1718 North State Street
Jackson, Mississippi
by Dr. Lamar Weems
June 3, 2000

This house at 1718 North State Street was built in 1917. Nanette and I and our children called it home for almost 20 years. It was the first grandparent's home which our grandchildren knew and was the last home for our son, Scott. Nanette fell in love with the house at first sight and has cherished it since. It holds many happy memories for us, as well as a few sad ones. We have made it clear that, for sentimental reasons, we desire that this old house be preserved and that it be put to good use.

Millsaps College also means a great deal to us. We met each other and courted at Millsaps as we furthered our education. Activities on campus have brightened our lives during the time that we lived here in such close proximity to the College.

Above all, family ties and family traditions are important to us. One feature of the tradition of the Weems family is an affinity for Millsaps College. Nanette and I feel privileged to be able to symbolize our affection for Millsaps College and to honor our family for years to come by the donation of this house for the use of the College and for the commemoration of William Lafayette and Mary Thompson "Molly" Weems and their descendants who have attended the college. "Papa" Weems was born in 1848 in Sun, Mississippi, where he lived his entire life. He was a farmer. He had little formal education because the family was impoverished by the Civil War. However, he was self-educated and was a fine public speaker. About him, his son Alvin wrote, "Papa took very little part in our childish activities. He either worked or read. I never doubted his love for me. Although he whipped me a couple of times, I never feared him. He was not lavish with his praise, but a few words of commendation from him meant everything to me to the day he died." He served two terms in the Mississippi Legislature and was active in state politics as a member of the Democratic Party. He was a Methodist and active in his church. Undoubtedly through church connections, he was sympathetic to the plans in the 1890s to establish a college under the sponsorship of the Methodist Conference. When he confided to his brother Bob (Robert E. Lee Weems) his plans to sell a yoke of oxen and donate the proceeds to the first Millsaps fund drive, he was greeted with a skeptical response that he would never have a child who could attend the college. Maybe not, he said, but maybe a child of mine can listen to a preacher who was educated at Millsaps. Billy and Molly had nine children. Two of their sons, J.T. and Alvin, were Millsaps graduates.

James Thompson "J.T." Weems was the first born of the family. He graduated from Millsaps with a B.A. Degree in 1913 and served as a preacher in the Mississippi Conference. He was the family eccentric. Stories about him are legend. It was reliably reported that he took the pulpit one Sunday morning and announced that he had nothing on his heart to say today... and dismissed the service. He established a fishing camp on Eagle Lake in 1929, which has been a primitive Shangri-La for the Weems family for generations. He loved gardening and hunting and fishing, but he also translated Greek and Latin and was a serious student of philosophy. He retired to Heidelberg, Mississippi, following his ministry and was elected from Jasper County to the Mississippi Legislature. His daughter, Mary Elizabeth, graduated from Whitworth College which later was absorbed by Millsaps. She was married to William H. Parker, Sr., a Millsaps graduate who was President of the Student Body and who subsequently earned a M.D. Degree and practiced medicine for 45 years. He was President of the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians and received the Family Physician of the Year Award. Three grandsons of J.T. attended Millsaps, one of whom, Hugh James Parker, has served as Dean of the Else School of Management. Hugh's son, James Thompson Weems Parker, took courses at Millsaps while he was a high school student at Murrah. He is currently a law student in Israel. William H. Parker, Jr., is a physician and Robert F. Parker is a veterinarian engaged in pharmaceutical research. Great granddaughter, Ellen Elizabeth Parker, daughter of Drs. Bill and Judy Parker, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Millsaps in 1996 and from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in May, 2000. As an undergraduate, she was tapped into Phi Beta Kappa and received, upon graduation, awards for the highest average in general chemistry, for the highest grade point in the humanities, and for being the outstanding graduate in classical studies. Marion Margaret Parker, daughter of Robert, is currently enrolled as a Millsaps student.

Alvin Lamar Weems graduated from Millsaps in 1926. His wife, Ruby Powell, graduated in 1922. They taught in the public schools of Scott County and he subsequently became Superintendent of the school in Lucedale. He was a victim of an illness in early manhood which disabled him physically, but his keen intellect and sound philosophy were influential in shaping the lives of many of his students and kin. Remarkably, he lived to be 98 years old. Before his death, he had a great-great grandchild.

Other siblings in the family of Billy and Molly Weems developed Millsaps connections through their offspring. Robert Samuel Weems' family includes seven Millsaps students. His daughter, Betty Opal, graduated with a major in sociology. She obtained a Master's Degree and taught in the Jackson Public Schools for 30 years. She was named Elementary Teacher of the Year in Jackson in 1977. Betty married N.E. Clarkson, Jr., who graduated from Millsaps. He worked for Allstate Insurance Company before his retirement in 1984. They have two daughters, Jean and Nancy, who are both Millsaps graduates. Jean Elizabeth Clarkson graduated in 1974, with a major in education. She attended nursing school and is a Registered Nurse. Nancy Clarkson Cochran graduated in 1979, with a B.S. Degree in Accounting. She is a Certified Public Accountant. Robert Alvin "Bob" Weems played varsity basketball at Millsaps for four years and went on to attend law school at Ole Miss where he graduated first in his class. After practicing law with Brunini Law Firm in Vicksburg for 11 years, he joined the faculty of the University of Mississippi School of Law. He has been selected by his students as Outstanding Law Professor of the Year four times and in 1994, he received the prestigious Elsie Hood Award as the University of Mississippi's Outstanding Professor. He currently serves as Chairman of the Athletic Committee at Ole Miss. Bob is married to Janis Mitchell Weems, a Millsaps graduate who was voted a Campus Favorite, among other honors. Bob and Janis have a daughter, Margaret Wheeler Weems, who graduated from Millsaps Magna Cum Laude in 1989.

William Waddie Weems had one son, Waddie Peyton Weems, who graduated from Millsaps. Peyton was tapped into ODK as a student and earned 12 varsity letters in three sports. He was recently named to the Millsaps Athletic Hall of Fame. He has pursued a career in petroleum geology and was founder and Chairman of the Board of Seis Pro, Inc., a geophysical contracting company which grew to be publically traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Waddie's daughter, Mary Ruth, married Horace J. Crosby, Jr., a Millsaps alumnus. Their daughter, Cathy Crosby Wright, graduated from Millsaps and was a member of the Millsaps Singers.

Mack Dawson Weems, an educator, had two children who graduated from Millsaps. I, William Lamar Weems, subsequently graduated from Baylor Medical College and received postgraduate training in surgery and urology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. I was Professor of Surgery (Urology) on the faculty of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and was Director of Urology for 25 years. I was President of the American Association of Clinical Urologists, of the Southeastern Section of the American Urological Association, and of the Mississippi State Medical Association. I was the Millsaps Alumnus of the Year in 1986. I received the American Urological Association Golden Cane Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1999. Nanette Weaver and I were married in 1953. Nanette was a Campus Favorite, a cheerleader for three years and an honor graduate. Our daughters, Suzelle and Robin, were Millsaps students. Suzelle received a Master's Degree from the Else School of Management and is a Certified Public Accountant. Robin is a graduate of the Physicians Assistant School of Duke University and now practices with a group of vascular surgeons in Nyack, New York. Wanda Lou Weems Zeagler Burnett, Mack's youngest child, was a member of the first Troubadour USO Tour to France and Germany. She studied abroad for one year. She graduated from Millsaps and later earned a Master's Degree in French at LSU and taught school for a few years. She is a designer of needlework and crafts and was founder of the company, "Needle-in-a-Haystack." Two grandsons of Mack and Bertha Weems, sons of Dr. Martha Ann Weems Cheney, went from Millsaps to obtain the M.D. Degree from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. Mack L. Cheney subsequently trained in Otolaryngology at Tulane and Harvard. He currently holds a Harvard University faculty appointment as Associate Professor and Director of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Ben W. Cheney was a Resident in Internal Medicine at University of Minnesota and now practices in Biloxi, Mississippi. His wife, Lyn Harper Cheney, is a Millsaps alumna. Dempsy T. Amacker came to live with Mack and Bertha Weems and became a foster son when he was nine years old. Dr. Amacker's son, Dempsy T. Amacker, Jr., and his wife, Nancy Ruth Towler Amacker, received degrees from Millsaps, and his daughter, Debbie Amacker Tillman, was a student for a time.

Bessie Lois Weems Wilkins and Lloyd Wilkins were parents of two daughters who graduated from Millsaps. Willette "Bitsy" Wilkins Bonney and Jeanette "Biggie" Wilkins were twins. Willette received a B.A. Degree in English from Millsaps. She is married to Henry C. Bonney, who practices law in Duncan, Oklahoma. Jeanette Wilkins graduated from Millsaps with high honors and from Tulane School of Medicine. Thereafter she trained in Pediatrics at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she eventually subspecialized in Pediatric Infectious Disease. In my opinion, Jeanette Wilkins was the most distinguished professional this family has produced and one of the most outstanding scientists to ever have graduated from Millsaps College. She joined the faculty of the University of Southern California Medical School in Los Angeles in 1967. In 1979, she became the youngest woman in the history of the school to be promoted to full professorship. She did pioneering research in pediatric immunizations and courageously stood against commercial interests in pointing out the dangers inherent in some of the vaccines which were being routinely prescribed for children. She collaborated with the Chairman of Orthopedic Surgery in research which has revolutionized the treatment of bone and joint infections. Her publications include 90 articles, reviews, and book chapters. She was honored as the Woman Physician of the Year of Los Angeles County in 1989. She died an untimely death of cancer of the breast in 1992.

Laura Zelle "Zate" Weems had no children, but most of the family seem to feel that she has been their second mother. Vicariously, she has attended Millsaps through the lives of those whom she encouraged, and inspired, and helped to finance.

In summary, thirty-six descendants of William Lafayette and Mary Ascension "Molly" Thompson Weems have Millsaps roots. Among them are twelve teachers, eight physicians, three CPAs, one preacher, one lawyer, one veterinarian, one nurse, and one physician's assistant. Eighteen have obtained advanced degrees. No felons have been identified.

Finally, let it be said that active involvement in Methodism is another Weems tradition which has paralleled the family's interest in Millsaps College from the family's earliest days in Mississippi to the present generation. Samuel Rosemond Weems, the first Mississippian in this line and the father of William Lafayette Weems, lived to be 100 years and 10 months old. He was a founding member of Carr United Methodist Church in 1846. Billy and Molly Weems and their forebears would be proud of this gathering of their family here today if they could hear of our attainments in education, our career achievements, our civic contributions, and our religious commitment and they would surely appreciate the appropriateness of the dedication of this house to the use of Millsaps College.

And wouldn't Uncle Bob be amazed!

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