GED4WEB version 4.34 For privacy reasons, Date of Birth and Date of Marriage for persons believed to still be living are not shown.
Alexander Jamison [Male] b. 10 SEP 1773 Voluntown, Windham Co., Connecticut - d. 17 FEB 1859 Salem Township, Luzerne Co., PA
Notes from JamisonForever.com:
Alexander Jamison moved to the Wyoming Valley, near the Susquehanna River with his parents in about 1776. He was 14 years old when he survived the Wyoming Valley massacre at the Wilks-Barre / Plymouth Fort on July 3 1778; and hew about 16 when he was the only survivor of the later Indian ambush which killed his brother John Jamison and their neighbor Asa Chapman. In both instances it would seem that his life was possibly saved by the actions of his older brother John. Alexander fought against the British, the Indians and the soldiers of William Penn's descendants. Three of his brothers were killed by Indians. After living, fighting, and defending the family home stead near Hanover which was only several miles from Wilkes-Barre. Alexander settled in Salem Township, Luzerne County along the Susquehanna River just North of Bewick and South of Shickshinny at or very near the present location of the Nuclear plant and owned large tracts of land, for which his family had paid dearly in defending the claims of the Connecticut Susquehanna Company in the Wyoming Valley. His nearest neighbor and good friend was Nathan Beach for whom Beach Haven was named. Appropriately Alexander and many of his family are buried at Beach Grove Cemetery. When the North Branch of the State Canal was being dedicated on the 4th of July 1828 at Berwick a large ceremony attended by all. it was Alexander who "Broke Ground" by driving his splendid oxen before the crowd. The plow was held by his good friend and neighbor Nathan Beach, Esq.
Alexander fought in the Pennamite Wars between Connecticut settlers and Will Penn's settlers as well as in the Revolutionary War. he became a leader of the Salem Township community of Pennsylvania and it's spokesman for many years. he held a number of different offices and acted as a lawyer and judge / approved magistrate. Alexander became quite wealthy and died peacefully in 1859 after the loss of most of his family in settling the early frontier in Pennsylvania
Benjamin was a member of Captain Mason Alden's Company, Luzerne Militia, and died of Consumption after driven from Wyoming.
Reported to be born on December 17, 1812, however, his mother died in 1806 making this or her date of death wrong.
Daniel was reported born in 1812 in Beach Haven, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Daniel was the grandson of Captain Lazarus Stewart, the leader of the "Paxtang Rangers". AKA the "Paxton Boys" who was killed at the Battle of Wyoming Valley after advocating and leading a perhaps unwise charge against a numerically far superior force of Indians and British. Daniel Jamison married Judith Bomboy. He was a well known farmer and businessman and lived for most of his life in the Village of Centre ( aka Lime Ridge ), Columbia County, Pennsylvania, just a couple of miles South of Berwick, Pennsylvania. He owned and operated the well known Half Way House (an Inn and Tavern) which was midway between Berwick and Bloomsburg until he "got religion" and shut the place down. Daniel Jamison died in 1900.
Notes from JamisionForever.com:
Benjamin F. Jamison lived his whole life in the Berwick, Pennsylvania area. Little is known about his wife, but she is belived to have been Mary C. Glasmoyer or Glassmeyer or Glasmer. Benjamin enlisted in the 35th Regiment of the 6th Pennsylvania Volunteers under his older brother Albion B. Jamison who became a Captain of his unit, Company A. (note: at times the unit is referred to as Co A 6th Regiment Pennsylvania Reserves Infantry (35th Volunteers). Benjamin fought in every major engagement during the Civil War including New Market Cross Roads, Bull Run, South Mountain, Fredericksburg, the Wilderness Campaign, Antietam, and at Gettysburg. The two brother's unit served in support of Col. W. Wallace Ricketts unit in most battles. Col Ricketts had been the original Commander of the 6th Regiment when it was organized in June or July of 1861. However, Albion was severely wounded in the leg at Antietam and after his recovery, he was semi-crippled and could not return to his unit. Albion then enrolled in medical school at the University of Georgetown from which he graduated and became a doctor on March 5, 1867. Later Albion was prominent in the GAR ( Grand army of the Republic ) and an original signer of documents in Philadelphia swearing allegiance to the United States after the death of Abraham Lincoln ( MOLLUS ). After the Civil War he was appointed to a high Government position settling Civil War accounts. It is believed that Benjamin's unit at the Battle of Gettysburg fought in the line of battle directly against the Confederate unit of Louisiana Tigers which contained one Victor D. Braud of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who would later switch sides in the war after he was captured the second time, changed his name to George C. Duke, and become the maternal great grandfather of Richard A. Jamison. In fact, the possibility exists that Benjamin's company was the unit that captured Victor Braud, along with a dozen or so other Confederates at Falling Waters during Lee's retreat from Gettysburg on July 14th. If in fact this is the case, the descendants of Richard A. Jamison should be eternally grateful that his paternal great grandfather didn't shoot his maternal great grandfather, but rather allowed him to surrender, otherwise, they would not exist. At the Battle of Gettysburg, the 6th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment was part of the 5th Corps ( Sykes Commanding ), 3dr Division ( Crawford Commanding ). 1st Brigade ( Col. William McCandless Commanding ). The first Brigade also included the 13th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment which was known as the Pennsylvania Bucktails. In any event, Benjamin fought with his unit until it was disbanded at the end of the war and he returned to the Lime Ridge, Pennsylvania area. he had many children, including Albert Brittain Lynn Jamison and eventually died in Shickshinny in 1926.
Harold Clyde Jamison's second wife was Ruth E. Duke of Berwick, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, and they lived in Shickshinny, Pennsylvania until their divorce. Harold moved to Snohomish, Washington in about 1951 and married Martha Harmon, by whom he had two children, Robert and Elizabeth. Harold returned to Pennsylvania in his later years and died in Berwick in 2002.
Some Records report name as Jemison.
Came to America in 1718, landed at Boston, Mass. where he and his second wife Roseanna Irvin lived for one year. In 1719, they settled in Voluntown, Windsor County, Connecticut.
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Emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts and arrived on 4 August 1718 with his family and brother William and William's family. 1719 John and family moved to Milton, Norfork County, Massachusetts. John bought land in Voluntown, Connecticut in 1725 and moved there with his family. He presumably engaged in his trade , which was the manufacture of linen by the use of a hand loom, or spinning wheel.
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1. Title: Founders & Patiorts, Volume 3, Nos. 2815-3999, Register 1896-1993
Media: Book
From JamisonsForever.com:
Moved in about 1685 to Omagh, Tyrone County, Providence of Ulster, Ireland, due to persecution as he was a Protestant Covenanter. He was very religious, at least, in his support if the Covenanter ( Presbyterian ) philosophy and he is said to have been a Scottish Highlander. He had four male children: Robert, Henry, William and John. Robert and Henry emigrated from Ireland to America in 1708 and landed in Philadelphia. William and John (with their families) emigrated to America in 1718.
William emigrated from Ireland to America and landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Marriage Record from TORREY:
JAMISON, William (-1714) & 2/wf Sarah/Mary? [PHILLIPS] (1649-1710); aft 1691; Charlestown
from TORREY:
Henry and his brother Robert came to America, landing in Philidaphia, Pennsylvania, in 1708
The Jamisons were in Warwick several years before the township was formed,
and the names of three of them are attached to the petition asking for its
organization. The family, of Scotch origin and Presbyterian in faith, was
among those who immigrated from Scotland to Ulster in Ireland, and was part
of the great flood of Scotch-Irish which peopled this state the last century.
Henry Jamison, the head of the house, came to America with his family about
1720 or 1722, and probably settled shortly afterward in this county. He
bought 1,000 acres in various tracts, in Warwick and Northampton, but lived
in the latter township. The deeds show these purchases were partly made of
Jeremiah Langhorne, who conveyed 500 acres to Jamison February, 27, 1724.
This was part of the 5,000 acres which Penn's commissioners of property
conveyed to Benjamin Hurley, September 13, 1703, subject to quit-rent from
1684. John Henry Sprogel bought 1,000 acres of it, and in 1709 he conveyed
the same to Thomas Tresse, and from Tresse to Joseph Kirkbride and Jeremiah
Langhorne, March 23, 1714. In 1734 Henry Jamison conveyed 250 acres of this
land, lying in Warwick, to Robert Jamison, and the remainder to his other
children. It is related that Jean Jamison, afterward the wife of Robert
Jamison, was shipwrecked in coming to American, on the island of Bermuda, and
was left in a destitute condition ere she could get a passage to Philadelphia.
The father returned to Ireland, but whether he died there we are not informed.
Two hundred acres of the Jamison estate still remain in the family, the same
which the progenitor bought of Langhorne in 1728. Robert Jamison, born in
1698, son of Henry, was the father of John Jamison, a captain in the
Continental army, who married Martha, sister of the Reverend James Grier, of
Deep Run, of Robert, who was a soldier in the Revolution, and long an elder
in the Neshaminy church, and also of Henry Jamison, who kept the tavern at
Centreville, called Jamison's in 1767, and the father of the first wife of
the Reverend Nathaniel Irwin. Henry, a son of Captain John Jamison, drew a
$50,000 prize in a lottery. At his death, in 1816, at the age of thirty-five,
he left $500 to the Neshaminy church, and with the remainder enriched his
relatives. James Jamison, of Buckingham, who was killed by an explosion in
his lime quarry in 1837, at the age of fifty-eight, was a son of deacon
Robert. Members of this family have immigrated to other parts, and the name
is now found in various sections of this state and country. Henry Jamison
went to Florida, as early as 1765, where he died.
The unorganized territory lying between Warminster, what was erected into
Warrington in 1734, Northampton, Buckingham, and New Britain, was called
"Middlebury" for several years, and as such elected overseers of the poor and
of roads. February 13, 1733, twenty of the inhabitants of this region, namely:
Robert Jamison, Benjamin Walton, William Ramsey, Alexander Breckenridge,
Thomas Howell, Hugh Houston, Samuel Martin, William Miller, Jr., Valentine
Santee, James Polk, Robert Sibbett, John McCollock, Arthur Bleakley,
Alexander Jamison, Henry Jamison, Andrew Long, Joseph Walton, and Joseph
Roberts, petitioned the court of quarter sessions to organize it into a
township to be called Warwick, "to extend no further in breadth than from ye
north-west line, or Bristol road, to Buckingham, and in length from
Northampton to New Britain." The draft which accompanied the petition makes
Middlebury, or Warwick, of the same size and shape as Warminster and
Warrington. The petition was allowed the next day after it was received, and
there can be no doubt that the township was organized under it. As to what
time the name Middlebury was dropped, and the township took that it now
bears, with the boundaries that covered the unorganized territory, the
records are silent. It was called Warwick in 1736. The Dyer's mill road, now
Doylestown and Willow Grove turnpike, was opened in 1733 by Robert Jamison,
"overseer of the roads of Middlebury." The same year Benjamin Walton was
appointed constable for Middlebury, and Robert Jamison supervisor of
highways. At the October sessions, 1727, William Miller was appointed
overseer of the York road between the two branches of the Neshaminy, from the
bridge above Hartsville to Bridge Valley. The petitions for the organization
of the township belonged to the first generation of actual settlers, or their
immediate descendants, and the names remain in this and neighboring townships.
The population at that time cannot be given, but at the first enumeration of
taxables that we have seen, made in 1759, when the township embraced a much
larger area that at present, they numbered 138. Before it lost any of its
territory it contained 11,883 acres. Its present area is 10,731 acres. Since
Doylestown township was organized there has been one or two immaterial
changes in its territorial limits.
Jamison is interchangeable with Jemison, Jameson or Jemyson
From JamisonsForever.com:
Came to America in 1718, landed at Boston, Mass. where he and his second wife Roseanna Irvin lived for one year. In 1719, they settled in Voluntown, Windsor County, Connecticut.
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Emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts and arrived on 4 August 1718 with his family and brother William and William's family. 1719 John and family moved to Milton, Norfork County, Massachusetts. John bought land in Voluntown, Connecticut in 1725 and moved there with his family. He presumably engaged in his trade , which was the manufacture of linen by the use of a hand loom, or spinning wheel.
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1. Title: Founders & Patiorts, Volume 3, Nos. 2815-3999, Register 1896-1993
Media: Book
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Via JamisonsForever.com
1. Title: World Family Tree Vol. 40, Ed. 1
Author: The Learning Company, Inc.
Publication: Release date: September 1999
Media: Family Archive CD
Page: Tree #0585
Text: Date of Import: Mar 5, 2000
2. Title: World Family Tree Vol. 32 (Disk #2), Ed. 1
Author: The Learning Company, Inc.
Publication: Release date: January 11, 1999
Media: Family Archive CD
Page: Tree #0264
Text: Date of Import: Mar 27, 2000
Plot: Lot 267
Plot: The Abbey Mausoleum, Section Y, next to Column 35
GPS (lat/lon): 35.09488, -90.02452
"Kitty Wells":
Singer, Songwriter. Born Ellen Muriel Deason, her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts. She recorded the song just as she was intending to retire from the business to devote herself to her family full time. She learned to play the guitar at 14 and made her singing debut on the radio in 1936, appearing on some of the biggest radio hoedowns of the day, including "Louisiana Hayride" and the weekly Grand Ole Opry broadcast. Her husband, Johnnie Wright, who she married in 1937, suggested that she adopt the stage name Kitty Wells, drawn from an old folk ballad. Wells recorded for RCA Victor in 1949, but all of her major hits were made after that for the Decca label and several of her early records were duets with country stars like Red Foley and Webb Pierce. During her 27-year recording career she placed 84 singles on the country charts, 38 of them in the Top 10, earning her the title "The Queen of Country Music". She had her own syndicated television show in 1968 and made a country-rock album with members of the Allman Brothers and the Marshall Tucker Band in 1974. She was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1976, and was presented the lifetime achievement award by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in 1991, becoming only the third country musician to receive that honor. She died at her home from complications of a stroke. (bio by: Louis Mata)
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Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American country music singer who broke down a female barrier in country music. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star. Her Top 10 hits continued until the mid-1960s, inspiring a long list of female country singers who came to prominence in the 1960s.
Wells ranks as the sixth most successful female vocalist in the history of Billboard's country charts, according to historian Joel Whitburn's book The Top 40 Country Hits, behind Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire, Tammy Wynette, and Tanya Tucker. In 1976, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1991, she became the third country music artist, after Roy Acuff and Hank Williams, and the eighth woman to receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Wells' accomplishments earned her the nickname Queen of Country Music.
Early lifeWells was born Ellen Muriel Deason in 1919 in Nashville, Tennessee, one of the few country singers born in Nashville.[2] She began singing as a child, learning guitar from her father, who was a brakeman on the Tennessee Central Railroad. Her father, Charles, and his brother were musicians and her mother, Myrtle, was a gospel singer. As a teenager, she sang with her sisters, who performed under the name the Deason Sisters on a local radio station beginning in 1936.
At the age of 18 she married Johnnie Wright, a cabinet-maker who aspired to country-music stardom (which he'd eventually achieve as half of the duo Johnnie & Jack).
Music careerWells sang with Wright and his sister Louise Wright; the three toured as Johnnie Right and the Harmony Girls. Soon Wright met Jack Anglin, who married Louise and became part of the band, which became known first as the Tennessee Hillbillies and then the Tennessee Mountain Boys.
Wright and Wells performed as a duo; it was at this time she adopted "Kitty Wells" as her stage name. Johnnie Wright chose the name from a folk song called "Sweet Kitty Wells". When Anglin returned from the Army, he and Wright formed the Johnnie & Jack duo. Wells would tour with the pair, occasionally performing backup vocals. Before Wells' rise to stardom with "Honky Tonk Angels", Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys toured with Wright and Wells for a time. Acuff advised Wright not to make his wife his show's headliner, because he thought women could not sell country music records.
On Louisiana Hayride, she performed with her husband's duo. Wells, however, did not sing on their records until signing with RCA Victor in 1949 releasing some of her first singles, including "Death At The Bar" and "Don't Wait For The Last Minute To Pray", neither of which charted. While these early records gained some notice, promoters still weren't keen on promoting female singers, and therefore Wells was dropped from the label in 1950.
1952:
"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"In 1952, Paul Cohen, an executive at Decca Records, approached Wells to record "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels". Wells was disenchanted with her career prospects and was considering retirement, but agreed to the session (at Owen Bradley’s studio on May 3, 1952) because of the $125 union scale recording payment. "I wasn't expecting to make a hit," said Wells later. "I just thought it was another song."[3] "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" was an answer song to Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side of Life", and its lyrical treatment of seductive, wayward women. Wells' single retorted, "It's a shame that all the blame is on us women."
The record's message was controversial at the time, and was banned by many radio stations. NBC, in particular, was troubled by the lyric, "It brings back memories of when I was a trustful wife". Wells' slight alteration of "trustful" to "trusting" lifted the network ban on the song. It was also temporarily banned from the Grand Ole Opry. Nevertheless, audiences couldn’t get enough of it. The single took off during the summer of 1952, and sold more than 800,000 copies in its initial release. It became the first single by a female singer to peak at No. 1 in the eight-year history of the country music chart, where it remained for six weeks. (Certain female country songs, notably Patsy Montana's million-selling "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" predate the creation of Billboard's country chart in 1944.) "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" also crossed over to Billboard’s pop charts, hitting No. 27. Because of her major breakthrough, Wells received a membership to the Grand Ole Opry, which had originally banned the single.
Writer Bill Friskics-Warren has argued that part of the song's appeal came from its combination of a modern message with a familiar tune, a melody drawn from the Carter Family's "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" (as were "The Wild Side of Life" and Roy Acuff's "The Great Speckled Bird"). Practically anyone could hum along with "Angels" the first time they heard it.
1969: Career peak
Ad featuring Kitty Wells and husband Johnnie Wright's first joint album, We'll Stick Together"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" was followed by "Paying For That Back Street Affair", a response to Webb Pierce's "Back Street Affair". The single reached number six in the spring of 1953, helping to establish a lasting place at the top of the charts for Wells. Between 1953 and 1955, she was popular on the country charts, and was the only female solo artist at the time to be able to maintain her success. In 1953, Wells had two Top 10 hits with "Hey Joe" and "Cheatin's A Sin". The next year, Wells partnered with country star Red Foley for the duet "One By One", which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart, and became her second chart-topper. The song led to a string of hit singles from the duo within the next two decades, including 1954's "As Long as I Live", which peaked at No. 3. As a solo artist in 1954, Wells had two major hits with the No. 8 "Release Me" and the Top 15 hit, "Thou Shalt Not Steal" (written by Don Everly of the Everly Brothers).
Record companies were reluctant to issue albums by country's female artists until Wells proved that women could sell.[13] She became the first female country singer to issue an LP, starting with 1956's Kitty Wells' Country Hit Parade, which consisted of her biggest hits. She released her first studio album in 1957 with Winner of Your Heart. Soon other female country singers released LPs in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
"Making Believe" and "Lonely Side of Town" became chart-toppers for Wells, however not on Billboard magazine. "Making Believe" is widely regarded as one of the greatest songs in country music history and Wells' as the definitive version of the song despite scores of covers over the years. Wells' later 1950s releases included "Searching (For Someone Like You)", "I Can't Stop Loving You", and "Amigo's Guitar", which she wrote with John D. Loudermilk. In 1957, Wells issued Winner of Your Heart. This was followed by a string of LPs released from Decca Records between 1957 and 1973. She also partnered with Webb Pierce the same year for two duet singles, including the Top 10 hit, "Oh So Many Years". The duo didn't record together again until 1964 with the Top 10 hit, "Finally". In 1959, Wells had two Top 5 hits with "Amigo's Guitar" and "Mommy For A Day". Wells was later awarded a BMI award for writing "Amigo's Guitar." Although not known much for her songwriting, Wells has won two BMI awards, including one for "Amigo's Guitar". She has published more than 60 songs.
Wells' 1956 LP album, Country Hit Parade. She was the first female country singer to release an LP of her own.She continued to put much of herself into her songs throughout her career, inspiring other female country singers to record risky material as well. Loretta Lynn was one of her followers in this sense, when she recorded "Don't Come A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)" in 1967. Dolly Parton's 1968 recording "Just Because I'm a Woman", like "Honky Tonk Angels", questioned the male-female double-standard.
Wells entered the 1960s on top with songs like "Heartbreak U.S.A." and "Day into Night". "Heartbreak USA" peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart and became her third and final No. 1 hit. The follow-up, "Day Into Night" was a Top 10 hit the same year. Owen Bradley took over as Wells' producer in the 1960s. While Bradley did produce some of the biggest-selling country crossover singers of the time period, including Patsy Cline, he did have to record some of what Nashville then called "The Old-Timers," or the "Honky-Tonkers" from the 1950s, including Webb Pierce, Ernest Tubb, and Wells. With these singers, including Wells, he steered them all into the new contemporary sound without pushing them out of their limits. Wells' sound changed slightly due to Bradley's influence, incorporating some of the new Nashville sound into her material. The well-known Nashville Sound vocal group, The Jordanaires, can be heard backing Wells on her big country hit from 1961, "Heartbreak USA".
In the early '60s, her career dipped slightly, but she continued to have Top Ten hits frequently.
In 1962, Wells had three Top 10 hits with "Will Your Lawyer Talk to God", "Unloved Wanted," and "We Missed You". Beginning in 1964, Wells' albums began to chart the Top Country Albums chart, starting with the LP, Especially for You. Some of Wells' albums peaked within the Top 10 on that chart. That same year, her singles began to return to the Top 10 with "This White Circle on My Finger" and "Password", both of which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Country Chart. In 1965, Wells had her last Top 10 hit with "Meanwhile, Down At Joe's" and in 1966, Wells then had her final Top 20 hit with "It's All Over But the Crying", which peaked at No. 14 on the country charts.
The Lonesome, Sad and Blue album (Decca, 1965) During the late '60s and '70s, Wells' streak of hits evaporated, but she managed to have a string of minor hits and remained a popular concert attraction. She continued with a string of Top 40 hits nearly until the end of the decade with her last Top 40 single, "My Big Truck Drivin' Man" in 1968. In 1968, Wells recorded a duet album with husband Johnnie Wright called, We'll Stick Together. Wells also reunited with Red Foley at the end of the decade for a studio album. Her albums continued to chart the Top Country Albums chart until 1969 with Guilty Street.
Wells was popular enough to start her own syndicated television program with her husband in 1969. The Kitty Wells/Johnnie Wright Family Show also featured appearances by their children, including actor Bobby Wright, and stayed on the air for several years. She became the first female country star to have her own syndicated television show, but the program could not compete against shows starring more contemporary male artists like Porter Wagoner and Bill Anderson and only ran for one year. Wells became the second female country singer to be elected (Patsy Cline was the first to be honored as a solo act in 1973). In the late 1970s, Wells and husband formed their own record label, Rubocca (the name was a composite of their three children's names: Ruby, Bobby, and Carol) and released several albums. In 1979, at age 60, she was back on the Billboard charts with a modest hit, "I Thank You for the Roses".
Despite her waning popularity, Wells remained a successful concert attraction at smaller venues throughout the country and was still performing on the summer resort circuit as late as the mid-1980s. In 1987, she joined fellow Opry legends Brenda Lee and Loretta Lynn on k.d. lang's "Honky Tonk Angels Medley", nominated for a Grammy award in 1989. Wells' 1955 recording "Making Believe" was included in the soundtrack of the film Mississippi Burning.
In 1991, Wells was awarded from the Grammy Awards a Lifetime Achievement award. She, along with Johnnie and Bobby, joined producers Randall Franks and Alan Autry for the In the Heat of the Night CD “Christmas Time’s A Comin’” performing "Jingle Bells" with the cast on the CD released on Sonlite and MGM/UA for one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers. In 1993, Wells appeared on Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette's collabotation, Honky Tonk Angels, joining in on their recording of the title track.
Wells and her husband opened the Family Country Junction Museum and Studio in 1983 in their hometown of Madison, but stopped running it on their own in 2000. Their grandson, John Sturdivant, Jr. has kept the Junction Recording Studio at its present location which also houses Junction Records and Music Entertainment.[19] Wells and her husband-singing partner of 53 years performed their final show together on December 31, 2000 at the Nashville Nightlife Theater; they had announced their retirement earlier that year.
Wells was ranked No. 15 on CMT's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music in 2002.
An exhibit honoring Wells at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville ran from August 2008 through June 2009.[20][21] On May 14, 2008, Wells' "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" was added to the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress, along with Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman".
Personal life
Wells married Johnnie Wright (1914–2011) in 1937. They had three children: two daughters, Ruby ((1939-10-27)October 27, 1939–September 27, 2009(2009-09-27) (aged 69))[22] and Carol Sue( (1941-06-12) June 12, 1941 (age 71)) and a son, Bobby( (1942-03-30) March 30, 1942 (age 70)). In addition, Wells has five siblings: Jewel, William, Orville, Raymond, and Mae. Her parents were Charles Cary and Myrtle Deason. She and Johnnie also have 8 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren and 5 great-great grandchildren. She was also a fantastic cook and learned this skill from her mother Myrtle. Johnnie died 33 days before their 74th wedding anniversary.
Carol Sue released a single with Wells in the mid-'50s titled "How Far Is Heaven", which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Country Chart. Wells' other children have both had tries as country music singers, but neither had any bigger success. Ruby recorded an album for the Kapp label, while Bobby recorded albums for both Decca and ABC Dot. Wells and her husband – lifelong members of the Church of Christ - celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in 2007, a rare achievement for any couple and one of the longest celebrity marriages in history. Ruby died in 2009 at the age of 69 and Johnnie died in 2011 at the age of 97.
Death
Kitty Wells died on July 16, 2012 in Madison, Tennessee, from complications of a stroke. She was 92.
Honors
NARAS Governor's Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Recording Industry (1981)
Academy of Country Music's Pioneer Award (1985)
NARAS Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1991)
The Music City News Living Legend Award (1993)
Country Music Pioneer
(May 13, 1914 ~ Sep. 27, 2011)
Johnnie Wright is not a household name in the country music arena even though he was in the music business 67 years. However, there was a time when his name was widely recognized as a singer who made significant contributions as a solo artist, as a member of the innovative duo Johnnie & Jack and most famously, as the lifelong partner to the Queen of Country Music, Kitty Wells.
From the time Johnnie married 18-year-old Muriel Deason in 1937, he was an integral part of her career. Wright gave Deason the stage name "Kitty Wells" and he brought her the landmark hit, It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels. When Johnnie and Kitty teamed up, they became one of the most sought after performing duo teams in country music.
Johnnie Wright was born in Mount Juliet, Tennessee (TN) and raised in Nashville, TN. A banjo and fiddle player, he'd been kicking around the barn dance circuit since the early-1930s. In 1938, Johnnie teamed up with Jack Anglin in a duo called Johnnie & Jack and the Tennessee Mountain Boys. They became brothers-in-law When Jack married Johnnie's sister, Louise. Kitty Wells joined the group in 1948.
Anglin was drafted during World War II, which temporally halted the singing team. By 1948, Johnnie & Jack were back in action, headlining the Louisiana Hayride (1948 – 1952). Though she sang on the Hayride, Kitty didn't sing on their records until they came under contract with RCA Records.
In 1949, Johnnie & Jack begin recording in Nashville with RCA Records. Two years later, they charted the singles, Poison Love (No. 4, 1951), Cryin' Heart Blues (No. 5, 1951) and followed with Three Ways of Knowing (No. 7, 1952). One of their most popular recordings during this period, Ashes of Love, did not make it onto the Billboard chart.
During this time, they moved from performing on the Louisiana Hayride to the Grand Ole Opry, where they remained for 15 years. The duo scored their only No. 1 hit in 1954 with a single titled, (Oh Baby Mine) I Get So Lonely. During the next four years, Johnny & Jack charted four more top-10 singles. The duo ended when Jack Anglin was killed (Mar. 8, 1963) in an automobile crash en route to Patsy Cline's memorial service.
Johnnie became a solo recording artist with Decca Records (1964 – 1968) and over the next four years, he charted a dozen hits, including his only No. 1 single, Hello Vietnam(1965). In 1968, Wright had a minor chart single with Kitty Wells, titled We'll Stick Together. They following year, Johnnie and Kitty formed the popular Kitty Wells/Johnnie Wright Family Show. Around that time, they recorded a couple of gospel albums and their act became a mixture of country and gospel music.
On December 31, 2000, the duo performed their farewell concert at the Nashville Nightlife Theater in Nashville, Tennessee., TN They played to a full house of fans, family and friends. Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells stuck together not only professionally, but as man and wife for nearly eight decades. The couple's 74th anniversary would have been Oct. 30, 2011.
Family links:
Spouse:
Kitty Wells (1919 - 2012)*
Children:
Ruby Wright Taylor (1939 - 2009)*
Country Music Pioneer
(May 13, 1914 ~ Sep. 27, 2011)
Johnnie Wright is not a household name in the country music arena even though he was in the music business 67 years. However, there was a time when his name was widely recognized as a singer who made significant contributions as a solo artist, as a member of the innovative duo Johnnie & Jack and most famously, as the lifelong partner to the Queen of Country Music, Kitty Wells.
From the time Johnnie married 18-year-old Muriel Deason in 1937, he was an integral part of her career. Wright gave Deason the stage name "Kitty Wells" and he brought her the landmark hit, It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels. When Johnnie and Kitty teamed up, they became one of the most sought after performing duo teams in country music.
Johnnie Wright was born in Mount Juliet, Tennessee (TN) and raised in Nashville, TN. A banjo and fiddle player, he'd been kicking around the barn dance circuit since the early-1930s. In 1938, Johnnie teamed up with Jack Anglin in a duo called Johnnie & Jack and the Tennessee Mountain Boys. They became brothers-in-law When Jack married Johnnie's sister, Louise. Kitty Wells joined the group in 1948.
Anglin was drafted during World War II, which temporally halted the singing team. By 1948, Johnnie & Jack were back in action, headlining the Louisiana Hayride (1948 – 1952). Though she sang on the Hayride, Kitty didn't sing on their records until they came under contract with RCA Records.
In 1949, Johnnie & Jack begin recording in Nashville with RCA Records. Two years later, they charted the singles, Poison Love (No. 4, 1951), Cryin' Heart Blues (No. 5, 1951) and followed with Three Ways of Knowing (No. 7, 1952). One of their most popular recordings during this period, Ashes of Love, did not make it onto the Billboard chart.
During this time, they moved from performing on the Louisiana Hayride to the Grand Ole Opry, where they remained for 15 years. The duo scored their only No. 1 hit in 1954 with a single titled, (Oh Baby Mine) I Get So Lonely. During the next four years, Johnny & Jack charted four more top-10 singles. The duo ended when Jack Anglin was killed (Mar. 8, 1963) in an automobile crash en route to Patsy Cline's memorial service.
Johnnie became a solo recording artist with Decca Records (1964 – 1968) and over the next four years, he charted a dozen hits, including his only No. 1 single, Hello Vietnam(1965). In 1968, Wright had a minor chart single with Kitty Wells, titled We'll Stick Together. They following year, Johnnie and Kitty formed the popular Kitty Wells/Johnnie Wright Family Show. Around that time, they recorded a couple of gospel albums and their act became a mixture of country and gospel music.
On December 31, 2000, the duo performed their farewell concert at the Nashville Nightlife Theater in Nashville, Tennessee., TN They played to a full house of fans, family and friends. Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells stuck together not only professionally, but as man and wife for nearly eight decades. The couple's 74th anniversary would have been Oct. 30, 2011.
Family links:
Spouse:
Kitty Wells (1919 - 2012)*
Children:
Ruby Wright Taylor (1939 - 2009)*
Ruby Wright, daughter of Johnny Wright and country legend Kitty Wells, was found dead on Sunday (Sept. 28) in her Madison, Tenn., apartment. According to Nashville's Tennessean newspaper, the 70-year-old singer had been struggling with heart problems for several years.
Ruby was a fixture on the 'Kitty Wells/Johnny Wright Family Show' television series, which ran from 1969 through the early '70s. Branching out from her famous family, she recorded under the name Ruby Wells, as a part of the trio Nita, Rita and Ruby. And as a solo artist, she was best known for her her songs 'Billy Broke My Heart at Walgreens' and 'Dern Ya,' which was her answer to Roger Miller's 'Dang Me.'
Ruby, who had retired from singing, was last seen publicly at her mother's 90th birthday party at Nashville's Texas Troubadour Theater. Kitty Wells is, of course, known as the Queen of Country Music. She was the first female ever to top the country charts, with her 1952 hit, 'It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.'
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Ruby Wright (October 27, 1939 – September 27, 2009) was an American country music singer-songwriter. Wright was the daughter of country singers Kitty Wells and Johnnie Wright. She sang with her parents as a young girl and at age 13, was signed by RCA Records as Ruby Wells because there was also a Ruby Wright who was a pop singer.
In the mid-1950s, she became part of an all-girl trio, Nita, Rita and Ruby. The Nita of the trio was Anita Carter of the well-known Carter Family. Working with Chet Atkins, the young singers enjoyed some success on record. Strictly a recording group, they did not make personal appearances or tours; Rita had a problem with stage fright which eventually meant the break-up of the trio. After the trio disbanded, Ruby began singing with her sister, Carol Sue, as The Wright Sisters. They were signed to a recording contract by Cadence Records also under the direction of Chet Atkins. Ruby also made some recordings as Ruby Wells with her father and uncle as Johnnie and Jack and Ruby. Her most successful single was "Dern Ya", an answer to Roger Miller's "Dang Me." She signed with Epic Records in 1966. Wright recorded for Plantation Records and Scorpion Records, as well as other small labels during the 1970s.
Wright died of heart-related illness on September 27, 2009, a month before her 70th birthday. She was survived by her parents, Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells; son, Larry Stephenson; daughters, Kitty Ervin and Corrie (Brad) Cluck; brother, Bobby Wright; sister, Carol Sue Sturdivant; 3 grandchildren, Kourtney Wingert, Kaitlin Ervin and Brandon Ervin; great-grandchildren, Max Wingert and Aaron Key. Her father, Johnnie, died on September 27, 2011, exactly two years after Ruby's death.
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Resided in Bruceton, Carroll County, Tennessee in 1970
Resided in Wildersville, Henderson County, Tennessee in 1920.
No children were produced from this marriage.
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