Pete Packett’s Papers: A Letter from Eston P. Packett, 1966

                                                                                November 16, 1966

Mr. Pete Packett

% Fort Myers News-Press

Fort Myers, Fla.

Dear Mr. Packett:

Received your letter and hope I can be of some help.

I knew your father and mother; they lived across the street from

my family when their first child was born.  They were living

with your Grandmother Webb.

Your dad came to see me in Knoxville about 1940.  Some of you

were in the service then.  He was pastor of a church in Lenoir

City at that time.

My father was Issac Henry Packett and my grandfather was Vinsent Packett.

Alvis Lee Packett’s father was Harbison Packett.  All

of this family was born and raised in Union County, Tenn.

My sister, Mrs. Della Morrell, who lives in Sevierville, Tenn.

has the old family bible with the records in it.  You can write

her:  Route 3 Sevierville, Tenn. 37862.

I have three children, all living in Lakeland, Fla.  My son Jack

Packett is with Publix – buyer for Gourmet Food and candy.  He

lives at 510 Lone Palm Drive.  My two daughters are Mrs. Roy Essary,

(Betty) and Mrs. Stephen Stith, (Barbara).

I hope this helps you in your search.  My sister probably can

give you additional information.

PS  My father, Issac Packett had only one brother, who was

Harbison Packett – A.L.Packett’s father.  Issac Packett

died in Knoxville, Tenn. in 1938.  I do not know who

John and Gaines Packett were.

Sincerely,

Eston P. Packett

2180 Colonial Ave.

Lakeland, Fla. 33801

And the first child that was born to my grandparents James and Ruth Packett?  That was my mother, Uncle Pete’s sister.

From Uncle Pete Packett

 

 

 

Letters

From my mother, Nov. 1, 1966:

“Well, little Mandy and I went last Wednesday to see Lonie Rodgers

to see if she knew any about the Packetts.  She was Grandma Packett’s

neice (sic).  Grandma Packett was a Rodgers….  I don’t know if you remember

Bob Yearout here.  Well they are related to the Webbs.  I knew that but

didn’t know how much.  They said my grand mother’s name was Rodie

Webb, which I always thought was Sarah.  I didn’t know my Grand-

father’s name but they said it was Cart.  Mrs. Yearout told me Sunday

night at church they were going to Wildwood Springs soon to see his

sister and she would know something.  I think he knows what he is

talking about because when I was very small we lived in Wildwood

Springs.  My father had a country store there and my mother owned

two houses.  I very well remember when they sold them…  My father

was Dr. L. D. Webb.  My mother Henry Etta Collins.”

Uncle Pete went on a letter-writing campaign in 1966.  This letter from his mother, who is my grandmother, shows how little she knew for certain about her grandparents.  Her father’s father was Lynch Webb, and his wife was Sarah Couch Webb.

“Little Mandy” is Amanda Packett.  “Grandma Packett” is my grandfather’s mother, Lily Rogers Packett.  “Lonie Rodgers” married Sam Rodgers/Rogers, the nephew of Lily Rogers Packett.

****

(More from Uncle Pete)

Henry Etta or Henrietta Collins Webb died May 3, 1934.  Lynch Delisha

Webb died when my mother was about 12 or 13, about 1906 or 1907.

My father’s parents were William Packett, who died about 1906 also,

and is believed to be buried in Dalton, GA, and Esther Lily Rogers

or Rodgers Packett, died in the early 1930s, and buried in Lenoir

City.

I also can recall as a child going to Wildwood Springs Cemetery with

mother and dad to trim up and decorate Grandfather Webb’s grave in

Wildwood Springs.  (My note:  no one knows today where his grave is, although I can find a death certificate.)

My father, James Packett, was born in Loudon County, TN Sept. 5, 1891,

and mother Ruth Jeanette Webb in Blount County, TN, March 25, 1894.

Letter from Mrs. (Douglas) Marie Hurst, Sevierville, TN, Jan. 8, 1967:

“I am Mrs. Marie Hurst, daught of Della P. Morell.  I am sending her

dad’s birth: Isaac Henry Packett, March 27, 1860.”

*****
Jan. 20, 1967 (More from Marie Hurst)

My grandmother’s maiden name is Mary Catherine Allbright, July 3, 1868,

at Union County.  Her dad’s name was Jasper Allbright, her mother’s

was Betty Wilson before her marriage to Jasper.

The rest of the births in the old Bible are grandmothers and grand-

father’s children.

Della Packett Morell, August 19, 1888

Leonard V. Packett, Dec. 18, 1889 (deceased)

Cora Lee Packett, Oct. 9, 1891 (deceased)

Martha E. Packett, March 11, 1894

Edgbert Packett, Oct. 23, 1897

Esten P. Packett, Oct. 28, 1900 – this is Betty Essary’s dad.  (Handwritten:  Cousin of Alvis Lee Packett of Knoxville.)

*****
More letters to follow!

 

 

Andrew Jackson Rhea and Rebeca Johnson Rhea

From the RV archives comes an old letter written by Andrew Jackson (A. J.) Rhea to his son William “Dock” Rhea.  This copy comes to me from cousin Diana McDonald of Mexia, Texas.  She sent many old letters written to Dock and his wife Martha “Mattie” Gamble Rhea.

A transcription of the letter follows the images of the letter.  For better viewing of any image or photo on this blog, left-click once, then once again to enlarge.

Comments, corrections, and questions welcome.

Pages 1 and 2 of a 4 page letter.

Ellejoy E Tenn Blount Co

May 5th 1880

Dour Son and douter it is with plasure that I rite you afue lines to let you no that wee air all well at pres hoping that this may fin you Aall injouningthe same good blesing I have had a very bad spell With my head tho I am Well and gone to Work a gane  I have No newes of much interist to rite you  Wee have hade a grate deal of rain this spring with wind and hal  on the last Satterday in March ther was  a Wind Storm thruu here bloed A tree don in and Kill that young givens (?) that worked with Hue Colt all so here horse and cripped tounsls Sliotey  it blod Claks Saw mill Shed don at Knoxvill and Kill him in it edd Clark Wheat is no promising by no moro (?) it has the rust  Son Wel air bee hind With oir crop this Spring tho I have a very good garden  I have potato sprouts large a nuf to put out the pech peair plum crop air all killed the canidates air All well primed and redding fur just to cock and shoot and Wee have loded More rule with A rifel charge  John Amprester is a canidat for constibell I beleve that is all the strang nuise that I have the relation on both sides air all Well as far as I no  Your Mothers helth is not very good tho she is stil going  Jack and Hettie has moved

I have not reseved but the one letter from you sense the card you rote me beefore you got to you joerney end and that dated New Years day  I have bin so anches that I have went to the ofes every mail and I cant tell what is up that you doo not rite and let me no how you air pleas and if you and your famly air well or not by you not riting makes me oneasy granma to the children love (sp?) you and minie must rite to me and rite often Dock I think often A bout you and your family  I would lik so well to see you all but I cant see you Kiss them littel children for me and tell them that I have not forgot them and never will  Dock don’t bee so long riting to us for wee wont to here from you  Jack saw your M(??) mair it mairvill (Maryville) the other day  She is in fine order  he did not see the colt  Granma Joncen is here and sais she would lik to see you all and tried to get to your house beefour you lef but coulnot  So I will close by asking you a gain to not fail in riting to us  We send our love to you and family take car of your helth and trust your sol in car of the blesed Savore

So we no at present your father and mother A. J. and Rebeca Rhea to W. F. Rhea

I forgot John Hedrick is out of the penetenture and (??) Nell Cuningham cals here babe rebeca Lue.

*****

There are a lot of records available on www.ancestry.com about A. J.Rhea.  He was in the Civil War, having been born about 1815, and lived to at least 1891 when a Tennessee census shows him to be about 76 years old.  After his son Dock moved west to Arkansas, then Oklahoma, A. J. and Rebeca most probably never saw those children again.  If there was a reunion, I have no proof of it.

Merah Yearout

Merah Yearout

In a cleaning effort earlier this week to lighten the load here at the RV Palace and Genealogy Repository, I found Merah Yearout hiding in an overhead compartment of the RV.  No, not the true Merah, who is buried in the Lenoir City Cemetery, but the photo from Dan Yearout that I referred to in an earlier post.  I also found Merah’s Civil War file, which is printed on legal size paper.  My scanner will only scan 8 1/2 X 11 paper, so I will have to figure out a system to scan the files so that I can post them to the blog.

And I know y’all just can’t wait.

Merry Webb, Senior, Deceased 1864

Merry Webb Senr Deceased

State of Tennessee

Blount County                                   To all persons greeting  Whereas at our County Court House for the County of Blount at the Court House in Maryville on the 1^st Monday of October 1864 it appears to the Court that Merry Webb Senr late of said County had died having first made his last Will and testament in which Merry Webb and Henry Webb are appointed Executors and the same will having been proven and admitted to record and the said Merry Webb and Henry Webb qualified as Executors.  It was ordered that Letters Testamentary issue and We therefore empower the said Merry Webb & Henry Webb to take into their possession all and singular the Goods and Chattels Rights and Credits of said Testator wheresoever the same may be found, and all just debts of said Testator and all the Legacies specified in said Will well and truly to pay, so far as the said Goods and Chattels, Rights and Credits may extend and in all things to administer said Goods and Chattels Rights and Credits, according to the tenor (sp?) of said Will and the law of the Land.

Witness         Thos. Sanderson, Clerk of said Court at office in Maryville the 1^st Monday of October 1864.

                                                                                Thos. Sanderson, Clk.

Merry Webb, 1778-1864

Merry Webb, 1778-1864, at the Myers Cemetery in Townsend, Tennessee. The building in the background is a welcome center.

Merry Webb had property in Tuckaleechee Cove in Blount County, Tennessee.  He was married two times, and had a large family. 

He died in Blount County, Tennessee, on September 23, 1864.  He left a will dated January 11, 1857. 

Tuckaleechee Cove was so remote that it wasn’t even on this map in 1895. 

BigBroBob, awesome researcher guy that he is, sent me a copy of Merry’s will.  If you’ve ever read an old will, it usually has flowery language that addressed the person physical andmental condition.  Many of the old wills that I’ve read all begin so similarly that it makes me wonder if there was a form letter, of sorts, that the will maker just filled in the blanks. 

For instance,

In the name of God Amen  I Silas Malcom of the County of Blount and State of Tennessee being Sick and weak of body but of Sound mind and disposing memory for which I thank God and calling to mind the uncertainty of human life and being desirous to dispose of all such worldly Substances as it hath please God to bless me with I give and bequeath the Same in manner following that is to say 1st I desire that all my debts in this country if any there are Should be paid together with my funeral expenses  2dly  I give to my wife Mary Malcom all my estate of whatever it May consist except as hereinafter Specified…

Here’s Merry’s will.  The transcription will follow.

State of Tennessee  Blount County  I Merry Webb do make and publish this as my last will and Testament hereby revoking and making void all other wills by me made at any other time  First I direct that my funeral expenses and all my just debts be paid as soon after my death as possible out of any moneys that may be on hands or that may first come into the hands of my Executors  Secondly I give and bequeath unto my wife Fanny all my household and Kitchen furniture and also all the land along the land that is running South at or near where L. P. Dunn now lives including the dwelling house I now live in with the other out buildings on Said lot in as much as the widow and minor heirs can cultivate and if any land that they cannot cultivate is to be rented out and the proceeds to go to said widow and minor heirs and also all my small notes and money on hand to be give to my wife and minor heirs  3dly I give and bequeath to my two daughters (to wit) Jane and Emeline when they become of lawful age or marry to have a good bed and fixtures each also one horse and Saddle each to be worth one hundred dollars also one good cow and calf each also eight dollars each for furnishing their houses  4thly I also give and bequeath my black girl Hannah to my two sons Robert and David the use of Said girl to my wife and Minor heirs until they shall arrive at the age of twenty one years together with the increase of said Hannah if any  5thly I direct that my black boy John be held under the same restrictions of Hannah until the death of my wife or change of widowhood then said boy to be sold to highest bidder  6thly I give and bequeath to my four sons and Son Lynches heirs Merry Henry Robert David and Lynchs heirs all my land in Blount County to be equally divided when my son David arrives at the age of twenty one years if the above named parties can agree  If not to be submitted to referces (referees?) all my land below the land to the first cross fence to be occupied by my son Henry and from the cross fence down to be occupied by my son Merry  East lot to run south with the said land and cross fence to said Mountain so as to give each one access to timber

            Also my farm that said Lynch lives on which I have given him the liberty of occupying said farm for the benefit of his lawful heirs  I further direct that my three sons (to wit) Merry Lynch and Henry pay the Taxes on said land annually and Keep up the fences in good repair on the premises  7thly I further direct that all my horses with two good milch cows be brought to sale to the highest bidder the horses and cows above named to go to the use of my wife and minor heirs also my stock hogs and sheep to also go to the use of my wife and minor heirs  8thly I further give and bequeath to my daughter Rachel three hundred dollars and to my daughter Wionnefred two hundred and Seventy five dollars also to my daughter Anna one hundred and fifty dollars also to my daughter Elizabeth one hundred dollars and fifty to be paid as her wants may demand also to my daughters (to wit) Jane and Emeline three hundred each I further instruct that the balance of my money of eight hundred dollars with the interest coming together with the Sale of my negro boy John to be equally divided between my Six daughters to wit Rachel Nancy Sarah Winnafred Jane and Emeline  I also give and bequeath to my son Merry one hundred and twenty five dollars as a compensation of a certain Gray mare to be paid when David arrives at the age of twenty one years  I further instruct that two hundred dollars be deducted out of the eight hundred that I have above bequeathed to my six daughters to be expanded for two horses and Saddles each to be worth one hundred dollars each for the use of my two Sons Joint Robert and David also my wagon and all my farming tools to go to the use of my wife and Minor heirs  I hereby nominate and appoint my two sons Merry and Henry Webb and George Snider Executors of this my last will and testament in witness whereof I do to this my last will  Set my hand and seal this 11^th day of January 1857

Attest  (George Freshour                                     his

              (Jacob Freshour                            Merry  X  Webb (Seal)

                                                                                    Mark

 

[This will was probated in 1864.  There was another will that was never probated, probably a previous will that he makes mention of in the beginning of this will.]

*****

Merry gets right down to business in his will.  No reference to his mental or physical state.  No reference to the glory of God.  He’s agitated about something.

*****

My grandmother’s father was Lynch Delisha Webb, a doctor.  In 1860, he was 4 years old.  His father was also named Lynch Webb, who was in the Civil War although he was roughly 40 years old.  My mother used to have a miniature Confederate flag on her kitchen table.  One day she received a copy of Lynch the Soldier’s Pension file.  He was in the GAR.  She was horrified when she found out that the GAR was the Grand Army of the Republic, not the Confederacy.  I’m grateful that she was already deceased when BigBroBob found that another of Mother’s ancestors, this one a Packett, was also in the GAR.  Finding that out might have just killed her. 

 

Lynch's age is incorrect, probably due to a transcription error from a faded census. He is most likely 39, not 29. His son Merry, age 11, is Francis Marion Webb. His son Lynch is my great-grandfather. My grandmother told me that when her father was a little boy, just tall enough to look out the window, he saw the Union soldiers march by. I said, "Oh, they were the bad guys, right, Grandma?" She said, "Not really."

Here's Lynch the Doctor with his mother-in-law Ruth Gamble Collins and her youngest daughter Ivy Collins Coker, circa late 1800's.

Merry makes it clear that he has no use for his son, Lynch the Soldier, except for Lynch to pay the taxes on the land, and Merry refers to “Lynch’s lawful heirs”.  That sounds to me like Lynch had at least one illegitimate child.  Merry is so agitated about it that he wrote his second will in 1857, and cut Lynch out of the will.  No copy of his first will has been found.

Lynch (L. D. Sr.) Webb, Co. B 2nd Tennessee Cav, Vols McTeer Post #39 GAR, 3/15/1825-12/18/1893. Sarah rests to his right.

Sarah (Couch) Webb, wife, 4/9/1824-7/13/1906. Gone but not forgotten.

The graveyard is to the right, behind the church, Prospect Baptist, where Lynch and Sarah are buried.

From the Tennessee State Library and Archives, I received the following on December 24, 1999, an early Christmas present:

Apparently things are a bit resolved by the time Lynch dies in 1893, which only took about 30 years. This copy comes from the Microfilm Roll No. June 10, 1891 - February 14, 1895, Book - December 20, 1893, Page 1, Column 3, of the Blount County Newspaper, the Maryville Times. F.M. Webb is Lynch the Soldier's son, Francis Marion Webb, who served in Lynch's place for 3 years. By the time F.M. Webb left the service of the Union Army, he wasn't even old enough to have legally enlisted at age 18.

Left-click to read Sarah Webb’s obituary.

Time heals all, or at least suppresses it enough until a genealogist digs it up again and publishes it on the internet.

Ruth Webb Packett and Baby Evelyn at Old Gray Cemetery, Knoxville, TN

My grandmother Ruth with her first-born Evelyn Ruth

 

This photo was taken after May 31, 1918.  I know this for a fact because the baby in the photo in my mother, and her birthday is May 31, 1918. Her father, James Packett, had probably returned to France where he served in WWI by the time this photo was taken. I can see the shadows of two people in the foreground, and I suspect that the shadow on your left is probably the photographer. He/she appears bent over, and this was the stance that you had to take when using that particular box-style of Kodak camera that had to be held waist-high so that you could look through the viewfinder on the top of the camera.

Old Gray Cemetery began in the mid-1800’s.  It became a popular place to go on an outing because of the beautiful grounds and park-like setting.  That notion seemed bizarre to me when I first heard about it, but when I saw pictures of Old Gray Cemetery, I was convinced that the notion wasn’t as bizarre as it seemed.

You can read more about Old Gray Cemetery by left-clicking here.

Dr. Lynch Delisha Webb

When I was growing up, my grandmother Ruth claimed that her father was a doctor. 

A real doctor. 

A medical doctor. 

I said, “Heh.  Grandma, are you off your meds?”

Turns out, Grandma was right.  He was a medical doctor in Knox and Blount Counties in Tennessee around the 1900’s.  Grandma said that she could go out with him if he went in the buggy on house calls.  Sometimes he went out on horseback to the more remote regions of the county.  He died in 1913 from a second recurring bout of pneumonia.  When he would return on horseback in the winter, he might be frozen into the stirrups, and his wife Henrietta “Etta” would pour hot water on his boots and stirrups until he could dismount.  I conjecture that his pneumonia came after such an expedition. 

Anyway, this photo comes to me from cousin Harry Coker from about 10 years ago.  Through the magic of the internet and technology, Harry sent this photo to me via email.  This photo has Dr. Lynch Delisha Webb, Ivy Collins (later Coker, and Harry’s grandmother), and Ruth Gamble Collins.  Ruth had several children.  Henrietta was the oldest, and Ivy was most probably the youngest. 

I *LOVE* technology.

Mistletoe Grove

Mistletoe Grove, the old Tison place.

During the summer of 2008, Sugar and I found the old Tison place, Mistletoe Grove, by Sugar’s clever sleuthing.  He found an old map in an old book and figured it out.  We went there a couple of times that summer.  The first was to check it out, and the second was to lead the way for a Tison descendant who was in search of her family history.  There is nothing better than to watch someone discover their roots. 

This house is on the property of the Webb Wildlife Center.  This post is basically pictures of the house.  The house was locked but I used my patented method, patent pending, of photography by pressing the camera lens to the window and snapping away.  I’ve gotten some interesting shots of things using this method.  It works well when the window is too high or in an awkward location.  Sometimes Sugar gives me a boost, and after seeing that rear-end shot of myself yesterday, I understand why he can’t lift me very high.  Pilates, coming soon to a fatty near you.

Front right

Outbuilding shown in the photo previous to this one.

Let’s go under the house.  Watch out for spiders.

The underside of the front steps.

Thru the window.

The van so often seen lurking in the background.

It was unbelievably hot that day.  Hot like an oven.  I get really cranky when the back of my neck gets hot and sweaty, and I was waaaayy cranky that day.  It’s hot like that here today.  It’s so hot you can’t get your breath easily.  How did our ancestors exist in this kind of heat?  Nonetheless, it was a good day, and we felt like explorers finding something that no one had seen for centuries, and we stood in awe of it.  There was a tree behind the house that bore some kind of mealy little pears. 

And I snagged a canna lily.  It needed to be rescued.

(Many thanks to Mr. Lawton for supplying the pictures!)

Dressed-Up Eubanks People

Kathleen & James

This brother and sister are my mother’s 1st cousins.  Their mother was Gertrude Webb Eubanks, and one of her sisters was my mother’s mother.  (By now everyone knows that Mom’s mother was Ruth Webb Packett, if you have been paying attention.)

They lived in Knoxville, TN.  Since there were other folks named James in Mom’s family, everyone referred to this James as “Jimmy Eubanks”, but we all said it like it was one word “JimmyEubanks”.  He went on to become a professor at the University of Tennessee.  He also whittled and painted little birds as a hobby, which was an amazing talent considering that he had rheumatoid arthritis.  My memory of him was in a wheelchair, like a wise little bird himself, with his head cocked to one side, smiling at the world in spite of his infirmity.  I did not know Kathleen, but I can see that she was a snappy dresser.

The back of the photo

The back of the photo is stamped with the date of April 17, 1930.  I thought we were having a depression then, but these folks seem to have been doing alright, and now I’d like to know more about their circumstances.  (Edited on 2/7/2010: see the post for them on the 1930 census)

And why are they dressed up, posing for a photo in the springtime?  Why, it’s EASTER!