"Miss Eva" was a remarkable and much-loved woman.
Born in Beersheba Springs Tennessee, the oldest of four children, she lived in Grundy County her whole life.
Her father "Tade" Walker was determined to teach his eldest to shoot, girl or no. She learned well, becoming an excellent markswoman who put dinner on the table many a time.
Well into her 70s, she was awakened late one night by an intruder on her property. She proceeded to "part his hair" with a well-placed bullet from her bedroom window. When the sheriff came to investigate, she's reported to have tartly told him "If I'd MEANT to hit him I would've. I just wanted to put the fear of God into the boy."
Eva married J. L. Rollings in 1919 when she was 17 and he was 48, the widowed father of 6 children; Louise was only 2 years younger than her new stepmother. She had 6 children of her own between 1921 and 1941. Her stepdaughter Florence once said to me, "Eva never made any bit of difference between the children."
The move from Beersheba Springs to Altamont (roughly 7 miles) was a big deal in those days. She lived on the same piece of property the rest of her life, although "The Old House" was replaced by a new one in the 1960s. Electricity was a great innovation sometime during World War II, as was the first installation of indoor plumbing to replace the well (partly, she always preferred to drink well water over "city water")and the outhouse everyone called "Egypt". I've heard many a story about having to haul water for every task and of boiling clothes over a fire. Eva kept many flocks of chickens, several cows, a series of dogs, and a mule named Hortense although he was male. Her vegetable gardens and canning were prolific.
She spent several years teaching in Grundy County schools; when I have more information I'll include it here.
Eva was widowed in July 1961. Several suitors came calling over the years; her response to them all was "I've BEEN married. To the best."
Many of my own memories of her center around her hospitality, wonderful cooking, and skill at the sewing machine. In 1976 I spent a summer with her. The previous year she'd had a bad fall, breaking an arm and several ribs and crushing a shoulder bone. Defying predictions that she'd never use the arm properly again, she cooked me many of her famous dishes and sewed some clothes for my next school year. One of those suitors paid several visits until she realized what his goal actually was and sent him packing. (Not bad for 74, eh?) She loved to crochet thread doilies; I'm honored to have been gifted several doilies and her much-used steel hooks. (Because of her, I knit and crochet lace.)
Several of her grandchildren smile at memories of her sitting in a comfortable chair by her bed, with a cigarette (which acquired a considerable deposit of red lipstick) and the latest copy of Reader's Digest. We were well-indoctrinated with vocabulary from the "It Pays to Increase Your Word Power" feature. She quit smoking sometime in her 60s, not liking the example she was showing "her babies".
For the last several years of her life she was bedridden, but she never lost her enjoyment of good company or her sense of humor. Sadly, I missed the festivities celebrating her 90th birthday but have seen pictures of the many yellow roses decorating the house.
Eva was reunited with her husband at the age of 91, after 32 years of widowhood. She is buried between her oldest and youngest daughters; two more daughters and three stepchildren rest nearby. At her insistence her husband had been buried next to his first wife, about 10 miles away. A daughter is interred in Texas and her only son lives in California.
Her granddaughter by her fourth daughter wrote this bio on what would have been her 108th birthday, added personal photos, and submitted her memorial to the online stroll.
Happy birthday, Ma. I miss you. In your honor I'm going to go buy a yellow rose and put on your favorite shade of red lipstick.
(The bio was edited on her 121st birthday, with love.)
Born in Beersheba Springs Tennessee, the oldest of four children, she lived in Grundy County her whole life.
Her father "Tade" Walker was determined to teach his eldest to shoot, girl or no. She learned well, becoming an excellent markswoman who put dinner on the table many a time.
Well into her 70s, she was awakened late one night by an intruder on her property. She proceeded to "part his hair" with a well-placed bullet from her bedroom window. When the sheriff came to investigate, she's reported to have tartly told him "If I'd MEANT to hit him I would've. I just wanted to put the fear of God into the boy."
Eva married J. L. Rollings in 1919 when she was 17 and he was 48, the widowed father of 6 children; Louise was only 2 years younger than her new stepmother. She had 6 children of her own between 1921 and 1941. Her stepdaughter Florence once said to me, "Eva never made any bit of difference between the children."
The move from Beersheba Springs to Altamont (roughly 7 miles) was a big deal in those days. She lived on the same piece of property the rest of her life, although "The Old House" was replaced by a new one in the 1960s. Electricity was a great innovation sometime during World War II, as was the first installation of indoor plumbing to replace the well (partly, she always preferred to drink well water over "city water")and the outhouse everyone called "Egypt". I've heard many a story about having to haul water for every task and of boiling clothes over a fire. Eva kept many flocks of chickens, several cows, a series of dogs, and a mule named Hortense although he was male. Her vegetable gardens and canning were prolific.
She spent several years teaching in Grundy County schools; when I have more information I'll include it here.
Eva was widowed in July 1961. Several suitors came calling over the years; her response to them all was "I've BEEN married. To the best."
Many of my own memories of her center around her hospitality, wonderful cooking, and skill at the sewing machine. In 1976 I spent a summer with her. The previous year she'd had a bad fall, breaking an arm and several ribs and crushing a shoulder bone. Defying predictions that she'd never use the arm properly again, she cooked me many of her famous dishes and sewed some clothes for my next school year. One of those suitors paid several visits until she realized what his goal actually was and sent him packing. (Not bad for 74, eh?) She loved to crochet thread doilies; I'm honored to have been gifted several doilies and her much-used steel hooks. (Because of her, I knit and crochet lace.)
Several of her grandchildren smile at memories of her sitting in a comfortable chair by her bed, with a cigarette (which acquired a considerable deposit of red lipstick) and the latest copy of Reader's Digest. We were well-indoctrinated with vocabulary from the "It Pays to Increase Your Word Power" feature. She quit smoking sometime in her 60s, not liking the example she was showing "her babies".
For the last several years of her life she was bedridden, but she never lost her enjoyment of good company or her sense of humor. Sadly, I missed the festivities celebrating her 90th birthday but have seen pictures of the many yellow roses decorating the house.
Eva was reunited with her husband at the age of 91, after 32 years of widowhood. She is buried between her oldest and youngest daughters; two more daughters and three stepchildren rest nearby. At her insistence her husband had been buried next to his first wife, about 10 miles away. A daughter is interred in Texas and her only son lives in California.
Her granddaughter by her fourth daughter wrote this bio on what would have been her 108th birthday, added personal photos, and submitted her memorial to the online stroll.
Happy birthday, Ma. I miss you. In your honor I'm going to go buy a yellow rose and put on your favorite shade of red lipstick.
(The bio was edited on her 121st birthday, with love.)
"Miss Eva" was a remarkable and much-loved woman.
Born in Beersheba Springs Tennessee, the oldest of four children, she lived in Grundy County her whole life.
Her father "Tade" Walker was determined to teach his eldest to shoot, girl or no. She learned well, becoming an excellent markswoman who put dinner on the table many a time.
Well into her 70s, she was awakened late one night by an intruder on her property. She proceeded to "part his hair" with a well-placed bullet from her bedroom window. When the sheriff came to investigate, she's reported to have tartly told him "If I'd MEANT to hit him I would've. I just wanted to put the fear of God into the boy."
Eva married J. L. Rollings in 1919 when she was 17 and he was 48, the widowed father of 6 children; Louise was only 2 years younger than her new stepmother. She had 6 children of her own between 1921 and 1941. Her stepdaughter Florence once said to me, "Eva never made any bit of difference between the children."
The move from Beersheba Springs to Altamont (roughly 7 miles) was a big deal in those days. She lived on the same piece of property the rest of her life, although "The Old House" was replaced by a new one in the 1960s. Electricity was a great innovation sometime during World War II, as was the first installation of indoor plumbing to replace the well (partly, she always preferred to drink well water over "city water")and the outhouse everyone called "Egypt". I've heard many a story about having to haul water for every task and of boiling clothes over a fire. Eva kept many flocks of chickens, several cows, a series of dogs, and a mule named Hortense although he was male. Her vegetable gardens and canning were prolific.
She spent several years teaching in Grundy County schools; when I have more information I'll include it here.
Eva was widowed in July 1961. Several suitors came calling over the years; her response to them all was "I've BEEN married. To the best."
Many of my own memories of her center around her hospitality, wonderful cooking, and skill at the sewing machine. In 1976 I spent a summer with her. The previous year she'd had a bad fall, breaking an arm and several ribs and crushing a shoulder bone. Defying predictions that she'd never use the arm properly again, she cooked me many of her famous dishes and sewed some clothes for my next school year. One of those suitors paid several visits until she realized what his goal actually was and sent him packing. (Not bad for 74, eh?) She loved to crochet thread doilies; I'm honored to have been gifted several doilies and her much-used steel hooks. (Because of her, I knit and crochet lace.)
Several of her grandchildren smile at memories of her sitting in a comfortable chair by her bed, with a cigarette (which acquired a considerable deposit of red lipstick) and the latest copy of Reader's Digest. We were well-indoctrinated with vocabulary from the "It Pays to Increase Your Word Power" feature. She quit smoking sometime in her 60s, not liking the example she was showing "her babies".
For the last several years of her life she was bedridden, but she never lost her enjoyment of good company or her sense of humor. Sadly, I missed the festivities celebrating her 90th birthday but have seen pictures of the many yellow roses decorating the house.
Eva was reunited with her husband at the age of 91, after 32 years of widowhood. She is buried between her oldest and youngest daughters; two more daughters and three stepchildren rest nearby. At her insistence her husband had been buried next to his first wife, about 10 miles away. A daughter is interred in Texas and her only son lives in California.
Her granddaughter by her fourth daughter wrote this bio on what would have been her 108th birthday, added personal photos, and submitted her memorial to the online stroll.
Happy birthday, Ma. I miss you. In your honor I'm going to go buy a yellow rose and put on your favorite shade of red lipstick.
(The bio was edited on her 121st birthday, with love.)
Born in Beersheba Springs Tennessee, the oldest of four children, she lived in Grundy County her whole life.
Her father "Tade" Walker was determined to teach his eldest to shoot, girl or no. She learned well, becoming an excellent markswoman who put dinner on the table many a time.
Well into her 70s, she was awakened late one night by an intruder on her property. She proceeded to "part his hair" with a well-placed bullet from her bedroom window. When the sheriff came to investigate, she's reported to have tartly told him "If I'd MEANT to hit him I would've. I just wanted to put the fear of God into the boy."
Eva married J. L. Rollings in 1919 when she was 17 and he was 48, the widowed father of 6 children; Louise was only 2 years younger than her new stepmother. She had 6 children of her own between 1921 and 1941. Her stepdaughter Florence once said to me, "Eva never made any bit of difference between the children."
The move from Beersheba Springs to Altamont (roughly 7 miles) was a big deal in those days. She lived on the same piece of property the rest of her life, although "The Old House" was replaced by a new one in the 1960s. Electricity was a great innovation sometime during World War II, as was the first installation of indoor plumbing to replace the well (partly, she always preferred to drink well water over "city water")and the outhouse everyone called "Egypt". I've heard many a story about having to haul water for every task and of boiling clothes over a fire. Eva kept many flocks of chickens, several cows, a series of dogs, and a mule named Hortense although he was male. Her vegetable gardens and canning were prolific.
She spent several years teaching in Grundy County schools; when I have more information I'll include it here.
Eva was widowed in July 1961. Several suitors came calling over the years; her response to them all was "I've BEEN married. To the best."
Many of my own memories of her center around her hospitality, wonderful cooking, and skill at the sewing machine. In 1976 I spent a summer with her. The previous year she'd had a bad fall, breaking an arm and several ribs and crushing a shoulder bone. Defying predictions that she'd never use the arm properly again, she cooked me many of her famous dishes and sewed some clothes for my next school year. One of those suitors paid several visits until she realized what his goal actually was and sent him packing. (Not bad for 74, eh?) She loved to crochet thread doilies; I'm honored to have been gifted several doilies and her much-used steel hooks. (Because of her, I knit and crochet lace.)
Several of her grandchildren smile at memories of her sitting in a comfortable chair by her bed, with a cigarette (which acquired a considerable deposit of red lipstick) and the latest copy of Reader's Digest. We were well-indoctrinated with vocabulary from the "It Pays to Increase Your Word Power" feature. She quit smoking sometime in her 60s, not liking the example she was showing "her babies".
For the last several years of her life she was bedridden, but she never lost her enjoyment of good company or her sense of humor. Sadly, I missed the festivities celebrating her 90th birthday but have seen pictures of the many yellow roses decorating the house.
Eva was reunited with her husband at the age of 91, after 32 years of widowhood. She is buried between her oldest and youngest daughters; two more daughters and three stepchildren rest nearby. At her insistence her husband had been buried next to his first wife, about 10 miles away. A daughter is interred in Texas and her only son lives in California.
Her granddaughter by her fourth daughter wrote this bio on what would have been her 108th birthday, added personal photos, and submitted her memorial to the online stroll.
Happy birthday, Ma. I miss you. In your honor I'm going to go buy a yellow rose and put on your favorite shade of red lipstick.
(The bio was edited on her 121st birthday, with love.)
Gravesite Details
Buried between the oldest and the youngest of her children. Two children and three stepchildren rest nearby.
Family Members
Siblings
