The Poor Farm

  This morning my cousin, Windie, and I visited the local archives.  Our plan was to do more digging on our gg grandfather, George Henderson.  I scanned the reverse deed index while she read through old newspaper editions  looking for death notices for George or his wife, Susan.  Both of us came up empty-handed.
  Before we left I skimmed through the Westmoreland family folder.  One old newspaper article caught my eye- the poor farm. The article  under the picture told how "seven helpless, friendless, old people" now had a new home at the Maury County poor farm. The new building replaced the five old frame houses which were in  poor state of repair.  The caretaker was Cliff Westmoreland, our grandfather.  The article did not mention Nellie, our grandmother, but anyone who knew the couple would say Nellie ran the place.

   I have few memories of the poor farm as a child. I have seen photos of myself and my cousins hunting Easter eggs on the lawn and of Granddad sitting in his infamous chair, but few actual memories.  I do recall one of the tenants, a mentally challenged man named Leonard. At the age of three I was quite envious of Leonard's collection of  Romper Room toys of which I had none, but Leonard always shared.

What a difference a few days can make!!

Not only a few days, but a family reunion and a family "go-to" girl can make a big difference!  I am thrilled about the things I have learned about George W. Henderson.  Even though a lot of puzzle pieces are still missing, the form is taking shape.

George was born in England in 1827. Supposedly, his family died from an epidermic, and an uncle sent him to America as an indentured servant. It took seven years of service in the Cross Bridges community to pay for his passage.

At this point, no time line for George's early life can be determined.  There was a George Henderson, age 6, who appeared on the passenger list for the Ship Montreal. It departed from London, and later  arrived in New York on September 22, 1834.  Maybe more facts will surface to shed light whether this is our George.

George appeared on the 1860 census along with  Leecy  Henderson and two males ages 19 and 17 with the last name of McClure.  In reviewing Tennessee marriages, I found George  married Leecy McClure on Sept. 23, 1858. Apparently, she died sometime after 1860, and he remarried Susan Mills (my gg-grandmother) on Oct. 16, 1864.

George served in the Confederacy. He was a prisoner of war, but  I'll save that history for another day.

Back to the 1860 census, his occupation listed was stone mason.  At the reunion I learned George worked on the rock wall at the Pinewood Mansion in Pinewood, Tennessee.  After some online research I discovered the mansion burned in 1975. Disappointed with the news, I still had hopes the rock wall remained.

Today my cousin, Windie and I rode to Hickman County to find the walls of Pinewood. No disappointment today!! For the most part the walls are still intact. As I sat atop the wall posing for a picture, I felt a connection to the past and a sense of pride in the work 
my gg-grandfather did
over 100 years ago.

Back to work

      I've played hooky long enough.  It's time to begin researching again, but I'm not certain whose bones to begin digging up. 

  The Pilkinton family reunion is scheduled for this Saturday, and I plan to be there.  It's been years since I made an appearance. Maybe I can reconnect with distance relatives to see what family history they have preserved. Hopefully, this broken headstone will be addressed at the reunion. I'm not sure how long it has been broken, but it has been awhile. G.W. Henderson is my great, great grand-pappy. His daughter married an Pilkinton. Apparently "the family" focused on the paternal side because lots of information exists about the Pilkintons. Not much is known about G.W. other than he was born in England.