Tag: Stinking Creek

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.

William Lafayette Depew, Man of Many Skills

March 16, 2016 Dennis No comments exist

Ira Ayers’ grandfather on his mother’s side was William Lafayette Depew. Some called him Bill, but most folks called him Will. He was born in 1872 in Hancock County, Tennessee, as the oldest child of Henry and Sarah Depew. Will grew up farming and raising and shearing sheep with his brothers on his father’s farm. However, he eventually developed skills that would lead him into other occupations. Although various records indicate that he was a farmer his whole life, his daughter, Elizabeth Suckel, claims that although they lived on a farm, he never did very much farming. Instead, at various times, he was a butcher, a grocer, a surveryor and a carpenter.

In 1893 at age 20, Will Depew married Matilda Seal who was two years younger. Very little is known about her. She apparently was mostly called Tilda, but maybe also Grilla at times. Her grand daughter Rose Jordan never knew her, but remembered the name sounded like “Gorilla” to her as a little girl. Will and Tilda had four children until Tilda’s tragic death around 1904, perhaps as a result of her last childbirth. No record of death is available.

The Louisville & Nashville (L&N) Railroad was one of the first railways built in the South starting in the 1850s. After the Civil War it grew rapidly and by the turn of the century it had pushed into the coalfields of the Southern Appalachians. At Jellico, a small town on the KY and TN border, the L&N tied into the Southern Railway and continued down through the Elk Valley in Campbell County on the way to Knoxville and then Atlanta. Because of his grocer experience, around 1900 Will Depew was hired by the L&N to run its commissary at the train depot in Jellico. So, he moved his family from Hancock County to Campbell County, TN.

Unfortunately, in September 1906 Jellico was the scene of a horrendous disaster when a train car at the depot loaded with 11 tons of dynamite exploded killing 12 people nearby, and wounding some 200 more. 500 people were left homeless as the town of 3000 was devastated. It was very fortunate that Will was not a victim, but the incident apparently ended his job with the railroad as the town of Jellico had to be rebuilt.

After Tilda died, and about the time of the Jellico incident, Will met Florence Ada Ayers and they were later married in 1907. Florence was a loving and loyal wife. Between 1909 and 1932 Bill and Florence had seven daughters and two sons. Tragically, one daughter died at only one year old from measles and whooping cough, one son died from typhoid at age 20 and one son died at age 15 when struck by a car while riding a motor scooter to school. Two of their daughters, Estelle and Ethel, were twins. Their youngest daughter, Lena Elizabeth, born in 1926 still lives in Long Beach, California. She is a delightful lady and loves to talk about her memories of earlier times.

Will Depew was about 5 foot 9 inches tall with a slender build. He never was called to serve in any military capacity. According to Elizabeth, he was a quiet man who only spoke as needed. He was strong willed, determined, and sustained by his faith and perseverance. He was very strict with his children as he was raised himself. Will did all the shopping for the family. While attending a turkey shoot in his thirties, he was shot in the hip, but recovered. Elizabeth, also remembers him playing the fiddle and the organ, so he must have had a good ear for music.

After Will married Florence, he continued working as a grocer, but also learned carpentry. He eventually went on to build houses and restore churches. By 1910 Bill and Florence and their family were living in the Hickory Creek area next to Florence’s father, William Riley Ayers. In the 1920s, when Florence’s brother, Martin, decided to build a new house on Walnutt Mountain, Will helped with the carpentry work. He told Elizabeth that when work became scarce during the 1930s Great Depression, he “nickeled and dimed’ to keep the family going by fixing up places, sharpening tools and saws, and helping neighboring families with “how to” advice on many things.

Unfortunately, as he grew older, Will became badly crippled with severe rheumatoid arthritis in his hips and legs, and needed to depend on canes and crutches to get around. By 1940 he was unable to work. It was hard for him to sit with one stiff leg, so he designed a special high stool/chair to be able to sit at the table. He designed, built, stained and polished the chair with a cane seat to match the other dining chairs. Will was very innovative that way.

Florence died of cancer in 1942 and for awhile Will lived in an “old folks” home. However, about 1945 he moved to LaFollette to live with his daughter, Della Cornelius. That’s where he later died in 1956 at age 84 from a heart attack. Will is buried in the Hall Cemetery on Stinking Creek where both of his wives and both sons are also buried.

Ira Ayers and Helen Derrie Biographical Sketch

May 9, 2011 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

This is a short biographical sketch of the lives of Ira Ayers and his wife Helen Derrie. It very briefly describes where they lived, worked and worshipped during their lifetimes. Since they are my mother and father, I call them Mom and Dad in this post. I realize that I have already described some of Dad’s and Mom’s early days in previous posts, but I want to include some of that same information again in this post to have a complete summary for both Mom and Dad.

Walnut Mountain, Pioneer, TN

Ira Ayers (Dad) was born in a log house similar to the one shown on Walnut Mountain, in Campbell County, TN on November 14, 1913, and was raised there on a 42 acre farm. The property was located off Adam Hollow Rd off Stinking Creek Rd. The mailing address was RFD #1, Pioneer, TN. It was about 25 miles to LaFollette, TN by road, but less than half that across the mountains on foot or horseback.

As the oldest child, he worked many long hard days on the farm alongside his Father, and shouldered many other family responsibilities.

Seveirville, TN

Dad enlisted into the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCCs) in his early 20s. He was first stationed at the CCC camp in the Smoky Mountains National Park where he helped clear land for roads and campgrounds. He stayed at that camp from June 18, 1935 until March 16, 1936.

Norris, TN

After being in the CCCs for 9 months, Dad was transferred to the camp at Norris, TN which was much closer to home. At this location, he helped clear land for roads and recreation areas around the newly constructed Norris Dam. He worked there from March 16, 1936 until September 30, 1937 when he was discharged from the CCCs. During this period he was hospitalized for 3 months at Ft. Oglethorpe, GA due to a serious accident in which he almost cut off the front of his left foot with an axe.

Charlie Hollow, Stinking Creek, TN

After returning from the CCCs, Dad moved back home to the farm and worked with his brother Addison at the Charlie Hollow Coal Mines. He did not like the work.

Jacksboro, TN

Helen Derrie, (Mom) was born in Jacksboro, TN on March 7, 1923. She was a middle child in a large family. Jacksboro is the Seat of Campbell County.

LaFollette, TN

Mom moved with her family to LaFollette, TN when she was only 6 months

old. When she was 14, the family moved to a house on Hwy 25W at Coke Oven Hill. Part of the unpainted house can be seen in the picture of her father. They were extremely poor and Mom had to drop out of school and lie about her age so she could get a job in the local shirt factory.

As a young teenager, Mom worked in the shirt factory in Lafollette. There she was paid by the number of pieces sewed in a day. It was called “piecework”.

She met Dad at a square dance. They got married on January 2, 1942 and moved to Baltimore, MD for only a few months until Dad was drafted in the Army. When he went into the service, Mom moved back home with her family in LaFollette, TN. She continued to live there until their first child, Dennis Ira Ayers (me), was born on December 28, 1942.

2112 Coker Ave., Knoxville, TN

Den 1yr & Mother — **Helen and Dennis 1943**

After I was born, Mom soon moved with me to live with her older sister, Lillian, at her house at 2112 Coker Ave. in Knoxville, TN. Aunt Lilley had made the invitation to make sure that Mom and I had better living conditions while I was still a baby. Mom lived there from about January 1943 for a year.

911 N. Calvert St, Baltimore, MD

Before the War, Dad had actually moved to Baltimore with his cousin Leonard Ferguson in May 1941, and worked in a body and fender shop. (Don’t know where he lived during that time.)

1st 911 N. Calvert St in 2009 — **2009 View**

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941, he returned to LaFollette and married Mom on Jan 2, 1942. Together they returned to Baltimore for a short time in early 1942 and he got a job with the B&O Railroad. When he was drafted in April, he and Mom traveled back to LaFollette. After the War, they again moved back to Baltimore where the B&O had held his job for him. They first lived in an apartment at 911 N. Calvert Street from January 1946 to March 1948, and acted as superintendents for apartments in two large 3 Story townhouses. Mom collected rents and Dad kept the coal furnaces fired up for heat to all the apartments. They received a reduction in the rent of their own apartment for their efforts.-

107 N. Carey St., Baltimore, MD

They rented an apartment at 107 N. Carey Street from March 1948 to May 1948. The townhouse was across the street from a small park and was the first and only house they ever lived in that had a bathroom shower. Not sure why they lived here only two months except perhaps it was the opportunity to buy their own house which caused them to move again quickly.

2235 Guilford Ave., Baltimore, MD

3rd 2235 Guilford Ave 2009 — **2235 Guilford Ave in 2009 Rebuilt After A Fire**

They bought a 3 story townhouse at 2235 Guilford Avenue in May 1948, and lived there until March 1950. They rented out an apartment on the top floor. On Saturdays, I was allowed to go with some older kids to the movies several blocks away on Greenmount Ave. They were comfortable in this house, but Dad yearned to move to the country.

This is where their second child, Helen Carol Ayers, was born on February 18, 1950.

During the years they lived in the city, they always used public transportation. They bought their first car, a 1947 Gray Pymouth, when they got ready to move to the country in 1950.

Baltimore City Church

In the 1940s, Mom and Dad became devout Christians. They attended the Christian & Missionary Alliance church for most of the time they lived in Baltimore City, and for several more years even after moving to the country. It was located at the corner of Guilford Ave and Lanvale Street. I remember many long rides on Sundays to this church, sometimes twice a day from out in the country. Mom always liked to round up as many neighbor children as possible and take them to Sunday School.

1676 Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, MD

In November 1949. they bought a 7.5 acre farm on Old Court Rd, Woodstock, in Howard County MD.

The property contained a small three bedroom, one bath house with a coal fired furnace. The house had been built in the late 1920s where an old one room schoolhouse once stood. A flagpole in the front yard and and remnants of an old seesaw in the side yard were reminders of an earlier era. However, Mom was pregnant with Carol and needed frequent attention at Lutheran Hospital in the city. So, they didn’t move to this property until April 1950, after Carol was born and the weather had begun warming.

This is the house where their third child, Annette Arlene Ayers, was born on January 11, 1959.

The mailing address was at first just Rt #1, Woodstock, MD, but it was changed around 1970 to 1676 Woodstock Rd. After living there for 53 years they were forced to move for health reasons in April 2003.

Ellicott City Church

Seven years after moving to Howard County, Mom and Dad finally transferred to the First Church of God in Ellicott City. They attended church there from around 1957 until the mid 1980s, over 25 years. Attending church functions was their primary social outlet, and they continued taking neighborhood children to Sunday School.

Rogers Avenue Church

Helen & Ira Ayers 1989 — **Ira and Helen ca 1989**

In the mid 1980s, Mom and Dad left the small church in downtown Ellicott City to join the much larger Crossroads Church of the Nazarene located closer to home on Rogers Avenue. This church offered them many more opportunities for fellowship in their older years. They really enjoyed being in the Primetimers senior’s group.

Camden Yards Rail Yard, Baltimore, MD

Dad first went to work for the B&O Railroad on March 5, 1942, but after only one month of service he was drafted into the Army. The B&O held his job for him until he could resume work as a Brakeman after the war was over. His primary base of work was the Camden Rail Yard in Baltimore City. This site is where the Oriole Baseball Park at Camden Yards is located today.

Locust Point Rail Yard, Baltimore, MD

Dad also worked months at a time at the B&O Locust Point Rail Yard located near Ft. McHenry in Baltimore. He was a member of the Railroad Workers Union and over the years gained considerable seniority in the Union. As a result, his job was secure and he always was able to “bump” workers with less seniority to work shifts and locations which he preferred. For example, he almost always worked the 3:00PM to 11:30PM second shift which allowed him to do farm work in the mornings.

Dad retired in August 1978 with 36 years and 5 months service. His last position was Yard Foreman. He was 65 years old.

Spring Grove State Hosptial, Catonsville, MD

After working at home to pass her GED test, Mom took a job with the State of MD in a nurses training program at the Spring Grove State Hospital located in Catonsville, MD in 1965. Under this program she eventually became a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), and worked with mentally handicapped patients. She worked at this hospital until about 1970.

Springfield State Hospital, Sykesville, MD

Sometime around 1970, Mom transferred to the Springfield State Hospital in Sykesville, MD which was an easier commute from home. At this facility she was trained and assumed the duties of an Industrial Therapist. In this job she assigned handicapped patients to various jobs around the hospital campus to develop skills for employment after leaving the hospital. She really liked this job and took great pride in her work.

Mom retired from the state of MD in June 1983 after 18 years of service. She was 60 years old.

LifeSpring Assisted Living Home, Catonsville, MD

Over the years, Dad developed severe arthritis in his hips and ankles and had a hip replaced in his early 80s. Mom had a severe hearing problem and developed Parkinson’s Disease in her 70s. So, in April 2003, due to failing health, Mom and Dad moved together into the LifeSpring Assisted Living Home in Catonsville, MD. At first they were very apprehensive, but they soon learned to like the facility, which was a converted old mansion. They were able to share a large bedroom together. Their strong faith always remained and strengthened them.

Helen 81st BD — **Helen’s 81st Birthday**

However, In the following months, Dad’s health took a turn for the worse, and it was necessary for him to move to a Nursing Home in November 2003. In addition to dementia, Dad suffered from mini-strokes that caused trouble swallowing. This led to severe malnutrition.

Mom continued to live at LifeSpring for almost another year until she fell and broke her pelvis in October 2004. Already suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, the use of morphine to relieve the pelvic pain at the hospital caused her to slip into a semi-conscious state from which she never recovered. At that time she too needed to move to a Nursing Home.

St. Elizabeths Nursing Facility, Baltimore, MD

Dad went first to St. Elizabeths Nursing Home in November 2003 and was well cared for until he died on December 31, 2003 at age 90.

Mom went to St. Elizabeths in October 2004 and was well cared for until she died on January 12, 2005, a little over a year later than Dad. She was 81 years old.

Crestlawn Memorial Gardens, Ellicott City, MD

Mom and Dad are both laid to rest at Crestlawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery on Sand Hill Road in Ellicott City. This is the final resting place for their tired bodies as I know their spirits are at home in Heaven.

Ira Ayers and Helen Derrie Biographical Sketch AYERS Line

May 9, 2011 Dennis No comments exist

Walnut Mountain, Pioneer, TN

Ira Ayers (Dad) was born in a log house similar to the one shown on Walnut

Mountain, in Campbell County, TN on November 14, 1913, and was raised there on a 42 acre farm. The property was located off Adam Hollow Rd off Stinking Creek Rd. The mailing address was RFD #1, Pioneer, TN. It was about 25 miles to LaFollette, TN by road, but less than half that across the mountains on foot or horseback.

As the oldest child, he worked many long hard days on the farm alongside his Father, and shouldered many other family responsibilities.

Seveirville, TN

Norris, TN

Charlie Hollow, Stinking Creek, TN

After returning from the CCCs, Dad moved back home to the farm and worked with his brother Addison at the Charlie Hollow Coal Mines. He did not like the work.

Jacksboro, TN

Helen Derrie, (Mom) was born in Jacksboro, TN on March 7, 1923. She was a middle child in a large family. Jacksboro is the Seat of Campbell County.

LaFollette, TN

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

Mom moved with her family to LaFollette, TN when she was only 6 months old. When she was 14, the family moved to a house on Hwy 25W at Coke Oven Hill. Part of the unpainted house can be seen in the picture of her father. They were extremely poor and Mom had to drop out of school and lie about her age so she could get a job in the local shirt factory.

As a young teenager, Mom worked in the shirt factory in Lafollette. There she was paid by the number of pieces sewed in a day. It was called “piecework”.

2112 Coker Ave., Knoxville, TN

911 N. Calvert St, Baltimore, MD

Before the War, Dad had actually moved to Baltimore with his cousin Leonard Ferguson in May 1941, and worked in a body and fender shop. (Don’t know where he lived during that time.)

107 N. Carey St., Baltimore, MD

2235 Guilford Ave., Baltimore, MD

This is where their second child, Helen Carol Ayers, was born on February 18, 1950.

During the years they lived in the city, they always used public transportation. They bought their first car, a 1947 Gray Pymouth, when they got ready to move to the country in 1950.

Baltimore City Church

1676 Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, MD

In November 1949. they bought a 7.5 acre farm on Old Court Rd, Woodstock, in Howard County MD.

This is the house where their third child, Annette Arlene Ayers, was born on January 11, 1959.

Ellicott City Church

Rogers Avenue Church

Camden Yards Rail Yard, Baltimore, MD

Locust Point Rail Yard, Baltimore, MD

Dad retired in August 1978 with 36 years and 5 months service. His last position was Yard Foreman. He was 65 years old.

Spring Grove State Hosptial, Catonsville, MD

Springfield State Hospital, Sykesville, MD

Mom retired from the state of MD in June 1983 after 18 years of service. She was 60 years old.

LifeSpring Assisted Living Home, Catonsville, MD

St. Elizabeths Nursing Facility, Baltimore, MD

Dad went first to St. Elizabeths Nursing Home in November 2003 and was well cared for until he died on December 31, 2003 at age 90.

Mom went to St. Elizabeths in October 2004 and was well cared for until she died on January 12, 2005, a little over a year later than Dad. She was 81 years old.

Crestlawn Memorial Gardens, Ellicott City, MD

Ayers Brothers and Sisters

May 2, 2011 Dennis Ayers 2 comments

As mentioned before, Martin Ayers had four children with his first wife, Hannah, and five children with his second wife, Eullalia. I’ve never seen a picture of the whole group all together. The picture below is the closest with all the offspring present except Addison who had joined the CCCs, and Geneva who was not yet born. It must have been at a special family gathering, since Rose and Mary were already married and living away.

Although growing up they lived in an isolated mountain environment with few material possessions and with no transportation and none of today’s conveniences, the children had normal childhoods, and were close to one another. They had pet dogs and cats, went to school and church, and grew up like everyone else in the mountains…strong and independent. They attended the Flat Rock School located about 3 miles away, which meant a lot of walking. It was a one room schoolhouse with a big pot-bellied stove for heat and a long coatroom in the back. The teacher taught all grades 1 through 12. One side of the big room was for the higher grades and the other side was for the lower grades. They attended church at the Broyles Church of God near Adam Hollow, with the whole family sometimes walking to service. Then as they got older, some ventured off the mountain to find jobs elsewhere.

Unfortunately, due to overall poor economic conditions in the county, in the 1940s Ira, Rose, Addison, Aileen, Bill and Hannah left Tennessee for better opportunities in the North, as Mary, Tom and Geneva stayed behind. While relocating proved to be the right thing for those individuals that left, the result was a fractured family with members living far apart in four different states. Family love was always still there, but opportunities for the brothers and sisters to be together grew fewer and fewer over the years. Now 65 years later only Aileen and Geneva remain. For the benefit of those who didn’t know them, 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. Remember to click the photos to enlarge them. All facts may not be totally correct, so readers please let me know when I need to make corrections.

Ira Lawson Ayers (1913 – 2003)

Ira, born in 1913, married Helen Derrie in 1942 and they moved to Baltimore, MD in early 1946. He worked for the B&O railroad as a brakeman, but he also worked just as hard as a part-time farmer. He and his wife had three children: Dennis, Carol, and Annette. Ira had a serious and stern disposition along with a short temper, probably like his great-grandfather, Elihu. He worked very hard for his family. Only after retirement, did he mellow and become more relaxed. Ira died in 2003 at age 90 after suffering several mini-strokes. See more about his life with Helen in a following post.

Rose Elizabeth Ayers Jordan (1915 – 2001)

Rose, born in 1915, married Vurl Jordan in 1937. She was working as a housekeeper in LaFollette, and she and some other young women like to go watch the men in the CCCs constructing Cove Lake. There she met Vurl who was a bulldozer driver. Rose and Vurl had three children: Jack, Bob, and Carolyn. They moved to Baltimore in the late 1930s where Vurl got a job at the Baltimore Shipyards, and where he continued working during WWII. After the war, he became a partner in a sawmill operation, and later owned a successful hardware & lumber store in Glen Burnie, MD. Rose had a sweet and gentle disposition and always wore a smile. She was a homemaker and the family attended the Nazarene Church. In the 1970s, Rose and Vurl moved to Florida, first to Homestead and then to North Ft Myers, where they spent the rest of their years. Vurl died in 1988 at age 71 and Rose died in 2001 at age 85.

Mary Lou Ayers Myers (1918 – 2007)

Mary, born in 1918, married John Myers in 1935. She was working as a housekeeper in LaFollette, when she met John who lived on a farm nearby. Mary and John had four children: Sue, Janice, Glenn, and Joan. John also came to Baltimore for a time in the 1940s to work in the shipyards, and brought his family to live in Glen Burnie, MD from about 1948 to 1950. Then they returned to live in Tennessee, and never moved again from their farm in LaFollette. In addition to farming, John worked as a carpenter for many years at the Oak Ridge National Laboratories established during WWII in adjacent Anderson County, TN, as part of the effort to produce materials for a nuclear bomb. Mary was a homemaker and was a very quiet spoken lady with a quick smile. The family attended the Independent Baptist Church in LaFollette. John died in 1992 and Mary died in 2007 at age 88.

Addison Lee Ayers (1919 – 1986)

Addison, born in 1919, married Doris Rauhoff in 1940. Addison met her when she was working in a small grocery store in the Stinking Creek area. According to their daughter, Wanda, they were married by a preacher, who was also a postman. One day Addison and Doris were waiting by the mailbox and asked him to marry them! They moved to Milford, Ohio, near Cincinnati in the 1940s. Addison and Doris had six children: Troy, Glenna Faye, Don, Wanda, Ricky, and Debbie. Addison worked at a paper mill where he fed the pulp beaters. He and Doris also liked to build houses, sell them, and then move on to the next house project. Addison was a quiet man, with good humor and a twinkle in his eye. He died in 1986 from cancer at age 66. Doris later moved back to LaFollette, TN where she remarried an old acquaintance. She died in 1994.

Barbara Aileen Ayers Huckelby (1930 – present)

Aileen as she is called was born in 1930. She married Gene Huckelby in 1947 and they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, soon afterwards. Aileen and Gene had two daughters: Brenda and Marsha. Aileen was always a homemaker while Gene worked in the same paper mill as Addison Ayers. He drove a fork lift. After being married for 62 years, Gene died in 2010. He was a quiet, gentle man, and had a strong religious faith. Aileen is very talkative and has a wonderful sense of humor, and she too is very religious. She has a strong memory and has been a great resource of family information. Aileen and Gene liked to spend winters in Florida, and Aileen still returns there with her daughter, Brenda.

William Riley Ayers (1933 – 2003)

Bill was born in 1933 and named after his grandfather. He married Rose Sharp in 1952 and they moved to Milford, Ohio also. He worked for a company that makes heaters. He and Rose had two sons: William and Timothy. Bill was a prankster and a cutup, and always liked to have fun. He loved bluegrass music and played the guitar and banjo as much as he could. He died of cancer in 2003 at age 70. Rose continued to live in Milford, but later died in December 2012.

Hannie Evelyn Ayers Chadwell (1935 – 1993)

Hannie, born in 1935, married Henry Chadwell. They moved to Indianapolis, Indiana in the 1950s. Henry worked for the railroad while Hannie was a homemaker. They had four children: Angie, Paul, Terry, and Tony. Hannie loved music and loved to laugh. She too died of cancer in 1993 at age of 57. Henry also died in 1996.

Aaron Tommy Ayers (1937 – 2008)

Tom, as he was called, was born in 1937. He never married and always stayed close to home, except for a tour in the Army in the 1950s when he was stationed in Maryland and in Germany. He was an MP in the service. Back home in LaFollette, Tom had a variety of jobs over the years including working at a shirt factory and working at a food store. He tended to have various physical ailments that mostly kept him from full-time work, and he continued to live with his mother until she died in 1994. He then continued to live in her house until heart trouble caused him to move in with his sister, Geneva in 2006. Tom was a laid back, easy-going individual who liked to read books. He was a great storyteller, and enjoyed watching television. He died of a heart condition in 2008 at age 71.

Alice Geneva Ayers Collingsworth (1941 – present)

Geneva, born in 1941 was the last child of Martin Ayers and Eullalia Hatmaker. She Married Frank Collingsworth, Jr. in 1959, and she always calls him Junior. Geneva and Junior have lived in LaFollette ever since they were married. They do not have any children. Geneva is a homemaker and Junior worked in construction and also later as a school janitor and maintenance man. Geneva is quiet, soft-spoken, and has an infectious laugh. They attend the Independent Baptist Church in LaFollette.

Martin Van Buren Ayers

April 18, 2011 Dennis Ayers 3 comments

Martin Ayers ca 1915 -- Click to Enlarge — **Martin Ayers ca 1915**

Martin Van Buren Ayers, born in 1883 in Campbell County, TN, was the fifth child but oldest son of William Reilly (Black Bill) Ayers. As such, he grew up knowing hard work on the family farm. Eventually though, as a young man Martin made his way off the farm to find different work.

The exact year is not known, but before 1910, Martin ventured to the nearest small town of LaFollette. There he got a job as a carpenter at the LaFollette Iron Furnace. In 1910, at age 27, he was living in a boarding house in LaFollette with five other borders. Also about this same time he was involved with a woman named Susan Archer and she had an out-of- wedlock child named Minnie. For whatever reasons, life and work in town must not have suited him very well, because not long after that he was back farming in Stinking Creek.

Martin was a medium sized person, about 5 ft 9 in tall, weighing about 155 lbs, with brown hair and

brown eyes. In 1912, he married Hannah Mae Depew whose father had married Martin’s sister Florence in 1907 and moved next door. Hannah was 18 and 11 years younger. They had four children: Ira, Rose, Mary and Addison. Martin was a quiet person, and he had a stern temperament. All the children had to work hard and obey.

In 1915, after renting a farm on Walnut Mountain for a couple of years, Martin and his brother, Matthew, bought the 107.5 acre property. Matthew took 54 acres and Martin took about 42 acres after selling 11 acres to a neighbor. Matthew was later killed by a timber cutting accident around 1918 and their sister Betty inherited his land.

The original log house on Martin’s farm was located close to the spring near the road. This is probably where the oldest children were born. His Father-in-Law, Bill Depew, helped him build a new house with sawed lumber farther up the hill. This new house had a kitchen, living room and a bedroom, and of course a path out the back door. In addition to working on his farm, Martin also worked for a time at a sawmill in the Stinking Creek area. Most of the time Martin’s family subsisted on animals raised and crops produced on the farm. Whenever shoes, clothing, or something from the store needed to be bought, Martin would raise the cash by selling pigs or maybe selling corn to the mill to be ground into cornmeal.

Martin Ayers' Farm — **Martin Ayers’ Farm**

Tragically, Hannah contacted tuberculosis and died in 1926 at only age 32, leaving Martin with 4 children between 7 and 12 years old. Ira, the oldest, had to drop out of school to take care of the younger children while his father continued to work the farm. In addition, Martin’s mother Malinda had died just a year before. It was a difficult time, but fortunately his sister Betty, who lived in an old log home nearby, helped out some with food preparation and became like a second mom to the children.

Martin’s father, “Black Bill”, and his second wife, Lizzie Gross, had moved to her house in LaFollette on Rose Hill. That house was near where Eullalia Hatmaker lived. So, they introduced Martin to Eullalia whom he dated awhile before asking her to marry him and move up to Walnut Mountain on the farm. She was 19 and 27 years younger, so it was not an easy decision for her, but she eventually agreed and they were married in 1929. Martin proceeded to have five more children with Eullalia by 1941: Aileen, Bill, Hannie, Tom and Geneva.

Aileen says that sometime before she was born, Martin was struck by lightening. It tore off his clothes and shoes and he was burned badly. They wrapped him in a white sheet and packed him in cold mud and he came out of it seemingly unharmed. The lightening also set the house on fire.

Aileen also tells the story that her dad used to ride his horse over the mountains to LaFollette. On one occasion, he went to purchase some goods, and tied his horse up at the edge of town. While he was shopping, the horse got loose and headed back toward home. Along the way, someone caught the horse and removed his saddle and bridle, but the horse once again broke for home. When the horse arrived back at the homestead without rider and saddle, the family thought something bad had happened to Martin. Neighbors gathered with lanterns to go out hunting for him, but just then Martin arrived by foot much to everyone’s relief.

Youngest son, Tom, grew up on the farm working beside his father. He said once they had an old mule named “John” that was a good work mule. But old John had a major attitude problem and wouldn’t let Tom or anybody else ride him.

Tom also liked to tell stories about his Dad being hard of hearing and making lots of bobbles guessing what people said. One time they were working in the field when a jet flew over and made a loud noise. Tom told his father that it was just a jet breaking the sound barrier. His dad replied “What was it doing making sand bags”.

As Martin and Eullalia got older, Aileen and her husband, Gene Huckelby, bought the old homestead

to get them to move off the mountain down to LaFollette. So in August 1954, Martin finally moved to town again after farming on the mountain for 43 years. They moved into a house on Andy Baird Drive that Eullalia had inherited from her Uncle. They later added indoor plumbing to their new residence, and lived there very comfortably in their declining years..

Martin fought tuberculosis for a number of years, but eventually died of pneumonia in 1967 at age 84. He was buried in Hall Cemetery off Stinking Creek Road next to his first wife Hannah. Eullalia also lived to age 84 before dying in 1994. She is buried in the Baird Cemetery next door to the their old house in LaFollette. Her faithful son, Tom, who never married and died in late 2008, is buried beside her.

William Riley Ayers….aka “Black Bill”

April 16, 2011 Dennis 2 comments

Elihu Ayers’ fourth son was named William Riley Ayers, born in 1852 in Campbell County, TN. Supposedly, he was given his middle name to distinguish him from his cousin, William Bailey Ayers, son of his father’s brother James.

At the age of 20, William married Malinda Bolton from another long-time Stinking Creek family, whom he probably met when she visited her Uncle’s family two houses away from William’s house. He and Malinda proceeded to have a family of four boys and five girls in the next 18 years. They had a farm off of Stinking Creek Road. In 1903, the whole family almost died from typhoid fever. Their son Mitchell did die.

William was a quiet fellow and very easy going. He was of medium build and had black hair and brown eyes. He had a black mustache and a big long black beard. All the neighbors called him Black Bill to distinguish him from all the other Bill Ayers living in the area. It’s said his hair never turned gray. Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be any existing pictures of him.

Bill was fortunate not to have been in any wars. He was too young for the Civil War and too old by the time some men in Campbell County went to fight in the Spanish American War.

Bill’s wife Malinda died in the early 1920s (no record). At first he moped around, then one day he spruced up in a shirt with a stiff front and walked across Walnut Mountain to the small town of LaFollette to see a woman named Lizzie Gross. He later married her around 1925, after which they lived in her house on Rose Hill Road in LaFollette. It is believed that Bill originally met Lizzie through the Hatmaker family.

In 1935, William would have been in his 80s, yet his granddaughter Aileen remembers him and Lizzie walking all the way from LaFollette to visit them at their Walnut Mountain home. This was about 7 miles as the crow flies, but much longer walking through the hills. Then after the long walk, she remembers Lizzie and him having fun by jumping off the high end of the porch along with the grandchildren. She says they always had lots of fun together.

Black Bill Ayers died in 1940 at age 88 of an apparent stroke. Instead of being buried in LaFollette, he was buried next to his first wife, Malinda, in Hall Cemetery off Stinking Creek Road.

Why do they call it Stinking Creek?

April 15, 2011 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

Why do they call it Stinking Creek? Well, it turns out that there are at least a half-dozen streams named Stinking Creek across our country, with all of them arriving at their name due to some mishap in the past that caused a big stench. In the case of Stinking Creek in Campbell County, TN, it was long ago first called Sugar Creek due to the many Maple trees. The story of the name change as told by G. L. Ridenour in his book The Land of the Lake is:

“The winter of 1779-1780 was known as a cold winter. Snow began in late October. Intense cold followed for weeks. Streams froze over. Animals that had drifted to the cane breaks and timber perished in the bitter cold. When spring and summer came in the beautiful valley of cane and meadow, all the animals had perished from the cold. It was an animal charnel house. For months Indian and white hunters alike avoided the place by reason of the carrion stench. Turkey buzzards and animal scavengers that had dens in the cliffs gorged on the putrid flesh of the dead animals. From that time until the present the name of the creek and the beautiful valley has remained Stinking Creek.”

Stinking Creek

Elihu Ayers in the Tennessee Mountains

April 15, 2011 Dennis No comments exist

Bailey Ayers had four sons. By about 1840 they had all moved from Kentucky across the border into Tennessee. The sons names were John (Jackie), Elihu (Lihu), James (Jim), and Elcanah (Cain) with our ancestor being Elihu Ayers. They eventually homesteaded in the mountains of Campbell County in a remote area called Stinking Creek, which is a long valley with Pine Mountain on one side, Walnut Mountain on the other and the the unfortunately named stream running the length of the valley for about 20 miles.

The first people, other than the native Indians, to inhabit these mountains and valley lands were the long hunters like Daniel Boone and a few before him. Liking the abundance of game, clear water and fertile land in the valleys, these hunter-explorers became the first settlers to make their homes in an untamed wilderness.

The first settlers actually sought out isolation, and perhaps this is why the Ayers brothers too moved to the Stinking Creek area from Kentucky which was quickly gaining population in the 1800s. For these backwoods settlers, however, death was a constant concern. Disease and accidents were prevalent. There was a continuous threat of being killed by wild animals or even other humans. Hospitals were nonexistent, and doctors were few and far away. Children were delivered by midwives, and many infants and mothers died in childbirth. They lived in log cabins, farmed and hunted the land, and had large families.

Their homes were built by cutting logs by hand, and they also made crude furniture from logs. They split logs to make fence rails. It was back breaking work. Big open fireplaces were built out of rocks and used for preparing meals. They raised corn, tobacco, cotton, and potatoes as crops, and had gardens for other vegetables. They raised cattle, sheep and hogs as livestock with kept chickens for eggs. The hogs and chickens usually ran free around the farm and adjacent fields and woods. The forests furnished deer, wild turkeys, squirrels, fish and rabbits. Their clothes were hand made from the cotton and the sheep wool. They made lye from hickory wood ashes and boiled it with animal grease to make soap.

The Ayers brothers certainly did their part of propagating the family genes as they gave the Stinking Creek area many descendants. For example, our ancestor, Elihu Ayers, married Theresa (Thursey) Wilburn and together they had eleven children, eight of which were boys, and the boys that lived to adulthood in turn had large families. So, the Ayers name quickly became prominent in that part of the county with many of the same given names such as Elihu, John, James, William, etc., repeated over and over again through generations.

Crayon Portrait of ggGF Elihu Ayers 1818-1896 — **“Lihu” Ayers**

In 1860, Elihu was age 41 and already had his large family. He had a farm valued at $600 (~$15,000 in 2010) which was larger than his two next door brothers, and a personal estate of $275. He is said to have had a high tempered nature.

In 1861, the Civil War became a tragedy both nationally and locally. Just prior to the outbreak of the war, Campbell County had a population of 6712 with only 61 people owning a total of 366 slaves. Since the ownership of slaves directly impacted only a few, and no one in the mountains, there was little sentiment in Campbell County for the Confederate cause. In fact, this was true for most of the counties of Eastern Tennessee, but despite their resistance to separate from the Union, they were outvoted by the rest of the state. So, Campbell County became an island of Union sympathy surrounded by a sea of Confederate support, with many men in the county joining Union regiments formed not far away in Kentucky. Early in the war, the nearby Cumberland Gap at the border of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, was thought to be of strategic importance to both sides. As a result, Campbell County suffered greatly at times in 1862 and 1863 as both armies fought and scavenged in the county as they tried to secure the Gap for their side.

It is totally unclear the extent to which Elihu Ayers and his various relations in the Stinking Creek area may have participated in the Civil War. Many records were lost, especially for the Confederate service. Existing Confederate and Union service records simply do not list any Ayers from Campbell County. Perhaps his age and family situation, and the fact that he was a farmer living far off the beaten path on the backside of nowhere in the mountains, allowed Elihu to somehow avoid the conflict. Interestingly, he had cousins in Virginia and in southern TN, (tracing back to old Nathaniel Ayers in VA) also named Elihu, who did in fact fight in the war for the South.

Elihu was a farmer his whole life. He died at age 77 in 1896 just a year after his wife Thursey died.