Mississippi Legacy: How would you live in a house like this one?

Hi. I’m a writer from Mississippi, and I’m glad to be in that category. Sometimes I write about other places, but my heart and my laptop always return to the hills of south Mississippi. I spent my early days in a simple wooden farmhouse situated between Taylorsville and Hot Coffee.

The time I write about doesn’t matter much. I like the old days. The way of life changed little from the late 1800s until World War II began. I research before writing to make sure the subtle changes from one decade to the next are accurate. The way of life of my great grandparents, grandparents, and parents slowly transformed, but in the Mississippi piney woods, we were isolated from the rest of the nation.

I ran across two interesting photos I want to share with you. These are pictures taken in 1939. In that year, the New York World’s Fair showed displays of televisions with the prediction wide audiences would soon watch them. Judy Garland starred in The Wizard of Oz. The completion of the Golden Gate Bridge was the source of a big celebration.

Today I went to the Library of Congress website and found two pictures of a residence near my hometown, Taylorsville, Mississippi. These photographs were taken in 1939. Until the coming of electricity, automobiles, decent roads, desegregated schools, and telephones, life remained primitive in our neck of the woods.

By the time I came along, some things had started to change, but modernization came slowly. I can remember knowing people ten years later living in houses like these. They left a permanent impression on my brain. As we age, our minds go back to our youth. These photos bring bittersweet memories of my childhood playmates. 

African American cabin showing grass and mud chimney and broom made of corn husks for sweeping yard. Taylorsville, Mississippi digital file from original neg. Lee Russell, Photographer  

If you haven’t read Manuela Blayne, allow me to invite you to do so. In the simplest of words, I'm trying in this little novella, to evoke some thought about how other people feel inside. For example, I'm trying to paint pictures of how it feels to be African American and how it feels to be saturated in white prejudices in the early 1900's. (It’s part of a series, but it stands alone. You can read it first.)

Available as Kindle, Audible, and Printed Book

My oldest brother, who was born on this day 98 years ago used to say, “But for the grace of God, there go I.”

My Home Town -- Those Funny Names of Mississippi Places in Our Neck of the Woods

Join this Facebook group if your heart is in Taylorsville, Mississippi (Smith County)

We natives of Taylorsville (Smith County, Mississippi) have our pride about our town's name. Even though our town is small, we at least have a better name than some of the surrounding communities can claim.

To the east of the town of our origin is Soso. This name was given to that community 125 years ago by Jim Eaton, a Taylorsville post office worker, who thought the community was so so. Those dear people have kept the name and made the best of it. It has become distinctive. The Soso residents received a lemon of a name from a Taylorsvillian and made lemonade out of it.

To the southeast is Sullivan's Hollow, named after Wild Bill Sullivan. The legendary rowdy ways of that community have become internationally famous. We Taylorsvillians cannot help adding the sin of envy over their name to the pride we feel for our own name.

South of us is Hot Coffee, Mississippi. This community supposedly had an inn there that sold hot coffee. Most people have never heard of Taylorsville, but they know about Hot Coffee. Taylorsville is much more significant than Hot Coffee. It's too bad! We have such a respectable name but people don't know about us.

Part of the problem is that there's nothing very original or unique about the name of our town. We share the name with places in Utah, California, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, and Iowa. In fact, there are two towns named Taylorsville, Mississippi.

We pronounce the word by accenting the first syllable with no emphasis on the "ville." We are very boastful of the name.

Recently I read that it is believed that the original town of Taylorsville was called "Bullace" back in 1898 when a road from Jackson to Laurel was built. How humiliating to have had such an undignified beginning name!

Sources:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3291/i s_2_23/ai_n29132353/

http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?loc Index=285673

http://www.mize.town.ms.gov/history.html

http://www.mapquest.com/directions