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 1887 - 1948 (60 years)
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| Name |
Thomas Claude "Pig-Headed Tom" Hennessee |
| Birth |
23 Apr 1887 |
Franklin, Robertson County, Texas  [1] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Occupation |
Citrus Grower [2] |
| Residence |
Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama |
| Death |
12 Jan 1948 |
La Feria, Cameron County, Texas [2] |
| Burial |
Restland Memorial Park, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas [2] |
| Person ID |
I410 |
The Hennessee Family |
| Last Modified |
27 Nov 2014 |
| Father |
Alford Thomas "Fuzzy Top" Hennessee, b. 9 May 1846, Warren County, Tennessee d. 6 Feb 1917, Mineral Wells, Palo Pinto County, Texas (Age 70 years) |
| Mother |
Mary Ann Harper, b. 9 May 1852, Warren County, Tennessee d. 6 Feb 1917, Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama (Age 64 years) |
| Marriage |
1 Feb 1879 |
Warren County, Tennessee [3] |
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| Family ID |
F350 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Sarah Frances Watson, b. 18 Mar 1890, Tennessee d. 17 May 1958, La Feria,Cameron Co.,TX (Age 68 years) |
| Marriage |
Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama [2] |
| Children |
| | 1. Claude Reid Hennessee, b. 14 Aug 1909, Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama d. 5 Oct 1984, Harlingen, Cameron County, Texas (Age 75 years) |
| | 2. Collins Byron Hennessee, b. 26 Jul 1913, Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama d. 2 Mar 1982, Nueces County, Texas (Age 68 years) |
| | 3. James Alton Hennessee, b. 19 Feb 1918, Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama d. 17 Oct 1983, Harlingen, Cameron County, Texas (Age 65 years) |
| | 4. Frances Evelyn Hennessee |
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| Family ID |
F447 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
30 Apr 2023 |
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| Event Map |
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 | Birth - 23 Apr 1887 - Franklin, Robertson County, Texas |
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 | Residence - - Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama |
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 | Death - 12 Jan 1948 - La Feria, Cameron County, Texas |
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 | Burial - - Restland Memorial Park, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas |
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| Marriage - - Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama |
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| Notes |
- If I were giving my father a nickname it would be "Hot-Headed" instead of "Pig-Headed" (Tom). He did have a hot temper and always was seeking to control it, sometimes with more success than others. I know of two times when he socked men in the jaw for slinging an insult at him.
One dialogue ran like this. Tom made a statement and the other conversationalist replied, "That's not true".Where upon Tom said, "No one is going to call me a liar".He wound up and knocked the fellow flat.
I remember one unusual day when he was sick-a-bed. When I quietly asked Mother what was wrong she whispered, "yesterday afternoon he got mad at that "mulie" cow & kicked her. It just made him sick." I heard him say more than once, "If I were not a Christian I would surely have been in jail long before this. Why? For loosing my temper & killing some man."
Tom was a faithful Christian.He read his Bible daily.His favorite book was Job. He lived his convictions: one being abstention of alcoholic bevereages.Once he was very ill & we all thought that he was going to die. Among medicines pre- scribed by the doctor was a tablespoon of whiskey at given intervals. He refused this possible cure saying, "This,no!I won't go to meet my Maker with whiskey on my breath." (He recovered anyway.)
My father was born in Texas & his father died when he was two years old. His mother,Mary Ann Harper,made it back to McMinvvile,TN with her brood of 3 sons & 1 daughter .I wish I knew about that trip & those early boyhood years.
Tom told one story which demonstrates meager means as a family life style. He said,"I didn't get new shoes very often & I remember one day when my mother bought me a shiny new pair.I was so proud & kept looking at them & admiring their beauty.I kept sticking my feet out in hopes that one my brothers would notice & compliment me on such "keen" new shoes.They saw but in order to tease me neither Walter nor Floyd would deem to comment which left me deeply fru- strated."
He never received much schooling (only through the 2nd or 3rd grade).He wrote with difficulty & when he on occasions sent the family post cards while on trips we had to wait for his return to tell us what the written message said. He read whispering each word.Yet,he was a leader in the community & his church For may years hewas a Baptist deacon & was Sunday School Superintendant. People liked him for his integrity mixed with a ready laugh & a sly sense of humor.
In Texas he was a citrus grower.Several times disaster came his way in the form of hurricanes in the late summer & freezes in the winter. I've seen him look at an orchard (his only mean of livelihood) wiped out by the savage winds or the killing cold. I knew that he was shaken in the face of an uncertain future but I would hear him quoting from a Psalm (37:25),
"I have been young and now I am old;yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his descendants beffing bread."
Then he would cite from his favorite book,Job (1:21b)
"The Lord gave & the Lord has taken away.Blessed be the name of the Lord".
He would start over, plant new citrus trees & work from daylight to dark.He once told me ,"Honey,you can count this.If you trust in the Lord, you may not have everything you want in life but you will have all that you need."
Tom left his descendants a rich heritage. It isn't counted in land or in money. He left us a good model of a steady,energetic man whose word was heeded and honored by the community. He gave his family a sense of security in his love & confidence.He saw each child as a distinct individual capable of developing his own abilities & way in life. For this I am grateful.
end of commentary [2]
- Lived in Florence,AL, until 1930 and moved to La Feria,TX because of the depression. Tom and JW married sisters.
end of note
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| Sources |
- [S148] "United States Census - Van Buren County,Tennessee 1900",transcribed by, p. 31 (Reliability: 3).
- [S1657] Letter written by Thomas Claude Hennessee's daughter, Frances Evelyn Hennessee Smyth, June 10, 1991.
- [S1655] "Warren County,Tennessee Marriage Records:1852-1900", compiled & printed by Fred Clark,RR 1 Box 9-B, Ridge Road, Quebeck, p. 80 (Reliability: 3).
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