Joe Lovelace of Texarkana, Arkansas, sent me a batch of great family photos this week. Joe’s grandfather, William Wilbert “Will” Lovelace (1883-1943), and my great-grandfather, James Luther “Jim” Lovelace (1885-1968), were brothers.
Lillie Overton Lovelace, 1962
My favorite photo shows Will’s wife, Lillie L. Overton Lovelace (1883-1979), at Lakeland on July 8, 1962.
Lakeland opened north of Memphis the previous year. It was not exactly Disneyland, but for a lot of people around my age, it offered something we had never experienced before, including our first skyride. We may not have gotten to ski in Memphis, but we did get to glide over a field.
The 79-year-old Lillie was not exactly dressed for an amusement park in the Mid-South in July. She looks hot and maybe more than a little ready to head back to Haywood County.
This video about Lakeland brings back a lot of memories for anyone lucky enough to have experienced it:
Lillie’s husband, Will, was only two years older than his brother, my great-grandfather Jim, so I assume the two brothers were close.
Will Lovelace before 1943
In the 1900 Haywood County, Tennessee, census, Will was 16 and living in the very full household of his parents, Charles Buchanan “Charlie” Lovelace (1858-1938) and Nancy Jane Yelverton Lovelace (1861-1936), my second great-grandparents. His siblings Dora L. Lovelace (1880-1975), Jim, Eva Pearl Lovelace (1889-1951), Ida Mae Lovelace (1891-1969), Arthur Franklin Lovelace (1893-1964), Alice Florence Lovelace (1896-1979), Lizzie B. Lovelace (about 1898-1974) and Volin Zelma Lovelace (1900-1954) also still lived at home.
Will married Lillie L. Overton on Dec. 23, 1903. Two days later, The States-Graphic in Brownsville reported that “Mr. Wm. W. Lovelace and Miss Lillie L. Overton” had married at the home of the bride’s parents in the 4th District. That small notice places their wedding squarely in the same Haywood County community where so many branches of the family lived.
Lillie was the daughter of William Edward Overton (1846-1916) and Jeanie Hon (1854-1899).
The Will Lovelace Family, l to r: Robert Bryant Lovelace (1914-1993), Ebbie Lee Lovelace Williams (1906-1971), Charles Edward “Buddy” Lovelace (1908-1990) and Lillie Overton Lovelace. Seated: Clyde Evans “Rabbit” Lovelace (1912-1987). Alsey T. “Peabody” Lovelace (1910-1988) is not pictured.
Will and Lillie had five children: Peabody, Rabbit, Ebbie Lee, Buddy and Robert.
The Jackson Sun, September 20, 1943, 3.
Will died Sept. 20, 1943, at 59 and was buried in Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Haywood County.
Lillie lived more than 30 more years dying in 1979 at age 96.
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