Finding my Maybelline Roots in Morganfield Kentucky

My Great grandmother, 16 year old Susan Anna Alvey, in 1877.

My Great grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Willliams,  the local Sheriff and tax collector, was fearless when it came to doing the right thing.  He lost his right eye and often teased his grandchildren by pulling fake eye out and handing it to one of them. My dad remembered running away screaming.

Susan Anna Alvey Williams and TJ had 6 children. The most famous being Tom Lyle Williams, founder of the Maybelline Company. When Susan Anna, died in 1919, of the great flu, TJ turned his attention to keeping the books for Tom Llyle in the early years of Maybelline. 

On the farm as children, my grandfather William Preston Williams and his little sister Eva K. Williams in 1909. 

The 500 acre family farm and homestead was over 100 years old, by the time the Williams kids were born.  By 1916, the farm was sold and the family moved to Chicago, to assist Tom Lyle with the Maybelline Company.

TJ and Anna's third grandchild, and their son, Noel James and Frances Williams second child, Annette Williams, plays with the chickens before the farm was finally sold.

The country story wore many hats in the early day's, including being the local post office, photography studio, soda fountain, and supply store.  it also acted as a saloon at one time, before Prohibition  in 1920.

Noel James, wife Frances, with their two girls, Helen and Annette, in Morganfield, visiting the homestead.  The family was now prospering in Chicago, as the Maybelline Company continued to grow.

Little Helen, with the chickens in Morganfield.

                   Little Annette in the chicken coop.

Sheriff TJ with my father William Preston Williams Jr., in 1925.

And finally the Big Three, Sheriff Thomas Jefferson with his son, Tom Lyle Williams, and his first grandchild, Tom Lyle Williams Jr. in Chicago, 1934.

Read more about Morganfield and the early days of Maybelline in The Maybelline Story.

Do you watch the TV Show, "Finding your Roots?" http://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/ Anyone interested in their Genealogy, would learn a lot from the tremendous research done to produce every episode. Several of my cousins have researched our family history and even proved our connection with the great Patriot, Benjamin Franklin, and General Jonathon Williams, of the Revolutionary War. Here is a tiny glimpse into my roots in Kentucky. I'm proud to have those Southern ties in my background.

I'm proud of my roots in Morganfield Kentucky, where Maybelline got it's start.

In all the research I did for The Maybelline Story,

 I found our family had quite a romantic past

My great grandmother, Susan Anna Alvey.  This picture was taken in 1877 when she was only 16 years of age and considered a great beauty. 

My great grandfather, Sheriff Thomas Jefferson Williams, was the local tax collector, and fearless when it came to doing the right thing. 

Susan Anna Alvey Williams, and Sheriff TJ, had six children, the most famous being Tom Lyle Williams, owner of the Maybelline Company.  When she died of the great flu in 1919, Sheriff TJ, kept the books for Tom Lyle during the early years of Lash -Brow-Ine, and Maybelline. 

My grandfather Preston and his little sister Eva, 1909.

The 500 acre family farm and homestead was over 100 years old by the time the Williams kids were born, and by 1916, the farm was sold, so the family could move to Chicago and help Tom Lyle with his little Maybelline Company.

TJ and Anna's third grandchild, and their son, Noel James and Frances Williams second child, Annette Williams, plays with the chickens in Morganfield.

The country story included the local post office, photography studio, soda fountain, and supply store. it even acted as a saloon, before Prohibition was passed in 1920.

Noel James', wife Frances, with their two girls, Helen and Annette, in Morganfield.  The family, now living in Chicago, worked for Tom Lyle and his Maybelline Company. 

Little Helen, with the chickens in Morganfield.

                   Little Annette in the chicken coop.

Sheriff TJ with his fourth grandchild, my father William Preston Williams, in 1924.  

Sheriff Thomas Jefferson with his son, Tom Lyle Williams, and his first grandchild, Tom Lyle Williams Jr. in Chicago, 1934.


Read more about Morganfield and the early days of Maybelline in my book The Maybelline Story.

Maybelline's secret weapon..Nothing succeeds like success...Tom Lyle Williams built his Advertising Empire on that one idea.

The Paige Detroit Company billed its cars as the most beautiful in America. The company started in 1909 and would one day be bought out by Cadillac. Tom Lyle held his own ideas of how the Paige design could be even flashier and more daring. Driving through the streets of Chicago, Tom Lyle wanted to stand out and thereby reflect the image of his fashionable new cosmetics company. His first car would also be an advertising tool as it would sit outside the Maybelline Company, and must not be mistaken for any lesser car. 

Want to know more about Tom Lyle Williams and his  Paige Detroit? Click below for 5 other posts I've done on the subject  PAIGE DETROIT...

The picture shows Tom Lyle, his father Thomas Jefferson and his sister Mabel Williams standing in front of his new Paige Detroit, parked in front of the Maybelline Company in 1916.

Whether you think it’s shallow or not the truth... people will look at your appearance and make a stack of judgments about you simply based on your image!

L'Oreal Paris, Maybelline New York and The Maybelline Story.

This Maybelline Story Movie, was made by L'Oreal Paris, who purchased the Maybelline company, in 1996 and renamed it, Maybelline New York, with the slogan, Maybe She's Born With It, Maybe It's Maybelline!!!

Watch the video, but be aware of some discrepancies..... Mabel Williams, wasn't trying to win over her boyfriend by having beautiful eyes.  Maybelline was first Lash-Brow-Ine in 1915 not 1913 and Tom Lyle was a young entrepreneur, not a chemist.

Mabel Williams, Maybellines namesake.

In the video, the narrator infers that this picture is of ..... Mabel's boyfriend in the middle,  and Mabel Williams.  The boyfriend is actually her father, Thomas Jefferson Williams with her brother Tom Lyle Williams on the left.  They are all standing in front of Tom Lyle's first car, parked in front of the first Maybelline building in 1916.


Read the real story of the birth of Maybelline and the Williams family, in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.

Maybelline - The Original Mad Men in the Cosmetic and Advertising Industry.

Maybelline's original Mad Men - Pioneers in the Cosmetic Industry - Masters in the Art of Advertising!

Three generations of Maybelline executives and the original Mad Men.  Left to right, Thomas Jefferson Williams, his son Tom Lyle Williams, his son Tom Lyle Williams Jr., Chet Hewes, (Mabel Williams husband,) Ches Haines, (Eva Williams husband,) and Noel James Williams.

If The Maybelline Story were a movie these six men would make up some of the leading characters. They were not only the forefathers and founders of the Maybelline company, they were pioneers in the cosmetic industry and helped develop the art of advertising as it's known today.  

Way before the fictional Mad Men series set the world on fire, creating a mega advertising company in New York in the 1960's, there where the original Mad Men of Chicago set in the early half of the 20TH Century, -  Maybelline's Mad Men carved out the first game-plan and set up the rules for the cosmetic and advertising industry as a whole.

If you loved Mad Men the AMC series, about a fictional advertising agency on Madison Avenue in New York City, you will love The Maybelline Story about a family who birthed the cosmetic and advertising industry in 1915 through 1967. 

Tom Lyle Williams was not only an Ad-man pioneer, or cosmetic executive - he was very instrumental in the creation of the Star System as we know it!  The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It, helps paint the whole story of Tom Lyle Williams and his immense and incredible contributions to Hollywood as a whole and deserves a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.  Stay tuned up updates on the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce decision in June.



Tom Lyle and his partner Emery Shaver in Hollywood, 1936.