NEWS FROM LONG AGO August 2, 1918 The first two Choctaw boys to land in France were James N. Black and Jack Hemphill. They left home on the 17th day of May, 1917; enlisted in 7th Field Artillery at Jackson, Miss., Mr. Black in Battery A and Mr. Hemphill in Battery B. They received training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas and sailed on the 23rd day of July 1917 for France. These young men were the first Choctaw boys to set foot on French soil. They are now on the firing line, doing their bit to make the world safe for democracy, “fighting to keep our county on the map of the world and our flag in heaven.” Jim N. Black is son of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Black. Jack Hemphill is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Chas. A. Hemphill of French Camp. Frank Bagwell, of Hunt county, Texas, who went out there quite a number of years ago, and who has prospered very greatly, has been on a recent visit to his relatives in Choctaw. - Claude Maxwell, formerly of Choctaw, now of Drew, came up last week in his auto. He reports crop prospects good. - D. R. Henderson of Alexandria, La. visited relatives in this county during the last week. Mr. Henderson left here about 26 years ago, and he has prospered in his new home. - Mrs. W. P. Turnipseed and children of Ellisville, who has been on a visit in the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. F. McGee, left for their home last Tuesday, accompanied by Mrs. McGee, who will visit there for some time. Mr. Ben Castles, a gentleman whose last visit to this section was 51 years ago, then a citizen of Pickens county, Ala., now a resident of Leflore county, visited in the home of his relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Townsend Tuesday night. Fifty-one years ago in his pilgrimage to Beat Two, Attala, he spent one night in the home of his Pickens county friend, John Michael Turnipseed, who was then Chancery Clerk of Winston county. We do not know how the years sat upon him fifty years ago, but his now seventy years sit lightly upon his heart. He is now a delta man and healthy, happy, and maybe wealthy for aught we know. The 20th Century Club of Ackerman received a letter from a little French orphan lad who has been adopted by the club. One of its members wrote to him about two months ago and he replied with this letter, beautifully written in French. The lad is a fourteen-year-old who is no longer in school, but is working with his uncle and cousin at the factory. The Bywy Red Cross Auxiliary had an ice cream supper at Bywy Church Saturday night, July 21st, netting $32.06. The supper, which consisted of cream, chocolate, coffee, and sandwiches, was served from 6 o’clock until 11.
