Sevier County, Tennessee Fox Family
II.L.d. Elvin W. Fox Family
L-R (Sitting) II.L.d. Elvin W. Fox, daughter II.L.d.4. Minnie Fox and wife Thursie Dockery Fox.
(Standing) II.L.d.1. son Oscar Fox, daughter II.L.d.3. Biddie Fox and daughter II.L.d.2. Nora Fox.
Picture is courtesy of Lynda Pruhhiere, a grand-daughter of Nora.
VII.C. Polly Ann Allen
Polly Ann was the second daughter of Elizabeth Fox and Alfred Allen.
I am confident on the Elizabeth Fox/Alfred Allen connection, but I know little before that other than what I have picked up from others.
From their daughter Mary Ann (Polly Ann) on down, I am very certain, although I am still collecting more recent family information. Polly Ann never married and the father of her two children was rumored to be a Fox, but with the other Fox connection, I am not certain. However, family stories, including a tin type photo of which a scan is attached, have passed down to my grandfather, her oldest great grandchild. Some time when I am in Tennessee, I need to go through the unindexed court records, because, if any documentary evidence exists about the father, it will be found there.
Based on Census data, Polly Ann was born about 1834, and I know that she died sometime after 9 February 1907 but probably before 1910, as she does not appear in that Census. The 1907 date is a mention in church records that someone was appointed to take care of her; at least four generations of this side of the family attended that same church, but, unfortunately, I can’t remember its name off the top of my head. I can find out from my mother if you are interested. Polly Ann is buried in an unmarked grave in what the US Geological Survey calls the Allen Cemetery on old family property “down in the holler”. I’ve been there more than once, and I’m thinking that the hollow is currently called Wolfenbarger, but I’ll have to check to be sure; it’s not far over the Jefferson County line from Cocke County off the old Asheville Highway. Almost all of the graves in that cemetery, which is extremely hard to find anyway, are unmarked. Thankfully, a chart of every single grave has passed down through the family, and we’re sending a copy to the Cocke County historian for posterity.
According to family tradition, she never married; I assume that her two sons have the same father, but I have absolutely no proof. Family legend has it that she ran a store in downtown Newport, but there is no proof at all and possibly some contraindications. Because of the perceived scandal of her lack of a husband, people apparently were afraid to ask the real story, and the last person who apparently knew the circumstances was my great grandfather Randolph, who died in 1972, but no one ever asked him. You’ve done enough research to know that illegitimacies were more common then than now and that everyone, if they can trace far enough, will find more than one in their tree, but, well, people don’t seem to want to talk about them even 150 years later. For me personally, I made the decision that I would find whatever there was to find in my family tree and not worry about what I actually found.
Anyway, she had the two boys. About six years apart. They looked quite similar, but of course that’s no real proof of their father. Both, unfortunately, are in unmarked graves, so I do not have exact dates. Dave never married according to family tradition and probably died within three or four years of his mother. He was the oldest of the two, and, as best I can tell, lived with his mother all of her life. According to tradition, though, he was forced to the county poor farm after she died; although we have tried to find them, no records from that particular poor farm appear to exist even though the farm itself existed at least into the 1950s. The exact reasons Dave ended up at the poor farm are unknown, but there are some family stories. Apparently, he and his mother lived along with his brother Asa, my ancestor; but Asa died rather young, and his widow remarried to Isaac Holt, who was, according to our family tradition (I hope you are not related J), an extremely bad person to put it mildly for a number of reasons; he was, for instance, the father of one of his step-daughter’s children. Anyway, family legend has it that Ike forced Dave onto the poor farm after Polly Ann died, but whether Ike actually stole money or anything like that, I of course cannot show with any documentary evidence.
Asa, on the other hand, married Amanda Samples, and I am not sure about her parents and have few dates. They both are buried in unmarked graves with his mother; I can’t remember whether Dave is there or (presumably) in an unmarked grave at the poor farm, but I can find out. My mother is still living and has the chart, but I don’t have a copy here. Unfortunately, without tombstones or specific information passed down, I don’t have exact dates on them either, although again I have photos.
Because of Asa’s early death, they had few children, but my great grandfather, Randolph, had a bunch. Most of them quite surprisingly are still alive, although they range from their late 70s to 93; two died as young adults and one in a car accident a few years back, but otherwise they are all still around, and we’re trying to collect everything that everyone knows. The 93-year-old is my grandfather, who is in poor health but remarkably has lost no mental ability at all.
Phillip A. Walker
Dick Fox
dickdfox@yahoo.com
1512 Parkview Drive
Lockhart, TX 78644
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