OTHER EARLY RESIDENTS OF THE TENTH DISTRICT
Compiled by Carmine Jackson


This chapter mentions some early residents of the area not previously detailed and for which no family history was obtained.

One of the early settlers in the Rockvale area was Bob Featherstone, a land owner in 1870. He and his sister, Mary Jane, lived about a hundred yards beyond the store on the left side of the road as one travels west. Horace Hendricks has remodeled this house and lives there today.

Another early Rockvale resident was George Comer, who married Dolly McClaran. They made their home in a white, frame semi-colonial house located on the Versailles Road one-half mile south of the Rockvale store. This site is now owned and occupied by Frank Cooper's brick home. George Comer owned and operated a well-digging machine. At that time, bored wells were fast taking the place of the square, had-dug wells. George and Dolly Comer became the parents of several children, all off whom died in infancy.

Jane Comer was an elderly lady left living alone in a log house about 200 yards south of the Rockvale Store on the left side of the Versailles Road. This is the site of a new log house.

Littleton Whitehead and his wife, Elizabeth Boyd Whitehead, were prominent in Rockvale for many years. Their home stood close in the village within an easy stone's throw from the store and the present post office. Their family consisted of six daughters and five sons. The daughters were Anne, Josie, Mollie, Lula, Mattie, and Susie. Anne and Josie were expert with the needle; Mollie was the housekeeper; Lula became a teacher; Mattie married John Brannon; Susie married J.H. Bingham. Their sons were Will, Hatton, Henry, John and Sam. Sam married Elizabeth Puckett.

Martha Anne Taylor Winn, her son, Walter S Winn, and his wife, Ella, lived in Versailles. In 1898, they moved to Rockvale and in 1906 they moved on to Murfreesboro.

Linnie C Winn, sister of Walter Winn, married James Madison Maxwell in 1887. They made their home at Almaville. After the death of James M Maxwell in December 1900, Linnie Winn Maxwell and her five children, Eula, Vera, Bess, Joe and Jimmie D moved to Rockvale. They lived in the third house on the right after passing the store going west. Eula and Bess became teachers. Vera was employed by a Nashville Insurance Agency. Joe worked for a clothing store for fifty years. Jimmie D married Justin C Hale, Sr. (See William Carlton Family)

Linnie Winn Maxwell married N.L. Brown in 1910. She drove the Star Mail Route for many years.

Sue Eugene Winn, a sister of Linnie Winn Maxwell Brown, married Newt. F. Lamb, 29 Jan 1887. They made their home in the Versailles Community until 1903, then moved to Rockvale in the house now occupied by Alf Taylor. Later they moved to the farm located on the left side of Highway 99 near the Rockvale Church of Christ. Newt and Sue Winn Lamb became the parents of four children: Bertha, Blanche, Frank Earl and Josephine. Bertha married Aubrey Haynes of Murfreesboro. Their two children were Jean and Jack. Jean died young. Jack entered the medical profession and became a distinguished surgeon in Connecticut.

Katherine Halstead occupied the house before Newt and Sue Lamb. She was an expert weaver and many homes at Rockvale boasted beautiful hand-woven rag carpets.

The tall, two-story house which stands adjacent to the east side of the Rockvale School campus was built, 1910-1911, by Jasper Newton Martin. The Martin family consisted of Jasper Newton and Tabitha Frances Martin and eight children. While they were living ion the Haunt Hollow Road beyond Mt Pleasant church, Frances Martin was struck and killed by one of the first automobiles to travel in the Tenth District, 27 June 1910. Newton Martin built and moved into the house adjacent to the to the Rockvale School for the convenience of the eight children.

About 1902 Joe Manning and his wife, Betty Caseman Manning, came from Memphis and made their home adjacent to the Rockvale School on the west. Joe and Betty Manning became the parents of five children: Lizzie, Mary Lou, Charlie, John and Andrew. Andrew married Sallie Brothers. Their children were Bertha, Corrinne, Tennie Belle, Robert, Robert and Henry.

The John Bell Williams family lived in the last house on the left as one approaches Concord going west. John Bell Williams' daughter, Vergie, married W.R. (Cap) Frazier from Chattanooga. They lived in the Williams home while W.R. Frazier drove a school bus and served as Constable in the Tenth District. One of the Frazier daughters, Nettie, married Richard Williams. They became the parents of Willie Floyd Williams. The grandchildren of John Bell Williams were Oden, Tom, Albert, Houston. A great-grandson, Thurman Williams, lives in the Williams home today.

Henry and Adna Williams Turner came from Midland about 1895 to make their home in Rockvale. They bought J.M. Smith farm opposite the Thompson Road and known as the Woodson Place. Henry Turner operated the Rockvale Store for a while. Members of the Turner family tree: Vergie, Corrie, Repsie, Sadie, Addie Ruth, Henry and Ed.

John Sanders (Jack) Woodson married his brother, Robert's widow, Fannie Averitt Woodson. She had five children: Tom, Adelle, Lena, Estelle and Grady. Jack and Fannie had four children of their own: Pearl, Florine, Mary Frances and Sanders. They moved from the Thompson Road to the former Smith-Turner farm, in the present possession of Estelle Woodson Brown, widow of Charlie Brown.

Although the Tom and Fannie Holden family and sons, Herbert, Horace, Cecil, Thomas and Rolle, lived a short distance east of the Tenth District, they were for a half century a faithful and devoted part of the Rockvale Community, especially the Presbyterian Church where Tom Holden directed the song service, Rollie, the only surviving family member owns and operates Holden Hardware in Murfreesboro.

Paul and Lucy Jones moved from their Thompson Road home to the Kenion Carlton place, the first house on the left as one travels down the Snail Shell Cave Road. Of their ten children only one, Jennie V., survives today. She lives in California.

Joseph's ancestors came from Scotland. Members of the Hutcherson family were Annie, Cassie, Rosie, Lee, Billy and L.E.M. The daughters distinguished themselves as expert dressmakers. They lived at the Dr Dykes place now known as the Henry Manning place.

Joshua Mangrum came to Tennessee from Mississippi about 1880. He married Fannie Hill, daughter of Obediah Hill. Their son, Conard, married Martha Douglas, daughter of James W and Frances Carlton Douglas, and became the parents of six children: Martha Frances, Kitty Mae, Conard, Jr, Gladys Irene, Margaret Ellen, and Frank Hill.

John Stevens, with his wife and their son, "Boss", lived in the "old carriage house", a two-story, weather-beaten structure which stood near the Rockvale Store on the east. The original purpose of the "old carriage house" is not known, but it was still standing as late as 1911.

During the turn of the century, the first house on the right after crossing the creek that flows across the road on the western edge of the village of Rockvale, was owned and used by the Concord Methodist Church as a home or "parsonage" for the Pastor of the Concord Methodist Church. Some of the early occupants (Pastors) of this parsonage were: J.C. Keathly (1900-1902), G.W. Blanton (1902-1903), Allen Meller (1903-1905), J.W. Swann (1905-1909-1913).

Across the road from the parsonage stood a house occupied by the Tom and Mary Elizabeth Waddy Sutton family. Their four children: Will, Sallie, Cora and Ewing. Tom and Will were carpenters and paper hangers. Sallie became a teacher, Cora married Will Steagall. In 1904 the Sutton family moved to Texas.

Jim Cabler and his wife, Sally Comer Cabler, lived in the house vacated by the Sutton family. Jim Cabler built and operated a store for about two years.

J.F. McGee , his wife, Maggie, and daughter, Effie Marie, came to Murfreesboro from the Chattanooga area and then on to Rockvale in 1911. They bought the Cabler property, turned the store around, and converted it into a residence still standing today. Effie McGee married Buford Williams. Alf Taylor recently purchased this place.

Living adjacent to the Whitehead home close in the village of Rockvale on the south, was John Lofton, who first married a member of the Carlton family. There was a daughter, Mamie, who married Jim Leathers, and a son, Fain. John Lofton's second marriage was to Anna Bess. They had one daughter, Lucille. After John Lofton's death, Anna Bess Lofton and Lucille moved to Whiteville, TN to live with Dr and Mrs Will Boyett.

Minos and Maggie Tucker lived near Concord where Charles Burns lives today. Minos Tucker was noted for breaking and controlling wild horses. There were three children: May Belle, Forrest, and Esker. All the family is now deceased except two children of Forrest, Wayne and Edwin Earl.

The Blake and Blaine Martin Giles family lived for a while at the John Maxwell home back of the Concord Methodist Church. Their children were: Robbie, Mary, Henry, B.A. and Walter, who married Audrey Brannon and now lives in Versailles. Continuing down the road past the Giles former home, now demolished, lived the Andy, Scott, Miss Queen McBride family. This family reared nieces and nephews by the name of Jackson: Horace, Alma, Neely, Clara Mai and Ellis.

The John McBride family was also among the early residents of the Rockvale-Concord area. For two years they rented and occupied the Frank Jackson home, during the Jackson family stay in Bell Buckle. Later the McBride family, which consisted of John and Amy Lou Sudberry McBride and their 3 children: Jeff, Bob and Mattie. They lived in the John Covington house at Concord.

Sam Hill married Emogene Stewart. They became the parents of John Henry Hill, who married Eudora Smotherman, daughter of James Varton Smotherman. John Henry and Eudora made their home on the Thompson Road with a few years spent at the Dolly Comer place, one-half mile south of Rockvale on the Versailles Road. Their ten children were: Roberta, Emogene, Samuel, Thomas, Mary Irene, Louise, Cora Lee, John Jackson, James Barton and William Allen.

Joe Fuqua married Dee Hill, sister of John Henry Hill. They made their home on the Thompson Road. Their four children were: Sarah, Sam, Tillman and John.

There were two Simmons families living in the Tenth District. Lundy Harrison Simmons, commonly known as "Spinnex", married Kitty Belle Walls. Their 8 children: Dora Lou, Pearl, Eva, Tom Poplin, John Bob, Otis, Willie Belle and Sarah. They made their home on the Whitus Road.

El Simmons, brother of "Spinnex", married first Dora Rowland, daughter of Sam Rowland. They had two children who died quite young, victims of tuberculosis. El Simmons second marriage was to Sallie Overcast. Their four children: Jack, Mary Ella, Mary Sue and Austin Peay.

Jim Gray, son of Dr E.T. Gray, married Nan Manning, daughter of Joe Manning. They made their home for many years in the house known as the John Bell Williams-Frazier place. There children were Robert, moved to CA; Annie Lou, who married Eugene Mullins of Murfreesboro; Ellis, a prominent business man of Murfreesboro, cotton gin and feed store; Mai Gray, who married Boyd Zumbro of Murfreesboro.

John and Nine Epperson lived near Versailles at Bunker Hill. Their four sons were: Jim, John, S=Lee and Dick. Jim lived with the John (Cap) Nance family at Versailles while heoping with the Nance sawmill. After a time, he moved to CA, where he again worked at a sawmill. He became entangled in a moving belt, was killed, and shipped back to Versailles for burial.

Columbus Underwood, commonly known as "Lum", was twice married; first to Missy West. Their children: Will, Jim, Lum, John, Ellis, Newt, Richard, Mary, Lilly. He married second, Josie Rowlett and had issue: Charlie, Will, Boose, Lum, Annie, Susie, Lousella. Susie married John Earl Lynch. For eight years (1962-1970) they lived at Versailles on the Bob Jackson-Grady Adcock farm milking dairy cows.

L.P. Rowland (commonly known as "Pea") married Margaret Jenkins. They lived for a time in the house back of the Concord Store. Their children were Patty Belle, Annie Mai, Horace (Bud), Mary Farris (Bush), Avo and Harry.

Lea Rowland, with his wife and two children were killed in the tornado which struck Windrow in 1913.

Granville Rowland, his wife, Nancy, and their four children lived in the village of Rockvale, on the left side of the road two houses before reaching the present Church of Christ as one travels west. Their only daughter, Lytle, worked for a time in the office of the Rockvale Mutual Telephone Company. One of their sons, Tom, married Ada Richardson, the long-term Rockvale telephone operator. Tom and Ada had one child, Evie Lee, who married Homer Burns. Sufficient space was added to the original telephone office building to furnish living quarters for Ada Richardson Rowland, her daughter, and to Ada's crippled brother, Sherman Richardson, who made his home with his sister and helped on the telephone switch board.

The Finas Holden family lived about 200 yards west of Charlie Manning. Gilbert and Willie Belle are the two children.

Other families not heretofore mentioned but known to have resided in the area and for which almost no information was obtained are: The Arnolds; Burl Brothers, a Spanish American Veteran; Granville Bellenfant; Nickolas D Bellenfant, who married Mattie Adelaide Cothran and became the ancestors or the Tenth District Bellenfants and Smiths; John Coursey, who had five sons and was a descendant of the Newt Coursey family that lived on the right of Concord Road at first Tim, soon after the Civil War; Berry Chambless, whose life was a Frost, lived on Mt Pleasant Road; Walter Farris; Wilbur Floyd, whose children were Charlie, Margaret, Thelma and Lillie Ruth; Rob Free; Graham Gordon- Jessie Harrison family that moved to the area in 1928, raised a family, served as magistrate, and now lives on the Johnnie Jackson place which is part of the Hill grant, with children Lillian Guy, Charles Graham and Mildred Lee; B. Haley, whose son, Shirley, and grandson, Roger, now reside in Murfreesboro; Henry Hughes, who died if a heart attack in the Bob Jackson family front yard, and wife, Tempe; the Ann Hudson family; the Dudley Jones family, whose offspring were Mary T, Alene, Virginia, Travis, Oliver and Delores; the Earl McKnight family now live at the Read Place on Mt Pleasant Road, a former county sheriff, with children: Delores, James Porter, Mary Ann and Angie; Will Mayhan; Pete Lamb; James Lyon, whose daughter is Sara Elizabeth; Will Little lived at the old toll gate house; the Looney family lived at south end of the Ditch lane; the Lynch family; Dick Morris, wife Dovie, and son, Robert, lived at the foot of the Versailles Knob on the west side; the J.W. Parsley family; the Pipe family; the Pope families--Jim Will, Clarence and Veterinarian, De Pope, lived on south side of the Versailles Knob; Vance Prater family, whose sons were Leroy and Warren; the Willie (Billie) Pucket family; Doc Rowland, whose wife was Lillie Mayhan and children: Ruth, Clay, Herbert; Joel Rowland family including daughter Ruby Joe; the Robinson family; Noah Prince and Rainey Pinkerton, both bachelors. Noah is remembered, among others, was able to discuss the scriptures with Dr John Garrett and Rainey for walking long distances in any direction; the palmer Todd family lived first in Versailles and later on Snail Shell Cave Road with offspring: Palmer. Jr, Edwin, Thomas Raymond (Billie) and twins, Emalyn and Evelyn, now in Murfreesboro; Adam Taylor; Tom, Tinney and "Rooster" Underwood; Vernal Yealock.

Readers may recall others. The effort here was to name or list those families living in the District prior to or about 1900.