Josiah Terry

Josiah Terry (1780 – 1868) was an early settler of present-day Scott County who is credited with being the first permanent settler of the Town of Oneida.

Biography

Born in 1780, Josiah Terry was the son of John Terry (1760-1842) and Esther Brown (1765-1848) of Botetourt County, Va. His siblings included Sally Terry, William Terry, George Freeton Terry, Elijah Terry, Elias Terry, Miles Terry and Thomas Terry.

The Terry family, including Josiah’s parents and most of his siblings, moved to Indiana. However, Josiah Terry and his brother Elijah Terry moved to present-day Scott County.

Terry is believed to have married Nancy Thomas in 1806 in Anderson County, Tenn. They had two sons, Joseph Terry and William Terry. He is later believed to have married Nancy Stevens around 1820. Their children included Martin Terry, Rachel Terry Smith, James Terry, Alsie Terry, Edmund Terry, Milton Terry, Ithema Terry Roysdon, Malinda Terry Smith, and Josiah Terry Jr.

Terry’s name first appears in Tennessee on an early tax list in Anderson County (which included part of present-day Scott County) in 1805. However, it has also been written that he and his brother, Elijah, moved to present-day Scott County in 1815.

Death and legacy

According to historian H. Clay Smith in his book, Dusty Bits of the Forgotten Past, Josiah Terry was granted land from Grape Rough Road on the north side of present-day Oneida to the south part of town, about where the Scott Morgan Farmers Co-Op is currently located. Smith states that Josiah Terry and his brother, Elijah Terry, were granted land in 1811.

Josiah Terry died in 1868 at the age of about 87. He was buried at Smith-Penlon Cemetery in Wayne County, Ky. The cemetery is located just across the TN-KY border from Scott County, off S.R. 154 near Pickett State Park. It isn’t clear why he was buried in Wayne County. He was still living in Scott County when the 1860 census was taken, the last census before his death.

Elijah Terry died in 1870 while on a hunting trip near Parch Corn Creek in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. He is said to be buried in an unmarked grave overlooking the creek.

Today, a granite plaque outside the Oneida Municipal Services Building recognizes Josiah Terry as the town’s first settler. His home was built about where North Star Drive-In would later be located on the Four-Lane section of U.S. Highway 27 in Oneida. This is about where Hardee’s is located today.