David Patton, Palmer Historian
2009
Due to time constraints, Mr. Patton regrets that he cannot personally respond to every comment and inquiry. Like most small town historians, he is an unpaid community volunteer and makes no claim of “knowing everything” about local history. For a detailed account of Grundy County history, he recommends that you consult your copy of the Grundy County Heritage Book.
However, if you have information you would like to share, you may write him at
50 Dogwood St.; Palmer, TN 37365, and he will attempt to respond through this page as time and circumstances allow. Your courtesy and understanding will be appreciated. Ms. Susan Sissom and other volunteers will be assisting Mr. Patton in transmitting this material, but have no personal knowledge as to the veracity of its contents.
Memories of Christmas Past
By Mrs. Johnnie Jane Heard Brown as told to David Patton
“As for Christmas at the Palmer United Methodist Church, I do remember we always had a Christmas program and afterwards, the visit from Santa and we got fruit and a small amount of candy.
One Christmas I remember my dad was Santa. The only way I knew it was dad was by his shoes. They gave him away. Yes, Louie “Chief” Geary was sometimes Santa too at the church.
We didn’t get into Christmas in a big way. Mother and Dad did the best they could. Bud and I always knew we were loved. Bud had a stick horse and a cap pistol. He and Howell Gilbert Clements played together.
We always went to my mother’s parents (Goforth) in Tracy City for dinner. You might say now- those were the good old days.
Johnnie Jane grew up in Palmer in the 1930’s and 40’s and had a brother, Homer Douglas “Bud” Heard. Their parents were Homer and Veola Goforth Heard. Mr. Heard was a barber at the old train depot and Mrs. Heard later had a beauty shop there as well.
Mr. John A. “Johnny” Goforth was the patriarch of the famous Goforth family of teachers and Johnnie Jane’s grandfather. He was a teacher himself for 57 years.
A widow for the past 17 years, Johnnie Jane lives in McMinnville, TN, today. Her parents and brother are also deceased. Homer Heard’s widow, Jean Heard, also a former teacher in Manchester lives there now.
THE BOOK OF BOB
By Robert Joseph Owen
PROLOGUE
In the beginning.... was a Great Depression that covered the whole World, and the hills ofTennessee grew quiet, cold, dark and almost lifeless. Despair was spreading and it was a sad time.
Quietly and without fanfare, an event took place on November 17, 1929 that rapidly changed the lives of a "Coal Miner", his beautiful wife, and two lovely young daughters.
For unto Floyd Newton Owen and Rossie Burr Ackerman Owen a son was born and Palmer, Tennessee was changed forever! His name was called Robert Joseph -AKA Bobby, Bob, or St. Joe. The hills were no longer quiet, or as cold, or as dark, or as lifeless and it was truly a glad and gala time!
This is my story and the following events, places and people have helped shape a life that has been full, exciting and overall very wonderful. This book is dedicated to my children -mine, hers, and ours. Now ifany sibling asks, "Who was my Papa Bob?" you can respond with -"Here, read this book!"
To John Newton Owen, Melinda Lee Owen James, Holly Elizabeth Ballard Winters, Kirk Brody Ballard, and Jill Marie McDaniel Owen Cline.
CHAPTER I
The Palmer Story
I was born in a very embarrassing situation. I was naked -no clothes on -nada! Red as a beet and screaming my head off in protest I greeted my world. However, that all ended soon and my Mother, Ruth, and Carolyn saw to my every need. Bobby was alive, healthy, happy and well on his way!
Palmer was the beginning and ending of my world for the next 10 years. Frankly, my memory ofthose {"IrSt few years are pretty sketchy so I'll fast forward to about age 5, when sister Mary Lillian came along to steal some of my thunder. And just as I was getting used to the competition, along comes Bettie Lou (Sweet Pea). Not to worry though, I was still the only boy among a covey of girls!
My father was a company foreman at the mine owned by the Tennessee Consolidated Coal Company -the only sizable business in the little town ofPalmer. The mine employed 95 percent ofthe men in Palmer and surrounding towns. Daddy worked long hours and made a garden each summer, so I got about 2-4 hours a day with him. I can compare my early life with "A Bug's Life" until I got started in school. My mother was very involved in the Palmer Elementary School and the Palmer Methodist Church -thus we all were.
My family never did own an automobile until I came home from the Navy and bought one to leave at home. Sister Mary also purchased a car when she got her {"IrSt job at teaching school. Daddy lived to be almost 95 years old and never did learn to drive. Actually he said he could -but he just didn't want to. Hummm! Anyway, any time we wanted to go somewhere, we walked. Of course the Company Store, Post Office, Church, and School were only a hop skip and a jump away from our house. Occasionally we rode with our Uncle or a neighbor and ifwe left Palmer there was always the Trailways Bus.
During the summer of 1939 (I was almost ten years old) things began to change in the household and I needed to be "put away" so the birth of Martha Rosalyn could take place without the bother of "Bobby".
Exile was Birmingham, Alabama, at 1108 South 13th Street. This was the home of my Mother's brother Robert Earl and wife Ruby Ackerman. SUDDENLY, a whole New World opened up for me and I became the "adopted kid" for the summer. As the only kid in the house I was treated royally. I even learned all about "birthing babies", and all that stuff Aunt Ruby thought a ten year old boy was perfectly old
enough to learn about.
I really learned to swim at the Birmingham Athletic Club and then was permitted to ride the streetcar 8 blocks to the Five Points Swimming Pool. I also attended the Mickey Mouse Club at the Alabama Theater, which was close to Aunt Ruby's Insurance Office. My cousin, Barbara Ann Ackerman, performed there almost every Saturday. I also visited often with Charles and Jean Pierce, Aunt Ruby's brother's kids who lived in Leeds, about 15-20 miles from Birmingham.
The real highlight of my "summer in exile" was a train excursion from Birmingham to Atlanta to visit Ruby's friends. I had ridden a train before, but never inside. I usually hung on the outside of a coal car! While in Atlanta, we went to the Fox Theater with the clouds and stars in the ceiling, and the world's largest pipe organ playing for us. WOW! What a trip!
Rosie was born on July 4,1939, but I was not returned to Palmer until August By then, I was a seasoned traveler!
On my eleventh Christmas I got a beautiful, ultra-modern Western Flyer bicycle with rams horn styled handlebars. It was the classiest bike in town! For the next two weeks after Santa brought the bike I sat on it about 6 hours a day in our living room. Alas, I had a good case of the Mumps!
Palmer was a great place to grow up in. The summers were warm, the winters cool and we usually had 2 or 3 good snows each winter. The mountain range behind our house was about a mile away and straight up. It had an outcropping of rocks with a cliff called "The Goat Rock" by the locals, mainly because wild goats hung out up there (as well as my friends and I). We played Cowboys and Indians and camped out there every chance we got.
My gang of friends were: Jimmy Flynn, his cousin Mitchell Flynn, "Little Everett" Roberts, J.e. Harris, R.P. White, Hershel Finch, Doyle Moneyheffer, Corky Sandlin, Charles Barker and Johnny Hill. The girls that ran after us were Hazel Grace Sanders, Emaline Pocus, Patsy Northcut, Tootsie Cannon, and Aleene Nun
ley.
The boys played football, basketball, Set-back (a card game), Monopoly, Rook and marbles. We also entertained ourselves by daredevil rides on our bikes, picking blackberries, and riding sleds in the snow. Our chores were mostly outside cutting stove wood, raking leaves, helping in the garden and feeding the animals.
The girls joined us for MYF, Wednesday and Saturday night movies, bon fires and wiener roasts, and of course Church on Sunday or Sunday night. Each Sunday night we would alternate between the Methodist, Christian, Holiness (2 kinds), and Baptist chnrch. And remember -no cars! No cell phones or even regular phones as a matter offact Just word of mouth and written notes, "Patsy wants to sit with you at church", or "Can Hazel Grace go with you to the bon fire?"
Very few of the girls would go swimming with us at the "Cat Hole" so we usually had that place to ourselves except for an occasional church group that would have a Baptizing. The "Cat Hole" was a wide and deep place in the Palmer Creek. This creek started at the Tennessee Consolidated Coal Mine, where most of our fathers, big brothers, uncles and grandfathers worked. As the water flowed from the mine, it was used to wash the dust from the coal before it was loaded in coal cars. The water then flowed through town, behind the schoolhouse and on to join the Collins River. Of course it contained lots ofcoal dust but I can't remember it ever making anybody sick-just a little darker skin, maybe!
I guess Johnny Hill got Baptized 2 or 3 times every summer!
One time he broke away from a visiting Holiness Evangelist while he was under water, and swam to the other side of the creek. The poor preacher got real scared that he had drowned Johnny when he didn't come up!
There was no school bus for the Grammar School (grades 1-8) so we either walked or rode our bikes. Very few families had a car and ifso it was used to go to work. I loved school. Especially the 20-minute recess and we had two of them each day. Lunchroom soup was the best soup I have ever tasted. We usually had that on Friday and it was made from all the leftovers from that week's meals.
Our school, Palmer Elementary, was ruled with the heavy hand of Mr. L.D. Berry. He walked with a limp, but was definitely no wimp! He would keep a running total of all the wrong doings of the week and on Friday afternoon would dispense his dreaded "mass punishment"! He would line all the boys on his list up against Mr. Henniger's fence and use his special belt on them (us). Ofcourse when our parents found out, which they always did, we got it again at home! My Mother's favorite punishment was to make us go after our own switch (usually from a Spirea bush just below the pantry window). When we didn't get one big enough to suit her we had to go back for another. When we finally got the right size, we got our legs striped! Ifthe crime was really bad she would defer to Daddy who would use his razor strap.
Christmas was the most favorite time of the year and Halloween was second. I didn't know about trick or treat until I had kids of my own. When I was a kid in Palmer, there was only "trick". Our favorite tricks were turning over "out houses", as most folk didn't have indoor plumbing then. Or gathering corn stalks and depositing them all over someone's front porch. We would throw firecrackers or spit in a can of carbide and throw it against the roof of a house. Itwould really explode! One time we borrowed a two-horse farm wagon, took it apart, hauled it on top of the Post Office and reassembled it. Took two weeks for the city Fathers to figure out they would have to take it apart again to get it down. Another trick was to jack up the wheels of a car, truck or wagon. Then put wood blocks under the axle, and remove the jack.
During the summer school breaks I had jobs at home, mostly keeping up the yard and helping Mother with her shrubs and flowers. Seemed like our yard was about 20 acres, but it was really only about three. I also worked for our neighbors, Mrs. Swan and Mrs. Hampton. My pay was 48 cents per hour. Most of my friends made 65 cents an hour but Mother said that these were her friends and 48 cents was enough. I was the only boy in town who would work for them.
We had all kinds of animals -dogs, cats, rabbits, a goat, a cow, chickens, ducks and pigs. We, the Owen kids, took care of these as well as building and maintaining fires in our cook stove and fireplaces. We helped prepare meals, clean dishes and kitchen afterwards, churn butter, help with the washing and ironing. Try all of this and still get to school on time! Not always but any excuse is as good as none!
When I was about fifteen years old, Mr. Swan arranged for the Company "caterpillar" to be left at his house for a few days. The Flynn boys, Charles Barker and I learned to drive it and fashioned a clay tennis court in Mrs. Hampton's lower yard. Did a pretty good job too and Martha and Becky Hampton taught us how to play tennis. Kids from all over town came to play tennis on that court for years
.
Although I have been in "the mines" many times with my Dad, I never ever had a desire to work there. In fact, my Mother said it would never happen and "that was THAT"! Daddy was always taking groups of students or mining executives from other states on tours of the mine on Sunday afternoons and sometimes he would take us along for the ride. The main interest in that particular coal mine was that it was the Irrst mechanical mine in the South and quite different from most of the others. Even though they were able to produce a lot of coal by this method and the labor was a little easier it was still a dangerous job and accidents did happen.
The only High School in Grundy County was located in Tracy City, which was about 18 miles from Palmer. You guessed it we finally got to ride the school bus. Except -during football practice when we had to hitchhike (mostly hiked) home since practice was after school and the bus wouldn't wait for us. Sometimes it was eight or nine o'clock before we got home! The driver of our bus made a habit ofstopping at a store/gas station about halfway home for a coke and smoke. Oue afternoon most of us were in a hurry to get home so we could go to the Wednesday night movie. Ralph wouldn't listen to our plea aud stopped anyway. 8000, when he went into the store I got into the driver's seat and several guys got offand pushed that school bus about two miles down the highway! Then we all got out and started walking. Most everyone caught some sort of a ride home. And we did get into trouble, both at hume
and at school, but that bus driver never stopped there on his way home again!
We had a 15ft. drop-of ffrom our front yard to the road (Highway 108). The bank had Rose bushes all along the top and they ran down the bank. They bloomed all spring and summer and were quite a show. During World War IT, lots of military convoys passed our house to and from military camps. When the roses were blooming, my older sisters Ruth and Carolyn, along with Aunt Royce, would throw bunches of roses (with their name and addresses attached) to the soldiers. They got quite a few pen pals that way.
Mother's sisters, Aunt Roberta and Aunt Royce, and sisters Ruth (AI) and Carolyn (Milton) all married military men. All were Army except Ruth's husband who was Air Force. Later sister Mary followed suite with a Paratrooper (Buddy). Bettie Lou's husband (Bill) was a physicist with NASA and very involved in the Space program. Rosie's husband (Terry) worked for a Jewish Carpenter and followed the Methodist
Discipline.
We had wonderful friends and neighbors in Palmer when I was growing up and most of them were very much a part of my life. However, the following people were of great influence in the person I was to become and I am indebted to them for their love and guidance.
DADDY -was pretty much a no-nonsense person who loved his family and worked long, hard hours as a Company Foreman in the mines. He was a pretty good gardener who always had a garden and loved doing landscaping projects in the hilly yard around our house. He was one of the "pillars" of the Palmer Methodist Church.
MOTHER-was "kinda" partial to her only son, but didn't hesitate to use the Spirea bush as needed! She and daddy would take long walks in the woods on Sunday afternoons. She was a major force in teaching me right and wrong. She would say, "Ifyou wouldn't say or do it around me, then it's wrong!" I used that advice a lot into adulthood and found it to be a good measure. She also taught me to wash and iron my clothes -and I still do.
UNCLE REYBURN ACKERMAN -was my mother's brother. He was severely injured in a mine accident in the late thirties and was paralyzed from the waist down. He learned to walk with a cane and wore braces on both legs. We would wrestle and I would hit him and try to get away but he was fast and would catch me with the crook in his walking cane. Then I would get a bruise from a knuckle lick or a pinch, etc. He treated me pretty rough at times and teased me a lot, but I loved him dearly and would visit him every chance I got. Oh yeah, he roasted my billy goat on an open fire one fall-I did not eat any! I think my admiration for him stemmed from his determination to live as normal a life as possible. He got a job delivering Dry Cleaning as he had learned to drive a car again. I would help him during the summer and he would let me drive his '39 Chevy. Once his dog, Penny, bit him and he grabbed the German Shepherd and bit him right back on the neck. Penny never bit him again. Later in life he was the official Mayor ofPalmer, whatever that means.
RUTH -was my oldest sister and more like a mother than a sister. She was always sweet and kind to me (except when I heard her whistling and thought she was a bird -I was a good shot with my BB Gun).
CAROLYN -Beat up on me a couple of times but all in all was a pretty good sister. She wouldn't tattle on me, nor I on her and that was a priceless attribute!
MARY -was always a Sweetheart as was BETTIE (Sweet Pea). They were younger sisters and I went away to school at age sixteen, so I remember very little interaction with them. However, I have been "told" that I was a pretty pesky big brother in my heyday!
ROSIE -was always the baby and I treated her that way until she got married (and I still do really).
All together we had a good and loving family and I really missed them when I went away to school. Mother and Daddy were a little worried about the influence ofsome of my "buddies" who were a little rough around the edges and decided to send me away to high school. They chose a boarding school with an excellent reputation for building character as well as a strong work ethic and academics. Baxter Seminary became my home away from home and I never lived at our home in Palmer again.
Others in the community who were a large part of my life in Palmer were: MRS. SWAN -Our close neighbor and without a doubt my "Fairy Godmother" who thought I could do no wrong.
BURTON CAGLE -The Cagles (Mr. & Mrs., Eston, Bonnie and Burton) could :fIx anything. They helped me keep my bicycle going. When World War n started Eston and Burtou went to Hawaii to help rebuild our Navy in a civilian work force. They became real heroes to my gang.
DR. HARRIS -The "Company" pharmacist gave me advice on how to be a nice person. He always took time to talk to me anytime I came into the Company Store and showed interest in my interests.
MR. BURNETT -Mr. "Boggie" lived just up the hill from us and shared our garage. He had a car and no garage and we had a garage and no car -go figure! He was very interesting to talk to and was the only Republican I can remember from my Palmer days.
Rev. P.M. Clayton -was the Methodist Preacher. He was famous for the remark to his congregation, "The reason preacher's kids are sometimes mean is because they have to grow up with your mean kids!" And his boy Paul sure was mean!
MRS. WILLIAMS -was a dear soul and my favorite Sunday School Teacher. Then there was THE KLAN... Jimmy Flynn, Johnny Hill aud I witnessed a KKK meeting and cross burning once which nearly scared me to death! The threat of them coming after me for something was a REAL influence! We recognized several men we knew which added to the scare. They were tough on men who mistreated their families, drank too much, or didn't look after them very well. It wasn't a Black, White, or foreigner thing, as there were no Blacks or foreigners in Grundy County.
Law enforcement was mainly provided by the Klan, decent citizens, parents and a once a week visit in town by a Sheriff's deputy. There was no local police force. There were many others who helped direct my path, as most adults in Palmer didn't hesitate helping your parents keep you on the "straight and narrow".
All in all, I feel Palmer at that period of time was a great place to live. The Depression years were tough and Palmer was a cold harsh place at times, but my parents provided a comfortable home, plenty of nourishing food, and lots of love and care. Most of all they taught us to be grateful for what we had. They also managed to provide each of their six children an opportunity for a formal education. Mountain people probably fared better during the Depression than others due to the fact that they had a tenacious will to work and "make do" with what they had. Actually, the Tennessee Consolidated Coal Company took very good care of their people and provided most everything needed in a town that size. Being a "coal miner's son or daughter" was actually a privilege for the Owen kids!
Thus the first chapter of my life has been revealed. Stay tuned for there is much more to come!
Old sayings and Figures of Speech in Grundy Co. TN
“You can bend a sapling, but you can’t bend a tree.” Anita Crabtree said her father, the late Herschel Finch, Sr. used to say this. Mr. Finch meant teach your kids values while they’re small and still teachable. Our friend Bobby Owen made the same point recently when he said that he’d read the “formative” years of a person’s life were from about 5-14.
“I’m in a pickle”. This meant in a difficult situation similar to being “between a rock and a hard place”. Some of life’s pickles turn out sweet and others are “dill”.
“That’s over in the dry goods side.” I’ve not heard this in a long time but I;m sure Martha Carroll Hensley, Perkie Greene, Janelle Taylor and many others remember that the ‘dry goods’ section of a store was where the clothes and shoes could be found.
“In like Flynn” The Flynn name was once well known in Palmer coal mining circles, but this old saying probably goes back to the 1800’s when Irish immigrants flooded America after the potato famine in Ireland. Some of the immigrants became prominent in political offices in the big cities of the northeast and the Flynn name is still prominent in Massachusetts. “In like Flynn” meant you were a “player” in today’s term and had influence to get things done and could pull strings for jobs or favors.
“By rights” This meant that if things were fair and as they should be someone would get what they deserved. “He beat it in court, but “by rights; he should have been sent to prison.”
“She’s a friendly somebody” You seldom hear this any more, but we just happened to recently. In the South, even a person of questionable character is often given the benefit of the doubt if they’re friendly. A person who is not friendly is held in low regard by most other people.
“You can’t tell him anything.” Did this mean a person couldn’t keep a secret? No, it meant that the person wouldn’t listen to good advice and was often said about young people by their parents or older relatives.
“I had to grit my teeth” or “I had to bite my tongue.” I’ve not heard grit my teeth in a long time, but you still occasionally hear bite my tongue.
These old sayings meant that it took all your will power to remain silent about something a person said, but in the end, you decided that course of action was best.
Website comments
Dear David:
Thanks for your friendship! I certainly appreciate the time and effort that you put into the “Palmer News”. It does mean something to those of us who once lived in Palmer. In fact, I have read that the formative years are about 5to 14, which means we are part of Palmer and Palmer is a part of us.
Bobby Owen
Peachtree City, GA
Jan. 2009
Dear David: Just read your web page. We do have a PC and really enjoy it. But just in case I don’t see it Brother Bill sends it to me from you and I copy and send to my sister Clara and our Palmer neighbor Dola Ivy Rector who now lives in Georgia because they don’t have PC’s.
I know most everyone you visit and write about by remembering who their parents are. We sure enjoy hearing from Palmer here in Tucson.
It’s cool and windy here today, but expected to be 85. Our fall weather has arrived (Nov. 21).
Allene Nunley Hargis
Tucson, AZ
Jan. 2009
Dear David:
I received your “Palmer News” yesterday and you mentioned names that I had completely forgotten about since leaving the Palmer area 58 years ago. Mr. Jesse James for one, who worked some with Mr. Homer Heard in his barber shop located in Palmer Railroad Depot.
I’m very glad to hear that Palmer Community named a street after Mr. Jim Ivey. He was a very nice man. As young boys Alton Tate and I walked by his home that was located between our homes and he always had something nice to say to us.
His first wife died when I was a teenager. He married Dolly Banks Henderson, Charles Henderson’s mother. Charles and I were very good friends and had many good times together. Miss Dolly made the very best tea cake cookies I’ve ever eaten and we would take hands full every time we went into their kitchen.
You mentioned Ted Nunley and we are distant cousins. We were in the same class at Palmer School. Ted rode horses and mules around Palmer with me and Leck Smith’s daughter riding behind him.
Billy Ray Nunley
Monument, CO
(Billy Ray is the only son of the late Graham and Sara Cannon Nunley and the brother of Allene Hargis.)
Jan. 2009
David David
Keep up the good work on the Grundy County Historical Society website articles
Martha Carol Cox Hensley
Weeki Wachee, FL
Dear David:
We are enjoying the latest book from the Grundy County Historical Society (Pictures of Our Past). We visit the website often. Hope to see you soon.
David & Janice McNabb McAnally
Dunlap, TN
(Janice is the daughter of former Palmer residents Crandel and Ethleen Sitz McNabb also of Dunlap).
January 2009 Holiday Greetings fom Dr. Byron Harbolt
Dr. Harbolt has been a physician in Grundy County since 1960 and is probably the longest serving in county history. If you know about someone who has served longer, please let us know. The following is a letter from Dr. Harbolt.
Dec. 17, 2008
"Dear Friends and Relatives:
We've just about finished up another year or I should say just about finished what we've had to do this year. Surely God has been good to us in spite of our faults and failures. It is truly amazing that I am still able to keep the clinic open and also take care of so many inmates in the jail. Just this morning I was thinking of some wonderful promises. I'll just give you the references and you can claim them for yourself. First was Isa. 41:10, Ps. 32:8, II Chron. 20:20, Isa. 40:28-31; Isa. 30:21 & Ps. 1:3.
If I count all the patients that come to see me in the clinic every day I do have a lot of friends. I also have some very close friends who inspire me to keep going and growing spiritually day by day.
When I look back over the past year I am incllined to ask the question expressed so beautifully in the song: 'Why Does He Love Me So?" I have outlived all my family members. My mother died at 85. I am now over 85 and am able to work just about as much as I did 48 years ago. And I feel good except when I get tired.
It is truly amazing how well my children and grandchildren are doing. Sam's son Bjorn, has been serving as a student missionary in Africa, has been in training in David Asherick's evangelism program. DelRetha's youngest daughte, Linnea served as a student missionary in Africa for one year. Sam is doing well in his profession as a pathologist. Sam's wife Susan has conducted a remarkable diet program to get diabetics off drugs. DelRetha's oldest son was married this year and I went to his wedding in Los Vegas. He is now doing a residency in ENT in Danville, PA.
Mark and Verna are leaving Wildwood, GA, to Iron City down below Nashville. I was very much surprised. I supposed they would be at Wildwood forever. However, they will still be connected with Wildwood.
Things are going along about as usual here in Tennessee.
Must close for this time. Surely time is running out for planet earth and Jesus has promised to return soon. I think this will be the only remedy for this world's problems. may God bless each of my many children and grandchildren. Let's be ready for Jesus' return,
With love,
Daddy----Grandaddy"
In Memory
Mara Lee Roberts Caldwell
Mara Lee Caldwell Treasurer and David Patton Secretary accepted a $100 check from Y.B. Ashby for the building of the Grundy County Miners’ Museum and Heritage Center in Palmer. Mara Lee’s reputation for homesty made the project a success as donors could rest assured their contributions would be spent wisely.
Mara Lee Roberts Caldwell died unexpectedly on Dec. 27, 2008, just three weeks shy of her 83rd birthday. She was preceded in death by her husband Robert L. “Poss” and parents Henry and Oda James Roberts.
When you said “Mara Lee” everyone in Palmer thought of the post office. She began her career there as a teenager working under the supervision of the legendary Bob and Effie Richmond Overturf and ended in 1988 after some 20 years as the town postmaster.
Mara Lee’s parents had very little education, but they made sure all of their eight children graduated from high school. Seven of them taught school at one point and five made teaching a career.
Many who knew Mara Lee didn’t know that she was one of what would become the famous Henry Roberts family of teachers carrying over into the third generation now. She taught three years in Gruetli-Laager including at the old “colony school”.
Poss and Mara Lee were faithful members of the OES (Order of the Eastern Star) and she received her 50 - year membership pin in 2008. In past years they were worthy matron and worthy patron of the Tracy City Chapter.
We had know Mara Lee casually for many years, but in recent times we visited her weekly and had a snack while talking about old times in Palmer. A member of the “greatest generation” who grew up in the depression and World War II, to us she symbolized the values they cherished such as thrift and sensible living, love of God, family, and county, and a “can do: and “make do” attitude. One of her favorite sayings about thrift was “a wasteful waster makes a wishful want.”
Mara Lee didn’t have children of her own, so she doted on her many nieces and nephews and proudly told us that the “Lee” in Johnny Lee Coffelt came from her.
Another nephew, Rev. John Henry Coffelt, preached her funeral December 29 and his wife Dorcas sang “City of Gold” and “When He clothes Me”. Burial was in Fall Creek Cemetery.
All who knew Mara Lee remembered her often quoting one of her favorite Bible verses when the subject of death was mentioned. It was , “To be absent from the body, is to e present with the Lord.” Without question, that’s her new home now.
Memories of Christmas Past by Mrs. Angie Northcutt Burnett
as told to David Patton
(Angie lives in Pelham, TN, but grew up in Altamont, TN, where she was an all-star basketball player at Altamont Elementary.( now North Elementary). Her love of the game has endured and at the end of 2009, she and others will be publishing a book on Grundy County sports.
If you have information or photos to submit, send them to her at 21 River End Rd., Pelham, TN 37366. Angie always does things in a first class way, so let’s all help her preserve this “fun” part of Grundy County history that has touched so many lives.)
“I grew up very poor of material things, which made me rich in other ways. It made me appreciate what I had.
I was loved and cared for and spoiled by my parents. Now, it wasn’t a “Leave It To Beaver” home, but it was a home and I loved being there. I’m a person who puts down roots. I never ever wanted to leave the mountain, but my duty was to my husband and his to his family, so here I am in Pelham celebrating my Christmases.
As a child Santa was the only one who brought gifts. He brought “one” gift. Oh, but how exciting getting a gift was. I was 9 when I found out about Santa and 21 when I started believing in him again. I told my kids when you stop believing, you stop receiving. The still believe (ha, ha). My son is 28 and has two children of his own; my daughter is 31 with 3 children.
I was either Mary or most often the angel that said, “Hark, fear not, I bring you good tidings of great joy for unto you is born this day a savior which is Christ the Lord.”
I said this with tinsel on my head and clothed in a pinned up sheet.
We do the nativity before we open our gifts, the grandchildren playing the parts. The three grandchildren often have a bit of contention over whose turn it is to be Mary, but we started with the oldest and go to the youngest. It’s Gretchen’s (2008) turn this year, and she’s the youngest. She has also been baby Jesus and a lamb.
David, home and family are everything to me. I appreciate my good kids and wonderful grandkids so much. They are my treasures and I’m blessed with a good husband. Christmas is more what’s around the tree than what’s under it now.
On the 23rd our kids and their families come and spend the night at our house, and we have something they especially like to eat. This year it’s a nacho/taco bar, and we have salad and baked potatoes to kin of round it our. Of course, there are lots of pies, cakes, and candy to nibble on as well.
This year we’re going caroling and taking candy to the neighbors. After that we’ll have our play and then open gifts.
The grandkids gather on the reading chair, and I read Christmas stories and tell a princess tale before bed. On the 24th we’ll go to my dad’s for lunch then Carlton’s family gathers for supper. After that the kids go home for Santa and Carlton and I sit quietly with a cup of hot chocolate.
Sometime during the night, when everything settles, I try to go out on the deck alone and thank my heavenly father for sending his son to be my savior.
My favorite Christmas at school was when I was in the 6th grade. I was the teacher’s pet, and it was obvious. I got to do everything and I even got to go to the 8th grade and take names when the teacher was out.
I myself cut the class Christmas tree. It was probably ( I still cut big trees.) 10 feet tall and reached all the way to the ceiling, but it looked good in the high ceiling class room.
My friend, David, was my classmate and stayed after school to help me and the teacher put up and decorate the tree. We had so much fun, and David and I still talk about it.
David was my hero that day. A hateful young man bumped the ladder and I fell or started to fall when David caught me. (That was when I weighed 110 lbs. and was catchable.) I was grown in the 6th grade. David also punched the boy who did it.
He tells me now that he only did that to keep me from killing the guy. I was a bit of a tom boy and could, at times be a bully.” (ha, ha)
Merry Christmas and may God pour out his blessings on you always. I’ve enjoyed this time talking with you.
Comments on David's Web page, Part II
I enjoy reading all the things you write-Actually I look forward to them! I just hope people realize how beneficial your historical information will be for years to come.
Donna Gayle Gifford Basham
Tracy City, TN
(Donna is a native of Palmer and the daughter of the late Eugene and Georgia Lee Lockhart Gifford. Many of you will remember her grandparents, R.W. “Russ” and Daisy Perry Gifford, known affectionately as “Ma & Pa Gifford”.
Beverly Sissom Riley Shares Her Christmas
Beverly is a native of Palmer, TN, but is now living in Elkhart, Indiana. She sents photos of her family sharing her father's birthday and Christmas.
Palmer and Related Deaths in 2008
Another year is gone and the sad duty falls to us to remember those who left in 2008.
We had an astonishing 20 deaths in the Palmer town limits, which is about double the normal rate.
They include Jimmy Dale Finch, son of Charles Finch; Stormy Diane Baker, infant; Herbert Garner, Willie Mae “Bill” Harrison, widow of Hershel Harrison; Stella Mae Boyd James, Jackie S. “Jack” Pocus and wife Joan “Annie” Hill Pocus; Terry E. Roberts, Paul Kenley Campbell, Billy Keith Morrison, Jean James Keel and her son Ronnie Keel, Juanita Green Caldwell, Donnie E. Turner II, grandson of Mitchell Cleek; Dale Baxter Nolan, son of Gilliam Nolan; Shelva Jean Morrison Floyd, Ruby Marie Land Henry, Delbert E. “Cooney” Sweeton, Charles Chester “Chet” Cleek, and Mara Lee Roberts Caldwell.
In the Tatesville-Barker’s Cove area death claimed Dura P. “Sodie” Britton, Thomas J. “Tommy” Layne, son of Clell Layne, Ethel M. Birdwell, and Rosa Nell Brewer Coffelt.
Former Palmer residents passing away in Gruetli-Laager were Claude Archie Layne, son of Clell Layne, Raymond Earl Davis, Mary E. Garner Meeks, sister of Herbert Garner; Tryda Mae Sanders Bouldin, Helen Caldwell Cleek , wife of Bill Cleek; Eddie Mae Caldwell McCullough at age 91; Clarie Bernice Tate, Mary E. Meeks Brewer, widow of Doug Brewer; Jay W. Sanders, Dorothy McBee Meeks Geary Ross, and Frankie Morrison Bryant, widow of Harley Bryant.
Leonard Doss and his wife Blanche “Cricket” Doss of Altamont died as did George David Watts and Louise Slatton Van Hooseer stevens in Tracy City. In Coalmont, we lost Troy L. Flynn, son of Carl “Chunk” Flynn as well as Paul David Meeks. Mr. Meeks never lived in Palmer, but is remembered as a popular principal at Palmer Elementary. At the age of 80, Paul Rickard “Corky” Sandlin died in Monteagle and in Dunlap Paul David Brown at a nursing home. There are lots of Browns in our area, and he was a son of Cecil Brown of Gruetli-Laager.
In neighboring Marion County the legendary Burton B. Cagle died at 85. He was the longest serving constable in Tennessee history and grew up in Palmer where the Cagle’s firs became well-know for their mechanical skills.
Others were Elbert H. Morrison, brother of Dorothy Garner; Martin E. “Junior” Levan, Jr; Corene White Griffith, daughter of Charlie and Rachel White; Vera Wanda Meeks Braden, daughter of Hollis “Boog” Meeks; Don C. “Fly” Garner, son of Herbert and Dorothy Garner, and Annie Bell Shrum Cox 104 and her son William Paul Cox 86.
In the Chattanooga area death claimed Alma V. Overturf Patton, widow of J.R. Patton; Tommy F. King, Sr. brother of Rev. Lee King; Hollis Berton White, and Clara Mae Worley Mincey. Mrs. Finley was a sister of the late Clayton and Elton Worley.
In Hermitage, TN, Jerri Long Morgan died. She was a member of the large A.W. Long family and many will remember some of her brothers including Jack, Ted, and Sherwood, Leon Fults, brother of Joe Willard Fults, died in Iowa as did Wanda Elizabeth Rankin Halsey in Pueblo, Colorado. She was a daughter of Frank Rankin who was in one of the Palmer Big Mine photos featured in the Pictures of Our Past book by the Grundy County Historical Society.
In other deaths of interest to Palmer area citizens, Mary Shull, widow of Dr. William Shull, died at 94. He ran the Whitwell Hospital in the 1950’s where many from here went for treatment. Dr. John Wilhoit, Jr. of Dunlap died at 83. Many from Palmer went to him over the years for their dental care.
In closing, we want to salute Mrs. Reggie Sweeton, widow of Cooney Sweeton. Reggie lived in Yonkers, NY, and met Cooney while he was stationed in the New York City area with the U.S. Navy. Can you imagine what a clash of cultures between a Tennessee hillbilly and a NYC girl?
“I didn’t like him at first, but then later realized what a good person he was”, she told me. “When he brought me to Palmer in the 1950’s, it was a shock to see that people drew water from wells, had outside toilets, and heated water on a stove to take baths in a little outside building.”
The Sweetons settled down on Burnt Orchard Hill and raised a fine family amid Cooney’s other relatives on Burnt Orchard. Their daughter, Samantha “Sam” Sweeton Stevens, is a presidential award winning math teacher at Grundy County High School.
Some 20-25 years ago Cooney was struck down with a crippling disease that eventually left him bedridden. The marriage vows say, “in sickness and in health”, and Reggie Lived up to it by being his caregiver for longer than most of us can remember.
With divorces happening at an alarming rater, you don’t see that kind of devotion to a spouse much any more. We hope 2009 is filled with rest, peace and happiness for Reggie and her family after all these years.
To all of you who lost friends and family in 2008, may this new year bring brighter days, and ‘the peace that passeth all understanding” be yours.
This photo was taken approx. 1940-42. “Plib” was lost at sea during World War II in Feb. 1943 and in 1945, Berton was among those attending a ceremony to place a tombstone at Palmer Veterans’ Memorial Park in memory of Plib on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Winter Scenes form the Past
Caleb Cannon enjoys the snow on his 4-wheeler, used as "hilbilly snowmobines" in these parts. This is a January 2007 photo. Caleb's great-great Grandfather, Freddie "Jew Babe" Canon is one of those in the Palmer Big Mine picture in the Grundy County Historical Society's latest book "Pictures of Our Past".
This 2007 photo was taken on Bottom Road and shows the snow covered frozen swamp just below the Alf & Edna Crabtree home. This house was occupied before that by Bob and Effie Overturf who both were Palmer postmasters. Bottom Road got its name because part of it ran through a swampy area called the bottom.
The Overturf family reunion will be held in Grundy County this year, and those attending in October will be visiting Bottom, Tatesville, and Daus Mountain Roads where many of their ancestors lived.
Old Bloody Bones
Anita Finch Crabtree is a daughter of the late Herschel, Sr. and Ruby Gifford Finch and says that the idea for this poem came from her childhood. "My Grandmother Gifford was called 'Ma Gifford'. When we were visiting her and she didn't want us to go upstairs, She would tell us to not go up there because Old Bloody Bones would get us. People back then would tell ghost stories and all the grandchildren loved to visit Ma and Pa Gifford."
Old Bloody Bones
Old Bloody Bones, Old Bloody Bones,
Stay in thy place.
Old Bloody Bones, Old Bloody Bones,
I cringe at thy face.
I hear your screeching steps at night
My knees knock, and I shake with fright.
Oh yes, you lived in days gone by;
After death, you scream and cry.
Old Bloody Bones, Old Bloody Bones,
You roam your house; you find no rest.
In your lifetime you didn't do your best.
You wasted your time;
It wasn't well spent.
You moan and groan as your clothes are rend.
Memories of Christmas Past By Mrs. Henrietta Nunley Tucker
As told to David Patton
Hey David,
It was good to hear from you this 2008 Christmas. Thanks for the card.
I do have Christmas memories from long ago. One year after the Christmas program at the old (now called Palmer United Methodist) Methodist Church, we went to Mama Nunley’s (her grandmother) and there in the living room was a bicycle for my cousins Jim Brooks, Don Nunley, Ronnie Nunley and me. We never knew how they got there because we all were at church.
The boys played the three wise men, and I was Mary a few times at church. I guess that Was the best time ever. Daddy would come to church on Christmas to see us. I am glad to know that later on he was saved. I know that mother and him are together in heaven now.
Mother always cooked a big ham and all the fixings. She also baked coconut cakes and made candy. I remember Mama Nunley made fried pies and my aunt Kathleen Brooks made a fruitcake.
When I was five or six I spent Christmas in Tray City with Stella Shrum. She raised mother and her brother after their mother died. I got a homemade play cabinet that year, and my daughter Lora still has it. What good times we had as children.
I do remember the toys at the Tennessee Consolidated Coal Company Store. Everyone went to town to shop and get the mail. Those were the good old days!
Mother said she got an apple or orange for Christmas, and I’m sure a lot of our parents got something like that when they were kids.”
Henerietta is the only child of the late Stanley and Marie Worley Nunley and grew up in Palmer during the 1940’s & 50’s.
Her grandparents were Albert and Maude Brown Nunley. Mr. Nunley and his son Stanley are in the Palmer Big Mine photo featured in the latest Grundy County Historical Society book, Pictures of Our Past.
Memories of Christmas Past By Mrs. Carlene “Tootsie” Cannon Smith
As told to David Patton
“You asked about our old Christmas ways. Well, there’s not much to tell except we never had things like kids do now. We were just coalminers’ kids in a big family. We couldn’t afford much, but God seemed to make a way for us to have something. We didn’t have a beautiful Christmas tree like people do now. We just had an old naked looking pine tree cut from the woods.
Mama always fixed a ham because daddy kept hogs and would hang the hog meat in the smoke house salted down to preserve it. We never knew what it was to buy ham.
We decorated that old ugly pine tree with icicles and anything we could find. We always got a little something for Christmas. I remember a little ring that mama bought at Kress’ Ten Cent Store. The smaller ones got a doll or a little car or truck or ball and jacks to play with.
When Palmer School had their Christmas tree like you said (ha-ha) we most always got a handkerchief or box of chocolate covered cherry candy. My son John Doug loved them. He would tell whoever got his name in drawing names to always get him chocolate covered cherries. My other son Tim didn’t care what they got him, just so the got him something
One time my husband, John Shrum, bought John Doug a little fire truck, and Tim got a little car. They were the little pedal cars popular in the 1950’s. I was washing dishes one day, and as I looked out the window to check on them; they were real busy. John Doug had the hammer and beat the wheels off his fire truck. Tim copied him and did his toy the same way. They were just small children. I said, what are you doing? You’ve beaten the wheels off of your fire truck and car. John Doug said, Me fix it Mama. I said, Yeah, Me fix it all right. You fixed it where it can’t be fixed.
I remember when we went to the Christmas tree at the old Methodist (now United Methodist) Church. After the program we all went singing Christmas carols. Martha Hampton and her sister Becky, Joyce Conry, several more and me. I can’t remember all of them. It was cold, but we enjoyed singing Christmas carols in front of people’s houses.
Well, David, I hope you have a nice Christmas, and thanks for the card and letter. I hope
I have told you enough about Christmas. My last husband, Rowland Smith, always said, ‘It’s sock-swapping time’ when Christmas rolled around. (ha-ha)’
Daddy always enjoyed playing with the toys the grandchildren got as much as they did. I still miss my family. They are all gone except me and my sisters Nadine and Venova.
Well, I’ll sign off with God Bless you and God Bless America.”
Tootsie is such a nice person and has been very helpful over the years on our Palmer history work. Thanks, Tootsie. We appreciate it.
Tootsie grew up in the Great Depression and World War II as a daughter of Freddie “Jew Babe” and Agnes Henley Cannon. Many of you will remember her brothers Glenn, Leon, A.C “Pete”, Tony and twins Howard and Horace and also her sisters Martha and Oma Lee.
Mr. Freddie Cannon is one of the Palmer Big Mine crew featured in the latest book by the Grundy County Historical Society, Pictures of Our Past.
