Her mother remarried in 1871, to Henry Biddy (one of the first marriages recorded in the newly-formed Hamblen County), and Johnnie found herself working as a servant in the household of William Robertson by the age of 16. She married David Josiah Purkey when she was 17 1/2.
Johnnie and Josiah had seven children: James Robert, b. 1882; Nellie, b. 1883; Dave, b. 1886; Charlie, b. 1889; Ada, b. 1894; Eula, b. 1900; and Shields, b. 1905. Six of these seven are buried in Morelock Cemetery -- Nellie (Epperson) is buried in nearby Liberty Hill Cemetery.
Johnnie's mother moved back to North Carolina with her second husband and their family, but Johnnie and her sisters had made their lives in Tennessee.
Johnnie passed away in August, 1938, 20 years after her husband had passed. She was buried alongside members of the family she had married into, in the Morelock Cemetery.
Bio © Carole Thomason
Her mother remarried in 1871, to Henry Biddy (one of the first marriages recorded in the newly-formed Hamblen County), and Johnnie found herself working as a servant in the household of William Robertson by the age of 16. She married David Josiah Purkey when she was 17 1/2.
Johnnie and Josiah had seven children: James Robert, b. 1882; Nellie, b. 1883; Dave, b. 1886; Charlie, b. 1889; Ada, b. 1894; Eula, b. 1900; and Shields, b. 1905. Six of these seven are buried in Morelock Cemetery -- Nellie (Epperson) is buried in nearby Liberty Hill Cemetery.
Johnnie's mother moved back to North Carolina with her second husband and their family, but Johnnie and her sisters had made their lives in Tennessee.
Johnnie passed away in August, 1938, 20 years after her husband had passed. She was buried alongside members of the family she had married into, in the Morelock Cemetery.
Bio © Carole Thomason
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