Sallie Cagle was born in November, 1870 to Charles H. and Margaret Richardson Cagle, the youngest of eleven children.
She was a spirited girl, and at the age of 16, fell in love with Alfred Nash Curtis (1864-1893), a penmanship teacher from a neighboring town. Her father, Charles H. Cagle, forbade her to marry, though, so she snuck out of her home, and they were married in the next county (Noxabee). They immediately left for Texas after the wedding. When her father found out, he chased them half way across Mississippi before finally giving up.
"Nash" became a Methodist Minister while in Texas, and they traveled to various Indian reservations in Oklahoma Territory so that he could preach the gospel. When her husband abruptly died of appendicitis in 1893, she was left with 2 small children, and pregnant with a third. After giving birth to their daughter, Mary, in Texas, she returned to Mississippi, where her father took the family in.
Sallie married Charles H. Crafton, a native of Kentucky, in 1896, and by him bore eight more children. They eventually moved to Meridian, Mississippi, before finally settling outside of Birmingham, Alabama. Sallie was a strong minded, religious woman who loved playing the piano, was an early advocate of folk music, and a dedicated mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Sallie died from a stroke in January, 1965, at the age of 94, having outlived two husbands, and four of her twelve children.

Her obituary appeared in the "Birmingham News" January 21st, 1965:

" Crafton, Mrs. Sallie Ford (Mother Crafton), age 94, of Springville, Ala., passed away Wednesday, P.M. at Blount Memorial Hospital. Survived by six daughters, Mrs. Letha Russell, of Birmingham; Mrs. Mary Wilson, of Robertsdale; Mrs. Grace Moss, of Gadsden; Mrs. Trudie Leslie of Springville; Mrs. Margarett Wesson, of Meridian, Miss.; Mrs. Elizabeth Dickert, of Springville; 2 sons, Charlie Crafton of Springville; and Walter Crafton, of Birmingham.
12 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren; 6 great-great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Saturday 2 P.M. at Brown-Service Norwood Chapel; Interment Elmwood Cemetery, the Rev. Tally McGowan officiating. Grandsons will serve as pallbearers. Brown-Service, Norwood, directing."

This obituary of Sallie appeared in a Louisville newspaper (probably the "Winston County Journal") in 1965:

" Funeral services for Mrs. Sallie Cagle Crafton, 94, of Springville, Alabama, were held January 23 at Norwood Chapel with the Rev. Tally McGowan officiating. Burial was in Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham. She died at Blount Memorial Hospital on January 20th after suffering a stroke a few weeks before.
Mrs. Crafton was born in Louisville in 1870 and lived here until just before World War I. She was the last of the large family of pioneer settlers, Charles H. and Margaret Richardson Cagle, who came overland from the Carolinas in 1848 to join their own parents who had found new homes in this "settlement of many springs." Her only brother, the late Colonel James Pinkney ("Uncle Pink") Cagle was the oldest of the children.
Early in life, she married the late Dr. Nash Curtis, and went with him in his travels as Methodist Missionary in the midwest, where he died from an emergency appendicitis operation in the wilderness. The widow, with three small children, came back to Louisville and some years later married Mr. C.H. Crafton. Six more children were born in the family before they moved to Alabama.
Mrs. Crafton was a talented musician and an early advocate of folk music. She was always ready to entertain any age group and until a few weeks before her death played the piano accompanyment to her own songs.
Mrs. Crafton is survived by six daughters and two sons, Mrs. Letha Curtis Russell of Birmingham; Mrs. Mary Curtis Wilson of Robertsdale, Alabama; Mrs. Grace Crafton Moss of Gadsden, Alabama; Mrs. Trudie Crafton Leslie and Mrs. Elizabeth Crafton Dickert of Springville, Alabama; Mrs. Margaret Crafton Wesson of Meridian; Charlie Crafton of Springville and Walter Crafton of Birmingham; also 12 grandchildren, 22 great-granchildren and 6 great-great grandchildren. Also, Mrs. Archie Curtis, widow of Mrs. Crafton's only son by her first marriage (note: there were two sons by the 1st marriage, but Howard Curtis died as an infant-DMS), is a well known business woman in Louisville and there are scores of other relatives in Louisville and Winston County." **