Robert Espey, born in 1727, came to America while young. He married Rachel Bell in Chester, Pennsylvania in 1757, and they moved to Mecklenburg, North Carolina in 1770, where Robert served with a scouting party during the Revolution. In 1780, he was among the pioneers on the Cumberland River at Fort Nashborough. He was also granted land in 1784 and, not long after, he and a son (probably George) were killed by Indians. His five sons were James, Alexander, George, Robert and John

       James Espey must have been born before 1762 because he was at least 18 when he came with his father at Fort Nashborough. James signed the Cumberland Compact in 1780 and, in 1784, was listed in the North Carolina Preemption Act as one of the men who remained in the settlement and protected it from the numerous Indian attacks. For this service he was awarded 640 acres. James was most likely the only survivor of his family, and inherited the Espey grants. The property was located in the area near the present town of Smyrna on the Jefferson Pike. As late as 1946, descendants of the family lived there in a home called Espeyland. It was on this land that James and his wife, Mary Overall , lived with their family. His wife was one of the two Overall sisters who had come with the Donelson Flotilla to join their three brothers in the new frontier outpost. The known children of this marriage were William, Mary ("Polly"), Rachel, and Margaret.

       James Espey was a great support to the Overall family. When Mary's brother, William Overall, was ambushed and killed by Indians, James Espey paid a bond as administrator of the estate left to William's widow, Susannah Thomas, and he later became one of the two guardians of her children. When Joshua Thomas, the husband of Mary's sister Nancy Overall, was killed on a scouting expedition, James was named executor of the Joshua's estate for the widow and Joshua's three small children.

       After Mary's death, James married "Caity"___________and had several more children, including Caty, Sally, George, and Robert. In 1810, the census reports his household included a wife, three male children, and three females. He wrote his will the following year, on December 27, 1811. This will gives an interesting view of his character and the customs of that day. Two of the three daughters of the first marriage are left forty dollars, the other only one. William, the son of the first marriage, is also left land (as is his son James, the only grandchild mentioned) and is an executor. William's wife is left an unusual bequest: a complete "dress from head to feet". The younger children are the principle benefactors of his estate and are to be educated to read and write, the boys to cipher to the rule of three. The will was filed in the Rutherford County Court on October 10, 1813.

       His daughter, Mary "Polly" Espey married her first cousin, Robert Overall. The log home where she lived still stands near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. It has been abandoned since 1988. Her grave is in a one-quarter acre family cemetery behind the house and the large headstone is plainly marked with the following inscription:
 

       William, the third preacher, had died before his mother and was not named. Asbury, the fourth son to aspire to the pulpit, was a Methodist minister for a short time before his marriage.