Tombstone Tuesday - Lottie Love

Lottie Love (1889 - 1909)

She was so young - only 19 when she died. She was my grand aunt on my Father's side, and I've always wanted to know more about her and her very short, precious life.

Lottie Love was born on 4 Oct 1889 in Tennessee. Her older sister, Florence Elizabeth Love, was born a few years before her on 8 Sept 1882.¹  The two sisters were the eldest sisters of my Grandfather, Richard Enloe Love, who was born on 28 Apr 1891 in Tiptonville, Lake Co., TN.² 

Lottie was not quite two years old when her little brother was born. Were they close? How did he feel being the only male in a house full of females? His father evidently died when he was very young, as his mother was listed as a widow in the 1900 census.¹

I wonder what Lottie’s life was like. Was Lottie her real name, or was it short for Charlotte? Did she have a middle name? I’ve not found any records to date to indicate any name other than Lottie, but that certainly doesn’t mean that one might not exist.

My cousin, Nancy, told me that Lottie’s mother (our great grandmother) moved her family to Jackson, Madison Co., TN to raise her three children. She worked as a seamstress in a local department store there.

I can’t even imagine how devastated that little family must have been when Lottie died at such a young age. Family stories have been told that Lottie had not been well for most of her life, but that still cannot have lessened the pain. Although Florence had already married before Lottie’s death, I know from some of her descendants how close those three children were.

The photo of Lottie’s tombstone at the top of the page is a tribute to how much-loved she was. The family was not wealthy, so purchasing a monument of this size as a tribute to her must have been very important to them. I took this photo of her tombstone in July of 2009 while on a visit to Brown’s Church Cemetery in Jackson, TN.

Rest in peace, dear Aunt Lottie.
 

¹Year: 1900; Census Place: Jackson Ward 1, Madison, Tennessee; Roll: 1586; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0104; FHL microfilm: 1241586. (Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.)

²Registration State: Texas; Registration County: Jefferson; Roll: 1953881; Draft Board: 2. (Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.)

@2014 Copyright by Carla Love Maitland