Joseph "Joe" Floyd Newman

Notes:

Diann McDaniels wrote: "I remember going 'down home' to visit my grandpa, Joseph "Joe" Floyd Newman, in the late 1940's.. His brother, George Newman had a one room house that sat back off the road that Joe lived in, as Joe never kept anything that he owned. There was an old iron bed with a homemade mattress which was made from ticking and stuffed with hay or cotton, a small dining table, a pot belly stove and a couple of cane bottom chairs. There were nails on the walls for Papa to hang his clothes, saddle, bridle or anything else he could think of. Out back was a smaller house that the roof slanted on and used as a summer kitchen. He would smoke meat in it and cook on the pot belly stove in the winter. He didn't have running water, electricity, telephone, or an intdoor toilet. He rode his horse every where he went. He would only get in a car if he was going a long way from home. If he accepted a ride from anyone, he would stand on the running boards instead of getting inside. The horse had a colt, so you could see Papa riding his horse and the colt following them. Papa had an old fiddle. He played it at barn dances sometimes, but he carried it with him every place and would play it for us anytime. Once at Uncle George's house, my Aunt Cille asked George's wife, Aunt Alice (Blasingame), if she could have a beautiful old highboy dresser if anything happened to her...this gave me an idea. I went into the parlor and asked Papa if he died could I have his horse. Of course, I got into trouble about doing so, but Papa just laughed and said "Okay, I'll die and Will you my horse." Joe was born October 26, 1878 to Charles Vernah and Elvira "Missy" Melissa (Reynolds McLemore) Newman in Feenyville, Lincoln Co. and died August 8, 1950 about one mile from where he was born. He was a horse trader..trading one thing for another...and hardly work during his life. He married Virgie Mae Spears on February 24, 1905. They had six children; Effie Harriett, Lucy Elvira, Stark Joseph, Susie Melissa, Julie Mae, and Ralph Leroy (Roy) before Virgie died in 1920. In about 1925, Joe married Ollie Belle (Reaves) Stringfellow. Children born to them were: Herbert McKinley and Ruby Mae. They were divorced around 1930. When Papa died, they sold the horse and colt to buy a tombstone. The old furniture was just left in the house, which fell in. His only other possession left was the fiddle. It had been promised to all of Joe's grandchildren but my mother, Sue, inherited it. It is now encased in a nice shadow box with Papa's pictures and names of old tunes he used to play and a story about it. It hangs in my dining room. I didn't get the horse, but I got the fiddle!"

Submitted by Diann McDaniels grand-daughter of Joe Newman
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His headstone has a slightly differing date of death:
NEWMAN, Joseph Floyd
B. 10-26-1878
D. 8-28-1950