Terry Thornton's HILL COUNTRY

Obituary: Dr. William Terrance Thornton

2010-08-14T10:34:00.000-05:00

Dr. William Terrance "Terry" Thornton (1939 - 2010)

Dr. William Terrance “Terry” Thornton, 71, died at his residence on August 9, 2010. Born on July 26, 1939, to the late Garfus Sherman and Letha Hollingsworth Thornton, he was a native of the Parham Community in Monroe County.

Terry attended public school in Monroe County and graduated from Hatley High School, Class of 1957. He earned three degrees, including a doctorate, from the University of Mississippi.

Terry married Betty Ann Rooker of Tupelo on December 17, 1961. Terry taught briefly at Brookhaven High School before returning to North Mississippi to teach science at Milam Jr. High School in Tupelo and elementary science for the newly-created educational programming at WTVA in Tupelo. These lessons were the first educational TV to be broadcast in the state of Mississippi and were watched both by children in the classrooms and by television viewers in North Mississippi, Western Alabama, and Southern Tennessee. After two years in Tupelo, Mr. Thornton was named an NDEA fellow at Ole Miss. When he completed his doctorate, he began his college teaching career at Troy State College, now Troy University. He later taught in the Troy University System at the Fort Rucker Branch and the Dothan Branch.

Dr. Thornton was a man of many talents and interests. He played the piano and organ at numerous churches, social events, and weddings. He loved both reading and writing and was the author of numerous stories, poems, and recollections of growing up in Monroe County. Terry was a popular public speaker and conversationalist. He was a naturalist and bird watcher. Terry taught countless students and teachers to enjoy studying science.

Dr. and Mrs. Thornton have two sons, William Terrance “Teb” Thornton, Jr., (Coleen), Fulton, and James Garfus Thornton (Charlena), New Orleans; his grandchildren, William Terrance III, and Margaret Ann, Fulton, and Charles William, New Orleans; brother, Thomas Sherman Thornton, (Patricia), Amory; and several nieces and nephews.

A Memorial service for Terry Thornton will be held at 10 AM, Thursday at the funeral home with Rev. John Foster officiating. Inurnment will follow in Lann Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 5 – 7 PM, Wednesday at the funeral home.

Memorials may be given to Itawamba Historical Society, Mantachie, 38855-0007 or Sanctuary Hospice House Home Care, 5159 W. Main St., Tupelo, 38803.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at picklefh@att.net. Arrangements for the Thornton family are in the care of E. E. Pickle Funeral Home, Amory; 256-2644.

Published online on 8/10/2010 courtesy of E.E. Pickle Funeral Home .

Stories from the Hill Country continue to be posted

2009-10-30T21:58:00.000-05:00

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.

Mississippi Hill Country Heritage Day: SUNDAY

2009-10-16T17:51:00.003-05:00

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.

2009-10-13T21:19:00.001-05:00

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

Smithville Mississippi Through the Windshield Video

2009-09-23T00:03:00.002-05:00

Click the start button above to view Smithville Mississippi: Through the Windshield Video. Shot from the front seat of my car as I drove north on Highway 25 beginning just south of the Smithville City limits, the video stops at the old crossroads where the Smith House and trading store were once located. The sounds heard are music playing on my car's radio system and the gasoline/electric motors of my hybrid automobile.

The video starts as the road passes by soybean fields (the Wax Farm) just south of town, and then moves into the city (note limits sign on the right) passing residential areas and into town. The post-office, city hall, Mississippi Railroad tracks, and several business are seen including the Smithville Telephone Company --- and the video ends just past downtown.

The old artesian well once in the center of downtown is no longer visible. When it dried up, it was plugged with a light-pole which stood in the middle of the street giving Smithville one of its most memorable and much collided with landmarks. Today no remains of the flowing artesian well or of the light pole in the middle of the main street in the center of town are visible.

A few still photos and a little history of Smithville are included at the article Hill Country Places: Smithville (click to view).

Smithville Video, September 22, 2009. Terry Thornton, Fulton, Mississippi.

A Hill Country Hootie Hoo: Country saying from Judy Carruth

2009-09-19T09:05:00.002-05:00

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

My Sweetie served a new-to-us recipe yesterday giving me the perfect opportunity to use a country saying send by Judy Carruth of Hamilton, Alabama. Judy who is formerly of Amory says her Monroe County families were from the Becker and Quincy areas. She quotes her Grandmother Funderburg as saying when commenting on the "goodness" of a thing, "Why, it's better 'n snuff 'n ain't half as dusty."

Imagine Sweetie's look of surprise when she asked me what I thought of the new dish after I tried a bite of the new recipe she had lovely prepared. My reply was Grandma Funderburg's country saying. Oh, the look I got from Sweetie was priceless.

Youall use Judy's Grandma's saying soon --- I promise you a "Why it's better than snuff and aint' half as dusty" will solicit a reaction.

I am looking forward to the next trip to the restaurant --- the waitress is gonna be surprised when she asks me for the umpteenth time "How is your meal?"

Thanks, Judy, for sharing this good country saying.

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

2009-09-12T00:03:00.001-05:00

Posted by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Sometimes genealogy research can be fun --- and sometimes written reports are not what they seem to be. Enjoy this fun play on words and give thanks that you are not researching either the SHOTT or the NOTT familie

An old report of a duel in Texas

"A duel was lately fought in Texas by ALEXANDER SHOTT and JOHN S. NOTT. Nott was shot and Shott was not. In this case it is better to be Shott than Nott. There was a rumor that Nott was not shot, and Shott avows that he shot Nott, which proves either that the shot Shott shot at Nott was not shot, or that Nott was shot notwithstanding. It may be made to appear on trial that the shot Shott shot shot Nott, or, as accidents with firearms are frequent, it may be possible that the shot Shott shot shot Shott himself, when the whole affair would resolve itself into its original elements, and Shott would be shot and Nott would be not. We think, however, that the shot Shott shot shot not Shott but Nott; though indeed it is hard to tell who was shot and who was not. ---Source uncertain. "

As quoted by Richard Hopwood Thornton, American Glossary. Philapelphia: L.B. Lippincott Company. 1912. Volume 2, page 419.

Amory Mississippi Centennial Silver Medallion

2009-09-09T00:02:00.000-05:00

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

In 1987, Amory, Mississippi, celebrated its 100th anniversary. A centennial medallion was designed and issued in limited editions of bronze or silver.

Little did I know when I bought one of the silver medallions that twenty-two years later I would be writing about Amory and its origins. I remembered the medallion and went to the lock box and retrieved it. After a quick polish, the medallion is lovely and presents a great deal of history of Amory and of Cotton Gin Port, the small village from which Amory evolved.

The medallion was designed by Debra Swartzendruber (obverse) and by Annette Gentry (reverse). One and one-half inches in diameter of 39 MM --10 Ga., the medallion is 1 troy ounce of .999 silver.

On the obverse, the design elements include the words Amory Mississippi Centennial, 1887 - 1987, and Cotton Gin Port Amory's Beginnings. The design shows a river steamboat representing river traffic on the Tombigbee River to Cotton Gin Port, northernmost port town on that river. Blossoms and foliage of the Mississippi State Tree, the Southern Magnolia, completes the design.

The reverse represents Amory's strong ties to railroading. Engine # 1529, which is on permanent display in Amory's Frisco Park, forms a strong visual reminder of Amory's historical beginnings to the railroad line, Kansas City, Birmingham, and Memphis Railroad, which missed Cotton Gin Port and resulted in the town's relocation.

For more information about Amory's history and fourteen photographs go to Hill Country Places: Amory, Mississippi.

For a short video click this link --- Amory Mississippi: Through the Front Windshield.

IMAGES:

Amory Mississippi Centennial Medallion, Photographs by Terry Thornton, Fulton, Mississippi, September 8, 2009.

Amory Mississippi: Through the Windshield Video

2009-09-08T12:01:00.000-05:00

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

The short video above was made Sunday, September 6, 2009. On a very early morning drive through Amory, I held my digital camera for this look at the downtown area. The view is from the driver's seat of my car looking north up Main Street (Highway 25) through the heart of Amory's original business district. This route passes Frisco Park (on the left) and landmark buildings such as the Park Hotel (on the right). The video ends as I drove past the curve in Vinegar Bend on the north end of Main Street.

The noise is from my car --- and the music is something that was playing on my audio system. And, yes, Amory has lots of signal lights --- just none in the downtown area.

Enjoy this early morning look at Amory, Mississippi, September 2009.

A HILL COUNTRY HOOTIE HOO: Bill of No Rights is by a Mississippian

2009-09-05T00:05:00.001-05:00

A BILL OF NON-RIGHTS

A few days ago I received one of those emails which gets forwarded over and over again. I was interested in reading it as it addressed a specific Bill of Non-Rights for those citicizens who get confused about what the "Bill of Rights" is really all about.

The email sending this little jewel of political wisdom attributed the words to a politician in Georgia --- but it appears that a Mississippian named Lewis Napper wrote the piece in 1993. Snopes.com attributes the words to Mr. Napper rather than to the politician from Georgia.

Seems to me that Mr. Napper's words bear reading again --- in, fact, seems to me that the sixteen year-old essay has, as they say, "aged" to perfection.

I recommend that you go to Google and do a search for "Lewis Napper" + Mississippi + Bill of No-Rights. Last I did that search I got more than 800 hits --- and many of them contains Mr. Napper's words. In fact, I recommend that you not only read Mr. Napper's words but that you send the link where you read them to everyone you know so they can read what this Mississippi Libertarian wrote sixteen years ago.

Seems to me that lots of folks need some "learnin' 'bout life" and how the Bill of Rights doesn't guarantee objects, money, health, pearly white straight teeth, jobs, beauty, mortgages, clunkers, houses or cabins at the lake, wealth, wisdom, or eternal salvation --- seems to me that some folks need to "get with the program."

I'm off my soapbox.

Link to Snopes article includes one version of the Napper Bill of No-Rights at http://www.snopes.com/language/document/norights.asp

Link to Napper's Bill of No-Rights at http://semorris.com/norights.htm

Terry Thornton

Fulton, Mississippi

Hungry Hordes of Hummers in Hill Country, August 28, 2009

2009-08-28T08:48:00.005-05:00

This is one of my first attempt to post a video at Blogger --- and it records about 90 seconds of the hummingbird action outside my breakfast room window on the morning of August 28, 2009. The fall hummingbird migration is in full swing --- and I am feeding enough birds to require about 1.5 to 2 gallons of nectar per day. This feasting will continue until late September or until I run out of sugar.

If you have feeders, clean them and put them out with fresh sugar water. An easy recipe is four parts boiling water to one part granulated sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves; cool; place in clean humming bird feeders and get out of their way!