Good morning, Moorhead

I've just created a Moorhead-related bulletin board in the Database
section of our home page.  The bulletin board will give us a place to
post Moorhead-related such as reunions, looking for classmates, for
sale/wanted to buy items such as old photos, yearbooks, artifacts,
etc.

The Database is open to all group members and each member can add,
delete, or edit whenever they like.  Spam is not allowed.  Yahoo
Groups prohibits commercial use of its groups, but I think it would
be O.K. if members can sell any Moorhead-related items they have from
time to time.  Inappropriate spam will be deleted, so use your best
judgment.  I posted a couple of things on the database, to use as an
example.  There is limited space in the columns, so if members want
to comment on the items posted, you can just send a regular email
message to the group.  Thee is a column for your email address, so
people can respond privately to your ad.  If any of you have
suggestions on how to improve the database, or other comments, please
feel free to email me.

I've also set up a Bulletin Board for the SunflowerAHSJC group, which
would be a good place to post notices if you are looking for old
classmates, yearbooks, etc.  I hope everybody will enjoy using the
new database!


Peggy Dyas
Group Moderator
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MoorheadMississippiMemories
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SunflowerAHSJC

Anyone have history on the old hotel that was in Moorhead?  I
just recently found out the name.  I remember it as "The Pink Palace".
Mu husband's aunt had her beauty shop in it for a long while and was
torn down after that.
      I remember my grandfather, Kenchen Mullen, telling stories of
when he was just a lad watching the people get off of the train on
Sundays. They would go to the hotel to eat lunch. He remembers the
ladies dressed in their finest,with hats and all.
      Does anyone have pictures of this hotel? I remember playing on
the stairway while my mother, Bonita Roberts, would be getting her
hair done at Margarette's Beauty Shop. I remember a very long,
beautiful wood counter (or bar), the lovely stairway banister. That's
as far as I got. It was real spooky!

Here's wishing each of you a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday.

Peggy Dyas

Check it out.  Art Richardson has sent two wonderful photos of the
locomotive "City of Moorhead" to share with our group.  Go to the
Richardson photo album on the home page to see them:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MoorheadMississippiMemories

Thanks for sending them, Art!

Peggy Dyas

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.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1940-Moorhead-MS-Yearbook-Sunflower-Agricultural-
High_W0QQitemZ320100449619QQihZ011QQcategoryZ29223QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Saw this and thought you might be interested...!

Brion

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

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

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?

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

--- 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.
>

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the MoorheadMississippiMemories
group.

   File        : /Where The Southern Crosses The/Moorhead Crossing 1920's.jpg
   Uploaded by : brionboyles <BrionBoyles@...>
   Description : From book DELTA ROUTE by Loius Saillard

You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MoorheadMississippiMemories/files/Where%20The%20So\
uthern%20Crosses%20The/Moorhead%20Crossing%201920%27s.jpg

To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit:
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/files

Regards,

brionboyles <BrionBoyles@...>

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the MoorheadMississippiMemories
group.

   File        : /Where The Southern Crosses The/Southern Rwy Station.jpg
   Uploaded by : brionboyles <BrionBoyles@...>
   Description :

You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MoorheadMississippiMemories/files/Where%20The%20So\
uthern%20Crosses%20The/Southern%20Rwy%20Station.jpg

To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit:
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/files

Regards,

brionboyles <BrionBoyles@...>

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

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

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.

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@...

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