Tag: mechanic

April 25, 2018 Dennis Ayers

The oldest daughter of James and Sarah Jackson was Myrtle Louise, born March 1, 1889 in Greene County, Tennessee. From the very beginning, Myrtle knew only a hard life. Born into a large family with meager resources, she was raised under far different circumstances than her Great-Great-Grandfather, William Jackson, who just four generations earlier was a wealthy land holder and slaver owner.

 

Myrtle Jackson 1930s

By age 12, Myrtle was turned out to work as a live-in servant to a local merchant in the Greeneville area. If there was any compensation at all, no doubt it was passed on to her father and mother. The family she lived with was John and Elizabeth Burkey who had two very young children. Myrtle years later recounted that the family treated her poorly and didn’t feed her very much. She had dark hair and light blue eyes and must have been very attractive as a teenager. She certainly caught the attention of a local young farmer named Tom Derrie. She and Tom were married in August of 1904 when she was just 15 years old and he was 6 years older. Ten months later they had their first child whom they named Lillian Mae.

 

        Myrtle Jackson 1940s

Then shortly thereafter, as mentioned previously, Myrtle’s brothers moved to Campbell County to work as coal miners. Her father and mother joined them as did Myrtle and Tom, who also found work as a coal miner. They moved to a home in Jacksboro and their second child, Alma Bernice, was born in November 1909. Their third child, Melda, born in January 1912 only lived for five weeks before dying of Whooping Cough. They continued to have another 8 children, but only son Alvin (called Bud), and daughters, Helen and Veatta lived to adulthood. The others were tragically lost at young ages. Also, tragically, Tom Derrie lost his lower left leg in a coal crusher machine accident around 1915. These unfortunate events had a terrible and lasting effect on the family. Myrtle and Tom’s difficult life in the years following the accident can be reviewed in the story about Thomas Derrie which can be found in the Derrie chapter of this family history. Myrtle died on February 9,1956 from a heart attack at age 66 and is buried with Tom in the Jacksboro Cemetery.

 

Grandma Myrtle, Daughter Veatta Derrie, Granddaughter Carol Ayers – 1955

My mother, Helen Derrie Ayers, loved her mother very much, and often told me sad stories of her hard life. One story was that Myrtle had to feed her family only biscuits and gravy nearly every meal when there was no money for other food. Living 500 miles away, we didn’t get to see her very often. The times we did see her was on summer vacations when our family jumped in our old car and trekked to Tennessee to visit all the relatives. Then we’d only see her a few days. I believe there was just a single occasion when Myrtle visited Maryland, and that was when she came along with her daughter Lillian’s family in June of 1955. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough contact with her for me to have many memories. The few that I have are of a small sweet woman with gray hair who seemed to me to be very caring. I also remember some unpleasant habits like her using snuff, now called smokeless tobacco, and drinking a little to much. Once at her house I woke up one morning and couldn’t find my shoes. It turned out that Grandma had gotten a little tipsy and stolen them from me to wear while cooking breakfast. She thought it was funny, but I didn’t at the time.

 

I was only 13 when Grandma died. The strongest memory that I have is of my mother crying during the entire long drive to Tennessee for the funeral. I wish there were more memories of Grandma Myrtle, but we barely knew her.

Tom & Myrtle’s Headstone
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.

                           Derrie Sisters

 

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)

Lillie 1960s

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

Mack 1960s
Mack 1960s

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 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)

Helen, Bud, Veatta
Bud Derrie
Bud Derrie ca 1940

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 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 ca 1980

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

Veatta & Marshall
Veatta & Marshall ca 2000

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.

March 6, 2012 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

As mentioned earlier, Robert and Sarah Derryberry/Derrie had three daughters and four sons.  Their oldest son was my grandfather,Thomas Washington Derrie, who I knew only briefly before his death.  Sadly, Thomas never knew either of his two grandfathers. Both were killed in the Civil War fighting for the South before he was born. The death of his father’s father, James Derryberry, at age 25 in the battle of Atlanta was described in an earlier post. The death of his mother’s father, George Washington Clowers, at age 34 in the battle of Winchester, VA, will be described in a future post when I discuss the Clowers. I wonder how many other children have lost both grandfather’s to the devastation of war?

 

Thomas Derrie was born in 1883 in Greene County, TN. Tom, as everyone called him, grew up working on his father’s farm near Warrensburg. He only attended school until the second grade and by age 18 he could not yet read or write. In 1903 he lost his own father, Robert, and in 1904 at the age of 22 he married Myrtle Jackson. Myrtle was born in Washington County, TN, in 1888 but her family had moved to neighboring Greene County. Coming from a large and poor family she was turned out at a very early age to be a live-in servant to a local merchant. Tom must have met her when he went to the store where she lived. They married when Myrtle, with black hair and light blue eyes, was only 15 years old. She must have wanted to get away, because she later said that the family she had worked for treated her poorly and didn’t feed her very much. By 1910 Tom and Myrtle had started their family and moved to Jacksboro in Campbell County, TN, perhaps because Myrtle’s father and mother had earlier relocated there.

 

Tom Derrie was of medium height and a somewhat stout man. He had brown hair and brown eyes. In his early 30’s, he worked in the nearby Caryville coal mines until around 1915 when his left lower leg was severely mangled while operating a coal crushing machine. The story is that after the other miners freed him from the machine, they took him to his house where the doctor cut off his leg just below the knee while he laid on the kitchen table. How painful that must have been, but there were no hospitals in the county. He must have received a cash settlement from the coal mines, because in 1917 he and Myrtle purchased a house in Jacksboro for $300. However, continuing to make a living with only one good leg became extremely difficult.

 

Altogether, Tom and Myrtle had eleven children between 1905 and 1927. Unfortunately, only five of them grew to adulthood: Lillian, Alma, Alvin (Bud), Helen and Veatta. Most of the others died at birth or at a very early age, but nine-year old Dorothy died after the doctor lanced her tonsils and she bled to death. There is also the story that they lost two young ones during the great Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918-1919 which cost millions of lives around the world. Tom had to dig the graves while he too suffered from the flu. There was always sorrow in their household from the many lost children.

 

1913 Model T Touring Car
1913 Model T Touring Car

In an attempt to support his family after losing his leg, Tom bought an old Model T touring car with button-down side window curtains, and became a taxi driver. Fixing constant flat tires and making frequent repairs on that old car trained him to be especially good at fixing autos. As a result, he eventually gave up the taxi and became an auto mechanic. Perhaps seeking more work around 1923, he moved the family five miles down the road to LaFollette to a house on Tennessee Ave, which they rented for $10 per month. By 1937, the family moved into a house about a mile outside of town on Highway 25W at Coke Oven Hill which they rented for $5 per month. This house was unpainted and very drafty. In 1945, they were somehow able to purchase the house and property which had 160 ft of road frontage for $150. Tom then built a good-sized garage next to the house to repair cars. Unfortunately, business was not very good, and due to various reasons the years in LaFollette were not kind to the family as they often lived in great poverty with few clothes and barely enough food to eat.

 

Tom suffered continuously with his amputated leg, and his crude, wooden artificial leg never fit well, always causing sores on the stub. That together with his inability to make a decent income and his family sorrows, caused him to become a bitter man and a heavy drinker over the years. His drinking problems also eventually dragged down Myrtle, and others close to him into the same sad and deplorable situation. The heavy drinking only made their financial condition worse. Finally, in 1949, Tom suffered a ruptured appendix and after three days in the hospital died from complications at age 65. He was taken to a mortuary on the second floor above a furniture store. His oldest daughter, Lillian, had heard there were rats in the building and stayed with his body all night for protection. Tom is buried in the Jacksboro Cemetery.

 

Myrtle remarried in 1951 to Henry White, sold the house at Coke Oven Hill, and moved into his small house in LaFollette proper. It was a marriage of companionship and they lived comfortably for a few years. In 1956, she apparently developed breast cancer, but before treatment she died from a heart attack at age 66.  She is buried next to Tom in the Jacksboro Cemetery.