The Blacks

John Calvin Black moved to Tennessee sometime after the Civil War. On April 10 1872, he married Laura W. Cross in Fayette County Tennessee. Fayette county is just to the east of Shelby county and therefore very close to Tipton County. In 1880, according the US Federal Census, John and Laura Black were living in Civil District 10 of Fayette County, where John was a farmer and Laura was keeping house. By 1900 they had moved to Tipton County.

Munford

Another 2 miles to the west of Atoka is the town of Munford. In 1852 the Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal Church South moved to the current site of the Munford Presbyterian Church in downtown Munford. A small, unplanned village grew up around the growing Methodist church on the adjoining lands of Arthur Forbes Wooten, who first settled this point in 1835.


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In addition to the Methodist church Mt. Zion was also home to the Tipton Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons founded in 1853, the second oldest Masonic Lodge in Tipton County. The first school was the Tipton Institute, which opened in 1853 under the auspices of the Tipton Lodge No. 226, F. & A.M. Later in 1876, Mt. Zion was the home of the Memphis District High School, (also known as the Dyersburg District High School), that was operated by the Memphis Conference of the Methodist Church. This fine educational institution was later leased and then purchased by the Tipton County Board of Education. This school was the forerunner of the present Munford Elementary, Middle and High Schools.

The Post Office at Mt. Zion opened in 1856 but closed in 1874. When Mt. Zion reapplied to the United States Post Office Department in 1886 to have their old Post Office reopened, the Post Office Department approved the application with one exception. The town would have to come up with another name for their Post Office. The reason behind the government agency’s request was simple. They claimed that if the name of Mt. Zion were reinstated, it would cause confusion among postal employees when sorting the mail between Mt. Zion, Tennessee and Mt. Zion, Pennsylvania. It may be noted here that at the time the common abbreviation for Tennessee was “Tenn.” and the common abbreviation for Pennsylvania was “Penn.” In print and especially in script, the names of these two towns would look very similar to postal employees attempting to sort the mail. In the days before zip codes existed, mail could have easily been routed to the wrong place because of the similarities in the town names, causing serious delays in delivery. So the name was changed to "Munford" in honor of Col. Richard Henry Munford (1807-1884), one-time Randolph merchant, who had served over the years as the Tipton County Clerk, County Register of Deeds and Clerk and Master of the Chancery Court, as well as the Mayor of Covington. The newly appointed Postmaster was G. B. Sale.

Although the Post Office after 1886 was known as Munford, parts of the town would continue to be known as Mt. Zion until 1905 when Munford was incorporated by an Act of the Tennessee General Assembly. Sterling Hicks Bass, Sr. was elected as the first mayor.

Laura W. Cross was born in Tennessee in 1856, the daughter of William and Martha A. Cross. William Cross had probably lived in Marshall County, MS, moving to Fayette County, TN which is just north of Marshall County. William Cross was a farmer and probably had more than 12 children.

John Calvin Black and Laura W. Cross had 12 children of which 8 survived:

Laura died between 1910 and 1920. It is not known where she is buried. John Calvin died around 1925 and is buried in the Mt. Lebanon Methodist Cemetery near Covington, TN.

Thomas Lonzel Black married Josephine Rosanna Land (1878 - 1957) about 1896 and were living in Tipton County in 1900 where Tom was a farmer. (Josie Land's parents were James M (Jim) Land and Mary Caroline Hutchinson. Jim was Mary Caroline's second husband. Her first husband was Jesse Richard Trotter with whom she had 3 children. Jim and Mary Caroline had at least two children: Josie and a sister named Lavina.)


Tom and Josie Black

Tom and Josie Black had 9 children:


Jack, Lois, Lucille, Lavenia, Gunetta, Beryl, Virginia and Melba Jean Black

James (Jim) Black was born about 1875 (was 5 years old in the 1880 census and died sometime after 1880 and before 1900. Where he is buried is unknown.

Maggie Virginia Black was born in 1877 and married Luther Franklin Glass (1875 - 1949) from Atoka before 1897. They lived in Tipton County, but moved to Missouri sometime between 1920 and 1930. Luther was a farmer. They had 13 children, one of which died as an infant. Interestly, according to the 1920 census none of the male children could read or write, although both parents and all of the female children could read. Luther and Maggie died in Charleston, MO.

Maggie Black and Luther Glass had 13 children (most of these dates are approximate as they were derived from census records):

Carrie Black was born about September 1879. I have no other information on her.

John Calvin Black was born in 1880. In 1910 he was living at home with his father, mother and two sisters. In 1920 both he and his father were living with his brother William. He never married. John Calvin died in 1967 and is buried next to his sister Cora in the Crigger Cemetery in Munford.

 

 

William D. Black was born in July 1882. He married a girl from Arkansas who was born about 1888. They had 8 children and lived in Tipton County until at least 1920.

Cora Lee Black was born 19 November 1889. Cora married Claude Fredrick Pickard (1886 - 1962), who was also from Tipton County and they had 5 children. Cora died in 1960 and Claude died in 1962. They are both buried in the Crigger Cemetery in Munford.

Cora Lee Black and Claude Fredrick Pickard had 5 children:

Annie Black was born in June 1892, but nothing else is known about her.

Beulah Bell Black was born 30 January 1894 and married Jesse B. Thomas (1897 - 1979) on 4 April 1918. Jesse was born 11 August 1897 and was from Arkansas. In 1920 they were living in Tipton county and Jesse's 17 year old brother, Auston, was living with them. Jesse served in the Army in France in 1918. Both Jesse and Beulah died in Memphis in 1979 and 1985 respectively.

Jesse Thomas and Beulah Bell Black had 8 Children:

Flatwood

Flatwood is an unincorporatyed community halfway between Hopewell and Gilt Edge, about 7 miles north of Munford. Thomas Lonzel Black lived here with his family in the early 1900's before moving to Munford.


Tom and Josie Black and family, c. 1953 (names)

The Children of Tom and Josie Black

Myrtle Irene (Sister) Black (1897 - 1983) was married twice. She first married Turner Baskin (c1896 - ?). Turner Baskin was a farmer and they lived in Tipton County, TN. Sister and Turner Baskin had one child:

After Turner's death (unknown), Sister married Turner's brother-in-law, John Dalton (JD) McMillin (1882 - 1953). John had previously been married to Turner Baskin's sister, Donie, who also died and is buried in Indian Creek Cemetery. John Dalton and his first wife had two children:

JD McMillin was also a farmer in the Gilt Edge area of Tipton County, TN. JD and Sister McMillin had 5 children:

John Dalton McMillin and Myrtle Irene Black are both buried in the Indian Creek Cemetery near Brighton, Tipton County, Tn.


Jack Black

James Riley (Jack) Black (1899 - 1983). Jack's World War I draft registration card identifies his address on 12 September 1918 as RFD#1, Burlison, Tipton, TN and his nearest relative as his father. He was of medium height and build with blue eyes and light hair. Jack married Hattie Glidewell (1895 - 1987) around 1919 and they lived in Burlison, TN, where Jack was a farmer. Sometime before 1930, Jack and Hattie moved to Memphis where they were living at 724 Bethel Avenue (near Manassas) in 1930. Jack was an Insurance Agent and Hattie worked in a paint factory. Around 1965 Jack and Hattie moved into the house in Munford where Tom and Josie Black had lived and they lived there until they died. Jack and Hattie had no children. They are both buried in the Bethel Cemetery in Tipton County, TN.


Mary Lois Black

Mary Lois (Lois) Black (1902 - 1998).

More to come

Black Timeline | North Carolina | Tennessee | Missouri