John White Broyles (1864 - 1958)

Born 6 May 1864 in Rhea County, Tennessee, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Annie S (Dedrick) Broyles — married about 1890 in Rhea County, Tennessee, USA

Died 18 Jan 1958 at age 93 in Sparta, White County, Tennessee, USA

Biography

Military Service

Spanish-American War. 1898

Occupation:

worked on the Railway Mail Service train sorting mail. 1912

Buried

Niota, McMinn, Tennessee, USA. Map: Latitude: N35.5134. Longitude: W84.5452.

Note: #N4.

Notes

Note N4He evidently was named after the first settler of White County (John White) He was a "jack-of-all-trades" and was involved in a number of businesses. In 1884, he was publishing a newspaper in Rhea Springs called the Buttonbuster, but, unfortunately, no copies of the paper have survived. His printing press was in the garage at the home of his sister, Isabelle, when she died in 1942, but it disappeared. After he returned from war to Rhea Springs, he opened a store. He was a very patient, easy going man, and always took time to take Miles McCuistion fishing in Piney Creek behind their house in Rhea Springs. Miles' mother, who was the niece of Annie Broyles, frequently took the children to visit their Aunt and Uncle, where the children always had an enjoyable time and most delicious food. Uncle John showed Miles a number of medals from his service in the Spanish-American War, but only after he was questioned about them. Among his many endeavors, he manufactured and sold at least two patent medicines (no one seems to know what happened to his formulas). One was a red-colored liquid that was used on scratches and bruises during Miles' childhood, and it worked. The other was a green tonic or "horse liniment" good for man or beast. He printed his own labels for these bottles. The name of the red medicine was "Sure Go" ( a fact remembered by Miles' uncle. Betty "inherited" all of Uncle John's letters written about the Broyles and Stockton families in the 1930's, parts of which are quoted elsewhere in the family histories. A few years before her death, Gladys gave Bettye a beautiful, all white quilt that belonged to her father, handed down from his grandmother, Barbara ( Lotspeich) Broyles. The stuffed design and delicate stipple-quilting between the design panels, is typical of the quilts made in Rhea County in the 1850's and 1860's ( Barbara died in 1863).

Sources

• Family Tree Maker 2014 data of Robert Jason "Bob" Branham, Wednesday 09 Sept 2015 and information received from other relatives.