David Alexander was born June 3rd, 1862 in Cheatham county
during the height of the civil war.. He was the only
child of William Alexander Cauthen's second 
marriage to
Patsy M. Lovell. In
1865, at the close of the civil
war David's father died. In the 1870 census of Cheatham County David and his
mother are shown living with Patsy's maternal uncle Lindorf Lovell.
David and Lida Cauthen and family
(early years).
Click to enlarge.
The early years of David's life must have been hard as this was the reconstruction era that followed the Civil war
In September of 1883 David married Lida Devoid Jones. They made their home at one point in Taylor Town near White Bluff, Tennessee in Dickson County. This community consists mainly of a few families, the Taylor Town Church of Christ and cemetery. About three quarters of an acre of property was deeded by David for the church and cemetery on the 5th of February, 1916.
In th
e
years that followed their marriage David and Lida had 11 children one of which,
Annie, died shortly after birth. The family never owned much but as Amy Frizzel,
David's daughter says "we were poor but just didn't know it".
David and Lida Cauthen and family
(latter years).
Click to enlarge.
David made a living by farming, logging and other honest means. Entertainment was popping corn, telling stories and singing together. David had learned to read and Lida had not so David would read the Bible to her and the family. The family church was The Church of Christ.
On August 27, 1948 David Alexander Cauthen died at the age
of 86 years in White Bluff, Tennessee. In his life time he had seen countless
changes living from the days of the horse and buggy to the days of travel by
airplane. Born during the Civil War he had lived through reconstruction, the
Oklahoma land rush, the
Spanish-American War, the First World War, The Great Depression and the Second
World War.
He was buried in the Taylor Town cemetery.