William Edmon Sutton (1925-1982)

This personal essay is intended to honor the memory of Edmon Sutton, my second cousin (Outlaw side). In the South, yesterday figures more prominently than today, which slightly edges out tomorrow, and land is forever. Also, blood trumps bonds based on other relationships, though to a lesser extent than in former times. Thus, this essay will be divided into three paragraphs, with the first two setting the time, the land, and the relationships. Then, I will enter a recollection of Edmon.

My great grandfather Jerry S. "Buck" Sutton (1863-1918) bought what became known as the Buck Sutton Old Home Place in 1885 from his brother-in-law Stephen M. Lewis. This place is in the 10th Land District of original Irwin County (then Lowdnes and now Berrien County), Georgia. Particularly, the property was west of the Allapacoochee Creek (now known as the Ten-mile Creek) in Lot 222 mostly and Lot 193. Twenty years later, my great grandfather Samuel W. Watson (1863-1925) bought his adjoining place in Lot 223--all of which formerly was owned by my 3d great grandfather John E. Connell--and Lot 192 from Lewis. The properties were bounded on the north by land that at one time belonged to Grandpa Sutton's distant cousin, T.H.T. Sutton (1862-1927); from him, it passed to his daughter and son-in-law Joseph D. Holland (1874-1953) and then sold to Ellison Hendley. Properties to the south were owned at one time by my grandfather L.G. Outlaw (1873-1918) (part bought and part indirectly inherited from Stephen Lewis, his first wife's father), and by his brother Joseph N. Outlaw (1882-1963), the spouse of my great aunt, Bertha nee Watson (1889-1978.) All the land owned by my great grandfather Buck Sutton, the vast majority of the land owned by my grandfather L.G. Outlaw, and more than half of the land owned by my great grandfather Samuel W. Watson is in the hands of heirs. As a means of supporting my interest in this part of the world, I note that I am the current steward of the Buck Sutton Old Homeplace and an adjoining part of the Samuel W. Watson Place and call this place the W.H. Outlaw Farm, after my father.

On the east side of the creek, joining the Buck Sutton Old Home Place and also in Lot 222, another of Grandpa Buck's cousins lived. Charlie E. Sutton (1875-1960) was the husband of Elzie nee Outlaw (1873-1944), grandpa L.G. Outlaw's sister. Aunt Elzie died before I was born and I only remember Uncle Charlie as an old man. Thus, in my lifetime, their only child Mark Sutton (1897-1967) and his spouse Lizzie McKinnon Sutton (1901-1959) controlled and at least in the end owned the two farming units (one where Mark lived and a second where a tenant farmer, Joe Cribb, lived). To summarize, Daddy and his first cousin Mark grew up across the creek from each other; Daddy also lived on his daddy's homeplace in Lot 237 (which joins Lot 223). Mark and Lizzie had one daughter, Mildred, and two sons, Williard and Edmon. The boys were born in 1923 and 1925, the same years as Mama's brothers, Sam and Herbert (who grew up on the nearby Sam Watson Home Place). In those days, the sexes were segregated to some extent. Women didn't hang out in the barber shop or spend endless hours in country stores and were out of sight when animals were to be marked. On the other hand, men didn't take much interest in making Sunday dinner and so forth. So, I didn't know Mildred too well. Willard made a career of the service and I didn't know him so well, either. Fortunately, I did get to know Edmon since neighbors were back and forth in those days.

Now that I have placed Edmon, I will address his character with the assumption that less is more--the truer the statement, the less documentation is required. He was a good man, community spirited, and deserved, but was also lucky, to find an equally good spouse, Norma nee Tyson. Neither spoke poorly of others and were humble. There are many ways to contribute to one's community, but none of a higher calling than helping youth grow up. I have always enjoyed the out-of-doors and in Edmon, I found a willing mentor. Oh, boy, did he enjoy coon hunting (back then, it was not considered tresspassing if one went on another's land to kill coons or possums). As yesterday, I remember sitting by the creek on what was then a road spur just north of Hiway 168 and a small fire with Edmon and Sam. I don't really know whether he knew each dog's voice--he had a passle--or whether he really could tell whether they had treed a coon or possum (a dog treeing a possum was not all that much better than a dog that treed a house cat). . . . but, it seemed like he could. Once the dogs treed, then it was into the woods. Edmon carried a dim flashlight and an axe and I went along ripping the smilax vines and vice versa. Once we arrived at the tree, Edmon methodically replaced his old batteries with fresher ones to search the tree. When he was satisfied, he changed back to his old batteries and cut the tree down. Out of date now, watching the dogs attack a raccoon that did not die passively was an adrenaline rush for a young boy! On one occasion, Edmon took several of us boys coon hunting. (From time-to-time a group of us boys would camp out at the farmhouse and Edmon went there to meet us.) Wild and free. Times have changed in many ways, but Edmon's attention to youth is one reason we didn't get into serious trouble.

Edmon was a member of the Great Generation, an Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class. His portraits are below.

Last edit 2012-08-09.

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