EXCERPT FROM BOOK
William Grover Roark
William Grover Roark, the youngest child of William Marion and Virginia Ann Conner Roark, was born Sunday, June 26, 1892, in his father’s ancestral home, a log cabin built by his grandfather, Joseph Roark, in 1837 on the banks of Grasshopper Creek. “Grover” as he was known through out his life, was the ninth child and seventh son born to Will and Virginia. When he was born that summer, the crowded household consisted of: Laura, age 14; Luther, age 13; Joe, age 10; Luke, age 9; Lilly, age 8; Berry, age 6; John, age 4; Tom, age 2.
Grover and his family were grieved by the death of Grover’s older brother John Mark in early September 1898. “Johnnie,” as he was known to the family, had been ill just over a month, suffering from what was then referred to as “abscess of the muscles” but possibly was polio. Johnnie died on Wednesday, September 7, 1898, and was buried in the Conner Cemetery near his sister Vivian. A memorial to Johnnie was printed in The Meigs County Sun on February 17, 1899, and remembered him as “an industrious and obedient son and an amiable brother.” Doubtless Grover was impacted by Johnnie’s death.
Later in that year, Will and Virginia gathered the family for a group picture at a photographer’s studio, probably in the county seat of Ooltewah. Each of the family members was dressed in his or her “Sunday best” with all the boys in a suit and tie. Due to the sensitively of the film to light at that stage of the technology, the photographer requested the subject to not smile and to be still for a period of time. In some cases the photographer had a device to keep the head from moving, hidden behind the subject. At the same sitting, individual portraits were made of Will and Virginia.
With the rest of the family, Grover attended the Salem Baptist Church located just north of the Joseph Roark homestead, across Grasshopper Creek. Grover faithfully attended the church meetings held monthly on the fourth Saturday and participated in the social events centered in the church. Sunday School was held each Sunday at the church and the children of the family were encouraged to attend and, more importantly, to make a profession of faith at the “age of accountability.” Grover was present when brothers Joe and Berry were baptized in the Tennessee River at Moon’s Landing in 1901, and Grover, himself, was to be a strong believer in the faith throughout his life.
By 1900, in the census of that year, all of Grover’s siblings were still at the family home – his father was 57 and his mother was 48. The children were: Laura, 21; Luther, 20; Joe, 18; Luke, 17; Lilly, 15; Berry 14; Tom, 10; and Grover, 8. Soon after the turn of the century, however, the family began to disperse. In February 1902, Grover’s eldest brother Luther left for Texas with his friend, Luther Gamble. Sister Laura married in November 1902 and, after a few months, she and her husband established their home in Ooltewah. Then two years later, Lilly married in November 1904 and moved with her husband to Bridgeport, Alabama
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