Clara Center Russsell

1877-1950

Clara Center Russell's ancestors were residents of Polk County prior to 1830. Her parents were Jasper Moultrie Center (1855-1924) and Grace Jane Stephenson (1856-1925). They were born and raised in the county all of their lives, with the exception of the years 1880-91 when Mr. Center was attached to the Cherokee Indian Reservation in Venita, Oklahoma. They were the parents of ten children. He owned and operated a hardware store, livery stable and was an undertaker in Ducktown prior to moving to Benton about 1920.

Mrs. Russell's grandparents were Elijah Stephenson (1830-1896) and Miriam Elizabeth Hannah Stephenson (1834-1906). They were born at Parksville and lived there as well as in Benton.

Mrs. Russell's great grandparents were John Fruit Hannah (1797-1868) and Annie Grace Telford Hannah (1801-1867). He was a civil engineer and was one of the surveyors of the Ocoee Purchase. He surveyed and laid out the streets of Benton in the 1830s. He also served in the Civil War, where he was Captain of the first company raised in Polk County for service in the Confederate Army, which was organized into Company D, 3rd Infantry. Five of his sons were also Confederate soldiers.

Mrs. Russell was three years old when her parents moved to Oklahoma. The family lived there until she was 14. Those years shaped her character in many ways. Some of her playmates were Cherokee children and even though it had been some 40 years since the Cherokee was exiled from their homes in the southeast, those children had heard of this injustice from parents and grandparents. They were full of resentment about it.

In later years Mrs. Russell remarked that she had not comprehended the situation but she saw the hurt and bewilderment of her young Indian friends and was in sympathy with them. As a result, she became and remained an advocate of human rights long before it became a popular issue.

When Mrs. Russell's parents saw how their children were deprived of social and educational opportunities in Oklahoma, they moved back to Ducktown in 1891. On this move, Mrs. Russell rode her horse from Venita to Memphis, much to her mother's disapproval, as she thought that was unladylike.

Mrs. Russell had been well received in Ducktown as she possessed the knack of pleasing without visible effort. There she formed lifelong friendships and acquired a steady boyfriend, Will Russell.

When she was 19 years old, she and Russell eloped. They were married during his lunch hour. The bride, who chose to be married in a pretty, white dress, had slipped out of the back door of her home, wearing an everyday dress over her wedding dress. She was accompanied and abetted by a girlfriend, Miss Florence Nankivelle.

When the new Mrs. Russell returned to her home a few hours later, she found the minister who had performed the wedding ceremony, cornered in their parlor with her mother heatedly expressing her displeasure over the secret wedding.

Subsequent years have demonstrated that congratulations to the couple should have been extended rather than scoldings, as they were a devoted couple, united in bonds of love and who willingly shared the joys and sorrows which were their lot for 53 years.

When she and her husband moved to Benton in 1901, their welcome mat was always out to almost anyone from the Copper Basin. For many years, she would take her children to Wetmore to board the L&N train to Ducktown to visit her parents and friends there. Her parents' home is still standing in that town.

Being the mother of ten children with its implied duties as housekeeper, nurse and cook left her little time for other activities. She did enjoy her church and the Order of Eastern Star and school-sponsored activities. But to her, making a happy home was a privilege. Her children say that her good sense, good disposition and some self denial for the sake of others were the factors which sustained her. Rated by family and friends as an excellent cook, they wish she had written a book on the preparation of large quantity meals. She also loved pretty flowers which she grew. She enjoyed a joke or harmless prank but disliked insincerity and flattery.

All ten children attended Polk County public schools, and five of the daughters were teachers in Polk County.

In later years when her children were gone and her health was failing, she found pleasure in the radio. It enabled her to keep up with events of World War II as she had two sons in service. Her spirits were often lifted by listening to "Fibber McGee and Molly" and "Maw Perkins."

Mrs. Russell, her husband, a daughter, a son, a brother, her parents, grandparents and other relatives are buried in the Ocoee Cemetery in Benton.

Mrs. Russell and her ancestors considered the 438 square miles of Polk County as home and they played a part in its settlement and development. Most of the descendants now live in other parts of our country but they are all pleased to be children of Polk Countians.

William Center: Born 1819, S.C. Occupation blacksmith. Came to Ducktown early 1850. Died Ducktown, buried possibly at Five Points. (Marker destroyed when road built 1930). Married Matilda Sims in S.C.

Children:

John Landrum Center (2/9/1839-1/29/1908). Buried Center Cemetery in Staffordtown. Married Minta Query (1/18/1842-1/4/1912. Buried Center Cemetery, Ducktown.

Also George, Jasper, Sally, Kindness, Mattie, Arminta, Martha.

Jasper Moultrie Center: (3/1/1855 in Ducktown - 1/28/1924 in Benton). Married Grace Jane Stephenson (10/3/1856-3/1925) in Benton 8/5/1876.

Children:

Clara Elizabeth, Ducktown; James Herbert, Ducktown; Robert Alexander, Vanita, Okla. (Indian territory); May, Prairie Grove, Arkansas; Callie Grace, Vanita; Earnest Harris, Vanita; Edna Pansy, Vanita; Clifton Lafayette, Benton; Hayden Parks, Ducktown; Clyde Franklin, Ducktown.