MARSHALL COUNTY, TN - Misc- Poarch (Porch) Family Information
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Poarch Hollow located on the east side of John Barnes Road about
2 1/2 miles north of Delina, MARSHALL County, Tennessee is a
beautiful place on the southern slopes of the Goshen Ridge. Old
John Porch received a land grant  in LINCOLN County, Tennessee
for 44 acres for 1 cent an acre in 1826. The survey describes the
forty four acres of land in Lincoln County on the waters of Swan
Creek beginning at the Elm and Sugartree at Isaac McCOLLUMS
corner and swinging west with his line for 76 poles to a Beech
on Charley WAKEFIELD's line, thence north with the same, 50
poles to a dogwood his corner, thence west with his line 34 poles
to a Sugartree and Elm, thence north 30 poles to a Buckeye and
large Ash on Thomas CHAPMAN' line, thence east with said line
passing his corner and in all 110 poles to a Hackberry and Hickory
on the top of a Ridge, thence south to Wesley SAUNDERS corner
and with his line in all 80 poles to the beginning. Surveyed 10 Feb.
1826 Joel Penson (?hard to read last name)
Witnesses: William MOORE and James WATSON.
We know John lived here and died on this land in 1872. We believe
that he and his three wives are buried in the cemetery on top of the
ridge, along with his grandson, W T (William Thomas) POARCH, son
of David Lawrence and Mary Elizabeth DODD Poarch.
In the 1970's there was a wire fence and cedar trees surrounding the
cemetery, but the fence is now, in 2001, gone and stones turned over
and broken. When read by R H Roden in 1973 there were 6
unmarked graves and:: W T Poarch 2-14-1887 to 11-9-1901 age 14.
 Mother,  M E Milton 5-12-1871 to 12-11-1910;
 Joe McCormick 10-15-1890 to 10-7-1918 age 28;
Oda N McCormick 1592 - 1916 age 24;
John McCormick 1872-1905 age 33;
Maggie Short 9-15-1885 to 5-20-1915 age 30;
J B Short 10-23-1873 to 12-19-1945 age 72;
Fannie, wife of J Z Wilkerson 5-2-1855 to 2-13-1901;
Sam Haislip 5-2-1874 to 5-16-1901 age 27.

This land became part of Marshall County, Tennessee when it was
formed in 1836 from parts of Lincoln County.
The springs along Goshen Ridge join together to form the beginning of
Swan Creek which runs south to the Elk River. There is also a large
three room cave located in Poarch Hollow, which has partially caved
in now, but is still accessible through a crawl space.
Old John and his  first wife were in Lincoln County, Tennessee as
early as  the 1820 Lincoln County Census.
We are still searching for the name of this first wife. We believe
that John came from Virginia. We know that they had at least 4
children, before she died in 1827, probably due to complications
after the birth of her daughter, Mary Ann. Their two sons were
James S F Robert born 1822 and William Carroll "Dove" Poarch
born 1824.  There was also a daughter on the 1830 census between
the age of 5 and 10..
On March 9, 1828 John married Nancy MADDOX. She raised his first
children and they had at least 7 more children.
May 4, 1849 Lincoln County Tennessee marriage records record
the marriage of John A Porch, 63 and Caldonia Calvenia Elizabeth
CAUDLE, only 25. Together they had at least 8 children.

Haskel Roden wrote, "This man was a pioneer settler of the
Delina-Medium Community. One interesting fact of this story was
that the next door neighbor, Mr. Zerry Wilkerson, who was the
father of 19 children, and John who was the father of 21 children,
made a total of 40 children raised in two homes about 500 yards
apart. The majority of the Wilkerson children were female, while
the majority of the Poarch children were male."
John died in 1872 leaving a will naming his beloved wife, Caldonia,
who died a year later.
In 1899, living in Poarch Hollow were Louis I and David L
POARCH, sons of John A PORCH;   Z HAISLIP and
J Z WILKERSON..