Fred Thomas -- U.S. Navy

 

Fred Thomas

Fred Thomas was born on May 19, 1927 in the Donaldson Creek community of Trigg County, Kentucky.  He was the seventh of nine children born to John Cullen “Taylor” Thomas and Myrtle Green Chewning Thomas.  His siblings were Lonnie Douglas, born in 1913; Herschel Jefferson, born in 1915; Eunice, born in 1918; Ruth, born in 1920; Thelma Christine, born in  1922, Guy, born in 1924; Lottie Mae, born in 1930; and Olen Ray, born in 1933.

Fred grew up in rural Trigg County, but as soon as he reached the age of 17 in 1944, he traveled to Louisville, Kentucky where he joined the U. S. Navy.  He was sent to the Naval Training Center at Great Lakes, Illinois where he received his basic naval training.  After his basic training, he was sent to Norfolk, Virginia where he boarded the USS Card.  The ship was sent into the north Atlantic where it served as a destroyer escort on German submarine patrols.

Although it was the end of World War II, Fred continued his naval career by serving on the USS Boxer.  He was also aboard the USS Brisco, which was a target ship in the 1946 Bikini Atoll atom bomb tests in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific.  In the following years, Fred served on the USS Orion, USS President Jackson, the USS Searcher and the USS Belle Grove.  He served off the shore of Korea during the Korean War as air support as well as off the coast of Vietnam.  Following the end of those wars, he spent part of his career at the Commissary Store in Charleston, South Carolina and at the USN Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.

One of Fred’s most impressive assignments was to serve aboard the USS Saratoga. He helped put the ship into commission in April 1956 and served on her for four years and four months. When he was transferred, there were only nine original crew members left on the ship. Years later in 1996, Fred was invited to attend the decommissioning ceremony of the ship in Mayport, Florida. He and his former crewmen marched off the ship together as a part of the ceremony, which was a sad and emotional day for all the men.

Fred retired from the Navy on March 29, 1965 at a rank of Ship’s Serviceman First Class after serving 21 years and three wars with the USS Navy. Fred settled in Milton, Florida where he worked as the sales manager of the local Ford dealership.  He worked for many years in that field and with other dealerships.  He was known to be a charismatic and charming man in his business and personal life.

Fred was married to Lillie Mae Edwards and they were the parents of a daughter, Sharon, who was born in 1967.  Lillie Mae died of cancer in 1990.  Fred married again in 1993 to Eva Somerset Malone and he became a devoted father to his stepchildren.

Fred died on April 10, 2016 in Pensacola, Florida at the age of 88.  He was buried in the Memory Park Cemetery in Milton, Florida next to his wife, Lille Mae.

 

 

Tombstones of Fred Thomas

 

LINEAGE:  (Fred Thomas was the son of John Cullen “Taylor” and Myrtle Green Chewning Thomas, grandson of Carroll and Frances Wills Vinson Thomas, and great-grandson of James, Jr. and Margaret Ethridge Thomas.  James, Jr. was the sixth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas. )

Robert Elliott Malone -- Trigg County Farmer

 

Robert Elliott Malone

 Robert Elliott Malone was born on January 5, 1896 in Trigg County, Kentucky.  He was the youngest of seven children born to Edmund Pendleton, Jr., and Terece Elizabeth Lawrence Malone.  He grew up in the Warrenton Community of Trigg County and attended Warrenton Elementary School.

In July 1918, Elliott was drafted into the U. S. Army and was sent to Camp Taylor, Kentucky located near Louisville, where he received his basic training. He was then assigned to the Company D, 1st Pioneer Infantry and served in the occupation army in France at the end of World War I.  He was discharged from the military on July 7, 1919 and returned to Trigg County.

Elliott married Annie Lucille Williams on October 11, 1922.  Elliott and Annie drove a horse and buggy to the Cadiz home of the Reverend Henry Seymour Gillette, where Reverend Gillette married them as they sat in Elliott’s buggy.   They were accompanied by Annie’s sister, Sidney Alma, and her husband, Pink Harrell Guier, who also remained in the back of their buggy during the ceremony.

Annie was born on March 5, 1903 in Calloway County Kentucky, the daughter of Thomas Green and Johnnie Vara Thomas Williams. Annie was the second of eight children born to Tom, a farmer and Johnnie Vara.  Both of them were natives of Trigg county Kentucky, Johnnie Vara was a granddaughter of Stanley Thomas.

After their marriage, Elliott and Annie lived on the Malone family farm located about three miles west of Cadiz.  Elliott joined with his brother, Henry and they operated the farm which originally belonged to their father.  During the depression, when the farm income was very meager, Elliott and Henry supplemented their income by selling chickens as well as selling eggs, butter and cream.  The brothers even created a chicken hatchery where they raised baby chickens on the farm which were sold to a wholesale company.

To help the family finances, Elliott also worked for a few years as a door to door salesman for the J. R. Watkins Products Company selling liniment and baking materials such as pepper, vanilla, lemon and peppermint extract. In addition, he worked as a guard at Lock E. Dam on the Cumberland River.

Elliott and Annie were the parents of six children, four daughters, and two sons. They were Martha Nell Malone, born in 1925; Edmund Pendleton Malone, born in 1929 and died as an infant the following year; Celena Ann Malone, born in 1931; Betty Sue Malone, born in 1934; Vara Jo Malone, born in 1940 and Robert Elliott Malone, Jr., born in 1944.

After the death of his brother, Henry, in 1955, Elliott continued to operate the family farm.  In 1963, he and Annie moved into the family home on the farm which has been the house where Elliot was born.  He continued to operate the farm until his death.  After his death, Annie continued to manage the farm for almost 18 years until her death.

Elliott Malone died on August 15, 1964 in Cadiz, Kentucky at the age of 68.  Annie died on July 5, 1982 in Cadiz at the age of 79.  Both are buried in the Lawrence Cemetery in Trigg County.

Grave marker of Robert Elliott Malone

Grave marker of Annie Williams Malone

LINEAGE:  (Robert Elliott Malone was married to Annie Lucille Williams.  Annie was the daughter of Thomas Green and Johnnie Vara Thomas Williams, the granddaughter of William Henry and Sidney Dyer Thomas and the great-granddaughter 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.  Mary Bridges was the seventh child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)

Robert Eric "Lars" Laine -- Jazz Musician

 

 Robert Eric "Lars" Laine

Robert Eric “Lars” Laine was born on February 2, 1910 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of Franz Viktor and Gertrude Matilda Johansson Laine. During the early days of the depression Bob came to America and settled in New York City. Bob could not speak a word of English. His first job was as a dishwasher, but he was a talented jazz piano player.

After he learned to communicate better, he was invited to a party where he was asked to play the piano. A man at the party gave him his card and asked him to call him the next day. The following morning Bob went to meet the man and was ushered into a swank office. This is where he met Billy Fiske.  Billy said he liked his piano playing and wanted to help him form his own band and asked how much money he would need to start the band. Bob said, “$3,000” and Billy gave him a check for that amount.  A few years later, Billy Fiske, who had won gold on the U.S. Olympic Bobsledding team in 1928 and 1932, was the first American pilot killed in the Royal Air Force in 1940 at the beginning of World War II. Billy was a great benefactor for Bob Laine.

With Billy’s check, Bob was able to start his career as a jazz pianist and he became the first Swedish musician to make it on the America jazz scene.  He performed a solo act in the 1930’s at various New York City piano bars, among them the famous Stork Club and Nick’s. He later joined with other jazz groups and worked on a combination of swing and New Orleans jazz.  Several of his early works were documented on recordings.

Studio opportunities continued to follow him as he moved to the west coast in 1936. He spent three years working under bandleader Ben Pollack.  Ben’s band over time had included Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. Bob’s recordings released under r Pollack’s name on the Decca label, included "Cuddle Up a Little Closer," "Nobody's Gonna Take You from Me" and a song called "Morocco,"

On September 3, 1943, Bob married Iris Faye Riley in Los Angeles, California. Iris was born on November 6, 1919 in Texas, the daughter of Thomas Henry and Grace Underwood Riley. Thomas Henry was the great-grandson of Orren Dates Bridges. Bob and Iris had one child, Iris G. Laine who was born in 1957.

Laine served in the U. S. Army beginning in 1942 for four years.  He served primarily stateside during the war.  His activity in the 1950s involved more vocal music than jazz. The family moved around between Los Angeles, Hawaii and Las Vegas, finding crooners and warblers looking for accompaniment.

For the last 30 years of his life, Bob and Iris settled in Palm Springs, California where they became the owners and operators of the Lars Laine Art Gallery.

Bob died on December 30, 1997, at Monterey Palms Convalescent Hospital in Palm Desert, California.  He was buried in the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.

 Robert Laine at the far right

 

Robert Laine tombstone

LINEAGE:  (Robert Eric "Lars" Laine was the husband of Iris Faye Riley. Iris was the daughter of Thomas Henry and Grace Mabel Underwood Riley, granddaughter of William Sylvester and Mary Anne Hixon Riley and great-granddaughter of Thomas W. and Peachie Elizabeth Bridges Hixon.  Peachie was the first child of Orren Dates and Mary Elizabeth Hixon Bridges.  Orren Dates was the first child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges.  William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.  Mary was the fifth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

John Robert Vinson III --Funeral Director and Coroner

 

John Robert Vinson, III

John Robert Vinson, III was born on April 16, 1942 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.  He was the oldest of three children born to John Robert “Jack” Vinson and Doris Davis Peal Vinson.  His father worked for the U.S. Post Office and was also engaged in farming most of his life.  His siblings were two younger sisters, Anna Louise, born in 1944 and Carolyn Sue born in 1947.

John grew up on the family farm on Muddy Fork Creek north of Cadiz.  In 1953, he moved with his family to Cadiz where they lived with his grandfather after his grandmother died.  He graduated from Trigg County High School in 1960.  John attended Bowling Green College of Business for one year. He then moved to Louisville where he enrolled in the Kentucky School of Mortuary Science.

On August 27, 1961, John married Margie Ellen Rogers, the daughter of Kenneth L. Rogers, Sr. and Alberta Lyons Rogers who were Trigg County farmers.  John and Margie became the parents of three children. Their first child, Kelli Michelle was born in 1962.  A second daughter, Susan Rochelle was born in 1963 and their son, John Mark was born in 1971.

In September 1962, John graduated from the mortuary school and returned to Cadiz where he began his career at Goodwin Funeral Home as a licensed funeral director and embalmer. Goodwin’s was the first full-service funeral home established in Cadiz, having been founded in 1946 by the late A. K. Goodwin. Chat and Martha Maxfield became the owner of the business after Mr. Goodwin.  After working for Goodwin Funeral Home for nearly 30 years, John became sole owner in 1992 and was joined in the daily operations by his son.

Margie went to work for the civil service and her first assignment was to work for the draft board in Cadiz.  Later she was transferred to the Department of Agriculture where she worked as a regional reviewer and instructor.

In 1964, John ran a successful campaign and was elected as Trigg County Coroner with 77 percent of the vote, taking office in January 1965. He worked simultaneously as both coroner and an employee of the funeral home, He then ran in the next nine county elections where he was unopposed in most of the racesfor the job of coroner. He was elected to his final term with 79 percent of the vote. Upon retirement from the office of coroner in 2006 he was one of Kentucky's longest serving coroners. His son, John Mark, was then elected corner and John, III continued to serve as a deputy coroner in the years following his retirement

John was also instrumental in serving as a first responder by adapting the funeral home's hearses to operate as the county's only ambulance service until January 1979.  

On April 13, 2021, John died at the age of 78, at the Shady Lawn Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Cadiz.  He was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz, Kentucky.

 

LINEAGE:  (John Robert Vinson, III was the son of John Robert “Jack” and Doris Davis Peal Vinson, grandson of  John Robert and Gertrude Wilson Vinson and great-grandson of  Henry Cullen and Mary Catherine Sumner Vinson. Henry was the first child of Thomas Allison and Emeline Thomas Vinson.  Emeline was the fifth child of Cullen and Elizabeth Futrell Thomas. Cullen was the first child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

Leslie and Ronald Sholar – Young Victims of a House Fire

 

Leslie and Ronald Sholar

Leslie Eugene Sholar and Ronald Wayne Sholar were two young brothers who died in a tragic house fire on January 26, 1954 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.  Leslie Eugene or "Sonny" as he was called was five and one-half years old, born on March 8, 1948 and his brother, Ronald Wayne was four years old, born on November 26, 1949.  They were the only children, at that time, of William Eugene “Frog” Sholar and his wife, Margaret Worthington Turner Sholar. 

The Sholar family resided in a six room frame house located just outside the western city limits of Hopkinsville. Fire department personnel stated that they received an alarm of the fire at 7:10 a.m. on Tuesday morning, January 26. By the time the firemen arrived at the residence, flames were leaping out of the children’s bedroom 20 feet into the air.

Mrs. Sholar and her sons were alone in the house and she was awakened when the door to her bedroom flew open.  She first thought someone had opened the door and turned on the light.  When she realized what was happening, she tried to make her way to the children’s bedroom but was cut off by the blaze.  Her clothes on fire, Mrs. Sholar ran into the yard and collapsed.  She knew enough to roll over and over to put out her burning night clothes.  After extinguishing her clothing, Mrs. Sholar ran to the window of the boys’ room where neighbors kept her from going back into the house.   She was burned severely about the eyes, shoulders and arms.  Two of the neighbors suffered cuts about the hands and arms in an attempt to pull the boys from the burning inferno.  Mrs. Sholar was subsequently admitted to Jennie Stuart Hospital where she was listed in critical condition from her burns.   Firemen labeled the mother’s effort as one of the bravest rescue attempts in the community’s fire history.

The young boys, only 13 months difference in their ages, perished in their bedroom.  The body of the older boy was found on the floor, and firemen investigating the blaze were inclined to think he may have been attempting to reach the nearby window when he was overcome.  The body of the younger boy was found on the bed and it was believed he had awakened only sufficiently to pull the bed covers over his head in an effort to keep out the intense heat of the fire.

Firemen could not determine the exact cause of the blaze and said they did not believe it started from the coal furnace that was used to heat the house. The family used butane gas for cooking purposes, but none of the neighbors heard an explosion. The father had prepared an early breakfast for himself and had already left for his work in nearby Clarksville, Tennessee.  He said there was no evidence of fire when he left the house.

The two little boys who spent their short lives together were buried in a single coffin and were interred in a single grave in the Riverside Cemetery in Hopkinsville.  Only their father could attend the double funeral as their mother was hospitalized.  William and Margaret subsequently became the parents of a daughter, Ronsonlyn Sholar, who was born on January 31, 1957.

Tombstone of Leslie and Ronald Sholar

 Newspaper photo of mother, Margaret Turner Sholar

LINEAGE:  (Leslie Eugene and Ronald Wayne Sholar were the sons of William Eugene “Frog” and Margaret Worthington Turner Sholar, grandsons of John William and Eliza Jane Steger Sholar and great-grandsons of Drewry Bridges and Helen Wiles Sholar.  Drewry Bridges Sholar was the tenth child of Allen and Jemima Bridges Sholar.  Jemima was the first child of Drury and Charity Cahoon Bridges.)

Mary Elizabeth Williams Griffin -- Baby Left on the Doorstep

 

Mary Elizabeth  or "Georgia Ann " Williams was born in 1918 in Paducah, Kentucky,  although the exact circumstances of her birth may never be known as she was born into an unfortunate family environment and was not taken care of or raised by her mother or father.

When she was still an infant of a few weeks, she was found on the doorstep of the home of Cora Trainor on Berger Road in Paducah, Kentucky. The following note was attached to her:  "Please take care of my little girl. Someday you will know. My name is Mary Elizabeth. You shall be rewarded."  Apparently, at first Cora Trainor (who was later identified as her actual grandmother) was not aware that the infant on her doorstep was her granddaughter, according to a Paducah newspaper article of March 8, 1919. 

The incident was reported in the Louisville Courier Journal newspaper as follows: "Baby Girl is Left on Porch: Paducah, KY, - A six-weeks-old girl baby was found by Mrs. Charles Trainor Wednesday night on the front porch of her home on the Berger Road. There is no clue to the parentage of the child. A note asked the finder to care for the infant and be rewarded. The child was neatly dressed. Mrs. Trainor had not decided what disposition she will make of the find."  Subsequently Georgia Ann as she was called was raised into adulthood by Cora and her unmarried sister-in-law, Annie Trainor.

Several later references indicated that Mary Elizabeth’s mother and father were actually Lura Elizabeth Trainor and John W. Williams of Paducah.  A birth certificate for Mary Elizabeth was created as a "Delayed" document and issued on October 9, 1950 from the State of Kentucky showing Lura Trainor and John Williams as her parents, and stating that she was born on November 10, 1918. According to this birth certificate this was a first birth, legitimate, and was attested to by W. J. Bass, MD, Paducah, KY, on September 23, 1950. He was apparently the attending physician. It was also attested to by F. Swenter, who was Georgia Ann’s uncle, and should have known the circumstances and the actual data concerning the birth. It is believed that the certificate was probably requested by Mary Elizabeth herself.

According to Lura’s obituary, she was married to John Williams on October 14, 1918, about a month before Mary Elizabeth’s birth, but the obituary stated  that there was considerable mystery surrounding their child’s birth and the identify of her parents. Lura died at the young age of 26 of tuberculosis, a year after her child’s birth.  She died on a Pullman car on a train while traveling to a TB treatment center in Texas. Her obituary further stated just before she died, she asked that God would forgive her and said that she was sorry that she had ever met John Williams.

Georgia Ann married James Thomas “Jimmy" Griffin on November 24, 1947.  Jimmy was a native of Stewart County, Tennessee and the son of Plomer and Amanda Jane Vinson Griffin.  He was a civil engineer who worked for the Army Corp of Engineers. In January 1948, Jimmy and Georgia Ann moved to New Albany, Indiana, where she worked as a nurse.   They lived in New Albany for the rest of their lives. They had no children.

Georgia Ann died on Apr 15, 1992, and was buried in the Kraft Graceland Memorial Park in New Albany along with Jimmy who had died on December 2, 1987.

 Tombstone of Mary Elizabeth :Georgia Ann" Williams Griffin

 

Lura Trainor Williams, mother of "Georgia Ann"

LINEAGE:  (Mary Elizabeth Williams was the wife of James Thomas Griffin. James was the son of Plomer Milton and Amanda Jane Vinson Griffin, grandson of James Henry and Martha Alice Futrell Vinson and the great-grandson of Baylous Prent and Amanda Jane Thomas Vinson.  Amanda Jane was the fifth child of James, Jr. and Margaret Ethridge Thomas.  James Thomas, Jr. was the sixth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

Leslie Ernestine Wyatt -- Preacher and Teacher

 

Leslie E. Wyatt

Leslie Ernestine Wyatt was born on December 1, 1926 in Trigg County, Kentucky.  He was the fourth of seven children born to Sherman Franklin Wyatt and Bessie Burton Sholar. Bessie was a great granddaughter of Jemima Bridges Sholar. Leslie’s siblings were Wilford Eugene, born in 1921; Opha Pauline, born in 1923; Evie Lurline, born in 1924, Franklin Austine, born in 1929; Maddax Garnettene, born in 1933 and Dorlis Odean, born in 1937.

Leslie grew up on a farm in the Delmont community of Trigg County and attended the local county schools. Wyatt had an inexhaustible desire to learn, and he was promoted early, skipping the third grade and studying and earning credit for his junior and senior years of high school in one year, in 1944.  Following his graduation Leslie traveled to Chattanooga where he began a career as a preacher.  He decided to attend Freed Hardeman College in Henderson, Tennessee as he wanted to be more skilled and effective in his preaching

It was at Freed Hardeman that Leslie met IvyNell Lawson from Yazoo City, Mississippi. Upon his graduation, Leslie and IvyNell were married in her parents’ home in Mississippi on September 8, 1946. They subsequently became the parents of two daughters, Linda in 1952 and Lenelle in 1957.

Determined to make a better life for his future family, Leslie continued his education at Union University in Jackson, TN and then went on to earn a BS degree at Peabody College in Nashville.  Upon graduation from Peabody, he went on to teach at Cornersville High School in Cornersville, TN, and at the same time began preaching at the Cornersville Church of Christ.

In 1953, the family moved to Mathiston, Mississippi where Leslie worked full-time with the church at Mathiston, had a radio program on Sunday mornings and traveled to two smaller towns to preach in the afternoons. Although he loved his career in the ministry, Leslie did not lose sight of wanting to make a larger impact on young people, teaching them to prepare for their futures. In 1956, he returned to Nashville where he taught business education at David Lipscomb High School. He remained a teacher at the high school until his retirement in 1992

While serving as a full time teacher, he still wanted to continue preaching and would preach at many congregations in Nashville and surrounding counties filling in for preachers who were away. In 1958, he became the preacher for a congregation in Nolensville, TN.  During this time at Nolensville while also teaching at David Lipscomb, he pursued and received his Masters of Education degree in 1962. In 1986, he left the Nolensville congregation and became the associate minister of the Shelby Ave. Church of Christ in Nashville where he served until his retirement.

IvyNell died in 2020, at which time the couple had been married for 74 years.  Leslie died two years later on January 18, 2022 in Nashville. Leslie and IvyNell are buried in the Woodlawn Memorial Park in Nashville.

LINEAGE:  (Leslie Ernestine Wyatt was the son of Sherman Franklin and Bessie Burton Sholar Wyatt, grandson of Ishmal Worth and Sarah Ann Newton Sholar and great-grandson of Thomas J. and Martha Jane Rogers Sholar.  Thomas J. was the seventh child of Allen and Jemima Bridges Sholar.  Jemima was the first child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)