Smoke Signals and other news
Every heart should go out to our friends and fellow citizens in Mississippi who were devastated by the storms Friday night. Many people have already packed up and headed to the areas hit by the tornados with supplies and manpower. Others have collected supplies, water, nonperishable foods, batteries, diapers, formula, and more for the next few days and weeks. Some of us cannot go, but maybe those who can’t go could donate what we can to someone we know and trust to take it where it could help the most.
The Leon Burton Memorial Fish Fry for St. Jude, sponsored by Emory Independent Methodist Church, will be held Saturday, April 1, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. There will be an all-youcan- eat fried catfish, French fries, slaw, homemade desserts, music, farmers market, and a silent auction. All proceeds go to St. Jude.
And let the grass-cutting begin. I’ve seen some folks with their lawnmowers out and cutting the grass, and I’m sure my turn is this week. The hardest part is first picking up all the limbs and debris. There is always so much bush trimming to do. I’ve gotten new blades put on one mower. I have a good idea of what’s wrong with the steering on the other mower and have purchased the item to repair it. Sounds like someone else’s job? Not for me. I enjoy putting on the headphones and heading out with nature for the two to three hours it takes me to get it done. I always have to rest a bit extra the day after. I can no longer do the weed eating and have a hard time with the bush trimming, but the grass cutting is mine. I have been known to show up at someone else’s house to cut when I know their mower is down.
Sitting quietly on my porch when the weather is nice is one of my favorite things to do to calm my day and refresh. In the mornings, I love to hear the birds chirping. One morning I listened to a very frantic chirping-almost a cry for help. Looking up, I saw a bird swooping and flying in anything but a normal manner. Behind this little one was a red-tailed hawk trying to catch a mid-morning snack. That little bird outmaneuvered the hawk and flew away to look for worms, but I’m sure his little heart beat a bit faster for a while. The squirrels are out and scampering about. This week one of the feral cats has somewhat adopted my front porch as its and home has caught two voles and was kind enough to bring them where I could watch him eat them. I guess it is earning its keep.
Reflections of the past: The Moffatts who came to Marshall County have a family line traced back to 1066 A.D. The first to arrive in America was William and Barbara (Chestnut) Moffatt from Sherry Parish County, Antrim, Ireland. They relocated to Chester County, South Carolina, in 1772, settling on five hundred acres granted by King George III and raising six children. Their third son (and our Byhalia connection) was James, who married Rosanna Harrison. After James died, Rosanna came to Marshall County with her sons, John Findley, Samuel, and one daughter, Ann. Rosanna died here in 1852. John Findley Moffatt married Elizabeth Wiseman and lived at what would become Cayce, later moving to Watson. Their five children included Carrie, who married Arthur Carrington; John H., who married Loudlen Logan; Nannie, who married N. R. Carrington; Mattie; and James, who married Corrie Neely. James Moffatt moved to Byhalia in 1919, where he and Mrs. Moffatt raised Lucille (Clark), Frances (Armour), Maynard, Alise (Green), Elizabeth (Laney), Helen (Mayo), and Jimmye (Nixon). Austin E. Moore was said to have been born in Burke County, North Carolina, in 1804. He was married to Elizabeth Reeves. They came to Marshall County in the 1830s, living for a while near Byhalia, later moving closer to Holly Springs. One of Moore’s ten children, Robert Augustus, was killed at age twenty-five in the Battle of Chickamauga. Austin Moore’s brother, Henry, built a large home in Red Banks, and Federal soldiers would have burned it in the war except for his wife’s bravery. Mrs. Moore kept extinguishing the blaze every time a fire started. One of the Federal soldiers swung his saber at her and produced a sizable gash about the head. She saved her home, as the soldiers apparently respected such resistance.
Please share your news with me at jchwagg@gmail.com or text or call 901 246-8843. You can message me on Facebook as Clair Wagg.