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b. January 7, 1890
bp. Lester's Grove, Madison Co., Tennessee
m. November 29, 1911, James Leven Harton
d. March 6, 1978
pd. Compton, California
pb. Inglewood, California
The second daughter of Orson W. Hammond, Clara Matilda, met the Harton brothers at the country church in Malesus, Tenn. She had finished the county school there, and had spent a year or more teaching school in Hanover, Illinois, among Hammond and Jameson relatives. After her marriage to James Leven (Lev) Harton, they spent a few years farming in Madison Co., Tenn., on family property. Later, Lev sought greater opportunities in Oklahoma, where Shelton and Harton relatives had moved. There he found work in the oil fields and some years later with the railroads.
As the family grew and his father was not able to tend the family farm, Lev and Clara returned to the Harton family farm when his father retired in the 1930s. They farmed, and Lev also supplemented the farm income by owning and driving a school bus.
Clara Hammond had a good high school education, and was able to help and encourage her children with their education. Their daughter, Mabel, took special training as a practical nurse, and found employment nearby. Their older son, James, found a career in the U.S. Navy after high school. After four years of service in the Navy, he found his wife, Rae Stepanian, among the Armenian community in Los Angeles, Cal. His settling there encouraged his siblings and later his parents to join him in California. Their other children were Mary Francis, Roberta Matilda, Clarisa Mercedes, and Leland Wesley.
Through the years in California, it was Clara Matilda who continued to keep in touch with relatives in Tenn. and encouraged the family to hold on to the Harton homeplace. Several visits of family members resulted from this, and sixty years later some great-grandchildren have returned to build homes on the old homeplace.
b. January 5, 1913
bp. Madison Co., Tennessee
d. January 7, 1994
pd. Bellflower, California
pb. Inglewood, California
Mabel Augusta, the first of eight children born to Clara Matilda Hammond and James Leven Harton, was born at Grandpa Hammond's home, Madison Co., Tenn. This was the same winter that Ulrich A. and Jennie Watlington moved back to Grandpa Hammond's and built a home nearby to help with the dairying and farming.
Mabel and family were in Oklahoma near Shelton relatives for some years and later settled on the A. J. Harton farm on Meridian Creek and Parkburg Road. She completed high school at Malesus and was an active member of the Ebenezer Methodist Church at Malesus which her great-grandparents had helped to organize.
Mabel did some studies for nursing and worked in home nursing care in Tennessee before the family relocated in Los Angeles, California, in 1941-42. She seems to be the first of our family to work in the medical profession. After moving to Los Angeles she worked in various factory jobs which were readily available in those years.
Never marrying, Mabel provided income for her parents and made her home with them. Her father died at 71 years of age in 1952 and her mother in 1978. Fiercely independent, Mabel continued to live alone until 1992 when her sister Frances and Harold Morehead insisted she live with them. After Frances died, Mabel continued to live at the Morehead home in Bellflower, Cal., even after Frances died, until her death in 1994. She was buried beside her parents in Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California.
b. October 9, 1915
bp. Madison Co., Tennessee
m. (1) Lacy (Blackie) Williams
m. (2) 1947, Harold E. Morehead
d. February 4, 1993
pd. Bellflower, California
pb. Inglewood, California
Frances was the third child of Clara Matilda Hamond and James Leven Harton and was born at her Grandfather Hammond's home on Watlington, Rd., Madison Co., Tenn. She attended Malesus School and was an active member of Malesus Methodist Church until the family joined their son and brother James in Los Angeles in 1940.
Frances and Harold were married since 1947 and had two children, Harold Ray (b. 1953) and Betty Jean (b. 1954). Frances had been married previously to Lacy (Blackie) Williams in Jackson, Tenn., and has one daughter, Lyndal Frances Williams Manuel, by that marriage, who lives in Oklahoma City.
Frances Harton Morehead died Feb. 4th, 1993 in Bellflower, Cal., after a few months illness following major surgery for cancer on the previous November. Lyndal was by her mother's side during Frances' last difficult days. Frances was buried in the Inglewood Park Cemetery near her parents and sister Mabel. At the time of her illness she was the major caregiver for her husband Harold and her sister Mabel who had come to live with them in August, following racial disturbances in Compton, Cal.
With Frances' death only Mabel remained of the Harton-Hammond siblings, and she continued to make her home with her brother-in-law, Harold E. Morehead.
b. April 2, 1917
bp. Madison Co., Tennessee
m. (1) Joe Brashers
m. (2) 1946-55, Eddie Chappell
m. (3) 1960-68, Marlin Elkinton
d. March 17, 1991
pd. South Gate, California
Roberta Harton, daughter of James Leven and Clara Matilda Hammond Harton, was born and reared on the family farm near Malesus, Tenn. She lived a few years with the family in Oklahoma. She was a graduate of Malesus High School at a time when a high school education was not taken for granted in West Tennessee. After high school she prepared for a career in Cosmetology and worked for several years in that profession before moving to Southern California with her first husband, Joe Brashers of Bemis, Tenn., during the years of World War II. The Brashers had built a small home on Watlington Road on what was then the Frank Robley place, but had been the farm of her great grandfather, John L. Harton.
In California she worked at various jobs and was married from 1946-1955 to Eddie Chappell, and in 1960-68 to Marlin Elkinton. In her retirement, she lived at 10326 Blumont Road, South Gate, Cal. She died in 1991, and had her remains cremated at Abbey Chapel Mausoleum. Her property passed to some of her nieces and nephews. She was survived by two sisters, Mabel and Frances Morehead, both living in nearby towns in Southern California.
b. March 14, 1914
bp. Madison Co., Tennessee
d. January 10, 1938, Rae Stepanian
d. March 20, 1985
pd. Wichita, Kansas
James Leslie (Jim) Harton, oldest son of James Leven (Lev) Harton and Clara Matilda Hammond, grew up on Meridian Creek near Malesus, Tennessee, where he graduated from high school in 1932. His mother remembered that he was born in a log cabin on his Grandpa Andrew J. Harton's farm. After four years of service in the U.S. Navy, he married Rae Stepanian on Jan. 10, 1938 in Los Angeles, California. They continued to live and work in the Los Angeles area where James worked for more than thirty years as a policeman.
Their children were: James Haig, Robert Leven, Gail Fay (m. Bob Conwell) and Richard Howard.
Following his retirement as a policeman James and Rae worked with Weight Watchers in California and moved to Wichita, Kansas where they operated a franchise for Weight Watchers in that area. James was the first of his family to move to California and later his parents, sisters and brother settled in the Los Angeles area also. Their son, Bob and his family continue to live in Wichita, Kansas.
James Leslie died in 1985 in a Wichita Kansas hospital following abdominal surgery. In his early years in Madison Co., Tenn., he was greatly appreciated and still remembered. He kept alive his contacts with Malesus through his interest in the family farm, his relatives and by visits among us. Rae Stepanian Harton, widow of James Leslie Harton, died in April 23, 1998, in Wichita, Kansas.
b. July 16, 1923
bp. Shamrock, Oklahoma
m. (1) ?
m. (2) ?, Elizabeth Harton
d. April 27, 1989
pd. Compton, California
Leland Wesley Harton was affectionately known as ``Jiggs'' by his family and friends since his youth. He was the youngest child of James Leven Harton and Clara Matilda Hammond. He was born in Shamrock, Oklahoma, and reared on the family farm at Malesus, Madison Co., Tenn.
Jiggs attended the Malesus Methodist Church where his grandfather, Andrew J. Harton, was the long-time Sunday School Superintendent. He attended Malesus High School, Class of 1941, and thereafter moved with his family to Los Angeles, Cal., where his brother James Leslie had established his home. Jiggs volunteered for the U.S. Coast Guard Service in World War II and served along the Pacific Coast and also as a crewman on a Coast Guard vessel in the Pacific Ocean.
Following the war he made his home in Compton, Cal., and worked many years in a factory building pipe organs. He had a good appreciation of music and learned to play several instruments, taking part in a band for a while. He also enjoyed horses and along with friends played bit parts in some cowboy movies.
By an early marriage Jiggs leaves a daughter, Debbie Ann Dubert, and by his marriage to Elizabeth Harton, a distant cousin also of Madison Co., Tenn., he leaves his wife and five children: Brenda Renee, Leland Wesley, Jr., John Patrick, Jason Todd, Jamie Donald. He also leaves several grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
In July of 1988, Jiggs and Elizabeth and grandson Jason visited Elizabeth's mother, Mrs. Aileen Stepp Harton in Malesus. He was making plans for some long visits here after his retirement in January 1989.
Leland Wesley Harton died suddenly at his home on the morning of April 27th, 1989, at age 65. Elizabeth is a registered nurse and employed in a local hospital in Compton.
b. September 25, 1921
bp. Shamrock, Oklahoma
d. March 12, 1982
pd. Bellflower, California
pb. Crestlawn Memorial Park, California
Clarisa Mercedes (Dees) Harton Levang, daughter of James Leven and Clara Hammond Harton was the seventh of eight children born to Clara and Lev Harton. She was born at Shamrock, Okla., and grew up in the Malesus community in Madison Co., Tenn., where she was graduated from the Malesus High School in 1940 in the class with Mary Ann Barnes and John William Watlington. She played basketball with the high school girls team and enjoyed cheerleading for the boys team.
After World War II she migrated with her family to Los Angeles, California, where her brother James Leslie had settled and married. She married Morris Howard Levang in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 14, 1947.
Mercedes died March 12, 1982, following a massive heart attack.