Out of the Ashes | Proposal

“One who walks in another’s tracks leaves no footprints.” ~Proverbs

It’s the turn of the century, year 1900, when a child is born in Claiborne County, Tennessee. Much like his father, and his grandfather, this child shares their name; Robert Shotton. Young Robert will also one day, during the time period around the First World War, fall into the family line of work and take up coal mining just as his father and his father before him had done. The difference between Robert Shotton III, and the two Roberts before him however, is that they were born almost 4,000 miles away from Claiborne County, Tennessee.

From a young age, precisely at his time of birth, Robert III made history for his family and became the first member of the Shotton line to become a native born American. His father, Robert Jr., disembarked from his ancestral homeland in Durham, England during the third-wave of European immigration to the United States in 1881; bringing nothing more with him than his experience in the English mines. After arriving at Ellis Island on November 21, 1881, Robert Jr. immediately headed south where he found work, met his wife, and eventually had his first son in a small town in rural Tennessee.

Fast forward to the winter of 1946, the location is Harlan, Kentucky. Robert III is currently employed with TECO Coal and is a hardworking, dedicated worker when he welcomes the latest of his multitude of children, and my future grandfather, Eddie Shotton to the family.

When this project was assigned, we were asked to focus on a “tradition bearer” in our family. Somebody that carried on the legacy of those that came before. Yet, the first person I thought of happens to be quite the opposite. As far as family tradition went, Eddie Shotton was an anomaly. He was the first member, in four generations of family history, who never began a career in mining. Rather, Eddie worked around factories and served in the United States Army before finishing off his career as a police officer of all things. He later left his hometown and moved to Ohio where he met and married the love of his life, Sandra Underwood. One year following the marriage, Eddie and Sandra Shotton had a son together and for the first time in over two hundred and forty years of Shotton history this first son was not given his father’s name. Ironically, my father, who was named Nathaniel, rather than Eddie Jr., decided his first son would be a junior and in the fall of 1996 that became true, making my grandfather the only Shotton since 1730 to not have a child bear his name.

With the assistance of Ancestry.com I have already learned much more about my own heritage than most members of my family, however at this point little research has been conducted. This project will be further developed later on with the aid of credible literary, historical, musical, and artistic sources that will work as a means to fill in much of the gaps of my family history by allowing me the perspective to see how certain events in history have personally affected my ancestors and ultimately shaped what my family has become today.

My entire life my household has been much closer to my mom’s side of the family. We see her parents between two to three times a year, as compared to my father’s parents who I saw at my high school graduation, but have not had a chance to visit in nearly three years alone. Through this project I hope to discover what it was like growing up around the coal mine business and what caused my grandfather to push away from tradition and begin his own career path, all while becoming closer with this side of my family at the same time. I will attempt to learn as much about my grandfather’s childhood, his knowledge of his ancestry, his dreams, and his success through the following questions:

Where do you live now?

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

How did you and Meemaw meet?

How long have you two been married?

How did you and Meemaw decide on the names of your children?

When and where were you born?

How long did you live there?

How many family members lived in your household and how old were you in comparison to your siblings?

What responsibilities did you have as a child?

Can you describe what it was like growing up there?

Why did you leave your hometown?

Why did you move to Ohio?

Can you tell me about your time in the Army?

You were a police officer for as long as I can remember. Why did you decide to become one and what was your favorite aspect about it? Your least favorite?

Aside from the military and law enforcement service, what other career fields have you worked in?

Of all of the jobs that you have had in your lifetime, which one was your absolute favorite? Which one did you not like so much?

When did you move to Georgia and why?

Your father was a coal miner, is that correct?

Can you tell me what you know about being a coal miner based off your father’s experience?

Was his occupation hard on your family sometimes?

Could you me about your father? What did he like? Dislike? Where was he born and how did he end up in Harlan?

At the end of the day, was your family happy?

What do you know about your grandfather?

What do you know about the Shotton name and our ancestral family?

You recently attended a Shotton family reunion. How many of us are there that you know of and how are we all connected?

Why did you decide to retire in Tennessee?

Are you happy?