My genealogy quest has been frustrating. My grandfather, Hendrix T. "Cooper" Tinsley rarely spoke of his family. According to what he told me, his mother died when he was young and he was adopted by her brother, J.J. "Jimmy" Tinsley. Papa's family resided in Livingston County, Kentucky, around the towns of Smithland and Joy. I began my research about ten years ago while my father, Charles Ervin Tinsley, was still alive. He, like my grandfather, did not speak of his family and would only reluctantly share information.

The earliest generation I have documented is John and Nancy Brooks Tinsley who resided in Allen Co., KY, in 1850.

• John Tinsley, b. Mar. 8, 1804. Barren Co KY; (parents may be Elijah Tinsley (b. abt. 1776) and Sarah Hill (b. abt. 1786); d. July 13, 1866. Hardin Co IL; buried in Adams Cemetery.
• +Married July 9, 1827, Allen Co. KY to Nancy Brooks, b. Nov. 14, 1807, TN; parents unknown; d. May 24, 1869, Hardin Co IL
• Children:
1. Susan E., b. 1828, KY; d. 1893, IL
• Married 1st, 1847, Wesley Ashford
• Married 2nd, Charles W. York
2. John Thomas, b. March 8, 1829, KY; d. March 12, 1884, KY
• Married Permelia Jane Justice
3. James Madison W., b. March 13, 1831, KY
4. Elijah Sylvester, b. Aug. 28, 1840, KY; d. Aug. 24 1908, IL
• Married Martha Taylor Coghill
5. Moses C., b. ca. 1842; d. Dec. 28, 1855 Allen Co KY
6. Cleo C., b. ca. 1845, KY
7. Emma Jane, b. July 13, 1849, KY; d. Sept. 6, 1914, IL
• Married Britton Stacey

• James Madison W. Tinsley, b. Mar. 13, 1831, KY; son of John & Nancy Brooks Tinsley
• +Married 1st on Dec. 21, 1855, Allen Co. KY to Mary Jane York, daughter of James & Juline York. Mary Jane died about 1868 in IL.
• Children:
1. John James, b. July 13, 1857
2. Nancy G.M.S.J., b. Sept. 14, 1858: no other information
3. Mary A.S., b. 1862, Hardin Co., IL; d. Jan. 23, 1874 in Livingston Co. KY
4. Eliza A.L.W., b. 1864, Hardin Co., IL
5. Cassander/Cassandra C., b. 1868, Hardin Co., IL
• ++ Married second to Louisa, last name unknown, by 1870
• Died Sept. 1, 1895, Livingston Co., KY
• James Madison's family is found on the following census: 1850 & 1860 Allen Co. KY; 1870 & 1880 Crittenden Co. KY; 1900 Livingston Co. KY.

• John James Tinsley, b. July 13, 1857, Allen Co. KY; son of James M.W. and Mary Jane York Tinsley
• + Married Lucinda Carrie Rodgers
• Children:
1. James Madison, b. Feb. 8, 1877, Crittenden Co. KY
2. Hendricks T. Tinsley (adopted son), b. Mar. 15, 1887

• Eliza A.L.W., b. 1864, Hardin Co., IL; daughter of James M.W. and Mary Jane York Tinsley
• + Married 1st John McDaniel
• Children:
1. James William "Jim Bill" McDaniel, b. 1885
2. Clyde (female), b. ca. 1890
• Married 2nd to John Galbreath
• Children:
1. Doctor A., b. May 22, 1893, AR; d. Nov. 1969, AR
2. Lucy, b. Nov. 1894

• Cassander C. Tinsley, was the youngest child of James M.W. and Mary Jane York Tinsley. She was born 1868 in Hardin Co., IL.
• + Married, no documentation to support a marriage. Family tradition was she married a man by the name of Theorical or Threlkeld.
• Children:
1. Hendricks T. "Cooper" Tinsley, b. March 15, 1887, KY
• Died ca. 1892 and young son adopted by her brother, John James "Jimmy" Tinsley

• H.T. Tinsley, b. March 15, 1887, KY to Cassander C. "Cassie" Tinsley; raised by uncle Jimmy Tinsley.
• + Married Oct. 12, 1910, Cairo, IL, to Elizabeth Jane Terry, daughter of James & Alice Powers Terry.
• Children:
1. Alice Mae, b. May 6, 1911; d. July 10, 1965, St. Francois., MO
2. Cassie, b. 1912; d. Nov. 14, 1918, Mississippi Co. MO
3. Charles Ervin, b. Sept. 2, 1916; d. Feb. 16, 1989, Cape Girardeau Co. MO
4. Luesendy, b. Nov. 1918; d. July 4, 1919, Mississippi Co. MO
5. Sudie, b. July 10, 1921
• All of the children were born in Mississippi Co. MO.
• Died May 1, 1964, Scott Co. MO; buried Oak Grove Cemetery, Charleston, MO.

• Charles Ervin "Charley" Tinsley, b. Sept. 1, 1916, Mississippi Co., MO to H.T. and Eliza J. Tinsley.
• + Married Dec. 23, 1939, Charleston, MO, to Verda Mae Saulter.
• Children:
1. Shirley Jean, b. Dec. 6, 1941, Charleston, MO
2. Mary Charles, b. Dec 16, 1944, Charleston, MO
3. Joan Ellen, b. Feb. 11, 1946, Charleston, MO
4. Charles Irvin, b. Dec. 23, 1946, Cairo, IL
5. Dorothy Mae, b. Sept. 18, 1956, Cairo, IL
6. Sarah Ann, b. Aug. 29, 1963; died Aug. 30, 1963, Sikeston, MO
• Died Feb. 16, 1989, Cape Girardeau, MO; buried I.O.O.F. Cemetery, Charleston, MO