Sadie Rosa Pressley was born in 1904 probably in Henderson County where her mother grew up, the Robert Qualls family lived on a farm at/near Horse Shoe. There is no marriage for her mother Annie M Qualls until 1906 to Claude Ervin Pressley so her father is unknown. In 1910 the Pressley family were living in Hendersonville, NC where Claude was working at a lime kiln, but by April 1912 they were in Asheville where Claude was driving a team of horses for a man named Wade Foster when Claude was killed by another wagoner named Mack Napp. According to newspaper-reported testimony of the inquest, Sadie's parents had been arguing about 2am after Claude came in late & Claude left the house again & went back to the wagon yard drunk where he was pestering Mack Napp for whiskey. Mack Napp was never charged for the attack though the inquest interviews had ample secondhand testimony that Claude had been struck in the head with a hatchet by Napp after a long drunken argument over whiskey and was bleeding profusely, but since he did not die on the spot & was talking & walking & his body was later found miles away, they never arrested Napp. Testimony said Napp had possibly removed Claude's body to Arden in the southern part of Buncombe County & left him beside the railroad ties where he was later found & believed to have fallen from or hit by a moving train, but that was never proven. His wife Annie Qualls - Pressley filed a suit against the railroad & the insurance company over his death for $1000 insurance. So at age 8, Sadie lost her only father figure & the family became indigent.
Sadie's mother Annie remarried a few months later in Nov 1912 to a local man named Talmage Allison, the newspaper in Asheville says that the month before their marriage both were arrested in a house of ill repute as suspects in running the house with another woman named Etta Knight; they were acquitted. Annie was arrested again in May 1915 for selling bootleg whiskey, and during the time she was in jail for this, her 2nd husband molested his stepdaughter Sadie Pressley who was then 11 yrs old, for which he was caught & charged in Sept 1915, but he was never convicted due to Sadie's refusing to testify at the last hearing. The physical & testimonial evidence was said to be "overwhelming" especially after Sadie testified on the stand in the first hearing, but after her mother Annie got out of jail, Sadie refused to testify further, and the court stated they could not force Annie to testify against her husband & therefore the case had to be dropped.
Sadie's stepfather Talmage Allison was already well-known to the local Asheville police, having been reported as being arrested first in 1910 when he was 16, right after his mother died. Talmage was arrested several more times during the next seven years for 'larceny', 'trespassing' and 'highway robbery', escaping from the chain gang at least twice. On 31 January 1917, the final Asheville newspaper report said Talmage had again escaped a 2nd time from the 'road gang' with another man named Joe Burnett, and this time he disappeared for good from Asheville, perhaps going with Annie to Greenville, SC where Annie & her oldest child George were listed as Pressley's working in the Monaghan Mill area of Greenville in 1917. They were still there in 1920, Sadie & her older brother George were listed with Annie in Greenville in 1920 but not Talmage, Annie had returned to her married name of Allison by then & stated she was still married. On 6 June 1917, the war board had reported that Talmage Allison had joined the John Robinson Circus out of Amsterdam, NY, he stated he was from Asheville, NC & gave his mother's street address but not the city. Then he disappears from records. Ancestry family trees state that Talmage changed his name before 1922 when he married again in Chattanooga, TN under the name John Harrison.
Sadie's mother Annie also remarried sometime in the 1920's probably in South Carolina to Frank Pickens Dean of Edgefield, SC, a widower and farmer about 15 yrs older than Annie, they are together on the 1930 census in Laurens, Sadie is listed in their household as Rosa Pressley 26 Single Step-daughter working in the Cotton Mill, her older brother George Pressley was married & living nearby.
In 1939, Sadie's mother Annie died in a Columbia Hospital, her son George Pressley of Goldville, SC was the informant.
Sadie evidently never married according to her death certificate, she was staying in the Laurens County Home in 1951 when she died of complications from diabetes & was buried in the Potters Field. The certificate does not list her parents, the informant was evidently someone at the County Home or hospital who did not know her well.
Contributor Jeni (#47773508)
Sadie's mother Annie remarried a few months later in Nov 1912 to a local man named Talmage Allison, the newspaper in Asheville says that the month before their marriage both were arrested in a house of ill repute as suspects in running the house with another woman named Etta Knight; they were acquitted. Annie was arrested again in May 1915 for selling bootleg whiskey, and during the time she was in jail for this, her 2nd husband molested his stepdaughter Sadie Pressley who was then 11 yrs old, for which he was caught & charged in Sept 1915, but he was never convicted due to Sadie's refusing to testify at the last hearing. The physical & testimonial evidence was said to be "overwhelming" especially after Sadie testified on the stand in the first hearing, but after her mother Annie got out of jail, Sadie refused to testify further, and the court stated they could not force Annie to testify against her husband & therefore the case had to be dropped.
Sadie's stepfather Talmage Allison was already well-known to the local Asheville police, having been reported as being arrested first in 1910 when he was 16, right after his mother died. Talmage was arrested several more times during the next seven years for 'larceny', 'trespassing' and 'highway robbery', escaping from the chain gang at least twice. On 31 January 1917, the final Asheville newspaper report said Talmage had again escaped a 2nd time from the 'road gang' with another man named Joe Burnett, and this time he disappeared for good from Asheville, perhaps going with Annie to Greenville, SC where Annie & her oldest child George were listed as Pressley's working in the Monaghan Mill area of Greenville in 1917. They were still there in 1920, Sadie & her older brother George were listed with Annie in Greenville in 1920 but not Talmage, Annie had returned to her married name of Allison by then & stated she was still married. On 6 June 1917, the war board had reported that Talmage Allison had joined the John Robinson Circus out of Amsterdam, NY, he stated he was from Asheville, NC & gave his mother's street address but not the city. Then he disappears from records. Ancestry family trees state that Talmage changed his name before 1922 when he married again in Chattanooga, TN under the name John Harrison.
Sadie's mother Annie also remarried sometime in the 1920's probably in South Carolina to Frank Pickens Dean of Edgefield, SC, a widower and farmer about 15 yrs older than Annie, they are together on the 1930 census in Laurens, Sadie is listed in their household as Rosa Pressley 26 Single Step-daughter working in the Cotton Mill, her older brother George Pressley was married & living nearby.
In 1939, Sadie's mother Annie died in a Columbia Hospital, her son George Pressley of Goldville, SC was the informant.
Sadie evidently never married according to her death certificate, she was staying in the Laurens County Home in 1951 when she died of complications from diabetes & was buried in the Potters Field. The certificate does not list her parents, the informant was evidently someone at the County Home or hospital who did not know her well.
Contributor Jeni (#47773508)
Sadie Rosa Pressley was born in 1904 probably in Henderson County where her mother grew up, the Robert Qualls family lived on a farm at/near Horse Shoe. There is no marriage for her mother Annie M Qualls until 1906 to Claude Ervin Pressley so her father is unknown. In 1910 the Pressley family were living in Hendersonville, NC where Claude was working at a lime kiln, but by April 1912 they were in Asheville where Claude was driving a team of horses for a man named Wade Foster when Claude was killed by another wagoner named Mack Napp. According to newspaper-reported testimony of the inquest, Sadie's parents had been arguing about 2am after Claude came in late & Claude left the house again & went back to the wagon yard drunk where he was pestering Mack Napp for whiskey. Mack Napp was never charged for the attack though the inquest interviews had ample secondhand testimony that Claude had been struck in the head with a hatchet by Napp after a long drunken argument over whiskey and was bleeding profusely, but since he did not die on the spot & was talking & walking & his body was later found miles away, they never arrested Napp. Testimony said Napp had possibly removed Claude's body to Arden in the southern part of Buncombe County & left him beside the railroad ties where he was later found & believed to have fallen from or hit by a moving train, but that was never proven. His wife Annie Qualls - Pressley filed a suit against the railroad & the insurance company over his death for $1000 insurance. So at age 8, Sadie lost her only father figure & the family became indigent.
Sadie's mother Annie remarried a few months later in Nov 1912 to a local man named Talmage Allison, the newspaper in Asheville says that the month before their marriage both were arrested in a house of ill repute as suspects in running the house with another woman named Etta Knight; they were acquitted. Annie was arrested again in May 1915 for selling bootleg whiskey, and during the time she was in jail for this, her 2nd husband molested his stepdaughter Sadie Pressley who was then 11 yrs old, for which he was caught & charged in Sept 1915, but he was never convicted due to Sadie's refusing to testify at the last hearing. The physical & testimonial evidence was said to be "overwhelming" especially after Sadie testified on the stand in the first hearing, but after her mother Annie got out of jail, Sadie refused to testify further, and the court stated they could not force Annie to testify against her husband & therefore the case had to be dropped.
Sadie's stepfather Talmage Allison was already well-known to the local Asheville police, having been reported as being arrested first in 1910 when he was 16, right after his mother died. Talmage was arrested several more times during the next seven years for 'larceny', 'trespassing' and 'highway robbery', escaping from the chain gang at least twice. On 31 January 1917, the final Asheville newspaper report said Talmage had again escaped a 2nd time from the 'road gang' with another man named Joe Burnett, and this time he disappeared for good from Asheville, perhaps going with Annie to Greenville, SC where Annie & her oldest child George were listed as Pressley's working in the Monaghan Mill area of Greenville in 1917. They were still there in 1920, Sadie & her older brother George were listed with Annie in Greenville in 1920 but not Talmage, Annie had returned to her married name of Allison by then & stated she was still married. On 6 June 1917, the war board had reported that Talmage Allison had joined the John Robinson Circus out of Amsterdam, NY, he stated he was from Asheville, NC & gave his mother's street address but not the city. Then he disappears from records. Ancestry family trees state that Talmage changed his name before 1922 when he married again in Chattanooga, TN under the name John Harrison.
Sadie's mother Annie also remarried sometime in the 1920's probably in South Carolina to Frank Pickens Dean of Edgefield, SC, a widower and farmer about 15 yrs older than Annie, they are together on the 1930 census in Laurens, Sadie is listed in their household as Rosa Pressley 26 Single Step-daughter working in the Cotton Mill, her older brother George Pressley was married & living nearby.
In 1939, Sadie's mother Annie died in a Columbia Hospital, her son George Pressley of Goldville, SC was the informant.
Sadie evidently never married according to her death certificate, she was staying in the Laurens County Home in 1951 when she died of complications from diabetes & was buried in the Potters Field. The certificate does not list her parents, the informant was evidently someone at the County Home or hospital who did not know her well.
Contributor Jeni (#47773508)
Sadie's mother Annie remarried a few months later in Nov 1912 to a local man named Talmage Allison, the newspaper in Asheville says that the month before their marriage both were arrested in a house of ill repute as suspects in running the house with another woman named Etta Knight; they were acquitted. Annie was arrested again in May 1915 for selling bootleg whiskey, and during the time she was in jail for this, her 2nd husband molested his stepdaughter Sadie Pressley who was then 11 yrs old, for which he was caught & charged in Sept 1915, but he was never convicted due to Sadie's refusing to testify at the last hearing. The physical & testimonial evidence was said to be "overwhelming" especially after Sadie testified on the stand in the first hearing, but after her mother Annie got out of jail, Sadie refused to testify further, and the court stated they could not force Annie to testify against her husband & therefore the case had to be dropped.
Sadie's stepfather Talmage Allison was already well-known to the local Asheville police, having been reported as being arrested first in 1910 when he was 16, right after his mother died. Talmage was arrested several more times during the next seven years for 'larceny', 'trespassing' and 'highway robbery', escaping from the chain gang at least twice. On 31 January 1917, the final Asheville newspaper report said Talmage had again escaped a 2nd time from the 'road gang' with another man named Joe Burnett, and this time he disappeared for good from Asheville, perhaps going with Annie to Greenville, SC where Annie & her oldest child George were listed as Pressley's working in the Monaghan Mill area of Greenville in 1917. They were still there in 1920, Sadie & her older brother George were listed with Annie in Greenville in 1920 but not Talmage, Annie had returned to her married name of Allison by then & stated she was still married. On 6 June 1917, the war board had reported that Talmage Allison had joined the John Robinson Circus out of Amsterdam, NY, he stated he was from Asheville, NC & gave his mother's street address but not the city. Then he disappears from records. Ancestry family trees state that Talmage changed his name before 1922 when he married again in Chattanooga, TN under the name John Harrison.
Sadie's mother Annie also remarried sometime in the 1920's probably in South Carolina to Frank Pickens Dean of Edgefield, SC, a widower and farmer about 15 yrs older than Annie, they are together on the 1930 census in Laurens, Sadie is listed in their household as Rosa Pressley 26 Single Step-daughter working in the Cotton Mill, her older brother George Pressley was married & living nearby.
In 1939, Sadie's mother Annie died in a Columbia Hospital, her son George Pressley of Goldville, SC was the informant.
Sadie evidently never married according to her death certificate, she was staying in the Laurens County Home in 1951 when she died of complications from diabetes & was buried in the Potters Field. The certificate does not list her parents, the informant was evidently someone at the County Home or hospital who did not know her well.
Contributor Jeni (#47773508)
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