I just uploaded two photos which we're fairly sure are the Donald & Todd drug
store in Moorhead, in the 1920s. These came from the photo scrapbook handed
down to Philip Miller which contains 116 unidentified photos, many of which seem
to be from Moorhead. All of them have been uploaded to our corresponding
Moorhead site for the school/college at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SunflowerAHSJC
the photos mentioned above can also be found on this groups home page, in the
Photos section:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MoorheadMississippiMemories
We are still in need of help in identifying these photos and would love for you
to join that Yahoo Group for the school/college. Some of the photos have been
tentatively identified, some from Moorhead especially the ones of the baseball
teams, etc. but there are many people photos who need a name attached to them.
Most of the photos are from the 1920s.
If you go to this group's Database section, Donald drug store is on the list of
businesses that we began compiling some time ago. I don't have access to my
Moorhead yearbooks right now but some of the buildings in the photos might be
compared with buildings shown in the yearbooks, to help identify them. Also, at
least one photo shows a water tower. Another shows a vintage airplane and I
seem to recall in one of my mom's yearbooks (1937-1940) that the college had
some kind of aviation connection so not sure if the early days of the college
included that somehow in their activities.
Several names have been found in the scrapbook which we've been following up on
at Ancestry, Genforum, etc. and one of them was a Methodist minister in Moorhead
on the 1920 census, Shed Hill Caffey, which I've added to the surname list we're
compiling in the Database section for this group.
Peggy
It has been some time since I've posted to our group and I hope all are well. Some of you may remember that in addition to this group, I also set up a separate group for the Sunflower Agricultural High School and Junior College. A researcher has a scrapbook that was among is grandmother's things, and is trying to identify the photos in it. He has uploaded 116 photos to the web page and although many of them did not look like they were from Moorhead, I couldn't really tell because I've never actually been there. There was one photo, however, of a Donald Drug store, which we've discussed before in this group, and I'm wondering if that could be the one in Moorhead. If any of you would like to check out the photos, you can reply directly to the poster, Philip Miller, who is listed in the members section of that Yahoo Group, or you can post replies to the whole group there.
If you're reading this email, you're already registered with Yahoo Groups and all you would have to do is go to the other site, and click on request to join that group, and the request will be auto-forwarded for me to approve your membership, just as you did for this group. The other group is also listed in this group's "links" section on the home page.
What's the name of the cemetery? Is it a White or Black cemetery? I know folks who live in Moorhead and could probably find out for you if you don't get a response from anyone else.
--- On Thu, 11/12/09, Packratpatty <beachgardengal@...> wrote:
From: Packratpatty <beachgardengal@...> Subject: [MoorheadMississippiMemories] Moorhead Cemetery To: MoorheadMississippiMemories@yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, November 12, 2009, 7:45 PM
Does anyone know who maintains the cemetery now? My Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle (and more) are buried there. Anyone remember them? Wilburn and Velma Adams, and Milton and Marie Adams. Sure do miss them and I have some great memories of summertimes in Moorhead.
Does anyone know who maintains the cemetery now? My Grandparents and Aunt and
Uncle (and more) are buried there. Anyone remember them? Wilburn and Velma
Adams, and Milton and Marie Adams. Sure do miss them and I have some great
memories of summertimes in Moorhead.
Thank you so much for the great photos and the write-up on Moorhead. I'm very envious that you got to go there! My heart skipped a beat when I saw the big letters "Moorhead" on the water tower......what a great shot! I noticed that at least with my own computer which is dying, the last two photos (water tower and park) looked like they would not open, but when I actually clicked on to them on the thumbnails, they opened into full size and I could view them. Also, to help others, the link you sent......they should delete the period at the end of the sentence right after that link, in order to pull up your page. What a wonderful email from you to make my day! Thanks again, I loved it. Next trip......get some photos of the bayou! Peggy
Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com!
Hello Everyone,
You have probably forgotten by now, but several months ago I mentioned
that I planned to visit Moorhead and would post the report of my visit
on The Mississippi Club website. I am happy to say that I have finally
had the opportunity to go to Moorhead. You can see some of the
pictures I took in June at http://www.nilasor.com/Mississippi. I plan
to go back in August and talk more with the local residents.
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all of the great
information they have provided about Moorhead.
Sincerely,
The Mississippi Traveler
In a message dated 7/6/2008 4:46:28 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, anitapaxton@... writes:
Moorhead Cotton Mill Pg. 1 Moorhead Cotton Mill Pg. 2 Moorhead Cotton Mill Photo Founder Chester Henry Pond's Obituary from the New York Times Two envelopes with the return address of Yazoo Railway addressed to Chester's wife, Almeda Pond. They founded the first post office in Moorhead and Almeda's sister ran this post office.
* our group member Anita has added some wonderful data to our group Files Section (listed above) and may be adding more. Thanks ever so much, Anita! To get to our home page, go to:
I have my great-grandmother's (Corinne Franklin Allein Moore) handwritten recipe book. They are written in a traditional, bound w/string, "copy book" like the kind we all used in school, only it has more of a brown cover unlike the black/white marbelized cover most of us remember. It's hard to say where the recipes came from.....which people, which towns my great-grandmother lived in......Church Hill, Vicksburg, or Moorhead MS or even Norfolk, VA. I suppose they could be an accumulated collection, perhaps from the time she married on into the 20th century. It's possible that some of the recipes were handed down to her, or evolved, from her mother, or other family and friends in Church Hill. She was born in Church Hill in 1866 and died in Virginia Beach in 1967, at 101 and 1/2 years old. To give an approximate guess of her path of migration.....Church Hill 1866-1898, Vicksburg 1898-1920, Moorhead 1920-early 1940s, Norfolk then Portsmouth then Virginia Beach VA 1940s-1967. The recipes could have been collected from any of these places where she lived, but most are written in the book in the same hand, same ink, so it is not known if they were all loose at one time and she finally wrote them all down in a book, or what. Anyway, to make a long story short, at least one recipe calls for "truffles".....a type of edible mushroom (sort of) and my question is, where/what kind of truffles are in Mississippi? I searched the internet but couldn't find anything helpful, so am just sending this Wikipedia link about truffles in general. Today, was watching a chef prepare meals for the Oscars and he was grating truffles into a pasta, and said his truffles were $800.00 per pound! So, immediately this image came to mind of my great-grandmother digging around the trees in Church Hill, to find truffles to cook. Maybe they were more plentiful back then. I'll definitely post some or all of the recipes on this site, eventually, including the one that calls for the truffles although being the pauper that I am, I'll have to substitute mushrooms in the recipe if I make it.....ha! Maybe if any of you who actually live in Mississippi, can explain if the term truffle is used loosely to mean mushroom. My great-grandmother's recipes also include a wonderful recipe for home made tomato catsup, which I'll include. Both my mom and I have made that recipe many times and it is really, really good. You'll have to brush up on the old terminology though.....grandma will be saying you need a "peck" of tomatoes, etc. I would think that Grandma Moore (great-gm) was taught to cook by her mother, Juliet Morton Wood Allein, who lived at Mount Hope plantation, in Church Hill.
Peggy
p.s. one of the recipes is for "Mrs. Chilton's" (cake, I think); not a clue as to who Mrs. Chilton was or where she lived, though I've tried to locate her on the internet, in those MS towns, for that time period.
This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Author: jasachs_1
Surnames: Burns
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.mississippi.counties.su\
nflower/907/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
I'm checking on the possibily that John Burns who was in the 1930 census of
Sunflower County (Beat 1)is my grandfather's brother. According to my mother,
John went to Mississippi from Limestone County, Alabama and eventually died in
Mississippi. She said he never married. A family legal document from 1910 states
that John Burns was in Manhead Mississippi. Since I can't locate Manhead, I
thought it might have been Morehead instead of Manhead.
If you have info about John Burns or have any suggestions that might help me,
please email: jasachs@...
Important Note:
The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like
to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond
on the board.
-------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
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the subject and the body of the message
Just got through looking at those really neat photos of the crossing
and the depot. I remember the depot being there when I was very young.
This picture shows a good shot of the old Planters cottonseed oil mill
to the left. To the right there is the Illinois Central sidetrack going
to the oil mill with boxcars sitting there. Behind these cars there is
a building I don't remember. In the 50s there were at least 3 or four
houses on Olive Street (directly behind the depot in this photo...can't
be seen) and the Moorhead Baptist Church on the north bank of the
Moorhead Bayou (where the new building sits today...the old one burned
several years back). The building shown in this photo seems to be
located awfully close to Olive Street but I don't remember there ever
being anything there except what I described above. Note the size and
architecture of the C & G Depot in this picture. Wouldn't that be a
nice building for the Town of Moorhead to use for a library or museum?
They lost it in the 50s. What a shame...but then again, they are
letting the IC Depot just rot away(see photos). Looks like Moorhead's
sense preservation of history is found only in people who don't live
there.
I am searching for a picture of MDJC about 1965. I would love a
picture of the canteen. I have written a book and it is currently
being published. I met my husband there. He played with the Trojans
1965 & 1967 seasons. I would love to include a picture in the book.
Please e-mail if you know where I could download one. Thanks, Noma
(Lee)Welch
Hey!
Gang, I've added to the files section of our little group a 1920's
era shot of the RR crossing, a pic of the old Southern Rwy depot and
the Columbus&Greenville depot. These were courtesy of a book
called "DELTA ROUTE" by Louis Saillard, long out of print.
I also included a cover page and illustration for the "Yellow Dog Rag"
by WC Handy, under the file of the same name.
Regards!!!
Brion
In a message dated 5/18/2007 1:00:55 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, freddielmatthews@... writes:
According to the Enterprise-Tocsin (County newspaper) the Moorhead library "Reopens Saturday" May 19. "Public invited to open house from 2 to 3:30 p.m." at the new location across from Moorhead City Hall on Johnny Russell Drive.
According to the Enterprise-Tocsin (County newspaper) the Moorhead library "Reopens Saturday" May 19. "Public invited to open house from 2 to 3:30 p.m." at the new location across from Moorhead City Hall on Johnny Russell Drive.
flm
treakle124 <Madyas@...> wrote:
--- In MoorheadMississippiMemories@yahoogroups.com, Madyas@... wrote: > > In a message dated 3/27/2007 8:55:01 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> resourceone@... writes: > > Good Morning, > > Just wanted to let you and others know of a really great opportunity to > visit Moorhead if you were able to. > The Sunflower County Library System is opening an new library in Moorhead. > Tentative grand opening is May 18 th or 19th. Announced at the grand opening > will be the donation of the Kent Family photography collection to the County > Historical Society. > We are planning to have a public photo identificatioin event on JUNE 16th. > Sandra Hobbs Moore is hosting a private event on Friday June 15 for some local > folks that should know a lot of the people. David Rushing, CHS director is > scanning, copying and archiving the photos and negatives electronically for > posterity as well properly storing the physical collection. I am very excited > about this and will attend
the Photo Id events in June. > Hopefully this will make a vast number of Moorhead available electronically > for the world. > I thnk this is all the details for now but David Rushing's e-mail is > drushing@... Just for reference. > > * what's the latest word, Les? Still scheduled to open tomorrow 5/18? peggy > > > > > > > > > > ************************************** AOL now offers free email to everyone. > Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com. >
--- In MoorheadMississippiMemories@yahoogroups.com, Madyas@... wrote:
>
> In a message dated 3/27/2007 8:55:01 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> resourceone@... writes:
>
> Good Morning,
>
> Just wanted to let you and others know of a really great
opportunity to
> visit Moorhead if you were able to.
> The Sunflower County Library System is opening an new library in
Moorhead.
> Tentative grand opening is May 18 th or 19th. Announced at the
grand opening
> will be the donation of the Kent Family photography collection to
the County
> Historical Society.
> We are planning to have a public photo identificatioin event on
JUNE 16th.
> Sandra Hobbs Moore is hosting a private event on Friday June 15
for some local
> folks that should know a lot of the people. David Rushing, CHS
director is
> scanning, copying and archiving the photos and negatives
electronically for
> posterity as well properly storing the physical collection. I am
very excited
> about this and will attend the Photo Id events in June.
> Hopefully this will make a vast number of Moorhead available
electronically
> for the world.
> I thnk this is all the details for now but David Rushing's e-mail
is
> drushing@... Just for reference.
>
> * what's the latest word, Les? Still scheduled to open tomorrow
5/18? peggy
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ************************************** AOL now offers free email to
everyone.
> Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.
>
Does anyone have pictures of :
Chester Henry Pond - Founder of Moorhead
Almeda Gardner Pond - Wife of Chester
Louise Carolyn Pond Jewell - Daughter
Ogden Jewell - Husband of Louise
Alice Pond Smith - Daughter
M.C.Smith - Husband of Alice
or maybe some of the earliest structures:
Mr. Pond's Home (torn down and used in additions to Hervey Home)
The Colonial Hotel - burned
Stave Mill
Broom Factory
Barrell Hoop Factory
First Depot and platform
Almeda Gardner Industrial School
Thanking in advance for old Moorhead Photos
While growing up, I spent parts of my summer vacations in Moorhead, MS
and Sunflower, MS. I stayed with my grandparents, Wilburn and Velma
Adams, or my Aunt and Uncle, Marie and Milton Adams (Sunflower). I
spent time visiting family members, playing at Bear Creek Farm with my
cousins, and joining my Grandfather in his garden. I plan on digging up
some pictures to post soon. I recently received a great package in the
mail from my Dad's cousin, Lee Barnes, which revealed a lot of the
plants that were grown in the family's gardens and also revealed how
much of an influence our family had on the community in reference to
their planting methods and more. It was extremely interesting and
included some pictures. While the pictures do not look anything like
today's "great" gardens, these were priceless pictures to me!!
Anyone else spend time in the area or remember it?
Good morning,
I hope all of you are well. In yesterday's mail I received the 1940
SAHS&JC Retrospect yearbook from a used book dealer in West
Virginia. It originally belonged to a Raylene Scribner. She is
shown in the Freshman class....although I can't tell whether that is
high school or college, from the book layout. It is signed by many
people my mom knew....Eugene Kent, Robert Tollison, Florice Johnson,
and a Wiley (maybe Wiley Holmes?) and many, many others. She is
listed as living in Tupelo.
One of my bizarre hobbies is to spend much time on tracking the lives
of unknown people whose yearbooks I happen to come by, and Miss
Scribner is one of them! I'm just curious as to how her yearbook
ended up in WV, and whatever became of her. I found her on the 1920
and 1930 census (Richmond, Lee County)and here's her family in 1930:
Ramond Scribner - father, b. 1890 in MS, Truck Driver
Irene Scribner - mother, b. 1894 in MS
Raylene Scribner - born 1918/1919 in MS
Hazel Scribner - born 1923 in MS
Robert Scribner - born 1930 in MS
I don't have a possible married name for Raylene so I couldn't track
her any further than 1930, although more hours spent would probably
produce some info on her siblings or parents, etc. It always seems
sad to find somebody's yearbook, many decades later, and wonder why
it was disposed of. According to the book seller, it came from
an "estate attic" but nothing more was given about it. I emailed the
seller to find out if there was anything else Moorhead/Mississippi-
related in the estate, but was told there was nothing else.
Anyway, just thought I'd post this in case anyone in our group is
familiar with Raylene or her family. It's planting time so I'm
heading outdoors as the sun is coming up. Have a nice day!
Peggy
Thank you for uploading the sheet music for the Yellow Dog Rag,
Freddie. I have a group for the 3rd Regiment Louisiana Infantry, and
found sheet music (The Pelican Rifles March, 1861) on the Library of
Congress (American Memory) site, for a company in that regiment. I
forwarded it to my group and one of the group members, a
songwriter/musician, converted it to a MP3<?> file and uploaded the
actual music to the Files section of our home page. I was very
impressed, pleased, proud that she could do that! Who knows how long
it's been since anybody took an interest in that regiment's music and
as I played it on my computer I wondered if my ancestor was stirring in
his grave being called to memory. The MP3 file took up very little
file space, surprisingly. So....anybody in our Moorhead group who can
put the actual sound in our Files section? Hmmm....Freddie, you're a
musician....maybe you can just interpret it using your guitar?
Also, we've posted about this before but I posted it again in the Links
section, a web site by Max Haymes about the Yellow Dog term. Then
there's the age-old question as to where the real "crossroads" were, as
sung by Cream's Eric Clapton (a group from "my" era and one of my main
loves) which is also gone into great detail in another web site I came
across a while back, but regardless of the true location I've claimed
it for Moorhead as evidenced by the volume when I'm playing it in my
car on the road. From everything this group has taught me, it fits
Moorhead very well. It might be interesting to do a timeline of music,
from a Moorhead perspective?
peggy
Here's an example of my Tom Sawyer approach to getting a volunteer to do something that's too tedious for me to do, but...
Is there anybody in our group who might want to contact the administrator of the Sunflower County MSGENWEB group at Rootsweb, and see if she will add Moorhead....to the list of towns that she shows on the home page there? She has a list of towns which was reprinted from the Fevers, Floods, Faith book, but Moorhead isn't included. I would love to see Moorhead included but I don't know all the particulars that they are using, such as map coordinates, a generalized description, etc. Maybe some of the railroad buffs in our group could do it? Here's the URL:
I hope I got that url right. I think that if we can get Moorhead included on the GENWEB page, it might result in more interest in our Yahoo Group for Moorhead, maybe more members, more stories, more photos, etc.
Have a nice day!
peggy
AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.
Just a tidbit of information from my mom this morning. As I tried to glean some Moorhead facts, she did get into an account of how they used to eat frog legs (1920s-1930s, I suppose.) She told me they used to walk down the middle of the bayou, and shoot at them (the frogs) and if they hopped up onto the bank, they got them but if the hopped into the water, they didn't. They then took them home and ate them. I asked her how they cooked them, but she couldn't remember (I assume they are cooked like fried chicken?) She said they were really good to eat. (I ate snake meat in Florida in my hippie days, but frog legs.....don't know if I could do that.....I mean, all frogs eat are insects....) Anyway, that was about all that was forthcoming from my mom this morning.
* I may have already posted this but Mom also said that the Klumocks had a piano, and they let her come down and play it sometimes. I'm not sure how we got onto that topic....Mom doesn't play, but maybe the Klumocks were letting her try to learn. I never have been able to track down any living Klumock descendants, but hopefully one day one of them might surface; maybe they have photos.
peggy
AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.
In a message dated 3/27/2007 8:55:01 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, resourceone@... writes:
Good Morning,
Just wanted to let you and others know of a really great opportunity to visit Moorhead if you were able to. The Sunflower County Library System is opening an new library in Moorhead. Tentative grand opening is May 18 th or 19th. Announced at the grand opening will be the donation of the Kent Family photography collection to the County Historical Society. We are planning to have a public photo identificatioin event on JUNE 16th. Sandra Hobbs Moore is hosting a private event on Friday June 15 for some local folks that should know a lot of the people. David Rushing, CHS director is scanning, copying and archiving the photos and negatives electronically for posterity as well properly storing the physical collection. I am very excited about this and will attend the Photo Id events in June. Hopefully this will make a vast number of Moorhead available electronically for the world. I thnk this is all the details for now but David Rushing's e-mail is drushing@.... Just for reference.
* This is vital news indeed! (forwarded for information)
peggy
AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.
I noticed you had added a J.V. Teague to the surnames database on our Moorhead page. I don't know if I asked you this before, but do you know if there is a connection/relation to a John Earl Teague, married Kate ? (Teague), born 1895, on the 1930 Moorhead census. My mom gave me that name and seemed to think he might in some way be related to my Fergusons. I noticed that the Teague you added, is on my mom's same street, Walnut. I found him also in the WWI Draft Registration, and it said he lived near Indianola, RFD address, but worked for W.D.<?> Parker in Moorhead. The 1930 census said he was a plumber. The 1917 draft registration said he had three missing fingers. Said he and both parents were born in Mississippi, but Kate was born in MS and father in SC and mother in AL, I think. The SC and AL would be in keeping with some of my Fergusons, so I wonder if it was Kate who was related to them. I think it said that Earl (John Earl) Teague was born near Durand, MS (which I found in Holmes Co.) Any ideas? peggy
AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.
* I got a subscription to Ancestry.com today. Will somebody email me and tell me if you can open/view this census page? This is the first of 32 images for Moorhead, 1930. I'm trying to figure out a way we can get the whole thing put on our home page.
Being in Moorhead in the early sixties was a rush in many ways. How many high school students get to rub shoulders (literally) in the hallways with real college kids? We did! And not only that, we shared the "Canteen" with them too (as well as gymnasium and all sports facilities and the band hall). The canteen was a tiny little brick shoebox located between the girls' dorm and the Baptist Student Union (BSU) building. It was yesterday's Student Union...lots of tables, hot grilled food and the ever popular Juke Box. Nickle a play...six plays for a quarter. Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry and later The Beatles, etc. (If you are contemporary to me, you might enjoy this website: http://www.bobforrest.com/JukeBox.htm )
As kids to whom a big city was Greenville, third largest city in Mississippi at 40,000 people, having hundreds of older boys and girls show up on those few acres called Sunflower Junior College and Agricultural High School was unique in the Delta. Moorhead had 1703 people so the 1960 census said. True enough Cleveland had a four year Delta State College, but they were a bigger town (8,000?) and Itta Bena had Mississippi Valley State College, a higher education facility for black students. But to us in Moorhead, we high schoolers mostly valued the visitors in college for various reasons. For the girls, it broadened their pool of choices for dating. For us guys...well, you know older girls don't normally choose younger guys...but some did. The girls usually came out better on this end since there was no social taboo on older guys dating younger girls.
The campus was shaped kinda like the State of Texas (not really) in that it took twists and turns on its borders. Somewhere around 1960, they did away with Sunflower Agricultural High School and changed it to Moorhead High and confined all its classrooms to Stansel Hall located on the sourtheast corner of Olive and Cherry Streets. They built a new library between Stansel Hall and the Administration Building (which also housed the auditorium) facing Cherry Street. This block was the only normal square block on campus. They also built Tanner Hall on the corner of Olive and the street they have since filled in. Opposite Tanner on the now gone street was the girls dorm/cafeteria. The rest of the block was sidewalks, oak trees, sycamores and cottonwoods along with the Fish Pond. It had been there a long time...between Stansel Hall and the new Tanner Hall, slightly offset to the east.
Ahhh the Fish Pond. It was a favorite hangout for both high school and college students. Smoking was still "cool" then. The edges of the pond were concrete about 2 1/2 feet high, circular in shape, with a radius of about 8 feet or so from the center of the fountain in the middle. Smokers would light up exiting the doors of the classroom buildings and be fully lit with an ash hanging by the time they reached the Fish Pond. In those days before "Pick it up, Mississippi! I'm not yo mama!" one could see the dozens of butts scattered around the area. Of course it was much easier to start a conversation with a stranger by asking for a light.
Every August 15 we boys would find a ride or ride bikes down to the football stadium to see the first day of college football practice. Coach Jim Randall with the able help of Coaches J. D. Stonestreet and Jimmy Bellipani would welcome candidates from all over the United States to our little town to try for a scholarship. Normally about sixty boys would show up. I personally remember guys from Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York competing for a scholarship. The out-of-staters, especially from up North, had a really hard time taking the sweltering heat and high humidity offered up by the Mississippi Delta in August. Coach Randall had no mercy on them. He had no choice. He had to run off as many as half of them in order to settle down into a team. Daily we youngsters would witness boys with their suitcases catching the Greyhound headed for home, perchance to try less punishing coaches in more gentile climates. Shortly before Labor Day the Trojans would be down to playing size and the players all in good physical shape to weather the upcoming grueling season. My future brother-in-law played football there and went on to Delta State to play there too. In those days of the mid1950s, there were some romping stomping players in the Mississippi Junior College Conference. Hinds Junior College had a guy named Jim Taylor. Taylor later played for the legendary Vince Lombardi at Green Bay. He had a reputation for being not only tough, but mean as hell too.
When Coach Randall finally gave them a free night, they didn't waste it on anything normal...they went and found an alligator...about eight feet long, tied his mouth shut with a trace chain and dumped him in the Fish Pond. My memory tells me they secured him to where he could not get out, but I've forgotten just how they did it. Seems like he stayed in the Fish Pond a few days before the authorities figured out what to do with it. I think they turned it loose in the Sunflower River, but I'm not sure.
When school got underway, we saw all these lucky boys that owned their own cars pulling into town with them. As it turned out, there weren't a whole lot of newer cars on campus but there were some memorable ones. He wasn't in college but Johnny DeFoore had a baad set of wheels...a fifty two Mercury with a V8 engine and stick shift...damn thing would fly! I won't go into how I know that, but suffice it to say...I know. My brother had a '55 Ford Victoria that outran just about everything in the Central Delta area. David Hervey came up with a Buick convertible...Red! Sharp as a rat's tail.
Good ol' David Hervey...he was the Host with the Most in Moorhead. His family allowed him to be the Social Director among his peers. He would "throw a dance" at the Moorhead Community House and hire King Mose and His Royal Rockers out of Memphis to play the latest in the blues. Jimmy Reed was the latest out at that time and King Mose did some of his songs. He was blind and played the guitar and the harmonica. His sound was infectious. I wasn't old enough to go, but someone snuck me in one time and I was spellbound. He hired E. G. Minor to serve drinks. It was a dry state in those days but liquor flowed freely and when liquor is illegal to all, it becomes easily available to all for the price of a container...no matter the age unless the bootlegger was afraid of your Daddy. David went on to Ole Miss after graduation, then to a career in Jackson.
* In reply to my own message, I meant to say that Art Richardson was the actual photographer of the locomotives (see his photo album in the Photos Section of our home page.) My screen name is under his photos because I uploaded them from my computer.
* If you enlarge the photo on your screen, you can see where it says "City of Moorhead" on the locomotive.