Uncle Roy Shell, a long time Franklin County supervisor from Knoxville, offered this advice to the board of supervisors in Meadville, “We must open our meetings with a prayer and close our meetings with a story well told!

On one occasion when I ran a small logging enterprise, I was at Henry Lee Smith’s Shop on Mississippi 33 checking on some equipment he was working on for me.

Uncle Ray was there, too. He asked what I was doing? I mentioned that the Southern pine beetles were keeping me pretty busy, and that I was logging a “bug spot” across the road to Meadville from Uncle Dan Shell’s trailer house.

He excitedly inquired if I was in the middle of the old cemetery at that location. That really got my attention. I said that the U.S. Forest Service Ranger had painted marks on the trees to cut and didn’t indicate anything about a cemetery. I had reconnoitered the area and was satisfied everything was safe.

Anyway, Uncle Roy was sure he knew where that cemetery was located. In fact he said there was a grave in it that was 13-feet deep.

Now, that was preposterous, and I asked for an explanation.

He said the family representative had engaged a fellow to dig the grave at the rate of dollar a foot. Well, this fellow got all his boys to help him and when the family representative come back to pay the man they had gotten down to 13 feet. I inquired if they had to fill it some so it wouldn’t be too deep.

No they buried the deceased the full depth!

Now, that is a “story” well told!

We need your story, too, for our Veterans Home Books fundraiser! How about it folks? Contact me at 601-445-8706.

 

Erle Drane is the Natchez Veterans Service Officer.