An artifact that many Union residents living in the first portion of the twentieth century will recall with fond memories is the Buckwalter Lumber Company steam whistle. People of all ages could organize their daily schedules around this familiar sound from around 1906 until the Buckwalter mill closed in 1962.
This “gong” style whistle produced sound with the aid of live steam, which acted as a vibrating system. The 1906 A.C. Fairbanks catalog listed it as a 6-inch Sinker-Davis Bell Cast Iron Gong Steam Whistle.
This whistle was mounted horizontally on a vertical axis, forming a “T” shape. The vertical part was the steam pipe that provided live steam from the boiler, and the cross bar was the actual whistle. Each end of the whistle, called “a bell,” produced a different sound. As the lever on the valve was pulled, the valve opened and allowed steam to escape through the orifice. That steam produced vibration in the bells creating the sound.
In addition, the same boiler that produced the steam which traveled up the vertical part of the whistle was later used by Tri-C Wood Products to produce steam for drying lumber in the kilns until 1984. It was removed in the 1990s and sold for scrap iron. Prior to demolition, the whistle was removed for a keepsake.
An interesting yet often unknown part of the story of the whistle involved maintenance of the boiler in the dead of winter. When temperatures dipped to 25 degrees or below, someone had to stay up with the boiler all night to keep it fired lest the fire die out. Bro. Bobby Barfoot was one who considered himself fortunate enough to take turns spending many a cold night babysitting the boiler. One would think the boiler room would be a “toasty” location to spend the night since a wood-fired boiler was in the middle of the room. Not true, however. On an extremely cold night, sitting about four to six inches from the boiler shell was a water level sight glass that showed the water level in the boiler. The sight glass was about six feet off the ground. There was always a constant light drip of water from a valve immediately beneath it. On those cold nights, icicles would form all the way to the ground - and that was within four to six inches of the boiler shell! It was raw cold for those men tending the boiler in extremely cold weather!
Another memento of Union’s past, a picture of the 1927 UHS baseball team, was shared by Ashley Burroughs, whose great-uncle Herbert Worthen was a member of that team. Of equal importance, taped to the back of his picture is a unique piece of letterhead stationery from Peoples Drug Store, which opened at 108 Main Street (H & H Pawn Shop today) in September 1926 and closed at some time before 1936. On that paper, the names of the players were listed along with the team’s win-loss record of 10-2, that team receiving its only two defeats by Newton. Also, it showed the team’s scoring a total of 126 runs as opposed to the 73 runs scored by their opponents. The 1927 team’s schedule included Hickory, Forest, Philadelphia, Morton, Newton, and Bay Springs.
In addition, Ashley’s great-uncle George Worthen, Herbert’s younger brother, first attended Ole Miss and then Mississippi State College in Starkville. He served as Student Body President at both schools. Years later, in 1991-1992, Union’s Rhea Tannehill also served as Student Body Association President at Ole Miss.
I have had a request to list the mayors of Union since the first election in 1905:
John Portis, 1905; F.B. Nicholson 1906; Joe Houston, 1908-09; J.H. Cleveland 1909-10; A.C. Freeman 1911; J.G. Wilson, 1911-12; W.C. Longmire, 1913-14; J.L. Snowden, 1915-16; J.D. Pace, 1917-19; W.R. Carleton, 1920-24; H.L. Majors, 1925-28; H.L. Bayless, 1929-30; H.L. Majors, 1931-32; W.R. Carleton, 1933-40; H.G. Stamper, 1940-1952; W.G. “Scrap” Luke 1953-57; Covert Jenkins, 1958-61; W.G. “Scrap “ Luke 1961-68; Ed Ogletree, 1969-1981; Bob Parks, 1981-84; Larry Addy, 1985-89; Max Sessums, 1990-2009; Wayne Welch, 2009-today.
If you have memories to share, contact me at teresablount26@yahoo.com or 601-774-5564.
