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4/7/2002 3:37:16 PM
From: lgpaynejr@juno.com
L.G. Payne

UNCLE BOB'S HOUSE, RIGHT FOREGROUND. OUR HOUSE (L.G. PAYNE) IN RIGHT PARTIALLY HIDDEN BY TREES. OLD METHODIST CHURCH IN CENTER BACKGROUND

THE ORIGINAL PAYNE STORE IN THE EARLY 1900'S DID NOT BACK ON THE RAILROAD TRACKS AS I REMEMBER, BUT MAYBE THEY DID SINCE THE BRICK ONE BACKED ON THE RAILROAD. THE ONE I REMEMBER MOST WAS THE ONE THAT BACKED ON THE ONE ALMOST FACING OUR HOME AND AT THE BACK WAS THE TEMPORARY 2X4 BUILDING USED WHEN MY DAD WAS SHERIFF FOR PRISONERS WHO WORKED ON BUILDING THE NEW ROAD, WHICH FORMERLY RAN IN FRONT OF THE BRICK CHURCH (Lone Mt. Baptist).

I REMEMBER WHEN AL AND I WERE MAYBE 6 OR 7 THE STORE FACED THE OTHER WAY AND AL AND I WOULD SNEAK INTO THE AT THE BACK..AND WE RELEASED SOME PRISONERS ONE TIME BY GIVING THEM THE BIG KEY WHICH WAS KEPT IN THE BIG CASH REGISTERS IN THE STORE BUILDING.

THE TALL ATKINS MILL WAS A WHEAT AND CORN MILL WITH GREAT BIG ROLLERS. THEY SOLD AND SHIPPED MEAL FROM THERE TO KENTUCKY, TENNESSEE. THE LOADING TRACK (THREE TRACKS) WAS ON THE DEPOT SIDE AS WAS THE MILL. BETWEEN THE MILL AND THE DEPOT THE PAYNES HAD A LARGE PRODUCE HOUSE WHERE EGGS, CHICKENS, TURKEYS BY CAR LOADS WERE MARKETED, INCLUDING FUR HIDES. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RAILROAD TRACKS WAS A STORE BUILDING WHICH OVERLOOKED THE RAIL TRACKS FACING THE DEPOT. THIS STORE WAS RUN BY THE BREEDING/WELCH FAMILY. ACROSS THE HIGHWAY OPPOSITE THE BREEDING STORE WAS THE PAYNE STORE CONSISTING OF THE GENERAL STORE, THE POSTOFFICE, A BARBER SHOP AND MAYBE ANOTHER LITTLE BUILDING. SOMETIME SOON I WILL TRY TO BLOCK OUT FOR YOU THE POSITIONING OF THE BUILDINGS IN THAT LITTLE COMMUNITY RUNNING FROM MY MEMORY OF WHO LIVED IN THE 1918-20'S..A HOTEL, AND FAMILY H0MES.

THE AG PAYNE HOME WAS THE ONE THAT OUR PARENTS LIVED IN FIRST. LATER OUR DAD BOUGHT A HOUSE IN THE TOWN AND UNCLE BOB TOOK OVER THE BIG HOUSE ON THE HILL NOT FAR FROM THE CEMETERY. I'LL TRY TO MAKE IT SEEM MORE REAL FOR YOU IN PICTURES

john atkins who owned the mill was not dr. samuel....john's children were howard atkins and dr. samuel...they swere about mildred and bea's ages...bea dated howard some, and probably mildred dated dr. sam some.....after the mill business fell off, someone set fire to it....as they did when payne bros store was burned in the 1940's...date uncertain...but the store was used for some years for different things, carpentry, making pallets, etc....i can image, the fires in lone mountain were caused by someone or family that had a fetish for that sort of thing....the mill, the payne bros businesses, the depot, our home, etc...

Joe Payne's Genealogy Site