UNSUNG HEROES OF WILKES COUNTY
Bessie Wellmaker McLendon (1916- )
By REV. ED ANDERSON LCT (Ret.) U.S. Army
Despite the hardships, 'they never lost hope'

Distinguished African American businesswoman and funeral home director, Bessie Wellmaker McLendon, was born March 28, 1916, in the Metasville Community of Wilkes County, Georgia. She is the youngest of two children born to Isaiah and Addie Moman Wellmaker. She is 18 years younger than her sister, Emmie who married Fleming Turman. .

Miss Bessie has vivid and fond memories of her maternal grandmother, Lizzie Paschal Moman, who was of pure African heritage, and her maternal grandfather, who was a Native American with long flowing black hair. Miss Bessie's father, Isaiah was the son of a German immigrant (Jack Wellmaker) and Amelia, an African American lady. Her father was a miner until he lost both hands in a mining accident in McDuffie County. With his modest savings and with the help of his father, Jack, he bought a farm and hired men to do the work, therefore enabling him to adequately provide for his family until his untimely death at age 57.

Miss Bessie was educated in the public/church schools of Lincoln and Wilkes County. She pleasantly recalls her first teacher at Harmony Church Elementary School, Mrs. Ella Ware, and she remembers the school at Mt. Nebo Baptist Church and her teacher, Mrs. Sallie Walton. The distance from her house to each school was about four miles. Just getting to school was a major challenge since the county provided bus transportation to white students but not to African American students. Roads were often not paved and not very well kept up, she recalls. When it rained hard or flooded, the children would have to "make haste" to cross the bridge or they would get stranded overnight. This happened to Miss Bessie on one occasion in the mid 1920s and she had to spend the night at the home of Mrs. Marie Walton. There were no cars or telephones in the African American community, so parents whose children did not safely arrive at home from school after a heavy rain could only pray and endure sleepless nights trusting that a community member on the school side of the bridge had taken their child in for the night. By the grace of God, the children either made it home or were taken care of by good neighbors every time.

In 1933, at age 17, Miss Bessie married Toombs McLendon, Jr., son of successful businessman and pastor of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, Toombs McLendon. In his book entitled The History of Wilkes County, Georgia, Robert M. Willingham, Jr. writes, "Toombs McLendon, a remarkably astute and energetic young businessman opened McLendon's Funeral Home in 1883, becoming the second black funeral director in Georgia. Willingham goes on to say that Rev. Toombs McLendon erected a large ginnery on his land in Baltimore and was opened by September 1, 1908." Toombs was involved in other business ventures, as well. Clearly, the McLendon family had an entrepreneurial or business spirit from early times. At the time of their 1933 marriage, Toombs, Jr. was already a successful business man in his own right. In 1934, their daughter Norris was born and two years later Toombs, III was born. Miss Bessie's husband immediately began to teach her how to function as part of the funeral home business. He quickly realized that she was quite talented and had good business savvy.

Over a period of 74 years (three generations) she has provided a strong arm of love, support, and advice to her husband, her son, and now to her grandson, Toombs, IV. With her husband having passed in 1957 and her son in 1984, she and her grandson, Toombs, IV, still take pride in serving the people of Wilkes and surrounding counties with the best possible mortuary services available. McLendon Memorial Funeral Home is not just one of the oldest and most respected businesses in the African American community, it is one of the oldest and most respected businesses throughout Wilkes County. It is that rare example of the next generation stepping up to carry on the business founded by the foreparents. Countless thousands of families have for generations relied on Miss Bessie and Toombs to serve their family in their time of greatest need. There are many children who have been told by their parents for years "when my time comes, I want Bessie to have my body." McLendon Memorial Funeral Home still commands a high level of confidence in the community and county.

In recalling some of the larger and most memorable funerals arranged during her many years of serving the community, Miss Bessie points out that every funeral is equally important and must be carried out with dignity, good order, and professionalism. The funerals of her husband and son were especially difficult and overwhelming. She recalls that the funeral of one of Wilkes County's great preachers, Rev. Charles Turman, was one of the largest and most challenging to coordinate.

In addition to providing employment to scores of people over the years, she and her husband have served as mentors and trainers for young men desiring to have a career in the funeral home business. Three such young men are the sons of Rev. James Walter and Minnie Lee Willis; Marion, Jonas, and William James. Each received additional formal training in mortuary science after leaving Wilkes County and each have had full careers in the funeral home business. The late Marion Willis established and operated a funeral home in Detroit, Michigan. The late Jonas Willis spent a lifetime in the career field in Santa Monica, California. William James "Willie James" Willis established a very lucrative funeral home business in Dalton, Georgia, with branches in several surrounding towns. Now semi-retired, his son, wife, daughters, and sister keep quite busy serving the needs of bereaved families in a large portion of the North Georgia community.

Miss Bessie prides herself in having been perhaps the very first African American female ambulance driver in the county. During the era of segregation, she would use the funeral home hearse and other vehicles to deliver the sick and injured to and from the hospital in Washington and often to and from the hospital in Augusta. Often, appropriate compensation was not forthcoming, but she found gratification in helping the sick and afflicted get the needed medical care.

As she reflects on her life as a person who could operate on either side of the color line, she acknowledges that she used all the advantages God gave her to achieve success for her family and business.

A Seventh-Day Adventist, she gives God the credit for sustaining her during a life of ups and downs, triumphs and defeats, successes and failures. Now retired, she offers whatever assistance she can to the operation of the funeral home. She enjoys hearing from her daughter, grandchildren, and eight greatgrandchildren.

Miss Bessie has positively touched the lives of thousands of Wilkes Countians and others during her 74 years in the funeral home business and her almost 91 years of life. She has been a pacesetter, a role model, a pioneer, an astute business woman, a friend, and an authentic unsung hero in Wilkes County, Georgia.

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