While doing research on the coal industry at Coalton, KY, I stumbled across this interesting account of a wedding at Coalton on 10 Sep 1908. The article is from “The Big Sandy News” on 2 Oct 1908. The article is transposed in its entirety below, and a link to the image from the paper is also included.
If you want to just read the transposed article jump directly to that, if you would like some recent local connections to the 1908 wedding personalities continue reading.
The groom, French Thomas Hall (1882 -1931), is called FT Hall in the article. He is from Lawrence County, KY. The married couple resided in Ashland, KY for many years.
A few notes on the area participants: the bride is Edna Towler (1888 – 1950). Edna is the daughter of Caleb Towler (1865-1945) and Essie Reeves Towler (1863-1945), and the granddaughter of James “Henry” Towler (1838-1929) and Eliza Ann Norris Towler (1842- 1919). Henry and Eliza Towler had a very large land parcel consisting of much of current Coalton, KY, and Caleb and Essie Towler later had a meaningful farm at Princess, KY at the end of Towler Lane off KY SR5. The prominent white two story Towler farmhouse at Coalton on old US 60 (Midland Trail) near Manning Furniture, that many of you may remember before it was razed several years ago, is very likely where the wedding took place. The bride, Edna Towler, is the 1st cousin, twice removed of current Coalton residents, Rhonda Towler Lyons and Paul Towler (in other words, Rhonda and Paul’s grandfather’s 1st cousin).
Music was provided by “Mrs Charles Barrett” (aka, May Towler Barrett, 1879-1943). May Tower Barrett is Rhonda and Paul’s great – great aunt. She is also longtime Kilgore, KY resident Mary Barrett Vaughn’s (1899-1983) Mother, and Kilgore residents Thomas “Junebug” Burton (1921-2000) and Violet Jean Burton Badgett’s (1926-1995) Grandmother. May Towler Barrett’s in-laws owned a large store at Kilgore and the in-laws resided in the now dilapidated two story house immediately on the left as you turn into Rush from US60 onto SR 854. This now dilapidated house was later owned by the Henry (1903 – 1992) and Betty Horton Thomas (1903 – 1981) family.
The wedding attendant, Nellie Reeves (1893-1982), is the bride’s 1st cousin and daughter of James C (1865 – 1919) and Hanna Wheatley Reeves (1865 – 1962). This family lived at Princess either on or very near what is now called “Towler Lane” off KY SR5.
I am positive there are dozens of other local connections.
Transposed article copy:
Big Sandy News
Friday, October 2, 1908
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Married.
On the 10th inst., the marriage of F. T. Hall, of Estep, and Miss Edna Towler, of Coalton, Ky., took place at the home of the bride.
The bridegroom was met at Coalton by the Rev. J. M. Hicks, of Buchanan, and went directly to the home of the bride, where all things were in readiness for the nuptials.
The bridegroom was accompanied by the following special friends: Dr. J. C. Hall and wife, Mrs. Lizzie Handly and son. T. Z. Haynes, Mrs. Florence Riffe, Miss Bertha Riffe, Misses Sophia and Jessie Riffe, Mrs.Ollie and Bessie Neal, and B. F. Neal.
This company was met at the bride’s home by a concourse of friends. Near the hour of 12 o’-clock the marriage rites were solemnized. Mr. B. F. Neal and Miss Nellie Reeves acted as attendants.
There being in waiting a table groaning with the luxuries that marks the occasion of such events and makes the heart of man glad, the company was led to the table by the Rev. J. M. Hicks. After dinner, splendid music was rendered in the parlor by Mrs. Charles Barrett and others, the afternoon was spent very pleasantly by the gathering.
The next morning the bridal couple and guests drove to the home of the groom, a distance of 15 miles. There they were introduced to a large crowd of young friends who had gathered to spend the day and enjoy with them a splendid infare dinner.
On the occasion Mrs. Florence Riffe and some others furnished the music.
At the close of day a large crowd assembled to charivari the newly married couple.
F. T. Hall is one of our best young men and a prosperous young farmer.
Miss Towler is one of Boyd county’s most refined and accomplished young ladies. We wish them success and a long and happy life. The bride groom is 26 years of age and the bride 20 years.
A Friend.
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Link to the image of wedding article (zoom in on highlighted area)
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Enjoy! Lon
Hi Lon,
I thoroughly enjoyed your article on Edna Towler’s wedding in 1908, especially because she is a distant relation of mine. I must correct you on her family history however. Her grandmother, mother of Caleb Towler, was Eliza Ann Norris, not Morris. She was the daughter of William J. Norris and Ruhama “Ruby” Shuff Norris who came to the area from Monongalia County, (west) Virginia in about 1852. William and Ruby are supposedly buried in the Kilgore Cemetery you visited on April 22 (another great article). William Norris had two brothers, John (my ggggrandfather) and Joseph, who also came to the Williams Creek area at the same time. All three were married and brought big families with them. Initially, at least some of them lived and worked at Star Furnace. Several of the family boys served in the 2nd KY Volunteer Cavalry.
I have a question for you. Do you have any idea where the cometery is that served the Star Furnace community? I have several relatives buried there presumably. All i have been able to find out is that is was somewhere off the road to Grayson (assume this is what is now US 60?)
I really enjoy your website! Please keep on posting!
JoAnn,
Thank you so much for such a focused and informative reply.
1) I have corrected the name of Eliza Ann to Norris (not Morris). Reading cursive on old death certificates is a challenge. Note that there is an article in the Williams Creek Basin website about a diary of Joseph “Bertrand” Norris of Star Furnace. It is reasonably likely that J Bertrand was related to Eliza Ann Norris Towler, but I have not researched that intrigue. Here is the link to that article.
http://loncoleman.com/2017/02/26/the-1861-diary-of-j-bertrand-norris-at-star-furnace-ky/
2) Regarding cemeteries that may have serviced those working or living at Star Furnace. The cemetery at Kilgore was active when the Star Furnace was in operation (1848 to early 1870’s), and it is only about 1 mile from the furnace site. I strongly suspect there are those from Star Furnace buried there. There are a few very small cemeteries near the furnace. You can see the location of all those withing the Williams Creek Basin confines in “Williams Creek Basin Interactive Map” explained in this article:
http://loncoleman.com/2015/08/22/the-williams-creek-basin-interactive-map/
Coal mining at Coalton KY commenced at about 1865 and the cemetery there MIGHT have collected some graves that early from the reasonably close Star Furnace (about 2.5 miles away). Coalton Cemetery is reasonably large and is also cited on the Williams Creek Basin Interactive Map.
There are other cemeteries outside the Williams Creek Basin confines that may have served the Star Furnace community, but I am unsure of those particulars.
Enjoy! Lon
Hi Lon!
Eliza Norris Towler and Joseph Bertrand Norris were first cousins to each other and are also first cousins 4x removed to me. JB’s father was Joseph Shackleford Norris who was one of the three brothers who came from West Virginia in the early 1850’s.
Thanks for your insight on Kilgore Cemetery. Do you think it will ever be cleaned up? Does the county own the land?
JoAnn,
Like many cemeteries in the area the land for the Kilgore cemetery is privately owned (I think this to be the case). I have no idea if the cemetery might be “cleaned up”. There currently does not seem to be any sort of community movement to do this. Where are you located?
I am aware of J Bertrand Norris’s immediate family from study on his diary and suspected the other Norris families at Star Furnace of the 1860 census were related, but genealogy is not my primary focus. Thank you for the connection. What is the “other” brother’s name?
Enjoy! Lon
I live outside of Chicago. I have visited the Williams Creek area once, maybe three years ago, and explored Rush and Coalton., and spent a couple days in the Boyd county genealogy room in Ashland. Your map is very helpful and interesting. I could not figure out exactly where Star Furnace was, and now thanks to your map, I now know!
The third brother was John “Jack” Norris, my ggggrandfather. His daughter, my gggrandmother Amy Ellen Norris, was first cousin to Eliza Norris Towler and Joseph Bertrand Norris. I’ve read some of the diaries too. Jack’s father was George Norris of Monongalia County, West Va . He was a 1812 vet and was supposedly a master Collier at the iron furnaces in northern West Virginia. When the jobs dried up there, the family moved to eastern KY.
Hi Lon,
F. T. Hall was a great, great uncle of mine. His father, Richard Hall of Cornwall, England, was a miner in Coalton in the 1870 census. Dr. J. C. Hall, his older brother who was also mentioned in the article, would later become the coroner in Ashland in 1931. All of F. T.’s siblings were born in Coalton, while he was born after the family moved to Carter County, before moving to Estep in 1886. Until I read this article, I did not know his wife’s connections to Coalton. Thanks for posting it!
By the way, do you know where Precinct 7 in Carter County would have been in the 1880 census?
Thanks,
Hi Sue,
There are still Towler’s at Coalton.
I cannot help with the location of Precinct 7 in Carter County. If you could direct me to the person(s) of interest in that 1880 Census I will have a look. If it happens to be humans from east central Carter county I might get lucky and know where they lived.
Enjoy! Lon
It’s my Richard Hall I’m trying to locate in the 1880 census. I thought he might be very near to Coalton because when his eight-year-old son Henry dies, they bury him in the Coalton Cemetery, according to the Boyd County Cemetery database. However, he died two months after Richard bought his home in Estep, but since it was winter they might not have been settled there yet. I’ll keep looking. Thanks.
Sue,
Who was in this “Precinct 7 in Carter County”. I will look not just at the this “who in Precinct 7 in Carter County” but those listed before and after them in the census as I might know where these neighbors lived and this would give an idea of where this “who” lived.
You indicate that you cannot find Richard Hall in the 1880 census, so who is it that is in this 1880 census from Precinct 7?
Enjoy! Lon
Richard Hall is in Carter County’s Precinct 7 in the 1880 Census. I meant to say that I can’t locate where Precinct 7 is. Lon, that would be great if you could take a look and see if you recognize anyone. Thank you!
Sue,
I looked at the page in the 1880 Census that has Richard Hall in Precinct 7 in Carter County and did not recognized any names of humans where I knew where they lived. I looked at the one page after the page that Richard Hall is on and several pages before.
I suggest that you jot down the names and approximate ages of several of Richard Hall’s neighbors and search for those same human beings in the 1870 and 1900 US Census (no 1890 Census) and see if any of those folks are still beside each other, and if the 1870 or 1900 Census has a more descriptive location name. You might be able to determine where Richard Hall was living in 1880 by determining where is neighbors were living in 1870 and 1900 as they possibly did not move, even though Richard Hall evidently did.
Enjoy! Lon
Thanks for looking, and great idea.
Keep up the great work!
Sue