Cocke Co. TNGenWeb
Mode, Dover, Burgess, Taylor, Worex Connections

Cuyahoga Co., OH 1930, Ward 6, E.D. 18-726, p. 36b
Anderson Taylor, 28, TN, TN,TN, Chemical Co.
Grace, 27, TN, TN, TN
Eben, 12, TN, TN, TN
Warren, 9, TN, TN, TN
Jack, 1?
(I believe this is Eben Taylor, son of  William (Bill) and Mary Magdalene Dover Taylor. Don’t know why he is going by Anderson.)
W.W. I Draft Registration Card for Ebin Edgar Taylor shows him to be 24 years old, resident of Newport, Tenn. Born 14 June 1892, a natural born U.S. citizen, place of birth Bybee, Tenn, employer was Muoro? Tanning Co. in Newport, Tenn. Dependents were a wife and child, married, Caucasian, no military experience. Exemption: Yes, dependent family. Medium height, medium build, dark brown eyes, dark brown hair. Not bald. No physical disabilities. Dated 5 June 1917.

An APPRENTICE BOND between the employer, ANDREW ELLIS, his apprentice, WILLIAM PRESTON DOVER, who was 10 yrs/6months old and his mother JANE DOVER. Bond made on 12 Oct. 1875 in Cleveland Co. NC. (Not sure who this Jane Dover belongs to. May be Mary Jane Browning Dover.

INFORMATION REGARDING DEATHS IN THE FAMILY

Most of this information came from various cemetery books, Browns Funeral Home, and the Tennessee Death Indexes. Again, this is only what I have collected and is in no way complete. I hope others will expand on this information. Unless stated otherwise, these deaths occurred in COCKE CO., TENNESSEE. The name variations, such as "BURGIS", is how they are shown in the death records.

Augustus C. Dover? Lawrence Burgess thinks Gus Dover died ca. 1910.
Mary (Jane) Mode Dover (58) died 26 Oct. 1908 of Consumption. Husband Gus Dover. Buried at Clay Creek Baptist.
Author Dover (13) died 1917. Son of Bob Dover and Thula Holt? Record only says "Holt."
Ina Mae Dover Manning (16) was born on 1 January 1906 and died on 18 February 1921. Daughter of Joe Mils and Mary Burges Dover. Sister of Jessie Dover.

NOTE: Ina Mae was said to have drowned while crossing the Pigeon River on her way to work at the canning factory. The river was swollen and her boat overturned. According to Linda Hux Daniels, her grandmother, Lou Ella Burgess was also in the same boat which overturned when Ina Mae drowned. Ina Mae Dover was the first wife of Dexter Manning.

John Dover (72), born NC. Died 1920. Son of Wm. Dover of NC and his mother was also from NC.
Bonnie Cate Burgus (4) died 1918. Daughter of R.F. and Lou Dover Burgis.
Clifford Burgess, b. 1 Aug. 1907 d. 3 June 1935. Son of Hugh and Lena(Lea?) Burgess.  Family Cemetery.
Imogene Dover b. 11 May 1940 d. 14 May 1940. Daughter of Jessie and Hattie Dover.
Lou Dover Burgess Smith (57) died 22 Aug. 1941. Dau. of Gus Dover and Jane Mode. Sisters Mary Magdalene Taylor , Ada Dover. Children: Lawrence, Dewey, John, and Mary Etter. Sick 3 days. Greggs Chapel. Burgess Cemetery.
Thula Dover died Oct. 17 1908. Probably Thula Holt who married Robert(Bob) Dover.
Ada Dover (57) b. 30 Oct. 1889 Cocke Co. died 27 Feb. 1947. Dau. of Gus and Mary Jane Mode Dover. Buried at Greggs Chap. Sister of Mary M., Lou, Lea, Frank, and Mils Dover. Died at home of Wm. Worex.
Esti Hugh Dover (21) died 21 Aug. 1939. Born in TN. Son of Frank and Eliza Burrell Dover. Frank born in NC.
Mrs Mary Magdaline Dover Taylor (78) b.14 Jan. 1874, NC, died 8 April 1952. Dau. of Gus and  Mary Jane Mode Dover. Buried at Clay Creek Baptist Church. Pall-bearers: Ben Dover, Jesse Wood, Truman Nease.
Jessie L. Dover born on 27 Oct., 1903 and died? Record said "No Date."
Hattie Marie Dover b. 8 May 1914 d. 11 Sept. 1967.
Wm. Burgess b. Dec. 1858 d. 1918. Son of Joe Burgess who served during the Civil War.
Eliza Holt Burgess b. 27 July 1863 d. 1930. Wife of Wm. Burgess.
Liza (Burrell) Dover, 40, born Cocke Co., Father: John Burrell, Mother: Liza Burrell. Died 1918.
Joe Mills Dover apparently died between 1902 and 1910.

The following are children of Wm. and Eliza Holt Burgess.
Rufus Burgess died at the age of 35 of TB
Mary Burgess b. 21 Jan. 1883 d. 27 Oct. 1957. Union Cemetery.
Winnie Analine Burgess b. ca. 1885.
Hugh Burgess b. 1888 d. 1920.
George William Burgess b. 22 Sept 1889 d. 26 Mar. 1968.
Lillie Burgess b. 1892 d. 1944. Lived in Green Co.? Buried in Burgess Cemetery Cocke Co. Tennessee.
Ellie Burgess b. 1894 d. ? Buried at Burgess Cemetery.
Bruce Burgess b. 1898 d. 20 Mar. 1969. Lived in New Jersey? Buried in Burgess Cemetery.
Ollie Burgess died at birth?
Roy Burgess b. 5 Apr. 1900 d. 7 Aug. 1981. Buried in Union Cemetery Cocke Co. Tennessee.
Juney Burgess b. 13 June 1903
Louella Burgess b. 7 May 1905 d. 11 Oct. 1965.

John Thomas Mode b. 12 Sept. 1867, NC, died 29 Aug. 1936, Maryville, TN. Buried at Morganton Cem. in Greenback, TN. 1/2 Brother to Lou, Mary Magdaline, Lea, Frank, and Mils Dover. Mother was Mary J. Mode.

Nancy Belle Green Holt Mode b. 8 June 1875, Cocke Co., d. 8 June 1937, Knox Co. Wife of John T. Mode and daughter of Wade and Fanny Malissa Arms Green. Buried at Morganton Cem. in Greenback, TN.

Joseph Wheeler Mode b. 17 Mar. 1899 Cocke Co., d. 18 Feb. 1937, Knox Co. Buried at Lynhurst Cem. Son of John T. and Nancy  Belle Green Holt Mode.

Marguerite Aretta Sliger Mode Caldwell died 25 March 1998 at Hillcrest South in Knoxville. She was the daughter of William Edgar Sliger and Sarah Louise Cloninger. She is buried at Lynhurst Cemetery. The Sligers are the Sligers of Washington and McMinn County, Tenn. The Cloningers are from the Strawplains and New Market area of Knoxville. This is the same Cloninger clan as those found in Lincoln County, North Carolina.

NOTES AND MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Lawrence Burgess, nephew to John Thomas Mode, said that he was born in Cocke Co., TN ca. 1905. He said that he had met his Grandfather Gus Dover and Granny Jane Dover when he was five or six years old. (1910-1911?) I asked if he knew where they died. He said that they were buried at Clay Creek Baptist Church in Bybee, TN. Lawrence's mother was Lou Dover, half sister to John Thomas Mode. Lawrence said that his mother had two brothers, Mils and Frank, plus another sister Lea. Lea married Hugh Burgess. Lawrence said that his Granny Dover (Mary Jane Mode Dover) was full-blooded Cherokee and thought that she was born in Cherokee, NC. Lawrence went on to say that all the Dover kids, Ada, Lou, Mary M., Lea, Frank, and Mils were dark skinned with black hair and black eyes. On 1 Sept. 1995 he said that his Granny Dover (Mary Jane Mode) was married twice, once to John Mode? who died, then to Augustus (Gus) C. Dover. He said that he thought that Mils and Frank Dover died ca. 1925. (They appear to have died between 1900 and 1910.)

• Edith Worex Ketner said that her great grandmother was Lou Dover Burgess Smith. Ada, Lou's sister lived with Wm. Worex. She also stated that the children of Frank Dover were Mandy and Estel Dover. The children of Mils Dover were Jessie and May Dover. The children of Lea Dover Burgess were Buster Burgess and Susie Burgess Garrell. The children of Mary Magdaline Dover Taylor were Eula Taylor Holt and Edwin Taylor/ Ebin Edgar Taylor. (Two children died young, Hobart and Agusta Taylor) The children of Lou Dover Burgess Smith were Mary Etter, Lawrence, Dewey and John Burgess. Ada Dover had Down's Syndrome.
• My grandmother said that Mary Magdaline Dover Taylor had long, coal-black hair. She had a daughter named Eula that married Chet Holt. They had a daughter, Georgie Holt who married a Hartsell, and had a son, Paul Holt.
• Jack Burgess, son of Dewey Burgess, said that he could remember his Uncle Lawrence Burgess and his dad, Dewey, saying that their mother, Lou Dover Burgess Smith, was 1/2 or 3/4 Cherokee.
• Paul Manning's line runs through Louella Burgess Manning. His mother's sister, Mary Burgess, first married Mils Dover who had May and Jessie Dover. Her second marriage was to a FOX. The parents of Louella and Mary Burgess were Eliza Holt and Will Burgess. Eliza's father was Tide Holt.
• The parents of Edith, Bill, and Pansy? Worex was Mary Etter Burgess and ? Worex. Their grandmother was Lou Dover Burgess Smith who married Rufus Burgess first, Nick Smith second. Bill Worex stated that his granny Dover looked half Indian, had high cheeks, dark skinned, and long black hair. Remembers that his Aunt Mary Magdaline Dover Taylor was kinda dark too.
• Lawrence Burgess married Zollie Holt and Roy Burgess's sister Mary (Marietta) married Mils Dover.
• John H. Mode of Atlanta said that John Thomas Mode, son of Mary Jane Mode Dover, lived with his mother and her father, who was a MODE.
• Granny Mode, Marguerite Aretta Sliger Mode, said that Joseph Wheeler Mode, son of John Thomas Mode and Nancy Belle Green, "had coal black hair and brown eyes." He had "naturally dark skin, not from a sun tan." Said that Mr. Mode, John Thomas Mode, told her that he was "part or full-bloodied Indian." He was narrow waisted and broad chested. Said the Modes had "dark hair, brown eyes, and were dark complected."
  William Andrew (Tom) Mode, though, had red hair I believe.
• According to Jim Padgett of Marion, North Carolina Mary Jane Mode Dover was actually Mary Jane Dover Mode Dover, step-sister to Augustus C. Dover. She is said to have married John Mode first, had son John Thomas Mode by this marriage and after John Mode died she then married her stepbrother Augustus.
• According to my Aunt Betty Jo Mode Butler, John and Nancy Belle Green Mode were very staunch Republicans and were very disappointed that their son, Joseph Wheeler Mode, voted for Roosevelt. Would love to know what they thought about their Grandson, William Franklin Mode, being named for Roosevelt.
• According to Bob Crye, as told by his mother Pearl Mode Crye, the name Mode was a made up name and was taken by an Indian women who was a maid to the governor of North Carolina. Supposedly this maid had a child by this governor. This child was the first Mode and the maid was our great great grandmother. (I do know the Mode name goes quite a ways back and across the big pond, J.Mode)
• Danny Dover of Newport, Tennessee told me that his grandfather Jesse Dover always told him that his great great grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee. Jesse Dover, h/o Sara Ogle, was the son of Joe Mills/Mils Dover and Marietta (Mary) Burgess. Danny’s great great grandmother was Mary Jane?, wife of Augustus Dover. Danny also said that his great grandfather Jesse Dover was nicknamed “Runt.” He once was jumped on by a bully at the train station, was beaten up a bit, and knifed the bully, probably saving him from a worse beating.
• Larry Holt, son of Chester and Eula Taylor Holt, said on 5 July 2007 that Mary Dover Taylor was “real dark skinned and had black hair.” Said that his great grandmother Mary Dover Taylor was part Indian and was buried at Clay Creek Baptist Church along with William “Bill” Taylor. He said that Eula’s brother Ebben moved to Ohio. Eula and Ebben were two of four children born to Bill and Mary Dover Taylor. Two of the children died young. (See census records)
• Linda Hux Daniels wrote to me on 7 November 2007 and told me the following. She also sent me the three accompanying pictures: “ I am Linda Hux Daniels. My mother was Mary Ruth Manning Hux, sister to Paul Manning of Newport. Lou Ella Burgess Manning was my mother’s mother and is in one of the photos with Ina Mae (Dover) Manning and Bessie Manning. Lou Ella (Burgess) was the second of Dexter Manning, who was my grandfather. Ina Mae Dover was the first wife of Dexter Manning. Ina Mae Dover’s mother was Marietta (Mary Etta) Burgess and Joe Mils Dover. Marietta (Mary Etta) was a sister to Jesse Dover and after the death of Mils Dover might have married a Fox? Now this is where I’m confused, but I think Mary (Etta Burgess) Dover Fox is listed in some notes as Mary Etta Burgess Dover. She was a sister to Lou Ella Burgess Manning, Junie Burgess Keeler Fox, and Ella Burgess Shelton. After Lou Ella’s death Dexter married again and he and his new wife had children, one of which was named Ina Mae.”

During conversations on 11 June 2007 and 20 January 2009 with Ann Mode Reitman of Oregon the following information was gathered. Her grandparents were Summa/Summie Mode and Sarah Dover. Summie is pronounced like “Sunny,” she stated that Summie Mode had “dark blood” or black blood and it showed up in Summie and his kids, Arthur, Ebb, and Joe. They also had a half-brother named Robert (Bob) Mode who lived in Sutherlin, Oregon. Joe Mode was Ann’s dad. She said, “Grandpa Mode had a lot of Negro in him, had slaves, and a couple of wives.”  Summie’s first wife was Sarah Dover and a second wife was Emma. Emma is buried beside Summie and her stone says “Wife of Summie Mode.” Summie married Sarah Dover in McDowell County, N.C. Ann’s aunt on her mother’s side told her that there was some dark blood in the Mode family. One aunt, perhaps the same one, said to Ann on her deathbed “You do know that you have Negro blood in you?” Ann said that her Aunt Elma Anderson, a Swede, hated the Modes, perhaps because of the dark blood and some of her kin would not talk about the family.

Ann said, “All the Modes drank, Summie made liquor, had parties and furnished the liquor.” It was said of Summie, she said, that “If you didn’t get your liquor from Summie Mode, you didn’t get your liquor.” I believe she said he lived in or near Sutherlin, Oregon. Ann heard that Summie might have been chased out of North Carolina. He had a maid or housekeeper, she said, and he may have gotten her pregnant and may have moved because of this. Or, he had “left in the middle of the night.” According to Ann epilepsy runs on her side, saying that she found where her Uncle Ebb had ordered epilepsy medicine, that her brother, Les Mode, has a daughter who has epilepsy, and that someone’s daughter had drowned recently due to an epileptic fit while no one was around. She said that she had a big oval picture of Summie Mode and that he was “quite a good looking man,” and mentioned that many people on her side had “pug” noses. Summie died in 1933. At one time, she said, there was a town in Oregon called Modesville.

The 1900 Douglas County, Oregon census lists Summie as Brice S. Mode, 49, married 27 years, white, farmer, NC, NC, NC.
His wife in 1900 is listed as Sarah E. who is either 45 or 55. Shows she was born in 1855 in NC.
The 1910 Douglas County, Oregon census lists Summie as Brison S. Mode, 59, widowed, MULATO, farmer, NC, NC, NC.
The 1910 Census also shows an Emma J. Padgett, 45, housekeeper.

This information was gathered and compiled by William Joseph Mode, 2nd great grandson of Mary Jane Dover Mode Dover and great grandson of John Thomas Mode, half-brother to Mary Magdaline, Frank, Joe Mills, Lou, Lea, and Ada Dover. Much more can be gathered and compiled and much more needs to be found regarding the parentage of Mary J. Dover Mode Dover.

Last updated around January 2009.
Joe Mode can be reached at jmode@mindspring.com

Copyright belongs to the submitter and no information or photos may be used without prior permission from him.