The Paulette community is located at the south end of Union County. I have heard that the community may have been named for a Paul family living in the area. In researching the Union County Census, the 1880 Census listed one family by the name of Paul. The family consisted of the William J. Paul family living between George and Orleana Evans and Josiah and Sarah Russell. The enumerator for District 2 was David S. Turner. (I do not know if Paulette may have been in District Two in the 1880s) William J. Paul was 33 years old in June of 1880. He was listed as a laborer, and his wife, Lou Anna, 27 years old, was keeping house. The children were John W., age 6; Mary J, age 4 and Nerva, age 1. The 1890 Census was burned; the 1900 Census had no listing by the name of Paul. However, the 1910 Census had ll listings; but about half of those were one-per- household boarders in the Sharps Chapel-Lead Mine Bend area. As best I could tell the others did not live in the Paulette community. If, in fact, the community was named for William J. Paul, that would be quite unusual, since he was only 33 years old. There was a Joseph Paul who served in Company B, First Tennessee Infantry, Union Army, listed among the Union Countians who served. I have no other information about him. If anyone has substantiating information about the naming of the Paulette Community, please do let me know. The first Paulette School is believed to have been established about 1888. In early times, this community had an elementary school named Paulette, Milan Baptist Church, and Eb Vandergriff’s store The current small community center is located on the site of the original Paulette School and the three- room school built in the 1930s. The school built in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was tragically lost to a suspicious fire that was noticed about 2 a.m. during the Christmas school holidays of 1964. Since the Union County Court records were lost in the 1969 Court House fire, I do not know if anyone was ever charged. Leo and Ruby Graves had operated a grocery store nearby; but it had changed hands near the time of the fire–-first to Clyde Coker and then to Ed and Ruby Davis. The Davis family graciously allowed the school to continue at the end of the holidays in that store building. The following year the students were transferred to Maynardville Elementary School. Union County Schoolday Memories, pp 219-222, has pictures of several school groups dating back to 1913.

There is now a Paulette Fire Department located on Hwy 61, northwest of the church. Many other businesses and structures now line the highway and surrounding roads in the community.

From the school records that I have, the following persons were teachers and/or principal at Paulette School.

Grace Harrison Arnold 1940-41
Ora Bayless, 1942-43; Pr. 1951-52
Robert E. Beeler, 1959-61
Ramah Bowman, 1947-48
L. Brock, 1959-60
Edward Butler, 1934-36
Edith Haynes Campbell, 1949-50
Jack B. Campbell, 1950-51
Sue Carter, 1950-51
Bonnie Joan Russell Dyer, 1957-58
J. Marshall Dyer, 1936-37, 1941-42
Pauline Dyer, 1963-64
Clyde Ellison, 1951-52
Gladys Glenn Graves, 1943-44
Mae Hunsucker Graves, 1946-47
_____ Hill (Mrs.Clun Mack Hill) 1941-42
Pauline Houser, 1951-52; 1953-55
Wayne Hubbs, 1958-59
Creola Snodderly Hundley, 1932-33
Evaline Jessee, 1964-65
Betty Huddleston Johnson, 1948-50
Iretta Butcher Johnson, 1955-59
Loretta Myers Johnson, 1945-46
Vadra Lee Kitts Keck, 1952-53
Mose R. Kitts, 1946-49
Roma Laws, 1952-53
Charles H. Lynch, Jr.. 1953-57
Eugene D. Monroe,1931-32
Maggie Monroe, 1942-45
Ola Needham, 1944-46
Robert G. Nicely, 1964-65
Trilma Russell, 1960-63
Irene Satterfield, 1948-49
Edgar W. Seals, 1933-34
James Grubb Shumate, 1962-64
Floss Smith, 1949-51, 1952-62
Dorothy Lee Turner, 1933-34
Trent Vandergriff, 1940-41

In September of 2009 Union County purchased 16.6 acres of the property of the L. J. Hurst family on which to build a new elementary school to be called Paulette Elementary School. The school is scheduled to open with the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year. A bit of history on the Hurst family follows:

L. J. Hurst, WWII, U. S. Army, Co. 6, 134th Infantry Regiment, served in France and Belgium. He was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received while serving with General George S. Patton's Third Army during the Battle of the Bulge near Bastogne, Belgium, January 1, 1945. He also received American Service Medal and European African Middle Eastern Service Medal with two Bronze Service Stars. Three of his brothers served in the U. S. Military Service: Glenn, Harlan, and H. C.
After the war, L. J. returned to Union County and bought the Sam P. Smith place in the Paulette Community. He built and operated a store there for 25 years. He died July 8, 1982 at age 61. He was survived by his wife, Cleo Malone Hurst; three children Norma Hurst Maguire, Catherine Hurst Holland and Brenda Hurst Jackson. Pvt. Hurst was the son of Attie Hugh and Mary Williams Hurst and grandson of Luther John Hurst for whom he was named.

Note: It was great fun speaking with many of the former teachers and friends to try to gain information about Paulette. A big thank you to Judy Graves Sexton, Ramah Bowman, Eveline Jessie, Bonnie Russell Thomas, Pauline Sharp, Pauline Houser Smith and Marian Graves Walker

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As seen in the Union County Shopper June 2011