Bessie Lee (Batey) Haynes (1898-1990) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

Bessie Lee Haynes formerly Batey

Born 18 Nov 1898 in Blackman, Rutherford, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Daughter of John Charles Batey Sr. and Mary Anna (Blackman) Batey

Sister of Fannie Blackman (Batey) Talley, John Locke Batey, John Charles Batey Jr. and Thomas Alfred Batey

Wife of George Washington Haynes — married 18 Nov 1921 in TN

[children unknown]

Died 21 Nov 1990 at age 92 in Rutherford, Tennessee, United States

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Profile last modified 7 Nov 2022 | Created 8 Sep 2018

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Biography

Bessie was born in 1898.

She was the daughter of John Batey and Mary Blackman.

She went to school in Blackman, Tennessee. ^[1]

She documented the history of Blackman, Tennessee. ^[2]

She passed away in 1940. ^[3]

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BLACKMAN ^[4]

Tennessee was once a part of North Carolina but the people of N. C. thought that the distance was too far to govern. So in 1772 the settlers west of the mountains formed their own government, The Wantaupa Association. The rugged mountains toward the east prevented easy travel. Instead of surrendering to gloom, they set up a government that was the first democratic government west of the mountains. William Blount was appointed its first governor by President Washington in 1790. It was called the Southwest Territory and Territory of the U.S. of America South of the Ohio River at this time. N.C. turned the territory over to the Federal Government in 1790 and in 1796 it was admitted to the union as Tennessee, the 16th state. Many of the early settlers here came from N.C. and Va.

Rutherford County was created by an act of the General Assembly at Knoxville on October 25, 1803 and was named in honor of Major General Griffith Rutherford. It was formerly a part of Davidson Co.

Soon after the county was formed the Beesleys, Basses, Blackmans, Kings, Bateys came from Va. & N.C. and settled in this part of Rutherford Co. The Snells, Howses & Haynes were also early settlers.

During the 1780's Col. James Armstrong was given a large grant of land, 7200 acres, for his services in the American Revolution. This grant was in the most fertile part of Rutherford Co. Abstract deeds show that the boundaries were south of the Salem Road, along the Armstrong Valley Road and extending north to Stewarts Creek and being between Overall Creek and Stewarts Creek.

It is almost certain that James Armstrong never came Rutherford County but later divided this land and gave it to his six children. His daughter, Mary, married William Martin Herritage of Newbern, N.C. Mrs. Henry Zeliner’s farm is a part of the William and Mary Armstrong Heritage tract.

The Basses, who settled at Blackman are descended from the Heritages who, apparently, did not come to Rutherford Co.

Since the beginning of the settlement of this county, Blackman has played a major role in its economic, social and historic development. The land is unsurpassed in its fertility and the people have been most enterprising. This area was the breadbasket during the Civil war. The community was called Wilkerson’s Cross Roads in 1870-1895. At this time Blackman was the 5th largest settlement in the county.

Murfreesboro 3993 1795 whites 2194 blacks
Barfield 2063 526 whites 1537 blacks
Sulphur Spring 2000 488 whites 1512 blacks
Fox Camp 1758 440 whites 1318 blacks
Blackman 1608 553 whites 1055 blacks

For many years there has been a store at the cross roads and at one time it had two stores, a blacksmith shop and a post office There were doctors to look after the sick, a school and churches.

Isaac Burlason and his family came to the Southwest Territory about 1795, found a spring and settled on the old stage road, the present Burlason Road. Indians ran them away but they returned about 1805. Some of this land was a homestead, a 160 acre tract of public land granted by the U.S. government to a settler to be developed as a farm. Most of this land is still owned by Isaac Burlason's descendants. Four generations of this family are buried in the family cemetery. This farm is across a lane from the Sump Dismukes farm. The old Burlason home was torn down recently and the logs have been sold. Isaac Burlason's grandson, H. B. Talley was a lawyer, two or his great, great grandsons are lawyers and a great, great, granddaughter is a doctor.

Deed Book A No. 25 in the courthouse in Murfreesboro shows that Thomas Armstrong deeded 1200 acres of land to John Beesley on October 19, 1803. Both men were living in Newbern, N.C. at this time. The deed was registered in Rutherford Co, in July 1804. The Beesleys were the first settlers in Blackman as far as we know. The old Solomon Beesley home is located just south of Beesley Church on the Blackman Road. It is the residence of Mrs. Frank Beesley and was built soon after Solomon Beesley came to this county in 1804. It is a large cedar log house and originally contained two large rooms and a dog-trot. Solomon's son, Christopher (Kit) Beesley, was born here soon after the family came from Newbern, N.C. He was probably the first child born in this community. Beesleys have lived here since 1804. There is little doubt that it is the oldest house in Blackman. One half mile north of the Solomon Beesley home Christopher Beesley built the first house at this location, a cedar log one room house with a lean-to for a kitchen.

This house was built about 1830. It was the birthplace of eleven of the thirteen children of Christ & Susan Ridout Beesley. In the 1850's the log part of the present house was built. It was also made of cedar logs. Later weather board was used to cover the logs. Later the house was enlarged to its present size. It is now the residence of Henry Grady Beesley, grandson of Chris Beesley. This farm has been in the family all these years.

George Beesley a third generation Beesley built the George Beesley home on the Franklin Road shortly after the Civil war. It was made of logs and covered later. Mr. W. H. Owen owns this home at the present time. George Beesley's grandson, Jesse, is a well known sculptor. After living in N.Y. city for many years he has returned to Murfreesboro to live. He makes figures of children at his home on College Street. The founder of the Beesley Furniture Co. in Nashville was reared here. The company is stilled owned by his descendants.

Springfield - The Smith Home. Springfield is located just across the Overall Creek bridge at the west end and on the north side of the Manson Pike. It is rated very high among the historic homes of Rutherford Co. It was said to be one of the biggest houses in the county at one time. It housed soldiers on their way to the battle of New Orleans and later some soldiers from the Union and Confederate armies were sheltered here. Springfield was built in 1805-09 by General John Smith. The land was first owned by John Mukerin as a grant for military service during the Revolution. The land was purchased by Robert Harrold of Warren Co., Ky, who in turn sold it to General Smith of Goochland Co., Va., an officer in the militia. The deed was dared 1805 and describes the property as containing 640 acres. General Smith came here from Va. with many pieces of fine furniture and forty slaves by oxcart. These slaves built the house, baking the brick in an old kiln that once stood on the place. They morticed and pegged the timbers together. The fine carved mantles and woodwork must have been done by skilled craftsman. Francis Whitney Washington, a great grandson of General Smith, remodeled the house in 1857, adding the portico and the tall columns and lengthening the windows to the floors. General Smith's daughter, Julia, married Fontaine Crockett and their daughter, Sarah Katherine Crockett married Francis Whitney Washington, a fourth cousin of President George Washington, whose son, John Hall Washington inherited the place. His son's Francis & Howell were lawyers. Howell still practices law in Murfreesboro. His daughters were Isabella and Sara Washington. Springfield was sold for the first time in 1950. The family cemetery is near the entrance to the farm.

NOTE: Francis Whiting Washington was not a great grandson of General Smith. His wife, Sarah Katherine Crockett-Washington was General Smith’s granddaughter.

NOTE: It is unclear when the remodeled to Springfield was done as the Washington’s may have lived in an out building prior to William Hunter Smith’s death in 1871.

The old Dewitt Smith house and farm is just west of the Washington farm. It is owned by MTSU at the present time.

The Bob and Emma Smith farm was located across the road from the Blackman Clubhouse. He and Dewitt Smith were brothers. His wife, Mrs. Emma Smith, died in 1911 but her family lived here for many years. Dewitt and Bob Smith were sons of G.W. Smith.

James Bass, Sr. came to Tennessee from Va. in 1807. Book E No 471, page 402 Rutherford Co. courthouse shows that Wm. Martin Herritage deed 1200 acres of land to James Bass, Sr. on Jul 10, 1807. This land was part of the Armstrong Grant. His home just north of the store at Blackman was unlike most of the early homes for the older log part is a two-story, two room building without the dog-trot and the front is a frame building. An old history of Rutherford said it was the first frame house in the county. He married Temperance Jordan in Va. before coming to Tenn. He was born in 1761. For service in the Va. Militia, Rev. War, the D.A.R.’s have placed a small marker in the Bass Cemetery in his memory. James Bass, Sr. died in 1826 and was buried in a small cemetery on his farm. The stones have been destroyed and there is no record of his birth date. James Bass’ children were:

Thomas Bass
Ben J. Bass - descendants, ~~Ross Bass, former congressman and J. Dallas Bass, a well-known Methodist minister (Pulaski).~~
Temperance W. Bass Rucker
Nancy Bass Smith - Married Peyton Smith, minister
Mary C. Bass Lughlin
Hartwell Bass
James Bass, Jr., born July 19, 1798, died in March 19, 1864.

NOTE: Ross Bass and J. Dallas Bass do not descend from Ben J. Bass.

James Bass, Jr., was married to Eliza Ann Catherine Howse, the daughter of Ambrose Howse. Her home and the Howse cemetery were on the Blackman Road across the road from the old Buchanan home, now the Gillespie home. James Bass, Jr. and his wife Eliza Bass lived on the Brown Chapel Road and owned the John L. Batey farm. The old home was torn down when J. C. Batey built his home at this location in 1905. This farm has been owned and operated by James Bass’ descendants for more than a hundred years. Eliza Ann Catherine Bass and James Bass, Jr. are buried in the family cemetery on the Batey Farm. They had thirteen children:

Their son Andrew was killed in the Battle of Stone river.
George W. Bass never returned from the Civil War. His family never knew what happened to him. They thought he might have died in a prison camp.
Fannie married Richard Ransom. Their son Dr. John J. Ransom was a Methodist minister. He was a missionary in Brazil for several years. His son John Crowe Ransom was a well know poet, a Rhodes Scholar and taught at Vanderbilt.
Eliza S. Bass never married. She lived with her sister Sarah and Mary Ann (Mrs. Alfred W. Blackman).
Sarah A Bass never married. She lived with her sister Eliza and Mary Ann (Mrs. Alfred W. Blackman).
Robert C. Bass had one child who married an Anderson. Robert died when he was 29.
Thomas W. Bass - Old house on the hill after the Civil War. (Lanes descendants.)
James J. Bass built the house where Elizabeth Davis lives on Bass Road. His children, George Bass, Blanche Bass, and Sarah Bass never married. They lived in this house until their deaths and are buried in the family cemetery on the farm.
Ambrose H. Bass
Hartwell Bass - His daughters Mary & Lyda married Charlie Holmes and H. B. Hyde and both lived in the Salem Community.
Mary Ann Bass married Alfred W. Blackman. They owned her father’s home and lived in it until they built the house where Riggs live in 1877. They had eleven children, two died as infants, one when he was twelve, the girls all married and lived in this county. Two of Mary Ann Bass’ children:
1. A son, Dr. George Blackman went to school in New York. He was a well-known veterinarian and lived in Illinois and Texas until he retired and came back to Smyrna to live. His wife, Laura Sanders Blackman was Dr. Van Sanders sister a well-known Nashville surgeon.
2. Andrew lived at Blackman for many years, then moved to Tullahoma. His son managed the hospital at Pulaski for several years, the. Moved to a hospital in East Tennessee.

James Blackman, born Jan. 5, 1768, the son of Stephen Blackman and Anne Snell King Blackman, and his wife Elizabeth Ann Oats and their five children came to Rutherford Co., in 1808 and settled at what was later to be known as the Blackman Community. The place was named in honor of their son Alfred Blackman who spent a long life here and did much to develop the community. The Blackmans were from Sampson Co., N.C. Records in the courthouse show that they were there several years before coming to Tenn. Ann Snell, the daughter of Roger & Ann Snell, first married a King and had several children before she married Stephen Blackman. Therefore, the Kings and Blackmans who came to this county about the same time were half brothers. We do not know when James Blackman died for his grave marker was stolen, but his wife Elizabeth Ann Oats died in 1845 and was buried in Blackman Cemetery (2). Alfred Blackman, the son of James Blackman, was born Nov 14, 1790 at Clinton in Sampson Co., N.C. He was 18 years old when he came here with his family. As the years passed he acquired much land. He had a blacksmith shop on the N. E. corner of the crossroads before the Civil War and this area was called Blackman's Shop. After the war it was called Wilkinson's Cross Roads. In 1895 five of the Blackmans who lived here petitioned for and had a postoffice established at the store. The office was closed in 1913.

Jim Gresham, Curg Howse the father of Mayor Hilary Howse, George W. Haynes and Mr. Burton were some of the early owners and operators of the store here. Since the post office was established in 1895 this community has been called Blackman.

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Alfred Blackman's son, Lazarus (Lad), married America Smith. They owned the farm where the Salee's live now. Their home was a large two-story brick. The house was badly damaged by a tornado on March 13, 1913 and burned later. She died on April 15, 1893. Their children were: Rayford C. Blackman, Alfred Watson Blackman, Betty Blackman and Mattie Blackman. Betty married Dr. Rafe Hall. Mattie married Sam Buchanan, born Dec. 20, 1839 and they had three sons and three daughters. After his death on April 14, 1891 she married Tom Richardson. Her grandson, Sam Lasseter, is the manager of the Commerce Union Bank in M!boro. A grandson, Dan Sanders, is a well-known doctor in Nashville.

Rayford Blackman married Ann Rebecca Rideout when she was twenty and he was 42. Rayford had been a bachelor for many years and being a hard worker and extremely thrifty had acquired much land by this time and was growing cotton on an extensive basis. During the Civil War Federal soldiers took his crops, cattle and work stock and burned his home and barns. He and his wife were reduced to poverty. Later they were able to rebuild their fortune. They had suffered so much and he became so bitter that he never rebuilt their house. He was quoted as saying, "They will never burn another house for me for I will never build another one." He died on Christmas Eve 1888 and up until that time had lived in a slave cabin with a dirt floor in the kitchen. Rayford Blackman was a member of the Board of Directors of the 1st National Bank of M'boro in 1877. Sam Marable, a black man, who worked for his brother, told me that Rayford Blackman rode his horse to the bank of M'boro and broke the bank by withdrawing his money and taking it home in a flour sack.

Rayford & Ann Rebecca Rideout Blackman's children were:

Ellen, who married Wm. Walker Woodruff.
Horace was never married and lived on the family farm with his mother until her death in 1924. He continued to live in their home until a few years before his death. Mr. Robert Alsup bought the farm. The old house burned recently.
Ben Blackman married Ellen Gresham. She died Feb. 16, 1907. Mrs. Mittie Blackman Zellner and Walter Blackman were their children. They lived on the Mullin's farm on the Manson Pike.
Alfred Watson Blackman married Mary Anna Bass, the daughter of James A. Bass & Eliza Howse Bass. They first lived in her father's old home. In 1877 he built the house where the Riggs live now. In the early 1900's J. C. Batey razed the old Bass house to build the present house at this location.

Alfred W. Blackman owned and operated a cotton gin on his farm. In 1885, he and N. C. Crichlow were vice-presidents of the Central Agricultural and Mechanical Assoc. He owned about 1000 acres of land when he died in 1899. John L. Batey, Johnny Riggs,and J. T. Harris own this land now.

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