Contributed by Sandra Baird Wilson March 11, 2006 Photos Copyright © Sandra Baird Wilson
Margaret Melvina “Mellie” Jarrard Ford Manning
My great-grandmother Mellie Jarrard as young woman before her marriage to Walter Ford.
My great-grandparents A. Walter Ford and Margaret Melvina “Mellie” Ford with their children taken in 1908. Walter and Mellie are both buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in Madison County. Walter’s parents JD and Angeline Ford are buried at Vineyards Creek Baptist Church in Madison County.
The grave is a little misleading because it does not state their last names only A. Walter and Mellie. Her metal funeral home plackard indicates her name after her second marriage (Mellie Manning) and people might assume Walter’s name was Manning as well, but it is not. Her second husband was Charles Manning from New York. She, however, chose to be buried beside her first husband, the father of her children.
Left to right James Hoyt Ford holding the banjo, Mattie Ford, Walter Ford holding Clyde (yes, Clyde is female!), standing behind Walter and Mellie is my grandmother Hattie Ford, standing in front of Hattie is Famie Ford, Mellie is holding Lettie Ford, Cosby is standing on the right.
James Hoyt Ford married Miss Annie Franklin and they lived in Athens on Boulevard until their deaths.
Hattie Joan Ford married Jabel R. Baird (my grandfather) they lived in Madison, Franklin and finally in Jackson County. They are buried at Thytira Church in Jeffersson.
Mattie Ford married a gentleman with the last name of Alexander.
I don’t know many details about Cosby and his family.
Famie married a gentleman with the last name of Jacobs. Many of their family members now live in Florida.
Aunt Clyde married Mr. Totsie Took.
Lettie married a gentleman with the last name of Osterhaus.
Lettie Ford My great-grandmother Mellie Jarrard Ford Manning and her daughter Lettie Ford won the quilting contest at (I believe) the 1936 World’s Fair in New York. This is a photo of Lettie holding the winning quilt.
Hi! I stumbled onto this page as I was looking for people who used to live in my house, off Boulevard in Athens. James Hoyt and his family lived here in the 1930s-40s. If you have any information about where Hoyt worked or what life was like for them, I’d love any info you’re willing to share.