Submitted by George F. and Julia M. Haynes
Knoxville, TN

John William Tune was the oldest child of Kester T. Tune and Mary Ann Grimes.

Kester Tune was born Feb. 7, 1815, in Halifax Co., Virginia, the son of William Tune and Rainy Scurlock. The Tune surname has been spelled Toon, Toone, and Tune. It is believed that all of the Tunes that located in the middle Tennessee area were the sons of William and Rainy Tune. William is believed to be the son of Travis (Traverse) Tune and Millie Daniels.

Mary Ann Grimes was born about 1816, the daughter of John H. and Anna Grimes. Kester and Mary Ann were married December 17, 1838, in Maury Co., TN, with Mary Ann’s brother Doctor Green Grimes listed on their marriage license as surety for their marriage. John William was born in Maury Co. on January 3, 1840. Other children born to Kester and Mary Ann Tune were Emily G., abt. 1844; Caleb T., abt. 1849; Eliza Ann, abt. 1855; Alexander A., born April 7, 1857; Samuel H., abt. 1860; Mary Elizabeth, abt. 1862; Adaline, abt. 1864; and Martha L. abt. 1866. By 1860 with the stirrings of war on the horizon, Kester and Mary Ann Tune and their family, along with various Grimes families, had moved to Wayne Co., TN, where Kester farmed his land at the mouth of Hardins Creek. The Grimes families also lived in close proximity along Hardins Creek. The Tune family worshiped at the Presbyterian church. On June 1, 1878, it is recorded in church records that Brother Kester T. Tune “by his own request” transferred from the Clifton Presbyterian congregation to the Shady Grove congregation. Kester was also a Mason.

John William Tune’s mother Mary Ann Grimes Tune died sometime between 1866 and 1869. On April 8, 1869, his father Kester married Sarah Moore. Kester died at his home on Hardins Creek April 28, 1900. The exact location of Kester’s, Mary Ann’s, and Sarah’s graves is unknown at this writing but according to an elderly grandson “all the Tunes” are buried in the Tune Cemetery on the old Tune property in Wayne Co.

John W. Tune was a laborer on his father’s farm in Wayne Co. when he enlisted in the Confederate Army on October 15, 1861. He was in Capt. J. W. Eldridge’s Artillery Company. This company was successively called Captain Eldridge’s, Captain Wright’s, Captain Mebane’s, and Captain Phillips’ Company Tennessee Light Artillery. It served for a time in Cobb’s Battalion of Artillery, a temporary field organization composed of independent companies from various states. John participated in the battles of Franklin, Chickamauga, and Spanish Fort in Alabama. The company surrendered at Citronelle, Alabama, on May 4, 1865, and was paroled at Meridian, MS, on May 10, 1865.

John W. Tune married Caroline Briley Garner on March 26, 1868, at the home of Caroline’s father Andrew Briley on White Oak Creek in Perry County. Witnessing the marriage from Caroline’s family was Bash Briley and John’s brother Caleb T. Tune. John and Caroline set up housekeeping next door to William and Nancy Briley in Perry County. The Briley and Howell families owned and farmed adjoining lands on the White Oak, Bee, Short, and Cedar Creeks, and several marriages were celebrated among the different families.

Frances Ann Tune was the first child born to John and Caroline Tune, arriving on April 26, 1869. She was followed by a brother Henry Alfred Tune on April 11, 1871. Another girl was born February 16, 1873 whom they named Lou Ella Tune. A little less than 2 years later, Caroline died on November 22, 1874. The location of her grave is unknown.

John’s second wife was Susan Caroline Howell, the daughter of George W. and Lucinda Jane Butler Howell. They married April 29, 1875 in Perry Co. The children born to John and Susan Howell Tune were William Allen, born March 5, 1876; Sarah Jane “Sally”, born February 12, 1878; George Kester born January 16, 1880; Mary Bell, born March 19, 1882; John Newton, born October 10, 1884; James Walter born February 24, 1887; and Nancy Caroline Myrtle born July 20, 1889. The year 1880 found John and Susan Tune living in Wayne Co. By the time their son John Newton Tune was born in 1884, they had moved to Obion Co., TN, along with Susan’s parents George and Lucinda Howell.

George W. Howell was born January 13, 1827, near Corinth in Mississippi . His father was Joseph Howell. Little George was orphaned at an early age, and according to Howell family records, he then lived in the home of “Uncle Foster” Bate but no family relationship is known. Lucinda J. Butler Howell’s birth date is December 8, 1829. She was the daughter of James and Elizabeth Toombs Butler. Elizabeth Toombs Butler’s mother was a Youree from Georgia. After the death of Elizabeth’s first husband, she married Edward Butler an early organizer of Wayne Co. Following his death, she lived with George and Lucinda Howell in Obion Co. where she died. Elizabeth Butler Morrison is buried in Beech Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Obion Co., TN.

George W. and Lucinda J. Howell were married July 6, 1848. A Howell family Bible lists their children as Nancy E. born October 2, 1849; Mary Ann born August 7, 1851; Martha Jane born September 17, 1853; Susan Caroline born October 7, 1855; John E. born November 3, 1857; Sarah C. born March 30, 1860; William David born October 2, 1862, he lived but a few days; George Allen born September 2, 1864; Joe Henry born May 5, 1867; Robert Lee born May 18, 1871; and Melissa Ann born December 18, 1873. There is no listing in the 1860 census, of daughters Nancy E. and Martha Jane, but there was another child listed named Lucinda who was 3 months old. Lucinda is not listed in the 1870 census, so these three children may have all died before 1870. George W. Howell died in Obion Co. August 25, 1888, and Lucinda Jane Butler Howell died in Obion Co. May 31, 1915. They are buried in Beech Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Obion Co.

Susan Howell Tune died August 6, 1891 in Obion Co. She is buried in an unmarked grave next to her parents graves in the Beech Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery. Her grandmother Elizabeth Butler Morrison is buried next to her. According to John and Susan Howell’s granddaughter Susan Caroline Tune Vinson of Union City, TN, six generations of Tunes and Howells to the present have attended the Beech Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Obion Co.

With Susan’s death, it was difficult for John to care for his remaining family. The youngest daughter who was called Myrtle died at age 11 on June 27, 1900. John lived in a little house beside his son John Newton Tune. Granddaughter Susan Tune Vinson remembers that he smoked a pipe and had a long white beard. He moved to the Tennessee Home for Confederate Soldiers on the grounds of the Hermitage in Nashville, TN, where he lived out his final days and died on June 30, 1925. He is buried in grave number 24 at the Confederate Cemetery by the Tulip Grove Church at the Hermitage . There is a huge granite monument in the center of the cemetery which bears this inscription:

This crude unhewn piece of everlasting granite
is here to mark the resting place of manly men.
Men like it. Firm, solid, true men who in support
of principle, uncomplainingly endured hunger,
cold, and privation which history cannot record.
The sturdy men grouped about this rugged stone
died in

The Tennessee Home for Confederate Soldiers
This stone will stand the test of time.
The souls of the tried men grouped about it
Will endure throughout eternity.