4. Granville Lipscomb Bellenfant, son of John S. Bellenfant III and Sallie E. Webb, was born on November 28, 1882 in Eagleville, Rutherford, Tennessee, USA. He was twin to James Larimore Bellenfant. He married Annie Mae Cole, daughter of William Glenn Cole and Mary Tennessee Manire. They had thirteen children together. He was a sharecroper, (farmer), and raised chickens. He was a hardworking man, as was everyone in his family. When he was younger he liked to dance and was fit througout his life, often taking long walks to the stores in Rockvale and Eagleville even in his advanced age. Neighbors would sometimes pick him up on the road and give him a ride. Granville was strict, but loving, with his children. Granville and Annie Mae loved their many grandchildren and would often have large family gatherings where the grandchildren would play around together in the yard. Granville Lipscomb Bellenfant died on July 6, 1981, in Murfreesboro, Rutherford, Tennessee, USA at 98 years of age.

Granville & Annie Mae

Granville & Annie Mae

(Left to Right) Margaret, Granville, Ann, Frances, Charlie,       (Back Row) Robbie, Carlene, Virginia, Buddy, Ed, Pete, Allen

5. Annie Mae Cole, daughter of William Glenn Cole and Mary Tennessee Manire, was born 28 October 1895 in Rutherford County, Tennessee. She was a homemaker and had 13 children; (one of whom, Earlene Bellenfant, was stillborn). She was an excellent cook and a tidy housekeeper; neat as a pin. She was a Sweet Lady; Loving & Kind. Alan Freeman remembers her as a wonderful and gentle person. When he was a child he used to raid her bread box. She made homemade buttermilk biscuits to die for and kept them in the kitchen in a little corner bread cupboard. He also remembers that he went to a few Bellenfant reunions when he was a child, and that they had a well in their yard. Annie Mae Cole passed away on August 22, 1977 in Rutherford County, Tennessee at the age of 89. Granville and Annie Mae are buried in Downing Cemetery, Eagleville, Rutherford County, Tennessee.

*Many thanks to Lisa Bellenfant McCary, Alan Freeman, and Lois Bellenfant Kraft for sharing their rememberances of Granville & Annie Mae

Granville Bellenfant Obituary

Granville Bellenfant Draft Reg 1918

1920 Census

1930 Census

1940 Census

Margaret Bellenfant Marriage

Granville & Annie Mae Headstone

Granville Lipscomb Bellenfant married Annie Mae Cole

Children from this marriage were:

1.   Robbie Lee Bellenfant was born October 4, 1913 in Eagleville, TN. She married Marvin Cleatus Taylor, (son of John Bell Taylor and Estella E. Cason), in 1932. They had four children together: James Thomas Taylor, Dorothy Jean Taylor, Charles Marvin Taylor; and Robert Lee Taylor.  Robbie Lee Taylor married Claude Stone Christy on September 30, 1972 in Robertson County, Tennessee. Robbie Lee Taylor died June 4, 2002, in Hartsville, TN, at 88 years of age, and is buried in Spring Hill Cemetary, Nashville, Tennessee. I am especially grateful to Gloria Mann Taylor, the wife of Robert Lee Taylor, who was very enthusiastic about researching genealogy, and who was a mentor and partner with me in putting together Bellenfant Ancestry. It was through her that my brother and I reconnected with the Bellenfant Family in Tennesee, and were able to make several trips out there to get to know them.

2.   Virginia "Jenny" Clarace Bellenfant was born May 20, 1915, in Eagleville, Rutherford County, Tennessee. She married Wilburn Harrison Windrow, (son of John Byce Windrow and Dellar Pearl Manire). They had three children: James Claris Windrow; Marvin Windrow and Betty Jean Windrow. Virginia Bellenfant then married Horace David Hendrix. She died on June 26, 2001, in Murfreesboro, TN, at 86 years of age, and is buried at Downing Cemetary, Eagleville, Rutherford County, Tennessee.

3.   Dessie "Carlene" Bellenfant was born May 9, 1917, in Eagleville, TN. She married Wilson Leonard Zieber, (son of Ethen E Zieber and Celestie Luce), on May 10, 1944, in Lucas, Ohio. They had one child, Miles Evan Zieber. Dessie Carlene Bellenfant then married Everett Hoke. She died on April 9, 2002, at 84 years of age, and is buried in the York Free Chapel Cemetery, York, Sandusky County, Ohio, USA.

4.   Mary Frances Bellenfant was born July 15, 1921 in Beech Grove, Coffee, Tennessee. She married Ralph Douglas Campbell. They had one child, Michael Lipscomb Campbell, (1941-2016). She then married David Tatum Dozier, (son of Bunyan Dozier and Lillian Birdie Hale). He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army. Mary Frances Bellenfant and David Tatum Dozier had one child together, Deborah Dozier (Nycz). Mary Frances Bellenfant died February 2, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee, at age 96, and is buried in the Middle Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery.

5.   Gran William "Buddy" Bellenfant was born February 3, 1922, in Eagleville, Rutherford County, Tennessee. He married Leone Smith, (daughter of William Caleb Smith and Euda Powell), on January 8, 1943, in Madison, Alabama. They had two children: Barbara Brownfield, and William Larry Bellenfant, (1957-2009). Gran William Bellenfant died on April 3, 1994 at 72 years of age. He is buried at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens, Shelbyville, Bedford County, Tennessee.

6.   Margaret "Minnie" Bellenfant was born March 28, 1924, in Eagleville, Rutherford County, Tennessee. She married Carl Raymond Smith, (son of Albert B. Smith and Georgia Bartlett), on December 24, 1942. Margaret Minnie Bellenfant died on April 9, 2002, in Eagleville, Rutherford County, Tennessee, and is buried in Hillcrest Memorial Gardens, Shelbyville, Bedford County, Tennessee, at 78 years of age.

7.   Howard Cecil "Pete" Bellenfant was born February 16, 1926. He married Lucille Taylor. He then married Mary Parks Wood, (daughter of Marvin Parks Wood and Mary Lockie Bumpus), on March 22, 1947, in Madison, Alabama. Howard Cecil "Pete" Bellenfant died December 13, 1999, in Bedford, Tennessee, and is buried in Hillcrest Memorial Gardens, Shelbyville, Bedford County, Tennessee, at 73 years of age.

8.   Clara Lois Bellenfant was born about 1929. She married Michael M. Kraft, (1925-2010), and they had four children: Kim Kraft, Jim Birdwell Kraft, Michael M. Kraft Jr., and Kelly R. Kraft.

9.   Earlene Bellenfant was stillborn about 1930.

10. Annie Laura Bellenfant was born in 1931. She married Charles Williams and they lived in Nashville, Tennessee. They had three children: Vicki Williams, Lea Williams (Mabe), and Andi Williams. Annie Laura Williams worked as a special education teacher's aid for Metropolitan Nashville Schools for 25 years. She also was an avid golfer and gardener. Annie Williams died October 20, 2015 in Madison, Tennessee, at 84 years of age.

11. Ivie Edward Bellenfant was born August 24, 1933. He was in the Navy. He married Joanne Louise Andrews Jones, (daugher of Valier Jones and Maxine Andrews), and they had four children: Kevin Edward Bellenfant, Eric Allen Bellenfant, Darla Joanne Bellenfant, and Steven Valier Bellenfant. Hen then married Sherley Mae Fleck on July 20, 1963 in Nevada, and had two children: Marsha Allyn Bellenfant, and Jennifer Lynn Bellenfant. He then married Phyllis Jean Palmer on October 3, 1984 in Nevada. Ivie Edward Bellenfant died December 10, 2015 in Portland, Oregon, at 78 years of age.

12. Charles Leonard Bellenfant was born February 3, 1936. He married Ana Ruth Cortner on May 25, 1957, in Bedford, Tennessee. They had three children: Suzanne Bellenfant (Reynolds); Keith Bellenfant; and Charles Kendall Bellenfant, (1962-2020). Charles Leonard Bellenfant died February 18, 2009, in in Tullahoma, Tennessee at 73 years of age.

13. Lawrence Allen Bellenfant was born April 17, 1939. He married Goldie Emmogene Williard, (daughter of John Dersam and Florence Layne). They had three children: Lisa Jean Bellenfant, (McCrary), Michael Allen Bellenfant; and Larry Wayne Bellenfant. Lawrence Allen Bellenfant died March 12, 2005 at age 65, and is buried in Downing Cemetery, Shelbyville, Bedford County, Tennessee.