HOW LONG HAVE WE HAD DAISY AND MOWBRAY MOUNTAIN ROOTS?
My Daddy's maternal side of the family mostly lived on Mowbray and Daisy Mountains, but he must have lived for a short time on Flattop Mountain, too. Daddy told a story of how, sometime in the mid-1940's, he and his brother, my Uncle Buddy, went to the little white building that served as a school and Flattop Church. My Uncle Buddy used to climb out the window and skip school. Uncle Buddy pointed the window out to me many years ago when we were at a service there. :-) The church still owns the building, but it is no longer used as the main meeting place.
1910 CENSUS
Daddy's mother, my Granmaw Mamie, was born in 1906 to Alonzo and Missouri (Patterson) Redden. It is unsure whether Mamie had a middle name, but Daddy insisted she did, and it was Marie. Mamie appeared on the 1910 census with her parents, Alonzo, who was 28, and Missouri, who was 27. Alonzo worked as a coalminer, as did most of their neighbors. Coal was a booming industry. Her siblings included Della (8), Carl (5), Mamie (4), Dora (2) and Walter, (2 months) Both Alonzo and Missouri were born in Tennessee, as were their parents.
Their neighbors were the Pattersons (kinfolk), Hatfields, Bowers, Conners, Lewis, Millsaps, Crows and Grants. Most of the men worked as coalminers. The women stayed home and cared for their children.
1920 CENSUS
Granmaw Mamie was 13 years old at the time of the 1920 census. Her parents are listed as being 37 years old. Dora is 17 years old, and Carl is 15. Neither go to school at this time, but Carl is working as a driver in the coal mines. Ethel is 6 years old; Lawrence is 5, Mary is 3 and Opal is 6 months. Where's Walter?
Alonzo still worked in the coal mines, as did most of his neighbors, the roll call of which didn't change much in the ten years between censuses. Millsaps, Patterson, Millsaps, Crow, Millsaps, Grant. Millsaps. :-)
1930 CENSUS
Granmaw Mamie was 23 years old by this time. In 1925 she married Lorenzo (Len) Parker. By 1930 they have two daughters, Glenna (5) and Robbie (1), my two sweet aunts. Lorenzo worked for the state road crew.
They were listed as living on a gravel road and their neighbors included Parkers, Livelys (kinfolk), Housley's, and Ricketts (kinfolk). I recognize these as Soddy names, so they lived somewhere in Soddy. Another clue that they lived in Soddy is that their neighbors not only worked as coal miners, but in the hotel and in the textile mill, both located in Soddy. People could not easily travel off the mountain in 1930 for these vocations, so they had to live close to work.
1940 CENSUS
Granmaw Mamie was 30 years old in 1940. (Census age records can differ 5+ or 5- years in between censuses.) The census states she completed the 8th grade. Lorenzo (Len) was doing road work for the WPA. They added to their family and along with Glenna (13) and Robbie (11), they were the parents of Imogene (9), Buddy (7) and my dear Daddy, Lawrence (4). All of the children went to school at this time, except Daddy, who was too young.
Granmaw Mamie gave birth to two more daughters, Mary Lynn and Carolyn Sue in 1941 and 1944. Carolyn Sue was an infant when her mother died in 1944. My Daddy was eight and when I was a little girl he talked about her sometimes. I know she had a big singing voice (she was a Redden and Reddens are musical; it is born in them) and she loved to go to church. She was also very small woman. I inherited her big singing voice and her dark, straight hair.
NOTE: My 2nd great grandaunt on my mother's side was Luretta Varner, who was born in 1854 and married Thomas Rahn Grant . She is the matriarch of all the Mowbray/Daisy Mountain Grants, so "Hey Grant cousins".
HOW LONG HAVE WE HAD DAISY AND MOWBRAY MOUNTAIN ROOTS?
Mamie was born in the year 1906 in Hamilton County, and more than likely it was a home birth on Daisy/Mowbray Mountain. Her father, Alonzo, was from Polk County, but according to the 1900 census, he was living on Mowbray/Daisy Mountain. So, that's at least 123 years. I suspect a bit longer, but the 1890 census was destroyed by fire, so I've had to dig through other records. We shall see!
