Thomas William Freeman (c1870)


Photo from Culver & Smith
 Salesman and Owner of Boarding House

Nickname:Tom
Born:c1870, Tennessee
Died:April 30, 1954, Huntsville, Alabama
Buried:Maple Hill Cemetery, Madison County, Alabama
Residence:205 Lincoln Street SE
Father of:Alice Freeman
Husband of:Sarah "Sallie" Mason Freeman

Notes:

•  "Sallie and Tom Freeman purchased the property (205 Lincoln Street SE) in 1922 , for $7,500 and in the next quarter century gave it a name, the Freeman House, and an important role in the community. Tom Freeman, as genial a host as any of that distinguished cadre Huntsville has produced, welcomed guests to his home with the same flair he dealt out a poker hand and plied his traveling salesman occupation. All will agree, however, it was his wife, Sallie, Sarah Mason Freeman, who ran the house and made it 'home away from home.' Ken Turvey fondly recalls Miss Sallie always asking him when he 'd be sprucing up to go out, 'Where you going, Ken?' just like he was a member of the family. When his folks came to town they were expected to eat there, too." page 17 - Historic Huntsville Quarterly

•  The home of Tom and Sallie Freeman, at 205 Lincoln Street, had many phases of activity. It was important as people transitioned into their life in Huntsville.
     Generals were entertained there before the officers club at Redstone was ready.
     The "Cotton Boys" lived in the "Little House" (a house behind the big house). They were cotton brokers and enjoyed their poker games.
     Two prestigious musicians boarded there until they were established in town.
     After the flood of newcomers subsided a little, the home was used by their daughter as an educational environment. - Culver & Smith

•  "Tom's and Sallie's children were Harry Mason Freeman, Florence Mai Freeman Palmerlee, Alice Freeman, and Louise Freeman Chunn." page 69 - Historic Huntsville Quarterly

•  "Tom's and Sallie's children were Harry Mason Freeman, Florence Mai Freeman Palmerlee, Alice Freeman, and Louise Freeman Chunn." page 69 - Historic Huntsville Quarterly

•  Marriage license Nov. 2, 1896, Madison County, AL. (Sometimes the marriage dates are for the marriage license, not the actual wedding.) - MCRC

•  Son of Louis Freeman and Virginia Garrison - Records

•  Thomas Freeman Dies at His Home
     "Thomas W. Freeman, long-time resident of Huntsville, died suddenly this morning at 10:30 o'clock at his home, 205 Lincoln Street.
     Funeral services will be held Sunday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock, with Laughlin-Service in charge. Other arrangements have not been completed.
     Mr. Freeman is survived by his widow, Mrs. Sally Mason Freeman, to whom he had been married 57 years; three daughters, Mrs. Florence Freeman Palmerlee of Huntsville; Mrs. Louise Freeman Chunn of Birmingham, and Miss Alice Freeman of Huntsville; one sister, Mrs. Willie Smith of Blanche, Tenn.; one brother, Roy Freeman, of Gabbottsville, Ga., three grandchildren and several nieces and nephews." - The Huntsville Times


Related Links:

•  CEPC - Central Evangelical Presbyterian Church has a page about the Freeman House. (Originally found at http://www.centralpresb.org/get_involved/freeman.)

•  Culver & Smith - Article titled "Memories of Nana & Papa's House" by Sallie Ann Culver and Alyce Parmelee Smith in Historic Huntsville Quarterly, Vol. XXIII, #1, Spring, 1997, Historic Huntsville Foundation. Pages 23-26. Two grandchildren of Tom and Sallie Freeman (parent of Alice) offer stories about the life in their grandparent's home.

•  Historic Huntsville Quarterly - Historic Huntsville Quarterly, Vol. XXIII, #1, Spring, 1997, Historic Huntsville Foundation. Cumberland Presbyterian Church and it's Freeman House (along with associated people) is the focus of most of this Quarterly. References to Tom and Sallie are scattered throughout.

•  MCRC - Madison County Government Records

•  Records - Alabama, Deaths and Burials Index, 1881-1974 (Originally found at http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?ti=0&indiv=try&db=fsalabamadeath&h=1180783.)

•  The Huntsville Times - The Huntsville Times Obituary Friday, April 30, 1954


The Following Pages Link to this Page:
•  205 Lincoln Street SE
•  Alice Freeman
•  Culver & Smith
•  Historic Huntsville Quarterly
•  Sarah "Sallie" Mason Freeman