Aunt Maggie Price Woodall, or Aunt Mag was the 

second born daughter of Thomas Garland and 

Nancy H. Greer Price (Nannie). Maggie married 

William M. Woodall. William was a veteran of the 

Spanish American War. He was employed as a 

fireman on the railroad. William's job was very 

lucrative and he and Maggie lived quite 

comfortably.

William and Maggie had a daughter named Annie 

Grace. She died when she was eleven years old, 

August 11, 1911, and is buried in the Oddfellows 

Cemetery in Starkville Mississippi. Annie Grace was 

the only child William and Maggie had. William was 

killed in a railroad accident in 1920, leaving Maggie 

all alone. Maggie's sister Nancy Elizabeth (Nannie) 

Price moved in with Maggie. Nannie never married. 

Some in the family claim she was autistic. She 

lived with Aunt Mag until she died.

William bought Aunt Mag a Parrot to keep her 

company while he was away on the railroad. The 

Parrot's name was Polly. Polly lived with Maggie 

and Nannie in Starkville. Nannie died in 1931 and 

was buried in the Oddfellows Cemetery in 

Starkville. In the 1940's Aunt Maggie became ill 

and went to live with her sister, Sunie Rudisill, in 

Atlanta. Polly accompanied Maggie to Atlanta and 

after Maggie’s death continued to live with Sunie. 

Polly lived to be 51 years old. 

Harry Price was a young man during the time of 

this story. His cousin Malcom Rottenberry would 

spend a lot of time in Starkville. Harry drove trucks 

that delivered moonshine. The moonshine was 

stored behind the courthouse. It was next door to 

Aunt Maggie's house on 110 West Main Street in 

Starkville.

Harry would tease Polly while he sat on the porch 

waiting on the moonshine to be unloaded. He also 

taught Polly to say bad words. And he taught Polly 

to blame Malcom.

One of Aunt Maggie's favorite things to do on 

Sunday was to invite the Church members over 

along with the Pastor. They would sit in the parlor 

or on the front porch and talk about issues and 

gossip. Polly was the star of the Sunday gatherings 

and could always be counted on to say clever 

things like "Polly want a cracker!!!"

The bad words Harry taught Polly weren't amusing 

to the guests. Aunt Maggie was terribly 

embarrassed. The picture shows the front porch 

Polly did the act on.

When the guests had gone Aunt Mag and Nannie 

were trying to figure out where the Parrot had 

learned those bad words. The Parrot eagerly 

suggested "Malcom did it!!!" Malcom was Emma 

Lucy's son. 

Malcom was upset at the Parrot and wadded up 

newspapers and put them in the bottom of the cage 

and set them on fire. Polly screamed "Help, Help, 

they are murdering me." Aunt Mag and Nannie 

heard the cries and saved Polly.