Who's Who of Crow Creek Valley

Jacob Alvah Gaffin

Last Name: Gaffin First Name: Jacob Middle Name: Alvah Nickname: Jake Born: Sept. 1869 Died: Apr. 3, 1940 Burial: Mountain View Cemetery Place of Birth: Leaf River Township, Ill. Last place of residence: Sherwood, TN Mother: Jane C. Zeigler Father: Morris Gaffin Spouse: None Children: None

Jake Gaffin 1869-1940

Other information: Jake Gaffin was a man of many talents. He was a railroad telegrapher, a Justice of the Peace, a successful dairyman, plus he had fruit orchards on the mountainside west of town. Someone said, early in the morning, before daylight, Jake Gaffin could be heard singing softly as he milked his Jersey cows. Soon afterwards, Jake would deliver the fresh milk to the homes of his customers while riding in a horse-drawn cart. The milk was delivered in glass bottles.

While Jake Gaffin was Justice of the Peace, it was a custom for couples to get married at the Block Office where Jake worked as a railroad telegrapher. During the late 1920s, Jim Garner and Faye Wells were married by Jake at the Block Office.

Submitted by Don Jones and Kathy Pack (July 2005)

In September, 1869, Jacob Alvah Gaffin was born in Leaf River Township, Ogle County, Illinois. His father and mother, Morris and Jane "Jennie" C. Gaffin, moved to Tennessee about 1886. After Jake Gaffin went to work for the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway Company, he probably moved to Sherwood, TN, during the early 1900s. When Jake was the enumerator for the Census of 1910, his mother Jennie was living with him in Sherwood. Jake was also the enumerator for the Census of 1920. Jake's father, Morris, died in 1890 at McMinnville, TN. Jake's mother, Jennie, died February 15, 1923. 

Additional information submitted by Don Jones (February 2006)

Jake’s Last Will and Testament

Will Book No. 4, page 424

Realizing the uncertainty of life and also that the machinery in my head is getting worn, old and brittle, and liable to bust all to hell any minute, I am making my last and only will, dated Feb. 13, 1940, bequeathing my insurance and other property to my brother, W. C. Gaffin, who I hereby appoint as my administrator without bond, he to pay my debts and blow the rest as he sees fit, as he won’t be here long, anyway.

J. A. Gaffin