Crayne Cumberland Presbyterian Church

 The first Crayne Cumberland Presbyterian Church was destroyed by lightning during a late afternoon storm on Monday July 26, 1943.  The blot struck directly into the bell tower and the blaze burst forth immediately.
(Crittenden Press, July 30, 1943.)

All contents of the building were saved including the piano and pews but the structure was a total loss.

I have wondered many times if there was a picture of this early church building.  I have never been told by anyone about seeing a picture of it, or even how it looked.

The 2nd church was completed in Feb. of 1949.  It was built of concrete block construction. 

 The dedication service would be held Sunday, February 27, 1949, with Rev. Eugene Lindsey in charges of the services.  Talk by Harry Haynes on the Church and Rededicating of lives.  Rev. James Houston Jones gave the opening and closing prayers.

This vintage photo of the new block church building shortly after it was completed in 1949, was shared with me by long time friend and Crayne neighbor, Harold Cannon.

 My early child hood memories are from attending this new church.  Attended until it closed in the 1970's.

 

Today, in 2015, this little white block building in not recognizable.  It has been totally redone with several new rooms and lots of footage added on, plus a whole new look as it is now covered in tan/brown bicks.   It is now the home of the Unity Baptist Church.

Cassidy Enterprise At Dycusburg Was Quite Large

Dycusburg information gathered from the Crittenden Press, dated 1894.

S. H. Cassidy, the senior member of the firm of S. H. Cassidy & Co., was born in Princeton, August 30, 1835.  

When he was quite young his parents moved to Eddyville and form there to Dycusburg when Mr. Cassidy was 18 years old.  He has continued to reside in Dycusburg, making that his home ever since.

At the age of 21, he engaged in steam boating, serving a regular apprenticeship as engineer, and filling successively various positions in a boat from engineer to captain on boats plying the Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.

Then in 1861 he engaged in the mercantile business with W. E. Dycus at Dycusburg, under the firm name of  Dycus and Cassidy.  In addition to being a large general store, the largest in the county, it also had a large commission and business that dealt in grain, tobacco and general produce.   

Mr. Cassidy continued the business under the firm name for several years when he gave up all the branches except that of grain and tobacco.  The members of the tobacco firm were W. S. Dycus and F. B. Dycus, and in tobacco alone, these men are perhaps the largest dealers in the county.  They operate two large plants.

      Pictures of Mr. Cassidy's tobacco operation in Dycusburg in 1894.

Mr. Cassidy stands high as a Mason, having joined the order when 21 years of age.  He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and in politics he is a firm believer in the doctrines of the Democracy.

Samuel H. Cassidy died May 31, 1907 and is buried in the Dycusburg cemetery.

Old Kentucky Sassafras Tea

This story appeared in The Marion Reporter in February 1955. 

 Tea is Good For Business.

Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Whitt of the Frances community have turned an idea into an industry. There has been much talk and quite a bit of effort of late to attract industry into Marion in order to relieve the economic slump created by the withdrawal of the fluorspar operations, and the Whitts have come up with a novel means by which they, and the town, hope to ease the situation somewhat.

Rather than sit around and wait for something to break, the Whitts capitalized on an idea that they inherited from a past member of the family. It concerns a process for refining sassafras into tea. How did the idea get going?

 Well according to Mrs. Clara Lee Whitt, her husband, Oliver, was sleeping about eight hours, working about eight hours and eating about four out of every day. What with the slack season on in the sweet potato field, Oliver decided that he had about four extra hours there that were going to waste. 

 This is a picture of the Whitt's Old Kentucky Sassafras Tea.

Starting the Sassafras idea more as a hobby than anything else, Oliver dug the roots and used the family refining process (which he has since applied for a patent on), and started distributing the new product himself.The product is called "Old Kentucky One Minute Sassafras Tea," and has been received with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm in this area. 

Most everybody is acquainted with sassafras; many of the older readers will remember it well from their childhood, for not too many years ago it was considered to have therapeutic value. Even though that kind of thinking has changed through the years, the fact remains that was sassafras in a very delightful and refreshing beverage, easily prepared and inexpensive to serve.

Old Kentucky One-Minute Sassafras Tea is an example of the kind of ingenuity that can put Marion back into a position of economic stability. With the promotion of the people of the community it can grow into a substantial supplement to the commerce of the city and county. 

 Local stores and merchants now have old Kentucky on their shelves.

This is a picture made in front of the Kroger Store in Marion in 1955, when the first load shipment of the Whitt's Sassafras Tea arrive for sale.

According to Mrs. Whitt, their tea business didn't last too long, it was a lot of work  getting it ready for sale, and someone from Tennessee had copied their tea making business and packing, so they just decided to end it.

127th Annual Hurricane Church Meeting

This week June 8-14, marks the 127 Annual Hurricane Church Meeting. 

Here is an interesting article about a meeting that happened in 1913, from The Crittenden Press.

Night Riders Send Threatening Notes.  Demand That Admission Fee For Services Be Stoped at Hurricane. 

The first attempt of night riders in Crittenden County to broaden the scope of their operations from tobacco matters alone to other affairs came today when the committee in charge of Hurricane camp meeting, sixteen miles north of here, received threatening letters demanding that they drop their custom of charging admission at the gates of the camp grounds.

In order to defray the expenses of the meeting, which has been an annual affair for many years, the committee decided last year to charge a small gate fee on the two Sundays during which the meeting went on.

The plan had met with some dissatisfaction, but on the whole seemed to be working out very well.

The notices were found scattered all over the camp grounds Thursday morning, but admission was charged nevertheless.  Special guards have been installed and the committee, composed of some of the best citizens of the county, propose to proceed as before.

North Main Street Homes

On North Main Street in Marion are some beautiful older homes.  The W. O. Tucker home was built in 1921.  

Here is a picture of the home with the Tucker family on the steps of their newly built home in 1921.

Back row: W. O. "Tuck" Tucker, Mrs. C. S. Nunn, Mrs. George Eady, Mrs. T. J. Nunn, Mrs. W. O. Tucker.

Front row:  seated, John Nunn, Mrs. Miles Flanary, Virginia Flanary, Thomas N. Tucker, C. S. Nunn, George Eady and the Tucker's dog, "Puppy."

From the Crittenden Press in March 1921:

Plans have been prepared by M. V. Arnold, Engineer for a new residence for W. O. Tucker.  This new home is to be erected on the corner lot.

The new building will be of the semi-bungalow style and will contain a living room, library, dining room, kitchen, breakfast room, pantry, four bed rooms, bath and sleeping porch.  The house will have all the modern improvements and conveniences including both plumbing and heating systems.

Mr. Tucker, for whom the house is to be built is one of the firm Foster & Tucker.

Work will be started in the early  months of this spring on the new residence.  When completed it will be one of the most beautiful and complete dwellings in our city.

The home is still beautiful and well-cared for today.  I believe a family by the name of Armstrong lives there today.