D.B. and Bessie Sumner Redd -- Carpenter and Housewife

 

D.B. and Bessie Sumner Redd

 

D.B. Redd was born on June 22, 1902 in Trigg County, Kentucky, the fourth of nine children born to Walker Redd and Amelia Eudora Williams Redd.  Walker was a native of Trigg County and a prominent farmer and carpenter in the Donaldson Creek community.  Amelia was also born in Trigg County and died at the early age of 36. Following Amelia’s death, Walker married Etna Thomas, who was born on November 3, 1897 in Trigg County and was the daughter of Chilton Allen Thomas and Amanda Ellen Chewning Thomas. Walker and Etna had two daughters, who were half-sisters to D.B. They were Rebecca Ellen Redd, born in 1925 and married John Primm Adams and Geneva Ann “Jan” Redd, born in 1928 and married Charles Edison Ahart and then married Jockney Gerald Eichelberger.

D. B. grew up in the Donaldson Creek community and when entering young adulthood, he became a farmer. He also learned to be a carpenter from his father.  His father was known throughout Trigg and the nearby counties as excellent builder of barns.  The carpentry trade became D. B.’s main career.

On Sunday, May 6, 1923 D.B. married Bessie Marie Sumner in Stewart County, Tennessee.  Bessie was born on February 1, 1903 in Trigg County, the second of five children of Thomas “Tommie” Darnell Sumner and Lula Bell Thomas Sumner.  Tommie was a farmer in the Donaldson Creek community.  He was a native of Trigg County and a grandson of Drewry Bridges.  Lula was also a native of Trigg County and was a granddaughter of Perry Thomas. Bessie’s siblings were Beulah Sumner, born in 1900 and married Ted Thomas; James Preston Sumner, born in 1906 and married Lula Maude Thomas and then married Marie Eakers; Thomas Herbert Sumner, born in 1909 and married Edna Lucille Thomas; and Bayliss Hugh Sumner, born in 1914 and married Ruby Helen Calhoun.

After their marriage, D.B. and Bessie lived on his father’s farm in Trigg County except for two short periods when they moved to Akron, Ohio and to Benton, Kentucky.  In 1945, they moved to Canton, Kentucky which became their permanent home.  D.B. accepted a position with the Trigg County Board of Education where he worked for 28 years until his retirement.

D.B. and Bessie were the parents of five children.  They were Chappell Blane Redd, born in 1924 and married Anna Vernell Johnson; Jewell Grace Redd, born in 1928 and married John J. Bentley and then married Richard Haydon Miller; Freda Merle Redd, born in 1930 and married Frank Thomas McAtee; James Bernard Redd, born in 1935 and married Mary Lou Stillmaker; and Billy Randall Redd, born in 1937 and married Catherine Frances Rives.

Bessie died on January 14, 1997 at the age of 93 in the Jennie Stuart Medical Center in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz.  D.B. died exactly one year later on January 14, 1998 at the age of 95 in the Trigg County Hospital in Cadiz.  He was buried in the East End Cemetery next to his wife.

D.B. tombstone

 Bessie tombstone

 

LINEAGE: (D.B. Redd was the husband of Bessie Marie Sumner.  Bessie was the daughter of Thomas “Tommie” Darnell and Lula Bell Thomas Sumner.  Tommie was the third child of James Edmond and Mary Louisa Bridges Sumer.  Mary Louisa was the second 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. Lula Bell Thomas was the fifth child of Chilton Allen and Martha Ann Duncan Thomas.  Chilton was the tenth child of Perry and Elizabeth Josepine Bridges Thomas.  Perry was the third child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)