| Sources |
- [S104] Cocke County, Tennessee, and its People, Cocke County Heritage Book Committee, (Walsworth Publishing, 1992), 193.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 6 Sep 2013.
Grandpas celebrate birthdays
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On August 14, I went to the home of Quinton and Wilda (Bill) Parrott on the occasion of Quinton’s 90th birthday. It is astonishing he looks so well and is here to celebrate because he has struggled with a significant heart problem for decades. He and Bill have two sons: Richard Parrott of Ohio about 50 miles from the Michigan state line; Dr. Earl Parrott, who practices medicine at Columbia, Tenn. Richard has two daughters, Amy Mills, of Newport, and Ashley Parrott of Texas. You may know Amy because she is a nurse at Tennova’s Newport Medical Center. Dr. Parrott has a son, Adam, who lives in California. Quinton and I will be chatting soon about the good old days and you will read about this.
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Just Plain Talk: Grandparents proud of their broods and other celebrations in store
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 20 Sep 2013.
Long life offers great overview to Newport's changing times
(c)2013 NPT PHOTO BY DAVID POPIEL
D. Quinton Parrott turned 90 on August 14, 2013 with a quiet celebration at his home. Born in Jefferson County, he has spent more than 85 years working and living in Newport.
Author: David Popiel
Just three minutes after 7 a.m. the sun rises on Sunday, September 22, and this marks the first day of autumn for our hometown that soon will be preparing for many festivals such as the popular Partnership's downtown harvest street festival.
For me the sunshine arrival might be a little later as the sun must climb above Rocky Top before I can see it. What about you? Maybe the 7:03 a.m. sunrise is for Atlantic Oceanside residents. Before we start what could be a long chat with an old friend, let me update you on some things happening in the community. You recall the story the Plain Talk published after Wayne and Brenda Ellison's pet Cybil went missing from their farm several weeks ago. That story ended happily because they tracked the dog to people who found it and Sean Ellison brought it home. But it was sad to hear this follow up news from Brenda last week. As Brenda shared with me, "Cybil resumed her routine when she returned home riding the tractor with Wayne chasing deer and sneaking a nap on the couch in the cool basement. We microchipped her the next morning post her return and she was sporting a new face haircut and collar." Later, Cybil was bitten by a copperhead on her throat. She was found on the farm golf cart having trouble breathing so Wayne rushed her to Dr. John Chambers, Brenda's brother, at Blue Ridge Veterinary. Although there was an immediate treatment good response, Cybil died during the night and was buried as a much-loved and missed family pet.
Some businesses gone
Have you been to the newly-expanded Food City East grocery store? A hunger for a plump muffin sent me on an unexpected tour of the store last Tuesday. I was impressed how much larger the building has become. The produce department is awesome and such a splendid regimented display of greens, oranges and yellows. But I was fixed on the bakery and next to the cakes so saw a woman preparing salads. "TR" is Tammy Rose Lowe, a former Ruby Tuesday chef, now making all those delicious salads such as the chicken salad she was blending that morning. Because we talked about all the new businesses lately, it was sad to see that the Mapco station near People’s Choice Restaurant has closed. We sold a lot of Plain Talks there. The sign on the closed door states: "Thanks for your years of great business but we are now closed." A Mapco manager who may have come from the Brentwood headquarters said they decided not to renew their lease.
A quiet birthday celebration slipped by you, and I am sure you know this fellow better than I do. D. Quinton Parrott turned 90 on August 14 with a few friends visiting him and "Bill," Wilda Parrott, at their brick home off East Broadway where you turn onto Iris. Had it not been for Carolyn Helms I would have missed the opportunity to greet him and make a few photos of the occasion to share with you. He was willing to sit down with me and talk about his life and times and we did this in September. The first thing he mentioned was the Plain Talk article on senior friend, Bill Agee, who is 95, and a man many knew as a theater operator well before he got into banking. Quinton visited the Winston Theater near the National Bank of Tennessee’s main office "when Dad had a dime."Quinton mentioned the Ford grocery between the theater and Minnis Drug Store, where I saw some inside renovation activity just days ago.
Newport in the 1930s
Within a few minutes, Quinton was whisking me around old Newport from the 1930s through the 1960s, for he was born in 1923 and has a keen memory. He mentioned the "big fire" he witnessed about 84 years ago. Yet, he and his family came here from Sandy Ridge near Chestnut Hill. "Dr. Proffitt delivered me at home." Quinton’s parents were Earl Cecil Parrott who married the former Gladys Audrey Poe. Now, you will find this interesting about the "D" for Quinton’s first name, Deverce. "Dad was 22, Mom was 16 when they married. She picked the name and I never knew where it came from. I think I’m the only one in the world with the name." By 1925 they were living in Newport. "Dad got a job with the Esso distributor" next to the Spiegle mill (Rhyne Lumber Company) where Col. Charles Rhyne Sr. worked as bookkeeper when he came here with the c ompany in 1918, and eventually became owner. Quinton also recalled J.O. Cope who was a “yard man” at the lumber company and stayed in excellent health playing tennis into his 90s. After the stock market crashed in October 1929, Earl got laid off and this proved to be a good thing. He opened Polly Parrott Service Station next to the building now occupied by the Plain Talk. Gene Gray worked with Earl in the early days as a partner but eventually Earl bought out Gene, who went back to farming. Later, Gene built a competing service station across the street. It is now the home of Gary Kyker’s popular Kyker’s Automotive.
Just plain Talk: Long life offers great overview to Newport's changing times
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 4 Oct 2013.
A view from Woodlawn
It was the first full day of fall and 80-degres when I returned to Quinton Parrott’s home and we picked up on our discussion of 1930s Newport. To help me follow his explanation we rode to Woodlawn Avenue and up River View. He pointed to the corner lot at Jefferson Ave. and said this was the site of the Peter Jake Susong home that burned several years after his untimely death. On the other side of Jefferson where David and Tina Pierson now live there used to be a large two-story home. This was the home of Lyle Moore Sr., and I am not sure what become of it. I failed to mention that as we drove from Iris to College and around by Newport Grammar, Quinton pointed to the abandoned Victorian style home. It was an apartment building, Hill Top Apartments and the first place that Quinton and Wilda lived after they were married. Back to the end of Jefferson now. And it is a dangerous end because if you cross River View and fail to stop, as one driver did a few years ago, you crash down a steep embankment. That driver was killed. Too bad the house that used to be where the Parrotts lived was not still standing at the end of Jefferson. There was a trail from the house down the embankment to an alley that is now Jefferson Ave. intersecting East Broadway. We’ll be driving around from River View in a few minutes as we coasted past the Jan Carpenter home towards White Oak. Quinton said Porter Wood lived to his, the passenger’s right, and we turned down hill past the dogwood park turning deeper reds to Giles Auto at Broadway. I turned right and drove in front of East Tenn. Tire, stopping as Quinton pointed towards the railroad tracks and where the knitting mill was located. As we glanced east He said Lynn Allen’s two-story block building contemporary to the Plain Talk was wedged between Roy Dunn’s plumbing shop (Now the Learning Express/dance studio), and Cam Porter’s garage.
Many car dealerships
Cam Porter was a good mechanic and car trader. Later the property was leased to White Store. My memory only goes back to 1972 when Free Service Tire and Bull Durham were there. “Cam had the Plymouth dealership.” After WW II ended, Polly bought the first car from Cam, a four-door white 1947 Plymouth. I commented to Quinton that my Mom had a gray1947 Plymouth in the 1950s. Polly paid Cam $780 for the new car. Where Park’s Dry Cleaner is was another service station, owned by Paul Rhodes Sr. He later became the Olds agent in town. I was astonished to finally see a photo of Polly’s service stationed that opened about 1933. Better than this was to see a portion of the two-story house that existed next to our building. It housed Ed Walker’s Ford dealership. Behind Gene and Polly’s service station was at least one frame house. This is the “cathouse” Quinton referred to and I mistakenly thought was in the line of four houses facing East Broadway and between Polly’s station and Woodlawn. The old post office was not built until later in the 1930s. We went through the alley way behind the Bryant building and beside Broadway Body Shop.
Just Plain Talk: End of an era in Newport for Stephanie's Hallmark that closed
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 2 May 2014.
May events beckon you outside and Quinton has more to say, too
(c)2014 NPT PHOTO BY DAVID POPIEL
The Parrott and Henry families are close for a particular reason. Dr. Bill Henry’s wife, Mary Elizabeth, is the 10-years-younger sister to Quinton “DQ” Parrott. They are Polly Parrotts children. From left to right at the Cliffwood home of the Henrys are Elizabeth, Wilda “Bill” Parrott and husband, Quinton, and Dr. Henry, retired Newport optometrist.
Author: David Popiel
May is starting on a cool note but with blue skies as weekend and election-related activities offer much to do this weekend in our hometown. Why not try to eat a ramp with the Brushy Mountain Bear Hunters on Saturday for supper?
I cruised out to the French Broad River Festival at Hot Springs on Friday so you could get a glimpse of what's happening there all weekend. If you want to do more than listen, better grab a fishing pole and head over to Walters Bridge TWRA boat ramp very early Saturday for the first annual Tanner Preservation Alliance Crappie Fishing Tournament. If you can't fish than eat some fish at City park from 6 to 8 p.m. That sounds good to me if Trey Dykes is going to be cooking. Last week I met a few folks you know such as Homer Yates and you will be hearing more about him and others soon.
The old Victorian house
Because I thought Quinton "DQ" Parrott might know something about the tall old house at Mims Avenue across from the old face of NGS, I called to ask. This will also give us a chance to revisit him and his life and times. Last week we chatted about "The Hill Topper." Quinton quickly answered when I asked if he knew anything about the place, "We had our first apartment there in 1946. Bill was pregnant," he said referring to his wife, Wilda, pregnant with their son, Earl. Earl is now age 66 a medical doctor still practicing in Columbia, Tenn. Quinton and "Bill" lived on the second floor, the side facing Bill Agee's house. At the time Judson Shults, a partner with Lyle Stokely in a Newport drug store, owned the apartment house. During the cold winter of 1946, Quinton had to stoke the furnace with coal. He was able to recall the names of a few others living in the apartments at the time: Kenneth Kite was on the ground floor and Dr. Nelson Bales also lived there. Perhaps you did too decades ago? The Parrotts lived at the Victorian Hill Topper for over a year during which time Quinton went to work for Dad, Polly Parrott, at the gasoline service station located next to the Newport Plain Talk.
Revisting Quinton "DQ" Parrott
Last fall we spent a few weeks remembering old Newport from the 1930s and 1940s, as we drove around with Quinton Parrott. He had celebrated his 90th birthday August 14. Our journey got interrupted by other stories and so I wanted to revisit Quinton, especially to talk about his World War II service. Of late I have been chatting with many veterans one recently being Roy Messer, of Parrottsville. I met Roy and his new pup at Walmart. As a member of the famous Walking Dead from the Vietnam War, we will want to hear his stories.
The last time Quinton and I rode around we took a shortcut through the alley by Broadway Body Shop. Quinton laughed and said the modern day Delta Alley at one time extended past the rear of the Plain Talk (before our steel building was added), and the long white block building (formerly Blackwell Tax service) was built on the alley. Attorney Jim McSween got this all straightened out a couple decades ago to make it legal for us and others to exist on the alley that was finally closed by the city.
We stopped at Woodlawn letting the gray tabby pass and looked down hill from the old post office (now owned by Arvis Keys). Quinton said that the lot across from Hop Byrd's auto detail shop was the site of East Tennessee Store. I gathered it was a large building next to Greer Hardware (currently Newport Hardware) with a second floor. On this floor was a boxing ring and bleachers for Saturday night fights. And, if there weren't enough gas stations, Polly opened one up on Hop's property before he owned it as a Gulf station. Next to it was a more popular tavern and then the famous Rooster O'Neil's hamburger place. Quinton remembers a business on stilts because of regular flooding by an underground spring, and it seems to him it was another tavern. I'm always amazed how folks can remember the way things were 60 and 70 years ago. Where the former Painter's Photography, now Jeannie's Sewing shop, was another car dealership. If you knew Vernon Fox, he had the Nash dealership. And this is where Quinton interjected a funny story about Uncle Sherman Fancher and Joe Padgett, who he referred to as "old codgers." It seems that Fancher had been drinking when he decided to stop at Cam Porter's car lot to buy a new Plymouth. Cam told him to come back on Monday, apparently believing Fancher needed a clear mind to make a big car-buying decision. This irked Fancher who went to Vernon and bought the Nash in the showroom. Fancher drove it away, west and past Cam's garage blowing the horn of his new Nash and waving at Cam.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 16 May 2014.
For us today WW II is history but still real for many veterans
Author: David Popiel
Mid May was sliding away or being washed away by heavy rains about our hometown, when skies cleared last week for the May 14th full moon. Calmer days are setting in as we get closer to Memorial Day.
I forgot to mention an item that came across the Newport Plain Talk Facebook page concerning two missing puppies. You may have heard that Hope Sebring of Wildwood Acres is upset about the disappearance of her Pyrenees puppies. They crawled under a fence and may have wandered along Lindsey Gap Road to points unknown. These are male and female about three months old. They are white with blue collar and pink collar, Aslan and Arendell. Call Hope at 423-608-8717 if you know where her puppies are. She wants them back home.
Crossing the Atlantic in winter
We have been taking with Quinton Parrott about his World War II days. We will complete the series for now with his memories of the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. It is 1943 and he is going on his first Naval assignment.
“We took a shake-down cruise to Panama City. It was through the Gulf of Mexico and to New Orleans.” He was there when news came that his grandmother had died so he went on leave. From Newport he went to New York. It was winter and cold when they loaded up thousands of utility poles at New Jersey and then left a wake for Halifax to join one of the largest American conveys ever to assemble during the war. He said that there were at least 127 ships criss-crossing the ocean to elude Germany U-boats (submarines) that had devastated North Atlantic shipping. Destroyers chased away the subs with few incidents at “torpedo junction.” LST 503 docked at Glasgow, Scotland, in early 1944. After a short stop, the troop carrier headed down to South Hampton. “We knew there was a going to be an invasion. We had 1,200 troops on board.”
The invasion of France
Originally, the invasion was set for June 1, 1944, and before this the ships and men practiced trial runs in the channel (English Channel). However, Quinton said they got half way across, roughly 12 to 15 miles, and waves were 50 feet high so the invasion was postponed until June 6. LST 503 and hundreds of other ships left England during the night and arrived after midnight. D-Day was the largest gathering of ships in history for an amphibious landing. “They strafed us all night long,” he said, referring to the Germans on the French shore at Normandy. The battleship Texas was about a half mile off shore and started firing its huge guns and this continued through the shore landings. Quinton said he was overwhelmed by the size of the operation and will never forget the Texas and its guns blazing. By morning, Quinton and others assigned to navigate smaller landing crafts, the LCVP, were taking troops ashore. He was the pilot on one of four LCVPs shuttling from the LST 503. The smaller vessels were about 36-feet long and carried about 36 troops. Two other men on the LCVPs were in charge of the ramp and the twin 50-caliber machine guns. It was no easy task to bring the smaller LCVPs to the sides of the troop ships that towered about 40 feet above the sea level.
- [S112] Census, 1940.
Name: Quentin Parrott
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1940
Event Place: Civil District 6, Cocke, Tennessee, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Marital Status: Single
Race (Original): White
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Son
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birthplace: Tennessee
Birth Year (Estimated): 1923
Last Place of Residence: Same Place
District: 15-16
Family Number: 9
Sheet Number and Letter: 1A
Line Number: 40
Affiliate Publication Number: T627
Affiliate Film Number: 3881
Digital Folder Number: 005461287
Image Number: 00455
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Cecil Parrott M 39 Tennessee
Wife Audrey Parrott F 34 Tennessee
Son Quentin Parrott M 17 Tennessee
Daughter Mary Elizebeth Parrott F 6 Tennessee
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Name Deverce Quinton Parrott
Event Type Marriage
Event Date 16 Jun 1946
Event Place Sevier, Tennessee, United States
Gender Male
Spouse's Name Wilda Evelyn Tarwater
Spouse's Gender Female
Spouse's Father's Name Millard Tarwater
Spouse's Mother's Name Ella Tarwater
"Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-30173-2658-18?cc=1619127 : accessed 24 March 2016), Sevier > Marriage registers, 1941-1948, vol 27-28 > image 472 of 710; citing Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville and county clerk offices from various counties.
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