Our earliest known Coulter lineage can be traced back to Alexander Coulter whom we estimate was born about 1740. We do not know if he was an immigrant or if perhaps his parents were the first immigrants. Research is ongoing by many genealogists to solve this puzzle. Alexander Coulter first appeared Feb. 13, 1765 in Rowan County, North Carolina as a witness to a deed made from Thos. Cook, tailor, to Wm. McConnell, innholder. He was also a witness on a deed in Mecklenburg County July 1768, when Wm. Byers purchased land on Bullock Creek, later recorded in Tryon County 1769.

Tradition says he was Scotch-Irish, and at that time, a young man ready to try his fortune on the western frontier of N. C. About his fortune, we know not, but he did buy and sell several tracts of land in Tryon and Rutherford Counties. Alexander Coulter did participate in the Revolutionary War in some form or fashion. Several of his female descendants have qualified for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution.

In 1771, Alexander Coulter married Mrs. Mary Moore born about 1740 and the widow of William Moore. Alexander and Mary's marriage is evident in the court minutes of Old Tryon County, N. C. as given in the biography of Wm. Moore in this book. Mary had three small children when they married. Mary and Alexander Coulter had three sons and one daughter born in Rutherford County (now Polk County) on Green River near or in the direction of White Oak Fort. He sold his last tract of land in Rutherford County in 1794 and appeared in Knox County, Tennessee buying land soon after. His deed in Knox County is witnessed by Alexander Coulter (Jr.), who would have just turned twenty-one years of age. The last reference we have to Alexander Coulter (Sr.) is in Roane County, Tennessee 1807, when he sold "land I now liveth on." He probably moved down to Bledsoe County, Tennessee with his sons.

The children of Mary and Alexander Coulter (Sr.) are as follows:

James Coulter, b 4-1-1772, d 1849 Arkansas, m Catherine Tunnell 7-6-1792;

Alexander Coulter (Jr.), b. 8-16-1775, d 3-28-1853 Walker County Georgia, m
Margaret McReynolds Jan. 1804 Roane County Tennessee

Thomas Coulter, b 10-20-1777, d 1826 Bledsoe County Tennessee, m Louisa (Lucy) Johnston 1-27-1800 Knox County Tennessee

Elizabeth Coulter, b 1781 listed in the Bible of Alexander Coulter (Jr.), but nothing known about her

Delilah Coulter, b 5-1-1786, d 3-19-1860 Bledsoe County Tennessee, m Jonathan Pope about 1808, not listed in Bible but said to be a daughter.


The following newspaper article contains information about several Coulter families, all of which are descendants of Alexander Coulter, Sr.

CHATTANOOGA FREE PRESS - SUNDAY, MARCH 20, 1994

COULTER FAMILY NAME CLOSELY TIED TO SALE CREEK, FUNERALS

Sale Creek was one of the earliest settled areas in Hamilton County, and the Coulters have always been identified with Sale Creek.

About the time of the formation of Hamilton County in 1819, Thomas Coulter, son of James Coulter, obtained a deed for 420 acres "in Rhea County on Sale Creek."

Though his parents, James Coulter and Catherine Tunnell, and most of the rest of the family eventually moved on to Arkansas, Thomas Coulter stayed on to farm the rich lands at the base of Waldens Ridge. In 1820 he transferred a piece of his property near the mouth of Rock Creek to his neighbor, John Patterson, as the site for a grist mill. The mill was constructed by Abel Pearson, who was also a minister. That mill was later sold to the McDonalds. For many years, it ground corn for the Sale Creek community and it also served soldiers from both armies during the Civil War. Union soldiers, in guarding the mill, dug gun pits into the hill above it. The mill operated until the 1930's when a flood washed the dam away. Lumber from the mill was used in building several houses at Sale Creek.

Thomas Coulter, son of James Coulter, had been born in North Carolina in 1795 just before the family left Rutherford County to go to the pioneer settlement at Knox County. His grandfather, Alexander Coulter, Sr. was born around 1740 and in 1771 married Mary, widow of William Moore. Alexander Coulter, Sr. pushed on from Knox County by 1807.

Two of Alexander Coulter, Sr.'s sons, Alexander Jr. and Thomas, were in the War of 1812, with Thomas serving as a brigadier general of the East Tennessee Militia. This Thomas Coulter died at Bledsoe County in 1826. Alexander Coulter, Jr. married Margaret McReynolds and they moved from Marion County, Georgia. Alexander Coulter, Jr. was an Indian trader, sawmill and gristmill operator, saddler and silversmith. Some of his descendants still live in McLemores Cove, Georgia.

James Coulter, another son of Alexander Coulter, Sr. married Catherine Tunnell in 1792. Their 15 children included the Thomas Coulter of Sale Creek. James Coulter died in Arkansas in 1849 after moving there with most of the rest of his children in the 1830's.

Thomas Coulter, son of James Coulter, had married Rebecca Parks in Roane County in 1815. Her mother, Ruth Parks, left slaves to her Coulter grandchildren that were deeded in 1828. One grandson who was named for the Parks side of the family - James Parks Coulter - received a young male slave. Margaret Coulter was given the slave Keziah and Catherine Coulter received the slave Melinda.

Another son of Thomas Coulter was Thomas Jefferson "Jeff" Coulter. He married Providence Jane McDonald, while another son of Thomas Coulter; James Parks Coulter married Mary Ann McDonald, sister of his brother's wife. Another brother, Robert W. Coulter, married America W. Clift, a daughter of Col. William Clift. Another son was John Jerome Coulter, whose wife was Arabella. The youngest son, Milo B. Coulter, moved into Chattanooga and was a merchant with Daniel Rawlings. Ruth Coulter was the youngest daughter of Thomas and Rebecca Coulter.

Thomas Coulter was chosen as postmaster when Sale Creek got its own post office in 1841. He held that position for about the next 15 years. He and his sons, James Parks Coulter and John Jerome Coulter, were leaders of the Sale Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

The Sale Creek section where those Coulters lived came to be known as Coulterville.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Jeff Coulter had to make a difficult decision on which army he would join. He was appointed commander of the Hamilton County Militia by Gov. Isham Harris, but he had pro-Unionist sentiments. He decided not to take part in the war. James Parks Coulter was also not a combatant since he was over 40 years old and walked with a limp. Milo Coulter was a jailer during the war years at Swaim's Jail, where the Andrews Raiders were held.

Thomas Coulter died in 1876, when he was over 80 years old. Rebecca Parks Coulter died at Coulterville in 1881 when she was nearly 88.

One of the best known Coulters was Robert Jerome Coulter, a son of Jeff Coulter. Born in 1868, he ran a department store at Dayton, then he went into the undertaking business at age 30. His first funeral home was at Dayton, but in 1922 he started the R. J. Coulter Funeral Home in Chattanooga. The business success of "Uncle Bob Coulter" was largely attributed to his friendly manner. He greeted strangers with the resounding "I'm Bob Coulter from Coulterville, by guy!" Though R. J. Coulter died in 1939, the Coulter mortuary business remains in operation today.

Gertrude Coulter, a daughter of Adolphus J. Coulter, in 1902 married William H. List, an Indian man whose brother had earlier settled at St. Elmo. List for many years was the leader in the thriving strawberry and peach business in the Sale Creek vicinity.

Many descendants of Thomas Coulter still live in the Sale Creek area. They include twin sisters Mrs. Billie Coulter Garrison of Dayton and Mrs. Betty Coulter Williamson of Soddy-Daisy, whose families are still in the funeral business. Others include Luther G. Coulter, who was Sale Creek postmaster for almost 40 years, and Alyne List, daughter of Gertrude Coulter List.

Currently there are 10 seventh-generation descendants of Thomas Coulter living in Sale Creek. They are identified as Angie and Alan Coulter, Sarah and Lanita Aslinger, Laura and Cathy Coulter, Andrew, Benjamin and Allison Coulter and Hugh Coulter.

Curtis N. Coulter, a teacher at Sale Creek School, has written several books on the Sale Creek community. He lives on a portion of the original 420-acre Coulter homestead.

Roane County, Tennessee was established with an act of the Legislature on November 1, 1801.

Was her maiden name STEELE?