Miles Avery Rainwater

Miles Avery Rainwater was the son of Wilkes Berrywine Rainwater and his third, Martha Ann Collins. Born 17 July 1864 in Guntersville, Alabama, he was one of 8 children born to Wilkes and Martha. He had at least six half siblings from his father’s prior marriages to Rutha Jane (unknown maiden name) and Adeline Thornton.

On 24 July 1887, Miles married Nancy Emaline Neely (1886-1940) and the couple settled down to farming in Marshall Co., Alabama. They were the parents of at least 9 children: Carrie Belle; Minnie Lee; Elizabeth M. (Lizzie); Martha Emaline (Mattie); Robert Monroe; James Jackson; Annie Mae; Otis Voin; Albert, and a male infant who died.

Miles died 4 Feb 1925. His wife, Nancy, passed on 9 Mar 1941.¹ Her obituary in the Guntersville Advertiser newspaper, 1941, reads in part: “Passed away Sunday at her home on Georgia Mountain after a brief illness of pneumonia.” Her daughter, Annie Mae, who had traveled from Saulsbury TN to be with her mother, later said that Nancy had mostly recovered from the penumonia, but refused to eat. She died about a week later after the worst of the illness had passed.

Miles and Nancy Rainwater are buried in Mt. Carmel Baptist Church Cemetery on Georgia Mountain, Marshall Co., AL. A large number of related Rainwaters are buried in this cemetery.

Miles Avery Rainwater is shown in this photograph with five men whose names are known, but the connection between the names and faces is not clear. These individuals are Jabe Starkey, Pat Duett, Bud Wouldridge, and Eschele Ridgeway. Miles Rainwater has been identified by Bob Schimmel² as the man in the dark suit with dark mustache on the left side of the front row.

In 2001, Robert W. Vest, III provided the following additional information on the individuals in this photo:

Jabe Starkey (Jabus Washington Starkey, 1873-1931) was Miles’s brother-in-law. He married Mary Frances Rainwater (1866-1925), Miles’s sister.
Pat Duett (Patrick Henry Duett, 1878-1953) was Jabe’s first cousin. Pat’s mother, Frances E. Dobbs (1849-1904) and Jabe’s mother, Margaret C. Dobbs (1854-1925) were sisters.
“Bud Wouldridge” would likely be James Richard Wooldridge Jr. (1879-1960), son of James Richard Wooldridge Sr. (1836-1908) and Sarah Jane Dobbs (1843-1925), the oldest sister of Frances and Margaret Dobbs, making Bud, Pat, and Jabe all first cousins.
“Eschele Ridgeway” is Esca Elijah Ridgway (1872-1959). Esca’s daughter-in-law, Mary Ella Dobbs (1894-1962) was Miles’s niece, the daughter of his sister, Sibyl Kansas Rainwater (1873-1929). Furthermore, Pat’s wife and Esca’s wife were first cousins. Esca is the man seated in the center front, next to Miles.

Notes
¹ The date on her headstone, 10 Jan 1940, is apparently incorrect.
² Bob Schimmel is the husband of Martha (Marty) Hulsey, the oldest daughter of Annie Mae Rainwater Hulsey.

Credits
Photo and biographical information supplied by Sandra Sartin. Additional information provided by Robert W. Vest, III Norma Stewart. Substantially rewritten by Robert Schimmel in 2023.

© 2018 Sandra Sartin
© 2021 Robert W. Vest, III
© 2023 Robert Schimmel
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