Mae Belle Stiles

Mae was born December 13, 1910, in Cherokee County, NC. She was the daugher of William Ervin Stiles and Laura Walker.

When she was eleven, Mae and her family temporarily left their home in the southwestern tip of North Carolina to go work in the Firestone Mill in Gastonia, NC, just west of Charlotte. Mae made thread in the mill, where it was terribly hot, for next to nothing in wages. This is an example of the child labor that once thrived in this nation but that most Americans today would find unimaginable.

When she was seventeen, Mae married Enoch Napoleon Allen, also of Cherokee County. The couple reared seven daughters:

1. Helen Kathleen, born 11/11/28; married Paul Taylor (b. 11/17/29) of Candler, NC on 07/23/49 in Walhalla, SC; died 01/27/92.
2. Artie Monteen, born 02/23/32; married Roy Lee Wilson (b. 05/28/31) of Candler, NC on 11/05/49 in Candler.
3. Geraldine Elizabeth, born 01/07/34; married William Sanders (b. 06/21/30) of Hiwassee Dam, NC on 06/10/51 at Friendship Baptist Church in Cherokee County, NC.
4. Alice Shirley, born 02/16/39; married Charles Edward Griffith (b. 06/08/31) of Cherokee County, NC on 07/17/65 in Cherokee County, Rev. Fred Lunsford officiating.
5. Jane Maxine, born 05/30/41; married Joe Lee Barnett (b. 08/14/39) of Cherokee County, NC on 12/20/58 in Cherokee County, Rev. Clifford Elliot officiating.
6. Eula Mae, born 04/13/44; married Franklin Wendell Moore (b. 09/29/32) of Clay County, NC on 07/23/69 at Sweetwater Baptist Church in Clay County, Rev. Aud Brown officiating.
7. Linda Sue, born 12/17/49; married Harold Scroggs, Jr (b. 03/06/49) of Clay County, NC on 01/16/70 at Peachtree Memorial Baptist Church in Cherokee County, NC, Rev. Robert Barker officiating.

After she married, Mae took care of household duties and helped her husband farm. When he was away on a job, she and the girls took care of all the farm labor, which included hoeing corn, milking the cow, and feeding the chickens.

Mae Stiles Allen lived a long life that included hard work, but also health, happiness, and family closeness. She died September 04, 1992, and was buried beside her husband in the Friendship Baptist Church Cemetery in Suit, NC.