Well, this is one of the more interesting posts I’ve done on a cemetery. When my mom and I were up in Hurricane Mills, Humphreys County, Tennessee with my great-aunt Kat a little over a month ago we were directed to the Shannon Cemetery (also known as the Pleasant Valley Cemetery) by my cousin Ann. We went there to find Crafts, and we ended up finding a lot of Willhites, too. I wasn’t able to take photos of all of the headstones in the cemetery, but I did get all of the Willhites, Crafts and a few others, including Pickards (which tie into my Cathey and Craft lines!).
The following are the photos I was able to get. I can’t wait to go back! I put as much information about the family relations as I could find. Also, if I was able to find a cause of death (from death certificates or records) I added that.
note: my relationship to the Willhite family is:
Me
Virginia Marie Stalls (my mom)
Ruth May Craft (grandmother)
Henry Corbit Craft (great-grandfather)
Eppy (Epanetes) Willhite (gg-grandmother), daughter of William M. Willhite and Mary McGibboney.
Jennie Willhite 1892-1909, daughter of William Harrison Willhite and Mary Elizabeth Jones.
Cause of death was consumption.
Unknown Child Willhite, born 1896, son of William Harrison Willhite and Mary Elizabeth Jones.
James Calvin Willhite, Jr (Buddie) 1926-1931, son of James Calvin Willhite, Sr and Bessie Mae Page.
Cause of death was purulent pericarditis (secondary to pneumonia).
Willie Bryan Willhite 1914-1943, son of Christopher Columbus Willhite and Mary Stella Hodge.
Cause of death was lobar pneumonia.
Jimmie C. (James Calvin)Willhite (Sr) 1903-1967, son of Christopher Columbus Willhite and Mary Stella Hodge.
Bessie Mae Willhite 1910-1968, daughter of Jefferson Nathaniel Page and Adelia Bowman.
C.C. (Christopher Columbus) Willhite 1869-1937, son of James E. Willhite and Easter S. Baker.
Cause of death was carcinoma of lower lobe of right lung
(Mary) Stella Willhite 1882-1917 (death certificate lists parents as Calaway Hodge and Elline Hodge, but I have yet to find either of those names on a census with Stella, let alone Stella herself in 1900).
Cause of death was tuberculosis of the lungs.
Unknown Willhite, died October 1908.
Infant Willhite 1906-1906, daughter of Christopher Columbus Willhite and Mary Stella Hodge.
Dorris Willhite, born and died June 28, 1927, son of Bell Willhite and Ollie Page.
Easter Willhite 1847-1924, daughter of William Baker and Mary Ann Willhite.
Cause of death was scrofula of lungs and old age.
James E. Willhite 1839-1912 (there appears to be an issue with who his parents are-there are several James E. Willhites all born about the same time, but no one has actual birth dates for any of them. He was born in White County, according to his death record.)
note: my cousin Ann told me that James E. Willhite's parents are William M. Willhite and his first wife, possibly Jane Bennett (I think I have that right!).
Cause of death was old age.
Bell Willhite 1900-1974, son of William Harrison Willhite and Mary Elizabeth Jones.
Ollie (Adelia) Page Willhite 1901-1981, daughter of Jefferson Nathaniel Page and Adelia Bowman.
Mary E. (Elizabeth) Willhite 1869-1942, daughter of Jimmie Jones and Unknown.
Cause of death was pulmonary tuberculosis.
W.H. (William Harrison) Willhite 1866-1936, son of James E. Willhite and Easter Baker.
Cause of death was cancer of the liver.
Ella Willhite 1900-1917, daughter of William Harrison Willhite and Mary Elizabeth Jones.
Cause of death was cerebrospinal fever with typhoid complications.
J.J.(Jesse) Boss Willhite 1887-1913, son of William Harrison Willhite and Mary Elizabeth Jones.
(John) J.D. Willhite 1855-1894, son of William M. Willhite and Mary McGibboney.
Cynthia E. (Ellen) Willhite 1842-1934, daughter of William Harris and Margaret Shannon.
Cause of death was was not listed on her death certificate, but it was probably old age.
Mary Craft Smith 1901-1982, daughter of James Monroe Craft and Mary Alice Green.
Evie Craft Beecham 1910-2008, daughter of James Monroe Craft and Mary Alice Green.
Frances Baker 1885-1915, daughter of Unknown, wife of Perry Baker.
Dr. James J. (Joseph) Shannon (Jr) 1862-1929, son of James Joseph Shannon, Sr and Nancy Young.
Cause of death was chronic interstitial nephritis.
Josie B. Shannon 1880-1969, daughter of John D. Willhite and Cynthia Ellen Page.
(Henry) Franklin Pickard 1899-1904, son of James David Pickard and Dicey Elizabeth Dunn.
Obie Pickard 1899-1901, son of John Franklin Pickard and Elvie Miranda Dunn.
Such fun looking at your post with Dad. We found most all kinds of relatives. He is full of stories about the Willhites and Pages. We would love to share some of these. Send me an email of where to contact you.
Posted by: Adelia Willhite Gaines | 02/07/2013 at 09:10 PM
Of course, Adelia! I will send you and email right now!
Posted by: Stephanie | 02/08/2013 at 08:03 AM