Joseph Allen (Joe) Sanderson Family - abt 1887
Bill K. Kemp, provided the pictures and information for the write-ups on the Sanderson family.
Joe was the son of Thomas David and Mary Francis Wilkinson Sanderson.
He was born at Pleasant Shade Oct 12, 1849 and died Jul 30, 1919. Arthena Ellen (Ellie) Gregory Sanderson
was born Feb 11, 1853 and died May 21, 1892. She was the daughter of Taylor and Sabrina McDuffee Gregory
and was living in Macon County at the time of her marriage to Joe. (Ellie's Gregory ancestry extends back to
both John and Thomas Gregory, sr.) Their only child, Myrtle Arthena, born Dec 12, 1886 and died Dec 28,
1945 is pictured with them. Ellen died after about six years of marriage and Joe never remarried.
Joe Sanderson was a self-educated man and was known for his abilities in the sciences, his studies of the
Bible and in general being a wise individual. He served as postmaster of Pleasant Shade for eighteen years,
was a three-term Justice of the Peace of Smith County and Smith County surveyor for four terms.
Joseph Allen Sanderson - Smith County Surveyor
Joe Sanderson is pictured with his surveying equipment in about 1910. His name appears on
countless farm surveys of Smith County during the late 1800's and early 1900's.
Joe Sanderson And Grandchildren
This picture was made in 1918 about one year prior Joe Sanderson's death. Pictured with him are
his granddaughters: L-R, Dorothy Hackett Kemp, Blanche Hackett Haley, Nina Hackett Gregory
and Lois Hackett Sloan (in white dress). All still survive (as of Aug 1, 2002).
Note by Tom Dickerson: The old cabinetmaking shop used by Joe's father,
Thomas David Sanderson, is visible in the background just behind Nina.
J. P. McDonald, Joe's pastor, wrote a memorial to him (shown below) that was published
in the Carthage Courier.
Sanderson Cemetery
Joe's gravestone in the Sanderson Cemetery at Pleasant Shade.