THE WILL PUCKETT FAMILY
By Carmine Jackson
The first Pucketts known to be America settled in Bristol Parish, Henrico County, Virginia in 1665. Six generations later, Charles Puckett, who was born in Virginia, is known to have lived on the Franklin road, on what is now the "Suits Me" Horse Farm ion Rutherford County, Tennessee. His son, Caswell Puckett (1813-1865) married Malinda Cooper (1814-1877), daughter of James and Elizabeth Cooper. Caswell and Malinda Puckett had eight children: Elizabeth, Sarah Jane, James Nathaniel, Ann E., Mary F., Artimisa, Charles and William Caswell. Caswell and Malinda Puckett moved to the Versailles Community in 1842 and lived in the homeplace, which later was owned and occupied by Mace Cothran and his wife, Melinda Jane Puckett Cothran. Continuing west to northwest on this same Mt Pleasant Road, stands the old original home of James Nathaniel Puckett, sone of Caswell and Malinda Puckett. James Nathaniel's first wife was Mary Frances White. Their eight children were Josephine, Lou Ella, William Washington, Mary Frances, James Nathaniel, Charles Caswell, Malinda Jane, Alice Julia, and Frank Cooper. His second wife, Susie Eva Tune, bore four children: Louis, Jesse, Fred and Harry.
During the early days, a general store stood across the road from the entrance to the Mt Pleasant Road on Highway 99. This store was owned by Willie and Charles Gillespie, and was a drop point for mail.
About 1904, James Nathaniel Puckett (commonly known as J.N. Puckett) and his son, William Washington Puckett (better known as Will) took over the Gillespie Store and built a very large building across the road. This new store was quite modern for that time, consisting of a first floor with storage rooms on each side and a broad stair cased toward the back. The staircase led to a mezzanine floor at the back, front and on both sides.
It would be hard to estimate the great convenience that the Puckett Store afforded to the residents of the Tenth District during horse and buggy days. A trip to Murfreesboro by horse-drawn buggy or wagon required all day; a trip to Puckett Store could br made in half that time. This may have been the largest country store in Tennessee. The stock of goods was surprisingly complete: groceries, dry goods, dress goods, shoes, furniture, rugs, carpets (especially matting so popular at that time), hardware, farm tools, simple farm implements with repairs, De Laval Cream Separators, simple drugs, ready made coats, jewelry, and a very extensive and successful millinery department on the mezzanine. Mrs Will Puckett will milliner with Fannie Berry as a clerk and assistant milliner.
On March 1, 1893 Will Puckett married Alla Ezell of Chapel Hill, Tennessee. They built their home a very short distance west of the store on the right side of the road as one travels west. This house stands today and is occupied by a great-granddaughter, Betty Puckett Rowland. Will and Alla Puckett became parents of two children:
1 Clarence Franklin Puckett married Edith McDonald. Their only child, Clarence William Puckett married Lela Woodard and had three children: Bettye Puckett Rowland, Mary Puckett Taylor and Edith Ann Puckett Rowland.
2 Magnes Puckett married Evan Taylor and gad three children, two of whom reached adulthood: Ruth Taylor who married Avery Bell; and Herman Taylor who married Joyce Alexander Lowe.
With the coming into general use of the automobile and good roads, more and more people began to do their shopping in Murfreesboro. The flourishing trade at Puckett Store, other country stores, and the peddling wagons gradually declined. An era had passed. The old Puckett Store, however, still stands proudly and in good repair. The Mezzanine has been converted into a full second story, the storage rooms into bedrooms and it is a Health Care Center for out-patients from the Veterans Administration Hospital.