Watauga County, NC - Margaret Camoline Moody Fitzpatrick ~~~~~~~~~~ Mom’s Stories By Ruby Estil Fitzpatrick Daughter of Margaret Camoline Moody Fitzpatrick Transcribed by Sharon Burnes Fitzpatrick, wife of David Fitzpatrick, Estil’s nephew Her earliest memories were of her little home in North Carolina where she lived with her mother and father and brothers, Grant, Frank and John. One Christmas her Grandfather Minks walked across Iron Mt. and came in with a little pair of shoes for her that he had made. The strings were tied together and they were hanging across his shoulder. They were all very poor. The Moody family was very religious, as were the Minks -- all God-fearing people - very high morals. Her father became very ill. She was told it was typhoid fever. An aunt, thinking she would do something nice for him, gave him some grapes. He died soon after. Mom was 3 years old. Having no means of support and not being wanted by any of the Moody family, the young widow and her four children soon moved across the mountain to her parents' tiny mountain home. Grandfather Minks cut logs and made a small log cabin farther up the hill from the old home. Nearby was a small spring where they got their water. The boys got farm work as soon as they were big enough. The young widow became ill and was bedfast for some time. She did fancy needle work to help pay for necessities of life. Mom remembers her mother telling her how to make corn bread and Mom baked it in a dutch oven over coals in the fire place. They had no stove. Mom’s cousins, the Vaughts, were well off and owned fine big houses and many acres of farm timber land. Uncle John worked for Dr. Vaught’s father, John B. Vaught. He was trusted to feed the fine work horses ??the correct number of ears of corn; also the pigs and other animals. Uncle John had a tiny room above the kitchen. His heat came from the chimney from the kitchen. He was so well liked that John B. told him if he stayed and worked until he was grown, he would be given a nice little farm of his own. He worked with very little in return, and a few days before he reached his 18th or 21st (whichever it was to be) the daughters of the household became very hateful to him, making unbearable remarks, so he gave it all up and left - with nothing. Uncle Frank worked for the widow Brown, at all kinds of odd jobs. She was wealthy and very eccentric. Mom said when the widow Brown made corn bread, she would say, “Dis is for me, dis is for Frank and dis is for de dog!” Uncle Grant worked at various things all trying the help support the little family. The little sick mother died when Mom was only five years old. The grandparents took them into their home and kept them until the children were a little older. Grandmother loved them and was kind and loving. There was little money for the necessities. Mom went out in the woods and gathered herbs and dried them -- large alder blooms, and many others. She dried them on clean boards in the wood shed. Then she would take them to the little grocery store called “Crackers Neck” grocery over on Furnace Creek. It took a large amount to weigh a pound. The Daugherty girls went with Mom to gather herbs - not that they had to - they just wanted to be together. They were from a fine family - and Grandmother Minks was very particular who little Margaret played with. One time when Margaret was still quite small, she decided the herbs didn’t weigh enough -- so she added a clod or two! That didn’t work. One of her uncles found out about it and scolded her with “We’ll have no more of that!” And that was that! There was berry picking out in the woods - with brambles picking at them, scratching their hands. A certain place in N.C. went by the name of “Pick Britches” because of the brambles growing every place. Mom was terrified by the snakes, and every time a bush scraped the bottom of her berry pail, she thought it was a snake making the noise. Mom and the Daugherty girls, Sally (Sarah), Rebecca and Ella were inseparable. Aunt Minnie worked at the Daugherty’s, sewing and doing other work, and some time Mom would go with her to spend the day. One day the girls were playing down at Roan’s Creek - so named because Daniel Boone left his old exhausted roan horse there to eat and drink and regain her strength and get some fat on her ribs which were showing plainly along her sides. Before long the old Roan was fat and sleek and good as new. The girls decided to go wading in Roan’s Creek - and it was cold. Becky and Sally waded bravely out and told “Marget” to pull off her shoes and stockings and come on in - not one to be a “piker” she plunged in and being a little more adventurous some waded out toward the center of the stream, while the others headed for shore. Marget got wet and that was serious business. They all headed for the Daugherty home and upstairs where they build a fire in the fire place to dry out shoes, stockings and dresses and petticoats. If Aunt Minnie had caught them it would have been too bad for Mom, for she was very strict, and hence not very popular with her little niece. The Daugherty girls thought Aunt Minnie was perfect! What wonderful times those four girls had. Ella was younger, but she tagged along. One time she heard natures call when they were out playing. Not wanting to go all the way to the house, she found a rail fence and sat down behind it, hiding her eyes behind a rail, being of the opinion that as long as she couldn’t see anyone, they couldn’t see her. One cold winter evening when they had a cozy fire going in their room upstairs, they had the sudden urge to bake potatoes in the coals and cook some ham. The went to the smoke house and cut thick slices of ham and slipped back up stairs with it. How delicious it tasted! Did the parents smell it? If so, they didn’t make it known. Aunt Minnie made the dresses for the three sisters and Mom thought they had such pretty clothes. She often remarked “When I saw all of their pretty dresses, I wished Aunt Minnie would make mine that pretty. “ Two dresses each made six all together - and Mom’s one or two seemed so little in comparison. Some times Mrs. Daugherty would buy enough material so Mom could have a dress just like the others. More often Mom’s dresses were bought with money from dried herbs. One night they were daring each other with dangerous deeds. “Marget, I dare you to go down to the kitchen and get a stick of stove wood!” Rather than be called a coward, she slipped out of bed, down to hall, down the stairs, around the house in the snow and to the kitchen wood box where she grabbed a stick of wood and hurried back thru the snow, up the stairs and back to bed. “I’m freezing!” “Oh, Marget”, they laughed. “We didn’t mean for you to go outside!” The first time Mom went over to the Daugherty’s, Mrs. Daugherty came by Grandmother Minks, riding side saddle. She took Mom home with her on the horse, Mom holding on for dear life. “Sit up straight, Marget!” School in the little one room log school house with about 100 pupils, all grades and ages represented, was carried on by a one man faculty! Since Mom had no money, she had no books. Others loaned her a book now and then. The desks were a board nailed to the wall - and the seats on benches were called “puncheon” benches worn smooth by sliding on them. The two older Daugherty girls, Sally and Rebecca always tried to sit together with Mom and shared books. One of the older girls, of the Gragg family was very prim and was always looking at the boys, trying to get attention. This was more than my mother and her friends could stand - the very idea of being “boy-struck”! They decided to give her the attention she so desired! They went all the way to the post office one noon hour and brought back a “letter” for her. They had carefully written the letter and enclosed a tin-type of some young man who had been in the Daugherty family album for some years. According to the letter - “I saw you at the association” - (singing and dinner at church -) and have been desiring to make your acquaintance! When can I meet you? - and on - and on. The Miss Zelma Gragg was all aflutter over this exciting event! The word spread like wildfire and little sister “told” mama and papa. Whereupon the young lady was forced to produce the letter and picture! In due time, Uncle William Minks, the teacher, called Rebecca, Sally and Mardic to his desk, and said, “Girls, Mr. And Mrs. Gragg want you to go to their house at noon.” Realizing they had been found out, the girls trudged down the road to the Craggs (sic). They were invited into the house where the parents proceeded to tell them what a terrible crime they had committed - “You could be sent to jail for doing this!!” Just how small can one shrink when given such a scolding? They must have felt about knee high to a grasshopper! When permitted to leave, Mrs. Gragg said, to her husband, “Clingman, get the gerls some peaches.” My hot tempered little Mardic fairly spat out, “We don’t want any peaches!” - and down the road they marched, mad as three little wet hens! The little log school house was built close to a fairly steep hill that rose up from the back of the building. A stone fireplace of huge proportions was at the back of the room. Large pieces of wood were dropped down the chimney from the top. A roaring fire was the heating system in several years. Then a new stove was installed in the center of the room. One morning when the children were hovering around the fireplace, Mardic saw something that gave her an idea. This big grown boy was near by. In her words, “I never did like that boy, and his pants and socks did not meet, which looked bad. I saw a tiny twig with a red hot coal on the end. I just picked it up and pressed it against his bare leg. He let out a yell and jumped out of his tracks! The teacher thundered “Who did that?” “Well, Margaret burned me!” Mom was in Dutch again. Another incident remained very vivid in her alert mind. The 3 chums were sitting side by side on the sturdy bench. The girl in front of them had very thick red hair in heavy braids. She threw her head back on the desk in front of Mardic, Sally and Becky. Mom said, “Don’t throw your head back on our desk.” The odor was sour and unpleasant to say the least. She dampened it mornings to make it easier to comb and it never did dry. The second time Mom said, “Keep your head off my desk or I’ll hit it!” Back it came in defiance of the threat. Mom drew back her arm and let her have it! Undaunted, the head came back again. My mother’s pale Beck let her have it as hard as she could with her stiff arm -- just as the school master, Uncle William, looked up. “Come up here, Rebecca!” white and trembling, Becky arose and quavered thru her tears, “Marget hit her too!” “Girls, come up here! Becky, don’t you cry!” Fearing to explain their actions, the girls went up for their punishment, side by side. Rebecca was first, and Mom was so close by that the long switch hit her every time, so she got a double dose. Becky immediately burst into loud sobs, which melted the teacher’s heart. He soon thought she had had enough. Mom was determined she would not cry - and though the teacher showed no mercy in switching her, she bravely held back the tears. Friday was always a special day, with a spelling match between two chosen sides. The girls would sweep the floor with branches used as brooms. Then they would comb their hair and tidy themselves for the occassion (sic). Those who did not have combs used seed pods from the teasel plant. After lunch they lined up on each side of the school room. The school master started at the beginning of the little blue back speller with easy words, going on to very difficult words. Every grade used the same book. It really was worn by the time it had been through all eight grades. Little Mardic did not own a book, so had to borrow a speller and write the words down to study. She was a marvelous speller and continued her interest until very late life, always learning new words. When a child missed a word, he had to sit down. Other times, if one missed a word, the child below him in line could spell it, he spelled that one down, and took the loser’s place in line. That kept every one spelling, with the champion “at the head of the class”. Nice prizes were given to the winners. Mom said Uncle William gave out spelling words so plainly that he almost spelled them. Ella Daugherty said to my mother when we visited in Tenn., “Mardic, do you remember mending my little Blue Back Speller? Oh, I thought that was so wonderful of you to do that!’ Lessons were written on slates. Pictures were not permitted on them, and punishment was forth coming if any one was caught using them for such foolishness! Poems or recitations were also given at the Friday afternoon programs. Some times little Mardic and the Daugherty girls would choose a long poem, and each one would recite her own part. Often the Daugherty girls’ Uncle Ad. would compose a “special” poem for his neices (sic) to give - as in the case of “The Iron Horse is Coming!” The boys played on one side of the school yard and the girls on the other. The three sisters and their little friend Mardic had a play house in a lovely spot on the wooded hillside. They made beds, tables and any thing they wanted out of the soft ? green moss that grew every place. Dishes were broken bits of dishes. Cups were large acorn caps. One time one of the girls brought some matches to school and they built a real fire! This was discovered and further fires were forbidden. Sally and Mardic were the nearest age and were the closest of friends. Something happened and they had a disagreement over the play house. From then on - it was Becky and Mardic. They were all very close friends all their lives. The girls enjoyed playing in the big old barn at the Daugherty’s. How fragrant the hay was in the hay mow! One board was off of the siding up stairs. They got the idea that it would be a real smart and brave thing to do to jump out this opening up in the loft to the ground below! They jumped into the weeds, which broke their fall a little but was still quite a jolt. When Mom declared that was the last time she was going to jump, the all said - “Oh, don’t be a piker, Mardic!” She would give it another try. She sure didn’t want them to call her a quitter! Life with grannie Minks was peaceful. She was very kind and good to the four little orphans. They were very poor - but always a lot of fruit in the orchard, for grannie was always planting fruit trees, berries, and the garden provided them with all the vegetables they could eat and store in the cellar for winter months. Jars and jars of fruit and vegetables were canned and some was dried. Potatoes, cabbage, squash, pumpkins, apples and other fruit and vegetables went in the root cellar. Apples were dried, barrels of sourkraut (sic), pickles, preserves, etc. Apple butter was made in the big copper kettle and stirred with a long clean smooth paddle. It had to be cooked very slowly - at last to keep it from sticking and burning. That was an all day task. First, the copper kettle had to be scoured, washed, rinsed and scalded, polished until it was as shiny as a new penny. The fruit must be washed, peeled and cored and all bad spots removed. This family was poor in worldly goods, but was rich in ideals. Granny Minks was brought up in a strict Dutch home that believed in every thing being cleaner than clean. Grandfather Minks was another very fine person. He served in the Civil War between the states, leaving his wife and the children at home to survive the best they could. The children were all too small to help with the farm work. How they managed one can not understand. Indians still roamed the country - and no one knew when one would appear. One day several Indians came to Grannie’s house while her husband was away in the war. Grandmother was terrified, but tried to appear calm and treated them well. They made signs that they wanted food. There was nothing to eat - and she only had corn meal, so she made a batch of corn bread and cooked it in a cast iron Dutch Oven on coals on the fire place hearth - the only way of cooking she had. The Indians waited until the bread was done, then went off eating the freshly made corn bread, and did no harm to the family. Grandmother had a cow to furnish milk for her children. Fearing that the northern soldiers would steal her, Grannie hid the cow in an old mine hole up the hill and across the creek from the house. The cow survived. There were also sheep on the place, to furnish wool for clothing and bedding. Grannie sheared the sheep, washed, carded and spun the wool and wove it into blankets of cloth for clothing or used in knitting socks, gloves, mittens, or caps. She had a loom and a spinning wheel kept busy of evenings. She wove two lovely white woolen blankets. The loom was a massive thing, having big beams. It was made to last several generations. It took two lengths of cloth sewed down the middle for one blanket. When they were all finished, grannie washed them and hung them on the fence to dry. The northern soldiers came by and took her blankets! Another time they had butchered a hog and cured the meat. She stored it in a big box under the floor boards. Soldiers came and looked around for food. They noticed some floor boards were loose and started to investigate. One of the children was old enough to realize what the soldiers would do if they found the meat, and started to cry. He gave the hiding place away and all the meat was stolen! Grandfather was with the southern army in combat with the north down around Morristown, Tennessee. He and several other soldiers were badly wounded and were taken to a little brick church where they lay on the benches. They were about to starve. Word reached Grandmother of the serious condition of the wounded. She and a neighbor woman, who also had a wounded husband in the little church, went to nurse them back to health. They hitched up a team of horses to a wagon, and took all the needed supplies, medicines, etc. that they could get. Their children were cared for by relatives and friends. These two brave pioneer women nursed their husbands and their wounded comrads (sic) back to health. They gathered edible field plants such as poke and other leaves and cooked them for the men. When their husbands were well enough to travel, the two women took them home. I now have Great grandfather Minks’ little canteen. Hard Daugherty, brother of the three sisters Mom played with, gave it to me and told me that grandfather Minks gave it to him one day. He said it was hanging inside grandfather Minks’ shop, and grandfather took it down, took out the cork stopper, and poured out several broken knife blades that he had dropped in. He repaired knives - among other things. Life was not dull at the little log cabin home in the hills of North- eastern Tenn. The women were always busy at household tasks in the wintertime. Tallow was heated beside the fire place. Wicks were threaded through the candle molds. The hot wax was poured into the molds, and they were set outside in a snow bank to harden. This was their only light - this and the light from the fire place. Grandmother Minks and Aunt Minnie sat beside the fire and knitted, spun yarn or sat at the big loom. As the shuttle flew across the warp carrying woof or filling strong threads of wool or flax in and out, there was a dull thud as the batten pounded the yarn up tight. Then, in raising the alternate warp thread, there was a thud and rattle and clang, as every ______ holding a thread was moved up or down. What a joy to see a nice piece of cloth growing -- or if it was to be a pattern for a bedspread or purse or anything else -- how wonderful to see Little Whig, Rose, Snow Ball, Garden Gate or other beautiful designs grow, one thread at a time. It is no small accomplishment to master a pattern that requires as many as six or eight peddles (sic), and in a very complicated design using many, 8 or 10, kinds and colors of yarn -- all on a different spool and shuttle. It is something like playing an electric organ with several peddles (sic). One has to get the “hang” of it and know by touch which is the correct peddle (sic) to push down. Some remove their shoes to have closer contact and “feel” better. Every tiny scrap of material was saved for quilt pieces. Some as small as an inch square, or half of that in a triangle were used. When Mom was grown - about 18 years old, she had pieced tops for 20 quilts. Aunt Minnie complained because Mom used her needles - and most likely lost them! Needles were scarce as hen’s teeth and were hard to “come by”. Mom had no thimble, so her grandfather Minks made her a tiny one out of leather and showed her how to use it. Sitting beside the fire place was very pleasant. The crickets would come out of hiding and get warm on the hearth beside the fire. Grandmother would not allow anyone to harm them. Grandmother would sit by the hour and read her old wooden back Dutch Bible. She was a very devout christian (sic), and was highly thought of by every one who was fortunate enough to know her. Her fame for remembering events was spread far and near. She was known for helping those who were in need - kind and understanding to the deserving, but having no patience with the lazy or immoral. She enjoyed having her hair combed and little Margaret enjoyed being the one who was allowed to do the pleasant task -- while the little one combed grandmother’s hair, the old lady dozed and nodded. My mother remembered her with only loving memories. Anytime she got into trouble, she found refuge in her grandmother’s arms. Great grandfather John Wesley Minks was one of the most religious and respected men in the country. He was able to do most anything that needed to be done. He could repair or make almost anything. He made their furniture and machinery. He had a shop where he did wood work and worked on machinery. Mom remembered seeing him work on caskets for the very poor people. He used wide thick boards and cut out a small wedge where the board needed to bend .. Someone would pour boiling water on the cut so the board would bend without breaking. Mom liked to play with the long clean shavings that fell from his hand lathe. When he was working with iron, she worked the handle on the bellows to make the coals glow and get real hot. It was out in the shop that grandfather taught her the letter Q. Grandfather Minks built a threshing machine and he and his sons, when they were old enough, went around the community threshing grain for the farmers. He could listen to the engine and tell if it was working properly. If anything was wrong he knew immediately what it was. His son, Fayette, was able to do the same. They had a saw mill where they cut lumber for their needs and for neighbors. At night, grandfather sat in his special chair that he made, and made or repaired shoes for his family. The left front leg, extended up about eight inches, served as a work block. Mom could remember him having blocks of wood from which he cut off and shaped tiny wooden pegs to tack the leather soles to the shoe uppers. He used an iron last. After making the uppers, he would slip them down over the last and then gather the toe material up to fit the sole that had been measured and cut to fit the foot for which it was intended. He had a leather awl which he used to make the holes for sewing the shoe together. One thread went up thru the hole, and another came down, making it very stout and secure. He waxed his thread with beeswax to make it easier to work with. Grandfather was a land surveyor and many of his records were kept in the family until Uncle Fayette’s wife passed away, the home torn apart, and Lizzie married and moved to town and Glenn became sick and sold most of the family treasures. There were beautiful spinning wheels, beautiful hand made mantle clocks that should by all means have been kept in the family. At least one had all wooden wheels and works inside. Grandfather had the patterns which he used to make the new wheels. This clock told the hours, minute, day, date, month and year! What a treasure to have lost! No one knows where it is! Another treasure was the old wooden back Bible which is reported to be in the museum at Butler, Tenn. Grandfather Minks’ chair with the extended front leg is still Ross Minks’ in what is left of the old Minks house; also a chair grandfather made for grannie, and one for Aunt Minnie. They are in poor condition. While there I took pictures of all of them. Perhaps Great grandfather John Wesley Minks will be best remembered as an ordained Christian minister, who traveled horseback from community to community spreading the gospel. Grandfather wore a long white beard, tucked inside this vest, giving it a long pointed look. Ella Daugherty gave me a picture of grandfather and the threshing crew standing around the threshing machine. A lad or two and some small girls are shown also. Ella said it was likely Aunt Minnie and the three girls and maybe Mom. The remains of the old threshing machine are going to ruin among the weeds on Uncle Fayette’s place. Grandfather Minks’ “preaching credentials” were kept in a small handmade leather folder. I saw them when Mom and I were there in 19__. Mom remembered the day Grandfather Minks taught her the letter Q. Aunt Minnie and Mom were hoeing in the garden. Mom was a very small child. Aunt Minnie bent over for some reason, and Mom’s hoe came down at that minute! A gash was cut - to Mom, it seemed very large and terrible. Anyway she flew to the haven of her grandfather in the shop. Came the day when a fine new black stove was brought to the little mountain cabin. Here it came in a wagon, rattling along the two track road. My, what a wonderful event. Included in the purchase were cooking pots and pans, wash tubs, buckets, and dutch ovens, frying pans. Mom had a back tooth that was causing her some pain. Old Dr. Ray (after whom Ray Moody was named) was coming so it was decided he should look at and perhaps pull the offending tooth. That was a little too much to take, so Little Margaret took off in a run up the fence row to the top of the hill, where she could watch him leave, and know it was safe to come out of hiding. Uncle William was the only one in the family who tried to get a better than average education. He “went away” to school, and for many years was the teacher at the little log school house. He was kind, firm, a strict disciplinarian and a good teacher. When Mom became old enough, she worked for different people. Uncle William’s home was one of the first places she stayed for “board and keep”. Uncle William was kind to her, but Aunt Betty was one of the proud, haughty ones, who considered herself better and more beautiful than any one else - definitely above the poor little orphan who washed the dishes and clothes and cleaned house and tended to the two little girls, Bonnie and Nina Lee. Aunt Betty was very particular about every thing and very cross. Mom and the little girls were out walking and soon a big cloud came up. Fearing it was going to rain, Mom urged the girls to hurry, so they wouldn’t get wet. They just played along, and, losing patience, Mom spatted Nina Lee. She really caught thunder when they reached home! The dishes had to be washed very carefully, so as not to scratch them. The washing was done down at the creek -- water being dipped up out of the creek, heated in a tub. The old rub board and bar soap cleaned the clothes well. The boil tub was also the place where the bleaching was done. The white clothes came out sparkling white, and by the time they were rinsed in cold clear water and then went thru the bluing rinse, they were white as snow. Then the wet clothes had to be carried up the hill to the clothes line and hung up to dry. The water had to be emptied out of the tubs and they were turned upside down until next wash day. Because they were so poor, and really couldn’t afford to feed another mouth, Little Margaret was placed in an orphanage several miles away. There she was so unhappy, lonesome, and unloved that she wanted to leave. The children all had to help with the work. When boxes of clothing arrived, the managers of the place took out all the best things for their own children and then passed out the rest of the clothes. Mom’s biscuits got nice compliments, which she appreciated. At night they all knelt beside their little beds and said their prayers. One night a little rascal sent a shoe flying and hit some one on the head. That brought on a fight. Things went from bad to worse for Mom. She must have managed to get word home about how unhappy she was, because brother Grant came to get her. He had borrowed a horse and buggy. “Get your things, you’re going home!” Oh happy day! Turning to Grant, after they were well on the way, she asked, “What would you have done if they wouldn’t let me go?” “I was going to come back after dark and slip you away!” After Mom was older, she worked at Jake Vaught’s, who was a cousin. He and his wife had a big two-story house and kept roomers and boarders. Work there was hard, for several of the train crew roomed and boarded there. Mom and her cousin, had all the bedding to wash by hand on the wash board down by the creek. It was heavy work carrying all that water from the creek, and during the winter, the ice and snow made it miserable. The girls did not like it there, and soon Mom’s cousin moved to Oregon and found work in a rooming house and urged Mom to come West too. Social life centered around church activities. A big all day singing, with picnic dinners on the ground were about the most exciting thing they could attend. These were called “Associations”. Shady Grove was a favorite meeting place. People went by foot, horseback; by buggy and wagon. Church was the usual thing on Sunday morning. If you had no transportation you walked. Grandfather Minks preached at the red brick school house, as well as at the little white lumber church. The latter had two front doors - One for the men - the other for the women, and no one dared let his eyes stray from the minister, his thoughts or what he was saying. Mom remembered the Daugherty’s coming to church in a buggy or horseback and how fine the mother and three girls looked as they walked in, Mrs. Daugherty’s black taffeta skirts rustling as she swept by. “She looked like a queen!” Mom told me she never did have a coat - and their winters were quite severe. She only had a woolen shawl. To give one an idea of how cold it was, Aunt Minnie was driving the cattle in from pasture one cold day and hit a young calf on the rear with a stick to hurry it along. It’s tail fell off!! The children had to wade snow and slush to school. Then had to dry out beside the stove or fireplace - all 100 of them. There may be some additional pages but we have not located them. The name MINKS is often spelled MINK in census and other records. I used the spelling that Estil used. And no, I have no idea about the day that Margaret learned the letter Q. The setting for Margaret’s stories is Johnson County, Tennessee and Watauga County, North Carolina, during the period of time from about 1886 to perhaps 1899. Descendants of John Wesley Minks Note: this is an edited tree, designed to show most of the relatives mentioned in the reminiscences Generation No. 1 1. JOHN WESLEY5 MINKS was born 1829 in Johnson County, TN, and died January 01, 1894 in Johnson County, TN. He married MARY VAUGHT September 14, 1851 in Mountain City, Johnson County, TN, daughter of JOHN VAUGHT and SARAH VAUGHT. She was born October 17, 1833 in Johnson County, TN, and died June 29, 1921 in Johnson County, TN. Children of JOHN MINKS and MARY VAUGHT are: 2. i. SARAH6 MINKS, b. 1854, Johnson County, TN; d. 1890. ii. GEORGE MINKS, b. 1855, Johnson County, TN; d. 1857. iii. CELIA E. MINKS, b. 1859, Johnson County, TN; d. 1862. iv. FELIX BROWN MINKS, b. Abt. 1860, Johnson County, TN; d. March 04, 1928. v. RACHEL MINKS, b. 1864, Johnson County, TN; d. 1864, Johnson County, TN. 3 vi. WILLIAM M. MINKS, b. 1866, Johnson County, TN; d. 1948. 4 vii. LAFAYETTE JONES MINKS, b. September 22, 1868, Johnson County, TN; d. October 18, 1946. viii. MINNIE ADLADE MINKS, b. April 17, 1869, Johnson County, TN; d. January 26, 1937, Johnson County, TN. ix. JULIA E. MINKS, b. 1873, Johnson County, TN. x. MARGARET C. MINKS, b. Abt. 1878, Johnson, TN; d. Abt. 1904. Generation No. 2 2. SARAH6 MINKS (JOHN WESLEY) was born 1854 in Johnson County, TN, and died 1890. She married FINLEY PATTERSON MOODY Abt. 1873, son of CALVIN MOODY and AMASSA SWIFT. He was born 1849 in NC, and died Bef. 1888. Children of SARAH MINKS and FINLEY MOODY are: i. ULYSSES GRANT7 MOODY, b. December 07, 1873, NC; d. September 09, 1941, Tulare County, CA. ii. WILLIAM F. MOODY, b. Abt. 1876, NC. iii. JOHN WESLEY MOODY, b. October 1878, NC; d. Bef. September 1941. 5. iv. MARGARET CAMOLINE MOODY, b. November 07, 1883, Watauga County, North Carolina; d. April 02, 1968, Las Cruces, Dona Ana, NM. 3. WILLIAM M.6 MINKS (JOHN WESLEY) was born 1866 in Johnson County, TN, and died 1948. He married NANNIE E. HACKNEY July 29, 1888 in Johnson County, TN. Children of WILLIAM MINKS and NANNIE HACKNEY are: i. BONNIE L.7 MINKS, b. Abt. 1892, TN. ii. NINA L. MINKS, b. Abt. 1896, TN. 4. LAFAYETTE JONES6 MINKS (JOHN WESLEY) was born September 22, 1868 in Johnson County, TN, and died October 18, 1946. He married SARAH SLIMP December 18, 1894 in Johnson County, TN. She was born March 11, 1875 in Johnson, TN, and died March 24, 1960. Children of LAFAYETTE MINKS and SARAH SLIMP are: i. ROSS MASON7 MINK, b. October 02, 1895, Johnson, TN; d. October 26, 1977. ii. EDWARD MINK, b. 1897, Johnson County, TN. iii. GLENN MINKS, b. 1903, Johnson, TN; d. 1965. iv. MARY E. (LIZZIE) MINK, b. 1908, TN. Generation No. 3 5. MARGARET CAMOLINE7 MOODY (SARAH MINKS, JOHN WESLEY) was born November 07, 1883 in Watauga County, North Carolina, and died April 02, 1968 in Las Cruces, Dona Ana, NM. She married WILL FITZPATRICK March 19, 1903 in Shaniko, Wasco, OR, son of WILLIAM FITZPATRICK and SOPHRONA GAINES. He was born September 30, 1872 in Calaveras County, CA, and died November 10, 1949 in Las Vegas, San Miguel, NM. Children of MARGARET MOODY and WILL FITZPATRICK are: 6. i. ELMER GRANT8 FITZPATRICK, b. January 28, 1904, Swofford, Lewis, WA; d. December 04, 1968, Las Cruces, NM. ii. ULA MAE FITZPATRICK, b. February 09, 1906, AZ; d. September 07, 1997, El Paso, El Paso, TX. iii. RUBY ESTIL FITZPATRICK, b. June 15, 1911, AZ; d. June 14, 1976, El Paso, El Paso, TX. Generation No. 4 6. ELMER GRANT8 FITZPATRICK (MARGARET CAMOLINE MOODY, SARAH MINKS, JOHN WESLEY MINKS) was born January 28, 1904 in Swofford, Lewis, WA, and died December 04, 1968 in Las Cruces, NM. He married LOULA EMAJEAN CHURCHMAN (still living), daughter of THADDEUS CHURCHMAN and LOULA PATE. Children of ELMER FITZPATRICK and LOULA CHURCHMAN are: i. ALICE JO9 FITZPATRICK, b. June 01, 1937, Alva, OK; d. January 1978, Kekaha, HI. ii. DAVID LEE FITZPATRICK (still living). ______________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Sharon Fitzpatrick - sharon.fitz@sbcglobal.net ______________________________________________________________________