Claude Vernon, Sr. (16 Aug 1883-May 1966) — m. Lillie Gertrude Kelley on 18 Dec 1904
George Newton (29 Nov 1884-25 Feb 1962) — m. Tishie Lou Taylor on 8 Nov 1905
James (29 Nov 1884-26 Jul 1966) — m. Luna Kent in 191x
Myrtle (1 Dec 1887-12 Dec 1939) — m. Charles “Charley” Parsley on 24 Jan 1906
Tom was born in Lawrence (now Sharp) County, Arkansas, the son of Confederate soldier Nicholas Norris, Jr. and Martha “Tennessee” McFarlin. His nickname was due to his having an older cousin Thomas Norris who went by “Big Tom”. Tom’s father died in 1863. Before the war’s end, his mother married another Confederate soldier, Major H. Sanders, with whom she had three more children.
Sophronia was also born in Sharp County, the daughter of William Preston Duncan and Susan Lauren Ring from Tennessee. Her name is sometimes given as Safrona, Saphrona, Sophrona, or Phronia. She, too, lost her father at a young age, reportedly in an 1868 hunting accident. Her mother also remarried, to William “Buck” Kent from Alabama. The 1870 census showed her, age 9, living with her mother and stepfather and their blended family in Reed’s Creek, Washington Township, Sharp County.
In the 1880 census, Safrona (19) was still with her family in Sullivan Township, the area between Evening Shade, Sidney, and Cave City. Tom (25) was in Strawberry Township, an area of Sharp County roughly between Poughkeepsie and Smithville, with his younger brother James (21) and James’s wife Eliza, working on their farm. It was near the farm of their twice-widowed mother Martha McFarlin Norris Sanders. (Their stepfather, Major H. Sanders, had died in the 1870s.)
Tom and Sophronia married on 12 Jan 1881 in Strawberry Township, Sharp County. T. J. Davidson provided the security for the marriage registration.
I have found no records and little anecdotal information for this family between the 1881 wedding and the 1900 census. Tom was a deputy sheriff for a time, but was shot in the leg in the line of duty, and wore a peg leg for the rest of his life. The first stores and businesses in Poughkeepsie were built in the 1880s, and Tom owned one of them – probably after the peg-leg, but I don’t know. One of their Norris descendants has information that Sophronia died in Poughkeepsie in 1894. Her place of burial is unknown.
The 1900 census for Sullivan Township, Sharp County, Arkansas listed Tom Norris (42) as a peddler, and incorrectly said he was born in March 1858. (The computer transcription of the census turned Tom, sex blotted out, into “Fern”, female. This originally led me to believe Sophronia was still alive in 1900.) Tom’s teenage children were Claude, twins James & George, and Myrtle. The boys were listed as farm laborers.
On 27 Feb 1907, Tom remarried to Martha “Patsy” Johnson Stewart (Sep 1862-Nov 1937), widow of J. K. Stewart, in Poughkeepsie. Patsy was the youngest child of our direct ancestor Mary E. Sanders and her first husband Ned Johnson, so she was a distant relative of ours, although no blood relation to Tom. They had no children together – not surprising, given their ages.
The 1910 census listed Tam (sic) Norris, age 55, in Big Rock Township (Poughkeepsie) with wife Patsy (48) and son James (25). Son George (25) and his family were next door. Other Norris and Sanders families were in the area.
The 1920 census showed Thomas J. (65) and “Pats” (allegedly 47) Norris in the same place, with son Jim Norris and his family living two houses away. Duncan and Ring families were in the area too.
The 1930 census showed Tom and Martha (67), shortly before Tom’s death, still in the same place. Tom died later that year. Patsy died in 1937. They’re buried in Spotts Cemetery, Sharp County along with many of their relatives, including Tom’s parents and three of his four children.
Claude has his own entry in the family tree.
Jim, named for his uncle, was living with his father and stepmother in 1910. Around that time or within a couple years after, he married Luna Kent (1 Jan 1894-9 Aug 1957) – a grand-daughter of William Preston Duncan and Susan Ring, so also related to us. They had five children:
Vera E. (15 Oct 1914-26 Aug 2010) — m. Harvey McHalffey on 6 Oct 1934
Lorena M. (12 Dec 1915-21 Apr 2005) — m. ?? Wayne in 194x; divorced; m. Lloyd W. Watters
Ernestine Janet (~1923-before 2009) — m. ?? Parker
James T. “Jim” Jr. (18 Jan 1929-9 Jun 1996) — m. Mildred Fay Rush on 21 Jun 1948
Anna Jane (22 Jan 1933-23 Oct 2009) — m. Madison Buel McHalffey on 25 Jun 1948
The 1920 census for Poughkeepsie listed them near Jim’s father and stepmother. In 1930, they were in Arkansas County. The 1940 census showed Jim (54) and Luna (49) back in Poughkeepsie with the three youngest children. By 1950, only daughter Laurene (Lorena) and Lorena’s son Jerry Wayne, age 7, were still with them, but their next-door neighbors were recently married daughter Anna Jane and Jim’s cousin Cleo Duncan.
Luna died in 1957, and Jim in 1966. They’re buried in Spotts Cemetery, as is Lorena.
Daughter Vera had two children I know of: J. D. McHalffey (m. Geraldine) and Patsy McHalffey (m. Williams). Daughter Anna Jane had eight children. Can’t find Ernestine/Janet after 1940, but she was not the Ernestine who married Jack Parker in Craighead in 1940.
George married Tishie Lou Taylor (14 Nov 1889-16 May 1979) in 1905. Their children:
Otho (6 May 1906-2 Mar 1997) — m. Mildred Hutchison on 2 Apr 1927
Audra V. (26 Jul 1908-7 May 1990) — m. Earl Richardson in 1930
Don Taylor (17 Jun 1915-3 Jan 2006) — m. Thirsie Imogene Bettis
Simon Lepreston (27 Feb 1922-6 Apr 2007) — m. Lennie May Hawkins
William Zander “Billy” (1928-1930)
In 1930 they were in Spring River Township, Lawrence County. In 1940, sons Otho and Don were living next door to one another in Poughkeepsie. George died in 1969, and Tishie in 1979. They are buried in Spotts Cemetery, as are their children Audra, Don, and Billy. Don’s wife Thirsie Imogene Bettis (8 Feb 1919-1 May 2013) was described in her obituary as the historian of Sharp County. If only I had found her in time.
Myrtle married Charley Parsley (19 Aug 1881-24 Sep 1963) in 1906. Their children:
Everett T. (2 Dec 1906-1957) — m. Offie Lee Taylor in 1931
Raimey (1 Jul 1909-26 Oct 1974) — m. Opal Lela Neely in 1934; divorced; m. Margaret E. Weston in 1948
Vernon Howard (12 Jan 1912-13 May 1995) — m. Gladys Grave on 2 Feb 1935
Lyla (~1920-????)
Jennetia (16 Jul 1923-3 Mar 2006) — m. Ralph Denver Smith in 1943
The 1910 census showed them in Lebanon Township. By 1930, they were in Poughkeepsie. Myrtle died in 1939. The 1940 census showed Charley still in Poughkeepsie, with just the two girls at home. Raimey and wife Opal were in the same town, with their daughter Katherine Rose (3).
Charley died in 1963. Myrtle and Charley are buried in Spotts Cemetery.
Raimey stayed in Arkansas. Everett settled in Detroit, Vernon in California, Jennetia in Florida. Can’t track Lyla past 1940.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNW5-4ZL -- 1880 census, Tom
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNW5-ZP2 -- 1880 census, Sophronia
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N93Y-TJR -- Wedding of W. T. Norris to F. Duncan
https://www.myheritage.com/names/saphrona_duncan -- various Saphronas, including ours
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3XZ-XFF -- 1900 census, Tom & kids
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N9MR-1Z5 -- George’s 1905 wedding
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQBH-J55 -- Tom’s 1907 wedding
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKKM-X9L -- 1910 census, Tom & sons George & James
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKKM-QB2 -- 1910 census, Myrtle Parsley
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDF2-N92 -- 1920 census, including Jim
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N99M-Q7M -- 1927 wedding of Otho Norris
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMGX-LBX -- 1930 census
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMGX-CL8 -- 1930 census, Myrtle Parsley
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arcemete/sharp/spotts.htm -- Tom’s cemetery
http://arkansasgravestones.org/view.php?id=635934 -- Grave of William T. & Patsy Norris
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57610624/william-thomas-norris -- 1930 grave of Tom; links to children
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N9SB-FMP -- 1934 wedding of Vera Norris
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V4F1-J6Y -- 1935 wedding of Vernon Parsley
https://arkansasgravestones.org/view.php?id=668021 -- 1939 grave of Myrtle
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMGF-F91 -- 1940 census, Jim
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQ2D-N2M -- 1940 census, Everett Parsley
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQ2D-NW7 -- 1940 census, Raimey Parsley
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQVD-WTZ -- 1940 census, Jim’s daughter Ernestine
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQ2D-KZ4 -- 1940 census, Charley Parsley & daughters
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2MKZ-213 -- WWII draft registration for Everett Parsley
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N93C-YP8 -- 1948 wedding of Anna Jane
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N93C-Y9Z -- 1948 wedding of Jim Jr.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XBW-X1F9 -- 1950 census, Jim
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XBW-H5Q6 -- 1950 census, Jim Jr.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57609962 -- 1962 grave of George
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57610028/jim-norris -- 1966 grave of Jim
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45198566/raimey-parsley -- 1974 grave of Raimey Parsley
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VP39-LFJ -- 1995 death of Vernon Parsley
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JRYN-BWG -- 1996 death of Jim's son Jim Jr.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVVJ-W9V4 -- 1997 grave of Otho Norris
http://www.argenweb.net/poughkeepsie.html -- 2001 article quoting Imogene Norris, Don’s wife
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20418652/simon-lepreston-norris -- 2007 grave of Simon L. Norris
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43502956/jane-mchalffey -- 2009 grave of Anna Jane
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57733397/vera-mchalffey -- 2010 grave of Vera Norris; photo!
http://www.quallsfh.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=2080349&fh_id=14179 -- 2013 obit of Imogene Norris