[Mom's maternal grandparents]
Estill Ernest Thompson
Estill Ernest Thompson
BIRTH: 5 JUL 1905, Haley Station, Bedford, Tennessee
DEATH: 15 MAR 2004, Mobile, Mobile, Alabama
DEATH: 15 MAR 2004, Mobile, Mobile, Alabama
Lounettie Jennings
BIRTH: 6 November, 1908, Shelbyville, Bedford, Tennessee
DEATH: 20 MAY 2003, Mobile, Mobile, Alabama
DEATH: 20 MAY 2003, Mobile, Mobile, Alabama
Originally compiled as a pair of euologies by Linda Shanklin Jackson
Edited, then photos interspersed by Joseph Jackson
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| Estill on a cycle around 1910. |
Estill Ernest Thompson
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| Estill with Boss and Jennie. circa 1917. |
He was an only child and beloved by his family. He had long curls and wore dresses till he was about 5 years old, which was not unusual for a little boy in those times. Estill’s father, who called Boss, was a farmer and moved from Haley to Raus when Estill was 5 years old. Here they rented the house and farm that belonged to the Prentice Cooper family, who was a governor of Tennessee. The Antebellum home still sits high on the hill on Thompson Creek Road.
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| Cooper house as it looks today. |
Estill enjoyed riding his pony to his grandfather Roberts’ house and playing in the big house and around the farm. He attended Jenkins school near his home and then on to Shelbyville High School. 1925, Estill went up to Detroit to work for Studebaker, and stayed there till 1927, when Studebaker moved to Indiana. Papa did not want to go to Indiana so he came back to Bedford County. While he was in Detroit, Lounettie Jennings and her parents came to visit Lounettie’s sister, whose husband also worked for the automotive industry. Estill and Lounettie stole a date at a movie. This is where their romance began, as they really didn’t know each other in Shelbyville! One of the highlights of their time there was a visit to Bob Lo Island.
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| Boss, Jennie Sweeping, Estill in a mail order hat, Agnes and Ruth Thompson |
Lounettie Jennings
Lounettie Jennings Thompson was born to Thomas Garrett Jennings (1875-1941) and Minnie Mai Osborne (1874-1972) on November 6, 1908 in Shelbyville, Tennessee. She was named after her Aunt Nette and her grandmother Lou Vicie Phillips. She always appreciated she didn’t get stuck with the name Lou Vicie. She joined her older sisters Marion, Lucille, and Doris for a life in the country.
Siblings of Lounettie
1. Boy (1897-1897) died on the day of his birth
2. Charlotte Lucille (1899-1987) m 1925 Claris Tilman M Elmore (1899-1976)
3. Marian Dean (1902-1989) m 1923 James Hodge Ashley (1891-1941)
4. Doris (1904-2000) m 1924 Robert Albert Gowan (1905-1984)
5. Lounettie (1908-2003) m 1929 Estill Ernest Thompson (1905-2004)
Her father was a farmer and dairyman and owned the Pure Milk Company which was the first milk pasteurizing plant in Shelbyville. She remembers helping to deliver the milk as a small girl. She was glad that she didn’t have to milk the cows, like her older sisters.
Siblings of Lounettie
1. Boy (1897-1897) died on the day of his birth
2. Charlotte Lucille (1899-1987) m 1925 Claris Tilman M Elmore (1899-1976)
3. Marian Dean (1902-1989) m 1923 James Hodge Ashley (1891-1941)
4. Doris (1904-2000) m 1924 Robert Albert Gowan (1905-1984)
5. Lounettie (1908-2003) m 1929 Estill Ernest Thompson (1905-2004)
Her father was a farmer and dairyman and owned the Pure Milk Company which was the first milk pasteurizing plant in Shelbyville. She remembers helping to deliver the milk as a small girl. She was glad that she didn’t have to milk the cows, like her older sisters.
Lounettie attended Tate School, a coeducational preparatory school in Shelbyville, which attracted local day students as well as boarding students from throughout the United States and abroad. The philosophy of the school was that each student could "move ahead as rapidly as their energy and mental equipment would allow." In this setting she thrived in learning at her own rate, skipping grade levels in math and other subjects, and making lifelong friends. The Tate school standards included the following " Tate School is an enemy to drink, dirt, and debt. It believes cleanliness is next to Godliness. It stands for pure speech, a clean mouth, a happy life, and enough fun and recreation to furnish the pickles , salt and pepper for the hard study and good work for which the school has become known." Lounettie lived by these standards throughout her life. Granny often quoted the school mantra of "Know what you know and know that you know it!" She could sing French songs and quote complete readings from her elocution classes into her last years, much to the enjoyment of her family. Lounettie and her family attended El Bethel Baptist Church, where her ancestors had been active members for generations. She enjoyed dinner on the ground, entertaining traveling preachers, and had many close friends in this church community. She taught in the Girls Auxiliary for many years, and was active in the Women’s Missionary Union. Lounettie attended Tennessee Teacher’s College in Murfreesboro. She taught 3rd grade for one year and retained a lifelong teaching certificate.
She first met Estill Thompson in Detroit Michigan, when she and her parents went to visit her sister Marion . Marion’s husband Hodge, was working in the Auto Industry in Detroit. Estill had gone to Detroit to work for Studebaker in 1925. The boys from Bedford County got to know each other and became friends. During this visit, Estill and Lounettie stole a date to a movie. This is where their romance began, as they really didn't know each other in Shelbyville! Estill soon returned to Bedford County, where they continued their courtship by horse and buggy and model T while Lounettie attended college. Estill courted Lounettie through her last year in college and her first year as a 3rd grade teacher. Throughout this time he had to ask her father’s permission for dates and had to have her home by 10 o’clock. Lounettie Jennings and Estill Thompson were married September 1,1929, in Shelbyville in the Jennnings home. For their honeymoon, they spent the first night in Chattanooga on Signal Mountain, and stopped at Whittle Springs at Natural Bridge ,Virginia on their way to Virginia Beach where they stayed for a week. This trip would have been far different without our roads of today.
The young couple returned to Raus to stay with Boss and Jennie at their home until February of 1930. Although they were glad to have a place to stay , they wanted to be on their own and soon were able to move to a farm in Pleasant Grove, where they had a roomy farm house. They raised corn, cattle, hogs, and sheep. Their only child , Beverly was born in October of 1930 with a crowd of family in attendance.
{insert dropbox picture of Estill/Boss/Jennie}
In 1933 due to the depression, Estill and Lounettie lost the farm in Pleasant Grove and moved into a little 2 room cabin, with a lean-to which had been a storage place for hay on the Jennings property. They made it into a cozy home as they did each place they lived. They next rented a nearby house for $12 a month. They moved from there to a much smaller house with no running water to save $4 each month. This frugality and resourcefulness was a pattern throughout their lives together. They were always content with their situation and knew how to be happy in any circumstance.
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| Lounettie, Beverly, and Estill, around 1933. |
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| Beverly 6, Boss, Estill, and Jennie Thompson (1836) |
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In 1946 when Beverly was a senior in high school, they took a 15 year lease on a nice hotel in Pulaski known as the Richland. This move to Giles County was their first time away from family. This was a growing time for all of them. It was in Pulaski in 1951 at the age of 46 that Estill was finally baptized into the Baptist Church, although he had faithfully attended with his family through the years. Lounettie had never pressured him in this direction. An exasperated friend had encouraged him to be baptized saying, "why , Estill, you can't even vote in the church if you don’t get baptized!" He became a deacon in 1952 in the First Baptist Church in Pulaski. In Pulaski, Lounettie and Estill enjoyed their independence and developed long lasting friendships They had many friends and played bridge and canasta. Beverly went off to Vanderbilt to go to 5 years of Nursing School. Estill became a Rotarian. Beverly was married to Joe Shanklin in Pulaski, after her graduation from Vanderbilt in 1953.
As the hotel business in Pulaski was slow, Estill and Lounettie moved to Nashville in 1955 and managed Jack's Motel in Donelson, where Estill made a nice apartment in the motel, with a kitchen, bedroom, and a greatroom. Later they ran the Alamo Plaza. They enjoyed working with the public.
They became loving grandparents of 3 girls, Debra, Linda and Pam. Estill was a quiet and unassuming man, but could effectively do any job that needed to be done to make a home convenient and beautiful. He was a loving and affectionate husband, who helped around the house doing all the vacuuming and all the dishwashing. The granddaughters have held him up as an impossible ideal to their own husbands!
In 1961, Estill made his last career move to work in the city offices at the Stahlman Building in the Maintenance Department. He worked there until 1980 when he was politely asked to retire at age 75 ! Estill went to work at 3:00 in the afternoon and when he arrived home at 11:00 each night he and Lounettie played games till midnight. This tradition continued throughout their married life. During their years in Nashville, Estill and Lounettie were active in Belmont Heights Baptist Church. They rented out an apartment in the second floor and one in the back of their home. Papa was able to bring home and repair furniture and odds and ends discarded at the office. He was actually quite amazing at recycling and making treasures from other people’s trash. Lounettie sewed for the public and for her daughter and granddaughters. She and enjoyed embroidery and many crafts.
Estill and Lounettie worked together to make many useful gifts for family and friends. They liked working in the yard, and had a knack for making their home interesting and cozy. Estill helped with all household chores except for dusting and cooking. He could often be found working on woodworking or refinishing projects in his basement or working to make their home more convenient. Estill went to work at 3:00 in the afternoon and when he arrived home at 11:00 each night they played games till midnight. This tradition continued throughout their married life. They liked working in the yard, and had a knack for making their home interesting and cozy.
Lounettie and Estill bought a Volkswagen camper and began camping in their 70's with their poodle, Missy . They spent many weekends at a little cabin on a lake in Pulaski and enjoyed simple pleasures and friends there. They traveled to many places throughout the United States on bus tours with senior citizens and church groups throughout their later years, impressing many with their stamina and love of life. They enjoyed trips with the Lounettie’s sisters and later with church friends. Estill’s quiet humor and equilibrium was a good balance for Lounettie’s more outgoing personality and enthusiasm. In 1987, Estill bought a home in Columbia at auction, to be closer to Beverly, who died March 14, in 1994. For the first time in a long time they had a house all to themselves. Wherever they lived, they made it a beautiful and happy home.
In Columbia they enjoyed the many friends they made in the community and at Pleasant Heights Baptist Church. Frugality and resourcefulness was a pattern throughout their lives together. They were always content with their situation and knew how to be happy in any circumstance. They often sat in their chairs near one another and held hands and said “I Love You” to one another. Papa turned down the bed for Granny each night and made her bed for her each morning. Though he was a man of few words, the words he used were good ones. In Columbia they enjoyed the many friends they made in the community and at Pleasant Heights Baptist Church. He drove his car until he was almost 95 years old.
At that time in July of 2000, Lounettie and Estill moved to Mobile, Alabama to live with granddaughter Debra Mayes and her family. They celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary September of 2002. Lounettie passed away May 20, 2003 after a short stay at Beverly Healthcare Center in Mobile. She will be remembered for her sense of style, her many talents, her good of humor and her ability to always stay YOUNG AT HEART. Estill remained there as well, till his death March 15, 2004. Papa and his daughter Beverly now share a burial date on March 17, St. Patrick’s day.
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| Estill and Lounettie behind table, Beverly in the Green Dress. About 1959. |
In 1961, Estill made his last career move to work in the city offices at the Stahlman Building in the Maintenance Department. He worked there until 1980 when he was politely asked to retire at age 75 ! Estill went to work at 3:00 in the afternoon and when he arrived home at 11:00 each night he and Lounettie played games till midnight. This tradition continued throughout their married life. During their years in Nashville, Estill and Lounettie were active in Belmont Heights Baptist Church. They rented out an apartment in the second floor and one in the back of their home. Papa was able to bring home and repair furniture and odds and ends discarded at the office. He was actually quite amazing at recycling and making treasures from other people’s trash. Lounettie sewed for the public and for her daughter and granddaughters. She and enjoyed embroidery and many crafts.
Estill and Lounettie worked together to make many useful gifts for family and friends. They liked working in the yard, and had a knack for making their home interesting and cozy. Estill helped with all household chores except for dusting and cooking. He could often be found working on woodworking or refinishing projects in his basement or working to make their home more convenient. Estill went to work at 3:00 in the afternoon and when he arrived home at 11:00 each night they played games till midnight. This tradition continued throughout their married life. They liked working in the yard, and had a knack for making their home interesting and cozy.
Lounettie and Estill bought a Volkswagen camper and began camping in their 70's with their poodle, Missy . They spent many weekends at a little cabin on a lake in Pulaski and enjoyed simple pleasures and friends there. They traveled to many places throughout the United States on bus tours with senior citizens and church groups throughout their later years, impressing many with their stamina and love of life. They enjoyed trips with the Lounettie’s sisters and later with church friends. Estill’s quiet humor and equilibrium was a good balance for Lounettie’s more outgoing personality and enthusiasm. In 1987, Estill bought a home in Columbia at auction, to be closer to Beverly, who died March 14, in 1994. For the first time in a long time they had a house all to themselves. Wherever they lived, they made it a beautiful and happy home.
In Columbia they enjoyed the many friends they made in the community and at Pleasant Heights Baptist Church. Frugality and resourcefulness was a pattern throughout their lives together. They were always content with their situation and knew how to be happy in any circumstance. They often sat in their chairs near one another and held hands and said “I Love You” to one another. Papa turned down the bed for Granny each night and made her bed for her each morning. Though he was a man of few words, the words he used were good ones. In Columbia they enjoyed the many friends they made in the community and at Pleasant Heights Baptist Church. He drove his car until he was almost 95 years old.
At that time in July of 2000, Lounettie and Estill moved to Mobile, Alabama to live with granddaughter Debra Mayes and her family. They celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary September of 2002. Lounettie passed away May 20, 2003 after a short stay at Beverly Healthcare Center in Mobile. She will be remembered for her sense of style, her many talents, her good of humor and her ability to always stay YOUNG AT HEART. Estill remained there as well, till his death March 15, 2004. Papa and his daughter Beverly now share a burial date on March 17, St. Patrick’s day.
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