Webb Family Tree - Person Sheet
Webb Family Tree - Person Sheet
NameJohn Lewis Deweese 1479,1480,1481,376
Birth4 Jan 1851, Cookeville, Putnam County, TN, USA1482,1483,1484,1485,1486,1487
Death14 Jan 1941, Franklin, Williamson County, TN, USA376,1480,1486,1488
MemoDied of BronchoPneumonia at home of daughter Sallie Rust on Franklin Rd.
Burial15 Jan 1941, Smyrna Cemetery, Cookeville, Putnam County, TN, USA1480,1486
Census1860, Putnam County, TN, USA
MemoAge 9 (family of Claiborne Rogers and Miranda)
Census1880, District 05, Jackson County, TN, USA85
MemoLine 12: John Dewise, age 28 born in Tennessee.
Census1900, Adairville, Logan County, KY, USA1489
MemoLine 81: John Dewees, age 49 born January 1851 in Tennessee. Married ifor 27 years.
Census1911, Moose Jaw, SK, Canada1328
MemoLine 26: John L Dewees, age 60, born January 1851 in the US.
Census1920, District 14, Sumner County, TN, USA1484
MemoLine 56: John Deweese, Age 6?. Born in Tennessee as were both parents. Occupation is farmer. Living with wife Martha, stepdaughter Ruby Freeland, and stepson Claud Freeland
Census1930, District 14, Sumner County, TN, USA1490
MemoLine 5: John L Deweesie, Head of house. Age 75 first married at age 21. Born in Tennessee, living with his wife Martha J. and 25 year old daughter Ruby M. John was age 21 when first married.
Census1940, District 06, Williamson County, TN, USA1491
MemoLine 8: John L Dewese, age 89, born in Tennessee. Widowed.
OccupationFarmer376
Eye colorGrey
Hair colorBrown
Height5’8”
Immigration11 Mar 1910, SK, Canada376,1492
Residenceabt 1920, TN, USA376
MemoReturned to Tennessee after about a decade in Canada
FlagsDeceased
FatherJohn Deweese (1815-1862)
MotherMiranda Blackburn (1818->1900)
Spouses
Birth14 Nov 1855, TN, USA376,1330,1496,1497
Death9 Apr 1913, SK, Canada376,1496,1497,1498
MemoRegistration # 2032--Sarah E Dewees, died 4/9/1913
BurialSmyrna Cemetery, Cookeville, Putnam County, TN, USA1496,1497
FatherJoseph D Bartlett (1827-1863)
MotherElizabeth Ann Terry (1828->1880)
Marriage18 Jul 1872, Overton County, TN, USA376
Marr MemoWitnessed by G. W. Terry and G. W. Amerson
ChildrenMiranda Elizabeth (1873-1947)
 Henry Jasper (1876-1958)
 Robert E Lee (1878-1970)
 Johnnie Tennessee (1881-1958)
 Mary Etta (1882-1947)
 Alice Margaret (1885-1945)
 Sallie Cleveland (1887-1957)
 Hugh Terry (1889-1952)
 Charles Samuel (1892-1954)
 Clara May (1894-1960)
 Brown Godwin (1896-1967)
Birth24 Jun 1867, Sumner County, TN, USA1500,1501,1502
MemoDeath certificate lists birth as June 24, 1867
Death31 Oct 1934, Sumner County, TN, USA1500,1320,1502
BurialSulphura Cemetery, Sulphura, Sumner County, TN, USA1503,1320,1502
FatherVincent Markham Brown (1826-1915)
Marriage22 Sep 1918, Sumner County, TN, USA376,89
Marr MemoMarried by L L Yeagley
Notes for John Lewis Deweese
According to Laura Beard, he lived in Cummins Mills, Jackson County, TN.1504

The following is the historical background given in Jean McClendon Gibson’s DeWees family history.376 The historical background is written by Archie Dewees McClendon.

Very little is known about the ancestry of the Dewees family; what is known has been handed down “word of mouth” from generation to generation and is veiled in legends.

The thoughts of the older members of our family are, that we are descended from the Dewees lineage put forth in the book entitlled “The Dewees Family” collected by Mrs. Philip E. La Manyan (nee Dewees) and printed by Wiliam H. Roberts in 1905 at Morristown, PA.1505 In this book the name Dewees was derived from the Dutch expression De Wees, meaning “the orphan” and was given to one Jan Pietre De Wees, upon his being adopted when he was a baby. This seems quite likely, as in ancient times most people were named after their occupations or circumstances. From this Jan Pietre Dewees one descendant, Garret Dewees along with his wife, daughter and three sons, emigrated to New York in the year 1688. One of these sons, Lewis Dewees, settled in Philadelphia and then moved to Delaware where he raised his children. His descendants then scattered, settling in the Southern and South-Western states. It is from his line that our Grandfather, John L. Dewees is believed to have descended.

According to legend, somewhere along the line two brothers had a dispute over financial matters and one of the brothers changed his name by adding an E. This accounts for the two different ways of spelling Dewees(e).

Our Grandfather, John L. Dewees, who was a tiller of the soil, raised his family (a full dozen) in Tennessee. He, along with the majority of the family, emigrated to Saskatchewan, Canada in 1910. The only two remaining in the U.S.A. being Miranda and Johnny. After a decade of farming in Saskatchewan, the whole clan removed themselves back to the U.S.A.; this time leaving daughters Alice and Clara in Canada. Upon returning to the U.S.A. they scattered far and wide; John L. Dewees and son Terry, resettled in Tennessee; sons Charlie and Brown in New York State, Jasper in Oregon, Bob in California’ daughters Mary and Belle in California.

Thus it is that we are now spread over the land from the Easter part of U.S.A. to the Western coast, as well as from the middle section of Canada to the Western shores.376
Last Modified 2 Apr 2025Created 11 Feb 2026 using Reunion for Macintosh
All sources of data are documented on the “Person Sheet” for each individual. My early data often came from less-than-reliable sources (e.g., “Sarah’s genealogy pages”). If the only sources for a person is something like that or worse there is no listed source for data, please take the information as only a suggestion and not a fact.

(C) Richard Webb, 2026. All rights reserved.