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”.)