Monday, January 26, 2009

Fessie and Sissy, the Amazing Coon Dog


Sissy was a coon dog, perhaps Fessie's all-time favorite dog. She was a blue tick hound with some Walker hound mixed in. A hound dog for sure. Fessie was once offered $500 for the dog, but he refused to take it. And this was in the early '50s! Sissy's reputation was widespread - everyone knew about Sissy and what an amazing coon dog she was. Dr. Pegram came from Tupelo for coon hunts with Fessie and Sissy in Peaceful Valley. In fact, just about every weekend, a crowd of folks showed up for a coon hunt.

Sissy's reputation grew when she won the annual "coon on a log" competition one summer at the Sportman's Club in Fulton. She won it again, and again. That's when the $500 offer came to Fessie, and he turned it down. Within a month, Sissy was stolen. Fessie never saw her again.

4 comments:

Charley "Apple" Grabowski said...

I so enjoy all of the stories you have to go with your pictures!

Mona Robinson Mills said...

Thanks, Apple! My family lived pretty ordinary lives but they were special people. I'm glad you are enjoying their stories.

Anonymous said...

Great story! Those old coon hunts make me think of Dad, Mike, and Zane's camping trip across the river during the freezing, cold weather.Remember that story?

Mona Robinson Mills said...

Kirk, we were remembering that same camping trip just last week. Seems Chip and some of his friends had a similar experience during the freezing weather a couple of weekends ago. Papa got a kick out of Mike, Daddy and Zane "living off the land" and in a tent during one of the coldest spells in several years. He thought they were crazy, and they probably were!