Shadrack and Mary Hendrix Callaway
Shadrach (Shade) Callaway (1/16/1814- 2/28/1868), a Colonel in the Tennessee Militia, and his wife Mary Hendrix Callaway (5/24/1814-1/7/1897). Shadrach’s father, James Callaway, had sold his farm at Ball Camp, in Knox County, and moved himself and his family to Lonejack, Missouri, near present day Kansas City. This move came in the late 1840‘s or early 1850‘s. Shade did not find Missouri to his liking, however, so he returned to Tennessee, and purchased approximately 300 acres of Tennessee River bottom land including two large islands in west Knox County.
James Callaway (Papa) and Lucinda Franklin Callaway (Mama)
Although Callaway’s Landing was divided among Shades’ sons at his death it was James Callaway, commonly known as Papa, (11/20/1838 - 5/29/1923) that insured that the farm would be passed down through the generations. Papa, to say the least, led an adventurous life. While still a teenager he caught a man raping his sister, and killed the man with a rock. He was well known for hunting squirrels with a sling. He fled to his cousins’ in Georgia, since the family of the man that he killed had a great deal of political power, and Papa believed it would be unlikely that he would get a fair trial.
By 1872, those who would have done him harm had lost their political power, and Papa was able to return to the farm with no repercussions aside from the occasional pistol or rifle shot taken at him by his enemies. For the rest of his life he never went unarmed however.
After Papa returned to the farm he married his first wife, Cynthia E. Steele (7/30/1847-2/9/1879), on Dec. 27, 1871 and had two sons, Samuel Love Callaway and George Franklin Callaway (Frank, 7/17/1873-2/27/1904). Cynthia died young. Papa then married an old maid school teacher, Lucinda Franklin (12/14/1842-7/3/1927), and they had a daughter, Mayme Callaway. Lucinda saved her egg money (literally true) and bought out Papa’s brother’s portions of the farm which she then put in her name. It was said that the only thing that Papa was afraid of was Mama.
Benjamin (Daddy Ben), Mayme,
& baby Mary Lynn Jones
James (Papa) Callaway
Samuel L. Jones
(Uncle Sam)
Samuel Love Callaway
Samuel Callaway (Uncle Sam, 5/11/1878 - 11/25/61) received a degree in law at the University of Tennessee in 1900. He passed his bar exam, but lost his first case, returned home to the farm, and never did another day’s work the rest of his life. He did however keep the wood pile well stocked because his half-sister, Mayme, refused to cook for him if he did not. Mayme was the only person who could get any work out of Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam never married but did inherit his father's protion of the farm since his brother Frank had died young in 1904.
Benjamin Jones (Daddy Ben) and Mayme Callaway Jones
While attending Newman College (a women’s college) in Johnson City, Tennessee, Papa’s daughter, Mayme (8/8/1882-11/25/1947), met Benjamin L. Jones (known as Daddy Ben, 7/10/1881 - 1/18/1960) a blacksmith’s son from Sweetwater, Tennessee. Daddy Ben was attending Carson College, the neighboring men’s college. Daddy Ben and Mayme were married after their graduation.
Daddy Ben and Mayme had five children, Mary Lynn, James (called Callaway), Ruth, Shadrack Alan (called Alan), and Virginia.
Benjamin (Daddy Ben), Mayme,
& baby Mary Lynn Jones
Virginia Dorn Jones (called Dubby or Dub)
Dub (8/21/1920-1/28/1996) was the baby of the family. She never married, stayed on the farm, and took care of her parents and Uncle Sam until their deaths. Because Virginia stayed she inherited all of the farm. Even though Dub remained on the farm she did not lead a sheltered life. Dub traveled widely, enjoyed a good party, loved a good fight, and at times became involved in politics. In her own words "when they put Miss on my tombstone remember I did not miss much."
Alan Andrew Ralston
Alan Ralston (4/27/1940-12/9/1969), was born in the Big House in 1940. Alan became a civil engineer like his father and in 1962 married Sallie Harwood. They moved to California for a year. They did not like it there and moved to the farm in 1963. They had two daughters. Virginia gave Alan 11 acres on the lake where he started building a house but never completed it. Alan died in his sleep unexpectedly in 1969 at the young age of 29. His passing occurred in the same room of the Big House where he was born.
Shadrack Callaway
Mary Hendrix Callaway
James Molton Callaway Jones (called Callaway)
Callaway (1904 - 1/13/1986) married during the depression and had a son, David, in 1940. He was drafted during World War II and became a fighting CB in the Pacific. After the war he and his wife tried to start a commercial boat dock (Callaway's Boatdock) on the farm at Turkey Creek Embayment but when his son died in 1955 of blood poisoning, Callaway went into a deep depression and the boat dock failed. After the boat dock failed Callaway and his wife moved to east Knoxville.
Mary Lynn Jones Pratt
Mary Lynn (12/12/1906-1997) was the valedictorian in the first graduating class at Farragut High School and picked the school colors (blue and white). She attended nursing school at Fort Sanders Hospital in Knoxville Tennessee and became registered nurse. She married James Pratt but they had no children. Mary Lynn worked at Baptist Hospital for over 30 years and retired as a nursing supervisor.
Papa left his portion of the farm to his only living son, Sam ( Frank died young in 1904). Mama left her portion of the farm to their daughter Mayme. Daddy Ben and Mayme ran the entire farm as a unit raising corn on the two islands and Tennessee walking horses on the upper pastures. The farm stayed productive and solvent through the Great Depression. But, in 1939 at the end of the Depression, the Tennessee Valley Authority condemned all but approximately 50 acres of the farm to construct Fort London Lake and shortly thereafter Knox Co. took land for Concord Rd. which was to run through the farm.
In the early 1940‘s, Daddy Ben took the money he received from TVA, bought the lumber salvaged from the McNutt house which was being demolished because of the lake (lumber was in short supply during WWII), and using that lumber and masonry blocks built and then operated Lakeland Market/Esso Service Station on Concord Rd until his death in 1960.
Shadrack Alan Jones (Called Alan)
Alan Jones (8/14/1917-12/31/1938) was killed in a freak hunting accident. He was plowing on the Big Island. Several of his friends were hunting and stopped by for a chat. One of them carelessly leaned his cocked gun up against the tractor and when it accidentally slipped into gear the gun went off and shot Alan in the back.
Ruth Franklin Jones Ralston & George Orr Ralston
Ruth (1/17/1909-1985) attended nursing school at Fort Sanders Hospital in Knoxville Tennessee and became a registered nurse. When she was 27 years old, Ruth met and 6 weeks later eloped with a young civil engineer who was surveying the alignment for US Route 441 through the Smokey Mountains. His name was George Ralston (4/4/1911-4/13/1980). They moved to Washington D.C. but were very frequent visitors to the farm. Ruth was the family historian Their only child, a son, Alan Ralston, was born in the Big House in 1940. In the 1960's George retired from the US Patent office and they moved back to the farm.
