Members of the Carter County Highway Committee approved two requests from the community to name a pair of bridges after two late county residents — Pvt. Phillip Tolley, who was killed in action during World War II, and former Circuit Court Clerk John Paul Mathes.
The Committee held a public hearing on each of the proposals before a standing room only crowd Monday afternoon where several people spoke in favor of each request.
The first public hearing was held on the request to name the Rittertown Bridge, which is currently under structural renovation, after Pvt. Phillip Tolley, a member of the community near where the bridge is located who died in action overseas on March 5, 1944. The request was presented by Browns Branch Road resident Juanita Miller and more than 40 people in the local community signed a petition supporting naming the bridge for Tolley.
“The reason I want the bridge named for Mr. Tolley is for the simple reason he gave his life so we could have freedom,” Miller told the Committee during the hearing. “We wouldn’t have been free to come to this meeting if he hadn’t died.”
Miller recalled she was a child when Tolley died in the war but she remembered his family living near her.
Some of Tolley’s relatives were also in attendance at the public hearing and spoke to the committee.
“I think it would mean the world to the family,” said Louise Tolley, who married one of Phillip Tolley’s nephews. “I think he’s very deserving.”
One of Phillip Tolley’s three nephews who attended the meeting also addressed the committee.
“I was five when he died,” Dean Tolley recalled. “I remember Phillip and he was a good man.”
Following the public hearing, Committee member Danny Ward made a motion to name the bridge in memory of Pvt. Phillip Tolley, which was seconded by Committee member Charles Von Cannon. The motion passed unanimously on a vote.
The committee then held a public hearing on a request to name a bridge scheduled for reconstruction in the Dennis Cove area after John Paul Mathes, who along with his wife, Robin Sells Mathes, died when a tree fell on their campsite during severe storms that passed through the area in July.
Chairman Mike Hill informed the committee numerous people from the Dennis Cove community and around the county had signed a petition in favor of naming the bridge for Mathes.
County Commissioner Randall Jenkins voice his support for the proposal to the Committee.
“As a representative from that district I can’t think of anyone better to name this after,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins noted John Paul Mathes served the community for two decades, first through his role as a County Commissioner and then as the Circuit Court Clerk.
“I’ve known him my whole life,” Jenkins said, adding when he first decided to run for a seat on the County Commission Mathes offered him guidance and advice.
Others also spoke about Mathes and his love for the community.
“John Paul was a great individual,” Wendy Allara said. “He would give you the shirt off his back. He treated the poor just like he did the rich.”
The only voice of dissent during the public hearing came from County Commissioner John Lewis, who also represents the county’s 6th District, which includes the Dennis Cove community.
“I’ve got nothing against John Paul Mathes, but the Whiteheads has lived in Dennis Cove for probably 200 years,” Lewis said. “I think more people know the Whiteheads than knows John Paul Mathes. I think it ought to be a Whitehead bridge.”
Following the public hearing on the proposal, Committee member Kelly Collins made a motion to name the bridge in honor of John Paul Mathes. Ward seconded the motion and it passed unanimously on a vote.
The committee directed County Attorney Josh Hardin to draft resolutions on the bridge namings to be presented to the full Carter County Commission.