My Grandfather the "Map Man"

My grandfather was a "map man."

In most of their research books about county histories and their own ancestral heritage, you can find maps. I can see him now standing at the old drawing desk where he had rulers, rub-on letters, typed labels, adhesive dots and a myriad of other items as his map "tools." You could always find him buried in USGS Topographic maps and aerial photos such as the ones I will describe below. Whenever we went on a trip to a city or place, he would always have self-made maps indicating points of interest.

My grandparents had their own copy machine before they became a common household item. He would make copies and painstakingly do his "Marsh Magic" and before long, he would have a masterpiece!

One of the things my grandparents did in the early 1990's was create a document called The First Thirty Years: A Biography. It covers their lives from 1921 until 1951. Many of the stories you will hear will come from that document. I remember them telling me some of the stories when I was younger, but I am so thankful to have it in writing. My mind isn't always good at recalling information without a prompt.

The maps below are the ones created by my grandfather for this biography. Both of them were born in Lincoln County, Tennessee and all the numbers relate to places and stories within the biography.

I am going to share the section under "Number 1" on the first map. I hope you enjoy this story and will come back for more.

This is verbatim from my grandfather and as always, typed by my grandmother.

NUMBER 1
I was born June 12th, 1921, two miles west of Lincoln Village, Lincoln County, Tennessee (as indicated on the accompanying map by Number 1) in a two room shanty, on the Tom Walker place to Richard A. and Blanche Mathis Marsh. Mother picked blueberries the day before I was born and baked a pie, an event she never forgot until a year before her death, when a stroke caused her memory loss. She chopped cotton the day I was born that evening at 5 o'clock. When her time came to deliver, dad walked three miles to Lincoln Village to get Dr. Ed. Dickey, when they arrived back in the buggy I was already born with only mother attending.

My mother, Blanche Leann Marsh (1901-1992), born in McMinnville, Tennessee to John T. and Mary Lou Cantrell Mathis of McMinnville, Tennessee. Her grandfather Mathis was Thomas. Her grandfather Cantrell was Lemuel (Collie), the first was Richard of Derbyshire, England, landing first at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1689, children migrated to South Carolina, then to DeKalb County, Tennessee. Mother's father John was killed in McMinnville by a fall when he was carrying a small tree on his shoulder. Mary Lou remarried Mr. "Pap" Flanders, a Primitive Baptist Preacher. I believe her life could be eulogized by a single epitaph "family first at all costs." Those that knew her know this to be true. I appreciate her great sacrifice.

My father, Richard Austin Marsh (1899-1980) was the 1st son of Michael Goodrum and Lelia Beasley Marsh. Dad was born near Delina in Marshall County, Tennessee. His grandfather was John William Marsh, his great grandfather was Michael (1800-1859) and Elizabeth Landin (1800-1875) of Hertford and Gates County, North Carolina. Michael and Elizabeth came to Bedford County, Tennessee in 1828, settled at Bedford Community. This Michael's father was George born about 1750. Dad's Beasley paternal ancestors were: David, Liberty, Archer and John of Nottoway County, Virginia. The Marshes are English, opinionated, quick to categorize, quick to anger, slow to make lasting friends, true friendships limited to a proven few, good at spotting phonies and a very, very dry sense of humor.

I would like to say here that many of the exact dates and events used herein by me were possible because of my father, Richard A. Marsh, generally known as "Mr. R.A." had an exceptional memory for events, places and dates that I will not challenge, recording many of them in a dog-eared journal that he kept for years. I have often found notes written by him and mother on the inside covers of books, on furniture, often noting events, activities, dates and weather, things that were important to them. I am thankful for his compulsion to record those important mile stones in our lives and hope their intent will be reflected by me, their son. "Dad saw good in most and evil in few."