Oliver Turner Ivey was born in 1906 in Monroe County Alabama. He joined the Auburn faculty as a member of the history department in 1929. Caroline Lawson was born in 1912 in Smiths Station, Alabama. She taught literature and drama in two area high schools until she married Turner Ivey in 1938. During World War II, Turner Ivey served as an officer in the U.S. Army for four years, rising to the rank of major. After the war, Caroline inherited Lawson Farms in Smiths Station from her mother, where she and Turner lived for the rest of their lives. Turner taught history at Auburn until his retirement in 1969. Caroline wrote two novels, one published as “The Family", the other was unpublished at the time of her death in 1972. Turner Ivey continued to live in Smiths Station until his death in 1988