Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1912-10-25

dppCdlcN III Aoul paper VI Idt
over the signature of "Big Bud
my old friend, Emmett Cavett.
! was reared in NOxubce county
my father having removed from
Montgomery to ShuQualak in 1888
when ! was but ten years of age.
At that time Shuqualak was 4;
new town. it having sprung up n,
n result of the building Of the VI.
n o.. railroad, its growth starting
in 1854.
The first locomotive I ever saw
was the old "Paducah," a solid
driving wheel affair, engineered by
Jake Hurst, now dead and buried
at Waynesboro, Miss. 1t was
standing on the side track at Shu
qualak when my fathers wagons,
{ loaded with the family and our
belongings drove into that little
town, having come overland from
Montgomery,
It. J. Dunlap was the station
agent, and the principal stores there
then were those of Slaughter 4
Field, the latter Stanton s. Field
to whose memory Big Bud paid
such a beautiful tribute in your
paper last week, and Constantine.
Tyson, Beasley & West, { all one
firm J, the Tyson mentioned hay
ing been 7. 5. Tyson, father Of
your present Chanccry Clerk, Mr..
Jno. A, Tyson, who was a school
mate of mine under the principal
ships, respectively, of Capt. Ulrich.
Sam Day and Miss Carrie Bledsoc.
The physicians at ShuquaIak
then were Drs. p. II. Hamilton,
J. A, Campbell and W. H.. Saun.
ders, all of whom, { when the war
of the sixties broke OUT, attained
to the rank of regimcntal surgeon.
being assigned to duty in differ
ent regiments.
The first military company
ever saw was the NOxubee Rifles
of Macon, they having come down
to Shuqualak July 4th, 1859, to
attend a celebration. The com
pany had along u drum corps com
posed Of negroes, then slaves. ono
OF the negroes being Dick GRAY.
who, after the war, was elected
circuit clerk, another, Joe Hart,
a barber, and the other, Jack
Gilbert.
can see, in fancy, now, the
ilashy uniforms the company wore
long skirted coats made of green
broadcloth; pants of the same with {
yellow stripes down the legs; cpau
lets of gold %tinsel; coats trimmed
with gold braid; caps resembling !
in shapes stove kettle with flow. I
ing white feather plumcs, topped
with red, the officers wearing G
swords and the privateS side arms. e..
Murky demonstrations of war /
clouds could be seer thus early /
and soon military companies com
menced being organized, Shuqua. .
lax organizing one; the "Quitmap !
Infantry with Capt. j. l.. l.
captain. /
At length the Bell and Ever (
itt' and Breckenridge and Lane" 5
campaign came on, one conserya $
tive, the other democrat, these +
arising from the old "Whig" and \
mo Nothing parties, now obso. II
lete, and the defeat of them by the
abolition party Lincoln J q
brought ON the war, and the bal. !.
ance is known. :,
1t was the custom during the ,
!" Bell and Everittn and Brcckin. t
ridge and Lane campaign for adj a
herents of these parties, rcspcc +
to erect CELEBRITY poles v
rom which flew massive flags, and f
remember that two of these polls, c
'ne of them 1863 feet tall, orna b
.cnted the commons ON the west n
'lde at Shuuqalak, lying between q
jhe depot and stores. a
Finally war was declared and !.
or the nonce all business was e
every one seeming 7
anxious to join a company and get {
o the front. =
| remember my father was hay. |
a residence built at the time. "A
he work being in charge of Bill ?
and Fe%atherstonc, both of i
and members of the Noxu- f
zee Rifles, and they abandoned b
he job and hurried to Macon to $
axe part in the daily practice =
preparatory to going to the s.
ront, and after going forward o
hey were both killed in the first e
attic the company engaged in. =
Bill Darian was "A banjo picker, v
nd l well remember that when a
g took leave of his friends at "
for Macon he had his p p
anjo with him, taking a seat on b
70 steps of the rear coach and
and playing rs tho train 2.