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ARTICLES
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The Family of Sarah (Delaney) Gann
Sarah’s grandfather, Francis Delaney, with his wife Agnes came to Tennessee from Pennsylvania, via Augusta County, Virginia, where Francis Delaney appears in court records in November 1766 and September 1768.  Francis settled in 1777 in what was then Washington County, North Carolina (later becoming Greene County), taking by occupancy 250 acres on the Little Chucky River.

Francis and Agnes Delaney’s son, James, came with them in 1777 to this new area and settled on Cedar Creek.  James’s brother, John D. Delaney, father of Sarah and Ruth Ann, purchased his first land grant in 1783, for 400 acres in Washington County on Sinking Creek. Later, in 1783, when Greene County was formed from Washington County, that boundary change placed the land occupied by the Delaneys in the new county. But, the property on Cedar Creek was only a little over four miles as the crow flies from Nathan Gann’s farm, and the property on Sinking Creek about twice that far away. 

Francis Delaney died in May 1784, leaving his wife, Agnes, three sons, and three daughters. His will was proven in court by the oaths of Philomon Higgins and John Delaney; the Court ordered that Letters Testamentary be granted to John and James Delaney as executors of their father’s will. Five months later, in October 1784, his son, James, died.*

John D. Delaney lived until 1823 and was the father of 13 children, all born in Greene County. The identity of his wife or wives has not yet been determined.
The children of John D. Delaney were:
  1. John Delaney, born March 4, 1783, in Washington (later Greene) County; married Ruth Sherrill April 30, 1810, in Greene County; he died by February 9, 1857, in Tennessee.
  2. Daniel Delaney, born by 1784; married Elizabeth McGee; he may have died in Oregon.
  3. Jacob Delaney, born December 19, 1790; married Sarah “Sally” Broyles, July 25, 1810, in Greene County; he died November 2, 1831.
  4. Ruth Ann Delaney, born 1798, married William Gann in 1816 in Greene County; Ruth Ann (Delaney) Gann died January 12, 1837, in Nacogdoches County, Texas.
  5. Sarah Delaney, born 1792; married Nathan Gann in 1817 in Roane County, Tennessee; Sarah (Delaney) Gann died April 9, 1856, Titus County, Texas.
  6. Isaac Delaney, born 1793 Greene County, Tennessee; married December 13, 1815, to Rebecca Ann Morrison in Greene County, Tennessee.
  7. Anne Delaney married George Davis March 5, 1799, in Greene County, TN.
  8. David Delaney, died 1839 sans progeny (no children).
  9. Elizabeth Delaney married David Paulsell July 24, 1790, in Greene County; Elizabeth (Delaney) Paulsell died by 1850.
  10. Esther/Easter Delaney married 1802 in Greene County to Isaac Castner; Esther (Delaney) Castner died by 1822.
  11. Jane “Jinny” Delaney married Hugh Kennedy October 17, 1818, in Greene County.
  12. Margaret “Peggy” Delaney, married Jacob Casner 1811 in, Washington County; Margaret (Delaney) Casner died by 1823. Jacob Casner was bondsman for the marriage bond of William Gann and Ruth Ann Delaney in 1816.
  13. Wesley Delaney died by 1850.
This family is particularly well documented because of a court case that focused on the estate of Sarah’s father, John D. Delaney.  Another court case that revealed still more about the family was filed in Greene County Circuit Court, June Term 1847:



John Delaney, heir at law,
and distributee of
David Delaney, dec’d.
v.
George Davis and Ann, his wife,
formerly Ann Delaney, and others.



           
John and David Delaney were bothers of Sarah Delaney Gann. David had died unmarried and in this court case, his heirs contested the settlement of his estate. Both Sarah and Ruth Ann were identified in the David Delaney lawsuit.

In the February 1850 Term, the David Delaney suit, “John…v…David,” named many of the heirs of John D. Delaney. Sarah was identified as "Sarah Delaney Gann, widow of Nathan Gann dec’d of Washington Co.” The suit also named “Ruth Gann dec’d wife of Wm. Gann of Texas.”

Further proof of Sarah (Delaney) Gann’s parentage is found in her father’s will. John Delaney of Greene County made his will on June 22, 1822. Among other provisions he made bequests to both Sarah and her sister, Ruth: 

I give to my daughter Sarah Gann, Eighty seven dollars, which she has received of her portion & I also give unto her Sixty three dollars, to be equally divided between her two daughters, Jinny, & Pamelia, when they shall  be of lawful age to receive it.

I bequeath my daughter Ruth Gann, one hundred & fifty dollars which she has received of her portion.

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*Minutes of Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, 1783–1796, p. 25; Office of the County Clerk, Greene County; Greeneville, Tennessee.
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