ZDUTTON – Re: Frying pan

DuttonNC@aol.com wrote: 
> Dutton cousins:
> It's going to take me a while to look into this 
> Dutton-Parrish connection but I believe that at
> least the fundamental truths to be is that Z. Dutton
> married Judith Parrish (his second wife) and they had 
> no children.  According to family legend (which I had 
> heard before I became interested in my family tree) was 
> that S.S. Dutton had hit his MOTHER-IN-LAW and had to
> leave.

I thought he married Betsy Threadgill AFTER he ran away to
Anson County-- how could he hit his mother-in-law in the
head with a frying pan BEFORE he was married? And why would
his father be upset with him for attacking his
mother-in-law, anyway? Some in-laws would be pleased.

It's funny how stories like this get distorted over the
generations. In some cases, we'll never know the "real
truth". My great-great-grandfather James Zachary Dutton
never served in the War Between The States, but my
Great-Granddaddy Dan Dutton always had "a Civil War story"
to tell, about an encounter between his father James Z.
"Jim" Dutton and a group of soldiers. To this day, my
relatives can't agree whether it was Union or Confederate
soldiers-- although Uncle Louie Dutton (Dan's oldest son)
seems to remember it best, and says they were Union. I
agree, although that fact doesn't mean much to the story;
either side could and would have done what these soldiers
did:  

It was during the battle of Union Col. Streight's Raid
through North Alabama, and this group of soldiers met Jim
Dutton riding down the road on his horse. They stopped him,
and forced him to guide them to the Day's Gap, where the
opposing forces were fortified. When they got there, the
commander ordered his men to take Jim's horse. But Jim
pleaded with them not to, as it was the only horse he had
and his family depended on it for their well-being. So the
commander relented, and only took Jim's saddle. 

I guess Confederate soldiers wouldn't have needed a guide;
and it's always a lot more fun to tell nasty stories about
the Yankees.  :)  There was a famous battle at Day's Gap--
at least, locally famous. That's where the early Day family
of Morgan County lived, and the engagement itself actually
took place in the family cemetery. Six soldiers were killed,
and they were buried right there in the cemetery. This
cemetery contains the remains of most of the early Days,
including David Day, their progenitor, and many of his
children, who married into the Penn, Gibson, Sherrill,
Turrentine, and Simpson families, among others. Judge David
Day and Elizabeth Day, who married Cyrena Jane Dutton and
James Dutton, children of Edmund Dutton, were grandchildren
of David Day, Sr.-- the children of Richard Byrd Day and
Elizabeth Penn (daughter of Stephen Penn). (All of the
above, by the way, are buried at Friendship and not at Day's
Gap.) Seana Day, another child of David Day, Sr., married
Martin J. Turrentine, and they were the parents of Richard
J. Turrentine, who married Sarah Jane Dutton (daughter of
Thomas); James David Turrentine, who married Margaret
Elizabeth Day, daughter of David Day and Cyrene Jane Dutton;
and Thomas Jefferson Turrentine, who married Sarah Alice
Dutton, daughter of James Dutton and Elizabeth Day. This
business of cousin-marryin' was quite common in the Day
family. :)  Anyway, I tried one day to hike down to
Day-Speegle Cemetery, as it is known today. I couldn't find
it, but I did manage to get lost, bruised up, and exhausted.
Next time, I think I'LL need a guide.

Cousin Joseph