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Note: I searched for years for some record of the birth and death dateof my great grandfather, Lewis Stanton. One day a lady called.She was cleaning an old trunk and found a little book. Therewritten in pencil and very dim (but to me it shined like gold)was the birth and death date and other names and dates. Thisbook had belonged to Lewis Stanton, Jr.'s second wife (MaudieStanton Vaughn -- written in her Hyde writings)The Stanton StoryLewis Stanton, Jr., son of Lewis Stanton, Sr. and ElizabethSmith Stanton, was born 24 July 1816, either in N. C. or Tenn.,the l850 census says Tenn. He died 20 Nov. 1885, in McMinn Co.,Tenn., in the Clearwater Community, where he had lived most ofhis life. He is buried in an abandoned cemetery where BruceHenry's farm was located. Near the cemetery there once was apost office called Cisco. This old burial site was once calledthe Morrison Burial Grounds. His father, Lewis Stanton, Sr.,born 1772 in Virginia, and his mother, Elizabeth Smith Stanton,born 1780 in N.C., are also buried at Morrison Burial Grounds.Lewis, Jr. married first about 1836 to Artisimia "Artie" Power.We think Lewis, Jr. may have married Artie in Alabama as thereis no record of the marriage in McMinn County, Tenn. in an oldBible, in the hands of a granddaughter in Oklahoma, is written,Artie Power born in Alabama". We think the Stantons were inAlabama for a few years, as they are not found in the 1840 Tenn.census.Artisimia Power (her name has been spelled so many ways;Artisemia Articena, Artisimmia) was born ca 1822. She died Aug.1879 and is buried at the Morrison Burial Grounds. There was aHolloway Power who was a Revolutionary War soldier out of S.C.,and who may have been the father of our Holloway Power.We believe both Lewis, Jr. and Artie were of the Methodistfaith. The old records of Tranquility Methodist Church wereburned in the house of the secretary of the church so we do notknow when Lewis became a member. If Lewis, Jr. was in the wars,we have no record of it. He was too young for the War of 1812,and as for the Mexican conflict there surely would have beensome record had he fought.Lewis, Jr. was a strong unionist during the War between theStates which must have been hard for him as Confederates were incontrol here in McMinn County in the early years of that war. Hewas constantly harrassed by the Confederate Conscriptors andshot the horse from under one who came to his home trying toforce him into the Confederate Army.He was very inventive and it is said that he made a tobaccopress for making chewing tobacco. He grew his own and addedflavoring in the form of licorice and pressed it into sheetsthen cut into plugs. We know he had vices such as his tobaccoand whiskey. In those days most people kept whiskey formedicinal purposes. He probably used it for purposes other thanmedicine as it is said that he had a yearly supply of whiskeydistilled at one of the public distilleries. I don't suppose hedrank to excess or I have never heard of it and he was muchloved and respected by his children.Artisimia, or Artie, had quite a good education for her day andshe taught her children. She knew music and taught each child toplay several musical instruments, mostly string. One of hersons, John Franklin Stanton, played horn in a brass band as wellas a grandson she raised. Another son played in this but whatinstrument he played is unknown. Another son, Lewis HollowayStanton, played violin and this band played at many functions inthree counties. Rhea Springs in Rhea County, now covered by thewaters of Watts Bar Lake, was a sort of Spa with people comingfrom all over to drink and bathe in the waters of the mineralsprings. Since a large hotel was built to accommodate theguests, there were dances and musicals for their entertainment.The Stanton boys played there many times. For many years afterthe Civil War, Decoration Day was a big celebration with peopleplacing flowers and flags on the soldiers' graves and the bandplayed on those occasions.One time well remembered by the children of Lewis, Jr. was thetime the band rode their horses to Madisonville to play forcommencement exercises at Hiwassee College. Whittle Springs,near Knoxville, was owned by a cousin in those days and theStanton boys played for dances there. When Simon Stanton wentwest, the band broke up, as Simon was the leader.Artisimia knew some medicine and doctored her neighbors as wellas her own family. Her grandson, LeAnder Stanton, said shestudied medicine. She is said to have known some Greek so sheprobably had some training in her early years. She must havebeen a fairly good nurse as she raised ten children and threegrandchildren. There is no record that she lost a child. All herchildren lived to be quite old with the exception of Lucinda.She did beautiful needle work and knit beautiful things. Some ofher work is still in existence and kept by her descendants.When her son, John Franklin, married Mary Ann Wattenbarger therewas some fear on the part of Mary Ann as to how she would fitinto a family so different from her own. The Wattenbargers wereMethodists but Mary Ann's mother was a devout Baptist and rearedher children in that faith. Mary Ann's grandfather, JonathanThomas, had given the land for the Baptist Church called "RogersCreek". Here Mary Ann, her brothers and sisters attendedfaithfully. She was reared very strict. There was morning Biblereading and prayer as well as evening family worship. Suchthings as music outside the church and dancing were very sinfulto her. Drinking of whiskey or other intoxicating drinks wasunheard of in her home. However, Artie loved Mary Ann and madeher feel so welcome she came to adjust to the Stanton ways.On one occasion while visiting at her in-laws, all the boysgathered and were playing their instruments and onegranddaughter was dancing. Mary Ann was shocked. Artie gave hersome advice, "If you do not want this sort of thing in yourhome, do not let it start". So it was never allowed in John andMary's home. Grandpa John never played his violin in the home onSunday as Grandma Mary remarked, "The devil may not be in thefiddle but he is not far away from it". She did make oneconcession; she joined Grandpa John's church, TranquilityMethodist, and was a faithful member although I believe herheart was still at Rogers Creek Baptist.After Artisimia died, Lewis, Jr. had one daughter still single.She was named Artisimia also. She took care of her father andthe household. Lewis, Jr. had a white linen coat he wore tochurch on Sunday. This coat had to be washed and starched eachweek. He started looking for a new wife, and had his eye on ayoung widow who attended the same church as Lewis, Jr. and hisdaughter, Artisimia or Teen" as she was called. Teen did notlike this as it hurt her to see her father courting the youngwidow. She talked it over with her father and they made anagreement that she would go to church one Sunday and he would gothe next, one of them staying home while the other went tochurch. One special Sunday which was Lewis, Jr's turn to go,Teen wanted to go very badly. She worked a scheme to keep herfather at home. She washed his white linen coat and starched itso stiffly that he could hardly get it on. He decided it wasjust too stiff to wear and Teen got to go to church. Of course,all the starch and trickery did not prevent his marriage to theyoung widow who was about 27 years younger than he.Many stories have been told down through the years that I wouldlike to record. I hope the reader will take into considerationthat I have very little formal education and my spelling andpunctuation are terrible.One story is as follows: The last child born to Lewis, Jr. andArtie was during the Civil War. This being their tenth child, Isuppose they had just about exhausted names and he was calledLittle Yankee soon shortened to Yank. He was to grow up tobecome a doctor.During the war there were shortages of everything. Bands ofsoldiers came through the country taking food, horses, andeverything they could carry away with them. There was no salt,coffee, or so to be had at any price. Even kerosene for thelamps and candles could not be purchased. One night, Artie wasknitting socks by the light of the fire in the fireplace. Pineknots, rich in resin, were used to make a bright light. Sheremarked, "Someone throw another pine knot on the fire, 'I'vedropped a stitch". Little Yank got down on the floor and startedscratching around. "What in the world are you doing", his sisterasked. "I was hunting mammy's stitch she dropped, he replied. Hegot a lot to teasing about this.When Yank was about six years old and having heard hisgrandfather's stories about George Washington, he decided toname himself George Washington Stanton, so that became his name.Uncle George always wanted to be a doctor and worked hard tobecome one. He was a faithful healer of the sick, deeplyreligious and since he had little to doctor with in his day, heprayed a lot. One time during the typhoid epidemic, he hardlywent to bed for weeks. He was constantly on the road tending tothe sick and dying. He would go to sleep in his buggy and hisold horse would find the way home. Aunt Emma, hearing the buggypull into the barnyard, would find Uncle "Doc" asleep. He was amember of Buttrams Chapel Methodist Church and after moving intotown he attended the Old Allen Memorial Methodist Church wherehe sang in the choir. He had a great sense of humor and loved agood story. He was tall and skinny with protruding ears. Mymother used to say, "In a strong wind his ears could almostcarry him away like wings".Uncle George loved antiques and had refinished many old piecesof furniture that had belonged to his parents. When his housecaught on fire he kept going back into the smoke filled roomstrying to save some of his furniture. He was overcome with smokeand was never well again. He could have had a fine home but hechose to live among the people who needed him. He had many smallrent houses and during the "Depression" he let people live inthem rent free, and as far as I know he never sent a bill toanyone.Lucinda Elizabeth Stanton was the first child of Lewis, Jr. andArtisimia Power Stanton. She married when quite young and hadseveral children. When she was expecting her last child, shewent to the well to draw some water. The well was equipped witha windlass and somehow the handle slipped from her hand andspinning rapidly, it struck her in the side. This injury causedher death. She left quite a large family and Lewis, Jr. andArtie took them in to rear. Their father married again to mygrandmother Boyd's sister, Roxie Ann Hyde. The older childrenresented their stepmother and continued living with theirStanton grandparents.Sitha Retta, called Ritter, was the second child of LewisJr.,and Artie. She and her sister, Phoebe Ellen, were somischievous they were called "NIP" and "Tuck". When Ritter wasold enough to marry her parents had sort of "picked" a husbandfor her but Ritter had other ideas. The Loughinillers, latercalled Lockmillers, lived near the Stantons. Mr. Lockmiller wasa surveyor and farmer and was at one time sheriff of McMinnCounty. He had a son, Judson.Ritter and Judson had been courting on the sly but her parentsthought Ritter was going to marry the boy of their choosing. Thedate was set for Ritter's wedding so Ritter knew she and Judsonhad to do something quickly or she would marry the man shedidn't love: One day she and Judson made plans for an elopement.Ritter pretended to be ill with what was then called the "summercomplaint". We call it diarrhea now. Ritter was upstairs andwhen it became night, she started throwing her clothes out thewindow. She would come down pretending to be going to theoutside "john. She was taking her clothes to a patch of woodsnear the road. After she had everything she needed, she quicklydressed and Judson came riding by on his horse. Ritter jumped onbehind him and they eloped and were married. All was forgivenand Judson and Ritter lived on her father's place in a smallhouse until her two children were born. The war came along andthe Confederate Conscriptors came to force Judson to join theirforces. He refused and was beaten so badly he knew they wouldeventually kill him. He decided to walk to Kentucky where hecould join the union forces. The last Ritter saw of him, he cameback for his coat, she handed his coat out the window to him andkissed him goodbye. He made it to Kentucky and took a harvestjob bundling oats. He was bitten by either a poisonous spider orsnake. He dies and was buried somewhere in Kentucky. A Mr.Crittenden came back after the war and told Ritter of his death.She had a deep hatred for the Confederates and said she woulddespise a democrat as long as she lived because of what they didto her husband.Ritter's brother, William Stanton, was best friend of IsaacLarge. William was three years younger than Ritter. William wasworking on steamboats hauling freight on the Tenn. River whenthe war broke out. He and Isaac decided to go to Kentucky andjoin the Union forces. They slipped throught the Confederatelines at Cumberland Gap and joined-at Flat Lick, Kentucky. Afterthe war was over and both came back home, Ritter married IsaacLarge and they had two sons. She had a daughter and son byJudson Lockmiller. Ritter was the grandmother of Ruth LockmillerSnyder who taught school at McMinn High School. Ruth married hercousin, Ray Snyder, Isaac and Ritter decided to go to Texas andsold their farm to her brother, John (my grandfather) and wentby train to somewhere in Texas. On the way, their trunkcontaining most of their clothes and all their family pictures,was lost. They didn't stay in Texas very long and came back toMcMinn County where they bought a farm where Arthur Wade nowlives. The old house, or rather part of it is still standing.Isaac is buried in a private cemetery near their old house.After William Mongomery (Montgomery) Stanton, third child ofLewis, Jr. and Artie, came home from the war he married SamanthaParalee Monroe, the granddaughter of Rev. George Monroe. Williamand "Sam", as she was called, went to Holden, Missouri. Theylived there several years. This part of the country was prettywild as the James boys lived in that area and gangs of outlawsroamed the county. William sold out and moved to Selma, Kansaswhere he and his two sons farmed and ranched. After "Sam" diedand one of his sons having gone to Montana, William went livewith the son and died in Montana at the age of 95 years. He wasburied in Kansas.He only came back to Tennessee once after leaving here. AuntLouisa was only a small girl at the time he visited Tennessee.She told me she would never forget how her father, John, and hisbrother, William, cried when they saw each other after so manyyears and how they embraced each other. She said that itfrightened her, as she had never seen her father cry.When Uncle William was in his eighties, he would ride his horse,put his hat on the ground and would gallop past, bending overand pick up his hat. He and Uncle "Doc" loved cars and they eachbought a Ford as soon as they were available. Uncle "Doc's" sonwas one of the first persons killed in an automobile accident inMcMinn County. He was killed near where L.W.Wattenbarger's storeis now.Phoebe Ellen was the fourth child of Lewis, Jr. and Artie. Shewas in love with Joseph Sliger, a Confederate and a democrat,which didn't set too well with her parents, but the Sligers weregood Methodists. After Joseph came back from Vicksburg (he hadbeen so ill from the siege he was paroled rather than takenprisoner), he and Phoebe Ellen were married and settled nearBrush Creek where they farmed and reared a large family. Theyalso reared a grandson, son of their daughter who died when hewas a baby.The fifth child of Lewis, Jr. and Artie was James KelseyStanton. He married Mary Elizabeth Frye and after his marriage,he lived In Meigs and Rhea Counties. After 1880, he and MaryElizabeth and family went to Oklahoma. Some of their childrenwent to Idaho and Washington. Two of the sons went to Alberta,Canada and homesteaded wheat farms. While there they marriedsisters, Canadian girls of English descent. They eventually cameback to Washington State where their descendants live now.My grandfather, John Franklin, was the fifth child of Lewis, Jr.and Artie Stanton. He was 26 years old when he married mygrandmother, Mary Ann Wattenbarger. He was not a strong man,being plagued with asthma all his life, but he and Mary Annworked hard and accumulated quite a bit of real estate and savedsome money.Grandpa loved people and he would be very disappointed if hedidn't have guests for Sunday dinner. He had a great sense ofhumor and loved to play jokes on his friends and relatives. Hefarmed and raised stock for years. He had a contract with aneastern buyer to send stock to him. Grandpa rode all over thecounty buying cattle and horses to be shipped by rail to thebuyer. One time he bought the smallest scrawniest donkey hecould find put it in with a shipment of fine horses in the stockcar. When the train got to its destination, the buyer was there.Out trotted the donkey. It is said the man really laughed andremarked, "I don't have to ask where that shipment came from" Heknew Grandpa's brand of humor.He later had a country general store and it was a joy to go seeour grandparents on Sunday. Grandpa would take us down to thestore and we could pick out the kind of candy we wanted. He andgrandma only had four children; Uncle Lewis, Dad, Aunt Julia andAunt Louisa. Uncle Lewis and dad worked very hard as littleboys. They had little time for play and on rainy days they madetoys, of a sort, in Grandpa's shop near the barn. They each hada rifle and would hunt every chance they got. They slept in aroom built off the back porch and having to get up at 4:00 inthe morning, they were always off to bed at an early hour. Therewas a man in the neighborhood that had treated some of the youngpeople in the neighborhood pretty badly. In fact, he was kind ofa grouch. One Halloween night, dad and Lewis went to bed earlyand when they knew their parents were asleep, they slipped outof the house and went to Mr. Grimes' barn. They took his wagonapart and climbing to the top of his barn, they put it backtogether again. The next morning Mr. Grimes discovered thisoutrageous act and raised a big fuss. People came from all overthe community to see the wagon atop the barn. Grandpa, standingin the crowd said, "Whoever did this should have a goodwhipping. I'm glad I knew where my boys were last night."Dad was in school, the equivalent of our high school now, when aneighbor's son, who had been west, came home for a visit. Hedescribed the west in such glowing terms that Dad wanted to gothink Dad was about 16 at the time. He slipped away from schooland Grandpa and Grandma being away from the house that day, Dadpacked his clothes and "lit out". He went to Texas and ended upnear Canadian or Amarille. Broke and homesick, he didn't knowwhat to do. By luck, he came in contact with one of CharlesGoodnight's foremen and got a job working for Mr. Goodnight. Thefirst job they gave him to do was to check and repair the linefence. Thinking fences were like the ones back home, he startedout in the morning and checked and repaired the fence which ranon and on. It was miles long and not finding and end, he keptworking. He didn't know to quit and go in to the bunkhouse andas night came on one of the cowboys came and "rescued" him. Mr.Goodnight had a brother-in-law, Leigh Dyer, who had died andleft his widow to run their ranch with whatever help she couldget. Mr. Goodnight sent Dad down to help her. He did such a goodjob that Mr. Good-night let him stay at line camp to take careof horses one winter. Dad became homesick and wanted to come back to Tennessee. Mr.Goodnight liked Tennesseeans as he had married Mary Ann Dyerfrom Tennessee. He begged Dad to stay on with him and since heand his wife had no children, Mr. Goodnight told Dad if he wouldstay on with him, he would be treated as a son. Dad would notstay. Mr. Goodnight lived into the 1920's. At one time, we hadp1ctures of the Goodnights and Mrs. Dyer. The old house whereDad lived is now part of the park owned by Texas University.Zane Grey visited the Goodnights while Dad was there. TheGoodnights gave a barbecue for Mr. Grey and Dad helped preparethe pit where they barbecued a whole steer. Mr. Goodnight'spartner was an Englishman named Adair. When the Adairs visitedthe ranch, they brought servants with them. Lots of the peoplewho visited the ranch are now famous people and it was quite anexperience for Dad. When Dad got home, he made a large crop. He gave the crop toGrandpa and went west again, this time to his Uncle WilliamStanton at Selma, Kansas. He helped Uncle William for one summerthen came home and got a job in Chattanooga making furniture.The Spanish-American War broke out and Dad joined the army. Hewas sent to San Francisco in the coast artillery. His commandingofficer was Arthur McArthur, Douglas McArthur's father. Whilethere, the troops were reviewed by Teddy Roosevelt (Dad oncesaid that Teddy Roosevelt had the biggest teeth he had ever seenin a man's head). He was discharged a noncommissioned officerand soon after, he and my Mother were married. Dad was anunusual man. He could make just about anything. If he wasworking and needed a special tool for the job, he would make it.He was a fine carpenter. He built many houses all over thiscounty that are still standing. He built the two-story framehouse Grandpa and Grandma lived in, now owned by KendallHutsell. He built a two-story frame house on the farm where welived when I was small. It was built on a hill and my Motherwouldn't move into it because she was afraid of storms so wecontinued to live in the smaller house and used the new housefor our renters. I'll never forget our first car Dad keptgetting more and more building jobs in town and one night weheard a car coming up the road. It was Dad. He hid gone into acar dealer, bought a car and after being instructed as how todrive it, he drove it home. Of course, we were all excited andwanted to ride in the new car. We all climbed in laughing andmaking a lot of noise. We started out in the car with all uschildren yelling with excitement, Dad lost control and headedout through his fine crop of corn he had in a bottom piece ofland near the road. By the time he stopped the car, most of thecorn crop was demolished and we were scared half to death. Ifyou have never ridden through a corn patch where the corn is ashigh as your head and it nighttime and with corn stalks whippingyou from all sides, you haven't lived.I suppose we had a fairly happy childhood. Nobody ever told usthat we were poor and we lived in ignorant bliss thinking wewere, happy anyway. We had the woods to prowl in, the creek andmany springs to play in, and I look back on it as a happy timein our lives. Our parents let us keep pets and we had cats, dogsand at one time a 'possum we kept for several days before itescaped into the woods. Charles made wagons and sleds and werode down the hills at high speeds. We knew every tree andflower. Chestnuts were still in the woods when I was small, asthe blight had not killed them out in our area at that time. Wegathered walnuts hickory nuts, and in the spring berries, wecalled them "sarvis' then.When we moved to town, It was a whole new experience for us. Dadhad bought quite a bit of land on the Mount Verd road near NorthCity School. At that time there were few houses in that area andwe had plenty of room to run and play. The depression years cameand many people were out of work and were hungry and sick, Weowned our own home, Dad having built it just before we moved,and my Mother made a large garden. She had insisted on bringingour cow to town. In those days, people could keep cows and evena hog in town, as the houses were far apart. Mother canneddozens of cans of fruits and vegetables and with plenty of milkand butter, we got along well. The railroad ran near our houseand during those terrible years of depression, the trains wouldbe loaded with hobos, The trains stopped in front of our placeas a switch was just down the road and men would pile off thetrain begging for food. My Mother never turned anyone away fromour door that was hungry. We started making up lunches for thesepoor unfortunate men. Mother got us early and she would bakeextra biscuits, bake sweet potatoes and great slabs ofcornbread. We would butter the biscuits, put jelly on them andif there were meat, we would put that on the bread. She handedthis out the door to the men as they came. She divided the milkwith the starving children around us and divided her vegetablestoo. I remember her coming in from milking one night and she hadtears in her eyes. While she was milking, a woman had come andstood watching her. My mother said she knew this woman'schildren were hungry. She sent us with a gallon of milk to theirhome. I suppose that is what they had for supper that night.Years later, when Ollie and I had our store, a woman came in andwith tears streaming down her cheeks she told me how my motherand sister, Grace, kept her children from starving. I was deeplymoved by this, as I had never realized we had done anything foranyone.When Grandpa died, he left dad some money and with that moneyand what money mother had saved, dad bought some shoe repairequipment, He put in a shoe repair shop downtown in the back ofa barbershop. Business was so good he moved into a building ofhis own. Later he had a shop in North Athens, which Charlesoperated. One was on White Street and one near the ForeeHospital. Mr. Thompson worked in one and dad in the other. Hebought a shop in Etowah and a Mr. Holden operated that one. Dadcould never bear to see a child barefooted in cold weather andit was said that he kept half the little black children whopassed his shop in shoes.Dad never whipped us and my mother never touched us with eithera switch or her hand. She would say, "If I whipped one of mychildren and it should die, I could never get over it". Everynight she came to our beds to see if we were all right. Sheloved us all but I believe that George was her favorite. Therest of us held no resentment for this, as he was so good toher. He never gave her a minutes trouble and always doinganything she asked. He never, to my knowledge, gave her anunkind word. After her death, he was just as kind to Fannie andme and looked after us. He took us places and we had lots of funtogether. From a little boy, he liked to hunt. He had a beaglenamed Kate, and Kate liked to hunt. George had an old toplesscar he used for hunting and after Kate was too old and fat torun, we would have to shut her in the house when she saw Georgeget his gun and start his car. If she got out, she would runafter the car as long as her little short legs hold out would.These things mean little to others, but to me they are treasuredmemories.Lewis Holloway Stanton was the seventh child of Lewis, Jr. andArtie Stanton. Lewis must have been the "black sheep of thefamily" as he married young and was divorced within two years.There was some scandal about this but I was never able to findout what it was as Grandma always said it was trashy to talkabout one's people. He married again to Mary Elizabeth Shell.They had two sons; Lewis called "Tobe" and Albert. While thechildren were small, they moved to Kansas where Mary E. died.Tobe was a cowboy and was blinded in one eye. He tried to enlistin the army in World War I but because of his blind eye, he wasnot accepted. He was able to help by breaking horses for thecavalry. His brother, Albert Newton, went to Tacoma, Washingtonwhere he had apartment houses. Albert and his wife did not havechildren. After the death of Mary E. Lewis he married a youngwidow with a small daughter and they had two sons, Lloyd andCharles. Lloyd had a little mine at Tonapah, Nevada, don't knowif it was silver or gold. Lloyd left Nevada to go to SanFrancisco about 1906 and it is believed that he died in thegreat earthquake.After Annie Gimble, the young widow died he married again, thistime another widow, Rebecca Jane (McCauley) McMillan. They didnot have children. He lived at Fairport, Kansas where he diedand is buried there. The neighbors have written to me telling ofhis years at Fairport. He was blind for seven years before hisdeath. One lady said he was a fine musician and played theviolin even after he was blind. His step granddaughter has theviolin. His son Charles lived in Tacoma, Washington and he had ason, Charles, Jr., who lives there now.Simon Stanton was Lewis Jr. and Artie's eighth child. He marriedVirginia Boggess. He and Virginia and three of their childrenleft McMinn County about 1885 and settled in Putnam, Oklahoma.His son, Robert, was postmaster there until a few years ago.Simon and Virginia had 15 children, one dying when still a youngboy. The children went to school and most were school teachers.One of the grandsons is a doctor, Dr. Stanton Witter, ofOklahoma City; another is a professor at a college in Seattle.Several grandsons are lawyers, one an architect at Tulsa,Oklahoma. One daughter married a Supreme Court Justice of theState of Oklahoma. Simon and Virginia are buried at Putnam,Okla.Artisimia, called "Teen", named for her mother, was the ninthchild of Lewis Jr., and Artie. She married Bennett B. Bogqess abrother of Simon's wife. They too went west first Blue Mound,Kansas then to Taloga, Okla. near Putnam, Bennett was CountyCommissioner when he died, having been a rancher, farmer andpoliceman. "Teen" lived on into her nineties. She was astrongwilled woman. When she was in her eighties, she shingledthe roof of her house. When she died, an article came out in theOklahoma paper telling of her life and the things she had donefor the young people of that area. Her granddaughter wrote andtold me a lot about Teen. This granddaughter teaches InteriorDecorating in a schoo1 near Taloga. Teen's son, Ranza, owns alarge irrigation in Texas, has holdings in the Savings and LoanAssociation and has bought land in Central America. One ofTeen's daughters" lives in Utah, This family line is unfinishedas I do not have all the information on them.I have already told you about Dr. George W. Stanton, the tenthand last child of Lewis, Jr. and Artie.One thing I think sums up the Stantons. They were proud,stubborn, liked adventure, and always liked to work forthemselves. Most had their own businesses. Almost all areartistic and musically inclined. I hate to say this but theywere sort of hard to get along with. They tend to take theirspouses for granted, as possessions rather than someone to loveand cherish, I hope the younger generations can improve on this.___________________________________________________________________The Night the Stars All Fellby Sandra Jo (Nipper) RatledgeAcross the "Bible Belt" in the United States, folks wereindoctrinated from their childhood with New Testament theologyabout the end times or latter days. Most people lived with anexpectant and watchful attitude toward the Apocalypse and theSecond Coming of Jesus Christ. In many church services, theyheard Jesus' warnings about the latter days as recorded in thegospel of Matthew 24:7, "For nation shall rise against nation,and kingdom against kingdom : and there shall be famines, andpestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places."Thus, at one time or other in centuries past, scores of ourancestors have quaked in fear that the world was surely ending.Usually, some terrorizing event triggered in them that mostdreadful conclusion. Such a catastrophe might well have been anearthquake comparable to San Francisco's 1906 quake resulting ina great fire that raged for three and a half days.1 Similarly,any devastating event -- for example, one like the deadliesthurricane ever to hit the United States killing 6,000quilt - "Graphics by Chris"people and leveling Galveston Island, TX on September 8, 19002-- left people panic-stricken. In less technologically advancedtimes, destructive volcanic eruptions like Mt. St. Helen's inWashington, May 18, 1980, have caused similar reactions amongresidents in the devastated regions.In addition, comets, colloquially named "shooting stars," havewreaked havoc in the lives of common people throughout recordedhistory. "In ancient times, and indeed in many places up topresent days, they have frequently been regarded as signs fromthe gods usually portending disaster."3 Probably the most widelyknown comet is Halley's. It was named for Edmund Halley, aBritish astronomer, mathematician, and inventor, who observed itin 1682 and later predicted its return within intervals ofapproximately seventy-six years.4Chancery Court Records of McMinn County, Tennessee document theappearance of Halley's Comet in 1835 from accounts ofeyewitnesses living on farms in the vicinity of Buttram'sMethodist Church. Without question, comets and meteors werecertainly more observable from the pastoral countryside in 1835during an era when the world was far less illumined byelectrical devices. This memorable astral event is recorded in asuit filed on July 5, 1856 by Simon M. Boggess against AdolphusH. Crow as follows:Boggess bought land from Crow. Suit concerns a spring on theland, Crow and his witnesses say spring is a good one if keptcleaned out, and Boggess and his witnesses saying it is awet-weather spring. Boggess asks for compensation. He was ofMeigs Co. when deed was made. The land was known as the Goodsonquarter and John H. Crow formerly lived there. Goodson boughtthe land (which adjoins Lewis Stanton's land) from Wm. Hodge whobought from John Kitchens. All witnesses depose in 1857. AnnisMcCuiston, age forty-six, wife of Robert McCuiston ageforty-six, daughter of old man Langford (Lankford) who lived onthe land and who died there on Nov. 12, the year the stars fell,twenty-four years ago, and she is sister-in-law to John Kitchenswho died recently in the neighorhood. David McCuiston ageforty-three deposes that Boggess was partly raised near the landand he put his future father-in-law Samuel McKehan as tenant onthe land adjoining the land in dispute. John H. Crow ageseventy-seven, William G. (Buck) West age forty-seven and hiswife Agnes age forty-seven, William Shook age thirty-five haveall lived on the land and Sipley Sowell age fifty-one livesthere now. John H. Crow is father of John M. (Jack) Crow and A.H. Crow. 11 Mar. 1857, witness John Kitchen age seventy-nine hasknown the land ever since the country was settled. PeterWattenbarger age sixty deposes that old man Lankford died thenight the stars shot. Lewis Stanton age forty-one has livedadjoining the land nine years the last time and two yearsbefore. Arty (signed Articimea) Stanton, age thirty-eight, wifeof Lewis, deposes it has been thirty-six years or more since herfather moved to head of Spring Creek. William Brotherton agefifty-five and wife Ann age forty-five are witnesses and thereare many others.5Noted American writer Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known asMark Twain, said that he "came in" with Halley's Comet in 1835and thought it fitting "to go out" when the comet reappeared.Approximately seventy-six years later, just after his death onApril 21, 1910, the comet once again blazed across the nightskies but this time with a vivid and unusual brightness. Thisparticularly brilliant display on May 19, 1910 was thought to becaused by the movement of Earth through the tail of Halley'sComet.6Hereabouts in the remote hills and hollows of Monroe, McMinn,and Polk Counties in Southeastern Tennessee, the appearance ofsuch spectacular fireworks in the heavens made people tremblefrantically. Upon seeing the radiant shower of "shooting stars,"Christians far and wide immediately remembered Jesus' owndescription of His second coming as recorded in Matthew 24:27,29, and 30:For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth evenunto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun bedarkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the starsshall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall beshaken : And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man inheaven : and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, andthey shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heavenwith power and glory.Here in the Knobs, common folks were frozen with fear -- aghastthat everyone and everything was about to perish. Unnaturaltimes these seemed when phenomena occurred more inexplicablethan the occasional flood or tornado. My great-grandmotherAmerica "Merky" (Davis) Hampton, age twenty-seven at that time,recounted the eerie details and described the frightening eventmany years later to my mother. Even my grandmother AzileeHampton, who was only nine years old in 1910, remembered thisfrightening experience. Distraught women wailed and wrung theirhands in alarm. At night, folks huddled in root cellars forsafety. By day, people in the Knobs flocked to churches forprayer services, fell on their knees, repented, and acceptedJesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This was a time when theunchurched sought solace in the Everlasting Arms and refuge inreligion. Even Christians rededicated their lives to Christ.As their ancestors recalled the memorable 1835 sighting ofHalley's Comet as "the year the stars shot," so folks aroundLiberty Hill always referred to the 1910 recurrence as "thenight the stars all fell." At the beginning of the twentiethcentury, many people still believed comets were portentous ofcatastrophes, great upheavals, disasters, and wars. Howeveruncanny it may seem, World War I, "the war to end all wars,"followed soon after the 1910 appearance of Halley's Comet.___________________________________________________________________Household Record 1880 United States Census Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age BirthplaceOccupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace Lewis STANTON Self W Male W 63 TN Farmer SC NCL. H. STANTON Son M Male W 27 TN Works On FarmTN TN M. E. STANTON DauL M Female W 21 TN House KeeperTN TN George STANTON Son S Male W 18 TN Works On FarmTN TN Artissa BOGGESS Dau M Female W 21 TN TN TN --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Source Information:Census Place District 3, Mc Minn, Tennessee Family History Library Film 1255268 NA Film Number T9-1268 Page Number 304D
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