The McGraw Family -- Picking, No Grinning

Date estimated to be 1900 to 1930.  Location unknown, from Mr. Williams' Old School Collection. Identified as the McGraw Family.

As always, if anyone has further information on these folks, please leave a comment or send me a message on my Facebook page.  Thanks!

UPDATE: I'm told by Marti Parker that this photo was displayed in the town library many times, but no one came forward with additional information.  There is a McGraw family in the area east of Brookhaven between Enterprise and Ruth and it is thought that these folks MIGHT be related to them.

Bogue Chitto's Own Recording Artists -- Or Should We Say Ruth's?

Stumbled upon this earlier this week trying to find more information about the Bogue Chitto River.  I have never heard of this band, have you?  Could be because back when they were recording their Ole Time music in the 1950s and 1960s, most of us were listening to rock and roll.

Their music is tight! The band members are Hodges brothers Felix, Ralph and James, and John White.  Here's a link to this album. (Click on the little arrow in the orange circle to listen to a sample of the song.)

If anyone has any further information on these gentlemen, please leave a comment here or on my Facebook page.

UPDATE:  I am told by someone who knew the Hodges that the previous information posted here regarding their musical career was inaccurate, and I have opted to remove it.  I am told one of the Hodges brothers is still alive, and I am hopeful I can speak to him to learn more about their career firsthand. Stay tuned.

Whoo a whooo! A View of the Steam Train Engine from the ICRR ...

From the Luther Hamilton Collection on file with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History ... Date unknown.  Photo taken in Crystal Springs by Luther Hamilton Sr.

NOTE: Luther Hamilton Sr. died in 1944, so this photo has to be from the 1940s or much earlier.

The Rocket Scientist and His Missile Dog?

A copy of this picture was in our family's picture drawer for years and years. (Robert E.'s mother was my Great Aunt Mary on my father's side.)  I always liked it because of the look on the dog's face. 

I did not know, however, until a few years ago that Robert E. was a rocket scientist during the height of the space race with the Soviet Union.  

The story came together for me when I found the above news story on a CD of family memorabilia that my favorite uncle had burned and shared with me.  

I decided to do more research and while I didn't find a whole lot out about Robert's work, I discovered that the dog just MIGHT be one of eight missile dogs used at White Sands during the 1960s to retrieve small rocket parts that had been buried on impact during test fires. 

(The scientists would coat the parts with shark liver oil and then send the dogs out into the desert to track and alert to them in the glimmering white sands.)

The dogs had a 96% recovery rate, which beat the old method of humans wasting countless hours searching and digging for parts that could explain a success or failure of their test fires.  

I have been unable to determine definitively if Sheiba was part of the Missile Dog pack, but that is not to say I'm not still trying. Sadly, very few family members who knew of Robert's work are still alive to share their own knowledge and information.  

And Robert E., who suffered from familial Rheumatoid Arthritis from the time he was 1, passed away in 1992 at age 65. 

The Horn Went Beep, Beep, Beep

Brookhaven, Miss. -- It's Wednesday, Nov. 14, 1951.  Lincoln County resident Colon Fuller had celebrated his 41st birthday only the day before.

Colon was in his new car at Railroad Avenue and Cherokee Street, in the shadow of the McGrath building, when suddenly, there's a right-of-way miscue. CRUNCH! A 1950 Dodge Wayfarer, driver/owner unknown, and Colon's car collided -- a classic fender-bender in small town America.

Colon Fuller is the man in the hat, behind the car, I am told by a reliable source.

Who was at fault?  It's hard to say.  The passenger side fender of the Dodge is crumpled around the headlight, while the quarter panel behind the driver's side wheel well and part of the door on the other car are dented.

My unscientific best guess is that Colon Fuller was attempting a left turn west onto Cherokee and the Dodge was proceeding east on Cherokee, coming off the railroad tracks.

Photographer John H. Williams, owner of Art Studio on Cherokee, just a sprint or two away from the scene, was called to document the accident for insurance purposes.


And now, a confession: I have spent many a day scrolling through the pictures that the Lincoln Lawrence Franklin Library has posted on Flickr.  I always puzzled over this series, fascinated by this strangely UGLY car.

It was only now, after countless passes, that it dawned on me that I was looking at a piece of American automobile history -- a rare Hudson Hornet, a vehicle that car aficionado Jay Leno ranks among the Top Ten collectible American automobiles.

Celebrated in Pixar's Cars, the Hudson Hornet -- because of its lighter weight, lower center of gravity, over-engineering and over-building -- handled much better than other cars of the day, making it a natural for stock-car racing on the mostly dirt tracks.

The horse power in the 1951 models was 145, and a good mechanic could install racing parts to help the car reach top speeds of 112 mph.  A"souped up" Hudson Hornet was considered unbeatable in its day.

Even without race car tweaking -- the Hornet, with engineering innovations and luxury extras, including an electric clock, had more cachet than a Cadillac to some buyers back in the early 1950s.

Colon Fuller's was one of 43,656 units produced in Detroit in 1951. The car, which came in a four-door sedan, a hard-topped coupe and a convertible coupe model, sold for $2,543 to $3,009.

According to Find-A-Grave, Colon Fuller died on July 8, 1977, just three months shy of his 67th birthday. He was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Brookhaven.

I understand that he may have owned a junkyard, that he was a good friend of the fabled Turnbough family, and that he had a sister named Bobby Summers, who worked for Brookhaven Funeral Home, selling insurance.

Other than that, I have little information on the man and his life.

The burning question: whatever happened to his Hornet?

A 1951 Hudson Hornet Sedan, fully restored.  Photo Credit: Christopher Ziemnowicz, via Wikipedia

Today, according to old car auction sites, a fully restored Hudson Hornet can fetch as much as $100,000 at auction. 

Makes me wish I had held onto my '65 Mustang. 


(A special thank you to Will Turnbough for helping me with Colon Fuller's bio and history.) 

The Cowhides ...

"Men's Baseball Team, 1930-1949

Identified in the Daily Leader as a community baseball team, the "Cowhides." Left to right - front: Fred Smith, Ira Smith, Harvey Smith, Poley/Polie Lofton. 2nd row: Tom Smith, Wilton Foote, Alert Smith, Vince/Vence Adams. Standing: Horace King, Shelton Case, Ernest "Cutworm" Smith, Anderson Lofton, and Curtis King. According to the identification, many players were brothers or cousins."

 -- This is the caption provided by the library.  I am told by Wilton Foote's nephew that these men hailed from the Johnson Grove community near Bogue Chitto.

1825 Log House

This past weekend I visited an antique store in Havre de Grace, MD, where I found for sale numerous Deep South Cards from Brookhaven.

Here are two of them -- this old log home was relocated at least twice in its lifetime -- first, to the Andrew G. Smith's backyard, and next, to a grassy area opposite the old City Hall (now the Chamber of Commerce Building) in Downtown Brookhaven. 

The two cards from the 1950s or 1960s state, "Owned by the Andrew G. Smith family -- located at rear of their residence, 430 Storm Avenue.  Originally built in 1825 -- moved to present location (430 Storm Avenue) in 1955 -- is an excellent example of early pioneer construction.  Open to public by appointment."

Some of us might remember bobbing for apples on Halloween at this old cabin, which Mrs. Smith opened up for the trick-or-treaters to enjoy.  I do believe she might have used that copper pot in the bottom photo for the apple bobbing. 

Photo credit: Gilbert Ford.

UPDATE: I found the answer to where and who built this cabin -- from the Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce website:

"The Foster-Smith Log Cabin – located across from the Chamber of Commerce in Railroad Park.  This charming log cabin was built in 1825 by John Foster on an old post road in Copiah County.  Its hand-hewn logs and simple furnishings exemplify the pioneer spirit.  In 1997 it was moved to its public location in downtown Brookhaven Railroad Park.  Contact the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce, P. O. Box 978, Brookhaven, MS 39602 - 601-833-1411 or 1-800-613-4667."