Meigs gets Grace Sims’ prison quilt

DECATUR, Tenn. — The granddaughter of one of Meigs County’s most infamous women has given the Meigs County Historical Museum a quilt that her grandmother stitched in prison.

In the early 20th century, Grace Sims was known for her exploits. She had several children by married men, sent for mail-order husbands who mysteriously disappeared once she had their money and hired vagabonds who were never seen again after working on her hog farm, according to legend.

She never served time for her suspected serial killings, but she was imprisoned for mail fraud over the mail-order husbands.

“With all her faults, she was an excellent quilter,” said granddaughter Rosetta Mowery, who recounted the history in her book, “Tragedy in Tin Can Holler.”

The quilt, stitched from prison materials in grays and whites, was made while Ms. Sims was an inmate in a federal institution in Alderson, W.Va., in the 1930s. She was sentenced to five years but was released after three because of heart disease, her granddaughter said. She gave the quilt to a friend shortly before she died at age 50.

Mrs. Mowery said she wanted the quilt to kept close to her grandmother’s roots.

“We are elated to have been chosen to receive such a historical item,” said Paulette Jones, spokeswoman for the Meigs County Historical Museum. She said Mrs. Mowery’s book is in the museum’s historical section.

Mrs. Mowery said the quilt display and book are another outlet to warn people about child abuse and domestic violence.

According to her research, Grace Sims was born to Tyre Sims and Mary Jane Robinson in 1884. Her father molested her when she was a teenager, and she rebelled by drinking and carousing, Mrs. Mowery said.

“Today she would have been diagnosed as having mental illness and probably would be in a mental institution,” Mrs. Mowery said.

Grace Sims’ son, Seig Mowery, was Mrs. Mowery’s father. He beat her mother to death when Mrs. Mowery was 7 and was sent to prison. She and her siblings were raised in foster homes.

Mrs. Mowery began researching her family history and uncovered her notorious grandmother.

The book was published in 2007 and a documentary film soon will be shown in Meigs County, Mrs. Mowery said.

ON THE WEB

n To learn more about the Meigs County Historical Museum, visit www.southeasttennessee.com/www/docs/759.2480

n Information about the book can be found at www.tragedyintincanholler.com.