Appleton Homecoming 2004

A photo entry provided by Jodi Hendon (daughter of Vera Dell Crawford Murray, 3rd child of Mary Willie Lee)

Cornerstone of Church and front of the church.

Don't ask Jodi about the matching shirts.

Don't you love a small town parade?

Confessions of a California Cop

The following story is provided by Carol Allen

I have to admit that I was one of the thieves who took mementos from the Appleton house some years ago. It was probably the last time I was in Appleton and I think it was about 2002 or 2003? Uncle Joe was with us and the old homestead was abandoned and in bad shape. My brother Jon discovered that they had tried to dig a basement which was unsuccessful and now full to the top with black stagnant water. Jon said they must have gotten into the water table and no doubt that hole was full of rats and snakes as well!
Well, the house looked sad and empty and we all peered into the windows from the front porch. I went around back and found a window already broken next to the back porch door. I reached in and opened the door and my burglary was complete. I was in. I walked to the front of the house through the country kitchen and noticed the floor was sagging in the middle! EEEK! To have fallen through into that black water still gives me the chills. I opened the front door and invited all the family in to visit for a spell.
Most of the house had been "updated" with paneling on the walls and new hollow doors where the old walls and doors once stood. I know the pastor and his wife probably worked very hard on the renovations and now the old house was strangely odd and quiet. But upstairs in a bedroom was an untouched area. The old plank door had been removed and replaced but the old door was leaning up against the wall-no doubt ready for the junk heap. I took out my handy Swiss army knife and a few screws later-the doorknob was removed and in my custody. I think this is the same room where an unidentified sister of mine peeled a large piece of wallpaper from the unpaneled wall. (There are rumors that she will write more on this later.)
By the time I left the scene of the crime, other thefts were taking place...someone took the well pulley from the porch, someone else took a piece of wallpaper and a piece of floor tile, and someone even backed up their vehicle and took a huge paving stone(s) from the walkway! (Editorial Note: I did not participate nor was I present at the burglary, but somehow I ended up with one of these stones. Hmmm!) Uncle Joe said that he remembers Lattie hauling those stones by oxcart from far, far away. I locked up the house and we fled the scene of the crime.
I still feel a little guilty at my leadership in this day but I knew that the items we pilfered meant nothing to the owners of the house. I wonder, does anybody even know if it is still standing and occupied or if the Kudzu vines have taken over and started bringing it down to the ground?
Well there, I have confessed. I will retire from my job in a few months so don't anybody get any ideas of turning me in to my superiors-they won't care as I am soon to be out the door-eastbound through the houses for the last time!

The 11th Montgomery Child

I have had a couple of inquires about an 11th Montgomery child. I knew there was an 11th child that died as an infant, but did not have any additional information. Carol Allen, the youngest of Scottie Hope, sent me the following story.


When my sister Kathleen and I were in Arkansas once, Uncle Joe told us the story. When my mother Scottie was about a year or two old, Kate was pregnant with her last child. Lattie's mother was having dementia problems and had come to live with the Montgomery household. They were living in Kibler and Lattie was working for a man who was raising horses. Joe drove us out there and located the spot where they lived but a barn off in the distance was all we could see. The field was waist high in tick and chigger laden weeds and Joe had to call Kathleen back from climbing the fence for a hike out there. This was where our mom had been born and Kathleen wanted to go see what she could find. Well, as I said, Scottie had been born while they lived there and now Kate was going to have her 11th child. One day, the grandmother was walking near the fire and fell into it. Kate jumped up and pulled her out, saving her life. Joe told me that the grandmother was not harmed but Janet remembers hearing that she was badly burned. Well, Kate went into labor and delivered a premature little boy named Buchanan. Uncle Joe said they called him a "blue baby" because he wasn't able to breathe correctly due to immature lungs. They made a bed for him out of a box and kept him near the stove to be warm. He only lived two weeks and is buried in the cemetery just outside of VanBuren on Kibler Road. This is the cemetery that is adjacent to where Arnold and Jean Stratton used to live. Uncle Joe said that years ago, Tim Burris went to the cemetery to try and locate the grave of our Uncle Buchanan. Tim was told that it was probably unmarked and that the records were burned a long time ago when the caretaker's building burned to the ground. Jean Stratton and I walked through the graves once and found the area where the dates on the stones would have matched the time, 1922 or so, but we didn't see any evidence of a Montgomery grave marker. The Montgomery clan moved back to Appleton when my mother was in her early teens and started living in the big house. Joe said they moved because the climate in the hills was better than the flatlands of Kibler. A doctor had built and owned the Montgomery house originally and I believe they lived there until Kate and then Lattie died.

Thanks for the story Carol, and if anyone has any additional information, send me an email, or post a comment.