Family Facts

John Fox Jr. writes:

OK.....now for the "Wheatley book" and the facts from it that I want to share with all who will read this writing. I'll lead off by typing for you the first page in the book....word for word.

The Wheatley family is of English descent and the progentor of the Wheatleys in Marshall County, Tennessee, is Alexander Wheatley, Revolutionary Soldier, born in Martin County, North Carolina December 26, 1760, died October 31, 1834, in Weakley county, Tennessee, married July 1781 in Pitt County, North Carolina to Peggy Stokes, born in Edgecomb County, North Carolina September 5, 1766, died 1851 in Weakley County, Tennessee. She was the daughter of Marcus and Bethulah Stokes of Edgecomb and Pitt county, North Carolina.

In 1775, Alexander Wheatley enlisted as a private under Captain hardy, but his father thinking him too young, sent a substitute. In 1776, he moved to Pitt County, enlisted under Captain Reeves and General Caswell. He was Sergeant in Captain Spain's Company in the battle of Camden. He states in his pension application that Captain Stafford, Drury Rogers, and his brother William who served with him could vouch for his service. His name is on a Memorial Plaque in the Weakley County, Courthouse being placed there by the local DAR Chapter honoring Revolutionary Soldiers buried in the county.

After Alexander's death, Peggy applied for his pension, vouching for her were Silas Bennett, Sara Wheatley (William's wife) and Catherine Cherry, who said she knew Alexander before he married and his mother and she believed Peggy was from Edgecomb County, North Carolina.

Alexander and Peggy immigrated by way of Sumter County, South Carolina, Lincoln County, Tennessee, and on to West Tennessee. They were the parents of thomas, Pierce, Benjamin, Marcus, John Samuel, Alfred, and several daughters.

Their son, Samuel Wheatley, born 1799 in South Carolina, died 1868 in Tennessee, married 1824 in Maury County, Tennessee to Elizabeth Kilcrease Hays, born 1796 in Edgefield County, South Carolina, died November 1, 1859 in West Tennessee, widow of James Hays and daughter of William Kilcrease, a wealthy land owner in Maury County but formerly of Edgefield County, South Carolina.

Elizabeth had the following Hays children: James, David K., Eliza Loftin, and Nancy wife of Andrew Jackson.

Note: Although we're not closely related to Andrew Jackson's wife, it is interesting to note that one of our direct ancestors (Elizabeth Kilcrease Hays Wheatley) was Andrew Jackson's mother-in-law, although Andrew Jackson's wife was not actually a member of the Wheatley family.

Note: At this point the book leads into a lengthy breakdown of the children and descendants of those children, etc., etc., so I'll limit this writing and e-mail to just those direct descendants that lead to our modern day family and all of you can check out the actual book at a later date for further details that you may want to explore. Note that Alexander Wheatley's son, Francis Marion Wheatley is our direct ancestor.....here's his account as per the book, word for word....

Francis Marion Wheatley born August 7, 1825 in Obion County, Tennessee, died July 4, 1885 in Marshall County, Tennessee, married March 14, 1855 to Mary Ann Fox......continued below the note...

Note:.....this is apparently the point at which the "Fox" name became part of the Wheatley family history and is prominent in male family names down through the years....including my name.

......Mary Ann Fox born November 6, 1837, died May 14, 1881, daughter of Pervine and Narcissus Bennett Fox, prominent and prosperous citizens of Marshall county, Tennessee. Francis Marion was a Confederate Soldier enlisting in Company A, Newsom's Regiment, Tennessee Calvary, Jackson, Tennessee. He and Mary Ann lived for a while in Obion County where their children were born, but later moved to Marshall County and are buried in the Fox-Wheatley Cemetery........

Note: Many years ago, I visited the Fox-Wheatley cemetery, which is a "country" cemetery about 50 yards off of a main 2-lane highway near Lewisburg, TN, and I took pictures of practically every grave marker and headstone that was present......I'm not certain where those pictures are, but I definitely have them, so maybe we could find and examine those to better understand some family history at some point in the future.

......They were the parents of Martha Ann, Samuel Pervine, John Alexander, William Harris, and Francis Marion, Jr. All members of the Church of Christ and all buried in the Fox-Wheatley Cemetery, except Francis Marion, Jr., who is buried in Lone Oak Cemetery, Lewisburg, Tennessee.

Note: Our direct ancestor from this group of kids is William Harris Wheatley, so I am now skipping to his section and typing it word for word from the book for you....Note that at this point in the book, there is a full page that features a copied photograph of William Harris Wheatley, his wife Vertna Olive Willis Wheatley, and their children, Gladys, John Fox (in a baby carriage) and Volenia as they stand in front of their home, which is a large and prosperous looking white wooden one-story home with chimneys on the left and right ends and a large porch in the center that has 4 very thick white columns and about 10 steps leading up from the front yard and walkway to the front porch and front door. They were clearly a prosperous family at the time. The John Fox that they mention is my grandfather, John Fox Wheatley, Sr., so as we think back through the earlier Wheatley men that have been mentioned, they line up with our current family as I'm noting below:

Alexander Wheatley (my great, great, great grandfather)
Francis Marion Wheatley (my great, great grandfather)
William Harris Wheatley (my great grandfather)
John Fox Wheatley, Sr. (my grandfather)
John Fox Wheatley, Jr. (my father)
John Fox Wheatley III (myself), along with Jane Anne, David, Sylvia, and Maria.....and all of our respective families and descendants that you're already familiar with.

Maybe this "lineup" makes it easier for all of us to visualize the direct family lineage through the generations.

.....continuing on word for word from the book......

William Harris Wheatley was a prosperous and outstanding farmer of the Cochran Community. He was born December 29, 1861, died February 29, 1942, married April 8, 1888 to Vertna Olive Willis, born May 4, 1867, died November 19, 1945, the daughter of Sarah Waid Haislip and Thomas Hughes Willis. Buried in Fox-Wheatley Cemetery. They were the parents of Volenia, Gladys, and John Fox.

Note: Gladys was Dandy's sister, as noted above, and her direct descendant is Aunt Mary Gladys, who currently lives in a retirement home in the Birmingham area.... Vestavia area I think.... you should check with her on all of this to fill in the blanks on a lot of family history. She is a wonderful lady and loves the Wheatley family very dearly. She would welcome your call or visit, I'm sure.

.....continuing on....

John Fox Wheatley, Sr., born 1897, died 1970 (in Huntsville, AL) married Jane Shapard Marks of Shelbyville, Tennessee. They moved to Huntsville, Alabama. Both are deceased and are buried in Willow Mount Cemetery, Shelbyville, Tennessee. Children are John Fox, Jr. and Martha Jane.

OK.....now I will depart from the "word for word" account in the book to make a few comments of my own, since all of the rest of the book is primarily devoted to various other family members who are not our direct ancestors. There is also an entire section in the back of the book that goes into great detail about the Fox family because of Mary Ann Fox being married to Francis Marion Wheatley, who was my great, great grandfather, as noted above.

John Fox Wheatley, Sr. was my grandfather and the book says very little about him, as you already read, so I'll add a few brief comments of my own that may help you to better appreciate what a fine man he was. Like most of our other direct ancestors, he served bravely in the military (Army, I think ???) during World War I, but I don't know any of the details of his service, rank, etc. After he and my grandmother, Mimi, were married, he apparently did pretty well in business. My father, John Fox Wheatley, Jr. (PyPy) was actually born in Winter Garden, Florida and I asked him in more recent years how he ended up being born in Florida and he said that Mimi and Dandy were living in Florida at the time, taking advantage of the "boom" in Florida and selling lumber while lots of construction was under way. The lumber business was apparently good for them and they owned and operated Wheatley Lumber Company in downtown Shelbyville for many, many years, where they sold all sorts of constuction materials, paint, hardware, and whatever else their customers needed. I have many fond memories of visiting that business to visit with my father and grandparents when I would walk from our house a few blocks away by myself as a 6 and 7 year old boy....it was kind of like Opie stopping by to visit Andy Griffith on the TV show in their small town. Dandy was an excellent businessman and was very active in social and civic activities around town. He was very involved in the Shelbyville Rotary Club and served as it's president during World War II, during which time he led his club and the entire town in efforts to conserve fuel and vehicle resources by encouraging everyone to travel by horseback, bicycle, or on foot instead of by vehicle, so that our soldiers would have what they needed to succeed in the war effort. Those efforts were widely publicized in newspapers and magazines, and some of you may have seen my earlier e-mails of pictures showing "Dandy" leading his fellow Rotarians on horseback.....yes he was the one on the white horse, so it's very clear that he was the "good guy".....really !!! Dandy and Daddy, and my Uncle Lewis Brinkley were very close....particularly during our years in Huntsville, and Dandy was right in the middle of many happy family memories that were shared by our entire family. He was indeed a great man.

Jane Shapard Marks Wheatley was Dandy's beloved wife and my grandmother, and I loved her dearly.... and she loved her children and grandchildren with a passion that was stronger than you've probably ever seen. She was a great lady in her own right, and was very smart for sure. She kept all the books for the family business at the lumber company, while also handling her duties as wife and mother at home. She was very active and involved in social and civic events, just like Dandy, and they both were devoted members of the first Methodist Church, as were my parents. Mimi, as we called her, was an absolute delight to be around, and she was always the perfect lady, the perfect friend, and the perfect grandmother in every way. She absolutely loved to spend time with all of her grandchildren and she was actively involved in taking us on countless excursions to show us, train us, teach us, and entertain us at every opportunity. She took me to some of the old family homesites to teach me about family history. She took me to the horse show, to the pond to feed the ducks, on shopping excursions, to join her for out of town weddings, etc., etc., etc... we were best buddies for sure and I love her dearly. She even helped me to learn how to drive in her 1957 Plymouth Belvedere... yeah that was the one with the pushbutton automatic transmission and I'm sure I scared her to death driving her car at the ripe old age of 13, but we had a ball doing that... just like we did every time we were together. I ate dinner at their house every night and she taught me all about food, manners, and etiquette in her efforts to make me a "gentleman." She never stopped trying to benefit all of her grandchildren throughout her life. She was a major joy in our lives and we were likewise a joy in her life. She was a very great lady to all who knew her, and all who knew her loved her.

There are lots of stories to tell and facts to share about all of our family members because we do indeed have a wonderful family, but time and space are limited tonight, so I'll stop for now with just a simple salute to all of the family members who have made all of our lives possible, and a big thank you to all of them for all that they've done to benefit all of us.

The Wheatleys are only part of our overall family history, but this e-mail is about the Wheatley ancestors, and I haven't written much about my parents, John and Martha Ann Wheatley, in this writing, but most of you who will read this e-mail already know how great they are, and you've all heard and read the many praises I've made about them previously, so I'll simply say that I love them and I miss them very much. Let's all try to live our lives in ways that would make them proud of us.

The Overall family is just as much a part of our family history and I hope to have information to share with you about them at some point in the near future.