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......My grandfather was John William Clark know as Mr. Bill. He married Mary Jane Logan in 1908. The next year they had Georgia Lee. She was followed by R.B. (Buster) and Lela Belle. Martha Ruth was born in 1918. She is my mother. A few years later, her brother Billy was born. Then there was Jack who lived about two years. This is the family that made their home on the farm off Booneville Road in Moore County, Tennessee.
......My grandfather earned a living by farming the Moore County hills. He raised a garden, and crops such as corn and tobacco as well as cattle, sheep and hogs. My mother and her brothers and sisters would carry buckets of milk to the road to be picked up. Mother says that the milk would slosh all over her legs as she carried it along the lane. Milk for home use would be stored in a spring house. In the winter it would freeze, in the summer it would sour and in heavy rain it would turn over. My grandmother supplemented the income by raising chickens and by making butter.
......My grandmother was a good cook and was known all over Moore County for her cakes. She could make an Angel Food cake without a recipe or measuring utensils. She would lay the fire, get the cake ready and then light the fire in the wood stove. Nobody was allowed in the kitchen while the cake was cooking for fear of making it "fall".
......When Mother was just starting school she and he brother and sisters would ride the two miles to school in a horse and buggy. They would board the horse in town during the day.
,,,,,The horse was reluctant to go in the mornings, but by afternoon it was all Mom's brother could do to hold it while the others got into the buggy for the speedy trip home.
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...............Bill Clark Family: Front, Lela Clark Taylor,
........2nd row, R.B. (Buster) Clark, Georgie Clark Ervin;
............back, Martha Clark Tipps, Mary & Bill Clark.
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......In later years, there was school bus service and for a while a neighbor allowed Buster to drive his car to transport his son to school.
......By 1938 my grandparents had electricity. They had to sign up for certain appliances and get the house wired before the electric lines were run. Almost everyone signed up for refrigerators and irons. Mom said that it was strange to see all the light bulbs hanging from the ceiling and still have to use oil lamps.
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......My grandfather was well liked by the community and even held public office for several years. He was Justice of the Peace or Magistrate for several years. I'm not sure what his duties in these offices were but I know he used to perform marriage ceremonies. A couple would drive up and he would go to their car and marry them.
......All of this family is gone now. I feel the world is a better place for having had them in it and I miss them. (496 words) Submitted by Jane Clark, 320 Clark Rd., Lynchburg, TN 38352
......Thomas H. Parks, of the firm of Parks, Taylor & Co., of Lynchburg, Tenn. is a son of Ambrose Lee and Eleanor E. (Watts) Parks. The father was born in North Carolina. After his marriage he moved to Missouri, where he resided until 1846 and then came to Lynchburg, Tenn., where he was engaged in the wheel-right and wagon-making business. Both Parents died in 1850. Thomas H. was born in Missouri October 19, 1840, being but nine years old when his parents died. He made his home with an uncle in Alexander County, N. C., until seventeen years old.
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............Thomas H. and Emily Ann Margaret Taylor Parks.
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......In 1858 he came to Lynchburg, Tenn., and engaged in the carpenter's trade, relying upon his own exertions for support. He joined the Confederate Army, Tumey's First Tennessee, Company E, and served until the close of the war, with the exception of nearly two years spent in prison. He began dealing in live-stock after the war, and about 1870 began selling goods in Lynchburg, but on a very limited scale. He increased his business from time to time and did well financially, becoming one of the leading men of Lynchburg. He was married in 1869 to E. A. M. Taylor, daughter of Squire J. H. Taylor, and their union was blessed with eight children: Minnie Mae, born 1870, married Oliver R. Brittain; John Lee, born 1873, married Edna Tucker; Willie Kidwell, born 1878, married James Newton Daniel; Thomas H. (Name changed to Harry Taylor at 5 years of age) born 1883, married Nova Pitts; Nellie H. born 1886, died 1894; Twins, Eugene and Irene born 1882 and lived 2 days. Mr. Parks is a democrat and owned about 200 acres of land. He and his wife and eldest daughter were members of the Christian Church. (300 words) Submitted by Ruth P. Daniel, P.O. Box 257, Lynchburg, TN 38352
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