Individual Details
Jesse Ryals FURR
(20 Sep 1888 - 18 Aug 1959)
PICAYUNE — Christine Furr Metcalfe Carsley was buried on Saturday, June 12, in the Canton Cemetery, following a funeral mass held at Canton’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
Christine was born on Aug. 4, 1921, in Picayune. She was the daughter of the late Ruby Thornhill Furr and Jesse Ryals Furr, onetime owner and publisher of the “Picayune Item.”
The history of the Furr family is a big part of the story of the growth of Picayune, a time during which the “Item” grew from a small weekly to a daily newspaper along with the growing city of Picayune.
Furr at one time also owned the “Poplarville Free Press,” the first newspaper to be published in Pearl River County, and the “Lumberton Headblock.” The “Free Press” later went out of business and was supplanted by the “Poplarville Democrat.” The “Item” today owns the “Democrat.”
The Furr family owned and operated the “Item” for 30 years.
Jesse R. Furr, known for his dry wit and “home-spun stories”, was called Jess and purchased the “Item” in the Spring of 1914 from Grover C. Vickery of Carriere. At the time he purchased the newspaper, it cost him $350. The “Item” had been moved to Carriere because a huge sawmill had just been opened there and promoters thought Carriere would grow and Picayune would not.
The family tells the story that Furr wanted to borrow the $350 to buy the newspaper from the Bank of Picayune. The loan officer cut the check and before handing it to him, asked what he was going to do with the money. “Buy the Picayune Item,” Furr said.
The loan officer tore up the check, and told Furr, “If E.F. Tate can’t make it go, then nobody can.” Tate was the founder of both the newspaper and bank. Furr then turned to his brother to borrow the money.
The name “Picayune Item” had been discarded when the newspaper was moved to Carriere, and it had been re-named “The Pearl River Countian.”
Furr moved the “Item” back to Picayune and renamed it the “Picayune Item.” It had originally been started in 1904 by Tate, in Picayune, who also at the same time had founded the Bank of Picayune, which was later merged into Hancock Bank. The “Item” had changed hands several times, ending up in Carriere as the economic outlook for the small communities waxed and waned with the timber mills.
Some say Furr bought the newspaper, moved it back to Picayune and revived the original name (or masthead as it is called) because he had gotten news that L.O. Crosby, Sr., was coming to town and planning on setting up a huge sawmill to harvest the Blodgett tract of virgin longleaf yellow pine timber that covered Pearl River County. In 1914, when Furr moved the “Item” back to Picayune, it was a village with a population of 421 persons. After Crosby began the mill in 1916, the population burgeoned to almost 4,000 by the late 1920s.
Christine worked at the “Picayune Item” as a proofreader and later society editor after she graduated from Picayune High School in 1939. Christine remained in Picayune until 1950 when she married Thomas Oren Metcalfe, Jr. She and her husband then moved to Canton where Mr. Metcalfe’s family owned a business. Mr. Metcalfe died in 1974. In 1976 Christine married Dr. Robert A. Carsley, who died in 2000.
She served as president of the Maids and Matrons and was a communicant of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, where she was on the Altar Guild.
She died on June 9 in Madison. She was 88 years old. Her home was in Canton.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse R. Furr; a brother, John Bryce Furr; and two sisters, Jesse Furr Scoggin and Thomasine Furr Blackwell.
Survivors include: daughters, Margaret Metcalfe Hassin of Flowood and Rooney Metcalfe Davis of Terry; sons Thomas Oren Metcalfe III of Gluckstadt and Dr. R.T. Carsley of Oxford; grandchildren, Drew Hassin of Brandon, Matthew Hassin of Flowood, Rachel Blount of Madison, Jacob Davis of Horsham, Penn., James Metcalfe of Gluckstadt, Michael Carsley of Sidney, Australia, and Christopher Carsley of Seattle, Wash; and three great-grandchildren.
Other survivors are sisters: Iva Loy Chambers of Hattiesburg, Charleen Schrock of Picayune and brother David Furr of Monroe, La.
The Furr’s had seven children, five girls and two boys. The girls: Christine, Thomasine, Jesse Mae, Charlene and Iva Loy, and two boys: John B. and David. Only Charlene, Iva Loy and David are still alive.
Christine was born on Aug. 4, 1921, in Picayune. She was the daughter of the late Ruby Thornhill Furr and Jesse Ryals Furr, onetime owner and publisher of the “Picayune Item.”
The history of the Furr family is a big part of the story of the growth of Picayune, a time during which the “Item” grew from a small weekly to a daily newspaper along with the growing city of Picayune.
Furr at one time also owned the “Poplarville Free Press,” the first newspaper to be published in Pearl River County, and the “Lumberton Headblock.” The “Free Press” later went out of business and was supplanted by the “Poplarville Democrat.” The “Item” today owns the “Democrat.”
The Furr family owned and operated the “Item” for 30 years.
Jesse R. Furr, known for his dry wit and “home-spun stories”, was called Jess and purchased the “Item” in the Spring of 1914 from Grover C. Vickery of Carriere. At the time he purchased the newspaper, it cost him $350. The “Item” had been moved to Carriere because a huge sawmill had just been opened there and promoters thought Carriere would grow and Picayune would not.
The family tells the story that Furr wanted to borrow the $350 to buy the newspaper from the Bank of Picayune. The loan officer cut the check and before handing it to him, asked what he was going to do with the money. “Buy the Picayune Item,” Furr said.
The loan officer tore up the check, and told Furr, “If E.F. Tate can’t make it go, then nobody can.” Tate was the founder of both the newspaper and bank. Furr then turned to his brother to borrow the money.
The name “Picayune Item” had been discarded when the newspaper was moved to Carriere, and it had been re-named “The Pearl River Countian.”
Furr moved the “Item” back to Picayune and renamed it the “Picayune Item.” It had originally been started in 1904 by Tate, in Picayune, who also at the same time had founded the Bank of Picayune, which was later merged into Hancock Bank. The “Item” had changed hands several times, ending up in Carriere as the economic outlook for the small communities waxed and waned with the timber mills.
Some say Furr bought the newspaper, moved it back to Picayune and revived the original name (or masthead as it is called) because he had gotten news that L.O. Crosby, Sr., was coming to town and planning on setting up a huge sawmill to harvest the Blodgett tract of virgin longleaf yellow pine timber that covered Pearl River County. In 1914, when Furr moved the “Item” back to Picayune, it was a village with a population of 421 persons. After Crosby began the mill in 1916, the population burgeoned to almost 4,000 by the late 1920s.
Christine worked at the “Picayune Item” as a proofreader and later society editor after she graduated from Picayune High School in 1939. Christine remained in Picayune until 1950 when she married Thomas Oren Metcalfe, Jr. She and her husband then moved to Canton where Mr. Metcalfe’s family owned a business. Mr. Metcalfe died in 1974. In 1976 Christine married Dr. Robert A. Carsley, who died in 2000.
She served as president of the Maids and Matrons and was a communicant of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, where she was on the Altar Guild.
She died on June 9 in Madison. She was 88 years old. Her home was in Canton.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse R. Furr; a brother, John Bryce Furr; and two sisters, Jesse Furr Scoggin and Thomasine Furr Blackwell.
Survivors include: daughters, Margaret Metcalfe Hassin of Flowood and Rooney Metcalfe Davis of Terry; sons Thomas Oren Metcalfe III of Gluckstadt and Dr. R.T. Carsley of Oxford; grandchildren, Drew Hassin of Brandon, Matthew Hassin of Flowood, Rachel Blount of Madison, Jacob Davis of Horsham, Penn., James Metcalfe of Gluckstadt, Michael Carsley of Sidney, Australia, and Christopher Carsley of Seattle, Wash; and three great-grandchildren.
Other survivors are sisters: Iva Loy Chambers of Hattiesburg, Charleen Schrock of Picayune and brother David Furr of Monroe, La.
The Furr’s had seven children, five girls and two boys. The girls: Christine, Thomasine, Jesse Mae, Charlene and Iva Loy, and two boys: John B. and David. Only Charlene, Iva Loy and David are still alive.
Events
| Birth | 20 Sep 1888 | Wesson, Copiah County, MS | |||
| Marriage | 21 Dec 1915 | Ruby Edna THORNHILL |  | ||
| Occupation | 1920 | printer - Picayune, Pearl River County, MS | |||
| Occupation | 1930 | newspaper editor - Picayune, Pearl River County, MS | |||
| Death | 18 Aug 1959 | Picayune, Pearl River County, MS |  | ||
| Burial | New Palestine Cemetery, Picayune, Pearl River County, MS | |
Families
| Spouse | Ruby Edna THORNHILL (1894 - 1992) |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Jessie Mae FURR (1918 - 2009) |
| Child | Blanche Christine FURR (1921 - 2010) |
| Child | Iva Loy FURR (1923 - 2019) |
| Child | Ruby Thomasine "Snokkie" FURR (1927 - 2009) |
| Child | Charleen F. FURR (1930 - 2022) |
| Child | David Alvin FURR (1935 - 2018) |
| Father | James Henderson FURR (1857 - 1935) |
| Mother | Ella A. FARMER (1868 - 1903) |
| Sibling | FURR (1885 - 1885) |
| Sibling | Lula C. FURR (1886 - ) |
| Sibling | James Troy FURR (1887 - 1908) |
| Sibling | William Franklin "Willie" FURR (1890 - 1953) |
| Sibling | Mary Edna FURR (1892 - 1951) |
| Sibling | Hollis Rowan FURR (1895 - 1927) |
| Sibling | Floyd Dexter FURR (1900 - 1959) |
| Sibling | FURR (1903 - 1903) |
Notes
Death
Funeral services were conducted at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Estes Chapel of the First Baptist Church of Picayune for J. R. Furr, retired newspaper publisher, who died at 1:35 a.m. Tuesday at Crosby Memorial Hospital. Mr. Furr was 70 years of age, and had been in ill health for several years. Mr. Furr was editor and publisher of the Picayune Item for about 30 years before selling the paper in 1945. At one time, he also owned the Free Press at Poplarville and the Progressive Citizen at Lumberton. Prior to his retirement in 1953 he owned and operated the Commercial Printing Company in Picayune. A native of Wesson, he lived most of his adult life at Picayune. He was a member of the First Baptist Church and a Mason. Mr. Furr was recognized in state newspaper circles as one of the outstanding editors of the region. His editorials on a wide variety of subjects were timely and widely quoted by the weekly and daily press. His journalistic leadership is credited with contributing much to the economic growth of this section. Mr. Furr is survived by his wife, Mrs. Ruby Thornhill Furr of Picayune; two sons, John B. Furr of Baton Rouge, and David Furr of Raleigh; and five daughters, Mrs. Jessie Mae McMullan and Mrs. Iva Loy Tolar, both of Hattiesburg, Mrs. Christine Metcalf of Canton, Mrs. Thomasine Blackwell of Columbus, and Mrs. Charlene Schrock of Picayune.Weekly Democrat, Poplarville, Miss., Thursday, August 20, 1959
Endnotes
1. Hunting For Bears, comp. Mississippi Marriages, 1776-1935 [database online]. Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2004. Original data: Mississippi marriage information taken from county courthouse records..
2. findagrave.com.