Excerpt from The People of Shrock Mississippi 1895 - 1922

Edited by Duncan C. Covington, an Attala County native son, the book identified in the title of this post contains the names of hundreds of residents and former residents of Attala County, Mississippi and the surrounding area and chronicles the details of various events in their lives. I am including in the post here today a copy of one particular article published in the November 22, 1922 edition of Kosciusko's newspaper, the Star Herald. The article identifies students who were named to the Midway School's Honor Roll.

First Grade - Norma Stephens, Blanche Shrock, Eunice Caldwell, Mart Baldridge, Joe Mabry, Alice Baldridge, Walter Jones
Second Grade - W. C. Mabry, R.C. Jones, Herbert Harmon, Morris McDaniel
Third Grade - Leonard Porter, Myrtice Harmond, Estell Stevens, Ethel May Stevens
Fourth Grade - Elmer Caldwell, Buena McDaniel
Sixth Grade - A.B. Cochran, Thelma Jones, Anna Jones, Lucille Simpson
Seventh Grade - Laura Branch, Inez McDaniel, Clarence Porter
Eighth Grade - Charles Shrock, P.J. McDonald, Percy May, Joe Wyatt, Eva McDaniel
Ninth Grade - Lelia Porter

Included  among the names above are several of my own relatives, including my grandmother, Lelia Porter (Branch), two of her brothers, Leonard Porter and Clarence Porter, and her future sister-in-law, Laura Branch (Jones).

Who was Dot Mabry?

The picture here is another "mystery photo" from my grandmother's picture album from long ago. A name appears on the back of the picture, written in childlike penmanship - that of "Dot Mabry."

The surname "Mabry" was a very well-known and well-respected name in Virginia during the 1700's. Sometime during the early 1800's, members of the Mabry family migrated to other colonies, and some of the family ended up settling in Attala County.

In Virginia, the patriarch of the Mabry family, Hinchia Mabry (often spelled "Mabury") already had ties to the descendants of Christopher Branch. So it does not seem unusual that I have discovered Branch family members living near Mabry family members on U. S. Census records dated during the 1800's in Attala County.

Although I have not discovered a direct relationship between my Branch ancestors and the Mabry family in Attala County, it is almost certain that intermarriages occurred between these two pioneer families during the 19th and 20th centuries. My grandmother apparently knew the people in the picture, or it would not have been included in her photo album. It is likely the children pictured attended either the Midway School or the school at Shrock, Mississippi. But all I have to go on is the name on the back of this picture.

Who exactly was Dot Mabry? Is she one of the young girls pictured in the photo, or was she the mother of the seven children pictured there? What was the connection, if any, of this family to the Branch family in Attala County? I am puzzled by the picture, and I would like to know how this family was connected to my grandmother. Why it was in her album, appearing next to known relatives.

Maybe a reader of this post, possibly a descendant of the Mabry family in Attala County, will help me solve the mystery.

The Smartest Girl in Her Class

Copy of an excerpt from "The People of Shrock" by Duncan C. Covington.

Above: Lelia Porter

circa 1922 - 9th Grade

Midway School, Attala Co.

Recently, while thumbing through my new copy of Duncan Covington's book, "The People of Shrock," I found that my paternal grandmother, Lelia Porter Branch, was the only student in the 9th grade at Midway School, who was on the "Honor Roll." Also, on that honor roll, were two of her brothers, Clarence Porter and Leonard Porter, one of my paternal grandfather's sisters, Laura Branch, and a cousin of my grandfather's, Mart Baldridge.



I always knew that my grandmother was a smart lady, and I based this opinion, in part, on the variety of books she read. When she was not busy with household chores, gardening, or chasing us when we were young, she could likely be found reading a newspaper, a book or a magazine. Her choices were many, ranging from the classics of her young years to modern day fiction and non-fiction, and any current event publication she could get her hands on. One of her favorites of the 1950's was "Grit" newspaper. My best recollection is that this was some sort of "tabloid" newspaper that included some current event items.



She remembered so much of what she read, and many of the things she discussed with me as a child came from what she had learned from something she had recently read. I feel so fortunate to have had a grandmother like her, because she instilled in me the belief that I should "take care" of all books. She also passed along to me her fondness for books and her lifelong love of reading. I still have some of the books she gave me over the years, and I will never, ever part with any of them. Each time I pick up one of the books that belonged to her, I feel that she left a part of herself with me.



One of my most sentimental possessions is a copy of Eudora Welty's book, "Delta Wedding," that my grandmother gave me during my teen years. A few years later, I actually met Miss Welty while she was "Writer-in-Residence" at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, and I was fortunate enough to have her sign the book. Now, many years later, the book is not only a sentimental treasure, but a valuable one as well.



I also have in my possession two of my grandmother's well-worn textbooks, "Latin for Scholars" and "Textbook of Chemistry." According to the many marks in these two books, her two sisters, Vertie and Etta Porter, must have used them in school, as well. The fact that three young ladies who lived in rural Attala County, Mississippi, who pursued difficult courses such as Latin and chemistry during the early 1900's, should dispute the opinion of many outside the State of Misssissippi that Mississippians have not valued education.



My personal belief is that Mississippians have always valued education and the dreams that blossomed along with it. And books will continue to allow those dreams to flourish and grow.