Overall children

The attached photographs are a couple of real gems. The first is Bobby Overall, the second features from left to right: June, Anne (Gangy), and Martha Ann (MyMy) Overall when the girls were still living at home and going to school.

Linda has been sorting and scanning pictures and doing a great job of it.

Love / John Wheatley in Montgomery

Christmas, 1970: John, Linda & Johnny

Linda found and scanned this very nice picture of she and I with our oldest son, Johnny, who was barely a month old when this picture was shot during Christmas of 1970.

Love / John Wheatley

Poppy & Gangy

Here is a lovely photo Linda found and scanned to share with the family. Pictured at left are "Poppy & Gangy" or Mr. & Mrs. Jesse Robert Overall, Jr., MyMy's parents.

Wheatley family photo

We had a nice visit with the family in Odenville yesterday and wanted to share this great family photo!

L-R are Mary, Shannon, Audra, Emory, Angela and (front row) proud parents David and Debbie Wheatley!

Overall Hotel / Walking Horse Hotel of Wartrace TN

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

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

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