Robert Owen Duncan's Service

Born 1957

Rank and Branch of Military

E-7 in the United States Air Force

Years of Service

1975-2000

Locations of Training, Deployment, and Service

Lackland, Chanute, Shaw, Kadena, Hill, Nellis Kunsan, Eielson, Ellsworth AFB’s

Relationship to the Daniel Haston Family

Descendant of Daniel’s son, Isaac Haston/Hastings (Isaac, Hartwell, Lucy Hastings, Dorothy Wagner, Robert Orval, Robert O, & Robert Owen Duncan)

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Sergeant Horace H. "Ace" Haston's Service

Rank and Branch of Military

Sergeant and a Crew Chief in the United States Army Air Corps

Years of Service

1943-1946

Locations of Training, Deployment, and Service

Training at Mountain Home, Idaho Army Air Field, combat Crew Training Station (heavy); Aerial Gunner, Clark Field in the Philippines.

Wartime Theaters of Assignment and Major Battles

China Offensive, New Guinea, Western Pacific, Air Combat Borneo

Awards, Decorations, Badges, etc.

Asiatic Pacific Campaign Ribbon with 4 Bronze Stars, Philippine Liberation Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, Victory Ribbon, 2 Overseas Service Bars

Relationship to the Daniel Haston Family

Descendant of Daniel’s son, David Haston through Isaac T. Haston > Isham S. Haston > Horace C. Haston > (father) Hearl Horace Haston, Sr.

He was a student at Central High School in Chattanooga, TN when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened. He told me, "Everybody was so patriotic, and were all so mad." In 1944 he joined the Army Air Force. He was 17 years old. He was the gunner in the bottom turret in a B-24. A dangerous place to be during missions. They were flying over India and Southern China. "They told us we had to do twelve missions. We'd already done two. We had to do ten more," Mr. Haston said. "They would be at treetop level, and we would search and destroy anything that moved." He was the youngest man on the crew and he was the last survivor. He passed away on August 15th, 2020. He was 94 years old.

Channel 9, ABC News - Chattanooga, TN

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Major Bob Haston – Near-Death Post-War Ejection from a Cockpit

Major Bob Haston - Near-Death Post-War Ejection

On an Airfield Tarmac in Lincoln, Nebraska

Early Post-War Life

Robert Weldon Haston met and married Mary Ann McGuire of Vera, Texas. They were married on December 22, 1945, after knowing each other for only 11 days. She said it was love at first sight. It must have been because they were married for 56 years.

Daughter, Lynda Haston Britain

They had a daughter, Lynda who was born in Ft Worth, Texas, in 1948, before the family spent three years on overseas duty (1950 – 1953) first in Frankfort, Germany and then Athens, Greece. Their son, Mike, was born in Erding, Germany on June 8, 1953. Upon returning to the United States, Robert was sent to Waco where he received a triple rating for pilot, bomber, navigator which allowed him to become a B-4 7 Aircraft Commander. In 1954 he was stationed in Lincoln, Nebraska where he served as an Instructor Pilot and Designated Test Pilot for the 98th Bomb Wing.

The Near-Fatal Accident

When the family returned to the United State, they were stationed in Lincoln, Nebraska. In November of 1956, while on alert during the Suez Canal Crisis, Robert reported to the runway in Lincoln, where a plane that had previous maintenance problems was to be checked once again before transporting it to a different facility. Robert entered the pilots cockpit to run a check list and determine the current problem with the aircraft. As the check list proceeded, no one was aware of the horrific disaster to come. Suddenly the pilot’s seat started to rumble before blasting through the cockpit canopy, ejecting Robert 2 along with his seat thirty feet into the air. The parachute attached to the seat did not have time to deploy. As Robert came down, all he could think to do was to roll upon landing, which he did, in a judo position learned in boot camp. He lay unconscious on the tarmac bleeding from the front and back of the head. He had received massive cuts from his helmet compressing on his head. He was black and blue from sever contusions to his entire left side, and partially deaf because his left ear drum was blown out. When the emergency vehicles arrived with the medics, he was at first assumed dead because of the amount of lost blood and the severity of the head wounds. As Robert was being taken to the hospital, his commanding officer and the Base Chaplain were on their way to give his wife and family the terrible news of the accident. He spent several months in the hospital. He could no longer fly aircraft and decided to retire from the Air Force in 1957, after 16 years in the service.

Civilian Life

After leaving the Air Force in 1957, the family moved to Dallas, Texas. Where Robert found a job working for the Civil Service Motor Pool. On December 31, 1958, they had their third child, this time a baby girl named Sheri Ann Haston. She was born at Carswell Air Force Base. The following April 1959 the family moved to San Antonio, Texas. The fourth and final precious baby, Becky Rene Haston was born on November 26, 1962. By this time Robert was working for the U.S. Post Office as a carrier. He retired after 20 years of service.

Death and Burial of Major Robert Weldon Haston

Obituary

Robert Weldon Haston, age 78 years old, entered into peace on November 21, 2001. He was born in Temple, TX, on November 4, 1923. He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann Haston of 56 years December 22, 2001; son, Michael Haston and wife Deborah; daughters, Lynda Britain and husband Howard, Sheri Cerda and husband Manuel, and Becky Weedo and husband Tim; 10 grandchildren, Bryan and wife Angie Haston, Carrie Haston, Anna Lynn, and Brad Britain, Tracy, Bobby, and David Rowe, Nicole Weedo and Melanie Cerda; one great-grandchild, Mydian Lynn Rowe. He retired from the Air Force as a Major, on August 12, 1957, and came to San Antonio, TX in 1959 where he opened the G.S.A. Motor Pool on South Flores Street in 1959. He worked at Air Academy at Stinson Field as an instructor for two years. He also worked in civil service for 26-1/2 years retiring in January 1985. He was a member of Anchor Masonic Lodge No. 424, a member of Eisenhauer Road Baptist Church, Prisoner of War for 15 months in Germany Luft III. A Graveside Service will be conducted on Monday, November 26, 2001, at 9:00 A.M. at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery with Rev. Kevin D. Prather officiating. The family requests that no flowers be sent, but if friends so desire donations may be made to Boysville, Inc., P.O. Box 369, Converse, TX 78109-9988. Alamo Funeral Chapels.

Published by San Antonio Express-News on Nov. 25, 2001

"I always thought of this coin as 'lucky', and I guess it was because it brought me home to America. I stopped carrying the coin when the date began to wear off. I gave this special silver dollar to my son, Robert Michael Haston, in 1985 in hopes it will bring him as much 'Good Luck' as it brought me."

Bob Haston

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Major Bob Haston – Stalag Luft III Prisoner of War

Major Bob Haston - Prisoner of War in Stalag Luft III

German POW Camp Stalag Luft III

Stalag Luft III was a POW camp near Sagan, Germany that was operated by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe). It is one of the best-known WWII German POW camps, largely because of two famous escapes–the “Wooden Horse” escape of October 29, 1943, and the “Great Escape” of March 24-25, 1944. On that March night, 76 Allied air force officers escaped through an elaborate tunnel but only six made a “home run”–escaped successfully. Fifty of the unsuccessful escapees were later shot (murdered) by the Gestapo on the direct orders of Adolph Hitler. The 1963 Hollywood film, “The Great Escape,” was based on the March 1944 escape, with quite a bit of “artistic license.”

Like other German POW camps, Stalag Luft III was built in a location to discourage Allied bombers from attacking a strategic military site. Sometimes the “human shields” were schools or churches. A POW camp was a prime shield. The small town of Sagan (now Zaga, Poland) was an important railroad junction and Stalag Luft III was a shield to try to protect the railroad from Allied bombers.

After Bob Haston was shot down (and rescued) by the German military, he was initially taken to Oflag XI near Spangenberg, a POW camp for Allied officers. He was sent to a POW hospital for medical care, then to Stalag Luft III near Sagan (then in Germany).

“I believe that because of my injuries, I went through interrogation without being questioned and was sent to the Prisoner of War Hospital in Obermassfeld Germany. After my hospital stay, there were no more searches. I was able to carry the dollar in my pocket for the remainder of the war.” -Bob Haston

Bob arrived at Stalag Luft III not long after the “great escape” had occurred. When he arrived, German tanks were rolling over the grounds in an attempt to collapse any tunnels that might still be undiscovered. Building tunnels was a popular activity in which prisoners engaged in Stalag Luft III. More than 100 escape tunnels were started or completed there during the time this POW camp was in operation! What is especially remarkable about the Stalag Luft III tunnels is the fact that the site was specifically chosen because of the sandy soil there which made digging tunnels difficult. But crafty POWs found ways to deal with the sand.

In the early part of the war, Germans were generally careful about following the policies of the Geneva Convention of 1929 with Western Allied prisoners. So, conditions there were reasonably tolerable for these prisoners, especially in the early stages of the war when Hitler’s army seemed to have the upper hand. When you came into the camp, you were shown a Red Cross “care package” of sorts. It had dehydrated milk, tooth brushes, blankets, small amounts of food, clothing, cards, etc. and all you had to do to get it was smile for the camera, register your information into the Germany system, and have these “wonderful, happy-go-lucky, I’m being treated so well” radio interviews to be sent back to your folks back home. If you didn’t smile … or weren’t “happy” for the radio … you starved to death.

But, the Other Side of the Fence - Stalag Viii C

In Stalag Viii C, the tale was not so "happy go lucky." (and I say that in the most ironic/sarcastic way possible) That camp was made up of mainly prisoners from the eastern front: Russians, Yugoslavians, Czechs, Pols, and other Baltics ... oh, and some French. Now this camp was no Hilton ... Since Stalin hadn't signed the Geneva Convention, mainly because he wanted to torture Nazis ... and his own people who rose up against him ... well, because of that Hitler said "everything is fair game with these guys." If they were running low on food, they'd pick people to starve to death from Stalag Viii C. If they had too few beds, they hanged people from Stalag Viii C. If they had too few barracks to fit people, they let the prisoners freeze to death outside. If the prisoners looked at the guards cross eyed, they got a bullet to the gut (not the head), and made to sit there and wallow in pain for days until they eventually died. If the guards' dogs were starving ... Stalag Viii C supplied a good diet of human flesh. It was about as close to a Jewish death camp, as you got in the POW world, except not on the same scale. Over 12,000 men died in that camp in atrocious ways.

Brad Britain, Grandson of Bob Haston

Brad continued: My grandfather was right across the fence from the Russian side, and between the severe wounds of his own, a significant lack of food, the example of the other 50 people that were shot, the sounds from the Russian side, and focusing entirely on surviving the harsh Polish winter, my grandfather was just hoping to make it out of this place alive. He never attempted to escape, and wasn’t sure if he would have even survived a successful attempt.

That does NOT mean that the Germans were all Nazi’s. The reason my grandfather, and many of the other men in those camps lived was because of the Germans in the area. When there wasn’t enough food, there were several guards that would regularly give the prisoners food and supplies. They would also give them their dogs to eat (not the Russian eating ones … those were kept on the Russian side). The Germans (not the Nazi’s, though the Nazi’s “allowed” this) organized the Red Cross efforts to provide some moderate supplies to the prisoners. The Nazis did, however, use this as an opportunity to feed the propaganda machine.

“In January of 1945, I along with thousands of other POWs were then marched to Nuernberg and on to Moosburg, where we were liberated by General George S. Patton’s 3rd Army on April 29, 1945.” -Bob Haston

The "Death March"

On the evening of 27 January 1945, the German garrison at Stalag Luft III announced the camp’s immediate evacuation due to the proximity of Soviet forces. The Germans distributed Red Cross food parcels to the prisoners, and in the early hours of 28 January the prisoners began a five day forced march to Spremberg in freezing, snowy weather. Their overnight accommodations on the journey included barns, a large church and a factory. Source

Grandson, Brad Britain, relayed the story of his grandfather’s “Long March” (also known as the “Death March”) and the final months of his captivity as a POW:

At the end of his incarceration, (January, 1945) he and his fellow prisoners were forced to march in excess than 200 miles. This march was accomplished in spite of 40° to below 0° temperatures resulting in Robert's shoes (he found a pair of shoes that were a size 8 when he wore a size 11) freezing to the ice because they thawed from body heat when he stopped marching. He weighed 187 pounds when captured and 111 pounds when he was liberated by General George S. Patton's troops on April 29, 1945 after spending 14 months, 6 days, 22 hours as a prisoner of war. Robert Haston spent two weeks in the hospital before being sent home. At that time the only treatment given by the military for malnutrition was to feed patients five times a day until they reached a weight deemed suitable for release from the hospital. No thought was given to any psychological trauma that such internment could cause.

Brad Britain

More on Stalag Luft III, the Death March and Final Weeks

The night was coal-black, the moon had disappeared, and millions of tiny snowflakes slowly drifted toward the ground. The snow was packed two feet deep.

With pneumonia: “…I was walking on my own one step nearer home, and I am going to take another.”

Five days of marching had been made in below-freezing weather. Three of those days had been under the most adverse weather conditions, with bitter snowstorms and long hours of marching.

It was eleven A.M. on Friday, February 10, 1945. The march of death had come to an end. We had traveled across a large part of Germany, a distance of 480 miles, including rides in packed (and sickening) cattle cars on trains. It had taken us thirteen days to make the trip, and we had suffered many casualties. For us, it would live on forever.

The S.S. and Gestapo did not believe in the Geneva Convention, and they hated all prisoners of war. Especially, they hated American fliers.

I looked toward the north gate and nearly fainted. There was an honest-to-God American tank parked ten feet from our barracks. We could hardly believe our eys, It was General George S. Patton, Jr., Commanding General of the U.S. Third Army.

Stalag Luft III - POW Camp Featured in "The Great Escape"

The classic movie “The Great Escape” was based on an escape attempt that occurred at Stalag Luft III shortly before Bob Haston arrived at that same POW camp.

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Major Bob Haston – Disastrous Mission #17

Major Bob Haston - The Disaster of Mission #17

Shot Down, Severely Burned, 5 Crewmen Captured, 5 Killed

Source: 2nd Lt. Harold N. Sheaffer Story (by Lowell Silverman)

February 20, 1944, was the start of what came to be known as Big Week. The raids targeted German aircraft factories. Even more important than the factories themselves was the opportunity to engage and decimate the German Luftwaffe [Air Force]. German fighters had little choice but to oppose the raids and were pounced on by escorting Allied fighters. Although British and American losses were heavy, German losses were proportionally far higher—an important step in the Allies achieving air supremacy prior to the invasion of Normandy that spring.

During Big Week, Lieutenant Sheaffer (Navigator on Pilot Bob Haston’s crew) and the remainder of the crew flew three missions in as many days. They flew aboard Aces n’ eights during the first two missions of the offensive. On February 20, 1944, the 527th Bomb Squadron crew bombed the Junkers aircraft factory at Bernburg, Germany. The following day, the squadron bombed Quakenbruck and Bramsche.

On February 22, 1944, the crew took off from Kimbolton aboard B-17F 42-29829, nicknamed Sons o’ Satan, piloted by 1st Lieutenant Haston and 2nd Lieutenant Foy R. Clingman. Their target was the Junkers factory at Halberstadt, Germany. The raid was Sheaffer’s [and Bob Haston’s] 17th combat mission.

The Target

Navigation proved very difficult on the trip due to cloud conditions. This in turn made dodging of enemy flak implacements [sic] impossible. As a result intense and accurate flak was encountered along the route and most of the ships were damaged. Fighters were also up in numbers on this raid. All types were met and their attacks were persistent and often approaching the fanatical point.

527th Bomb Squadron history for the week

Most of what is known about Lieutenant Sheaffer’s fate comes from a Missing Air Crew Report (M.A.C.R.) based largely on accounts of the five survivors. Lieutenant Haston recalled later that Lieutenant Sheaffer “called up after bombs away saying we had a bomb hung up.” Sheaffer was last seen in the bomb bay without a parachute attempting to release the bomb. [“Most B-17 crew members wore only the harness for the parachute in combat, keeping the parachute itself nearby” – Paul J. Collins]. Haston estimated that “Three minutes after ‘Bombs Away’” the B-17 was hit and severely damaged by 20 mm cannon shells fired by enemy fighters. Survivors recalled that engines numbers 2 and 3 as well as the bomb bay were all on fire. The flight engineer, Technical Sergeant Kenneth E. Raack, was hit while manning the top turret and killed instantly. None of the crew saw what happened to Lieutenant Sheaffer. Haston wrote that the survivors’ “conclusions are that Sheaffer was either forced out by the fire or that he was hit and knocked out by 20 mm fire from the attacking fighters.” Half the crew, five men, were able to parachute to safety and were liberated from captivity at the end of the war.

Bob Haston's Personal Experience, as Told by Grandson Brad Britain

On his way to the ground, he was on fire the entire time. To his recollection, he did not remember screaming, but others in his crew remembered an awful screaming coming from the direction they recalled him falling in. Considering the pain and shock of being set on fire, I can only imagine that he certainly could have been screaming the entire way down without knowing it.

Now here’s where I probably don’t take the turn you expected. The Germans saved his life. (Yes, they certainly didn’t help in the beginning, but the guys on the ground helped afterward…. )

My grandfather was found, burnt severely, but still alive, by the Germans, who rushed him (or rushed as fast as you can expect in a war environment) to a hospital. The hospital happened to have a POW British doctor, who was what some would consider being one of the best POW surgeons/doctors in the war. In what today’s medical professionals would consider “hell”, this doctor was able to not only save my grandfather’s life, but was also able to ease his pain, graft new skin on some of the worst spots, and prevent infection (which killed most burn victims of the time). Now, to my grandfather’s credit, he was a tough-as-nails Texas boy, and a God blessed survivor.

Half (5 of 10) of the crew died in the incident and the other half were captured and became prisoners of war.

That Lucky Silver "Peace Dollar"

“When I was shot down on February 22, 1944, I still had the Peace Dollar with me. I was captured and sent for interrogation in Frankfort, Germany. They strip-searched all Prisoners of War. Each time I knew I was going to be searched, I would put the Peace Dollar in my bandages or in the sweater that I had covering my head, which had been severely burned. I believe that because of my injuries, I went through interrogation without being questioned and was sent to the Prisoner of War Hospital in Obermassfeld Germany. After my hospital stay, there were no more searches. I was able to carry the dollar in my pocket for the remainder of the war.”

“I was held prisoner in Stalag-Luft Ill in Sagan.” But that’s another story for the next article.

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Major Bob Haston – The Distinguished Flying Cross

Major Bob Haston - The "Distinguished Flying Cross" Experience

What Did it Mean to "Catch Flak" in an Aerial Assault?

The versatile 88mm cannon was Germany’s main heavy antiaircraft—or “flak”—gun during World War II. When an 88mm projectile exploded at altitude, it sent out jagged metal fragments that tore through nearby aircraft. It also left a characteristic black cloud hanging in the sky. Source

“Flak so thick you could get out and walk on it” was a common phrase to describe heavy anti-aircraft fire. Each black cloud was caused by an exploding flak projectile.

Once Allied troops got on the offensive, extensive bombing raids began over Germany and their supply routes. To get the job done, countless bomber raids were organized under the name of Combined Bomber Offensive, or CBO. Starting in June 1943, the round-the-clock bombing began with the British taking on night bombing missions and the U.S. heading daylight raids. Before escort fighters were assigned to protect the bomber squadrons, however, they took on heavy losses due to intercepting fighter aircraft and 88mm flak infested skies they flew through. More

Bob Haston's "Aces n' 8's" B-17 Bomber Catches Heavy Flak

The first mission was a raid on the port of Emden, Germany, on December 11, 1943. Subsequent missions targeted ports, chemical works, and aircraft/engine factories in Germany, as well as V-weapons sites and an airfield in France. During the eighth mission, on January 14, 1944, the crew had a close call during a raid on the V-1 launch site at Gueschart, France. The 527th Bomb Squadron’s January 1944 diary stated that “Lt. Haston in [42-29802 Ruthie II] returned and made a perfect landing with his #3 and #4 engines shot out.” Source

Description of the above event by Bob’s daughter:
Dad (1st Lt. Bob Haston) and his crew in a B-17 named “Aces n’ 8’s” (because of the tail numbers) had completed their part of a bombing run over Germany and had to return early unescorted. They had gone through heavy flak fire and significant damage. The standard operating procedure was to get to the English Channel and bail out close to the coastline to be picked up by fishermen, letting the plane go in the drink. Dad decided he could make it back to the airfield not far from the coast and told his men to eject if they wanted to. As he told it, none did. He made it back to the base with his plane intact and the crew very happy. After filing their flight reports, the “brass” decided it was a fancy piece of flying and awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross medal. The plane was sent for repair. Dad and his crew picked up their next plane named “Sons of Satan.” -Lynda Haston Britain

More About the Fate of the “Sons of Satan” Plane and its Crew in the Following Article

The Distinguished Flying Cross

The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) is our nation’s highest award for extraordinary aerial achievement.

The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) is our nation’s highest award for extraordinary aerial achievement. As a valor decoration, it ranks fourth in order of precedence, and is awarded to recipients for heroism while participating in an aerial flight. The Distinguished Flying Cross medal was established by an Act of Congress on July 2, 1926 and the first Distinguished Flying Cross citations were presented to the Pan American Good Will Flight pilots on 2 May 1927 by President Calvin Coolidge. President Coolidge also presented the first Distinguished Flying Cross medal, on 11 June 1927, to then Captain Charles A. Lindbergh of the Army Air Corps Reserve, for his solo flight of 33 ½ hours and 3600 statute miles.

Distinguished Flying Cross Society PRESIDENT - CHUCK SWEENEY

The "Ruthie II" (Bob Haston's "Aces n' 8's") Previous Noble Service

Previous Co-Pilot John Morgan Was Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for His Heroic Feats in this same B-17 Bomber

Capt. John C. Morgan earned MOH for bringing ship home virtually with one arm while holding injured pilot back from controls. On 26 July 1943, he flew damaged B-17 #42-29802 back to base after the pilot was seriously injured and the aircraft was badly damaged. For over 2 hours he flew it one-handed because he had to hold the pilot up off the controls. Source

4:54 Video - "Medal of Honor - With One Hand"

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Major Bob Haston – The Silver Dollar Story

Major Bob Haston, WW II Hero - The Silver Dollar Story

When the war started, he wanted to sign up immediately but his mother thought he was too young. She told him that if he finished his courses at a local business school she would sign the papers to let him join up. Uncle James, told me that he was very excited to join the Army Air Corp and learn to fly. He started out as a fighter pilot. However, because he was a little bit of a daredevil and performed a risky fly under a bridge maneuver, he was quickly transferred to a bomber squadron. He was happy in this new position and took his responsibilities seriously.

-Lynda Haston Britain (Daughter)

December 27, 1941 - Enlistment of Bob Haston

Aviation Training

Robert Haston joined the Army Air Corp on December 27, 1941. He entered Aviation Cadet Training in August of 1942, graduating from Twin Engine Flying School on April 29, 1943. He completed B-17 Transition to become a pilot at Sebrin, Florida in July, 1943 and after being assigned a crew left Spokane, Washington in 1943 for England where his crew was assigned to the 379th Bomb Group as replacements.

In a 1998 letter, Robert W. Haston (1923–2001), the crew’s pilot, recalled meeting the other nine men in his crew in Ephrata, Washington. Haston continued: “We were transferred to [Geiger Field in] Spokane, Wash. for combat training with the Skaer Provisional Bomb Group. After the training at Spokane, we were transferred by railroad to Grand Island, Nebr.” It was there that they received a B-17F (serial number 42-31031) fresh from the factory. Orders for the crew’s overseas journey indicated that they departed Presque Isle Army Air Field, Maine, for England—with an intermediate stop in Iceland—around October 19, 1943.

2nd Lieutenant Robert W. Haston with his crew in July 1943 during training in Ephrata, Washington. Standing, from left to right: Gordon D. Fisher, Royce D. Taylor, Robert W. Haston, Harold N. Sheaffer, Foy R. Clingman, Kenneth E. Raak. Kneeling, from left to right: Thomas Grange, Robert Spisak, Lester B. Adriansen, James W. Bittenback

THe Lucky Silver Dollar

“After finishing combat training in Spokane, Washington, I and my crew were shipped to Grand Island, Nebraska to pick up a brand new B-17 to take into combat in Europe during World War II. While we were in Grand Island going through processing and getting the tail number 42-31031 put on our new plane, the officers of the crew went downtown to have a beer. Back then you could buy a Falstaff beer for just 10 cents. I went over to the bartender and laid down a five dollar bill to buy four beers for me and my friends. From this 40 cent transaction, I received four silver dollars and 60 cents in change. I noticed that one of these silver dollars was minted in 1923, the year I was born. It was September, 1943, one month before I turned 20 so I decided to keep the 1923 coin as a good luck charm. I spent the other silver dollars on more liquid refreshment for me and my friends. We had a good time that day. I have always been glad that I kept the Peace Dollar for good luck, remembering good times spent with good friends.”

More About the Silver Dollar Story Later

“From Grand Island, Nebraska, we went to Rhome, New York for a two day lay over before proceeding to our assignment over seas. While we were in Rhome, I let Shorty Spisak, the ball turret gunner, go home on leave to Endicott, New York, just a short distance from Rhome. The train he was to catch from Endicott to Rhome was delayed, making him a day late getting back from leave. We were really sweating his return. I decided that it would not be wise to let Shorty get in trouble, so I had Ron Roach, the engineer, kick our generator on the number 4 engine. This created a mechanical delay giving us an additional day for Shorty to return. He showed up 10 hours late, we fixed the generator and took off for Presque Isle, Maine. I still wonder what the General would have said if my ball turret gunner had not been on board when we left.”

I was just 19 years old when I went to fight in World War II. I was young and naive and at that moment I had no idea of the hardships I would soon face.

Bob Haston

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Major Robert Weldon Haston, His WWII Stories

Stories of a World War II Haston Hero - His Haston Family Roots

Lieutenant (later Major) Robert "Bob" Weldon Haston

The following links will be activated, as his stories are posted throughout the “Memorial Month” of May.

A "Memorial Month of May"

During the upcoming Memorial “Month” of May, I want to share some stories with you about an amazing descendant of Daniel Haston–a multifaceted American hero. Bob Haston’s story is so phenomenal I wouldn’t dare try to tell it in one story. So I’m going to try to do some degree of justice to the story by breaking it into five articles, in addition to this introduction to Bob and his place in the Daniel Haston Family. I want to thank Bob & Mary Ann (McGuire) Haston’s daughters, Sheri Haston Baetz and Lynda Haston Britain, as well as grandson Brad Britain, for their help in providing information and resources for these articles. Men like Robert Weldon Haston should make all of us proud to be Americans and part of the wonderful Daniel Haston Family.

Robert (Bob) Haston's Roots in the Daniel Haston FAMILY

August 24, 1821 – James W. Haston, 10^th child (sixth son) was born to David and Peggy Roddy Haston on this date. A marriage bond was issued to James W. and Jane Shockley on October 15, 1841, in Van Buren County. John Fleming, a Justice of the Peace of the Peace officiated their wedding on October 21, 1841.[i]

[i] Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002. Nashville, TN: Tennessee State Library and Archives. Microfilm.

According to the 1850 census, James W. Haston (Sr.) was a blacksmith by trade.[i] He died in 1858 in Van Buren County and supposedly was buried in the Big Fork Cemetery but if so the location of his grave there is not known. From what I’ve read, apparently he died when his horse slipped on ice and fell on him.

[i] 1850; Census Place: District 4, Van Buren, Tennessee; Roll: 897; Page: 378B.

October 5, 1846 — David Montgomery Haston, was born in Cummingsville (Haston Big Spring Branch area) of Van Buren County, Tennessee to James W. and Jane Shockley. David Montgomery Haston married Lucinda Evalee/Evaleen Jones on February 4, 1865, in Van Buren County and had 14 children. He passed away on 20 Dec 1933 in Leona, Texas.

May 31, 1870 – Philip Morgan Haston, was born in Van Buren County, Tennessee. On February 4, 1899, he married Sarah Louise Hallmark. Philip Morgan died on February 11, 1939, in Leona, Texas.

June 21, 1890 – Laroy (Roy) Haston, was born in Temple of Bell County, Texas. He married Maggie (Margaret) Ann Day on January 8, 1911. Roy died in that same area on March 5, 1981. Margaret died on January 28, 1976.

Bob Haston's Early Life

As told by his oldest daughter, Lynda Diane Haston Britain

Robert Weldon Haston (known to the family as Bob) was born November 4, 1923, in Waco, Texas to Laroy “Roy” Haston and Margaret Ann Day Haston. He was the youngest child in a family of four children, two brothers and one sister. The oldest child was brother, Raymond followed by his only sister, Maurine, and next oldest brother, James just two years older than Bob. The family were hard working farm folks. Margaret and Roy divorced when Bob was around 5 or 6 years old. The children and Margaret remained in Waco, Texas to stay close to family and Roy moved to his farm near Temple, Texas. Margaret took in laundry and ironing to make ends meet. The boys all went to work at an early age to help during hard economic times. I have been told that at one time or another they all had paper routes with the Waco Herald Tribune. Bob graduated High School and went to a local business school (learning to type, bookkeeping, and various other business skills) before planning to attend college. He wanted to attend Texas A&M.

As a teenager, during his free time after chores and newspaper routes, he read books, sought out neighborhood work, and helped the family with the garden. During the times he visited with his father at the farm in the summer (I think this was in Temple, Texas), his chores included milking the cow, bailing hay, riding horses, fixing fences and various other farm activities to help out. He was a “Jack of all Trades” learning to fix just about anything. He had a good relationship with his siblings, often teasing and joking with all of them. He was fascinated with airplanes and from a very young age expressed an interest in one day flying a plane. Uncle James said Bob was always looking up hoping to see an airplane fly over. (Usually a crop duster.)

And that’s where we’ll pick the story up in the next episode of Bob’s life–the beginning of his military experiences.

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Tour Stop # 3 – Daniel Haston Homesite

Daniel Haston Homesite - c. 1804 & On

The Daniel Haston Farm Remained in the Haston Family for More than 150 Years

35°48’04.85″ N 85°26’38.00″ W

The Site of the Daniel Haston Cabin-Home

The Haston Big Spring Branch

William Carroll and Jane Denney Haston Family Burying Ground

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Reunion – Charles Beason & Myrtle Wallace Haston Family

Charles Thomas & Elliot Selina Morgan Haston - Family Reunion

The Hickory Valley Hastons

Sunday - July 24, 2022

The day following the Daniel Haston Family Reunion

Why the Picture of this Little Fire Department?

You are probably asking yourself

Due to the potential of Tennessee July HEAT, we have decided to move inside an air-conditioned space for our Sunday lunch meal. Jimmy Moss has made arrangements for us to meet in the community room at the Hickory Valley Fire Department, 5250 Hickory Valley Rd, Sparta, TN 38583. It’s about about 6/10 of a mile north (toward Sparta) from the Hickory Valley Church. It’s where the Hickory Valley School used to be, if you know where that was.

Sunday Lunch & Afternoon Schedule

12:30 p.m. – Meet at the Hickory Valley Fire Department for Lunch

Charcuterie “board” with fruit, cheese, veggies, crackers
Pork bbq and buns for sandwiches
Chopped chicken or sliced turkey depending on what they have that week
Vinegar Slaw.
Baked Beans
Chips
Cranberry Sauce
Dessert and snack things
Soft drinks, water, tea – ice

And whatever you might want to bring, IF you want to do so – but not necessary.

Sunday Afternoon – Roaming the Backroads of Big Bottom, lost Creek, etc.

Would you like to make the post-lunch afternoon a “Roaming Adventure”–going up on Big Bottom, Lost Creek, etc.? If so, what would you like to see? Let’s talk about it at lunch time. Email me places you’d like to visit. WayneH37@aol.com

Sunday Evening – Cookout at the Firefly Acres Pavillion

We have rented Firefly Acres (see below) for the entire weekend. As the sun starts going down, let’s meet at the Pavillion and have a cookout, just hamburgers, hot dogs, etc.

Map to Hickory Valley Fire Department

Firefly Acres

Map to Firefly Acres

The Charles Beason & Myrtle Emma Wallace Haston Family

Charles Beason & Myrtle Wallace Haston Family

Online Family Tree Records

Thanks to Lois Boyd Horsley (daughter of Elliot Haston) for compiling this Genealogical Database for the
Charles Beason & Myrtle Wallace Haston Family.

Hastons are coming from all over the USA to the July 22-23 (Friday p.m. – Saturday) Daniel Haston Family Reunion, but I wanted to be sure that our “closer” Hickory Valley Haston family be able to have plenty of time to get together. So, this Sunday gathering is just for us – our Haston, Moss, Hollingsworth, Harris, Rittenhour, and Boyd families–all descendants of Beason and Myrtle Wallace Haston, as well as our cousins from the broader Charles Thomas and Elliott Selina Morgan Haston family.

Our Haston Family Gallery

Send me your old photos of Charles Thomas Haston family members to add to our gallery. WayneH37@aol.com

Grandfather of Charles Beason Haston

Grandmother of Beason Haston

Parents of Beason Haston

Home of Charles Thomas Haston

Four Haston generations: Charles Thomas, Beason, Smith w/ James Creed and Ernest Reed

Charles Beason Haston and Siblings

Beason & Myrtle Wallace Haston

Myrtyle Wallace & Beason Haston

Mary Ruth and Boyd Haston in Sparta, TN

Charles Thomas Haston was son of Wm. Carroll Haston and father of Charles Beason Haston

David Haston at the old Beason Haston Family Home Place

Smith Haston Farm in White Co, TN

William Carroll Haston was the Grandfather of Charles Beason Haston and the son of David Haston and Grandson of Daniel Haston

Names of children of William Carroll Haston

Big Bottom - White Co, TN

Mary Ruth David Haston with Bill Gaither

Big Bottom - White County, TN

Papa and Granny Haston

Edna Haston Moss - oldest child of Charles Beason and Myrtle Wallace Haston

Mary Ruth and Boyd Haston - Boyd was the youngest child in the family

Johnny and Verta Haston Jeudes - Verta was daughter of Charles Beason and Myrtle Wallace Haston

Mary Ruth Davis Haston - Wife of Boyd Haston

Edwin Smith Haston

Ethel Dodson Haston

Probably mother of Ethel Dodson

Smith Haston - twins Ernie and Jim - Margaret and Mary Ruth

Don Hollingsworth - TN Tech Graduation - son of Prentice and Vera Haston Hollingsworth

Arnold and Evelyn Moss

Anderson, IN - Smith and Ethel Haston Family

Ernie Haston with Susie

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Isaac T. Haston, Sr. Family

Isaac T. (Sr.) & Elizabeth Sparkman Haston Family

Children of Isaac T. and Elizabeth Sparkman Haston

Isaac T. Haston's 1853/1854 Grant #11561 from TN for 215 Acres

Can you imagine paying 1 cent-per-acre for land–land with adjacent access to a creek and a perpetual spring? Land that was not excessively steep and most of which was farmable? A series of Tennessee Land Acts in the 1820s provided land for one cent per acre. Why would Tennessee do that? Vacant land that had not yet been claimed and purchased was of no value to the state and its counties–nobody was paying taxes on it. And tax revenue needed to be generated to launch a public school system. Solution: Essentially give away land (one cent per acre) in order to get it on the tax books to provide income to create and support public schools. 215 acres for $2.15, that was a bargain even in the early 1850s.

When Isaac T. Haston was growing up on the farm his grandfather Daniel Haston and father David Haston settled on and developed, there was an irregularly-shaped unclaimed tract to the east of his father’s farm. No doubt Isaac T. roamed over that neighboring land and probably hunted on it and fished in Cane Creek from it’s banks. Nearly 50 years after White County had been established and more than a dozen years after Van Buren County had been created out of White County, the tract still had not been officially “entered” by a prospective landowner and had not been legally granted to anyone by the State of Tennessee.

Therefore, you will never find a “deed” where Isaac T. Haston was the Grantee of a deed for that land. However, there is a Grant, Tennessee Grant #11561 (which you see below). The grant was directly from the State of Tennessee. A deed would have been from another individual landowner, thus he was not “deeded” the land.

Isaac T. Haston, Sr.

Elizabeth Sparkman Haston - Wife of Isaac T. Haston

Thomas Carroll Haston Family

Children (and their spouses) of Joel Montgomery Haston

Grandchildren of Montgomery Greeneville and Rachel Wheeler Haston

Isaac T. & Elizabeth Haston Family Gallery

Send me your old photos of descendants of Isaac T. and Elizabeth Sparkman Haston with identifications and I’ll add them to this gallery. -WayneH37@aol.com

Isham Bradley Haston - son of Isaac T. Haston, Sr.

James Roy Sr & Sara Yent Haston - Carolyn and James Roy Haston, Jr

Infant James Roy Haston

Back side of Infant James Roy Haston Photo

John Lawrence Haston & Clarence Eugene Haston

George Washington Haston

Ernest N. Haston (1877-1956)

Bettie Haston Haston - Daughter of Isaac T. and Wife of Joel Montgomery Haston

Anna (Haston) and Powell Shockley

Betty Haston - Daughter of Isaac T. Haston, Sr.

Edna Haston Stiles - Bessie Haston Russell - Anna Haston Shockley

Elmus and Rachel Haston

Miss Estelle Suggs - Later, Wife of David Rhea Haston

Fred and Vollie Haston Moss - 1941

Haston Cousins

Horace Haston and Miss Bandy

Isom Haston - Son of Isaac T. Haston, Sr.

Joel Montgomery Haston

Lee Haston

Lee and Maggie Haston and Children

Maggie Haston - Betty Haston - Vollie Haston Moss - Joe Bill Haston - JD Haston - RL Haston

Will and Nan Butts Haston - JD standing

Ruth Haston Norwood - Haston Genealogist

Estelle Suggs and David Rhea Haston

Vollie Belle Haston Raymond

Shockley Barn

Tandy Powell and Annie Elizabeth (Betty) Haston Shockley

Will and Nan Haston

Children of Isaac T. and Elizabeth Sparkman Haston

Shockleys

Isom Haston

Margaret Haston Holloway

1921 Burritt College - David Rhea Haston, back right

Berthena Maynard

Horace Haston and Miss Brady

Carter Drake and others

Elmus and Rachel Haston

Berthena Haston Maynard

The Following Photos Were Found in the Attic of the Tandy Powell and Annie Haston Shockley House

Where Elizabeth “Betty” Haston (daughter of Isaac T. & Elizabeth Sparkman Haston and wife of Joel Montgomery Haston) Had Lived

If you can identify any of the people in these photos, please contact Evelyn Davis Barrow (evelyn.barrow@yahoo.com) Shirley Davis Seegraves (Seegravess@gmail.com) and Monte Shockley Britton (Mjsbritton@gmail.com).

Mouse Over to reveal identity of the person – IF Known

Bill Moss - son of Fred and Vollie Haston Moss

Betsye Moss Ledford - saughter of Fred and Vollie Haston Moss

1926 - Anna Elizabeth (Haston) Shockley and Tandy Powell Shockley

Joel Montgomery Haston

Louis and wife Rachel Shockley

1912 Spring Branch School - Van Buren County, TN

1922 - J.M. Overton, Promoter and former President of Rocky River Coal and Lumber Company

1922 - Judge Joe Hasston and Mrs. George N. Welch

Robert Rhea

Blanche Watkins Rogers

David M. Rhea

Miss Cora Griffith - Fiancee of Robert Rhea

D.M. Rhea

Berthena Haston Maynard

Elmus and Rachel Haston

Carter Drake and others

Horace Haston and Miss Brady

Berthena Maynard

1921 Burritt College - David Rhea Haston, back right

Margaret Haston Holloway

Isom Haston

Shockleys

Children of Isaac T. and Elizabeth Sparkman Haston

Will and Nan Haston

Tandy Powell and Annie Elizabeth (Betty) Haston Shockley

Shockley Barn

Vollie Belle Haston

Vollie Belle Haston and "Dock" Henry Holman

Bransford L. and Maude Payne Haston, with Vollie Belle (About 1917)

Bransford Haston - Son of Isaac T. Haston, Sr.

D.L. Haston (son of Isaac T. Haston) House - A Virtual Mansion for His Era

From SE Corner, Haston Block Building and Bouldin Hotel (white house) in view - D.L. Haston House out of view between the Haston Block House and Bouldin Hotel

Bouldin Hotel, D.L. Haston House, Haston Block Building back on the Corner

Haston Block Building - built by D.L. Haston, son of Isaac T. Haston, Sr. (2022)

D.L. Haston - son of Isaaac T. Haston, Sr.

Early 1900s - Haston Block Building in Spencer, TN

Vollie Belle's Grave in the Molloy Cemetery, Outside of Spencer, TN (2022)

Burritt College 1933-34 team - Vollie Belle Haston Cruise - 2nd from left

Back of Team photo - names of players

From the photo collection of James Robert Haston, first cousin of Vollie Belle Haston

Vollie Belle Haston

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(I.T.) Haston Cemetery – Cummingsville, TN

Isaac T. & Elizabeth Sparkman Haston Family Cemetery

Cummingsville of Van Buren County, Tennessee

History of the Haston Cemetery

Isaac T. Haston was the next-to-the-youngest son of David and Peggy Roddy Haston. Although he was a grandson of Daniel Haston, Isaac T. was born (March 28, 1827) about a year after his grandfather died so he would never have seen and known Daniel. On April 28, 1853, Isaac T. purchased “215 acres” adjacent (on the east side) to his father, David. The tract was very irregular in shape. It bordered on Cane Creek on the northeast side and on the Haston Big Branch on the northwest side. It spanned the “Big Road” (probably roughly the same path as the current Route 285).

1853-1854 Land Purchase

Approximately 22 1/2 years after purchasing the “215 acres,” Isaac T. Haston died and he (or the family) chose to bury him on his farm. His wife Elizabeth died about seven years later and was buried near him. Whether or not Isaac T.’s family had plans for an expanding cemetery there, we will probably never know. But eight others–mostly infants or children–were buried in the cemetery later in the 1800s.

Isaac T. (Sr.) & Elizabeth Sparkman Haston

Survey of Haston Cemetery

Isaac T. and Elizabeth Sparkman Haston Family

The Haston Cemetery was established on land owned, at the time, by Isaac T. and Elizabeth Haston. Membership in the organization is limited to descendants of Isaac T. and Elizabeth–an extensive branch of the David Haston family.

Cemetery Burials Plot Map

Created by Ruth Haston Spakes

The Haston Cemetery Trust Fund

Apparently there is no record as to when annual decoration days were observed at the cemetery. But on the August 13, 1963 “Haston Cemetery Decoration Day,” Dave [David Rhea] Haston “made a report on the progress made as to setting up a Trust Fund for the Cemetery.” Thomas Smit read a proposed set of by-laws for the Trust Fund, and after having heard them read a motion was made by J.D. Haston and seconded by R.L. Haston that the by-laws be adopted and the motion carried. The following day, the Trust Fund was opened at the City Bank and Trust Company in McMinnville, TN with an initial deposit of $528.00. A transfer from a checking account and $11.00 from the previous day’s collection made the total savings deposit $570.57.

Directions to the Haston Cemetery

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Proud of My Country Roots – Wayne Haston

"I'm Proud of My Country Roots"

Wayne Haston

In the photo above, you are looking west toward the “Mitchell [or Dodson] Bridge” and Fraizer’s Chapel Methodist Church in a Caney Fork River bottom area known as “Big Bottom” in southeastern Hickory Valley of White County, TN.

My daughters requested that Sharon and I would each create a book about our earlier life experiences. This is one chapter I wrote for them but thought I'd share it with you, my great big Haston FAMILY. Please indulge me the pleasure of telling you about my country roots. It's one of the reasons I'm proud to be a Haston.

Wayne Haston

I have been blessed by God, in so many ways. My dad, Boyd Haston, graduated from the 8th grade (actually, he skipped the final tests so technically he never graduated). But he was better at math and handwriting than I ever was or will be. He became an Alderman in Sparta, TN, and served in that role for 10 years. My mother’s (Mary Ruth Davis Haston’s) father was a country school teacher, so he insisted that she finish high school, which she did.

In elementary school, I was always at or near the top of my class. But in high school, I chose the partying route and limped along until graduation in 1965. I had no intentions of EVER going to college–NONE. Then God reached into my life on March 14, 1965, while I was a senior in high school and radically changed me–my desires, my lifestyle, and my goals. Totally.

Long story short: I spent 16 years in college and graduate schools and received degrees and awards I prefer not to mention. And this boy from the little town of Sparta, who never planned to leave White County, Tennessee, ended up traveling to and teaching in about 35 countries around the world. There are other accomplishments I won’t mention because they would sound boastful. Even what I’ve said here is probably too much, but I’m saying it because I want to give God and my parents the credit. I sincerely do. I love and am proud of my country roots. They have kept me “grounded” and ever-aware of what is really important in life.

Where My Family Lived - In About 1950-1953

When I started school, we lived in this rented house, the same house my mother grew up in. There was no (zero!) insulation on the one-board-thick walls and cracks between the boards kept the rooms fresh and breezy. On cold nights any water in my bedroom froze solid. The house was later converted into a pig house, so it was painted, a new roof was added, and the front porch was framed in to give the pigs more space.

This is the backside of the house (obviously 40+ years after we lived there). The unpainted room with the two windows was the kitchen and dining room, equipped with a wood-fired kitchen stove, and in our last year there, a kerosene-cooled refrigerator that caught fire once and created quite a panic. And the kitchen was where Mom set up the galvanized washtub on Saturday nights where we all, one-by-one, would take a bath in water heated on the kitchen stove. After all, “cleanliness is next to godliness, right?”

The covered extension was our back porch. That’s where the cistern was. It was filled with water that ran off the roof–a rustier roof than you see here. And before the kerosene refrigerator, we had an icebox on the back porch. My Dad would catch a ride to town with a neighbor (he didn’t own a car most of the time) and bring back a large block of ice (from the “Ice House” in Sparta) to put in the icebox for our refrigeration.

Here’s another angle–from the East side of the house. Our “outhouse” (toilet) was located near the bottom-left side of the image, probably less than 10 yards from the cistern. Hmmm…think about that. The building on the left side (probably a newer building) was the chicken house and smokehouse (where the hogs my Dad killed in late fall were salted and hanged to cure). The now-closed-in window (near where the front porch was) was the window to the living room, which was also my parents’ bedroom. In side that window is where the old battery-powered radio sat. Our only (from the outside) entertainment was from radio dramas, such as Amos and Andy, the Great Gildersleeve, the Lone Ranger, Ozzie and Harriet, Jack Benny, etc. But we only had those when the battery wasn’t dead. What a thrill it was when Dad would come home from Sparta with a new battery for the radio!

My mother was an excellent housekeeper. Our house was always clean and neat, even though we didn’t have “running water” and didn’t have electricity until a few months before we moved to Sparta. We went (walked) to church, about a mile away, regularly. My parents were God-fearing folks, who loved the Lord and treated everyone with love and respect.

By the way, the field this picture was taken from was “filled” (well, not filled, but you know what I mean) with arrowheads. I used to follow my Dad as he plowed this field and picked up dozens of arrowheads every time. As a six-year-old boy, they were just little stone “Christmas trees” to me. I remember the day we moved away, I left a jar of arrowheads sitting on a shelf on the front porch–vivid memory, big regret now.

This is the barn, out back. The Caney Fork River flows just beyond those trees. Of course, we didn’t have the silo-feeder when we lived there. But we did have a haystack in front of the long-sloped side of the barn. And the barn was not painted, for sure. I have memories of taking a kerosene lantern to the barn–age 5 or 6–to get something for my Dad (at night). Growing up in similar situations, he never thought anything about sending me to the barn alone at night. And I remember the big copperhead a friend (J.T. Davis) killed in one of the hay troughs and I’ll never forget the rats in the corn crib where I was shucking and shelling corn to take to the mill to be ground into cornmeal. One day a big rat was in a 55-gallon drum (barrel) and couldn’t get out, so I threw a cat in the barrel. But the cat came out faster than I threw it in.

Growing up, I learned to slop the hawgs (hogs, for you city slickers), feed the cattle, turn the mules out to drink in the pond in the barnyard, and milk a couple of milk cows. Mom pretty much took care of the chickens–feeding them and gathering eggs–including ringing their necks, plucking the feathers, and frying chicken two or three times a week–a staple in our family. Keeping weasles or foxes out of the chicken house was also a challenge. A couple times a week a “rolling store” (groceries packed into an old repurposed school bus) came by. Mom would barter eggs or live chickens for cooking necessities such as flour, salt, sugar, etc. And that’s where we got the kerosene for our kerosene lamps.

July 2024 Photos

Memories of Dad milking the cow which provided fresh milk daily, shelling corn in the crib on the back side of the barn and chasing rats away, watching an older cousin kill a big copperhead snake in a feeding crib in the right-rear barn stall, watching Dad take the mules to water in the little pond (that is no longer there) beside the barn , being sent with only a lantern (about age 5) to the barn at night to "fetch" something Dad needed to work on back at the house.

My Dad's Heart Attack

When I was about five years old, my Dad had a heart attack, at about the age of 34. He had been turned down from going into the military during World War II because of a heart murmur. As was common in those days, the doctor (Doctor Roberts) drove out to care for Dad—about 12 miles out of town. The doctor told my Dad he had to give up farming because of his heart issues, so he became a co-owner (with his nephew, Arnold Moss) of a Shell Service Station in Sparta and worked 14 or more hours a day, six days a week (seven days per week for the first several years). By the way–doctor bills mounted up during Dad’s recovery, but he committed to pay every cent of the doctor bill. It took a long time, but he paid every penny he owed.

Because of the distance into town, Dad moved us off the farm into Sparta where he would be closer to the Moss and Haston Shell Service Station..

About the time we needed to move to Sparta, Lester Flatt was planning to move to Nashville to be closer to the Grand Ole Opera and the recording studios–Music City, USA. Dad rented Lester’s house and we moved in. Lester would come by every month, collect the rent, sit on the porch and talk with Dad. They would sit in the front porch swing, with Lester’s cowboy hat on his knee as he smoked his cigar.

I didn’t think much about it at the time, but now I wonder what they talked about.

There’s much more to the story, but that’s the gist of my life as a young boy in White County and Sparta, Tennessee.

All of the Above to Say This

If someone wants to make me angry (and quickly!)–they can just bad-mouth country folks, or make fun of Tennessee hillbillies, ’cause I am one–and proud of it.

But here is the main point of this story: My parents grew up poor, but they were taught traditional Christian values–respect God, love Jesus, believe the Bible and follow its teachings, love America even with its imperfections, respect and salute the flag, be a good neighbor, and do all that you can (even sacrificially) to meet the needs of your family and others who were less-fortunate than you. I have been so blessed!

My parents worked hard to see that my sister (Marilyn), brother (Ron), and I were dressed suitably. Yes, we even had shoes…believe it or not! They saw to it that we were well fed. They worked hard to improve our living conditions, moving from one rented house to another, several times, until they could afford to buy a modest but very comfortable house. And all the while, they taught me to work hard and treat people with kindness and respect.

And when I told Dad that I wanted to go to college, he set aside other expenditures to be sure that I could follow my dreams. Humanly speaking, Mom and Dad deserve the credit for anything good I’ve accomplished in life. Their examples, their teaching, the discipline and encouragement they gave me as a kid, a teenager, and as an adult have made me whatever I’ve become.

"I'm Just a Country Boy at Heart" Says It All For Me

By the way–did you know Ricky Skaggs is our Haston-related cousin (by marriage). Daniel Haston, Jr. (our Daniel’s son) married Chloe Skaggs in Kentucky – from the same Skaggs family as Ricky Skaggs.

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Ten Interest Centers – Daniel Haston Family Reunion

Lots to Share and Learn at the Daniel Haston FAMILY Reunion

July 22-23, 2022 in White County, TN

Since this page was first published, we have added three more Interest Centers:

The Burritt College Museum in Spencer, TN – Bonnie Adcock, the Director of the museum will be present Saturday morning at our reunion. Many Hastons and their relatives attended school at Burritt College. The “college” also included elementary school and high school classes.
The saga of Vollie Belle Haston’s life and her death by a brutal murder. Beginning July 24 (the day following the Haston Family Reunion), we will begin posting (one per week) a series of articles on the life and tragic 1947 death of Vollie Belle Haston, a remarkable (and beautiful) young woman. The series will include details of her first husband who married another woman before asking Vollie Belle for a divorce and the court trials that eventually convicted her second husband for voluntary manslaughter.
Display introducing and explaining the Daniel Haston Family Association – its mission statement, the legal status as a tax-exempt “social club,” how to join, and ways in which you can participate.

Place your mouse on a slide to pause it.

01 - Military Honors Interest Center copy

White County Gen-Hist Society - Geraldine

For questions about any of the above Interest Centers, feel free to contact us at Info@DanielHaston.blog.

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Tour Stop #2 – Big Fork Cemetery

Big Fork Cemetery

One of the Oldest Church Cemeteries in or Near White Co, TN - 200+ Years

Like so many old cemeteries, for years the Big Fork Cemetery was covered with broken tombstones, fallen trees, waist-high grass, shoulder-high bushes, active groundhog dens, and God-only-knows how many copperheads.

After conducting an on-site study of the cemetery in March 1998, Hoyte Cook stated:

By my count, there are 236 graves in Big Fork. Some of the graves are covered with slab rocks placed to form a sort of roof over the grave (tent or comb graves), some are covered with flat-lying slab rocks, some are marked with common field stones, and some are not marked at all. Engraving on the grave markers is scarce, but thankfully some engraving does exist.

When I was a child, Big Fork was pointed out to me, complete with comments about what sad shape it was in. I had never set foot in Big Fork until the mid-1990s, but had read information about some of the people who are believed to be buried there.

Contemplating some of the scenes that likely have unfolded there at Big Fork during the past 200+ years offers a feast for the imagination. The view of the surrounding terrain would have made it a virtual certainty that Confederate pickets wandered this hill when Bragg’s Army camped nearby in 1862. There were picnics, horses, buggies, ladies in long dresses, weddings, gospel singings, funerals, many tears, and old-time preachers, as Dolly Parton’s song says, “preaching hell so hot that you could feel the heat.”

Can you imagine the stories that could have been told by some of the people who have trod the grounds of Big Fork? There would be first-hand accounts of the American Revolution, of long hunts into the wilderness, of bringing family from OLD Virginia or North Carolina to settle a strange land (with no TV), of the Battle of Perryville, of the 1865 retreat of Hood’s barefoot, bareheaded, hungry army in the freezing rain, after the Battle of Nashville, and of the times before airplanes, cars, and income tax.

Represented in those rows of graves are many fine families, the mere mention of some of their names…Shockley, Madewell, Haston, Mitchell, Cummings, Reedy, Denney, and others…often bringing us a fond association with home, with Old Van Buren County, with who we are, and from where we came. This place is a treasure. It would seem that anyone with an ancestral link to this place ought to be curious about it…and care for it.

For many years, cattle wandered through Big Fork Cemetery. The slab roofs that cover some of the graves were designed with cattle in mind, some people even refer to those stone grave covers as “cattle rocks.” I would say that Big Fork offers some excellent testimony to long-ago good planning when it comes to dealing with cattle in a graveyard.

Yes, Big Fork Cemetery was neglected for a long time. The saddest disclosure of this neglect comes not from the lack of a fence, but from the fact that in those 236 graves are people who once lived, laughed, cried, loved, made a difference, and now we know who only a few of them were. The small amount of effort required to chip a name and some dates on a rock was expended in precious few instances. Valuable information has been erased by the passing of time, and the passing of people who took the information to their graves with them.

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Big Fork Baptist Church – Early White County, TN

Big Fork Baptist Church

The Earliest Baptist Church in White County, TN

The Big Fork Baptist Church was hidden from local historians for many years. Most people who visit the Big Fork Cemetery in what is now Cummingsville, TN have no idea that there was a church there in the early 1800s. Only a few local families have lingering stories of its existence. It once was lost, but now is found!

There is talk that sometimes on a cold clear night the sounds of group singing can be heard coming from the hill where Big Fork Church stood. I personally have never heard it, but then I haven't done any coon hunting in that neighborhood.

Hoyte Cook

Now, when we think of the “Big Fork” area of Van Buren County, TN (formerly a part of White County), we think of the old cemetery by that name. The early settlers of that area would have thought of the Baptist Church from which the cemetery received its name and which was located at the Big Fork Cemetery site. This Primitive Baptist church was probably constituted in 1808 and may have dissolved by 1856.

In his History of White County, Tennessee, author Rev. Monroe Seals wrote: “The first Baptist Church organized in our section was the old Cane Creek Church organized in 1821 in what was then White County, but now Putnam.” Seals (who was born in nearby Hickory Valley in 1867) was incorrect, the Big Fork Baptist Church preceded the church he mentioned by more than a dozen years. In fact, the Big Fork Church was probably one of the three (or so) earliest churches of any denomination in White County. Yet, it has never gotten the attention by local historians that it deserves.

We don’t even know for sure if the Hastons were ever associated with the Big Fork Church, although evidence seems to point to some involvement by them in the church:

The church was established just shortly after they arrived in the area.
They certainly lived very close to the Big Fork Church, a mile or a bit less.
Daniel, David, and Joseph (and their spouses, we assume) were buried in the church’s cemetery.
Several of the Haston “kids” married into Big Fork Baptist Church families.

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Old Union Cemetery – White County, TN

Old Union Cemetery - 200+ Years of Burial

One of the Oldest Church Cemeteries in White County & Surrounding Region

Cemetery Decoration - Sunday, August 20, 2023

Beginning with Potluck Lunch

The Old Union Cemetery is one of the oldest church cemeteries in White County, TN. No one knows for sure when the first burial in the Old Union Cemetery occurred, but it is likely that burials began there even earlier than the church and cemetery were officially established in 1811. Although, the marking is not clear, the oldest existing marked grave carries a date of 1808 or perhaps 1818.

However, there are many unmarked graves and even more graves that are totally hidden under the sod. In some spots where there appeared to be no grave, funeral home grave diggers discovered human remains. I think we assume that there are now-hidden graves in any section of the old part of the cemetery where no grave markers are visible. J.M. Passons once showed me a spot where several Civil War soldiers were buried. He said that he remembered seeing them marked by simple cedar markers, just cedar sticks. Now there is no visible indication of those graves.

There are more than 40 Hastons (by birth or marriage) buried at Old Union. And if it was possible to count all of the families closely related to Hastons, the number would go much higher.

It is likely that the “comb/tent grave phenomenon” originated in southern or southwestern White County. The Old Union Cemetery has one of the largest number of comb graves of any cemetery in Tennessee, with 102 combs. The Mount Gilead Cemetery has 138 and the Mount Pisgah Cemetery has 126. All of these cemeteries are within 10 miles of each other.

A Few of the Haston Graves

There are 19 pages with all the names of the known graves in the Old Union Cemetery, including some genealogical information.

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Tent Graves: A Middle TN Phenomenon

Comb (or Tent) Graves = "Born" in White County, TN?

Visitors who are not familiar with White County, Van Buren County and some of their neighboring counties are often surprised when they pass an old cemetery and see a scene such as the one above. I grew up seeing lots of these kinds of graves but didn’t realize until my middle-adult years that, with a few exceptions, they only appear in a nine-county area around White County and Overton County in eastern Middle Tennessee, OR places to which people from those counties migrated.

Research suggests that comb / tent graves originated in White County, TN in about 1815.

Excerpts from "The Tennessee Comb Grave Tradition" by Richard C. Finch

The content of this article is almost entirely excerpted from Finch’s research report–the most substantial source on this topic.

A "comb grave" is a burial that features a grave cover made, normally, of two rectangular slabs of stone leaned together to form a gable roof over the grave. The term "comb" signifies "the crest or ridge of a roof." Combs have also been likened to pup tents and persons unfamiliar with the correct name commonly call them "tent graves." However, comb grave is the proper name for this traditional style of grave cover, and its essential form is that of a gable roof set directly on the grave, with no supporting walls. The above-ground space beneath the "roof" is normally empty, not filled.

Richard C. Finch

In Tennessee, over 3646 extant combs have been identified in over 511 cemeteries scattered along a NNE-SSW-trending band paralleling the western front of the Cumberland Plateau. Comb graves are most common in older graveyards lying on the Eastern Highland Rim, below the Plateau.

Two Distinct Areas of Comb Grave Concentration: Caney Fork Valley Group (White County) and Overton County Group

Although at least 72 comb cemeteries are associated with churches, the majority are local graveyards or
family plots not associated with church buildings.

Comb graves are known to be present in eight other Southern states (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, West
Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and North Carolina) and also in eastern Oklahoma, culturally part
of the Upland South. However, Tennessee appears to have more comb cemeteries
and comb graves than all the other states combined. Additionally, the oldest known combs are found in
Tennessee graveyards. Probably, the comb grave custom is indigenous to Tennessee.

No comb graves have been found on the east side of the Cumberland Plateau!

Combs are normally constructed of stone, the preferred material being relatively thin slabs of sandstone
taken from the stratigraphic unit known as the Hartselle Formation, named for Hartselle, AL.

Clearly, by the mid-1820s the Tennessee comb grave tradition was well established in the White Co. area and strong enough to begin to spread to north and south. The comb grave style appears to have “caught on” and spread rapidly throughout its full range.

The Old Union Cemetery in southern White County, TN has one of the largest number of comb graves, with 102 combs. The Mount Gilead Cemetery has 138 and the Mount Pisgah Cemetery has 126. All of these cemeteries are within 10 miles of each other.

The Big Fork Cemetery, where Daniel Haston and some of his immediate family members are buried, contains about 40 comb graves.

The use of comb graves peaked in the 1876-86 decade in White and Van Buren counties.

It seems that the comb grave custom as known in the Upland South originated in Tennessee, in the White Co. area, in the 1815-1820 period. The use of combs spread rapidly throughout the main Tennessee range, achieved a popularity that greatly exceeded that of other types of grave covers, and, as discussed below, was later carried into other areas.

Purpose of the Comb / Tent Graves?

“What was the purpose of combs?” is a commonly asked question, one for which there is no definitive or “one size fits all” answer.

The most common reason cited was to protect the grave from rain. The second most common reason given was to protect the grave from animals, whether domestic or wild. At least one informant said that one purpose for the combs was to make the grave more permanent, less likely to be hidden over time. Oddly enough, the retired stonecutter said he knew of no reason for combs other than people wanted them.

Having grown up where these graves are common, to me, the most sensible purpose is protection from animals–wild and domestic. Some graves are very shallow due to the rocky soil and manpower needed to dig them quickly. Some kind of impenetrable coverage was needed to prevent wild animals from digging up the bodies. But, the most dangerous-to-graves animals were cattle or hogs that often grazed freely through cemeteries. Headstones were frequently knocked over and graves ruthlessly trampled by these domestic animals.

A variety of ideas have been suggested to account for the “why” of combs, i.e., the purpose served by placing a comb over a grave. Protecting the grave seems to have been a motive, but there is no definitive single reason for combs. It is likely that different reasons motivated different people to erect combs, but that ultimately the comb became a highly popular style, indeed the dominant grave style in numerous small graveyards within the comb range. And style alone was probably sufficient reason for many.single reason for combs. It is likely that different reasons motivated different people to erect combs, but that ultimately the comb became a highly popular style, indeed the dominant grave style in numerous small graveyards within the comb range. And style alone was probably sufficient reason for many.

Much More About Tent/Comb Graves in Tennessee

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Joe Diffie – Descendant of Our Daniel Haston

Joe Diffie - Grand Ole Opry Descendant of Daniel Haston

Yes, his great-great-grandfather was my great grandfather David Montgomery Haston. His great grandfather was Jack Haston a nephew of my granddaddy. His grandmother and my mother were first cousins. I did know his grandmother. She helped me when I was doing our Haston tree. We had family reunions at Loco, Oklahoma because that was where his ancestor settled. Joey, what they called him, played the piano when he was young as we sang hymns.

Jane Ritter

Joe started school in Velma, Oklahoma, moved to San Antonio, Texas when he was in the first grade, then Washington state for fourth and fifth grade, and over to Wisconsin for sixth grade through sophomore year of high school and finally back to Oklahoma for the rest of high school.
Joe’s parents claim he could sing harmonies when he was three years old.
In high school, Joe played football, baseball, golf and ran track and was recognized as Best All-Around Male Athlete.
Some of his early jobs included working in the oil field, driving a truck that pumped cement out of oil wells, and working in a foundry.
Joe started out in a gospel group called Higher Purpose then a bluegrass band called Special Edition.
Once owned his own recording studio.
Hank Thompson, Holly Dunn, Tim McGraw, and Jo Dee Messina recorded songs written by Diffie.
Jo Dee Messina took her own version of Joe’s “By Give a Damn’s Busted” to the top of the charts.
Joe Diffie has had five #1 hits, twelve top 10 singles and ten other songs that have reached the top 40.
In 1993, Joe became a member of the Grand Ole Opry and in 2002 was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.

Source: 10 Interesting Facts About Joe Diffie (973thedawg.com)

The arrival of the coronavirus to Nashville came early in March 2020. Joe Diffie passed away at the age of 61 — just two days after releasing a statement about his diagnosis through his publicist — marked the first reported loss of a country star to coronavirus-related complications. An admired, early-’90s neotraditionalist, Diffie had a belated professional start but a quick breakthrough that came a few years into a wave of hard-country singers who favored naturalistic production. By 1995, Diffie had scored more than a dozen Top 10 hits. Source: https://n.pr/3gIxIrM

“Home” by Joe Diffie – Many of Us Can Identify with this Song

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Tour Stop #1 – Old Union Church

Old Union Cumberland Presbyterian Church

Founded 1805? - Organized Officially 1811

Some sources say the Union Presbyterian Church was founded in 1805. We do know that Spence Mitchell, an early settler in southern White County, TN, deeded a plot of land for what was called the Union Meeting House on August 24, 1811. The church was associated with the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination.

Just across and south of the Caney Fork River from the Union Meeting House (just over a mile away – behind in this photo), the Daniel Haston family had settled a few years earlier. Union church records indicate that David Haston was the church’s first clerk. We also know that later generations of Daniel’s family played an important role in what became known as “Old Union.”

A Brief Early History

The Civil War disrupted the ministry of the Union Cumberland Presbyterian for several years. Young men from the church joined the Confederate Army. The building was probably ransacked as soldiers from both sides used the house for temporary dwellings. Old timers who grew up in the church have told stories about numerous soldiers who were buried in the graveyard, with only cedar markers to identify graves. Those markers are long-gone, but there is a still an open spot in the cemetery where the burials took place.

Almost 20 years after the Civil War ended, a Great Grandson of Daniel Haston (Charles Thomas Haston) and Rev. William P. Smith committed themselves to resurrect the old church. On September 1, 1883, the two men made the following entry in the church minutes. Apparently, the minutes after August 8, 1858 could not be found. I have been told my descendants of some early members that the original building was destroyed by fire and the early records were burned at that time – perhaps in the 1840s or 1850s.

September 1, 1883 Entry in the Church Minutes

The meeting was opened with prayer by the Moderator…As the old church book does not give a correct statement of the membership of the congregation, the names of many members being omitted and many members having died or removed of whom no notice having been taken of them, it was ordered, That the Clerk with the assistance of Rev. W. Smith obtain all the facts possible and record them in this book, together with the date of organization and such other historical facts as could be obtained.

In accordance with which the following facts have been obtained; viz: The church was organized about A.D. 1811 by Rev. William Barnett. Spence Mitchell, Robert Gamble and Jesse Scoggin were the first elders and David Haston its first clerk. There were about sixteen members all of whom are now fallen asleep.

The records from the date of organization till Aug. 8, 1858 could not be found and the church was reorganized by Rev. Jesse E. Hickman and a new Session Book was opened. The last meeting of the Session recorded in it was held Feb. 24, 1861, from which time nothing has been entered except the names of persons who have since joined and not all of them. Till 1858 it is not known who served the church as pastors. Since that time the following ministers have served; viz: Revds. J.E. Hickman, Jas. K. Lansden, Stephen Davis, William P. Smith, James T. Williams and John S. Kitrell during which time the church has been growing and prospering and unusual harmony has existed among the members. There are now so far as can be ascertained, about one hundred and ten members belonging to the congregation whose names together with those who have died or removed will be found in the proper place in this record.

Robert Owen Duncan's Service

Born 1957

Rank and Branch of Military

Years of Service

Locations of Training, Deployment, and Service

Relationship to the Daniel Haston Family

Add Yourself or Your Haston-Related Relative to the Legacy of Service Honor Gallery

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1925-2020

Sergeant Horace H. "Ace" Haston's Service

Rank and Branch of Military

Years of Service

Locations of Training, Deployment, and Service

Wartime Theaters of Assignment and Major Battles

Awards, Decorations, Badges, etc.

Relationship to the Daniel Haston Family

Add Yourself or Your Haston-Related Relative to the Legacy of Service Honor Gallery

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Major Bob Haston - Near-Death Post-War Ejection

On an Airfield Tarmac in Lincoln, Nebraska

Early Post-War Life

The Near-Fatal Accident

Civilian Life

Death and Burial of Major Robert Weldon Haston

Obituary

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Major Bob Haston - Prisoner of War in Stalag Luft III

German POW Camp Stalag Luft III

But, the Other Side of the Fence - Stalag Viii C

The "Death March"

More on Stalag Luft III, the Death March and Final Weeks

Stalag Luft III - POW Camp Featured in "The Great Escape"

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Major Bob Haston - The Disaster of Mission #17

Shot Down, Severely Burned, 5 Crewmen Captured, 5 Killed

The Target

Bob Haston's Personal Experience, as Told by Grandson Brad Britain

That Lucky Silver "Peace Dollar"

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Major Bob Haston - The "Distinguished Flying Cross" Experience

What Did it Mean to "Catch Flak" in an Aerial Assault?

Bob Haston's "Aces n' 8's" B-17 Bomber Catches Heavy Flak

The Distinguished Flying Cross

The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) is our nation’s highest award for extraordinary aerial achievement.

The "Ruthie II" (Bob Haston's "Aces n' 8's") Previous Noble Service

4:54 Video - "Medal of Honor - With One Hand"

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Major Bob Haston, WW II Hero - The Silver Dollar Story

December 27, 1941 - Enlistment of Bob Haston

Aviation Training

THe Lucky Silver Dollar

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Stories of a World War II Haston Hero - His Haston Family Roots

Lieutenant (later Major) Robert "Bob" Weldon Haston

A "Memorial Month of May"

Robert (Bob) Haston's Roots in the Daniel Haston FAMILY

Bob Haston's Early Life

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Daniel Haston Homesite - c. 1804 & On

The Daniel Haston Farm Remained in the Haston Family for More than 150 Years

The Site of the Daniel Haston Cabin-Home

The Haston Big Spring Branch

William Carroll and Jane Denney Haston Family Burying Ground

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Charles Thomas & Elliot Selina Morgan Haston - Family Reunion

The Hickory Valley Hastons

Sunday - July 24, 2022

The day following the Daniel Haston Family Reunion

Why the Picture of this Little Fire Department?

You are probably asking yourself

Sunday Lunch & Afternoon Schedule

12:30 p.m. – Meet at the Hickory Valley Fire Department for Lunch

Sunday Afternoon – Roaming the Backroads of Big Bottom, lost Creek, etc.

Sunday Evening – Cookout at the Firefly Acres Pavillion

Map to Hickory Valley Fire Department

Firefly Acres

Map to Firefly Acres

The Charles Beason & Myrtle Emma Wallace Haston Family

Charles Beason & Myrtle Wallace Haston Family

Online Family Tree Records