1848 Odd Fellow of the Day: Dr. Isaac Calvin Reavis

June the 16 1844
Mr. C. Revis Dr to H. Moran 124 at 6 1/4 cts per pound, 29 Sept Calvin Revis Dr to H Moran for 25 bls lard at 6 1/4 Received cash in hand for 120 bls lard.

The H. Moran is Harriet Harris Moran.  She was the wife of James Henderson Moran the first who died in 1843.  Her parents were Williamson Harris and Elizabeth Battle Perry, both originally from North Carolina and removed to Carroll County Tennessee.  J.H. Moran the first was a merchant and it seems apparent from this receipt that Harriet continued operating the business after his death.  Harriet died in 1848.  Both she and her husband are buried in Moran Cemetery.

We believe that Calvin Revis is Dr. Isaac Calvin Reavis whose parents were John Hannah Reavis and Elizabeth Parham of North Carolina.  It appears that Calvin was first married to a woman named Mary and he married his second wife, Jane Castleman/Cassilman, on Nov. 3, 1861. Calvin and his parents are interred at Parham Cemetery.

In addition to the 1844 receipt Dr. I.C. Reavis appears in the 1848 Ledger Book for the Independent Order of the Oddfellows which is another treasure from Moran Place.  Dr. Reavis paid his quarterly dues and paid into the Orphans fund in 1848 but doesn't appear to have made any more payments after that which might explain why he was expelled from the order in December 1850. In 1873 he was appointed Postmaster of Dresden.

I would be happy to do look ups in the Odd Fellow book for anyone who is interested.  Drop me a line here or send me a message on the Moran Place Facebook page.

Charlie "Bear Creek" Speight

Not everything is 100 years old from Moran Place.  This clipping was in Nathan H. Moran's photograph book along with so many other juicy pictures of parades, classmates, graduation pictures, and more clippings.  But, I started with this one.

Kent tells me that Charlie Speight was also known as "Bear Creek" because the Speight family lived near Bear Creek stream in Weakley County.  He was one of the many friends of Nathan Moran. We think this might be Charles Askins Speight, the son of James Charles Speight and Ocie/Osie Akins.  If that is correct a search on ancestry.com shows Charlie was born in 1919 in Dresden and died in 1992 in North Carolina making him a contemporary of Nathan's.

Charlie was club president of the Men's Business Club of Dresden.  We don't know the date of the clipping but assume it's Late 1930's early 1940's.

Addendum

July 17, 2015

Further research tells us that he married Ailene Bejach.  At the time of his death in 1992 he was survived by his wife, daughters Patricia Speight Wilson and Judith Lynn Speight and a sister, Mae Speight Fisher.

Weakley County Election Returns of 1848

This is for all of you history and political buffs.   Among the papers we removed from Moran Place we found this interesting piece of ephemera dated March 4th, 1848.  We think the names across the top are those who were running in the election while the names on the side were the polling stations.  But we could be wrong and as always we welcome the opinion and comments of others.

Some of the names were difficult to read so if we have any wrong let us know.  Names at the top:  Latham, Latham, Roff?, Brooks?, Atkins, Irvine, Etheridge, Landrum, Ridgeway, McNeely, Holder, Givlsley?, Kilgore.  Many of the surnames listed here can also be found on the 1848 Tax List.

Location/Names on the side: Abernathy,Laparrell?, Martins, Lathams, Palmers, Irvins, Dresden, Ships, Kemps, Parks, Smiths, Greens, Dukedom, Bayos?, Crabtrees