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Society

City Personals
Mary Clay Brooks

Big Eleanor – cherished memories

Jacque Kazemba and Jerry Beck attended the graduation ceremony of Jake Beck, son of Diane and Jerry B. Beck, Thursday night.

A big Holly Springs welcome to one of our latest additions, Charlotte Walker. Charlotte has moved up here from Florida and is the mother of Robin Seale. Glad you’re here!

Bill Fant and daughter, Harper, of Bethesda, Maryland, were the Saturday afternoon guests of Kay and Laura Wheeler. Harper has taken a summer job with Fat Possom Records in Oxford.

Holly Springs lost one of its finest members over the weekend with the death of Eleanor Coopwood. Big Eleanor, as I fondly called her, was an ever present beam of light - always wearing a smile and smelling sweetly, like roses. Everywhere she went, she greeted each and every person with a tilt of her head and a friendly word.

Pink was her favorite color, if you did not already know that. For special occasions, she would have pink roses delivered. You always knew if you saw an arrangement overflowing with them, Big Eleanor had made a phone call to the florist!

When I moved back to Holly Springs, I remember seeing Big Eleanor for the first time in a while. She was driving her white car with a white fluff-ball riding shot-gun. Everywhere she went, you would see her furry companion which she loved so much.

I used to love seeing Big Eleanor coming my direction. She always had some tidbit of news to tell that was interesting. Never once did I see her with a frown - I imagine that contributed to her beautiful, porcelain skin that was close to wrinkle-free!

Anyone who knew her is a better person for it - the joy she spread both far and wide was amazing. Her Southern drawl and charm could stop traffic - “Oh, darlin’, it’s nothing really.” I can hear her say it now!

The best of the best now watches over us from her front row seat up in heaven! I have no doubt she was welcomed by all of her friends who went before her, as well as her cherished husband, Sam. She will be missed but never forgotten...

(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 Susanna Moore and Dr. Tudor Moldoveanu to wed October 1 at First Presbyterian Church

Susanna Thornton Moore

Mr. and Mrs. D. Rook Moore III, of Holly Springs announce the engagement of their daughter, Susanna Thornton, to Dr. Tudor Moldoveanu, son of Mr. and Mrs. Nick Moldoveanu of Houston, Texas.

The wedding ceremony will be at the First Presbyterian Church in Holly Springs at 3 p.m. on October 1, 2011, with a reception afterwards at Wakefield.

The bride-elect graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in English. She earned a juris doctorate from The University of Mississippi School of Law and was editor-in-chief of the Mississippi Law Journal. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Leslie H. Southwick of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and was an adjunct professor at the Mississippi College School of Law. She is an attorney at Phelps Dunbar, LLP, in New Orleans, La.

Miss Moore is the granddaughter of Mrs. Samuel Vadah Cochran and the late Mr. Leslie Blackwell Sigman. She is also the granddaughter of Mrs. Dudley Rook Moore, Jr., of Byhalia and the late Mr. Dudley Rook Moore, Jr., and Myra Burrow Moore.

The prospective groom graduated from Queens University in Kingston, Canada, where he received a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in biochemistry. He was then a postdoctoral research fellow at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He is a postdoctoral research fellow at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

Dr. Moldoveanu is the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. Stefan Mindrescu of Brasov, Romania, and the late Mr. and Mrs. Ambroze Moldoveanu of Boldesti, Romania.

Museuming
Lois Swaney Shipp
Museum Curator

Salem Bridge will be replaced

Have you heard the latest? Salem Bridge will eventually be rebuilt as it is so old! It is to be replaced with a beautiful artistic bridge that we can all enjoy. Salem Bridge was put there in 1857 when the railroad was built underneath it. Salem Bridge is where Van Dorn’s troops came into town on that cold morning in 1862 in that surprise raid on the northern troops. On the southeast corner of Salem Bridge stood St. Thomas Hall. It covered that whole corner but to my knowledge, there is no photo of it. This was a fantastic school for young men. Even Hugh White was a student there and later was governor of Mississippi. All the Holly Springs generals went to school there. On the northeast corner of Salem Bridge there stood one of the grandest mansions in town. It was called the Pointer Mansion. After the war, one of the Pointers moved to Brazil to become a Confederado, but gave it up and came back home, then left for New York City where he died. The Pointers were prominent people. Then the house was given to Bethlehem Academy (Catholic) which had been housed in Hamilton Place. They sold it to St. Thomas Hall. St. Thomas Hall moved in from across the street and the school lasted on a few years, burning on January 1st of 1899. I was totally shocked when I discovered that I knew someone personally who was a student there. He was Fort Daniel and he was a banker. He wrote his memoirs about his life and his time at St. Thomas Hall. All the local boys attended school there (which was located on the east side of town). On the west side of town was Chalmers Institute for the west side boys. The Chalmers were very prominent in town. One was a Confederate general, one was a senator. However, they lived on the east side of Montrose. On New Year’s Day of 1899, St. Thomas Hall caught fire and burned never to be anymore. One of the capitals of the columns is in Joyce Baker Phillips’ yard and two more are in Doris Cochran’s yard. Next to Salem Bridge stands American Pacific Paneling factory, who make mantles like those in the White House, paneling of different kinds (we have Elvis Presley paneling here in the museum that they made long ago.) Holly Springs Architectural Millwork is there, too.

There used to be brick kilns on the north side of Salem Bridge by the railroad tracks. I haven’t looked to see if they are still there or gone away.

Everything is in change. Geography is shrinking! The only constant is Jesus Christ. In 1900, they marveled at the changes in the world, the new telephone and how it wouldn’t work because a wire had to be strung to every house in America! This seemed like an impossible task. Then in the 1920s there was the mysterious radio catching the invisible sound waves that were coming through the air right into our kitchens. Next, after World War II, emerged television that beamed right into our living rooms. Everybody had to have one of these. Next were computers, so full of information.

Then miraculously the Internet emerged. The most marvelous invention of all was the cell phone. If my child were on top of a mountain in Peru, or in a hotel in Budapest or on a beach in Costa Rica, all I have to do is dial their number and in an instant, I hear their voice. If there ever was a miracle, it’s the cell phone. Now cell phones have cameras, calculators, texting ability and computer access. Astonish-ing! Our museum is like one of the wonders of the world. It is all local and is amazing.

We are open six days a week! (most of the time) Come see us.

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