Genealogy and History
A MOONSHINER IN HOE | MAGNOLIA, Ark., Oct. 16. – Drew Short, 70 years old, was yesterday arrested and brought in town by Deputy United States Marshal Dumas, charged with illicit distilling. Short has been running a blind tiger for some time, but has successfully evaded the officers of the law until now. He is…
MARY ETTA SHIPP YOUNT | Mrs. Mary Etta Yount, wife of Mr. J. M. Yount, died at her home near Gilt Edge Saturday morning at 6 o’clock of lung trouble after an illness of nine weeks. Her burial took place at Smyrna burial ground Sunday morning at 11 o’clock, Rev. G. W. Tracey conducting the…
THURMAN EDWARD BYRD | COVINGTON – Thurman E. Byrd, 62, retired farmer, died of lung disease Friday at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Tipton. Services will be at 11 a.m. today at Munford (Tenn.) Funeral Home with burial in Shiloh Cemetery here. Mr. Byrd, the husband of Tissie [Tassie] Glass Byrd, also leaves a daughter, Cheryl Byrd Cochran,…
ROSA AUGUSTA YOUNG HUDSON | Mrs. Rosa Hudson Dies Saturday | Mrs. Rosa A. Hudson, 69, died Saturday at 10 a.m. in General Hospital. She had been a patient there the past two weeks and died from complications following surgery. She resided at 333 West King and had been a resident of Jackson for 50…
FANNIE RICHARDSON WILLIAMS | Mrs. Fannie Williams: Mason Resident, 84, Dies in Memphis MASON, Tenn., Oct. 6 – Mrs. Fannie Richardson Williams , widow of Thomas J. Williams, died Thursday in Baptist Hospital in Memphis. She was 84. Services will be held Saturday morning at 11 in the Mason Methodist Church with the Rev. C….
MARGARET MARIE PARROTT THOMPSON | age 78, of Farragut, passed away early Wednesday morning, May 8, 2013, at her home. Marie was a member of Concord United Methodist Church. Marie was a homemaker and mother to three. Her proudest role was as a Navy wife in support of her husband’s military career. She was a…
RILEY FISCHER WILLIAMS | The ten-month’s-old infant of Mr. T. J. Williams, of the 15th district, died Saturday morning at 5:30 o’clock after an illness of 11 weeks, and was buried Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock. [Riley Fischer Williams; The Covington Leader; Covington, Tenn; 26 Dec 1918; Pg 1]
Gun victim to be buriedSpecial to The Commercial Appeal LEXIE LOIS FAULK WILLIAMS | MASON, Tenn. – Services will be today for Mrs. Lexie Faulk Williams, who died Sunday at her home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. Mrs. Williams, 74, widow of J. A. Williams, was fond by her son, Jerry Williams of…
JAMES FLOYD THOMPSON | CHARLESTON – Services for James Floyd Thompson, 67, were at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Charleston Baptist Church with Rev. David Lawler and Rev. Thomas D. Robinson officiating. Burial was in the Charleston Cemetery with Brownsville Funeral Home in charge. Mr. Thompson died Thursday night at his home. Surviving are his…
Bozo’s BBQ was her work, hobbyby James Dowd Margaret Helen Williams | former co-owner of Bozo’s Hot Pit Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Mason, had the barbecue business in her blood. “Her hobby was work and she loved being at Bozo’s,” said niece Dorothy Cottam. Miss Williams died Wednesday at Appling Wood Health Care Center in Memphis….
BARBARA JUNE ABBOTT SHELLEY | 52, of Drummonds, Tenn., clerk for Abbott Jewelry, died Thursday at Baptist Memorial Hospital – Tipton in Covington, Tenn. Services will be at 2 p.m. today at Munford (Tenn.) Funeral Home with burial in Poplar Grove Cemetery in Drummonds. She leaves a daughter, Kimberly Ann Douglas, and a son, James D. Shelley, both of Atlanta; her parents, John and Reamonia Millican Abbot of Drummonds; a brother, Paul Abbott of Memphis, and five grandchildren.
[Barbara June Abbott Shelley; The Commercial Appeal; Memphis, Tenn; 14 Dec 2003; Pg 29]
JANIE REAMONIA RANN, 17, of Drummonds, Tenn., clerk for Abbott Diamond Enterprises, died Thursday at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis. Services will be at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Munford (Tenn.) Funeral Home with Burial in Poplar Grove Cemetery in Drummonds. She was a member of Fellowship Baptist Church. She leaves her great-grandparents who raised her, Reamonia and John Abbott of Drummonds; a half-brother, John Abbot Peak of Texas, and her grandmother, Barbara Shelley of Drummonds.
[Janie Reamonia Rann; The Commercial Appeal; Memphis, Tenn; 20 Sep 2003; Pg 15]
Lillian was born August 22, 1903, in Tipton County, Tennessee and died June 22, 1992, in Covington, Tennessee. She married William Austin Rhodes, May 25, 1924. William was born July 18, 1894, and died September 17, 1980. Lillian taught school in the schoolhouse at Bethel as a very young woman. Then she went to Memphis where she met and married Austin. They operated drug stores, sometimes one and sometimes two, in north Memphis most of their adult lives. One of the stores was on Leath Street very near Humes High School and the other was on Manassas Street. Rather late in life, they bought the old Smith family house and four acres from Lillian’s mother, Della, and moved back to Tipton County. They put in a hen house for laying hens and sold eggs until retirement. Austin and Lillian never had any children. They both are buried in the “New Part” of Bethel Cemetery.
[ from An Illustrated History of the People and Towns of Northeast Shelby County and South Central Tipton County, page 178]
ATOKA – Lillian Smith Rhodes, 88, retired merchant, died Monday at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Tipton after a long illness. Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Munford Funeral Home with burial in Bethel Cemetery. She was a member of Bethel Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Home Demonstration Club. Mrs. Rhodes, the widow of Austin Rhodes, leaves a sister, Carmen Smith of Memphis, and two brothers, A. T. Smith of Atoka and Richard Smith of Gautier, Miss.
[Rhodes, Lillian Smith; The Commercial Appeal; Memphis, Tenn; 24 Jun 1992; Pg 11]
Iva Electa was born April 20, 1901, and died December 24, 1991, in Savannah, Hardin County, Tennessee. She married Lenvil Gordon Beaver on March 30, 1925. He died February 21, 1949. They lived in the community that was named after his family, Beaver, or sometimes referred to as Beaver Town. There was a store and cotton gin, both of which he owned. They lived in a house that sat across the road from the store. They had five children: Lenvil Oneda, Iva Shirley, Steve, Carmen Theo, and Lemuel Gordon Beaver. Gordon and Iva Electa are buried in Ravencroft Cemetery in Tipton County, Tennessee.
[An Illustrated History of the People and Towns of Northeast Shelby County and South Central Tipton County, page 178]
After the death of Gordon in 1949, Iva Electa married Jesse Ray Blakey on 21 Aug 1970. Both the bride and the groom were 69 years of age.
Iva Electa passed away on 24 Dec 1991. Her obit is below:
BRIGHTON – Electa Smith Beaver Blakey, 90, former teacher, died Tuesday at Hardin County General Hospital in Savannah. Services will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Munford Funeral Home with burial in Ravenscroft Cemetery. She was a member of Beaver Baptist Church, where she taught Sunday School and the Women’s Bible Class. Mrs. Blakey, the widow of Gordon Beaver and J. R. Blakey, leaves three daughters, Lenvil Leadbetter of Savannah, Shirley Dyer of Clinton, Ill., and Carmen Harshfield of Somerville; a son, Gordon ‘Lem’ Beaver Jr. of Brighton; two sisters, Carmen Smith of Memphis and Lillian Rhodes of Savannah; two brothers, A. T. Smith of Atoka and Richard Smith of Gauthier, Miss., 15 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Carmen was born on 24 Oct 1898 in Tipton County, Tennessee. After graduating high school, Carmen moved to Memphis where she was a bookkeeper and secretary for William G. Smith. William owned a refrigerator business. They soon fell in love and where married on 24 Jun 1927. William had three children from a previous marriage, and he and Carmen did not have any children. They lived on E. Cherry Circle in Memphis. According to Wayne Smith, their house was very nice and sat on about two acres of land. Carmen died on 6 Feb 2000 in Shelby County, Tennessee. Both William and Carmen are buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.
Carmen T. Smith, 101, of Bartlett, retired bookkeeper for Smith’s Refrigeration Co., died of heart failure Sunday at Ave Maria Nursing Home. Services will be at 1 p.m. today at Memorial Park Funeral Home with burial in Memorial Park. She was a choir member at Broadmoor Baptist Church, taught Sunday school, and was a charter member at Sunset Baptist Church. Mrs. Smith, the widow of William G. Smith, leaves a brother, A. T. Smith of Atoka, Tenn. The family requests that any memorials be sent to Bethel Cumberland Presbyterian Churchin Atoka.
Allie was born about 1865 and died on 10 Aug 1911. Allie worked as a clerk in a store in Randolph, Tennessee. He never married.
There is an old rumor that Allie was shot and killed. The suspect, a jealous husband, but no one was ever charged with the crime. It seems, although an interesting story, this cannot be true as his death certificate states he died of Typhoid Fever.
Fannie was born in 1867. She married John W Reeves (1862-1945) on 7 Feb 1889 in Tipton County, Tenn. The couple had two children: Baudine and Finis Henry Uric. The Reeves family was instrumental in the growth of business and church affairs in Atoka. John was a merchant for many years and he was very active in the civic projects of the town. They were members of the Methodist Church, where Fannie taught Sunday school. Their son, Finis, born 6 Aug 1895, was confined to a wheelchair because of a spinal injury he received as a child. He died on 28 Jan 1924, at the at of 29. Fannie, John and Finis are buried in Bethel Cemetery. Baudine, who was born 19 Nov 1893, married James C Smith (1891-1981) on 3 Sep 1916 in Tipton County, Tenn. Baudine died in Dec of 1981 and is buried in Bethel Cemetery.
