Happy Thanksgiving!

For most of us, Thanksgiving is a day of gathering with family and giving thanks for the blessings we have received over the past year. In Peaceful Valley, the day is also synonymous with deer hunting. Used to be, the opening day for deer season was the day of Thanksgiving, but this year the season opened up last Saturday. We usually have a noon meal so that the hunters can take a mid-day break and get back into the woods. This year will be no different: dinner will be served at Aunt Tootsie's at noon tomorrow and I'm looking forward to traditional Pennington fare, including Tootsie's baked ham. Beck is no longer with us, but her coconut cake will probably make an appearance via the hands of her daughter Jo Ann, and her dressing will also be reproduced, probably by daughter Jean. Good eats for sure!

Here is a scene from the past - Fessie got a nice-sized whitetail deer that year. Wonder if that is the same deer whose head peered down from the Pennington living room wall for years and whose nose always sported a red foam ball at Christmas, a la Rudolph?

Itawamba Coon Hunters

These photographs provided by Terry Wilemon are a wonderful glimpse into a favorite pastime of Itawambians - coon hunting. Even I have been on a coon hunt or two in the hills of Itawamba County during my lifetime! Obviously, these men were pros as evidenced by the number of coon tails they have collected. Dewey Napoleon Johnson, who is Terry's uncle, is standing to the left in the top and bottom photos.

Sharing Cousins

Sisters Mauvilla Williams and Mary Williams, shown here, were daughters of Randolph Henry Williams and Mittie Ann Johnson. Randolph and Mittie had five daughters in all: not pictured are Ora, Cora and Mauveline. Mauvilla and Mary were the youngest two.

Terry Wilemon recently shared some wonderful photographs of his mother Coster Johnson's family. Although Terry could identify most of the people in the photographs, he directed Don to Mary Williams Dulaney who is the little girl pictured in the above photograph. Mary is now 88 years old but she very quickly and easily identified the remaining photos. When she got to this one, she exclaimed "why that's me!" Wasn't she cute with her necklace and boots?

Mary is the widow of Clastel Dulaney, the son of Charlie C. Dulaney and Zora Hood. Because the Johnson, Dulaney and Hood families are involved, there is a three-point connection between my husband and Mary. Mary's mother and my husband's great-grandfather James Nathan Johnson were first cousins, both descendants of Itawamba settlers Stephen Johnson and his wife, Harriet Caroline Pierce. Mary's mother-in-law, Zora Hood, was a first cousin to my husband's great-grandmother, Alma Hood. Mary's husband, Clastel Dulaney, was third cousin to my husband's great-grandfather, Jim Dulaney.

Don't you just love Itawamba connections?

Edwin Eugene Gray

Edwin Eugene Gray was one of two sons born to Agnes Mae Robinson and her husband, George Edwin Gray. Edwin's younger brother was George Casey Gray. Their mother Agnes was the half-sister of my great grandfather, Gideon C. Robinson.

Edwin was born on November 19, 1910 in Tampa, Florida. Apparently, the family had moved to Florida due to the health of George Gray. I found the following excerpt published in the February 29, 1912 issue of the Itawamba County News: "Mr. G. E. Gray returned from Florida today where he has been for the past few weeks on account of his health. He is preparing now to go to Florida to make that his future home." However, the family did not stay in Florida; they returned back to Itawamba County to live.

Edwin served in World War II: Fulton News Beacon - January 1943 - Our Boys In The Armed Services. "Ready to begin their basic training course at Fort Knox, Ky., are: Pvt. Efford Lee Johnson, Pvt. Cecil Raymond Wilson, Pvt. Edwin E. Gray and Pvt. Archie A. Christian."

Edwin was married to Mary Ruth Brasfield of Smithville, and they had two sons. He died on June 3, 1982 and was buried at New Bethel Church Cemetery in Smithville.

Back from War

The Johnson boys were back from war in this photo taken about 1945 or 1946. Fisher and Nora Johnson were proud of their sons who very ably served their country during World War II. Kneeling are Adron and Earnest Johnson and standing behind them are Vonnie, Donnis and Julius Johnson.

Four Generations

Four generations are pictured here at the Evans homeplace south of Tremont. Seated are Pa and Ma Evans - John Thomas Evans and Elizabeth "Bettie" Bishop Evans - and standing behind them is their grandson, Lawson Robinson, and their daughter, Thusie Evans Robinson. The children in the photograph belong to Lawson and his wife, Lucille Hathorn: Guy Hathorn Robinson is being held by his father, and Evagene Robinson is being held by her great-grandmother.

Lawson's youngest daughter, Lucy, shared this photograph with me. It was probably taken in 1928 just after the birth of Lucy's sister Evagene. Pa Evans died the following year in December.

Lucy remembers her father telling her that as a young child he pulled on Pa Evans' whiskers and played with Pa's gold watch. J. T. Evans was very proud of his grandson's love of learning, and in his store he would place his young grandson on a barrel and have him show off his spelling abilities for the customers.

Sloan Siblings and a Cousin

A smile came to my face when I saw this picture. There are not too many photos of Clara Nell Pennington as a young girl, and even fewer of her in a dress! Yet, there she stands, front left, in this photograph of Sloan siblings.

Tootsie, as everyone calls her, is the daughter of Hugh and Dee Sloan Pennington and my great-aunt. She grew up in Peaceful Valley surrounded by her Sloan cousins, and it was at a recent Sloan family reunion that Lee Sloan shared this picture of his family. Pictured on the front row with Tootsie are her cousins Una (who this month, at the age of 90-something, shared some of her life experiences with students at IAHS) and Grace, along with Una and Grace's mother, Dora Ridings Sloan. On the back row is Troy Newton who married Johnnie Sloan, and sisters Dorothy and Afton, also daughters of Dora and John Gainey Sloan. Not pictured here are brothers Acqulis, Johnnie, and Shirley ("Squire") Sloan.

The Sloans were and are musically gifted. Tootsie has fond memories of hearing the Gainey Sloan family play music on their front porch. Someone would whistle a tune and after a short time listening, others would join in with their instruments. Tootsie could sit on her front door steps and hear their music from just down the road.

Gainey was Dee Sloan Pennington's brother, and the two siblings lived within shouting distance of each other in Peaceful Valley along with other siblings and their families: Luther, Zadie, and Cliff. Today, only Dee and Zadie's grandchildren live in the area and few signs remain of the many Sloan households that populated the little holler at the foot of Burdine Hill.