When I was back home in Tennessee for the Lovelace family reunion, Fay Booth McAbee brought along a couple of photos to see if anyone could identify the people pictured. We figured out a few at the reunion, but for the rest, I turned to Facebook. Several of my Facebook friends and real-world cousins either knew some of the people in the photo or printed it and shared it with their parents.
I have added the names of those who have been identified. If you know any of the others, please email me.
Maxine Lovelace Stewart (1927-2007) and Evelyn Castellaw Miller (1929-2019), who are in the photo on the right, were both my first cousins once removed. Maxine was born in 1927 and Evelyn was born in 1929. If they were about 18 in this photo, it must have been taken around 1945.
Everyone looks so young and full of life.
Allen School, 1890s
This photo came from the genealogy room at Elma Ross Public Library in Brownsville, Tennessee. It was taken in the 1890s at the school in the Allen community of Haywood County. Notes on the back of the photo indicate the school was located “close to where Russell Kirby’s house is today.”
The photo was given to the library by Lawrence Amherst Cobb (1904-1989), who ran a grocery store near my maternal grandparents’ house. A recent blog post included a photo of the gas pump from Lawrence Cobb’s store, and a post from Feb. 25, 2011, included a photo of Lawrence Cobb and others cleaning up the Cobb family cemetery.
Simeon Amherst Cobb
I quickly recognized Lawrence Cobb’s father, Simeon Amherst “Sim” Cobb (1840-1927), in the photo in the upper left.
Sim was a small man who weighed only 150 pounds, but his small stature did not keep him from fighting in Company L of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry during the Civil War. He married his third wife when he was 63 and she was 32, which caused quite a stir at the time since she was younger than two of his children. They were married 24 years and had four children together.
Sim was a brother of my second-great-grandfather, William Thomas Cobb (1833-1898).
Part of Sim’s diary is included in Joe Cobb’s book. From his diary, I know Sim spent a great deal of time with many of my ancestors, including William Cobb, Tommie Rawls, J.C.W. Cobb, Sam Marbury, Sarah Elizabeth Steele, Daniel Watridge, Tinie White, Martha Watridge and others.
Likely George Wells Rutland (1881-1933)
This last photo also came from the Brownsville library. Although he is not related to me, I liked the photo, so I thought I would try to figure out who he was.
On the back is written, “Our boy when he was a cadet of the Memphis Military Institute.” It was in an envelope with a faded photo of a man named W. J. Rutland. On his photo was written, “60 years, Aug. 31, 1916.”
The Commercial Appeal, Nov. 12, 1936, 4.
After a little research, there is a good chance the young man in the photo is George Wells Rutland, the son of William Joseph Rutland and Ada C. Buntyn George was born in 1881. The Rutlands also had a daughter, Flossie M. Rutland King (1856-1935).
Of course, that is just a guess, but I am posting the photo in case it is helpful for someone researching that family line.
I have some more old Haywood County photos I will be sharing in the coming weeks.
For more of my genealogy research, visit rscottwilliams.info.
Leave a Reply