| Notes |
- Per his daughter, May McGlothin, John was left an orphan at age 5. (conversations with May McGlothin by Judy Kesterson Spradlin.)
Julian Sexton was an uncle or great uncle with whom dad (John Sexton)lived with after his grandmother, Mrs. Griffith, died. He was about 6 or 7 years old. He went to work for grandpa Potter (Judge William Henry]. He drove a wagon and team from a sawmill loaded with lumber. The lumber was loaded on Railroad Cars at Helenwood. With his first payday, he bought his first pair of shoes, overalls, etc. He said he had to go out on the porch and onto the ground and around the house to a ladder made of two poles nailed to the wall with strips of wood nailed to them, climb the ladder to the loft, which was not closed in, to go to bed. He said many mornings his bed was covered with snow. His sister, Etta(m. Carson) began hiring oout when she was 12 or 13 years old. He never heard from her or them [unknown who them refers to] until he came home from the Army. He joined the army about 1901 and was stationed in Monterey, Calif. His commanding officer sent him to the bank in a buggy with a horse to pick up the payroll each weekend. (In another conversation, I was told that by the time he got to California the war was over.)
He came home [from the army] in about 1903 (1913, 1923?). He worked at a sawmill in Gobey. He boarded with Aunt Etta and husband Ewell Carson. Then he worked for Zumsteins at a sawmill in Nemo.
Dad and mother were married February 11, 1907. They slept upstairs at Grandpa's (Judge William Henry Potter, Huntsville, TN) in the room over what was mother's dining room. One night Dad blew out the light, an oil lamp. He got in bed and immediately saw the fire was down in the oil and going up the wall. The blaze scorched the paint over the mantel. Mother said Dad grabbed the quilt off the bed, reached up over the mantel and smothered the blaze.
They moved into their home as soon as it was finished. I do not know if they were in it when I was born. I know we were there when Grace was born in 1909, and Hazel in 1911. We moved to Buffalo in April 1912.
Mother taught school 4 or 5 years before they were married. I've heard her talk about teaching at Wolf Creek, which is to the left of Glennmary or rather the Todd Farm coming South from Huntsville. I do not know if all her teaching experience was at Wolf Creek
To teach, they had to attend summer school at the Presbyterian Academy in Huntsville. It was still standing there when I began to stay with Grandpa Potter. It burned after Harvey and I were married. I remembered being in it once before I started to school. I said "Annie's and Willie's Prayer" at their Christmas Program. All I remember about their program was the pantomime-- all the girls dresses were white. They had tinsel around their heads. The flame they burned made each girl's dress a different color. I also said "Annie's and Willie's Prayer" at the Huntsville High School (2 yr.). It may have been at Christmas before I went to school there in the fall, which would have been Christmas 1913 (?). I went to first grarade in Huntsville the fall Willard was born, 1914. We lived in Huntsville 3 months. I remember going to Grandpa Potter's one Christmas, probably the first after we moved in April. They had the Christmas tree upstairs in the room over Mother''s living room. The tree went to the ceiling. It had real candles on it. They lit them after we went upstairs. As soon as the presents were given out, they blew the candles out. Mother had 3 children there, Aunt Hattie 5, Aunt Vadie probably 3, Aunt Laura and Uncle Ben none, neither were married. (NOTE: These would have been the children of William Henry Potter, which would make them Ida's siblings, not her children.)
Morgan County, Tennessee Marriages
July 1906 - June 1910*
FHL#0978841
Item 4
*(note - these dates are on the title page of the film, but the volume
covers Feb 1906 - June 1910)
114 SEXTON, John POTTER, Ida 9 Feb 1907 / noreturn
Per May McGlothin, daughter of John and Ida Potter Sexton:
Honey John Sexton: After his mother died, he stayed with his Grandma Griffith until she died and then he boarded out to an Uncle who lived at Paint Rock, over the hill from where Grandpa's barn was (Grandpa John Sexton, which is today the 4-Oaaks funeral home 2015). There were 1-2 rooms and he walked to the end of the porch and went around to the end of the house and climbed the planks or logs to the attic under the roof. He slept in the attic and often woke to the snow covering him in the winter. When he was 17, he came to Grandpa Potter's store and got his first job. It was with his first paycheck that he bought his first pair of shoes.
****
Honey John:
In the late 1970s, Judy Kesterson Smith Spradlin had the dishonor of riding to the airport with a member of Roane County's republican party to pickup Howard Baker. I don't remember who the person who was driving was, but Howard Baker sat in the front seat passenger side, and I sat in the back seat passenger side. One of Baker's aides sat in the backseat driver's side. Baker was rude, rude, rude. He was upset that I was there and said that he got car sick from turning around talking to me. He was a total ass hole.
But his aide, was Ron something--I can't remember his name--who was very personable. I told him my ancestors were from Scott County and he asked me who they were. I said John Sexton and he said which John. I told him where my grandfather lived and he listed the names of the John Sexton's and one of the choices was Honey John. As soon as I got home I called Grandma McGlothin and learned that my great grandfather was indeed Honey John Sexton. While Baker was a dud and a jerk, his assistant was a hero in my eyes because of his kindness. From that day forward I've made sure all our descendants knew the story of Honey John.
On Wed, 6/17/09, Rae Smith wrote:
From: Rae Smith
Subject: RE: John Sexton
To: "Judy"
Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 9:44 PM
#yiv1982190544 .ExternalClass #EC_yiv615514198 .EC_hmmessage P{padding:0px;} #yiv1982190544 .ExternalClass #EC_yiv615514198{font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;} I love this. Thank you for sending it. I really like reading stories from back then written by the people who lived it. Especially the ones that are related to me. I have never lived in Tennessee but grew up listening to my mother tell stories about growing up there. Now I wish I had paid closer attention. She would love to know a lot of the info I have found. She passed away 8 years ago. Thank you again. This helps a lot in solving the mystery. I did find out that John M Sexton was my Grandfather's 3rd cousin after I found out that his mother was Nancy Sexton. I had them in my files but didn't know he was the same John M Sexton who married Ida Potter who I also had in my files. I merged the 2 John Sextons .
I am so glad you knew to look for Nancy (his mother) I probably would have never connected the 2 if it weren't for you. Thank you again.
From: Rae Smith
Subject: RE: John Sexton
To: "Judy"
Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 10:24 AM
This is another mystery. Julian got custody of John after his aunt died. We need to find out who the aunt was. Julian isn't listed in my files as his mother's brother so I don't know what relation they were. I have several Julian Sextons in my files.
I am still trying to solve this.
Rae
--- On Wed, 6/17/09, Rae Smith wrote:
From: Rae Smith
Subject: FW: John Sexton
To: "middleridgefarm@yahoo.com"
Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 8:40 AM
According to Shelia Strunk John was the son of Nancy Sexton. Her parents were William Griffith and Sarah Sexton. I don't know yet why Nancy went by Sexton unless Sarah had her before she married William. I am still looking.
Okay. I found a note from Shelia Strunk saying that Sarah had 3 children before she married William Griffith. That would be why Nancy is a Sexton instead of a Griffith. So John was born out of wedlock. That would explain why someone else raised him other than his father probably. I also have a note saying John's father was a Lewallen, but he never acknowledged him.
Rae
May Sexton McGlothin, in an undated interview with Judy Spradlin, said her father, after his mother died, stayed with his grandmother Griffith until she died. He then boarded out to an uncle who lived on Paint Rock, just over the hill from wherere Grandpa's (John Sexton) barn was. The home had one or two rooms only, so John walked to the end of the porch and went around to the end of the house and climbed planks or logs to the roof (attic). He laid over & under feather beds under the roof. He said that in the winter it wasn't unusual for him to wake up covered in snow.
When he was 17, he went to work for William Henry Potter and with his first month's pay bought his first pair of shoes. He started to school that fall. Mrs. Mary Caldwell took a great interest in the 17-year-old man who couldn't read or write. He went three years, in the cold months of the year. He could "figure" without a pencil and paper the lumber needed to build something and tell you exactly how many board feet, 2 x 4's etc. needed
RCHC Home Page
The SEXTON FAMILY of SCOTT COUNTY, TENNESSEE
Compiled by Robert L. Bailey Copyright 1992
The following is from my four volumes of The Sexton Family of Scott County, Tennessee, published and copyrighted in 1992. Although these books (and my other Scott County books) are published and sold by The Scott County Historical Society, I owown the copyright and reproduction rights to my books. This had led me to these web pages. As time permits, I will add more. If you wish to purchase these books, they are available from The Scott County Historical Society, P.O. Box 7, Huntsvillee, TN 37756. Volume I, contains my documentation of the early generations. Volume II traces the descendants of Timothy Sexton, Jr. (1783-1850's). Volume III traces the descendants of William SEXTON (1786-1854) and Volume IV traces the descendants of Moses Sexton (1789-1850).
Timothy SEXTON, Sr., was born about 1750, possibly in Connecticut. He enlisted in the army during the Revolutionary War in Morristown, New Jersey in 1777. In 1781, he was discharged at Baltimore, Maryland. He fought in battles at Brunswick Amboboy Wertfield, Staten Island and Long Island, New York. He married 18 Aug 1782 in York District, South Carolina, Esther SISEL (b. ca 1755-d. 23 Jan 1850 in Scott County, TN). After his marriage to Esther, he fought against the Catawba Indians annd Tories. Timothy and Esther SEXTON were living in York District, South Carolina, in 1790 as they are listed on the 1790 Census. By 1800, they had left South Carolina and moved to Georgia, living in Wilkes County and Elbert County, Georgia. They then removed to Knox County, Tennessee. One of the first records of their appearance in Tennessee occurs in 1808. On 18 May 1808, Timothy SEXTON, Sr., surveyed land on the west side of New River opposite to the mouth of Buffalo in Campbell County, Tennessee. He also surveyed 108 acres of land on New River which included "the improvement on which he now lives" on 10 Dec 1809. Timothy and Esther continued to live in Campbell County, Tennessee until about 1819 when he removed to Brimstone Creek in Morgan County, Tennessee (now a part of Scott County, Tennessee). Timothy, Sr., died on 18 Jun 1832 in Morgan (now Scott) County, Tennessee and is probably buried in the Rob Sexton Cemetery near Round Mountain on Brimstone. Both Timothy and Esther received a pension for his service in the Revolutionary War.
Timothy and Esther (SISEL) SEXTON, Sr. had five sons. Four of their sons, Timothy, Jr., William, Moses, and John, are mentioned in Timothy Sr.'s pension file. The fifth son, Aaron, is mentioned as being a son in the Morgan County Court Minutes. In the April 1850 term, Jesse TRIPLETT came into court and said that Esther SEXTON, the widow of Timothy SEXTON had died on 23 Jan 1850 and that she left five surviving children, Timothy, William, Moses, Aaron and John. [Morgan County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, April 1850 term, page 89).
The oldest son was Timothy SEXTON, Jr. He was born on 25 Dec 1783 in York District, South Carolina, according to the Revolutionary Pension file of Timothy SEXTON, Sr. Timothy Jr. married Nancy ELLIS. The second child was William SEXTON. He was born about 1786 in York District, South Carolina and he married Rhoda GRIFFITH. The third child of Timothy and Esther SEXTON, Sr. was Moses SEXTON. He was born on 18 Mar 1789 in York District, South Carolina, according to the Revolutionary War Pension file of Timothy, Sr. Moses SEXTON married LEANDER HATFIELD. The fourth child was Aaron SEXTON. Aaron was born about 1791. The youngest child of Timothy and Esther SEXTON, Sr., was John SEXTON. He was born about 1795.
Of these five children Timothy and Esther SEXTON, Sr., only Timothy, Jr., William and Moses stayed and raised families in Scott County. All of the SEXTONS in Scott County, Tennessee are descended from these three sons.
Children of Timothy and Esther (SISEL) SEXTON.
Timothy SEXTON, Jr. (b. 25 Dec 1783 in York District, South Carolina-d. 1850's in Scott Co., TN) md Nancy ELLIS
William SEXTON (b. ca 1786 in York District, South Carolina-d. 10 Sep 1854 in Scott Co., TN) md Rhoda GRIFFITH
Moses SEXTON (b. 18 May 1789 in York District, South Carolina-d. 1 or 5 Jun 1850 in Scott Co., TN) md Leander HATFIELD
Aaron SEXTON (b. ca 1791-
John SEXTON (b. ca 1795-
Sexton family deep-rooted in Paint Rock
[EDITOR?S NOTE The following article was published by Esther Sharp Sanderson on January 8, 1965 as part of her "Profiles In Courage" series of newspaper articles in the Scott County News. The entire collection of articles is now on sale in book form by the Scott County Historical Society].
January 8, 1965
More than a half century ago, there lived on Paint Rock a Christian gentleman, CASWELL SEXTON, his good wife, RACHEL, and a brood often healthy, happy youngsters. Mr. SEXTON was a coal miner by trade, but he owned a small farm on which he and his children worked to help supplement the low income that he received from his work in the dark confines of the narrow seams of coal beneath the surface of the hills up and down the creek.
Almost as soon as the boys learned gee from haw, they plowed the fields. Those too young to plow followed along behind the plow with their weeding hoes. There were occasional clod fights in the fields, and if the weather was unusually hot the booys would dive in the old swimming hole in their birthday suites to cool off. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" thought the SEXTON boys. They managed to sandwich in enough fun to remain alert. In the evening, when their father was seen emerging from the mouth of the mines overlooking the farm, the daily task was finished and the boys were free to take their guns and go into the woods to hunt. Some good fat rabbits, squirrels, groundhogs, raccoons, opossums, quails and pheasants added variety to the meals which consisted principally of produce from the farm.
In spite of the low income from the farm and the mines, Mr. and Mrs. SEXTON managed to keep their family well fed and with sufficient clothing to be in school every day. They too occupied their places in church and Sunday School, come rain or shine, snow or sleet, the SEXTON parents and their big family were present at both services. Mr. CASWELL SEXTON was a pillar in the Paint Rock Baptist Church, serving as elder and Sunday School superintendent for many years.
A familiar scene marching down the aisles each Sunday morning was the sprightly, vivacious, well-groomed mother of ten. Like stair steps from the oldest to the youngest, LETCHER, LATONIA, MANFORD, ELIE, CALEB, MAXWELL, ALTON, OSWELL, EDRIE and M MALVIN took their seats in the classes and places in the choir. LATONIA served as organist for many years. All the children attended the Almy Elementary School, and all but LETCHER attended the Huntsville High School. The whole SEXTON family was interested in education, and they walked about ten miles a day to and from school, being financially unable to board. They were active in all extra curricular activities; school plays, debates and especially athletics in which they excelled. Better players never graced the basketball courts nor threw their weight about on the football fields than the children of the Sexton families. Competition was in their blood and it had to come out.
There was little money beyond actual necessities in the SEXTON home, but there was joy and a heap of living within the walls of that old frame building. In early life the children learned to give and take and to accept responsibility. How very r rich are those children who are so very richly blessed with these attributes. But their happy home life was shattered by the sudden death of their kind father in a mine explosion on Christmas Eve day. Little did MANFORD think as he held the heaad of his dying father in his lap that his education would be curtailed in order for the younger children to continue theirs. Upon his young shoulders and the brave and courageous mother fell the hard task of keeping the large family together and educating them. They were equal to the occasion.
The three younger children, EDRIE, MALVIN, and OSWELL, finished high school and went to work to put themselves through college, later received their M.A. degrees. In the meantime, MANFORD taught school and with the help of the younger children during vacation they continued to operate the farm. Six of the SEXTON children taught public school in Scott County; namely, LETCHER, MANFORD, MAXWELL, OSWELL, EDRIE and MALVIN. MALVIN served two terms as Scott County School Superintendent and Mrs. EDRIE HUFF served as Scott County Public School Supervisor. MAXWELL finished law school and is at present a practicing attorney in Oneida, Tennessee. MANFORD served several terms as Circuit Court Clerk. Five of the Sexton boys served in the various branches of the armed services of their country. Mrs. SEXTON passed away a few years ago. Two of her children, Caleb and Elie (Mrs. M. DOBBS) preceded her in death. Eight are still living.
In the early history of what is now Scott County, there were three items that were indispensable to the early settlers. One was THE BOOK, the BIBLE, another was the axe used in felling the trees and shaping the logs that went into their cabins in the clearing, the last but nowise the least important was the trusty rifle, Old Betsy. Upon their merits as marksmen, depended the wild game that helped to feed their pioneer families. The CECIL and SEXTON men were known the country round as expert shots. When they met at the shooting matches, it was a common occurrence for them to carry home the first choices of beef or the big fat turkeys.
According to statistics, young men in the armed services from East Tennessee were experts on the rifle range. In fact, they were considered the best. It was an inherent trait handed down from father to son to bark a squirrel from the highest tree or to shoot a fowl in flight. Servicemen like the late Sergeant ALVIN C. YORK and our own Scott County boy, ARCHIE ALTON SEXTON, developed most unusual skills roaming the mountains in search of necessary game. Times were hard and ammunition was not too plentiful. They developed through pride and necessity, a skill that was to bring them fame in the years ahead.
People are aware of the fame of Sergeant YORK, but we doubt if too many are aware of the outstanding achievements of ARCHIE ALTON SEXTON. He served in the Cavalry and in the regular army before accepting positions as Lieutenant in the Protection Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the branch office in Detroit. He lives in Chicago where he continues to work in the Protection Department of the Federal Reserve Bank. It has been during his duties in connection with the bank that he has amassed a most remarkable record with 110 medals to his honor.
According to the "Commentator," a monthly publication of the Chicago Reserve Bank, the Protection Department is going to run out of exhibit cases to display ARCHIE ALTON?s medals. That is, if he keeps up his present pace.
He recently won the department?s quarterly shoot which brings his total of medals up to 110. For thirty years he has been on the "No. 1 Team" for the department, and one-fifth of the medal honors given to the department are to his credit.
From 1934 to 1945, the Bank?s Protection Department won 90 percent of the competitive shooting matches in the state. "Then a score of 250 was tops," ARCHIE ALTON said, "now pistol matches are more competitive and the shooter must reach the 280 or 290 mark to be good."
He has only one higher level to shoot for, that of master. Once ALTON shot a score of 280 which puts him in the category of master. "But you have to do that three times in a row, and it isn?t so easy," he qualified.
ALTON says that shooting is hard on the nervous system because you cannot flinch, and you are always anticipating that "boom." ALTON says that he tries to have 70 or 80 rounds of practice shots per month. In 1942 he started wearing glasses, but says he, "It didn?t affect my sharp eye. I can still see good at a distance." This expert?s goal is "to watch potential young shooters in the department be able to win."
ALTON, may we suggest that the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank buy some round trip tickets for your fellow workers to spend some Indian Summers in the beautiful hill country of Scott County where they can learn the lore of field and stream and join in a "turkey shoot" where a "bull?s eye:" is easy to come by. There are not witches left to spell "Old Betsy."
Early Days On Paint Rock: An Oral History
(Part II)
(EDITOR?S NOTE ? The following article is the second installment of an oral history by Letcher Sexton which was recorded by his sister Edrie Huff in January 1979 and was later transcribed and printed in the Spring, 1986 issue of the Scott County Historical Society Newsletter).
A new tipple made it much more convenient to transport the coal and the little thousand pound coal cars to the new and better tip house. And somewhere along at this time, my Dad decided I should be put to work a little bit. So, between the ages of nine and eleven I was taken in to help him get his coal in the number two mine, which was on the right as you go up into Punkin Hollow.
He had a room that had a little moisture in it and, anyway, I was big enough and with my narrow shovel, I could help him out considerably. I was especially good in moving his drill tools around. The drill tools were the augers and the thread babar and the posts and the tube extensions. And there was a crank to make the auger turn. It fitted on the thread bar. The thread bar had a thread box that fitted in the posts with threads on it to force, at regular speed per turn, the advancemennt of the auger to cut the coal. Well, I was quite handy at the moving those around, but he?d want me to crank that thread bar to drill the hole. I remember I could just barely get it over with two hands, and squatted down and on my knees and lay down, I tried all different positions to be able to crank that. I could do it a little. But he could come over there and take one hand and he?d kneel down, since the coal was only 28 inches high ? didn?t leave much room between the top and botttom to straighten up. He could straighten out, but he couldn?t straighten up. He had power, he could just turn that crank around and right away he?d drill up two feet. Then he?d take it out and put in a four foot bit, drill it out two feet more, then take it out and put in a six foot bit, and drill it up two feet more. Then he had a six foot hole to put powder and fuse in to blast out a section of coal.
They had a regular time, at quitting time, to blast out. So, I learned how to stick your lamp under the fuse and light it so it wouldn?t blow the light out. Accidents were caused by persons with a small light that didn?t know how to light a fuse and hold their lamp so that the flame wouldn?t blow out. Dad taught me how to sound out the slate above you and tell whether it was dangerous or not. How to put up brace posts and caps on them, drive them up tight so the roof wouldn?t come down, or chunks fall out? of it. He almost made a miner out of me.
It was along about this time that he got a summons to go over to Huntsville and appear in court. It seemed like in some mine, somebody had got hurt. And they had a lawsuit and not much that I can remember about it other than they asked dad a lot of funny questions and, finally, the judge got disgusted, either at dad or the lawyers one. He turned and said, "Mr. SEXTON, in your opinion, how long does it take a man to become a dependable coal miner?"
Dad said, "Your Honor, some may learn within four months. Others may learn within six months. But there?s some that will never learn."
So, I fiddled around for several months helping him in the coal mine. It was all interesting to me, but I was a lot more interested in what some of the other miners were doing. And, every time I could sneak out, I?d sneak around and try to get i in a conversation with some other miner and usually, he?d want me to go because he?d be busy doing his work. But it was in this mine that DAVE JEFFERS, while eating lunch and sitting on his tool box, a chunk of slate fell out and broke his back. The result brought about his death not long afterwards.
That?s the first coal mine accident death that I can remember. There?s some others that I?ll mention a little later on.
(End of one taping session and beginning of another).
This is January 30, another day I promised to carry on... I?m not sure to whom I made the promise, probably sister EDRA.
At this time, I wish to tell about the dinner hour. During the time from 11:30 to 12:30, some of the miners that lived nearby took their dinner by chasing home. Well, I was one that run home and got my dinner and run back. I could make it in about 20 minutes.
By that time, the regular miners, who had carried their lunch with them, had their dinner over with and were resting comfortably around a big sandrock there and telling tales and jokes. and one that I remember very well was one about the big watermelon that was grown in Georgia. This tale was told by BOB ELLER, we called him, one of the miners. And listening was four or five other miners. This watermelon that he told about was a mighty big one, according to his tale. The watermelon grew so big that, the way he described it, it would feed a hundred people ? all the melon they wanted.
And one of the miners said, "BOB, that melon that you?re talking about, I bet if it got busted all those creeks and rivers around there would overflow. Bob says, "I?m not sure that that would happen, but some of those branches might rise a little bit."
They seemed to accept and joke about it a little further. A couple of days later, that watermelon subject was brought up after a little interesting song by SHORTY ADKINS, as he was called. And, of course, I had got up as close as I could to SHORTY without getting in his way because I liked that fellow and he seemed to like me. After the song was finished, SHORTY said, "I had a trip to Knoxville in the last day or two. And on this trip I passed by a big blacksmith shop and they had a big chunk of iron red hot on a big anvil and they was three or four men beating on it with sledge hammers. It was all red and they were hammering away with great noise. I went on to Knoxville and when I came back that evening, they had that thinned out on one edge and I was curious so I went up there and I said to one of the men: "What in the world are you making ? that big thing?s got a blade about a foot wide and about six feet long? What are you making?"
"Oh," he said, "I had an order from Georgia. There?s some farmer down there that had a big farm and he wanted us to send it down that night."
He said, "I wondered about that all the way home.., that big butcher knife that they was a?making." And, he said, "After I?ve studied it out, I could only come to one conclusion."
And BOB ELLER spoke up and said, "What was that conclusion, Shorty?"
"Why," he says, "that conclusion was that they were making that knife to cut your big Georgia watermelon!"
So, that is one of the jokes that I remember there when I was a kid about nine years old.
There was an explosion in this mine. And that explosion occurred on a Saturday and dad took me to Cherry Fork Church to hear Uncle REUBEN preach on Saturdays about once a month. And this happened to be that Saturday. And dad crowded me into the seat and sat over to the edge next to the aisle and the other part of the seat was against the wall. I could slide back and forth on the seat for entertainment, but I daren?t try to get out from my Dad. And they had a strip underneath of the seat in front and underneath the seat on one I was sitting on there was no way for me to get down and crawl through, so I had to take it. And I did.
I can?t ever remember what Uncle GEORGE preached. He had a sing-song kind of way of preaching that was very interesting but it was hardly understandable to me at my age of about eight or nine.
Now, during the time that we were up there, an explosion occurred in this No. 2 Pumpkin Hollow Mine and a Mr. HILL and a Mr. BLEVINS got their face pretty well pitted and speckled with black mine dust. That?s about all I can remember of that.
Then, along not far from that time, AARON (or Allen?) DUNCAN was caught by a slate fall and it resulted in his death a little later. And then, W. M. or BILL SMITH was caught in another slate fall and his back was broke. He survived on the bed helpless for more than five months before he died.
And then, along about 1910 (I?m moving this up a little), the Pumpkin Hollow No. 1 Mine exploded. At that time I was attending school at Oneida School... they didn?t have a high school there, then.., and staying with my grandmother. On this daay before Christmas the school turned out about two o?clock and I remember walking home with CLIFFORD SEXTON, about four miles through the Tunnel Hill tunnel and along the railroad ?til I got down to Stanley Junction. And at Stanley Junction they had a store and someone said there was an explosion at 11:30 up at the mine. And this was between three and four o?clock that Clifford and I arrived at Stanley Junction.
We went up immediately to this Pumpkin Hollow No. 1 Mine and went to the wide opening inside the mine ? it had been made so they could have a side track, or a double track, at this point about 50 or 75 yards long. And then beyond that, there was an entry that turned to the right and one to the left. The left entry had had a door to cause the air to be sucked around and through the entry to the right. But the explosion had occurred... it was a dust explosion set off by having two or three heavy shots in a close place and made dust and set the dust on fire.
So, this was a dust explosion that occurred one or two days before Christmas, 1910. It had blown down the curtains and the doors and other arrangements that caused the air to circulate around the mine. Therefore, the men that was in there woulld be suffocated by the carbon dioxide that was hanging in the air. So I turned to a group consisting of FRED PHILLIPS, MITCHELL THOMPSON, Uncle BILL SEXTON, and EVERETT DUNCAN and we was proceeded ahead up the airway. As they got (unrecognizable word) backup to force the air along, we followed it up. Dr. M. E. THOMPSON came along with a box full of ammonia and he?d give us a little teaspoon every now and then and we kept on until we got a way back under the mountain. We came across fiirst MONROE SEXTON, that was laying on his stomach, his face down, in a little airway. Right ahead of him lay his brother BILL SEXTON, who was a first cousin to the other BILL SMITH that had died before. And then on up in a room that had been cucut back about 50 or 60 feet, we found JOHN FREEMAN (Sexton), laying on his right side, facing down the room, with the little lamp in his hand and fully dead. So the five of us managed to scoot him back to the airway, down this room that the coal was 28 inches high. In other words, it was only 28 inches between the slate above and the rock floor below, and we laid on our sides and managed to scoot him down until they got him through the airway to where some of the slate had been shot down and loaded out, then they could carry him over to the entry. And the entry was about eight or nine feet wide at the bottom and about four feet wide at the top, and six feet from the floor to the top of the entry. We started down this entry and I was carrying his right leg and hip, and had just got started about 10 or 15 feet when I had to let down and holler to the others, "I?m losing my strength," and I run back up into this airway and immediately fell to sleep.
LUTHER PENNINGTON came in and slapped me and waked me and got me
(Continued on page 6)
(Continued from page 5)
up enough that he could manage to get me to walk hanging over his shoulder to get me down to where there was plenty of fresh air.
I got home that night and I slept about 14 hours straight through. And that?s my memory of the explosion in which the three Sexton brothers were killed. These were sons of EMANUEL SEXTON and WINNIE WEST SEXTON, who was mother?s uncle.
Somebody told a tale about a salesman traveling around in the hills and up the hollows in a horse and buggy. Well, there were very few roads that a horse and buggy could be taken over together. But this salesman was doing the better areas and at one place in a rainy spring season, he passed along a field and he saw a young boy over there all by himself hoeing out weeds in a corn patch and the weeds was about to take it. And the boy was lookin? pretty bad. So, he hollered out at the boy, "Hello, there boy!"
The boy hollered, "Hello," and kept on hoeing weeds out of the corn. And the salesman hollered, "It looks like you?re having a pretty tough time a?keeping the weeds out."
The boy said, ?Yes, it?s been too rainy to get out here to plow it and look after it like it should?ve been."
The fellow says, "It looks like you?re going to have a yellow crop this year."
The boys says, "I hope so, we planted yellow corn."
An the salesman felt a little steam there and he said, "There?s not much between you and a fool, is there?"
The boy looked up and said, "No, just a fence."
And that sent the salesman on his way.
KATHERINE WEST, who later married HARRINGTON, taught a subscription school there on Paint Rock. And dad subscribed for me ? I must have been somewhere around eight and nine years old at this time ? and I had to walk about three quarters of a mile up to the building that the school was in. It was started in an old church building that was burned down not long afterwards, just south of the commissary, southeast of the commissary in old Alma.
It was a very nice church building, built by the company to serve the families of the miners. They used it a lot. Uncle GEORGE CECIL used to come there and hold meetings. And then there was a preacher that came in that they called the Holy Rollers. And he had a few nice people with him when they held meetings that I can remember.
But it was in this building that KATHERINE started her subscription school. And, of course, I was a little bit hunting for devilment and I came to the tip house where they have some fairly coarse dust and I put some of that in my pocket one day. And I made me a slingshot with a cutout piece of rubber tab on it to hold my stones or dust or whatever I? wanted to shoot. But the rubber was made out of women?s garters. I?d cut them in two and put them around a forked stick and they were pretty strong garters and I could shoot pretty good with them.
One day I looked over across the aisle, on the side where the girls sat, and I saw one of the girls with her dress up about her knees. They wore mostly longer dresses in those days. And her legs looked white and kindly fat, so I loaded my slingshot pouch up with this coal dust and got it down in the aisle and pulled it back and let it go.
Well, this stung this girl?s legs and she didn?t know what had happened and let out a little yell. And the teacher come back in investigate and she looked all around and everybody, including me, had their nose in the book and just as innocent as could be and that went on for a little while longer. I loaded me up another and give another shot, and that time the girl squealed because I?d pulled the rubber a little tighter and let the coal dust go a little harder and it stung a little stronger. And KATHERINE come rushing back there. And I was the only one, she said, that could have done it, so she invited me to come out into the aisle. And I got out in the aisle and she was going to search me. And she did. And she found this slling shot. And when she found it, I grabbed for it, too. I had hid it under my clothes. I got a hold of one of the forks and she got a hold of the other fork and in the pull the fork split, and that left me with a broken slingshot. But she got it away from me and I didn?t have any more garter slingshot.
But I did learn and I did enjoy going to school to KATHERINE.
Now, going to another subject, along about 1907 or 1908, dad thought I should go over and stay with Grandma SEXTON. That would be his mother, who had Aunt WINNIE and MANDY, two daughters with her, and three of her grandchildren. And my job was to help them with the farm work around there. They lived on 109 acres, had a big double log house. Had a well and a spring. Had mules and had an old horse and a colt named Pin-(line missing in transcription) to that enjoyed playing with. Then they had chickens and guinnies and turkeys around. And an old peacock that I used to be afraid of when he spread his tail in front of my face and showed me how pretty it was back there.
?They had some bee gums but they had just about died out. I hauled in wood, plowed, and went to the store and, in the fall of the year, I started walking two miles to school in Oneida. (I think I?d better leave the rest of this for a little later about a school story and move on to the shutdown of the Roberts Coal Company and the closing down of the mine).
Along about 1910 or before.., when it closed down, they left very little coal to be taken out of the old Cornbread Mine that had lasted about 20 years. The electrical machinery had all been removed. The tipple was beginning to show signs of decay and part of the tipple that went across the branch had already been taken down, leaving just the part the coal was tippled over into the railroad cars.
About this time, R. A. WOOD took over and opened the Boneyard Mine again and we had a little operation going up there. And at that time, I had worked with dad and Uncle BILL and Uncle FERNANDEZ (?) BILBREY had made a contract over at the Pumpkin Hollow Mine area for another section and they operated the mine and I drove a mule from about a half a mile where they brought the coal out of the mine in cars and lined them up on top of a little grade, hill, with the track running steeply down and used old Spoonfoot, a mule that we had at that time, to take them on over to the old Pumpkin Hollow Tip House. And I was the weigh master, the tip master, and the mover of the coal cars to get them right under the tipple, and carry the empties back up to the top of the hill where another mule skinner and another mule took the empties back in and get them loaded and bring them back full for me to pick up again.
This was in the winter of 1911 and -12 and that was the coldest winter I ever remember ever experiencing in this area. The creek that run alongside the railroad down by Stanley Junction and over from our house got dammed up by freezes till the water would rise up three foot high and then flow over little bluffs .of ice. There was only a few places we could cross the stream and take a chance on getting the mule to cross, because of this dammed up ice and icy water. I believe that the temperature stayed at zero and below from the latter part of January up to the middle of February of that year.
That was worked on up ?til May and then dad and Uncle BILL and FERNANDEZ closed this mine over there down and went to work for R.A. WOOD at the Boneyard Mine. And up there I was transferred to a mule skinner to gather the coal from inside the mine, while JOHN GOODMAN was the mule skinner that took it about a mile around a tramway to get to the old Cornbread Tip House that is still in use.
Now, just before . . . in 1911. I?d succeeded in getting appointed to teach school at the old Foggle?s (?) School. And that was to begin in July, the last of July, 1911. At that time, I lacked about three months of being 17 years old. I faced the school students, that ranged from about 18 years or 19 years old down to about 5 years old, in all 6 grades? Then, the enrollment was between 80 and 100. So, you can imagine what a problem I had. But I managed to teach that school and two years later, the citizens wanted me back, so I do have a little something to brag about.
FRANK JEFFERS, son of RANEY JEFFERS JONES, accidentally was blasted to death in a coal mine in the hill across from Paint Rock Creek and railroad, south from the new schoolhouse. I remember JOE KIDD carrying his limp body to his mother?s home. FRANK had a brother, JAMES, and a sister, JOSIE, and an older sister, ELDORA, who was the wife of W. M. or BILL SMITH. Also about this time, RANEY?s son, JIM, shot and killed a Mr. FORD and a Mr. FOSTER. After being shot down, Mr. FORD was able to kill JIM as he began to run away. The shotgun blast almost removed the back of JAMES JEFFERS? head. This event happened along the railroad directly across from the creek and railway from JOHN KEETON?S home, above the rock cut. This is a sad year for... RANEY JONES.
Now, sister LATONIA may have been old enough to remember mother?s taking us with her to pay respects when the corpses were laid out waiting their coffins. I do not know which one of the Sons died first. JOSIE had married MORRIS DUNCAN, son of MARION DUNCAN. A year or so later, he and another man left Paint Rock and was never heard from again.
Now, we get to BARRY SIMPSON. He with his Sons HARVE and JESS opened a coal mine about 300 yards west of the JOE KIDD opening and built a big, high tip house. This mine soon played out and was closed. However, in the mine the big, black wild bear hoax was staged. Thus, a yearly calf hide was well stuffed and painted black. A lantern was lighted and placed for light to shine through the removed eyes. The apparition was hung on a stretched length of wire suspended from the roof of the entry and a pull wire was arranged to move the animal back and forth. The operator was placed safely back in the mine so he could manipulate the bear and imitate the bear?s ranging growls.
Bear tracks were made in scattered areas, so that the bear hunters could find the bear tracks leading to the damp earth which had been wetted by carried water leading directly to the mine.
Then, the arranged bear hunt began. Three or four men with their gullible one included in the group. All had rifles except the pigeon man, who had a shotgun. Several other men kept hidden so as to approach when the pigeon man saw the raging bear, got scared, began firing and backing away. When the bear backed away into the dark mine, he began to get bold and brag. The mad bear advanced again; more shots were fired. The bear?s eyes went out, then the crowd got large and hollered, ?You s sure killed that bear!" All the children yelled. By that time, the children had accumulated. And the bear imitator and manipulator came forth with the stuffed calf. Now, the hoax man became very mad and began raising his shotgun say, "I ought to kill you.
Some of the men nearby grabbed him and got the gun. It took a lot of talk and apology and several free drinks of whiskey to calm and pacify him Then, with the help of the whiskey, he began to laugh. And he laughed even to a belly laugh.
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So, it ended the bear hoax in a friendship and good humor.
At that time, in 1902, there were no autos, no radios, no televisions. Fun and distractions and entertainments were homemade, along with whiskey, brandy, beer, cider, applejack, biscuits, cracker and bread, cakes, pies and other goodies too tedious to mention.
This is the last day of January, 1979. and I think I?ll tell about a visit that Grandpa CHRIS SEXTON made to our homeplace on Paint Rock. At the time, I was around five or six years old. My grandpa came walking up through the field with his walklking stick ? I was playing outside ? and I ran down to meet him. Well, he was giving me a look-over, didn?t say anything, just kept right on walking. Come on up to the house, went up on the porch, saw a chair and went on over and sat down in it. Mother came out and they greeted one another with a few words. Mother asked him if he wanted anything to drink, and if he wanted anything to eat.
"No, no.
?Won?t you come into the house?"
"No, I just want to rest a few minutes."
And she looked kind of funny.
And he said, "I just needed a little walk and I thought I'd walk down here and see how the family was along I?ll be going in a few minutes."
And directly he kind of perked up and said, "How ?bout taking him with me?"
Mother said, "Alright," as far as she knew.
He said, "Alright, get him ready."
So, she got me ready and he stuck his finger down in a few minutes and come off the porch with him. We walked on until we come to a fence about 100 yards from the house that we had to go through to follow the old wagon road that went up through Paint Rock, where we could get on the railroad and continue walking toward Tunnel Hill.
Now, he hardly said a word and I turned the finger loose and continued to jog along beside him. We got on up through Paint Rock a little ways and we-came to what was called a rock cut, and there the water was gushing out and there was a tin cuup sitting by it and he picked up the cup, took a drink of water himself, caught another cut and give me a drink of water and I wondered why he didn?t give me a drink of water first. And the only answer I could figure out was, if it?s good enough for me it ought to be good enough for you. I?ve tested it and it ought to be safe enough for you.
So, we drank the water and he emptied the cup and sat it back and started just a little farther and the section foreman of the railroad maintenance crew was tamping the ties at the upper end of the cut. And, as soon as we got up with them, GEORGE SHARP seemed mighty happy to see grandpa and they talked a minute or so ? George did most of the talking ?and then he looked over at his crew and he said, "Put your tools on and set it on."
Then he picked me up and set me on (the section car) with the tools. Then he told the men we?d go up to Tunnel Hill, he had a little job that needed to be done up there. And that was about three quarters of a mile, partially upgrade all the way to Tunnel Hill.
So, grandpa and GEORGE SHARP, the foreman, walked back behind and I couldn?t hear what they said. But I was rather amused to get to ride on this section tool car. There was four men and they just pushed you.., and, finally, we arrived at the entrance to the tunnel.
GEORGE came over and put me off, then he said to the men, "Set her off." They picked it up, one at each corner, set if off at the side of the track. Then he said, "Bring your tools and fix this track along here." And while they were doing that, grandpa stuck his finger down to give me the sign that I should go with him.
He took a little path along the right side of the road that went on up the side of the tunnel and up to a ridge road at the top of the tunnel that led westward. So, we followed on up to this ridge road to kind of a haul road, a wagon haul road, and we followed on across the hill, climbing a little higher and higher.
We got all the way to the top just before we turned down a little bit, to come down to the brow from which we could look down on the CHRIS SEXTON farm. He had 109 acres there and partially cleared with some fields in the valley and some fields on some ridges. And he had a pasture and a meadow and fields for corn and fields for hay, and all that I could see down there. But what interested me more was looking down on the barn and seeing all those guinnies and turkeys and geese and pigs a and the cows and the calves all running around. Then I looked down a little farther to the right in a hollow to the right of the house and there was a colt and a mare and a mule and another kind of bayish colored animal, horse. And looked towarrd the house and there was apple trees all along, and a paling fence along the side. And I know today that there was about two acres reserved along that paling fence for his garden area. And then right between the house and the garden was a great big top of a barn.
And over to the left was a big feed shed and another shed. On down was the house, a great big double loghouse, quite long and it had a big long porch along the right hand side. And on the left hand side of the logs an enclosed area that might have been a porch that was now used for a kitchen.
Anyway, grandpa and I went on down this hill and down past the barn and through the gate and on past the well and around into the house. Of course, at that time, there was my grandma, Aunt MARTHA, and WINNIE, and MANDY and Aunt SALLY still at home.
I was kindly restless and wanted to look around. And Aunt WINNIE took me to walk around the house. And they had flowers in little beds all along the front of the house. We walked on around past the smokehouse, looked over at the big cedar tree at the back of the bow of the hill. Under there was a bird with a long tail, the longest tail that I?d ever remembered seeing. And that was, Aunt WINNIE said, the old peacock.
Part III: Early Days on Paint Rock: An Oral History
(EDITOR?S NOTE? This is the third and final installment of an oral history by LETCHER SEXTON which was recorded by his sister EDRIE HUFF in January 1979 and was later transcribed and printed in the Scott County Historical Society Newsletter).
Of course, there was turkeys and a gobbler or two strutting around back there. And then she walked on around past the end of the house and we came to more flowers. Over next to the paling fence, along that end of the fence, there was bee gums, ttwo kinds. One was a patent white-type bee gum, kindly square and covered over and then over, scattered amongst them, were these tree bee gums, where they had cut a hollow tree down and cut it about four feet long and run sticks on the inside for the bees to build their honey on. And the bees were just all around there and I was plenty scared of being stung. But Aunt WINNIE said, ?Pay no attention.?
We went on around the house and back in the house. About that time they was ready to turn me loose and let me play. But they had warned me not to bother with the little dog there they called Plato. He looked like a little fox ?small teeth and quite small. But he was old and ill and ill natured. But he was attached to Grandpa and stayed right with him.
Now, I think I?d better close out on the visit by saying my Dad come up at the weekend and took me back home.
From there, I?ll skip over to the period between 1900 and 1904...
During the period of time that CAS and RACHEL SEXTON was affected by the following events of closely related people.
Grandma NANCY WEST CECIL died of cancer on her face. She had been moved from her home to the home of her daughter, NANCY, or Mrs. JAMES CARSON?s. Here she died on the twelfth of March, 1900 at the age of 67. I can remember seeing them hold her a arms while she was hollering and paining with this cancer that had partly removed part of her face and particularly her left ye. She was buried at the Cecil Cherry Fork Cemetery in a well-made coffin trimmed in black muslin and padded and pitted and sewed by neighbor women, all of whom were relatives.
RACHEL CECIL SEXTON was the descen
SEXTON, JOHN died 11 Mar 1968
Funeral services were held March 14 for John Sexton, 90, of Route 1, Oliver Springs [Coalfield]. Mr. Sexton died March 11 at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Mary [May] McGlothin, Route 1, Oliver Springs. Mr. Sexton, who had been in excellent heaealth, suffered a heart attack. The funeral was held at the First Baptist Church of Huntsville, Tenn. Burial was in Huntsville Cemetery. Mr. Sexton and his wife were long [time] residents of Huntsville until Mrs. Sexton suffered a stroke in 19666. Since that time, they have made their home with their daughter, Mrs. McGlothin. Mr. Sexton is also survived by his wife, Mrs. Ida Potter Sexton, three other daughters, Mrs. Grace Long and Mrs. Hazel Pennington, both of Huntsville and Mrs. Ruth West, Oneida; one son, Willard Sexton, Jellico; one sister, Mrs. Ewell Carson, Danville, Ky. (Source: The Scott County News, 15 Mar 1968, p5)
Found Obituaries
SEXTON, JOHN died 11 Mar 1968 Comment
Funeral services were held March 14 for John Sexton, 90, of Route 1, Oliver Springs. Mr. Sexton died March 11 at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Mary McGlothin, Route 1, Oliver Springs. Mr. Sexton, who had been in excellent health, suffered a heart attack. The funeral was held at the First Baptist Church of Huntsville, Tenn. Burial was in Huntsville Cemetery. Mr. Sexton and his wife were long residents of Huntsville until Mrs. Sexton suffered a stroke in 1966. Since that time, they have made their home with their daughter, Mrs. McGlothin. Mr. Sexton is also survived by his wife, Mrs. Ida Potter Sexton, three other daughters, Mrs. Grace Long and Mrs. Hazel Pennington, both of Huntsville and Mrs. Ruth West, Oneida; one son, Willard Sexton, Jellico; one sister, Mrs. Ewell Carson, Danville, Ky. (Source: The Scott County News, 15 Mar 1968, p5)
There are several errors in the obit above:
Mary McGlothin should be May McGlothin.
Found Obituaries
SEXTON, JOHN died 11 Mar 1968 Comment
Funeral services were held March 14 for John Sexton, 90, of Route 1, Oliver Springs. Mr. Sexton died March 11 at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Mary McGlothin, Route 1, Oliver Springs. Mr. Sexton, who had been in excellent health, suffered a heart attack. The funeral was held at the First Baptist Church of Huntsville, Tenn. Burial was in Huntsville Cemetery. Mr. Sexton and his wife were long residents of Huntsville until Mrs. Sexton suffered a stroke in 1966. Since that time, they have made their home with their daughter, Mrs. McGlothin. Mr. Sexton is also survived by his wife, Mrs. Ida Potter Sexton, three other daughters, Mrs. Grace Long and Mrs. Hazel Pennington, both of Huntsville and Mrs. Ruth West, Oneida; one son, Willard Sexton, Jellico; one sister, Mrs. Ewell Carson, Danville, Ky. (Source: The Scott County News, 15 Mar 1968, p5)
There are several errors in the obit above:
Mary McGlothin should be May McGlothin.
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1877 - 1968 (90 years)
Siblings
