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 Agnes
Bryant has lived in Trezevant all her life, a fact that
was brought to her attention by her late sister, Eline,
some years ago, when Agnes asked, "Eline, how come people
call us and ask us about everything?"
"Because we're the oldest ones around," her sister
replied.
While not really the oldest folks in Trezevant, the
sisters did share a long history in the community,
beginning when the Bryant family moved to Trezevant from
the Oak Grove Community when Eline was just one year old.
Eight years younger than Eline, Agnes grew up in Trezevant
on the road that has been called Bryant Street ever since
she can remember, born just around the corner from where
she lives today. "Just around the corner" in Trezevant
doesn't mean a new street has been encountered, with
Bryant Street sharing history with Crooked Street, a road
that twists and turns as if it were constructed to
accommodate the majestic trunks of long ago trees that
were left to shade the homes that sprang up there.
"I guess it was when we got the concrete sidewalks," she
says, trying to recall just when the street took on her
name and that of her kin who, over time, peppered the
street from one end to the other, beginning with her
father's family at one corner and her uncle's at the
other. Her father, R. L. Bryant, was co-owner of the
Bryant and Ryan's Grocery Store that was situated where
the daycare center is today.
Now Trezevant's society columnist for the McKenzie Banner,
writing was not on Agnes' repertoire of favorites as a
girl. "I just did what I had to do to get up on my
lessons," she admits without a trace of regret.
Her forte' was basketball, a sport she played while in
high school at Trezevant, wearing a uniform of
knee-length, billowy black bloomers and a red jersey.
 At
the end of her high school days in 1929, Agnes
participated in a beauty review where she earned the title
"Miss Trezevant". She then competed against winners of
other city pageants in the county to become "Miss Carroll
County", an honor she speaks modestly of despite the fact
that her beauty remains clear at near-90 in her carefully
coifed hair, stylish dress and attractive use of
cosmetics.
"I'm showing my knees," she laughs upon showing pictures
of the event in which her ruffled dress boasts a long
banner proclaiming "Miss Trezevant 1929" while a shiny
medal affixed to her bodice signifies her status as "Miss
Carroll County". Her curly hair, while permed, had
achieved a curl of its own after a bout of typhoid fever
when she was in the first or second grade.
"All my hair fell out, and when it came back, it was
curly!" she exclaimed.
As fate would have it, the girl-next-door / beauty queen
never married.
"I think I was too curious," she says, mentioning one
fellow in particular who might have been a potential
candidate for marriage and alluding to several others. She
had plenty of children, however, in a teaching career that
spanned 33 and a half years.
One year into her college career at Bethel, where she was
also a member of the basketball team, Agnes was given the
opportunity to teach at the Whitthorne School near Milan,
a first- through-tenth grade school that was nestled in
the area of the Milan Arsenal complex, before its
inception. She taught third and fourth grades at the
school while coaching the older girls, leading them to
beat her alma mater in 1933.
She left Whitthorne after six years when she had the
opportunity to fill the position her best friend,
first-grade teacher Mary Blanks Kent, was leaving at
Trezevant School. She maintained that position for seven
years until circumstances led her to work at the Milan
Arsenal awhile, then at the United Rubber Company until
its close. She taught school in Milan before returning to
Trezevant where she stayed until her retirement, teaching
in her favorite first-grade position.
"I really like children and I like the lower grades," she
says, sharing a photo of three former first-grade students
(Rachel Williams Arrington, Willodean Taylor, and Margaret
Pinson Bobbitt) who she joined during their class reunion
some years ago.
She was again attending Bethel College when her mother
passed away in late 1960. Eline's husband had passed away
during the early part of the same year.
"Eline had never spent the night alone," said Agnes in
explaining how the sisters came to live together. While
Agnes taught at West View and worked toward finishing her
degree at Bethel, Eline stayed in her home. Then, in 1962,
her degree complete, the women moved back to Eline's home
where Agnes remains today.
Eline began writing Trezevant's society news for the same
reason the ladies received phone calls from towns people
wanting to know the latest happenings. In addition to
knowing everyone in town, Eline was president of the
Trezevant Cemetery Association, prompting calls regarding
historical matters as well as current events.
Agnes began helping Eline write her column in 1988 or '89,
after Eline began having trouble with her vision, the
result of mini strokes that gradually took their toll. She
was eventually admitted into the hospital for a visit that
stretched into "25 days and nights," after which the
doctor advised Agnes that she might need to spend time in
a rest home. Instead, Agnes brought her home.
"She lived over a year after she came home," Agnes said.
In the air hung sadness at her sister's demise, pride in
the duty of love with which she had served her needs, and
the question of her own future as she nears her 90th
birthday in February next year.
The question was formally raised when a friend called
Agnes as she cared for her ailing sister. "Who's going to
take care of you?" she was asked. It was a question that
warranted answer, and Agnes knew where to look for the
solution.
"Mr. Marvin Hodgson and his family had moved across the
street from us," she began, reaching back in time once
more. "They had the cutest little boy," she continued,
offering a photo of a rosy-cheeked, curly-haired toddler
whose name was Thomas Earl. "Eline and I didn't have any
brothers or sisters so we helped raise him," she said,
calling him by his nickname, Pinkie.
Pinkie had grown up, joined the Navy and moved away, later
remarrying and settling in nearby Bruceton before
returning to Trezevant. Agnes called Pinkie and his wife
Christine and voiced her concerns. Pinkie was quick to
oblige.
"He's real good to me," Agnes says brightly. "He brings my
mail and the paper and does a lot of things for me," she
said, speaking highly of his wife as well.
Now secretary and treasurer of the cemetery association,
Agnes continues writing the society column to keep
citizens of Trezevant and those who have moved away
abreast of local happenings. Where once she made the
weekly pilgrimage to the McKenzie Banner office each week
to deliver her news in person, she now faxes her
hand-written report in since experiencing lingering
problems following a heart attack last year.
Still, she enjoys membership in the Trezevant United
Methodist Church, attending meetings of the Methodist
Women's Group. She is also an active member of the Carroll
County Retired Teachers Association and spends time at the
Trezevant Community Center, where she is a member of the
birthday supper club.
"Several have joined it," she says, explaining how the
club works. "Once a month we get together - I make corn
light bread and somebody else makes something else - it's
an add-a-dish supper but we always have a nice meal. If
it's anybody's birthday we let them go first in line, and
there's a door prize. Whenever it's our birthday supper we
can ask somebody to come with us. We enjoy the fellowship
and meet with friends; we enjoy it because we might not
see them until we meet again."
She stays busy enough with societal happenings and makes
time for herself as well. "What I enjoy on TV is, I like
the sports; I like basketball and I like one story, 'All
My Children'," she admits, laughing lightly. "And I like
to read; I take a lot of magazines and newspapers." Not
one to read novels, she confesses, "I'd always look and
see how it ended, I always looked at the end of it."
From her view on Bryant Street, past the stately magnolia
and holly trees that line her front lawn, the future looks
bright from end to end, filled with good news, good
friends and good neighbors.
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