[Granville-Hough] 17 Jan 2009 - Uncle Wilson West

[Trustees and Executors for Granville W. Hough]

Reverend Wilson West.

One of the examples of my childhood was Great Uncle Wilson West, who
became a Baptist minister in 1856. He was son of Shadrack Nelson and
Penelope (Moody) West. Some years ago, I gave all my notes on the West
family to cousin Denton West, a descendant who lived as a bachelor
farmer in the New Sardis Baptist Community just south of our Concord
Baptist Community. Denton had been a lifelong friend to my brother
Dueward Hough. I had traced the West family back to Virginia, I believe;
and Denton was quite interested in the family history.
As I had no West ancestors, I did not need the material.
Reverend Wilson West married (1) Mary Jane Hough, daughter of Zeno and
Charlotte (Watts) Hough, and they lived close to the Hough families in
Wayne, Clark, Jasper, and Smith counties. When the Civil War began,
Wilson West enlisted in Company C, 13th Miss. Infantry and served four
years. I have often wondered why he did not serve as a Chaplain, but it
may have been his lack of educational background. He was largely
self-taught. Mary Jane died in 1873 after having about 13 children, ten
of whom survived. Two of greatest interest were Nathan Clark West, and
Mary Jane (West) Sullivan, both of whom settled in Smith County. After
Mary Jane’s death, Uncle Wilson married (2) Charlotte Hough, sister to
Mary Jane. Charlotte died within a year. Uncle Wilson married twice more
and had a total of 23 children. I was never able to get the names and
children to my satisfaction for the last two wives. They were not my
cousins, so I finally gave up.
Uncle Wilson West was an active Missionary Baptist. He founded 16
churches, married 141 couples, and baptized over 1800 people. His
ministry took him into the roughest communities of the state. There is a
writeup of his ministry in one of the Baptist periodicals. As a
Confederate veteran of the 13th Mississippi, he was absolutely fearless.
Moreover, he had friends wherever his Confederate comrades settled. He
was active in the Zion Hill Baptist Church, for many years the only one
in Sullivan’s Hollow, and for a time held his membership there. One of
the churches he either established or helped establish was New Sardis,
with local supporters Joseph and Jeff Sullivan, sons of Joseph Sullivan,
Sr.
Aunt Joann (Sullivan) Richardson, daughter of Joseph, Jr, could remember
that as a young girl of 10 or 11 years of age she passed the long-leaf
pine roofing shingles up to her father so he could roof the church. The
year they built the church, Joseph and Jeff were hardly able to grow and
harvest crops. Uncle Wilson West rode the back roads of the Sullivan
settlements and met descendants of Sullivans and invited all he met to
come to the new church. Aunt Joann recalled that he traveled on
horseback, with a Bible in one saddlebag, and a bottle of whiskey in the
other. He started with the Bible and gave consolation, scripture,
guidance, and prayer. If the Bible failed, he brought out the whiskey
bottle and shared a drink. By the time he finished a meeting, the person
was committed to coming to the next church meeting. Few turned him down.
His children came with him on his ministries. Nathan C. was a good choir
leader and Mary Jane could sing and work with women. Nathan married
Celia Ann Sullivan and settled in New Sardis community. He became a
reknown Sunday School teacher, and his first cousin, Lisha Hough, would
come twenty miles just to hear his Sunday school lessons. Mary Jane West
married Loughton Sullivan, a younger son of the original Thomas Sullivan
of Sullivan’s Hollow, and they lived in Covington and Jeff Davis
counties of MS. Their descendant, Charles Sullivan, was Lieutenant
Governor of MS in the 1970 era.
There is one anecdote about the widow of Nathan West. She was known in
the community as “Aunt Celia Ann” and most people were related to her in
one way or another. She lived a long time and had a very sharp wit. She
got invited to young people’s parties as a matter of course. She was at
one such party, a hoe-down, or country dance, when a late-comer and
community cut-up, Willy McCallum, arrived after stopping off for some
moonshine. Willy came in, surveyed the scene, and yelled, “Whoopee, I
smell XXX” (a word for sexually active women). Everyone was in
consternation that Willy would say such a thing, especially in the
presence of such respected elders as Aunt Celia Ann. She spoke up
eventually and, with great deliberation and deciveness, said: “Now,
y’all don’t be too hard on Willy. He mought have smelled XXX.” She had
observed all kinds of people and knew a lot about real life. If you went
to a country hoedown, you might smell what most interested you. 

UncleWW, 3 Aug 2005.

Recollections of Harold Hopkins

Granville,

About the Sullivans, I remember attending the funeral of Will Bill at 
Zion Hill Baptist Church.  I didn't go inside but
entertained myself with other kids while the elders attended the 
ceremonies.  One of our ways of entertainment, as I recall,  was playing 
in the nearby spring or creek where converts were baptized. At least, 
that's my memory. The minister who preached the funeral was not local 
but he knew of the reputation of Wild Bill and his exploits and sinful ways.

After the funeral I heard a story going around about the funeral.  It's 
probably apocryphal or fanciful, just a story I heard it sometime after 
the funeral.  I don't vouch for it.  Yet another of those tales about 
Will Bill.

Back in those days, it was customary in our community for the minister 
when he reached the climax of a funeral sermon -- and even today -- to 
preach the late departed into Heaven.  Whoever described this funeral 
sermon said the preacher preached on and on, but seemed reluctant to 
reassure his listeners that Wild Bill now looked down from on high.  As 
he got closer and closer to the end of his talk -- and still  hadn't 
assured one and all that Bill was now in heaven -- a couple of the 
surviving kin got out of their seats and started edging slowly, and a 
bit menacingly, toward the rostrum.  Whereupon, the preacher, afraid 
that he might be made to regret his omission, quickly preached Wild Bill 
on into heaven.

One of Wild Bill's children was Myrtle Sullivan. Myrtle married Herman 
Bryant, who ran a restaurant in Mize and I believe was postmaster or a 
postal clerk at Mize for a time.  Herman and Myrtle lived in a house on 
the left side of the road -- now State Highway 35 -- that goes south up 
the hill from Mize and was about parallel with the head of the large 
gully about midway between Herman's house and the Mize High School to 
the east. They had at least two children, one named Hazel, a pretty girl 
a couple of years older than I. (GWH: the other girl was Daisy, who md 
Carl Yelverton.) I remember dating her in a kind of group party sometime 
after I grew up -- not a very adventurous experience. Wild Bill in his 
old age used to visit  with Herman and Myrtle  Bryant and I remember 
seeing him walk around with a cane wearing smoked,  or shaded glasses 
-- the first such glasses I ever remember seeing. Wild Bill's  youngest 
son was named  Boyd.  Boyd lived with his first wife in or near Chicago 
  and they  had a beautiful daughter named Betty Jane.  Betty Jane used 
to come south during the summer to visit with the Bryants and other 
Smith County kin.  To me she was about the most beautiful girl I had 
ever seen, but I was very shy with girls in my childhood and I never 
pursued her the way I should've.  Boyd's second wife was Bradis 
Ainsworth Thomas, who already had children by her first husband. Bradis 
was a daughter of my great aunt Annie Hopkins Ainsworth and husband 
Joseph Warren (Jody) Ainsworth, who died about 1925.   Boyd died about 
1880.  I don't know what ever happened to Betty Jane -- that beautiful 
thing!  Maybe she's still waiting for me somewhere around Chicago....

Harold