Person Page - 1048

     LaVanche Louise Holcombe also went by the name of Vanchie Holcombe. She was born on 16 January 1890 at Ashtabula, Ashtabula Co., OH.¹ She was the daughter of Arthur Ward Holcombe and Addie LaVerne Fisher.¹ LaVanche Louise Holcombe married Fred Ernest Cook on 2 October 1913; no children.² LaVanche Louise Holcombe died on 30 December 1945 at Springfield, Clark Co., OH, at age 55.¹ She was buried at Saybrook, Ashtabula Co., OH.²

Vanchie was nursing at Ashtabula General Hospital in 1912. Fred was a New York Central Railroad Clerk.²

     Mildred Irene Holcombe was born in December 1893 at Ashtabula, Ashtabula Co., OH.¹ She was the daughter of Arthur Ward Holcombe and Addie LaVerne Fisher.¹ Mildred Irene Holcombe died after 1964.¹

     Clifton Fisher Holcombe was born on 11 April 1895 at French Creek, NY.¹ He was the son of Arthur Ward Holcombe and Addie LaVerne Fisher.¹ Clifton Fisher Holcombe died before 11 April 1931 at Long Beach, Los Angeles Co., CA.¹ He was buried at Los Angeles National Cemetery, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., CA.²

Clifton was born while his mother Vernie was visiting near French Creek, Chautauqua Co., NY, the birth apparently not recorded. After his parent's divorce he was boarding in Conneaut and working as a wagon driver. He volunteered with General Pershing's Texas Campaign in 1916, went to France on his ship and served into 1919, attaining the rank of Second Lieutenant. About 11925 Frances' family relocated to Southern California and Clifton was prevaled upon to go as well for his health.²

     Robert Chappell was born in 1746.¹ He was the son of John Chappell and Prudence (?) Robert Chappell died in 1829.²

     Joel Chappell was born on 25 July 1774.¹ He was the son of Robert Chappell and Mary Tucker.¹ Joel Chappell died on 28 December 1847 at age 73.¹

     Winnifred F. Chappell was born on 24 March 1805 at Halifax Co., VA.^1,2 She was the daughter of Joel Chappell and Tabitha Light.¹ Winnifred F. Chappell married Paulin O'Neal Anderson on 27 November 1828.^1,2 Winnifred F. Chappell died on 16 August 1887 at Big Springs, VA, at age 82.^1,2

     Paulin O'Neal Anderson was born on 27 January 1805 at Halifax Co., VA.² He married Winnifred F. Chappell, daughter of Joel Chappell and Tabitha Light, on 27 November 1828.^1,2 Paulin O'Neal Anderson died on 27 December 1876 at Big Springs, TN, at age 71.²

     America Tabitha Anderson was born on 21 April 1838. She was the daughter of Paulin O'Neal Anderson and Winnifred F. Chappell.¹ America Tabitha Anderson married Ralph Whitfield Daniel on 10 December 1854 at Anderson hom, Madison Co., TN. America Tabitha Anderson died on 14 February 1888 at Bells, Madison Co., TN, at age 49. She was buried at Cypress Cemetery, Bells, Madison Co., TN.

America Tabitha Anderson was born and reared within a mile of the Big Springs Methodist Church in what is now Chester County. Her maternal ancestors, Joel Chappell, had been an early settler on the land that lay between the Pinson Mounds and the Forked Deer River to the South. Both the Chappell and Anderson families were old families of Tidewater Virginia and of strong English heritage.²

``Rafe'' Daniel was an humble shoemaker, had some Indian blood, and was considered unworthy of an Anderson daughter but there were daughters to spare at the time. Another daughter, Mary Jane, married Frank Wallace Watlington. Paulin Anderson is quoted as once saying that ``the devil owed him a debt and paid him off in sons-in-law.'' ²

America Tabitha Anderson died in Crockett County, near Bells, in February 1888 or 1889 and was buried in the cemetery of the Cypress Methodist Church between Bells and Gadsden, Tenn. Her son Charlie Daniel's first wife, Betty Lowery was also buried there. Ludie Daniel thought they had moved to Crockett County before the death of her mother, then moved back to the farm at Big Springs. Ulrich Watlington thought America was visiting her children who lived in Crockett County and was taken ill with pneumonia, dying suddenly.²

     Ralph Whitfield Daniel also went by the name of Rafe Daniel. He was born on 17 June 1830 at TN or NC. He married America Tabitha Anderson, daughter of Paulin O'Neal Anderson and Winnifred F. Chappell, on 10 December 1854 at Anderson hom, Madison Co., TN. Ralph Whitfield Daniel died on 4 February 1891 at Pinson, Madison Co., TN, at age 60.¹ He was buried at Big Springs Cemetery, Madison Co., TN.

     Eula Avenant Daniel was born on 19 September 1861.¹ She was the daughter of Ralph Whitfield Daniel and America Tabitha Anderson. Eula Avenant Daniel married Michael Roberts Watlington, son of Michael C. Watlington and Fredonia Parchman, circa 1878.¹ Eula Avenant Daniel died on 13 July 1903 at Davis Fram, Bear Creek, near Pinson, Madison Co., TN, at age 41.¹

     Michael Roberts Watlington also went by the name of Mack Rob Watlington.

Michael Roberts was the eldest child and only son born to Fredonia Parchman and Michael C. Watlington, who lived at the time on a part of the George W. Watlington farm in the 17th Civil District of Madison County which George had sold to Michael C. on January 9, 1851. About the same time his father George had sold him a Negro woman named Silvy, which sale was recorded along with the deed for the property. Michael and Fredonia Parchman (b. ca. 1831), daughter of another pioneer settler of the region, James Parchman, were married about 1851. Though Mack Rob was probably born in Madison County, Michael C. and Fredonia were in Henderson County in the 1860 census, and in later years lived in that part of Henderson County which became a part of the new county of Chester in 1882.

As Mack Rob came of school age it was necessary for his parents to leave him with his grandparents and ``Uncle Billie'' Watlington in order to attend school. Uncle Billie, (William Tabler W.) was the oldest son of George and Catherine and lived on the home place in Madison County, 17th Civil District. Schools had been available there for many years even at this early time. One of Uncle Billie's ten children was Mack Harvey, who was only three years older than Mack Rob, and the two became great friends and buddies, a relationship which lasted until their death. But school days were limited as Mack Rob was only eight-and-a-half years of age as the Civil War reached the region with the bloody battle of Shiloh (Pittsburgh Landing) in April 1862. Schools were sporadic, if held at all, after this time for the next three years.

Mack Rob remembered hearing the big guns at Shiloh, which was only about twenty miles away to the southeast. Neighbors, and possibly one uncle, John H. Parchman, were quite surely engaged in battle there and the stories of the battle would have been told and retold during the ensuing years. From that time forward West Tennessee became a virtual battleground, with both Federal and Confederate troops ranging over it intermittently, searching for stragglers, deserters, food for man and beast, and supplies for the war machines on both sides. Michael C. was drafted for service with the Confederates although his sympathies were with the Union. So far as we know he never served effectively with either the Confederates or the Federals but spent time in jail for refusal to do so. Family life, and plantation life was disrupted, horses and slaves were lost, and Mack Rob grew up amid the violence of war and talk of war with its very real privations.

The Yankees had come through the country and conscripted all the able-bodied horses for their service. Of course some horses were hidden and escaped so they were constantly on the lookout for another good horse. As Mack Rob was returning from the grist mill on an old blind mare one afternoon, some Yankee troopers spotted him and speeded up to catch him. He knew they wouldn't take his blind mare, but he gave them a chase anyway. When they caught up with him they were so mad at him for trying to escape that one of them took his new straw hat. Unauthorized agents also molested the population during this time and many were the stories of violence which Mack Rob could tell of this period in his young life. Later in the War, his Uncle Sterling Watlington and his cousin Billie Houston joined the Confederates and fought under General Nathan Bedford Forrest in Tennessee and Mississippi.

With the end of the War years the end of the struggle did not come to West Tennessee. Many barns, houses, horses, men and other signs of a prosperous economy had been destroyed. Horses were not available in sufficient quantity to do the necessary amount of plowing. Mack Rob was a horse dealer in later years, and always appreciated horses. For him one of the great tragedies of the War was the loss of the fine horses of the region, both riding stock and work stock. It is no wonder that horse thieving rings soon developed after the war ended because horses represented a great source of wealth and were desperately needed, and horse thieves were dealt with promptly and drastically. One man was hung for horse thieving in that section, and one of Mack Rob's cousins who was thought to have aided the thieves had to leave the community for his health.

After the family was united following the Civil War, Michael C. and Fredonia still had property and some funds. Before the war they had many horses and slaves and were very well established, as Census records for 1860 reveal. Since things were not going well in West Tennessee with its partisan animosities still very evident, Michael C. got his property in shape and started with his young family to Texas in two covered wagons, with one hired hand accompanying them. The young hired hand stayed with them during the entire trip and two years later returned to the community with them. This trip was made during the Fall or Winter of 1867-68, and they were in Dallas County, Texas, for the crop year 1868. Their crop that year was a failure, and being discouraged with the prospects they returned to Prairie County, Arkansas, the next winter, and made a crop there with Jake Parchman, a brother of Fredonia, during 1869. Their lands there were in the White River Valley, and according to reports this crop year was also a bad one.

The family had traded for a lot of Indian ponies in Texas, and were bringing them back to Tennessee where horses were in great demand. Mack Rob had an especially pretty and fine riding horse, which was mistakenly shot for a deer. This was a great disappointment to the young (sixteen years old) horseman, as well as another financial loss to the family. As Winter came on, the family returned to West Tennessee as they had left it, in a two wagon caravan, accompanied this time by extra horses.

This trip to Texas with its adventure and its possibilities was very influential on Mack Rob. His father had helped his own brother John Roberts Watlington to further his studies and become a physician, and had hopes for Mack Rob following this profession. The financial possibilities were still there, but Mack Rob had tasted too much freedom from the classroom by 1870 to want to return to any studies. Horses, riding, trading, and farming had become his way of life and he found enough freedom and meaning there to stay with it. A cousin, Obediah F. (Obe), the son of Dr. John, did continue his studies and became a community physician following the death of Dr. John Watlington.


Marriage and the Young Family

Following the pattern of his father and of the hard times in which he lived, Mack Rob did not marry until he was about twenty-five years of age (ca. 1879). He chose Eula Avenant Daniel, who lived at the time on a farm adjoining Dr. John Watlington at the line of Madison and Chester counties. Eula Daniel was the daughter of a shoemaker and farmer, Ralph Whitfield (Rafe) Daniel and America Tabitha Anderson. They were living very near the home and relatives of America T., whose Chappell and Anderson parentage had come as pioneers into this section from a rich heritage in Tidewater Virginia. They had hundreds of acres of land between Big Springs and the Forked Deer River in what is now Chester County. Rafe's parents had come from Rowan County, North Carolina, into the Bear Creek Community in the 1820's, and later the Daniel family scattered to Hardeman, Crockett, and Lauderdale counties in Tennessee and westward into Arkansas and Texas.

Mack and Eula married about 1878, their first child, Mable, being born in 1879. Mack Rob did not settle down and buy land so far as we know. He worked as a hired hand or sharecropper among relatives and friends of the Pinson-Big Springs community where he and Eula had many relatives. In the 1880 Census he was in District #1 of Madison County which lay mostly to the southwest of Pinson near John H. Parchman, his mother's brother. Ulrich Armstrong later recalled that Mack Rob had worked the lands of his cousin Billie Houston to the west of Pinson for many years. However, his early memories of the family indicated that they lived more to the south of Big Springs where the Andersons had land and where the Ralph Daniel farm was located.

In the Fall and Winter of 1889-90, Mack Rob gathered his young family and possessions for his venture into the great West, to Texas again. Eula Daniel had at least one sister living there (Wynona Daniel Rodgers) and plans were made by them for Mack Rob and Eula to come work on their place while they returned to Tennessee for a year. The couple, with their young children ages one to ten years, went by wagon to Jackson and from there to Memphis, then to Clarksville, Red River County, Texas, where Wynona and Dudley Rodgers met them. Their Texas experience was a happier one than that of the former generation, and they made two good crops there in successive years. But during this time, on February 4, 1891, Rafe Daniel died and Eula grew too homesick for her dear relatives to remain in Texas. The return trip was made by train also, and the family settled again on lands of Mack Rob's cousin, Billie Houston, west of Pinson, for the next two years.

The next years in Tennessee as a sharecropper must have been years of frustration and trial for the young family. Ulrich A., the older son, states that he never went to school for more than a few weeks at a time and even that for not more than three years. The girls may have done better, for all learned to read and write. But Ulrich was behind the plow as soon as he could reach the handles and didn't learn to read well until after he married. They lived on a succession of farms west of Pinson from 1892 until 1906, the succession being remembered as the following by Ulrich years later:


1892-1893

They lived with cousin Billie Houston. Billie had gone with the M. C. Watlingtons to Texas and Arkansas and was more like a brother than a cousin to Mack Rob.

1894-1895

They lived on the McHaney place, toward Bear Creek from Pinson. An infant, older than Albert, was born and died on this place in 1895.

1896-1901

They lived on the gravel road on Squire Frank W. Watlington's place, near the Negro church, northwest of Pinson. The land was low and there was a typhoid epidemic there with two children, James Paulin and Nona Ethel, dying because of it. The health of both Mack Rob and Eula was broken by the fever also. Mack Rob wanted to move to higher ground and better water, and thus later moved up the Bear Creek stream. Albert was born here June 18, 1896. Paulin died July 12, 1897 and Ethel twelve days later.

1902

They lived on Bear Creek, about a half mile from the Methodist Church, on Richard (Dick) Davis place for one year.

1903

They lived further up Bear Creek valley, on Sam Davis place one year. Eula Daniel died July 23, 1903 while the family lived here. She had been sickly for two years or more, and is thought to have been a victim of typhoid fever. Mable, the eldest girl, was the principal cook and housekeeper, responsibilities she had shared for several years because of the illness of her mother. Mable Lee married May 10 and Serena married in August, 1903. This left only Ulrich, John L. and Albert at home with Mack Rob.

1904

The family moved to the Hubert Mays place for one crop, and then to the McHaney place for another year. Serena W. Davis died in July 1905 after spending more than a year in Texas. Their child, Willie Lee Davis, was adopted by Dave McAdoo.

1906

From the McHaney place the family moved to a new community closer to Jackson, which was the farm of widow Ellen B. Swink Pacaud, a sister of Mrs. Hubert (Sallie) Mays with whom they had worked in 1904. She was the widow of James W. Pacaud and had a family of five children on a farm adjoining the farm of Orson W. Hammond between the Lester's Grove and Malesus communities, five miles south of Jackson, and eight miles north of Pinson, near the Old Pinson Stage Road between the two.

A Strange Interlude: 1907-1912

Mack Rob probably accepted the invitation to farm the Pacaud place with courtship and marriage in the prospect, for he needed to re-reestablish his home and fortunes. He had to have some good reasons for leaving the relatively friendly neighborhood of Pinson, Bear Creek and Big Springs to take his family into a new community where he had no relatives nearby. Albert was the youngest, only eight years of age at the time of the move. Mable would have been twenty-seven, and had a home of her own and Ulrich took Miss Jennie S. Hammond for a bride during their second year on the Pacaud place, in August, 1907.

James William Pacaud had lived several years as neighbor to the O. W. Hammonds and was among the leaders in the founding of the Lester's Chapel Methodist Church nearby. Participating in the same church and sharing the same faith brought the families closer than physical proximity might indicate. Mr. Pacaud died in February, 1899, and the widow and children went it alone for the next several years until Mack Rob appeared on the scene. Mack Rob had only two minor children in 1907, John L. and Albert; but Mrs. Pacaud had five children living at home: Florence, who later married A. V. Patton; Bess, who married Walter Bell; Howard, who married LaRie Smith, and lived in Texas; Joe Albert, who died in an auto accident; Rosa Lee, who married (1) Billy Cheatham, (2) ______ Jordan.

Mack Rob and Ellen were married at the Pacaud home in early 1907 by Brother J. B. Pearson, the Methodist pastor at Malesus. Jennie S. and Emma Mai Hammond were guests at the home wedding.

The difficulties of blending these families into one home can be imagined, but the trial was made and the marriage weathered the storms from 1907 until the Autumn of 1912. During this time the family continued on the farm for one year, then moved to Jackson where they operated a store for a time. Ulrich remembers this store as being in East Jackson, perhaps on Chester Street. Mack Rob had a team of horses and worked out with them also. Later he had a delivery hack and helped in deliveries to the homes of customers. Though it was a family business, Mrs. Pacaud and her children largely cared for the store. The children were getting older and more independent, and soon John L. was on his own, and Albert had gone to live with his sister Mable and her husband, Will A. Stephens, who had grown up just north of Pinson.

In the Autumn of 1912 Mack Rob went from Jackson to Sorrell's Chapel, near Dyersburg, in Dyer County, where Ulrich A. was living and helped him gather his crop. At that time he indicated that he was giving up on his marriage to Ella Swink Pacaud. They seemed to get along very well but the near grown, yet dependent, children that each had, made the union very difficult. From that time until his death in 1937 Mack Rob made his home with Ulrich and Jennie, except for weeks spent in ``off seasons'' with his other children.¹

He was born on 5 October 1853 at Madison Co., TN.² He was the son of Michael C. Watlington and Fredonia Parchman. Michael Roberts Watlington married Eula Avenant Daniel, daughter of Ralph Whitfield Daniel and America Tabitha Anderson, circa 1878.¹ Michael Roberts Watlington died on 9 October 1937 at near Malesus, Madison Co., TN, at age 84.² He was buried at Big Springs Cemetery, Madison Co., TN.²

     Mable Lee Watlington was born in 1879.¹ She was the daughter of Michael Roberts Watlington and Eula Avenant Daniel.¹

     Wynona May Daniel was born on 14 September 1869 at near Pinson, Madison Co., TN. She was the daughter of Ralph Whitfield Daniel and America Tabitha Anderson.

     Ulrich Armstrong Watlington was born on 18 June 1885 at near Pinson, Madison Co., TN.^1,2 He was the son of Michael Roberts Watlington and Eula Avenant Daniel.¹ Ulrich Armstrong Watlington married Jennie Sophronia Hammond, daughter of Orson Ward Hammond and Mary Elizabeth Jameson, on 28 August 1907 at near Malesus, Madison Co., TN.³ Ulrich Armstrong Watlington died on 3 March 1981 at Jackson, Madison Co., TN, at age 95.^1,2 He was buried at Ebenezer Cemetery, Malesus, Madison Co., TN.³

After their marriage, Mack Rob and Eula Watlington evidently farmed near relatives of Pinson. Eula's father, Ralph (Rafe) Daniel, had a farm there adjoining the larger holdings of Paulin Anderson and his children. Mack Rob had many relatives on that side of Pinson, extending to near Jack's Creek, but he probably began his farming on his cousin Billy Houston's place in District 1, west of Pinson, known as the McHaney Place, where he was at the time of the 1880 U.S. Census. The census taker found the young couple with a nine month old baby girl, Mable Lee. Papa--Ulrich Armstrong Watlington--was born five years later, on June 18, 1885.


Papa's Itinerary, 1885-1974

Papa's earliest memories are that as they traveled from their farm home, they ``traveled the road by cousin Obe's house,'' south of Five Points. The Rafe Daniel Place adjoined cousin Obe's Place. Papa does not remember seeing his grandfather M. C. Watlington (d. 1887), or his grandmother America Daniel (d. 1888). His memory of his grandfather ``Rafe'' Daniel was of a rheumatic old man sitting in his rocking chair. He believes that they visited ``Rafe'' Daniel at his home before they went to Texas in 1889 or 1890. Some dates in the following are tentative, but the order is believed to be correct. In most cases it is from memory with little documentation.


1889

Mack Rob and Eula lived for some months on the Murphy Place, near Murphy's Mound, behind the Saul home where Johnny Sauls now lives, while preparing to go to Texas. Sterling Sauls was a double cousin of Mack Rob. John L. was born here Jan. 5, 1889.

1890-1892

Ulrich accompanied his family to Red River County in Texas and continued his farming experience when they returned to Tennessee and farmed near Pinson. Some of his early experiences at school were in the Bear Creek Community west of Pinson during the 1890's. By the time he was eleven years of age he was expected to do plowing in the farming operation as he was the oldest son of the family.

1903

Special events mark this year on the Frank Davis Place. Frank, a son of Richard (Dick) Davis, had gone to Texas so Mack Rob moved to his place for a crop. Mable, the oldest girl married William A. Stephens, a farmer and merchant of Pinson. On July 23, 1903, Eula Daniel died and was buried at Big Springs Cemetery. Ulrich A. Watlington left for Red River Co., Texas in the Autumn of 1903 to visit Aunt Wynona Daniel Rodgers, because of trouble with a neighbor. He went by train, and stayed through the Fall of 1904, working as a farm laborer.

Serena Avenant Watlington was married to B. Sanders Davis on August 8, 1903 and at the end of the year went to Red River County, Texas, where they made a crop in 1904. In the Fall of 1904, they returned to Tennessee where they lived and farmed on the McHaney Place where Mack Rob was until Serena died July 1905. A girl, Willie Lee Davis, was born to them in Texas, July 1, 1904.


1904-1905

From Bear Creek, M. R. Watlington moved to the Hubert Mays Place for one crop, then to the McHaney Place for a year. Hubert Mays' wife was Sallie Swink, a sister of Ella Swink Pacaud. Grandmother Fredonia Watlington came to live with them some months at the McHaney Place.

1906

After the McHaney Place the family moved to the Pacaud Place, adjoining the Orson Ward Hammond Place, about eight miles north of Pinson and five miles south of Jackson. Mrs. James W. Pacaud was the former Ella (Ellen) Britton Swink from south of Pinson (Mt. Pisgah), and a sister of Mrs. Hubert Mays. Papa thinks that Mack Rob and Mrs. Pacaud came to know one another while they worked the Mays farm. They made one crop here, and Mack Rob married the Widow Pacaud at the end of 1906 or early 1907.

This move to the Pacaud place made them neighbors to O. W. Hammond, good friends of the Pacauds, and Ulrich came to know the three Hammond daughters, the eldest of whom was Jennie Sophronia. Ulrich hired out at times to help Mr. Hammond on the farm. After Mack Rob married the Widow Pacaud and moved in with her, Ulrich moved to the Hammond farm and boarded and worked there.


1907

On August 28, before the crops were harvested, Ulrich Armstrong and Jennie Sophronia were united in marriage by the Rev. J. B. Pearson, and left for Crockett and Dyer County where the Daniel kinfolk helped them get acquainted with the country and neighbors. Uncle Charlie Daniel came in a wagon to move them to their new home in Dyer County. Papa went to work in the harvest season with Mr. Seth Sorrell, who had land on both sides of the Forked Deer River, making it in both Dyer and Crockett counties. Papa worked that fall in Dyer County and lived in the outskirts of Dyersburg. In the winter months they moved into Dyersburg and made plans to farm the next year with a Mr. Hilliard on Mr. Lauderdale's farm. Money was very scarce that winter and Papa remembers that the Dyersburg merchants were using ``script'' for exchange purposes.

1908

During the winter months Papa and Jennie lived about three hundred yards from the Lauderdales, and Papa milked his cow for them, and did other chores, taking milk as a part of his pay. While still living in the town, Jennie gave birth to twin girls whom they named Mary Frances and Mable Lee. Though apparently healthy, they survived only a few weeks and were buried in a church cemetery to the north of Dyersburg, where the Lauderdales attended. This may have been the old Neely's Chapel Methodist Cemetery, which is still in use, but the church building burned and was never replaced. During the crop year they moved to the farm which was adjoining the city limits on the north side, and made a share crop with Mr. Hilliard. Papa also worked sometimes for a Mr. Chandler inside the city limits.

1909

Ulrich moved in the Fall of 1908 to Covington, Pemiscot County, Missouri. There he worked a crop year with Sam Cross, who ran the post office, store and gin, and had many families working for him. Clara Mai was born there on May 30, 1909. Mrs. Cross had relatives in Dyersburg and while visiting there invited Papa to go see the farm and work for them. He drove the Cross family horse and buggy to Covington to see the place, crossing the Mississippi River by ferry at Cottonwood Point. Howard Pacaud was visiting in Dyersburg and accompanied him.

Papa has always considered this year with Sam Cross as a time of great opportunity for him. Mr. Cross needed cotton farmers capable of leadership--and wanted Papa to continue with him to help run the plantation. But living conditions in the low-lands of the Mississippi River were tedious and even dangerous in 1909, and Mrs. Hammond wanted her daughter back closer to her. Though less than a hundred miles from the Hammond farm, Covington, Missouri was a long way off psychologically and there was no ready, fast, transportation between the two. The young family turned again home, traveling by train to Memphis, then by another railway to Jackson.


1910

The next year Papa worked with the West Tennessee Experimental Station at Jackson, Tennessee. This was as a hired hand, not share-cropping this time. Without much formal education, Papa learned much in such a practical situation, and the experience opened him up to changing concepts of farming.

1911

Papa returned to Crockett County, where Charlie Lee Daniel and Luther Williams, who had married Ludie Emma Daniel, lived. These were his mother's people, brother and sister to Aunt Wynona Daniel Rodgers with whom he had lived in Texas. He worked a crop near Uncle Luther Williams near Friendship, Tennessee. He just raised one crop there, but it was a good one. Mack was born here December 24, 1911, in their house very near the Friendship School of that time.

1912

He moved to nearby Sorrell's Chapel in Dyer Co., to work again for Mr. Seth Sorrell. This time the work was on the south side of the Forked Deer River. He recalls that the farm north of the river was just three miles from the Railroad Depot in Dyersburg; so the south end of it would have been closer to Dyersburg also. During the spring flood season they rafted some corn across the river from one end of the farm to the other to avoid the long haul around the roads. Grandpa Watlington helped him harvest his crop on the Sorrell place this year, and then helped him move by wagon back to the Hammond farm near Malesus. They moved in cold winter weather in two wagons, one of them loaded with corn. It took them more than a day, stopping overnight at one place. In the winter of 1912-13 they cut logs and hauled them to the saw mill, where they were prepared for building. By spring there was enough lumber to build the first two rooms of their new home on the Hammond place and by fall they moved into the new house and Grandpa Watlington came to live with them.

1913

Mrs. Mary E. Hammond was declining in health. Mr. Hammond, who had married late in life, was now sixty-six years of age, and the farm needed to be worked. Papa said that so little of it was cleared and drained that in those first years ``you couldn't grow a flat grain of corn on it.'' Papa was willing to return to the farm provided they could live in separate housing, therefore the rush to build the little house across the creek from the Hammond home. Though the farming was done cooperatively, Papa and his growing family never moved in with Mr. Hammond. They continued working the farm and dairying on a small scale until after the death of Mr. O. W. Hammond, July 16, 1930, at eighty-four years of age. Kenneth was the first child born to them in the new house, December 27, 1913, and before moving to the ``big house'' in the fall of 1930, Betty Juanita, the last of thirteen children was born. Eleven of the thirteen lived to adulthood, and eight were still alive in 1989. Papa continued to live and farm on the Hammond Place until ill health forced his retirement in the 1960's. After Jennie died in 1941, her sister, Emma Mai Hammond, continued to keep the family and home together as housekeeper and foster mother to the younger children.⁴

Jennie Sophronia Hammond

Mama died when I was hardly sixteen years of age, in the late summer when hot days and nights put pressure on parents and frayed nerves. My memory of her, and events of her illness and death is not clear after thirty years. But lest they be less clear in later years I am resolved to write down some memories and impressions, with the hope of checking them against recorded facts and memories of others.

Grandpa Hammond, (Orson Ward Hammond) and Grandma Hammond (Mary Eliza[beth] Jameson) were born and reared in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, near Hanover. Grandpa was too young to go south with his brother Charles N. in the War between the States, but his brother who fought at Chattanooga brought back glowing tales of the south that caused his younger brother to eventually settle in Madison County, Tennessee. Before settling there, he spent a time in Texas, working as a carpenter, and it was while there that he wrote his friend and sweetheart to ask her, ``Will you be my wife?'' The answer was yes. The letter was saved through the years, and as a boy I remember reading it and admiring the fine handwriting and the fine quality paper with the ribbon around it that made it seem like a legal document.

After some years in Texas, Grandpa returned to Illinois, and was married on September 20, 1883. After a few more years in Texas, the couple migrated to Madison County, where Grandpa's brother Charles had already settled. Working as both carpenter and farmer he made his home and began his family. Mama was born on Harts Bridge Road, near Lester's Grove, where they then lived, but soon afterward they purchased a farm--or rather sixty acres of undesirable land bordering on the east of Meridian Creek and stretching back into the sand hills. A little two-room log house stood in the meadow that was cleared for plantings and the two other children, Clara M. (b. Jan. 7, 1890) and Emma Mai (b. Dec. 26, 1892), were born there. The homeplace is now a cultivated field, but the home built in later years by Grandpa's hands is still standing beside Watlington Road, just off U.S. Highway 45, south of Jackson. Being a master carpenter, Grandpa never lacked for something to do, and he tried a bit of everything--vegetable gardening, dairying and fruit growing. The Hammonds and Jamesons were of Methodist background, and Grandpa and Grandma helped establish Lester's Chapel on the Harts Bridge Road. Their graves are found near the gate of the little graveyard nearby. Grandpa Hammond served as carpenter in building the chapel and for some years as Sunday School Superintendent.

In this environment Jennie Sophronia grew to young womanhood. She attended the Malesus Grammar School for about nine years, and had one year of studies in the forerunner of the West Tennessee Business College in Jackson. She also learned to play the organ which was the pride of her parents' home. While still a young girl she found her future husband in a young man from Pinson, Tennessee, Ulrich Armstrong Watlington, who had been hired to help with the farm and dairy chores. This was not exactly to the liking of her parents, but love had its way. According to Papa's description, the ceremony took place in their buggy. As they were on their way to see the Methodist preacher in Malesus, Brother J. B. Pearson, he met them in the road at the foot of the hill of what is now Watlington Road, a quarter-mile from the Meridian Creek. ``Just about right along here,'' Papa would say as we rode the wagon along that way in later years.

Papa wasn't fooled; he knew a good woman when he saw one. He took his new bride to Dyersburg, Tennessee, where there was work for cotton farmers, which was Papa's experience. While there Mama gave birth to twin girls, which they named Mary and Mable. Papa says the birth was normal, and the girls also, but for lack of adequate medical care they died a few weeks later, and were buried there. Later they moved to the Sam Cross plantation at Covington, Missouri where Mama gave birth to Clara Mai in May 1909, and successively brought ten other squalling little Watlingtons into Tennessee on the odd years until 1929. The first son, Ulrich Mack, was born at Friendship, Crockett County, and then Grandma Hammond insisted that the family move back to the farm where she could be a grandmother to the little ones.

Logs were cut off the farm and hauled to the mill near Lester's Grove. The rough sawed lumber was hauled back to the farm, and on a little rise of land across the spring branch, a small box house was built, and this rough, framed building with a tin roof served as shelter, home and maternity ward for the rest of the family.

Papa worked at everything to earn bread for the family. He cleared and cultivated land that had never been plowed before. He worked out as teamster, plowhand, and blacksmith. He learned some carpentry, but never the fine cabinet making that Grandpa Hammond knew so well. He helped with the dairy and delivered milk in a horse-drawn hack to Jackson, five miles away. Everyone worked. Mama was an excellent gardener. She loved the plants and trees, and knew how to can and cure the fruits and vegetables, wasting nothing. She saw that the hogs were cared for and petted the chickens and ducks as treasures for the table when company came.

And when company did come, she could sacrifice a couple of fryers the fastest of anyone. They were already in the skillet before the flesh got cold--and biscuits, ``light bread,'' with ``thickening gravy'' were made. Aunt Clara (Harton) brought back from Oklahoma some special yeast for loaf bread, which would keep for a week in the winter between bakings, but in summer new bread must be made twice a week to preserve the yeast. Between Mama, Aunt Clara and Aunt Mai the yeast was ``kept alive'' and delicious for forty years. The only reason for letting it go was that the family was smaller, and fresh yeast was being sold in the city of equivalent quality, but no better.

Mama sewed. She made shirts and pants and mended. There weren't any of our school mates who had neater patches on their pants than the Watlington boys. She mended at odd times of the day and night when she was resting. It was a relaxation for her to get to sit and sew.

For her time Mama was an educated person. She had studied home medical books, and she read widely. In spite of the relative poverty of our home, we had a small library, and received some farm and home magazines. I remember a time in the depression when she paid for the Progressive Farmer magazine with chickens caught right out of the yard and hauled away in the crate of the salesman which he had especially for that purpose. She enjoyed conversing with those who visited in the home and could keep the conversation flowing. As the children studied she could help them and encourage them in their tasks.

Mama saw that we had grace before meals and taught the children to be reverent and respectful. Though she could not often go to church she saw that the others had clean clothes for Sunday school and church. Those that begged off were put to work in the kitchen to help prepare the special Sunday dinner that awaited us on our return from services. And we always felt free to bring home one or more guests, because when you are cooking for twelve or more, one more doesn't make much difference--you just ``divide.'' In later years, on Sunday afternoon or evening, we found time to gather with Mama for some hymn singing around the organ.

A woman who valued greatly her time, Mama taught the children to be occupied also. From early to late she was about her tasks. Never hurried or nervously, but with a great sense of the value of time and the need to work, she kept things moving. She was seldom sick, and never one to complain but she would vary her tasks to rest her feet. She was overweight and suffered from being on duty so many hours a day, attending children and housework. We seldom had any hired help with the washing or housecleaning, but after a few years the children helped, boys as well as girls. When the time approached for childbirth there was some help around, usually a Negro woman by the name of Nelly Jones. Nelly was always available when ``Miss Jennie'' needed help. Help usually came in also at hog-killing time in the fall or early winter. Nelly or others would come to help clean and cut meat and make sausages and lard. Usually their work was paid for by part of the meat and lard.

About 1929 the big cow barn burned to the ground, with loss of some cows and lots of feed. Shortly afterward Grandpa Hammond died, leaving only Aunt Mai in the large house he had built. In 1930 a new horse barn was built, but not for the dairy herd which was dwindling. The family moved into the ``white house'' with Aunt Mai who from that time has been very much a part of our life and family. She and Mama shared the household duties, gardening, and canning. It was difficult to convince the teachers at school, but we children told them quite convincingly that we had ``two mothers'' at home.

Life in the thirties was difficult, but we made out. The older children worked and shared their earnings with the family, and the farm produced most of what we ate. As recently as 1947 we were still refusing to buy corn meal--we hauled corn to the mill to have them grind it for us, taking their pay in corn. We chased rabbits in the fall, and picked plums and wild blackberries in the Summer to have food on the table. Clothing got thin, and sometimes we ate more than our share of sweet potatoes and cow peas, but we didn't go to bed hungry. Mama kept us going, and kept us in school. We helped with the farming after school, on Saturdays and during vacations. If we didn't like school we could work at home so the others could study. She and Papa helped us to know it was a privilege to go to school. Of the eleven children only the oldest boy, Mack, was kept out of school to help the family and thus lacked two years finishing high school. The others were all helped through public high school, and some through college.

In the fall of 1940, John and Herman went with the Tennessee National Guard 117th Inf. Regt. into full-time training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Herman had only enlisted for a year so he returned in 1941, while John served throughout the war with the 117th Inf. Regt., 30th Inf. Div. Later all eight sons and one son-in-law, C. Lloyd King, would be in service. As Papa said often during the war years, it was good that Mama was spared by her early death the worry of having her boys scattered about the world in the War zones.

Mama became sick with a high fever in midsummer 1941. She didn't know what ailed her and tried resting it out. When we called on a young doctor to attend her, he missed the diagnosis and gave little relief. Old Doctor Jack Smythe came out after Mama had been sick nearly three weeks and immediately ordered her to be taken to the Clinic. She was suffering from advanced meningitis, and even then it was too far along to control. She died a few days later, August 13, 1941, at the Webb-Williamson Hospital in Jackson.

The funeral was held from the Methodist Church in Malesus, with burial in the Ebenezer Cemetery there. The youngest child, Betty, was only twelve years of age at that time. Brother Robert F. Wiley was our pastor and a real comfort to the family. We have all felt sorry that one who worked so hard to rear eleven children should not have lived to enjoy them in more relaxed years. We are grateful for a loving and devoted mother, but regret her sudden illness and death in the fullness of a busy life. ⁴

     James Paulin Watlington was born on 26 September 1896. He was the son of Michael Roberts Watlington and Eula Avenant Daniel. James Paulin Watlington died on 12 July 1897.¹

     Nona Ethel Watlington was born on 24 January 1883. She was the daughter of Michael Roberts Watlington and Eula Avenant Daniel. Nona Ethel Watlington died on 24 July 1897 at B. F. Watlington farm at age 14. She was buried at Big Springs Cemetery, Pinson, Madison Co., TN.

     Albert E. Watlington was born on 18 June 1896 at TN.¹ He was the son of Michael Roberts Watlington and Eula Avenant Daniel.¹ Albert E. Watlington died on 20 August 1965 at Jackson, Madison Co., TN, at age 69.

     Serena Watlington was buried at Big Springs Methodist Cemetery, Big Springs, TN.¹ She was born on 24 February 1881.¹ She was the daughter of Michael Roberts Watlington and Eula Avenant Daniel. Serena Watlington died in July 1905 at age 24.

     John Leonard Watlington was born on 5 January 1887 at Pinson, Madison Co., TN. He was the son of Michael Roberts Watlington and Eula Avenant Daniel. John Leonard Watlington married Velma Idell Needham, daughter of Marvin Marvel Needham and Luna Louise Moore, on 11 February 1912 at Delhi, Richland Co., LA. John Leonard Watlington died on 5 December 1955 at Shreveport, Caddo Co., LA, at age 68. He was buried at Shreveport, Caddo Co., LA.

     Jennie Sophronia Hammond was born on 9 September 1887.¹ She was the daughter of Orson Ward Hammond and Mary Elizabeth Jameson.² Jennie Sophronia Hammond married Ulrich Armstrong Watlington, son of Michael Roberts Watlington and Eula Avenant Daniel, on 28 August 1907 at near Malesus, Madison Co., TN.¹ Jennie Sophronia Hammond died on 13 August 1941 at Webb Williamson Hospital, Jackson, TN, at age 53.³ She was buried at Ebenezer Cemetery, Malesus, TN.⁴

     Mary Frances Watlington died in 1908 at Dyersburg, TN.¹ She was born in 1908 at Dyersburg, TN.¹ She was the daughter of Ulrich Armstrong Watlington and Jennie Sophronia Hammond.¹ Mary Frances Watlington was buried at Neely's Chapel Cemetery, Dyersburg, TN.¹

     Mable Lee Watlington died in 1908 at Dyersburg, TN.¹ She was born in 1908 at Dyersburg, TN.¹ She was the daughter of Ulrich Armstrong Watlington and Jennie Sophronia Hammond.¹ Mable Lee Watlington was buried at Neely's Chapel Cemetery, Dyersburg, TN.¹

     Clara Mai Watlington was born on 30 May 1909 at Caruthersville, Pemiscot Co., MO.^1,2 She was the daughter of Ulrich Armstrong Watlington and Jennie Sophronia Hammond.¹ Clara Mai Watlington married Clarence Lloyd King on 8 February 1941 at Methodist Parsonage, Malesus, Madison Co., TN.¹ Clara Mai Watlington died on 8 March 1982 at Parkview Hospital, Jackson, Madison Co., TN, at age 72.¹

In 1940, Lloyd King was employed by the County Board of Education under the leadership of Supt. Kit Parker. He was the truck driver and part of the general repair and transfer crew that supported the local schools of Madison County, Tenn. Clara Mai was teaching at the Madison Hall Elementary School and boarding with an elderly family that lived within walking distance of the school. There were repairs and improvements to be done and as the crew worked there Lloyd and Clara Mai met and their courtship began. Both were of mature years and Lloyd had been through an early marriage and was single again. Clara Mai had been helping support a large family of brothers and sisters during the depression years and had postponed romantic alliances.

It surprised us younger Watlingtons when we heard that ``Big Sister'' was going to be married--and real soon. They chose a simple wedding at the Malesus Methodist parsonage on Feb. 8, 1941, when the pastor was Brother Robert F. Wiley. After the early evening wedding Brother Wiley attended the Malesus High School basketball game in the new WPA constructed gymnasium and congratulated the family of the new couple.

Lloyd and Clara Mai made their home in an apartment of the Hiram Jamerson home at the junction of the Harts Bridge Road and the Old Pinson Road. With their combined salaries they felt well-to-do and the next year they bargained for a 1939 four-door Nash automobile -- practically new as it seemed then. They were still making payments on it when Lloyd was drafted for U.S. Army service in March of 1943, but it was a joy to have during the War Years when new cars were not being built.

Lloyd followed his interest and gifts in the armed services and the Army put him in the Field Artillery where he was needed to keep those ``Caissons a rolling along.'' Trucks, machinery, mechanics and drivers were in demand. He went to mechanics school and continued with the Field Artillery into Germany. His training was primarily at Fort Sill, Lawton, Oklahoma, and since it seemed he would be there sometime, Clara Mai left the school room and moved to a nearby town where they could be together as time permitted. She found part-time work as a sales clerk in 1943 and 1944. When his unit started on their way to Europe she returned to Tennessee and to teaching, her life-work with over 40 years in the class room.

It seems that Lloyd's Field Artillery Batallion trained, traveled, and shipped overseas on August 12, 1944 as a group with their equipment. They arrived in France on August 22, 1944 and were in active service in two of the main battles leading to the defeat of the Nazis. At the termination of hostilities his 691st Field Artillery Battalion was stationed near Kastel, Germany, while his brother Paul W. King was with a Field Hospital unit at Bad Vildunken, about 30 miles away. They got together several times while Lloyd's unit was still held there. Lloyd started his return voyage Feb. 21, 1946, and was discharged at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, March 7, with rank of Corporal. Soon after returning home he took an apprenticeship in iron working and continued in this type of work until his death in 1971.

He and Clara Mai were given three acres of land near the Hammond-Watlington Homeplace on which to build their home. Mack and Elton helped lay the foundation and get enough built to move in early 1947. The home was completed in the following years as money and materials became available. In 1949, at the age of 39 Clara Mai gave birth to Jenniebeth King, and in 1951 to Emma Jane King. After taking off from school for two or three years with the babies she continued to teach as well as care for the family. She arranged for her Aunt, Emma Mai Hammond, to care for the little ones as she returned to the classroom. This created a special bond between the King and Watlington families.


Remembrance

Mrs. Clara Mai Watlington King died Monday March 8th in Parkway Hospital, Jackson, Tenn. after a brief illness. She had suffered from a weakening heart condition for the previous five years which had been partially corrected by a cardiac pacemaker.

Clara Mai was married Feb. 8, 1941 to Clarence Lloyd King (b. Sept. 19, 1914, d. Sept. 30, 1971) and is survived by their two daughters, Miss Jenniebeth King of Jackson, Tenn. and Mrs. Emma Jane King Williamson of Bartlett, Tenn. She was the oldest daughter of Jennie Hammond and U. A. Watlington and had been ``big sister'' to the younger brothers and sisters. Graduating from Malesus High School in 1927, she attended Union University for a year and then began teaching in the Madison County Schools. She taught at Mason Wells, Adee, Fairview, Madison Hall and Bemis schools and continued summer studies to complete her permanent teacher's certification. She continued to teach following her marriage and completed forty years of public school teaching before retirement in 1972.

Clara Mai was active in the Malesus Methodist Church and during many years was nursery supervisor for the church. Her funeral service was held in the Mack Watlington Fellowship Hall since the new sanctuary was under construction at the time. Interment was in the Ebenezer Cemetery at Malesus beside her husband Lloyd who preceded her in death.

The family has greatly missed Clara Mai because she had become our family center after Papa Watlington became feeble. She not only gave a lot of tender care and affection to Papa and Aunt Mai but ministered to the rest of the family as well. Family memorial gifts have gone to the garden and landscaping project around the new sanctuary at the Malesus United Methodist Church.

She had a special interest in family history and had known intimately her maternal grandparents, Orson Ward and Mary Eliza Hammond and Grandpa Watlington. She had encouraged and helped in every phase of the oral tradition of the family but had not written many notes to leave with us. Her passing makes it even more important to record our bits of family history before it slips away from us. ³

     Clarence Lloyd King was born on 19 September 1914.^1,2 He married Clara Mai Watlington, daughter of Ulrich Armstrong Watlington and Jennie Sophronia Hammond, on 8 February 1941 at Methodist Parsonage, Malesus, Madison Co., TN.¹ Clarence Lloyd King died in September 1971.^1,2

     Elijah Alderman was born circa 1748. He was the son of Elijah Alderman and Alinoam Holcombe.¹ Elijah Alderman married Dorcas Alderman, daughter of Joseph Alderman Jr. and Keziah Holcombe.¹ Elijah Alderman died on 29 April 1809.²

Information in the Alderman Genealogy differs from the dates given in The Nutmegger, which was extracted from a family bible belonging to Elijah and Dorcas (Alderman) Alderman. The dates from the bible are listed here.

The bible does not list Lydia or the unnamed son that died 14 February 1777.

     Dorcas Alderman was born on 13 February 1757.² She was the daughter of Joseph Alderman Jr. and Keziah Holcombe.¹ Dorcas Alderman married Elijah Alderman, son of Elijah Alderman and Alinoam Holcombe.¹ Dorcas Alderman died in 1837.²

     Joseph Alderman Jr. was born on 26 May 1725. He was the son of Joseph Alderman and Mindwell Case.² Joseph Alderman Jr. married Keziah Holcombe, daughter of Joshua Holcombe III and Marey Griffin, on 13 November 1745 at Simsbury, Hartford Co., CT.³ Joseph Alderman Jr. died on 15 December 1806 at age 81.⁴

Ruth Cost Duncan cites the Simsbury Vital Records.

The census of 1790 lists a Joseph Alderman as residing in Granby Town, Hartford County, Conn., with no sons but one female, perhaps his wife. He was probably Joseph, Jr., whose children may have all married and established homes of their own at the time, for the same census also lists a Joseph Alderman, Jr. (probably Joseph, III, above) as residing in the same town, and in addition to his wife he had two sons under 16 and a daughter. Joseph, Jr., moved from Granby to Windsor, Ohio, in 1804 where in 1798 he had bought 1,600 acres of land. He died within two years after making the move and left to each of his children 160 acres, and the same acreage to each of his grandsons, Timothy and Alexander. ⁵

     Dorcas Alderman was born on 31 January 1775.¹ She was the daughter of Elijah Alderman and Dorcas Alderman.¹

     Elijah Alderman was born on 14 February 1777.¹ He was the son of Elijah Alderman and Dorcas Alderman.¹ Elijah Alderman married Rosanna Phelps in 1795.² Elijah Alderman died in 1864.²

At a freemen's meeting in Salmon Brook on April 11, 1803, Elijah and brother Irajah were made free men. Elijah moved to Windsor, Ohio. He was enumerated in the 1840 Windsor OH census with one female 60-70 and one male 15-20. Adjacent households included Ransalaer, Zebina, Phelps, and Edward Hill.

Elijah and Lorena were enumerated in the 1860 Windsor, Ashtabula Co., OH, federal census, page 118. He was a farmer age 83, she was 56. There was no one else in the household.

     Homer H. Holcombe was born on 1 January 1844 at Licking, Licking Co., OH. He was the son of Enos Holcombe and Jeanette Harmon. Homer H. Holcombe married Mary E. Osborne on 17 December 1873 at Center Point, Linn Co., IA. Homer H. Holcombe died on 26 December 1916 at Center Point, Linn Co., IA, at age 72.

     Keziah died at the home of Charles Alderman and is buried in Scotland (St. Andrews Cemetery, Simsbury). Keziah Alderman was born on 18 October 1781.¹ She was the daughter of Elijah Alderman and Dorcas Alderman.¹ Keziah Alderman married Joshua Preserve Holcombe, son of Joshua P. Holcombe and Sarah Smith. Keziah Alderman died on 22 June 1858 at age 76.

     Deborah Alderman was born on 7 January 1784.¹ She was the daughter of Elijah Alderman and Dorcas Alderman.¹

     John Alderman was born on 5 November 1786.¹ He was the son of Elijah Alderman and Dorcas Alderman.¹

     Martha Alderman also went by the name of Patty Alderman. She was born on 4 September 1798.¹ She was the daughter of Elijah Alderman and Dorcas Alderman.¹

     Orson A. Alderman was born on 7 July 1792.¹ He was the son of Elijah Alderman and Dorcas Alderman.¹ Orson A. Alderman married Hannah Harmon.² Orson A. Alderman died on 5 February 1870 at age 77.²

     Bidwell Alderman was born on 12 August 1794.¹ He was the son of Elijah Alderman and Dorcas Alderman.¹ Bidwell Alderman married Vesta C. Smith.² Bidwell Alderman died on 20 July 1828 at age 33.²