The Tupelo journal. (Tupelo, Miss.) 1876-1924, 1910-05-20
Tupele in 1871.

your readers and ev en- many
may be disposed to say you pu,
the white population entirely too
few in 1871. This may be So
but, listen: Mr.. Williams family
numbered six and mine six, but
Mr.. Ledbetter's was four. Dr..
Frazer's two, John Vance's five.
Col. McCarty's three, w. B Full
toms five, R. G. Stones two, DIR.
Hoyle's four, DR.. Hunters two,
Col. Mitchell's six, Mrs. Stewards S
two. Col. Blair's four, Judge
Green's five, S. G Gill's four, and
so on down the line. The truth
is-the families were generally
young and small and very few
old people then lived in the vii
lage. In thinking over it, / can
only remember one old man in
the town then, and that was
Father Stuart, the father of
Mrs. Mary Jane Stewart, and
who made his home with her. By
the way, you will notice their
names are spelled differently.
She was a Stuart and married a
Stewart. Rev. Mr.. Stuart was a
missionary to the Chickasaw In
dians, having his headquarters
at Pontotoc for years before the
white people came into this terri
tory. He was a prominent figure
on the streets for several years
after | moved here. | remember
to have talked with him one day
on the use of tobacco, the use of
which he quit forty years be-
fore. asked him how much he
spent for tobacco annually, and
after telling me, | asked him
what would it amount to in the
forty years by compounding the
interest, and he said twenty-five
thousand dollars. When | first
knew him he had retired from
active work as a minister of the
Gospel. Aside from him I do
not remember any old people in
the town when l moved Now
there are many old people here
who have not grown old in the
town, but have come here in
their old age to live with their
children, besides those who have
grown old in the place. l said in
my last article that no one had
been buried in our cemetery in
1871. Rev. Absolom Stovall,
minister of the Baptist church,
was the first person buried in
the cemetery here. He lived on
a poor eighty of land about two
miles from Tupelo and somewhat
in northwest direction, now
owned by O. B. Rogers, then
worth about two hundred and
fifty dollars; but guess Orbie
would now be afraid to price it.
Brother Stovall preached for the
Baptist people from the time
their church house was built
until his death, and was in
charge of the old Hickory Grove
church for years before the
building of the church-house in
Tupelo.
| attended services at the old
Hickory Grove church in 1858
The house was on the old Jim
Crayton place, in a beautiful
grove of hickory trees. just north
and near the old Crayton resi-
dence, now owned by Ed. Wilson
Brother Stovall was as univers
ally loved as any man | have
ever known, irrespective of de-
nomination. Most of the mem
bers of the old Hickory Grove
congregation joined the church
at Tupelo, and the old church
passed away. 1t was a fitting
tribute to the town that Brother
Stovall should. be the first one te
be buried in her cemetery.
But some will say, Clayton,
was not the village so small that
you could not get enough reoplt
together to make it interestingg
Well, it is not always numbers
that make interest. Then, ever.
one knew everybody else, and il
sickness, or sorrow, or death
each was ready to sympathizt
with the sorrowing and to hell
the sick and those in want. Th'