From the Blue Ridges to the Sandhills:
            The History of 4 North Carolina Families

The Ed Oakley
and Fannie Johnson
Family

Reba Grace Oakley was born April 1, 1912. She worked at Argonne Hosiery Mill, in Mount Airy. She stayed behind to work there when her family moved to the Sandhills. After she developed tuberculosis, she joined her family in Cameron and was treated for several years at the McCain sanatorium near Aberdeen. She died March 18, 1947 at the age of 34 and is buried at Rocky Fork Christian Church in Lee County. She is pictured at right, with an unidentified companion, about 1930.

Click Here for photographs of Reba
and members of the Snow family.

Ed Oakley remarried December 24, 1917, to Jessie Fannie Johnson.They are pictured above with their children in about 1935. Fannie and Ed lived on Franklin Road in Toast, opposite Calvary Baptist Church, which the family attended. Ed worked at Mount Airy Furniture Company. All their children were born in Surry County, and they lost at least three children while they lived there. The children's graves are at New Life Baptist Church in Pine Ridge.

In 1936 Ed and Fannie moved to Cameron, N.C., where they farmed tobacco until his death on June 7, 1956. Fannie then moved to Vass, where she lived until a stroke in about 1974. From that time, she lived at a nursing home in Pinehurst until her death on March 24, 1976. Their graves are at Rocky Fork.

Click Here for Quilts made by Fannie Johnson Oakley.

Ed and Fannie Oakley's Children:

William Rhoten Oakley was born July 13, 1919. According to his sister Hazel, he was given the name Rhoten after a work mate of his father. He attended Cameron High School, and he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He married Lelia Cameron (born January 9, 1921) on September 11, 1940. They farmed tobacco and raised nine children. Rhoten died July 26, 1988. Lelia died February 26, 1996. They are buried at Cameron Presbyterian Church.

Opal Marie Oakley was born February 2 or 4, 1922. She attended Cameron High School and married Burch Pilson (born April 17, 1912) in March of 1941. They farmed outside of Vass. They had nine children. Opal died April 4, 1983, and Burch died February 10, 1988. They were buried at Rocky Fork Christian Church, along with twin infant daughters (no date on stone) and one infant boy who was also a twin, named Ike.

Hazel Evelyn Oakley was born October 8, 1924. She graduated from Cameron High School in 1942. In 1942, she married Robert Lee Briggs of Cameron, the son of William F. and Mary Briggs. Robert was a member of the U. S. Army 38th Engineers Regiment, and he participated in the invasion of Utah Beach in Normandy on D-Day. He died there June 13, 1944 and was awarded the Purple Heart. He was buried at the American Cemetery in St. Laurent-sur-Mer, France. At the time of his death he had the rank of Sergeant. They had no children.

Hazel remarried on April 16, 1949, to Lewey Glenn Alexander of Vass, son of Frank and Loula Alexander. They had five children. Hazel attended Arnold Business College in Thomasville in 1959, but for most of her working years was a full-time homemaker. She was active in Our Saviours Lutheran Church in Welcome, N. C., where she served as church secretary. She died on June 25, 1978 and was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Lexington.

February 16, 1926, Fannie apparently miscarried and the child, a girl, was buried at New Life Baptist Church in the Pine Ridge community of Surry County. The tombstone reads only: Children of Ed and Fannie Oakley. According to one of their daughters, Fannie had two or three miscarriages.

Betty Ruth Oakley was born February 16, 1926. She is the blond child in the picture at right, with Rhoten, Hazel, and Opal. She had scarlet fever and developed diphtheria, from which she died on November 25, 1929. Her grave is also at New Life.

Ed and Fannie lost two more infants, both boys, on July 18, 1929, and May 27, 1933. Hazel remembered that a baby boy was stillborn when she and Bettie Ruth were both small children.

There are two surviving daughters.

Click Here for stories and more photographs of the Oakley family.

Sources for the History of Ed and Fannie Johnson Oakley:

Books:

Barrett, Lorna, Bride Index to Surry County Marriages 1853-1971, vol. II, J-Z.

Kallam, Lemuel, Survey Book of Surry County and Surrounding Areas, Vol. 6, "Franklin Primitive Baptist Church," p. 16.

Ernest H. Miller, Miller's Mount Airy, N.C. City Directory, Vol. 1, 1928-1929 (Asheville NC: Southern Directory Co., 1929) p. 198.

The Moore County Heritage Book Committee, Moore County Heritage Vol. 1 2005, (Waynesville NC: Walsworth Publishing Co., 2005) p. 30.

Vital Records:

Family Bible of Hazel Oakley Alexander.

Microfilm #C.092.62008, Surry County Marriage Licenses 1900-1961, Vol. Mc-R, Raleigh: Division of Archives and History.

Death Certificate of Maggie J. Oakley, Vol. 92, (Raleigh: NC State Archives) p. 131.

Death Certificate of Betty Ruth Oakley, Vol. 1337, 1909-1930, (Raleigh: NC State Archives) p. 096.

Military Records:

WWI Draft Registration Card of Ed Oakley, Roll1766031, Precinct #1, Mt. Airy, #48.

"The World War II Honor Roll," American Battle Monuments Commission, (n.d.), http://www.abmc.gov/search/wwii.php, accessed March 1, 2006.

Gravestones in the Following Cemeteries:

Rocky Fork Christian Church, Lee County NC.

Cameron Presbyterian Church, Cameron NC.

Franklin Primitive Baptist Church, Surry County NC.

New Life Baptist Church, Pine Ridge NC.

Obituaries:

"Reba G. Oakley," Raleigh News and Observer, (Raleigh, N.C.) March 19, 1947.

Oral History:

Interviews with members of the Oakley family, and personal recollections of the author.

From the Blue Ridges to the Sandhills: The History of 4 NC Families / Ed Oakley and Fannie Johnson Family
© 2001 by Glenda Alexander, updated May 2007        Standard copyright restrictions apply.