The Higdon Family Association, Inc.

Denton Higdon from North Carolina relates another wonderful story about one of his uncles.

On February 11, 2003 David Grayson Higdon turned 86 years young. Uncle Grayson is the 17th of 18 children of Thomas Bragg Higdon. Grayson is the only one surviving of all these children. His mother was Lula Shepherd Higdon, the third wife of Thomas Bragg Higdon.

Uncle Grayson is married to Dorothy Tally McKinney Higdon. Both reside at Franklin, North Carolina in the Higdonville community where he has lived all his 86 years. Uncle Grayson is a retired carpenter and a avid gardener. Also he is a WWII Veteran. He and his wife Dorothy can and freeze a variety of vegetables every summer.

Pictured are Uncle Grayson and my brother Samuel Ronnie Higdon from Memphis, TN, in the summer of 2002. As you can see Grayson has just returned from his garden.

Also attached is a picture of his can house which has been there as long as I can remember. Grayson was the oldest person present at the 2002 Maj. William Huffman Higdon Family Reunion, and the only surviving grandson.

Grayson is from the Higdon/Hoffman family line, whose many descendants have lived into their 90s. His parents were Thomas Bragg Higdon and Lula Shepherd.

These are Grayson's ancestors:

• Leonard Higdon born 1760 in Anson County, North Carolina, died 09-11-1837, married Susanna Harris 03-17-1791
• Leonard Higdon born 05-10-1795, died about 1860, married Eva Hoffman, 12-12-1815
• William Huffman Higdon born 09-14-1816, died 05-05-1903, married first wife Jane Buchanan 12-02-1837
• Thomas Bragg Higdon born 06-04-1855, died 02-03-1937, married third wife Lula Shepherd 03-26-1905

The children of Thomas Bragg Higdon and Lula Shepherd are:

• Tommy Higdon, b. April 16 1906, Macon County, North Carolina; d. January 17,1907, Macon County, North Carolina.
• Lewis Lefferts Higdon, b. March 22, 1907, Macon County, North Carolina; married Ila Edith Elliot, December 21, 1929; d. January 21, 1998.
• Paul Buchanan Higdon, b. January 19, 1909, Macon County, North Carolina; married Callie Jones, July 02, 1933; d. November 14, 2001, in Massachusetts.
• Theodore Warren Higdon, b. December 24, 1911, Macon County, North Carolina; married Pearl Coggins, August 05, 1939; d. September 14, 1985, Macon County, North Carolina.
• Thomas Bragg Higdon, b. March 13, 1914, Macon County, North Carolina; married Otelia Hasket, October 25,1932; d. August 06, 1991, Macon County, North Carolina.
• David Grayson Higdon, b. February 11, 1917, Macon County, North Carolina; married Dorothy Tally McKinney.
• Samuel Higdon, b. January 14, 1920, Macon County, North Carolina; married Stella Coggins: d. January 11, 1997. (Ronnie Higdon in the photograph above and Denton Higdon who sent in the photographs are sons of Samuel.)

At Home in Higdonville

On February 20, 2004, The Franklin Press ran almost two full pages on David Grayson Higdon. Grayson is the son of Thomas and Lula Shepherd Higdon, and he is the last living grandson of Major William Huffman (Hoffman) Higdon, who founded Higdonville, North Carolina, about 1860.

Here are few tidbits from the news article:

"When Grayson came of age he attended Higdonville School, which stood where the Higdonville Baptist Church is today. In his seven years at the school, Grayson never missed a single day--quite a feat for those days...His reward for perfect attendance was a shiny new silver dollar.

After seven years at Higdonville School, he caught a bus to the high school in town --until he came down with the measles. Grayson nearly went blind from the disease and it wasn't until two years later that his father bought him a pair of glasses so he could go back to school."

"...Thomas would not live to see Grayson graduate in the spring of 1938--the first in his family to complete an education. Thomas died Feb. 3 that same year."

"...After graduation, Grayson stayed on the homeplace, mining a little up the road and taking care of his mother." Grayson was among the first to be drafted from Macon County for World War II. He served in the Army a bit more than four years. "During his service in the Army, he was in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Belgium, just to name a few."

"Eventually, he came back to Higdonville to stay, living in the old nine-room homeplace, taking care of his mother until her death Nov. 25, 1976." Grayson bought the home and additional acreage. He tore down the old house and built a new one in its place for him and his wife Dorothy.

"And whatever happened to the silver dollar given to Grayson for perfect attendance?"

"In the 1950s, when the little school was being turned into Higdonville Baptist Church, Grayson...placed his silver dollar in the corner of the church to be safe always."

We thank Denton Higdon for sending the news article to the Higdon Family Association!