Winston Caudill was born Sept. 7, 1847, on Caudill Branch, Hood Fork of Blaine, d June 26, 1916, while hoeing corn on his farm on Froghonary Fork of Toms Creek, m (1) May 8, 1868, Martha Ann Chandler, b 1849, d 1886 leaving Winston with 6 children ranging in age from 2 to 14. Martha was a daughter of Isaac Chandler who lived on the head of Rockhouse. Winston was a son of John Caudill, b April 25, 1815, d Apr. 15, 1891, and Phoebe (Fitzpatrick) Caudill, b June 15, 1821, d 1870. John was a son of Stephen Caudill, b 1794.
Winston and his 10 brothers and sisters grew up on the Caudill Branch about a mile above where the Sip postoffice use to be. Near the postoffice was a grove of large sugar trees. In this grove was the Sugargrove United Baptist Church. My parents were members of this church. Also, in this grove was the Sugargrove School where all 8 grades were taught in one room. I started my teaching career in this schoolhouse July 21, 1924, about 3 weeks before I was 19 years old. Of the many schools that I have taught, the Sugargrove School was the best. Not one student needed to be punished.
Winston grew up before the Civil War and at that time Johnson County had no county school system, therefore he did not go to school. He never did learn to read or write except to write his name. He was a farmer, livestock dealer and drover. In his trading and handling money he learned to do mental arithmetic. He could look at a cow and tell surprisingly close to how much she would bring on the market at 4 1/2C a pound on the hoof.
Winston and Martha first lived on Rockhouse for a short time, then he bought a farm on Burntcabin (the old Henry Burchett farm). Later he and Martha acquired about 150 acres on Froghonary from Martha’s father. Later he bought 200 acres on Froghonary where he built a large two-story log house with a dining room and kitchen built on the back. He and Martha gave their 150 acres farm to their 6 children.
Winston traveled into several counties by horseback buying livestock. On a trip up Abbott Creek in Floyd County, in 1888 or 1889, he met a lady whose name was Sarah Elizabeth May Caine. She was a widow living at Bonanza with her three young daughters, ages 6, 5, and 3. After first meeting her, Winston made a few trips up Abbott Creek buying cattle and then some more trips not to buy cattle. Then, in 1890, Winston Caudill m(2) Sarah Elizabeth May Caine. She had been previously married to Thomas Marion Caine. Thomas died leaving her with the 3 young girls whose names were: Lydia Jane, age 6; Stella Blaine, age 5; and Julia May Caine, age 3. So, Winston immediately moved his new wife and 3 step-daughters to his big house on Froghonary and with his 6 children and her 3 girls they started housekeeping with 11 people (counting him and her) in their family. (Sarah Elizabeth must have been a brave lady). I wonder if he anticipated this when he built the big hewed-log two-story house for his home on a 200 acre farm on Froghonary. The house had 4 large bedrooms, each big enough for 2 big home-made bedsteads, a fire place and some home-made chairs. The beds were all double beds, some were slat beds and some were seagrass or cotton rope corded beds, each with a wheat or oat straw or corn-shuck mattress. Then Sarah Elizabeth and the girls set to cutting up old clothes to make comforters (heavy quilts) for all the beds. They did not have feather beds until mother raised a flock of geese from which to pick the feathers. They didn’t have blankets until they sheared the sheep, then mother, with her spinning wheel would spin the wool into thread to set up a warp in her big loom and then weave the woolen blankets. The loom was a big wooden piece of equipment, maybe 7 by 9 ft. square and 7 ft. high. Mother heired this loom from some of her ancestors back in the 1800s. It was probably 60 to 75 years old. She used it until after I came on the scene in 1905. I remember what I thought about it when I was 3 or 4 years old. I thought it was an excellent something for me to climb on while mother was weaving. She kept telling me to stay off the loom or she would tell the sheriff and he would take me to jail. I thought she was just trying to scare me until one day I was on the loom and someone said “the sheriff is coming” and Grant Daniel, the real sheriff was coming in on the porch. I jumped off the loom and crawled under the bed and stayed there until he left.
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