Tempie Esker Bailey, second daughter born to Radford Bailey and Delia Hill Bailey, was born Aug. 30, 1914, in O'Neals Township in Johnston County, North Carolina. Sylvia Woodard, a midwife, delivered Esker, just like she did for her sisters.
Radford and Delia's family was deeply rooted in the tight-knit agricultural communities, as seen in the 1920 Federal Census with them and their three children -- Annie, Esker and Sallie -- in O'Neals Township.
Growing up, Esker always did work around the family farm. She helped with the plowing, sometimes using Ole Bessie, a black horse with a white star, or she also used a mule named Minnie.
Esker always walked to school with sisters Anne, Sallie and Rector to the one-room Oak Grove School House.
Delia's brother Jack, who lived with the family for several years, taught Esker to dip snuff. She enjoyed this habit all her life.
On Christmas Eve in 1932, a young Esker stepped up to support her family ties by serving as the official witness for her 16-year-old sister Sallie's holiday elopement to Wade Davis.
Building a Life Together
Just a year and a half later, Esker would embark on her own journey to build a household.
On July 14, 1934, Esker wed local farmer Albert Taft Johnson, a milestone officially documented in their marriage certificate.
Recorded in O'Neals Township by Junius O'Neal, justice of the peace. Witnesses listed: P. O. Godwin, Mildred Godwin, J.B. Johnson. Source: Wilson County Register of Deeds, Page 54
The couple was married by Justice of the Peace Junius O'Neal right "at home" in O'Neals Township, surrounded by community witnesses P. O. Godwin, Mildred Godwin, and J.B. Johnson. Albert, the son of Ira T. Johnson Sr. and Sallie Godwin, was raised on a neighboring O'Neals Township farm, where his family had lived alongside the Godwin kin since his infancy (as shown in the 1910 census). He brought deep, intertwined community roots into the Bailey family line.
Esker's father Radford had a stroke in the mid-1930s and could no longer do farmwork, but he was still able to give directions. This put a big burden on the older children. Esker had to learn to drive at an early age to carry him around. But tragically, Radford passed away on June 30, 1935.
By the spring of 1940, the federal census captured Esker and Albert operating a general tenant farm along Wilson Road in O'Neals Township. Her household was already bustling with three young children under the age of 5: Tempie Lucille at 4, Hilda Jean at 3, and their infant son, Albert Jr. at 1. (Albert was known his entire life as Junior.)
Esker's family circle expanded to six children with the births of James Radford (born in 1943), Linda Fae(born in 1946), and Charles Lynwood "Charlie Buck" (born in 1947).
By the spring of 1950, the federal census captured the Johnson household at its absolute peak in O'Neals Township. Albert and Esker were raising all six of their children under one roof, ranging from 14-year-old Lucille down to 3-year-old Charles. Within the decade, this bustling household would begin to scatter as the children entered adulthood, married, and established their own legacies across North Carolina, Georgia, and Michigan.
Tragedy hit the extended family hard in 1951. Esker's older sister Annie Bailey Narron was struck by lightning and died instantly on July 18, 1951, at her home near Stancil's Chapel. Her death left husband Willard with seven children to raise on his own. After the lightning strike, Willard would take his children to visit Esker each Sunday.
As a farm wife and mother, Esker anchored a household that witnessed the massive shifts of post-WWII eastern North Carolina. She raised her children to remain deeply connected to one another, a bond reflected in the way her children later passed down the name Tempie to her grandchildren.
The children's paths eventually sparked outward from the home place; oldest daughter Lucille married Donald Gene McCumbie in 1956, and following their divorce in 1979, she wed Francis R. "Butch" Larkins on December 8, 1980, later relocating to Georgia.
Second daughter Hilda Jean moved north to Wayne County, Michigan, raising a large family across the Loomis and Aldrich lines before marrying Garnet Kotajarvi in 1991. She passed away in 2011 with eight children.
Junior Johnson established his own path, living for a time in Virginia and Georgia until his passing away on November 3, 2001, in Atlanta. He left behind a daughter and stepson and stepdaughter.
Linda Fae Davis married Jimmy Allan Davis on April 13, 1963, in Wilson. Linda was 17 and Jimmy was 20. One of the witnesses was Linda's aunt, Lois Rose. Linda passed away on June 28, 2003, in Sims, North Carolina, and is buried in Oak Grove Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
James Radford Johnson married Brenda Heath Johnson on July 29, 1968, in South Carolina. Together they had one son. He was a heavy machinery operator with C.C. Magnum Construction of Raleigh for more than 30 years. James Radford died at 67 on May 25, 2011, at his home in Middlesex. He is buried in the Bailey Family Cemetery.
The youngest of the family Charles ("Charlie Buck") Johnson has two daughters, Tracey Johnson and Tempie Johnson McPhail, and husband Barry McPhail. He loved spending time with his family. Charles passed away at his home on Dec. 23, 2021, in Johnston County. He is also laid to rest in the Bailey Family Cemetery.
Albert passed away on Nov. 10, 1961, at just 53 years of age. He is buried in the Oak Grove Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Johnston County, NC. Albert and Esker were married for more than 28 years.
Esker married neighbor Worth Narron in 1966, but Worth died just five years later in 1971.
Obituary
After a lifetime devoted to her family and her community, Esker passed away on July 11, 1993, at the age of 79. She is buried in the Bailey Family Cemetery in Johnston County along with many other relatives.
