Greene Publishing, Inc.

By Kristin Finney
Greene Publishing, Inc.

James Cressley came to Madison at the age of 11 with his family. At the time he came to here, Madison was a booming place with many thriving businesses, restaurants and places for children to have fun. The Madison that Cressley knew back then is a very different one than most people see today.

He remembers that where CVS is currently located, started off as a school. It then became Seter’s grocery story. Next it became a bowling alley. Then it became Pick & Save. He recalls when Farmer’s Furniture was at Winn Dixie.

Cressley remembers riding with his dad to get gas from up town and his dad being able to get five gallons of gas for $1.00. He also remembers there being a beer joint at the intersection of State Road 6 and Highway 90. Back then Harveys was a junkyard for Ragans.

He remembers there being a rest area, motel and bar across from the dumb station on Hwy. 90 in Madison. He remembers going to Selman’s Drug Store to get a sundae. He remembers there being a hotel at the second light in town. There were two walk-in movie theatres and a drive in theatre. At the drive in theatre you could spend $1 a night for a carload of people to get in.

In Lee, he remembers there being three grocery stores on the intersection of Hwy. 90 and 255. Back then he used to get a haircut for $1.00. He remembers going to Whitty’s ice cream and getting an ice cream cone for 5 cents. He also remembers that one time they had a drive-in movie behind Cherry’s.

James Cressley is married to Sharon (McFalls) Cressley. He had four children from a previous marriage. He has one daughter, Joyce Taylor, who lives in Arizona. He also had three sons, Bubba, Randall and James Jr., but sadly all of his sons are deceased.

Anyone interested in being interviewed for this article can call 973-4141 and make an appointment with Kristin Finney, or may drop by Greene Publishing, Inc. any day before noon. Those interviewed must have lived in Madison for a large portion of their life, and be able to recall a few things that have changed since that time.

By Joe Boyles
Guest Columnist

Monday was my birthday, or should I say, the 64th anniversary of my birth. It might also be called surrender day for two important events in our nation’s history.

On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia essentially ending the Civil War. Prior to that, Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, the principle army of the Confederacy was bottled-up by Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Potomac at Petersburg. Badly outnumbered and starving, Lee broke out to the west in an attempt to dash to the mountains and then into North Carolina to join Joe Johnston’s army. Over the period of about a week, Grant sent his cavalry units in pursuit to cut off the remnants of Lee’s once mighty force.

Lee’s army was finally blocked from crossing the Appomattox River, cutting off their escape. General Lee, the great tactician, had finally run out of options. He no longer had the means to resist. It was time to end this deadly game that had cost the lives of more than two-thirds of a million Americans. He agreed to meet the union commander at the McLean House near Appomattox.

Lee arrived resplendent in his best ceremonial uniform with one aide. Wilmer McLean had cleared his family from their home which now was overrun by Yankee soldiers. After a lengthy wait, the commanding general of the Union Army arrived in a muddy, slovenly uniform. Grant apologized for his appearance and recalled an earlier meeting with Lee years before during the Mexican War. Lee was much senior and didn’t recall meeting the younger Grant.

After a few formalities, they got down to the business at hand – ending the great Civil War. Grant was extremely lenient with his terms of surrender and ensured that the starving Confederates were provided rations to ease their hunger. When the southern units surrendered their arms and lowered their flags, the conquering Union Army saluted them with “present arms.”

This drama is all well-told at the beginning of Bill O’Reilly’s best seller “Killing Lincoln.” If you haven’t read O’Reilly’s book, I recommend it. It is a good “who dunnit” told in active voice.

Seventy-seven years later on April 9, 1942, the largest surrender of the American Army to a foreign power took place in the Bataan Peninsula of The Philippines when Major General Edward King surrendered his troops to the conquering Japanese. Nearly ten thousand Americans and many more Philippines laid their weapons down and were taken prisoner. The remaining Americans under General Jonathon Wainwright surrendered at Corregidor a month later.

Surrender is a particularly bitter pill for any fighting man to swallow, but the surrender in The Philippines was particularly hard. The prisoners of war were treated to a long and torturous death march where many perished. Those responsible for the death march were held to account at the war’s end. This surrender didn’t mark the end of a war like Appomattox had; instead, this was the beginning of the war and much suffering lay ahead.

In some respects, the surrender at Bataan shouldn’t have happened, at least, like it did. The peninsula was defendable had food, ammunition and other war supplies been stockpiled there like the plan called for, but the commanders like MacArthur botched the job and the troops were left inadequately supplied. The fact that they hung on for four months and delayed the Japanese was testament to their fighting spirit. The courage of the defenders of Bataan rallied a new nation at war.

Like all boys when I was growing up, I was proud of my birthday, even if I didn’t understand its significance in American history. Of course, a couple of my birthdays have fallen on Easter Sunday which makes me feel doubly blessed.

By Kristin Finney
Greene Publishing, Inc.

Betty Thomas has been in the Madison, Lee area all of her life. This is where she was born and raised. She grew up south of the interstate in the Midway community. She went to elementary school at Lee and then later she graduated from Madison High.

While she was in high school, Betty worked for the Van. H. Priest Dime Store. Betty said of working at the Dime Store, “I enjoyed working there very much. It was working there that got me through high school.”

Not long after graduating from high school, Betty married her husband, Elvoye. Elvoye had worked as a farmer with his dad growing up. After they got married, the two then moved to Madison. Elvoye worked for Winn Dixie for a short while after they were married. He then went to work for W.C. Copeland Gas Company. He worked there for 41 years. He later retired from Suburban Propane.

After getting married, Betty took a job in Madison working for Larry and Emma Pinson at Madison Cleaners. She worked in the front of Madison Cleaners and did check in for laundry and dry cleaning and check out. After working at Madison Cleaners, Betty went to work for Cohens Store. Cohens was a variety store that came to Madison for a while. She worked there and became manager for a while.

Then she decided to stay at home and start her family. She and Elvoye had two children: a son, Keith, who currently lives in Lakeland, and a daughter, Revonda Frith, who lives in Madison. Elvoye, Betty, Revonda and her husband Glen, are now all co-owners of Studstill Hardware and Lumber.

After starting their family, Betty went to work at several different places in town. It was then that she began working at Madison Primary School. “I was one of the first aides that they hired to be an aid to a teacher. I worked with a teacher for two years, then became secretary and bookkeeper for the school,” said Betty. She retired from that position after 35 years.

Betty remembers a Madison quite different from the one we know today. “The town was booming back then. All of the stores were full. Up and down the streets was filled with people. Even though country folks didn’t go to town but about once a week, I always looked forward to getting to do that. The streets are so bare in Madison now compared to what they used to be.” She then added, “I love Madison County with all of my heart.”

Anyone interested in being interviewed for this article can call 973-4141 and make an appointment with Kristin Finney, or may drop by Greene Publishing, Inc. any day before noon. Those interviewed must have lived in Madison for a large portion of their life, and be able to recall a few things that have changed since that time.