Centerville School Photo

Photo: Children at Centerville School in Haywood County, Tennessee, around 1918

In a recent post, I mentioned that I hoped to find a better copy of a photo showing students at Centerville School. A distant cousin I had never met saw the post and called with good news. Joan Cobb—pronounced Jo Ann—who lives in Bells, Tennessee, had a much better copy.

When my family and I recently passed through Bells, we stopped by her house and copied the photo. Joan also had several other great photos of my Haywood County ancestors, so the visit turned into a real find. I’m grateful she called.

I marked a few people in the photo and listed their relationship to me.

Download large version of Centerville School photo.

Names of identified children and teachers in photo

1. William Leslie Fowler (1909-1994) — The 1920 census lists Leslie, age 11, in the home of his grandparents, Louis M. Fowler (1848-1938) and Sarah E. Patterson Fowler (1851-1920), my third great-grandparents. Louis and Sarah were the parents of Ruby Fowler Lovelace (1887-1952), the mother of my maternal grandfather, Guy Lovelace. Leslie was the son of Samuel Dalton Fowler (1882-1913) and Clyde Lorene Mann (1889-1968).
2. Robert “Bob” Brantley (1911-1990) — Robert was the son of Vivian Everett “Viv” Brantley (Feb. 3, 1882-July 12, 1964) and Joseph Lyda Castellaw Brantley (1882-Aug. 12, 1923). Viv was the brother of Henry Preston Brantley (1872-1956), my second great-grandfather. As an adult, Bob was the owner of the Taystee Tavern, a diner in an antibellum home at Highway 70 and West Main Street in Brownsville.
3. Blanch Lovelace (1910-1994) — Blanch was the sister of my grandfather, Guy Lovelace.
4. Camilla Noel Watridge (1907-1987) — Camilla was a daughter of Champ Conner Watridge (1875-1959), the man family members remembered for his peg leg.
5. Joe Boyett Watridge (1905-1998) — Joe was a son of Champ Watridge.
6. Ovid Monroe Lovelace (1906-1983) — Ovid was a brother of my grandfather, Guy Lovelace.
7. Clara O. Brantley (1902-1994) — Clara was the sister of my great-grandfather, William Day “Willie” Brantley (1897-1969).
8. Preston Guy Brantley (1904-1994) — Guy was the brother of my great-grandfather, Willie Brantley.
9. Mabel Clara Marbury Jackson (1902-1942) — Mabel was the sister of my great-grandmother, Allie Ern Marbury Brantley (1898-1995).
10. Gladys Brantley (1895-1984) — Gladys was the sister of my great-grandfather, Willie Brantley.

Eva Pearl Lovelace and Edward Mansfield Patterson

Eva Pearl Lovelace Patterson (1889-1951), Joan’s grandmother, was the sister of my great-grandfather, James Luther “Jim” Lovelace (1885-1968). Eva married Edward Mansfield Patterson (1880-1944) on April 2, 1905, in Haywood County.

Eva and Edward had five children, and they lived and farmed near the home of Eva’s parents, Charles Buchanan Lovelace (1858-1938) and Nancy Jane Yelverton Lovelace (1861-1936), my second great-grandparents.

Edward died in 1944. Eva died Feb. 15, 1951, and they are buried at Zion Baptist Church Cemetery.

Nancy Helen Patterson Cobb and William McKinley “Bill” Cobb

Eva and Edward’s daughter was Nancy Helen Patterson Cobb (1910-2008) who married William McKinely “Bill” Cobb (1908 – 2008). William was a son of Sim Cobb (1839-1927). They were Joan’s parents. Bill was a veteran of WWII, receiving an honorary discharge from the Navy in 1945. He was the owner of Bells Hardware Store. This photo captures both the clothing and the style of Haywood County homes from that period. Helen and my grandfather, Guy Lovelace, were first cousins.

Left to right: Robert Theodore Jacocks (1897-1994), Walter Borders, Arthur Jacocks (1891-1979), Bill Cobb, Tom Watridge (dates unconfirmed) and Ed Patterson (1880-1944).
Boys: Jesse Theodore “J. T.” Jacocks (1919-1988), Solon Leroy Jacocks and Russell Jacocks.

The little boy first on the front row is J. T. Jacocks, who married my grandmother’s sister, Dorothy Cordelia Brantley Jacocks (1919-2005). Uncle J. T. and his brother-in-law, my grandfather, Guy Lovelace, were very close friends.

In later years, Uncle J. T. and my grandfather worked together in a construction and home repair business in Brownsville.

Uncle J. T. died from injuries he suffered when a tornado hit his home. After his funeral my grandfather said to me, “I buried my best friend today.”

Al Cobb

Joan also had a photo with “Al Cobb” written on the back. The name sounded familiar, and then I remembered the photo I received from a distant relative in Texas of Fletcher Castellaw (1847-1915) and his large family. Fletcher’s daughter, Albina “Bina” Castellaw Cobb (1867-1898), was married to Albert Lafayette “Al” Cobb (1866-1936).

After comparing the two photos, I realized Joan’s photo showed the same Al Cobb that is in the Texas photo.

Sim Cobb, Albert’s father, was a brother of William Thomas Cobb, my maternal third great-grandfather, and Mourning Adeline Cobb Watridge, my paternal second great-grandmother, so both Al and Bina appear on separate branches of my family tree.

Al and “Bina” Cobb

According to Joe Cobb’s book, Al was handsome, witty and a good conversationalist. For reasons I do not yet know, he eventually lost his property. In 1896, Al and Bina moved with Fletcher to Ennis, and they had three children. Shortly after the birth of the third child, Bina died and was buried in Myrtle Cemetery. By 1900, Al was back in Haywood County. Their children, Alice (1894-1921), Paul (1897-1982) and Harry (1899-1952), were then living in the household of Al’s father, Sim Cobb, along with Ida and Dorsey T. Watridge. Al later married Lenora “Nonie” Thomas (1872-1945). He and Nonie raised Alice and Paul, and they had three additional children together. Fletcher and Mary Castellaw raised Harry Cobb.

Al died of a heart attack in 1936. He and his second wife are buried in the Holly Grove Baptist Church cemetery.