.
How “great” is #1 man to you? Take your number on the tree and subtract three. The remainder is how many “greats” you need to add on. Example: I am a #6. Subtract 3 and you get 3. That makes #1 man on the list, Thomas Peardon, Sr., my great-great-great-grandfather. Then for every level I move down the list, I subtract a “great” to get my relation.
So what about cousins? The first thing you need to know is how to figure the degree of relation in terms of cousin-ness. Most everyone can figure out their first cousins: they are the children of your parents’ siblings. Your father’s and mother’s nieces and nephews are your first cousins. Now, when your first cousins have children, those children become your first cousins once removed. That’s because they are of the same branch of the tree as your first cousin, but they are one generation further removed from your common ancestor. When they have kids, those children become your first cousins twice removed, and so on out the branch of the tree.
Now, figure out who is your father’s first cousins (these are the children of his father’s siblings). These are your second cousins. Their children--which are usually close to you in age--are your second cousins once removed, and so on out the branch. Your grandfather’s first cousins are your third cousins, and so on indefinitely.
In order to read the tree to figure out cousins, start with yourself and then figure out who’s your father’s first cousins, your grandfather’s first cousins and so on up the tree to figure out degrees, then go out on the “branches” to figure out removes.
As a parting history lesson: Did you know that the concept of a “family tree” goes back to at least the middle ages? In the middle ages, people paid genealogists to trace their lineages (oftentimes made up so that they could legitimatize their title(s)!), and they often had painted a tree with all of their illustrious ancestors sitting on the branches.
Why isn't there any information linked to my name?
Originally, I was reluctant to put the names of living persons on this list, just because you can't be too cautious these days, but I finally decided that first names would be okay. There are a lot of living Peardons and living descendants of Peardons and, frankly, it was getting to the point where I couldn't keep the family tree straight when I kept so many people's names off of it. Also, someone may come to this site, knowing they have a Peardon ancestor, but be unable to figure out which one is their ancestor because they can't figure out where they themselves are on the tree.
If you would like to share some information about yourself, please contact me at the e-mail address below and I will add whatever you provide (for safety, please don't include birth year or age). I can also add a link to your personal web site (including MySpace, etc.), your e-mail, and/or a picture if you would like to share those.
Would you like to have a picture of my Great-Great-Uncle So-and-So Peardon?
Yes, please! Please scan it and send it to the e-mail below and I will post it on So-and-So's personal web page so everyone will know what he looked like. Don't worry if the picture is in poor condition. Just send me the best copy you have and I will doctor it up, if need be, in Photoshop. If you like, I can e-mail you the high-quality corrected picture back (the picture on the website will not be as high a quality) so you can have it for your own needs.
