Final part of the series on Southern Expressions that will take the rag off the bush

The series Southern Expressions that will take the rag off the bush is finished with the publication of part 22 at this link
http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/part-22-southern-expressions-that-will.html

See the left sidebar for links to all of the parts of this series.

Help needed with name of old road in SW Monroe County

For the past two years I've been trying to get usable photos of an old roadbed with a canopy of trees that is located on either side of Alt 45 near the Clay-Monroe County line. Two photos of that road are posted at http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/old-road-in-southwestern-monroe-county.html

If you can help with the name/history of that old road, I'd enjoy hearing from you.

From Louisiana: More Hill Country Hootie Hoo

Posts about two of the side trips we've made while in New Orleans are at these links:

http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/following-mississippi-river-south-of.html

http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/hill-country-hootie-hoo-from-louisiana.html

A drive along the Mississippi River

Yesterday I drove south of New Orleans on the river road. Following the west bank road, LA Highway 23 to its end, we turned around went back north to the ferry at Pointe a la Hache. There we crossed the Mississippi River by ferry and took Highway 15 and then Highway 39 north along the east bank.

Along the way we saw citrus groves (tons of satsuma ripe on the trees), sad evidence of the almost complete destruction of some areas during Katrina, reassuring evidence that rebuilding is taking place, and we visited two important historical sites in American history, Fort Jackson and the National Battlefield Park at Chalmette (Battle of New Orleans).

For an account of this river road drive, click here to read http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/following-mississippi-river-south-of.html

Part 21 of the series Southern expressions that will take the rag off the bush is posted at http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/part-21-southern-expressions-that-will.html

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

A Poem for Hill Country

The Sunday series, A Poem for Hill Country, resumes today with Longfellow's Christmas Bells. Here is the link to the article written for an Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories in 2007 (click to read) http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/poem-for-hill-country-christmas-bells.html

A Hill Country Hootie Hoo colum resumes: HAPPY TIME

After several weeks of no "hootie hoo" from Hill Country, the column resumes today with a notice about "happiness." Take a look at the article (click to read) --- and follow the links to see how your state ranks in happiness.

More Southern Words and Expressions

Part 20 of Southern Expressions that will take the rag off the bush is posted at http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/part-20-southern-expressions-that-will.html

Links to the earlier posts in this series can be found in the left sidebar.

A historic dish made simple: Baked Chicken Pudding

A traditional American dish often served in the Old South was the labor-intensive Chicken Pudding. Cooked slowly in the oven of a wood-burning stove (or earlier in the hearth), this dish makes its own "crust" which browns like a Yorkshire Pudding. But more than looks, this dish is delicious, hearty, filling, and with the new recipe so easy to prepare and serve.

Here is the link to two recipes for making Chicken Pudding the old-fashioned way and one recipe for making Thideosia's Baked Chicken Pudding the new easy way:
http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/thideosias-baked-chicken-pudding.html

My Sweetie prepared Chicken Pudding today --- it was our first time to eat this traditional dish --- and it was delicious!

More Southern Words and Expression

Part 19 of the series "Southern expressions that will 'take the rag off the bush'" is posted at link
http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/part-19-southern-expressions-that-will.html

For the earlier posts in this series, look to the left side-bar for links.

My dearest and oldest friend, Forrest Underwood, a native Mississippian, now lives in Pahrump, Nevada. He has been reading this series and sends this hill country "put-down/insult for small brained individuals" from his childhood memories from Baldwyn, Lee County, Mississippi: "A childhood friend used to say, 'I could put your brain in an ant's backend, and it would rattle like a peanut in a wash tub.'"

Now that is a small brain indeed!

Book review: A PLACE CALLED HOME

Bob Franks' A PLACE CALLED HOME: Itawamba County Mississippi is reviewed at http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/place-called-home-itawamba-county.html

I'm giving a copy of A Place Called Home as a Christmas present this year --- and highly recommend you take a look at Franks' excellent coffee-table photo-book. A link is provided in the review to the Blurb Bookstore from which the book may be previewed and ordered.

Terry Thornton
Fulton, Mississippi

More Southern words and expressions

Part 18 of Southern expressions that will take the rag off the bush is posted at the following link: http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/part-18-southern-expressions-that-take.html

More Southern Expressions that "take the rag off the bush"

The continuing series Southern Expressions that "take the rag off the bush" from the Hill Country column at Monroe Journal includes the following two parts. Click on each URL to read.

Part 17, published in MOJO on 11-25,09 http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/part-17-southern-expressions-that-will.html

Part 16, published in MOJO on 11-18-09 http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/part-16-southern-expressions-that-will.html

For links to the other columns in this series, look to the left side bar of this page.

Chaistain Cemetery, Itawamba County, MS

An alphabetized list of names from the grave markers at Chaistain Cemetery, Itawamba County, Mississippi is available at http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/chastain-cemetery-alphabetical-list-of.html

Included with the names are years of birth and death and links to the photographs of the grave markers.

Maxey Cemetery, Itawamba County MS

An alphabetized list of names from the grave markers at Maxey Cemetery, Itawamba County, Mississippi is available at http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/maxey-cemetery-alphabetized-list-of.html

Included with the names are years of birth and death and links to the photographs of the grave markers.

James Wyatt Spencer, Grave marker dedication service

A photographic essay of the Grave Marking and Dedication Service for James Wyatt Spencer, 1840-1923, CSA, is posted at the following link: Click to read; click individual photographs for a larger image.
http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/grave-marking-and-dedication-service-of.html

More expressions that will take the rag off the bush

Part 15 of the continuing series, Southern expression that will 'take the rag off the bush' is posted at the following link: http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/part-15-southern-expressions-that-will.html Click link to learn about using the circa 1300 A.D. words, hisn, hern, and ourn --- words still heard in the Hill Country reflecting our long and lively heritage to 'Merrie Ole England.' Help keep these words in use by dropping them into a conversation with your friends soon!

Southern expressions that 'will take the rag off the bush' continues

Part 14 of the continuing series, Southern Expressions That Will Take The Rag Off The Bush, is my Hill Country column from 11-4-09, Monroe Journal. It can be read by clicking the link below.

Part 14, Southern expressions that 'will take the rag off the bush'

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A Poem for Hill Country: Richard Cory by Edwin A. Robinson

The weekend series, A Poem for Hill Country, continues with a memorable poem, Richard Cory, written by American poet Edwin Arlington Robinson. To read Richard Cory, click the link below.

Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Stories from the Hill Country continue to be posted

Hill Country CD Christmas ordering information

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Hill Country stories continue to be written and links to all the new articles are at Hill Country H.O.G.S. WebPress (History, Observations, Genealogy, and Stories of the Hill Country of Monroe County Mississippi), click to access.

Earlier stories of the Hill Country are available for purchase on a CD. Nine-hundred forty-seven (947) older articles from Hill Country are included on the CD, Hill Country of Monroe County Mississippi Volume 1. Click here to order. Click here to view the table of contents of Hill County Volume 1 CD.

For other CDs available, see information at left side-bar of this page (click to view).

Christmas orders should be received by December 1 to assure delivery by December 24.

The Ridings Family: Murdered at Bigby Fork, 1880

Additional information about the December 1880 murders of three members of the H.B. Ridings family has been posted at the article The Ridings Family Murders, 1880, Monroe County, Mississippi (click to read).

More southern words and expressions

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Three of my recent Hill Country columns from the Monroe Journal are now posted on-line. Click the links below to read the columns from the past three Wednesdays at MOJO's Hill County series, Southern Expressions That Will Take The Rag Off the Bush:

Part 11 published 10-14-09

Part 12 published 10-21-09

Part 13 published 10-28-09

Previous columns are linked in the left sidebar. The twenty-two part series will continue through the end of the year.

The Monroe Journal is the weekly newspaper of Monroe County, Mississippi, with offices in Amory.

Hill Country Places

The series, Hill Country Places, resumes with a brief discussion of several west-of-the river sites of Monroe County. The article, Rubby's Hog Craul, The Peck Mill, Eureka, Bigby Fork, and Nettleton may be read by clicking here.

Mississippi Hill Country Heritage Day: SUNDAY

to

Mississippi Hill Country Heritage Day

A benefit for the preservation of The Cedars

(Cates-Gaither House)

Sunday, October 18, 2009, 2 - 5 PM

211 Main Street

Fulton, Mississippi

An affiliate of Create Foundation and the first preservation project of

Preserving Itawamba County's Heritage

Tour the house and grounds.

Music: Appalachian dulcimers, reed organ, bluegrass banjo and fiddle and guitar, vocalist/composer Eddie Moore, music legend Kay Bain, and the Stricklands

Food: Chicken and dumplings, greens, corn-on-the cob, soup, cornbread, bread pudding, sweet tea and lemonade

Activities: Whittling, churning butter, washing clothes, shucking and shelling corn, spinning yarn, tatting, spool knitting, crocheting, basket making, leather working

Games: pitching washers and horseshoes, sack races, domino and checkers, shooting marbles

Antique cars: Scheduled: Early Ford and a 1933 Cadillac Fleetwood.

. . . and more!

Tickets may be purchased at the front entrance of The Cedars

Adults: $15

Students: $ 10

Under five years of age: free

All tax-deductive donations are appreciated and welcomed to help preserved The Cedars (Cates-Gaither House), Fulton's second oldest surviving residence. Make your checks payable to

Create-Gaither House Project Fund

Help save part of Fulton's heritage --- join Preserving Itawamba County's Heritage, a community-action group pledged to the preservation, relocation, and renovation of The Cedars.

Photo-advertisement courtesy of Bob Franks, ICDC, Fulton, MS.

Nobel Peace Prize and When Pigs Fly: A Hill Country Hootie Hoo

The Saturday series, A Hill Country Hootie Hoo, today offers up an opinion about the Nobel Peace Prize and When Pigs Fly. Click the following link to read:

A Hill Country Hootie Hoo:

The Nobel Peace Prize and When Pigs Fly

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A Hill Country Family: Ben and Dovie Greenwood, George, Tom and Kate of Nettleton, 1944

The series, A Hill Country Family, examines a special bill considered in the U.S. House of Representative and the U.S. Senate for the benefit of the Greenwood family of Nettleton, Mississippi. Much of the information within the bill and its attachments of affidavits reads like a time capsule for life in the Hill Country during the 1940s. The tragic accident involving Ben and Dovie Greenwood, George, Tom, and Kate on the evening of March 16, 1944, just outside of Nettleton makes for an interesting lesson about our history and heritage. To read, click the following link:

A Hill Country Family:

Ben and Dovie Greenwood,

George, Tom, and Kate of Nettleton, 1944

~~~
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Hill Country Column from MONROE JOURNAL

The series, Southern expressions that will take the rag off the bush, continues at the Hill Country column at Monroe Journal. Click below to read the Part 10 of the series.

Southern Expressions that will take the rag off the bush:

Part 10.

Words and Phrases From the Hill Country

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A Hill Country Place: Walls Tan Yard Post Office

The series, Hill Country Places, present information to help locate the position of Walls Tan Yard Post Office, Monroe County, Mississippi. A postal route map from 1839 states that Walls Tan Yard Post Office is 12 miles east of Cotton Gin Port Post Office and 7 miles north of Quincy Post Office.

Twelve miles east of Cotton Gin Port and seven miles north of Old Quincy would place Walls Tan Yard post office in the heart of Hill Country.

But where is that spot? To view the maps and read the brief discussion, click the following link:

A Hill Country Place:

Walls Tan Yard Post Office

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A Hill Country Story Told in Stone: Daniel Wayne Bird

The series, A Hill Country Story Told in Stone, today looks at the grave marker at Sartor Cemetery and provides information about Daniel Wayne Bird. A descendant of one of the first family's of Hill Country, Dan Bird was the first Monroe County serviceman killed in World War 1. His story is told at the following link:

A Hill Country Story Told in Stone:

DANIEL WAYNE BIRD

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My Hill Country Assurances from working --- some jobs I've done

The weekly series, My Hill Country Assurances, takes a look at work and at some of the jobs I had during my most formative years. To read click the links below:

My Hill Country Assurances

From Working --- Jobs I've Done

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Left click image for a larger view

A Poem for Hill Country: Another poem by Sam Walter Foss

The continuing series, A Poem for Hill Country, today features another work by American poet Sam Walter Foss. Click the link below to read

A Poem for Hill Country

The Man Who Brings Up The Rear End

by Sam Walter Foss

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A Hill Country Hootie Hoo

Today A Hill Country Hootie Hoo announces that I, yes me, Terry Thornton, will be performing a short program of music on the almost 125 year-old portable folding Stockton Reed Organ on Sunday afternoon, October 18, 2009. The event is Mississippi Hill Country Heritage Day and all proceeds benefit the preservation efforts to relocate and to restore The Cedars, Fulton's second oldest surviving residence. And Hootie Hoo today republishes an article with photographs of the Stockton Reed Organ.

Where: 211 Main Street, Fulton, Mississippi

Event: Mississippi Hill Country Heritage Day

Sunday, October 18, 2009, 2 - 5 PM. Activities include tours and information of the house, displays, games, tasting of period foods, music and more

Event ticket prices: $15 for adults; $10 for students; and little kids free

Now, to read the article about the Stockton Portable Reed Organ from Monroe County, click the following link:

A Hill Country Hootie Hoo:

Me, Performing on the Portable Stockton Reed Organ

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A Hill Country Family: Hollingsworths in Monroe County

The series, A Hill Country Family, continues with a look at my Hollingsworth family of early Monroe Country. This article may be read by clicking the following link:

A Hill Country Family:
My Hollingsworth Family from Monroe County Mississippi

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More southern words and expression

Part 9 of the series, Southern expressions that will take the rag off the bush, has been posted. Read read click this link:

Southern Words and Expression
Part 9.
Saying that will take the rag off the bush . . .

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Hill Country Place: Ironwood Bluff Bridge --- Video

The continuing series, Hill Country Places, features a "Through the Windshield Video" of the historic Ironwood Bluff Bridge across the Tombigbee River in southern Itawamba County, Mississippi. For a short article, a photograph, and a video of a drive across the old one-lane bridge, click the following link:

Ironwood Bluff Bridge: Through the Windshield Video

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A Hill Country Story Told in Stone: Ridings Family --- Murdered 1880

The story about the H.B. Ridings family continues today with information obtained by visiting the cemetery where they are buried --- the triple grave marker is inscribed with "Murdered on December 17, 1880." To read more about this family and to view photographs of the grave markers, click the following link:

A Hill Country Story Told in Stone: The H.B. Ridings Family

For additional information about this family, click this link to an earlier article:

Henry B. Ridings Family: Murdered 129 years ago
in Monroe County?

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My Hill Country Assurances, continued: MY BROTHER

The continuing series, My Hill Country Assurances, takes a photographic look at my brother, Sherman Thornton. To access this article, click the link below:

My Hill Country Assurances:

My brother, Sherman Thornton

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A Poem for Hill Country: To Mrs. Eleanor Potts by Francis Scott Key

The Sunday series, A Poem for Hill Country, continues with a word picture from October 22, 1840 written by Francis Scott Key, "To Mrs. Eleanor Potts." The poem paints a lovely picture of a blind lady playing a guitar. To read, click the link below:

A Poem for Hill Country:
To Mrs. Eleanor Potts by Francis Scott Key

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A Hill Country Hootie Hoo and SPECIAL THANKS

to the Francis Marion Rogers SCV Camp of Monroe County for the cleanup of Mound Cemetery in Amory . . .

to the volunteers from Preserving Itawamba County's Heritage, Fulton United Methodist Church Junior UMYF group, and hard workers volunteering their time from Fulton and Itawamba County Mississippi in the cleanup of The Cedars/Cates-Gaither House . . .

to Roy and Rita Thompson of Hatley Mississippi for their hospitality and their sharing of historical information and local lore to out-of-state researcher this week.

For the rest of the story and some photographs, click this link

A Hill Country Hootie Hoo and BIG THANK YOU
~~~
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A Hill Country Family: Murdered in 1880?

The series, A Hill Country Family, continues with part of the story about the deaths of three members of Henry B. Ridings family on December 17, 1880, in Monroe County, Mississippi. To read click on the following link:

HENRY B. RIDINGS FAMILY:
Murdered 129 years ago in Monroe County?

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Country expressions to take the rag off the bush

The series featuring Hill Country words and expressions continues with Part 8, Southern Expression that will take the rag off the bush, posted at the link below:

Part 8. Southern Expressions that will take the rag off the bush
(click to read)

A Hill CountryPlace: Smithville, Mississippi

The series, Hill Country Places, continues with a short history of Smithville, some photographs of landmarks in downtown Smithville, and a "through the windshield video" of a drive through the middle of Smithville. Click the following link to view

A Hill Country Place: Smithville, Mississippi

A Sad Story Told in Stone

The series, Hill County Stories Told in Stone, continues with the publication of a photo-essay from Lann Cemetery at Splunge. The photographs of the grave markers of these nine children who died as infants tells a sad and powerful story. Click the following link to view:

A Sad Story Told in Stone ---

The Thatcher Babies at Lann Cemetery

My Hill Country Assurances --- The Class of 1957 at Hatley High School

The series, My Hill Country Assurances, continues with a look at the Class of 1957, Hatley High School, Monroe County, Mississippi. Fifty-two years ago that class graduated --- and I was fortunate enough to be one of the graduates. For a brief look at the Class of '57 including three photographs, click the following link:

MY HILL COUNTRY ASSURANCES
Class of 1957, Hatley High School

A Poem for Hill Country

The series, A Poem for Hill Country, continues with a special request to repost The Prayer of Cyrus Brown by Foss. Since the poem appeared at Hill Country in June 2007, it has been the most widely read poetry article posted on any of my Hill Country blogs. To read this absolutely delightful poem about prayers and have a laugh or two, click the following link:

A POEM FOR HILL COUNTRY:
The Prayer of Cyrus Brown by Sam Walter Foss

A Hill Country Hootie Hoo: SNUFF and DUST and GOODNESS

Reader Judy Carruth has shared her Grandmother Funderburg's expression denoting "goodness." Read this funny expression and how I used it yesterday by clicking the link below.

A HILL COUNTRY HOOTIE HOO

A Hill Country Landmark: Two Hill Country Families

The series, A Hill Country Family, today takes a looks at a landmark house, home to two Hill Country families whose names are associated with the building. Some researchers called the house The Byrd House after the John Kirk Byrd family who lived there until about 1905. In my lifetime the house was called The Stanford House after the George W. Stanford family who lived there until the early 1960s.

By whatever name, the Byrd-Stanford House is a landmark. Today the house stands as a ruin --- the two-story cabin around which it was constructed has been removed for use elsewhere. But thanks to photographer, historian, and author Glenda McWhirter Todd of Tullahoma, Tennessee, memories of the house will survive through the circa 1980s photographs she has graciously shared with HILL COUNTRY.

To read click A Landmark in the Hill Country: The House of the Byrd/Stanford Families at Splunge.

Related blog, photographs, and video

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Readers interested in other Hill Country counties of Northeast Mississippi may find some of the articles posted at Preserving Itawamba County's Heritage of interest. This new blog is an attempt to document a preservation project of a historic home currently underway in Fulton, Mississippi. Photographs and videos are posted about the project along with several articles documenting the home's history and some of its early occupants.

The "Through the Windshield Videos" not only shows the house in relationship to downtown Fulton, the tour goes onto the campus of Itawamba Community College for a brief look at this education facility.

Links to the exterior photographs of the house and to the five-part video tour are in the left side-bar of Preserving Itawamba County's Heritage.

Interior photographs and video will be posted soon --- the preservation committee is meeting tonight, September 17, for a brief walk-through of the house at 5:30 PM followed by a planning meeting at 6:00 PM at the Christian Life Center, Fulton United Methodist Church. The public is invited to all these functions and to all meetings of the PICH.

Additional information about the Gaither House Preservation Project

The Preserving Itawamba County's Heritage committee has taken on its first preservation project --- The Cedars or the Cates-Gaither House on Main Street in Fulton, Mississippi. Built about 1860, the house started as a basic four-room dog-trot building which evolved into one of the landmark homes of Fulton. The Cedars is one of the oldest surviving structures from early Fulton.

Owned by the Fulton United Methodist Church, the house has been offered as a gift to the citizens of Itawamba County and of the Hill Country if a group would develop the house as a historical structure and make it available to the community. The Church also offered a small lot on Main Street just west of the house's current position for The Cedars new location.

The Preserving Itawamba County's Heritage committee formed to study this preservation and relocation task --- and have adopted the project as its first effort. The CREATE Foundation of Tupelo has approved the Gaither House Project Fund as a special project --- and your tax-deductible donations are being accepted to help with the restoration/relocation.

Current plans are to remove the original dog-trot portion of the house and locate it just west of the house's current position, restore it to its original configuration, and to maintain it as a historical building from early Fulton/Itawamba County.

If you have questions about this preservation project, feel free to contact me for additional information.

Terry Thornton

Treasurer, Preserving Itawamba County's Heritage

Fulton, Mississippi

Southern Words and Expressions

Part 7 of the series Southern Expressions that "will take the rag off the bush" is posted at Terry Thornton's Hill Country of Monroe County Mississippi (click to read).

Click the link above or the one in the left side-bar of this page to read more "Words and Phrases from the Hill Country."

Hill Country Places: MAXEY CEMETERY

The series, Hill Country Places, continues today with Part 3, Maxey Cemetery. A map, some current photographs of the graveyard, and links to previous lists of those buried at Maxey Cemetery are included.

Click this link to read

Hill Country Places:

MAXEY CEMETERY

Hill Country Stories Told In Stone: Shelby Ray Parham Story Continues

The series, Hill Country Stories Told In Stone, Part 3, continues the SHELBY RAY PARHAM STORY started almost a year ago at Hill Country.

The memorial marker for Mr. Parham states simply, "Shelby Parham 1920 - 1944 Lost In Plane Crash Blue Ridge Mts." For today's article about Mr. Parham, click the following link:

Hill Country Stories Told in Stone:

SHELBY RAY PARHAM STORY CONTINUES

Part 3. My Hill Country Assurances: LETHA DORIS HOLLINGSWORTH THORNTON

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Part 3 of the series, My Hill Country Assurances, features LETHA DORIS HOLLINGSWORTH THORNTON. Written following a new-to-me format based upon the book, Pistols for Two, the article is about my mother, one of the two pistols in my life. It and nine photographs of her may be read/viewed at the link below.

My Hill Country Assurances:

LETHA DORIS HOLLINGSWORTH THORNTON

This article is the concluding half of a look at my parents. Click here to read about Garfus Sherman Thornton.

A Poem for Hill County, Invictus by Henley . . . In Memoriam, Dr. William Earl Phillips

The series, A Poem for Hill Country, today contains a poem in honor of the memory of my friend, William Earl Phillips, whose funeral was September 12, 2009. Click the links below to read

Invictus by William Ernest Henley 1849 - 1903

In Memoriam for Dr. William Earl Phillips 1939 - 2009

A Hill Country Hootie Hoo: JOHN S. NOTT, late of Texas

The Saturday series, A Hill Country Hootie Hoo, continues with a report of an old duel fought in Texas. The duel involved ALEXANDER SHOTT and JOHN S. NOTT and the report of this event can be read by clicking

Report on JOHN S. NOTT, late of Texas

A Hill Country Family: FORRISTER, FORRESTER, FOSTER?

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

The continuing series, A Hill Country Family, continues today with a brief look at the family of Arnie Forrister. Mr. Arnie was a blacksmith --- and operated a country store. Researching this family in Monroe County is made the more difficult because of various spellings of the surname --- FORRISTER, FORRESTER, or FOSTER? To read about some of this family click on the following link:

A HILL COUNTRY FAMILY:

FORRISTER, FORRESTER, or FOSTER?

Southern Words and Expressions

Part 6 of the series Southern Expressions that "will take the rag off the bush" is posted at Terry Thornton's Hill Country of Monroe County Mississippi (click to read).

Click the link above or the one in the left side-bar of this page to read more "Words and Phrases from the Hill Country."

Hill Country Places: AMORY, MISSISSIPPI

The series, Hill Country Places, continues today with Part 2, AMORY, MISSISSIPPI. Three different articles are used to present only part of the story about Amory.

The main article features some of the history of Amory --- and presents fourteen different photographs of Amory scenes.

Two additional secondary articles are linked with AMORY, MISSISSIPPI, The first one presents Amory, Mississippi: Through the Windshield Video, a short film of a fast ride up Main Street on September 6, 2009, and the second one is Amory Mississippi Centennial Silver Medallion, a look at a 22-year old artifact from Amory's 100th birthday.

Click these links to access these three articles about Amory, Mississippi:

Hill Country Places: Amory, Mississippi

Amory, Mississippi: Through the Windshield Video (check sidebar of this link for all video presentations about Hill Country)

Amory Mississippi Centennial Silver Medallion

Hill Country Stories Told In Stone: ROBERT DARRYL BIRD, BARITONE --- and FRIEND

The series, Hill County Stories Told In Stone, continues today with Part 2, DARRYL BIRD late of Splunge, Monroe County, Mississippi.

Darryl was a personal friend --- I had the good fortune to know him for at least two decades of his far-too-short life. Darryl Bird, 1939 - 1971, is the subject of today's post which may be read by clicking the following link:

Hill Country Stories Told In Stone:

ROBERT DARRYL BIRD, BARITONE --- and FRIEND

Part 2, My Hill Country Assurances: GARFUS SHERMAN THORNTON

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Part 2 of the series, My Hill Country Assurances, features a brief biography of GARFUS SHERMAN THORNTON. On this Labor Day 2009, I find it most appropriate that the person who taught me the most about labor and work, honesty and remaining true to my beliefs, and of making my own way is the featured individual in this series of articles. Written following a new-to-me format for structuring biography, the article may be read at the link below.

My Hill Country Assurances:

GARFUS SHERMAN THORNTON

A Poem for Hill Country: The Purple Cow by Burgess

The series, A Poem for the Hill Country, continues today with another short poem. American writer Frank Gelett Burgess is forever linked to his tiny poem, The Purple Cow.

In today's presentation of The Purple Cow is included my recipe for making purple cows. Read the poem --- make a purple cow --- and enjoy. Follow the link below to the poem and to the recipe.

A POEM FOR HILL COUNTRY:
"The Purple Cow" by Frank Gelett Burgess

Update to HC Family: GURLEY and REBA GILLILAND

Additional information has been provided by readers to the article A HILL COUNTRY FAMILY: Gurley and Reba Gilliland of Splunge, Mississippi.

Click here to read the update
Click here to read the original article

Hill Country Hootie Hoo: A new series

Today starts the new series, A Hill Country Hootie Hoo. The phrase "hootie hoo" is one of my elder son's favorite conversation stoppers to indicate that someone has really changed the subject on him or has really come up with something totally unexpected.

Of course he will tell you that "hootie hoo" is the Andy of Mayberry's Lodge Brothers greeting to other lodge members. "Hootie Hoo" he learned as a child watching the Andy Griffith Show and the lodge brothers phase got locked into his working vocabulary. My son is a teacher; I can't image him saying "Hootie hoo" to one of his students whose answer or comment is so "off the wall" that it take the discussion to a whole new level but I'm sure he does.

Of course "hootie hoo" has taken on recent slang meaning but we won't go there.

This series is a hodge-podge --- a miscellany of articles including those of the hindsight variety --- and, yes, even some completely "off the wall" subject matter will be covered. Each Saturday beginning today watch for A Hill Country Hootie Hoo. Click the link below to see what the Hootie Hoo for today is all about.

Bill of Non-Rights is by a Mississippian

A Hill Country Family: GURLEY and REBA GILLILAND of Splunge

The new series, A Hill Country Family, starts today with a brief look at GURLEY WEBSTER GILLILAND and REBA GILLILAND, late of Splunge, and some of his ancestors. To read this report click the following link:

GURLEY WEBSTER GILLILAND and REBA GILLILAND

Each Friday a different Monroe County Mississippi family will be featured in this space.

Southern Words and Expressions

Part 5 of the series Southern Expressions that "will take the rag off the bush" is posted at Terry Thornton's Hill Country of Monroe County Mississippi (click to read).

Click the link above or the one in the left side-bar of this page to read more "Words and Phrases from the Hill Country" from the series SOUTHERN EXPRESSIONS THAT "WILL TAKE THE RAG OFF THE BUSH."

Hill Country Places: IN SEARCH OF ADLEY

Today starts a new series, HILL COUNTRY PLACES with a search for information about Adley, Monroe County, Mississippi. Little is known about Adley and today's article provides maps and photographs but primarily raises lots more questions than it answers. To read In Search of Adley and perhaps to help determine where or when, click on the following link:

In Search of Adley

New Series: HILL COUNTRY STORIES TOLD IN STONE

Today starts the series HILL COUNTRY STORIES TOLD IN STONE with a look at three grave markers for ROME GILLILAND, SARAH GILLILAND, and SARAH J. GILLILAND. Two markers, different dates for the same person, and a marker with a nickname for another --- and census reports over the years with a variety of name spellings can, at times, create problems for research.

But maybe I've got these three markers sorted out and in the process I've learned a little more about the heritage of the Hill Country. To read about ROME and SARAH GILLILAND click this link:

Hill Country Stories Told in Stone: Rome and Sarah Gilliland

A new series: My Hill Country Assurances Part 1

by Terry Thornton

email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

My Hill Country Assurances is a continuing series in which I will present information about self, family, and ancestors. Using the pHOGS approach (photographs, History, Observations, Genealogy, and Stories) I will attempt to explore some of my history and that of my family. Part 1 lists all I am attempting to do with the series and then proceeds to give some of my early life history from my birth to seventeen years when I left Parham for the Army and then offers a brief look at my life through the 1960s.

My Hill County Assurances

• will take a look at events, persons, and activities which gave me the confidence, audacity, and composure to attempt such a series of articles;

• will examine some of the individuals, institutions and experiences which shaped and influenced my beliefs and faith;

• will attempt to present information which will serve as collateral evidence to explain my effrontery, egotism, and determination;

• will present information to provide alibis when needed or to give credence to my life history;

• will collectively present information which explains why, even after seventy years of living, I still have a deep dependence upon and a huge appreciation for the Hill Country.

In this series perhaps I will find a explanation for "me" by looking at all of the assurances from my Hill Country experiences.

And I shall start by establishing the fact that I recently celebrated my 70th birthday. I suppose this event (which I celebrated with so much fun) actually means that I have now officially reached "old age." And with my advanced age I know I am required to start acting the part --- and perhaps even speaking with great authority on subjects large and small whether I have any real knowledge of them nonewithstanding.

Does being seventy mean I have to "act" seventy? Click here to read the rest of this article and to view the two photographs . .

A Poem for Hill Country: Crowded Tub

Kicking off this series of Sunday poems is one of my favorite short poems illustrated with one of my favorite snapshots of my grandchildren (shhhhhh! don't tell them this photo is online or else I'll be in deep trouble). Hope you enjoy the poem and share it with some of the younguns in your life. Read today's poem and article by clicking the following link

Terry Thornton's HILL COUNTRY HOGS BLOG

Welcome to Hill Country2 and to the Hill Country HOGS WebPress

WELCOME to the Hill Country H.O.G.S. WebPress, the portal, index and table of contents to the online publications of Terry Thornton of Fulton, Mississippi.

You are welcome to access and to read Hill Country of Monroe County Mississippi (Hill Country Volume 2 or HC2)at its new locations. HC2 is accessible through links found here; HC2 is posted at a variety of websites but all of the articles are linked here. Most of the articles will be announced here with a short review; some will only appear as links in the left sidebar.

From HC HOGS WebPress readers may access the latest articles at Hill Country2 or the latest articles at my other blogs. All of my current online publications will be eventually linked through the HC HOGS WebPress.

Think of HC HOGS WebPress as the portal to all of my new writing --- as an index to all those articles --- and as a table of contents to my various blogs.

Here at HC HOGS WebPress you will find links to history, observations, genealogy, stories, pictures and research articles from several different blogs as I publish those articles --- including cemetery transcriptions.

Several cemetery inventory/transcription projects are planned for this fall and winter and all of those new reports will be accessible through HC HOGS WebPress.

The primary sites linked at HC HOGS WebPress will, of course, be Terry Thornton's Hill Country of Monroe Country Mississippi. Each new article at HC2 will be announced at the WebPress. It is recommended that you follow the HC HOGS WebPress site so that you get automatic updates of new articles or you are most welcomed to visit daily to see what is new.

Returning readers to HC2 as well as new readers are encouraged to click and follow the link in the left side bar to Some Questions: Some Answers which serves several functions from profile to statement of purpose.

• Who is Terry Thornton?
• What is the HOGS or the pHOGS approach to presenting family history?
• Why did Terry Thornton stop blogging for several weeks? And how does that impact this restart of Hill Country?
• What is the statement of purpose for Hill Country?

Other HC2 articles are already linked here the HC HOGS WebPress site. You are invited to follow the links at the left sidebar to access those articles. My new "Hill Country" columns from the Monroe Journal (the newspaper for Monroe County) are linked in the left sidebar on this page --- just select and click the article you wish to read.

When you finsh reading the article at whichever of my sites, you should find at the top of the sidebar of the article a "Return to HC HOGS WebPress" link; click that link to be returned here.

There will be fewer posts at HC2 than at the old HC1 site --- and the articles will be more structured. Same with cemetery articles and transcriptions --- fewer. Until my vision problems are completely solved I will be limiting my computer time and, as a result, fewer articles will be published. Although I'm already in the process of photographing additional cemeteries to inventory, the complete transcription and publication of that research will have to wait until my vision is better.

Reader comments are most welcome. On the new pages, however, I will not publish anonymous comments. Please provide your name, city, and state to leave a comment --- and remember that all comments are moderated (meaning I either accept or reject the comment for publication --- I can't edit or correct your comment).

I look forward to "seeing" you again and again at the HILL COUNTRY H.O.G.S. WEBPRESS and at HC2 as well as at other new sites I'm planning to publish in the near future.

Terry Thornton

Hill Country H.O.G.S. WebPress

Fulton, Mississippi
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com