Individual Details
Ovaton Augustus Tate
(January 6, 1883 - January 28, 1978)
1910 Madison County, Kentucky, Red House.
1920 Madison County, Kentucky, Red House.
1930 Madison County, Kentucky, Foxtown.
"My dad, Ovaton Augustus Tate was born in Madison County, Kentucky on January 6, 1883. He was known as "Ove" or "Obe" to most everyone. My dad was not a church going man but he believed in God and was a member of the Baptist faith at an early age. Dad was a 'Jack of all trades' and definitely a 'master of one' ... Steam Engines. He built rock fences in Clark and Fayette County with his father, Caswell Tate, Jr. He fell from a rock fence and crushed his hip and he walked with a limp the rest of his life. He always used a walking cane after the accident. Dad was very well liked wherever he went. When someone in the community had a problem that they couldn't solve, most of the time they would tell 'Ove' their problem and ask for his advice. He was a wizard in the way that he could work out problems. A neighbor, Dan Callahan, and dad owned a 'well drilling outfit' together. Dan was the 'water witch' and located the site to drill the well and dad took care of the steam power and the sharpening of the drill bits. They gave up the 'well digging' business and started a 'Sawmill.' They traveled throughout Madison County sawing logs. Dad kept the power going and the blades sharp. The 'sawmill' lasted several years. Dad tried farming one year. We raised a tobacco crop on East Pronge on Mr. John Christopher's farm. It was not a very successful year for tobacco. The grasshoppers were so bad that they would eat the plant within two days of setting the plant in the ground. Richie Wells lived next to the Christopher farm and would offer suggestions to dad. They were always joking with each other. Richie told dad that he would rent him a flock of turkeys to take care of the grasshoppers. Dad said, "It's too late." We left and went home for dinner, and we left the mules tied up here at the farm. When we got back, those grasshoppers had eaten both of the mules, and they were pitching 'horse shoes,' with the shoes that had been on the mules to see which grasshopper would get the harness." Dad ran the pump at the 'pump house' at Ford in Clark County. The pump house is where all the equipment was housed that was used to pump water from the Kentucky River for the L & N Railroad. Dad worked two or three years at the Blue Grass Ordinance during World War II. He fired and ran the boiler that furnished steam heat for all of the buildings at the depot. He was a fairly good carpenter. He tore down the log cabin in which I was born and built the house in which I spent most of my life. It was four rooms with a porch and a fifth room was built on top of the four rooms. The fifth room was built for me and was dad's own design. He built the house on Stoney Run road for my brother, Paul. His last job was for the Madison County School System as a school bus driver. He drove a small school bus called the 'Tater Bug.' He hauled the kids from Happy Hollow, Stoney Run and Red House to the Red House School. Dad was his own man and most of his life. He did it his way. He believed money was made to be spent. He passed away January 28, 1976 at ninety three years old." (Article about Ovaton Augustus Tate, writtne by his son, James David Tate.)
1920 Madison County, Kentucky, Red House.
1930 Madison County, Kentucky, Foxtown.
"My dad, Ovaton Augustus Tate was born in Madison County, Kentucky on January 6, 1883. He was known as "Ove" or "Obe" to most everyone. My dad was not a church going man but he believed in God and was a member of the Baptist faith at an early age. Dad was a 'Jack of all trades' and definitely a 'master of one' ... Steam Engines. He built rock fences in Clark and Fayette County with his father, Caswell Tate, Jr. He fell from a rock fence and crushed his hip and he walked with a limp the rest of his life. He always used a walking cane after the accident. Dad was very well liked wherever he went. When someone in the community had a problem that they couldn't solve, most of the time they would tell 'Ove' their problem and ask for his advice. He was a wizard in the way that he could work out problems. A neighbor, Dan Callahan, and dad owned a 'well drilling outfit' together. Dan was the 'water witch' and located the site to drill the well and dad took care of the steam power and the sharpening of the drill bits. They gave up the 'well digging' business and started a 'Sawmill.' They traveled throughout Madison County sawing logs. Dad kept the power going and the blades sharp. The 'sawmill' lasted several years. Dad tried farming one year. We raised a tobacco crop on East Pronge on Mr. John Christopher's farm. It was not a very successful year for tobacco. The grasshoppers were so bad that they would eat the plant within two days of setting the plant in the ground. Richie Wells lived next to the Christopher farm and would offer suggestions to dad. They were always joking with each other. Richie told dad that he would rent him a flock of turkeys to take care of the grasshoppers. Dad said, "It's too late." We left and went home for dinner, and we left the mules tied up here at the farm. When we got back, those grasshoppers had eaten both of the mules, and they were pitching 'horse shoes,' with the shoes that had been on the mules to see which grasshopper would get the harness." Dad ran the pump at the 'pump house' at Ford in Clark County. The pump house is where all the equipment was housed that was used to pump water from the Kentucky River for the L & N Railroad. Dad worked two or three years at the Blue Grass Ordinance during World War II. He fired and ran the boiler that furnished steam heat for all of the buildings at the depot. He was a fairly good carpenter. He tore down the log cabin in which I was born and built the house in which I spent most of my life. It was four rooms with a porch and a fifth room was built on top of the four rooms. The fifth room was built for me and was dad's own design. He built the house on Stoney Run road for my brother, Paul. His last job was for the Madison County School System as a school bus driver. He drove a small school bus called the 'Tater Bug.' He hauled the kids from Happy Hollow, Stoney Run and Red House to the Red House School. Dad was his own man and most of his life. He did it his way. He believed money was made to be spent. He passed away January 28, 1976 at ninety three years old." (Article about Ovaton Augustus Tate, writtne by his son, James David Tate.)
Events
| Birth | January 6, 1883 | Madison County, Kentucky | |||
| Marriage | June 24, 1908 | Madison County, Kentucky - Maude Poer | |||
| Death | January 28, 1978 | Madison County, Kentucky | |||
| Burial | Memorial Gardens, Madison County, Kentucky |
Families
| Spouse | Maude Poer (1889 - 1964) |
| Child | Gordon Mae Tate (1909 - 1987) |
| Child | Dillard Caswell Tate (1910 - 2002) |
| Child | Paul Keith Tate (1912 - 1986) |
| Child | Anna Margaret Tate (1914 - 1986) |
| Child | Florence June Tate (1916 - 2007) |
| Child | Edna Earl Tate (1918 - 1932) |
| Child | Robert Allen Tate (1920 - ) |
| Child | Mary Dean Tate (1924 - 1994) |
| Child | James David Tate (1926 - 2006) |