The Courier News from Blytheville, Arkansas • Page 7

(WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1958 BLYTHEVILLE (ARK.) COURIER NEWS PAGE SEVKlt Keiser: Nearing 40th Birthday By EDNA BROWN (Courier News Correspondent) Keiser, a progressive town which was incorporated in 1934 and now has a population of 520, was established In 19H by B. E. Lee Wilson. Until that time, it was known as Savage Crossing. Keiser was named in honor of Lee Wilson's friends and H.

P. Dunavant's sister, Mr. nnd Mrs. John Keiser, who owned several thousand acres near the town site. In 1911, when Mr.

Dunavant moved there to look after his sister's interests, the site of Keiser was swamps and cane-breaks. R. E. Lee Wilson traded 80 acres of his land to John Lowell of Osce- bla, and Keiser was built on that 80. Alvin Wunderlick moved his stave mill and saw mill there and cut the timber.

The clearing the land was begun in 1914. It was In 1915 that Lee Wilson started store-keeping in a box car, where the first sale was 10 cents of Brown Mule tobacco. The first year's sales amounted to $26,000. Kaiser's Main Straat Kalsak' Supply Company Prom this improvised affair, the store has prospered and progressed to the present modern structure thai offers one of the most complete stocks of merchandise in Mississippi County. Known as Keiser Supply, it is still owned and operated by Lee Wilson Co.

They also own all the businesses on one side of the railroad tracks. These In- elude the bank, drug store, service station, cotton gin, hardware store, gas and oil bulk plant, general merchandise store and office. Bruce Wilson is general manager. B. R.

MOORE was the first store manager. He also operated the post office in the first store building and was the postmaster until 1920. The present Post Office is third class and the postmistress' is Mrs. Robert H. Harris.

She has held this position for almost 14 years, with Miss Faye Keith as assistant. Alton Hall is the carrier on the star route out of Osceola. They meet both trains and get mail twice daily. The Post Office is located In the rear of the bank building. The present business places in Keiser are too numerous to name.

There is most every kind of business you would expect to find in a town of that size. Mr. and Mrs. W. M.

Taylor were In business longer than any one except Lee Wilson Co. They moved to Keiser in 1917 and started business in 1920. They owned and operated a general merchandise store and a cotton gin until 1950, when they sold out to Coleman Crews. The Taylors are now retired. As Keiser is located In the heart of the cotton belt, the cotton gins are continually called upon to do more and better work.

The first gin that Lee Wilson erected Keiser was onry a three stand gin. It was soon replaced with four stands, but when the four-stand gin handled 8,532 bales of cotton and demanded more replacements to take care of the farmer's in that section of the county. Today, the gin has 10 stands and Is one of the most modern and well-equipped in that section. -In 1949, it ginned 11,852 bales, a record. Stock judges McGinnii, Cockerham, Wilfaankt Church of Christ hard-surfaced its main street, and oiled the gravel streets to keep down the dust.

They have installed modern street purchased a truck and organized the Keiser Sanitary department. All garbage arid refuse is picked up regularly, thereby helping to keep the town more attractive and sanitary. They also have had a new well drilled at the cost of $20.000. They already have a water system and have signed the contract for a fire truck. All this represents about a $75,000 expenditure.

JOE BILLIARD has been the mayor since R. H. Robinson resigned Kaisar Grada School Nagro School Building MRS. GATHA Watson has been the assistant of Keiser office of the Bank of Wilson for the past six years, with Miss Shirley Amos as teller and bookkeeper. Until 1947 it was known as Keiser Exchange and at that time, it was changed to a bank.

It is located in one of the first buildings erected In Keiser. Dr. and Mrs. J. T.

Polk came to Keiser in 1927. He is the only doctor there and therefore has a very busy life. He is also a surgeon and is on the staff of Osceola Memorial Hospital. They have one daughter, Linda, who is now Mrs. Snow Wilson of Osceoln.

There are three churches In Keiser. The Baptist Church was founded in 1918, with 11 charter members. At the present time, it has 200 members, with the Rev. C. S.

Womack as pastor. Mrs. Robert Harris is Training Union leader, Mrs. Jack Zook is president of W.M.U. And Kenneth Allred is superintendent of Sunday School.

The church is now busily engaged in redecorating the interior of the building. The Methodist Church has as its pastor, the J. H. Harrison. The Sunday School superintendent Is Eddie Halsey, W.S.C.S, president is Mrs.

J. H. Harrison and the M.Y.F. leader is Miss Hazel The church has recently been redecorated and a rest room added. The P.P.A.

boys at school had to remove some boards from the north side of the church building to get some bees that had made their home inside the wall, so when they replaced the boards, the painted the entire side. High Sehool'i 72 trcfhta THE CHURCH of Christ established in 1937. Don Fike now serves both the Keiser church and Little River Church of Christ on highway 77. He is only 23 years old, and a 1952 graduate of Harding College in Searcy. This is his first ministry.

Has been in Keiser for two-years, serving there while he was attending school. He has recently been married. The Keiser Church of Christ has also recently redecorated its church building. Pour classrooms and a baptistry have been added to the church. The Ladlns Bible meets each Tuesday at 2 p.

m. at the church. All three churches arc giving baskets to the needy of Keiser and surrounding community during the Christmas holidays. During World War II, the Govn- ernmenl established a Prison camp si Keiser. There hey kept 300 German prisoners for a year and nine months.

Two officers and 36 guards were at the camp. One of the was George Cunningham, a butcher at Kclscr Supply. The old barracks have all been torn down and the materials used In other buildings. Within the past year, Kclscr has Mayor Bruce Wilson and moved to Osceola in the spring. Elections were recently held and the following officers were elected to take office Jan.

Bruce Wilson, mayor; W. T. Crews, recorder; and Trumalee Watson, treasurer. The aldermen are W. M.

Taylor, James Bowles, A. R. Pace, Roy Langston and H. P. Mills.

H. P. Dunivant, 8on of Dr. H. C.

Dunivant of Osceola, moved to Keiser in 191.1 with his family, making them the oldest residents of Keiser. They built the first telephone line there, eight children. There they raised All of them are married but the youngest daughter, Miss Buford Dunivant, who is leaching music in the blind school in Little Rock. Mr. Dunivant has been retired had charge of the Christmas program in assembly.

When school resumes after the holidays, they plan to help decorate the school cafeteria. THE SCHOOL has an active Parent-Teachers Association with Mrs. Laura Johnson as president. Their money-making event is the Halloween carnival. Their project for the year -is to replace the nine typewriters and the one adding machine that were stolen from the commercial department recently.

E. M. Halsey has been the teacher and advisor of the school's agricultural department for the past seven years. Among the accomplishments of F.F.A. chapter was the cotton production record set in 1950 by Kay Bradford.

who Won second place in the state competition. He, with Mr. Halsey, was honored at the state recognition banquet, held in Little Rock. The next year. Tommy Parish received the State Farmers degree, the highest honor for an F.F.A.

boy outside of the American Farmer degree. The Keiser chapter was invited to entertain at the convention hall in Monticello. Ttte talent included a team of two dancers, Betty Lou Hall and G'enn Brazil, and a soloist, Jenette 'Woodward. The following fall they were invited to appear on the talent show at the Mid-South fair in Memphis. In 1952, Keiser F.P.A.

chapter placed first in the Federation contest on talent and beauty and parliamentary proceedings. In tho spring of 19S3, David Wllbanks placed second in the Federation public speaking contest, as did Keiser parliamentary team. This past fall. Reiser's live-stock judging team, composed of Steve Cockerham. David Wilbanks, and Harold McGinnis, won first place in the district.

During the past three years the livestock judging team has won $130 for the chapter with their booth at the Blylhevllle district fair. SOME TIME ago, Mr. Halsey started them out on a pig chain. The pigs were all registered Dull from business for the past five years because of ill health. He served as president of the Local school board for 34 years.

The first school In Keiser was established in 1915 with five pupils. Three of them were the Dunivant children and the others were the Lee girl and the Moore girl. The one-room building was of rough materials. The picture now hangs in the corridor of the High School and Is a far cry from the building they now enjoy. The high school building was erected in 1929 and the new grade school building in 1949.

The school is affiliated with the North Central Association and employs 24 teachers, with A. A. Adams as Superintendent. The late C. N.

Dial had been the Supt. for 14 years until his death in last August. Prior to this year Mr. Adams was principal of the grade school. His wife is the school secretary.

The faculty lovingly refer to them as Adam and Eve. E. C. DERRY is an important- factor in the school. He has been with them for 15 years as main- tanence man, caretaker and janitor.

The grade school building is modern, constructed of fireproof materials, with all the modern conveniences. Brewer Hefner is the principle. He has a patrol that is a -at help, both on and off the campus. The grade school has an assembly program once a month with a different room participating each time. Mr.

Hefner Is also a new father. He is the sponsor of the Student Councii, with Mack Graham as president of the council. Mack is 17 years old, a senior treasures of his class. He Is also the editor of the school newspaper, The Yellow Jacket, and the son of Mr. and Mrs.

Dewey Graham. The Home Economics department is under the supervision of Mrs. O. E. Honeycutt of Dell.

She Is also the district advisor for Future Ilomemakers of America. The chapter has 36 members. Kvclyn Cockerham the district secretary. This year the girls had a "Hobo Day" and $40 to celebrate F.H.A. week, They are using this money in the Home EC.

cottage. They have parents. rocs. Tills is the way the pig chaii. works: One registered pig Is given to a boy.

When the pig farrows, he returns two of the pigs to the chapter. They in turn are given out, so the chain grows. They have around a thousand Duroc hogs in the Keiser community, all from this chain. All of them that have been shown have placed in the money. Three of the boys who were In the district judging contest in the hog show were David Whitehead, Billy Crafton and Girdley.

The crop Judging team also won second place at the Mid-South Fair. The Chapter Is now carrying on a fat barrow project in co-operation With the school cafeteria. The officers of the local chapter are Steve Cockcrham, president; David Wll- banks, vice president; Bobby Dixon, secretary; John Wright, treasurer; Robert Stevenson, reporter; and Billy Lambert, senlinal. The P.F.A. chapter chose Miss Dawn Faye Hall to he their Sweetheart for this year.

She is a junior, 16 years old, a songr leader in F.H.A., reporter for her class, and a member of the girls basketball team. She is the daughter of Mr. Baptist Church and Mrs. Alton Hall. THE KEISER.

Trophy case Is a joy to behold. It holds 72 trophies, all won during the past 15 years. Most of them were won in recent years, and R5 of them were won by the girls' basketball teams. Since Austin Hanner came to Keiser as coach in 1951, the. girls' basketball team has won 45 games and lost seven.

In 1940 and 1941. they were in the finals of the state tourna- henl and In 1S42, in finals of the district meet. In 1947, they played in district tournament and were county champs in 1948. district champs in 1951 and county champs again in 1953. The 1953 football team at Reiser won the district championship this year for the first time in the history of the school.

The athletic de- partment is a busy place and ifr. Hanner is a busy man, as he also is principal of the high school. The Negro school at Keiser established In 1950, when small schools were Before that time, they were teaching in churches. The grade school building, that had been used for the white children was moved out on the highway and was enlarged. It is now an eight-grade school.

The building is of wood construe- tlon painted green, with class rooms and an auditorium. There are three teachers. Sandy Robinson is the principal. He ftlso operates the school bus. Superintendent of Keiser schools is A.

A Dr. J. T. Polk Dawn Faya Hall Mack Graham Calumet News Robert Earl Davis spent the week end in Memphis with his Mrs. Maxlne Blankcnship.

sister, Mr. nnd Mrs. Bill Mansers'pent Sunday with Miss Sue s'p 1 and lixed up a sick room In the cottage i for girls made the skirt for dressing table nnd stool, the curtains and Tom Smith and Herb Smith spent use of the entire school. lne Christmas holidays with their pnrents, Mr. and Mrs.

C. 0. Smith. Misses IjOrine Hendon and Grade the bedspread, all of red and white Fay Smith left Sunday for Chicago candy stripped materials. where they arc making their home.

They have been making dresses Mr. and Mrs. Owen Golf of Bal- wearing apparel, arfino, spent Thursday as taught them to with Mr. nnd Mrs, W. D.

Di and all kinds of Mrs. Honeycutt has taught line a cost. Recently, they made decorations for the school Christmas parties, and held one in the. home economics Cottage. They also us their guest over the holidays Mrs, Wnite spent night Dubb McCann and family arc spending a few days In Florida.

Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Frankum their son, Charles Frankum of Washington.

Mrs. Less Davis, who has been ill at her home, has improved. Mr. and Mrs. winlred Blanken- shlp of Memphis spent Thursday night with Mr.

and Mrs. Duward Davis and family. Miss Dorothy Carter spent Thursday night With her uncle, Thomas Carter. The Rev. and Mrs.

Ailen Vanhorn spent Sunday with Miss Louise Smith. Mr. and Mrs. E. J.

Nl.von spent the Christmas holiday with relatives In Mlddleton, Tenn. Charles Brewer of Chicago, 111., spent the Christmas with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Hap Brewer, 'and family. S.

G. Smith led (or the Array last week. Miss Carolyn Frankum spent Sunday with Do' Carter, Mr. nnd Mrs. Charley Eubanks Christmas day with her parents, Mr.

und Mrs. L. W. Davis. day with Mrs.

Rose Roberts family. WAKiVING ORDER Charles Edward Booker li warned to appear in the Chancery Court for the Chickasawba District of Mississippi County, Arkansas, within thirty days next after the date hereof, to answer a complaint filed against him in said court by Frank J. Wagner and Louise Booker. Dated this 22nd day of December, 1953. GERALDINE USTON, Clttlt.

Marcus Evrard, ally, for pltf. Jesse Taylor, ad litem. EXPERT WATER PUMP REPAIR Hubbord Hardware Mil.