This week we’ll look into Union’s past through more of the memories of the late Conan Whitten.
• On Saturdays, we would have rubber gun wars. The area of Old Town was the battlefield. Using a clothes pin on a wooden rifle with the ammo a part of car tire innertube, we kept tab on hits and misses. Boys in our war games included three Harmons, one Lewis, four Freemans, one Whitten, two Howles, one Dixon, one Nicholson, one McMahen, one Walker, two Lockleys. Quite a group for clean fun!
• Basketball courts were on red clay dirt. Next came an indoor court called a “gym.”
• Mr. Robert (Bob) Carleton went through fire to close a valve on a gas line at Sinclair Bulk Oil Station. He prevented a major disaster. A very brave man...
• A very large vacant boarding house was burning to the ground when I came in on a 3 a.m. passenger train. It was on the lot to the west and rear of Hugh Matthews building. No idea as to the owner or the use (possibly the Commercial Hotel that burned in 1929, tb).
• A medicine man came to town in his covered wagon and parked on the lot where T.W.L. is today (Payne Fitness Center in 2018, tb). He sold his wares and tonics. No idea as to what kind of liquids he sold…
• Every now and then, a stranger would show up at the same area and make beautiful sounds from popping of the whips. Such a forgotten art! Buggy whips, I think they were called.
• Our winter heat came from the burning of wood or coal. We had no butane, no natural gas, no electrical heaters. Mr. Grover James was the coal dealer who would unload and deliver by himself. We had no fans, no air conditioners, just screens over the windows to keep flies and mosquitoes out during summers. We had no phones, no TV’s, no radios, no VCR, no refrigeration. How did we survive? Oh, yes, we made it, and it wasn’t so bad, was it?
• Our day and night marshals would walk over the town area, checking doors, windows and such. A break-in was a rarity. They had no patrol cars, no radios, just a pistol and a flashlight and maybe a night stick.
•What a day! A loaf of bread bought at the store. No, it wasn’t sliced. You just broke off what you wanted.
• Our Saturday night get-together was to enjoy the Saturday night Hit Parade. It was almost always at the home of the Coles, Wolfes, Hataways, and others, depending on who had a radio.
• I recall when neighbors and friends would dig the graves, later to refill the graves. I recall helping do this in our “Union Cemetery.” We used picks and shovels.
• Mr. J.H. Kasdan was invited every 3 to 4 years to speak during Chapel time on a given Monday morning. He told of his experiences of leaving his native land, Russia. He walked for weeks during freezing weather to a place of debarkation. Upon his arrival at New Orleans, his walk started again. He came finally to Union. He had relatives in Philadelphia. He was a Russian Jew. He left a land ruled by the Czars. (He opened a dry goods store Kasdan’s at206 Main St. in 1919 and it closed in 1975, tb).
• There was a Grand Ole Opry Tent Show in the park area now Sessums Field. Grandpa Jones was here with them.
• Home builders of Union area — Uncle Henry Staton, R.T. Staton, Alton and Clyde Staton followed by their sons. Mr. George Hays, son Sam Hays, Alvis Matthews, and Jim Service. They built many nice homes and businesses over the years.
• The rains came down. Flooding came at both railroad crossings. People had fun wading.
Many thanks go to Judy Moss and Vickie Hancock, daughters of Mr. Whitten, for sharing his memories of Union with us.
Here are this week’s questions:
• Do you know when Jack Laird closed his car lot?
• Do you know who owned Drew Motor Co. (used car lot) on Decatur St.?
Contact me at teresablount26@yahoo.com or 109 Woodhaven Dr., Union 39365, or 601-774-5564 with information or memories.
