The Prentiss Headlight
Jefferson Davis Co., MS
November 13, 1947

Mrs. Amanda W. Dale, Pioneer Resident of Prentiss, Passes

The death of Mrs. Amanda Williams Dale, which occured at her home here Friday morning, marked the close of a life that had been a benediction to this community for almost half a century. The infirmities of age bore heavily upon her in the past few years, steadily depleting her strength, and forcing her to stay close at home. Although she has been critically ill for the past weeks, with no hope being held for her recovery, the announcement of her passing to the great beyond brought profound sorrow to the entire community. She died as she had wished to do, quietly and peacefully, in sleep.

Mrs. Dale was born Nov. 17th, 1862, in the Red House community, being the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Williams, Sr., the former a prominent merchant and planter. The old two story home in which she first saw the light of day still stands today and lends shelter to a tenant family.

Early in young womanhood, she was wooed and won by S. S. Dale, and as bride and groom they set up housekeeping in the Grange community, later moving to the home now occupied by the Tom Slater family, and still later residing in the old Dale home now occupied by the Benjamin Slater family. Here several of the children were born. In 1904, they moved to Prentiss where Mr. Dale opened a large merchantile business which he successfully managed until his death on Jan. 30, 1924. Mrs. Dale was the mother of eleven children, nine of whom are still living and taking their places as worthwhile citizens. Two of the sons, John S. Dale, Sr. and Dan Dale, preceded their mother in death, after reaching manhood and establishing families of their own.

Mrs. Dale was a charter member of the Prentiss Baptist Church, and was a devout Christian. Truly, her religion was more than just a profession, it was a vital part of her very being. Quiet, gentle and retiring in manner, she possessed to a marked degree those finer traits of character so peculiar to those reared amidst the early environment and atmosphere in which she was reared. Though keenly interested in the civic, religious and educational advancement of her community and in world affairs, her greatest joy came from being a good wife and mother, and in making home a place of comfort and happiness for her loved ones. Always cheerful and hospitable, no friend, relative, nor neighbor ever crossed the threshold of her home who did not receive a warm and cordial welcome from this good woman. She had time for her friends and relatives and enjoyed fellowshipping with them.

Funeral services were held from the home at 10:30 Saturday morning, with relatives and friends attending from far and near. Officiating were her pastor, Dr. W. L. Sewell; Rev. G. Eliot Jones, pastor of the Prentiss Methodist Church, and Rev. Callahan, Presbyterian minister from Columbia. Music was rendered by two granddaughters, Mrs. Harmon Alley of Clinton, pianist, and Miss Jacqueline Polk of Mississippi Southern College, vocalist.

Arrangements were in the hands of her grandsons, B. G. and Marion Rood Walden, proprietors of Walden's Funderal Home, and pall bearers were her grandsons, Edwin, Jimmie, John S., Joseph, David and Harold Dale, B. G. and Marion Rood Walden, and Erwin Gulledge, Jr. Two grandsons, Dick Johnson and Jerry Gulledge, preceded the active pallbearers, while two others, Madison Dale and Wood Polk, Jr. could not be present. Interment was made in the Prentiss Cemetery under a veritable blanket of earth's choicest flowers.

She is survived by the following children: R. E. Dale, Paul Dale, Fred Dale, Robert Dale, Mrs. B. G. Walden, Sr., Prentiss; S. S. Dale, Jr., Columbus; Mrs. Wood Polk and Mrs. Hughsie Johnson, Columbia; Mrs. Erwin Gulledge, Crystal Springs; two brothers, A. G. Williams, Prentiss, and I. J. Williams, Wesson; two sisters, Mrs. Lou Dampeer, Crystal Springs, and Mrs. Ada Dickerson, McComb and a large number of grandchildren and several great grandchildren.