(Continuing from last week’s column is the conclusion of a letter to the editor of the Grenada Sentinel from a former Grenadian, Mr. H.L. Talbert of Clarksdale, Mississippi, describing the good old days of Grenada as he remembers it.)
Grenada Sentinel
Friday, November 14, 1930
The Post Office was located on Green Street near the rear of the Presbyterian Church. The father of W.P. Ferguson had a livery stable where the First Baptist Church now stands on Main and Second Streets. When this church was erected he moved his stable to the corner lot in front of the Methodist Church.
I attended school in the old Barracks, which was located back of Will Hoffa’s home and about two blocks from Grenada College. That grand old lady, Mrs. Kate Payne, was my teacher. Thomas J. Newell was principal at that time. I remember there as a beautiful heart-shaped hedge extending from the college building to the Main Street sidewalk. The only front entrance to the college was through this heart.
Will McLeod’s father was cashier of a bank located where Fred Lickfold is now. I remember when there was a number of saloons in Grenada, but the most popular one was Gus Wolfe’s Saloon, located where Heath Bothers is now located. The first oil mill located there had some kind of calliope whistle that frightened all the children the first time it was sounded. Mr. Billie Berry operated a gin and gristmill on the river near the iron bridge you cross going to Spring Lake.
I was a yellow fever victim in 1878. I shall never forget the Sunday morning when it was declared an epidemic in Grenada. You could see people running in every direction just as though they were going to a fire, some were leaving in wagons, some on horses and others walking trying to find some secluded spot. A great many refuged to Holly Springs where they met with the same fate as those who could not get away, as the death rate there was as bad as in Grenada. My father carried our family to the country near Duck Hill, and returned to Grenada to help with the sick. I remained with my father and worked in the express office with that grand old man, Mr. R.O. Armstead, who was express agent at the time and moved his office out in the cedar grove in front of my home. Trains were not allowed to stop in Grenada but unloaded food and medicine out there and we hauled it to town, delivered it as instructed by those in charge of the situation. I well remember when stricken with the fever. I was placed in bed in a closed room. I was wrapped in a heavy blanket with my hands down by my side and with only a small opening at the top so I could breathe. When I asked for something to eat the nurse would say, “the doctor says you must not eat anything.” I remember one man who got out of his blanket and slipped into his kitchen where he found a whole ham nicely cooked. He ate about half of it and died the next day. I do not know how many people died in Grenada, but I do know there was family after family where every member died. I remember seeing one cotton dray with three corpses loaded on it going to the cemetery on the hill. I passed through this cemetery and saw them burying the dead, and each grave was covered with lime several inches deep. I sincerely trust that none of my friends will ever be forced to witness what I did in this awful siege of 1878.
Sincerely,
H.L. Talbert
Clarksdale, Miss.,
Nov. 11, 1930
