Tag: Farmer

The James Jackson Family Migrates to Campbell County Tennessee

April 19, 2018 Dennis Ayers

James Henry Jackson was born in 1862, in the middle of the Civil war, as the third son of John and Peggy Jackson. He was raised working on the farm next door to Peggy’s parents. James left home early though and, as mentioned in the last post, was married in 1879 to Sarah Malinda Chandler. He was 17 and Sarah was just 15 years old, but they soon established their own household and James became a farm worker. Neither James nor Sarah could read or write and they rented their home as they would continue to do for the rest of their lives.

James was tall with red hair, while Sarah was of medium size with dark hair and blue eyes. As typical of families in earlier times, they proceeded to have 12 children over the next 18 years. As chance would have it, 6 of the children had red hair and 6 had dark hair. By 1900 the family had moved a little south to Greene County, TN. The reason is unknown, but perhaps it was to find better work since James had become a day laborer. They already had their first 10 children, and it seems the family had fallen on hard times. The three oldest teenage sons were also working as day laborers, and they were forced to let their oldest daughter, Myrtle, work as a hired servant at only 12 years of age.

Then around 1905 the whole family, including the 5 adult children and spouses, all moved 50 miles west to Campbell County. What was the reason for such a major event? Well, evidently, it was to obtain employment in the coal mining industry in that general area. With the single exception of James himself, all the men became coal miners. The first to move seems to have been the oldest son, John, who married Melda Roberts in Campbell County in June 1904. Others soon followed and by 1910 all were living in the Jacksboro area.

My mother, Helen Derrie, remembers her grandfather being known as Jim rather than James. It is not clear why Jim didn’t become a coal miner also, but it may have been because he was already in his 40s by the time of the big move. He became a farmer worker again and settled down in Caryville. He lived another 30 years until he died at age 75 in January 1936 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Sarah lived even longer and died in February 1944 from complications resulting from a fractured left hip received in a fall. She was I month short of her 80th birthday. Jim and Sarah are buried together in the Harness Cemetery in Caryville on a hilltop overlooking Cove Lake.

John William Jackson Serves in the Union Cavalry

April 15, 2018 Dennis Ayers

When Peter Jackson died he left the family farm to his two sons, John age 23 and George age 16. The farm was worth about $1200, and was located in the Haws Crossroads community about 4 miles west of Jonesborough, and 1 mile east of present day Interstate 81. The arrangements for dividing the farm are not known, but George did not stay around long. By 1856 he moved to Monroe County, Kentucky, where he married Rebecca Ford and settled down in that area. So, John became the sole owner of the family property. He had been romancing a young woman who lived not far away. John and Margaret “Peggy” Hale were married in 1853. They proceeded to have a total of 9 children by 1871.

As previously mentioned on several occasions, when the Civil War broke out in 1861, East Tennessee was severely conflicted with a mixture of Union and Confederate sympathizers. In September 1863, John William Jackson chose to join the Union side at age 38 leaving a young family behind. He joined the 8th Reg’t Tennessee Cavalry, Company H, as a Private, enlisting at Mossy Creek. Recall, that was the same Union Regiment in which some of our Derrie ancestors also served. The 8th Cavalry participated in battles and skirmishes throughout East Tennessee until the wars end. It also participated in the Battle of Chickamauga just across the Georgia line near Chattanooga, TN. Thankfully, John Jackson returned home safely, unlike another John Jackson from Washington County who is sometimes confused with our ancestor, but who died from dissentery in a hospital in Gallatin, TN.

Although the initial circumstances are unknown, the John Jackson family became very close to the Zachariah Chandler family which lived in the Buffalo Ridge community north of Jonesborough. This is evidenced by multiple marriages between the families. First as mentioned above George Jackson married Rebecca Ford. Well, Rebecca’s mother was Elizabeth Chandler, Zachariah’s sister. Then three John Jackson siblings married three Zachariah Chandler siblings as follows:

James Jackson married Sarah Chandler in 1879. — Our direct ancestors

Sarah Jackson married James Chandler in 1881.

Martha Jackson married John Chandler in 1886.

Most of his life John Jackson was a farmer. However, records show that he was no more successful than his father, Peter. Although the devastation of the Civil War no doubt had a large impact, by 1870 John’s wealth had dwindled to only 1 horse and livestock worth just $200. So, it is understandable that he turned to work in his later years as a carpenter. It is believed that John died sometime in the 1890s, but no records have been found providing exact date and place. Based on John’s war service, Margaret later applied for a widow’s pension in 1898, but she too died soon after.

Peter Jackson, Farmer

February 1, 2018 Dennis Ayers

Peter Jackson, the oldest son of William Jackson, was born around 1790 soon after William settled in East Tennessee. He grew up as his father successfully established himself as a slaveholding farmer with large land holdings. However, as was previously described, upon William’s death in 1837, Peter did not inherit any of his land or slaves. By then Peter was 47 years old and had his own family and farm.

As a young man, it seems that Peter may have gone to Kentucky to volunteer to fight the British and Indians during the War of 1812. There is very scant information, but he appears to have fought with the 10th Reg’t (Boswell’s) Kentucky Militia. Fortunately, he returned to Washington County unharmed.

At age 30 Peter married Ann Murray in 1820 and it is believed they had a couple of early children who did not survive childhood. Then finally their son born in 1829 survived. This was very fortunate for us since that baby named John William was our ancestor! Then Peter and Ann had two more sons and two daughters. Ann died about the time of their last child’s birth, so perhaps she died in childbirth which was not uncommon in those days.

Peter spent his entire life in Washington County, TN, during a time when America was rapidly changing. In Peter’s lifetime, Andrew Jackson (no relation) from Tennessee became the seventh President of the United States serving two terms between 1829 and 1837. He championed the “common man”. During Jackson’s presidency, the United States evolved from a republic, in which only landowners could vote, to a mass democracy, in which white men of all classes could vote. However, Jackson had two stains against his presidency. In 1830 he signed the Indian Removal Act, which forced the migration of most members of the Native American tribes in the South to Indian territory in the West. The relocation process which became known as the “Trail of Tears” dispossessed the Indians and resulted in widespread death and disease. Also, Andrew Jackson was a staunch defender of domestic slavery, widespread throughout the South.

Then there was the establishment of the new state of Texas which resulted in bloody battles with the Mexicans including the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. That famous battle cost many lives including the famous Davy Crockett who was born in Washington County just 10 miles from Jonesborough and the Jacksons.

Peter Jackson was seemingly untouched by all that happened during this time frame. He had no further military activities, and generally seems to have had a very ordinary life as a farmer. So, this presents an opportunity to examine his life as a typical farmer in the East Tennessee frontier days. In 1850, Peter lived as a widower with 5 children between the ages of 7 to 19 on his farm. The farm was 150 acres in size with about half the land improved and half unimproved. It was worth about $1000 which is actually only about $33,000 in today’s money (Rural farmland was historically cheap). The size of his farm was about average compared to his neighbors. He had $75 worth of farm implements and machinery. He owned 5 horses and 3 mules, and his livestock which included 5 cows, 4 sheep and 8 pigs was worth about $300. He and his family worked the farm without any slaves, and that year they produced 100 bushels of wheat, 200 bushels of corn and 80 bushels of oats. In addition, they no doubt raised vegetables and fruits, and slaughtered animals for meats. It was typical subsistence farming with only enough for the family to survive on their own with some extra crops to trade for outside necessities. A teenage son named Jobe died shortly after that, cause unknown.

Peter later died in September 1852 at age 62, younger than his father had lived. He left his farm to be equally divided between his two remaining sons, John W. Jackson, and George W. Jackson. He also requested they maintain his two daughters, Sarah and Icy until they are married. John the oldest was named as the Executor.

William Jackson Becomes An Early Tennessee Settler

January 25, 2018 Dennis Ayers

After the United States won the war of independence from England, there was a dramatic increase in internal migration, with as much as 10% of the population moving each year and about half of that moving across state lines. Young white men were the most mobile of the population leading the way westward. Although there were a few permanent white settlements as early as 1771 on the western side of the mountains in North Carolina, it was not until after the war ended, and defeat of the Cherokee and Shawnee Indians that significant numbers of settlers moved into that area now known as Northeastern Tennessee. Actually, many thought the area was a part of Virginia.

The specific region was centered geographically around the valleys created by the Holston and Clinch Rivers in the Cumberland and Appalachian Mountains. It was rugged territory which became a refuge for the frontier type even before the war. During the late 1700s, the new settlement territory came under several forms of government and ownership. First there was the Watauga Association, a semi-autonomous government created in 1772 by frontier settlers living along the Watauga River. Then in 1777, the area was admitted to the state of North Carolina as the District of Washington which consisted of Washington and Sullivan counties, only to be turned over to the Federal government in 1784 as cession for war debts. Then the unhappy citizens formed what they thought was the 14th state called Franklin with its capital of Jonesborough. However, when Franklin was never admitted to the Union, the territory was again taken over by North Carolina in 1790. Finally in 1796 the area became part of the new state of Tennessee.

Jonesborough Monument – Click to Enlarge

With that historical landscape, William Jackson was one of those very early settlers who migrated to the area from Virginia in the late 1780s when he was in his twenties. His actual reason for relocating from eastern Virginia is not known. Perhaps he was looking for new fertile lands as tobacco planting was known to greatly deplete land where it was grown, and he evidently migrated with other Jackson relatives. William may also have brought some slaves with him from Virginia. It was not uncommon that white slaveholding migrants were younger sons of eastern slaveholders, whose inheritance included only a portions of the family’s slaves, or small farmers who owned just one or two blacks.

William apparently settled first in Sullivan County and in 1790 was appointed as a Constable. He married Hannah Jobe in 1789. They had their first child, Peter, in 1790 when the population of Tennessee had reached about 36,000. They would go on to have a total of 9 children. Eventually his family settled in Washington County near Jonesborough where they became successful farmers acquiring considerable land holdings. Records show that William obtained 300 acres in land grants on the Doe River in July 1794.

Hannah died sometime before William who later died in August 1837. In his will he bequeathed tracks of land of 120 acres, 82 acres, 146 acres to his three youngest children. The remainder of his estate was essentially divided among all his children. One very interesting bequeath was for his 5 slaves (Cap, Marshall, Dick, Alice and Elbert) to be hired out with the proceeds shared among all children. Then the slaves were to be set free when they reached 30 years of age. He requested that they be treated Kindly and always be provided with warm and comfortable clothes. His two oldest sons, Peter and George, whom he deemed trustworthy, were named as executors of the will.

Jacksons Participate in the Growth and Independence of the Colonies

January 23, 2018 Dennis Ayers

During the 1700s the American colonies grew from a population of about 250 thousand to 2.5 million. Much of that growth in the Mid-Atlantic and southern colonies came from successful farming of cash crops with the attendant need to import more and more labor. The most favorable crop quickly became tobacco. The Tidewater region of eastern Virginia, part of the Atlantic coastal plain, is comprised of low and flat land which was ideal for growing tobacco. The area also allowed easy access to ports along the major rivers to ship large barrels of tobacco.

As mentioned previously, William Jackson became a successful planter near the James River. His descendants followed after him as planters in Sussex county. With good management, a planter could use his profits to continue to grow his land holdings, acquire more workers, and accumulate considerable wealth. It appears that William’s oldest son, John Ellis Jackson born 1680, was able to do just that. He obtained a number of land patents during his lifetime, including one in 1736 for 1,704 acres located in Prince George and Amelia counties. This land was later divided and gifted to his sons in 1746.

John Ellis Jackson married Mary Ward around 1704, but she died in 1746 after bearing at least 9 children. John died in 1770 and in his will he bequeathed 6 slaves by name to various sons and daughters. Slaves were valued much more than land. Strangely, two sons James and Robert Jackson received only a 1 shilling each (perhaps about $5.00 in current money).

Not much is known about Robert Jackson, our direct ancestor, as his records are scarce. However, one might consider Robert a valuable resource in American history as he fathered 4 sons who played roles in the Revolutionary War with England. Two sons from his first wife, Amy Wyche, were Rueben and Ephraim, who married sisters, Hannah and Lucretia Tucker. Reuben enlisted for 3 years and served as a private first with the 6th Virginia Regiment, and then with the 2nd Virginia Regiment. He fought with George Washington’s army in New Jersey, and later fought in the Battle of Cowpens in the Carolinas. Rueben received a pension in 1818 of $8 per month. The older brother, Ephraim, was a planter in Brunswick County, Virginia who was a certified supplier providing material aid to the forces of the Revolution.

Two other sons from Robert’s second marriage to Jane Gilliam were Francis and William. Francis served as a private for several 3 month tours with the Virginia line that totaled more than 18 months, and thus received a pension of $5 per month. He fought in the famous Guilford Courthouse Battle in North Carolina. William, our direct ancestor, served as a Sargent with the 2nd Virginia Regiment, but unfortunately, there was apparently no pension application to describe his activities in the war.

Hannah Mae Depew, The Grandmother We Never Knew

March 29, 2016 Dennis Ayers

Hannah Mae Depew was the oldest daughter of William Depew. Tragically, like her mother, Tilda, Hannah did not have a very long life. None of her grandchildren ever had an opportunity to know her, and even her own children had few memories of her. As a result not much is known about Hannah.

When Hannah Mae was born on April 6, 1894, in Hancock County, Tennessee, her father, William, was 20 and her mother, Tilda, was 18. Three younger siblings followed her. Old pictures show that she looked very much like her mother as she was a little woman (120 lbs) with brown hair. Her son, Addison, remembered her hair color as being slightly reddish or auburn. She was called Hannie. After moving with her family to Campbell County, she lost her own mother when she was just 10 years old. Then, when Bill Depew married Florence Ayers and started a second family, Hannie and the other children from the first marriage continued to live with them.

Hannah Ayers (L) & Dorothy Ayers — **Hannie Ayers on the Left**

As previously mentioned, by 1910 the family moved next to the farm of Florence’s father, William Riley Ayers, on Hickory Creek. Like most mountain families, both had a bunch of offspring, and of course there had to be some romance. William Riley’s oldest son, Martin Van Buren Ayers, took a fancy to Hannie and they were married on November 10, 1912. They had four children by the time she was 25: Two boys, Ira and Addison, and two girls, Rose and Mary. Hannie and her family lived a very simple, hard working life in the mountains with no conveniences. Their contact with the outside world was sparse. She probably didn’t even know that women had won the right to vote in 1920. Somehow Hannie contracted Tuberculosis and died as a young mother on March 18, 1926, one month short of her 32nd birthday. She is buried in Hall Cemetery in the Stinking Creek area.

There was a striking similarity to Hannie’s life and that of her mother, Tilda. Both were married when they were 18 years old, and they looked very similar. Both had two boys and two girls. Both of them died as young mothers with Hannie being 31 and Tilda being just 29. At their time of death, Hannie’s oldest child, Ira, was 12, and Tilda’s oldest child, Hannie was 10. Tragically, both left 4 young children behind to be raised by single fathers living in a remote area. It was a hard life in the mountains.

I wish we had known grandmother, Hannie.

Was it Henry Eli or Eli Henry Depew?

April 19, 2013 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

As mentioned earlier, Isaac Newton Depew and his wife, Betsy, had a total of 16 children. With so many names to hand out they became quite creative with some. For example they named two sons George Washington Depew and Thomas Jefferson Depew after famous presidents. Their fourth son was Henry Eli Depew born in 1848 in Harlan County, Kentucky. Some records show his name as Eli Henry while some other records show his name as Henry Eli. So, what was his true name? Unfortunately, without a birth certificate we will never know for sure. However, in the end his headstone shows the name as Henry Eli, giving whoever provided the headstone the last word in the matter. Besides, everyone just called him “Hen”.

By 1860 when he was 12 years of age, Hen had moved with his family to Hancock County, Tennessee, near Sneedville which is where he remained for most of his life. When the Civil War brokeout, he was too young to join the fighting like his two older brothers, William and Joseph. This no doubt was fortunate for us descendants since we would not be here if he had fought and perished like so many did. Hen became a farmer like most everyone else in the county, and he grew everything possible to make a go of it. According to his granddaughter, Elizabeth Suckel, he also raised sheep to sell wool.

Henry Depew married a number of times. At age 23 his first wife was Sarah Ellen McCollum whom he married in 1871. As an interesting side note, Sarah’s father James McCollum had left home in the 1860s to venture to northern California to try his hand at gold mining. When that didn’t work out so well he still remained there as a farmer for a few years. Finally, he returned to Hancock County, Tennessee after being away some 20 years. Together, Henry and Sarah raised ten children. Unfortunately, Sarah died in 1909, but by then all their children were grown with the youngest being 15.

According to an article published in a Hancock County newspaper in 1999, Hen soon married a second time to Myrtle Johnson who was 47 years younger. This marriage did not go well for reasons unknown today, and it was not long before Hen fell in love with Virginia (Vergie) Rhea who was also very young, but 4 years older than Myrtle. However, when he asked Myrtle for a divorce she did not want to easily give up her new home and refused. Following some poor advice from his brother Thomas, Henry thought he could avoid legal complications by going to another state to get married. So, in 1910 Henry went just across the border to Lee County Virginia with Vergie, and apparently got married under the name of Henry D. Pugh. When he returned to Hancock County, Hen learned that the Sheriff was soon coming to arrest him. Since he and Thomas had heard from others about the good life in Texas and the fortune they could make growing cotton there, they decided it was a good day to depart for Texas. The trip took them six weeks.

Myrtle got everything Henry owned but his land. Somehow Henry’s son James was able to save the land from Myrtle. According to letters he wrote back to his son, Henry did not fare well in Texas being sick most of the time. Eventually, he and Virgie were able to move back to Hancock County, Tennessee, and they were officially married in 1912 in nearby Grainger County. Hen had three more daughters with Virgie before he died in 1925 at the age of 76. He is buried in the Depew Cemetery in Sneedville where his first wife, Sarah is also buried. Vergie lived for over 50 years longer and died at the age of 88. She is buried in the Burke Cemetery.

Helen Derrie Ayers, Woman of Faith and Determination

March 18, 2012 Dennis Ayers 2 comments

Some things in life you just cannot clearly see or understand while they are happening, but can only fully appreciate in hindsight. This is the case with my mother, Helen Derrie Ayers. Growing up I knew her as a loving and nurturing mother. As an adult I knew her as a God loving and supportive mother and grandmother to my children. Only now looking back on her life, can I better appreciate the depth of her religious faith and her fierce determination to overcome any adversity.

Mom was raised in poverty as the ninth of eleven births, and she saw only a bleak world around her. During the 1930s Depression, she had to drop out of school in the eighth grade because she had no shoes to wear. Even though she was only 14 years old, she worked up the courage to get a job at a new shirt factory in town by telling them she was 16. Luckily, they needed women operators. Most of the money she earned doing piecework went to support her father and mother, but she got a first glimpse at how she could earn a better life with a good work ethic. It was about that time also that she first found her faith in God, after being drawn into a church when she heard wonderful music. From that time on she was determined to find a way to escape her unhealthy home environment and even leave her small town of LaFollette, TN.

In Jan 1942, Mom married Ira Ayers, Dad, when he returned to LaFollette for Christmas from Baltimore, Maryland where he had gone to find employment. She then moved back to Baltimore with him for a few months. However, he was soon drafted into WW II leaving her back in LaFollette with an unborn baby (me), while he spent the next 4 years overseas. Knowing that Dad would someday take her away again, Mom began saving some of money that he sent home. She had faith that it would help them find a better life. After the war, they again moved to Baltimore where Dad returned to his job with the B&O Railroad. They also took on the responsibility of supervising two large apartment houses which allowed them to continue saving. Mom was always embarrassed and ashamed of her family background and was determined to provide a solid foundation and better life for her own family. She found a new church in the city, became a born again Christian, and became a Sunday School teacher.

In 1947 and again in 1948, she tragically lost babies at birth because her blood type was RH negative and the babies died because her body had developed antibodies against the fetuses. Determined to overcome this medical adversity, she allowed the doctors to experiment with a new drug to counteract the antibodies, and as a result my two sisters, Carol and Annette, survived when they were born. And that experimentation in which she participated, helped cure the RH factor problem for today and future generations.

In 1950 Mom and Dad bought a small farm in the country about 20 miles west of Baltimore City. Dad continued working for the railroad, but because of the extra commuting expenses, finances were very tight. Mom often went to God in prayer seeking guidance. The family went to church and tithed faithfully. Her deep faith helped her to remain optimistic. By the mid 1950s they began selling chickens, eggs, strawberries and vegetables produced on the farm. By 1960, their small business had grown to selling 300 dozen eggs per week year round, along with hundreds of bushels of strawberries, tomatoes and corn in the summertime. Between working for the railroad and on the farm, Dad worked 16 hours a day and was always very stressed. However, Mom also did her part as she spent countless hours picking, cleaning, crating and delivering their products by car along a home delivery route they established. This was extremely hard work that produced little profit in return. Mom knew that she had to find a job off the farm for the family to move ahead, but she had no high school diploma.

Again, she was very determined and while continuing to work the farm, she started home schooling herself and eventually received a GED diploma. This led to her getting a job in 1965 at a state mental institution where she did on-the-job training and classwork to become a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). Continuing to push ahead, by 1970 she obtained an Industrial Therapist job at another state mental institution where she helped patients train for job skills before they were released back into the community. She found her niche in helping others, and took great pride in her work before retiring in 1983.

Growing up under unfortunate circumstances, Mom always had great empathy for others less fortunate. She applied this empathy in all parts of her lifelong work for the church and her personal life. She often visited, comforted and prayed for sick people. On two separate occasions in the 1950s and 60s, there were large neighboring families who lived in similar households like she had experienced, where the father made bleak living conditions worse by excessive drinking. She reached out and befriended those families and did everything she could for the wives and children. In addition, she and Dad would gather up as many children as would fit in their old car and take them to Sunday School. She was determined to show them that there was a path of hope that eventually could lead them to future security.

Mom always looked out for her own family as well. She supported and strengthened Dad whenever his resolve seemed to weaken, or whenever stress caused him to erupt at some family member. She provided constant encouragement and guidance to my sisters and me. She was the bedrock of our family. Thankfully, she motivated me to go to college, although no one knew where the money would come from. But she had faith the answer would be found, and it was found outside the home with a scholarship. She died in 2005, and even though she is no longer with us, Mom will always be our inspiration. Helen Derrie Ayers was indeed a strong woman of faith and determination.

Derrie Sisters and Brother

March 13, 2012 Dennis No comments exist

Tom and Myrtle Derrie only had five of eleven children who reached adulthood. There were four sisters and one brother. I’ve never seen a picture with all of them together. The picture below from 1963 only shows the sisters who are youngest from left to right: Veatta, Helen, Alma, Lillie. Brother Bud was not present at the small reunion in Knoxville. Lillie and Alma were born in Greene County, TN while Helen, Veatta and Bud were born in Campbell County.

The family never lived on a farm, and always lived in or close to town. Due to poverty living conditions when they were young, it cannot be said that the children grew up in a normal household. They had few possessions, and none of today’s conveniences. With money for daily necessities very scarce, attending school was difficult and attending church almost never. There’s even a story that the oldest sister, Lillie, had to share a single dress with her mother when she went to school. Despite the hardships, the offspring stood together to weather their situation. However, all left home as early as possible to seek better lives. Unfortunately, none of them remain alive today. Below is an introduction and short summary of how each of the brothers and sisters’ lives evolved from the oldest to the youngest, with some old pictures thrown in for fun. All facts may not be totally correct, so readers please let me know when I need to make corrections. Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them.

Lillian Mae Derrie McNutt (1905 – 1976)

Lillian, or Lillie as most people called her, was born in 1905. She was serious and determined as first-born children tend to be. She may have been the only one in her family to finish school. In fact, she taught school in Campbell County for about a year after graduating. Soon though, Lillie set off for Knoxville which is about 40 miles from LaFollette where she put herself through business school. In 1929 at age 24, she married S.F.C McNutt whose initials stood for Samuel Franklin Casenberg, the name of the doctor who delivered him as a baby. As a youngster he apparently was called Casey, but later everyone just called him Mac. He always called his wife Lillian and not Lillie. Mac was a jovial

person and liked to listen to baseball games on the radio. In 1934 they had their only child, a daughter named Shirley. Lillie was a strong Christian and always worried about the well-being and spiritual health of her siblings. In 1940, Lillie and Mac took in her youngest sister, Veatta, to live with them for about a year when she was still in school. Then in 1943, they generously took in her sister, Helen, (Mom) and me as a baby to live with them for a year to escape the living conditions back home in LaFollette. Mac worked many years for the Southern Railroad in knoxville. Lillie worked initially in business offices, but later in life she worked as a real estate agent and broker. Her reserved and proper nature probably served her well in that profession. She also taught Sunday School for about 50 years. A lifelong smoker, she died of cancer in 1976 at age 70. Mac lived a little longer and died in 1981 at age 76.

Alma Bernice Derrie Wilson (1909 – 1986)

Alma & Otney Wilson ca 1970s — **Alma and Ott 1970s**

Alma, born in 1909, married Otney Wilson in 1927. They lived their entire lives in LaFollette with many years in the beginning next door to her parents, Tom and Myrtle. Unfortunately, this led to excessive drinking in their household as well. Alma and Ott, as he was called, had seven straight sons between 1927 and 1941, but finally had a daughter in 1949. Their sons’ names were James (called JL), Phillip, Carl, Chester, John (called Nookie), Don, and Alvin. Sadly, Chester died when only 1-year-old, and Nookie was killed at age 16 when he stepped on a downed power line while walking in the woods. All the sons are now deceased. Their daughter born last was named Veatta after her Aunt so they always called her “Little Veatta”. After she was born, Alma and Ott turned their lives around. Ott got a job with the LaFollette Fire Department and over the years worked his way up to become the Fire Chief before he retired. They moved to a house in LaFollette proper, became Christians and attended church regularly. Alma was a sweet and gentle woman who was always a homemaker. She died of cancer in 1986 at age 76 and Ott died just a few months later at age 84. They are buried with most of their children in the Cumberland View Cemetery in LaFollette.

James Alvin (Bud) Derrie (1919 – 1979)

James Alvin was called Bud almost from the day he was born in 1919, but always used Alvin for official purposes. He grew up as the only boy in a poverty-stricken, dysfunctional household. As a consequence, he always took the brunt of his father’s bitter harsh ways. Bud only finished the 6th grade and finally got away from home by first joining the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCCs) and then when he was 20 years old, he enlisted in the Army in 1939 in Punta Gorda, Florida for duty in Panama. However, in 1940 he was stationed at Ft. Benning, Georgia and was soon dragged into WW II. It is believed he served mostly in an Engineer Aviation Battalion which built and repaired runways throughout the war. There is a story that he participated in the D-Day invasion of the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944, in the second wave when the US brought vehicles ashore, some of which were to help build temporary airfields. He was released from duty after the war in 1945, and his family thought he returned as an emotionally handicapped person. It was probably what today is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, which affects some war veterans. He developed the same heavy drinking pattern of his father and never found a smooth road. Bud re-enlisted in 1947 for a second tour in the Army, but was always in trouble for going AWOL and was released again just prior to the Korean War. He was married to Ruth Norman in 1953, but then was divorced a short time later. In 1964 he married Cora Lloyd, a woman 23 years older than him, but she died in 1965. Bud never really found any happiness in life and eventually died in 1979 at age 60 while in the Mountain Home VA hospital in Johnson City, TN. He is buried next to his mother and father in the Jacksboro Cemetery.

Helen Louise Derrie Ayers (1923 – 2005)

Helen 17 Years Old — **Helen at about 17**

Helen, born in 1923, married Ira Ayers in 1942, and they moved to Baltimore, MD in 1946. Ira worked for the B&O railroad while Helen was a homemaker and farm woman until the 1960s when she began working outside the home, first as a Licensed Practical Nurse, and then as an Industrial Therapist. She and Ira had three children: Dennis, Carol, and Annette. Helen had an outgoing personality and loved to talk to anyone. She was a loving mother and a devout Christian. She died in 2005 at age 81 and Ira died in 2003 at age 90. They are buried in the Crestlawn Memorial Cemetery in Ellicott City, MD. See more details about her life in the post dated May 9, 2011, and in a following post.

Veatta Belle Derrie Whistleman (1925 – 1998)

Veatta born in 1925, was married several times before her final marriage to Marshall Whistleman in 1958. Before that, she lived for a few years in Baltimore, MD where they apparently met. However, they were actually married in Lockport, NY where Marshall had taken a job. They later lived in Newfane, NY where they both worked at Harrison Radiators, a division of

General Motors. The location was only 25 miles from Niagara Falls. Marshall was a soft-spoken, gentle guy, while Veatta had a strong and sometimes gruff personality. They never had any children, but later in life Veatta stayed home and took in foster children raising them as her own. She loved to go play bingo and grow roses. She and Marshall both loved their little poodle dogs, and they liked to travel in their mini motorhome with the dogs beside them. A lifelong smoker, Veatta had various cancer problems starting in the 1980s and finally died from a brain tumor in 1998 at age 72. Marshall died from a heart attack in 2001 at age 76. They are buried in the Hartland Central Cemetery in Gasport, NY.