A  REVISIT

DANCYVILLE... 1999

 

THE  CENTER  OF  DANCYVILLE  VILLAGE  IS WHERE  HIGHWAY  179  CROSSES HIGHWAY   76.  THIS  CENTRAL  AREA  MAY   HAVE   ALWAYS  BEEN  IN  CONSTANT  CHANGE.   1999,  HOWEVER,   MAY  REFLECT  THE  MOST  CHANGE  IN THE COMMUNITY'S HISTORY.

GONE  ARE  ALL THE  EARLIER   STORES  AND  BUSINESSES.  ONLY  Mr. DC  CRAWFORD'S  DANCYVILLE   GROCERY   REMAINS.  I  WILL  ADMIT,   FOR  A  LITTLE  STORE,  WITH  LIMITED  STOCK,  A   LOOK  AROUND,  SHOWS  A  WHOLE  VARIETY  OF   ITEMS,  WHICH  I  AM  SURE  ARE  'CARRIED'  SO   RESIDENTS  DON'T  HAVE  TO  MAKE  A  LONG  DRIVE   FOR  SOMETHING THEY HAVE  FORGOTTEN.  DC  ALWAYS  IMPRESSES  ME   BY  REMEMBERING  WHO  I  AM  AND  WHAT  STATE   I  LIVE  IN.  AND  JAMES  DUNCAN  CAN  SLICE   A  NICE  SLAB  OF  BOLOGNA  AND  CHEESE  FOR   MY  CRACKERS  AT  LUNCH.  THE  DANCYVILLE  STORES   HAVE  ALWAYS  BEEN  A  PART  OF  MY  VISITS.  IN  THE  LATE  30'S  AND  EARLY  40'S  IT   WAS  THE  CLARK  BROTHER'S  STORE  RUN  BY  DOC   CLARK.  THE  6  OZ.  GLASS  BOTTLED  COKE OR USUALLY  THE  BIG,  SO  CALLED   'BELLY  WASH  PEPSI',  A   VARIETY  OF  NICKEL  CANDY  BARS  AND  OF  COURSE  ALL  THE   PENNY  CANDY,  ESPECIALLY   THE  JAW  BREAKERS.  ABSOLUTE  HEAVEN  FOR  A   LITTLE  BOY.

ANOTHER  VICTIM  OF  THE   TIMES  WAS  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  ONE  OF   THE  EARLIEST  CHURCHES  IN  THE  COMMUNITY,  WITH   THE  FIRST  CONGREGATION  BEGINNING  SERVICES  IN   1854.  BETWEEN  THIS  TIME  AND  THE OUTBREAK  OF  THE   CIVIL  WAR,  A  LARGE  CONTINGENT  OF  NEW   PARISHIONERS  IMMIGRATED  FROM  NORTH  CAROLINA.
THE  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,  BECAUSE  OF  A  DECLINING  MEMBERSHIP,  FOUND   IT  NECESSARY  TO SELL  THE  BUILDING  TO  THE   CONGREGATION OF  THE  MIRACLE  TEMPLE ...  COGIC.   SO  BEGINS  A  NEW  ERA  IN  THIS  CHURCH   BUILDING.

THERE  ARE  NEW   HOMES,  WITH  CLEARING  FOR  OTHERS,  YET  TO  BE   BUILT.  MANY  OF  THE  CURRENT  NAMES   IN   THE  COMMUNITY   ARE  THE  SAME  AS   SHOW   ON  EARLY  DANCYVILLE   RECORDS.

OF  COURSE  THE   FARMING  OPERATIONS CONTINUE.  SOME  FAMILIES  STILL FARMING   LAND THAT WAS  BROKEN  BY  THEIR  ANCESTORS.

I  MET  FOR  THE   FIRST  TIME,   MRS.  SARAH  RHEA  MCNAMEE,  ALTHOUGH  LIVING  IN  FAYETTE   COUNTY,  SHE  HAS  DANCYVILLE  AND  DANCY  TIES.   IF   EVER  THE  PHRASE,   'SOMEONE  IS  SO  MANY   YEARS  YOUNG',  APPLIED,  IT  WOULD  BE  FOR   MISS   SARAH.  AS  WE  TALKED  SHE  ASKED   ME  IF  I  DIDN'T  HAVE  ANOTHER  SISTER.  SHE    RECALLED  MY  SISTER  FROM  HER  FRIENDSHIP,   WITH  MY  FATHER'S  SISTER,  MY  AUNT  MARY   DANCY.  IN  ITSELF  THAT  PROBABLY  WOULD  NOT   BE  SO  REMARKABLE  EXCEPT  MY  AUNT  MARY  HAS   BEEN  DECEASED  59  YEARS.
MISS  SARAH  PUBLISHED,  "A  HISTORY  OF   JOYNER'S  CAMPGROUND,  1883 - 1993".  COPIES  ARE  STILL   AVAILABLE.  IF
YOU  ARE  INTERESTED  IN  JOYNER'S,  OR  THE  OLD  CAMP   MEETINGS  IN  GENERAL,   THIS  IS  AN  EXCELLENT   DESCRIPTION OF  A  TRADITION  THAT  IS  ALL BUT  GONE   BY.  DANCYVILLE  FAMILIES  HAVE  ALWAYS  BEEN   INVOLVED
IN  THE  ACTIVITIES  AT  JOYNER'S  CAMPGROUND.

Click Photo for full view

THE  DANCYVILLE  SCHOOL  CLOSED IN  THE  SPRING  OF  1969. THIS DATE WAS CONFIRMED BY  MR. P. J.  ANGOTTI  OF  THE  HAYWOOD  COUNTY  SCHOOL  BOARD. THE  BUILDING  SERVES  THE  COMMUNITY   AS  THE  J.  B.  MOORE  MEMORIAL  CLUB.

                            Mr.D.C. Crawford closed the Cotton Gin
                      Click Photo for full view                                           

 

                                                                      A Water Tower?
                                                                                                       Click Photo for full view

 

THIS 1999  GENEALOGY   SOJOURN  WAS  MORE  THAN A TRIP  TO  DANCYVILLE.   ESCORTED  BY  MARY  KAY  DANCY  SMITH,  MY SISTER   FROM  THE  SECOND  HALF  OF  MY  FATHER'S  LIFE,   WE  COVERED  THE  FOLLOWING  AREAS  OF  RESEARCH:   DANCYVILLE;  MISS  DOROTHY  MOORE;   SPRINGHILL   CEMETERY;  DANCYVILLE  UNITED  METHODIST  CHURCH  AND  CEMETERY;  PRESBYTERIAN  CEMETERY;  DANCY-SCOTT  FAMILY   CEMETERY;   ELMA  ROSS  PUBLIC  LIBRARY, BROWNSVILLE;   GRATITUDE  CHURCH  CEMETERY, SHELBY  COUNTY; JOINER'S   CAMPGROUND (2 TIMES),  YUM-YUM  SCHOOL AND  MRS.  SARAH   RHEA  MCNAMEE , ALL IN  FAYETTE  COUNTY;  AND THE ARCHIVES OF THE  MEMPHIS  CONFERENCE,  LAMBUTH  UNIVERSITY,  JACKSON, TENNESSEE.

Some of the photos on this page provided by Mary Kay Dancy Smith.

LYRICS

DANCYVILLE ROAD?

Somewhere between Jackson and Memphis,
There’s a sign stuck between the fences,
Dancyville Road, Dancyville Road,
Time stands still down Dancyville Road,

Hallelujah  living in the country,
Barefoot up and down that dusty,
Dancyville Road, Dancyville Road,
Time stands still down Dancyville Road,

And when this world starts closing in,
And I start to feel I just can’t win,
I close my eyes and off I go,
Walking down Dancyville Road,

musical reprise

And when this world starts closing in,
And I start to feel I just can’t win,
I close my eyes and off I go,
Walking down Dancyville Road,

Mom and Dad sittin’ on the porch swing,
Fire flies dancing with the moon beams,
Dancyville Road, Dancyville Road,
Time stands still down Dancyville Road,
Take me back down Dancyville Road.

?Dancyville Road - 2nd cut on the Smith Sisters Road Runner CD

(Guy Clark & Richard Leigh) (2:43)
(c 1988 , SBK April Music Inc.)
Recorded by Flying Fish Records, Inc.
Chicago, IL. 60614

The Smith Sisters Roadrunner(CD) is available from Amazon Books and Music.
This is a real country flavored (old county that is) melody, with excellent, two part harmony, by the Smith Sisters.

Posted  June 1999                                                                                                                    
Updated - November 8, 1999

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