Damon Williams was a local well-liked figure in Baldwyn in the 40s and 50s. A kind and gentle man, he always hung around uptown, mostly near Jones and Co. Dry Goods store. He would wait for traveling salesmen to visit the stores and would get a nickel or dime tip from them by carrying their sample cases in and out of the stores
He had two nicknames that we remember - "Hot" and "Hosie". The latter, according to him, was from the "prophet Hosea" in the Bible. He was a cigarette smoker and conceived a way to get free cigarettes. He could hold a single cigarette in one hand at waist level, hit it somehow with his other hand, sending it flying in the air and catch it in his mouth just right for lighting. Then you had to light it for him as he carried no match or lighter (he may have had some matches).
He knew many gospel songs and hymns I am told and would sing in the porch swing at his home on Cemetery Street near the ice plant across from the old cotton loading platform.
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This is probably the only known photo of him and is the property of John Olan Cunningham. Sorry it couldn't be restored any better.
