Another Google search for Overall Hotel in Wartrace, TN yielded this website which shows excerpts on page 301 and 302 from a book entitled "Duck River Tour". The interesting part of this reading is the brief history of Wartrace, TN and of the Overall Hotel built and run by Jesse Robert and Nora Overall and their family, which included my grandfather, Jesse Robert Overall, Jr. ("Poppy"). This hotel was later purchased by Richard Carothers, who changed the name to the Walking Horse Hotel during the time when local horse breeders started having "walking horse shows" in Wartrace and later in nearby Shelbyville, where the "world champion" walking horse celebration has been held for many years. The actual excerpt from the book reads as follows:
Andrew Jackson supposedly gave the town (Wartrace) it's unusual name. An old Indian war trail came through here. Jackson, who owned land nearby, carved these words into a beech tree by the creek: "This is Wartrail Creek". By the time the railroad was build, the name of the creek had been corrupted to Wartrace, and the railroad gave that name to its depot in 1851.
The most prominent building along the railroad tracks is the Walking Horse Hotel, built in 1917. Jesse Robert Overall and his wife, Nora, operated a hotel called the Overall House at Smyrna in adjoining Rutherford County. The Overalls heard reports from salesmen and other travelers that Wartrace had no hotel, a significant omission in those days, so they built Hotel Overall in 1917. Floyd and Olive Carothers bought the place around 1930 and changed the name to Floyd's Walking Horse Hotel. It is recognized as the "birthplace of the Walking Horse".
If you explore this matter further on the internet, you'll learn that the hotel has since had several owners and is a historic site that is still very prominent in the town of Wartrace. The current owner, Joe Peters, is a very successful musician who did a lot of improvements around 1997 and now features live music, excellent food, and 5 hotel rooms for those who wish to stay overnight. The owner and his own band play there, along with a wide variety of other talented groups. Check them out on the internet at http://www.walkinghorsehotel.com/
In Years past, I have enjoyed visits and overnight stays at this historic hotel with my parents, my grandmother, and other family members. Besides the obvious sentimental family history that we have with the original owners, we also enjoyed the walking horse decorations and pictures throughout the building, the "WHOA" stop sign that was mounted on the road in front, and the peaceful visit to historic Wartrace, TN. It's only a short drive from Shelbyville, TN, so please take the opportunity to visit if you're "in the neighborhood".
John Fox Wheatley III / March 26, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Brinkley Family Tree / Wheatley Family History
Brinkley Family Tree / Wheatley Family History
Mimi and Dandy (Mr. & Mrs. John Fox Wheatley, Sr.) lived in Shelbyville, TN, and had two children: John Fox Wheatley Jr. (PyPy) and Martha Jane Wheatley. Martha Jane married George Lewis Brinkley, Jr. of nearby Murfreesboro, TN, whose family was in the grocery business and "Lewis" was a very talented musician who could play a variety of instrument expertly and led his own very popular orchestra touring throughout Tennessee in his high school and college years. When the Brinkleys closed their grocery store in Murfreesboro and Wheatley Lumber Co. (owned by "Mimi and Dandy") closed in Shelbyville around 1955, my great uncle David Marks invited "PyPy", "Dandy", and Uncle Lewis to bring their families to Birmingham and work for him at Marks-Fitzgerald Furniture Co., which he owned. When the company expanded to open a new store in Huntsville about a year later, the same three families moved to Huntsville where "PyPy" was assistant mgr., Uncle Lewis was credit mgr., and "Dandy" was a salesman. All three families initially lived in neighboring units of the same apartment complex in Huntsville and later moved into houses in the same neighborhood. It was like a big happy family reunion every day as we all attended the same church, schools, and events together for many years. "PyPy" was later promoted to be the store manager of the new 5 Points West store in Birmingham about 1964, so our immediate family moved to Birmingham. Mimi and Dandy lived the rest of their lives in Huntsville and the Brinkleys still live in Huntsville. The Brinkleys and Wheatleys have always been very close as family members and we love them dearly, although we now live many miles apart. For more information about the Brinkley family tree and a host of pictures that are included in their website, just get on the internet and go to:
http://www.connieq.com/main-brinkley.htm
then scroll down about 2/3 of the document to the orange colored box featuring George Lewis Brinley, Jr. and Martha Jane Wheatley. Click on either of their names and you can easily explore and enjoy their family tree and pictures that include a very interesting surprise. If you scroll further up to the yellow box featuring the names of Minnie Brinkley and her husband, John Overall (click on their names to see their pictures).
This writing is an effort to share family information by John Fox Wheatley III on March 26, 2010
Mimi and Dandy (Mr. & Mrs. John Fox Wheatley, Sr.) lived in Shelbyville, TN, and had two children: John Fox Wheatley Jr. (PyPy) and Martha Jane Wheatley. Martha Jane married George Lewis Brinkley, Jr. of nearby Murfreesboro, TN, whose family was in the grocery business and "Lewis" was a very talented musician who could play a variety of instrument expertly and led his own very popular orchestra touring throughout Tennessee in his high school and college years. When the Brinkleys closed their grocery store in Murfreesboro and Wheatley Lumber Co. (owned by "Mimi and Dandy") closed in Shelbyville around 1955, my great uncle David Marks invited "PyPy", "Dandy", and Uncle Lewis to bring their families to Birmingham and work for him at Marks-Fitzgerald Furniture Co., which he owned. When the company expanded to open a new store in Huntsville about a year later, the same three families moved to Huntsville where "PyPy" was assistant mgr., Uncle Lewis was credit mgr., and "Dandy" was a salesman. All three families initially lived in neighboring units of the same apartment complex in Huntsville and later moved into houses in the same neighborhood. It was like a big happy family reunion every day as we all attended the same church, schools, and events together for many years. "PyPy" was later promoted to be the store manager of the new 5 Points West store in Birmingham about 1964, so our immediate family moved to Birmingham. Mimi and Dandy lived the rest of their lives in Huntsville and the Brinkleys still live in Huntsville. The Brinkleys and Wheatleys have always been very close as family members and we love them dearly, although we now live many miles apart. For more information about the Brinkley family tree and a host of pictures that are included in their website, just get on the internet and go to:
http://www.connieq.com/main-brinkley.htm
then scroll down about 2/3 of the document to the orange colored box featuring George Lewis Brinley, Jr. and Martha Jane Wheatley. Click on either of their names and you can easily explore and enjoy their family tree and pictures that include a very interesting surprise. If you scroll further up to the yellow box featuring the names of Minnie Brinkley and her husband, John Overall (click on their names to see their pictures).
This writing is an effort to share family information by John Fox Wheatley III on March 26, 2010
Origin of 'Fox' as a family name
Further internet searching for "John Fox Wheatley" through Google has turned up a gem of information about the "Fox" name if you check out the website of
http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:dran1zGwtZ0J:www.tngenweb.org/bedford/Obituaries/Obituary_Index_1944.htm+John+Fox+Wheatley&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
and scroll down through the various obituary information to the listing for John Calvin Fox in 1944 and read the comments in the far right box to learn that John Fox Wheatley, Sr. (my grandfather "Dandy") of Shelbyville was named after his uncle John Calvin Fox. Although the Fox name shows up often in our Wheatley family tree, it is now clear that Dandy (John Fox Wheatley, Sr.), PyPy (John Fox Wheatley, Jr.), and I (John Fox Wheatley III) derived our middle name of Fox originally from John Calvin Fox of Franklin, TN, who was the son of Pervines Fox and Elizabeth Hayes Fox. Now my newest grandson, Louis Fox Wheatley is named Fox after me, so the tradition continues.
Love,
John Fox Wheatley III
http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:dran1zGwtZ0J:www.tngenweb.org/bedford/Obituaries/Obituary_Index_1944.htm+John+Fox+Wheatley&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
and scroll down through the various obituary information to the listing for John Calvin Fox in 1944 and read the comments in the far right box to learn that John Fox Wheatley, Sr. (my grandfather "Dandy") of Shelbyville was named after his uncle John Calvin Fox. Although the Fox name shows up often in our Wheatley family tree, it is now clear that Dandy (John Fox Wheatley, Sr.), PyPy (John Fox Wheatley, Jr.), and I (John Fox Wheatley III) derived our middle name of Fox originally from John Calvin Fox of Franklin, TN, who was the son of Pervines Fox and Elizabeth Hayes Fox. Now my newest grandson, Louis Fox Wheatley is named Fox after me, so the tradition continues.
Love,
John Fox Wheatley III
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Overall Family History
When I initiated an internet search for "Jesse Robert Overall" through Yahoo recently, I came across an outstanding family tree that seems to include many of our direct Overall ancestors. In the interest of sharing this information with our family members, I am forwarding the information and asking you to share it with others by forwarding it to them by e-mail or other means. I have researched this website to determine as best I can our "direct" Overall ancestors on Poppy's (Jesse Robert Overall) side of the Overall family. Gangy's (Anne Overall) side would be the Parsons family and it is not included in this writing. I would encourage interested family members to explore this information further by going to:
http://genealogy.jimharrisononline.com/family/index/ind0231.html
then look at the top left of the page and click on Jesse Robert Overall, Sr., which will open up a new window and you'll see a listing that are his 9 children, including #8 Jesse Robert Overall, Jr. (we called him "Poppy" as our grandfather) and #9 Butler Kelly Overall (Uncle Butler). You can then click on any one of those 9 kids (or any other names) and go to other windows that will give further detail on each one. If you will notice and click on the "father" or "mother" listed further below each major name on the left....you can click on each one and progressively follow the family tree back in time. You can also check out the family tree diagrams and click on selected names featured to explore in great detail. There is also a little box in the top left area of the window labelled "menu" that moves along with you as you scroll up and down....click on it and a drop-down menu will give you access to a variety of documents, pictures, and other resources.
Based upon what I'm reading from this very excellent, but very complex document with sometimes conflicting data from various sources, the direct line Overall ancestors from Jesse Robert and Anne Overall, Jr. (we called them Poppy and Gangy as our grandparents) going backwards in time would read as I've typed them below:
William Overall, Sr. born between 1650 & 1660 in England & died Jan. 17, 1725/26 in King George Co., VA
married between 1675 and 1680 in VA to Jane Baldridge (had 1 child) born about 1652 in VA & died April 1718 in Westmorland Co., VA
William Overall, Jr. born about 1680 in VA & died Jan. 17, 1725/26 in King George Co., VA
married about 1700 to Mary Jones (had 7 children) born ? in Westmoreland Co., VA & died after 1743
John Overall, Sr. born about 1701 & died 1742 or 1743 at Prince William Co., VA
married Oct. 8, 1722 to Mary Elliot (states her name was Mary ELLIS) (had 5 children) born about 1703 & died July 24, 1738
William Overall born 1727 Prince William Co., VA & died 1783 Nashville, Davidson Co., TN
married 1753 in Frederick Co., VA to Maria Christena Froman (Forman?) (had 7 children) born Mar. 1, 1736
Nathaniel Overall born 1758 Frederick Co., VA & died 1835 Rutherford Co., TN (Came to TN, settling first at Ft. Nashborough...was Tennessee Patriot; signed Cumberland Compact of Government at Nashborough on May 1, 1780)
married Feb. 26, 1783 in Davidson Co., TN to Anne Thomas (had 8 children), a Quaker born 1767 in Shenandoah Co., VA & died 1844 in Rutherford Co., TN
Robert Overall born June 11, 1785 & died Oct. 8, 1862 (came to Rutherford County, TN about 1810...was in War of 1812...Settled one mile south of Overall's Campground)
married Dec. 24, 1816 to Mary Espey (had 13 children) born 1787 & died Dec. 24, 1838.
James Garnett Overall born May 23, 1814 & died May 2, 1874
married Oct. 26 1837 to Rachel Webb Davis (10 children) born July 13, 1819 & died Aug. 26, 1874
William Jefferson Overall born August 2, 1838 in Rutherford Co., TN & died April 3, 1908 in Rutherford Co. in Rutherford Co., TN / buried Overall Cemetery
married Feb. 28, 1860 in Gibson Co., TN to Clementine Hutchison (had 12 children) born July 8, 1842, Rutherford Co., TN & died May 23, 1908 in Rutherford Co., TN / buried Overall Cemetery
Jesse Robert Overall, Sr. born March 22, 1868 & died Oct. 18, 1945
married Sept. 18, 1885 to Mora Jane Compton (had 9 children) born Sept. 28, 1867 & died Jan. 4, 1938
Jesse Robert Overall, Jr. ("Poppy")
married to Anne Parsons ("Gangy") (had 3 children: Martha Ann, June, and Bobby)
Most of our present family members are familiar with Poppy and Gangy, June's family, and the Wheatleys, but the above information should be very helpful to all of us in learning more about our direct ancestors in the Overall family. Due to time and space limitations, the many children and extended families of each generation are not included in this writing, but I would encourage everyone to also use the internet to further explore each family listed above by following the instructions written at the top of this writing, going to the family tree website, and simply clicking on the wife and/or children's names in each generation to access a wealth of information.
This writing is a labor of love by John Fox Wheatley III in Montgomery, AL on March 24, 2010
http://genealogy.jimharrisononline.com/family/index/ind0231.html
then look at the top left of the page and click on Jesse Robert Overall, Sr., which will open up a new window and you'll see a listing that are his 9 children, including #8 Jesse Robert Overall, Jr. (we called him "Poppy" as our grandfather) and #9 Butler Kelly Overall (Uncle Butler). You can then click on any one of those 9 kids (or any other names) and go to other windows that will give further detail on each one. If you will notice and click on the "father" or "mother" listed further below each major name on the left....you can click on each one and progressively follow the family tree back in time. You can also check out the family tree diagrams and click on selected names featured to explore in great detail. There is also a little box in the top left area of the window labelled "menu" that moves along with you as you scroll up and down....click on it and a drop-down menu will give you access to a variety of documents, pictures, and other resources.
Based upon what I'm reading from this very excellent, but very complex document with sometimes conflicting data from various sources, the direct line Overall ancestors from Jesse Robert and Anne Overall, Jr. (we called them Poppy and Gangy as our grandparents) going backwards in time would read as I've typed them below:
William Overall, Sr. born between 1650 & 1660 in England & died Jan. 17, 1725/26 in King George Co., VA
married between 1675 and 1680 in VA to Jane Baldridge (had 1 child) born about 1652 in VA & died April 1718 in Westmorland Co., VA
William Overall, Jr. born about 1680 in VA & died Jan. 17, 1725/26 in King George Co., VA
married about 1700 to Mary Jones (had 7 children) born ? in Westmoreland Co., VA & died after 1743
John Overall, Sr. born about 1701 & died 1742 or 1743 at Prince William Co., VA
married Oct. 8, 1722 to Mary Elliot (states her name was Mary ELLIS) (had 5 children) born about 1703 & died July 24, 1738
William Overall born 1727 Prince William Co., VA & died 1783 Nashville, Davidson Co., TN
married 1753 in Frederick Co., VA to Maria Christena Froman (Forman?) (had 7 children) born Mar. 1, 1736
Nathaniel Overall born 1758 Frederick Co., VA & died 1835 Rutherford Co., TN (Came to TN, settling first at Ft. Nashborough...was Tennessee Patriot; signed Cumberland Compact of Government at Nashborough on May 1, 1780)
married Feb. 26, 1783 in Davidson Co., TN to Anne Thomas (had 8 children), a Quaker born 1767 in Shenandoah Co., VA & died 1844 in Rutherford Co., TN
Robert Overall born June 11, 1785 & died Oct. 8, 1862 (came to Rutherford County, TN about 1810...was in War of 1812...Settled one mile south of Overall's Campground)
married Dec. 24, 1816 to Mary Espey (had 13 children) born 1787 & died Dec. 24, 1838.
James Garnett Overall born May 23, 1814 & died May 2, 1874
married Oct. 26 1837 to Rachel Webb Davis (10 children) born July 13, 1819 & died Aug. 26, 1874
William Jefferson Overall born August 2, 1838 in Rutherford Co., TN & died April 3, 1908 in Rutherford Co. in Rutherford Co., TN / buried Overall Cemetery
married Feb. 28, 1860 in Gibson Co., TN to Clementine Hutchison (had 12 children) born July 8, 1842, Rutherford Co., TN & died May 23, 1908 in Rutherford Co., TN / buried Overall Cemetery
Jesse Robert Overall, Sr. born March 22, 1868 & died Oct. 18, 1945
married Sept. 18, 1885 to Mora Jane Compton (had 9 children) born Sept. 28, 1867 & died Jan. 4, 1938
Jesse Robert Overall, Jr. ("Poppy")
married to Anne Parsons ("Gangy") (had 3 children: Martha Ann, June, and Bobby)
Most of our present family members are familiar with Poppy and Gangy, June's family, and the Wheatleys, but the above information should be very helpful to all of us in learning more about our direct ancestors in the Overall family. Due to time and space limitations, the many children and extended families of each generation are not included in this writing, but I would encourage everyone to also use the internet to further explore each family listed above by following the instructions written at the top of this writing, going to the family tree website, and simply clicking on the wife and/or children's names in each generation to access a wealth of information.
This writing is a labor of love by John Fox Wheatley III in Montgomery, AL on March 24, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Sunday best
This one was so good we had to share it right away - John Fox Wheatley, Jr. and Martha Ann Overall Wheatley, aka PyPy and MyMy, pictured in March 1964 in Huntsville, AL - probably dressed for church.
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