Percy and Edna Bridges
Percy Dillard Bridges was born on April 17, 1902 on Beechy Fork Creek in the Maple Grove community of Trigg County, Kentucky. He was the fourth of five children of Mark Dale Bridges and Mallie Mae Lancaster Bridges. Mark Dale was a farmer and the salesman of a prominent monument firm. He was a native of Trigg County and was a son of Cullen Thomas Bridges. Mallie was a housewife and a native of Trigg County. Percy’s siblings were Nellie Cleveland Bridges, born in 1892 and married Mark McCarty; Flo Templeton Bridges, born in 1897 and married Ira Clifton Bridges; Preston Dale Bridges, born in 1899 and died at the age of 18 months and Douglas Eugene Bridges, born in 1909 and married Katherine Elizabeth Edwards and then married Dixie Louise Minton and a third marriage to Letha Louise Plumbee.
Percy grew up in the Maple Grove community and attended classes in the one-room Maple Grove School. Soon after leaving school, at the height of World War I, Percy was inducted into the U. S. Navy in Louisville, Kentucky and was sent off to the U. S. Naval Training School in Gulfport, Mississippi. He served on the battleship the USS Florida and spent time in the southern waters off the coast of Brazil. After serving 18 months in the Navy, he was discharged from the service and returned to Trigg County.
Percy became a farmer on one of his father’s farms located in the Maple Grove community. He continued as a farmer during the 1920s but in the 1930s he started a career as a carpenter.
On October 8, 1921, he married Edna Pearl Thomas. Edna was born on March 13, 1901 in Trigg County and was the fifth of eleven children born to Starkie William and Julia Louise Sumner Thomas. Starkie William was a grandson of Starkie Thomas and had worked as a farmer, machinist and a truck driver. Julia was a housewife and was a granddaughter of Drewry Bridges. Edna’s siblings were Earlie Miles Thomas, born in 1892 and married Gertrude Elizabeth Wallis; James Ellmer “Elmo” Thomas, born in 1896 and died at the age of 16; Erma Lee Thomas, born in 1898 and married Lacy Ott Stewart; Eska Maude Thomas, born in 1900 and married Gordon Price Walker; Samuel Ottawa Thomas, born in 1902 and first married Ruth Baker and then Louise Jannelle Reed and his third wife, Willie Boyd; Mary Henrietta Thomas, born in 1904 and married Cecil Edward Poe and then Hiram Louis Boyd; Eula Louise Thomas, born in 1905 and married Emery Alexander Carpenter; OCL Thomas, born in 1907 and married Gilbert Wall “Gip” Wallace; Clyde William Thomas, born in 1910 and Floyd Calvin Thomas, born in 1911 and first married Doris Bricker and then Dorothy Jean Thomas. Edna grew up on a farm and attended school in the Tuggleville community of Trigg County until her family later moved to Hopkinsville.
Percy and Edna were the parents of one child, a daughter, Mallie Louise Bridges, who was born in 1922 in the Maple Grove community. She married Herman Ray Franks.
Percy and Edna moved from the farm in Maple Grove to Cadiz while he was pursuing his career in carpentry. He also operated the American Legion Clubhouse in Cadiz during the 1930s. In the 1940s they moved to Hopkinsville and then on to Louisville where he was employed with the E. I. Dupont Company. He was later transferred to Birmingham, Alabama by the company and then to Memphis, Tennessee.
In March of 1942, during World War II, Percy was drafted back into the military where he was stationed with the 62nd Infantry Division in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. It was there that he developed health problems and after a few months he was given an honorable discharge.
In the mid-1940s, Percy and Edna returned to Trigg County where they built a home in the Maple Grove community. He continued to do carpentry work and then became a correctional officer with the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville, Kentucky.
On April 12, 1967, Percy died at the age of 64 in the Trigg County Hospital in Cadiz of heart problems. He was buried in the East End Cemetery. Edna died at the age of 80 on April 12, 1981 at the Baptist Hospital in Memphis and was buried in the East End Cemetery next to her husband.
Percy and Edna's tombstone
LINEAGE: (Percy Dillard Bridges was the son of Mark Dale and Mallie Mae Lancaster Bridges and the grandson of Cullen Thomas and 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. Edna Pearl Thomas was the daughter of Starkie William and Julia Louise Sumner Thomas and the granddaughter of James Jasper and Mary 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. Julia Louise was the daughter of Benjamin Miles and Henrietta Gabrella Bridges Sumner. Henrietta was the first child of Drewry and Peachie Ann Tart Bridges. Drewry was the fourth child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges. William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)
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