John Trice Bridges was born on February 15, 1874 in the Maple Grove Community of Trigg County, Kentucky. He was the sixth child of Cullen T. and Virginia Thomas Bridges.
On July 31, 1898, he married Maggie Dora Cunningham. The Trigg County Historical Clippings, Volume 3 contains the following description of their wedding:
July 1898
Will Marry Sunday
A marriage license was issued yesterday afternoon to Mr. John T. Bridges and Miss Maggie D. Cunningham, and the wedding will take place next Sunday afternoon at four o clock at the home of the bride’s father, Mr. E. A. Cunningham, in Canton district. Rev. George E. Atwood will perform the ceremony. George Mitchell and Miss Jennie Cunningham, Neely Bridges and Miss Ora Bridges will be the attendants. The bride is a beautiful young lady of nineteen summers. The groom is a clever young farmer and the third son of Mr. C. T. Bridges.
John and Maggie had eleven children, Lillie Jane Bridges, born in 1899; Lucy Lee Bridges, born in 1900; Lola Frances “Fanny” Bridges, born in 1902; Dora Virginia Bridges, born in 1903; John Carl Bridges, born in 1904; Mary Pauline Bridges, born 1908; Queen Alexander Bridges, born in 1909; Hilda Agnes Bridges, born 1910; Beulah Louise Bridges, born in 1913; Clifford Elmo “Pete” Bridges, born in 1917 and Dorothy Allene Bridges, born in 1920.
During his life he worked at many different jobs among them contracting, surveying and farming. As a carpenter, he built many houses, barns and other buildings in various section of the county. He was most noted as a surveyor and was responsible for surveying practically all of Trigg County. Almost all deeds filed for that period included his name. He served in the elected position of “County Surveyor” for Trigg County for many years. While carrying out his jobs as a carpenter and surveyor, he also maintained a farm at his home. In addition, he served one term as a Trigg County magistrate for his home district. Upon his retirement from the surveying business, his son-in-law, Preston Thomas took over his business and became the eminent surveyor of his day.
Among John’s other activities was being a member of the Bridges Family Band, which was made up of family members that lived in the Maple Grove Community, In addition, he worked with the Bridges Brothers Nursery which supplied the community and the surrounding counties with all varieties of fruit trees, vines, shrubs and roses. He built one of the first radios that required ear phones for listening. He built a rural telephone system. He and his wife Maggie operated the telephone switchboard that connected citizens from Linton, Kentucky to Cadiz, Kentucky. He also served as a foreman of the W. P. A., a project President Roosevelt introduced during the depression to give jobs to many.
In the early 1900’s, John built his own house in the Maple Grove Community, but unfortunately it was destroyed by fire in 1916. He then replaced it with a concrete block house. The blocks were made by hand in a block machine. The sturdy house still stands today and is occupied by his granddaughter’s family.
John died on July 29, 1944 at the Futrell Clinic in Cadiz, after an illness of about three weeks due to complications from heart trouble. He was 70 years, 5 months and 14 days old. He was buried in the Drury Bridges Cemetery, the family cemetery in Maple Grove, just down the road from his home. His wife, Maggie, died on February 11, 1975 and was buried beside him.
The Bridges Family Band of which John Trice was a member
Tombstone of John and Maggie Bridges
LINEAGE: (John Trice Bridges was the son of Cullen T. and Virginia Thomas Bridges. Cullen was the twelfth child of William Bridges and Mary Thomas Bridges. William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges. Mary Thomas was the fifth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)
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