TWOMEY / TOOMEY Notes

"In the early 1800’s, Patrick and his first wife, Margaret (Barret) (Lewis?) Twomey/ Toomey, came from North Carolina to Tennessee. Their children were: Mary Ellen, Thomas Lawful, Nancy Annis, William, James Richard And Allen.

Thomas L, Mary Ellen, and Nancy Annis came to Monroe County, TN. Thomas and Nancy settled near each other at Island Creek, north of Madisonville. Thomas donated the land to build Walnut Grove Church, where he is buried. Mary Ellen came to the Hopewell Springs area, where she raised her family.

A grandson, named Thomas Litton, married Edwinnie (Winnie) Webb. They remained at Island Creek until their oldest child, Hugh L., was about 25. Then they decided to move to the Bethlehem - Big Creek area. They bought about 150 acres from a Elijah Cagle for approximately $3,000. They remained there until Thomas Litton died in 1899. His youngest son, Robert T., found him dead in the corn crib. He was on his knees and slumped over, still with an ear of corn in his hand. He was buried at Big Creek cemetery. Shortly before the death of Winnie in 1931, she sold the property to her son, John Calvin

When Hugh L. Toomey and Rebecca K. Taylor decided to marry in 1889, he was given a small piece of land on his parents estate. There he built a small log house, where his first three children were born: Montia, Henry, and Frances.

One day while cooking supper, Winnie heard a racket up on her kitchen cabinet. Checking to see what the cause was she discovered a large snake trying to find its way off the cabinet. Calmly, she took a kettle of boiling water from the fireplace, climbed upon a chair and scalded the intruder.

Crammed for space, Hugh L. left that log house. He built a larger place a few miles southeast of the original one. While construction was in progress, he and his family temporarily lived in a small ‘shack’ below the site. This is where his fourth child, Katie, was born. Helping to build the new home were his father-in-law, William, and his brother-in-law, Jim Taylor. In this house the rest of the children were born: Edith, Edward Kermit, John Ivan, Kenneth, and Hazle. After all the children had grown up, married and left home, they no longer needed such a large place. They sold it to their son Kermit and son-in-law Edward Haun. Hugh and Rebecca then moved into a smaller place across the road.