William Tisdale caught my eye for one reason. He died c1804 in Greenville County, South Carolina and two of his legatees were Aron Hiet (Aaron Hiett or Hiatt, Hyatt, etc) and Aquilla BRASHER.

Aquilla was most definitely of interest to me, but the Hiatts were part of the FAN club, too. In 1810, William “Hyet”, over 45, was living next door to T. Brasure, over 45 on one side and Aron Hyet on the other side.

Given the neighborhood, I theorize that Thomas Brasher, or one of his sons, married a Tisdale daughter and the same for Aaron Hiett, who was in the 16-26 age bracket in 1810. He’s likely closer to 25 to be married and a legatee in 1804.

The 1790 census of Greenville County, South Carolina included a number of familiar names on image 81: Wm. Tisdale, Saml Brasure, James Hiatt, Hans Black, David Black, Thos Brasure and Michael Robins. The images before and after also listed John Pyle, James Seaborn, John Steele, John Hamby and Jacob Black.

William Tisdale was born c1757, place unknown and died by 27 February 1804 in Greenville County, South Carolina when John McElroy was appointed as administrator along with widow Mary Tisdale.

There were some definite ties to the Brashers as not only was Aquilla a legatee, but he owed the estate 37 1/2 cents. Lawrence Brasher owed $1.75, Henry Brasher owed a whopping $38.75 and one James Hiett owed $5.00 to the estate.

There is little online information in trees about William Tisdale. However, what I did find confused William Tisdale Sr., who married Mary McElroy, and died in 1804 with their son, William Tisdale Jr., of Caldwell County, Kentucky, who died in 1817.

The 1800 census of Greenville County again includes the William Tisdale family in the enumeration.

We find:

Male, 26-45 (William)
Female, 26-45 Mary)
Female, 16-25 (born c1783)(who married John McElroy)
Female, 10-15 (born c1785) who married Aaron Hiett
Female, 10-15 (born c1787) who married Aquilla Brasher
Female, under 10 (born c1789)
Female, under 10 (born c1791)
Female, under 10 (born c1793) who married William Story, 7 January 1822, Caldwell county, Kentucky. [Wm. born c1789]
Male, under 10 (born c1795) John who married Margaret Williams, 13 January 1815, Christian County, Kentucky
Male, under 10 (born c1797)
Male, under 10 (born c1799) Sherrill/Shirley who married Lucy Bennett, 26 March 1821, Caldwell County, KY

From this enumeration, it’s impossible to determine in what order the males and females under 10 were born, but birth years can be estimated.

After William Tisdale Sr. died, the family headed to western Kentucky with many other Brasher FAN club members and settled in Caldwell County, Kentucky.

Widow Mary Tisdale married Elijah Bennett (born c1766) on 31 March 1817, Caldwell County, Kentucky. Elijah was alive on 21 July 1826 when he convyed land to the lawful heirs of his deceased wife, Mary. The heirs were named as William Story, Shirley (Sherrill) Tisdale, James Tisdale, William H. Tisdale and David and Elizabeth Lofland, who relinquished their rights to the land to Stephen and Sally Bennett and Jonathan Cruse, who were also her heirs. That gives a few more clues about the Tisdale family.

David Lofland married Elizabeth Tisdale on 7 April 1824 in Hardeman County, Tennessee, so some of the family must have moved on to Tennessee. Elizabeth was born c1800 so perhaps the family trek from South Carolina went into Tennessee for a short time, too, since all the census records say Elizabeth was born in Tennessee. She didn’t die until 1884 in Yell county, Arkansas.

William Sr.’s son, William, died in 1817 in Caldwell County. Court records there show that Aquilla McElroy was appointed as guardian to William H. Tisdale, born 27 January 1803 and James Tisdale, born 8 April 1805, so the land sale may have coincided with James Tisdale turning 21 years old.

Stephen Bennett was born c1787 and married Sally Cruse on 10 October 1809, Caldwell County, Kentucky.

After digging way down into a rabbit hole, I found no clear ties – such as marriages – between the Brashers, the Bennetts and the Cruse family.

However, I did take a closer look at the Pyle family because that surname popped up frequently.