yesterday's tennessee

Yarbrough (Yarbro) Families of Decatur County

from the research of Bill Jones

In the early 1800's, the Fisher and Yarbrough families lived on the headwaters of Cain and Waxhaw creeks in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The children of these two families married each other like flies. My wife's great great grand father Fisher married Charlotte Yarbrough. Sylvester Fisher married Nancy Yarbrough (sisters). In 1816, many families left this area of Mecklenburg County (now Union County) and moved to Bedford County, Tennessee. After three years in Bedford County, several of them, including Sylvania, moved to Perry County and settled on Lost Creek on the west side of the Tennessee River. In 1846, the portion of Perry County, Tennessee that lay west of the river became Decatur County.

Other researchers have connected the Anson County Yarbroughs to Anson County, North Carolina. There may have been a connection between the Anson and Mecklenburg County Yarbroughs but the Yarbrough (Yarbro) families of Decatur County, Tennessee came directly from Mecklenburg County (now Union) in 1816 to Bedford County, Tennessee and from there to Perry County in 1819.

To learn more about the research of Bill Jones, please consult his book The Fisher Scrap Book 1732-1972 at the Decaturville Library. There is a chapter on the Decatur County Fishers and Yarbrough (Yarbro) families.