Charles R. Garnett Collection

In the 1900 Census, Ida Garnett (b. October 1877, d. May 15, 1934) lived at 217 Poston Street with other family members. She worked as a laundress in 1900 and 1920, but the census record lists her as a private cook for a family in 1910. Ida's son Charles Robert Garnett (b. February 11, 1901, d. November 24, 1976) worked as a bronzer for a local foundry. From at least 1920, mother and son lived together at 523 Poston Street. Ida Garnett died May 15, 1934 and was buried at Golden Hill Cemetery, a historic African-American cemetery on Sevenmile Ferry Road.

On August 24, 1940, Charles Robert Garnett married Mrs. Lucile Garrott Barton (b. November 1, 1903, d. 1996). Lucile's first marriage was to Marion G. Barton on May 22, 1920. Charles and Lucile Garnett lived at 532 Poston Street. City directories document Charlers Garnett's occupations. He worked as a laborer for Dunlop Milling Company in 1942 before eventually finding employment as a mixer at Iglehart Brothers/Iglehart's from 1947 to 1952. By 1959, Garnett was working as a porter at Boillin-Harrison Co. On November 24, 1976, Charles passed away; however, his widowed wife Lucile lived until 1996. The couple are buried together at Evergreen Cemetery, an African-American cemetery located adjacent to Golden Hill Cemetery.

In 2005, Calvin Stokes purchased a dresser drawer filled with the papers of a local African-American family at a yard sale in Clarksville, Tennessee. The Charles R. Garnett Collection is comprised of the family papers formerly housed in that drawer.