Ms. M.P. Thomas sent me this picture of the whistle from the KATE ADAMS with the following history and family remembrances of the KATE.
My great grandfather, as I understand it, bought the salvage rights to the Kate Adams. The whistle was placed on the Planters Oil Mill in Clarksdale, MS where it was the morning, noon and go home whistle for the entire town. When the mill was sold the paperwork to the whistle was discovered and the whistle went home with my grandparents. As a child, I accidentally knocked it over and broke my dog’s tail with it (I was only a toddler). My grandfather loaned the whistle for a brief time to the welcome museum in Greenville. We retrieved it back from the museum after the state took it over. The whistle now sits in a case in my home.
My great grandfather was Milton Ragan Jones, Jr. He ran the oil mill in Clarksdale, MS. My grandfather, James Hamilton Payne, married his daughter, Evalyn Brabston Jones. My grandfather took over the running of the mill from his father-in-law. My grandfather was always proud to show us the whistle that sat in their utility room for years after the mill was sold. My grandfather and his two brothers were from Benoit, MS. He remembered fondly riding the Kate Adams and the captain allowing him to blow the whistle.
Thank you so much for your efforts in preserving the history of all of these great ships!