Interview by Reta DeShields Parton and Tonya Parton Williams

Tonya and I have been very lucky to be able to interview many of the older people in the Lead Hill, Boone County, Arkansas area. I had heard of Fay Hodge, seen his stories in the Boone County Headlight and Harrison Daily Times. But that I know of, I had not met him personally.

In one of my many conversations with Dr Jim Fain, retired superintendent of the Lead Hill Schools, he recommended I go see Fay. "Reta, he’s probably got the best collection of pictures in the area, everytime I see a really old one in the paper, it is courtesy of Fay Hodge", Jim told me. So, I couldn’t resist it. I wanted to go back to Lead Hill anyway to see if I could talk to some of the other older members of the community. I called Fay and explained that I was researching the people of Lead Hill and surrounding areas and Dr Jim Fain said he would be a great source for pictures. I also asked if I could come to his home, bring my camera and computer and take some photos of his photos. He would not have to let them out of his home. I don’t think he was too sure about this, but he agreed.

We arrived about 9am and as we pulled into the yard, many memories of my own grandparent's home returned. The white board house, Hogwire fence around the yard, many beautiful flowers in the yard, and an older gentlemen standing at the screen door, waiting our arrival. These are good memories.

Fay invited us in and introduced us to his wife. Fay is 87 years old and his wife, Chole, is close to 90. Both are full of life and very friendly. The Hodge Family has been a part of the history of the area for many years. Chole has ties with the Wingate and Wilkerson families.

He then took us on a tour of his many many stacks of photos. I will say now, I only saw about 1% of his collection. We hope to return and review more.

Fay received his first camera when he was six years old. He lived close to the Bradley Ferry at the time. His first picture was of his mother, Clara Bell McPherson Hodge and his Grandma, Mary Levesee. (see picture to right) He was hooked. Since that time he has taken many pictures in Boone County and everywhere he lived. He served a tour in the Navy and also took many pictures during WWII. We did not get into those pictures. He loves to photograph nature and is very good in his work.

Fay carries a camera with him almost everywhere he goes. He says, "If you don’t you will miss the best pictures." I tend to agree with him.

All the pictures you will view in this article are photos of photos. They are in no way as good as the original. Many have had to be repaired or adjusted for the angle I shot them in to correct it. All photocopy rights are retained by Fay Hodge and cannot be reproduced without his written consent. However, if this is your family or you want to put it in your family records, he has no problem with this. But it may not be sold or published or charged to view without his written consent. This is the agreement I made with him before we started to take pictures. If you want to request to be able to publish a photo in your family history, email me and I will handle it from there. Email me at [email protected].