Society
City
Personals
By Mary Clay Brooks
Locals
attend concert at new FedEx Forum
Sara Love
Swanee, daughter of Dr. Walker and Melissa Swanee of
Oxford, and granddaughter of Lois Swanee, has gone to
Washington, DC, to help with the innauguration of
President George W. Bush. She is staying in the Mayfair
Hotel during her stay. Sara Love currently lives in
Dallas, Texas, and plans to move to Washington, DC.
Tammy Cupp
and Susie Murphy attended the concert of Martina McBride
and Alan Jackson Friday night at the FedEx Forum.
Jean Ann
Jones is recovering beautifully at home after back
surgery last week.
Well wishes
go out to Ann Carpenter after a freak accident last week.
Congratulations
to all who contributed to the opening of The Service
Station—the new bar and grill behind the VFW. Friday
night was a soft opening and it was very well received by
the community. A huge big screen TV dominates the wall in
view of the bar and scattered throughout the bar are
smaller televisions. Pool tables and dart boards offer
entertainment for those who have the ability to play, as
well as for those, like myself, who are still in the
“newbie” stage of the games! If you are hungry,
the Fly by Nite chefs will serve you up wonderful
appetizers or, even better, very filling and tasty po-boy
sandwiches. The Service Station is going to be a very
valuable asset to Holly Springs in many ways, so be sure
to stop in for some fun!
(To put your
news in City Personals, please e-mail maryclayb@yahoo.com;
mail to City Personals, The South
Reporter, P.O. Box 278, Holly Springs, MS 38635 or call
662-252-4261. You may also e-mail your City
Personal news to south@dixie-net.com)
Miss
La’Toye Sullivan to wed Eric Zinn at Wesley UMC Feb.
12
Mrs. Janice
Tolbert and Mr. Herman Sullivan of Greenwood announce the
engagement and upcoming marriage of their daughter
La’Toye Kareen Sullivan of Greenwood to Eric Lemonte
Zinn of Holly Springs.
Eric is the
son of Mrs. Katherine D. Zinn and Mr. Johnny Zinn of
Holly Springs.
The
bride-elect is the granddaughter of Carrie H. Outlaw of
Greenwood and the late Solomon N. Outlaw and the late Mr.
and Mrs. Clarence Sullivan of Greenwood. She is the
great-granddaughter of Jessie Peoples of Newport News,
Va. and the late Alonzo Peoples.
She is a
1997 graduate of Amanda Elzy High School and a 2001
graduate of Rust College. She received a master in
environmental health from Mississippi Valley State
University. She is presently employed with the Florida
State Department of Health in Naples, Fla.
The
prospective groom is a 1993 graduate of Holly Springs
High School. He is currently employed with Federal
Express.
The couple
will exchange wedding vows at 3 p.m. on Saturday,
February 12, 2005 at Wesley United Methodist Church.
A reception
will immediately follow at the Confederate Memorial
Building.
Miss Kristin
Dennis and Greg Horton to wed Feb. 19 at First Assembly
of God
Mr. and Mrs.
James Dennis of Olive Branch announce the engagement and
forthcoming marriage of their daughter, Kristin Elaine
Dennis, of Olive Branch, to Greg Horton of Horn Lake. He
is the son of Linda Horton of Knoxville and the late
Adrian L. Horton.
Kristin is
the granddaughter of Mildred Davis of Red Banks and the
late Don Davis and Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Dennis of
Bartlett, Tenn.
She is a
graduate of Germantown High School and attended Northwest
Community College. She is employed with Southeast Urology
in Southaven.
Greg is the
grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. James R. Scott of
Blytheville, Ark.
He is a
graduate of First Assembly of God Christian School in
Memphis and attended the University of Memphis. He is
employed with the DeSoto County Sheriff’s office.
The wedding
will be held at 5 p.m. on February 19, 2005 at First
Assembly of God in Cordova, Tenn.
All family
and friends are cordially invited to attend.
Museuming
By Loise Swanee
Depot...the
social center of Holly Springs
When I wrote
about the depot, there was a lot I didn’t know. Some
new information has emerged. The depot used to be the
social center of the town. People did a lot of walking in
those bygone days. Imagine having to catch the horse,
hitch him to the buggy or wagon, to go a few blocks. It
was much easier to walk, besides, no telling who all you
might see on the way. Of course, there were dirt paths,
maybe a few boardwalks, but no concrete walks like we
have today.
Remember
Oliver Crocker? He lived on the east side of the railroad
and his house is still there. God made Oliver a natural
basketball player as he was tall and slim and still is
until this day. The Depot was his domain since it was on
his turf. Billy, Nellie Mae, and Edward Jones also lived
at the depot in the big building that was built for a
hotel decades earlier and burned about 1939, which was
located on the southeast corner. It was used as a
boarding house when the Joneses lived there.
Oliver lives
in Colorado now and he and his wife, Sadie, come to see
me from time to time. (Incidentally, Sadie’s twin is
named Radie). Oliver says that there was a street (now
named “Treasure”) that went from East Boundary
to Mr. Lester’s coal yard. It was just south of
Salem Bridge. Mr. Lester’s coal yard also had a
grist mill. They ground your corn and kept one-fourth to
sell to other people and only charged you for
three-fourths to grind it.
When the
Frisco Railroad was built in 1886, they built a
humpbacked bridge over the railroad tracks. One day the
engineer had to stop his train as a body was hanging from
the humpbacked bridge. Someone had hanged a person from
the bridge. That was such a grisly memory but times were
grisly. Later, the bridge was torn away. The Frisco
Railroad went out of business in 1958; the railway
station was then torn down, too. It was a one-story
rectangular structure of red brick and tile. Sounds in it
echoed off the walls as the acoustics in it were so
terrible. It wasn’t even similar to the grand
edifice of the Illinois Central Railroad Station, which
was the queen of all depots. There were about 16 trains
daily, eight for the Frisco and eight for the Illinois
Central. All the boys in town, black and white, would
meet the trains to carry suitcases for tips from people
that had to change trains. The McDermott family owned and
ran the Illinois Central Railroad hotel. She’s the
one who would board the train in the morning with a bag
of gold pieces, go to Memphis and shop and be home for
supper. What a life!
Oliver
remembers the circus coming to town on the train. He
watched them unload the animals. This left a wonderful
indelible memory.
In 1932, two
days after President Roosevelt’s inauguration, he
declared that gold would no longer be the medium of
payment. He banned gold’s private ownership and
demanded that Americans turn in their gold coins or face
criminal charges. The United States was in the grip of a
terrible depression and hemorrhaging gold and it had to
stop to save the nation. I remember the day the Federal
Gold Group came to our house to pick up the gold. It was
impressing me. Americans gave it up willingly to help
save the country.
After the
Frisco building was built in 1886, Depot Avenue came to a
close at the door of the new station. Then the street was
rerouted to East Boundary. Those beautiful woods there
used to be called the hanging woods as it was where
people were hanged. However, it was also used as a
campground for the gypsies (they were fascinating but now
they are dissolved). Oliver remembers several big picnics
on July 4 that were held there. He said he used to find
Civil War miniballs and relics in the woods. Yankee
troops probably camped there.
The big
house by the tracks where my friend Juanita Wages lived
was antebellum and owned by the Frisco. It had been used
as a Civil War hospital. There were other houses that
were built as boarding houses by the railroad for their
Irish workers when the railroad was being built. The
houses are all gone now. Oliver said the big house had a
yard full of beautiful holly, pine and cedar trees.
Where
Phillips Grocery is now, used to be Leo Leibson’s
grocery store, then it was the C.B. Moore Store, then
when I was small, it was Mr. Oliphant’s store. (Mr.
Oliphant had a shock of snow white hair.) After that it
was the Phillips’ turn and they added the
hamburgers. Now Larry Davis (no kin to Jeff) has it.
National newspaper USA Today says it’s the best
place in the world to eat hamburgers. People come from
everywhere for a “Phillips Burger.”
Adrain Rose
says he remembers slot machines in the store. They sat on
the counter and I guess were legal. Boys used to go in
there after school to play the slot machines that were
called “one armed bandits.”
Next door
was the West fruit grocery store. It’s gone now.
Then there was David Williams’ store that had been
the Skelton store and the Williams lived in the Skelton
house.
Most of this
information was sent to me by Oliver. He worked at the
South Reporter during his senior year when C.H. Curd was
owner. Red Brown and Opal Whitten also worked there at
the same time. Opal later became owner of the paper.
Corrections
to last week’s article: Bricks were made of the
hill, not on the hill. It wasn’t a student rider
standing on the airplane wings, it was a stunt rider.
Report News:
(662) 252-4261 or south@dixie-net.com
Questions, comments, corrections: south@dixie-net.com
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