Jacob Bembry: Greene Publishing, Inc. Citizens in Madison County were startled on the night of May 29, 1859 at approximately 10 o’clock by what they thought was a tremendously loud clap of…
Category: History
Murder in May of a minstrel and a woman
Jacob Bembry: Greene Publishing, Inc. As the lazy month of May began to skip, instead of dragging itself, into the month of June and the summer months, the news during its final…
Play Ball! Madison’s “Lolly Coolers,” “Peacherinas,” and “Heavy Hitters” drain Lake City
Jacob Bembry: Greene Publishing, Inc. In 2017, baseball is as popular in Madison County, as it ever was before. With fans rooting on the home high school and middle school teams, as…
Legendary lawmen search for wrong man, find right man
Jacob Bembry: Greene Publishing, Inc. Whether people loved them or hated them, they would be hard pressed to deny that Simmie Moore and Joe Peavy were legends in Madison County law enforcement,…
Like a phoenix, Merchants Hotel rises from the ashes after 1907 fire
Jacob Bembry: Greene Publishing, Inc. A shudder of horror thrilled the crowd as they watched the pride of Madison go up in flames. Renovated and reopened only a little over five years…
20 years later, memories of downtown fire still charred in memories
Jacob Bembry: Greene Publishing, Inc. The evening of April 18, 1997 was supposed to have been a night of celebration, not of disaster and near tragedy. There were not supposed to have…
Light & Darkness at the turn of the 20th Century in Madison County
Jacob Bembry: Greene Publishing, Inc. The Fall of 1901 was dark, as it had been for ages in Madison, but measures were being made to bring light over the face of the…
History of The Hickory Grove Turpentine Camp
Jacob Bembry: Greene Publishing, Inc. Eloise Glass Stewart was born at the Hickory Grove Turpentine Camp; and for well over 100 years, the Hickory Grove community has been her home. Mrs. Stewart’s…
Tree Scraper invented and patented in 1945 by John E. Strickland
Jacob Bembry: Greene Publishing, Inc. On Sept. 18, 1945, the United States Patent Office issued patent number 2,384,976 to John E. Strickland of Madison, for his tree scraper, which would be used…
The haunting of a house in Lee
Jacob Bembry: Greene Publishing, Inc. For years, even while it was occupied, the house last occupied by this writer’s maternal grandparents, Jake and Ava Lee Sealey, and their daughters, Kathy (Wilson) and…
The sink hole ghost of Cherry Lake
Jacob Bembry, Greene Publishing, Inc. Among the lore of Madison County folks, you will find the occasional sighting of an unknown swamp creature, or, more commonly, stories of ghosts. One such ghost,…
The lucky black eyed pea
Rick Patrick, Greene Publishing, Inc. For many people throughout the south, the traditional New Year’s Day meal has changed little over the years. Black eyed peas, greens (turnips, collards, mustards, and in…
The Christmas truce
Photos Submitted Painting from The Illustrated London News, Jan. 9, 1915, depicting the unofficial “Christmas Truce” that took place between warring soldiers at Christmas in 1914. British and German troops meeting in…
A special Thanksgiving for Madison
Photos Submitted The Madison High School band performs in the 1979 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Madison High School band marches through the streets of New York City during the 1979 Macy’s…
Confederate monument honors Madison’s Confederate dead
Greene Publishing, Inc. Photo By Rick Patrick October 21, 2016 The monument dedicated to the memory of Madison’s Confederate dead stands in Four Freedoms Park. Rick Patrick, Greene Publishing, Inc. Standing among…
History of Veterans Day
Rick Patrick – Greene Publishing, Inc. “Armistice Day’ was first commemorated in November, 1919, marking the first anniversary of the cease-fire that effectively brought an end to World War I or “The…
Four Freedoms Park, a walk through Madison County history
Greene Publishing, Inc. Photo By Rick Patrick, October 21, 2016 The Four Freedoms Monument commemorates the four fundamental freedoms that President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke of in his Jan. 6, 1941 State…
Haunted Madison
Greene Publishing, Inc. Photo By Rick Patrick, October 21, 2016 The historic Wardlaw-Smith-Goza Conference Center (The Smith Mansion) has been the site of several paranormal occurrences. Built in 1860, the building was…
The kiss
Rick Patrick, Greene Publishing, Inc. It wasn’t a planed event, well not entirely anyway. It was just one of those completely spontaneous moments caught on film by photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, that would…
Museum is a hidden “treasure”
Rick Patrick Greene Publishing, Inc. It seems appropriate that the Treasures of Madison County Museum is located in a historic building in downtown Madison. The W.T. Davis Building, which currently houses the…