Digging Up Your Family

Return to the Summers Children’s Father

One of the biggest mysteries in my maternal family is the father of Amanda M Summers’ children.  Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie”, Leona A “Lonie”, and Edward Leon “Ed” were born to an unwed mother in 1870, 1873, and 1880 (respectively).  On December 11, 1880 Amanda married James Anderson Proctor and went on to have three more children before her death ca. 1889 (probably).  Lizzie and Lonie both married their first husbands on August 26, 1889.  Ed married in 1902, but I have yet to find him on a census in 1900.

Years ago I ordered Lizzie’s death certificate.  I posted it on Digging Up Your Family, Ancestry, and Facebook.  Oddly, people didn’t want to believe it.  One person was so upset and said “Lizzie's father was James Proctor, not James Summers. It shows a Smith giving information. Not quite the truth. That is just awful.”  I think the main reason people were upset is because James Franklin Summers was the brother of Basil Pinkney Summers, Amanda’s father.  They don’t want to believe that Amanda’s own uncle would get her pregnant.  Later I was amused by this because, as I posted here, James Anderson Proctor was Amanda’s uncle through marriage: he had previously been married to Delilah Paralee Duffel.  She was the sister of Emily Jane Duffel, Amanda’s mother.

The Smith that gave the information, by the way, is Lizzie’s son from her second marriage. 

So anyway, I didn’t add James Franklin to the tree as their father because 1) was there another James Franklin Summers? and 2. I wasn’t sure if he was the father of all three anyway.  Time went by and I discovered Ed’s delayed birth certificate.Boo!  He didn’t name his father!  And I was unable (so far) to find delayed birth records for Lizzie or Lonie.  It is possible they didn’t have them if they didn’t apply for a Social Security number.

On July 22 (2015) Ancestry presented a new database: the US, Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007.  Of course the first thing I did was search for EVERYONE.  I searched for Lizzie and Lonie, mainly to see if they had applied in hope of then searching for delayed birth certificates.  Then I searched for Ed. Bingo!  And, of course, it didn’t offer much information.  Or at least not the information I was seeking.

What’s the next step?  Why, to order his application of course! 

And guess what?  I came in the mail today!

And guess what else?  It has his father’s name on it?

And guess what else?

Yeah, you read that right: James Summers is his father.  And this isn’t one of those Smiths, either.  This is Edward Leon Summers himself saying that James Summers is his father.

BUT!  For the sake of appeases the naysayers who say “NAY!”, I will present a few other options for their father in addition to James Franklin Summers.

1.  Obviously, number one is James Franklin Summers. This photo was posted on Find A Grave, courtesy of Rebecca Lew.  Click here.

James  Franklin (1818-1900) was the brother of Basil Pinkney Summers, and Amanda’s uncle.  He was married to Tennessee Porter Outlaw and had several children.  In 1870 an 1880 James Franklin and family were living in Humphreys County, Tennessee, not far from where Amanda lived with her parents.

2. James Henry Summers was born in 1852. He is the son of James Franklin Summers. In both 1870 and 1880 he was living in Humphreys County, Tennessee with his parents.

3. James Summers (1772-1874) was married to Charlotte “Polly” Hood.  They had several children together.  This particular James lived in Stewart County, but he cannot be Ed’s father because he died six years earlier. 

4.  There is a James Summers in 1870 living in Benton County, Tennessee.  He was born about 1850.  The closest I can find to him in 1880 is a James Summers born about 1849 living all the way over in Lauderdale County, Tennessee. 

5.  The last one I will mention is James Summers, born about 1844.  This James is Amanda’s oldest brother.  I know in 1850 and 1860 he lived in Stewart County, Tennessee with his parents.  I have no clue where he went after that, but I do wonder if he might be James Summers #4.

So, there are five possibilities, with two being closer distance-wise: James Franklin and James Henry.  At this point I feel like I have to believe Lizzie’s death certificate.  I can’t imagine why her son Walter would specify that it was James Franklin Summers if it was not.  This also cements that James Anderson Proctor was not father to Lizzie or Ed, and I pretty much guarantee he isn’t Lonie’s father either.  I feel pretty comfortable putting JFS on my tree as the father of all three.

And as a last word (and to reiterate what I have already said), whether James Franklin Summers or James Anderson Proctor was the father, both are still Amanda’s uncles. 

Leon Edward Summers WWII Draft Registration Card

Every now and then I look up the death record for Leon Edward Summers, Sr.  “Ed” was the third illegitimate child Amanda Summers had, my 2nd great-grandmother, Margaret Elizabeth  “Lizzie” Summers being first and Leona “Lonie” Summers being second.  Anyway, my hope is that I will be able to view the actual death certificate, just to see if it gives any inkling of a name for his father.  I suspect, however, that James Anderson Proctor actually was Ed’s father, though I still do not believe JA was father to Lizzie or Lonie.

So, I am still unable to view the actual record.  And I have a sneaking suspicion that it doesn’t list his parents names at all, including Amanda.  What I did find, though, was a World War II draft registration card.  Ed was 11 days shy of his 62nd birthday.

(all three images came from www.familysearch.org)

One of the first things I noticed when I saw this draft record was that the contact person listed is Pauline Summers, residing at the same address as Ed.  This point will come up again at the end.

This is the back of the registration card.

Ok, so this is a screenshot of the death index.  You can see that he is listed here as widowed.  Ed’s wife, Lassie Burton Bellar, had passed on December 9, 1941, just 4 months and 14 days prior to his signing the registration.  His children I am aware of:

Leon Edward Summers, Jr (1903-1959)

Lassie Ophelia Summers (1906-1973)

Robert Emmanuel Summers (1908-1999)

(Eva) Clarice Summers (1911-1912)

Addie Mae Summers (1914-?)

Thomas Ensor Summers (1918-1983)

Raymond Parker Summers (1921-1989)

So who is Pauline?  Well, I had to do a little digging around, but I finally found a page of cemetery transcriptions for Highland Cemetery in Guthrie, Todd County, Kentucky.  She is listed as the wife of Robert Emmanuel Summers: Pauline P. Summers (1908-1994).  I have not yet found a marriage record.  I’m thinking that perhaps he was in the military (no, I haven’t found his military cards yet).  I haven’t done much research on this line of the Summers family, meaning Leon Edward “Ed” Summers, Sr.  I am working on it, however. 

As an aside, something I noticed today when I was attempting for find why Pauline would have been a contact (instead of Ed’s kids, I mean) was a new category on Fold3:

Notice that two of the sub-categories are free!

Basil Pinkney Summers on the Map

I have been working on a few projects lately and failed to update with any information.  But that doesn’t mean I haven’t found anything new and interesting!

Many people may have seen this already, but I just discovered these maps of Middle Tennessee, and Stewart/Houston/Humphreys/Montgomery Counties in particular.  The main page where I found the link for them is Stewart County, Tennessee Genealogy.

So, the maps are actually postal maps from 1865.  They show the locations of nearly every head of household, or at least land owners, in the area.  I printed them out so I could scour them without squinting at my screen and I found Basil Pinkney Summers!  Well, technically I found a few “Sumers” on there, but one I know is definitely him.  The first one I noticed is on the south bank of White Oak Creek.

You will also notice that there is a “Sumers Mill” at the north bank, but I’m not certain as of right now if my Summers had anything to do with that.  Basil Pinkney’s grandfather Basil was deceased by 1865, so I don’t really know who this B Sumers is, unless Basil Pinkney owned this land in addition to another plot.

Now, I did find land Basil Pinkney definitely owned.

This land is located on the north bank of White Oak Creek, just downstream from “Sumers Mill”.  Something interesting I want to point out here is just downstream from Basil Pinkney on the south bank is “Wid E Sumers”.  Basil Pinkney died in 1878, so he was definitely still alive in 1865.  I’m not sure who that widow is.

Anyway, how do I know that the north bank B Sumers is Basil Pinkney for sure?  Well, land records of course!

This I found on Ancestry.  It is a North Carolina and Tennessee, Early Land Records, 1753-1931 for BP Summers dated July 10, 1851 in Stewart County, Tennessee (this location would eventually be in Houston County, Tennessee in 1871).  I  know, it’s hard to read.  The transcription of the location of Basil Pinkney’s land:

…one hundred & twenty eight acres…on the waters of White Oak Creek.  Beginning on a small black (illegible) Jeremiah Mobley’s S.E. Corner, thence East one hundred & twelve poles to a black oak, thence North one hundred & seventy eight poles to a small white oak with dogwood & ironwood pointers on Anderson’s South boundary line, thence West one hundred & fifty poles to a stake on Mobley’s line, thence East with his line thirty eight poles to his corner, thence South one hundred & sixty three poles to the Beginning.

So, based on the description it is easy to see that the land described is definitely on the north bank.  Since people moved and died over the 14 year period between the land record and the map, it’s difficult to see where exactly Mobley and Anderson where living.

Now, to figure out who the other “Sumers” are!

Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie” Summers and William “Bill” Green Smith Marriage

I searched and searched for the marriage record for my 2nd great-grandmother Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie” Summers and her second husband William “Bill” Green Smith.  I even scoured the marriage records in the Waverly, Humphreys County, Tennessee library at one point and just could not find a record for them.  I had nearly given up, thinking perhaps they were just common-law married, until I decided to give it one more shot.  Ta-da!  Lizzie and Bill married in Humphreys County, Tennessee on August 6, 1911.  Eddie Lea Barnes signed the marriage record with Bill.  Eddie was Lizzie’s uncle, the husband of her half-aunt Zana Frances Proctor.

A Word About Family Lore (with examples)

For the past several days I have been going through a lot of stuff trying to figure out what to write next about Timothy Demonbreun.  However, putting all of the information together is kind of difficult.  There is the problem of trying to separate fact from fiction, along with having to accept some things as definite fact, even though I cannot see the documentation (I am assuming that others who have written about him have seen it, so that’s where trust comes in on matters such as that).  There are so many fantastic stories about Timothy’s life, and I will share them all…along with letting my readers know which stories I do not have sources for and what stories have been passed down through the Demonbreun descendants for about two centuries now (my hope, as always, is that someone will present a source, a document, anything!).  I do, however, want to point out that most stories started somehow.  Here are a few family stories I have heard about my ancestors, either stories passed down or stories I have read online…along with the facts:

1.  Lore:  Spencer DeMumbrie was from France.  Fact:  Spencer DeMumbrie was born in Tennessee.  This one is kind of amusing because I can only speculate as to where this story came from.  On the death certificate for Minnie DeMumbrie, Spencer’s daughter, it has him as having been born in France.  Since Minnie’s son was the informant I can only assume that Minnie had told people her father was French, rather than descended from French-Canadians.  My Granddaddy even referred to her as his “French grandmother” (even though, in reality, he could have called both grandmothers French…his other grandmother Annie Bondurant was descended from the French Huguenot Jean Pierre Bondurant).

2.  Lore:  James Anderson Proctor’s first wife Paralee was a gypsy.  Fact:  James Anderson Proctor, the husband of my 3rd great-grandmother Amanda Summers, was married first to a woman named Paralee.  However, when I found the marriage record I also found that Paralee’s full maiden name was Delilah Paralee Duffel.  This means that Paralee was Amanda’s aunt through her mother Emily Jane Duffel.  And now, if anyone ever decides to start searching for Paralee again (I think everyone kind of gave up trying to find her when she “disappeared” after the 1850 census), they will now know what happened to her.  And it also answers everyone’s question as to where JA’s wife came from (because no one could figure out her maiden name, I guess).

3.  Lore:  The Para family had their surname changed to Para when they arrived at Ellis Island from Italy.  Fact:  That never happened.  What is known is that if their name was changed once they arrived in America, they would have done it themselves, and it would have been well after they arrived.  And there is still no proof that it was ever anything different.  Prior to boarding the ship in Italy their information and documentation would have been checked by Italian officials.  Once they arrived they would have had to present the documentation to officials that were either from Italy themselves, or fluent in Italian.  The records and names would have to match up, otherwise they wouldn’t be permitted to enter the country.  When filing for citizenship they would have had the option to change their last name if they so chose.  So far, I know they wouldn’t have come through Ellis Island, anyway.  The patriarch of the family Giacomo Para (Anglicized to Jacob Para) arrived in America about 1876 or 1877, sixteen or seventeen years prior to the opening of Ellis Island.  Before that he would have arrived through Castle Gardens in New York, if that’s even where he entered the country.  There is no record of him at Castle Gardens, either.  So there is no telling what location he came through.  I haven’t found his wife and children yet, either.  So back to the name:  If the surname was changed then I don’t have a clue what it was originally.  And apparently no one else does, either.  While I did find record of a Giacomo Para entering through California, he was much too young, he immigrated much too late and he stayed in California. 

4.  Lore:  Elizabeth Bennett was 115/116 years of age when she died.  Fact:  Um, no one really knows the truth here.  She is another mystery that everyone hopes to someday unravel.  She will be getting her own post, but you will meet her soon anyway, as she is a key player in the story of Timothy Demonbreun.  Anyway, if you are to believe her headstone, erected by her son Jean Baptiste, she was born July 24, 1740 and died February 7, 1856.  In 1850 she claimed her age as 105, putting her birth year about 1745.  However, she gave birth to her last child in 1795, making her age at this birth either 50 or 55.  Sigh.  I’m not saying it’s impossible.  Just improbable

5.  Lore:  There really is no lore for this particular example, about Elizabeth Freeland.  Just a jumble of information about her.  Fact:  In 1850, the first time Elizabeth shows up on a census record, Elizabeth is shown as being 37 years of age, born about 1813 in Alabama.  In 1860, however, she is 56 years of age, having been born in 1804 in Louisiana.  I do know that she married Peter McQueen in 1820 in Louisiana, so I greatly doubt she was born in 1813.  I mean, her first child Louisa was born in 1821, which would have meant that Elizabeth was a mere 8-years-old.  Unfortunately, her marriage records to Peter McQueen and Claiborn Perry don’t mention her age, or her place of birth, for that matter.  I know her brother was residing in Alabama when he died, but he also had land in Mississippi (which is where she was living when she divorced Peter and married Claiborn).

These are just a few examples of family stories and misinformation.  I just felt it was important to get this out there prior to continuing Timothy Demonbreun’s story.  Because, as you’ll see, his life was pretty wacky.

What I Have Been Doing Lately

1.  I had purchased several hundred photos on eBay that all turned out to be a family collection.  After hunting around for a while I finally found the family to which they belong.  I scanned roughly 70 of the photographs and mailed those off to the family on Tuesday.  In the coming weeks I will scan the rest of them so I can get those mailed off, too.  I am extremely happy that I found the family, and I am extremely happy that they are getting their precious heirlooms back.  I had started a blog regarding the photos just in case I wasn’t able to find family.  I will be keeping it going so you can check it out here.

 

2.  My mom and I went up to Tennessee to visit with family again.  After picking up Great-Aunt Kat we drove up to Clarksville to visit Grandmother and Granddaddy’s graves.  Then we drove down to Hurricane Mills (our usual spot) and visited with Donny and Bobbie.  We didn’t stay long because Bobbie wasn’t feeling well (luckily she is feeling much better now).  While there we had decided that instead of buying Nan Nan’s fried pies from Cissie Lynn’s store, we would go to Nan Nan’s store and buy them directly from her.  After driving out of our way (you can tell from the start of this that it ended badly) we got to the location only to find out that the location was moved.  The sign (of which I wish I had taken a photo) gave the address of the new location and said to stop in and visit.  So we drove even further out of the way.  Come to find out the new location was the original location:  the owner’s home.  She (I assume Nan Nan, but it might just be named Nan Nan by using her grandmother’s recipe or something) was not pleased to see us.  She seemed to be miffed that we pulled into her driveway.  After telling us she didn’t really have many pies to sell I asked her if she took credit cards.  No, she said, she didn’t even take them at the other location.  By now I was angry.  Their website (which is just their Facebook page from what I can tell) didn’t have the new address listed which caused the looooong drive.  They also didn’t have payment options on the page, so I didn’t know I should have stopped for cash.  But in the end, you know what?  Her attitude ruined the entire thing anyway.  Had she been more pleasant I may have considered driving out to an ATM and getting cash just to buy a fried pie.  Will I ever purchase another Nan Nan’s Homemade Fried Pie again?  Nope.  (I just checked out the Facebook page, and they now have that they don’t accept credit cards and failed to use spell check…ok, that’s just me being bitter and mean)

 

3.  A couple of weeks ago my mom and I got to meet new cousins who live here in Georgia:  Valerie Craft and her mom Ruby!  Valerie has the genealogy blog Begin With Craft, which is chock-full of great information and research tips.  Due to the shared Craft surname we think that may be how we are related.  Through DNA Valerie’s father matches up to Great-Aunt Kat an estimated 4th cousin.  That means to find out how they are related we would need to go back to, at the very least, Prestly Ezekiel Craft’s father.  I think it has been figured out that his name was John Craft (don’t hold me to that because I am not positive).  Kat’s Craft family goes back:

Henry Corbit Craft (1895 TN-1971 TN)

John Craft (1859 TN-1936 TN)

Thomas Craft  (abt 1810 NC-aft 1880 TN)

Prestly Ezekiel Craft (abt 1786 NC-btwn 1850 and 1860 TN)

Several people have that Prestly married his wife Mary Thaxton in Surry County, North Carolina.  I guess I will have to look into that more.

 

4.  My mom and I are getting ready for the Bondurant Family Association Annual Meeting next week.  I’m pretty excited about it!

 

5.  I recently applied to go back to school.  I have thought about it for a while, and now with the imminent closing of the Georgia Archives to the public I decided to just do it!  I applied to American Public University online school for history.  Who knows, maybe I will eventually become an archivist!

 

6.  In my genealogy research I am currently working on (ready for this?  It’s like it is never-ending!):

-Who are Peter McQueen’s parents?  It really is driving me crazy not knowing.  The earliest I can find him is on an 1818 bill of sale for a slave named Daniel.  Peter doesn’t appear on any census record (by name at least) until 1840, though. 

-What happened to Spencer DeMumbrie?  When and where did he die?  Where is he buried?  Why is he being difficult?

-Why am I unable to locate James Franklin Stalls’s grave in Oak Grove Cemetery in Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky?  His obituary says he is there, but there is no record of him as being buried there. 

-Is the research I did on Brett’s Murphy family correct?  It seems perfectly logical to me, but I was presented with something extremely different that is completely illogical to me.

-The Craft line (as mentioned above).

-The search for Eppy Willhite Craft’s death record.  I will have to write a whole post for this fun headache.  Let’s just say that no one is actually sure of her first name anymore, and her death cannot be found (and she had to have died unless she’s still alive at the ripe old age of about 150 years-old…which you never know, I guess).

-William Glenn Cathey:  where are you buried exactly?

-Amanda Summers: when, where and how did you die and where are you buried?  Oh, and who exactly is Lizzie’s father?  Or do you not even know?

-And let’s just say many other research subjects, such as who are the parents of John B Smith?  Where exactly was Elizabeth Brownlee from?  Where is the Stalls family from?  And many, many more questions. 

 

I’m going to go watch movies now!

The Estate of James Wilson

I apologize for the lack of flow this post has.  I had it written out, then unexpectedly lost that version.  I was trying to remember everything I had written before, but it seems choppy.

 

I found this in the April 13, 1866 issue of The Clarksville Weekly Chronicle.

 Administrator’s Notice

All those having claims against the estate of James Wilson, dec’d, are hereby notified to file the same with the clerk of the county court of Stewart county, State of Tennessee, on or before the 19th day of August, 1866, legally authenticated, in order that the same may be liquidated and discharged, in accordance with the acts of the Legislature of the State of Tennessee in relation to insolvent estates.  This 19th of March, 1866.

B.P. Summers, Adm’r.

March 30, 1866-4 w*

This same announcement is in three other issues (hence the “4w*” at the bottom).

If you read my post titled More on Delilah Paralee Duffel and Basil Pinkney Summers then you already know that I am unable to find anyone else in the area with those initials.

note:  just as a refresher-Houston County, Tennessee wasn’t founded until 1871.  Prior to that the Summers family lived in Stewart County.  After the formation of Houston County I’m thinking that they did not physically relocate, but the line for Stewart County just moved north of where they lived.

So, James Wilson.  I have not actually written about Basil Pinkney Summers, or his parents.  And I am not going to do an entire post for him at the moment.  But I will tell you my theory of James Wilson.

Basil Pinkney Summers was born on January 20, 1821, most likely in Stewart County, Tennessee, to parents Greenberry Summers (1797-1846) and Rebecca Francis Wilson (about 1793-1835).  Rebecca is the daughter of James Wilson and Jean Caldwell.  She was born in North Carolina.  She married Greenberry Summers about 1817 in North Carolina (I have not seen the marriage record, so the year is assumed based on the birth date of their first child).  Greenberry and Rebecca moved to Stewart County, Tennessee between 1818 and 1820 (as they are found on the 1820 census in Tennessee). 

In 1820 there is a James Wilson over the age of 45 living in Stewart County who was not there in 1810, so I think it’s altogether possible that Greenberry and Rebecca's families traveled together.  This is why I think that the James Wilson mentioned in the announcement is most likely Basil Pinkney Summers’ uncle.  In 1860 there is a man named James Wilson living in Stewart County who was born approximately 1800 in North Carolina.  He is not in Stewart County in 1870, but the other James Wilson found (who is much younger) is still there.  So I think it can safely be assumed that the 1800 North Carolina James Wilson is the one who died.  I looked on the Stewart County Archives page, but I didn’t find a will for him.  There are some court cases that mention a James Wilson, but I’m not sure if any of them are him.

Anyway, we know from the 1800 census in Rowan County, North Carolina that James and Jean had more children other than Rebecca.  It’s something to ponder.

More on Delilah Paralee Duffel and Basil Pinkney Summers

According to the History of Houston County, Tennessee (Turner Publishing Company, 1995) Allen Duffel and Susan McCarroll had a daughter named  Paralee who was born “ca. 1837”.  I was able to find that Paralee Duffel is Delilah Paralee Duffel who married James Anderson Proctor in Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee on September 23, 1869.  Delilah Paralee Duffel is the sister of my 4th great-grandmother Emily Jane Duffel.  Different census records put her birth year as 1837, 1840 and 1845.  According to the 1880 US Mortality Schedule Paralee died February of 1880 in Houston County, Tennessee of consumption.  Her husband then married her niece, my 3rd great-grandmother Amanda M Summers.

The other day my mom was skimming the Nashville Christian Advocate (1836-?) for death records and found an interesting one that had been printed in the October 9, 1880 edition:

“DELIA P. PROCTOR born May 10, 1837; died Mar. 6, 1880; married James Proctor (1 child, Mattie).”

I searched the census records for a James Proctor married to a Delia and came up with nothing.  And the only James Proctor that I could find in 1880 with a daughter named Mattie was married to a woman named Fannie, and according marriage records they married in 1874 in Robertson County, Tennessee.  SO…this means that Delia P Proctor is actually Delilah Paralee Proctor.  This also means that she was actually born in 1837.  This also means that her death was not in February of 1880, but rather in March of 1880.  AND it also means that James and Paralee did have a child together prior to her death. 

I still have not found James Anderson Proctor on an 1880 census record, so I can’t account for where he and Mattie might be (though I assume they must still be in Houston County, Tennessee or the surrounding area…if Paralee died in March of 1880 and James married Amanda in December of 1880, then it is assumed that he didn’t go far).  I need to find out when Mattie was born.  It would be extremely helpful in tracking her!

Something else of interest that was found in the April 19, 1879 edition of the Nashville Christian Advocate had to do with Amanda M Summers’ father Basil Pinkney “Pink” Summers (or so I assume!):

“B. P. SUMMERS born Houston Co., Tenn., Jan. 20, 1821; died there, Oct. 10, 1878.”

I know from census records that Basil Pinkney Summers was born in 1821.  And according to...well, I don’t know where the information came from, actually…”Pink” supposedly died November 22, 1878.  Again, searching through the census records, the only person that I can find that matches the description (initials, date of birth, place of birth) is Basil Pinkney “Pink” Summers. 

The big question that the records for Proctor and Summers leads me to ask is:  which dates of the death dates are correct?  The dates listed in the Nashville Christian Advocate, or what I find on Ancestry?

Wordful Wednesday: Martin Stove & Range Company, Florence, Alabama

So, the stove was finished last week and I am super excited about it. 

Originally I tried using naval jelly on it to remove the rust, but it actually didn’t do anything.  At all.  So my husband rented a sandblaster!  And it worked so well that we now have stove part shapes sandblasted onto our driveway. 

But that’s ok.

So anyway, the stove is rust free and painted.  And sitting in my dining room.

You want to know what is so special about this stove?  Well, I will tell you:

This stove is a Martin Stove & Range Company (Florence, Alabama) wood burning stove.  It had been sitting upside-down behind a house in Hurricane Mills, Humphreys County, Tennessee for years.  The house it sat behind was a house that my great-great grandmother Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie” Summers lived in at one point.  I do not yet know what year this stove was produced, so I can’t be certain if she used this stove.  HOWEVER, because of the dates when the stove was most likely made (based on information from the grandson of Mr. Martin of Martin Stove & Range Company) AND based on the dates when Lizzie lived in the house it is highly probable that she did use this stove. 

No matter, though, it’s an awesome stove that was in a house where she lived.

I love the little heart detail all over the stove.  Hearts on the legs, in the corners and on the door.  There are still cracks that need to be repaired, but that will come in time.

I think it looks pretty awesome in my dining room!

 

Special Project: Wood Burning Stove

Martin Stove & Range Company, Florence, Alabama.

Date still unknown (though I am awaiting a call back!).

Before:

 

During:

 

After:

Coming Soon!