If you are just beginning your search, the family histtory section is a good place to start.

The following Family Histories have been taken from the book by Sue Oden titled
Hold Us Not Boastful – History of Thompson’s Station, TN.

This biographical collection includes 86 histories of pioneer families of Thompson’s Station and Southern Williamson County. The stories are about families who are proud of their roots and their place in history. We hope that you will be able to connect your roots with ours, and become part of us.

If you are just beginning your search, the family histories in this sectio is will be a good place to start.

Please note the following:

“The correctness of this biographical material cannot be guaranteed. It was obtained through interviews with family members, research they had done and my own research at the Williamson County Archives. Research in such detail is always subject to error. Everyone must validate the facts for their own use.”

BALES FAMILY

Everette Elkanah Bales was born April 22, 1879 in Kansas. He died of blood poisioning June 25, 1918 and was buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Franklin. His father was Asa Bales of North Carolina and his mother was Mary C. Burr of New York.

E. E. Bales was married to Irene Moss who was born in Thompson’s Station in 1883 and died in 1965. She is also buried in Mt. Hope. Irene Moss was the daughter of William Giddens Moss and the former Margaret Amanda Ross and the sister of Evie Moss, mother of Malcolm Moss Gibbs.

Everette and Irene Bales had one son, Everette Howard Bales of Louisville, Kentucky who married Minnie Hamer and adopted two children.

BARTON FAMILY

Although Roy Quinn Barton was only a resident of Thompson’s Station for sixteen years, his loyalty and support of the community earns for him a spot in history.

He attended every activity regularly until a massive heart attack in 1992 rendered him a semi-invalid. Even then, he attended when he could, until his death in February, 1995.

Mr. Barton was born at Warford, West Virginia on November 30, 1908 to Allen Greene Barton and the former Lena Ellen Quinn. His paternal grandparents were James F. Barton (son of Willis and Rachel Neely) and the former Delilah Elizabeth Garten (daughter of Jackson Garten and the former Sarah Woodrum). His maternal grandparents were Michael R. Quinn (son of Patrick and Winnie Quinn, all of Galway, Ireland) and the former Mary Robinson (daughter of James and Orlena Robinson, all of Somerset, Kentucky).

He was educated in the schools of Summers County, West Virginia, came to Nashville, Tennessee in 1927 and graduated from the Nashville Diesel College in East Nashville, which is still in operation today.

Mr. Barton could repair any car made in the early years but always said he soon learned it was easier to sell automobile parts than put them into cars. For 32 years he was salesmanager for R. H. Chilton and Company and closely associated with Robert Henry Chilton, Sr. as well as Mr. Chilton’s son and grandson.

One daughter, Lena Sue Barton, was born to Mr. Barton and his wife, Picola Lemmons Fields Barton who he married May 16, 1927 in Nashville, Tennessee. Mrs. Barton had five children from a previous marriage: Mrs. Elizabeth Denis, Mrs. Imogene Dye, Mrs. Dorothy Norris, Charles Fields and John Fields. She also lived in Thompson’s Station for eight years but suffered from the results of a stroke which occurred in 1978. She had a fatal stroke in October, 1987. They are both buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.

They had made their home at 2660 East Thompson’s Station Road with their daughter, Sue, wife of John Massenburg Oden (son of Marion Francis Oden, Sr. and the former Edith Massenburg) who were married in Nashville on January 31, 1954.

Two children were born to the Oden marriage, John M. Oden, Jr. who married Debra Elaine James (daughter of Roy Edward James and the former Johnnie Grace Kiser) on November 26, 1988, and Mary Elizabeth Oden who married Nelson Owen (son of Norman Floyd Owen and the former Dorothy Vertrease Morris) on May 7, 1989. Beth and Nelson Owen have one child, Travis Nelson Owen, born January 12, 1993.

BAUGH FAMILY

James Baugh was born in Virginia in 1765 and died in Williamson County on July 1, 1813. He is buried in the Baugh Cemetery at 4501 Columbia Highway, the former home of Kathryn Hatcher Cotton. Also buried there is his wife, Margaret (1779-1839), his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth P. (1810-1865), (wife of Phillip W. Baugh), his grandson, John L. Baugh’s wife, Mary D. and Mary Terrell, wife of J. B. Terrell. Another Baugh Cemetery is located at 2649 Clayton Arnold Road off Critz Lane.

James Baugh’s land was near John Fitzgerald’s land on the west side of Thompson’s Station. His sons later owned land near the Clayton Arnold Road area.

Children of James and Margaret Baugh were Daniel, John, William, Philip W. who married Elizabeth P. Lemons and Mary C. who married a Core.

Daniel was born December 8, 1801 in Virginia. He and his wife, the former Elizabeth Armstrong, had the following children: Mary A. (1829-1880), Susan P. (1834-1853), Rebecca H. (1836-1880) who married John R. Dodson, Henrietta (b. 1842) who married John D. Scales, John (b. 1849) and Fannie H., who married Thomas Kennedy. Daniel died June 18, 1857. His land was where the J. A. Senter farm was later located and still later the William E. Buckner farm.

Philip W. Baugh was born about 1810 in Virginia. He and his wife, the former Elizabeth P. Lemons (1810-1865) had the following children: John L. (b. 1831), Sarah (Sallie) A. (b. 1834), Amarilla H. (b. 1837), Mary F. (b. 1843), James P. (b. 1847), Elizabeth (b. unknown) and Margurite E. (1853-1860). He left a will in 1860 naming these children.

BEASLEY FAMILY

Percy Beasley is an outstanding resident of the Thompson’s Station Community. Born here June 5, 1920, his parents were Edmond Beasley and the former Jannie Fitzgerald. They, too, were born and raised in Thompson’s Station. When they were young adults, they went to live with relatives in St. Louis where they later married. Their first two sons, Henry and Vincent, were born there. Edmond died in Thompson’s Station in 1935 and Jannie in 1960.

Edmond had three brothers: Charlie, Riley and Jesse (I. V. Brown’s father). Riley Beasley was a deacon in the Connection Hill Primitive Baptist Church in earlier times.

Percy Beasley’s paternal grandparents were Ned and Silvan Beasley. His maternal grandparents were Abe and Mary Fitzgerald. Besides Jannie Fitzgerald, other children of this couple were Abe, Warren, John, James Thomas, Martha, Susie and Lurena.

The first two years of school for Beasley were in Thompson’s Station, then to Nashville where he attended school while living with relatives. His higher education was obtained at Washington Vocational School in St. Louis where he lived with his uncle, James Thomas Fitzgerald, and his wife, Sadie.

After graduating from Washington Vocational School, Beasley returned to Thompson’s Station and married Rosie Lee Covington in November, 1951. She was born at Arrington on May 11, 1930. Her parents were Morris Covington (born Aug. 20, 1894 at Locust Ridge near College Grove) and the former Martha Ann Edsmond who was born the same day and year as her husband.

Beasley worked for a short while for the former L & N Railroad before going into military service in 1941. His army service took him to Tullahoma, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; Camp Breckenridge, Kentucky; Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Monroe, Louisiana and Newport News, Virginia in the United States. He was then sent to Oran, Africa and on to Italy where he was an anti-tank gun crewman with the 92nd Infantry Division. He supervised thirty-two men in setting up weapons for defense and offense against enemy tanks and pill boxes. He acted as platoon sargeant and was wounded in action November 7, 1943. He spent a month in a hospital in Rome before returning to the battlefield.

When Beasley was discharged, he had received the European-Africian Theatre of Operations Medal, the Eastern Theatre of Operations Ribbon with three bronze service stars, the American Theatre of Operations Ribbon, the purple Heart, the Good Conduct Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.

The Beasleys now have a full life with their five children: Percy Edmond, a psychoanalyst for the State of Tennessee; Henry Morris, a quality control person for the Whirlpool Corporation in Smyrna; Abraham Fitzgerald, manager of Eye-Med, an eye-care center in Arkansas; Alfreda, a research assistant at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and William Dwight, a counselor at the Tennessee Christian Medical Center. Alfreda, the only daughter, has a four year old son, Jesse Percell.

The Beasleys are members of the Evergreen Primitive Baptist Church on Evergreen Road. He is treasurer of the church and also of the Lynn Creek Primitive Baptist Association which is made up of churches from several states. Mrs. Beasley is a Mother of the Church, helping train the young girls and working closely with the deacons.

Beasley is president of the HEI Coon Hunters Club which has an annual dinner attended by all city and county officials plus about three hundred others. Food for the event is prepared by wives of the members and is held the third Saturday in March at Johnson Elementary School in Franklin.

Beasley worked for the telephone company for twelve years. He drove a school bus for fourteen years serving Burwood, Hillsboro and Thompson’s Station schools. He has been a minority advisor for the ASCS and has been on the budget committee for county agent, Dewayne Perry.

As if all this were not enough, Beasley raises beef cattle, Tennessee Walking Horse colts and Coon Hounds which he has sold to people in many states.

The Beasleys believed in good education for their children. They can look at their family today and see that their hard work and high standards have paid off.

BENSON FAMILY

The house in the accompanying picture has been a home for many well-known families in Thompson’s Station since it was built. In 1800, Francis and Mary White Giddens sold their 825 acres in Virginia and with their six children and 24 slaves, found their way over the mountains to the Thompson’s Station area.

Shortly after their arrival here, they acquired land along Murfree’s Fork. This is one of the largest tributaries of the West Harpeth River and has its beginning near Thompson’s Station.

They built a log home on this land at the site of the house in the picture and lived there until the completition of Homestead Manor in 1819. These two properties back up to each other.

The original log home was replaced in 1870-71 by Mr. and Mrs. William Douglas Lavender. Mrs. Lavender (Nannie) was a sister-in-law of William Giddens Moss, a descendant of Francis Giddens. William Giddens Moss was the grandfather of Malcolm Moss Gibbs, a present day resident of the community.

During the razing of the log house a large sword, some four and a half feet long, was found. It was probably a relic of Francis Giddens’ service in the Revolutionary War.

Mr. Lavender is buried in the Giddens family cemetery behind Homestead Manor along with Joseph and Robert Cochran Lavender, probably his sons.

An interesting incident concerning the Lavender property was that 5,400 square feet of land was annexed by T. J. Timmons (owner of Homestead Manor at the time) through a deed from Mrs. Martha Louise Moss Kennedy, March 24, 1903. This piece of land lies on the southwest corner of the Homestead Manor farm and was desired by Mr. Timmons in order to give access to a small segment of the creek arising from the main spring at the junction of the Lavender and Giddens line. In exchange Mrs. Kennedy was granted a road, leading from the right-of-way of Columbia Pike, twelve feet wide to the cemetery with the same width entirely around the cemetery and the land enclosed within.

John Edward Howard and his wife, the former Nora Rainey of Maury County owned the house next. They had two children, Edward Howard and Margaret Howard who married Sam Kinnard of Columbia. John Edward Howard was also a brother to Mrs. Cora Watson and Mrs. Manie Redman.

Mr. Howard had a store that sat on the road in front of his house. This store was later run by Joe Greer Nichols and, still later, by Vester and Lois Early. It burned in February, 1950.

The next family to occupy this house was the Owens but it is thought by the residents they only lived there and did not own the property.

Mr. Fred Kinnard and his wife, the former Miss James Anderson, owned the house from 1939 until 1973 when they moved to Third Avenue in Franklin. They had three children, Walter Cannon, Margaret Elizabeth and Anna McKay. After the Kinnards, the house was owned by the Cherry family for a short while before being purchased by Sarah and Craig Benson in 1976. Sarah Benson is one of the aldermen for the Town of Thompson’s Station. She and Craig have two daughters, Rachel and Helen.

The house has remained basically the same with its nine large rooms which were built by the Lavenders. Bathrooms were added from a back porch by later owners. The Bensons have added a spacious, screened-in porch on the south side. However, the house retains its comfortable, Victorian farmhouse look of the 1870 era.

BOND FAMILY

The James William Bond, Jr. family was well-known in Bethesda as breeders of purebred livestock. The Bond family was one of seven Tennessee Master Farm Families featured in the October, 1965 issue of The Progressive Farmer Magazine.

In order to be elgible for this distinction, it was necessary for a family to show evidence of thrift, cooperation, leadership and have respect for other families in the community. Each family had to be active in civic, farm and home improvement organizations. These seven families were selected by the Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service and the editors of The Progressive Farmer Magazine. They were the first to try new ideas such as soil testing, larger and more automated farm equipment, keeping detailed farm records and implementing plans to guide all these operations. The children were active in 4-H and Future Farmer Associations.

James William Bond, Jr. was the son of James William Bond, Sr. (son of Columbus Cicero Bond and the former Rachel Blythe Chriesman) and the former Mary Mulherin Steel, (daughter of Holcomb Steele and the former Mattie Elizabeth Mulherin). Columbus Cicero Bond was the son of John Bond, born June 11, 1760 in Ireland, and Elizabeth Bryant, born in 1773 in Ohio.

James William Bond, Jr. was married to the former Leo Ratcliffe Grigsby. Although Leo Bond was born and raised in the Bethesda community also, Thompson’s Station has always claimed her as well. She taught school at Thompson’s Station for many years, was president of the Home Demonstration Club and has attended almost every function in the Thompson’s Station community.

Three sons were born to James and Leo Bond: James William Bond, III who married Eugenia Defriese, Charles George Bond who married Carol Eugenia Allen and Daniel Steel Bond who married Phylis Ann George.

Leo’s parents were Charles Fenton Grigsby (1874-1955) and the former Ella Scales (1877-1955). They were married March 9, 1898. Her paternal grandparents were Booker Preston Grigsby (1822-1919) and the former Mary Elizabeth Sprott (1832-1911). Her maternal grandparents were Pleasant Daniel Scales (1839-1918) and the former Mary Ethel Ratcliffe (1852-1888), daughter of Thomas G. Ratcliffe (son of Francis G. Ratcliffe).

Charles and Ella Grigsby had eight children: Mary Ethel, Thomas Scales, Leo Ratcliffe, Ella Frances, Charles Fenton, Jr., Marion Alice, Harry Lee and Catherine Roberta.

Leo Bond retired after teaching school in Williamson County for thirty-five years, but after the death of her husband, she became a housemother at Tennessee Tech at Cookeville and later at Tusculum College in Greeneville. In 1984, she received the Williamson County Chamber of Commerce Helping Hand Award.

C. C. BROWN FAMILY

Cecil C. and Grace Helen Collier Brown were active in the affairs of the Thompson’s Station Community for many years. They came to Williamson County from Marshall County in 1935. The Browns marked their sixty years of marriage in 1980 with a party in the Fellowship Hall of the First United Methodist Church in Franklin. Mrs. Brown was originally a native of Lawrence County and a member of the Thompson’s Station Home Demonstration Club.

The couple had two daughters, Mrs. Ronald (Betty) Carter of East Tawas, Michigan and Mrs. Richard (Sarah Jo) Goodman of Oxford, Mississippi and four sons, Allen Brown of Franklin, James Brown of Orlando, Kenneth Brown of Louisville and Cecil C. Brown, Jr. of Liburn, Georgia.

Mr. Brown was superintendent of Jim Warren Park and was honored at a retirement dinner in December of 1982. The event was attended by many Franklin notables including John D. Pinkerton, Paul Redick, Larry Jennings, Henry Hardison, Robert Inman, W. C. Adcox, Leon Lillard and David Buchanan. Robert Chadwell succeeded Brown with the new title of Superintendent of the Franklin City Parks.

I. V. BROWN FAMILY

Mrs. I. V. Brown is a much loved resident in Thompson’s Station. She was born Oct. 16, 1912 in Johnson’s Hollow in Burwood to Jesse Beasley and the former Katie Perkins. Her mother died when she was eight months old and her father when she was five years old. Her mother is buried in the Perkins Cemetery in Johnson’s Hollow and her father is buried in the Patton Cemetery in Thompson’s Station.

When her parents died the small girl was taken into the home of her grandparents, Idella and John Perkins.

I. V. Beasley started school in Burwood at Pearly Hill, a little, one room school with one teacher, Geneva Fuller. When she was eight years old her grandmother died; once again uprooting the small child. This time she was taken by her uncle and his wife, Tom Perkins and the former Janie Amos. They settled in Thompson’s Station in the little white house where Nannie Haynes lives now, next door to Virginia Nichols.

In Thompson’s Station I. V. went to the little, one room schoolhouse where Mary Patton was one of the teachers. The children played ball, hide ‘n seek, fox in the morning and other such games as all children play.

The little, one room school was torn down and replaced with a larger one. It was white with a front porch, lunch-room, cloak-room and other amenities. This was called the Rosenwald School.

Some of the children were Thelma and Elva Patton, daughters of the teacher, Mary Patton. They live in Chicago. There were Willis Patton’s children, Sarah, Walter, Willis, Nannie and Fannie Myrtle. Dave and Julia Ridley had six daughters, Christine, Katie Lee, Lula, Elnora, Willie Louise, Daisy and one son, Lee.

When she was older, I. V. Beasley helped Mrs. Bessie Mefford (who lived behind the Methodist Church) and was with Mrs. Mefford’s daughter and her husband, Margaret and C. K. McLemore, for 36 years. At one time or the other she has helped out all the ladies who lived in Thompson’s Station at that time.

After school days I. V. Beasley married John Wesley Brown on Dec. 26, 1934. His father was Thomas Brown and his grandfather was Perry Brown. His mother was the former Mary Caruthers. Thomas Brown is buried in Evergreen Cemetery and his wife in Mt. Hope.

The Browns always had a garden, chickens, and a cow. They killed their own hogs. Wheat was carried into Lillie Mills in Franklin to be ground into flour. They put corn on the milk truck which carried it to Columbia to be ground into meal. The next day the truck brought it back all sacked up. At this time meal was 10 cents a peck, peanut butter 10 cents a jar and coal oil 12 or 15 cents a gallon.

Mrs. Brown remembers when the loading pens for livestock was still attached to the depot. The porch that was around the depot at that time was the gathering place where the men sat and talked.

There were six children to look after now with all of Mrs. Brown’s other chores. There were Wesley Dean, Bobbie Jean, Jesse Mary, Janie Lou, William Thomas and Katie. She did her washing and ironing after the children were in bed for the night.

Then came World War II and Mr. Brown had to leave his family for military service. While he was stationed in Washington, D. C. Mrs. Brown had an older neighbor to stay with the children. She boarded the train in Thompson’s Station, changed trains in Nashville, changed trains again in Chicago and went on to Washington to visit her husband. She returned the same way, unaccompanied, and at a time before women traveled about so freely as they do today.

After Mr. Brown’s military service, four more children were born to the couple, George Lewis, Bernice, Herbert Wade and James Edward.

Mr. Brown farmed for a while after returning from service. He also was with the L & N Railroad for many years. His last employment before he died was with Farnsworth Co. in Franklin.

All of the children were taught to work, the boys on the farm and the girls at home. The churches were on a circuit then and the family attended West Harpeth Primitive Baptist one Sunday, Connection Hill Primitive Baptist another Sunday and the one at Evergreen another Sunday and one on Carter’s Creek Pike the fourth Sunday.

John Wesley Brown died on Sept. 4, 1968 and is buried in Mt. Hope. He would be proud of his family today. The Brown’s children all received a good education and today hold good jobs. Two sons are engineers on trains, one drives a truck, one works at Bridgestone. The eldest owned his own commercial transport truck but died last year of cancer. Three sons were in service, two in Viet Nam. The daughters also have good jobs and nice homes and are raising children who attend college.

Some years ago, her children sent Mrs. Brown to Las Vegas to visit her cousin for a week. She flew there and back just as she made the train trip to see her husband, unaccompanied.

Even though she had a bout with cancer in 1968 and is bothered by arthritis, Mrs. Brown is still the adventurous lady of years ago who enjoys her life and her family.

MARK BURL BROWN FAMILY

The men who kept the railroad in good condition for the many trains passing through Thompson’s Station sometimes lived in the section houses just north of Homestead Manor at the turn of the century.

Mark Burl Brown was foreman of the railroad crew at one time and lived in the biggest of the section houses. He married Mary Etta Gowan (1882-1924) who died near Pulaski. This couple had at least two children, Mary Mark Brown who died as an infant and Johnny Brown who married Molly Reese. Johnny and Molly Brown lived in the bank building for a while after the bank went out of business. After the death of his first wife, Mark Burl Brown then married Beulah Anderson.

Mark Brown’s sister, Lizzie Brown and her husband David Page, lived in another section house. The youngest sister of Mark Brown, and her husband Will Helton, lived in the third section house.

BUCKNER FAMILY

The house referred to as the Buckner place in Thompson’s Station is located at 2690 East Thompson’s Station Road and now owned by Cheryl and Lyle Oathout. This was the home of William Edmondson and Ocye Seals Buckner and their children, LaVerne Aileene Buckner, Noel Edwin Buckner and Hugh Clinton Buckner. There was a fourth child, John Wesley Buckner, who died of pneumonia on March 16, 1937 at eight years of age.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Buckner were born in Dickson County in Sylvia, Tennessee, he on May 23, 1887 and she on March 25, 1894. Mr. Buckner’s parents were John William Buckner, born Jan 1, 1859 (son of Presley Thorton Buckner) and Elvira Sara Frances (Alice) Turner, born Sept. 21, 1863 (daughter of Isaac Newton Turner and Mary Elizabeth Bateman). Isaac Newton Turner’s parents were Richard D. Turner and Sarah Finch.

Ocye Seals Buckner’s parents were Chambers Wesley Seals, born May 28, 1852 (son of Hallway Seals and Elizabeth “Betsy” Jane Austin) and his second wife, Ella Deason, born August 3, 1872 (daughter of Phillip Henry Deason and Martha Caroline Mathis). Ocye Seals had one brother, Elmer. Wesley Seals first wife was Susan Elliott who bore him six children. The Seals family moved to Sylvia, Tennessee from Christian County, Kentucky.

When William Edmondson and Ocye Buckner first married, they lived on a farm near Sylvia in Brown Hollow. William farmed and had a few bees. In 1920 they moved to Mt. Vernon, Georgia. In 1934 the Buckner family moved to Thompson’s Station bringing with them one hundred hives of bees. Mr. Buckner had sold 679 hives before making the move. Their first home was the house behind Martha Ragan.

Later, the Buckners bought the farm formerly owned by Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Senter, their daughter Rebecca and son James. In the 1860s this land belonged to Daniel Baugh.

The house was a Sear’s Roebuck pattern house that was a model that had been built in 1913 and moved from Old Hickory, Tennessee.

When the Buckners bought the farm in Thompson’s Station it had ninety acres that laid in an “L” shape. The house had a basement with a coal furnace. Their water came from a cistern on a hill behind their house. The cistern was filled from water running off the tobacco barn that had a tin roof and gutters to channel the water into the cistern.

When the Buckners bought the house, it had Delco lights but they were not being used. Mrs. Buckner had some of the lights made into vases which are in the possession of Mary Church Buckner. The family used oil lamps for a month before Mr. Buckner paid the electric company nine hundred dollars to run an electric line from Columbia Highway to their house. Anyone else wishing to have electricity only had to pay to have the line run from the Buckner house to their house.

When the Buckner family moved into this home, LaVerne was in the first year of high school in Franklin, Edwin was thirteen, Clinton was ten and John Wesley was five. Edwin and Clinton attended the Thompson’s Station Grammar School.

There was a three-room house up the hill from the family home that some say was the old home used before the new house was moved to the location. Mr. Buckner used this for a “honey house”. He stored supplies, built bee hives and bee frames here. In one room he extracted honey and put it in jars and buckets to sell at Early’s Honey Stand on Columbia Highway, and at grocery stores in Franklin and Columbia. People also came by his house to buy honey. It was sold both with and without the comb.

Mr. Buckner rented land on which to put some of his hives, as well as keeping hives at his own home. Several farmers asked him to put bee hives on their farms to pollinate their crops.

Downstairs there was a front porch, living room, dining room, kitchen and a screened-in back porch. Upstairs were two bedrooms, a hall and a bathroom. It was bordered by the Witherspoon farm on the west side, on the east side the property went to the Connection Hill Baptist Church. In the back the land was bordered by the C. C. Brown place and the Walter Petway farm, which later became the Spencer Gary place. Later William Buckner bought forty acres behind him which made his farm a square. He later sold an acre on Clayton Arnold Road to Cora Brown on which she built a home where she has lived for many years.

As the Buckners began to get older they built two bedrooms, a bath and a hall onto the back of the house. The hall was a glassed-in sunroom.

On November 11, 1944 Alice Turner Buckner (William’s mother) died at the home on Thompson’s Station Road. She was carried back to Maple Grove Cemetery in Dickson County to be buried beside her husband, John William Buckner, who had died November 4, 1933.

Ocye Seals Buckner fell at home, breaking her hip. She was in Williamson County Hospital until she passed away ten days later on March 7, 1970. She, too, was taken back to Maple Grove Cemetery in Dickson County.

William Edmondson Buckner continued to live at the home on Thompson’s Station Road until he had a heart attack the later part of 1974. He went to Bel-Air Nursing Home in Columbia and passed away there February 22, 1976.

LaVerne Buckner married William Henry Graham and had two daughters, Billie Carol and Janice LaVerne. Janice Graham married Albert Braxton Thomas in 1978 and had two sons, Graham Braxton, born 1985 and Joshua Albert, born 1987.

Clinton Buckner married Mary Anne Church, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Church, in 1943 and had four children: Marvin Clinton Buckner who married Janice Gayle Hinson and had Brian David and Tracey Lynn Buckner, Gaile Alene Buckner who married Curtis Wayne Flansburg and had Abram Brandon and Mattie Amanda Glansburg, Shirley Ann Buckner who married Dallas Sparks and had Darryl Patrick and Monica Carol Sparks, William Church Buckner who married Pamela Sue Doggett and had Bianca Michelle and William Jared Buckner.

BUFORD FAMILY

A genealogical nightmare developed when Buford family members united in marriage with Giddens family members. James and Priscilla Ragsdale Buford came from Lunenburg County, Virginia with their young children in the early 1800s, settling in the area later to become Thompson’s Station. James first appears in the tax records in 1801. He paid tax on 534 acres and nine slaves. His first land transaction is recorded in Deed Book E, page 429 where he purchased land from William W. Whitted. James Buford’s will was dated April 10, 1811 and names his children: Sicila, Henry, Frankey, Spencer, Charles, Charlotte, Edward, Katharine, Priscilla and James, Jr.

Three Buford sons married three Giddens daughters: Spencer Buford married Elizabeth Giddens on December 9, 1801, Charles Buford married Sarah Giddens on October 27, 1804 and James Buford, Jr. married Mary White Giddens on October 8, 1812. To complicate matters, a daughter, Priscilla Buford married James Giddens on April 3, 1806. A child of this marriage, Sarah Elizabeth Giddens, married William Hillard Moss. It was this marriage that produced William Giddens Moss who married Margaret Amanda Ross. They were the parents of Evie Moss who married Dr. Alphonzo Gibbs, father of Malcolm Moss Gibbs, owner of Moss Side Farm in Thompson’s Station.

Spencer and Elizabeth Giddens Buford built the Federal style house known as “Roderick” in 1801. It stands on land that was originally a three thousand acre tract, purchased by James Buford for five hundred dollars as a gift to his son and his wife. A daughter, Amelia H. Buford, was the first wife of Dr. Elijah Thompson. Children other than Amelia were John W., James A., Thomas Spencer, William C., Sarah E., Susan L. and Mary W. Buford.

Spencer Buford was the grandfather of Mrs. J. W. McFadden, whose father, Thomas Spencer Buford, a Civil War veteran, was born in the house. Thomas Spencer Buford was the husband of Sarah (Sallie) Whittsitt.

One of the daughters of James Buford married a Cammeron, as a grandson, Duncan Cammeron, was found in documents from the Williamson County Archives. Sarah E. Buford married Matthew F. Maury, Jr.

Roderick Farm was named for General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s horse, who was killed in the Battle of Thompson’s Station. In 1937 Charles P. Hatcher, a Nashville attorney, purchased the ninety-four acre farm which belonged to Julia Walters for the sum of $14,500.

S. E. Farnsworth was hired to remodel the house for Mr. Hatcher. He swore that in the building there were 259 doors, 47 of which were in one room, 652 hinges and 44 cabinets, many of which were 6 x 8 feet.

The house originally had six rooms, three on the ground floor and three above, with the dining room and kitchen in the yard and connected to the house by what was known as a “dry-walk”. The bricks were made on the farm by slaves and the place where the kiln was built was still in evidence.

Before the war, slaves were making wine in the large basement when the vat exploded making a bulge in the foundation wall. In remodeling, this was carefully preserved.

The home has had several owners, the most recent being Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hitch, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gorrell, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Freeman and at present Dr. and Mrs. Harry G. Browne.

BUTTREY FAMILY

Mr. Archie Lee Buttrey, Sr., age 78, died Wednesday, September 13, 1995 at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville. Mr. Buttrey was born and raised in Williamson County where he retired as a farmer. He was buried in Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens.

Mr. Buttrey was married to the former Nell Frances Parker (daughter of Leonard Parker) and with her had five sons: Archie L. Buttrey, Jr. and Clive (Shorty) Buttrey both of Thompson’s Station, Kenneth and Roger Buttrey, both of Leipers Fork Community and Gerald Buttrey of Jamestown and seven grandchildren.

Mr. Buttrey’s father was James W. Buttrey (1890-1959) who married the former Sadie M. Lampley. They are buried in the Jane Buttrey Jones Cemetery on Old Cox Road with other family members. Their children were Fannis Edward who married Hazel Tidwell, Tressie who married Woodrow Sullivan, Dorothy who married Cyril Sullivan and Archie Lee, Sr.

Archie Lee Buttrey, Jr. married Margaret Janice Heithcock who was the daughter of Ennis and Elise Heithcock of Leiper’s Fork. Janice has three children from a previous marriage, Calvin, Dara and Michael Poynor. Janice and Archie Lee Buttrey, Jr. have one son, Archie Lee Buttrey, III. They live on West Thompson’s Station Road.

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