Hello Dalton!
... After 'Uncle Tom' and 'Mary L' divorced, he moved into the cabin on my aunt, Josie Myrtle Nix Wear's property and did farm work for them. He then married a woman named May and moved to Lower Oppelo. May became very mentally unstable (or was always mentally unstable), believing she was pregnant with 'Uncle Tom's' baby. She remained pregnant for well over a year then 'had' the child. The one she produced was a child's baby doll which she dressed in a layette and presented to everyone as the newest addition! I remember when the older cousins would laugh about her, my mother and aunts would reprimand them and tell them she couldn't help it, that she was quite ill. That was quite the topic for discussion in the family for some time! ...
-------------------- Welch - Thompson - Nix -------------------
Hester Anna Amanda Thompson, daughter of Mary Jane Forehand and James H. Thompson,
born June 8th, 1847, in Georgia. She married James Franklin Welch
(1834-c.1880). They were living in the community of Deview, near Augusta
in Woodruff County Arkansas, in 1870 with two very young children, a
girl named Dianna and a boy named James. On the 4th of March, 1871, their
second daughter, Mary Beulah Welch, was born. Three boys shortly
followed (W. Dexter Welch, Wiley A. Welch, and Frank Welch), and in
January of 1880 Mr. Welch purchased 120 acres of land in Lower Oppelo
from Sarah Birge (John Birge had first acquired the land from the government
in 1857), and though the family was in Oppelo by that year they were
enumerated in Perry County. (Oppelo was originally part of Perry Co. but
later part of Perry Co. became part of Conway County).
Unfortunately, Mr. Welch died very soon after the family got to Oppelo.
Amanda was left with young children to raise and a farm to run, so on the
29th of September, 1881, Amanda was married to John T. Nix (b. abt 1857) by
Justice of the Peace B.F. Grinstead. Amanda's son, Thomas F. Nix, was born
in Oppelo soon after.
Four years later (1885) Amanda was dead, her two eldest children gone and
the five younger children turned over to the guardianship of neighbor William
H. Cravens.
In 1889 Mary Beulah Welch married the young man next door, James Elonzo
(Lonnie) Todd of Oppelo. Beulah and Lonnie had ten children over the next
nineteen years.
Beginning in 1894 Beulah and her husband took over the administration of the
Welch inheritance, paying the delinnt taxes on the land. Frank Welch had
died by 1905, and Dexter married a woman named Cora E. (--) selling their 1/3
interest in the Welch land to Beulah and Lonnie in that year. Wiley married
a women named Olena W. (--) and moved to Boone County. They sold his 1/3
interest in the Welch land to Lonnie and Beulah in 1907. Tom Nix married
Mary L (--) before 1920, and they lived near Beulah in Oppelo (they later
divorced).
Beulah suffered from a non-healing ulcerous wound after a boiling iron pot
(washtub) full of lye soap and water overturned on her leg when she was young.
Though the wound gave her some pain for the rest of her life it did not prevent
her from taking an active part in her church and community. A deeply religious
woman, she was instrumental in the establishment of the Oppelo Assembly of God
(Pentecostal) Church, first opening her home to weekly services for the community
and later helping organize the member donations of lumber and land for the
building of the church.
A letter to Beulah, dated November 21, 1919 from a leader of the Assemblies of
God Church states (verbatim):
"Hartford Ark,
Mrs. Beula Todd Dear sister in Christ Greetings;
In his dear name I rec. your letter O.K. glad to here from You,
but sorry to say no to you i sure wish i could come and be with
you over sunday but i don't see how i can at presant, as we are
to begin a meeting Sunday week, and i want to stay here and try
to keep things in readiness for the meeting, you all pray for the
meeting, as the mines are shut down here and that makes finiance
a little short, but thank God he is able, Hallulajah; so we are
trusting him, now sister just as soon as i can get a chance i will
come and spend a few days with you all, give my love to all the dear
sants and pray for us here,
now, in regard to the form of deed, i will give it as follows,
(The trustees of the Assembley of God, at Oppolo, Ark, and there
successers, in Cooperation with the General Council of The Assemblies
of God, at Springfield Mo.) in making Your Deed in cooperation with
the General Council, it will stop all future troble, so i will close,
ans, soon from your Bro, in christ,
Fayette Romines.
P.S. the General Council will not own your property but it will be
owned by you all there and protected by the Council."
Establishment of the Church in Lower Oppelo was not without some controversy. Early on,
a group of troublemakers was determined to disrupt services and frighten the congregation
from ever assembling again, but Lonnie Todd was tipped off about the plans and he and
some of the other men were waiting in their wagon beds when the hooligans showed up.
When confronted by the rifle-bearing congregants the hooded cowards fled.
One of the Welch boys left Arkansas suddenly during the depression. He moved to
California, where he settled in the Pasadena area. His family owned several successful
restaurants in Southern California.
After her husband Lonnie passed away in 1919, Beulah ran the farm with the help of her son
Johnnie Todd, living on another twenty-four years. Beulah passed away the 27th of June,
1943 after increasing disability left her bedfast for months, having outlived six of her
ten children and being survived by her brothers Dexter Welch and Tom Nix.
---End of Article---
http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=1002&iid=AR-2283056-0794&fn=Thomas+Floyd&ln=Nix&st=r&pid=329130
Serial Number U 426
Name Thomas Floyd NIX
Residence: Perry, Perry County, Arkansas
Mail Address: Perry Rt #1, Arkansas
Telephone: None
Age: 59, DoB Nov. 25, 1882
Place of Birth: Conway Ark.
Name and address of person that will always know your address: Mrs O.A. Wear, Morrilton, Rt #3 Arkansas
Employer's Name and Address: Mr. George Lindsey, Perry Rt 3, Arkansas
Place of Employment: Perry, Perry Arkansas
signed Thomas F. Nix
Page 2; Height 63 inches [That is 5 ft 3 inches, A very short man], Weight 122 Lbs [a small man]
Eyes, gray; Hair, Brown; Complexion; Ruddy
Other physical ....identification None
Registrar: Mrs Lee Jones, Conway Arkansas
Date April 27, 1942
U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 Record
Name:Thomas Floyd Nix
Birth Date:28 Nov 1882
Residence:Perry, Arkansas
Birth:Conway, Arkansas
Race:White
Roll:WW2_2283056
