Curtis (Curt) Allen Hendrix
September 1909 – July 9, 1944
Curt Hendrix
A Biography
By: Dennis Aslinger
December 2005
Curtis (Curt) Allen Hendrix
September 1909 – July 9, 1944
Curt Hendrix
A Biography
By: Dennis Aslinger
December 2005
HENDRIX Curtis Allen 4 SEP 1909 9 JUL 1944
Son of John Alfred HENDRIX & Martha Jane WHITEHEAD. When he visited his father (who lived away from his wife & child due to his tuberculosis) he was always given a nickel, some brown sugar and cane seed to feed his pet goose. His mother always confiscated the nickel, threw away the brown sugar for fear of disease, and fed the cane seed to her own geese. As a boy he impressed his first school teacher with his ability to read. When asked where he learned he replied "Maw taught me in the chimbley corner." He eventually completed the eighth grade. When he was a boy, his mother climbed to the barn loft to gather eggs from the hens' nests there. Curt removed the ladder and stranded her in the loft all day before letting her down. Another time when about 12 years of age, and visiting family in Blount County, TN he climbed to a smoke house roof where a heavy sack of corn was drying. He draped the sack around his neck and jumped off the roof. His cousin Ida WHITEHEAD (dau. of John Harvey WHITEHEAD) recalled that he lay on the ground for several minutes, stunned by the impact. He helped half-brothers make moonshine when he was a boy. Curt did many wild things as an adult when intoxicated such as: threw Hugh FREELS through a barroom window (breaking his arm), stole a car for a joyride and got out of jail when his wife paid the judge $50 to lose the paperwork; often intentionally ran his car into the ditch and physically lifted it out to impress onlookers with his strength; once told a gas station attendant to "fill it up quick I'm John Dillinger." Curt was a dedicated Democrat and delighted in annoying his Republican mother. He trained his dog to roll over and play dead when asked "Would you rather vote for Hoover or die?" He was not a tall man, standing no more than 6 feet but was very broad shouldered (36" across). His son Bruce recalled when in his late twenties trying on one of Curt’s shirts and the shoulder seams coming down to his elbows. During the depression Curt worked on building a road for six weeks and received nothing for all that work because the company failed. He followed work where he could find it and boarded near the job sites and came home only on weekends or longer intervals. Worked as a heavy boom operator building TVA's Douglas and Norris dams and possibly others. So impressed engineers with his knowledge when he interpreted blueprints they could not understand that they asked where he attended engineering school. He worked as a fireman in Oak Ridge, TN just before he was killed. One job required him to wear a small leather bow tie and when he would forget it he would come back in the house and ask his wife where was that “chicken shit bow.” Curt lived in the ”flatwoods”, now Hendrix Creek Subdivision in Oak Ridge, next door to his mother. On 14 FEB 1939 Curt and Linda purchased 6A in the 8th district of Anderson Co., TN from his mother for $1 and 1/3 of all growing crops for the rest of her life. Curt was released from the crop provision on 23 DEC 1942. Curt purchased another piece of property on 20 JAN 1941 for $150. Curt paid $1 on 12 FEB 1943 to clear the title on his property, located 0.1 mile north of Gamble Valley in what is now Oak Ridge, TN. Forced off of his farm by the Manhattan Project in 1942, he owned 60 acres, 2 houses and 2 barns and was reimbursed $850. The property was in three tracts, a 1 acre tract surrounded by his mother's property, an 8.5 acre tract just east of his mother's property, and a 50.2 acre tract a few miles to the west in a bend on the north side of Gamble Valley Road. He was particularly angry that he was not allowed to remove a stack of newly purchased cedar fence posts that the government subsequently burned. He wrote the poem below satirizing the event. The deed record showing the government taking ownership could not be found.
Bruce HENDRIX recalled that “Surveyors appeared on our property and wrote down everything that was nailed down. Soon after, we received our notice to vacate within thirty days because of a war emergency.”
After their move to Union County, TN Curt owned an A-Model Ford and their entertainment was a radio. The antenna was connected to the clothesline, which was tied to trees but made of wire. They lived about two thousand feet from the gravel road, the driveway had ruts and Curt got the car stuck. He got out, without asking Bruce to get out, went to the front of the car and put his back to it and lifted the car out of the rut. Then he went to the back of the car and lifted the back out of the rut and finished the drive.
“We vacated and bought a farm in Union county, Tennessee. Our home was beautiful, a veranda, large sugar maples in the front yard, with a creek at the end of the yard and a good size branch on the right side of the yard. The creek had twelve to fourteen inch fish in it. We had bottomland across the creek. I helped my dad build a foot bridge across that creek. The front of the house faced the creek instead of the road and the barn was sitting close to the road. We fenced the thirty-five acres across the road. My dad now had what we later would call a station wagon or van.”
Curt could never get the last word in with Linda. Once he came home from drinking and they argued so he broke a dish. Linda, not to be intimidated, broke another. They took turns until there were no dishes left. Another time he thought he would scare her by setting a corner of their house afire. She responded by setting the opposite corner afire. When he saw she wouldn't budge he extinguished the fires.
The Planned and Organized Society (sponsored by Elinoir)
Come listen to me people,
And hear my tale of woe,
And if you find it tiring,
I'll shut my mouth and go.
I had a home in Robertsville,
They call it Oak Ridge now,
T'was home for all my younguns
and their chickens and the cow.
One day a bunch of men rode in
With papers in their hands
And great big shining badges,
They came and took our land.
They read a lot of great big words
I couldn't understand
But when it was all over
I didn't own the land
I had seen the revenooers
Come search and take the stills,
But I didn't think the government
Would ever seize our hills.
Of course, we had to get right out
And start to paying rent
But now, what can poor folks do
Against the government?
Just sixty acres t'was all I had
Some rich land and some poor.
But the check they sent me
Wouldn't buy a pure bred bore.
Now see I ain't complaining,
It's just my blamed bad luck,
On any deal I ever make
I'm always getting stuck.
Of course, the government was right,
They always are, you see.
T'was just the land looked worse to them
Than it ever did to me.
I moved to Union County,
Once famous for its stills,
And bought another cabin
And a bunch of slaty hills.
For I couldn't keep my younguns
And their chickens and the cow
Without a little pasture
And a piece of land to plow.
But I've done seen me a vision,
And it's one I understand.
In the none to distant future,
Working folks will own no land.
There will be a bunch of planners.
Everyone will live by plan.
Plan our work, plan our religion,
Plan our schooling and our play,
Won't even have to study,
"Now what must I do today."
The thing to do is win the war
And when we end that strife,
Stop electing Presidents
For longer terms than life.
Well I guess I'd better hush,
I could have said some more,
But here just let me whisper!
I'm skeered of Elinoir.
*************************
Curt wrote many letters but only a few survive, in the possession of Connie Hendrix PHILLIPS along with his bow tie. The letters are transcribed below as written, with spelling, punctuation, and capitalization errors intact. Notes to the text of the letters are in [ ].
Mrs M. J. Hendrix
Clinton
Tennessee
R#1
[Postmarked MAR 24 P.M. 1944, Andersonville, Tenn, with a 3 cent stamp with “Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809” on it.]
Dear ma
hope this letter finds you feeling good enough to laugh and talk and chaw your tobbacco
hope everything is all ok with you we are abel eat if we could get anything to eat. we have got a red Bull calf three days old at the barn I” have Bought me 2 nice Boar Pigs and we are going to move before long to our new home it is a much nicer Place than this is has a Big garden and some nice creek Bottoms Plenty of hay and some Big appel trees and is rite on the Pike road and there is 65 acres in the Place the house is a good Big one and has a tin roof and is Painted
im going to make garden soon and Plant 2 bags Patatoes. As soon as I” get moved. there is Plenty water on the new Place the hines Creek runs in 50 feet of the front door so we Can drink all the Creek water we want
well I have got Part of my money for my land. I” signed up and hope to get it all soon so I” can spend it on my Place im Buying
it needs repairing the Bldgs and fences so ill Be in a tight sqeese for some time trying to get it straitened out
But I” don’t mind I” cant get By easy like some People no how. This is the Best neighborhood I” have ever lived in in my life. The People here Come and go to see each other and you don’t hear a Pack of tales about your neighbors all the time
They are Poor People and they havent gone money Crazy they no they aint goin to get rich and they have time to spare to sit and talk to you and don’t want to Pry into Your Business
Im so glad that they tore the robertsville gang up ide have given my Place free to see it scattered the lord done that to remove the wicked
My dad said that that Place would Be Builded and they said he was Crazy who was Crazy? I” have a job down there have to wear my suit and a white shirt and a neck tie. Cant tell you what my job is But it is clean and decent. And not hard and I” don’t run around any either havent had so much as a beer in a long time
My Present Job may develop into a Permonont Job and I like it Better than any ive ever had in my life
Im going to Bring the Kids to see you at the first Chance I” get to be off after we get moved [torn]
And ill bring [torn] things when [torn]
And you be Careful of your health and don’t worry about things you Cant help. If you see any Body that wants to Buy there is a good 15 a Place [torn] hree room house [torn] 0.. maybe .$600.. [torn] so rite and let us no how you are getting along say if you Can get any Body to take [torn] to a notary [torn] and have [torn] Birth Certificate notirised and send it to me ill send you the Cash Payday to Pay all the expense ill lose my job if I” don’t get a Birth Certificate soon
Your uncle
Curtis Hendrix
Heiskell
[A second letter is in the same envelope, transcribed below.]
Mrs MJ Hendrix
Dear ma
Hope this will find you ok we are still Kicking and im not in the army yet im working down on the job again
I” am a foreman over a bunch of negro women we
We clean houses after they finish building them
Wash the windows and clean the floors and every thing have had that Job two weeks now it Keeps me on the Jump too some are no good the cow has a nice Calf heifer red with white head and [remainder is missing]
******************************
Mrs M. J. Hendrix
Clinton
R#1 Tennessee
[Postmarked APR 6 P.M. 1944, Andersonville, Tenn, with a 3 cent stamp with “Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809” on it.]
Mrs Martha Hendrix
Dear ma hope this finds you all right I” have had a very bad cold have the head ache tonite have been trying to get a fence around the garden and a garden made for Linda and the children before I” start over to wind up the war so that they can at leaste have a little to eat through the summer while im gone. linda is not well still has low blood Pressure it is no wonder much as she has to do.. We all have our troubels But sense I” take time to study about it we make about 98 Per Cent of our troubel our self I” Know that I” do myself and evry Body else is the same way Life is just what we make out of it We can be contented and not worry about anything or we can rave and raise hell about things that really don’t matter anyway and make our Life a hell on earth im getting so that I” don’t worry about a thing except not being abel to live the sort of a Life that god requires People to live.. that is unselfish loveing: forgiveing sacarificeing our Pleasures for others that are more in need the Peopel Brought this war on themselves By being Bull headed and not obeying the Bibel that teaches to be Meek and HumBel and not to be a respecter of Persons not to look up to the rich and scorn the Poor But how many follow that rule? So don’t blame it on the President it is the Peopel of the World to Blame they have Been weighed in the Balances and found wanting the Blood of their young men is being spilled as a result.. they cant show the Blood over their door ways so their first Born sons are being slain
he said when I” see the Blood I” will Pass over you..
I” hear from Murray sometimes he has a very easy Job down on the Job I” quit the Job I” had didn’t like Boarding it was easy and Paid good too But I” have Boarded away too much already
Money don’t mean any thing any more you Cant Buy Contentment and happiness no matter how much you have but Peopel will Just have to live in the mess that humanity has made out of the beautiful world that god Created until they die for the Bibel is being fulfilled god forseen they would long for Power riches to rule the Poor and would think them self wise and in doing so become fools now is the time
Hope you are feeling good and there is nothing to worry about it doesn’t change a thing and what is going to be will Be anyway Worry only Brings gray hair..
I” have some onions and Cabbage out hope Perry and Paralee is O.K. am sorry Earl is being taken into service But it cant last much longer too Big and Bad to last long Just a Big thunder storm like one I” mean
Love rite
Curt-
************************
Mrs Perry Raby
Clinton
R#1
Tennessee
[Postmarked APR 18 P.M. 1944, Andersonville, Tenn, with a 3 cent stamp with “Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809” on it.]
Satuarday nite
Mrs Paralee Raby
Dear Sis..
Thought tonitr ide rite you all a line as so it is raining and thundering to beat the band
I” guess grace is glad Earl don’t have to go to Army he is over 26 aint he?
Is Perry going to make any crop? or is he still in the notion of going to that job? you all Better make you all the truck patch stuff you can for stuff to eat is going to Be hard to get if you [don’t] have Plenty of money for there is nobody to grow it all the men are either gone to war or to a Public job so you can see why..
I” have not worked in a month except here at home been fenceing and making garden got a Bushel onion setts out and 3 ½ Bushels taters Planted and 250 Cabbage Plants set out I” am just Planting What the Kids Can tend to for im going to have to hold a job Until I” get in shape to farm it has Broke me Paying for this Place and Buying wire and trying to get it in shape so I” Plan on getting me another job down there Monday hope next year the war will Be over and I” Can make a crop the Kids are Big enough that they need to have some stuff to hoe and work in and my Place needs a lot of work done on it our cow is not fresh But Linda has to milk 3 gallons of milk a day and Pour in to the sow to Keep her Bag from Busting
Cant remember when she is due to be fresh soon though tell ma that when summer Comes and I” get a car we will all go down and see the old Place and see if it has Changed any and not to let her worries get her down the flat woods are doing their Bit to win the war
I” wouldint trade my Place for the whole shootin match down there But wish theyde Payed me about $800 more than they did we all made a mistake By not waiting before signing up
I” gess lee has Been up to see his ma a lot sense she has Been there he is Closer than I” and I” aint got no way to go home hope to have some time well Linda is still doctoring for Low Blood Pressure she seems to be getting a little better
I” Believe if she would have 3 or 4 babies at once she would get all right some women Just get fat as dogs after having twins or triplets But the sallet Kettel is too little now so I’’ gess she Better not try it.
So rite all the news and tell ma J Harrell smith is still Preaching But no Better than Bill Hightower
And to rite
Curt N Lindy
************************
Mrs M. J. Hendrix
Clinton
R#1 Tennessee
[Postmarked MAY 21 1944, 7 P.M., Oak Ridge, Tenn., stamp is missing except for upper left corner with purple field and white eagle’s wing. Two letters in one envelope, the first is mostly in block capitals, unlike all the others that are in cursive handwriting. The block letters will be transcribed in lower case except where capitalization is in order.]
Dormitory W.V. 37
Oak Ridge
Tennessee
Mrs M.J. Hendrix
Dear Mother
Thought I” would rite a line or so Tonite as Im lonesome my days work is over and Im sitting in my room nothing to do but think.. Some thoughts are very pleasant ones and others are a little bitter That is life.. Evrything cant be pie if so we would soon lose all appetite for sweet stuff..
Now about my new job it is a real headache – I” am a labor foreman have sixteen Negro girls in my charge We clean houses people are going to move into They all like me and do good work for me But there is a lot of things to figure on my job I” miss the book learning I” did not get But I” am not behind the other bosses so Im not worrying
Im boarding on the job so I” can get a little rest Havent got a car now but Ill buy one just soon as I can find one I.. like.. Walking is for horses that have four feet
I” gess you have littel chicks now and maybe some baby geese Is your house done If I ever get anyway going Im coming up Have some things I want you to have for your house
Is your cow milking?
There is a Beasly boy from the valley working on this job He says the valley has not changed much He said Buddy.s. place looked the same
He married Tom Borings girl He said his mother was a Boring before marriage
He is Hardy Beasleys son Do you know him?
Well Im glad the flatwoods Country is helping knock the props from under Hitler and his gang
He cant stand it much longer if whatever they make is as Uncel Bill Chesires moonshine used to be Good By Hitler
Well take care and don’t get too hot and get sick
And my address is Curtis Hendrix
W-V-Dormitory
Room 120
Oak Ridge Tenn-
(Tell Paralee howdy an rite)
[Second letter:]
Oak Ridge
W-V-Dormitory 37.Tenn-
Mrs MJ Hendrix
Dear Mom
Hope this finds you ok im still kicking Today is Sunday I” have Been on a trip thru the home Place walking around there has Been no changes made in the old Place except that it is grown up in grass a Bit there sure would be Plenty of pasture down there now
Your appel trees look fine they have appels on them as Big as Patridge eggs and there is Plenty of them the Roses are in full Bloom and very Pretty
And things look full of life and Promise
I” Pulled off the weeds and Briars off at my daddys grave and made too Boquets of roses and Put them on his grave I” wonder if he has any way Knowing that I” did so? After the war the People may get Back some of their land I” don’t know im going to try to save a little and look around a Bit after while I” may find a Place I” like Better than the one I” have if I” do I” can change
Have you ever seen anything about getting your pension? You should for it is due you
And later on we all may get more out of our land..
that will help every Body.
I” havent seen Murray in a year or any of the children havent seen my own Kids in a week am going to rite them today too
So you take Care of your self and don’t worry the war soon will be over and Peace again will Come to comfort the heart of men all over the world
As Ever Curt
***************************
Mrs M. J. Hendrix
Clinton
R#1 Tennessee
[Postmarked MAY 22 1944, 7 P.M., Oak Ridge, Tenn., stamp is missing. The letter is mostly in block capitals and will be transcribed in lower case except for normal capitalization.]
Dear Ma
And Paralee and Perry
Hope this finds all well and happy We have been building fence today around our creek bottom We will pasture it for I” cant plan on nothing but going to war Am afraid they may stop before I” get over there
I” want to just kill nine of them one fore each of the kids and one for me and Lindy
Well I” gess you have your house about done by now I” sold my car to Tommy Haney or Ide come down Too far to walk You ought to write to the valley and have some of your friends that is about your age send you notorised statements about how old you are and sign up and get your pension There is lots of peopel around here that’s got good farms getting it and Im paying in on evry dollar I” make on it and if you don’t get yours its your fault
We have set out 5- gallon of onion setts Paid $1.00 [$100. As written] a gallon for them Have 2-100 Pound bags of taters to plant Soon have got good fence around the garden now and Im fencing more pasture for the cow I sold the calf after feeding it $20.00 worth of hay Got $28.00 for the calf The kids all passed a grade in school All 5 got 50¢ from the teacher because they hadent missed a day in 9-months of school They all took part in the entertainment at close of school All of them said their pieces perfectly but wish you and Paralee could have seen Pete Her fist year you know and she beat evry kid there Her speech was “Ive been playing all day long and Im tired as I” can be Ive kept house and dressed my dolly skipped the rope and played have tea..
She dident miss a word or in her play either That old fashioned Mrs Turner is not like those little hot things down at Scarbro She makes kids in her school learn Pete is her pet tho.. Pete can read good Bruce has been helping me make fence He sticks rite with me I” couldent get anything done without him.. I don’t think any more of J. Harrel Smith than I” do Billy Hightower He preached the Bibel and if peopel had pitched $50.000 or $60.000 [$500 or $600?] a year at him he would have been as well known Billy preached agin church members commiting adultry and the deacons got mad and got him out of his job now aint that so?
These big high paid preachers aint doin like he (Christ) done He took his little bunch of dicipels through somebody elses corn patch on Sunday and they shucked the corn and eat it.. If they had been taking in $5000 apiece I” gess they would have been rideing good nags and stopped at a hotel for dinner Money love selfishness and showing off finery is not Christs way A Christian cant be rich for Christ said if any comes to borry turn him not away As soon as peopel found they could get it he soon would have nothing left to loan unless the Lord gave it back Too many big money preachers not enough humbel God fearing preachers with patches on the ass of their britches that would set down beside the road and divide his dinner with a hungry nigger Too many folks sit at a radio on Sunday too few go to church Clothes are looked at too much the Bibel too seldom.
Well when in troubel get your Bibel and read Job..
And rite to us
Long and often
Paralee too
Johns Boy
************************
Curt was beaten, shot and killed by neighbors Edgar LOY and Claude DAMEWOOD in Union County, TN. Their excuse was that he was attacking the invalid mother of one of the men. Curt was shot in the right armpit, his body badly bruised, and a dent shaped like a hammer was in his head. His habit was to always sit with his right arm propped up, leading his wife to the conclusion that he was sitting when shot. However, it is more likely he had his arm raised to ward off another hammer blow. Curt is buried in Gilbreath Cemetery in Anderson County, TN. Following is an account of events leading up to the murder with commentary appearing in [brackets].
THE DEATH OF CURTIS HENDRIX (9 JULY 1944)
My name is Bruce HENDRIX. I am the son of the murder victim, Curtis A. HENDRIX, who was killed in Union County, Tennessee on July 9, 1944.
Because of a war emergency, the Federal Government (War Department) took our property in Oak Ridge, Tennessee Ridge in 1942. We purchased a small farm in Union County. Curtis, my father was working as a construction foreman. He provided transportation to work from time to time for several men. I was twelve years old at the time of my father’s death and I remember many details, including the various motives for murder. The first man with a motive; this man (I will leave the names blank because they are a matter of record) [Edgar LOY] had a fight with his brother-in-law [Emert DAVIS, son of Fate DAVIS]. His wife had left him earlier, her brother [Emert DAVIS] was driving her to the local store, and her husband blocked the road and demanded that his wife get in his car. [DAVIS] said, “Only if she chooses”. A fight ensued and [DAVIS] beat up [LOY], left him lying in the road, and went to the store. Shortly after, [LOY] reappeared, having borrowed a hawk-bill knife, sharp as a razor, and started chopping on [DAVIS]. He sliced [DAVIS’s] chest, his face, his head and his throat, over and over. The store clerk hit the husband over the head with a Coke bottle, but he shook his head and continued cutting. Then the clerk put a 38 Special to his head and said “One more slice and I’ll blow your head off” and then he stopped.
[DAVIS] was one of the riders who rode to work with my dad, Curtis, Months. Later, [DAVIS] got out of the hospital and told my dad that he would like to keep riding with him but he was afraid his brother-in-law would pull a knife on him again and my dad told him “You’re under my protection while you are in my car”. Curt told [LOY] “If you pull a knife in my car, I will take it away from you and stick down your throat”.
At a later time, during a ride to work, the man [Edgar LOY] pulled a knife as promised and my dad kept his word. After knocking [LOY] unconscious, my dad placed the knife in his mouth and used his foot to push it inside and left him there on the side of the road.
The second motive: My dad and I put up a fence around 35 acres of our land across the road from our house. My dad then bought a horse and cows for the fenced area. [Claude DAMEWOOD] had plot of land at the back of our thirty-five fenced acres with a one-room shack with windows broken out. A cow got out of the pasture and died on [DAMEWOOD’s] property. My dad was asked to get rid of the cow because it was close to the one-room shack. My dad poured a gallon of gas on a brush pile on top of the cow but there still remained most of the carcass. [Another account says the cow was dragged away some distance before being burned.] Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for the neighbor. DAMEWOOD was a tall and skinny man with dark eyes and dark hair, he reminded me of a character portrayed by Lon CHANEY. DAMEWOOD told the owner of the country store, “If the cow isn’t gone by the time the sun goes down I’m going kill the son-of-a-bitch”.
I witnessed the third motive with my own eyes. My dad was sitting in a straight back chair on the veranda porch. The man [again Edgar LOY] was drinking and walked up and had some small talk, then as he whittled, he said, "Curt, for fifty cents I would take this knife and cut your guts out". My dad put his hand in his pocket, as he sat in a straight back chair, and flipped him a fifty-cent piece. He then swung at my dad with the knife. My dad never got out of the chair but hit the man hard with an upper cut under the chin [another account says Curt had his chair leaned back on two legs but did lower it to all four legs before throwing the punch]. I saw [LOY’s] feet leave the ground and he landed flat on his back. He lay on the ground for what seemed to be about twenty minutes until my dad got up, got a bucket of ice water from the ice box on the porch and poured it on him. [LOY] came to, got up and staggered off in the direction of the road. Later that day, he came back (wearing dry clothes) and apologized, saying “Curt, I would never have done that if I hadn’t been drinking.” Then he said “Curt could you drive me home?” That was the last time I ever saw my dad alive. [LOY] returned at three in the morning and said, “Curt is dead.” The county held a hearing and the group agreed that DAMEWOOD asked him to leave and shot him because he refused.
A neighbor came to my mother and told her that the night before, while passing by, he saw what looked like some people carrying a body into the house, meaning the shack. He said he went back that day and peeped in the window and saw a claw hammer, a straight-backed chair and a sycamore club on a bed. Later, the undertaker also stated that Curt’s chest was black and blue, as if he had been severely beaten. My mother did not report this at that time and no one was ever charged in Curtis’ death.
By Bruce D. HENDRIX
Other accounts say that although Curt drank a lot at times, he had settled down for a couple of years before his death and did not frequent the bars anymore. The day he died Edgar LOY came to his house and stood in the road cursing loudly (on a Sunday) and as LOY probably expected, Curt's wife urged him to get LOY and his foul mouth away from their children. When Curt escorted LOY home he was ambushed. A woman from their neighborhood in Union Co., TN moved to Anderson Co., TN and rented a place from Lee GREGORY, Curt's half-brother. Somehow the topic of the murder came up and the woman said she knew all the facts in the case. But when Lee's wife, Adelaide, blurted out that Lee and Curt were brothers, the woman would not say anymore on the subject.
Curt HENDRIX married on 9 FEB 1930 in Anderson Co., TN to Thelma Lee (Linda) HANEY, W.O. "Woody" DUNCAN presiding.
1. Leon Allen HENDRIX d. aged 6 months, bur. New Hope Baptist Church Cem. (AEC No. 32), Anderson Co., TN, unengraved stone located on west side of cem., northernmost in a row of four graves including half-aunts Susan GREGORY & Uceba GREGORY, and half-cousin Robert RABY
2. Faye Lee HENDRIX b. 4 FEB 1932 m. Lawrence (Biddy) CHILDS b. 21 DEC 1928 d. 21 JUN 1996
1. Steve Dennis CHILDS m. 1st Rebecca Sue "Becky" MCCARROL, m. 2nd Vickie HENSLEY,
2. Randy CHILDS m. 1st Libby DOTSON, m. 2nd Linda DISHMAN, m. 3rd Norma Jean Smith BAIN,
3. Darrell CHILDS m. 1st Eugena JONES; m. 2nd Rebecca ___
3. Bruce Delano HENDRIX b. 27 FEB 1933 m. 1st Lucille CABLE, m. 2nd Vell Rea BARTLETT, m. 3rd Shirley ___, m. 4th Vell Rea BARTLETT, m. 5th Ruth ___, m. 6th Helen ___. Bruce reminisced about his childhood “The thing I remember the most, I got a red wagon for Christmas but I didn’t like using it to haul the firewood. I also remember having the measles and the first time I ever had a pleasure trip. My cousin, Arvil LAW, took me to a Halloween party at his school.” “I recall going to school in a one-room school. We were picked at times to walk about a mile to a house to carry water back to school. I remember a time when I spilled the water and hid under the school steps, which also served as the church, because I was afraid of what would happen.” “I don’t remember learning anything and very little in my elementary years. After dad died, I got one pad of paper at the beginning of the year and a pencil, no books and those were usually stolen the first day. This went on until I finished the second year of high school. Then, the government was required to furnish Books. I developed the drive to learn. I finished my last two years of high school in one year and made the honor roll.”
Children (all by 1st wife):
1. Roger Allen HENDRIX b. 20 MAY 1955 Oliver Springs, TN m. Debbie ___,
2. Anthea Kay HENDRIX m. 1st Dennis MCKAIG, m. 2nd Rife ___, m. 3rd ___.
3. Marshall Rick HENDRIX m. Debbie ___,
4. Scott Dexter HENDRIX m. Cassie ___,
5. Angie HENDRIX d. AUG 1972 Grants Pass, OR
4. Tina Christine (Tiny) HENDRIX b. 8 MAY 1934 m. 1st George R. LINDSAY (son of Robert "Robbie" LINDSAY), m. 2nd John LEAZIER
1. Larry LINDSAY m. Angel MASSENGIL,
2. Joyce Ann "Sissy" LINDSAY m. Bobby MCCOY, children: Lori MCCOY, Shawn MCCOY
3. Mitchell LINDSAY m. Becky WHITE,
4. Jerry LINDSAY m. Kitty WILSON,
5. Donna Sue LINDSAY m. Jerry MOWERY,
6. Jimmy Ray LINDSAY m. Micky PHILLIPS,
7. Cathy LINDSAY m. Gary PROSISE,
8. Pam LINDSAY m. Andy DARNELL,
5. Hazel Mae HENDRIX b. 29 AUG 1935 d. 12 SEP 1999 bur. Batley Baptist Church Cem., Anderson Co., TN m. Anderson Co., TN Caroll G. SMITH
1. Carolyn SMITH m. Charles CRANMORE,
2. Gary Allen SMITH m. Shelly OWENS,
6. Connie Laverne HENDRIX b. 3 DEC 1937 m. Ora Junior PHILLIPS
1. Keith Michael PHILLIPS b. 2 JUN 1956 m. 1st Renee DISNEY, m. 2nd Deana JAMES,
2. Kim Wade PHILLIPS
3. Kevin PHILLIPS
7. Elizabeth Hope HENDRIX b. 29 JAN 1939 m. 26 DEC 1956 Ringgold, GA Kenneth ASLINGER b. 21 DEC 1936
1. Dennis L. ASLINGER
2. Martin A. ASLINGER
3. Brian E. ASLINGER
8. Billy Joe HENDRIX b. 14 FEB 1940 m. 1st 29 AUG 1959 Joan WALLACE at Lafayette, GA m. 2nd 29 DEC 1973 Connie BAUGHN at Jasper, AL
1. Vickie Jo HENDRIX b. 16 JUL 1960 m. Mitch CARLSON,
2. Michelle HENDRIX b. 7 JUL 1968 m. William EVONOSKY,
3. Matthew HENDRIX b. 3 AUG 1978
9. Shollie Jane HENDRIX b. 15 MAR 1945 d. 25 AUG 1994 m. 1st Robert CABRAL m. 2nd ?
1. Sherry CABRAL m. 1st James KILLIFER m. 2nd Kevin THOMPSON,
2. Tammy CABRAL m. 1st Jimmy JOHNSON, m. 2nd Scott FREELS, m. 3rd Tom WATSON,
3. Robin CABRAL m. Preston JONES,