The Carolyn
Noah Graetz Interviews
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Vaiden High
School Building
The Vaiden High School Building
and Home Economics and Agriculture
Building, both have been
listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Vaiden High School
Project Committee was notified by Bill Gatlin, from the Mississippi Department
of Archives and History that this nomination was accepted on November 5,
2009.
Home
Economics and Agriculture
Building
Regarding the
Vaiden High School Project Committee, it meets monthly on the third Wednesday
of each month at 5 PM generally at the Vaiden Library. More information on this
committee will be forthcoming.
*************
In January 2008, Carolyn Noah Graetz
began an ongoing series of interviews with members of the Vaiden
Community. Through her diligent efforts,
these interviews and photos are detailed on this web page. I am honored and privileged that she has
graciously allowed the interviews to become a record of Vaiden’s
past, present and future. Thanks,
Carolyn, and thanks to all that were and continue to be interviewed for their
role of Vaiden’s history. Dorothy said it best….There’s No Place Like Home.
http://www.vaiden.net
*************
Vernon “Buddy” Welch
May 11, 1925 –
April 11, 2012
Interviewed by Carolyn Sue Noah Graetz February 21, 2008 in his
home in Carroll County , Mississippi
. This is his story.
Vernon “Buddy” Welch
was born on May 11, 1925 in Carroll, County, Mississippi . His parents were Connie
Self and William Dewitt Welch.
Vernon “Buddy” left
Vaiden at the age of 17 and went to Pascagoula
, Mississippi to work in the
Ingles Shipyard on Department of Defense Ships. He was there about
a year when he went in to get his pay check and decided he would come home to
Vaiden. The guy in the Payroll Department told him if he quit he would be
drafted. “Buddy” didn’t believe him and he went home to Vaiden. In
about a week, he was uptown Vaiden when he came in contact with Mr. Owen
Miley. Mr. Miley was the head of the Draft Board in Vaiden. He told
“Buddy” “ I have a letter in my office from the shipyard that you had quit, and
there is a letter to be mailed to you that you have been drafted by the United
States Army.”
From Vaiden he was sent to Camp
Shelby , Mississippi
. Within two days he was signed up and sent to Ft. McClellan, Alabama.
At Ft. McClellan he was trained for the
Infantry for 14 weeks.
After he left Ft. McClellan, he was sent to Ft. Mead, Maryland
. He stayed there for a few days before he was sent to Camp
Shank, New York for change of
orders from Europe to the South Pacific. He
stayed at Camp Shank long enough to get new and different uniforms before he
was shipped from New York Harbor in a “Troop Carrying Ship” - a converted cargo
ship - en route to the South Pacific.
The ship navigated along the East Coast of the United States, eventually arriving at the Panama Canal . They went through the canal into the Pacific Ocean . They first landed at New Caledonia.
From there he was sent to New
Guinea where he saw his first combat as a
member of the 43rd Infantry Division of the United States Army.
From New Guinea
the 43rd Infantry Division was sent to the Philippines
where they made the Beach Head - that is they were the first Infantry Division
to land. Within a short time General Douglas MacArthur arrived. He
had been in the Philippines
before war was declared and he had to leave because the Japanese overran
the US Army. He went to Australia
but returned when the 43rd Infantry and other Infantry Divisions
arrived in the Philippines.
The 43rd Infantry was met by the Japanese when they
landed. So there was fighting right away. “Buddy” saw many in his
division die from the guns of the Japanese. “Buddy” was in the Philippines for
about one year and one-half.
The Philippines
were reclaimed by the US Armed Services including the Army, Navy, Marines, and
the United States Air Force.
After the Philippines
were reclaimed, the 43rd Infantry was sent to the Island of Japan
. By this time Japan
had surrendered, but the Infantry Divisions were still needed for the Japanese
Occupation.
By this time
Harry Truman was the President of the United
States and the bombs had been dropped on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki .
His division was on the Island
of Japan for 14 days when
they were told to get ready to go home. They arrived in San
Francisco and by train they came back to Mississippi
and were sent to Camp
Shelby arriving there
about the first of December, 1945 . He was allowed to come home to Vaiden
soon afterwards, but was not yet discharged. He was finally discharged
December 1946. By this time “Buddy” was 21 years old.
As a result of “Buddy’s” participation in World War II in the
Pacific he was awarded two Purple Hearts, one Bronze Star, one World War II
Medal, one Asiatic-Pacific Medal and another medal for honor, efficiency and
fidelity.
Medals received by Vernon
“Buddy” Welch in the Pacific in World War II
*************
James Murry “Son” Alford
Interviewed by Carolyn Noah Graetz on January 25, 2008 in Vaiden, Mississippi
Q. Year of
Graduation
A. 1956
Q. Your full
name
A. James Murry Alford
Q. Your nickname
A. “Son”
Q. Date of birth
A. January 7,
1937
Q. Where you were born
A. Carroll
County, out from Vaiden, Mississippi
Q. Your parents’ names
A. Wilburn and
Alva Bell
Stewart
James Murry started to Vaiden School in the third grade with Miss Lovie Wright as his third grade teacher.
He dropped out of school his mid-term his junior year of high
school in 1952. He returned to Vaiden High in fall 1954 and joined the
1956 graduating class.
Q. After high school graduation what did you do?
A. The first year out of high school he worked in a carpet factory
in Greenville , Mississippi .
After this year he decided that he would get more education.
He has saved a little and also did janitorial work at the Holmes Junior where
he had enrolled. Tuition was $34 a month including room and board.
His job paid $12 per which was subtracted from his tuition. Other tuition
was paid by money he had saved. No money came from his family. He
hitched hiked along with many others from Vaiden to Goodman the home of Holmes Junior
College .
Q. Strictest
teacher
A. Miss Shula
Armstrong , English teacher for four years of high school.
Q. Favorite
teacher
A. Most
helpful was Tom Dulin, geometry teacher and algebra
II
Q. Uses of the auditorium
A. Chapel fairly regularly on Friday morning with the entire student
body present. Prayer, patriotic songs, announcements, pep rallies,
plays (junior and senior)
Q. Rules
A. No student
handbook or written rules.
After graduation from Holmes
Junior College he went Delta State
College-now Delta State University-in Cleveland
, Mississippi . For tuition he
received a National Defense Education Act loan at a low interest. He did
not have to repay until he began work. He was able to get someone to
drive him there to take his clothes but after this trip he usually hitched hike
there. He graduated with a degree in math education in 1962.
After
graduation from Delta
State , he returned to
Vaiden High and taught high school math and general science for eight
years.
After this eight years he became the Federal Projects Coordinator
for Carroll County Schools. It was during his time as Federal
Projects Coordinator that he attended Mississippi State
University at night, on
week-ends and during the summer and received his master’s and Specialist
in Administration degree.
He was elected
Superintendent of Carroll County Schools in 1983. He kept this job for 12
years retiring in December 1995.
He married Phyllis Mevelyn Braswell in
1970 in the Kilmichael, Mississippi
Baptist Church
and they had one child: Kristen was born in 1976.
Kristen married Guy Alderman 1998. She has one child: Murry
Catherine Alderman
*************
Mary
Elizabeth “Sissie” Lee Gant Butler
Interview with
Mary Elizabeth “Sissie” Lee Gant Butler January 16,
2008 in her home on Highway 35 Vaiden , Mississippi
Q. Year of
Graduation from Vaiden
High School
A. 1954
Q. Your full
name
A. Mary
Elizabeth Lee
Q. Your
nickname
A. “Sissie”
Q. Date of
birth
A. August 26,
1936
Q. Where you
were born ?
A. Old Salem
Community of Carroll County, Mississippi at home and was delivered by Dr.
Arrington, doctor in Vaiden,
Mississippi
Q. Your
parents’ name
A. Father:
Johnny B Lee; Mother: Minnie Odell Noah Lee
Q. When did
your ancestors first arrive in Carroll
County ?
A. “Sissie’s” maternal grandfather,
Robert Dugan Noe name changed to Noah came from Alabama in 1895.
Her maternal grandmother, Mattie Fisher Noah was from the Harmony area of Carroll County and was part Choctaw Indian.
Regarding her paternal grandparents, her grandfather, Jerry Robert
Lee, came from South Carolina
. “Sissie” and her brother Dell, do not know where
this grandmother, Mattie Weeks Lee came from other than living in Carroll County .
Mary Elizabeth “Sissie” Lee Fifth
Grade Vaiden
School
“Sissie” Lee’s Senior Year
Vaiden High
School
“Sissie” Lee’s Senior Class Photograph
1954 Vaiden High School .
Q. After high school graduation what did you do?
A. After high school “Sissie” stayed at
home until she married Murphy Gant on November 6, 1954 . They were
married at the Winona Presbyterian Church Manse by the Rev. Reginald in Winona , Mississippi
.
After marriage
they rented a house from Mr. Kenneth Jones in the Midway Community of Carroll
County, Mississippi where they farmed.
About a year
after farming, “Sissie” and Murphy moved to Jackson , Mississippi
. They stayed in Jackson about one year before
they moved to Greenville , Mississippi where both “Sissie”
and Murphy worked at a carpet factory.
In 1960 they
moved back to Carroll County and both worked at the J. A. Olson Picture
Frame Factory in Winona , Mississippi . Murphy died May
21, 1987 and this factory closed. “Sissie”
later worked in Greenwood and Carrollton . When the cabinet
factory where “Sissie” worked in Carrollton closed, “Sissie”
retired. This was 1998.
Their first
child, Lathern Gant, was delivered by Dr. Herbert
Power at the Vaiden, Mississippi Clinic on March 26, 1956 .
Sissy and
Murphy Gant had two other children, Brenda and Michael.
“Sissie” was a widow until she married Wayne Butler, a
widower, on December 4, 2000 .
On the date of
the interview was at her home on Highway 35 with a mailing address of Vaiden , Mississippi.
*************
Henry Milner
Interview of Henry Milner on
January 25, 2008 by Carolyn Noah Graetz
Q. Year of graduation
A. 1943
Q. Your full name
A. Henry Stephen (named for Dr. Stephens) Milner
Q. Date of birth
A. September 28, 1924
Q. Where you were born
A. Carroll County, Vaiden,
Mississippi
Q. Your parents’ name
A. William Walter and Pearl
Estelle Ferguson Milner
Q. After high school graduation what did you do?
A. Graduated from the Vaiden High
School in 1943. Henry had attended the Vaiden School
from first grade through 12th. He never attended class in this
WPA building. However, his class-class of 1943 Vaiden High School
saw the groundbreaking and then were able to use the stage for graduation. The
principal was the principal for all grades 1-12. During a large part of
Henry’s school years, Curtis Pullen was principal. Mr. Pullen was
followed by Frank Hawkins who was a Vaiden native. Mr. Hawkins graduated from
Sewanee, an Episcopalian college in Tennessee , and
the University of Mississippi Law School.
Q. Henry’s most disciplined teacher
A. Miss Shula Armstrong.
Q. His favorite teacher
A. Frank Hawkins who taught American Government.
In elementary school, Henry
remembered receiving grades in Deportment due to behavior. Henry said
. “I didn’t have any problems with deportment, I behaved myself.”
There were no rule books but the students
understood.
Q. After high school what did you do?
A. Immediately
after graduation, Henry entered the U. S. Army. He was sent St. Petersburg, Florida
for basic training. From St. Petersburg,
he went by troop train Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North Carolina.
He was there for a short time before he was sent to Atlanta,
Georgia for training for Military Auto Mechanic
School. From there
he was sent to Plant City, Florida- a staging area for determining next
base assignment. From there he was sent to Ft. Myers Air Base for a short
time. Eventually he was sent to the Hawaii Islands
he became a Distribution Supply Sergeant. He stayed there
until end of World War II. After his discharge he returned to Vaiden and
joined the Carpenter’s Union that was located in Grenada.
However, Henry lived in Vaiden. An interesting part of his job was
helping dismantle an old military gym at Camp
McCain in Grenada
County, Mississippi and
reconstructing it as a gym for the Vaiden
School.
Q. When did your ancestors first arrive in Carroll County?
A. Henry and all of his
siblings were first generation Carroll Countians. He
dad came to Carroll County from Texas
and his mother was from Montgomery
County, Mississippi.
Later on Henry worked for the
Illinois Central Railroad as a telegraph operator, ticket agent, freight clerk,
and baggage agent. He retired from the Illinois Central after 35
years of service in September 1982. He also served, at least, 20 years on
the Vaiden Board of Alderman. He says he was instrumental in negotiating
with M.r M.. E. Daves
to bring Cable Television to the Vaiden area.
Henry Stephen Milner was
married to Martha Blanche Pinkston on July 3, 1948. They were
married 52 years when Martha died. They had one child: Barbara
Dianne. Barbara married Danny Barnette and they had one child:
Stephen Barnette.
*************
Frances Jean Johnson Paley
Filled out by:
Carolyn Noah Graetz. Frances Jean
Johnson Paley gave the information to Carolyn over phone and in person.
Q.
Year of Graduation from Vaiden
High School
A. 1946
Q. Your full name
A. Frances Jean
Johnson Paley
Q. Date of birth
A. November 21, 1929
Q. Where you were
born?
A. Lexington,
Holmes County, Mississippi
Q. Your parents’
names
A. Samuel Franklin
and Alice Alberta
Johnston Johnson
Q. When did your
ancestors first arrive in Carroll
County?
A. Frances’ paternal great-grandfather, Samuel Johnson, arrived in
Carroll County from Warren County, Mississippi
soon after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit
Creek between the Choctaw Indians, whose Chief was Greenwood LeFleur (changed to LeFlore) and
the United States Government on September 27, 1830. Samuel Johnson paid taxes
in Carroll County, Mississippi in 1835.
Q. Where did you
attend elementary school?
A. Beatty Elementary School in Carroll County, Mississippi
Q. Describe your
elementary school experience.
A. Teachers who Frances
remembered are Grover Bennett and Susie Huffman Miley. There were two rooms in
the school and there was an outdoor toilet.
Q. How did you get to
school?
A. Frances rode in a pick-up
truck that had a cover on it.
Q. Describe you
high school experience? What classes were required to take to graduate?
A. English, Math
and algebra, typing, bookkeeping,
Q. Who do you think
was your hardest teacher?
A. Miss Ruby Smith
Q. There was an
auditorium at the Vaiden
School. What were some
uses of the auditorium?
A. Weekly chapel,
junior and senior high school plays, graduation exercises and Frances sang
solos on the stage with Mrs. Ruby Spencer directing.
Q. Did you wear any
special clothing during any of your school years?
A. Street clothes
Q. Tell in detail
what you did after graduation from Vaiden
High School.
A. In the fall of 1946, Frances Jean Johnson enrolled in Holmes Junior College
in Goodman, Mississippi.
She stayed there for one school year. At Holmes Junior, she was the
freshman football maid, and was voted by the student body as the friendliest
girl on campus. The next year she went
to live with her sister, Lucille Johnson Boykin, in Greenville,
Mississippi. She worked for Sears
and Roebuck. From Greenville, she returned to
Vaiden and later went to Jackson,
Mississippi. In Jackson she worked in Kennington
Speciality Store.
Her last job was with John H. Moon and Madison Materials in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
She worked there for 35 years.
Frances married Grover
Upton and they had two children: Michael and Susan.
They were divorced and she later married Robert Paley. She and
Robert had one child, Lara. She and Robert later divorced, also.
March 18, 2009 Photo
*************
John Brittin (“J. B.”) Bailey
Interviewed by: Carolyn Sue Noah Graetz on March 19,
2009 at the Noah Truck in Vaiden, Mississippi. This truck stop is owned by the
brother of Carolyn.
Q. Full Name
A. John Brittin
Bailey-Veteran of World War II
Q. Nickname
A. “J. B.”
Q. Date of birth
A. September 09, 1922
Q. Name of your parents
A. Father: Thomas Bailey; Mother: Maggie Lambert
This is “J.B.’s” story:
“J.B.’s” mother died when he was about 10 years old,
and he went to live with his sister, Mrs. Katie Bailey Ross.
When he was about 22 years old
he received a letter from the Draft Board. This letter instructed him to report
to Camp Shelby
in Forest County, Mississippi. He was there a few days
when he was shipped to Ft. Sill,
Oklahoma.
At Ft. Sill
he trained with others from many parts of the country in the Mule Pack
Artillery. They were trained to guide mules and to disassemble and
reassemble 75 millimeter Howitzer pack guns.
The 75 millimeter Howitzer first used in World War I
and again in World War II. According to “J.B.” this is the type Howitzer
that he was trained to use. They trained for 17
weeks.
After 17 weeks he was sent to Ft. Carson, Colorado.
They stayed there about three weeks and then they were sent by train to Fr. Ord, California.
This artillery group stayed
there a few weeks. From here this artillery group went by ship to Bombay, India.
There was an American Army base in Bombay.
“J.B.” served under General Joseph Warren Stillwell.
|
Gen. Joseph Warren
Stillwell, U.S.A.
|
|
|
|
Nickname
|
"Vinegar Joe,"
"Uncle Joe," "Old Two Shirts."
|
|
Place of birth
|
Palatka, Florida
|
|
Place of death
|
San Francisco, California
|
General Joseph Warren Stilwell
(March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946) was a United States Army four-star General
best-known for his service in China
and Burma.
His contempt for formal military dress, his concern for the enlisted man, and
his caustic personality would gain him two sobriquets: "Uncle Joe"
and "Vinegar Joe."
From Bombay
this Mule Pack Artillery was flown to Micheneau, Burma.
They camped there and then they began walking with the mules with the 75
millimeter Howitzer pack guns. These Howitzer pack guns were broken down and
each mule would carry a part of the gun, and these mules were led by the
artillery men.
From there they marched about
30 days to get to the Burma Road and here is
where they met the Japanese. They knew they would have to fight when they
arrived on the Burma Road as there had been
reconnaissance missions by Lason airplanes. The
fought for 21 days and the Burma Road was opened up to China, an ally of the United States.
In China
they rested there for a while and after the Japanese surrendered they were sent
to Shanghai.
The artillery group was divided and “J. B.” was placed in the Military Police
Group. They guarded a prison there which at one time held the “Jimmie
Doolittle Flyers.” But when this Military Police Group was there the prison held
the Japanese prisoners who had been captured by the Chinese and the
Americans.
From Shanghai
they took a ship back to Seattle,
Washington. From Seattle they took a train back to Camp Shelby
and this is where he was discharged. After discharge he came home
to Carroll County, Mississippi and there is where he lives
today.
“J. B.” Bailey March 19, 2009 at the Noah
Truck Stop in Vaiden, Mississippi
“Buddy” Welch and “J.B.
Bailey” on March 19, 2009
*************
George Willis Turbeville
05/05/1931 - 10/12/2010
Interview - Carolyn Noah Graetz
147 Links Drive
Apartment 18 C
Canton, Mississippi 39046
April 15, 2009
Q. Year of
Graduation from Vaiden
High School
A. 1949
Q. Your full name
A. George Willis Turbeville
Q. Date of birth
A. May 05, 1931
Q. Where you were
born?
A. Carroll
County, Mississippi a few miles
from the Vaiden City limits
Q. Your parents’
name
A. Father: George
Willis Turbeville, Sr.; Mother: Mattie Effie Lee Turbeville
Q. When did your
ancestors first arrive in Carroll
County? Where were they from?
A. George’s paternal great-grandfather, Frank Turbeville,
Sr. came from South Carolina and settled in Carroll County, Mississippi.
The Turbeville place in Carroll County
is still occupied by some descendents of this
great-grandfather on the date of this interview April 15, 2009.
Q. Where did you
attend elementary school?
A. George enrolled in the Vaiden School
as a first grade student and he attended this school from first grade
throughout his early school life from first grade though twelve.
Q. How did you get
to school?
A. George remembers
that one of the ways he got to school was in a pick-up truck with a cover on
the back driven by Mr. Burl Brown.
Q. Did you have a
favorite teacher, and if so tell why?
A. Mrs. Margaret Anderson who taught commercial arts was a
favorite teacher of his. She wore a smile and was kind. Mrs. Anderson taught
typing, shorthand, and bookkeeping.
Q. There was an
auditorium at the Vaiden
School. What were some
uses of the auditorium?
A. Friday assembly.
In assembly they sang patriotic songs, heard announcements.
Q. Describe where
you had lunch?
A. Had lunch in the
lunchroom
Q. Tell in detail
what you did after graduation from Vaiden
High School.
A. After graduating from Vaiden High School
in 1949,George volunteered for the U. S. Air Force during the Korean War. His
duties consisted of training squadron members in San Antonio, Texas
where he was stationed. After four years
in the Air Force, George returned home to Vaiden and enrolled at Mississippi State University.
After receiving encouragement from fellow citizens he became a
candidate for Carroll County Circuit Clerk and Deputy Chancery Clerk at Vaiden.
He won the election in a landslide. In this office he helped young folks by
giving them jobs to do that they got paid for. My sister, Sarah Lou Noah (later
Planer worked for him in this office). George served at this post for two terms
as he was unopposed for the second.
George was in this post while he was attending Mississippi State
University. He politicked
during the day and took night classes at Mississippi
State in Starkville, Mississippi.
In 1960 George was selected as the Director of the Department of Human
Services, and years later he became the Regional Director of the Department of
Human Services.
In 1999 George retired from the Department of Human Services, and
was encouraged by Vaiden citizens to run for mayor of Vaiden. In 2009 George is
serving his second term as the mayor of Vaiden. He will retire after his term
is up in July. After retirement George told me, Carolyn Graetz, the interviewer
that he was going to rest.
George Turbeville, Mayor of Vaiden, Mississippi
George and his wife Miriam Alexander Turbeville
have been married 41 years. They have three children Lori, Kim and Melissa.
George and Miriam have three grandchildren.
*************
James Cox
Interview by Carolyn Noah
Graetz on January 24, 2008 in James Cox’s home in Vaiden, Carroll County, Mississippi
Q. Year of Graduation from Vaiden High School
A. 1943
Q. Your full name
A. James A Cox
Q. Date of birth
A. August 23, 1925
Q. Where you were born?
A. Holmes County, Mississippi out in country from West, Mississippi
Q. Your parents’ name
A. Father-William Winfred Cox; Mother-Bessie Manuel
Cox
Q. When did your ancestors
first arrive in Carroll
County?
A. James is not sure when his
ancestors arrived in Carroll County, Mississippi nor did he know where they had come from to Carroll County. He did share what he
knew. Great- grandmother Leumanda was born
September 24, 1827- died September 27, 1894. She was a full blooded Choctaw
Indian. She was married to Samuel W Cox who was born in 1823, and it is
likely he was born in Carroll
County.
Samuel W died April 21, 1896. He was shot on a Saturday night near Black
Hawk, Mississippi.
He died from the effects of these wounds on Tuesday morning at three
o’clock. Samuel W Cox and his wife Leumanda are
buried in the Old Salem Cemetery
in Carroll County, Mississippi.
Q. Tell about your school experience
A. Started school in West, Mississippi and attended
there for two years. His family moved to Emory, Mississippi,
and he went to school there four years. From Emory his family moved to
the Old Salem Community in Carroll
County. While they
lived there he began school in the seventh grade at Blackmonton
School in Carroll County, Mississippi
but his family moved back to Emory and he graduated from the Emory grade there.
He began ninth grade at Vaiden High
School September 1939. He rode to school in
a pick-up truck with a homemade wooden body driven by Marion McClellan “Sonny”
Jones. Frank Hawkins was the school principal. His class’s
graduation ceremony in 1943 was held in the new Vaiden High School
building auditorium that was built with the help of the WPA. But he and his
classmates attended their classes in the old school building However,
they had observed the building of the new Vaiden High School
from ground up.
After high school graduation
what did you do? After graduating from high school in April 1943, James
volunteered for the Marine Corps in August 1943. He received an honorable
discharge from the Marines in April 1946. After serving in the
Marine Corps, he worked for Bell Telephone as a lineman three to four years.
Following this job with Bell
Telephone he worked in sales until 1960. In 1960 be began work on
riverboats ending his career as a river boat Pilot. As a river boat
pilot, he went up and down many rivers including the Mississippi
and the Ohio Rivers.
James married Anne Gambal in
Greenville
1948, and they had five children
1. Julie Anne
2. Abigail
3. Amy Sue
4. Lisa Renee
5. Matthew Gambal
Divorced in 1960 and married Geneva Marie “Jenny” Rapp
in 1962.
In this interview on January 24, 2008 James and his
wife “Jenny” live in Vaiden, Carroll
County, Mississippi.
James Cox in his home in Vaiden, Mississippi
January 24, 2008
“Jenny” Cox, wife of James Cox
in their home January 24, 2008
*************
Billy Layne Noah
Interviewed by Carolyn Noah Graetz, sister of Billy Layne
Noah on February 26, 2008 in his home in Columbus, Mississippi.
Vaiden High School graduate 1962
Q. Your full name
A. Billy Layne Noah
Q. Your nickname
A. “Judge” by his father
Q. Date of birth
A. September 18, 1944
Q. Where you were born?
A. Carroll County, Mississippi - home mailing address was Coila, Mississippi. He was
home-delivered by Dr. Arrington
Q. Your parents’ name
A. Father: Robert Randall Noah; Mother: Susie Evelyn “Dollie” Mann Noah
Q. When did your ancestors first arrive in Carroll County?
A. The first ancestors of Billy’s were the Johnson’s -
through his great grandmother Annie Johnson Randall, who was born in Carroll County.
The Johnsons came to Carroll County, Mississippi from Warren County.
Billy’s great-great grandfather, Samuel Johnson paid taxes in Carroll County
in 1835. His grandfather, Thomas Anderson Noah, was the only grandparent
of Billy’s who was not born in Carroll
County. “Tom” Noah
as he was known was born in Alabama and arrived in Carroll County, Mississippi
at the age of nine with his father Robert Dugan Noah and other members of his
family. “Tom” lived the rest of his life in Carroll County and is buried with
his wife Willie Mae Randall Noah in the Old Salem Cemetery in Carroll
County.
Q. After high school graduation what did you do?
A. After the 1962 graduation,
Billy began work for Bob Lancaster on the highway putting down sod and highway
fencing. He was working in Oxford, Mississippi when James Meredith integrated the University of Mississippi “Ole Miss.” He was 18 years
old. In January 1963, he began working MacGregor Shirt Factory in Winona, Mississippi
and worked there for two years. It was rumored that Billy was the first
name on the draft from the draft board. Feeling he had to get it over
with he went with a high school classmate, Jerry Summerhill,
to Greenwood to the Air Force Recruiting Office where he enlisted. He
took his test for the Air Force in the back seat of Jerry’s car. This happened
in January 1965. From Vaiden Billy went to Jackson,
Mississippi and flew to San Antonio, Texas
to Lackland Air Force Base. From here he went
to Admin Tech
School in Amarillo, Texas.
He stayed there three or four months.
In mid 1965, he was sent to
Vandenberg Air Force Base, North of Santa Barbara, California. He
worked as a clerk there for about 14 months.
After 14 months, he was sent to Boling Air Force in
Washington D. C where he was in training to become an Honor Guard.
He could not become an Honor Guard because of deficient hearing.
In November 1966, he received orders to go Than
Chanute Air Force Base, Saigon,
Vietnam. Billy
and I, Carolyn Sue Noah Graetz, his sister drove to California together. He stayed
in Vietnam
for 359 days. He was in the Administration Department as a
clerk typist. He was discharged at Keesler Air Force in October, 1968.
Billy Layne Noah in his U.S. Air Force uniform
After serving in the Air
Force, he attended Holmes Junior College in Goodman, Mississippi
for three years. From there he went to the University of Southern
Mississippi.
Since 1994, Billy has been employed for Sysco, Inc. in
Columbus, Mississippi
and he lives there with his wife Pat.
*************
Helen Claire
McEachern Elliott
Interview by Carolyn Sue Noah Graetz on February 22, 2008 at the Circuit
Clerk’s office at the Vaiden, Mississippi Courthouse.
Year of Vaiden High School graduation- 1949
Your full name- Helen Claire McEachern Elliott
Date of birth –June 25, 1931
Where were you born? _ Hopewell Community of Carroll County, Mississippi. She
was home-delivered by Dr. J.P. Stephens, who was the medical doctor in the Town
of Vaiden.
Your parents’ name – Father- Robert Coleman McEachern
Mother-Mattie Irene Hatcher McEachern
When did your ancestors first arrive in Carroll County? –Helen Claire’s ancestors were
in Carroll County early eighteen
thirties.
Where were they from? –Daniel and Mary McDougal McEachern,
great-grandparents of Helen Claire McEachern Elliott
came to Carroll County, Mississippi from Port Gibson. They were associated with
the Union Presbyterian Church, and Mary McDougal McEachern
helped establish seven Presbyterian Churches in Carroll County.
On this February 22, 2008, Helen Claire McEachern
Elliott is a member of the Shongalo Presbyterian Church, one of the churches
that her great-grand mother helped to establish.
After high school graduation what did you do? Helen Claire went to the Holmes Junior
College and graduated from there after two
years. After that two years Helen Claire went to University of Mississippi
“Ole Miss” where she received a degree in Business Education. She
was working on her master’s degree at the University
of Mississippi when she was recruited
to teach at the J. Z. George High School in Carrollton,
Mississippi in January 1953.
On June 25, 1954 she married
Fisher Elliott from Black Hawk, Carroll County, Mississippi at the Shongalo Presbyterian Church in Vaiden, Mississippi.
She was given in marriage by her first cousin, W. G. McEachern.
After marriage she moved with her husband to Black Hawk.
In July 1954 she began work in the Carroll County
Superintendent of Education as secretary, worked there for five and one-half
years.
From 1960 to 1980 she worked as the Deputy Clerk for
the Chancery and Circuit Clerks of Carroll County at the Carrollton, Mississippi
courthouse.
After this retirement she was
recruited for various jobs including working as a librarian at the Vaiden High School,
a teacher at Carroll Academy for one year and working at Welfare Office
both in Carrollton.
Later she worked in the Winona Elementary and Winona High Schools
in Winona, Mississippi. She finally retired in
the 1985.
Figure 1 Helen Claire McEachern
Elliott In the Vaiden Library May 20, 2009
An accomplished volunteer, she
volunteers at the Shongalo Presbyterian Church in Vaiden. She is a member
of the Triple L Senior Citizens at the First Baptist
Church in Winona, a
member of the Senior Citizens Group of the Vaiden Baptist church.
Helen Claire is the secretary
for the Hopewell Cemetery
in Carroll County, is a member of the Brownline Homemakers club, Friends of the Vaiden Library
and serves on the Vaiden Historical Preservation Commission.
In 2001 she received the Homemaker
of the Year Award and Outstanding Education Chairman Award from the Carroll
County, Mississippi Homemakers Club.
Helen Claire’s husband,
Fisher Elliott, died young at the age of 42 in 1961. After his death she moved to Vaiden where her
mother was living on Lee Street
and that is where she lives today on February 22, 2008.
*************
James Robert
Devine
Interview on May 23, 2008 by Carolyn Sue Noah Graetz at the Vaiden City
Hall
Year of
Graduation from Vaiden
High School: 1953
Your full
name: James Robert Devine
Your nickname:
”Sleepy”
Date of birth:
February 03, 1935
Where you were
born? Home delivered at his parents home in the
Midway Community of Carroll County, Mississippi
Your parents’
names: James Kimble and Eva Irene Baskin Devine
When did your ancestors first arrive in Carroll County?
James Robert’s paternal great-grandfather, John Gilbert Devine was born on May
29, 1840 in Leake
County, Mississippi.
His wife, Epsie Seals was born either in Mississippi or Georgia. All of John Gilbert
Devine’s and his wife Epsie’s children were born in
the Midway Community of Carroll County, Mississippi. John Gilbert and Epsie Devine had eight children all of them boys.
Their second child was James Andrew Devine was born on November 20, 1863 in the
Midway Community of Carroll County, Mississippi. His wife was Susan Elizabeth
Garner came to Carroll
County in the early
1870’s. They had 11 children and their eighth child was James Kimble
Devine who was born on July 10, 1905 in the Midway Community of Carroll County.
James Kimble Devine was married to Eva Irene Baskin on November
26, 1932 in Carroll County,
Mississippi. Eva Irene
Baskin was born on October 05, 1905 in the Midway Community of Carroll
County. Both James Kimble and Eva Irene Baskin Devine are buried in the Midway Methodist
Church Cemetery
in Carroll County, Mississippi.
James Robert’s maternal grandmother, Rebecca Jane Simpson was born
on January 22, 1862 in North Carolina.
She was 10 years old when she arrived in Carroll
County, Mississippi.
Rebecca’s father, William C Simpson who was a Confederate soldier in the 45th
Infantry Company D and was killed June 11, 1862 at Halifax, North
Carolina. Her mother Sally Boone Simpson later married John B York.
Rebecca married Robert Ren Baskin in Carroll
County, Mississippi on March
01,1882 in Carroll County, Mississippi. Roy Ren was born May 03, 1854
in Carroll County, Mississippi. Both Robert Ren and
Rebecca Simpson Devine are buried in the Midway
Methodist Church
Cemetery in Carroll County, Mississippi.
Where did you
go to school? James Robert went to the Midway Elementary from the first
grade through the third grade, to the Blackmonton Elementary for the fourth
grade and in the fifth he transferred to the Vaiden
School and graduated from the Vaiden High
School in 1953. All of these schools are in
Carroll County.
After high school graduation what did you do? James Robert
graduated from Vaiden
High School in the spring
of 1953. That fall he entered Holmes
Junior College-renamed
Holmes Community
College- and graduated
from Holmes Junior in the spring of 1955.
From James Robert, “They made me take four semesters of French, I was
resistant but I was told ‘then you will not graduate’ so I took four semesters
of French.”
In the fall of 1955, he entered Mississippi
State University
in Starkville, Mississippi. He dropped out in 1958 prior to
graduating to join the Mississippi National Guard. This decision was made
because he knew he would be drafted otherwise. He was active duty
National Guard for six months.
After those six months he went to work in Jackson, Mississippi
selling ladies shoes at Bakers. He was at Bakers for 10 months, was promoted to
Assistant Manager and sent to Memphis,
Tennessee. Four months
later he was transferred Little Rock.
He stayed in Little Rock
18 months and they didn’t have a National Guard Unit there that he desired to
belong so he was reactivated into the US Army Reserves.
He was sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina and worked as a medical person in the
hospital at Fort Jackson for one year. In 1963, he was
released. The summer of 1963 he enrolled at Mississippi
State University
at Starkville, Mississippi. Classes had already
started. He found out they were not offering the course he needed to
graduate so he was allowed to take an advanced physics course. Didn’t pass
this.
He left Mississippi State and went to Jackson
and again worked for Baker’s in Jackson
the same place he had worked in 1958. He worked there for about a year.
While he was at Baker’s he enrolled at the Mississippi
College in Clinton, Mississippi.
Mississippi College
transferred the credits to Mississippi
State, and in 1964 he received his
degree in General Science from Mississippi
State University.
James Robert
gave a job for job work history:
In late 1963
he was employed by First Texas Pharmaceuticals and he stayed with them almost
two years.
In 1965 he
moved to Aberdeen, Mississippi and had a job with American
Potash. He was there for three years.
In 1968 he
moved to Ripley, Mississippi and took a job with Ripley Shoe
Products. He worked there five years.
In 1973 he moved to Winona,
Mississippi where he worked for
J. A. Olsen Picture Frame and stayed there for five years. After this
five years he worked for Kimco Auto Products where he
stayed for six years. Company closed. He then went to work for Winona
Packing Company and worked there until 1989. Business was slow so he went
to work Multi-Automotive and stayed there for two years. Following this
he went back to Winona Packing and worked there until May 1997. From there he
retired and moved back to Carroll
County.
James Robert
Devine and Sammie Lee Crane were married in September 22, 1961 at the Grace United
Methodist Church
in Jackson, Mississippi. James Robert and Sammie
have two children, Michael Stanley and Robin Denise Devine.
Michael Stanley is married and lives on Highway 430 just outside
of Vaiden. He owns Pharmnet which is located in Winona. Robin is
married and lives in Nashville.
James Robert
and Sammie Crane Devine live next door to their son on Highway 430 just outside
Vaiden, Mississippi
in Carroll County.
Figure 1 Sammie and James Robert Devine photo on
May 23, 2008
*************
Clarence
Albert Pierce, Jr.
Clarence Pierce- Interviewed by Carolyn Noah Graetz on December
13, 2007
Your full name: Clarence Albert Pierce, Jr.
Your nickname: “Cap.” This nickname was never used in Vaiden only
when you he started college at Holmes Junior College in Goodman, Mississippi
the folks there picked up on the initial of CAP for Clarence Albert Pierce
Date of birth- October 1, 1928
Where you were born? Bee Lake in Holmes County, Mississippi at home.
Year of Graduation from Vaiden High School: 1946
Your parents’ names: Father-Clarence Albert Pierce, Sr.
Mother-Alice Vaiden Herring Pierce
When did your ancestors first arrive in Carroll County? Father was born in Ebenezer
area of Holmes County, Mississippi. This branch of the Pierce’s
came down the Ohio
River
to Cairo, Illinois and then down the Mississippi River to Natchez, Mississippi. Clarence’s parents moved
into the home of his mother’s parents in Vaiden when he was seven years old.
Where were the Herrings from? The Herrings came to Mississippi from North Carolina.
The Town of Vaiden is named for Dr. Cowles Mead
Vaiden who was married to Elizabeth Whitfield Herring (Vaiden). Dr. Vaiden and
his wife did not have any children.
Dr. Vaiden’s sister married
Lewis Whitfield Herring. Elizabeth Herring married Dr. Vaiden. The
Whitfield Herring’s had three children. However, when the brother - Whitfield
Herring- of Mrs. Vaiden died, Dr. Vaiden and his wife Elizabeth Whitfield
Herring (Vaiden) either adopted (no adoption papers have been found) or became
foster parents to one of their nephews. His name was Cowles Mead Herring, but
Dr. and Mrs. Vaiden added Vaiden to his last name and this nephew became Cowles
Mead Herring Vaiden.
In this way Clarence Pierce, Jr. is
connected to the Vaidens. Clarence’s mother was Alice
Vaiden Herring (Pierce) and she was the daughter of Joseph Herring, Sr., one of
the sons of this Whitfield Herring.
Vaiden School information: Clarence began Vaiden School in the second grade in the
fall of 1935. His second grade teacher was Miss Lovie
Wright.
Mr. Curtis Pullen was the principal
when he started there in second grade, Mr. Frank Hawkins followed Mr. Pullen
but after Pearl Harbor, Mr. Hawkins went into the
service. Mr. Frank Prewitt from Weir became the principal of Vaiden School in the fall of 1943.
Who was your toughest teacher?
Mr. Rufus Smith. Mr. Smith graduated from Mississippi State and had a law degree from
Harvard, and talked over our heads.
Who was your favorite teacher? From
Clarence “By all means, Frank Hawkins.”
Clarence graduated from the Vaiden High School in 1946. After high
school graduation he enrolled in Holmes County Junior College-Goodman, Mississippi. After finishing two years at
Holmes he went to “Ole Miss” which is University of Mississippi. He received a history degree
from there in 1950. As a student at the University of Mississippi Clarence was a member of the Beta
Theta PI Fraternity.
In the fall of 1951, he was elected
to the Mississippi State House of Representatives from Carroll County, Mississippi. From the beginning he
was interested in the highway system. From 1970 to 1980, Clarence was
chairman of the Highway Finance Committee of the House of Representatives.
He was awarded a standing ovation by his legislative colleagues for his
integrity and hard work during the April 1972
Legislative Session.