Descendants of Andrew Homan

Generation No. 1

Generation No. 2

Info on Andrew Jesse obtained from Tom Homan of Trussville.

Generation No. 3

Lula Homan is buried, in the cemetery, at the Tabernacle Methodist Church and Campground which was established in 1828, about forty acres land deeded to church by Marshall Franks. Nathan Hopkins served as first pastor; Ebenezer Hearn was first presiding elder. Among families who helped build and maintain campground and church were those of Henry, Joyner, Franks, Randall, Miller, Woods, and Eubanks. Camp meetings held here annually since 1828. Information taken from sign at the church.

Taken from the Columbus Paper:

Lula Ruffin Rites Held at Tabernacle

Funeral services for Mrs. Lula Ruffin,age 86, who died Sunday night, December 23, 1973 at the Columbus Hospital were held Tuesday, december 25th at 2 P.M. at Tabernacle Methodist Church in Pickens County with Rev. Kenneth Byrum assisted by Rev. Elvis Gregory officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery with Dowdle Funeral Home of Millport directing.

Mrs. Ruffin, a lifelong resident of Pickens County is survived by seven daughters, Mrs. Bill Stokes of Reform, AL, Mrs. Loatus Hamilton, Mrs. Cecil Lawrence and Miss Jessie Lou Ruffin all of Columbus, Mississippi, Mrs. Maudie Trapp of Vernon, Mrs. Kitty Sudderberg of Ft. Maine, Maryland, Mrs. Harry Fullerton of Memphis, Tennessee; three sons, H. L. Woolbright of Sulligent, E. A. Ruffin of Tampa, Florida and Charles Ruffin of Texas; one sister, Mrs. Inez Owens; three brothers, Dock Homan of Millport, J. W. Homan of Gordo and Hirman Homan of Millport; 11 grandchildren; 23 great grandchildren and 3 great great grandchildren.

02-06-99 I talked with Bessie Ruffin Hamilton today. I asked her about Grann Ruffin's second marriage. I had remember Granny telling me his last name was Dewberry and he was killed in a mining accident. Bessie says that after Woolbright died Granny went to Cordova AL to live with her brother Bob Homan. She met this man there , she couldn't remember his name but it had "berry" to it. He was mean to her and she left him. She told me to talk to Mattie Lou Keating about this.

Unsure about name of this husband of Lucy Lula Homan.

Generation No. 4

Taken from the Lamar Democrat

William F. "Bill" Stokes Rites To be Held Thursday At Macedonia Free Will Baptist Church

Mr. William F. "Bill" Stokes, age 83 of Reform, AL passed away Tuesday, March 22, 1988 at his residence. Mr. Stokes is survivied by hiw wife, Mrs. Dora Stokes of Reform, AL; one daughter, Lavoy Smith, of Tuscaloosa, AL; two sons, Lavert Stokes of Reform, AL and Waymon Stokes of Columbus, Mississippi; five sisters, Jennie dorroh of Kennedy, AL, Mary Sullivan of Millport, AL, Grace Smith and Earline Pratt both of Reform, AL, Lounell Cook of Millport, AL; two brothers, Vade Stokes of Millport, AL and Oid Stokes of Atlanta, GA; 12 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.

Funeral services for Mr. Stokes will be held on Thursday, March 24, 1988 at 2:00 p. m. from the Macedonia FreeWill Baptist Church with Bro. Larry Reynolds and Bro. Roy Plowman officiating. Interment will be in the Macddonia Cemetery under the direction of Dowdle Funeral Home of Millport, AL.

Grandsons will serve as pallbearers.

Jack's father died before he was born, so he never knew the love of an earthly father. When he settled in the Lost Creek Community near Sulligent and married Lula Bell King, her father, Wash King, became the father that Jack had never known.

Hobbie Lee better known as "Jack" was born January 7, 1906 and grew up

in north Pickens County and south Lamar County, Alabama. His father was

Hobbie Lee Woolbright born 1881, died 1905. Jack’s father died before he

was born. His mother Lucy Lula Homan Woolbright Ruffin born April 15,

1887, died December 23, 1973, later remarried and Jack lived with different

relatives. At a young age he began working in the logging trade. When he

was around twenty he came into the Lost Creek Community with a logging

crew for Kentucky Lumber Company. They were cutting timber in the

Buttahatchee bottom. He met Lula Bell, they married and lived in the Lost

Creek Community until his death on October 10, 1989. Lula Bell’s father,

W. W. King became the father that he had never had. Jack farmed, logged,

owned a sawmill until about 1962.

In his later years he was a night watchman at Detroit Slacks in Detroit,

Alabama. After he retired, he enjoyed growing vegetables for his family and

others. He gave away more than he sold. He enjoyed people and was a

people person.

Jack and Lula Bell’s children are Jessie Nell, born December 30, 1928;

married William T. Woods; Katheleen, born October 28, 1932 died June 25,

1934 after a short illness. Robert Lee born August 6, 1941 and Barbara Ann,

born June 14, 1945, married Dewey Lee Carruth.

Taken from the Commerial Dispatch : Logger Recalls Old Days in the Woods"

Jack Woolbright is 75 years old. Fifty of those 75 years were spent as a logger, timber cutter and sawmill operator. Now retired, and living on a farm in the Lost Creek area, Jack began logging when he was 12. This was in 1918.

"I started skiddin' logs around for my uncle." he said, "I come in here when the Kentucky Lumber Co. was over here. And I helped log this whole bottom out down through here, the Buttahatchee.

"After they got through here, why, I just logged for first one, then another of those little sawmills for several years, then I bought me a team of my own and went into the logging on my own after I married."

Jack was married in 1928, at the age of 22 to Lula Bell King.

"About in thirty-nine, then I quit doing the logging myself, and bought me a sawmill", he said. " I decided to let the rest of'em do the loggin'. Up till then, loggin was all I knew. I 've been mostly in that all my life. And then, sawmillig got so bad that, in 1964 or l965, I quit that and went to farmin'". He was 62 at that time. " I farmed and night watched too for Coy Glenn, up here at Detroit for about thirteen , fourteen years. Finally I quit the night watching and farmed for two or three more years and then quit." He grinned " I still make a small crop, corn and patches."

Jack Woolbright talked about logging in 1918.

" Well", he said, " It was pretty rough then. There wasn't much to do it with. Just an old mule and an iron tire wagon. And, when we came here with Kentucky Lumber Company and went down in this bottom, here we logged with an eight wheel wagon and old iron tire wagon about 6 inch tires on it. Eight wheels 'n' five mules."

"Some of the logs we hauled out of there were just nearly as thick through as you are tall. we hauled some that cut two thousand feet to the cut in them. There was a lot of red gum in there, 'n' they were bigger."

"We logged that for them for several years. we stayed with them till they got done and they quit. Then we scattered our, and got on our own."

Jack Woolbright was asked about the biggest tree he had ever cut. " Me and Ed Kitrell once hauled a cypress out of this bottom down here that had five sixteen foot cuts on it," he said. "That tree had five thousand and some (board) feet in it. It was about six foot through at the butt. They had to weld two cross cut saws together to cut it down with. Most of those saws was about six to six and 1/2 foot long to begin with. They had about four men on the saw and it took seven head of mules to handle the logs. We had to use a block and line to get the butt cut on the wagon with. It was an eight wheel wagon. Most folks don't know nothing about a double block now, but that's what we used, a double block. Thing was, that it would triple your power. And the ground was about as dry as it is now and we mired down with that cut on the wagon about three times before we got a quarter of a mile with it to the landing. We carried it our to the railroad and dropped it off on the track there. Had to tie it to a tree to keep from turning the car over that they loaded it on."

Jack Woolbright sat in the chair on his porch and grinned, shaking his head. " There was so many thins happened when I was logging.. I don't remember most of 'em," He continued. "We handled a whole lot of stuff, and there ain't much to tell about it, other than just a whole lot of hard work to it. Now in this day and time, when you log, they take most of the manual labor out of it. But, that was about all you had back then, manual labor and a mule". He was asked about cutting logs for use as ship masts, and how long they had to be. "Well they'd take it in different lengths," he said. "But most of it was short lengths.

They finally got to where they'd comin' up, when everything else changes, and that did too."

"Most of what they cut down here in the pine was what they called dense pine. Real fine grain pine, you know. But what we called buttermilk, they wouldn't have it. Then you couldn't give it away, much less sell it. But the most that Kentucky Lumber Company dealt with and their biggest sale was this red gum and what they called 'figgered' gum, y'know. There was a lot of trees anywhere from three and a half to five foot through. And some of 'em were what they called 'figgered gum'. When they cut it off into a plank, it'd have different designs on it, just like something had been painted there or stamped there on it. That was the thing they mostly went for, I don't know what they sold that for, but we cut a bunch of it. That and red gum. And red gum back then was about the only kind of gum that would sell. Sap gum, where it didn't have the heart, it wouldn't sell then."

Jack sits a moment, thinking, then: "I logged with my own team awhile and then I bought me a sawmill. Labor was six bits and a dollar a day, and you were getting ten dollars a thousand for lumber, eight and ten when I was sawmillin'. You could get about three dollars or three and a half a day, when you were using your team then, logging in the thirties. So I went to sawmilling then I went to cutting cross ties for Hardin Tie Company, and I believe they were thirty cents a piece. and the lumber that come off the side of them, you couldn't give it away. But finally the war came on and everything picked up a little and it got to where you could go a little better." But after the war, with the birth of technology and the chain saw, logging as Jack Woolbright and others of his generation had know it, became a thing og the past.

Jack Woolbright was asked if he could think of any other specific stories about his logging years. " No", he replied. "It's been so long since I thought about it, I just don't recollect too much about it."

" A Christmas Memory"

This Christmas memory was written by Sr. A Barry W. Carruth pn December 24, 1989 when he was stationed in Blytheville, Arkansas a few months after his grandfather Jack Woolbright had died.

I'm writing this because I'm spending my first Christmas in 22 years without my "Pa Jack". It's still kind of hard to believe that he is gone from this world. He was so big and strong, it just seemed like he would live forever. I was thinking about all the times I'd seen him sell corn or peas and he would throw in a little extra ' just in case some are bad'. I guess what made me think about this is that it is Christmas and it's a time for giving and it just made me think about my Pa Jack. He GAVE 365 days a year, the whole 83 years he was in this world.

Sometimes he was hard to understand, because it had to be his way or not at all, but you knew that he was just doing it that way because he thought he was right ( and most of the time he was ) and he wanted the best for us. He didn't say " I love you" very much or give very many hugs, but he was ALWAYS there, when you needed him. If you ever got in trouble and needed PA JACK to bail you out . . . he would. If you were wrong, he would let you know and correct you. I guess what I 'm trying to say is he may not have said " I love you", but his actions. . . his giving ways. . .him always being there meant alot more than those three words could ever mean.

To you PA JACK I want to say, I love you and Merry Christmas. It's hard this Christmas without you being here with us. I know that you are having your best Christmas ever, Pa, you are with your Savior and we are still here in this single digit weather. I can picture you sitting by a big chinaberry tree, chewing tobacco and ole Luke lying there beside you! Pa, we're sad, we don't have you here with us anymore, but you are having your BEST CHRISTMAS ever!!! Again MERRY CHRISTMAS PA JACK.

Love,

Barry

Taken from the Lamar Leader:

H. L. 'Jack" Woolbright, age 83, of Star Route North, Sulligent, AL died Tuesday, October 10, 1989 at his home. A native of Pickens County AL, he was the son of Hobbie Lee and Lula Homan Woolbright. He had lived most of his life in Lamar County and was a farmer and a member of the Shiloh North Methodist

Church.

Funeral services were held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, October 12 from the Chapel of Norwood funeral Home in Sulligent with Bro. Johnny Freeman as the officiating minister. Burial was in the Evans Cemetery under the direction of Norwood Funeral Home.

Mr. Woolbright is survived by hiw wife, Mrs. Lula Bell King Woolbright of Star Route North, Sulligent, AL; two daughters, Barbara Carruth of Sulligent, AL and Jessie Woods of Sulligent, Al; one son, Bobby Woolbright of Sulligent, AL; two sons in law, William Woods and Dewey Carruth, both of Sulligent, AL; four sisters Dora Stokes of Reform, AL, Bessie Hamilton of Columbus, MS, Jessie Ruffin and Ruth Lawrence of Ethelsville, AL; 8 grandchildren and twon great grandchildren.

10 12 1989

Written by: Barbara W. Carruth

I'm writing this as I am sitting in the funeral home with Daddy getting ready for his service this afternoon. So many people came to the funeral home last night to offer condolences to our family . I stood at the casket from a little before six o'clock until after 8:30 before I was able to move away. There was such a line of people coming in to view the body and offer condolences. So many kind words were spoken on Daddy's behalf. Comments about how he had helped them, or given them extra measure in vegetables.

So many lives he has touched, if he knew he wouldn't believe it!!

I remember Monday afternoon, I talked with Daddy before his death on Tuesday. We always talked each afternoon and would discuss current events and daily happenings and other topics that were important to each of us. He told me again how much God had helped him. He remarked that God was a powerful God and he could help us with anything. Nothing was too big for God. He mentioned about how years ago God helped him rid himself or kick a bad habit. Daddy knew God was real, because he knew what a work God had done in his own life. Daddy never knew the love of an earthy father, because his father died before he was born. If Daddy could talk to us today, I know he would say....don't put off a personal relationship with Jesus...let him have your life today. If Daddy had regrets, I believe it would be, the wasted years before he let Jesus control his life.

Daddy was a man of prayer, he didn't pray loud repetitous prayers. He was always talking to the "man upstairs". He knew prayer worked. He practiced prayer and he saw prayers answered and he always gave God the praise and glory in his own quiet way.

He taught us to support the church, your community and to believe in our country.

He taught us to stand up for what we believed to be right. Daddy believed that a man's word was his bond. " Always stand behind your word"! Daddy always said " Friends are worth more than money". Afavorite phrase of Daddy's was "the Lord smiled on him" That would be his comment as to the Lord granting him death in a few seconds. Paul said "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That's what Daddy believed. And I know that he is with Him today.

Pallbearers were: Donald King, Bill King, Lavert Stokes, Waymon Stokes, Charles King, Steve Sizemore.

Fact 1: 1924, At age 18 had already been logging six years with his mule team and wagon.