NEWSPAPER ABSTRACTS FROM "THE CLEBURNE NEWS", Heflin, Cleburne County, Alabama for AUG. 9th thru AUG. 16th, 1934 NEWSPAPER Issue of Thursday, AUGUST 9, 1934 BIRTHDAY DINNER FOR AGED LADY On Friday, July 27th, a host of relatives and friends met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. E.W. Beason to spend the day with Grandmother Thrower, celebrating her sixty-ninth birthday anniversary. She watched the crowd, smiling as all gathered in to show their love and appreciation of her and she enjoyed the day very much. (Note from transcriber: a subsequent corretion notice is given to indicate she was celebrating her 89th birthday.) The large table was laden with good things to eat, which everyone enjoyed. The afternoon was spent in eating ice cream and watermelons. Those present were: Mr. and Mrs. G.W. Thrower and daughter Mr. and Mrs. Reg Bell Mr. and Mrs. A.B. Thrower and son Mr. and Mrs. E.W. Beason and son Mrs. F.M. Zaner and son F.R. and J.F. Thrower Mr. and Mrs. H.T. Thrower and children Mr. and Mrs. Forney Cochran and children Mr. and Mrs. A.J. White and children Mr. and Mrs. J.S. Wade and children Rev. and Mrs. P.D. Taylor and children K.C. Thrower and son Vester McElroy and sons Mr. and Mrs. Ertis McElroy and son Mr. and Mrs. Allen and children of Oklahoma Oran, Marcus and Fayette Thrower of Arab Gladys, Freeman and Garvis Cochran Mrs. Theron Thrower and daughter Hughlett Bell Theo Morrison Evelyn Howle Mrs. Jessie Lumpkin Mrs. Mary Haywood Mrs. Luker Lola Beason About 90 children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were in attendance, and all departed for their homes about 6 o'clock, happy, and wishing for grandmother many more happy birthdays. One who was present. ----- DINNER GIVEN FOR VISITORS On Aug. 6th a dinner was given at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hamp Norton, the old home place of the former's father, Uncle Jack Norton, in honor of Mr. and Mrs. John Edwards and daughter Erline, of Louisville, Miss. Those present were: Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Norton of Heflin Mrs. Emma Edwards of Fruithurst Mrs. Lizzie Weathers of Cane Creek Bob Norton of Cane Creek Mr. and Mrs. Henry Norton and son Horace Mrs. A.E. Webb Mr. and Mrs. Euell Jones and sons Junior, Charles and Harold Mrs. Charlie Norton and daughter Montez of Heflin Mrs. Lillian McCrary and children, Frances and Bobby Mrs. Dewey Garner of Fruithurst Mrs. Lola Jenkins and daughters Marie and Vivian of Anniston Jack McCaghren and children, Hattie, Hazel and Homer of Hopewell Misses Irene Norton and Irene Warren of Cane Creek Marvin Whitten Mr. and Mrs. Hamp Norton and children, Garnet, Lewis, Mildred, Myrtle, Roy, Robert and James Elton Written by one present. ----- FORMER CLEBUREITE WRITES TO EDITOR (Letter from J.M. Pirkle) Quitman, Louisiana, July 27, 1934 Dear Mr. Editor, I was born near Bell Mills, on May 15, 1874 and lived there until December 7, 1903, when with my little family, I boarded the train at Heflin that night bound for Louisiana. We changed cars at Birmingham and Meridian and crossed the Mississippi River on a ferry boat. We landed at Rushton 12:20 the next day. We lived in Louisiana for a few years and moved to Texas and stayed a few years and came back to Louisiana and have lived on this place eighteen years. July 6, 1934, I went to Shreveport on a visit to my oldest son and family. Then on Sunday morning, my niece Mrs. Tillman Thornton, her husband and children of Waco, Texas came by, bound for Alabama. So I got into the car with them at 11:30, went through Ruston, Monroe and crossed the Mississippi River at Vicksburg on a toll bridge; we went through Jackson and Meridian, Livingston, Eutaw, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Pratt City and Jasper, on to Navoo, to the home of my brother Floyd Pirkle. We were on the road all night, finally arriving at my brother's at 10:45 next morning. We stayed with them until Thursday morning, then, Floyd and his wife went with us to Cleburne county. We went through Birmingham, Leeds, Pell CIty, Anniston and on to Heflin, my old home town. Then we traveled through scenes of my boyhood days, and then in a few minutes we were passing the James Tyler place, then W.M. Evans place. Soon we were passing the old school house place near Salem church where I went to school a number of years, first to J.R. Barker and then others. Next we passed the Isaac York's patch, now in cultivation and people living there. Next the Cross Roads and then my old home place. The next minute we were passing the river bottoms of our old place, then along the foot of the hills and through Rev. H. Allen and Johnnie G. Jones' farms. Then we crossed the river to Bell Mills. Soon we re-crossed the old river and went on to my sister's home, Mrs. W.T. Pesnell living near Pine Grove church. The trip from Heflin to Bell Mills was made in a few minutes, when formerly it took hours to make it. That afternoon, my brother-in-law Mr. Pesnell carried Floyd and I to Heflin in his car but the stores being closed, there were not many people in town, although I met a few old friends and I saw my cousin Mrs. L. Gaines and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Davis. We then went back to my old home and met Mr. Sayer. We walked down to the field and across the bottoms to the river. Mr. Sayer carried us across the river in a boat. Next we went to the home of J.A. Champion. Mrs. Champion is a cousin to my wife. Returning to Mr. Sayer's we started back and left the highway and went by the home of Rev. W.M. Barr and saw him and his wife. Mr. Barr, Howard White, Luther Davidson and I worked for J.A. Brown in 1901. I worked in the store most of the time and in the field part of the time. My sister's daughter, Mrs. Phillips and husband living at Anniston were there on a visit, when we arrived from Heflin. We visited my sister's oldest son living down on the river. The next morning we went to what was formerly Old Liberty church where we used to worship, but the building is gone and the place is growing up in briars, weeds and bushes. The church yard and the road to the spring have grown up in sapplings but we found the spring all right which is walled up with rocks and looked just as it did the first time I saw it. Of course we all quenched our thirst there. We went into the cemetery where I saw where my mother was laid to rest more than fifty years ago, and other members of the family buried there since then. Returning to my sister's home we found all her children there and had a most enjoyable time. Soon we started back to my brother's home and stopped in Heflin. I ate luch with J.G. Jones and we had an enjoyable visit. My brother and the others ate lunch with the editor, after lunch we all met J.H. Pirkle, county superintendant of Education, who is also a relative of ours, and had a pleasant visit at Anniston. I saw George Phillips and Allen Garner; stopped at Pratt City and ate supper with Floyd's sister-in-law Mrs. Jones and family. About two hours later we arrived at Floyd's and stayed there until the next Wednesday. It was an enjoyable and delightful trip to see my brother and sister and their families and other relatives and friends that I had not seen in over 30 years. J.M. Pirkle ------ LOCAL News J.H. Chappell left last week to visit with his brother W.T. Chappell at Overton, Texas for the next few months. We wish him a pleasant trip. His brother has been with him for some time. ---- Mr. and Mrs. Enoch Owen and sons Duke, Tyler and Virgil of Texas arrived last week to visit relatives in Cleburne county. --- A.E. Southerland of Cullman county was in Heflin last week. --- Miss Nora Sparks of Newark, N.J. and Miss Mildred Reaves of Long Beach, N.Y. are visiting their parents here, Mr. and Mrs. D.M. Reaves. ---- Mrs. Carl Smith and children of Tallapoosa are visiting Mr. and Mrs. D.M. Reaves. --- Mrs. Annie Mae Qualls from Virginia was the recent guest of her father, F.A. Vaughan. --- A SAD DEATH Mrs. Myrtle Leola Whitfield, age 25, of 3933 35th Ave N., passed away at a local infirmary early Friday evening. Funeral services were held at the residence Sunday at 9:30 a.m. The remains were sent to Heflin, Ala., on Sunday for interment by Brown-Service. Surviving are the husband, C.W. Whitfield; two daughters, Ann Elizabeth and Marian Lousie; her parents, Mr. and Mrs. S.L. Tolleson; three sisters, Pauline Etheridge, Alline and Eleanor Tolleson; three brothers, Hubert Luther, Jr., and Rudolph. The Birmingham News ------ NEWSPAPER Issue of AUGUST 16, 1934 OTTO PRICHARD PASSES The funeral for Otto Prichard, 46 years old, was held at Concord on Monday with Revs. J.W. Williams, P.P. Johnson and Rufus Johnson in charge of the burial services. Mr. Prichard is survived by his father and mother, his wife, five children and five brothers. The Cleburne News sympathizes with the family. ----- H.N. GABLE PASSES Cleburne county mourns the death of one of its oldest citizens, H.N. Gable, 94, who lived near Muscadine. He passed away while on a visit to his daughter Mrs. J.T. Walker in Cullman county. He was one of the five remaining Confederate veterans in Cleburne county. Mr. Gable was an outstanding citizen. He could always be depended on to stand for those things which are right and honorable, and his life and character was an example and a benediction to those who knew him, and in recent years as he stepped out of the active life and rested in the shadows, he was still a leader in his community and county by virtue of his splendid spirit and helpful advice to his neighbors. It is with sadness that we pay this last tribute to one of Cleburne county's best fighters and noble citizens. ------- OFFICERS MAKE THREE ARRESTS Last week, Deputy Tom Prestridge and Forney Thrower destroyed four large stills, pouring out 2,600 gallons of beer and arrested Joe Bryant and Duke Clayton. In another trip on the east side of the county, Ben Farlow was arrested. Three hundred sixty gallons of good peach beer was destroyed. ----- TEXAS VISITORS Mrs. J.H. Brannon, formerly Miss Effie Cook, and Mr. and Mrs. Claud Williamson and son of Ft. Worth, Texas are visitors in Cleburne county and in Atlanta, Ga. ----- CORRECTION In the birthday notice of Mrs. S.M. (Grandmother) Thrower in a previous newspaper issue, her age was given as 69, which should have been given as age 89. -----