Mary Belle Mamie Rankin

Mary Belle "Mamie" Rankin

Mary Belle “Mamie” Rankin (1883 – 1963) and King Norton (1878-1938)
of Calhoun, Georgia

Mary Belle, c1886

Born 29 May 1883, Mary Belle was the youngest child of W. R. and Margaret (Ramsay) Rankin. Known as “Mamie” by family and close friends, she lived in Gordon County, Georgia her entire life. Her granddaughter, Ann Jones, generously shared the family traditions and history regarding Mamie.

Mamie Rankin is 2nd from left, first row. Close-up from all-school picture c1890.

In 1894 Mamie and her brother George went with their mother to visit relatives in South Carolina. [Reeve p. 95] They must have left as soon as the school term ended, for their trip was announced in the same newspaper which listed the end of school events and graduations.

Mamie is on the left in this photo; c1895

In 1898 or 1899 Mamie gave an end-of-school recitation on Longfellow’s life. [Ibid p. 127] She graduated from the Calhoun Normal College in 1904. [Woodworth p. 717]

Mamie as a teenager

An early 1900s picnic at Bonner’s Springs; Mamie is seated. Formal clothing for a picnic!

A determined-looking Mamie in this undated picture.

Mamie and King Norton were married 17 September 1905.

King Norton Sr.

Several years later Mamie wrote Pauline: Papa “gave me twenty five dollars when I married and I paid for the dress I was married in with that. King paid for everything we went to housekeeping with, even sheets - table linens and furniture.” King was a traveling salesman, and at one time worked for Trotter Brothers out of Chattanooga, Tennessee. They specialized in fancy groceries. Alice (Starr) Schisler reported: “Uncle King got Papa a job as a drummer, but [Papa] didn’t like the work, and Mama didn’t like him being gone from home, so he soon quit that.” King became a Bank Officer at the People’s Bank of Calhoun. [Woodworth] The bank was incorporated in 1905 by several men including Mamie’s father, W. R. Rankin Sr., and her future brother-in-law, J. B. F. Harrell.

Mamie explained in a letter to Pauline written about February 1924 why the Nortons had moved into the Rankin House: “... the reason I am living here is because mama asked me to come back as she was getting so she could not do her work so I came ... two or three days before she died I was sitting by the bed holding her hand and she said to me, oh how I do hate to leave you because you have been so good to me and that will be a comfort to me as long as I live.”

L to R: Margaret and Mary Norton, King and Mamie (Rankin) Norton,
W. R. Rankin Jr., Margaret (Ramsay) Rankin. Photo taken about 1922.

Until Mamie moved in, perhaps only Allie knew how much of the management of the Rankin House had fallen onto her shoulders as their mother grew older. Allie’s marriage in 1918 removed her from the immediate scene and suddenly Margaret was back in sole charge of the day to day operations. By then her body was racked with arthritis and other old-age ailments. Will’s job as Ordinary precluded him from attending to the daily details and minor emergencies that required immediate decisions. In fact, he may not have even realized the extent of details required in keeping the house running smoothly. Some days the aging Margaret needed more and more assistance just getting around the house. At the same time, Mamie and King’s children were still quite young. If King were still working as a salesman or “drummer” as it was called, his job would have required him to be away several days at a time. Living under the same roof, but in separate quarters, was surely the best arrangement for all concerned. Mamie was able to more easily care for Margaret, and most days, Margaret was capable of watching the youngsters while Mamie tended to other things. At the same time Will was relieved of the minor problems that came with the boarding house and he returned home to a family setting each evening. Finally, it seems King would have been more content knowing his wife and children had family nearby if problems arose.

During these years Mamie served as president of the Gordon County Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy. [Bell p. 207] She was also a member of the Calhoun Women’s Club and the Presbyterian Church. Mamie ended the 1924 letter to Pauline: “Mary has been in Atlanta a week today and it is very lonesome for me in the mornings while the rest are in school. ... I went down to the unveiling of Lee’s head at Stone Mountain and it sure was a great thing, hope they will be able to finish it. Politics is all I hear now There are fourteen or fifteen candidates for sheriff, tax collector and Receiver, looks as if it is going to be pretty hot times Will certainly be glad when the nineteenth day of March is over.”

Will Rankin and Mamie (Rankin) Norton in the back yard of the Rankin House, c1930

Mamie cared for the ailing Will Rankin as the symptoms of Bright’s Disease progressed. In appreciation, he gave her and King the Rankin House.

King Norton, born 1878, died in an auto accident in 1938. He left behind his widow, Mamie, and four children. During the war years Mamie filled in as a teacher in the Calhoun schools. In 1947 Mamie and her sister Allie visited Pauline in Oklahoma.

Rankin sisters: Mamie, Pauline and Allie

Mary Belle “Mamie” (Rankin) Norton died 1 June 1963 at Calhoun, Georgia.

Mamie and King Norton had four children. Most specific information given below is from Woodworth.

1. Mary Darnall Norton, born 13 December 1906 in Calhoun, graduated from Calhoun High School and Wesleyan College, Macon, Georgia.

Mary Norton and her brother King Jr., 1910

Left: Mary Norton at four years of age. Right: At age six in 1912.

She worked as a bank teller and book keeper. Mary married 8 August 1926 Clarence Monroe Jones (1905-1971). He graduated from Calhoun High School and Georgia Tech. During WWII he served as Sergeant in the Quartermaster Corps. He worked in textiles before the war and afterward owned the Veteran Cotton Mills and Mary Ann Mats. They were members of the Presbyterian Church and Chandler Hill Association. Mary died in March 1971 and he in April 1971.

Their daughter, Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Jones (1927-2007) graduated from Calhoun HS in 1944 and received a BA from Rollins College in 1947. She then moved to the University of Toronto where she received her BS & MSW while teaching social work courses. Ann received her Ph.D. at Florida State University. She was a Social Work Professor.

Left: Will Rankin and Betty Ann, 1930. Right: Will and Betty Ann in about 1934.

Margaret and Ann in 1990

In the mid-1960s the Norton children made the difficult decision to sell the Rankin House. The cost of maintenance had grown too much for them, and the house, built in 1885, needed major restoration. In a letter to her cousin Helen (Starr) Wade, Mary D. (Norton) Jones discussed the heart-rending task of removing all the “memories”. She also discussed the moving arrangements for items sent to Starr cousins: “I put some quilt squares in a drawer hope they get there too. The man from Rome didn’t know what the cost would be till they crated it, so I haven’t paid anything. Margaret came for two days last week & we really worked. The lady upstairs has already moved and the Express office will move the 1st. Mrs. Griffith (downstairs) is still there. It is a heart breaking job – wish we were able to fix it up & keep it but at our ages I think it would not be wise to go in debt to do it. ... Do hope the side board arrives alright & doesn’t cost a fortune getting it there.”

2. King Norton Jr., born 22 January 1910, died unmarried 15 May 1946. He was a cotton sampler and store keeper. During the war he served in the 3/C Naval Construction Battalion 87.

King Norton Jr.; age 11 months

3. Margaret Julia Norton was born 12 August 1912 in Calhoun. She graduated from Calhoun High School.

Margaret Norton, as a child and in the 1930/s.

Margaret married James Ford Porter the 11th of June 1938. Although he served two terms in the State Legislature, he seems to have been a farmer at heart. According to his November 1956 obituary, the 45 year old died from injuries received “when a fuel oil can exploded while he was refueling a tractor on his farm near Oakman. He was pouring fuel into the tank when a spark from the running engine ignited it and spread flames over his entire body. His burns were described as “99 percent.” The mishap occurred about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. Mr. Porter died at 2:15 Wednesday afternoon.“

Margaret married secondly William Mitchell Sudduth 24 October 1958. Suddith worked as an engineer for Southern Bell Telephone Co. After his death, Margaret lived in Rome, Georgia until moving to Fort Myers, Florida with her niece, Ann Jones.

Margaret in 1979

The 80 year old Margaret (Norton) Porter Sudduth died 3:40 p.m. Friday 18 September 1992 in Calhoun, Georgia. She was a member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Rome, Georgia at the time. Survived by two nieces, her graveside services were held at the Rankin lot in Chandler Cemetery.

Graves of Margaret and her first husband

4. William Rankin “Billy” Norton, born 21 March 1915, died October 1971 in Calhoun, Georgia.

Billy Norton

In July 1935 Billy married Leila Ruth Jones, the sister of Clarence Monroe Jones who married his sister, Mary Darnell Norton. William began work as a textile worker, but rose to be Vice-President of the Echota Cotton Mills. After the death of his first wife (1918-1946), he married Buddye Slagle in 1950. He became a Deacon of the Presbyterian Church.

William and Leila had one surviving child, Sandra, shown here in this four generation picture taken 1956: Sandra is holding baby Bill Norton. Looking on are her husband James Sutherland, and Grandma Mamie (Rankin) Norton.

Four generations

SOURCES

Bell, Burton J., compiler and editor. 1976 Bicentennial History of Gordon County Georgia. Gordon Co. Historical Society, Calhoun, 1976. Includes the complete history of Gordon County written by Lulie Pitts. My original notes were taken from Pitts, but I cite page numbers from the Bell work. Neither work is indexed.

Jones, Dr. E. Ann, descendant.

Reeve, Jewell B. compiler. Climb the Hills of Gordon. 1962. Southern Historical Press, Easley, SC reprint 1979.

Wade, Helen Starr and Schisler, Alice (Starr). Pauline (Rankin) Starr’s photos and family papers were saved by these two daughters; they both enjoyed corresponding with their extended cousins. Most information from newspaper clippings comes from Pauline’s scrapbook.

Woodworth, Robert Bell, editor. The Descendants of Robert and John Poage (Pioneer Settlers in Augusta County, Va.): A Genealogy Based on the Manuscript Collections of Prof. Andrew Woods Williamson, Henry Martyn Williamson and John Guy Bishop. Volume One (Descendants of Robert Poage of Augusta County). Privately printed by The McClure Printing Company, Staunton, Va. 1954

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