Genealogy and History
Cedar Hill Cemetery, located at the Mason city limits on the north side of town, is an old large cemetery. Consequently, many of the life long residents have been buried here. Located within the city limits of Mason, Cedar Hill is approximately a half mile north of Hwy 70 and TN 59. The cemetery will…
Saint Paul Chapel Missionary Baptist Church is an early reconstruction era black settlement along the Mississippi River. The late 20th century property has an adjacent Rosenwald School building and a historic cemetery that contains at least one grave of a U.S. Colored Troops veteran. The cemetery also contains examples of folk art grave markers. St….
Anthony Clopton gave land for Clopton Cemetery in the 1830s. Covered with lush trees and flowing springs this land was ideal for “brush arbor” revivals. “Brush Arbor” revivals were the early spiritual refreshment of Tipton County. The tranquil setting of this land disturbed by the Civil War. Consequently, over 500 volunteer Confederate soldiers from Tipton…
Clopton United Methodist Church was founded in the 1830s when a parcel of land was granted for the establishment of a Methodist Church. The land was donated by Anthony M Clopton born in Goochland County, Virginia, 1770. Mr. Clopton and his wife, Rhoda H Clopton, moved to this area from Davidson County, Tennessee. And, thereupon,…
Benjamin Adams, of Tipton County, Tennessee, was born in Sumner County, Tennessee on April 12, 1812. He is the son of Collins and Martha Goodsum Adams, both natives of Virginia. Parents His father was born in 1768 and was married twice: first to Miss Mary Tias, a native Southampton, Virginia and by this marriage had…
In the late 80s and early 90s the trademark dispute with Bozo the Clown dominated the customer’s attention. It started in October of 1982, when Miss Helen filed to register the restaurant name, Bozo’s, for a Federal Trademark. Larry Harmon, who claimed to be the original Bozo the Clown, held all the copyrights and trademarks…
Youth Reverend James McFerrin, one of nine children, born in Washington County, Virginia on 25 Mar 1784 and passing on 4 Sep 1840 in Tipton County, Tennessee. He grew up on the rural McFerrin family Holston farm. As a result and being in a new country, educational opportunities were limited as families lived far apart…
CHARLESTON CHURCH & CEMETERY: Charleston Cemetery is located on the relatively quiet highway of 179 on the west side of Charleston United Methodist Church. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in July of 2002. (NRHP No. 02000811) Many of my family members are buried in this cemetery. They include the founder…
Mr. Jesse Benson, an old and well known citizen, died at his home in the vicinity of Glenn Springs Saturday night and was buried at the old Campground graveyard Sunday. Mr. Benson made his home for a great many years in the 9th district. Two sons and two daughter survive him. [The Covington Leader, Thursday,…
Lickskillet Cemetery is located near the intersection of Joe Joyner Rd and Campground Rd. It is off in the woods on a hill, about a 20 minute walk and, according to B. Cox, is only accessible during the winter months as it is very grown up. Email from Mr. B. Cox I visited Lickskillet Cemetary…
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.
