Blog no. 46

Beulah Gertrude Pope was born on July 2, 1911, in Williamson County, TN, to John Pope and Jessie Ridley. She had two siblings, and their names were Susie Mai Pope and Milton “Bishop” Pope.

On August 18, 1934, in Williamson County, TN, Beulah married Porter Lockridge. It is unknown if Beulah and Porter had any children, but no record found supports the fact that they did. Porter enlisted into World War II on June 5, 1943, at Camp Forrest, in Tullahoma, Coffee County, TN. He would die in service on February 24, 1946, after a few months of battling Tuberculosis. 

Beulah was a worker for many people in Spring Hill, TN, but one of the more notable were Millard Franklin Mitchum and his wife, Mary Lizinka (Polk) Mitchum. She was very loyal, hardworking, and caring to their family. Beulah loved her work, and even though she never had children, she had a family of people she worked for that loved her. In her later years, she lived at 2519 Duplex Road with her mother, Jessie Ridley. 

I have been told a short and funny story about Beulah by Alicia Fitts that is too funny not to share. At Beulah’s good friend/boss’, Millard Franklin Mitchum’s, around 95th birthday party, she was invited but did not want to sit in the living room with him, she insisted on sitting in the kitchen. Alicia, who is Millard’s granddaughter, couldn’t figure out why until she went into the kitchen and realized that every single person that came to the party went to visit Beulah and would slip her a five-dollar bill.

Sadly, on October 26, 1993, in TN, Beulah died. She was buried in Toussaint L’Ouverture Cemetery, in Franklin, Williamson County, TN. Beulah was loved by everybody that knew her, and is to this day remembered by them.

Special thanks to Sandra Buford and Alicia Fitts for providing me information and photos for this blog!