Benjamin W. Petty

Sometime around 1876, John R. Petty returned to Whitfield County, Georgia, where his father, John Petty, and three of his sisters lived. He married Mary C. Bohannan there on 26 April 1878.¹Whitfield Co., GA, Marriages, A 1875-1884:168, Petty-Bohanan, 1878; Whitfield Co. Probate Clerk, Dalton.

Mary, the daughter of Thomas Bohannan, was born on 12 September 1851 in Georgia.²“Tennessee,”U.S., Death Records, 1908-1965,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2376 : accessed 1 Oct 2021), death certificate no. 95 (1917), Mary Hall; from Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958, TN State Library and Archives, Nashville; birth date and father’s name. 1880 U.S. census, Whitfield Co., GA, population schedule, East Dalton District, enumeration district (ED) 194, p. 21 (penned), 51C (stamped), dwelling 182, family 187, Thomas Bohannon; digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/collections/6742 : accessed 29 November 2011); from microfilm T9, roll 171; Mary born in GA. John R. and Mary had one son, Benjamin W. Petty. He was born on 24 February 1879 in Georgia, probably in Whitfield County.³“Tennessee, U.S., Death Records, 1908-1965,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2376 : accessed 29 Jan 2017), death certificate no. 141 (1917), B. W. Petty; from Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958, TN State Library and Archives, Nashville. It is unknown if Ben was aware that he had Petty half-siblings or if any of John R.’s other children were aware of Ben.

By 1880, Mary and her two sons (one from a previous relationship) were living with her father. John R. was not with them, and Mary was listed as widowed.⁴1880 U.S. census, Whitfield Co., GA, pop. sch., East Dalton District, enumeration district (ED) 194, p. 21 (penned), 51C (stamped), dwelling 182, family 187, Thomas Bohannon. When John R. died is unknown, but their marriage record is the last record found for him.

Mary married William Hall on 11 December 1886 in Whitfield County.⁵FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/005190938 : accessed 28 Oct 2021), digital film 005190938, image 86, Whitfield Co., GA, Marriages, B: 104, Hall-Petty, 11 Dec 1886. By 1900, they lived in Bradley County, Tennessee.⁶1900 U.S. census, Bradley Co., TN, population schedule, Civil District 04, enumeration district (ED) 10, sheet 15A, dwelling 276, family 282, William Hall; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602 : accessed 21 Oct 2021); from NARA microfilm T623.

Ben married Maud Alice Collins in Meigs County, Tennessee on 21 February 1900.⁷“Tennessee, U.S., Marriage Records, 1780-2002,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1169 : accessed 1 Oct 2021); Ben Petty and Maude Collins, 19 Feb 1900, Bradley Co.; from Tennessee State Marriages 1780-2002, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville. Maud was born on 25 November 1882 and was the daughter of James B. Collins and Mary J. Gross.⁸“Tennessee, U.S., Death Records, 1908-1965,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2376 : accessed 2 Oct 2021), death certificate no. 26793 (1938), Maude Petty; from Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958, TN State Library and Archives, Nashville. Their location in 1900 is unknown, but Ben and Maud lived somewhere in Tennessee when their first child, James Clifford, was born on 4 August 1903.⁹“U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3693 : accessed 10 Oct 2021), entry for James Petty, 1967, SS no. 413-03-1617; from Social Security Death Index Master File, Social Security Administration.

Ben and Maud’s son Charles Raymond was born on 3 June 1909 in Cleveland in Bradley County.¹⁰“U.S. World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940–1947,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238 : accessed 10 Oct 2021), Charles Raymond Petty, serial no. 3769; from Records of the Selective Service System, 1926–1975, Record Group 147, NARA, St Louis, Missouri. Ben, Maud, and the two boys lived in Bradley County in 1910 and Ben farmed on rented land.¹¹1910 U.S. census, Bradley Co., TN, population schedule, Civil District #4, enumeration district (ED) 17, sheet 21B, dwelling 416, family 445, Benjamin W. Petty; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884 : accessed 2 Oct 2021); from NARA microfilm T624, roll 1491. Their daughter, Leora, was born on 29 April 1914 in Georgetown, Tennessee.¹²“U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60901 : accessed 3 Oct 2021), Leora Petty Land, SSN 413038673; from Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936–2007. Georgetown is at the junction of Bradley, Hamilton, and Meigs counties.

On 21 May 1917, Ben died in Cleveland. Bright’s disease caused his death.¹³“Tennessee, U.S., Death Records, 1908-1965,” death certificate no. 141 (1917), B. W. Petty. He was buried in Flint Springs Cemetery in Cleveland.¹⁴Find A Grave (https://www.findagrave.com : viewed 29 Oct 2021), memorial 168911822, for Benjamin W. Petty, (Flint Springs Cemetery, Cleveland, Bradley County, TN), database, memorial created 24 Aug 2016 by Betsy; no image. Maud died on 26 November 1938 in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee.¹⁵“Tennessee, U.S., Death Records, 1908-1965,” death certificate no. 26793 (1938), Maude Petty. She was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Chattanooga.¹⁶Find A Grave (https://www.findagrave.com : viewed 29 Oct 2021), memorial 168911410, for Maud Collins Petty, (Greenwood Cemetery, Chattanooga, Hamilton County, TN), digital image 25 Aug 2016 by Betsy.