Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1913-06-06
Early RecOIIectiOnS
Of Old NOxubee.
Quitman, Miss, June lst, 191

AS DeIOre stated. mos. j. DunIa
was the war station agent at Shuqua
lax. and an old negro by the name o
Squire" was the station porter.
The passenger conductors then tha
were on the Okolona and Mobile rul
were VIM. Brickle, John Tobin, Mix
Eddington and Henry Brewin-on'
train each way every wenty-fou
hours.
The locomotives, Except in one in
stance, No. 40). were not numbered
then, they bearing the names, respect
lively, of distinguished personages OF
prominent towns or states.
The passenger engines were as fol
lows: "Wm. JONES'" named after .
wealthy stockholder of the road, living
in Mobile; Macon" named in compli.
ment to your town; John J. McRae, .
named for Mississippi statesman, and
the "Wm. Dundas, named in honor OF
another prominent stockholder of the
road, citizen of Mobile.
The freight locomotives, as now re-
member them, were the Kentucky, "
Tennessee" Enterprise. /" Nilsson
ri. "No. 4O," "Okolona. -
The "Wm. Jones" was solid brass
armored affair and in coming into town
on bright. sunshiny day it looked like
huge blaze of fire, it being always
polished, making it fairly glisten. 1t
classed as the finest engine ever turned
out by the Baldwin Locomotive Works,
OF Patterson, N. j., and the engineer
that "ran her" felt honored. for In
railroad circles it was considered dis
rinction.
1t was the ''Wm. Jones" that came
into Shuqualak bearing on it's jack staff
the first flag that bore star, telling of
the seeding states, and | remember
well that it bore one star and that when
the people that were gathered at the
depot asked of the engineer as to what
it meant and were told that South Caro-
lima had seeded, withdrawn from the
Union), the cheers that rent the air.
| shall never forget that day, for all
had been clamoring for war and now
they knew they would have it.
There were no telegraph lines afongrl
the road then and the trains were the
dependence for news].
In about two weeks the "Old Macon"
came in flying from her staff flag
bearing two stars, the second one tell
ing that Mississippi had seeded and
now the people went wild, and | am
sure that from the shouts that went up
that.mof ming the famous, 4 onfederate
yell" vas born, for the like of it had
never before or since heard Women
shouted their ''huzzahs, and wept and
shouted in turn from delight, and stout
men kissed and embraced each other
in their joy because "Old Mississippi
had seeded"
After this but little more attention
was paid to the business affairs of life,
the ruling passion being to drill. form
companies and be ready to go to the
front.
The oak grove between the stores and
railroad was the drilling ground, and
from eight in the morning until sum
down, and often at night to late hour,
the drilling went on to the tap of bass
drum, Capt. J. L. Duck. of the Quit
man Light Infantry, being drill master,
these drills being attended by all the :
women and children for miles around,
they cheering every evolution of the
drill.
And boys from Is to 18 held drills at !,
the same time. A. L. Haynie, then 16 ..
years of age, being the captain, the
name of the boy company being the ,
"Shuqualak Invincibles
The lieutenants of the boy company
were Henry Clay Haynes and Bill Cal
loway, Jr., Haynes being the son of the
war postmaster at Shuqualak, Col. n
Thos. Haynes. and Galloway son of t
the county's fattest man that | told a
you about in my last article. v
In fancy can see those stirring scenes 7
now and can remember the war talk a
as though it were but yesterday, al O
though fifty-three years have passed O
since then. d
Mingling in the crowd with their s,
aashy uniforms on, can see the SOL Il
1iery figures of Capt. Duck, Nick La t;
yrone, Bill Lloyd, Rich Lloyd, Bill T
West, DR.. Mcclure, Lon, Ferd, Bee, e,
Jule, John and Mark Greer, VIM. Beck, O.
-oza Constantine. J. S. Slaughter, Jim =
md Newt Lindley. Ebert Hardy, DR..
?. H. Hamilton. DR.. John Campbell,
Bill, Henry and Sam jackson, S. G.
McNeese, Sam Day, A. L. Haynie, g.
Wesley Smith, Bill Hare, Stepney !,
Martin, Bill and Marion Shields, Bill =
Iock, John Rawls, Frank Jackson,
Vni. Stout, 81 jenkins, and others.
lot one Of whom. as am told, is now
Hss, many IL them ''at rest on tbs G.
lstAtsHsias whAfs .hsE iAli, ut hafihs II
lRae diedj