A Short Life

Rhoda "Fay" Pruitt was born March 20, 1902, in the Walnut Grove township of Wilkes County, NC. She was the daughter of Adam Hampton Pruitt and Samantha Blevins Pruitt.  Fay never married, and died on October 13, 1930. At the time of her death, she was living with her brother, Charlie, and his family, which also included Fay and Charlie's mother, Samantha.  (1)

My father-in-law was born about a year after Fay died, however, he grew up hearing stories about Fay.

According to him, Fay was staying with another brother, Callie Pruitt, in North Wilkesboro when she developed tuberculosis. She was going to go to the County Home when her brother Charlie went and got her and brought her to his home on Pokey Branch. A room was built on the east side of the house, on to the front porch. Fay made her own funeral arrangements, including having her casket made and buying her own tombstone. Charlie's wife, Phoebe, took care of her until her death.

After Fay's death, all material and clothing was removed and burned, and even the bed from Fay's room was burned because tuberculosis was contagious.  (2)

I have found no death certificate for Fay Pruitt, even though one should have been filed in 1930.  Fay is buried at Walnut Grove Baptist Church.  (3)

Fay was the second member of this family to die from tuberculosis. Her sister Dora, older than Fay by two years, died in 1921 from tuberculosis "contracted in West Virginia."

Fay Pruitt's tombstone - click to enlarge

**Additional information found**   In the 1926 and 1928 copies of the Winston-Salem City Directory, Fay was living with her mother, sister and three brothers in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina. In 1926, Fay worked at P.H. Hanes Knitting Company; no City Directory was found for 1927; and in 1928, Fay worked at Turner-White Coffin Company. By 1929, her four siblings were listed in the City Directory, but Fay and her mother were apparently no longer living in Winston-Salem.  (4)

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Updated information listed in red:

(1)  1930 census, Charlie Pruitt household, Walnut Grove township, Wilkes County, NC.

(2)  Email from Ervin Pruitt to Stephen Pruitt, dated January 30, 2009, recounting information about Fay and her illness and death

(3)  Photograph taken by Debbie Hendren Pruitt at Walnut Grove Baptist Church, 4650 Cabin Creek Road, Hays, NC.

(4)  Winston-Salem City Directory, 1926-1929, www.ancestry.com