I.
Robert’s
Mother & His Early Life
Robert E. Eversole was born March 18th, 1858,
based on his birth date written into his personal bible. He was born in Perry
County, Kentucky to Joseph Eversole and Lucy Huff. Joseph was around 62 years
of age when Robert was born, and he appears to have died when Robert was a
small child, likely in the early 1860s. He was the last of Joseph’s nine known
children.
Robert’s young childhood appears to have been spent in and
around Perry County, Kentucky. It is unclear how much contact he had with his
half-siblings by his father’s first marriage, the youngest of whom was 18 years
Robert’s senior, but it would appear their contact may have been limited
depending on how they viewed their father’s second wife. After Joseph died, Lucy
was left to provide for Robert and her two other children, John and Sarah, who
went by Sally. This was likely difficult due to Lucy likely being considered of
low status.
Photo of Hazard, Kentucky, the capital of Perry County today. Courtesy of Pinterest.
Lucy’s life is difficult to piece together from the
beginning. She appears to have been born out of wedlock. Her mother was
certainly Hannah Bowling, daughter of the well-known Reverend Jesse Bowling of
Breathitt County, Kentucky. There is ample proof of this relationship. Lucy is
listed in the Nelson Huff Journal, where he recorded information on the family
history; Nelson was a grandson of John Huff, son of Leonard and Hannah. There
were no other Huff families in that region of Kentucky except that of Hannah
Bowling and Leonard Huff, and she was too old to be a daughter of one of their
sons. Her daughter Sally’s Civil War Widow’s Pension application stating her
mother’s name was “Lucy Bolin” and her ‘people’ were Bolins, Bolin being a
variation of the name Bowling. In 1841, the heirs of Hannah Huff sold the last
of their mother’s property to Joseph Eversole, who would become Lucy’s husband.
And finally, Lucy can often be found referred to in various family histories as
Lucy Huff Bolin.
Pages from the notebook of Nelson Huff. Courtesy of Carolyn Clouse Flynn. Lucy is mentioned on the first of these two pages.
Hannah Bowling married Leonard Huff before 1809. The Nelson Huff
family notebook, which tends to be cited as the earliest authoritative source
on the family indicates that Leonard died in October of 1824; other family
genealogies specify October 20th, 1824, but with no citation for the
precise date. This date would not have been recorded until decades after
Leonard’s death (Nelson was born in 1887), so it is possible the year was off
to a degree. A daughter who is believed to have been legitimate, Sarah Huff,
who married Justice Bowling, was supposedly born approximately 1825. So it is
possible either Hannah was pregnant with Sarah when Leonard died, or Leonard
died shortly after Sarah’s birth. Regardless, Leonard was clearly deceased by
March 12th, 1825 when Abel Pennington, who was Hannah’s
brother-in-law (married to Hannah’s sister Elizabeth Bowling) and a cousin of
Hannah’s mother Mary Pennington, sold 20 acres in Perry County, Kentucky to
Hannah Huff and the infant heirs of Leonard Huff. These heirs were listed as:
Elizabeth, John, Daniel, Nancy, Sarah, and Rachael.
Courtesy of Carolyn Clouse Flynn
The above deed states that Hannah could live on the property
until she died or remarried. According to Bowling and Huff family records,
Hannah died July 22nd, 1837. The 20 acres Abel Pennington had sold
to Hannah and an additional 50 acres were sold to Joseph Eversole on October 23rd,
1841. Hannah is not mentioned, indicating that she was indeed deceased by this
time, and the sellers were listed as John, Elizabeth [Adams], Rachel [Couch],
Daniel, Sarah [Boling], and Nancy Huff. As previously mentioned, this Joseph
Eversole would go on to marry Lucy Huff, Hannah’s daughter, who is not
mentioned in this record.
Courtesy of Carolyn Clouse Flynn
Outside these relatively established confines of apparent
fact, we begin to wade into murky guesswork. Lucy’s age has never been effectively
established. There are three records that give her age, and all three are
different. The 1850 Census states she is 21, indicating a year of birth of
about 1829. Her marriage to Joseph Eversole states her age was 22, indicating a
year of birth of 1831. The 1860 Census states she is 27, indicating her year of
birth was 1833. I cannot say which is most accurate, but I am most inclined to
lean toward her age given in the marriage record, as she would have been
present when that was recorded. It is possible she did not answer the questions
of the census-taker in 1850 or 1860, and so her husbands could have had her age
wrong. In my records, I have her approximate year of birth as 1831.
Regardless which of those three approximations is correct,
it is clear from her mother’s and siblings’ purchase of Abel Pennington’s 20
acres in 1825 that Lucy was born several years after the death of Leonard Huff,
and therefore he could not have been her biological father. Interestingly,
numerous family histories of the Bowling family name a second husband for
Hannah Bowling. The 1953 “History of Perry County, Kentucky” by the Hazard
Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution appears to be the main
source cited by Bowling family members for this second husband. According to
these sources, Hannah, daughter of Reverend Jesse Bowling, married first a
“Huff”, and second a “Nelse Guy”. I have alternately seen this man listed as
“Nelson Gay”. As there actually was a large Gay family living in Clay County,
Kentucky during this time, I presume that family to be the one referred to.
There is no record of this marriage having occurred. No
court, land, marriage, or bible records formally indicate that Hannah Bowling
Huff married a second time. However, this supposed marriage ending up in family
histories could be for a couple of reasons. One, a Nelson Gay did actually
marry a Hannah, and she was a niece of Hannah Bowling Huff. On November 20th,
1835 in Clay County, Kentucky, Nelson Gay married Hannah Barger, daughter of
Abraham Barger and Mary Bowling, sister of Hannah Bowling Huff. Perhaps their
names and relations led to confusion.
Or could it be possible that Nelson Gay is the biological
father of Lucy Huff, daughter of Hannah Bowling Huff? Nelson and Hannah may
have lived together, or they could have even had a common-law marriage. It’s
unknown if the two even knew each other. But it is possible that the reason
Nelson Gay’s name is tied to Hannah Bowling Huff’s is because the family was
aware that he was the father of Hannah’s illegitimate child. I cannot base that
theory on any sort of hard evidence. But Nelson was born about 1812, so he
would have been old enough to have a love-child by 1831, or even in 1829. He
did not marry until 1835. It is possible that during a time in his young
adulthood before he married Hannah Barger he had a romantic relationship with
Hannah Bowling Huff. It’s even possible that he met Hannah’s niece, Hannah
Barger, because of this relationship.
There really is no documentation to support such a scenario,
but it does appear feasible when one considers the Bowling descendants who tied
Nelson to Hannah Bowling Huff. Nelson did not die until 1899, and the Perry
County, Kentucky history book was published in 1953. There were likely Bowling
family members who were involved in the writing of that book who knew Nelson
Guy personally. And they may have been aware of his previous relationship with
Hannah Bowling Huff. Many people, especially in the older days, did not like to
talk about illegitimate children and intimate relationships between unmarried
persons. So in saying that Hannah and Nelson were married, in the minds of
those people, it may have been covering what they considered to be a sticky
area of their family histories.
Regardless of who Lucy’s father was she was a child born out
of wedlock to a mother who would die when she was a young child. Whether it was
in 1837 as Bowling records state, or as late as shortly before the 1841 sale of
Hannah’s land, Lucy was left parentless at a young age. It is not known who
took her in or who raised her. She was likely raised by either some of her Huff
half-siblings, or by Bowling/Bolin/Boling relatives of her mother. In many
places, she would have been considered low-class due to her status as a
bastard, but it would appear she at least maintained ties with her mother’s
Bolin relatives.
Around 1848-49, Lucy married a Joseph Braughton. No marriage
record has been located, so it is unclear exactly when and where this marriage
occurred. By 1850, Lucy was living in Knox County, Kentucky with Joseph and a
one year old son, Anderson Braughton. I have found nothing on Joseph Braughton,
nor anything on what became of Lucy’s child with him. On April 12th,
1853 in Clay County, Kentucky, Joseph was granted a divorce from Lucy. Lucy did
not appear for the hearing. Six months later, Lucy had remarried to Joseph
Eversole, “Sr.”, as he was referred to on the marriage record. Lucy gave her
name as her previous married one, Lucy Braughton.
It is not known when Joseph’s first wife, Henrietta Oliver,
died, so we don’t know how long after her death that he remarried. We also
don’t know how Joseph’s children (ranging from ages 12 to 30 in 1853) felt
about this remarriage. Lucy was now not only a woman born out of wedlock, but
she was also a divorced woman, which would give even more people an excuse in
their eyes to view her as lower-class. What relationship Lucy had with these
step-children is as unknown to us as their relationship with Lucy’s children, their
half-siblings.
Kentucky began recording births in this part of the state in
the 1850s, and the birth registers for John and Sarah Eversole (one has not
been found for Robert) are where we gleam what Lucy consider to be her maiden
name: Lucy Huff. She is listed as Lucy Huff on both records, though as
previously stated her daughter gave her maiden name as Lucy Bolin.
By 1870, Lucy’s three known children are living in separate
counties, and Lucy herself is nowhere to be found in Census records. In fact,
she doesn’t appear in any located records after the 1860 Census. She was alive until
about 1885 based on her daughter Sally’s Widow’s Pension Application. Sally
says Lucy moved with her and her brothers to Arkansas (“I came to Newton County
when I was 21. My brothers and mother all came together”), and “I was about 29
years old when mother died”. Whether Lucy remarried or even had other children after
Joseph’s death, or any other information about her between 1860 and 1885, is a
complete mystery.
John and Sally Eversole are found in the 1870 Census in
Perry County, living with the family of William Bowling and his wife, Elizabeth
Eversole. In family genealogies, William is sometimes referred to as “Bluehead”
or “Bluehead Willie”, and Elizabeth is sometimes called “Mary Elizabeth
Rachel”. William was the son of Justice Bowling, who was a brother of Hannah
Bowling Huff, and therefore was a first cousin of Lucy. Elizabeth was the
daughter of Woolery Eversole, a brother of Joseph Eversole, and therefore was a
first cousin of Sally and John. Robert is listed in the 1870 Census Owsley
County, Kentucky, living with a man named Jefferson Baker and his family. No
familial relationship with Mr. Baker has been identified, and it is unclear how
long or often Robert stayed with the Bakers.
There are some stories about Robert that have been passed down in
the family that relate to his residences in his boyhood. These stories were passed
down through the line of Polly Eversole Manus, Robert’s daughter, and told to
me by Polly’s great grandson, Keith Whittington. The objects of Robert's pranks were an aunt and uncle, according to the stories. Who these may have been is unclear. It also could have been Mr. Baker, who Robert lived with in 1870, or "Bluehead Willie" Bolin, who his siblings are shown residing with at that tie.
The stories illustrate Robert as a big prankster in his youth, always making jokes and playing tricks. One of
the relatives he stayed with (the "uncle") was a man with a
large handlebar mustache, and Robert seemed to like to give this man in
particular a hard time. One story goes that the family kept their windows open as they slept. The chickens would nest on the window sills, and leave large amounts of droppings behind. One day, Robert gathered some of the freshest droppings and put them on his uncle's mustache as he was sleeping. He then took a feather and tickled the man's face, who in his sleep would reach up to quell the tickling and inadvertently rub the feces all over his mustache. Robert ran and hid to watch his uncle's reaction. He woke up cursing the chickens, but eventually realized he'd been Robert's victim. Apparently, Robert had to hide out in the forest for two or three days while his uncle calmed down.
The next story is that the family's house was lined with a picket fence with a gate in the middle. The cows would roam around the yard and sometimes leave "pies" behind. A particularly "pie" became situated near the gate, and Robert saw an opportunity to play a joke. So he tied a string between the gate posts. His uncle was returning from a town meeting and was wearing a nice white shirt, as the story goes. He went through the gate, tripped over Robert's string, and land right on the "cow patty".
His "aunt" would tell him he "had to sleep sometime", and eventually she got him back. While he was sleeping, she tied him down to the bed rack, and then "whooped" him thoroughly. Whether or not this actually deterred Robert from pulling further pranks is not clear. Polly Eversole Manus, who relayed these stories to Keith, was apparently a bit of a joker herself. Keith says that she would often play little jokes like if she could see your "crack" between your shirt and pants, she would drop an icecube down there to teach you a lesson. It's clear she came by her playful ways honestly.
Little is known Robert’s childhood and young adulthood. He,
his siblings, and his mother are all missing from the 1880 Census, though
Sally’s Pension Application has the family still living in or in the vicinity
of Perry County up until about 1877. Sally says she and her mother and brothers
came to Newton County, Arkansas when she was 21 years old. Though it’s clear
that late in life she was not sure how old she was (she did not know her
precise year of birth and was unable to obtain a record of it), so this year of
1877 could be plus or minus a year or two.
II.
To
Arkansas – Robert’s Residences, In-Laws, & Family
Based on Sally’s testimony and Robert’s homestead
application (see below), it is presumed that by 1880, when the family is absent
from the census, that they are indeed in Newton or Johnson County, likely in a
very rural and remote area. People in these parts enjoyed their isolation and
privacy. They may have been too far out in the hills for the census taker to
bother coming to see them, or they may not have ventured down to meet him when
he came to their area.
This is believed to be a photo of a young Robert Eversole. It has been passed down in the Manus-Eversole family, and there is a resemblance. It has not been confirmed as a photo of Robert. Courtesy of Darla Zegert.
Whether they settled in Newton County or Johnson County after
their arrival in Arkansas is unclear, but there are a couple of possibilities.
One would be that Sally mistakenly reported that they first settled in Newton
County, when really it was Johnson County; she would spend virtually all her
adult life travelling between Newton, Johnson, and Madison counties, but she
likely did not pay much mind to which county she was actually in at a given
time. Another could be that the siblings and their mother may have come
together, but not necessarily lived together. This likely would have been the
case if Lucy had remarried, which is certainly possible given that she would
have been only about 30 years old when she was widowed. Sally may have stayed
with her mother or other relatives, or found another place to live in Newton
County, while Robert settled in Johnson County. Or perhaps they did settle in
Newton County initially, and then moved to Johnson County before finally moving
back to Newton County in 1881.
It is not known exactly where in Newton or Johnson counties
the family settled initially, but these Kentucky hill folk were the clannish
type, and tended to end up near their kin and neighbors that came with or
before them from Kentucky to Arkansas. Many people of the common surnames in
their part of Kentucky (Bolin, Combs, Evans, Eversole, Holland, Hensley, and
many more) began settling in this area around the same time as them. They seem
primarily relegated to an area around what is today parts of three counties:
the southwestern area of Newton County, the southeastern area of Madison
County, and the northwestern area of Johnson County. If they settled in Newton
County, it was likely in the vicinity of Fallsville or Capark, which are just
over the border from Red Star in Madison County. When Robert states he lived in
Johnson County prior to December, 1882, it was likely in the vicinity of
between Oark and Spoke Plant (in southern Madison County).
Robert Eversole made his pre-emption filing for 120 acres
under the Homestead Act of 1862 on December 7th, 1882. According to
the National Archives website, the Homestead Act of 1862 required the claimant
to “file an application and lay claim to 160 acres of surveyed Government land.
For the next 5 years, the homesteader had to live on the land and improve it by
building a 12-by-14 dwelling and growing crops. After 5 years, the homesteader
could file for his patent (or deed of title) by submitting proof of residency
and the required improvements to a local land office.” (https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/homestead-act/)
He formally filed for his patent on March 27th,
1889. He reported having lived in Johnson County prior to the filing, where he
worked as a farmer. He reported that 150 of 160 acres of this land was timber
land, primarily oak, and states he moved onto this homestead on or about April
1st, 1881. He further reports: “I established my residence off the
homestead by mistake and did not discover my error until I had my lines run out
in March, 1888. I moved on the homestead as soon as I discovered my mistake.”
He reports that for the past six years he has voted at Boston Township in
Newton County. The town he would have voted in was most likely Fallsville,
which is in Boston Township; its Post Office was active from 1883-1955. He most
likely also got his mail at Fallsville until a Post Office was established at
Capark (sometimes spelled Kapark) in 1886. The Post Office at Capark closed in
1902. (http://genealogytrails.com/ark/newton/postoffices.html)
This is from the Bureau of Land Management website. The darkest orange square was the patented homestead of Robert Eversole. The red dot marks the approximate spot where Jesse Radford's home was.
Robert goes on to report that he left his homestead only
twice from 1881 to 1889. In the fall of 1884 he left for two months to pick
cotton, and again in the fall of 1885 to pick cotton for one-and-a-half months.
He reports that only his wife and one child (Elige, born March 14th,
1888) reside with him. He states that he built his current residence in 1887,
and that it measured 16 x 18 feet with a stone chimney. He had also built a
smokehouse and a stable. He reported owning three head of cattle, ten hogs, and
six sheep. He had planted corn and oats for seven seasons. His Notice for
Publication was printed in the Republican
Echo based at Jasper, Newton County, Arkansas. He named as witnesses Joseph
W. Roberson, T. D. Marshall, and John Pruitt of Capark, and John Estep of
Fallsville. He was also named a witness for Joseph W. Roberson’s claim, and was
listed to be “of Capark”. Robert’s application for patent was granted, and
issued to him June 28th, 1890 by President Benjamin Harrison.
Robert Eversole's patent notice published in the newspaper.
Within a few years of the Eversoles settling in Arkansas,
another family that they would ally themselves with closely moved to the same
region. The family of Jesse Radford and his wife, Grace Holland, came to
Arkansas in May, 1881 from Leslie County, Kentucky. The Radfords were from the
same region of Kentucky, having lived primarily in Clay County. They brought
with them ten children from their marriage, plus at least four others sired by
Jesse with a niece of his wife.
On March 5th, 1883, Jesse Radford made a
pre-emption filing for his own 160 acres under the Homestead Act of 1862, just
as Robert Eversole had four months prior. He filed his final patent application
on January 11th, 1890. Radford’s application stated that prior to this
filing he had resided in Kentucky as a farmer. He described his land as
originally containing 150 acres of timber; he had cleared 55 of these acres by
the time of his application. He states that at the time he moved onto the land,
it was occupied by A. J. Burns, and that he purchased the rights to the claim
from him. Burns was Andrew Jackson Burns, who is buried at the Radford-Freewill
Cemetery that Jesse owned. One of Jesse’s daughters later married a son of A.
J. Burns.
Jesse reports that he has lived on his homestead
continuously since 1881 other than three weeks-long excursions when he “went
south to pick cotton”, and has voted at Boston during that time. He said he’d
lived there with his wife (which would really be wives, as he was widowed and
remarried during this timeframe) and 15 children. He built his current 18 x 20
feet home in 1884, and owned 13 head of cattle, 20 hogs, 17 sheep, and 2
horses. He grew corn and wheat on his farm, and supplemented his income in the
fall by picking cotton in Johnson County for “[Don?] Hogan, Mr. Burns, Mr.
Marion, Mr. [Dugal?], and [Boss Spencer?]”. His Notice for Publication was
published in the St. Paul Republican
(St. Paul, AR), and he named as witnesses J. E. Reavis, J. H. Sands, Albert
Davidson, and Jason Davidson, all of Boston, AR. His patent application was
granted to him on August 4th, 1890.
Jesse Radford's patent notice published in the newspaper.
The locations of Robert Eversole’s and Jesse Radford’s homesteads
were approximately 3.15 miles apart geographically. Their homes would have been
about that far apart in a straight path from one to the other. But depending on
what roads they utilized at the time, their distance of travel between their
homes was likely longer, perhaps 5-6 miles apart by road. The people residing
at Robert’s homestead likely consisted only of himself, possibly his elusive
brother John, and most likely his mother Lucy, his sister Sally, and Sally’s
son (bore out of wedlock by a man named Jim Bailey), William Garrett Eversole,
who was born March 26th, 1883. He was probably born on Robert’s homestead.
From MyGenealogyHound.com. Jesse's homestead was southeast of Boston.
At this time, Jesse’s post office was most at Boston (in
Madison County—not to be confused with Boston Township in Newton County), which
was northwest of his homestead. Boston’s post office was established in 1880
and closed in 1974 (http://genealogytrails.com/ark/madison/postoffices.html).
His post office switched to Red Star when it was established in 1902 (it closed
in 1967). As mentioned previously,
Robert’s post office at this time was at Capark. According to a 1950 article in
The Informer (Jasper, AR), the school
was right next to the cemetery and by that time, the school was falling apart (Source:
Linda Pruitt Family Tree, http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/p/r/u/Linda-Pruitt/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0002.html).
Today, the cemetery is all that remains of the town..
From the Newton County Historical Society website. Note the locations of Capark and Fallsville. Robert's homestead was directly between them.
While Robert’s post office was at Capark, his children most
likely attended school at Valley Grove, which was south of them but north of
Fallsville, due east from the Radford-Freewill Cemetery in Madison County. We
have a photograph of Robert with two men, one of whom was his wife’s cousin and
would later marry the sister of Robert’s daughter Nancy’s husband, William
Roberts. The Roberts family also lived in the vicinity of this school. William’s
brother, Elijah Roberts, was murdered near the school in 1921. This
information, including the school’s approximate location (which has yet to be
conclusively determined) comes from Joy Russell. I have recreated a map that
she sent me outlining the area where Valley Grove would have been in relation
to Robert’s and Jesse’s homesteads.
The back of this photo is labelled as Rich Combs on the left, Robert Eversole in the center, and William Roberts on the right. William married Amanda Barnett, whose brother Andrew married Robert's daughter Nancy Eversole. William's brother Elijah was murdered at Valley Grove in 1921. Original in possession of Nathan Vaughan Marks.
One will find that most of the locales associated with these
families and in this area barely exist now. Red Star, Capark, Dutton,
Fallsville, Catalpa, Spoke Plant, Valley Grove, and others were all gathering
spots (usually with a school and/or church and sometimes an accompanying
cemetery, and sometimes a nearby store, but not usually enough to qualify them
as “towns”) that were well known to these folk, but you’d be hard put to find
many people today that know a lot about them outside of those who still live
there. Some information on these locals can be gleamed at the Shiloh Museum in
Springdale, where their helpful library staff will be glad to assist anyone
wanting to learn more about these fascinating old villages.
Their close proximity indicates the neighbors knew each
other well and likely banded together for various activities, chores, and any
community gatherings. The two families certainly became well-acquainted enough
for them to intermarry twice. On July 28th, 1886 Robert Eversole
united in marriage to Eliza Radford, the third eldest (and likely eldest
living) child of Jesse Radford and Grace Holland. They could have married in
Madison County or Newton County; no marriage record has been found. The date
comes from Robert’s bible.
Grace Holland, Eliza’s mother and Jesse’s wife, died in late
1886 at their home in Madison County. There are conflicting dates from Jesse
and the various witnesses of Grace’s death who gave testimony in his pension
application. It appears she died on or about December 2nd, 1886. She
was almost certainly buried in what is today the Radford-Freewill Cemetery. There
is no legible stone marking her grave; however, there are dozens of unmarked
fieldstones marking gravesites around the cemetery. What came to be known as
the Radford-Freewill Cemetery (or sometimes just Radford Cemetery or Freewill
Cemetery) started being used around this time. The earliest legible marked
stone today is dated 1890. Information on the cemetery has always stated that
it stands on Jesse Radford’s homestead. (See Madison County Cemeteries, Volume IV by the Madison County
Genealogical and Historical Society and numerous cemetery websites, family
trees, and family history publications.)
Jesse's patented homestead are the four dark orange boxes, per the Bureau of Land Management website. The red dot is where his house was, according to his granddaughter Joyce Turner, and the cemetery is the blue dot. Both of those locations were part of the Davdison patent, indicating that Jesse likely purchased those plots from Davidson.
However, in viewing a map one will see that the cemetery
actually lies just outside Jesse Radford’s claim. Additionally, if part of Jesse’s claim had been dedicated to a cemetery when he
submitted the application for his patent in 1890, the cemetery would have been
mentioned on the application when he described how his 160 acres were being put
to use. The northernmost part of Jesse’s homestead was the Southwest ¼ of the
Northwest ¼ of Section 3, Township 13. However, the cemetery lies in the
Southeast ¼ of the Northwest ¼ in the same section and township. That section
is part of the homestead of James A. Davidson, who was likely a relative of the
two Davidsons that Jesse appointed witnesses to his homestead application.
There are also at least two Davidsons buried in the cemetery.
The most likely explanation for this is that James Davidson
dedicated that portion of his homestead to being a cemetery. Jesse may have
then purchased that section from Davidson later on, or he may not have. The
name Radford being associated with it could be due to Jesse’s close proximity
to the cemetery (his home was less than a mile from it), or due to there being
several Radfords buried there. Grace Holland Radford may have even been the
very first burial there, and that could also have played a factor in the
cemetery being named after the family. Support for the theory that Jesse bought the portion of land where the cemetery lies from Mr. Davidson is supported by the testimony of Jesse's granddaughter, Joyce Turner, who insists that Jesse's house was before the fork in the road shown on the map above; that land she indicates was also part of Mr. Davidson's patent. All who could have answered this
question have passed on, so we are left only to theorize.
Just four months after Grace’s death, Jesse married Robert’s
sister, Sally Eversole. They married March 3rd, 1887 in Madison
County according to their pension application. The two would go on to have four
children that to Robert and Eliza’s children would be both first cousins (as
children of Sally) and aunts and uncles (as children of Jesse).
Sarah "Sally" Eversole Radford. Courtesy of Joyce Turner.
Meanwhile, Robert and Eliza began a family of their own.
Their children were: Elige (called “Lige), born March 14th, 1888;
Joseph (called “Joe”), born January 9th, 1890; Jesse (called
“Jess”), born March 3rd, 1892; Nancy, born September 12th,
1894; Mary (called “Polly”), born March 22nd, 1897; and Dill, born July 28th, 1900. It is assumed all
these children were born on their father’s homestead near Capark, or possibly
on their grandfather Jesse’s homestead near Red Star.
These photos belonged to Nancy Eversole Barnett. They are not labelled, but appear to have been taken in Arkansas in the early 1900s. They are brief glimpses into the lives of the people who lived in this part of the country. Originals in possession of Nathan Vaughan Marks.
The Eversoles’ Radford kin almost certainly attended the
Freewill School, which was just down the road from Jesse’s homestead and may
have actually been on Jesse’s homestead, or else just outside of it. Where the
Eversole children went to school during this time is unclear. They likely went
to school at either Capark or Fallsville, or they may have been another school
in between. Regardless, by 1900 the Census shows the family still on their
homestead in Boston Township, Newton County, Arkansas. We have little
information on Robert during this time, but it is presumed that he continued in
farming and logging, while likely picking cotton in the fall for supplemental
income.
III.
To
Oklahoma & Back
Exactly when and why Robert Eversole and his family sold
their homestead, packed up and headed west to Oklahoma is not clear. It is
known his son Jesse’s obituary that this occurred “around the time of
[Oklahoma] statehood”, so they likely moved between 1906 and 1907. Several of
their Radford relatives did the same, though not Jesse and Sally, and so did
many of their neighbors and distant kin who had previously come from eastern
Kentucky to Arkansas. These distant relatives and neighbors included members of
other Eversole families, as well some from the Roberts, Combs, Newman, Bolin,
Anglin, Evans, Bowers, and Holland families, and more. Several of Eliza’s
siblings also made the move from Arkansas to Oklahoma, including Dillard
Radford, Mahala “Halia” Radford Lewis, Eliga Radford, Syrus Radford, and Thomas
Radford. Other than Halia, however, most of the Radfords made their way to
Lincoln County after the Eversoles had already moved back.
Aunt Mahalia "Hallie" "Halia" Radford, daughter of Jesse Radford and sister of Eliza Eversole. Original in possession of Nathan Marks; the back of the picture names her and states "Buried at Davenport".
This migration of families seems to have started in the
early 1900s and continued into the 1930s and 40s. These people tended to settle
in one of two areas primarily: modern-day Sequoyah County and the surrounding
counties of Adair, Leflore, and Cherokee, which are geographically quite
similar to where they had lived in Arkansas, and modern-day Lincoln County,
which is hilly but not nearly as mountainous as where they’d come from. Their
reasons were likely economic in nature, if they were struggling in Arkansas
they might have wished to start over in a newer, cheaper state, or they may
have simply been looking for a change.
Leaving around the time of Oklahoma statehood, it is not
known where Robert and his family initially settled after from their Newton
County homestead, but they were settled in at South Fox Township near the town
of Davenport by 1910. Living with him and probably having moved with them was
Eliza’s aforementioned sister, Halia Radford Lewis, and her young son. The
census records Robert as a farmer and renter of his property. He and his family
are scarcely mentioned in the Davenport newspapers.
Notice Davenport between Stroud and Chandler. This 1905 map comes from the blog of Doug Dawg at dougdawg.blogspot.com.
Robert and the family did not stay long. In August, 1913,
some of his sons (how many and which ones aren’t specified) were arrested and
held in the county jail. The newspaper does not specify their crime in any
issue I have scoured. A week after their arrest, according to The Stroud Democrat, twenty or so
citizens of Davenport travelled to Stroud to provide an alibi for the boys in
whatever they had been accused of committing. Their testimonies apparently
proved reliable, and the boys appear to have been released.
Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society's Gateway to Oklahoma History at okhistory.org.
What led up to this arrest and what else may have frustrated
Robert about his new home up to that point is unknown. But it appears this
incident was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”, and The New Era (Davenport, OK) reported less than a month after the
above arrest and release of his sons that Robert had “sold out” to his landlord
and was returning to Arkansas. It isn’t clear if all his children came with
him, or if some stayed in Oklahoma if they already had jobs they wanted to
keep.
There were likely a multitude of factors that played a part
in Robert’s return. Jesse Radford’s pension application indicates that by this
time his health was in decline, so perhaps Robert moved closer to his old
friend so that he, his wife, and their children could on hand to help if
needed. Perhaps the family wasn’t earning as well of a living as they were in
Arkansas. Or perhaps since his children were getting to be of the age to marry
and start their own families, and he thought he’d like them to marry folks from
back home in Arkansas. Whatever the motivation, the family all moved back to
Arkansas and settled down on a 40 acre plot in northern Johnson County.
From Bureau of Land Management. Darkest orange square is the plot that Robert Eversole bought when he returned to Arkansas. It was originally part of the Samuel May Patent. The red dot is where Spoke Plant was. The blue dot is the location of Patterson Springs Church/School/Cemetery.
Back home in Arkansas, his children did indeed begin to grow
up, marry, and head off to start their own families. It appears the older
children moved back and forth between Arkansas and Oklahoma, most likely in
employment-related endeavors. They would have been working as farmers and farm
laborers, timber workers, and roughnecks.
Lige is still listed as a resident of Lincoln County,
Oklahoma when he registers for the World War I draft in 1917, so he may not
have accompanied his parents back to Arkansas, or he may have gone and come
back. He reports that he is working as a farmer, and that he is helping to support
his mother and father. He married his first wife, Stella Baker (whose family
was from around Davenport and Stroud), near Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1920. They
divorced soon after, and Lige returned to Johnson County, where he married
Florence Blutha “Bluthey” Anglin in 1926; he listed his residence as Spoke
Plant at that time.
Copy of a photo of Lige Eversole and his sister, Nancy Eversole. Courtesy of Susan Stallings.
They would later move to Texas where he worked as a laborer,
before returning to Johnson County and residing near Patterson Springs for
several years. Several infant children of his are buried at Patterson Springs
Cemetery. The church by the cemetery was the church his parents attended, and
if they were still in school when the family returned to Arkansas, then his
youngest siblings would have attended school at Patterson Springs. (Don
Pennington of the Johnson County Historical Society confirms there was a school
at Patterson Springs, which was about 1.5 miles down the road from Robert
Eversole’s farm.) The family eventually moved to Mississippi County, Arkansas,
where Lige died February 9th, 1953. His family later moved to
Arizona, where most of his descendants reside today.
On June 18th, 1994, Dr. Barbara Schneider, who is
currently a research professor at Vanderbilt University and is a granddaughter
of Dill Eversole, the youngest child of Robert Eversole and Eliza Radford,
interviewed Nannie Anglin Eversole, the wife of Jesse Eversole, another son of
Robert and Eliza. Nannie relayed numerous stories and anecdotes about the
Eversoles, and Dr. Schneider transcribed the interview and sent it to me. I
will include excerpts of what Nannie had to say about her Eversole in-laws.
Nannie: “I think Lij
was the oldest, and then Joe. Lij lived
in Arkansas a lot, he came here a time or two and stayed a while. But he and his first wife separated. Some of his grandkids didn't know he had
been married before. Vanessa didn't know
that. Lij stayed with us after he and
his first wife, Stell Baker separated.
You'uns probably knew Ez Baker there in Stroud, didn't you? Well, Stell was his sister. She and Lij didn't live together very
long. I don't know what their problem
was. 'Course she had been married before
and had two boys. I don' t think I ever
saw the boys, but I used to see Stell every once and a while. After they separated, he married Blutha [Anglin],
Mace [Anglin’s] daughter. They were such
little akin to us, I couldn't even tell you what it was. Maybe fourth or fifth cousins. But anyhow they lived near us. Bluthy and Lij were just here and there a
lot. I couldn't tell you why they didn't
stay in one place. Lij was the nicest
looking person. … They had 3 sons,
Wayne, Kellen, and Art, and one daughter.
Art Eversole was the father of that girl whose picture I showed
you. Audrey said she thought Lij's boys
still lived in Arizona.”
As Nannie said, Joseph “Joe” Eversole was the next oldest.
He registered for the WWI Draft in Johnson County in 1917 as a resident of that
place, with his precinct/township listed as Hill, which was where his parents
lived. He listed himself as a farmer working for himself, so he may have had
his own farm by this time. He lists himself as supporting his wife, Maudie
Nichols, who he married in Johnson County on February 11th, 1917.
When he married her, he listed himself as a resident of Catalpa, which is a now
non-existent locale east of Oark and southeast of Patterson Springs. When he
registers for the draft, he lists himself as a resident of Fallsville, but that
is in Newton County. Like his brother Lige did on his draft registration, he
may have been listing his place of birth rather than his residence. Or else
there may not have been clear boundaries of where Fallsville began and ended,
so the general area southwest of there may have been referred to as Fallsville
by some Johnson County locals even though it was in a different county.
Joe and Maudie Eversole. Original in possession of Nathan Vaughan Marks.
According to Nannie, Joe and Maudie separated and he then
married to a woman named Hazel. No information on Hazel or when this marriage
occurred has been found. Joe had four children by Maudie, and ended up in Kern
County, California, where he worked as a crossing watchman for the Southern
Pacific Railroad. He lived in California for 37 years and died there May 29th,
1975. Regarding Joe, Nannie said, “Joe
Eversole lived in California the biggest part of the time. He was married to Maudie Nichols there in
Arkansas. I don't know how many children
they had. He and she separated. Then he married that lady I told you was
Hazel, and they didn't have any children.
Joe had Ted, R.L., and Lilly and Juanita. Lilly was the oldest child, and their daddy
got custody of them. As they got older,
they lived with their mother. The last I
heard, Ted and R.L. were still out in California, and Audrey got a big long
letter from Lilly about two weeks
ago. Juanita lived in Arizona, I think.”
Next in the family was Jesse Eversole. According to his wife
Nannie, they met when she was “12 or 13” (so about 1916-1917) but she saw him
infrequently as he often alternated between Oklahoma and Arkansas. They likely
met at their families’ shared church, Patterson Springs, whose member roster
includes Nannie’s parents, Thomas and Mary Anglin. In 1917, he lists himself as
a farm laborer for a John Anglin, and a resident of “Fallsville”, even though
he was registered for Hill Township in Johnson County like Joe was. He does not
report that he is supporting his parents or anyone else. He is not found in the
1920 Census, but was likely near Lincoln County, as Nannie reports he was
living there when her family moved there when she was about 19 years old, so
approximately 1923. Jess would go on to marry Nannie and have a large family.
He died in Cushing, Oklahoma on June 15th, 1973.
Nancy Eversole Barnett and Jesse Eversole. Original in possession of Nathan Vaughan Marks.
Regarding Jesse, Nannie stated: “I was probably about 12 or 13 years old before I met Jess, because he
was in Oklahoma a lot. We came to
Oklahoma in 1919, and I met him again.
We started dating and we got married. … When Jess and I got married in
September, we bought out Dill and Opal's share of the crop, because Jess and
Dill were farming together. Jess stayed
with Opal and Dill a while, and they farmed that year together. After we bought their share, I don't remember
where they went… We lived on Mr. Westover's place back in the 1930's when we
had those droughts that were so bad that you couldn't raise anything. One year we had just chopped cotton about
half a day. … We were having a hard time.
Roosevelt started up the WPA and the CC camps. Jess got to work for the WPA. There was a garment factory in Chandler, and
the women could work there. They'd give
these clothes to people who didn't have anything left. We knew the caseworker over there, and every
now and then, she'd bring me a bundle of clothes. We'd always butcher a big old
fat hog and make a bunch of sausage.
We'd smoke our own meat, so we made it all right. Whoever we rented from would always want Jess
to work for them, if they ever had some fence that needed fixing or anything
like that. We always made it, I felt
like, better than most people did.” She told a lot more stories about their
lives together, but as this is a post focused on Robert, giving several long
paragraphs to Jesse Eversole’s life will not add much to the narrative on his
father.
Nancy Elizabeth Eversole, the first daughter in the family,
married Andrew “Andy” Jackson Barnett on September 11th, 1914 in
Soper, Choctaw County, Oklahoma. Andy’s family, like Nancy’s, were from
Kentucky (Breathitt County), and then moved to Arkansas and later eastern Oklahoma
before he spent his late childhood in and near Davenport, Oklahoma. Nancy and
Andy must have met there, and they likely corresponded when the Eversoles moved
back to Arkansas, and later decided to marry. Andy continued working around the
Stroud area while Nancy stayed with her parents in Arkansas. They lived in
Oklahoma City by 1919, when their daughter Leola Marie was born. They continued
living in Oklahoma City and the surrounding area until their later years, when
they eventually settled in Wapanucka, Johnston County, Oklahoma. Nancy died at
their Wapanucka home on July 3rd, 1974.
Nancy Eversole and Andrew Barnett on their wedding day. Original in possession of Nathan Vaughan Marks.
Nancy Eversole Barnett and her daughter, Leola Marie Barnett, approximately 1920. Original in possession of Nathan Vaughan Marks.
Nannie said: “Nancy
lived at Oklahoma City then, but I don't remember what year she got married to
Andy Barnett. She was married to Andy
before we ever came to Oklahoma, because I remember that Andy was out here
working somewhere and she stayed there in Arkansas with the folks. I went home with Nancy to Grandma and Grandpa
Robert's house and had dinner with her folks one Sunday. … Andy said Nancy and
her mother didn't get along at all, that her mother didn't get along with
anybody very well. She and I made it
pretty well because I guess I was the boss.
Nancy brought Grandma down to stay a while, and Nancy told me, "Now
you have to let her do what she wants to, that's what she's used to at
Polly's."
Polly Eversole Manus on left, Eliza Radford Eversole in middle, Grady Manus on the right. The girl between Eliza and Grady is likely Opal. The child on Polly's lap would either be William or Ruby. Original in possession of Nathan Vaughan Marks.
Mary Eversole, who went by “Polly” and sometimes “Ollie”,
was married to Grady Manus, most likely in Oklahoma. When applying for Social
Security, she reported having been born in Jasper, Arkansas, which is in Newton
County, several miles from Robert’s homestead. They may have had to go that far
to see a doctor when Polly was born. They lived near her parents in Hill
Township and purchased the family farm when Robert passed away. They’re later
found in Hutchinson County, Texas in 1930 (where Lige is found the same year),
and they eventually settled in Kilgore, Texas, which lies in both Gregg and
Rusk counties. Eliza Radford Eversole appears to have primarily lived with
Polly’s family after Robert’s death. Eliza died in Kilgore in 1945. Polly and
Grady would later move to Bokchito in Bryan County, Oklahoma. She died there
May 26th, 1981 and is buried in Boswell, Choctaw County, Oklahoma.
Nannie had little to say about Polly; other than information on Polly’s
children, all she said was, “Polly Manus
used to come every summer to visit, but they never did live around close to
us.“
Dill Ance Eversole was the youngest of the brood. In 1917,
he registered for the draft at Bristow, Creek County, Oklahoma. He listed his
residence as Stroud, but reported his employed to be his father, Robert
Eversole, of “Spoke Plant, Madison County, Arkansas”. He is not located in the
1920 Census, but was likely in the Stroud area. He married Opal Mae Mathes on
February 10th, 1923 in Lincoln County, Oklahoma. He died November 21st,
1978 in Iraan, Pecos County, Texas.
Dill Ance Eversole. Original in possession of Nathan Vaughan Marks.
Nannie gives an excellent timeline for Dill’s life: “Dill and us kids used to go to school
together. Dill was our little
booger. He was always doing something to
pester us kids along the road. He used
to go out of his way to talk with us. We
used to have a lot of fun together. Dill
went to Sunday school with us. … Dill and Opal got married just before Jess and
I did. We all got to see each other a
lot then. Dill and Opal went to someplace
in Kansas for a while, but I don't know what they worked at out there. Anyhow, they were there 2 or 3 years before
they came back to Stroud. They lived at
a little town called Key West near Stroud. … I don't know what year Dill and
Opal went to Texas, but Ralph was born in Texas. Now Zelma was born at Key West. She's the same age as Eddie. Ralph was about the same age as Helen, and Dill
and Opal came back on vacation when Ralph and Helen were about 6 months
old. We had a good vacation, because the
kids thought Uncle Dill was about it.
When Dill and Aunt Opal would come we'd have ice cream, and cook and
have everything good. … I don't remember
what year Dill and Opal moved to Texas, but they lived in Kilgore or Longview
or somewhere and worked for an oil company before they moved to that town
[Iraan, Texas] where they lived so long. … Oh, he [Dill] would just do anything
in the world to be funny, to make you laugh, and it sometimes seemed he would
do anything to make you mad. He would
pester us and tease us about some old boy he knew we didn't like. Then he'd always get us laughing before he'd
go home. He'd never leave us when he
thought we were mad at him. He was a
monkey.”
The Eversole Boys, sons of Robert Eversole. The order appears to be Dill, Lige, Joe, and Jesse. Original in possession of Nathan Vaughan Marks.
Joe, Jess, Nancy, Polly, and Dill Eversole. Original in possession of Nathan Vaughan Marks.
Nannie also knew the Radfords. From what she says, they
would travel quite a ways from their home south of Red Star to come to church
at Patterson Springs. Jesse is not listed on the church roster, but his wife
Sally and son Jack are. Nannie reported: “When
we first met the Radfords, it was about 1912.
Eliza was a Radford before she married Robert. They lived 8 or 10 miles from where we did,
but they used to come over and go to the Baptist church where we went. … Now I
didn't know a lot about the Radfords, except I knew Grandma's daddy [Jesse]
because he used to come over where we went to church, when they'd have a big
association meeting or singing convention.
Mr. Radford was a good old man. I
don't think I can remember his given name, but he was a large guy, red
complected, with sandy colored hair. I
don't know how many kids they had.
Grandma [Eliza] had two brothers [that Nannie knew], Si and Tom. Si Radford married Becky Durham and Tom
married Mary somebody [Bowers]. I don't
know her last name. Mary used to live at
[Drumright], after Tom passed away. I've
been to her house and Si's, both. They
had a bunch of kids, but I couldn't tell you their names. … We used to go over
to Valley Grove to church and the Radfords lived in that area. We used to go over for all-day singing
conventions and week-end preaching.”
Sarah Eversole Radford on left, Jesse Radford on right. Behind them is Ollie Eversole Bowers. On Sarah's lap is Edward Radford, son of Jack and Ollie. Edward died not long after this photo was taken and is buried in the Radford-Freewill Cemetery. Original in possession of Carol Radford-Chowning.
After Jesse Radford died June 12th, 1917 and was
buried in the Radford-Freewill Cemetery just a stone’s throw from his
homestead, his wife, Sally Eversole Radford, continued living on her homestead
with her son, Jack. Jack continued to live on or near the homestead after his
mother died, and his children spent their early years living around there and
attending the Freewill School just south of there. Joy Russell of the Madison
County Genealogical and Historical Society graciously took the time to send a
good deal of information on Freewill School, including school rosters from the
late 1930s which proved Jack’s children attended there. Jack has one living
child, Joyce Radford Turner, who lives in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. She was born in
1931 in Madison County.
I have interviewed her a few times, including on a visit to
her home last year, in 2015. In our interviews on August 19th and 20th,
2016, she relayed some information about her childhood near the Jesse Radford
homestead. She reports that when heading west from the Radford-Freewill
Cemetery, you’re to take the first left you come to; the turn off is less than
¼ mile from the cemetery. The road goes south a ways before forking southeast
and southwest, and she states that Jesse Radford’s home was on the east side of
the road less than ¼ mile from the turn off, “way before” the fork in the road.
She says the Freewill School stood less than a mile from the turn off, also on
the east side of the road and approximately ½ mile south of Jesse’s home. She
also said Jesse’s barn was a little way down the road between his house and the
school. She visited the sites in 1999. All that remained of Jesse’s home was a
pile of stone where the well stood. Nothing remained of the school except the
flattened area of land where it stood. She reports that a remarkably old and
large tree for the area is the nearest landmark to where the school was, and
that if the tree is still there it is noticeably and significantly larger than
all the other trees around it.
When asked about where her family went to church, she
reported that her father, Jack Radford, always insisted on going to a Baptist
church; he would not attend anywhere else. She could not recall the Patterson
Springs Church, indicating he’d stopped attending there by her childhood in the
30s. She reported that for church on Sundays, they would head west from their
home and cross the Little Mulberry Creek. There was no bridge. People would
fell logs on both sides and put them across the river for people to go across.
If the water was too high, then they did not go to church that day. She could
not remember what church she went to as a child, but seemed to remember it was
near either Boston or Pettigrew. She said it was not as far north as Red Star.
It may have been the New Home Church, which was closest to the Radford farm,
but it is not known what denomination the church was. There was also a Baptist
church at Muddy Gap, which would have been the next-closest after New Home. She
said when they went to church they made a day of it; stayed all day, picnicked
there, and sang songs and listened to sermons well into the evening.
Joyce Radford Turner, 2015.
Joyce’s mother was Ollie Bowers. Three Bowers sisters
married three Radford brothers. Ollie married Jack, Mary married Thomas, and
Alma married Dillard. Her grandfather was James G. Bowers, who she reports was
a travelling preacher who did not have a congregation of his own. Apparently,
the “Radford boys” had a “pretty rough name”, and he did not approve of Ollie’s
marriage to Jack, and they were estranged for a while after their marriage.
Joyce said that the Bowers family thought Jack’s was “raunchy”. She said her
Grandpa Radford was “ornery” and she did not think he went to church much.
She also gave testimony about a more mysterious part of the
family. Wright Radford was a son of Jesse Radford, a product of his affair with
his mistress, Mary Bowling. Though he married in 1916 and was working in War
Eagle (Madison County) in 1920, Joyce said he “wasn’t right”. He was kept “hush
hush” by the family, and was, as she described him, “retarded”. Whether he was
born this way or became this way because of a disease or an accident is
unclear. She has distinct memories of him visiting her childhood home every few
months. She vividly remembers his large, scraggly beard, and said he was
covered in sores and bites from being infested with lice. He would come and
stay briefly every once in a while. Her father and mother would feed him and
boil his clothes for him before he moved on. He was apparently a transient. She
reports he was still alive when the family moved to Oklahoma about 1939-1940,
but it is unknown what became of him.
IV.
Where
is Robert Eversole Now?
Little is known about Robert in the time between his return
to Arkansas from Oklahoma, and his death. Even less is certain about where
ended up after his death. It is known that he travelled to the town of Dutton
in Madison County to vote, where he paid a poll tax in 1918. It is apparent
from records on Dill and Lige that the family considered themselves a part of
the Spoke Plant “locale”, despite residing in Johnson County while Spoke Plant
is in Madison. While Robert went to church at Patterson Springs and his
children would have attended school there if at all, there doesn’t appear to
have been a store at Patterson Springs, and there certainly was not a post
office. When arriving in Johnson County about 1913, his closest post office
would have been at Catalpa. The Spoke Plant Post Office was established in 1915
(http://genealogytrails.com/ark/madison/postoffices.html),
and that would have been a much closer destination for him.
Robert Eversole. Original in possession of the family of Gary Manus.
In March, 1920, Robert was enumerated for the 1920 Census in
Hill Township, Johnson County, Arkansas. On September 17th, 1921,
his wife and heirs sold the family farm to Grady Manus, his daughter Polly’s
husband. So Robert died within that 18 month timeframe, but it is not known
precisely when. It is known from his daughter-in-law Nannie’s testimony that
Robert was an exceedingly kind, generous, and loving man. Regarding Robert, she
reported:
“Grandpa Robert used
to meet us young folks at the door and shake hands with us, and brag on us for
being at Sunday School. He was so glad
to see us. … Grandpa was always happy and jolly and helped the neighbors. … When
he came over to go to church, he was as friendly and nice as he could be. And Robert was good, he was the best old
person. … He was always helping people.
People used to help people when they would clear off fresh land. They would have log-rollings, and put the
logs in a pile and burn them. He used to
help people when they would be putting a new roof on their house. Jess said whenever they would finish up a
house roof, that Robert would get up and stand on his head on the roof, just to
be funny. He was a small guy, he just
weighed about 118 or something like that.
He was about 60 when he died, in about 1920 or 1921. He had a real bad stroke. But he really could work and help people.”
Regarding Robert’s relationship with his wife, Eliza, who was known to be
rather cantankerous, she said: “I never
heard of Jess saying that they had any problems. Some said he had her spoiled to death.”
This testimony regarding Robert is one of two pieces of
evidence indicating the significant role that church had in Robert’s life. He
appears to have been a pious, Christian man based on both what Nannie said
about his love of seeing others at church, and from his well-read bible, which
I possess. Overlooking it’s age in general, it is clear from the minor marks,
stains, and spots on the pages that it was read and carried frequently. This is
as good an indication as any of where Robert was likely buried: the cemetery at
Patterson Springs Baptist Church, where he was a member.
Partial list of members registered at Patterson Springs Baptist church from 1915-1970. The full list is much larger, but these excerpts include families allied to the Eversoles. Courtesy of the Shiloh Museum Library.
Not only was he a member of the Patterson Springs Church,
also apparently sometimes called the Corinth Church, that was 1.5 miles down
the road from his farm, but the accompanying cemetery is also the closest
cemetery in proximity to his farm. We have no death certificate, obituary, or family
record to tell us where he was buried. All the family has known is the simple
assertion that he “was buried at Spoke Plant”. As indicated above, it appears
that large areas surrounding a particular locale were often referred to as
being a part of that locale. Just like some of the Eversole boys said they
lived at Fallsville while living in Johnson County, others said they lived at
Spoke Plant even though they lived in Johnson County. Neither the stores or
schools of those villages were actually in Johnson County, but they lived close
enough to them that their area was considered to be a part of those areas.
In measuring the geographic distance between Patterson
Springs Cemetery and the surrounding locales, one stands out as being quite a
bit closer than the others. Keep in mind that these distances calculate
straight shots from Point A to Point B; they are not representative of the
distance by road between these points, but they still indicate the general
distance. The cemetery to Oark is almost exactly 4.0 miles. The cemetery to
Fallsville is about 4.9 miles. The cemetery to Catalpa is about 3.6 miles. But
the closest locale is Spoke Plant, at about 3.25 miles. Based on this,
Patterson Springs could have easily been considered a part of the Spoke Plant
area, as it was the closest store and post office to it, and so by the family
recalling that Robert is “buried at Spoke Plant”, they could certainly be
referring to Patterson Springs.
Pages from the Robert Eversole bible in possession of Nathan Vaughan Marks.
Cemeteries often mark a somewhat central point around
pockets of people. Despite this region being largely rural and sparsely
populated in general, there were several other cemeteries in the vicinity of
the Robert Eversole farm. Nearly all these cemeteries have buried in them
distant relatives of this Eversole family, by both blood and marriage.
Additionally, nearly all the families buried at these cemeteries had come from
the same region of eastern Kentucky as the Eversoles and Radfords had.
The cemeteries I explored as possibilities for Robert’s
burial location are as follows: Evans Cemetery (near Spoke Plant), Reeves
Cemetery (north of Red Star), Old Bethel Cemetery (north of Red Star), Kapark
Cemetery (north of Bob Eversole’s original homestead), Dutton Cemetery
(northwest of the Bob Eversole farm in 1920, where Bob would go to vote), the
Oark Cemetery (in Oark SSE of the Bob Eversole farm in 1920), and of course the
Radford-Freewill Cemetery. Reeves and Old Bethel had the least likelihood of
being where Robert was buried, as he never appears to have been associated with
those areas despite living in a general proximity. Kapark would have been the
likely answer if the family still lived on the old Eversole homestead, but
unless Robert’s mother is buried there (which is possible; it is the best
candidate as a burial location for her) or he and Eliza had infant or stillborn
children who died and would likely have been buried there or at Red Star, then
it is unlikely the family would have gone out of their way (over 8.5 miles from
their 1920 farm) to have him buried there.
Bob’s only connection to Dutton is that he voted there, so
that is not a likely candidate. Similarly, his only connection to Oark is that
he lived near it, but he probably did not visit often as it does not appear to
have offered anything more than he could find at Spoke Plant. The third-best
candidate would be the Evans Cemetery. Burials at that cemetery include Holland
relatives of Eliza’s mother Grace, and at about 3.4 miles, it is the
second-closest cemetery to the Eversole farm in 1920. The second-best candidate
would be the Radford-Freewill Cemetery. Bob obviously had a close connection to
the Jesse Radford family, as his wife was Jesse’s daughter and his sister was
Jesse’s wife. He would have grandnieces and nephews buried there, and various
other in-laws, and he certainly spent significant time there over the years. It
was only 2.8 miles from his old homestead, second only to the 2.5 miles to
Kapark.
But by the time Robert died, Jesse was gone and only his
sister and nephew Jack remained in the area of the cemetery. It would have been
about a 4.25 mile trek to the cemetery from his farm in 1920. Considering that
Patterson Springs was only 1.10 miles down the road from his home, and the
likely attachment he would have had to his house of worship, Patterson Springs
still stands out as the most likely burial location. Further, if he had been
buried at the Radford-Freewill Cemetery, we would assume the family would say
he’s “buried at Red Star” rather than “buried at Spoke Plant”, since the family
was obviously very familiar with both cemeteries.
Spoke Plant Post Office/Store, 1938. From Rita Ficht's Family History Site: http://www.argenweb.net/madison/ritaficht/spokeplant.htm
Spoke Plant School in the early 1940s. From Rita Ficht's Family History Site: http://www.argenweb.net/madison/ritaficht/spokeplant.htm
Spoke Plant School in 2015. From Rick Henry's Hiking blog, http://henry411.blogspot.com
There is another factor that indicates Robert is buried at
Patterson Springs. It is that there may actually be a handmade stone for him.
Online cemetery resources indicate there are at least four, and possibly five
handmade concrete markers at the Patterson Springs Cemetery bearing the name “Eversole”.
No first names, no years, no other information other than the name “Eversole”.
One visitor claimed that she counted five markers, but she did not photograph
them. Another went to photograph the cemetery; he photographed only four, as he
only found that many. Whether there are four or five, four of the stones belong
to infant children of Lige Eversole, Robert’s son. Lige’s still-living son,
Artis Eversole of Arkansas, does not recall the names of his siblings, but does
remember there were four buried there and they were all children of his
parents. The 1940 Census indicates one of them would have been named Juanita.
These four photos were taken by Chuck Lorfing of Clarksville, Arkansas and uploaded to FindAGrave.com. Whether or not there is a fifth stone marker as found by Bea Smith Daniel when she visited the cemetery in 2008 is unclear.
If there is a fifth Eversole marker, it is almost certainly
Robert’s. But they are indistinguishable from one another, so it would be
impossible to know which was Robert and which were his grandchildren.
Regardless, the presence of these grandchildren of Robert Eversole in this
cemetery, though buried there over subsequent years after Robert’s death, lends
credence to the assertion that Robert too is buried there. Though Lige could
have buried his children at any of the other aforementioned cemeteries in his
vicinity as he lived in and around Johnson County, he was sure to bury them at
Patterson Springs. I believe that that is because his father was buried there,
and he wanted his children to be buried near or with his beloved father.
Robert Eversole and Eliza Radford Eversole. Taken about 1915-1920. Original in possession of Nathan Vaughan Marks.
This is all the information we have to go on in discerning
where Robert is buried. Without a date of death in that 18 month timeframe,
there is little chance of uncovering an obituary. It has been confirmed that he
has no death certificate on file anywhere. There were no funeral homes in that
area to have made arrangements for him, it is unlikely that the family could
have afforded a funeral home, or would have used one even if they could. These
Ozark mountain folk and their Appalachian ways dictated their own burial
practices. When Robert died, family, friends, and neighbors from all around
would have come down to the farm as they received word of his death, and as a
community they would have prepared the remains, built his coffin, dug his
grave, and brought him to his final resting place. It is hard to picture the
funeral procession travelling 3.4 miles or more to a cemetery other than
Patterson Springs, the place where Robert worshipped and the place where Robert’s
grandchildren would later rest.
A somber ceremony most certainly
took place at Robert’s old church that day. As his family and neighbors
remembered his kindness, his generosity, and his life of good deeds, they were
surely sorry to see him go. I’m sorry that he gone. And I hope that his memory
will live on among his descendants, and his legacy will continue through their
own kindness and good deeds.
Map created using Zeemaps.com. Plots residences of Robert Eversole and Jesse Radford, along with relevant schools, churches, cemeteries, and other locales mentioned through this article.
I want to thank again the people and resources that helped
me in this project, including but not limited to: my grandfather Clyde Marks,
Joyce Turner, Nannie Anglin Eversole (R.I.P.), Barbara Schneider, Carolyn Clouse Flynn, Joy Russell and the Madison County Genealogical and Historical
Society, Rachel Whitaker and the Shiloh Museum, Rita Ficht and her research on
and photographs of Spoke Plant, Rick Henry and his hiking blog, Darla Zegert, Keith Whittington, Susan Stallings, Artis Eversole, Carl Radford-Chowning, Doug Dawgz Blog, Don Pennington
and the Johnson County Historical Society, the Newton County Historical Society
website, Google, FindAGrave, Genealogy Trails, and all the other Eversole and
Radford descendants and researchers out there.
Please note that I utilized Google Maps to determine the GPS
positions of the points marked on the map I created, and double-checked using
Google Earth that actual cemeteries lay on those spots or remnants of those
villages are to be found in the vicinity of those points. Boulter.com allowed
me to determine the geographic distance between each GPS marker. Zeemaps.com
allowed me to make the map plotting out all the different points and adding
county lines.
I am listing here the GPS points that I complied and
utilized in this project. Some were gleamed from FindAGrave.com, some from
Google searches, and some I had to find on my own based on written directions.
Feel free to use any of these in making maps of your own.
Bob Eversole Farm, 1920 (Approx. Center): 35.758312,
-93.547628
Patterson Springs Cemetery: 35.742131, -93.541797
Dutton Cemetery: 35.81470, -93.69580
Radford-Freewill Cemetery: 35.81717, -93.52599
Spoke Plant Hollow: 35.768969, -93.589632
Evans Cemetery: 35.75170, -93.60810
Fallsville: 35.776469, -93.465461
Red Star: 35.866746, -93.530742
Bob Eversole Patent (Approx. Center): 35.826489, -93.477304
Jesse Radford Patent (Approx. Location of House): 35.814724,
-93.531449
Reeves Cemetery: 35.891920, -93.509731
Old Bethel Cemetery: 35.88223, -93.52474
Kapark/Capark Cemetery: 35.85940, -93.45860
Boston, Arkansas: 35.840635, -93.601299
Oark, Arkansas: 35.689525, -93.572409
Dutton, Arkansas: 35.816746, -93.693801
Muddy Gap Church: 35.80502, -93.60421
New Home Church: 35.842347, -93.572681
Freewill School (Approximate): 35.808908, -93.532871
Catalpa (Per Google): 35.691395, -93.526562
