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Caswell County Genealogy
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1894 - 1943 (48 years)
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Name |
Hunter, Thomas Parks [1, 2] |
Born |
29 May 1894 |
McDowell County, North Carolina [1] |
Gender |
Male |
Reference Number |
9808 |
Died |
20 Jan 1943 [1] |
Buried |
First Baptist Church of Yanceyville, Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina |
Person ID |
I9636 |
Caswell County |
Last Modified |
28 Jul 2022 |
Family |
Powell, Sarah Jeanette, b. 17 Mar 1894, North Carolina , d. 21 Dec 1977, Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina (Age 83 years) |
Married |
1 Jan 1915 |
Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina [2] |
Reference Number |
69721 |
Children |
+ | 1. Hunter, Charles Thomas, b. 16 Jan 1916, North Carolina , d. 1 Apr 1994 (Age 78 years) [natural] |
| 2. Hunter, Vera Irene, b. 20 Mar 1919, North Carolina , d. 7 Jan 1997, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (Age 77 years) [natural] |
+ | 3. Hunter, Sallie Katherine, b. 10 Mar 1921, Caswell County, North Carolina , d. 25 Jan 2009, Alamance County, North Carolina (Age 87 years) [natural] |
+ | 4. Hunter, Mildred Josephine, b. 8 Jul 1923, North Carolina , d. 10 Dec 2007, Alamance County, North Carolina (Age 84 years) [natural] |
| 5. Hunter, James Houston, b. 26 Aug 1929, d. 19 Dec 1929 (Age 0 years) [natural] |
| 6. Hunter, John Parks, b. 24 Jan 1931, d. 24 Jan 1931 (Age 0 years) [natural] |
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Last Modified |
28 Jul 2022 |
Family ID |
F5010 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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Notes |
- Thomas Parks Hunter (1894-1943)


(for larger image, click on photograph)
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Thomas Parks Hunter, born May 29, 1894 and died January 20, 1943, was born in the Nebo Community of McDowell County, North Carolina. He was the son of Charlie Joseph Hunter, ca. 1947-1935 and Katherine "Kate" Hensley, ca. 1861-1945. He had four brothers and three sisters. They were: Foster, Harvey, Vander, William "Bill", Viola, Florence, and Mattie.
He was a descendant of Alexander Hunter who was believed to have been born in Ireland and emigrated to America in the early 1700's. He settled in Pennsylvania and remained there until death. Alexander had a son, John, born in Pennsylvania. John and his wife, Sarah, left Pennsylvania and followed the wagon trails on the Wilderness Road as far as Salisbury, North Carolina. It is believed that their son, Andrew, was born here c. 1757 and died in 1848. Years later they traveled west and settled in Burke County, now McDowell County.
Andrew Hunter was the great, great, grandfather of Thomas Parks Hunter, 1894-1943. He married Lydia Burchfield, 1763-1846. Lydia was one of my favorite ancestors. See a separate write-up of Lydia Burchfield Hunter.
Andrew Hunter and Lydia Burchfield had one son, James Hunter, 1798-1863. He married Elizabeth Burnett, 1800-1881. They had five children: Joseph B. Hunter, 1821-1893, who married America McGimsey, 1819-1886; Andrew Benjamin Hunter ca. 1823-1880, who married Harriet Roxanna Parks, 1828-1908; James Wesley Hunter, 1829-1863, who married Eliza Fox, 1826-1865. James died a P.O.W. in Union Prison during the Civil War; Rebecca S. Hunter, 1832-1865 married Tolbert Scott, 1820-1862 and both died in Missouri; Lydia, 1837- c.1900, who married first Austin Connely and second Joseph Morrison. The fourth child of Andrew Benjamin Hunter and Harriet Roxanna Parks was my grandfather. He was Charlie Joseph Hunter, ca. 1847-1935. He married Katherine "Kate" Hensley, ca. 1861-1945, the writer's namesake. They were parents of my father, Thomas Parks Hunter, 1894-1943. They are buried in the family cemetery in Nebo, North Carolina, McDowell County.
Thomas Parks Hunter was educated in the McDowell County, North Carolina, schools. He lived with his parents at the Hunter homeplace at Nebo, North Carolina. Their farm was on Lake James. His father was a carpenter and cabinet maker. World War I was enlisting most of the boys so he decided in the spring of 1914 to ride the train East. His first stop was Blanche, North Carolina. There he spent some time in the home of Henry Watkins. He had experience in the lumber and timber business and soon found employment. A heart condition kept him from serving in World War I. His lumber jobs would take him to all parts of Caswell County.
On several occasions he saw a beautiful young lady tending the cows. He met the lady and found her interest in the cows to be very special. Her daddy promised her if she cared for the cows that the next calf would be hers to sell and buy her a pump organ. She played the organ at the Beulah Baptist Church and more than anything else, she wanted one of her own. Sure enough, the calf was born and she raised it to be a fine cow. In those days salesmen would come through the county on wagons with various items and take orders for different home furnishings. The cow was sold and her W. W. Putman pump organ was bought from a firm in /Richmond, Virginia. The organ today holds a very special place in the home of Mildred Hunter Neese in Burlington. The young lady was Sarah Jeanette "Nettie" Powell, born March 17, 1894 and died December 21, 1977, the youngest daughter of Jack Powell 1861-1921 and Sallie "Sarah" Warren 1852-1919. Thomas and Nettie were married January 1, 1915 in the Bas Graves home on West Main Street in Yanceyville, North Carolina. They lived with her parents in the Topnot Community. Their first child, Charles Thomas Hunter was born January 16, 1916. He was married first to Winifred Walters Fuquay of Caswell County. Then had one son, Charles Thomas Hunter, Jr., born December 5, 1947, who married Ruth Wheless and they have two children: Charles Thomas Hunter, III, born August 19, 1980 and David Griffin Hunter, born January 28, 1982. Charles Thomas Hunter's second marriage was to Rachel Tate Williams of Alamance County, North Carolina.
In 1918, Thomas Parks Hunter moved his family to several locations on the Milton Road. He furnished the team that was used in his lumber business and to rebuild the highway 62 all the way to the Virginia state line. During the next five years they had three daughters born: Vera Irene Hunter, born March 20, 1919, who married Grover Washington Creech, Jr., born May 28, 1917, on December 27, 1946; Sallie Katherine Hunter, born March 10, 1921, married Garnett Clements Cooper, born September 18, 1917, on February 6, 1942; Mildred Josephine Hunter, born July 8, 1923, who married first Earl Frank Davis 1923-1975 and second Charles Freeman Neese, Jr., "Petie", born August 28, 1917.
In the fall of 1924, the family bought a house and lot on West Main Street in Yanceyville where the children could walk to school. Two more children were born: James Houston Hunter, born August 26, 1929 and died December 19, 1929; and John Parks Hunter born January 24, 1931 and died the same day.
Thomas Parks Hunter, 1894-1943, had a great love for buying and selling timber and dealing with people. He and Peter Dodson ran the Dodson and Hunter General Store, presently the William Parson Store on the east side of the square in Yanceyville from 1929 when it was first built until he went into the sawmill business. He owned and operated his own mill and gave employment to so many that needed jobs and wanted to work. After the depression years he was a salesman for R. L. Hall Motor Co., owned by Randolph L. Hall of Danville, Virginia. One of his last jobs was with Thomas Hodges of Providence, North Carolina, a livestock dealer. Due to poor health he was forced to retire in the spring of 1941 at the age of 46. Two years later he passed away at his home. His wife stayed on at the Yanceyville home until her death on December 21, 1977. Both, along with their two small sons, are buried in the First Baptist Church cemetery in Yanceyville, North Carolina. Today there are two great grandsons to carry on the Hunter name.
Source: The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 295-296 (article authored by Mrs. Katherine Hunter Cooper).
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Find A Grave Memorial
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"My grandfather Thomas Parks Hunter and Thomas Christenbury ran a store in the Upchurch Building in the 1930"s. When the building was sold in the late 70's or early 80's, Norman Upchurch made sure that our family received some of the furnishings that were tied to my grandfather. Who else would have done such a fine deed?"
Source: Jerry Parks Cooper Commented: Post 3 February 2014 to the Caswell County Historical Association Facebook Page.
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1930 US Census
Name: Thomas P Hunter
Age: 36
Estimated birth year: abt 1894
Birthplace: North Carolina
Relation to head-of-house: Head
Spouse's Name: Nettie Hunter
Race: White
Home in 1930: Yanceyville, Caswell, North Carolina (Main Street)
The 1930 US Census showed his occupation as "General Merchandise." The value of his home was $24,000.
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Sources |
- Details: The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 159-160 (Article #138 "Garnett Clements Cooper" by Mrs. Sallie Katherine Hunter Cooper).
- Details: The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 295-296 (Article #359, "Thomas Parks Hunter" by Mrs. Katherine Hunter Cooper).
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