Block 39. A Stitch in Time

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

A stitch in time. . . Block 39 of the circa 1931 Friendship Quilt in the Museum of the Itawamba County Historical Society

HARRISON, W.A., Block 39

Willis A. Harrison, age 48, farmer of Tilden is listed on the 1920 census with wife Ida C., 38, daughters Ruby M., 16, Ruth M, 14., Maggie L., 9, and sons Fred L., 19, Tom H., 12, and John Paul Harrison, 7.

In 1930, Willis A Harrison, 59, is listed as a proprietor of a cafe in Fulton. His family resided on Wiygul Street and included wife Ida, 58, son John P., 16, daughters Ruby, 24, Lois, 18, and a lodger Jack Mix, 24, operator of a picture machine (motion picture projectionist?).

NEALY, T.H., Block 39

Information was not found to identify T.H. Nealy.

McWUTT, Sam, Block 39. The surname is usually spelled McNUTT.

Sam McNutt, 42, widower, was a farmer listed on the 1930 census of Itawamba County, Beat 2, on the Guntown-Fulton Road. Included in his household were sons Authur, 14, and James, 6, and daughters Josie, 11, and Willie, 7.

The 1920 census of Lee County, Beat 2, Saltillo-Tupelo Road, lists farmer Sam A. McNutt, 32, wife Grattress, 21, son Athur W., 4, and daughter Josie F., 7 months.

The SSI Death Index lists Samuel McNutt as born April 3, 1887, who died in Mantachie August 1972.

Kermit McFerrin states that Sam McNutt was a brick mason, a farmer, father of three children. He is buried at Center Star Cemetery.

PATE & WOOD, Block 39

According to IHS member Joe Sheffield, this is Pate and Wood, a business.

THOMASON, W.F., Block 39

Retail grocery merchant William F. Thomason, 47, is enumerated on the 1930 census of Itawamba County, Beat 2, on Guntown-Fulton Road. Included in his household was wife Mary L., 48.

WEEKS, N. Mr., Block 39

Noonon Weeks, age 30, a farmer, is listed on the 1920 census from Pleasanton. In his household are his wife Cora L, 31, and children Edward E., 11, William E., 10, Charles R., 4, and Pearl A., 3.

In 1930, Noonan Weeks, 40, a salesman in a general store, is listed in Beat 1 on Highway 25. His household included wife Cora L., 41, sons Elmer W., 20, Charles R., 14, daughter Pearl A., 12, and lodger Homer Blalock, 25.

WEEKS, N. Mrs., Block 39

Mrs. Noonon Weeks is identified as Cora L. Weeks, age 31, on the 1920 census of Pleasanton Precinct of Itawamba County. Mr. and Mrs. Weeks had three sons, Edward E., William E., Charles R., and one daughter, Pearl A. at that time. See information at Mr. N. Weeks.

Cora L. Weeks, 41, is listed as the wife of Noonan Weeks on the 1930 census. See information at Mr. N. Weeks above.

WOOD, Walter, Block 39

Walter Wood is listed in the 1920 census of Itawamba County, Beat 2. He was age 43, a farmer, with wife Ethel, 33, sons Dewey H., 21, Belmont H., 18, Elvie M., 10, William D., 4, and daughter Corlie L., 10.

By 1930 that household was enumerated in Beat 3 along Dorsey-Cardsville Road to include Walter Wood, 54, Ethel L., 43, and sons Elvie M., 23, Lamar W.D., 14, and Walter D., 9.

A second Walter Wood is also listed on the 1930 census. Merchant and general store operator Walter Wood, 54, is noted in Fulton on Main Street with his family Lucindia, 54, Jewell, 20, Guy, 15, and Joe A., 4 months.

If you have additional information about any of the names on this quilt square, please post a comment below. Your help is needed to "write" the story of this almost eighty-year old quilt.

A stitch in time . . . The 2010 Friendship-Memory Quilt

Win the 2010 Friendship-Memory Quilt being assembled and quilted by the Itawamba Historical Society as a fundraiser. Raffle tickets are $1 each. Send your donations to the Historical Society's Quilt Project, PO Box 7, Mantachie, MS 38855 or stop by the Society's office at the Corner of Church Street and Museum Drive in Mantachie. Your donations will further the work of the Society --- and will help to keep the time-honored tradition of a community Friendship Quilt alive and well in Itawamba County.

SOURCES:

Family information from Memories from Itawamba County: A Friendship Quilt circa 1931 --- A Stitch in Time by Terry Thornton with assistance from Members of the Itawamba Historical Society, Itawamba Settlers, Quarterly Journal of the Itawamba County, Mississippi, History and Genealogy. Winter 2009, Pages 143-61.

Square from 1931 Friendship Quilt photographed by Terry Thornton, September 3, 2009, Bond's House Museum, Itawamba Historical Society, Mantachie, Mississippi.