Bridges, Joseph H.

JOSEPH HENDERSON BRIDGES was born on 21 November 1876 in Flatwoods, Wayne County, Tennessee. He was the son of George Terry Bridges and Mary Ann McDonald. On 08 April 1899, land in Perry County Tennessee was sold from George Bridges to his son J.H. Bridges.

ADA ALMA HUFSTEDLER was born on 10 January 1881 near Linden , Perry County, Tennessee. She was the daughter of Samuel Nacy Hufstedler and Susan Galloway Polk. I’m not sure how they met. However, I believe that they were both in the Perry County area at the time of their marriage. Perhaps they met at church or school. Family tradition says that they were married on 08 September 1900, however a marriage record has not yet been located.

Joseph and Ada’s family first shows up on the 1910 federal census. They are living in district #3, Perry County, Tennessee, living next door to his father George. They have 5 children in their household.

The Perry County land records then show that Joseph H. Bridges sold some land on 13 October 1910 to his father, George T. Bridges. Family tradition says that right about this time, Joe decided to move. They just kept getting poorer and poorer and couldn’t make a living in middle Tennessee . So they decided to move. They headed for Arkansas because Joe’s sister had already moved there. They made one crop there but were unhappy with the move. So they decided to go back to Tennessee . Tradition again says that they went to Bogoto Tennessee and then on to Dyer County , where they remained and settled.

There’s a story that was told that says that Joseph and Ada lived by the Tennessee River at one point. Ada used to walk ½ mile to the river to do the wash. She would get the laundry and wrap it up in a sheet and sling it over her shoulder. Then she’d put a baby on the other hip and hold the hand of a toddler and go to the river and do her laundry.

In 1920 the family shows up in the federal census records in the 6^th civil district, Dyer County, Tennessee . They now have 9 children living in their household, the oldest being the age of 18. In 1930 the family is in the 5^th civil district, Dyer County, Tennessee. They have just 5 children left in their house, the others having gone off and gotten married.

On 17 November 1938, Ada died at the home of her parents, Susan & Samuel Hufstedler in the 6^th district, Dyer County, Tennessee. The death certificate states that the cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver. This can be caused primarily by 2 things: either alcoholism or hepatitis. I do not know the cause.

Only the 2 youngest children were still at home at the time when Ada died, but both were married within 2 years of Ada’s death. Joseph continued to live at their home in Dyer County . Then in 1961, he moved to the Carroll County Nursing Home in Huntington Tennessee. On 09 March 1963 he died. Both Joseph and Ada are buried in the Fairview Cemetery, in Newbern, Dyer County, Tennessee. They had 9 children, all surnamed Bridges:

	child	birthdate	death date
(1)	Claude Lee	b 28 July 1901	d 01 August 1975
(2)	Clara Maude	b 27 Mar 1903	d 18 July 1961
(3)	Bessie Verna	b 07 Mar 1905	d 11 Nov 1994
(4)	Ruby Isabell	b.26 June 1907	d 25 May 1931
(5)	Gladys Malcolm	b 20 July 1909	d 19 Dec 1963
(6)	(George) Reed	b 21 Apr 1912	d 05 Sept 1963
(7)	Edith Ovene	b 23 Sept 1914	d 23 July 2006
(8)	(Joe) Vernon	b 19 Mar 1917	d 03 Sept 1997
(9)	(Sammie) Vernell	b 09 June 1919	d 25 Dec 2004