NEW NOTE FROM OLD ACQUAINTANCE

The most recent issue of the White County Historical Society’s always-excellent newsletter carried a somewhat truncated version of my long-ago entry about getting to-and-from the old Honey Hill School. It brought forth this e-mail from someone you just might remember:

BOB FINCH

Read with much interest your article in the WCHS newsletter about Honey Hill School. I, too, attended school there for a short period of time in 1947 (from mid-Feb to mid-Apr, as I recall). My dad was a cotton farmer, and we were moving from the King Farm near Crosby to the old Franks Place between DesArc Creek and the foot of Peanut Ridge. For whatever reason, we had to vacate the farm we were renting on the King place, and couldn't move into the house on the Franks place until mid April or so. Mrs. Kellough, who in 1947 was a teacher at Honey Hill, let us live in a little house she had on her place while we were waiting to move into our new home.

When I moved away from the old Crosby country school, I was half way through the 5th grade and my brother, Lee, was in the 3rd. We usually walked with Mrs. Kellough a mile or so to school. On some of the colder days, we would ride with her in a Model A Ford. When we were ready to move on over to the Franks place, there was still a few week of school left, but Mrs. Kellough must have felt sorry for my brother and me. She marked our records that we had "passed" to the next higher grade.

The Franks place was right on the end of the McRae school district and I entered the 6th grade in McRae and rode a school bus several miles to school. We moved away from there in February, 1948, to the Kensett area, where I attended school until mid-way through the 9th grade, at which time we moved to the Higginson area which was in the Searcy school district. I graduated from high school at Searcy in 1954.

Getting back to Honey Hill School . . . I'm trying to remember some of the names of kids from that short stint in 1947. I believe there were two Hartsfield brothers and perhaps a sister of theirs. Were there kids named Kitts and Simpson? Wasn't the old school building, or at least some portions of it, made of natural rock from the surrounding hillsides?

I've traveled over various parts of the world during my 68 years here on earth, and many of my fondest memories are centered around the old Crosby country school where I attended for 4 & 1/2 years. So, I share your sentiments about times and places that have long since faded into the shadows of history. I shared my memories of growing up in Crosby in the January, 2003, edition of the WCHS publication.

Would enjoy hearing more of what you did after Honey Hill. Did we attend high school together? I'm sure we have a lot of mutual friends and acquaintances. I have three sisters and a brother who still live in the Searcy area.

Thanks for sharing.