EARLY YEARS

IRVIN AT BOUNDS MILL POND

GINNY,NANCY SCHMID,IRVIN, BILLY SCHMID

IRVIN

GINNY & IRVIN SKATING

RAYMOND WEEMS, MICKEY, JOHNNY

JOHNNY and IRVIN 1925

CEBRA PEARL STAINTON MCARTHUR' S PAINTINGS (#2)

JAPANESE MAGNOLIA

SHEEP

FRUIT & PITCHER

MAGNOLIAS

FALL SCENE

LAFAYETTE STAINTON

http://neshoba.msgen.info/firstfamilies/staintonlafayette.htm

MY BROTHER DONNELL

Here I recall just a few memories of my Brother Donnell.  He had a big family who will remember much more.

When I think of Donnell I remember him as tall, bald and handsome, clean living, quiet, hard working, gentle, unselfish, a lover of family, and a lover of the outdoors. He loved to hike especially in the mountains.

Donnell was almost nine years old when I was born. He had two older brothers, Stainton and David and one older sister, Mary. My earliest memory of Donnell was of his driving Mama up past Highland School in Meridian with me riding along and the conversation turned to Mary for whom Mama was concerned. It was then that I learned that Mary was expecting her first child. I was thrilled to learn that I was going to be an uncle. In those days women usually hid their pregnancy as long as possible.

When we were growing up in Meridian MS one of the young men from our church was killed in a motorcycle accident. This made a lasting impression on us and kept us from riding motorcycles, but at one time my brother Johnny bought a motorbike, a smaller, less powerful machine. As far as I know Donnell never owned one but one day when he was visiting in Jackson Donnell did pose on Johnny's bike.

Papa encouraged his children to be industrious. Out in front of our home in Meridian MS the older boys with Papa's encouragement operated a roadside stand, a very solid building with a wide front window that could be opened up to for a shade for customers to be served cold drinks, candy and other goodies. By the time I was old enough to remember the store it had been moved back to the chicken yard where it served as a play house.

One summer my brother Donnell needed a summer job and arrangements were made to move the little store building out to the construction site for the new Meridian High School and Junior College, where Donnell sold refreshments to the construction workers. He had a portable cooler hung with a strap around his neck filled with bottled drinks  that he could pedal out to the workers.  He also made the little store available for some of the workers to hang their coats while they worked. I went out once and volunteered to help Donnell and discovered that cooler was very heavy on my shoulders.

Some years later after I graduated from Meridian Junior College I made plans to continue my education at Maryville College in Tennessee.

Donnell was always an outdoors man and enjoyed hiking in the mountains. Sometimes it was in Cades Cove and he tackled the Appalachian Trail a number of times as I remembered it. While I was in college he invited me to hike with him from time to time. It was a challenge to keep up with him, but I enjoyed being with him and his friends.

Here Donnell enjoys a trip to Florida with Mama.

Another nice experience I remember was when my brother Johnny was in the army at Ft. Gordon near Augusta, GA. I went with David and Donnell to visit Johnny there. That was a happy trip for all of us. Not only did we have a good visit with Johnny, but met some of the civilian friends who befriended him.

MY SISTER BETTY

Ruby Elizabeth (Betty) McArthur

When I was growing up I thought that one of the most beautiful persons I knew was my sister Betty.  She was not just beautiful physically, she was beautiful in spirit.  I always enjoyed looking at the family picture taken when I was just a youngster.  In it Betty is resting her arm on me making me feel special.

Donnell,Mildred, David, Papa, Mama, Stainton, Mary, Irvin, Betty Johnny & Ginny

Betty was the only one of the nine brothers and sisters born outside of Meridian.  She was born March 5, 1917 in Missssippi City while Papa was on a construction project there and the family was living there temporarily.

Graduate Betty

After graduating from the Meridian High School she attended Meridian Junior College for a year
 or two. While in school in Meridian she worked as an Elevator Operator for the local Sears store where she experienced a lot of "ups and downs".

Betty spent her Junior and Senior years at Maryville College in Tennessee. During her senior year she was selected as "Barn-Warming" Queen, the big annual social event of the year.  She completed her B.A. degree with a major in Home Economics in 1941. It was there that she met her future husband Henry Millison who was a classmate.

Betty and Henry Leonard Millison

After Graduation at Maryville in 1941 she returned to Meridian and  worked as a Home Economist for a local service while Henry completed his BD degree at Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary of the United Presbyterian Church of North America.

Betty and Henry were married in the McArthur home church: Central Presbyterian Church in Meridian Mississippi in 1944.


After living in the South up to this time she moved with Henry to the manse of the United Presbyterian Church in Greenville, PA. There she served as a well loved Pastor's wife.

Betty and Henry's only child Leonard Earl (Len) was born Jun. 8, 1946. I had the priviledge of visiting them in Greenville while I was a student in Princeton Seminary in 1948.

Betty and Len

Early in 1950 Betty, Henry, and Len came by our apartment in Louisville Presbyterian Seminary for a short visit.  This was the first time that Margaret had met them and the last time either of us saw Betty alive.

In March of 1950 I went to Washington DC for a conference.  When I returned to Louisville Margaret shared with me the shocking news of Betty's unexpected death.  She was in the doctor's office for a tonsillectomy.  When she was given a local anesthesia she suffered a reaction and died on the operating table.

Words cannot express the shock that we all experienced at that time, but God worked through all of this sorrow for His good purposes.  I am assured that it is not how long we live, but how we live that matters in this world.  The example Betty's life will live on.

 "--I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, not any power, neither height nor depth, no anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8: 38-39 (NIV)

HIGHLAND PARK IN MERIDIAN

For many years Highland Park has been THE park of Meridian, Mississippi.  It is located about a quarter of a mile from the McArthur home where my brothers and sisters and I were raised. It was equipped with great playground equipment: slides, see-saws, swings and all such things to fascinate children.

It also had a small zoo, picnic tables, a fish pond and a famous carousal which we called a Merry Go Round.

 When I was growing up it cost a nickle to ride the merry-go-round.  Some of the animals on the carousal were marred, but I understand that they were all renovated some years later.  Lights flashed and music played on an old player piano.  It was quite entertaining to ride the animals, see the rolls with holes cut causing the piano to play lively music. At the time the attendant looked like a fortune teller dressed in a strange costume and playing solitaire, who added to the mystery of the place

Later a nice swimming pool was constructed which we enjoyed. Our church often had church picnics at the park. In later years when family members came to Meridian to visit they enjoyed the park. For further information check this link:

Highland Park

THE SAGA OF THE CHICKEN HOUSE

Some time before I came into the world, my older brothers operated a roadside stand in front of our house. I presume that my Papa encouraged them as he later encouraged me in setting up my bicycle shop. I am not sure of all the details. Papa was a business man early in life and wanted to encourage his boys to develop their own interests in business.  The roadside stand was really a substantial building out near the street in front of our house with a opening in the front with a big flap that could be opened to serve customers. I am not sure what they sold, but I presume their stock included candy, cookies, and cold drinks.

 By the time I came along it was an empty building. I do remember exploring the building.  I discovered that my brothers had used a rubber stamp and decorated the inside with various designs included one of a hand with a pointed finger. I gathered that they also had a small printing press, which I thought was a great machine.
 I do not know how long the little store stayed in operation but it was later unneeded as my brothers began to go off to college and leave home. Sometime along the way it was moved to the back yard.  Since Papa was a building contractor with all the needed equipment, that move was possible. After Papa sold his interest in the contracting partnership to his partner Mr.John McLemore, Mr. McLemore   received a contract to build a new stadium at the new Senior High School.

RAY STADIUM MERIDIAN SR HIGH SCHOOL

One summer my brother Donnell needed a summer job and arrangements were made to move the little store building out to the construction site where Donnell sold refreshments to the construction workers. He had a portable cooler hung with a strap around his neck filled with bottled drinks  that he could pedal out to the workers.  He also made the little store available for some of the workers to hang their coats while they worked. I went out once and volunteered to help Donnell and discovered that cooler was very heavy on my shoulders.

At the end of the summer the little store building was moved back our back yard, where it served a chicken house for years.  That's the saga of the chicken house as I remember it.