Pontotoc County, Mississippi
Genealogy and History
Peggy A. Young, County CoordinatorJeff Kemp - State Coordinator Denise Wells - Assistant State Coordinator
Ann Allen Geoghegan - Assistant State Coordinator
Sunday, 13-Jun-2010 13:43:55 EDT
W. P. A. History of Pontotoc County, Mississippi
CHAPTER 1 CONTINUED
LEBANON, in the western section of the county, was established in 1837, when the Gilmers, Furrs, Allisons, Onsleys, and Stroubes came here from North Carolina. Tobias Furr owned most of the town and laid it out. A church was erected on the Yocona River.
The following tribute to a pioneer citizen of old Lebanon was clipped from the Pontotoc Progress:
MRS MARY E. ROGERS PASSES TO REWARD
"Last Thursday, April 17, 1938, marked the passing of Mrs. Mary E. Rogers, whose long and useful life as a sainted 'mother in Israel' was a blessing and benediction to unnumbered hosts who have known and been influenced by her gentle nature.
"Mrs. Rogers died at the home of her daughter and only surviving child, Mrs. J. Walter Furr, after an illness from the infirmities of age since last October. As Mary Elizabeth Gilmer, the deceased was born in the old Lebanon neighborhood in the extreme western part of Pontotoc County July 16, 1846. She was therefore in her 92nd year and all of her active life was spent in the same general neighborhood.
Her marriage to Mr. James F. Rogers endured for more than half a century. Until his death in 1917, Mr. Rogers was a merchant and a planter at Toccopola. He was a man of unquestioned character and integrity and their marriage was the ideal mating of congenial souls. Both were pioneer members of the old Lebanon Presbyterian Church, and their Christian home and useful lives were shed abroad throughout the community and wherever they were known and loved.
After the death of Mr. Rogers, his bereaved widow came to Pontotoc and made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Furr, as stated, where she was loved and cherished, not only by the household, but throughout the community of her adoption.
Funeral services were held Friday in Lebanon Presbyterian Church where the deceased had worshipped many years with Rev. Paul S. Rhodes officiating. Burial followed in Old Lebanon Cemetery. There were many flowers and other tributes of love and esteem by the large concourse of friends attending the rites .(1)
(1) Pontotoc Progress, April 14, 1938
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