WESTFALL FAMILY IN ROANE COUNTY
Submitted by Dolores Ann Westfall DesLauriers
Sometime before 1820, Andrew and Mary Hyre Westfall moved to Flat Fork, Roane County, with their five children. Their sixth child, Noah, was born in 1820. When Noah was 18, he married Missy Thomas. They had no children, and Missy died within a year of the wedding.
On July 20, 1840, Noah married Susannah Litton, daughter of Abraham and Sarah. They had no children and lived at Wolf Camp until her death.
On August 31, 1844, Noah and Martha Chancey were married. Martha was the daughter of Hiram and Isabel Chancey of Reedy, well-known citizens of Roane County. Noah and Martha had two sons and a daughter, and Martha died in childbirth with her fourth child. The two sons grew to adulthood and moved to Jackson County. The daughter, Isabel, lived her entire life in Roane County. She married Armstead Harper and raised a large family. Isabel and Armstead are both buried in Gandee Cemetery. Noah married three more times. His fifth wife was Agnes Litten Board, a widow and sister of Noah's second wife Susannah. They had one child Deborah, born in 1872, and Agnes died in 1879.
Noah fathered 13 children who all grew to adulthood. Many of these children remained in Roane County and raised families of their own. Noah lived his last years in Belgrove, Jackson County, where he died in 1892 and is buried there. Noah served in the Civil War for the Union Army, was wounded, and discharged medically.
Noah Westfall's great-grandson Rex Westfall was born in Belgrove, Jackson County, on September 26, 1913. He and Nellie Alvis of Roane County were married February 20, 1940. After serving in the U.S. Army in the Philippines, Rex and Nell bought a farm in Spencer, Roane County, and lived there until May, 1959. They had three children, Dolores Ann, Roy Duane and Linda. Dolores graduated from Spencer High School in May, 1959. Rex moved his family to Tucson, Arizona, in May, 1959, where Nell and her children and grandchildren still reside. Rex died February 15, 1989.
