Viola Compton
b. 25 October 1865, Montgomery County, Indiana, to John H. and Sarah Jane (Hatt) Compton
d. 1949, Robertsdale, Baldwin County, Alabama

Viola Compton was a woman born before her time. She was always interested in learning and passed the exam to become a school teacher at the age of 17. She began her teaching career in District 7 of Montgomery County, Indiana, in 1882.

In 1903 Viola attended Moody’s Bible Institute in Chicago where she obtained the education to fulfill her life’s work of Christian charity. Despite ill health and a growing hearing loss, she moved first to Tennessee, was active in Kentucky, and also North Carolina. In each place, she helped found various schools, churches and other charitable organizations.

Viola traveled extensively through Yellowstone, the Ozarks, Texas, and New Mexico. She wrote about her home, childhood, family, ancestors, and incidents that affected who she was. She compiled a very thorough Compton family tree and documented her work with photographs and the written word.

In 1934, age and ill health dictated retirement so she transferred the assets of her business to Milligan College in eastern Tennessee and moved south to live with her cousin, Judith Lee Pitman, in Baldwin County, Alabama. She died there in 1949 and is buried in the Pitman family cemetery about one mile from the house.

Submitted by:
Sandra Rackard
Mobile AL
E-mail: srackard@bellsouth.net