20,000 Acres of Water

Countless Lake County, Tiptonville, and Reelfoot Lake postcards have been published, many of which feature the cypress trees that the area is known for. This one, postmarked 1949, includes a description on the back:

“Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee, a state park of 20,000 acres of water and uncounted miles of shore line, was once the hunting ground of the Chicasaw Indians. The lake was formed by a series of earthquakes in 1811 and 1812. Known as the “Fisherman’s Paradise”, it is equally attractive for hunting, boating, and swimming. It is patronized by sportsmen and vacationists from every state of the Union.”

As was the norm with these old Curt Teich postcards, the image began as a black-and-white photo that was then “colorized”. This one got a treatment of particularly brilliant greens!

Fisherman’s Paradise

This postcard, which was postmarked in 1949, is a beauty! The back of the card has been stamped, Morris Camp, Reelfoot Lake, Tiptonville Tenn. It’s funny, but in all the trips our family made to Tiptonville over the years, I don’t believe we ever went fishing. It’s the fisherman’s paradise, for goodness sake! You know, my eight year old son loves to fish…maybe this could be the catalyst for a return trip to Tiptonville. Given that I haven’t seen the town in over twenty-five years, that sounds like a pretty fair idea.

Edgewater Beach Resort

Here it is, Edgewater Beach, where we always stayed on our vacations to Tiptonville, Tennessee, at least until the Airpark Inn opened. This postcard probably dates from the late ’50s, and shows the beach much as it was during our stays. What isn’t shown here are the cabins, which faced the beach and are off to the right in this photograph. It’s probably been 40 years since our family stayed there, which could account for the nostalgia it invokes.
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Reelfoot Airpark Inn

Among my earliest recollections of Tiptonville, Tennessee is Edgewater Beach. We always stayed at one of the cabins there when on vacation, and got in some swimming when we weren’t at my grandmother’s farm. But that all changed with the opening of the Airpark Inn, ten miles north of Tiptonville. Located at Reelfoot Lake State Park, the 20-room Inn immediately became our new place to stay during our visits. Read the rest of this entry »

Meet the Family

It dawned on me recently that many people find this site while looking for relatives, and I haven’t made things easy for them. If someone arrives here after having Googled “stevens genealogy”, or “caldwell family”, they’ll find a frustrating lack of organization. But I must say that I prefer a more casual, “organic” layout, and find that excessive structure only serves to infuse the subject with banality, and genealogy needn’t be boring.
In order to clarify my family tree a little, here’s a quick-and-dirty outline of the family:  I’m Mark Stevens, born in 1957. My father was Homer Douglas Stevens (”Doug” 1915-2007), and his father was Homer Stevens (1888-1961). Homer’s father was Albert Stevens (1852- ?). Albert’s father isn’t known, although there was a John J. Stevens that’s a possibility. All the Stevens mentioned here lived in Ohio, primarily in Guernsey County. My grandmother was born Goldie Irene Parker (1888-1979), and her father was Henry G. Parker (1840-1914). Her mother was Emily R. McMurray (1846-1930). Read the rest of this entry »

The Strand Theater, Part II

Those who were intrigued by my previous post about Tiptonville Tennessee’s Strand Theater might be interested in some new information that was brought to my attention by Julie Haynes. I wasn’t able to find too much about the theater on the internet, but Julie, learned historian an unofficial family genealogist, has come to the rescue.
While the theater’s earliest history is yet to be found, it appears that George William (”Will”) Haynes and Lillian Haynes owned the Strand beginning in the early 1930s. The couple owned 25 or 30 theaters in all, located in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas. Their good friend Utra Burton managed several of their theaters, including the drive-in movie in Wynnburg. It has been stated elsewhere, and repeated by me, that Utra Burton owned the Strand, but that appears to have been an assumption on someone’s part. Utra certainly would have been a frequent, authoritative presence in the theater, making the assumption a logical one. Will died in 1942, but Lillian maintained ownership of The Strand until 1965, at which time she sold it to the Mason Lodge. Lillian died the following year.

Have Fun at Reelfoot Lake

Remember the earlier post where I remarked that Tiptonville was a popular tourist destination? Well here’s why: Fun!  Unfortunately I don’t remember their being a miniature train, and wonder when it was put into operation. Judging from the cars visible on this postcard I’d guess that the photo was taken in the mid to late 1950s, just slightly before my time. As is often the case with postcards of this era, there’s a description on the back: Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings from Tiptonville

There are two reasons that Tennessee (Mom’s family) is represented more prominently on StevensFamilyTree.com than Dad’s Ohio side, and I wanted to take a moment to address this imbalance.
Reason One: Mom’s family is fairly large, whereas Dad’s has all but vanished. As a result, I have many sources of information about the Caldwells, Hopsons and Tiptons of Tennessee, so it’s only natural that I share, and build on, the data I have access to. Dad’s family is a real mystery, with almost nothing known beyond my paternal Grandfather, and precious little about him. The majority of my efforts go towards the Stevens’ side, but the bulk of what I have to share pertains to the Tennessee folks.
Reason Two: Tiptonville, Tennessee has a long history as a tourist attraction, and as such there’s all sorts of items promoting that aspect of the small community.
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Tiptonville’s Strand Theatre, 1981

As luck would have it, I had purchased my first really good camera, a Nikon FM, just prior to my last visit to Tiptonville, Tennessee. I was all caught up in learning to use the fully manual camera, and indulged myself by taking all sorts of “artsy” photos. In the process I managed to capture at least a glimpse of the town as it was in 1981, considerably different than today. I loved this view of the former movie theater, so much so that I used it as the basis for an oil painting a few years ago. (which I’ll be happy to share… if I can find it!)
The Strand Theater was built in 1915, and owned by Utra Burton for an unknown period of time. It closed in the mid-to-late ’60s, at which time it became the Harmony Lodge, used by the Masons until just a few years ago. I couldn’t find much else in the way of historical information, but I did pick up some interesting stuff from the website, Cinema Treasures. According to posts on that site, Harry Houdini performed there early in his career, signing the wall backstage. (since painted over) It is currently being transformed back into a theater, and will be used for plays, concerts, beauty pageants, as well as movies. Does anyone have further information about the theater? I’d also appreciate any photos of The Strand taken when it was in operation.

William Parker Caldwell

Boy, I didn’t see this coming: I’ve learned that my great, great grandfather, William P. Caldwell, was a member of the United States House of Representatives. My knowledge of mom’s family, limited as it was, had told me only of their farming background, so this came as quite a surprise. And when I learned that my great grandfather Fred J. Caldwell (William P.’s son) was also an attorney, it’s become clear that agriculture hadn’t always been the predominant family business. So who exactly was my great, great grandfather?
William Parker Caldwell was born on November 8, 1832 in Christmasville, Tennessee. After having practiced law in Dresden and Union City, he represented the state’s 9th congressional district from March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1879. He later practiced law in Gardner, Tennessee and served in the Tennessee Senate from 1891 to 1893. He died in Gardner on June 7, 1903.
I’ve been unable to find any details concerning his career, but did learn that two of his sons, Fred J. (my great grandfather) and John A. Caldwell, followed in his footsteps by also practicing law. Another son, Luther W. Caldwell, became a physician practicing in Tennessee. While I can’t confirm it, at least one document could indicate that Luther relocated his practice to Hunt, Texas after the year 1900.
Once the exhilaration of these discoveries began to wane, a question came to mind. What prompted my grandfather, Fred J. Caldwell Jr., to forsake such gentlemanly occupations as the study of law or medicine for the respectable, but certainly more physical, life of a farmer? Genealogical research can uncover a wealth of information, things such as names, dates, events and places. But that sort of data doesn’t convey the thoughts and motivations of an individual. It’s too bad, as that’s certainly where the real story resides.

Mom’s Hometown

My mother, Ellen Virginia Caldwell, was born to Fred Caldwell Jr. and George Ella Caldwell on April 4th, 1921 in Tiptonville, Tennessee. Situated in the northwest corner of the state, the community is largely agricultural, and cotton farming was the family business. It’s probably the contrast between rural Tennessee and my own suburban upbringing that is the source of my fascination with Tiptonville. It shares little with the metropolitan setting to which I’m accustomed, and my memories of the place, not visited by me since 1981, are of an idyllic setting that exemplifies what America once was. The community has a fascinating history, far more than I can cover here, but I would like to touch on a few points of interest.
Tiptonville, population 2,439, is in Lake County, the smallest county in Tennessee. The town, situated along the New Madrid Fault Line, is near Reelfoot Lake, which was said to have been formed as a result of the earthquakes of 1811-1812. According to several accounts from the time, the quakes split the earth open, the Mississippi River flowing backwards to fill the void. The filling process was said to have taken anywhere between 10 and 24 hours. Read the rest of this entry »

What motivated this project?

It’s a realization that comes to most of us at some point: I should have paid more attention to things over the years. It’s just so easy to get caught up in the drama of ones own affairs, finding one day that the people who you knew would always be there for you aren’t there anymore. Loosing my mother in 2004 and my father in 2007 prompted much reflection, as I suppose the loss of ones parents always does. It occurred to me that not only were my parents gone, but so too was a priceless window into the history of our family. They knew facets of the family history that were known to no one else, and that information was now gone forever. I should have paid more attention, asked more questions. I should have listened.
Having lost Dad (Doug Stevens, or “Pop” as I affectionately called him) a little over a year ago, I decided that I needed to make up for my previous indifference to the family history. This goal was further encouraged by the Hopson Family Reunion which, unfortunately, I was unable to attend. (Hopson’s are on my mother’s side) But thankfully my sisters, Carol Miller and Gail Aguilar, made the trip to Tiptonville, Tennessee and brought back with them a tremendous amount of information as well as contacts for further genealogical study. Additions to this site will be frequent, and I welcome any information that might be provided by fellow historians/relatives. I can’t guess how much time this project will require, but it will certainly be measured in years. I’ll be right here, plugging away at it.

- Mark Stevens