Vaiden,
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
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
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