David Patton, Palmer Historian
2009
Due to time constraints, Mr. Patton regrets that he cannot personally respond to every comment and inquiry. Like most small town historians, he is an unpaid community volunteer and makes no claim of “knowing everything” about local history. For a detailed account of Grundy County history, he recommends that you consult your copy of the Grundy County Heritage Book.
However, if you have information you would like to share, you may write him at
50 Dogwood St.; Palmer, TN 37365, and he will attempt to respond through this page as time and circumstances allow. Your courtesy and understanding will be appreciated. Ms. Susan Sissom and other volunteers will be assisting Mr. Patton in transmitting this material, but have no personal knowledge as to the veracity of its contents.
SEPTEMBER 2009
Palmer News
“Try to remember, a time in September.” These song lyrics remind us that this is our favorite month of the year with its combination of a little bit of summer and a little bit of Fall.
This beautiful month will be missed in the upcoming winter as the lyrics continue “deep in December, it’s nice to remember,” and it will be.
Palmer’s Labor Day celebration was another big success as usual, this year. Former residents Andrew Shrum, Jr. and Drema Roberts came over from Chattanooga to see old friends.
“You’re a good Christian man, the blight won’t hit your tomatoes.” But, alas, it did! A woman said this to Carl “Teeter” Morrison, but he lost his tomatoes like almost everyone else. Doesn’t the Good Book say something about things happening to the just as well as the unjust?
Despite the tomato blight good gardeners such as Larry “Farmer” Crabtree, Bobby Stinnett, Christy Meeks, William Grimes, Booger Hammers, Howard Lewis, James Jacks, Becky Morrison, Rhonda Harrison Green and too many others to mention had plenty of vegetables.
Joel Patton had another patch of good watermelons out in Coalmont and down in Pelham, the “Tomato Queen of Pelham Valley", Janelle Layne Taylor had a bumper crop although the blight killed most of the mountain maters.
Kenneth Layne, son of the late Clell Layne, put out 1700 plants and should have tomatoes for sale until frost in Gruetli-Laager.
We stopped a couple times this summer and visited with Luevenia Sanders Rollins and her grandson Jimmy up on Burnt Orchard Hill. She’s 88 and the widow of Smokey Rollins and the daughter of the late Theo Sanders. Jimmy had a little garden and says he picked cucumbers until he was sick of it. In one four-day period, he got 110 cucumbers.
One of the joys of gardening is giving and receiving vegetables. We got corn from Howard Lewis, Bobby Stinnett, Joel Patton and William Grimes and okra from Larry Crabtree. We gave vegetables to Ann Creighton and her sisters Joyce Conry as well as Helen Arbuckle, Harold James, Jerry Cannon, Edna Crabtree, Eddie and Rita Crabtree and others.
Another wonderful part of summer is looking at the beautiful flowers as we walk around town.
Allie Jean “Shorty” Sanders, Becky Guffey, Margaret, Edna & Rita Crabtree, Christy Smith and Ann Creighton all had pretty ones.
We had a pot of red begonias near the porch when Judy Anderson Harrison came around with her Jehovah Witness magazines. “Those were my mother’s favorite flower”, she said. Judy has a pretty flower garden of her own. She is the daughter of the late Riley, Sr. and Keneatha Kilgore Anderson.
We always enjoy putting some color in the yard at Palmer Methodist and had 3 baskets of red begonias in a tree this year.
Denise Morrison and her mother Connie Cannon had flowers in the community park where the old railroad “Wye” was and Tom and Freida Burnett had flowers at First Baptist church as well as a beautiful display at their home. It’s always good to see a business looking good and Valerie Sanders had some very pretty container flowers at Palmer Drugs.
We saw a flight of geese on the 14th, which is supposed to mean they’re flying south for the winter. Sometimes you can hear them honking as they fly high above.
Jimmy Brooks has a horseshoe pit at his home and has enjoyed that this summer with friends. We didn’t know anyone locally played the once popular game of horseshoes any more. Many of you will remember his grandfather Flop Brooks.
Ida Pearl Brown of Coalmont and her niece Becky came by to visit us recently. Ida Pearl had to move from Palmer to an apartment building in Coalmont last year because of bad health. She drove a school bus for years including when Mr. Raymond Hargis was school Superintendent.
Mary Ruth Rogers is recovering from a broken ankle suffered in a fall at her home, but almost died in the hospital because of a malfunction in a morphine pump, which was giving too much medication.
Palmer rainfall for August was 2.75” In 1999, we had 1.4”
We enjoyed visiting our childhood friend Preston Knowlan in Gruetli-Laager last month. We talked about the tomato blight and Preston said his Dad, Fate Knowlan would take a small amount of hardwood, burn it to white ashes, then mix it a jar of the strong unsweetened Bruton Snuff and sprinkle over and around the plants. “I can’t ever remember the blight hitting Daddy’s tomatoes”, he said.
Former resident Martha Carroll Cox Hensley and husband Jim came through the area for a visit and met old friends at the Western Sizzlin’ in Jasper.
Among those enjoying the food and memories of old times in Palmer were Betty Sue McGovern and her sister Nancy, Mickey Cleek Suter, Charles Bailey Brooks, Anita Finch Crabtree, Henrietta Nunley Tucker, Raymond Long, Anna Lou Hill Hatfield, Dolly Dyer Shadrick and Jerry Cannon and his sister Sis Layne. It was a Dutch treat affair, but Jerry hit the jackpot when an old Ducktown childhood friend came to the rescue. “Nancy paid for my lunch,” he said.
What’s for supper? Not to be outdone, we also got a treat when our friend Michelle Campbell Travis brought us a Labor Day supper consisting of Grilled chicken and hamburgers, potato salad, slaw, and baked beans. Thanks a lot, Michelle.
Happy 68th birthday to Donna Shadrick LeCroy. Family and friends gathered on the 15th to visit and share cake and ice cream. Donna is wheelchair bound with the hereditary Huntington’s disease. She’s the widow of Larry LeCroy and among the guests were his brother Don and their mother Mamie Layne LeCroy who is 90 now.
Tootsie Cannon Smith has been sick lately, but is still driving and seems to be getting better. Tootsie is one of our favorite people and has been a big help on Palmer history work.
We received a couple of letters from Allene Nunley Hargis this month. She’s Tootsie’s cousin and lives in Tucson, AZ. Allene says she planted onions and lettuce in her flower garden back in the spring and had more than she could use. She misses people in Palmer and enjoys hearing from them and mentioned how good tomatoes in Palmer always tasted. The widow of “Little Ray” Hargis, they had a big family, and I’m sure some of you went to school with them.
Well, this month begins our fourth year of coming to you via this website. It takes a lot of time to do so, but we enjoy it and hope it keeps you connected to your old hometown.
So, on behalf of Jerry Cannon and all the others here “where the good people live”, have an enjoyable fall in your part of the country and check back in with us during spooky month.
Old Sayings & Figures of Speech in Grundy County, TN
1. That makes so mad I can’t see straight. Southerners are a hot - headed lot and you used to hear this all the time.
2. I’m as weak as a kitten. People used to say this when they were recovering from the flu or other illness. The real flu will make you weak as a kitten.
3. I’ve got to bath them. We hadn’t heard this in a long time until recently. Instead of “bathe” the person said “bath”.
4. She’s all dolled up. That meant a woman nicely dressed and with make-up who looked pretty as a doll.
5. That’s highway robbery. This was said a lot when something was over priced. It meant a brazen attempt to over charge.
6. He’s a pea brain. This described a person whom the speaker regarded as not very smart or someone who thought they knew more than the actually did.
7. He won’t turn his hand. This meant a person wouldn’t try to do any work on a project or whatever the endeavor was. Such people would often try to be the boss or criticize others though.
8. That’s a bunch of baloney. Bologna or “baloney” is a cheap southern lunchmeat that is still very popular until this day. Years ago people used this old saying to describe something they heard but disagreed with or didn’t believe.
9. I put a nanner in my lunch box. We haven’t heard a banana called this in a long time, but probably will soon.
10. Speaking of the Devil – Two people would be talking and if someone walked in or drove up unexpectedly they would often teasingly say, “speaking of the Devil” as though they’d been discussing the person. We haven’t heard this in a while. People used to tease each other a lot and most people had a good sense of humor.
Newspaper Clipping
