Part I
The Life and Times
of
Evelyn Elliott Davis
Born: March 8, 1915 Died: August 17, 1991
As I begin this short biography of my mother, Evelyn Elliott Davis, I am keenly aware that one can only really scratch the surface of a person’s life even if one knew them well. How does one put down the countless details that shaped and contributed to the essence of the person? At the same time these details fleshed out the multi-faceted complexities which gave expression to that person’s unique individuality. Where does one begin? One has to be selective and pray that the right choices of memories will paint the broad strokes of who the person really was but not fall into the trap of making the person bigger than life. One’s character is made up of strengths and weaknesses, perfections and flaws, friends and enemies. Do we dare approach this with anything but fear and trepidation as well as gut-level truthfulness? May it be so!
Evelyn Elliott was born on Monday, March 8, 1915. She was only 21 days, a mere three weeks, younger than her future husband (Cronin Davis, Sr.) I assume she was born in Hale or Tuscaloosa County, Alabama since her parents were from that area and farmed in both counties. The history of her mother and father are beyond the scope of the biography, but let it suffice to say that her father was Charles David Elliott, Sr. and her mother was Mae Neighbors Elliott. Evelyn was the second child in a family that would eventually count nine siblings that survived infancy. Charlie Elliott and Mae Neighbors Elliott had a stillborn child on April 9, 1926. Their last child was born the next year on June 20, 1927. Evelyn’s oldest sister, Pauline, was born exactly a year before Evelyn on March 8, 1914.
Evelyn’s sisters and brother would sustain a tragic loss in 1929 when their mother died at age 39. The names of the children follow in chronological order. Thanks to my cousin Kerry Barksdale of Tuscaloosa, Alabama for supplying the following information. Mr. Barksdale is more than our family resident genealogists. He is The Genealogist par excellence!
Parents and Family of Evelyn Elliott Davis
Father: Charles David (Charlie) Elliott, Sr. died at age: 60
Born: 10 Oct 1885 in Hale Co., Alabama
Died: 1 May 1946 in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Buried: in Big Sandy Baptist Cemetery, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Paternal Grandfather: John James Elliott
Paternal Grandmother: Mary Margaret Beckham
Mother: Mary Earline (Mae) Neighbors died at age: 39
Married: 20 Jan 1913 in Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama his age: 27 her age: 23
Born: 21 Aug 1889 in Hulls, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama
Died: 12 Jun 1929 in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Buried: in Big Sandy Baptist Cemetery, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Maternal Grandfather: John Henry Neighbors
Maternal Grandmother: Mary Etta Staggers
Evelyn Elliott Davis' Siblings and Evelyn's pertinent information
Child 1: Mary Pauline (Tuttie) Elliott died at age: 51
Born: 8 Mar 1914 in Hale Co., Alabama, at The Mitchell Place
Died: 30 May 1965 in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Buried: in Williamson Cemetery, Northport, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Spouse: John Emil Rushing b. 2 Mar 1913 d. 20 Jun 1993
Married: 5 Sep 1940 in Northport, Alabama
Child 2: Evelyn Elliott died at age: 76
Born: 8 Mar 1915 in Hale Co., Alabama, at The Mitchell Place
Died: 17 Aug 1991 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama at her home
Buried: 20 Aug 1991 in Tuscaloosa Memorial Park, Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Spouse: John Cronin Russell Davis, Sr. b. 14 Feb 1915 d. 11 Jul 1985
Married: 9 Sep 1936 in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Child 3: Annie Lou Elliott died at age: 82
Born: 8 Feb 1916 in Hale Co., Alabama, at The Mitchell Place
Died: 10 Apr 1998 in Northport, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Buried: 12 Apr 1998 in Mt. Hebron Baptist Cemetery, Hale Co., Alabama
Spouse: William Jarvis (Bill) Seale b. 10 Sep 1915 d. 3 Jan 1999
Married: 22 Sep 1938 in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Child 4: Charles David Elliott, Jr. died at age: 69
Born: 12 Nov 1917 in Englewood, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Died: 3 Apr 1987 in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Buried: in Oak Hill Cemetery, Moundville, Hale Co., Alabama
Spouse: Thelma Louise Colvin b. 25 Apr 1918
Married: 25 Dec 1940 in Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Child 5: Mabel Elliott died at age: 77
Born: 19 Oct 1918 in Hale Co., Alabama, at The Powers Place
Died: 21 Feb 1996 in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Buried: in Tuscaloosa Memorial Park, Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Spouse: Jesse Burns Wiggins b. 4 Nov 1916
Married: 12 Oct 1940 in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Child 6: Opal Neighbors Elliott died at age: 81
Born: 13 Aug 1920 in Hale Co., Alabama, at The Powers Place
Died: 17 Jan 2002 in Montgomery, Alabama at her home
Buried: in Oak Hill Cemetery, Moundville, Hale Co., Alabama
Spouse: Patrick Webster Davis, Jr. b. 12 Apr 1921
Married: 8 Jan 1988 in Montgomery, Alabama
Child 7: Katherine Elliott age: 87
Born: 19 Jan 1922 in Moundville, Hale Co., Alabama
Died: 11 Feb 2010
Spouse: James Melton (Billy) Barksdale b. 16 Jul 1921 d. 20 Mar 1978
Married: 2 Aug 1941 in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Child 8: Dorothy Maxwell Elliott died at age: 72
Born: 30 Aug 1924 in Tuscaloosa Co., AL, at The Leland Place
Died: 6 Sep 1996 in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Buried: in Oak Hill Cemetery, Moundville, Hale Co., Alabama
Spouse: Hugh Eugene Lewis b. 16 Oct 1922
Married: 24 Dec 1944 in Moundville, Hale Co., Alabama
Child 9: Imogene Elliott died at age: 53
Born: 20 Jun 1927 in Tuscaloosa Co., AL, at The Ross Place
Died: 20 Mar 1981 in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama
Buried: in Oak Hill Cemetery, Moundville, Hale Co., Alabama
The early years are somewhat of a mystery since there were few stories recounted to me. One or two come to mind that were humorous. The first story recounts a situation regarding Evelyn’s summer time visit to a cousin in Tuscaloosa County. She would have been of an age to travel by train by herself and would have made stops along the way at other homes in order to visit with family friends. Stops that would have been sanctioned by her parents On her way home from her cousin’s house she stopped in Tuscaloosa to stay over overnight with family friends who lived on 8th Street just west of St. John’s Catholic Church. This was NOT a sanctioned stop. Evelyn’s relative whom she had visited sent a gift of fresh figs to Evelyn’s family. The relative carefully packed the figs and put them in her suitcase with strict instructions not to dally on the way home and open the suitcase immediately when she got home. Of course, the stop over at the 8th Street house in Tuscaloosa was not part of the itinerary. In the excitement of the reunion with friends on 8th Street, the figs in the suitcase were promptly forgotten. A couple of days go by without opening the suitcase, and the two days away without leave catch up with Evelyn when her father finds out that she had extended her “leave” without permission. By the time she was fetched home, the figs in the suitcase had more than fermented in the hot, oppressive heat of an Alabama summer. Whatever punishment was meted out has long been forgotten, but the suitcase with the oozing figs was irreparably damaged and had to be thrown out including its contents of clothing and personal item. Nonetheless, the sociability of Evelyn Elliott was on its way to being a legendary characteristic of this amazing woman.
The second story depicts her “entrepreneurial” as well as her “can do” spirit which would again be more than embryonic in development by the early age of 14. Evelyn’s father Charlie Elliott had bought a Ford Model T sometime in the late 1920’s. He could have purchased it before his wife died but I don’t know that for sure. But, Pawpaw would have had it by 1929 when Evelyn was 14 years old. The interesting fact was that Pawpaw didn’t know how to drive the vehicle! He must have owned it for “keeping up with the Joneses” or had it for someone else to drive him into town when he needed to go to town. Whatever the reason, the automobile was parked out in the yard most of the time and was available for some free fun to whoever could come up with an idea, especially when Daddy was in the fields farming most of the day. Charlie Elliott never wanted his daughters (8 of them) to do field work. His son Charles David was expected to be in the fields but not the daughters. These motherless girls must have been a handful. Evelyn decided to entertain her siblings by learning to drive the Model T. She used a metal fingernail file as a key to start the ignition and then commenced a self-taught program to learn to drive. And, she did. With chilluns packed into the Model T and hanging out every available opening, they all had a merry time being chauffeured all around the large yard of the home place. No one breathed a word to Daddy about their illicit excursions until one day when there was a need for Charlie to go into town but he didn’t have his regular driver available. Evelyn offered her services to him as chauffeur to drive him to town. After much questioning and then verification of her ability by the siblings, Charlie agreed to allow Evelyn to drive him to town. Thus was born the “lead-foot” and “pedal-to-the-metal” automobile capers that were also legendary throughout Evelyn’s lifetime to which her children could readily attest to from their own experience riding with a speed demon. (To be continued)
