Harry Arnold

Today, Mom and I drove down to Tyler to shop and go to Sam's.  Mostly Sam's.  On the way, I asked her if everyone called Harry Arnold, Sr.,  Puss or just she and Dad.  Mom said that our cousin, Judge Frank Holden, had been in WWI with Mr. Arnold, and that's what Frank called Mr. A.  What a small world.  Frank was a Federal Judge in Atlanta, and lived in the Buckhead area, I believe. It was a beautiful, beautiful neighboorhood.  Frank and his wife Grace would visit us in Monroe every so often, and Frank would line us up and say  "whose turn is it for a silver dollar".  Dad saved them for us, and I  still have one.  Papa would punch a hole in them and put a wire through the hole.  I guess he would attach our names to the wire.  We always loved to see Frank and Grace.  Frank, Jr. had a camp just north of Atlanta, and one summer, Dotsy went to camp there and mostly worked in the stables taking care of the horses.  Frank was a cousin on Dad's Mother's side,  Nona Corry Oakes . Nona was born in Siloam, GA in 1887, and died in Atlanta in 1947.  Her father was Eugene Reid Corry.

Frank was born in Crawfordville, GA, 1894, died Atlanta, in 1975.  He was married to Grace Pope of West Palm Beach, FL.  There is a small book of WWI that Frank wrote, called War Memories, published in 1922.  This book has been digitized by Google Books.  Search for War Memories by Frank A. Holden.   Frank graduated from the University of Georgia and was a member of  Phi Delta Theta.  He practiced law in Athens with his father.  Frank's father, Horace Moore Holden, was also a judge on the Federal bench in Atlanta. Frank's mother was Mary Emma Corry, half sister to Eugene Reid Corry.  Their father was William Alexander Corry.   Mary Emma's mother, William's second wife, was Mary Matilda Stephens Reid...  I was always puzzled by the relationships, but with the help of a wonderful book, Willian Corry and His Descendants by Mildred Seab Ezell, I've been able to piece this together.                                                                                                                                                                                          

Sweet Apple

All of the grandchildren loved to visit Papa at the hardware store.  I can still see Papa holding Catherine, when she was about 3, in front of the store on Broad Street.    When Papa moved out to Davis St., he planted a field of zinnias next to the store.  He painted the store a beautiful red and had a refrigerator in the back for watermelons.  Papa could frequently be found on a stool at the front of the store, reading his newspaper, with his glasses halfway down his nose.  When niece Lara was just a little girl, her Mom had dressed her in a blue and white striped outfit with an apple on it, and a worm coming out of the apple.   Lara remembers running into the store and throwing her little arms up and saying "Papa! Papa!"  He always called her 'Sweet Apple' after that.

When Papa had the store on Broad St., W.R. Weaver rented a small space in the front.  W.R. would do watch and jewelry repair, and sometimes wait on customers, when Dad needed a little extra help.  I think W.R.  was there probably for 25.  until Dad moved to Davis St..  Julius Adcock worked for Dad for forty years.    When I would go into the store to get a hammer, or nails, I would say to Julius, "put it on my account, please!" and, he would say "that NO account!"   In the fifties, everyone in town closed on Wednesday afternoons.  Saturdays  downtown were very busy.  People could hardly walk down the sidewalk.  It was only a few years after we moved to Monroe that there was a terrible fire down the street from the hardware store.   Aycock Brothers  caught on fire and burned to the ground.  At the time, it seemed like a like a huge department store, wooden floors that were oiled, men's, women's, and children's clothing, and various sundries.  Aycock rebuilt, and was a very fine place to shop.  When I was in high school, they were still charging to hem girl's jeans, but not men's.  Puss Arnold still had his barn on the block behind Broad St. until the 60's, I think.  When we were little and would walk by, we could see the animals in there.  Mrs. Arnold was a wonderful lady, and sang in the choir.  Mr. and Mrs. Arnold had a beautiful antebellum home, just off of Walton Street.