Claud Vivian Adams -- Outstanding Citizen of the City

 

Claud V. Adams

Claud Vivian Adams was born on July 2, 1927 in Trigg County, Kentucky, the son of Major Richard Adams and Deanie Katherine Henderson Adams. Both Major and Deanie were natives of Trigg County where Major was a farmer and a carpenter.  Claud had three siblings, Lillian Nell Adams, Eliza Belle Adams and William R. Adams.

Claud attended school in Trigg County and after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U. S. Army on February 17, 1946.  He was discharged from the service on July 20, 1947 and he returned to Trigg County.

On June 6, 1950, he married Bobbie Jean Thomas.  Bobbie was born November 8, 1933, the daughter of Josh Herschel Thomas and Inous Wallace Thomas. Herschel and Inous were natives of Trigg County where he had worked as a farmer.  Bobbie had two siblings, Betty Jane Thomas and Josh Howard Thomas. Bobbie worked as a seamstress at the Western State Hospital in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and the Economy CeeBee Grocery Store in Cadiz.  Claude and Bobbie had one child, a daughter, Connie Faye Adams, born on December 2, 1953 in Cadiz, Kentucky.

Claud worked in the Ford tractor and equipment business for over 31 years.  He was a partner of the Burke-Thomas Company in Cadiz.  As a parts manager he had a phenomenal recall for the part numbers and bin locations where parts were kept.  When a customer brought in an old part, Claud could recite the part's number and immediately locate the bin where the part was kept.

Claud served as an active member of the Cadiz Volunteer Fire Department.  The fire department was the oldest fire department in Trigg County having been founded in the late 1920s when a major fire burned downtown Cadiz.  Claud served as a volunteer fireman for 25 years.  In 1968, he became the Chief of the Cadiz Volunteer Fire Department, a position he held for 12 years until his death in 1980.

Claud also served as the chairman of the City of Cadiz Water and Sewer Commission for 8 years. He was also a member of the Pennyrile Area Development District Disaster and Emergency Service Commission. Claud’s other civic responsibilities including membership in the local Chamber of Commerce, the Trigg County Farm Bureau and Kentucky’s Western Waterlands.

Claud died on July 27, 1980 at the Trigg County Hospital at the age of 53 after a 14 month bout with cancer.   He was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz.  His wife, Bobbie, died on November 9, 2002 in Denton, Texas where she had moved to be with her daughter.  She was buried in the East End Cemetery next to her husband.

 Claud and Bobbie Adams

Claud as a parts manager

Tombstone of Claud and Bobbie Adams

LINEAGE:  (Claud Vivian Adams was the husband of Bobbie Jean Thomas.  Bobbie was the daughter of Josh Hershel and Inous Undine Wallace Thomas and the granddaughter of Alfred Claude and Mamie Jane Stallons Thomas.  Alfred was the third child of Robert Allison and Emma Nora Cunningham Thomas.  Robert was the fifth child of Stanley and Emily Ann Light Thomas.  Stanley was the second child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas.  Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

Cordie Gilbert Thomas -- Miller and Restaurant Operator

 

                                        Cordie and Mina Thomas

Cordie Gilbert Thomas was born on August 28, 1903 in Trigg County, Kentucky, the second of three children born to Stanley Dyer Thomas and Willie Hite Thomas.  His two brothers were Jesse L. Thomas, born in 1900 and Hulan Henry Thomas, born in 1908. Stanley and Willie were both natives of Trigg County and Stanley was a farmer.

Cordie grew up in Trigg County and the 8th grade was the highest grade that he completed.  On September 19, 1925, he married Mina Louise Wallis.  Mina was born on December 26, 1905 in Trigg County, the daughter of Charles Addison Wallis and Lou Annie Wallace Wallis. Charles worked as a flour and grist miller.

The newly married couple moved in with the bride’s family in Cadiz and he joined his father-in-law and became a miller at the Cadiz Milling Company, where he worked for 32 years until his retirement.  Mina became a night telephone operator with the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company in Cadiz.  She worked for the company for 25 years as a telephone operator until her retirement in December 1960.

Cordie and Mina were involved in several civic and community business activities in addition to their regular jobs.  Cordie was a member of the first Water-and Sewer Commission for the City of Cadiz.  From 1938 to 1941, the Thomases managed the American Legion Club House which at that time was a very popular hangout place for teenagers and all ages. The club house unfortunately burned on December 14, 1941.  The couple was also the first managers of the American Legion Swimming Pool located on Swimming Pool Hill in Cadiz.

For many years Cordie and Mina wanted to have their own a restaurant.   They had some restaurant experience when they operated the Ben Wood Snack Bar in downtown Cadiz.  In 1959, their home in West Cadiz was taken by the government for Lake Barkley.  This enabled them to purchase the former Judge Hooks home in East Cadiz which they remodeled into a restaurant.  Mina’s love for decorative roosters caused them to name their new venture “Thomas Roost” which opened in 1960.  The restaurant became one of the most popular places to eat in Cadiz and hosted many showers, monthly meetings and family gathering during the years that the Thomases were the proprietors of the business. Cordie and Mina celebrated their final retirement when they closed the restaurant in 1968.

Cordie and Mina were the parents of one child, a daughter, Lillie Frances Thomas DeName, who was born in 1927 and married Johnny DeName.

Cordie died on April 12, 1973 in Cadiz at the age of 69 following a lengthy illness.  He was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz.  Mina died on January 11, 2000 in Cadiz at the age of 94.  She was buried in the East End Cemetery next to her husband.

Cordie and Mina

 

Thomas Roost Restaurant

 

Cordie and Mina Tombstone

LINEAGE:  (Cordie Gilbert Thomas was the son of Stanley Dyer and Willie Hite Thomas and grandson of William Henry and Sidney Dyer Thomas.  William Henry was the third child of Stanley and Emily Ann Light Thomas.  Stanley was the second child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas.  Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

Homer Ray Futrell -- Property Valuation Administrator

 

Ray Futrell

Homer Ray Futrell was born on February 22, 1916 in Trigg County, Kentucky.  He was the younger of two sons born to Lamont Benton Futrell and Sallie Roberta Thomas Futrell. His older brother was Charles Hobart Futrell, born in 1911.  His father, Lamont, was a farmer who had inherited a part of his father’s farm located on the Cumberland River near the Linton community.  Lamont was the brother of the well known Trigg County physicians, Drs. Elias and John Futrell.

Ray grew up in the Linton community and graduated from the Cadiz High School in 1933.  He went on to attend Murray State University where he graduated in 1941.After graduation he went to work on his father’s farm in the Linton community.

On May 15, 1947, Ray married Jewel Kathryn Thomas in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.  Jewel was born on June 12, 1921 in Trigg County, the only child of Perry Amos Thomas and Hattie Bell Adams Thomas, both natives of Trigg County.  Jewel graduated from Murray State University in 1943 and was a teacher for 31 years in the Trigg County school system before her retirement in 1976. Joe and Jewel had one son, Timothy Ray Futrell, born in 1948.

In 1949, Ray ran for the position of the Trigg County Property Valuation Administrator.  The property valuation administrator (PVA) determines the value of property for tax purposes. The PVA is responsible for identifying property and its owners, listing property values on the assessment roll, and applying legal exemptions. For the following 32 years Ray was elected every four years as the PVA. During this entire period, he never faced an opposition in either in the primary or the general elections where his name was on the ballot.  He also served on the board of directors of the state property valuation administrator’s association.

Ray and his family had moved to Cadiz while he was serving his terms as the PVA, but he continued to operate the family farms in the Linton community of Trigg County and near Trenton in Todd County.

On Thursday, January 22, 1981, Ray had been admitted to the Trigg County Hospital in Cadiz after suffering chest pains.  Shortly thereafter he was transferred to the Jennie Stuart Hospital in Hopkinsville where he experienced further heart failure.  Later that evening he was transferred to the St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville.  There, following five hours of open-heart surgery, Ray died on Friday, January 23. He was 64 years old at the time of his death. He was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz.

Jewel died on July 23, 1992 at a nursing home in Nashville at the age of 71.  She was buried in the East End Cemetery next to her husband.

 Ray Futrell Tombstone

 Jewel Futrell Tombstone

LINEAGE: (Homer Ray Futrell was the son of Lamont Benton and Sallie Roberta Thomas Futrell and the grandson of William Henry and Sidney Dyer Thomas. William Henry was the third child of Stanley and Emily Ann Light Thomas.  Stanley was the second child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas. Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

Wallace Reid Gordon -- Piano Tuner and Grocery Operator

 

Wallace Reid Gordon

Wallace Reid Gordon was born on March 12, 1923 in Golden Pond, Kentucky. He was the son of William Thomas Gordon and Sophia Smith Gordon.  William was a native of Trigg County, Kentucky and had worked as a mail carrier and school teacher. Sophia was born in Canton, Kentucky and was a homemaker and a substitute mail carrier.  Wallace had one sibling, a sister, Mary Helen Gordon, who was born in 1925.

Wallace was raised and went to grade school in Golden Pond.  For high school, Wallace went to Murray, Kentucky where was a student at the Murray College Training School.

It was at the Murray College Training School on February 8, 1940 that Wallace who was 18 years old and a junior at the school was involved in a tragic accident.  He was in the school’s chemistry lab preparing to conduct an assigned experiment with the chemicals red phosphorous and potassium chlorate.  He was alone in the lab at the time and it is assumed that he accidentally jarred the containers of the chemicals or dropped something in them causing an explosion. The explosion severely damaged his right eye and injured his left eye.  In addition, flying glass severed an artery in his head causing severe bleeding.  Fortunately, a Murray Boy Scout, Maurice Evans, found Wallace and administered first aid to stop the bleeding.  Evans was subsequently credited with saving Wallace’s life. The accident resulted in Wallace being permanently blinded In both eyes.

Even though he was blind, Wallace graduated from the Training School and went on the complete one year of college at Murray State.  In 1947 he attended a special school for the blind in Louisville.

On March 7, 1948, Wallace married Sally Isabelle Finley of Trigg County.  Sally, born December 19, 1928, was the daughter of Burnett Finley and Myrtle Mable Cunningham Finley and was the granddaughter of Rosa Lee Bridges.  Her parents were farmers and she had grown up on the farm in Trigg County.  Wallace and Sally were the parents of two children, Karen Renee, born in 1949 and John Anthony, born in 1950.

Wallace and Sally made their home in Golden Pond where Wallace operated a grocery store and service station from 1948 to 1959 while Sally worked at the Trigg Knit Hosiery factory in Cadiz. She temporarily left Trigg Knit to operate a beauty salon in Cadiz, but later returned to Trigg Knit where she worked until she retired in 1979.

Wallace obtained an amateur radio, or “ham radio” license in 1956.  He talked with persons in many foreign counties for over thirty years. He made numerous amateur radio friends throughout the United States.  Wallace was known in the county for his expertise as a ham operator.

In 1959 Wallace attended the Piano Tuning School in Louisville. He completed their program in the spring of 1961.  He then began working as a piano tuner and repairman, a position he held for more than 25 years.

Wallace and Sally moved from Golden Pond to Cadiz in 1967.  Sally died on March 14, 1985 at the age of 56 in Nashville.  She was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz. Wallace died on February 19, 1995 in Hopkinsville at the age of 71.  He was buried next to his wife in the East End Cemetery.

 Sally Finley Gordon

Tombstone of Wallace and Sally Gordon

LINEAGE: (Wallace Reid Gordon was the husband of Sally Isabelle Finley.  Sally was the daughter of Burnett and Myrtle Mable Cunningham Finley and the granddaughter of Elmer “Ell” and Rosa Lee Bridges Cunningham. Rosa was the seventh child of Cullen T. and Martha Virginia Thomas Bridges.  Cullen was the twelfth child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges. William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)