Effie Turner: Forever young at heart
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Born in 1906 to Tolbert B. and Mary Abigil Belcher Bailey, she had one older brother, the late William Schuyler Bailey. The children were raised in the Blues Hill area of Warren County, where their father operated a general store on property known as the Arnett place. Effie recalls that all the children loved to come to the store because no child left without a small brown paper bag containing candy, especially at Christmas.
Since there were very few automobiles in the early 1900s, the Bailey family traveled by horse drawn buggies to attend church revival meetings and community social events. Friends and neighbors were as close as family. They all came together to celebrate weddings and to lend support during times of sorrow.
Effie recalls young men leaving for World War I. Charlie Blair, who lived with the Bailey family and helped with the farming, received orders to report for duty, going to France. Blair and his siblings all went back to their father’s home to be together the last night before he left. He told his family that he would never return from the war. And he did not return.
Retired school teacher Susan Blair Bailey, known as “Granny” Bailey, also resided in the Bailey household. She remembered first hand, soldiers coming to her father’s home and the things taken from them during the Civil War.
The Baileys moved to Centertown when Effie was a teen-ager. She attended high school at what is now the Franklin Blue Building. Like many of her friends, she gained employment at the hosiery mill, and the family moved into town with her. In October of 1923, her mother died at the age of 46.
Effie and George W. Narramore of Rockwood were married in December 1923. Both worked mostly in hosiery mills in Tennessee and Georgia. George had grown up in a gospel singing family, and he sang with a touring group who performed at churches and schools. He formed the McMinnville Quartet with Everett Mills, Thomas Brewer and Vester Kelsey, and they sang at the opening ceremonies of Radio Station WMMT.
From 1949 to 1960, the couple operated Narramore Grocery on Smithville Highway. Selling the store, they returned to South Pittsburgh Knitting Mills, where they were employed until his sudden death on July 4, 1968.
Effie returned to her Lind Street home and began working at McMinnville Flower Shop. On her 70th birthday, she married J.F. Turner, then sold her home and moved to the Turner farm in the Lucky community. They were active members of Earlyville Church of Christ, where he served as elder. They relocated in Rolling Hills upon selling the farm. After Turner’s death, Effie chose to remain at home, made possible with assistance of family and care-givers who faithfully see to her needs.