In Memoriam: Lillian Cooper Boyd (1875 - 1927)

 

Lillain Cooper Boyd

Born:  August 31, 1875

Died:  December 4, 1927

Predeceased by 

Parents:   John B Cooper and Rebecca F Landers Cooper

Daughter:  Lula Cooper Blanton

Sisters:  

Lula Cooper Blanton

Ella Cooper Fuqua

Survivors:

Husband, John Boyd

One son, John Henderson Boyd

2 Brothers:  

Washington Cicero Cooper 

William Emmett Cooper

4 sisters:  

Mrs. J. F. Condra (Maggie Matilda May Cooper)

Mrs G W. Pickle

Mrs. L P Craig(Algie Bell Cooper)

Mrs  D Frank Pickle  (Anna “Johnnie” Cooper)

Sources:

The Daily News-Journal, December 6, 1927, p  1, col 3; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-news-journal-obituary-for-lill/206573705/ : accessed September 23, 2026), clip page for Obituary for Lillian Cooper Boyd.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/117631648/america_lillian-boyd: accessed 23 Sep 2026), memorial page for America Lillian Cooper Boyd (31 Aug 1875–4 Dec 1927), Memorial ID 117631648, citing Simpson Cemetery, Bedford County, Tennessee, USA.

In Memoriam: Mary Bumpus White (1890 - 1927)

 

Mary Bumpus White(Mrs. A.F. White)

Born:  August 10, 1890

Died:  January 10, 1927

Survivors

Husband, A. Fonzie White

Sons:

Alfred F. White

William Claude White

Lonnie Clyde White

Earl Bumpus White

Sources:

Baptist and Reflector, January 27, 1927, p  13. col 3; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/baptist-and-reflector-obituary-for-a-f/206589962/ : accessed September 23, 2026), clip page for Obituary for A. F. White by user rmbeckman

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/117809316/mary_b-white: accessed 23 Sep 2026), memorial page for Mary B Bumpus White (10 Aug 1890–10 Jan 1927),Memorial ID 117809316, citing Simpson Cemetery, Bedford County, Tennessee, USA.

Community Reconstruction: The Union Ridge Baptist Project

Researching individuals, especially women, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries presents a perfect storm of missing data in Bedford and Rutherford counties, Tennessee, where my ancestors lived.  The lost 1890 US Federal Census causes a 20-year gap.  Any female born after the 1880 census who married before 1900 can virtually disappear from official government records under her maiden name. Official state death registration didn't reliably begin in Tennessee until late 1908, with another complete gap in Tennessee death records for the year 1913 when the vital records law lapsed.

Faced with these hurdles in tracking my own family lines, I turned to a dedicated historical anchor in the Rover community: Union Ridge Baptist Church (known today as Rover Baptist Church). Rooted in Rover, Union Ridge Baptist Church has stood as a spiritual and social center for the community for generations. Right next door lies Simpson Cemetery, where a significant portion of the congregation rests, including my own 2nd great-grandparents.  Because church and family ties were deeply intertwined, local obituaries often served as the primary record when public record-keeping fell short. To reconstruct these lives, I began gathering obituaries from local papers in Bedford and Rutherford counties, but the real breakthrough came from a denominational publication: the Baptist and Reflector.

While secular newspapers often published brief notices, denominational papers like the Baptist and Reflector took care to publish rich, detailed biographical obituaries written by pastors, family members, or fellow church members who knew the deceased personally. Through these obituaries, my Union Ridge Baptist Project has grown to cover over 60 members who died between the 1890s and 1960s. These records do far more than just confirm a date of death;  they act as a bridge across our worst record gaps.  Detailed obituaries routinely name surviving siblings, parents, and places of origin, restoring maiden names to women who otherwise vanished between 1880 and 1900.  For those who passed away prior to 1908 or during missing years like 1913, these notices often provide exact death dates, ages, and circumstances that exist nowhere else.

Mapping Kinship Networks: Surnames like Elmore, Thomason, Lamb, Simpson, Jackson, Smotherman, and Jarrell repeat across generations in the church rolls, showing how interconnected the Rover community truly was. What started as a search for my own ancestors has grown into a community reconstruction project. By piecing together church membership, published obituaries, cemetery burials at Simpson Cemetery, and other local family cemeteries, the project is giving a voice back to a generation that a lack of official historical records nearly erased. 

The TN Baptist and Baptist Reflector Digital Project is an undertaking of the Southern Baptist Historical Library & Archives. You can browse the archives at this link.

To access the Union Ridge Baptist Project profiles and other posts about historical church members on this blog, use the search feature in the upper left corner and search on the term "Union Ridge Baptist".  I am continuing to add profiles as I discover them.  Please check back from time to time.

In Memoriam: Dorah Sanders (1883 - 1905)

 

Dorah Sanders

Born:  January 2, 1883

Died:  August 12, 1905

Joined Union Ridge Baptist in 1901.

Survivors

Parents:  James Henry Sanders and Malissa J Brown Sanders

Siblings:

Johnie Sanders

Lillie Sanders

James O Sanders

Bettie Sanders

Ollie J. Sanders

Nannie C Sanders

Eddie Sanders

William B Sanders

Thomas Benjamin Sanders

Allie B. Sanders

Sources:

Baptist and Reflector, November 2, 1905, p  16, col 2; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/baptist-and-reflector-dora-sanders-obit/206306662/ : accessed September 19, 2026), clip page for Dora Sanders--Obituary.

1900 U.S. census, Bedford County, Tennessee, population schedule, Civil District 10, Enumeration District 12, sheet 8A, dwelling 130, family 141, Henry Sanders household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 September 2026), image 15 of 26; citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 1558.

In Memoriam: Matilda Brooks Owen (1815 - 1901)

 

Matilda Brooks Owen

Born:  December 5, 1815

Died   September  17, 1901

Married: January 2, 1841 to Peter Owen

About 1872 united with Rover Church 

moved membership to Eagleville about 1887

Predeceased by 

Husband--Peter D Owen

Daughter-- Martha Ann Owen

Survivors

Mary Jane Owen Elmore

John Marshall Owen

Drucilla Price Owen Edmonds

Sources:

Baptist and Reflector, May 22, 1902, p  15, col 2; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/baptist-and-reflector-obituary-for-mati/206505950/ : accessed September 22, 2026), clip page for Obituary for -Matilda Brooks OWEN.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76264534/matilda-owen: accessed 22 Sep 2026), memorial page for Matilda Brooks Owen (5 Dec 1815–17 Sep 1901), Memorial ID 76264534, citing Owen Cemetery, Rutherford County, Tennessee, USA.

In Memoriam: Margaret Caroline Weaver Thomason (1840 - 1904)

 

Margaret Caroline Weaver Thomason

Born:  October 16, 1840

Died:   November 28, 1904

Buried at Thomason Cemetery

Saved in 1854 and united with Union Ridge Baptist

Married January 12, 1859 to J.S. Thomason

Predeceased by 4 children

Avarilla Thomason Faris(d. before 1896)

the other three are likely 

Benjamin T Thomason

William B Thomason

Nancy E Thomason Garrett

Survivors

Husband--James S Thomason

4 children

I believe that her surviving children were the 4 below based on finding death records and census records for them after her death.

James Montgomery Thomason(d. 1940)

Mary Thomason Yarbrough(d. 1947)

George W Thomason(d. 1912)

Maggie Thomason Sanders(d. 1911)

20 Grandchildren

Sources:

Baptist and Reflector, March 16, 1905, p  14; col 2; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/baptist-and-reflector-margaret-caroline/206307383/ : accessed September 19, 2026), clip page for Margaret Caroline Weaver Thomason.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29092598/margaret_carolina-thomason: accessed 19 Sep 2026), memorial page for Mrs Margaret Carolina Weaver Thomason (16 Oct 1840–28 Nov 1904), Memorial ID 29092598, citing Thomason Cemetery, Bedford County, Tennessee, USA.