Fifth Generation

William Henry Etheridge was born on September 7, 1867 in Waverly, Humphreys County, Tennessee. He died on July 14, 1919 in Mayfield, Graves County, Kentucky.

His parents were William Thomas Etheridge of Humphreys County, Tennessee and Mary Jane Baker. William Henry Etheridge grew up on a farm. I am sure he went to school at some point. He had 9 brothers and two sisters. William was the fifth child of 11. He grew up helping out on the farm.

I hope to be able to talk to my grandfather this summer to see if he can tell me more about William Henry Etheridge. The Etheridge family is a quiet, humble family. Even going to the reunions, it is more quiet and organized compared to other reunions I have gone to. They usually have blond hair and huge blues eyes that glare where they are angry. The picture of William Henry Etheridge is an example of the typical Etheridge look.

He was born right after the Civil War a tough time in the South. People were usually poor and suffered much loss. People moved around a lot during this time looking for good land and tried to survive. Many went West to seek their fortune. The Etheridges stayed in the general area but moved a few times.

They moved to Hickman County, Tennessee at some point. In 1885, when he was 17 years old, he married the 20 year old Winnie Forrester who was a Hickman county native. They had two children, Orie and Elmer. The young family went back to Humphreys County. Somehow Winne got sick. She had no more children after 1889 and died before 1895 leaving William with two young children to raise.

He married the young Humphreys County native Callie Carter. They had 10 children together. My great grandfather, James Ollie Etheridge was their 6th child and was born in 1908.

Sometime in 1906, the family moved to Calloway County, Kentucky where they continued to farm. William Henry died young at 51 years old in Kentucky. My guess is that he had heart disease, a common problem in the Etheridge family. His son, James Ollie died at 60 of a heart attack. William Henry was sent to the hospital in Mayfield, Kentucky and died there. He was buried in Lynn Grove, Calloway County, Kentucky.