Posts by MaryCarol

Sharon Theatre – list of  weekly movies

Starting with Cary Grant in “Every Girl Should be Married.”

Submitted by Donald Mitchell

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Bank Checks from the Bank of Sharon

Bank of Sharon Checks 1938 & 1940’s. Submitted by Donald Mitchell

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The Sharon Railroad Depot 1965

Submitted by Judy Johnson

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J. E. EDWARDS Mill of Sharon, TN. Submitted by Susan Simmons

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Strawberry picking time in Sharon

Many families in Weakley County grew strawberries as a crop. The Strawberries were grown here and shipped up North via the railroad.

Correction: Evie Lener ADAMS HUNT was Granddaughter of Daniel Jackson & Martha TAYLOR JACKSON.

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The Reagor Hotel, Sharon, Weakley County, Tennessee

Soon after the railroad came , Mr. and Mrs. Jim Reagor built a large two-story hotel facing the railroad.  It was a fine hotel and passengers who got off the trail in Sharon were probably greeted by a porter to take their bags and assist them across the street on the boardwalk, as seen in the picture.

 “Drummers” with samples of all sorts of merchandise called on the Sharon merchants.  They spend the night at the hotel and took orders for a great variety of goods.  One of the drummers who stayd at the Reagor Hotel was Mr. J.W. Barton, who came to Sharon in 1889 and worked for his step uncle, John Wilson.  He also worked a while for Hollis & Parish.  After he “went on the road” he sold groceries and opened up the West Tennessee & West Kentucky territory for the Roberts, Johnson & Rand Shoe Co., in 1902.  He gave an account of his experiences:  “It was a strenuoius life, and wee (drummers) traveled out territories by horse and buggies, train, and even boat.  We weren’t sure where we could eat or sleep—it was hard work.”

 Mr. Iley Reagor was born in 1874, (probably son off Mr. & Mrs. Jim Reagon, not documented) and spent his early years living “downtown” with his parents at the hotel.  He told this story of one of his first recollections.  Late one fternoon, someone brought news that Jesse James and a group of men had arrived in Sidonia with a drove of horses they were taking to Middle Tennessee to sell.  They were spending the night in the hotel at Sidonia. This created a lot of excitement and so everyone was out the next morning to see he famous outlaw ride through Sharon on his way east.  It was probably about 1880, as Jesse James was killed in 1882.

 The Reagor Hotel was sold to A. Mitchell in 1904 and then in early 1905 to John Patterson and Mr. & Mrs. C. B. Brooks. The Reagon Hotel burned in 1907 or 1910. (Some records indicate 1907 and some 1910).

 Source: Sharon:  The Last 100 Years. 
 Submitted by Judy Johnson of Sharon, Weakley Co., TN

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Weakley County Press – March 7, 1958

The Early History Of Sharon, Tenn.
By Ann L. Bailey

In 1824, a land grant was received by Wesley Rogers and John Jenkins from the United States Government.  This land was divided by regularly traveled dirt road, known as the Dresden-Trenton road.  In a short time, a portion of this land was bought by Graves Fonville.  People began to migrate to this area.  They in turn bought land from Graves Fonville and began to start a small community which included a few stores.

On Jan. 15, 1852, a post office was established approximately 2 � miles northwest of the area which is now known as Sharon.  Mr. Nelson O. Underwood was appointed as the only postmaster and served until the Dedham Post Office discontinued service on July 25, 1866?.

The first schools in the area were Galloway School, west of Mount Vernon, Hickory Grove School, about a mile west of Sharon, and Chestnut Grove School, south of Tansil Cemetery.  The Hickory Grove School was free except for two months when a  �subscription� or tuition was required.  Teachers at this school included Ben Tansil, Mr. Donoho, George Winstead and Mrs. Lou Evans, who became county superintendent.  From time to time this education of children was supplemented by �tutor� and music teachers who lived in the homes and taught the children in the neighborhood.  The land for the Hickory Grove School was given by John Jenkins.

In 1873, the Illinois Central Railroad bought a right-of-way for its tracks through the land of this settlement.  And by Aug. 22, 1873, the first train chugged through the settlement to the amazement of all 273 of its inhabitants.  Bob Russell was the town�s first depot agent.

During this year, the people decided that the settlement needed a name also.  Fonville, Sharon, and Owenville were considered; and Sharon was selected to be the title.  At this time the town�s businesses were comprised of one hotel, the Shannon House, two steam-cotton gins, two general stores, a mechanic shop, one grist and saw mill, and two churches, the Methodist and Cumberland Presbyterian.

A post office was established in Sharon on Jan. 26, 1874, and its first postmaster was Charles W. Moore.
The people remembered now as Sharon�s first settlers include Jim Fonville, Charlie Owen, Dr. Ben T. Bondurant, whose daughter, Mrs. J. W. Burton, is the major source of the information for this article, Charlie Overton, Mrs. Margaret Hunt, Charlie Moore, Ben Moore, �Squire� or Justice of the Peace, George Terry, Mrs. Mit? Winston, John Nowlin and Joe Dent.  The families Underwood, Chandler, Tansil, Jenkins, Ethridge, Tillman, and Shannon lived in the nearby communities and contributed to the development of the town.  The first homes built in the community were those belonging to Jim Fonville, Charlie Owen, and Buck Hunt.

Sharon�s first school was established in 1890 and was called Sharon Training School.  Its first teacher was Professor J. W. Douglas.  A few of the people who owned businesses then were:  the Moore Brothers, a general store; Hollis and Parrish, a general store; Dr. Ben T. Bondurant, a drug store;  Wyat Overton and his nephews, Jim and Jess Ammons, a drug store;  and Mr. Bailey, a general store.  This store was later owned and operated by his nephews, George and I. H. Terry, who came here from Virginia.  The town had four physicians which practiced in Sharon and its surrounding areas.  They were Dr. Henry Shannon, Dr. Ben T. Bondurant, Dr. Frank Hall, and Dr. Columbus P. Allen.

In 1895, John Fonville gave three acres of land to the community as a burial area.  It was named Woodlawn Cemetery and its first burial was that of George Norman on July 13, 1895. Another first occurred when Sharon received it first telephone in 1896.  Its first bank was established in 1902.

Mount Vernon Methodist Church, established in 1823 west of town; Corinth Baptist Church east of town, Sharon Methodist and a Primitive Baptist Church (where the R. A. Childress home now is) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church provided the early places of worship. �Parson� Asbury Smith, grandfather of Mrs. Fannie V. Milner, was the local Methodist preacher for many years.  Brothers Sellars and Majors were early Methodist �circuit� riders.

No matter how many important or noteworthy happenings evolve from the history of a town or community, its past, present or future happenings are no greater than the people within it.

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Web Design & Graphics by MaryCarol

Now legend has it that the town of Sharon was named after the tall growing shrub, commonly called the Rose of Sharon, which bloomed abundantly during the hot Summer months, providing welcome color in the landscaping. The double flowers look like roses.

• SHORT HISTORY of Sharon
• REAGOR HOTEL
• STRAWBERRY PICKING TIME in Weakley
• OLD CHECKS from BANK of SHARON
• WEEKLY MOVIE LIST for Sharon Theatre
• The EDWARD’S MILL of Sharon
• Sharon RAILROAD STATION 1965

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Web Design & Graphics by MaryCarol

Folksy Tales about Life on the Family Farm
By Jeannie Travis



Memories of a Farmer’s Daughter

Making Sorghum Molasses

That Bad Cyclone

Christmas Memories

Mule Day in Weakley County

Oh, Boy, it’s the Peddler Man

Washday at our House

Come Eat Breakfast with Us

Lost Crafts, Traditions

Mullein/Smoking Grapevine

Mr. Carson

Burning off the Plant Bed & Wilted Lettuce

Brown Eggs & Ma’s Pretty Purple Iris

Stove top Biscuits & “Pone”

Play Parties Back in the Day

Hoop Cheese and Crackers & Oil Cloth on the Table

I Was Ma’s Pet, for Sure

Cold Weather’s Coming

Making Sausage & Biscuit Puddin’

Remembering Ma’s Apron

Daddy Was A Handsome Blue Eyed Man

Spring is Tater ‘scrabbling Time & English Peas

A Glass Half Empty & Asthma Dogs, etc.

Before Radio or TV & Aunt Pearl’s new “Fridge”

Biscuits & Tea Cakes

Cotton Pickin’ Days

Picking Strawberries, etc.

Swinging on Grapevines & Ma’s Cistern

Lightning Bugs and Such & Country Sounds

Bones n Rocks in Granny’s Soup & Homemade Mincemeat Pie

My Hard Working Mama

“Leather Britches”, Beans & Playhouses are for Sissies

Cat Head Biscuits, etc.

Planting Customs Great Grandfather Used

Y’all Set Down for Dinner

Home Made Games & Play Pretties

Happy Easter & Taking Down the Stove

Poke Sallet

Mama Canned a LOT of Food! & Ma’s Fried Corn

Swamp Rabbits Tale

My Mama’s Chicken ‘n Dumplings

Making Fried Pies

Chicken Choker Tales

Picking & Cooking Blackberries

One Room School & We Recycled Tin Cans

Spring Water & Rabbit ‘gums, etc

Have a little time so will ramble on a bit about those springs we used to love to drink from…If the water was clear and cold it was judged safe to drink … Remember when we were that innocent ? ….One place we lived had a sorta small pond, and one summer it just about dried up ….Not only was this the main water supply for all the critters, but was used to swell up the wooden wheels on the old wagon when Daddy was planning to go to town to Mule Day/First Monday…trading day….Of course there were iron rims on the wood, but the wood had dried out over the years…Daddy would roll the wagon into the pond and by morning when he was ready to head to town the rims were nice and tight. I remember when we traded if off for a better one, so maybe all this was just prior to the trade….

Back to the spring ! …Daddy wasn’t about to dig another pond as we were sharecropping and getting ready to move up to a better place….He was always very resourceful, so looked the area over and found a little runoff down at the bottom of Red Hill….It wasn’t in the best place in the world…being on the shady bank beside the road, but Dad dug out a
nice round hole there….guessing about 4 or 5 feet across….Seems like the bottom was white sand..The water ran crystal clear and cold, filling up the little pool and overflowing into the side ditch. There was an old tin can hanging nearby in case anyone got thirsty as they passed…

The tops of the trees met over the little dirt road, so it was a nice shady walk from our big log house with the dog trot hall to Ma’s….I can’t remember seeing any critter tracks around that spring, but I bet they appreciated the dependable supply of drinking water …Probably thought Dad was a nice feller to fix it for them, huh ? When he was working in the fields around the Big Ditch he probably watered them at what we called the Swimming hole.  Got some mighty fond memories of that place, too! but I can remember seeing him lead the horses down the road to get a drink at the spring after working them all day. He may have taken them by there more than once a day, but after 60 years my memory is a mite dim on that part…..go figure !  Jeannie T…Wishing I could belly down on the ferny moss by that little spring for a drink of that fine cold water !

Rabbit ‘gums, etc

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This is a Rabbit Gum

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As I recall Rabbit gums …and I have no idea where that name came from…were made of scrap lumber about 8 to 10 inches wide…They were slightly taller than wide….About 2 feet long or so. It was set up with bait inside and there was a trigger deal that the rabbit tripped when going inside to get the corn , cabbage leaf or whatever and a trap door
slid down behind a little bar. You would set it up along a fence row or somewhere that had a trail beaten down in the grass….When you ‘ran’ your lines you could see if the trap had caught anything because the door would be down….Sometimes the critter was lucky and got away and sometimes you caught a skunk, squirrel or pussy cat. Anything you caught would be mad at you, as you can imagine…..

I remember one morning when we were walking to school…4 and a half miles or so…and we saw a rabbit setting under the roots of a tree on the side of the road….Rain had washed the dirt away and made a little cave deal….Sometimes they will just freeze in place, hoping you won’t see them…Well, we surrounded that bugger and caught him, then hated to turn him loose. When nobody else would do it I volunteered to tote him back home, about a mile into our trip…I guess Mama saw me coming because she came out on the porch…I handed her the rabbit, turned around and walked to school by myself….I was 8 or 9 years old and very scrawny…..I don’t remember her saying anything….just looked at me strangely….That unlucky rabbit tasted mighty good that night…fried up a golden brown……We toted a possum home from school one day….it’s tail curled around a stick the whole way…..Two of us at a time took turns, and when he decided to stop sulling up we would tap him with a little stick and he would play dead again….We thought this was hilarious….Yep, kids today are a mite different

One room School
Your school had TWO rooms ? Wow ! We only had the one room…Teachers desk was up on a stage across the front of the room….and the blackboards were behind her….When she called out ‘4th grade Reading ‘ or some such  you got your book and went up and sat on a long bench at the front….My favorite things after reading were recess and lunch….We choked our food down as fast as we could in order to go play games like Red Rover, Annie Over, hide and seek, tag, baseball….London Bridge, etc, etc….Lets see…walked 4 or 5 miles to school…rested up till recess, ran and played the entire time….rest till lunch…Eat our lunch VERY quickly ,run and play the rest of the time…Take a much needed rest till second recess…rest till time to play our way home…usually involving some running and chasing…then get home and do chores ….Pick cotton till dark  when it was ready, Fall upon the delicious food Mom had prepared like a horde of starving refugees…As I’ve said before, nobody complained about the food….we were HUNGRY ! Mom was a wonderful cook…by the way…Do our homework….Go to sleep and get ready to face it all again the next day….How different from today’s children….They don’t have Home Ec at some schools anymore,and most don’t have physical education….Machines to get soda and candy  in the halls….No wonder we’re churning out little overweight children with multiple health problems!  
 
PS: We hardly ever had light bread sandwiches…just biscuits with a slice of home cured bacon, or maybe candied sweet potatoes, corn on the cob in season, boiled eggs…cookies, or whatever Mom could find to put in the lunches…She had to fix several lunches, so got to where she would wrap them in newspaper, and tie them with string from a big tall spool of khaki colored string she got somewhere…She didn’t fix as good  lunches as Ma….But then she had several to fix for….We started going to town school when I was in the 7th grade…

We Recycled Tin Cans
One way to walk on tin cans is to punch a hole near the bottoms on both sides of 2 cans and run a piece of baling wire through the holes, leaving a length on each side…Turn the cans up so you are able to stand on the bottoms, tie the wires at the top for a handhold ,hold the wires and walk…Kinda like stilts…Makes a grand clanking noise…Another way is to stomp a tin can so it clamps on to the heel of your shoe….A nephew told me they used to clamp a can on each side of the foot AND the heel….Boy, they must have been rich to have that many tin cans!

We rarely saw one when I was growing up…I can remember finding one that had washed down the Big Ditch and taking it home to make curlers out of…You never heard of that?  Well, you get your Dad’s mule shears…which are coarse looking scissors used to trim the mules mane…and cut the rims off so you have a cylinder…Cut the can into strips about 1/4 to 1/3 inches wide and as long as the can is tall. Wrap a piece of rag around it, then wind strands of your wet hair on it and crimp the ends over to hold it..You could also save the metal strip that was unwound to open a can of coffee. Makes for some rather weird dreams if you try to sleep in them…and I HAVE done that. Next morning take all your ‘curlers’ out and comb your hair into a gloriously frizzy ‘Do’….For someone born with dead straight hair it was highly desired….Luckily I got a permanent one time and now I have enough curl in my hair to wear it in the short hairdo I prefer…..I have read about girls rolling their hair on rags….

When I buy a fried pie at a fair I always reach for the ones made with dry peaches….and that’s what I usually make. I’ve learned from experience that you have to watch dry peaches close as you simmer them, as they are bad to burn after they are cooked down pretty good. The pkg’s you buy now don’t hold a pound, I don’t think…Gotta watch those old recipes and todays chintzy weights. I just simmer dry apples or peaches till done in some water added to barely cover them, sweeten to taste. Start with a half cup to a modern pkg. of peaches…Apples might need less. I also add some butter to the fruit along with the sugar.. Use a stainless steel or enamel pan . Almost ALL of the water should be cooked away…Mash them up with the potato masher….

Hubby says only cream cheese fried pies should be made – Cream cheese and
powdered sugar to taste like Cheese Danish –  but agrees that the dried apple ones are OK if fixed right…In his case I think this must mean cooked, because he eats a hefty share of any type I cook . Son says I should make only Sugar pies , but I notice he can also force down any kind ……As for my favorite, bring ’em on! I love them every one and can sure eat my share, washed down with a glass of sweet milk so cold it has shards of ice in it….I don’t hardly ever make them because I have no willpower to resist them…

The cooking method is up to the cook…I like to use a little butter shortening…just enough to fry them. On the sugar pies, I cook them reeeaaalll slow, so the butter and sugar caramelize the crust….I have also put them on a cookie sheet sprayed with butter Pam and then sprayed the pies and baked them…Good enough if you don’t know any better. Hubby’s sister in law uses canned biscuits.. I wouldn’t. Tried it twice..thought maybe expensive biscuits would be better…They are…better than nothing, but White Lily self rising flour makes for easy dough, and tons better pies.. My sweet Mountain born Mother in law just about deep fried her pies, in lard, probably….and they were SO good ! A friend uses those refrigerated pie crusts cut to size..

Sugar pie directions ? Just roll out ‘rich’ biscuit dough…this only means you use more shortening than if making regular biscuits…A bit of sugar is good, also…Roll it pretty thin…On one half spread butter pretty thick, sprinkle on a thick layer of sugar. Experiment with little sample ones that first time. Turn the ‘flap’ over and crimp it
around the edge, using a fork dipped in flour. Put it in the skillet with a skim of hot shortening, turn down on med. low. Make another pie. Turn the first pie over if it is brown, and put the second pie in. When No 1 is browned, take it out to cool on a rack, then you can turn No 2 over in the empty space. I figured that one out for myself. *grin* Do up pie number three real fast  Race over to the fridge and pour yourself a glass of sweet milk. Eat pie number 1…Purely research ..Gotta make sure it is done right, right ?

Ma used to make fried pies for me to take in my lunch to the little one room school I started out in…Sugar pies were my favorites , so she mostly made those…Mama knew there was absolutely no food value in them , so usually made Apple or Peach…I was the envy of the other kids with my fine lunches when I was staying with Ma. They mostly just had store bought light bread sandwiches and stuff….If roasting ears was in she put in one of those…and a big old boiled egg with a little twist of salt…She rolled big slabs of country ham in flour and fried it for our breakfast, with an extra slice to put on one of her big biscuits for my lunch…And she saved back enough biscuit dough for a pie or two…Her biscuits were bigger than anyones I ever saw, and Mama said it was because she was too lazy to cut regular sized ones…They didn’t get along…can you tell? On some days after school there would be a plate piled high with fried pies sitting on the oil cloth covered table….Two pies were big enough to cover the old crackled up biscuit plate, and we each got a pie of our own…She fried the 10 pies in her 2 big old iron skillets earlier, so she could use one of them to bake the pone of cornbread …Those skillets baked mighty good cakes, too..