This information come from, Dennis K. Boswell; there pictures on Attala county website; i remember it from when i was a kid a lot of people work there; they had there on school; houses ;and stores; some of the old houses are still there; Kosciusko Cotton Mill Kosciusko, a small town in central Mississippi, entered the twentieth century looking toward the future. On August 26, 1899, the small town, later known locally as the Beehive of the Hills, organized and approved a capital investment of $167,000 for the construction of its first large industry. It was the town's first major move toward industralization. Two years later in August 1901, the Kosciusko Cotton Mill was completed and began operations with C. L. Anderson, president; W. B. Potts, vice-president; and Walter Burgress, secretary; A. E. Kelly, W. L. Anderson, N. O. Thompson, Walter Burgress, C. C. Kelly, John Fletcher, W. B. Potts, J. A. Gilliland, and F. Z. Jackson, board of directors.3 The mill was initially powered by a single steam engine and employed approximately one hundred workers to operate 5,000 spindles. The machinery, including spinning frames, came from a mill at Charlotte, North Carolina, which was purchased in tact from the owner, S. W. Cranner, and moved to Kosciusko. The mill was an instant success, and in 1907, it added a second steam engine, installed 320 looms, increased the number of spindles to 12,600, and workers to some one hundred and seventy-five in the production of white goods.4 In 1911, as the state's textile industry fell on hard times, James Sanders entered the cotton manufacturing business. He purchased the Kosciusko mill and immediately initiated still another expansion program; and under his program, the number of workers more than doubled to some three hundred and fifty, spindles increased to 30,572, and looms to 1,131. The production changed from white goods only to a variety of fabrics, including chambry, gingham, bed ticking, and pillow ticking.5 He effectively saved the mill and small town. The Kosciusko mill, renamed Aponaug Manufacturing Company, continued to be a booming success; it enabled Sanders to expand rapidly and acquire mills at Starkville, Natchez, Winona, Yazoo City, and Mobile. Other purchases would follow, but, to reiterate, this was the genesis of the Sanders conglomerate of cotton mills. The mill was to remain Sander's largest mill and Kosciusko's largest industry for the next forty-two years. By the late 1930s, it operated day and night, employing some four hundred workers with an estimated payroll of $175,000 annually. With the wide variety of fabrics, Sears Roebuck & Company soon became its largest customer, and in the mid-thirties, the mill often had up to six months in back orders for Sears. In addition, the mill served customers in most of the major cities in the United States and several international markets.6 With Preston Newell as superintendent, the immense prosperity that began in the late thirties continued through the war years.7 Most of the mill workers lived in an adjoining village, consisting of about eighty-five small frame houses. Being isolated from the town, the village had few amenities such as city water, inside plumbing, paved streets, or sidewalks; except for electricity which became available in the early thirties, other services and utilities such as the telephone, natural gas, and mail delivery did not come until the late forties. Each house, as usual, had sufficient land for a vegetable garden, a pig, a few chickens, and access to a community pasture for milk cows. The mill provided an elementary school through the eight grade, a church, a community playground and three large ponds. John Felder's grocery store, a barber shop, and Bud Felder's small hamburger shop completed the village and assisted in keeping the mill people within the village limits.8 Several mill families lived in Crowley's flats consisting of twenty-two small frame houses near the business section of town and Peeler's flats with about thirty-two similar houses midway between the town and village. Living in either flats had the disadvantage of being a substantial distance from the mill, and most workers in the twenties and thirties had little choice but to walk to and from work. Crowley's was about a mile and a half from the mill and Peeler's less than a mile and, in either case, a considerable distance to walk when added to a ten-hour workday. Later, as the labor market became more competitive at the beginning of World War II, Sanders provided bus transportation. But living in the flats had some advantages. The houses had a few more amenities than the village houses, but the big advantage was the close proximity of both flats to the town school. Unlike the children in the village, children in the flats attended the town grade school and that, as will be seen later, was a tremendous benefit. Like most other Mississippi cotton mill towns in the early years of the Twentieth Century, many of the Kosciusko mill villagers felt that most of the town people preferred that they stay out of town, except on payday. And like most other Southern mill towns, social intercourse between town people and mill people was limited. Whatever the reason, it was not unusual. Most historians agree that an attitude of superiority by town people toward cotton mill people was common, and the attitude generally applied, as noted by Jennings Rhyn in Some Southern Mill Workers and Their Villages, to textile workers throughout the nation, North and South.9 In fact, it is interesting to note that textile workers throughout the nation were generally referred to as "hands or operatives" as if they were something less than human. If these attitudes prevailed at Kosciusko as most villagers believed, ironically the village elementary school may have contributed to or actually promoted them by segregating and isolating village children. Before !940, most Mississippi children, like most American children everywhere, did not attend school beyond the eight grade, and thus the separate schools restricted the opportunities for village and town children to interact and establish relationships with each other. This pattern changed, beginning in the early forties, when more and more Mississippi children began to attend high school and college. Children from the town, the village, and the country came together for education and, in the process, established lasting relationships. The relationships became even closer when, almost simultaneously, the young men began to march off together to World War II and a few years later to the Korean Conflict.10 Children attending the village school experienced classical segregation and discrimination, but the potential damage was offset by teachers quietly promoting the development of self esteem and stressing the importance of preparing for the future. Miss Alva Thomas, principal and strong promoter of the Sanders mill and its school, taught the seventh and eight grades; her two sisters, Anna and Lois, along with Christine Paine taught two grades each and completed the faculty. Each school day started in a way now considered unlawful; the student body assembled in the school's auditorium for the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, a short biblical reading, and a prayer. The big event of the year was the annual play, with eight grade actors playing to a full house of villagers. I attended and completed the eight grade class and have fond memories of the school and Miss Alva. I recall it as a memorable and beneficial experience, highlighted by a leading role in the annual play. The school with its community playground and three large ponds nearby provided the village with a very active recreation center. The ponds provided water for the mill's five steam engines, and for the villagers, swimming, boating, and fishing. The best fishing, however, was at Fletcher's bridge, about five miles south of the village, where my friend, Joe Mathews, and I would frequently go on a Saturday morning with his father and usually one other adult male in a horse-drawn wagon, camp and fish overnight, and return Sunday afternoon. Other social activities centered around the church and John Felder's Grocery where, across the street and under the shade of two large Oak trees, the men played checkers and dominoes. For fifty-two years to the month, the Kosciusko mill was the town's largest industry and its economic base. Then in August 1953, Robert Sanders in ill health closed the mill, along with his other three remaining mills at Magnolia, Starkville and West Point, and after his death in 1954, the mill and village houses were sold. Ironically, Sanders suffered a heart attack while attending a conference with local business leaders about the possible reopening of the Aponaug Mill and died a few days later on September 25, 1954. Charles McAdams, p o box 20184 white hall ark 71612 tenman.1@sbcglobal.net phone 870 247 5123 ________________________________ From: "DianeS4067@aol.com" <DianeS4067@aol.com> To: msattala@rootsweb.com Sent: Sun, April 25, 2010 6:33:52 PM Subject: Re: [MSATTALA] Thanks Could you repost the e-mail concerning the old cotton mill. I believe my father worked here. thank you In a message dated 4/24/2010 2:44:48 P.M. Central Daylight Time, attalacoordinator@gmail.com writes: Charles, I have e-mails that you sent to the list dating back to March 2008. I re-read every posting you sent to the list which included subjects such as the old cotton mill, the smallpox outbreak of 1909, the Sand Hill Cemetery, flag draped coffins, childhood memories and... Lo and behold, there were three e-mails from you in March and April 2009 that contained photos and the e-mails had never been opened. I owe you my profound apologies. Apparently I could not get to them right away and somehow they were overlooked later. I am sorry and I will address this immediately. Everette ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles" <tenman.1@sbcglobal.net> To: <msattala@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 6:01 PM Subject: Re: [MSATTALA] Thanks > what kind of information, i have seen pictures and there history, and they > never was posted; > thought the site had stop posting, > > Charles McAdams, > p o box 20184 > white hall ark > 71612 > tenman.1@sbcglobal.net > phone 870 247 5123 > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Attala Director <attalacoordinator@gmail.com> > To: msattala@rootsweb.com > Sent: Fri, April 23, 2010 11:46:37 AM > Subject: Re: [MSATTALA] Thanks > > If anyone has any information or data on Attala County, please submit to > the > Attala County Director for the Mississippi Genealogy and History Network > at: > > attaladirector@gmail.com; > > Visit the Attala County genealogy and history site at: > > http://attala.msghn.org/ > > I could use your help. > > Everette Carr > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Douglas Cummins" <dcumyns@gmail.com> > To: <MSATTALA@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 9:29 PM > Subject: [MSATTALA] Thanks > > > Thanks David, > > > > This genealogy stuff to me is kinda like growing (30's and 40's) up on my > parent’s farm in the MS delta. It takes a bit of weeding now and then > before > you get to the heart of the matter. > > > Ever think about taking over the Attala's site again? At times it appears > to > be on life support. > > > Doug > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MSATTALA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MSATTALA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MSATTALA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MSATTALA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MSATTALA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message