This book contains the following stories written by R-CA members
and published in the Newsletters for the benefit of all members:
Letter from Charles Palmer of Newport, TN
. . . “It isn’t known exactly when they left Cocke County in 1834, but it was probably winter time. The voyage was ill-fated. When they arrived at the mouth of the Hiwassee River, the Tennessee River was completely frozen over, and wagons could be driven across the ice. The expedition was forced to land on Jolly’s (Hiwassee ) Island and wait for the river to thaw. On January 6, 1835 Thomas Conner was born on Jolly’s (Hiwassee ) Island. Many of the pilgrims stayed in this area permanently.
Thomas Palmer, Jr. must have been one of the guides for this expedition, because in 1814, he and a companion had walked from Horseshoe Bend, where he fought the Indians with Andrew Jackson, back along the Tennessee River, and back to Cocke County. It took them two years to return, as they had malaria and had to rest a great deal. They had to get their food from the forest.”
. . . “After the last battle of Nashville, the secessionist army withdrew from Tennessee; and the union troops moved by steamboat from Nashville to Cincinnati, Ohio and on to Washington City by trains. The winter trip was hard on the troops. From Annapolis, Maryland, Nat Witt’s command was transported by ships to Fort Fisher and Henry near Wilmington, N.C., where they freed several thousand union prisoners held by the secessionists. Then the regiment returned to Nashville, Tenn. All the volunteer troops were mustered out of the service on 4 April 1865. Lieutenant Colonel Witt and the remaining recruits of the command were discharged on the 15th of May of the same year.”
. . . “I remember in the early forties Uncle Frank Conner, brother of my grandfather Dock, would come down from Tennessee and stay several weeks after his wife died. I enjoyed his visits because he reminded me of my Pa (Dock) Conner. He would visit among the Conner children and when he was at our house my Mom would give him the royal treatment. We all loved him and we remember that he liked to fish and always took one or two of the children with him. He was a soft spoken gentle man who was so sweet and congenial.”
“Dorothea was the youngest of William Eugene Conner’s children and probably one of the youngest of James Madison Conner’s grandchildren. She was always interested in the Conner-Roark news and always wanted to know more about her ancestors. You would have liked her, if you could have known her. Aside from the grief at losing one of our aunts, her death was significant because she was the youngest of a generation born to William Eugene Conner, (1879-1967) Birchwood native and grandson of Maximilian Haney Conner (1805-1893).”
“Haney Berlin Conner, the second son of William Franklin Conner and Laura Adelaide McGill, was born in Chattanooga on May 4, 1882. The house in which he was born (on the corner of Fifth and Market Streets) burned when he was about one year old and on this same site a two-story brick building known as the Wisdom House and later as the Conner Hotel was erected.”
“James Roark lived at the gap of the dividing ridge, between the waters of the Clinch and the Sandy rivers, through which passed the Dry Fork road, and which has since been known as Roark’s Gap. Early in 1789, a band of Shawnee Indians left their homes in the west, and ascending the Dry fork, fell upon the defenseless family of Mr. Roark and killed his wife and several children. Two sons and Mr. Roark were from home and, it may be, thus saved their own lives, as the Indians were rather numerous to have been beaten off by them, even if they had been at home.”
“My mother was Gladys Irene Poe Benton. Her parents lived on a small truck farm on Bonny Oaks Drive about one half mile from where I was born and grew up in Hamilton County (Chattanooga) Tennessee. I have no memory of the first small wood frame home they built on this tract of land. My earliest recollections are of the cobble stone home they built and lived in until their death. My sister Marcheta and I visited regularly there in our growing up years. My grandmother always made a practice of baking gingerbread when we were there and we always received a gingerbread man. We were always welcome and often I would go with my grandfather to the barn and help with the chores, especially the feeding of the horse, whose name was Dan. There was always a friendly dog or two around and a passel of cats to enjoy.”
“I was lucky because I had a Grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth Moore Cameron, who loved to tell stories about when she was young. She would sit by the hour and tell me stories of her youth. She would tell me of her days as a young girl and her family and as little girl who liked to listen, I took it all in. I am writing this for the Roark Family surname and I will tell you what I know about Jeremiah Roark, my 3rd great grandparent, son of Timothy Roark of Virginia and Tennessee.
Jeremiah Roark was born on 7 April 1816 in Claiborne County, Tennessee. He was born, raised and married just outside of Tazewell. . . . “
“It was dry that year in 1902 and it was the only place I ever lived that I did not see any water run”, John Lyle Witt said as he recalled what happened when his Mother, Martha Jane Conner Witt and her family, moved to Erick, Oklahoma from Springtown, Texas. The move proved to be a disappointing one for Martha Witt and her children, John Lyle (my Dad), her oldest daughter, Victoria Clementine (Tiny), and her other sons, Jim and Joe. She had hoped to move there to make a better life after the death of her husband, Silas Witt. A married daughter, Hattie Wells and her husband Hance, were living near Erick. . . . “
“We are a blessed family to have our roots so deeply planted in the very soil and moral fiber of this great country! It is both an honor and an exercise in humility to be asked to identify the sustaining values which nurtured our ancestors for consideration today as we gather from throughout the country to celebrate our heritage. As I study our history, I see “duty” as our core value: the taproot of our family tree. Duty to God, duty to country, and duty to family.
Many of our ancestors came to East Tennessee following the Revolutionary War. Thomas Palmer and Samuel Carr migrated from Virginia to Tennessee to settle on land granted to them for their dutiful service to their country in that war. . . . “
Above are a few short excerpts from the following stories on the rich history of Roark-Conner families:
https://roark-conner.org/documents/r-ca-books/r-ca-books-for-sale/buy-r-ca-books/The 1834/5 Trip Down the Tennessee River to Birchwood
Roark-Conner Men who served in the Civil War Company E, 5th TN Infantry Regiment
Dock Conner
Dorothea Conner Huff Lindsey
Franklin Asberry Roark
Haney Berlin Conner
Isaac Bishop’s Will
James Roark Massacre, March 1780
James Marion and Ida Angeline Webb Poe
Jeremiah Roark
John and Margaret Gross Roark
John Lewis and Victoria Roark
John Wesley (1841-1928) and Permelia Brittanna Conner Roark (1846 – 1928
John Wesley Roark (1927-1973)
Julia Roark Robinett
Laddie Joe Roark
Laura Roark Shropshire
Ben and Lilly Victoria Roark Moon
Mary Ann Roark Scott
Nola May Gross Nunley
Ola Permelia Gross Conner
Roarks of Oak Ridge, Tennessee (Grover & Willie)
Spelling of the name Roark
Thomas Palmer Obituary
Timothy Roark, Jr.
Tom and Minnie Roark
William Harrison Roark
Dr Luther Lee Friddell
From Tennessee To Texas (Silas and Martha Jane Conner Witt)
The Lost Cemetery
The John Witt Family
Thoughts of Grandma Martha Jane Conner Witt
James Madison Conner
Samuel Haney Conner
William & Virginia Conner Roark
Roark-Conner Value
Court Evidence that Timothy Roark was the son of James Milton M. “Mick” Conner
Candies Creek Baptist Church
A Maximilian Haney Conner Painting
Estate of Robert and Elizabeth Bishop