Miss Kate'sAutograph Album

Credits

Biography – Nancy Duke MurphyImages – Collection of Denise B. OlsonCover – Moultrie Creek www.moultriecreek.us

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Introduction

Autograph books were popular throughout the 19th

century with many bound books displaying very ornate covers. Miss Kate's album cover is still in good shape although the binding is falling apart and many of the pages are loose. Considering the dates of many of the autographs, it is assumed that many of the signers were her students. The clipping glued to the inside back cover is an article about the Tennessee School for the

Blind where her brother, Samuel Albert Link, was Superintendent. The article states, “The Superintendent of the school is Prof. S. A. Link, LL.D., a graduate of Ewing College, Illinois, who for five years has been teaching at Ashland City, Cheatham County. He is a Tennessean by birth, about 28 years old, and a fine-looking, courteous gentleman.” The sketch in the article is Prof. Link.

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Mary Katherine Link (1850-1917)

Kate Link, born in Wilson County, Tennessee, in 1850, was the daughter of William Booker and Amanda Randolph Link. She was second in line of the family of eight children. She moved with her parents to Cheatham County in 1859 at about the age o f nine. Most of her life was spent in the vicinity of this home at Thomasville in Cheatham County.As the oldest girl in a large family, Kate, very early in life, assumed the responsibility of helping care for the family. The parents were farmers. In an age when rural homes were almost completely self sustaining, there were many chores to be done. Kate accepted the role of playing second mother with good grace. She never married and spent her life in or near the home of her parents. The

family looked to her for guidance and support. Household chores were managed with skill and efficiency. Kate was practical, orderly and thrifty.A few evidences of Kate's expertise in household management remained for my generation to share. A patchwork quilt, kept by my mother, was made by Aunt Kate from scraps of material on hand, not for a lavish display, but simply

for the warmth provided on a cold night. There were beautiful things, too. The garden that supplied the family with summer produce was always bordered with Kate's lovely flower beds. Sometimes the flowers outgrew the vegetables, it was remembered by a friend of the Thomasville folk.

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Miss Kate (center) and Mrs. Frazier with whom she boarded while teaching.

Membership in Mallorys Church began for Kate Link early in life. The church received full share of this member's time and service. Sunday School classes and Missionary Society programs were her specialty. The preacher was always welcome for dinner with the Links and Kate helped spread the feast of country fare.In her childhood days, Katherine Link would have attended the grade schools in the community, first of Wilson County, then in Cheatham. Possibly some institute training and continuous study followed, for this lady was an educated person.Miss Link began a teaching career early in life and continued until failing health forced retirement. There were at least forty years of continuous service. Kate drove to the Cheatham County schools to which she was assigned in horse and buggy. After the regular school term was over she continued teaching subscription pupils for a small fee wherever there was a need. She was a teacher in the Link School which her brother, Samuel Albert Link, had organized in 1900. this school lasted about seven years. Kate's scholastic achievement

must have been exemplary to meet the standards set by this educated brother of hers.Kate Link was also somewhat of a successful business person for a rural woman of her day. With her own earnings she had managed the building of a small house on the Link property. Kate generously allowed it to be used by others of the family when it was needed for a second home. Death came for Kate Link in November of 1917. She was buried in the family plot near the homeplace. For me, there is a faint memory of a ride in the horse and buggy with my mother to attend that funeral. The importance of the occasion left its impression on this great niece of Kat Link.Aunt Kate was a special person. An obituary tribute by Sterling Brewer said of her, “She was eminently successful in her chose vocation, being always able to convince her pupils that she was their friend and felt a sincere interest in their welfare. Not only did she seek to give them a knowledge of letters but also to inspire their minds with a love of truth and virtue.”

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