Week 8 #52Ancestors: Family Photo

Last week’s topic was about love and I shared several photos taken at Noah and Allie Sutton’s farm. Did anyone notice that I didn’t post the family photo that many of us are well acquainted with?  That’s because of this week’s prompt so I am actually going to share two family photos that are near and dear to the family. One family photo is one in which we could identify as our great-grandparents with their children and one unknown family photo.  

Have I already mentioned that my fascination with the family tree began when I walked into my great-grandparent’s old farmhouse and looked into the faces that hung in antique frames?  Well if so, I am saying it again!  I was in awe of these old photos and wanted to know who these people were and find out more about their lives. 

My favorite family photo is the one I would gaze at time and time again.  I would discover that it was my great-grandparents, Noah Sutton and Allie Jane Epperson, with (left to right) daughters, Laura, Malissa and baby Jessie, and my grandfather, Lewis Henry Sutton.  The photo was taken at a studio located in Bonham, Texas in 1901 as that was the year that Jessie Lorn Sutton was born.  In 1901, Noah was 36 and Allie was 32 years of age. Their daughters, Malissa Jane and Laura Emaline were 14 and 7 years old, and son, Lewis Henry was 10 years old. Their youngest son, Alva Leonard “Jack” Sutton would not be born until five years later in 1906. By that time, Malissa Jane had married Clarence Henderson and given birth to her first daughter, Zola Mae.  It is amazing to think that Allie was a grandmother at age 36!  

Laura Emiline Sutton would marry twice -- Paul Jones Helton in 1911 and William Ray Todd in 1933. My grandfather, Lewis, would marry Trentie Alice Leonard in 1916.  Jessie Lorn Sutton would marry James Chester Kelley in 1923.  Alva Leonard “Jack” Sutton would remain a bachelor despite his good looks.

My father, Paul, would take a picture of the photograph, as he was worried it would disappear after his uncle Jack’s death.  It was too big and fragile to remove from the wall in hopes of obtaining a copy.  Little did he know that it would be in safe keeping with his aunt Jessie followed by her granddaughter, Susan Clarke nee Kelley.  This photo has been key in helping me meet my second cousin, Susie, after I added it to my family tree on Ancestry.com.  Susie would share many more photos with me from her grandmother’s collection and also from the collection of our great-aunt, Laura Todd nee Sutton.  This was appreciated as many of the photos from Lewis and Trentie’s years together had been destroyed in fires.  Oh and not only did she share these photos but she gifted me a large print of the family photo and that is on display in my office.  I also made a trip to see her in her beautiful mountain home in Colorado.

Many of the photos inherited by Susie did not identify the individuals so she hoped that we could work together to identify the unknowns.  It has been a slow process but we have been able to identify many.  Thank goodness for FamilyTree.DNA as that is where I connected to my third cousin, Pam Epperson.  I almost overlooked her because our shared centiMorgans were low but my sister pointed out the surnames listed in her FTDNA account were a match to our tree so I decided to send her a message.  We began exchanging information about her line and guess what?  It turns out that she descends from George Washington Epperson who was Allie’s older brother!  In fact, George and his wife, Rhoda Greene, raised his younger siblings – Mary, James, Allie, Charley, and Nelson after the tragic death of their parents in 1878. Pam sent me a photo of George and Rhoda and I realized this couple looked very much like a couple in one of the unknowns that I mistakenly identified as a Sutton family photo--long story but never mind!  The point was we could now be sure of the family’s identity.  It was George Washington Epperson and Rhoda Greene and several of their children. 

Seated: George W. Epperson and Rhoda Greene (wife) with daughter, Stella in middle, son, Henry Clay, and cousin Carl to right.  Back row (left to right): Son, Charlie Tillman, and daughters, Tennessee and Mary, and Uncle Nelson Brownlow Epperson.

Pam and I were able to meet this past year in Thorn Hill, Tennessee and we had a great adventure in search of our 2x's great-grandparents graves which we located.  We had a great visit with the woman who now owns the land where they are buried.

I was so happy to learn that Noah and Allie had stayed in touch with some of the family back in Tennessee.  Now it would be great to find more family photos such as these from the family lines. You just never know what will be found when you connect with kin.

Week 7 #52Ancestors: Love

“There’s no place like home” is one of my favorite movie lines from The Wizard of Oz.   This quote rings true when I visit east Tennessee as it truly feels like home.  The ancestral roots began there as early as 1792 when my 4^thgreat-grandfather, Joseph Epperson, purchased 500 acres in Hawkins County, Tennessee.  My 3^rdgreat-grandfather, Thomas Sutton, purchased 100 acres in Claiborne County, Tennessee in 1827.  Many descendants from these men still reside in nearby communities.  However, my great-grandparents, Noah Sutton and Allie Epperson, along with Noah’s brothers, John and James, would leave Tennessee and eventually settle in Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.

I love the thought of their adventurous spirit but wonder why they would take their families so far from home. Each brother would become farmers following in the footsteps of their father and grandfather.  However, Noah and James sold the land they inherited from their father around 1889.  This was soon after their mother had died.  By that time, James had already moved to Fannin County, Texas with his wife, Louiasy Martela Purkey, and children.  It appears that John was also in Fannin County as his daughter, Hattie, was born there in 1889. Noah would move his family to Fannin County, Texas around 1892.  John and James soon left their little brother and moved their families to Arkansas.  However, after residing there for about 20 years, James would move once again and settle in northeastern Oklahoma.  The photo below is most likely Noah, James, and John.  It was a large photo that was part of Noah and Allie’s collection.

My family has wonderful memories of Noah and Allie’s farm in Telephone, Texas.  Cheryl Noble, my sister, has told me of Noah’s wit as he challenged my mother to make breakfast biscuits during a visit.  She was a bit intimidated as her cooking skills weren’t the best at this time but Noah just laughed and proceeded to make them. He must have become quite the cook after Allie’s death, in 1936, as he never remarried and remained on the farm with his youngest son, Jack.  Cheryl also recalls Noah harvesting honey from his honeybees and that fascinated her.  He died in 1954 at 89 years of age so I never had a chance to meet him.

Laura Sutton Todd, Jack Sutton (in bee garb), and Noah Sutton.

My memories of the farm would be with my great-uncle Jack as he continued to live there until he died in 1988 at the age of 81.  He raised cattle and so my father and I followed him out to the pasture on a visit when I was about 9 years old.  For some odd reason, a bull took an interest in me and began following us. I began to get nervous and ran to Jack and my dad for protection.   I wanted them to make him go away.  I guess my uncle and dad got a kick out of that as they laughed for quit a bit.  Another lesson learned on the farm was to be sure the mother hen was not nearby when trying to capture a chick.  Hell hath no fury like a mother hen in flogging mode!

Jack Sutton

Rummaging through family photos and letters inherited by Susie Clarke (nee Kelley) gave us clues that, although the families had moved apart, they stayed in touch.  It has been fun to share these photos with distant relatives and have their help in identifying some unknowns.  Our third cousin, Pam Epperson, has been able to assist us in identifying some of the unknowns.

Minerva Epperson (nee Lovin), James Epperson, Allie Sutton (nee Epperson), Noah Sutton, and Charlie Epperson.

Charles Tillman Epperson and Laura Sutton

James M. Sutton

Isaac Savage, Hattie Savage (nee Sutton), baby Audy, Marion Dote Savage, EJ Savage, Bert Savage & John Sutton

I guess in the end home is where the heart is be it in Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, or Oklahoma.  

Week 6 #52Ancestors: Surprise

I love the World Wide Web and searching for my roots.  My husband and family will attest to my obsession over the years as I study the family tree, collect death certificates, connect to other researchers, and peruse articles about east Tennessee.  My biggest surprise through the years was the discovery of the Sutton-Barnard Feud.  I was shocked to find the following article located at:  historical-melungeons.com/hancock_county entitled, “Hancock County  - Moonshine, Feuds, & Malungeons, Actual Manners and Ways of the Men and Women” published on November 29, 1891 in The New York Sun. The writer of this article claims, “The Sutton-Barnard feud is the most exciting and also the most brutal of any in the history of this county.”  Names are often incorrect in these articles but what it boils down to is it’s my ancestors and the newspapers were (and still are) a for-profit business.  Many reporters took liberties in writing their stories of the people of Hancock County. 

What really caught my attention in reading this was the mention of Henry Sutton.  Was it possible that this was Henley Sutton who was mentioned in Charlie Sutton’s research?  Could it be that my family had a secret?  Wait!  I had my great-grandmother’s death certificate and it listed her mother as Martha Barnard.  My father had always told me that the mother of Allie Sutton (nee Epperson) was Martha Barnett. Was this story related to my direct line?  These were questions that could not be answered quickly.

Some time passes and eventually an online search for Thomas Sutton (my 3x’s great-grandfather) brought up a Google book entitled, The Southwestern Reporter, Volume 12, Supreme Courts of Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee, Court of Appeals of Kentucky, and Supreme Court and Court of Appeals (Criminal Cases) of Texas.  Permanent Edition. August 26, 1889 – March 10, 1890.  The index listed a case, State, Barnard v. (Tenn), page 431.  Aha! This was related to the indictment of John Barnard, Clint Barnard, Elisha Barnard, John Barnard, and Anderson Barnard for murder.  They were defendants in error of the court decision for the murder of Henley Sutton.  There was a statement that caught my eye that was made by John Barnard who I would later learn was known as “Big John Barnard”.  He mentioned an incident that happened five or six years earlier while out hunting with Noah Sutton near Henley Sutton’s property when someone fired three shots in their direction.  Could he be referring to my great-grandfather? 

There was also the testimony of a Thomas Sutton so I wondered if this was Noah’s brother as my 3x’s great-grandfather was getting a little old to be involved in this case.  How could I establish a connection between Noah and Big John?  A review of the 1880 census finds Noah listed with his mother and several siblings on page 13 of Hancock County, TN, district 7.  Below them is the family of Prior Barnard along with his wife, Mary, and the following children: John, Elisha, Polly, Wiley, and Landon.  Noah’s brother, Thomas and wife, are listed on page 14.  Henley Sutton is listed nearby in districts 6 and 7.  Wow!  This is connected to my great-grandfather and the community where he lived.

Now my gut feeling was saying there is a connection to my great-grandmother’s maternal line.   Her mother, Martha, married James Nelson Epperson and they are listed on page 5 of the Hancock County, TN, Brier Creek census in 1860 while an older couple named Anderson and Nancy Barnard were listed on page 9.  Hmmm, I decided to place Martha as their daughter and couldn’t help but post the stories I found on the Sutton—Barnard feud and the case summary found in the Southwestern Reporter on my Ancestry tree.  It didn’t take long to be contacted by a fellow researcher, in Oregon, named Sandy Barnard about Prior Barnard’s line.  Prior was her husband’s ancestor.  She explained that Prior and his wife, Mary Barnard (nee Winkler) were buried on their farm in Oregon!  We exchanged information and Sandy ordered the chancery court case file on The State of Tennessee V John Barnard, Sr., Elisha Barnard, Anderson Barnard, John Barnard Jr. & Clint Barnard.  She transcribed some of the depositions from the case and shared the information with me.  An ancestry trip to Sneedville, TN was planned for the fall of 2013 and she invited me to meet them there.  

The depositions from the case file were very interesting and it was amazing to see my great-grandfather Noah listed among the names.  His brothers, Thomas and Henry (aka McHenry), were also deposed as was his uncle, Ishom Sutton.  There was a show of support for the defendants.  However, Noah also revealed what I had suspected for a while.  He states, “I was acquainted with Henly Sutton. Some few years ago Big John Barnard and myself were had [ ] out hunting, and while in the road near Henly Suttons, someone fired three shots, I supposed at us. I thought I heard bullets strike the fence near where one of us was splitting some pine while the other held the light. We went back next morning and examined, but could find no sign of the bullets. I am acquainted with Sutton's character, and it was that of a dangerous man. I was a cousin of Henly Sutton.”  In cross-examination, Noah states, “I married a cousin to Defts.”  

It was well worth posting the stories to Ancestry as it led to this wonderful collaboration and family find.  Noah’s statement establishes Allie as a first cousin to the Barnards and her mother’s maiden name was Barnard!  Sandy left with some great photos of Prior Barnard’s family that were brought to our meeting at the Hancock Co. Historical & Genealogical Society.  I left with a great memory of my first trip to east Tennessee.  Such a beautiful place! I wish I had been as lucky to discover some old photos of my Sutton line.  So here is Big John Barnard and he was quite a handsome guy:

Oh and what was the decision of the Supreme Court of Tennessee?  They overturned the conviction of the Barnards in 1889. However, the proclamation of innocence was short lived as I discovered another story:

Freeborn County Standard
9/16/1891 

John Barnard, of Hancock county, Tenn., was fatally shot by Tilman Sutton, who in turn was immediately shot and killed by a brother of Barnard.  

Sigh!