Shaw Traces Family Lineage, Early Mapping In County At YHS Meeting
Retired Tax Assessor/Collector Guy Dale Shaw entertained attendees at June Yalobusha Historical Society meeting.
Yalobusha County Historical Society
Meeting of June 15, 2017
Submitted by:
Dave Hovey
Our President Mike Ayers was absent due to a medical situation. Bobby Hutchins, Vice President did a fine job in his place. Our Chaplin Laurence Litten opened with a word of prayer for Mike and for the family of good friend and member Arnold Dyre, who had a fatal vehicle accident last Monday night.
Debby Hughes, Treasurer and Joy Tippit Secretary gave their reports. Program director Mike Worsham introduced our speaker Mr. Guy Dale Shaw.
We were not disappointed; Guy Dale gave a most entertaining and interesting talk.
The Shaw genealogy extends back to England, the Cofer part of this ancestry being one of the earliest pioneers in what was to become Yalobusha County. Another Shaw relative and well known, respected name in the community was Harbour, who also became our first tax assessor.
Guy Dale and his father Guy C. Shaw served a combined sixty years. While serving, they maintained one of the best most efficient offices in the state.
I enjoyed Guy Dale’s story about how the county property maps were first compiled. The windows were broken in the small room at the top of the Water Valley Court house. Guy Dale had the openings covered with plyboard painted black and a photography room was constructed. Guy Dale located a World War II reverse lens camera and used aerial photographs to develop property lines on clear plastic Mylar sheets.
These were then transcribed into the large book which is being used to this day. By doing the work (in house) the county was saved over fifty thousand dollars. This was back when that amount was a lot of tax payer dollars. He also told about his trip to the legislature in Jackson to obtain assistance persuading a reluctant board of supervisors to allocate travel expenses. The job entails a great deal of driving to every corner of the county. Today, the office has a couple of nice new SUVs to ride about in.
Stop by and visit the Historical library facilities. There are over three thousand books on the shelves catalogued into the computer. Many are extensive family biographies, records of who arrived and settled and where they lived. Become a member and receive copies of “The Pioneer” a quarterly magazine containing stories from “back in the day.”
See you on July 20th at 2 p.m., everyone is invited.
Attending were: Joy Tippit, Mike Worsham, Carl Vick, Wyomman Reeves, Sarah Reeves, Kathryn F. French, Kay F. Rodick, Alma Brandon, Alice Jordan, Betti Litten, Lawrence Litten, Bobbie Hutchins, Bobby Hutchins, Dave Hovey, Emma Ruth Hovey, Sarah Williams, Jim Gore, Charles Stribbling, Rommel Strib-ling, Joyce Courtney, Carl Ray Upchurch, Mary Sue Stevens, Barron Caulfield, Wess Blackwood, Tammy Beshears, Don Sides, Buster Jackson, and Chick Miller.
