Larkin Cross
Larkin W. “Lark” Cross (1823-1862) was a Scott County man murdered by Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.
Biography
Born Feb. 23, 1823, Larkin Cross was the son of Louis Micajah Cross (1780-1846) and Lovis Duncan (1799-1887). He was one of six siblings. His brothers and sisters included Caswell Cross Sr. (1822-1893), John C. Cross (1825-1900), Florina “Rinny” Cross Terry (1833-1901), William Harrison “W.H.” Cross (1838-1918) and Emmanuel Micajah Cross Sr. (1840-1916).
The Cross family was originally from southwestern Virginia. It isn’t entirely clear when they moved to the Buffalo area of present-day Scott County. Lark may have been born in Wythe County, Va., but most official documents state that he was born in Tennessee. The family was certainly in the Buffalo area by 1846, however.
Family
Lark married Henrietta “Rittie” Duncan on April 2, 1846, in Campbell County (which Buffalo Creek was part of until Scott County was formed in 1849). Rittie was the daughter of Joshua Duncan Sr. (1808-1890) and Rosa “Rosie” Sartin (1810-1878). The Duncan family moved to Buffalo Creek with Rittie’s grandparents, Joshua Duncan and Rutha Russell.
Lark and Rittie had six children: Rebecca (born 1844), Emanuel (born 1847), Harriet (born 1851), Micajah (born 1855), Claiborn (born 1857) and Martha Marlene (born 1861).
Claiborn Cross was one of Oneida’s prominent early businessmen. He owned the Hotel Cross and was the chief organizer of Scott County’s first bank, which would become First National Bank.
Civil War and Death
When the Civil War began in 1861, many Scott County men joined the Union army. Lark Cross, however, abstained from the war. According to historian H. Clay Smith, he was “one of Scott County’s better citizens, and had not wanted to take any part in the war. He had been a good farmer and kept open house to anyone who wished to spend the night with him.”
Scott County was a sort of lawless state during much of the Civil War, subject to plundering by armies of both sides, and to frequent raids by Confederate guerrillas. One such raid occurred on Nov. 7, 1862, when a regiment of Confederates entered Scott County from Kentucky and raided several farms in the eastern part of the county.
The Confederates targeted the farms of men known to be loyal to the Union. They burned the home of Dennis Trammell, who lived on Jellico Creek and was the grandson of Revolutionary War veteran Dennis Trammell. At Buffalo Creek, they raided the farm of Lark’s brother, Caswell Cross, stealing $690 in gold and driving away 14 horses.
As the regiment continued towards Huntsville, they came across three men walking the road — Lark Cross, Ranson Vanover and Oliver Duncan. Vanover was enlisted in the Union army, as part of the 2nd Tennessee Infantry. He was home on furlough, but was wearing his army uniform.
Both Vanover and Cross were shot by the Rebels, then hanged in an apple orchard. The third man, Duncan, who was Cross’s brother-in-law, managed to escape and hid in a rail pile. When he arrived at his home some time later, the Confederates had already been there and informed his mother that they had hanged him along with Vanover and Cross.
Records uncovered by the Scott County Historical Society and its president, David Jeffers, indicate that a number of Confederates who were members of the Scott County Rangers were indicted for the murders of Vanover and Cross on Aug. 16, 1866. Among them: Calvin Smith, Perry Gibson, Pryor Gibson, Arch Keith, Jasper Keith, John Keith, Ramsey Keith, James Tye, Reddin Smith, Isaac Griffith, Nicholas Patterson, Ramsey Patterson, Ewell Smith, William Bruce, Frank Gibson, William McCoy and Joseph Smith. With the exception of Isaac Griffith, all of the men were members of the Gibson and Smith families.
Isaac Griffith was the son of War of 1812 veteran Fielding Griffith and the grandson of Revolutionary War veteran Joseph Griffith. The rest of his family were supporters of the Union. His nephew, Fielding Griffith, died at Camp Dick Robinson in Kentucky after being poisoned.
Most, if not all, of the accused men left Scott County prior to the grand jury indictment and none of them ever stood trial.
The Scott County Rangers had been formed by Ewell Smith and Henry Polk Gibson. Gibson’s father, James Gibson, would be posthumously indicted for treason by a Scott County grand jury in 1866. He had been killed on Feb. 7, 1862 near Jacksboro, Tenn.
When Congressman Horace Maynard read a newspaper account of the events of Nov. 7, 1862, he wrote to Maj. Gen. Henry Wager Halleck — commander of the Union forces at the time — and wrote, “From that small county have gone many soldiers, now in our service, leaving their homes to such devastation as is here described. Oh, Lord, how long?”
Article: ‘Oh, Lord, How Long?’
Burial
Lark Cross was buried at Lloyd Cemetery on Smith Creek, next to New Salem United Baptist Church.
Rittie, who never remarried, was also buried at Lloyd Cemetery when she died on Feb. 10, 1889.