For more than 32 years, Mrs. Ocia Carter kept us entertained weekly with her newspaper column in this newspaper.  

For the vast majority of readers, she was referred to as “Miss Ocie.”  She kept her ink pen busy and undisturbed from 1952 until 1984.  It was the epitome of southern journalism.  It was entitled, “The Temperance Hall Tidings.”

During my local high school years in the 1970s, I wanted to send Carter’s weekly newspaper column to television’s late-night king, Johnny Carson. and his Tonight Show audience, which was headquartered and broadcast from Los Angeles, California.    I was hoping he would enjoy it as much as I, and the rest of The Smithville Review readers and subscribers, did.  I don’t remember if I mailed it or not.  But local businessman Freddie Colvert remembers that I did.  Whatever, U.S, postage stamps were only six (6) cents during this time.

Regardless, the crux of the matter could be, “Laugh and the world laughs with you.”  Which, by all accounts, it did.  Especially readers of the weekly newspaper, The Smithville Review, of which Miss Ocie was a dedicated, unfiltered and unabridged writer/reporter.

For starters, most locals pronounced her name, “Miss Ocie.”  Her weekly “straight-from-the-heart” newspaper column was entitled, The Temperance Hall Tidings.  If you did it, she knew it.  And before long, everyone knew it.  Her southern dialect and knowledge gravitated to every socio-economic class and every person who could read the English language - with a few extra adjectives and pronouns and verbs added to the mix.  There was no formal name for her impersonal and unbiased language.  It was a self-taught characteristic.

It was astoundingly good and brought many belly-laughs, intertwined with historical knowledge, especially concerning the Temperance Hall area of DeKalb County, Tennessee.  She was irreplaceable. For a time, she was DeKalb County’s official Thesaurus dictionary and a somewhat county genealogist and historian.

Her granddaughter, Karen Carter Foutch, remembered when her grandmother, one of eight children, recalled composing her first piece of music when she was only eight-years-old.   It was titled “My First Waltz.” An accomplished musician, Miss Ocie attended the American Conservatory of Music in Aniston, Alabama.  For many untold years, the talented musical-prodigy was the pianist at the Temperance Hall Methodist Church.

While including her writings, offering music lessons, and working on the Carter’s dairy farm, she served in the Ladies Auxiliary for the Tennessee Association of Conservation Districts.  Also, Miss Ocie was a member of the Temperance Hall Home Demonstration Club.

“Grandmother had a ‘green thumb,” remembered Foutch.  “And she had a beautiful flower garden.  I especially remember her Peonies, Surprise lilies and Tiger lilies.’

My grandmother never drove (an automobile) and lived at the back of an 80-acre dairy farm.  She was not limited by these factors,” said Foutch.  “Her nature was out-going and she just loved Temperance Hall and her heritage.”

Several public comments are listed below, and include, but are not limited to, persons who enjoyed The Temperance Hall Tidings:

KAREN FOUTCH was the youngest grandchild of Ocia Carter (Kenneth) and wrote, “I’ve enjoyed reading about her.  I can remember grandmother sitting at her desk and handwriting her column on stationery provided by The Smithville Review.  She loved writing and it is amazing how many friendships she made through this column – even in other states.  I know she would have been proud that people still remember her legacy.”  More of Foutch’s remembrances are included herein.

JERRY ADCOCK remembered that in 1984, he was stationed on the USS Inchon, while doing a med cruise.  My mom and dad (Polly and D. Adcock) would send me a copy of the Review newspaper weekly when our mail would run.  Usually, it would be two to three weeks late.  Clerks in the mailroom would read the Temperance Hall column and then pass it on to the pay office.  It would take me up to five days to get my paper.  Everyone loved Mrs. Ocie’s columns.  She made me more friends on that cruise than I could have made by myself.”

“I knew her all my life,” wrote PAM BULLARD HALE PLEASANT.  “We lived in Temperance Hall on many different farms.  Wish we could go back to those good old days.  My sister and I were just talking about her column last week.  I loved reading it.”

Longtime friend, SUSAN YOUNG added, “I worked at “The Smithville Review” in the early 1970’s and we received Mrs. Ocie’s correspondence letter from Temperance Hall each week.  It was always a delight to read!  Sometimes, Mrs. Ocie would deliver her letter if she was in Smithville and she and Mr. Carter would visit with us.  The Carters were such pleasant and kind people.”  (I began working at the Review office in the mid-1970’s).

Another reader was RICKY NIXON who remembered growing up with the Carter family and Miss Ocie writing her weekly newspaper column.

Another lifelong friend, BUD JUDKINS, recalled, “Over the years, I had college roommates from many different cities, among them Chicago, New York City, Birmingham, and Dayton, Ohio.  As a subscriber to the Review, I always read Miss Ocia’s Temperance Hall column, as I have family whose roots were from this area.  I began to read her column to my college roommates and dorm mates, and they loved the humorous homespun articles.  Before long, it became a ritual to read her articles in my dorm room.  The Review began to be passed around Ellington Hall at Tennessee Tech (University).  Great memories!”

KIM DRIVER LUTON said Bud’s above paragraph was the “same” for her during her collegiate years.  In fact, it was the “same” for me while a student at UT, Knoxville.

On the same topic, BETTY TAYLOR said that she was very friendly and had a wonderful way with words. “I loved her columns.”

KIM KEITH ARCHER remembers that Miss Ocie was one of her grandmother’s friends.  Word on the street during that time was that she named Kim’s mother, Pat Foutch (Keith).  And according to Bud Judkins, she called Mrs. Ocia every week for stories and updates.  Furthermore, “She was my granny’s aunt,” said Archer.

JANE CONGER DEPRIEST commented, “I shared Mrs. Ocia Carter’s columns with friends at college, and looked forward to reading them every week.”  A vast majority of comments were made by collegiate students from DeKalb County who would share her column weekly with their dorm mates and friends.

Genealogically, Mrs. Ocia Mason Carter was born April 27, 1899, and died on August 5, 1986, at age 87 years.  She is buried at the Salem Baptist Church Cemetery in Liberty, Tennessee.  Her parents were (Dr.) Robert Wiley Mason and Mary Hatton (Wilson) Mason.  Her husband was Charlie Ivon Carter, and they lived in the Temperance Hall area of DeKalb County, Tennessee.  They were married on December 23, 1919, when she was 20 years old (and my dad was age 10).   Their three children were John Mason Carter, Elaine Carter McDonald and Kenneth R. Carter (Foutch’s father), all of whom are also deceased.

In conclusion, Foutch remembered, “I spent a great deal of time with my grandparents.  They loved having visitors.  Grandmother was famous for her pound cake and seemed to always have it on-hand when visitors stopped by her house.  She was a great cook and hostess.  She had dinners on her dining table that seemed to extend forever.”

Authored by Foutch’s mother and Majorie Hayes, there is a book entitled, “Through the Years with Miss Ocia.”  Foutch believes there is a copy at the Justin Potter Library, downtown Smithville, Tennessee.

I can’t help but wonder what Johnny Carson said the moment he saw/ read “Miss Ocie’s” newspaper column?
We’ll never know.
Maybe Freddie Colvert knows.