| David
Anderson Deaderick |
In
March, 1819, David Deaderick sailed with his uncle, James
Aiken, from Philadelphia for England. He visited nearly every
place of interest in England and Scotland, and spent the
winter of 1819 and 1820 in London. He and his uncle went
to Scotland to get an estate left by Mr. Aiken's father.
In March, 1820, he sailed for home from London, and reached
New York in May, about six weeks after leaving London. Of
this voyage he kept two manuscript volumes, which were burned
when fire destroyed his house during the siege of Knoxville,
by the Federal authorities.
His second wife was his cousin,
Sarah Ann Helms. A few years after his marriage to his third
wife, David Deaderick removed from Jonesboro to Knoxville.
Here he was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church. About
the year 1832 David Deaderick and two other gentlemen were
appointed by the State Legislature Commissioners to supervise
improvements in the Tennessee River at "the Suck" which
through the courtesy of the government were conducted under
the United States Topographical Department; and it was during
this service that David Deaderick performed the wonderful
and perilous feat of swimming through that terrible whirlpool
of waters called the "Boiling
Pot."
December 1838, a branch of the South Western Railroad
Bank of Charleston, South Carolina, was established at Knoxville,
and David A. Deaderick was elected cashier on January 8,
1839.
May 4, 1849, David A. Deaderick and his son John Crozier
Deaderick, in a company of forty one under the leadership
of his brother-in law and cousin, General Alexander Outlaw
Anderson, left Knoxville with sixteen wagons for the gold
fields of California. Taking the southern trail through Texas
and Mexico, they wintered in Santa Fe for three winter months
and arrived at the Sonora gold mines 16 May 1850, a year
and ten days after leaving Knoxville. David A. Deaderick
wrote an account of this trip in his register. David A. Deaderick
returned to Knoxville 26 Mar 1851.
13 Dec 1852, he was appointed
pension agent for the Knoxville office. About 1854 he was
elected clerk and master for the Knoxville bar and remained
in this office until 1868.. David A. Deaderick is buried
in the old Gray cemetery in Knoxville.
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Note from
Jen:
My dear, departed cousin, Anna Mary Moon, writing
her family accounts in 1933 occasionally felt the need to
graze over some topics, as you can see from the fleeting
mentions of a second and third wife without mention of a
first. I am not clear as to why Adelaide Eliza Jackson is
not mentioned. Perhaps there was some scandal. Who knows.
Here is some of what Miss Anna Mary didn't mention because
she either didn't know or didn't want us to know.
In 1860 David A. Deaderick
wrote an account
of filibustering with William Walker in Nicaragua for the
Atlantic under
the assumed name Samuel Absalom. It is a wonderful read,
worth downloading from the Atlantic
archives
His diary is now in the manuscript
collection at the Library
of Congress, which Anna Mary could not have know in
1933. It is quoted frequently as a historical
source, as one can find through a quick search of his name
in Google
Books. He was a witty and intelligent writer,
at times displaying the amused cynicism of his contemporary,
Mark Twain. I have not yet had the chance to read the diaries
in their entirety, but I sure hope to soon.
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