Since the re-location of its headquarters to the Majors-Parchman House in Mount Vernon, the Franklin County Historical Association has amassed a substantial collection of paintings and drawings mostly by Franklin County residents of past eras. Twenty artists are presently represented, all but one from the immediate area.
The nucleus of the collection was formed with a generous gift from Mrs. Mildred Brown. This gift consisted of nine paintings and ten drawings by her mother-in-law, Etta Lominack Smith, the mother of Mrs. Brown’s first husband, Alton Smith. A more recent gift of nine paintings from Tom Wilkinson included work by former Mount Vernon and Franklin County, artists including Mary T. Brooks; her daughter-in-law, Lucia Flagg Brooks; Fannie Maxton; Lottie Malone Stringer; and Gladys Wilkinson Winkle. The late Fannie Maxton gave the oldest painting in the collection, a Nineteenth Century American folk portrait of Amanda Wright Johnson, wife of pioneer Franklin County citizen, Joshua Johnson.
On display at 701 S. Kaufman Street, Mount Vernon, the paintings described below may be viewed Tuesday and Thursday, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. or by appointment (call 903-537-4760 during the given hours).
