Ella Lawson (Tate) Atkins (1891 - 1967)

Born 15 Jan 1891 in Tellico Plains, Monroe, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Horace James Atkins — married 18 Feb 1906 (to 18 Jun 1967) in Monroe, Tennessee, United States

Descendants

Died 18 Jun 1967 at age 76 in Tellico Plains, Monroe, Tennessee, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Kimberly Ann Lindsay [send private message]

Biography

Ella Lawson (Tate) Atkins was born in Tennessee.

The Life Summary of Ella Lawson (Tate) Atkins:

When Ella Lawson Tate was born on 15 January 1891, in Monroe, Tennessee, United States, her father, Monroe Webster "Pony" Tate, was 26 and her mother, Sarah A Ervin, was 23.^[1]

She married James Horace Atkins on 18 February 1906, in Monroe, Tennessee, United States.^[2]

They were the parents of at least 1 son and 7 daughters. She lived in Civil District 14, Henry, Tennessee, United States in 1900^[3] and Civil District 4, Monroe, Tennessee, United States for about 40 years. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

She died on 18 June 1967, in Monroe, Tennessee, United States, at the age of 76 and was buried in New Providence Cemetery, Tellico Plains, Monroe County, Tennessee, USA.^[8]

Personal Interactions

Ella is my great-grandmother. I remember her as not being very tall, although, her daughters were all over 5' 8". She was a very thin woman, and I remember grandma telling how Ella would grab a chicken by the neck and wring, and wring the chicken's neck until the body fell off. Then Ella waited for the chicken to fall over dead before she de-feathered the bird. That was every Sunday. I'm glad I did not have to witness that. Also, at night, whenever we slept over, I remember sneaking up to see what the grown-ups were doing, and Great-grandma Atkins, as we called her, was sitting in a rocking chair in front of the fireplace smoking a corncob pIpe! I could not believe the preacher's wife so esteemed in the community was smoking. But, only at night, so no one saw her. She scared me. Seemed to be fussing at someone all the time, although, I'm sure she was a kind person. My mother loved her. Mom spent a lot of time with her growing up. I remember Mom started crying when the call came that Ella had passed. I felt sorry for mom; I was only nine (9) years old. But, I still remember that moment as if it happened in the not too distant past. I loved her name and would have named a daughter 'Ella' if I had one. But, alas! I made good use of her maiden name 'Tate' and named my son, 'Tate.' The family seemed to be proud of that. I just wanted to honor her. There was no couple like Horace & Ella. Her husband was a kind, loving 'old soul.' When I was just sixteen (16), he approached my mother & I at an Atkins Family Reunion held every summer, and told us how beautiful we were. He distinctly said, "Beauty is a gift from the Lord." Mom & I both felt a blessing come over us after he said that. Popa, as he was called, was the Preacher of the Tellico Plains community. He was considered more important than a doctor, because he was the only person in Tellico Plains to have a car. And, it was a Model T Ford! They lived on a farm, and never wanted for anything. During the Spanish Flu, they all got the flu, but none died because they had an abudance of food for nourishment. Also, when the African community was being targeted, my family took them in, for protection. Also, my family's cemetery, New Providence Cemetery buried the murdered Africans in their cemetery when no other cemetery would allow African burials. I remember my ex-husband receiving a call from the Mayor of Tellico in the mid to late 1980's. They wanted him to design a Library. Rick is an Architect, and they knew he was married to a descendent of the Atkins Family. Rick went to visit the Mayor of Tellico Plains, and came back to inform me that the Atkins were the only family to work with him. Rick said there were always gun-fights. I was stunned that behavior was going on in such a quiet town. I mean, it wasn't the wild, wild west. I am sure there are many stories to tell if I just ask my mother. When I ask her about the passed-on family memebers, her memory comes to life, and she tells me things I never knew. Such as the story of Ethel & Edward Holder's life. She's eight-nine (89), maybe I should ask for more stories. It's the way people lived back then that if not recorded, is gone forever.^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/9WN9-S19/ella-lawson-tate-1891-1967
2. ↑ "Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VN66-SQJ : 4 December 2014), Horace Atkins and Ella Tate, 18 Feb 1906; from "Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2008); citing p. 230, Monroe, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSC2-5HB : accessed 5 August 2021), Ella Tate in household of Webster Tate, Civil District 14, Monroe, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 118, sheet 10A, family 170, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,589.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGXX-BJQ : accessed 24 October 2021), Ella Adkins in household of James H Adkins, Civil District 14, Monroe, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 151, sheet 4A, family 60, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1514; FHL microfilm 1,375,527.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN56-W96 : 3 February 2021), Horace Atkins, 1920.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SPHC-B3P : accessed 10 June 2021), Eula Atkins in household of Horace Atkins, District 4, Monroe, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 14, sheet 6A, line 6, family 104, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2267; FHL microfilm 2,342,001.
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4ZD-MVL : 11 January 2021), Ula Atkins in household of Horace Atkins, Civil District 4, Monroe, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 62-14, sheet 5B, line 63, family 90, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 3922.
8. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33348439/ella-atkins
9. ↑ Kimberly Whitt Lindsay