On Oct. 9, Jessie Lawson turned 100.
Born in Millington near the close of World War I, he was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Nickleberry.
His mother passed away shortly after he was born and his father had to work out of town to provide baby formula for the young infant.
Jessie was taken in by John and Amanda Lawson. In those days, his daughter said, there was no formal adoption.
He said his father maintained a relationship with his son, despite working away from home to send what he could to provide for young Jessie.
He began using the Lawson surname at an early age and was raised with the large family in the river bottoms of Tipton County. The old homeplace was torn down several years ago, but their legacy of love for so many remains.
As a young man, Jessie was drafted into the United States Army during World War II. His face lit up when he proudly told me he served with the 24th Infantry. He served his term all over the Pacific.
After his enlistment ended, he returned to Tipton County, married a woman named Viola Lawson and worked both as a farmer and for the Corps of Engineers.
His daughter explained he and his team went up and down the Mississippi River doing flood control work.
Jessie and Viola did not have any biological children, but he continued the Lawson legacy by taking in four, of eight, stair step children, he said.
They raised their four children as if they had been their biological parents. They were well-loved and raised on faith.
Only having a ninth grade education, Jessie stressed the importance of higher learning to his children.
His daughter, Casandra Wakefield said as part of the dinner time blessing, they would have to recite a bible verse. She said he was a very involved father – firm, but fair.
“He wanted his children to understand why he needed to discipline them, and him to understand where his children were coming from,” she said.
He always stressed to his children and now generations after, “You can be anything you want, if you get an education and work hard.”
He and Viola were instrumental in the formation of the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church.
Jessie served as the chairman of the deacon board and loved serving his community in that capacity. He would learn of a need, and go help see about that need. Sometimes it was taking food to the sick, to chopping wood with his best friend, Lee Andrew Richardson, or mowing someone’s yard.
When he became physically unable to do those things, he started sending his children and grandchildren.
Jessie is also known for his expert gardening skills.
He’s grown prize watermelons and greens. Cassandra said they rarely had store-bought groceries in the house growing up. They always had a large garden and the whole family would be involved in the work.
When asked about today’s world compared to the one in which he grew up, he quietly said, “I can’t get with the stealing. It hurts to hear of what’s going on now. Nothing but the Bible will heal it.”
A living testament to faith and family, he’s a quiet humble man, who embodies what a Christian man should be. He doesn’t have to scream it from the rafters so people will look at him. He loves his community, his family, and above all, the Lord.
The most important thing about life, in his opinion, is simple.
“Obedience to God.”
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