Tombstone Inscription
"Gone But Not Forgotten"
notation by Rosa Cline

Photo of Sarah on right in front row.
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Sarah's parents were:
Willis William Woodward (1807 - 1894)
Elizabeth Reed (1810 - 1875)

Sarah & siblings:
Mahala (1827 - 1908)
Rebecca Elizabeth (1830 - 1919)
Jordan Titus (1833 - 1919)
Wilson Willis (1835 - 1878)
Mary (1840 - 1876)
Lucinda (1842 - 1853)
Eleander K. (1848 - 1865)
Sarah Elizabeth (1852 - 1943)
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Sarah was 9 years old when the Civil War started. Her father served on the side of the Union & suffered at the hands of raiders. After the war she became interested in a young man who had served on the side of the Confederacy.

Sarah, age 15, & Francis Marion "Mack" Roberson, 21, were married in Newton Co, AR, by William J. Brister, on October 22, 1868.

Their children were:
Mary Ellen
William Elijah "Chock
Baby who died when less than 2 wks. old
Isabelle "Belle"
James Louis
Susan Rebecca
Margaret Ann
John Perry
Nettie E.
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Gussie Pruitt Marshall & Vera Roberson McClaine, have shared some memories of their grandparents. Vera was the daughter of James Louis (5th child of Sarah & Mack) & Paralee Curtis; Gussie's was the daughter Susan Rebecca (6th child of Sarah & Mack) & John Pruitt.

Gussie's remembrances:
Gussie was born in Limestone Valley. She and her two brothers were delivered at home by Mahala Essex Curtis (her mother's cousin, daughter of Willis & Elizabeth Reed Woodward). Mahala was a midwife and was called upon for many births in the community. She also served as a "roving nurse," going to the homes of sick people when needed, because there weren't any doctors nearby.

Gussie attended the first four grades in Limestone Valley at Valley View School. Valley View was located three miles up from their house and across the creek from the Essex Cemetery. It was a one room school house where the first eight grades were taught. Since there was such a wide span of grades, the teacher used the older students to help the younger ones.

Susan, Gussie's mother, went to visit her parents almost every Sunday because she was a home person & loved her parents very much. Gussie remembers her grandmother, Sarah her grandfather, Mack, had died before she was born. In 1935, when she was ten years old, her parents left Limestone & moved to Oklahoma.

Gussie said that her grandparent's farm was on West Fork, an area that is no longer accessible. The road, leading to their farm, was south of Essex Cemetery. It went back to the east, up to the head of West Fork. Their house was typical of that period, which consisted of two long rooms connected by a long narrow hall way. The large front room, which served as a dining room & bedroom, had a big fireplace at one end. The large room at the back of the house, connected by the hall way, was furnished with extra beds for company. Their kitchen was a lean-to built on the side of the house where the meals were prepared & brought into the front room to be served. A long dining table, with benches on each side, sat in the middle of the front room.

Mack operated a business from their home & kept his merchandise in the long narrow connecting hall that was enclosed at one end. He sold dress lengths of material & other items. Three yards of material was considered enough for most dresses. Horse harnesses were hung on big wooden pegs in the wall of the hallway, because they didn't have a barn.
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Vera's remembrances:
Vera said that Sarah made clothes and bedding for the family early in their marriage. These items were from wool & cotton Sarah had made with her spinning wheel and large loom. She taught some of her daughters, as well as others, how to weave and knit. Her large loom was kept outside under a covered shed at the back of the house & was left behind when the house was eventually sold.

Vera remembers how much Sarah loved people, & they were always coming to see her. Ellen and Henry Woodward, Sarah's nephew, lived near them. Henry, who especially liked her gritted bread, always got her to make a bowl of the bread when he visited. George Dodson, her nephew (son of her sister, Mary), often visited before he moved away from Limestone. She recalls seeing a large picture of George's mother, Mary, that was probably taken before her marriage.

Mack eventually went blind. He was 75 years old when he died on May 28, 1922, & was buried in Essex Cemetery. John Perry & his sister, Nettie, were still living at home when he died.

Almost three years after his father's death, John Perry married Nancy Harris on February 16, 1925. He brought his bride to his parent's home, & they lived with Sarah, who was 73. Nettie married Abe Bean, two months later, on April 23.
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John Perry and Nancy had five children: Eileen, John, Henry, Florence, and Bynum. Sarah was fond of the children & helped care for them. Gussie remembers that Sarah was constantly holding the young children on her lap.

John Perry and Nancy were devoted to Sarah & helped care for her after she became helpless. Nancy prepared all the meals in the kitchen. The food was then brought to the front room where it was served on the dining room table. Two people, on each side of Sarah, always helped her to the table where she sat in "her chair" in the same place for every meal. After the meal she was helped up from the table, & always went to bed.

Sarah had certain chairs where she sat. None of the grandchildren ever sat in Sarah's chairs. You didn't dare get in one of those chairs even if Sarah was asleep. Someone would holler, "Don't sit there. That's Granny's chair."

Eventually John Perry sold the house & moved his family to Lamar in Johnson County. Sarah moved with them, & they took care of her until her death on November 27, 1943. She was buried beside her beloved husband in Essex Cemetery.

Researched & compiled by Virginia Brown