![]() He left the island when I was very young but returned for a visit in the early 1930s and our teacher, Miss Georgia Cash, gave us a short recess so we could go out and say, “Hello,” as he was walking up the road. some say he was 106 years of age and some claimed he was 116 at the time of his death. Epps was respectfully called, died in the late 1930s or early 1940s. ![]() Pennel died in 1898 and Uncle Jerry, as Mr. The island’s first two residents were George Pennel and Jerry Epps. However, it is said to be only 11 miles long and two miles wide now, since much of it is has washed into the river. Although I was born and lived 17 or 18 years on the island, I never gave much thought to its particulars. One preacher described it as resembling a big pork chop. It has been described as being the shape of a horseshoe. It was settled in 1849 and was said to be, in my early childhood, 14 miles long and seven miles wide. Reverie, Tennessee, better known as Island 35, is an island in the Mississippi River, approximately 40 miles north of Memphis with Wilson, Arkansas, to the west side and Richardson’s Landing, Tennessee to the northeast of the island. The Sunday School superintendent at that time was Squire Neal, a relative of Mrs. One of the preachers that preached there in those days when the church was relatively new was a Rev. He said, “I don’t remember the number but the church was always full.” It was on the Randolph circuit then and it remained on the Hopewell, Randolph and Reverie circuit until it was discontinued. As a matter of fact it was between the school and the old Dock and Donaldson place.ĭixon Chapel got its name from the Dixon community across from the head of the island. The site was on the upper side of the school on the head of the island. It was built in the early 1900s, possibly 1903 or 1904. The church, known as Dixon Chapel, was a Methodist Church. Mobley were vising doctors during the years from Wilson, Arkansas. Jack Witherington was a visiting doctor from Covington, Tennessee. the doctor’s residence was at the old cedar tree house where there was a beautiful rose garden and a lattice fence which made a beautiful setting.ĭr. Poe were also resident doctors on the island. Hamilton who had an office between the house and well of the old Byford home place, which at that time was the Hamilton home. Ervet who had an office just below the church. Then in the early 1900s a motor-driven ferry boat called the Market Bay was put into service.Īlthough I’ve never heard what the exact population was back in those early days, it must have been quite a few people, because there were four practicing doctors at one time. You could drive over from both ways.Īs I understand it, people could drive to Drummonds or Munford or wherever on the Tennessee side until the Mississippi River changed courses.Īfter the stream grew larger, a hand-propelled barge was used. In the early years there was only a stream separating a community straight across from the head of the island known as Dixon community, which is believed to be an extension of the Tennessee mainland. I never thought of it before, perhaps no one else did either. It seems at one time the island was actually a peninsula. John Cash’s Store was on the upper part of the island. The James Smith Store was on the old Jess Pennel place. Chiles General Store stood near the old gin site on the lower part of the island. During this period there were two gins, two saw mills and four stores.ī. Chiles farmed the foot of the island and practiced medicine only in emergencies. Chiles, Tennessee, stood near the old gin site. For several years back in those early years, there were two post offices. Some of the earlier settlers settled on this land and it became Reverie. ![]() George Pennel owned land from about midway of the island on the chute side to the foot. In the years when the island was still fairly new, Mr. These facts were given to me by one of the island’s oldest living former residents, Emery Craig, who with his wife Myrtle now lives in Millstadt, Illinois, with a daughter, Dorothy Lutes. ![]() Rather than start over, I am going to make the book in two parts. ![]() But after I had the story well under way I received some very interesting facts about the earlier years on the island and they are too important to leave out. ISLAND 35: When I started writing this book, I planned to write as I knew the island in the years I lived there, starting with what information I had read about, like when it was settled, when the post office was established, the size and so on. Publishers of Biographies The Island Before My Time ![]()
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