Hal Cole -- Sheriff of Paducah Kentucky

 

Hal Cole was born on January 13, 1914 in Calloway County, Kentucky. He was the son of Obediah M “Boss” Cole and Cora Mae Skaggs Cole. He had four brothers, Dewey Cole, Fred Cole, Tommy Cole, and Ted Cole and three sisters, Neta Cole, Beva Cole and Nell Cole.  His father Obediah was an employee of the International Shoe Company who was born in Calloway County and moved to Paducah, Kentucky in 1923 when Hal was nine years old.

Hall attended McCracken County schools and graduated from a Paducah High School.  In the 1930s he married Mary Beatrice Bond and they became the parents of a daughter, Patsy Ellen Cole, who was born on September 9, 1935.  Hal and Mary were subsequently divorced and on October 12, 1953 Hal married his second wife, Mildred Louise Roper.  Mildred was a native of Paducah, born May 10, 1923 to Clyde Hale Roper and Bertha Estella Shelton Roper.  Clyde worked as a machinist with the Illinois Central Railroad.  His mother was Lucy Dyre Thomas, born in Trigg County, Kentucky. 

 Hal Cole began his law enforcement career on November 28, 1936 when he went on active duty with the Paducah Police Department.  He made advancements through the years at the department obtaining the rank of Captain.  He organized and served as the director of the department's traffic division for several years.  In December 1965, at the age of 52, he resigned from the department, having served 30 years.

After his retirement from the police department, Hal in January 1966 became the Deputy Sheriff for the McCracken County Sheriff Department.  He served in this position for eight years until 1973.  At that time he was elected as the McCracken County Sheriff.  He served as Sheriff until December 31, 1977 when his term was up.  He was not allowed to seek reelection as Kentucky law did not allow a sheriff to succeed himself in office.

Hal continued his political career when he served in the Office of County Commissioner of McCracken County’s 2nd District for two terms. In his campaign for city commissioner he ran on a platform pressing for more jobs for local citizens and increasing prevention of crime and reducing traffic accidents. 

Hal and his second wife, Mildred became the parents of a son, Hal Anthony Cole on March 16, 1957.  While Hal was pursuing his career in law enforcement, Mildred worked for the Bell South Telephone Company for 42 years. .Hal and Mildred were married for 52 years at the time of her death on May 29, 2009 at the age of 83. She was buried in the Maplelawn Park Cemetery in Paducah.

Hal died on May 9, 2013 at his home in Paducah at the age of 99.  He was buried in the Maplelawn Park Cemetery with his wife.

Tombstone of Hal and Mildred Cole

 

LINEAGE:  (Hal Cole was the husband of Mildred Louise Roper.  Mildred was the daughter of Clyde Hale and Bertha Estelle Shelton Roper.  Clyde was the son of Charles and Lucy Dyre Thomas Roper.  Lucy was the third child of Albert Dillard and Mary Jonathan Vinson Thomas.  Albert was the second child of Peyton and Sarah Ethridge Thomas.  Peyton was the third child of Cullen and Elizabeth Futrell Thomas.  Cullen was the first child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

Charles E. Moore -- Classical Pianist

 

Charles E. Moore

Charles Ethelbert Moore was born on June 30, 1930 in Brownwood, Texas to Charles Austin Moore and Ruby Brown Weatherby Moore.   Charles Austin had worked for 22 years as the purchasing agent for the Plymouth Oil Company, one of the largest and most successful independent oil producers in west Texas and later became a part of Marathon Oil Company.  Charles’ mother, Ruby, taught in the public schools of Texas for 27 years. He was their oldest child with two siblings, Marilyn Brown Moore, born in 1935 and Michael Rusk Moore born in 1936.

Charles was educated in the Texas schools and attended Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He went on to become a graduate of the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago where he studied Orchestra Conducting under Alexander Aster.

During the Korean War, Charles served in the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps.

After his military service, Charles returned to Chicago and became an accomplished music teacher, composer and noted classical pianist.  In 1961 Charles accepted a position at his alma mater, the American Conservatory of Music where he was appointed as Registrar of the school.  In 1971 he was appointed Dean of the Conservatory.  He taught aesthetics and opera criticism at the conservatory.  During his tenure he also presented master classes at music conservatories in Peking, Nanking and Shanghai, China.

The American Conservatory of Music was the oldest private degree-granting music school in the midwestern United States and was recognized for developing the Conservatory Symphony Orchestra and producing numerous student recitals.  Charles’ greatest achievement occurred in 1980 when he became the school’s President.   Unfortunately during his tenure as President, the school began to suffer financial difficulties.  In January 1987, the conservatory filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; and shortly thereafter, Charles Moore resigned as the school’s president.

After leaving the American Conservatory of Music, Charles became a member the faculty of the School of Music at DePaul University. He also taught languages and music for the Discovery Center in Chicago In 1988 DePaul University presented his one act opera "I Can Sing Better".  He conducted and played for numerous productions of standard and modern operas in Chicago and presented recitals in Chicago clubs and organizations.

Charles died on January 26, 1995 in Chicago at the age of 64.  A service of memory and celebration for Charles was held at the DePaul University Concert Hall.

Charles E. Moore

Tombstone of Charles Moore

LINEAGE:   (Charles Ethelbert Moore was the son of Charles Austin and Ruby Brown Weatherby Moore and the grandson of Charles Maxon and Ethel Hill Moore.  Charles Maxon was the son of Thomas Oscar and Sarah Adelie Thomas Moore.  Sarah was the third child of Stanley and Sarah Thompson Rothrock Thomas.  Stanley was the seventh child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

Billy Ray Futrell -- Accomplished Farmer

 

Billy Ray Futrell

Billy Ray Futrell was born on August 29, 1931 in the Donaldson Creek community of Trigg County, Kentucky, the son of Dewey Webster Futrell and Daisy Alberta Rogers Futrell. He grew up on the Futrell Farm located at the crossroad of Old Dover Road and Donaldson Creek Road and just a few hundred yards from the old Upper Donaldson School where Billy Ray attended as a youngster. He later attended Trigg County High School where he graduated in 1951.

Billy Ray Futrell was a lifelong farmer.  His father, Dewey, owned the Futrell home place which was once owned by his father, Daniel Worth Futrell, which he had purchased in 1895.   Billy Ray began helping on the family farm at a young age and later sharecropped with neighbors in and around Trigg County.  

Billy Ray was drafted into the U.S. Army on March 15, 1954.   He was in basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and later trained at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Polk, Louisiana.  He served two years stateside in the Korean Conflict, from 1954 until 1956.  Years later on May 13, 2017, when Billy Ray was 85 years old, he made a trip to Washington, D.C., with the Screaming Eagle Honor Flight Mission 7 and other veterans and saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and visited other war memorials. The flight was a great honor for him especially since it was his first airplane trip. 

On August 15, 1953, Billy Ray married Martha Jo Futrell. Martha Jo was born April 23, 1934, in Stewart County, Tennessee, the daughter of Joe Miller and Ophelia Opal Frith Futrell. Joe was a great-grandson of Perry Thomas. Martha Jo grew up in the Linton Community of Trigg County and attended the Linton-Rogers School, where she was a cheerleader.  Martha Jo supported her husband in the farming operation.  She was well known in Trigg County for her cooking abilities and was featured in the January 13, 1993, edition of The Cadiz Record with some of her favorite recipes She was also featured in The Cadiz Record as a “Good Neighbor” in 1995.  Martha Jo was employed in the kitchen and housekeeping departments at Lake Barkley State Resort Park.  She served as a private caregiver for many years throughout Trigg County. Billy Ray and Martha Jo were the parents of four children, David Ray, born in 1954; Patricia Jo, born in 1959; Connie Jean, born in 1960 and Deborah Ann, born in 1969.

After his military service, Billy Ray returned to Trigg County where he spent his entire life actively engaged in farming.  Following his father, Dewey’s death, he and his son purchased the Futrell farmland.  Billy Ray and his son later also purchased the John Scott Thomas, Garland Derwood Sumner, and Boots Randolph farms and worked alongside each other for many years as partners.  The farming operation revolved around tobacco, corn, and soybeans, as well as hogs and cattle.  Their farm was featured in The Cadiz Record on March 23, 1994, in an article titled “Four Generations in Futrell Family Run Farm.”   David Ray was named an outstanding tobacco producer in August 1981.  The Futrells purchased the farm and cabin previously owned by the Homer Randolph family, which was the boyhood home of “Boots" Randolph, the noted saxophone player.  The Randolph family sold the cabin to Billy Ray, who then donated it to the Trigg County Historical Society.

Billy Ray was the consummate farmer. Each year, he slaughtered eight or more hogs during the winter to provide an economical way to feed his family.  He had a smokehouse in the backyard that he used for curing his meat for this major annual event.  He looked forward to cooler weather, which allowed for coon hunting and hog-killing time on the farm.  In his later years, this farming tradition of curing and smoking meat became a hobby and money-making project that he took great pride. Billy Ray sold hundreds of hams and thousands of bags of sausage and bacon all over the United States.  Martha Jo enjoyed raising chickens and providing her family and neighbors with country eggs. 

In May 1992, Billy Ray, in his desire to keep alive the common interest and concern among the members of the descendants of James Thomas, and to provide a burial place for the family members, granted and conveyed additional property to the Peyton Thomas Cemetery Corporation.  The Peyton Thomas Cemetery is located beside the family home on Donaldson Creek.

Billy Ray died on October 24, 2020 at his home at the age of 89.  He was buried in the Peyton Thomas Cemetery.  Martha Jo died on October 17, 2009 in Cadiz at the age of 75 and was also buried in the Peyton Thomas Cemetery. Following Billy Ray’s death, the Futrell Farm is now owned by the fifth-generation of the Futrell family, David Shadrick Futrell, the grandson of Billy Ray Futrell.

 

Billy Ray and Martha Jo Futrell 

 

Tombstone of Billy Ray and Martha Jo

 

Billy Ray's Military Tombstone

LINEAGE:  Billy Ray Futrell was the husband of Martha Jo Futrell. Martha Jo was the daughter of Joe Miller and Ophelia Opal Frith Futrell.  Joe was the son of David Bristo and Laura Bell Tucker Futrell.  David was the seventh child of William and Eliza Jane Thomas Futrell.  Eliza was the ninth child of Perry and Elizabeth Bridges Thomas.  Perry was the third child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

(Thanks to Connie F. Kennedy who helped to contribute to this “leaf”.)

Douglas Clark Thomas -- Tragically Died as an Infant

 

Douglas Clark Thomas

Douglas Clark Thomas was the infant child of Bill Clark and Ruth Aralee Douglas Thomas.  Douglas died at the age of 13 months, the victim of a tragic drowning accident.  Bill Clark Thomas grew up in Trigg County, Kentucky and was a graduate of Trigg County High School, Murray State University and had received his Doctorate of Theology from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky in 1963. He and his wife Ruth were appointed as missionaries of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.  They served as missionaries during the following 34 years in Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, West Germany, Thailand and France.

Douglas Clark was born on January 14, 1964 in Singapore, Malaysia. He had an older sister at the time of his birth.  Dorothy Lorene had been born in 1961 in Louisville, Kentucky before the family had moved to Malaysia.

The Thomases had been in Singapore only one and one half years on February 17, 1965 when Douglas drowned in a bathtub.  Water had been left in the tub after his sister’s bath and the Thomases' amah (the Malaysian term for a nanny) was busy in an adjoining room.  Douglas crawled into the tub and when the amah returned she discovered him dead in the tub.  The amah rushed next door where the Thomases were in a class learning the Chinese language, but it was too late to save the young infant.

The Thomases had to appear in court and ask that charges not be brought against the amah.  "We never once blamed her," Dr. Thomas said. "Douglas was a very active child, the most active one we had. It was an accident, something that should never have happened, but it did. There was no reason to blame anyone.”

Funeral services were held on February 18 in Singapore where Douglas was buried.  The Chinese congregation handled Douglas' funeral arrangements, an act "that set a pattern for the rest of our missionary career," Dr. Thomas later said.

A few months later, while still grieving Douglas’ death, Ruth learned she was pregnant. Fraternal twins, Cecilia Ruth and Charles William were born on May 22, 1966, 16 months after Douglas' death. "(Douglas') death and the coming of the twins always are linked in our minds, and are the most definite miracle we have experienced," Dr. Thomas said. "Their birth 16 months after Douglas' death was the most dramatic sign for our faith that we've ever had," Ruth Thomas said. A fifth child, Deborah Elizabeth was born in 1968.

On December 29, 2001, Douglas was reburied in the Starkie Thomas Cemetery in Trigg County, Kentucky. The cemetery in Malaysia was being reclaimed by the government and designated to be the site of high-rise apartments. Bill Clark and Ruth saw this as the opportunity to bring their son "home" to be placed in the cemetery with six generations of his father's family.

 

Tombstone of Douglas Clark Thomas

LINEAGE:  (Douglas Clark Thomas was the second child of Bill Clark and Ruth Aralee Douglas Thomas.  Bill Clark was the first child of Cecil Seldon and Dorothy Arlene Clark Thomas.  Cecil was the seventh child of Seldon Trimble and Martha Elizabeth Bridges Thomas.  Seldon was the first child of James Jasper and Mary Magdalene Cunningham Thomas.  James Jasper was the fourth child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas. Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)