Albert c 1911 wearing the stickpin given to him by Frances for Christmas 1910

Albert, Life before marriage

Albert Taylor Rymer was born on June 15th, 1886 in Polk county, Tennessee and died on February 1st, 1931 in Murray county, Georgia. According to "Aunt Lou"; (Mary Louise Rymer Miles) his sister who was some 16 years older, his birthplace was at the foot of the hill along the Ocoee River just back of Ocoee dam. Today the top of this hill appears as a small island in the lake.

Not much is known of his early days, I assume he was much like other country boys. He probably worked with his father "Black John" in the blacksmith shop , doing what was necessary, together with the rest of his family, to provide food,clothing and shelter. Albert's father died in 1901 when he was 15, making him the "head of the household" as his older brothers ranged in age from 23 to 42 and as far as we can ascertain, did not live at home.

At the time "Black John" died the Parksville dam was being planned, the farms of  "Black John" and his son Will  (among others) would be covered by water, the families had to move. Will and his family moved to the Cookseon's Creek community in 1904 and lived there until 1910. Based on a letter to his mother written in 1910Albert appeared to have been living with his brother Will. It is possible (but not known) that Albert and his mother lived with them during this period. A link to this letter can be found later on this page.

Front Row: Albert and his brother Wilford (Will) Back Row: Bill Colvard and ? Harris. Date unknown

Albert's oldest brother's (Tom), wife had a baby, the wife (Jennie Norman Rymer) died during childbirth. Albert's mother was a widow and she moved to Tom's home to raise the child, a girl named Jennie. Tom later married Susie Williamson and lived on a farm across the road from the "Old McCamy Farm" where Harry and Kathy Rymer live in 2010.

Some, if not much of the family food came from hunting and, to some extent, fishing. Albert and his brothers shared his love of hunting and fishing throughout their life. His education was what was available in the area at the time, according to his daughter Elizabeth it was probably about like a 4th grade education today.

Parksville dam, or Ocoee # 1, was constructed in early 1900's. A railroad was built from the Louisville and Nashville railroad (Now CSX) to the dam site to bring in material. After the dam was completed and lake filled, material was brought to the dam by railroad, then hauled over the dam, placed on a supply boat and ferried to build the "Flume Line". The "Flume Line" was a box some 11 feet high by 14 feet wide, water in the river was directed into the box, which had a very slight downstream slope of about 16 feet, from a small dam for some five miles to the Ocoee # 2 powerhouse. At this point the box which started at river level is now over 200 feet above the river bed, dropping through 2 pipes to make hydroelectric power. Needless to say, this required a considerable number of men to build. A good source (even with several errors) for more information on the Ocoee river, building the dam and Flume Line is: The Ocoee river and its dams (Any copyright info on this site belongs to its owners)

From the early 1800's until the Parksville dam was built and the lake filled there was a road along the Ocoee river from Copperhill to Cleveland where, in early days the copper was hauled by wagon from Copperhill to the railroad at Cleveland. This was known as "The Old Copper road". Building the dam and filling the lake covered the road, cutting off the direct route from Copperhill to Ocoee and Cleveland. The road around the lake was not completed until the 1930's, some 25 years later.

The day after Christmas in 1910, Albert wrote his mother who was in Arizona helping her sick daughter. In this letter he mentions he is dating Frances and the letter indicates this is the first time his mother had heard about her. to see a copy of this letter Click Here.

In 1912, Albert was working as a member of a carpenter crew building the "Flume Line". He was also finding time to "court" Frances who lived in the house where Harry Rymer lives today (2009). You may think this took little effort, it is probably 15 or 20 minutes today on US 64, from where he worked to Frances's home. In 1911 and 12, it was probably at least 4 hours each way.

In 1910-12, there were few cars in Polk county. Here are the options we believe were available to Albert if he wanted to see Frances:

• Ride the supply boat from the top of the lake to the Parksville dam, walk to his family home, next day walk to see Frances. Do the reverse on Sunday to get back. (Assuming the supply boat carried workers out and back on weekends this is the best option)
• It is highly likely workers and other who lived in the mountains made a trail following the lake shoreline. Using this trail around the lake is the best option if the supply boat was not available.
• By road you could come down the Old Copper road from the Flume Line to the head of the lake at Greasy Creek, go up the road to Reliance and follow the Hiwassee river down to the road from Knoxville to Atlanta. Go south on the road to Benton and then to Ocoee. Adding about 20 miles to the travel distance. This was a rough, dirt road until after WW II.

Based on the options, a guy really wanted to see a girl to make the trip frequently. We do know Albert made the trip frequently enough to show interest and love, when he asked Frances, the pretty young teacher, to marry him she said "Yes".
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