It is September, and schools across the USA are back in session now. Fifty-five Septembers ago, I left my rural farmland to attend college at the University of Mississippi. In terms of the seasons of the year, that was early autumn. In terms of the seasons of my life, it was early summer. You see,…
Category: Mississippi
Prentiss House in Vicksburg, MS & the Famous Innkeeper Thomas Cherry McMackin
I am researching a couple of stories that seem to link Water Valley, MS, in Yalobusha County, and Vicksburg, a town east of Water Valley and on the Mississippi River, several miles southward. I have discovered that the railroad that ran through Water Valley was a prime target for the federal troops, as they marched…
The Great South by Edward King – Published in 1875
THE GREAT SOUTH: A RECORD OF JOURNEYS IN LOUISIANA, TEXAS, THE INDIAN TERRITORY, MISSOURI, ARKANSAS, MISSISSIPPI, ALABAMA, GEORGIA, FLORIDA, SOUTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA, KENTUCKY, TENNESSEE, VIRGINIA, WEST VIRGINIA, AND MARYLAND. BY EDWARD KING. PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED FROM ORIGINAL SKETCHES BY J WELLS CHAMPNEY. AMERICAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, HARTFORD, CONN. 1875. https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/king/king.html ON THE OCLAWAHA FLORIDA. Page i…
Early Railroad History in Mississippi – When Water Valley Was a Hub
I moved to Water Valley, MS, about 4 months ago, and since I came here, I have been busy creating some of the content for my upcoming memoir book: Churches in the Wildwood. Churches in the Wildwood As the title might suggest, my research for that book has taken me not only to the rural…
A Newcomer Looks at Water Valley, MS, and the Annual Watermelon Carnival
Jacki Kellum at the Water Valley, MS, Watermelon Carnival 2023 This article was first published in the North Mississippi Herald on August 10, 2023 Before this past spring, I had never been to Water Valley, but three months ago, I moved here. Mississippi – I’m Finally Coming Back Home: Moving to Water Valley, Mississippi…
My Home is in William Faulkner Country – Down the Yocona River from Oxford, Mississippi
Home of William Faulkner Rowan Oak – Oxford, Mississippi Image Credit – Wikipedia When I was an Ole Miss coed, my part-time job was that of curating at the William Faulkner house–Rowan Oak, in Oxford, MS. That was during the late 1960s and early 1970s–only a few years after the Faulkner family donated Faulkner’s home…
Time for Another Miracle: New Life, New Friends, New Home in Old Water Valley, Mississippi
I suspect that the eyes of my more fundamentalist friends roll when I tell them, over and over, that something miraculous has happened in my life. After my debut picture book The Donkey’s Song was acquired for publication, I told people that my book deal was a miracle: A Pitch for #PBpitch: How My Picture Book…
Mississippi – I’m Finally Coming Back Home: Moving to Water Valley, Mississippi
Thomas Wolfe wrote, “You can never go home again,” and while I understand his premise, I must say that I’ve been trying to get back home for more than half a century. Finally, I’m moving back to the home of my heart, and that’s a place very few people ever find. I am moving back…