Eighth Generation

2204. William Johnathon (Willie, Bill) Bedwell was born on 19 Feb 1901 in Tennessee.¹⁵¹⁵ In 1930 he was a farm laborer.⁸¹⁷ He lived in Walnut St., Friendship, Crockett County, Tennessee in 1930.⁸¹⁷ He died on 3 Nov 1963 in Friendship, Crockett County, Tennessee.¹⁵¹⁵ He was buried in Belle Vernon Cemetery, Friendship, Crockett County, Tennessee.¹⁵¹⁵

• 1930 Census for Friendship, Crockett County, Tennessee shows Willie J. Bedwell, 30, a farm laborer who rents his residence for $7.50/mo, as head of household with: Bertha E., 26, his wife of 8 years; son James D., 7; daughter Laura, 5; and daughter Willie C., 4. They live next door to Stephen Horace Bedwell.

• posted on ancestry.com by his granddaughter Vickie (daughter of James Doyle Bedwell): "Bill and several friends and family went fishing one day, gill fishing which is different than using a pole or a net. Catfish like to get in holes in the side of the river bank to stay cool. Granddaddy Bill reached in the river bank and grabbed the gills of a catfish...... but then the catfish grabbed him!!! It was so large, it clamped it's gills around Granddaddy's wrists and wouldn't let go, in fact it pulled him into the Obion River, and Granddaddy couldn't get away!! The catfish took him down the River with Granddaddy yellin every so often HELP! It's Got Me! Help! Well, the other men wadded out onto the river reaching for him and trying to pull him and the fish to the side and finally they did pull him out, he and the fish .... It weighed 87 lbs. and my Grandaddy and the others had a BIG Fish Fry and a Whopper of a story to boot!"

William Johnathon (Willie, Bill) Bedwell and Bertha E. Young were married on 12 Nov 1921 in Tennessee. Bertha E. Young was born on 30 Jan 1904 in Tennessee.¹⁵¹⁵ She died on 22 Feb 1969 in Friendship, Crockett County, Tennessee.¹⁵¹⁵ She was buried in 1969 in Belle Vernon Cemetery, Friendship, Crockett County, Tennessee.¹⁵¹⁵ William Johnathon (Willie, Bill) Bedwell and Bertha E. Young had the following children:

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James Doyle Bedwell.
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Laura Frances Bedwell^807,817 was born on 27 Sep 1924 in Tigrett, Dyer County, Tennessee.^807,817 She died in Mar 1990 in Wayne County, Michigan.⁸⁰⁷
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Willie Corrine Bedwell^807,817 was born on 12 Aug 1926 in Friendship, Crockett County, Tennessee.⁸⁰⁷ She died on 13 Aug 2001 in Alamo, Crockett County, Tennessee.⁸⁰⁷
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Malcolm Young Bedwell⁸⁰⁷ was born on 1 Apr 1930 in Friendship, Crockett County, Tennessee.⁸⁰⁷ He died on 9 Mar 1991 in Tennessee.⁶⁵ He was buried in Belle Vernon Cemetery, Friendship, Crockett County, Tennessee.⁶⁵
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Linda Bedwell.
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Ruth Bedwell.
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Gene Bedwell.
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Johnny Andrew Bedwell^807,1516 was born on 4 Feb 1936 in Friendship, Crockett County, Tennessee.⁸⁰⁷ He lived in Alamo, Crockett County, Tennessee in Sep 2002.¹⁵¹⁶ He died on 26 Jun 2006 in Jackson, Madison County, Tennessee.⁸⁰⁷

• Obituary from The Jackson Sun, 29 June 2006:

Funeral services for Johnny Andrew Bedwell, 70, will be 2:00 P.M. Friday, June 30, 2006 at Alamo Church of Christ. Mr. Bedwell died Tuesday, June 27, 2006 in Jackson, TN. Survivors include his wife, Peggy Bedwell of Alamo, TN; two sisters, Linda Howell of Fayetteville, GA, and Emma Ruth King of Huntsville, AL; two brothers, Gene Bedwell of Whitmore Lake, MI, and Jerry Bedwell of South Yarmouth, MA; a great-niece, Stephanie Evans of Bells, TN; and a great-great-nephew, Dillon Evans of Bells, TN. Visitation will be Thursday, June 29, 2006 at Ronk Funeral Home from 6:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. Ronk Funeral Home 731-696-5555.

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Jerry Bedwell.
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Sammie Lee Bedwell was born on 18 May 1945 in Friendship, Crockett County, Tennessee.¹⁵¹⁷ He died on 30 Jan 1966 in Da Nang, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam.¹⁵¹⁷ He was buried on 10 Feb 1966 in Belle Vernon Cemetery, Friendship, Crockett County, Tennessee.¹⁵¹⁵

• SAMMIE LEE BEDWELL was born on May 18, 1945 and joined the Armed Forces while in FRIENDSHIP, TN. On January 30, 1966, at the age of 20, SAMMIE LEE BEDWELL perished in the service of our country in Quang Nam province, South Vietnam. You can find SAMMIE LEE BEDWELL honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Panel 4E, Row 117.

• LAUDERDALE COUNTY ENTERPRISE OBITS 81ST YEAR NO. 19 TENNESSEE ARCHIVES ROLL #104 JANUARY 7, 1966--JUNE 3RD, 1966
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/tn/lauderdale/obits/1966-1997.txt
MARINE PRIVATE SAMMIE LEE BEDWELL--20 years, of Friendship, nephew of W. A. PERRY of Halls, was killed in combat action near Da Nang, Viet Nam, his family was informed Sunday. He was the son of MRS. BERTHA BEDWELL, of near Friendship. He had been in the Marines since June, 1964 and in Viet Nam eleven months. He was the first Crockett County casualty of the war. (From next issue, Feb. 11th; Services were Thursday Feb. 10th in Friendship, burial in Belle Vernon Cemetery.)

• Posted for: SAMMIE LEE BEDWELL:
Posted By: Robert Dedmon dedmon@@episcopaldiocese-tn.org Tuesday, October 01, 2002 Relationship: He is my brother.
Sammie, you were my boyhood friend. You went to the Marines and I went to college. Some days I wish it were otherwise. And yet, your life has given me strength and courage for these 35 years. You live in my heart and in the heart of the United States and the USMC. I think of you every morning that I put up our flag in front of the house and honor you that way. Your courage and sacrifice for your platoon and for your country have never been in vain.

• Posted on ancestry.com by his niece, Vickie: "How do you begin to tell the story of a hero? Sammie Lee Bedwell was one ,but I'm sure he'd be quick to say, "No not really, anyone would have done the same." He was a modest , man, but a hero none the less. Sammie was the youngest of 11 children, there was a lot of love, but not much money in the family. They were farmers, farming cotton, soybeans, watermelons and I seem to remember a few hogs , cows and corn. There was a few chickens,..... but that is a story for later. Sammie had a lot of brothers and sisters to look out for him, and teach him , Sometimes mischievous things, too He was amicable easy to laugh, easy to sway for fun. Tricks on his sisters, and all of the nieces and nephews that came to visit during the hot summer months. We all learned Mumbly Peg, blind man's bluff and red rover, jacks, basketball, and horse. Those innocent summers of the 50s and early 60s, seem so far away yet very clear in my mind. Sammie was the piped piper and all of us old enough to walk wanted to be whereever he was... doing whatever he did... I'm sure we got in his way, but he was very patient, and very understanding about being a kid, and even though several of us got into disagreements over 'who got to sit next to him at supper" He never held our worship over us. My sister, Barb and I were really bad about fighting over him. I was as jealous if he talked to her sat next toher, or paid attention to her at all. I was extremely jealous as only a 6 year old can be......He was 13, Barb was 11. Now there is sense that only 50 years can bring to those times and I can see how idiotic I acted but he was never impatient nor did he ridicule . The years flew by, we all grew up and Sammie was insisting he wanted to join the Marines after high school. He did, in 1964. We lived in California and he was assigned to Camp Pendleton in 1965. We were able to visit with him on several weekends and one of my favorite memories is him riding my skateboard on the sidewalk in front of the house.Laughing ,as he fell off, and getting back on until he could stand. He went off to Viet Nam soon after that, we wrote, sent packages, we were 6 days until was coming back home We got the call on Jan 30, 1966. A Hero had been killed, he took the place of a new man on patrol even though he didn't have to, something a Hero like Sammie would have done.............. We miss him stilll ....."