Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1901-07-06

mined to gather together for its readers,
matters of historic interest. There are
very few communities in which there
has not been, at some time, occurrences
Of more than ordinary interest These,
while not always of historic value, are
always of local value, and should be
collected and preserved. The writer
has long desired to make trip
through the interior sections of Miss
issippi for the special purpose Of col
lecting just such information, and in
addition to all of these valuable stories
the world would be amazed at the great
wealth of curious and beautiful old
treasures hidden away in the homes
of Mississippi.
Among the things of which the
Meteor speaks is an interesting relic
in the shape of a sword of the Revo-
luton owned by Mr.. J. NJ. Thompson,
Of Maben, and descended to him
through his grandfather, John Thomp-
son, who came to this country from
Scotland in 1851. He was then 1S years
old, and died at the age of SO, and was
buried in Henry county, Va. Mr..
Thompson enlisted at the beginning of
the war, and served through it--seyen
years. The sword which his grandson
so values has blade 2315 inches long
and ~ inches wide. The handle is
5l2 inches making the sword 26 inches
long. 1t would seem a cumbersome
weapon to the soldier of today, but
history records that it did valiant ser
vice in the attack on Stony Point, as
well as many other places.
Mr.. Thompson was fourteen years
old when his grandfather died, but he
recalls, viyidly the wonderful stories
he used to tell, of his fighting days.
Particularly does he recall the story
of Stony Point-that memorable at
tack. The old soldier said that it
was our plan to scale the wall-a few
men to go at first, and when the Brit
ish fired a voney the rest of the Ameri-
cans who stood with ladder and bayonet
were to charge the British before they
could reload. OF the hundred men
who answered the call for volunteers
only twenty were chosen for this des-
perate attack. Seventeen of the twenty
were either killed or wounled, and of
the three remaining, one was Mr..
Thompson, one man ma ned Clegg,
and the other name has been forgot.
ten
The capture of Stony Point Con the
Hudson about 40 miles above New
York; has been carefully looked up
by the Meteors correspondent, and
does not differ essentially from this
most interesting of many Grand
fathers tales" that our people could
remember.
Communications have appeared in
several State papers recently, touching
the longevity of certain citizens in
the various sections from which these
ANhINAh htAN hllLltu. AL Vi lltSb
have been read with interest because
il is pleasure to know that the
days OF a good man have been long
in the land A correspondent from
Ackerman has, so far, earned the blue
ribbon by his report of an old gentle
man and lady, Mr.. and Mrs. Shumaker
who had lived to the good old age of
101 and 100 years. Up to a few years
before her death, Mrs. S. walked
seven miles to churcn each Sabbath.
Another aged citizen of that section,
Mr.. Whitehead, despite his ninety
three (93) years, continues to do all
his farm work-plows, makes rails
etc, and does it as well and as rapidly
as men on the bright side Of fifty. NIr.
Whitehead helped build the first Court
House at Louisville, Miss. Among
the numerous things that set this old
/ citizen apart as remarkable, is the fact
that he thinks nothing of going to
town, horseback GA miles, to trans
act his business-and more wonder
full still, he has his third set of natural
Cor should we say un-natural?) teeth,
in excellent condition. Alderman
should advertise her air and water
along with other attractions-and we
will soon have people journeying to
Central Mississippi in search of the
Fountain of Youth.
A correspondent from neighboring
shipping point writes to the Crystal
Springs Meteor that, despite the good
quality of vegetable shipments this
season, the prices have not been good,
because of what is termed false
packing" This it seems, has been
practiced so extensively by some
shippers as to have injured, in a meas
ure, all in that section. This is bad
for the section and the State, as it
takes much longer to kill a bad name
than it does to make good one and
that is saying a good deal Truck
farming has done too much for the
planters of this section for them to
allow their reputation to be injured
by few careless, or dishonest, pack
ers. The Meteors advice is good and
should be needed.
While "hoeing his own row" in the
cotton fields of Webster county last
spring, a farmer turned up, along with
the dirt an old piece of silver, which
} turned out to be coin bearing the
following inscription: "Dei Gratia
Carolus IIII., 172S." On the reverse
side is: 'Hispau ct Ind Rex NJ. E.
|. j. The coin is in a remarkable
state of preservation, and is about the
size of our silver dollar. The inscrip
ton Is as bold and as clear as a dollar
; fresh from the mint. Inc farmer paid
it to his merchant, as one dollar
Needless to state the merchant won't
be caught in any such folly.
One of the prettiest and perhaps
quite the most elegant boat cruising
along our Gulf Coast is the new rae.
. ing yacht, THE Picayune," owned by
Messrs. Leonard and Yorke Nicholson
sons of the late lamented Pearl
Rivers" dear alike to readers and
J a~... l. y