Thursday, March 17, 2011
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Thursday, March 17, 2011 |
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Community | Obits | Editorial & Columnists | Society | Sports | Education | Classified Ads | Calendar of Events | Features | Newsbriefs | Legals | Archives | Subscriptions | Photo Gallery |
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Community NewsPotts Camp News Remembering Potts Camp’s 100th birthday Spring is a wonderful time of the year. We don’t need any more bad weather. Jimmie Hart will be glad when he can return home from Oxford Hospital after being there three weeks from leg surgery. He needs our prayers! Get well wishes to Janis Alderson, who was in Oxford Hospital for tests last week. We are thankful her condition was not serious. Pray for Mary Jarret in Tupelo Hospital. Get well wishes to her. Pray for Jean Sparks, who is having serious trouble with her foot. She had surgery on it several months ago. Tony and Tommie Fincher visited Betty Fincher and Connie work several days ago. Thoughts Everyone is looking for happiness, but many of us look in the wrong places. In Matthew 5, Jesus taught us that deep and lasting happiness is being right with God. We are blessed when we are peacemakers, pure in heart, meek, merciful, loving and kind, thirsty for righteousness and willing to suffer for Jesus. Remember you are never alone; God is in control. He will guide and give you strength for whatever the day might bring. Allow Him to let you reach out to others with a smile and prayer. We need God’s blessings. Pray for peace. Thoughts God bless your days with everything, a rich, rewarding life can bring a joyful heart and love to share, family and friends to always care. God bless your life with wisdom, too, strength to see each problem through, the happiness for which you strive, and faith to keep your dreams alive. God blessings be with you! (Lindy’s Newsletter) “Only God Knows” I do not know what lies ahead. The way I cannot see. But one stands near to be my guide and I know He holds my hand. With God, things don’t just happen. Everything by Him is planned. So as I face tomorrow with its problems great and small, I’ll trust the God of miracles and give Him my all. Happy birthday to Carey Henderson on March 13; to Makenzee Whaley on March 14; to Connie Work on March 15; and Kristie Fincher on March 16; to Dave Greer, my grandson, on March 20. Happy birthday to Charles Henderson on March 28 and the former Julie Mayer on March 29. History of Potts Camp — Part 2 The oldest child of Colonel E.F. Potts and wife Elizabeth was Ferdinand Potts. His wife was Martha Bready Potts. Land in the old Macedonia area several miles from our town of Potts Camp was their home. A Methodist church and cemetery are located there. We have attended church services there over the years (now destroyed). A large cemetery is located nearby with many of our relatives buried there. Children of Ferdinand and Martha Potts are Betty Potts Floyd, Ida Potts Floyd, Lee Potts and (my grandfather) J.A. Potts. He built churches, houses and stores. He was Potts Camp mayor for 20 years, also a merchant in Potts Camp for many years. The second son of E.F. Potts and Elizabeth Potts was James Benton Potts (my dad has the same name). He fought in the Civil War and was injured. He married a girl from Holly Springs in one of the churches there. At age 37, he died, and he is buried in Hill Crest Cemetery. I have visited his tall marker just inside the front gate several times. His wife remarried and buried her second husband there, also, leaving a place in between them for her. (They had no children.) Her children buried her somewhere else. The third child of Col. and Elizabeth Potts was a daughter, Mary Potts. She attended college in Memphis. The area (now Potts Camp) was given to her. She gave the Frisco Railroad land for a right-of-way so the railroad would come this way and a depot named Potts Camp was built here. She also gave land for Potts Camp churches and schools of both races, so Mary Reid School and Reid’s Gift Church are named for her. My dad, James Benton Potts, worked as a depot agent for over 40 years. My granddad, J.A. Potts, built a Potts Camp Methodist Church with a tall steeple, pipe organ and stained glass windows. Mary Potts was the youngest child of the Col. Potts family. They sent her to college in Memphis. Most of the area that is now Potts Camp was given to her. She married Charlie Reid. The late Warrine Reid Oakley, my friend, was her descendant, also her daughter, Mary Louise Merritt. Her granddaughter continues to give young women scholarships to Blue Mountain College every year. I am proud to be a member of the Potts family. Potts Camp’s 100th Birthday The last three months of 1988 was an exciting time for our town; we celebrated our 100th birthday! Rev. Jim Smith, pastor of Potts Camp Methodist Church, and the Potts Camp Civic Club planned the events. I was a member. Letters of congratulations came from Gov. Ray Mabus, U.S. senators and representatives, state legislators and a special one from President Ronald Regan. On Sunday, the town celebrated the oldest church in town, Potts Camp Methodist. It was organized in 1887 and was the only church in town for many years. That day, the church was filled with friends and relatives. Bishop Robert Mogan, a relative of Flick Ash, was the preacher that day. Others who took part included my late brother, Charles (Lindy) Potts, who gave the history of the church. Many other former pastors took part with prayers. Members of the Wilfred Boren family, Ann Armstrong, Billy and Norris Boren, gave new hymn books to the church that day. (Billy is deceased.) Their grandmother, Mrs. George Boren, was one of my special Sunday school teachers. She called me one of “her girls” until her death. We loved all the Borens. My sister and her husband, Ann and Herman Hill, were there for the celebration also. I have a picture of the large birthday cake and candles with Bro. Smith and Lindy by it. It was white and yellow. On Halloween, free candy was given to all the children in town. On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, the veterans of our town were honored. They were Dallas King, John Hugh King, T.M. Stone, Harvey J. Gurley, Jeff Overton, J.R. Thompson and George Dickey. (George Dickey and Jeff Overton received Purple Hearts.) Early one morning, a group of us met at the flag pole at Potts Camp School, including principal Donal Ash, Dallas and Louise King, T.M. and Annie Ruth Stone, Rev. Jim Smith and David Fuller. On the town’s birthday, Oct. 16, a platform was set up in town on Front Street with several speakers. At 11 a.m., the mayor, Cary Mayer, welcomed the large crowd and said the proclamation. A train stopped on the tracks and the crew came to the platform and the crewmaster spoke to the people. He said that Potts Camp has always been a railroad town. Many events took place that day, including an antique car show and singings by local people. That night, Rev. Smith had the highway closed so the parade could pass down the main road in front of our homes. Dallas King, grand marshal, and his wife, Louise, rode in the large limousine in the parade, following bands and go-carts. They threw candy to me as they passed my house. We love our hometown. Did you know? Looking for George I was having a conversation with my young friend who was visiting his grandmother in the neighborhood. My friend tells me, (he likes to talk) which is a good thing as so many of our young do not talk enough. I usually ask him how school is going and the reply is, “it’s good.” It doesn’t take long before you know his favorite subject is history. He is currently reading a book about Abraham Lincoln. I shared with my friend that I was reading a book on John Adams, one of the founders of America. Since my friend is reading about “honest Abe” here is a quote from “the founding father” George Washington. In a letter to Alexander Hamilton, Washington said, “I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain (what I consider the most enviable of all titles) the character of an honest man.” We as a nation could use an Abraham Lincoln or a George Washington. By the way, my young friend’s name is George. Did You Know On Mar. 16, 1802 – West Point Military Academy was established. Mar. 17, 1737 – St. Patrick’s Day celebration was held for the first time in the American colonies. Mar. 18, 1834 – The first railroad tunnel opened for business, the Staple Bend Tunnel in western Pennsylvania. Mar. 19, 1831 – Edward Smith stole $245,000 from the City Bank in downtown New York, the first recorded bank robbery in American history. Mar. 20, 1922 – The USS Langley, converted from the collier USS Jupiter, was commissioned as the first U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. Mar. 21, 1617– Pocahontas died before returning to America and was buried in Gravesend, England. Mar. 22, 1622 – Algonquian Indians attacked and killed some 350 English colonists near Jamestown, Virginia. This Week’s Quiz What famous American made the following quotes? “Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.” “Good wives and good plantations are made by good husbands.” “Self-denial is really the highest self-gratification.” “Keep your eyes open before marriage, half shut afterwards.” “My father convinced me that nothing was useful which was not honest.” Answers to Last Week’s Quiz The Mariner 2 was the first spacecraft to successfully gather data on another planet. The Voyager 2 was the first spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune. Deep Impact was the first spacecraft to probe and explore a comet’s interior. Mars Pathfinder was the first spacecraft to land a rover on Mars. The Cassini was the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn. |
       
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