Vaiden,

Mississippi

 

The Life of Rush Weir

 

As told to me by my mother, Juanita Collins Rhine, in an interview on Sunday, July 16, 2000.

 

In the 1930s, we lived in the Harry Cole house, next to Rush Weir, who lived in the house that Vaiden Principal Frank Prewitt later lived in.  Mr. Weir was a good neighbor.  He was always considerate and had a passion for roses.  Each morning, he would take a rose from a bush in his yard and put it in his lapel before going to town.  He always dressed nice and wore a derby and dark suit.  He almost always took an umbrella or walking stick with him, and would always tip his hat to the ladies.

 

Mr. Weir had a colored man working for him named Uncle Ned, I believe, who lived in a cabin where the Vaiden High School Band Hall is.

 

Mr. Weir loved children.  He also loved the radio, but didn’t own one. [1] He would sit across from our house under the trees by our driveway and listen to the fights on our radio.  At that time, the radio was in the room closest to his house, so he would always enjoy the chance to listen whenever he could.

 

He went to town every day to get a Commercial Appeal at McClurg’s Store.  He never “visited” with us, but we would sometimes talk to each other over the fence. At his death, he left the Vaiden school $25,000.

 

He befriended two sisters and provided the means for them to take art lessons.  Bessie Deramus had tuberculosis and was frail.  I believe that she lived in the Presbyterian Educational Building, which was Vaiden’s first Courthouse.  Mr. Weir’s funeral was held at the Presbyterian Church.  Bessie was asked to get away from the window when the pallbearers were taking his coffin in and out of the church, in order to prevent her from getting upset.

 

He was a farmer and made in fortune farming in his earlier years.  He always spent a lot of time in the drug store in Vaiden, chatting with people.

 

Other than what I’ve already told you, that’s about all I remember about Mr. Weir.  Vaiden lost a good friend, neighbor and citizen when he died.

 

[Ed. Note 1:  I still have the radio that Mr. Weir listened to.  It is a 1936 Zenith Model 6-S-52.  It operates on 115 volts, has 6 tubes, a black Magnavision dial, split second tuning, and can receive 5 wave bands on 3 dial ranges, with each band illuminated in different colors.  It receives standard broadcasts from Band A (540-1550kc), shortwave (1500-4200kc) on Band B, and shortwave (5.6-18.2mc) on Band C.  Dimensions are 24.3” x 39.1” x 13.3” and the cost in 1936 was $69.95.  The following links are photos of the Zenith 6-S-52.  Photo 1 is my actual radio – the same one that Rush Weir listened to. It needs a little grille work as of 2007.  The second and third photos are from the internet.  The schematic is in Adobe .pdf format.]

 

PHOTO 1     PHOTO 2     PHOTO 3     ZENITH MODEL 6-S-52 SCHEMATIC     ZENITH LOGO

 

[Ed. Note 2:  Rush Weir died January 29, 1939.  Bessie Deramus died four days later on February 2, 1939, and is buried at the head of Mr. Weir in the Vaiden Cemetery.]

 

 

 

 

The Rush Weir Will