Pleasant Shade School 1920 Basketball Team
Beth Sloan Wilburn, granddaughter of Alton Williams,
provided this picture and names of the team members.
Pictured is the Pleasant Shade School basketball team in about 1920.
L-r: Jake Sloan, Lyman Beasley, Ezra Martin, Alton (Big Oot) Williams and Draper Jenkins.
Notes by Tom Dickerson: This picture was made on the old Pleasant Shade School grounds
located in the southeast intersection of old Hwy 80 and the Sloan Branch Road.
(See the Pleasant Shade schematic on this website.)
"Sye?" Goad, a mechanic, owned the house in the background that was located immediately
east of the present Post Office.
Alton Williams was the son of R.H. (Bob) and Martha Downs Williams. Alton was an expert
cabinetmaker who owned and operated during the 1950s and 60s the Cedar Chest Shop shown
in the "Pleasant Shade schematic" on this website. Alton is also pictured in the 1919 Pleasant
Shade School picture and the "Bob Williams Family" pictures on this website.
Bob and Martha Downs Williams Pictures
Draper Jenkins later moved to Carthage where he enjoyed a longtime affiliation with the
Sanderson Funeral Home. He was married to Maud Williams, sister to Alton Williams.
Lyman Beasley, who became an automobile salesman, was the son of Dr. John J. and Edith
Sloan Beasley. Dr. Beasley was the resident medical doctor of Pleasant Shade and his and
Edith's pictures are shown on this website.
Lyman Beasley had a younger brother, Lillard Focian, who became a medical doctor.
Dr. Focian Beasley lives and practiced medicine in Franklin, Kentucky for many years and
will reach the age of 95 years next month (Jan 4, 2003). Dr. Beasley is pictured in the
1919 Pleasant Shade School picture shown on this website.
My mother, Grace Gregory Dickerson, also shown in the same 1919 School picture, once told me
that she was "struck" on Focian Beasley while they were attending school together. I visited Dr. Beasley
about a year ago and had the picture below made of him and myself. I told him about my mother being
struck on him and he said he never realized any girls were interested in him at that time.
Dr. Beasley provided the location of the school picture and house ownership noted above.
(For anyone who may wonder which of us is Dr. Beasley, he is pictured first, left to right.)