Pearl Alice Sneed

Pearl Alice Sneed, daughter of Wesley Clophas Sneed and Mary Louise Cardwell, was born October 30, 1912 in Tennessee, probably Sevierville, Sevier County. She was the sixth child of eight—Ollie May Sneed, Odie M. Sneed, Lavegia “Vegia” Ann Sneed, Cloria Allen Sneed, Josie Lee Sneed, Pearl Alice Sneed, Effie Lavada Sneed, and Laura Adaline Sneed. Pearl is my 1st cousin 3x removed. Our nearest common relatives are William Robert Sneed and Mary Catherine Fine, my 3rd great grandparents.

Pearl never knew her oldest brother Ollie, born in 1903 and died an infant in 1904. 

On January 3, 1920, Pearl (enumerated as Pearlie) and her family lived on Prospect Road in the Lower Tenth District of Whitfield County, Georgia. Her father was a farmer on a general farm and the only person working outside of the home. All of the children were attending school except for Pearl, Effie, and Laura. 

On April 2, 1930, Pearl and her family lived at Maryville and Knoxville Roads in Rockford, Blount County, Tennessee. Her father was a laborer on a dairy farm. Her sister, Vegia worked as a twister in a cotton mill. At age 17, Pearl was not attending school, nor was she employed. Pearl spent Christmas Eve 1938 at the Blount County courthouse with John Allen Brown. They were married in Blount County by Rev. Shifley Adams on Christmas Day. 

Marriage license

Marriage certificate (click to enlarge)

The newlyweds spent a year together, with Pearl settling into her new role as a housewife before learning she was pregnant around their first anniversary. 

I have been unable to find Pearl in the 1940 census. Census day was April 1 that year, a little over two months before the sad, tragic events that took place in June. Pearl apparently went into premature labor six months into her pregnancy and gave birth to an infant daughter on June 11 at her parents’ home in the Greenback Rural district of Blount County. Her daughter, born with arencephalus, “a serious birth defect in which a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only lived for three hours. Pearl, still at her parents’ home, died on June 12 after suffering from a post-partum hemorrhage/incomplete placental separation. 

Death certificate -- Infant of J. A. Brown (click to enlarge)

Death certificate -- Pearl Sneed Brown (click to enlarge)

At just 27 years of age, Pearl was survived by her husband John, parents Wesley and Mary, brother Claria, and five sisters Odie, Vegia, Josie, Effie, and Laura. 

Pearl's obituary, The Knoxville Journal, June 13, 1940

A funeral service was held for mother and child at Clark’s Grove Church in Maryville, Blount County, Tennessee on June 13, followed by burial at the church cemetery.

Photo by amelia804, Find a Grave member 47298185.

References

• Births Defects, Facts about Anencephaly, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/anencephaly.html. 
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5432369/pearl-brown: accessed 20 March 2022), memorial page for Pearl Brown (31 Oct 1912–12 Jun 1940), Find a Grave Memorial ID 5432369, citing Clarks Grove Cemetery, Maryville, Blount County, Tennessee, USA; maintained by Virgil & DeAnna Hancock-Cooley (contributor 36950484).
• Infant of J. A. Brown, Certificate of Death no. 13260, Dept. of Public Health, State of Tennessee.
• John Allen Brown and Pearl Sneed marriage license, Blount County, Tennessee, 1938.
• Mrs. Pearl Brown, Certificate of Death no. 13261, Dept. of Public Health, State of Tennessee.
• Obituary, Mrs. Pearl Brown, The Knoxville Journal, June 13, 1940.
• Pearl Brown stone photo by amelia804, Find a Grave member 47298185.
• Tennessee Marriages, 1796-1950, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X85T-YJY : 27 January 2020), Pearl Sneed in entry for John Allen Brown, 1938.
• United States Federal Census, Lower Tenth, Whitfield County, Georgia, 1920.
• United States Federal Census, Rockford, Blount County, Tennessee, 1930.