Photo: Dorothy Cordelia Brantley Jacocks (1919-present) /
A few days ago, I posted a blog about the Haywood High School class of 1939 that included a photo of my great uncle J.T. Jacocks. He married my grandmother’s sister, Cordelia Brantley. I have a copy of a letter written by Aunt Cordelia to my grandmother the same year the photo was taken.
Bells Tenn
June 15, 1939
Dearest Virginia,
How are you all getting along? I haven’t heard from you in all in so long I thought I would write to you. I had to write a letter because no one in this county had a postal card.
I guess you know by now that I’m an old married lady now. I don’t feel so much older though. Maybe I just haven’t had time yet.
Sisters Betty, Virginia and Cordilia Brantley
How is Bobby? Tell him I said Hello and that he has a new uncle. I guess he thought that J.T. was already a member of the family though.
Are you all through chopping cotton? Daddy is going to try to get through by Sat. J.T. and Mr. Arthur have been chopping for hire while it was too wet in theirs. I haven’t chopped any since I married. I am celebrating. They are ? here this ? but they won’t let me help.
J. T. Jacocks (1919-1988)
I mean they really are nice to me here. They treat me just exactly like they treat J.T. and Solan. Aunt Clara said to tell you she thought about you every day and would surely like to see you but that was a little too far to walk.
When have you seen Aunt Gladys? I haven’t seen anyone in a long time.
Tell Bobby J.T. said tell him “hey.”
How is Guy? I’m so sorry he isn’t doing well. Daddy said he looked mighty bad last Sun. aft. when they went by there. They said Aunt Mabel was sick too. I guess our family has a curse over it. Something is always happening to us.
My grandfather Guy Lovelace
with his friend and brother-in-law J. T. Jacocks
I aimed for us to go up to mothers Sunday but we messed around and didn’t even get up until nearly eleven o’ clock. Aren’t we lazy?
Didn’t it rain hard Sat night? J.T. and ? and I got wet all over. We went to Bells and were coming back when it started raining so hard. That lightening scared me. I never saw it lightening so hard in all my life. I better get up from here.
I’ve got to wash out some things and finish cleaning up the house. I clean up the house and ? the kitchen every morning.
Well I’ll see you when I can.
Lots of Love,
Cordillia
From the Jackson Sun, Jan. 20, 1988, page 1
Nealry 50 years after that letter was written, on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 1988, a tornado struck the Allen-Holly Grove community north of Brownsville around 11 a.m. It was part of a broader outbreak of storms that killed more than 30 people across the region. In Haywood County, the storm cut a path near Allen Station Road and Cobb Switch Road, destroying three houses and damaging roughly 9 to 12 others. Witnesses described the sound as a roaring freight train, with shattered glass, snapping trees and homes being torn apart within minutes.
From the Jackson Sun, Jan. 20, 1988, page 1
My grandfather Guy Lovelace had been helping Aunt Cordilia and Uncle J. T., put the finishing touches on their newly remodeled home on Cobb Switch Road. My grandfather returned home and headed to his storm cellar at his own house because he saw the dark clouds coming up. Uncle J. T. was just 68 when he killed a few minutes later when the tornado hit.
I rode home with my grandfather after Uncle J. T.’s funeral. and heard him mumble more to himself than to me, “I buried my best friends today.”
For more of my genealogy research, visit rscottwilliams.info.
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