“When your pawpaw, Willie B. Davis, was younger, he used to make moonshine.” Michelle leaned closer, looking puzzled. “Are you serious, Nanny?”
“Back in them days, ‘fore he worked at the highway department here in Bedford County, your pawpaw was what they used to call a ‘dynamite man’ for Tillett Brothers Construction. Well, one day Willie B. got hisself hurt. The fellas he worked with rushed him over to the old hospital.”
“Was he hurt bad?”
“Bad enough that Doc Feldhaus asked him, ‘Willie B., how much you sip on every day?’ Your pawpaw said, ‘Oh, ‘bout a pint.’ Well, that doctor wasted no time. He wrote a prescription for a pint of liquor and called B.H. Sanders. Now, B.H. was a body man, but he was also the sheriff. Ol’ B.H. never missed a day. He brought your pawpaw a pint of moonshine to the hospital for the next four or five days!”
“Where’d he get it — the moonshine, I mean?” Michelle asked her nanny, Lucille Davis.
“I ‘spect B.H. paid a visit to another moonshiner in town. Doc Feldhaus assured me moonshine would fix Willie B. right up, and sure enough, it did.”
Michelle was left in shock. “But I’ve never known PawPaw to drink,” she had replied.
Decades later, on March 29, 2024, Michelle, the granddaughter of Willie B. Davis, married Chad, the grandson of B.H. Sanders.
“Our family has really gotten a good laugh from this story that Chad’s granddaddy brought moonshine to my pawpaw while he was in the hospital. I called my uncle, Danny Ray Davis, to get his version, and he remembers it well,” Michelle said. “B.H. knew Willie B. was a moonshine man — as did most — however, they had mounds of respect for each other. I guess at some point, they just agreed to disagree on some things. We could all learn a lot from that — respect and forgiveness take you far in life with others.” Willie B. was born in Rutherford County in 1907, and his family moved to Shelbyville soon after. By the time Michelle came along, her beloved PawPaw was a changed man. He died in January
Michelle said, “He initially had a stroke, but he had emphysema, which eventually took him home to the Lord, where he longed to be. He was a loving and Godly man. He walked down the aisle with me at a church revival when I was 12 because I wanted to be saved. His love for the Lord and his family has always been an example to me.”
According to local history ledgers, the Sanders family moved to the area around B.H. was born in 1923. He served as a tank driver during World War II before becoming a “body shop man.” He died of lung disease in October 1984.
“My granddaddy used to call me ‘Rooster’ because I would get up so early,” Chad recalled. “He had a lot of patience when dealing with me as a kid. He was very laid-back, patient, and kind. I don’t think I ever heard him raise his voice. I watched how he was with my grandmother. If I can be half the man he was, I have accomplished something.”
Chad isn’t just following in his granddaddy’s footsteps, but in his father’s as well. He is a third-generation “body man” and owner of Sanders Family Body Shop at 1683 Madison St.
He said, “Avery, my dad ran the body shop at Cannon Chevrolet, just like my granddaddy did. Later, my dad opened his own body shop, and I began working there when I was 11 years old. A lot of the Sanders men did body shop work. It’s what I’ve known my whole life.”
Although Chad and Michelle attended high school together, when their paths crossed years later, Michelle said it was “perfect timing.”
“God certainly knew we needed each other,” she said. “We are best friends, and God certainly blessed us. We have five children — two girls and three boys. We have seven grandchildren, one of whom was born just a year after we were married. We always try to celebrate birthdays, Christmas, and other milestones to stay connected. We also get to see our grandchildren on Sundays at church, and that itself is such a blessing.”
When it comes to staying in touch with extended family, the Sanders family decided a few years ago to make annual reunions a priority. They get together every Thanksgiving to share old black-and-white photos and to swap stories, such as the one about Sheriff Sanders delivering moonshine to Willie B. at the hospital. The Davis family gets together each Christmas.
“We hope that our families never forget where they came from,” Michelle said. “Try to learn your family history. Ask questions. Find out where you came from. Look at old pictures. You don’t have to think or be just alike to get along or to like someone. We should learn to agree to disagree. We all need to find forgiveness in our daily lives and should always show love. Holding on to bitterness only hurts you in the long run, but forgiveness will release that.”
In the end, B.H. Sanders and Willie B. Davis didn’t see eye to eye on everything, but they didn’t let that stand in the way. They chose respect. They chose friendship. And those choices have shaped two families for generations and helped kindle a love story that will last forever. GN
