
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Community \| Obits \| Editorial & Columnists \| Society \| Sports \| Education \| Classified Ads \| Calendar of Events \| Features \| Newsbriefs \| Legals \| Archives \| Subscriptions \| Photo Gallery

Society

City Personals
Mary Clay Brooks

Clay Crawford honored on birthday; Jim and Martha Thomas follow Ole Miss Rebels to Regional Tournament

Jim and Martha Thomas (and the cats - Peaches and Bear) followed the Ole Miss Rebels to Tempe, Ariz. The odyssey began June 1 when they picked up their new motor coach and traveled to Oxford for the NCAA Regional Tournament. They left Holly Springs on the following Tuesday morning headed west to Tempe, Ariz. Sadly, the Rebels did not win the Super Regional Tournament at Arizona State University. But, Jim and Martha got a lot of experience driving the new RV (well, Jimmy got a lot of driving practice), plus they did some long awaited touring of the U.S. Overnight locations included Fort Smith, Ark., Amarillo, Texas, Grants, New Mexico, Mesa, Ariz., and Williams, Ariz. At Williams, they rode the Grand Canyon Railroad to the Grand Canyon where they spent about three hours viewing the wonder of one of God’s great creations here on Earth! The Thomases look forward to many short and long trips in the future.

Clay Crawford celebrated his birthday last week with a party given in his honor by Elizabeth Colhoun. It was held in Olive Branch on Saturday. Several of Clay’s closest friends were in attendance. The party guests enjoyed great food, good company and a spirited game of “washers” among friends.

Christopher Cupp and daughter, Emma Grace, of Olive Branch were the Sunday afternoon guests of his mother, Becky Cupp. While here, Emma Grace enjoyed swimming with her friends, Caitlyn and Grady Brooks, at the home of Kay Wheeler.

Ryan and Marie Holder and daughter, Alex, of Little Rock, Ark., were the weekend guests of her parents, Rook and Marie Moore.

Kay and Laura Wheeler and Gene and Mary Clay Brooks and children, Caitlyn and Grady, returned Saturday from a week long vacation in Sandestin, Fla. They were joined by Hank Wheeler of Newnan, Ga., for a few days.

Luke Farese, son of Drs. Jason and Leigh Farese of Oxford has been the guest of his grandparents, Vivian and Eugene Smith this week.

(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).

Garrett Elliott and Erin McGee say vows December 16 at First United Methodist Church

Mr. and Mrs. Garrett Elliott

Erin Renae McGee and Justin Garrett Elliott were married Dec. 16, 2006 at the First United Methodist Church in Columbus. Dr. Samuel Morris performed the ceremony.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Randall McGee of Columbus. She is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. Paul McGee, Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Holliman Sr., and Mrs. Sylvia Hemphill and the late Mr. William Gene Hemphill, all of Columbus.

The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gary Leon Elliott of Holly Springs. He is the grandson of Mrs. Julia Frances Smith and the late Mr. Lester Smith of Holly Springs and Mrs. Melvia Grace Elliott and the late Mr. Thomas Elliott of Ashland.

The bride wore a strapless gown of white satin. The bodice was embellished with hand-embroidered beading that coordinated with the beading on the chapel-length train. She wore an elbow-length veil and carried a hand-tied bouquet of white roses.

Presented in marriage by her father, the bride was attended by Katie Stacy of Jackson and Melissa Peets of Greenville.

Bridesmaids were Lauren Funchess of Natchez, Ann Marie Malouf of Cleveland, Lauren Ray of Tampa, Fla. and Leigh Ann Sullivan of Tupelo.

The bridesmaids wore strapless, floor-length gowns in champagne silk. The ruched waists featured vintage-style brooches.

The groom’s brother, Gregory Elliott of Columbus, served as best man.

Groomsmen were Trey Cain of Caruthersville, Mo., Dusty Hutchens, Thad Johnson and Charlie Smith, all of Holly Springs, and Tyson Wright of Bald Knob, Ark.

Kaylan Elliott and Gracie Claire McGee served as flower girls and Carson Elliott served as ring bearer.

After their wedding trip, the couple resides in Starkville, where the bride is employed by Dr. J. Barton Williams Cardiology in Columbus and the groom is employed by Bancorp South in Starkville.

Mamie DeBerry and Corry Martin will exchange vows July 7 at the DeSoto Civic Center

Mamie DeBerry and Corry Martin

Earnestine DeBerry and the late Tyler DeBerry would like to announce the forthcoming marriage of their daughter, Mamie DeBerry to Corry Martin, the son of Dossie and Kathy Martin of Jackson, Tenn., on July 7, 2007.

The bride-elect is a 1998 graduate of Byhalia High School. She is also an alumna of University of Memphis where she received a bachelor of business degree in management information systems. She is currently employed at Helena Chemical Company in Collierville, Tenn., as a senior information systems analyst.

The prospective groom is a 1997 graduate of Jackson Central Merry High School. He is also an alumnus of University of Memphis where he received a bachelor of business degree in management information systems (MIS). He is currently employed at Accredo Health Group in Bartlett, Tenn., as a desktop client support specialist III.

The couple will exchange vows on July 7, 2007 at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, at 3 p.m. A reception will follow.

Following a honeymoon in Hawaii, the couple will reside in Southaven.

Museuming
Lois Swanee
Museum Curator

History is full of drama and excitement

One reason I love my job is there is never a dull moment! History is so full of drama and excitement. We had visitors from San Francisco last week who are doing a documentary film on a trial that took place at the Marshall County court- house in 1919. Ben Ingram was the main character. He was black and he was from Byhalia. One of the visitors was Ben Ingram’s granddaughter, the other was her sister-in-law. They have been collecting the evidence for years.

Ben Ingram, a wealthy, self-educated man from the Byhalia and Ingram’s Mill area, was a cotton farmer and he had many friends, black and white. He and his wife, between them had fourteen children, whom he educated. His sister died and he took in her eight children and also saw to it that they were educated.

Robert Tyson was a white friend of Ben Ingram. Every time he would have a dispute with his wife, he would go out to Ingram’s and cool off; sometimes he stayed a day or two. The Tysons, Ingrams and Greens of the Ingrams Mill vicinity were all related and all had lived in the vicinity since the beginning of Marshall County.

Ben Ingram was accused of the murder of a man named Green Brumley, a local white man who was known for his bullying antics. His property bordered Ingram’s and he was constantly stealing from Ingram and that’s what the dispute was over.

Brumley was an evil man who kept prisoners for the county and it was said he abused them. They slept in his barn without cover in all kinds of weather and worked on his farm. He had a common-law-wife, whom he also abused.

For days Brumley had been harassing and threatening to kill Ben Ingram. The Gatewoods were Ben’s neighbors on the other side.

On the day of the murder, Wade McCrary, a merchant and cotton buyer, was in his Byhalia store and overheard Brumley bragging to his cronies that it was the day he was going to kill Ben Ingram.

Mr. McCrary sent word to Ingram’s wife to tell Ben to stay home that day as there was trouble brewing in the air. However, although Ben Ingram got the message, he didn’t stay home. He had promised to take Mrs. Gatewood (the Gatewood grandmother) to the doctor in Byhalia. While she was at the doctor, Wade McCrary hid Ben in the cellar for his own safety in his store there on Church Street.

Ben went to Watson that day, regardless of the threats in the air and the mob was waiting for him. A mob-crowd watched to see the excitement in Watson, which is where the cotton gin was. There was much excitement among the spectators waiting to see what would happen.

The two men were walking toward each other surrounded by people at Watson. Brumley aimed his gun at Ingram and as he shot, someone hit him in the back of the head and he fell dead from a bullet wound supposedly shot by Ingram. There Brumley lay dead in the street. The sheriff (Bob Ford?) was called and by the time he got there, the mob had worked up frenzy.

Ben Ingram was placed in the Marshall County jail. He hired as his lawyers, his friends, Lester Fant and Fred Belk, who was Fred M. Belk’s grandfather. Belk had served in the State Legislature as senator.

Another law firm, L.A. Smith and Wright took part in the trial. The trail was set for February 26 , 1919. The verdict of “not guilty” was read March 3, 1919. At trial time a circus-like atmosphere prevailed. Elaborate posters were made advertising the trial. On the days when the trial was going on, merchants closed their stores (the posters were in their windows and on their doors.) and everybody went to the trial.

It’s a wonder that courtroom didn’t collapse from the weight and it is a shame that television had not been invented yet to record this history being made. However, The Commercial Appeal sent a reporter and he recorded this proceeding. The trial only lasted two days and the jury found the black Ben Ingram innocent of the death of Brumley, the white man. The news rang out in headlines across America, “Black man found innocent of the murder of a white man”, making history.

However, afterwards, the facts came out that Ben Ingram didn’t even commit the murder. His brother did but Ben Ingram knew that his brother didn’t have a chance so he took his place and lived to tell it. Ben Ingram’s brother’s reputation wasn’t as pristine as Ben’s and Ben knew his brother didn’t have a chance so he exchanged places with him.

William Faulkner wrote a book about the trial (changing it a little) and called it “Intruder in the Dust,” a movie was made about it, too, and the setting was Oxford. The star who played the part of Ben Ingram in the movie was an Afro-Latin American from Cuba named Juana Hernandez, who was tall, distinguished, with snow white hair and a courtly manner.

Note: Information for this week’s article was provided by the two museum visitors – Schyleen Qualls and Dorothy Darr – who are doing the research for the documentary.

Report News: (662) 252-4261 or south@dixie-net.com
Questions, comments, corrections: south@dixie-net.com
©2004, The South Reporter, All Rights Reserved.
No part of this site may be reproduced in any way without permission.
The South Reporter is a member of the Mississippi Press Association.

Web Site managed and maintained by
South Reporter webmasters Linda Jones, Kristian Jones
Web Site Design - The South Reporter

Back | Top of Page