Descendants of Robert Coleman of Nansemond County Virginia 1684-1930

Chapter 40. Descendants of William Casper Coleman of Bledsoe County, Tennessee

By permission, the text below is excerpts from a book, The Colemans of North Hamilton County Tennessee by Cy Yarborough.
Editor's notes are my additions based on reports people have given me or I have researched - Wes Coleman

(416) William Casper Coleman was born 09/11/1882, in Bakewell, TN. He was the last child of Benjamin Franklin Coleman I. Bill grew up never knowing his father as his father died when Bill was only 4 months old. Bill was educated in the local schools in the Bakewell area and farmed with his brothers as a teen and a young man.

According to one of his sons, Bill became involved in a dispute over some crops and some land with his brothers just after the turn of the century and left Bakewell for Chicago, Illinois. While in Chicago, Bill married Pearl Evans.

Pearl was born 9/12/1888, in Sale Creek, TN. She was the daughter of Edward Evans, a Welsh immigrant, and Nancy Bolton, granddaughter of Peter Dalton, one of the earliest and more influential settlers of North Hamilton County. During the next 25 years to 30 years Bill and Pearl would move back and forth between Chicago and Bakewell and Chattanooga several times. When living in Bakewell they made their home in an area of the old Dayton Pike called Dead Man's Curve.

Apparently while in Chicago, Bill learned the barbering trade which for the most part would be his life's work. After the end of the Great Depression of the 1330's, I believe Bill and Pearl settled down in Tennessee for good. Bill worked at a Barber Shop in downtown Chattanooga for some time. He was a member of Chattanooga Barber's Local Union No. 415. After retirement, Bill and Pearl moved to Clinton, Tennessee.

Bill died 7/29/1969, in Clinton, TN, at the age of 86 years, 10 months and 17 days. He was buried in Anderson Memorial Gardens, Clinton, TN. Pearl died several years later.

(416) William Casper "Bill" Coleman and Pearl had 8 children.

(1118)  1.  Helen Coleman,             b. 06/05/1908  in Chicago, IL
(1119)  2.  William Orval Coleman,     b. 01/03/1913  in Chicago, IL
(1120)  3.  Robert Casper Coleman,     b. 01/30/1914  in Soddy,   TN
(1121)  4.  Thomas Cornelius Coleman,  b. 05/20/1921  in Chattanooga, TN
(1122)  5.  Marjorie Pearl Coleman,    b. 10/23/1927  in Chattanooga, TN
(1123)  6.  Betty Ann Coleman,         b. 12/15/1930  in Chicago, IL
(1124)  7.  withheld Coleman, (son)    b. 01/09/1933  in Chicago, IL
(1125)  8.  withheld Coleman, (dau)    b. 07/02/1934  in Bakewell, TN

(1118) Helen Coleman was born 6/5/1908. She divided her childhood between Chicago, Bakewell and Chattanooga. She married 1st Glenn Kilpatrick on 6/?/1932, in Chicago. She married 2nd Leonard Siegel. They lived in Phoenix, Ariz. Helen had 1 child by her 1st marriage.

(1119) William Orval Coleman was born 1/3/1913, in Chicago, Ill. He also grew up in Chicago, Bakewell and Chattanooga. He married Helen Frances Seaverson on 4/7/1932, in Chicago, Ill. Helen was born 6/19/1915, in Sioux City, Iowa. Shortly after their marriage they moved back to the Bakewell-Soddy area. They lived most of their married lives in the Bakewell-Soddy area but had lived in Chicago for some time before that.

Orval worked as a construction worker, an occupation from which he is now retired. Helen passed away on 9/20/1971, at the age of 56. Orval still makes his home between Soddy and Bakewell. He and Helen had 5 children.

(1120) Robert Casper Coleman was born 1/3/1914, in Soddy, TN. Known as "Shorty", he grew up in Bakewell, Soddy, Chattanooga and Chicago and probably attended school in all these areas. He married Bernice Walker and they lived in Chicago and Tennessee. Shorty died in Clinton, TN, and was buried in Knoxville. Shorty and Bernice Coleman had 3 children.

(1121) Thomas Cornelius Coleman was born 5/20/1921, in Chattanooga, TN. He was raised in Chattanooga, Bakewell and Chicago. In 1945 he married Norma Unknown of Cincinnati, OH. They have lived in Cincinnati and Florida during their married lives. They now live in Hollywood, Fla. They have 2 children.

(1122) Marjorie Pearl Coleman was born 10/23/1927, in Chattanooga, TN. She was raised in Chattanooga, Bakewell and Chicago. She married Ferdinand House on 1/3/1946. Ferdinand was born in Durham, NC. Marjorie died in child- birth in 1966 at the age of 39. She had 2 children.

(1123) Betty Ann Coleman was born 12/15/1930, in Chicago, Ill. She grew up in Chicago and Bakewell, TN. While staying with her sister Marjorie in Durham, NC., she met and married James Curtis Willoughby of Durham in 1948. They have remained in Durham for many years and had 2 children.