Varner Cemetery is located on Back Valley Road, Big Soddy, about half a mile north of Soddy Creek.
Robert Lee Armor was born to Robert and Mary Patterson Armor in January 1875.
The 1880 census shows that Robert is a four-year old little boy, with 3 siblings. His Daddy is listed as a farmer and his mother as keeping house. Seems like every man was a farmer and every woman kept house in those days.
The entire 1890 census was destroyed by fire and only fragments exist. We can assume that Robert grew up as any little boy would, doing the things little boys and young men did during the decades between 1880 and 1900.
By the time the 1900 census was taken Robert was 25 years old and married to Minnie. Their wedding date is February 28, 1900. They lived in Rhea County and Robert was working as a coal-miner. Coal mining was the Number One occupation in this area during the turn of the last century. Minnie was keeping house. They had no children at this time.
By the time the 1910 census was taken Robert and Minnie had moved to Soddy, Hamilton County. Robert was still mining coal. I'm not sure how many coal companies operated in the Soddy coal-mines during this era. If you know, please feel free to add your knowledge to this post. Minnie was..... you guessed it .........keeping house!....but by 1910 Robert and Minnie had three children. I was able to find this sweet Armor family picture, taken in 1910:
What a good-looking couple they made! Robert was handsome! Minnie was pretty! And their children are darlin'!
The 1920 census shows that Robert is now a foreman at the coal company. Minnie is still keeping house. The Armor family still lives in Soddy, Tennessee.
In 1930 Robert is 55 years old and Minnie is about 50 years old. Two children are still living at home. Robert is still a foreman at the mining company. I recognized so many of their neighbor's names listed on the census.....Varner, Copeland, Card, Woosman, Campbell, Grant. I also noticed people were working at the hosiery mill, a Mr. McAllister was a barber and there was a railroad employee. Coal-mining and keeping house were still the most popular occupations.
In 1940, the children gone, Robert and Minnie lived in their same house on Back Valley Road in Soddy. Robert, at age 65, is still a foreman at the coal company. Minnie? She's still keeping house. Minnie kept those home fires burning for all those years, you've got to admire her for that. There is nothing easy about "keeping house" if you do it properly. When I read their neighbors' names I felt like I was visiting Old Soddy! What a peaceful road it must have been back then. Remember these names? Flerl, Lasley, Margaret & Cecil Moody, Varner, Perkins, Henry and Ruby Wilson, Frances Hughes. Pearl Leming, age 23. Clements, Morgan, George and Ida Graham. Burchard.
It's interesting to see how occupations changed in this 60 year time span. The 1940 census included truckdrivers, seamstresses, a mail carrier, and a furniture maker.
I found a picture of Robert and Minnie in their golden years. Their life looks simple, here in black and white, but I'm sure it was the same as anyone's life. I always say life is both Sunshine and Shadow. Robert stayed with the same occupation all of his life. Minnie kept those home fires burning. Way to go Robert and Minnie!
Robert passed away on July 13, 1949. His death certificate showed he died of Pulmonary TB. Is that another name for Black Lung? The informant who signed the certificate was his wife of 49 years, Minnie. I hope he did not suffer. Minnie was 74 years old when she passed away in 1953. Her death certificate states she was the daughter of Amos and Nancy Wimberley Smith and she died of cardiac failure. A heart attack, I imagine.
I noted the name of the physician who signed Minnie's death certificate. It was Soddy's beloved Dr. Martin Caldwell.
If anyone remembers the Armors...where they lived on Back Valley Road in Big Soddy, where they went to church....please feel free to comment.
Thank you for taking a few minutes to read North Hamilton County Genealogy.
