- Mary Tom Garner
When Mary Tom Garner was born on July 10, 1926, in Perry, Tennessee, her father, Samuel, was 35 and her mother, Ada, was 31. She married John William Westbrooks on February 20, 1941, in Corinth, Mississippi. They had five children in 13 years. She died on October 3, 1996, in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 70.
Flatwoods Cooks & Their Holiday Recipes: Boyd and Mary Tom’s Carrot Cake
By Glenda James
The Flatwoods area has been home to members of the Garner family since around 1860. Next to the Maupin Spring on Little ’Possum Creek, Samuel “Tom” Garner and Ada Agnes (Ham) Garner built their home and raised their seven children: Clora Bell, Elmer, Ben, Boyd, Curtis, Mary Tom, and John. Mary Tom, born in 1926, recalled that her five brothers enjoyed teasing each other and being rowdy as they walked to Flatwoods School with their dinner buckets, usually filled with fried potatoes and biscuits. Mary Tom especially enjoyed playing basketball at school, and as to academics, her favorite subject was spelling.
On Feb. 20, 1941, she married Flatwoods classmate John William Westbrooks in Corinth, MS. Around this same time, her brother Boyd married John William’s sister Elizabeth “Lib” Westbrooks, which would mean the children of both couples would be—as we say in the South—“double first cousins.”
Although drafted into the Army in 1943, John William did not go overseas to Scotland and Wales until 1944; there he served as cook and transport driver. Meanwhile, Mary Tom and her newborn son lived with her in-laws, Carroll and Sarah Evelyn (French) Westbrooks, on what is today Mary Howell’s farm. After World War II, John William returned to Flatwoods to farm, and Mary Tom provided for the needs of her family (which would later expand to five children) by baking, canning, quilting, and sewing.
In the 1950s, the family moved to the Garner home place on ’Possum Creek. Mary Tom especially liked working outdoors in her flower garden and making cloth dolls for her four daughters and others. Also, since she enjoyed being around little children, Mary Tom taught Sunday School. She gained fame as a great cook at church dinners, as well as family dinners. In addition, Mary Tom, always attractively groomed, was known around Flatwoods as the Avon Lady.
Her homemaking interests led her to join the Flatwoods Home Demonstration Club where she was a gracious hostess and active member. In July 1976, Perry County participated in the nationwide bicentennial festivities. The Flatwoods H. D. C. won first prize for its float depicting important events and people from our nation’s history. On that float, Mary Tom, in the near 100 degree July heat, wore an actual World War I wool uniform, complete with helmet and leather leggings, which resulted in her winning first prize for having the most authentic costume.
Elmer and Boyd, Mary Tom’s brothers, were referred to as Sheriff Elmer Garner and Deputy Boyd Garner during the 1960s. However, outside of the family, not many people knew that Boyd was also an excellent cake baker; he kept his famous carrot cake recipe a secret. But later, he shared his well-guarded secret recipe with his sister Mary Tom, who made the delicious cake for holidays. Today, the delectable recipe is no longer a secret as many family members and friends have the recipe, and the honor of baking the special Boyd and Mary Tom Carrot Cake for Christmas has been handed down to Mary Tom’s granddaughter Amy.
Ingredients for Boyd and Mary Tom’s Special Carrot Cake:
2 C. sugar
1 ½ C. Wesson oil
4 eggs, unbeaten
2 ¼ C. plain flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 C. grated carrots
½ C. chopped pecans
Directions: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cream sugar and oil until light and fluffy; add eggs. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, soda, and cinnamon; add to the sugar-egg mixture. Fold in carrots and pecans. Pour into two greased and floured 9” round baking pans and bake at 300 degrees until cake top springs back when touched (approximately 30 to 40 minutes). Cool.
Ingredients for Icing:
1 box powdered sugar, sifted
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ½ sticks of butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla
Directions: Mix butter and cream cheese thoroughly. Add powdered sugar to butter-cream cheese mixture, stirring well; add vanilla. Mix well and spread on the two cooled cake layers.
Sources: Peggy W. Smith (daughter of Mary Tom) and Roy Garner (son of Ben).