The Semmes Heritage Park
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1952  School Days Memories

7/28/2017

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1952 School Days Memories

7/28/2017

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1952 Semmes High Memories

7/28/2017

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1951   Semmes High School Dance

7/27/2017

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The Camellia Staff - 1951

7/27/2017

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Semmes School Campus 1951

7/27/2017

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Photo from the School Yearbook " The Camellia, 1951"
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Semmes High School- 1957

7/27/2017

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Granddaughter  of Benjamin Howell

7/24/2017

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yesteryears remembered

7/24/2017

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Helen Waltman Caldwell, the great - granddaughter of Benjamin Howell.
When Helen was in her 90’s she was a volunteer for school fieldtrips at Semmes Heritage Park. She demonstrated crochet, basket weaving and shared her memories. 

Helen’s mother was Rosetta Howell Waltman.  Rosetta was the daughter of Thomas Jefferson Howell. She attended Barton Academy in Mobile, boarding in Mobile during the week and coming home on the week-end. Rosette became the teacher of Allentown school which was located near where Big Creek Lake is today. Marrying Forney Waltman, their marriage had to be kept a secret until the school ended, because Alabama did not permit women teachers to be married.

Yesteryears remembered -Helen Waltman Caldwell
Phillip Howell Sr. was a descendent of three Howell brothers that migrated from England in 1805 to Long Island.   Benjamin Howell was born to Philip Howell Sr. in Savannah, Georgia in 1808.  When Benjamin was age four, the family moved to the Mississippi Territory, (Pascagoula, Mississippi.)  At the time a passport was required to enter the territory.

Benjamin, as a young man, came to Semmes before you could homestead and bought 1,000 acres of land (with gold bullion) for 50 cents an acre. According to BLM records Benjamin purchased land in 1843, 1845, and homesteaded land in 1877, 1898.

The son of Benjamin, Thomas Jefferson Howell, according to BLM records, purchased land in 1860, 1888 and homesteaded land in 1884. Thomas gave land in 1902 to build a new school and church near the new center of town, close to the railroad.  This property today is known as Semmes Heritage Park. 

 The first public school in Semmes was a log cabin on the townships sixteenth section of land which was also used as a meeting house for the first church in Semmes, Mt. Pleasant. To protect the property for educational purposes, he stipulated in the deed that a school always remain on the property or the land would revert back to the Howell family.

The Howell family had a saw mill and sold timber they harvested from their property. Logging was done by hand and ox carts were used to bring the timber to a dummy railroad.  A dummy railroad was a short rail track which was laid to the woods from the saw mill and main train track. The name dummy was used meaning it was not the main railroad.  Timber was moved to the saw mill to make lumber. The lumber was moved to the train main line to the Port of Mobile where it was put on ships and sent all over the world. Helen’s grandfather told her that some of his lumber was shipped to England for the building of a dance floor.

Another industry in Semmes was the making of charcoal that was sold in Mobile. Charcoal was made from post oak trees.  The trees were cut, stacked pyramid style, covered with dirt, and set to burning.  The result was charcoal that was used in a charcoal stove and fireplaces.

Semmes was a thriving community that had a hotel, blacksmith shop, country store and a train station. The Rebel train was a passenger Train that stopped in Semmes, coming in the morning from Mississippi,going to the loop and returning in the evening. There was one citizen of Semmes that had appointed himself the guardian of Semmes that went to the train station everyday to inspect the passengers that got off the train;  If he did not like the way they looked, he would tell them to get back on the train and keep going. 

Indians were friendly and there was an Indian trail close to the present day Allentown Cemetery.  Once a year, the Indians would travel down the trail to the sea to get salt. On the way down to the sea the Indians would borrow pots from the settlers to boil the sea water to get the salt.  For the use of the pots on their return trip, the pots were returned and salt was given for the payment for their use. The salt looked brown and dirty but was good salt.  
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Allentown once had a church, school, store and blacksmith shop. All that is left today is the Allentown Cemetery.    The first person to be buried in Allentown Cemetery was a man travelling by who took sick and died.  No one even knew his name.
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Folk Sayings!  Bits of Wisdom !

7/6/2017

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America, a melting pot of many cultures, has many different folk sayings. These spoken phrases were used to educate, to teach behavior and pass wisdom down from one generation to the next.
I remember when I was very young and asked my father could I go to a friend's house to play and he answered "not enough to tell it," ( No! ) Another saying used in my family was when food was about to spoil, "that is about to go off."  
Here are a few of folk sayings.  You may be surprised at how many you have heard  and some are still used today. 
  • Don’t jump out of the frying pan into the fire.
  • Ah shucks, cows eat shucks.
  • Waste not, want not.
  • If you mess with fire you will get burned.
  • Waste makes want.
  • Early bird gets the worm.
  • Early to bed, early to rise will make you healthy, wealthy and wise.
  • You look peaked.
  • A good man is worth his salt.
  • Not worth six bits with a hole in it.
  • Not worth two hoots in a hollow.
  • That is a left handed complement.
  • Left foot of fellowship.
  • As quick as a wink.
  • Let sleeping dogs lie.
  • You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
  • Straight as an arrow.
  • Crooked as a snake.
  • He is a snake in the grass.
  • He speaks with a forked tongue.
  • The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
  • Can’t never could do anything.
  • Eating high on the hog.
  • Use it or lose it.
  • He is still wet behind the ears.
  • A fool and his money are soon parted.
  • He is not worth a hoot and a hollow.
  • He knows which side his bread is buttered on.
  • Not worth a hill of beans.
  • He wouldn’t hit a lick at a  snake.
  • Time waits for no man.
  • He has got ants in his pants.
  • Idle mind is the devils work shop.
  • Keep your nose to the grind stone.
  • You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
  • You can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear.
  • One brick shy of a load.
  • Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
  • He has lost all his marbles.
  • He came through smelling like a rose.
  • He was drunk as a skunk.
  • A watched pot never boils.
  • Loose lips sink ships.
  • The grass always looks greener on the other side.
  • Beggars can’t be choosey.
  • Flat as a fritter.
  • Fast  as lighting.
  • A flash in a pan.
  • If the shoe fits, wear it.
  • Won it hands down.
  • Don’t kill the goose that laid the golden egg.
  • Shake a leg.
  • Rolling stones gather no moss.
  • Clothes make a man.
  • Every cloud has a silver lining.
  • Don’t cry over spilled milk.
  • Last one there is a rotten egg.
  • One good turn deserves another.
  • If you lay down with dogs you will rise up with fleas.
  • A soft answer turns away wrath.
  • Be sure your sins will find you out.
  • Too many irons in the fire.
  • More than you can shake a stick at.
  • Get your ducks in a row.
  • Come on slowpoke.
  • The hurried I go the be hinder I get.
  • Put your best foot forward.
  • Don’t be too quick on the draw.
  • That is the straw that broke the camel’s back.
  • I’ve come to the end of my rope.
  • He talks as smooth as butter.
  • Knife so dull it wont cut hot butter.
  • He who hesitates is last.
  • Good management is better than good income.
  • A penny saved is a penny earned.
  • Idleness rusts the mind.
  • A man is judged by the company he keeps.
  • A friend to everyone is a friend to nobody.
  • A clean conscience makes a soft pillow.
  • A good deed is never lost.
  • A false friend and a shadow stay only while the sun shines.
  • A false friend is worse than an open enemy.
  • A good neighbor, a found treasure!
  • A person who gets wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package.
  • A dollar waiting on a dime.
  • Turn your hat around.
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    Semmes​

    Preserving  our History
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    ​Jeanette Lyles Byrd

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