Caruthers Family in Tennessee

The majority of the Caruthers family in Tennessee originated with a branch of the Carruthers in Scotland that either migrated themselves, or their sons migrated first to Pennsylvania, then on to North Carolina, then on to Tennessee.   One James Carruthers, who was born in Scotland but then immigrated to Ireland, had 4 children who went on to Pennsylvania in time for one, James, to fight at the Battle of Kittanning Point in 1756.  The 3 brothers, John, James and Andrew, (James and Andrew were twins), all fought in the Revolutionary war, with John and James also recorded as serving in the French and Indian War.  About the same time, their uncle, Robert Carruthers (spelling changed to Caruthers), met them in Pennsylvania and traveled on to North Carolina.  Andrew later joined his uncle in North Carolina, settling in to Cabarrus County.

North Carolina had its own problems and Robert was thick in the middle of it.  He was a Regulator, who tried to bring fairness to the justice system and taxation process.  Robert was involved in the so-called "Black Boys" of Mecklenburg County, who destroyed the powder of General Waddell during the Regulation War.  After the Battle of Alamance in 1771, often called the "first battle of the Revolutionary War", many of the Regulators started moving further west to escape the tyrannical British justice.  Several of Robert's children eventually settled in Tennessee, including his son Samuel, the father of a significant family in Tennessee history.

This Samuel Caruthers married Jane Looney and had 3 sons - David Looney Caruthers, Robert Looney Caruthers and Abraham Caruthers.  David Looney Caruthers' son Samuel, served in the 33rd and 34th sessions of Congress.  Abraham Caruthers was a judge and, along with his brother Robert Looney Caruthers, co-founded the law school at Cumberland University, only the 2nd law school in the South at that time.  Robert Looney Caruthers served as Attorney General of Tennessee from 1827 to 1832, a state legislator, a member of Congress and a justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court.  In 1863, Robert Looney Caruthers was elected Governor of Tennessee, but was never inaugurated because Abraham Lincoln had appointed Andrew Johnson as Military Governor of Tennessee when Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1862.

Caruthers still reside in Tennessee and Southeast Missouri, where Caruthersville, Missouri was named after Samuel Caruthers, son of David Looney Caruthers.

Surnames found on this genealogy chart include:

Caruthers, Carruthers, Henderson, Neely, Fitzsimmons, Barr, Vickers, Hatfield, Boal, Zimmerman, Hope, Caldwell, Sadler, Miller, Gillespie, Patillo, Looney, Britton, Arnett, Valandingham, Layman, McGraw, Smith, Phelps, Ridley, Sheppard, Harris, Barroll, Vail, Anderson, Talbert, Flemming, Jones, Chilton, Stark, Nifong, Hill, Blanks, Oaks, Schulte, Law, Nicholson, Spivey, Buckner, Lamkin, Anthony, Boswell, Golding, Swayze, Herzinger, Allen, Campbell, Kelsey, Carter, Emmee, Gracey, McCall, Davis, Crawford, Lawrance, Saunders, Maupin, Baird