Notes of Interest from Pine Bluff(Aug 1934)

NOTES OF INTEREST FROM PINE BLUFF

Andrew Hillis spent Tuesday afternoon with Will Rowland.

Ray Slatten visited Haze Miller one evening last week.

Rev. W. J. McElroy and family are spending a few days with relatives in this part.

Jo Acuff visited Fannie Barlow Sunday night.

John Bluford Witt spent Sunday with Elbert Acuff.

Leighton Hash and wife, Gladys, spent Saturday with his sister, Mrs. Bascom Chandler.

Mrs. Charlie Lee Acuff visited Mrs. Richard Moore Sunday.

J. Walter Davis and family of Chillicothe, Texas, spent last week with his sister, Mrs. L. D. Chandler.

Mrs. Ida Breedlove and daughter spent Sunday with Jim Breedlove.

Walter Davis and son, James, spent Monday morning with Andy Acuff.

Mr. and Mrs. Ivy Sparkman spent last Saturday with her mother, Mrs. Daisy Johnson.

Mr. and Mrs. Jim Deaton spent a few days last week with his father, Squire Deaton.

Notes:  A lot of Van Buren County connections in this article. Elbert Acuff and Charlie Lee Acuff are 1st cousins of my maternal grandmother Minnie Acuff Luna. I'm not sure if Jo Acuff was Sarah Josephine Acuff(Daughter of Andrew "Andy" J Acuff and Hannah Hash) or Margie Josephine Acuff(daughter of Wm H Acuff and Minnie Hash Witt.)  Both were named after their maternal grandmother, Josephine Potter Hash.

Source:

"Notes of Interest From Pine Bluff," Southern Standard(McMinnville, Tenn) 23 Aug 1934, Vol LV, No. 26, p 5, col 4; image, FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-13RM-16D7 : accessed 26 Mar 2025) IGN 8964042, image 1121 of 1152.

Sadness in the Census.

To the ordinary eye this may look like just a typical page from the 1940 United States Census. This page to a country music fan and a true crime fan is much more.  Seven year old Dorthy Marsh in household 27 would grow up to be Dottie West.  Dottie was physically and sexually abused by her father, Hollis Marsh(a crime for which he was sentenced to 40 yrs in prison).  The Bratcher family in household 33 would be murdered by Billy Gibbs in 1955----a tragedy still talked about among the locals even to this day.

1940 United States Census, Warren Co., TN, Dist 15 sheet 2-B

It's Been a Search of a Hale..

My Gr Gr Grandfather Wm. P. Hale & his parents have probably been the biggest brick wall opportunity that I've faced in the 18 years I've been researching. It took me a while to sort through information on Wm. P. Hale and find that he had been married not just once...but three times. I did find him in the census with each of his three wives between the years 1880 & 1920. I've not been as lucky with his parents.

How can a family escape being listed in both the 1860 & 1870 Federal Census? The answer is most likely that they didn't & that they are in fact listed but not in a location or with the expected names that would allow me to recognize the family. The family is that of Wm. Taylor Hale and his wife Eliza Adaline Elzey(spelling varies) They had Two Girls(Lucinda Caroline, Mary A.) & Three Boys(James Arvil, Wm P. & John Nathaniel). Here is a time line I've worked out for the family covering the years 1850-1880.

Wm. Taylor Hale (1820/22-1861)
Eliza Adaline Elzie(1820-1906)

1843  Marriage Wm Taylor & Eliza Adaline Elzie/Elsie(June 29) 
1844  Birth of Lucinda Caroline Hale(dau of Wm & Adaline)
1846  Birth of James Arvil Hale(son of Wm & Adaline)
1849  Birth of Wm. P. Hale(son of Wm & Adaline)
1850  Census Wm & Family --Van Buren Co. TN Dist 6(Sept 13)
1855  Birth of Mary Hale(Dau of Wm & Adaline)
1861  Death of Wm T. Hale(drown in Collins River)
1861  Birth of John Nathaniel Hale
1865  Marriage of Lucinda Caroline Hale to John Bishop(Van Buren Co. TN Aug 8)
1866  Birth of Lucinda & John's son--James Monroe Bishop
1876  Birth of Lucinda & Mr. Davis' son--Luther Davis
1880  Census Adaline & Lucinda living same household (Van Buren Co. TN Dist 8) 
1880  Census James A. Hale & Family(Van Buren Co. TN Dist 8)
1880  Census Wm P. Hale & Family(Bledsoe Co. TN Dist 1)
1880  Census Mary Hale Johnson & Family(Bledsoe Co. TN Dist 1)

They could have left the Van Buren/Warren Co. TN area after Wm. Taylor Hales Death however they were back for Lucinda's marriage & births of both children. I've searched in 1870 for the Bishop surname in the chance that the family might have been enumerated under that name. I've tried creative spellings of Hale. Also have tried creatively spelling Adaline and Lucinda Caroline. Searching age groups within the Hale variants to cut out false positives(hopefully). No signs of them--not sure what to do at this point.

Links to Obits for the Warren Co. TN area

Great news for anyone who has Warren Co. TN connections or in the surrounding counties of Dekalb, White or Van Buren. High's Funeral Home has their obituaries for the past several years online. Since I am kin to probably 75% of the people in those counties in some shape or fashion and don't live in TN I am thrilled to be able to view this resource. I wish they had the early years online.

High Funeral Home

101 College Street

McMinnville, TN 37110

Phone: 931-473-2137

Email: info@highfuneralhome.com

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Also you might check the Sparta Expositor, Love-Cantrell Funeral Home and Hunter Funeral Home websites.