Edmond Jackson "Eddie" McLean |
He was born in the Yadkin Valley on Oct. 9, 1903 and on Apr. 25, 1921, at age 17 he married 16 year old Lula Belle Andrews in Globe Twp. Together they had at least five children, perhaps six*. The children were:
Belle, born Feb. 11, 1922 married Ralph L. Hearn and settled in Virginia. Belle died on Jan. 6, 2006 in Mathews Co., VA and was buried there in Windsor Gardens Cemetery.
MATHEWS - Belle McLean Hearn, 83, passed away Jan. 4, 2006, at Riverside Hospital, Newport News. Belle was a native of Lenoir, N.C., and resided in Mathews County for many years. She was a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church and during World War II she was employed by the Defense Dept., Fort Monroe, Va.
Belle was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph L. Hearn; her parents, Edmond J. and Lula Belle Andrews McLean; two brothers, Ronald McLean and Reece E. McLean; and one sister, Winnie McLean Askew.
She is survived by one sister and brother-in-law, Jane McLean Harmon and Don Harmon, and one niece, Gloria Askew Armistead, all of Cobbs Creek, Va.; two nephews, Walter David McLean of Boone, N.C., and Brian Harmon of Hampton, Va.; and also a very special friend, Benetta Smith Packer of Odessa, Fla.
Belle, lovingly known as 'Aunt Belle' to her many friends and neighbors, will be fondly remembered for her many church activities and her great love of life. Her request was a simple graveside service which will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6, (today) at Windsor Gardens, Dutton. We the family, respectfully ask for no flowers. Should friends desire, memorials may be made to the Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad, Box 723, Mathews, VA 23109. Foster-Faulkner Funeral Home, Mathews, is handling the arrangements.Ronald Edward, born Jan. 28, 1924 in Upton, Caldwell Co., died in Globe on Oct. 2, 1924. His death certificate reads only that he died of "kidney trouble." He was buried at the Andrews Family Cemetery in Collettsville, Caldwell Co.
Willie Mae, born 1926 in Caldwell Co.
Reece Edmond, born Dec. 26, 1936 in Caldwell Co., died Jun. 21, 2003 in Lenoir, Caldwell Co. Reece Married Mable Lucille Tolbert and at least one child, a son was born to them in 1963. Reece is buried at Baileys Camp Baptist Church Cemetery in Lenoir.
Merida Jane, born c1941, married Donley D. Harmon in Caldwell Co. in 1963. When sister Belle died, her obituary reported that Jane and her family lived in Cobbs Creek, Mathews Co., VA.
Eddie was the son of Andrew Jackson and Martha Jane "Mattie" Church McLean. Andrew and Mattie were parents to at least ten children. Their daughter, Bessie Mae married Hayley or Hillie Horton Coffey, a son of Gilliam and Susan D. Gragg Coffey on Feb. 2, 1908 in the Yadkin Valley. Another son, Homer Commodore McLean married Stella Mae Andrews, sister to Lula Belle.
Martha Jane "Mattie" Church was the daughter of James Franklin "Jim" and Laura Virginia Blackburn Church and sister to Joseph Commodore Church whose first of three wives was Lee Ella Coffey, daughter of Thomas Avery and Louisa E. Gragg Coffey.
All of these folks have deep ties to North Carolina. The Coffey families go back to Edward and Ann Powell Coffey through their son John who married Jane Graves.
Earlier blogs about some of these families can be found here and here.
Sources:
US Federal census, Caldwell Co. marriage records, NC death records, cemetery records and descendent contributions
*There is another birth record in Caldwell Co. for an unnamed child in 1924 and is recorded in an earlier birth register. The child could be Ronald who remained unnamed until a week or so later when his birth was "officially" recorded.