CLYDE EDWARD ENIX Student

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: BIOGRAPHY – Students
Series 19: STUDENTS
Clyde Edward Enix (1922 – 2009)

CLYDE EDWARD ENIX Student ; Holiday card to Esther Burkhard from Gene & Clyde Enix, 1998.

Burkhard Correspondence. Front & back of Holiday card to Esther Burkhard, from Gene & Clyde Enix, 1998 (sic, 1999). [enix_clyde_corresp_002.jpg]

CLYDE EDWARD ENIX Student 1935 – 1942


TAGS: Clyde Edward Enix, Clyde E. Enix, Willard Enix, PMSS students, WWII, PMSS printshop, Fred and Esther Burkhard, Mary Rockwell Hook, Arthur W. Dodd, Berea (KY) College printshop, Corinne Taylor Gregory, Grace Nettleton Home


During the late 1940s, Clyde Edward Enix and his brother Willard, former PMSS students, undertook an extraordinary mission. After returning from their service in the Merchant Marines during World War II, they embarked on a heartfelt endeavor to gather all seven Enix siblings, now grown up and spread across the country, to live together in one place again.

Clyde Edward Enix: HIS FAMILY

The Enix Family story is a remarkable one in itself. The family was living in Harlan, Kentucky, when Clyde’s mother, Lula Elma (Cole) Enix, died at the age of 33 in March 1934, immediately following the birth of her seventh child, Bobby. Keeping the family together became too great a struggle for the father, Ed Enix, whose occupation was selling vegetables and fish to townsfolk, even with the assistance of Lula’s parents, Benjamin Franklin Cole and Sophia Kansas (Dunaway) Cole, and her sister Lillie Mae Cole.

Alta and Polly were sent to an orphanage and Clyde, Willard, and Janette stayed with their father until he died unexpectedly. Grandmother Cole then gained legal custody of all the children and worked on putting the older ones in good schools. The three oldest children went to Pine Mountain Settlement School: Clyde (age 13?), the oldest, arrived at the School in 1935, and Janette (10?) and Willard (8) followed a year later. Janette was at PMSS only a year, then was accepted at Red Bird Settlement School in Bell County, Kentucky. In 1936, Alta and Polly were sent to the Grace Nettleton Home in Harrogate, Tennessee, (joining Ruth Shuler and Charlsie Vaughn who eventually attended PMSS). Later, Alta and Polly received scholarships to attend high school at the Harrison-Chilhowee Baptist Academy (now, The Kings Academy) in Tennessee.

Over time, the care of the two youngest children, Carol Jean (age 2) and the baby, Robert (Bobby), was taken over by Ernest and Mollie Moore, an aunt and uncle in Arizona. Years later, the children were sent back to live with Polly and her husband, Linton Tibbetts, when the aunt became ill.

Although the Enix children were separated and moved from place to place, they remained devoted to each other, keeping in touch throughout the years.

Clyde Edward Enix: AT PINE MOUNTAIN SETTLEMENT SCHOOL

Clyde and his brother Willard thrived as students at Pine Mountain, graduating in 1942. Both worked in the printshop with instructors August Angel and Fred Burkhard. Clyde continued to stay in touch with Fred and his wife, Esther Burkhard, all his life, sending cards and calling them on the phone. In later years, Esther took notes as Clyde reminisced about his life. Esther recently donated her notes and other papers and photographs to the Pine Mountain Settlement School Archive. The information she provided forms part of the text of the brothers’ biographies on the PMSS Archives website.

In one of his phone conversations with Mrs. Burkhard, in December 1996, Clyde recalled a project that he worked on under Fred Burkhard: a biography of Mary Rockwell Hook, who was the architect for several of PMSS’s buildings. He handset the type and made a frame for the document in the woodworking shop, then hung it in Open House. When Mrs. Hook stayed in Open House during a visit, she admired the framed story about herself and asked, “What can I do for you?” Responding that he would like to work off-campus, she asked, “Would you come to my home and be a ‘busboy’?” He agreed and joined Esther in her drive back to the Hook home in Kansas City.

Arthur W. Dodd, PMSS Principal, kept track of Clyde’s time in Kansas City through his correspondence with Mrs. Hook. On June 29, 1938, Mrs. Hook wrote,

Clyde continues to do very well. [He’s] working in the garden today with another man who can tell him which are weeds & which are flowers. He can wait upon table nicely & seems happy. He looks fatter & brighter. He enjoys our pond but it has been too cold lately to swim.

MARY ROCKWELL HOOK Correspondence 1938, Box 18: 2-66. [hook_m_corr_1938_021.jpg]

Mr. Dodd responded that he was “glad that Clyde is getting along so well. He should have a glorious time there at Hook House. It will be quite an achievement if Clyde stays there all summer and does well, and a great credit to you.”

Clyde Edward Enix: AT BEREA

Clyde and Willard were able to take their printing skills on to Berea (KY) College where they worked in Berea’s print shop.

While attending Berea Academy, Clyde studied American and European history under Dr. Elisabeth Peck, who had a PH.D. in Russian History and Music and was head of Enix’s dormitory. He recalls that every few weeks after church she would invite her students to the living room for a concert presented by several student cellists.

One of Clyde’s friends was the son of the Dean of the Academy, C.N. Shutt. One summer they traveled together to Phoenix, Arizona, and old Mexico. At Berea College, he continued his friendship with two students from Pine Mountain, Mattie Ayers and Lucille Christian.

Clyde Edward Enix: TOGETHER AGAIN

Following World War II, the two brothers were able to find good jobs in publishing and printing, using the skills they learned at the Pine Mountain and Berea schools. They were not only able to pay for the education of many of their siblings but also encouraged them to move to Florida.

In Florida, Clyde worked as a Linotype setter for The St. Petersburg Times and, with the supplemental income of Willard, the two rented a large furnished home and set about reuniting the family. By 1946 all the siblings were either sharing the St. Petersburg house or living nearby. As time went by, they settled down in the Tampa Bay area, including Clyde, who in 1955 married Gene, a co-worker at the newspaper.

A letter dated February 24, 1982, to Mrs. Burkhard from Clyde’s sister, Polly, states that Clyde “left the printing business and bought a dairy farm [Enix & Sons] which he had for several years [late 1950s – 1970s]. He has now retired [from] printing and has a printshop in Port Richey [Florida]. All his children are grown and on their own. Son Mark works with Clyde now.”

On Christmas Day 1981, Clyde’s sister, Pauline (Polly) Enix Tibbetts, (1826-2016) was preparing to host the annual reunion of the Enixes at her home on Tampa Bay, an extended family that numbered in the 50s by then. As she prepared food for the guests, she was interviewed by Corinne Taylor Gregory, a lifelong friend who was the director of the Grace Nettleton Home during Polly’s time there. The interview was transcribed in an article about the family titled “Christmas at Polly’s,” published in the November/December 1982 issue of Back Home In Kentucky. In addition to Esther Burkhart’s notes, Polly’s narrative was also the source of many of the details that appear on the PMSS website pages for the Enix family.

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Clyde Edward Enix was born in Ages, Kentucky, on October 1, 1922, to Edward Vawn Enix and Lula Alma (Cole) Enix (1901-1935). He had four sisters, Pauline (Polly), Janette, Alta, and Carol Jean, and two brothers, Robert and Willard.

Clyde and his wife, Gene Elizabeth Enix, had a daughter, Nancy, and four sons, Mark, Daniel, and twins Dale and Dennis.

Gene Elizabeth Enix was born on February 25, 1922, and died on May 16, 2008, in Port Richey, Florida. Clyde Edward Enix died on February 15, 2009, at the age of 86.


See Also:

CLYDE EDWARD ENIX Correspondence – 1996-2002
ENIX FAMILY
WILLARD EARL ENIX Student – Biography

Return to BIOGRAPHY – A-Z


Title

Clyde Edward Enix

Alt. Title

Clyde Enix ; Clyde E. Enix ; 

Identifier

CLYDE EDWARD ENIX Student

Creator

Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY

Alt. Creator

Ann Angel Eberhardt ; Helen Hayes Wykle ;

Subject Keyword

Clyde Edward Enix ; Willard Enix ; PMSS students ; WWII ; PMSS printshop ; Fred and Esther Burkhard ; Mary Rockwell Hook ; Arthur W. Dodd ; Berea (KY) College printshop ; Corinne Taylor Gregory ; Grace Nettleton Home and School ; Gene Elizabeth Tuten (Cooper) ;

Subject LCSH

Enix, Clyde Edward, — 1922 – 2009.
Pine Mountain Settlement School (Pine Mountain, Ky.) — History.
Harlan County (Ky.) — History.
Education — Kentucky — Harlan County.
Rural schools — Kentucky — History.
Schools — Appalachian Region, Southern.

Date

2020-05-20 aae

Publisher

Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY.

Contributor

Esther Burkhard, teacher and wife of Clyde’s printing teacher at Pine Mountain Settlement School ; November/December 1982 issue of Back Home In Kentucky

Type

Collections ; text ; image ;

Format

Original and copies of documents and correspondence in file folders in filing cabinet.

Source

Series 09: BIOGRAPHY – Students 
Series 19: STUDENTS

Language

English

Relation

Is related to: Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections, Series 09: Biography – Students and Series 19: Students.

Coverage Temporal

1901 – 2009

Coverage Spatial

Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; Bell County, KY ; Harrogate, TN ; Arizona ; Kansas City, MO ; St. Petersburg, FL ; Tampa Bay area, FL ; Port Richey, FL ; Arizona ; Berea, KY ; 

Rights

Any display, publication, or public use must credit the Pine Mountain Settlement School. Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Donor

n/a

Description

Core documents, correspondence, writings, and administrative papers of Clyde Edward Enix ; clippings, photographs, books by or about Clyde Edward Enix ;

Acquisition

n/d

Citation

“[Identification of Item],” [Collection Name] [Series Number, if applicable]. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY.

Processed By

Helen Hayes Wykle ; Ann Angel Eberhardt ;

Last Updated

2022-03-29 hhw 

Bibliography

Sources

“Clyde Edward Enix.” Series 09: Biography and Series 19: Students. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Internet resource.

“ENIX, Clyde E.” Obituary published by Tampa Bay Times, February 18,2009. Accessed 29 March 2020. Internet resource.

Gregory, Corinne Taylor. “Christmas at Polly’s” article in Back Home in Kentucky, November/December 1982, pages 36-39. Print.

“Kentucky Death Records, 1911-1965”, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N9K2-W8B : accessed 10 May 2020), Ed Enix in entry for Mrs Lula (sic) Elma Enix, 1935. Internet resource.

“United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014,” database with images, FamilySearch  (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK2J-YVKC : accessed 10 May 2020), Gene E Enix, Florida, United States; from “Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 – Today),” database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Tampa Tribune, The, born-digital text. Internet resource.

“United States Census, 1940,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VYW5-Q99 : accessed 31 March 2022), Carol Jean Enix in household of Ernest Moore, Supervisorial District 2, Maricopa, Arizona, United States;  NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 – 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012. Internet resource.