HISTORY OF SESSUMS COMMUNITY THROUGH 1976 MRS ...

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The family says the story handed down was that the wife of one of the accused men
told Mr. Parrish she heard these men making their plans. A family cemetery is
maintained near the former Stewart Parrish home. It is now owned by the Nickerson
family.
Benjamin Parrish, Sr., was a confederate soldier who was wounded at Corinth, fought
at Vicksburg, captured at Blakely, Alabama, and held prisoner at Ship Island. His
grandson tells that his grandfather was captured three times, according to official
records, and each time he was allowed to go free by signing a paper saying he would
not fight anymore!!
Joe, son of Joe andAnnie Myrtle Parrish, married Mary Ann Switzer whose
grandfather, Alfred Wilson Switzer (1825-1895), was born in Germany and made shoes
and boots. He married Martha Ann Grizzle. Their children are Lillian, Carrie, and
Leroy, the father of Mary Ann Switzer Parrish. Joe and Mary Ann Parrish have two
children, Jo Ann who married Sheldon Webster, and Terry who married Linda Fultz.
Carl Stewart Parrish married Maurice Oswalt from Choctaw County. Their children are
Carl, Jr., who married Nanette Jackson of Starkville, Donna Sue, who married Jimmy
Norris, Jr., and Marcie, Lisa and Cynthia Lynn who are not married.
Elizabeth Parrish is now Mrs. Billy Murphy of Memphis. Her husband, Billy Murphy is
Athletic Director at Memphis State University. Their children are Michael Norwood
and Elizabeth Ann.
Morris Parrish married a widow with two children. She was from California but we do
not know her name. Morris and his wife are the parents of two children, Elizabeth
and Wesley.
Jimmy Parrish married Carolyn Yeatman of Oktibbeha County. They are the parents of
two children, Brenda and Jim.
Peters
Thomas Harry Peters, Sr. married Eliza Shular, daughter of John and Aletha Jane
Cross Shular. The Shular's children were: Mary Louise, Virginia Carolyn, Finnie
Margaret, Eliza, John Everette, and Aletha Jane. Thomas and Eliza Peters' children
were: John William, Thomas Harry, Jr., and Joseph S.
Thomas Henry (Harry) Peters, son of Tom and Eliza Schular Peters formerly of
Virginia, was married to Ethel Lee Mcllwain, daughter of John WILSON and Elizabeth
Boyd Mcllwain, in 1909. They lived on the Peters property in the southeast part of
Oktibbeha County. To this union two daughters were born, Elizabeth and Louise. And
also twins were born in Nov. 1919 but died the same day. In 1922 Harry Peters
built a family home one mile west of the old home place on the Crawford Road. He
resided here until his death in 1945. In Judge Carroll's Historical Sketches of
Oktibbeha County, Mr. Peters was referred to as a very successful farmer and
dairyman. This statement must have been true for in 1928 he was chosen one of the
ten best farmers in the Mid-South by the Progressive Farmer magazine.