Date: 1918.

Biography/History:
Agnew-McElroy Company

The Agnew-McElroy Company of Baldwyn, Lee County, Mississippi, was owned by William L. McElroy and R. T. Agnew. The company functioned as cotton buyers and general merchants for the area.

William L. McElroy

William L. (Earl) McElroy, son of William Earl McElroy, Sr. and Elizabeth Ann Martin McElroy, was born on May 7, 1888, in Geeville, Prentiss County, Mississippi. McElroy was owner of the Agnew-McElroy Company in Baldwyn. McElroy and his wife Lany (Luna) F., had three daughters: Leetta (b. ca. 1909), Will Lany (Luna) (b. ca. 1911), and Dorothy (b. ca. 1920). William L. (Earl) McElroy died on August 16, 1965, and was buried in Baldwyn City Cemetery in Baldwyn.

Forest Prather

In 1867, Lee C. Prather bought into the firm of J. D. Bills and Company of Baldwyn. The firm’s name was then changed to Bills & Prather. Prather bought out J.D. Bills’s interest in 1878. The business handled an average of six hundred bales of cotton and earned $35,000 annually. Lee C. Prather and his wife, America Melinda Allen Prather, had five sons, Walter, Brooks, LeRoy, Claude, and Forest. Forest Prather was born on December 29, 1880, in Lee County, Mississippi. He was employed as a bank cashier in Baldwyn, and lived in Prentiss County, Mississippi. Forest Prather died on June 8, 1962, and was buried in Baldwyn City Cemetery.

Liberty Loans

Liberty Loans were war bonds issued in four installments during World War I (1914-1918). On April 5, 1918, the third Liberty Loan installment was offered at 4.5 percent. Liberty Loan rallies were held throughout the country to raise funds for the war effort. On April 4, 1918, aviators from the Park Field Army Signal Corps Aviation School, located in Millington, Tennessee, gave an impromptu flight exhibition at the Tupelo, Lee County, Mississippi, fairgrounds. A Liberty Loan Rally was held in Tupelo on April 6, 1918.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This letter, dated April 23, 1918, was written to Aviator Lieutenant Lewis and Mechanic Wilson at Park Field, Millington, Tennessee, by W. L. McElroy and Forest Prather in Baldwyn, Lee County, Mississippi. In the letter, McElroy and Prather thank Lewis and Wilson for flying their airplane around the town of Baldwyn as an exhibition, as promised during a Liberty Loan Rally.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Letter. 1918. 1 folder.