| Notes |
- Remembrances of the Past
Smokey Mountain Historical Society Journal
Page 31 Vol. XXVI 2000 Special Publication #1
Viola Clabo Henry
I was born June 23, 1903, in a big log house on Caney Creek, in Sevier County, TN., daughter of James N. and Ann Rauhuff Clabo. Grandparents were: John and Mary Jane King Clabo and W.A. and Sarah Atchley Rauhuff.
My great-grandfather, Benjamin Atchley started Atchely’s Funeral Home in Sevierville. Other ancestors included: Rainwaters, Dixons, Adairs. The Clabos settled here in the early 1800’s. There were five living children in our family.
We moved to the Bear Wallow, also in Sevier County, where some of my happiest childhood days were spent. We used to go to church, at Beech Grove Primitive Baptist, on Caney Creek, on Sundays. We’d go visiting on Sunday afternoon. Preacher Giles Adams was the pastor then. We dearly loved him. Dad helped cut timber to build the first church building. He served as a Deacon in the church. My son, Shirley Henry, is the pastor there now. I have been a member there for 80 years.
Christmas time is another good memory. We used to get clothes for Christmas and one small gift. One dinner I remember was chicken and dumplings, dried apple stack cake and gingerbread.
One of my biggest worries as a child was not wanting my parents to get gray-headed. I just didn’t want them to have gray hair! Mother died young, so hers wasn’t gray and Dad died at age 86 and his still wasn’t gray. Mine is dark brown like his. I guess it’s our Indian heritage. My great-grandmother, Cynthia Rainwater King, wife of Andrew Jackson King, was either a half-Indian or a full-blooded Indian; I’m not sure which. I’m proud to be part Indian. They were the first Americans.
I married at age 17, to Simeon Henry. Giles Adams married us. We had six sons, two daughters. Four of our sons are deceased. We have 30 grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great grandchildren. Two sons served in World War II.
We lived on Mill Creek, now Conner Heights, when we first married. We moved here, Lower Middle Creek Road, sixty-five years ago. We rented the place first and later bought it. It isn’t the same house, but it is the same location.
My husband died in 1974. My daughter and granddaughters live with me now. I used to grow a big garden every year, but I made my last one when I was 80. I pieced my last quilt that year.
My Mother, Ann Rauhuff Clabo, died at age 38, during childbirth. Her twin sons, born stillbirth, were buried with her at Beech Grove Cemetery. Dad married Mariah Houser MeCarter, a widow with two daughters, in 1923. With Dad’s and Mother’s five living children, Mariah’s two daughters and five more children born to the family, we had a big family. There are six of us still living. Our families still get together every year for the Clabo Reunionâ€.
I’ve seen a lot of changes in Sevier County. It used to be just farms and farmhouses. Now it’s covered with hotels and motels. There were just two stores. I don’t know hQW many there are now.
I am now 96 years old. I’m in pretty good shape for the shape I’m in.
“I can’t see well. I don’t hear good. I have dentures and my appetite is poor. My hair, thank goodness it’s not gray, but it’s getting thin. I walk with a walker, and now my family has me in the ‘electric chair’! I can’t get up and down without this lift chair.â€
Note from the interviewer: As she told her story, she had a twinkle in her eyes and a grin on her face. She has a great sense of humor and a very vivid memory. She remembers dates and people and places as if the events happened yesterday. We made a video of her as she talked. Something we will treasure. I am very blessed to be her sister, Ruby Clabo Hall
PERSONAL DATA:
Resides in: Pigeon Forge, Sevier County, TN
Birth date: June 23, 1903
Father—James Newton Clabo
Mother—Ann Rauhuff Clabo
Brothers—Charlie, Orville, Half-brother-Claude Clabo
Sisters—Ethel (Henry), Edith (Henry), Half-,
sister: Ruth (Shields), Martha (Franklin), Ruby
(Hall), Step-sisters Jane McCarter (Ogle) and
Josie McCarter (Brewer)
Assistance by: Ruby (Clabo) Hall
History is simply not what happened, but the way what happened is remembered.
Sources:
'Clabo Family Tree', Gardner Clabo, p 125, 126.
'In the Shadow of the Smokies', Smoky Mountain Historical Society, 1993, p 628.
King.Ged, (Date of Import: Dec 13, 2001), "Electronic."
'Sevier County, Tennessee and Its Heritage', 1994, p 217, 218, 295.
'Smoky Mountain Historical Society Newsletter', V XXI No 1, Spring 1996, p 5.
'The Mountain Press', Orville Eugene Henry obituary.
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1903 - Bef 1996 (< 92 years)
[1] 
Conley Earl Henry, b. 23 Oct 1922 d. 02 Apr 1977 (Age 54 years) [Father: Natural] [Mother: Natural]
