First we'll share the chain of title we found, then we'll begin to tell the story of the house we began putting together.
Chain of Title for George Washington Pridemore House
Date
|
Liber/Page
|
Grantor
|
Grantee
|
4/29/2013
|
359/345
|
Michael Blackard & Lisa M. Noftsger
|
Isaac & Chrissy Kremer
|
3/24/1971
|
203/171
|
Edwin D. & Jane C. Woodson
|
Jack & Opal Blackard
|
5/29/1946
|
136/632
|
Oppie B. Johnson, widow
|
Ellen G. Woodson
|
\9/15/1936
|
117/318
|
G.W. & Ida M. Pridemore
|
Oppie B. & Edward Johnson
|
7/10/1923
|
87/47
|
J.T. & Maggie Smith
|
G.W. & Ida M. Pridemore
|
2/2/1906
|
55/64
|
Kentucky Investment Company
|
J.T. Smith
|
6/20/1905
|
49/345
|
Middlesboro Town & Land Company
|
Kentucky Investment Company
|
11/23/1893
|
29/244
|
Middlesboro Town Lands Company
|
Middlesboro Town & Land Co
|
George Washington and Ida Mae Pridemore were the first to acquire and build the home. They owned the home for about a decade before transferring title to Oppie B. and Edward Johnson on September 15, 1936. Ten days later the Middlesboro Daily News noted how “Mr. and Mrs. E.L. Johnson are having the G.W. Pridemore home on North Twenty-fifth street, which they recently purchased, remodeled.”[1]
Edward Lee Johnson died May 14, 1944, and was buried at the Middlesboro Cemetery.[2] Following Johnson’s death, his daughter Francis J. Johnson received an undivided half interest in the property.[3] She promptly transferred her interest in the property to her mother Oppie B. Johnson for $1 on June 5, 1944. Oppie B. Johnson sold the property to Ellen G. Woodson and Dr. E.D. Woodson on May 29, 1946 for $12,500. Oppie Johnson died on May 4, 1966 in Knoxville.
Edwin Woodson was an Optometrist in Middlesboro since 1933. His office was at 1924 Cumberland Ave just off of Fountain Square where Mikel's Pharmacy is located today. Ellen Woodson was a devout member of First Presbyterian Church where she was a Sunday School teacher. She was active in the Women of the Church organization.[4] The Middlesboro Daily News shed light on an important event that occurred at the house on October 20, 1950. That evening at 8pm, Ellen Farra Woodson married Thomas Edward Shipley. A portrait of Woodson in her bridal dress and a full description of the ceremony ran in The Middlesboro Daily News several months later on December 16, 1950.
Edwin’s
wife Ellen passed away April 29, 1969 at the Middlesboro Hospital and Clinic
after a brief illness.[5]
She was subsequently buried in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Washington
County, Kentucky. Some time between April 1969 and March 1971, Edwin married
Jane C. Woodson.[6] The
house was sold on March 24, 1971 to Jack Lee Blackard and Opal Fox Blackard.
Jack and Opal Blackard were originally from the Ozarks in Arkansas. They had three children: Mitchell K., Michael and Lisa. In the 1960s the family moved from Oxford, Mississippi to Middlesboro. Opal was a
mother, homemaker, and worked at Sammons Communication. She
volunteered at the Bell County Senior Citizen Center and participated in church
activities at First Baptist Church. For over 40 years she was a loyal choir
member, active deacon, and served on several committees. She also served as an
active member of the Cumberland Park Garden Club, serving in multiple
leadership roles. Opal was a lifetime member of the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority.[7]
That brings us up to the present time when we purchased the house on April 29, 2013.
[1] “Locals,” The Middlesboro Daily News, September 25, 1936.
[3]
as record in an Affadavit of Descent (Deed book 129, page 500)
No comments:
Post a Comment