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The story of Paul Edward Hathcoat ~
Settling in the wooded Carolina hills, father cut trees, cleared land, built homes, planted gardens, and raised sons and daughters. One courageous son seeking a better life for his family made his way into the fertile valleys of Tennessee.
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Pilgrims seeking freedom and Independence, my fathers fathers sailed from England in 1635. They crossed the stormy Atlantic Ocean in search of America. 
Tennessee is beautiful, it is magical. It is a land touched by the hand of God. It is the promised land, Father would make this place our home. Father loved his family, home and land. He struggled with disease, deprivation, savage roaming bands, but he survived to raise son's and daughter's. His son's raised son's and daughter's. 
Tennessee was our world, until that world was torn apart on June 8, 1861 . After that day, Father was a man of constant sorrow. |
The Evil One desiring more power and the abundant treasures of Tennessee said, "You have signed my document. You will pay my tax and you will enrich me with your life’s blood. You must submit to our will."
“The freeman said, "The document signed by the Fathers of Tennessee, says that anything not prohibited is allowed. Secession is not forbidden therefore, Tennessee and all States for that matter have the right to secede from your unholy Union. It is our right as freemen.
So the evil ones paid their leader and law makers to make a new law. Their leader said, “I have made a law. You may not leave the Union.”
The men of Tennessee said, “You are not our king, we will leave your Union and make a new country. We will not be obey your dictates."
We lived in agrarian society. We were simple people. Father knew nothing of world banking and commerce. Father owned a small farm. He planted corn, beans, and some vegetables. We had some fruit trees and a hive of honey bees. Father taught my brothers and I how to fish, shoot, trap and hunt. We had a milk cow. Mother taught my sisters how to sew, mend a cut, bake bread, preserve peaches and churn butter. On my twelfth birthday mother made a cake. It was the last cake I would ever eat...
Father knew nothing of the demonic plans hatched by evil ones in dark smoke filled halls of hell. Father did not know their evil plan was to control the money. He did not understand, "Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes it's laws."
Father did not know the slave trade was the monopoly owned by the evil ones. Father was not an elite land owner who was able to pay today's equivalent of $40,000 gold for the life of a black man or woman.
Father, his sons and brothers owned no slaves, nor would they if they could! Father came to this country to escape the tyranny his father knew in a land where we were little more than peasants and slaves ourselves. Freedom was too dear a word to father, he taught me the meaning of the word. Father would bind no man, nor would he be bound!
The evil ones said, “Resistance is futile, we will send a legion of death into your land.”
After the war little was left of our beloved homeland. Father lost family, friends, his home and a way of life. He would leave Tennessee and look for a new home on the frontier. Father would take his family west to a vast empty land where men were still wild and free.
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December 7th 1941. Enraged by the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dad left home that winter, and at the tender age of 17 he enlisted in the Marines.
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Dad was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California before being shipped off to fight in the Pacific basin. He was awarded the Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds sustained at the Battle of Pelilue.
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They patched him up just in time for the Battle of Okinawa.
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Eugene Hathcoat |
After the war, Dad returned home to Texas and began studies at Southern Methodist University, it was there he met Mom... 
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Helen Hathcoat
1939
Mom ~ 17 years old.
With the help of three sorority sisters shows off her
flight school navigation chart.
Mom ~ 17 years old.
With the help of three sorority sisters shows off her
flight school navigation chart.
The cake is a lie.
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Inspired by the great Amelia Earhart Mom's dream was to become a pilot. But as fate would have it Mom met Dad one sunny afternoon, and plans changed.
Mom and Dad married and moved to California after college to seek their fortune. They settled in the sleepy little town of San Bernardino, California. San Bernardino is east of Los Angeles and lies at the base of the San Bernardino mountains. Mom and Dad had many friends. They loved to travel, hike, fish, and camp. A favorite spot was Joshua Tree national Forest. I was born in 1953. Seeking a better life for his family Dad moved us to Dallas, Texas. He enrolled in college and received a degree from Southern Methodist University under the G.I. Bill. Things were looking up! Everything was coming up roses. Life was good on Jupiter Lane. Dad was a buyer for Sanger brothers Department Store. Mom was a happy house wife raising me and my two younger brothers. mom had a flower garden. I had a dog. And then our world came crashing down. Dad suffered a brain aneurysm while at work one day. He died the day after my 5th birthday. Two men in dark gray suits came to tell mom. Mom cried. I hid behind a chair. Dad was only 36 years old... |
