Masonic Temple Fire -- Aftermath

All photos in this post from the C.W. Witbeck collection at the MDAH online archives. 

Close up of the date and entryway of the building. 

Train Engine Plates salvaged from the fire ...

The following narrative is from the Brookhaven, MS, Masonic Lodge No. 241 website, with some information redacted for brevity's sake: 

• "A group of 14 Brookhaven Masons interested in the organization of a Masonic lodge at Brookhaven met on August 16, 1859, at the residence of Ezara J. Knapp for the purpose of organizing a Masonic lodge ... to be called Brookhaven Lodge No. 241.
  
  
• The lodge moved into its first Masonic Temple on December 27, 1862, on the campus of Whitworth College. 
  
  
  This lodge was destroyed by fire on the evening of April 14, 1899.
  
  
• The second Masonic Temple corner stone was laid on August 10, 1899, at Cherokee and Jackson streets. This building was used and enjoyed by the Masonic fraternities until it was destroyed by fire on Easter Sunday, March 25, 1951. 
  
  
  This was one of several buildings destroyed during that time period by a juvenile arsonist.
  
  
• On April 15, 1953, the cornerstone of the present temple was laid by Lawrence C. Corbin, Grand Master, with the appropriate ceremonies. On Monday, March 15, 1954, the Lodge had its formal opening with the Reverend Carl L. Oaks, Grand Master, giving the principal address."
  

  
  

Arson! Masonic Fire from Another Photographer's Lens

All photos from the MDAH C.W. Witbeck Collection.  

Previously on this blog, I posted pictures of this same fire by John Holly Williams.

When I stumbled upon these photos, by a WPA photographer who set up camp in town for some seven years, I knew that I had to share, even though by now some folks may think me "obsessed" with this particular event in town history.  

This photographer, C.W. Witbeck, "opened the Witbeck Photo Service in Brookhaven, Mississippi, in 1948 and in 1955 relocated his studio to Hammond, Louisiana. He married Ruby Ardelle Johnson (1917-1997) on March 29, 1963, and died February 22, 1972," according to the MDAH official site.  

Witbeck was best known as a railroad/train photographer, but fortunately for Brookhavenites, he hung around long enough to document a lot of local history in the making.

Sadly, this particular fire was the work of a juvenile arsonist, or "fire bug," who set the historic building on fire the night of Easter Sunday, March 25, 1951.  The three-story building at Cherokee and Jackson was erected in 1899 and was designed by Capt. A.E. Moreton, a Baltimore-born architect and Freemason.

Please stay tuned for Witbeck's aftermath photos in tomorrow's post ...

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Here's a Trivia Tangent for you:  The advertisement on the side of the building is for Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic, which harks back to the Civil War when Confederate Assistant Surgeon and Freemason George H. Tichenor was wounded in battle outside of Memphis. 

When the battlefield Saw Bones recommended amputation of his infected leg, Tichenor, with the help of friends, left the field hospital and he alone saved his limb with his own concoction, an antiseptic that included alcohol, oil of peppermint and arnica.  

After the war, Dr. Tichenor practiced medicine in Canton, MS, and went on to pioneer the use of antiseptic surgery, and, as a result, many lives and limbs were saved with his help. (His loyalty to the South during the war was fierce, apparently.  While Confederate soldiers were treated with his formula, he reportedly refused to use his germ-killing concoction on wounded Union soldiers.) 

While living in Canton, he married the former Margaret Drane of Kentucky, and they had three sons.  

Demand for his amazing germ-killing formula continued, and in 1905, Dr. G. H. Tichenor Antiseptic Co. was founded in New Orleans.  He moved his practice to Baton Rouge, LA, where he lived until his passing at the age of 85. 

Night Scene Downtown 1940

From the MDAH Archives, Witbeck Collection, 1940, Downtown Broohaven at NIght

I Had a Librarian Who Read to Me ...

John Holly Williams Collection, LLF Digital Archives

The caption reads: 

"Mrs. Jewel Campbell is talking to a little girl. No note on the name of the little girl. The date is 5/8/1958.."

(Jewell Campbell was a builder, developer, owner of Dixie Lumber Company, and, once upon a time, Mayor.)

I don't know, but the "little girl" looks awfully familiar ...

UPDATE: The consensus is that this is Sylvia Campbell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jewell (Valarie) Campbell, but the woman is NOT Mrs. Campbell.  Her name is uncertain, but may be a Mrs. Smith who worked for the library during that time period. (Or not.)

BHS Class of '42

From the John Holly Williams Collection. This is a copy of a picture of the graduating class of 1942 from Brookhaven High School. 

From the Library notes --

"The names are listed below: 

Back Row (from left to right) Dan Lopeser, Dick Mitchell, Milton Schlesinger, Herman Foster, Gene Allen, Warren Nation, David Maddux, Ben Ed Cain, Ralph Young, Tom Ed Magee, Robert Temple, Charles Moak. 

Second Row : Colon Boseman, Fred Cannon, Walter Denman, Bobby Mantz, James Holloway, Harold Leary, Jerry Pitts, Eugene Richardson, Gene Flowers, Fred Estes, Jene Dempsey. 

Third Row : Jeanne Claire Wall, Lavonne Price, Elaine Schroed, Marjorie McNeil, Grace Castilaw, Pearl Case, Bessie Gorenflo, Bernice Peavey, Thanette Brown, Eloyce Myers, Libby Hill Estes, Virgie Smith. 

Fourth Row : Mary Elizabeth Aldridge, Dorothy Stephens, Lavonne Smith, Ruth Hoffman, Martha Swinney, Muriel Buck, Mary Swinney, Betsy Bee, Gladys Ramsay, Lucille Boyd.

Front Row : Mary Jeanne Wooley, Betty Lewis, Dorothy May, Lillian Rae Tarver, Imogene Martin, Virginia Martin, Evelyn Reed, Ruby Golman, Audrey Smith."

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Brookhavenites may not recognize any of the faces, the picture quality is wanting, but they may well recognize many of the above surnames.  

I post this in honor of the upcoming Homecoming event this month.  I hope there are at least a few from this class in attendance -- they would be roughly 86 or 87 years old. 

Show and Tell of a Different Sort

The caption from the library reads: "This group is displaying some kind of contraption. The two students are wearing some kind of plastic around the mid-section and the adults are posing for the camera. The only info for this picture is the name 'Tadlock.' The date is 1/18/1950."

Now this is a good three years before I was born, but I suspect this has something to do with the polio epidemic that swept the country in the 1940s and 1950s.  Many victims were confined to the infamous "iron lung" machine, and this resembles a portable device used by victims to help with breathing while outside the machine.

Not sure of the names of any of the people in the picture.  If you recognize anyone, please 
leave a comment here or a message on my Facebook page.

UPDATE:  Jimmie Meese Moomaw (author of Southern Fried Child) says the older gentleman on the right is Red Myers, the town fire chief.  Thanks, Jimmie!
  

Will the Real Dr. Johnson Please Stand Up?

ca 1876-1886, postcard

Library caption of second photo: Small color picture of Dr. Johnson; on back of frame (removed): "This photo of Dr. Harvey Johnson was the property of Mrs. Jennie Larkin Bishop, one of Whitworth's alumnae. Presented now to the Harvey Johnson Society by her daughter, Mrs. Maude Bishop Williams, one of the student body of Whitworth and a member of Harry (sic) Johnson Society, with best wishes for the Society and in loving memory of her mother. 1922"

Both of these photographs are identified as H.F. Johnson, and are included in the local library's Whitworth College Archives.  

I must be missing something here -- to my eye, the men do not resemble each other and the second photo, based on the style of clothing, implies to me a much earlier era than 1867.  Also, the second reference is to a Harry in the caption, but the handwriting appears to say Harvey.

Contemporary Brookhavenites might be aware that Dr. H. F. Johnson and Katie McGrath Johnson were the paternal grandparents of Phyllis Johnson Spearman, a much beloved high school educator and long-time Spanish teacher who still makes her home in Brookhaven.

The burning question is, if I am not totally off my beam about the differences in appearance, which picture is the correct one of THE Dr. H. F. Johnson? 

According to the library's account of the history of the college: "Dr. Harvey F. Johnson, one of Whitworth College’s most influential presidents, took office in 1867. Born in North Carolina and educated at Emory and Henry in Virginia and Centenary College in Louisiana, Johnson had been a Confederate officer and chaplain. 

"His presidency saw a growth in student population to 200, emergence from serious debt, and expenditure of $45,000 on new buildings. This construction included Calisthenics Hall (auditorium and gymnasium) in 1869, Margaret Hall (dormitory with steam heat and water) in 1878, Johnston Institute in 1884, and renovation of Whitworth Hall to facilitate its use as dining hall, infirmary, faculty offices, and dormitory space.

"Among the faculty during this period was G.R. Eckhard, a graduate of the Berlin Conservatory. One of his piano students, Roberta Bowen, was invited to perform at the 1882 World’s Fair in Chicago. Bowen later chaired the Whitworth Voice Department.

"Johnson died of Yellow Fever in 1886, and Lewis T. Fitzhugh replaced him as president. Fitzhugh’s tenure in office is best remembered for a highly successful music conservatory program led by Professor William Hennings. Whitworth had 27 pianos and 24 rooms for musical instruction. In 1893, Fitzhugh left to found Belhaven College in Jackson."
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Information clarifying what I see as a discrepancy in photo likeness is welcomed.  Please reply either here on via my Facebook page, and I will gladly update or correct.